Europe: The Herbal Medicines Impasse - Health Supreme NewsGrabs 10 July 2011
Herbal medicines in Europe - Italians propose way out of impasse
In 2004, the European Community published a directive regarding traditional herbal medicinal products which requires a pharmaceutical registration of medicinal herbs. After a period of transition, which finished in May of 2011, it is now forbidden to sell such herbal medicinal products or - as they are called in the UK - herbal remedies, without the necessary registration.
But there is a problem. The registration of medicinal herbs under the directive is extremely difficult.
Entire medicinal traditions like the Indian Ayurveda and Chinese Traditional Medicine, not to mention lesser herbal traditions of South America or Africa, are excluded from registration because they have not been officially used in Europe for 15 to 30 years. Consequently, very few of those medicinal herbs have been registered during the transition period from 2004 to now, which means the directive, in its present form, is unworkable.
The EU Commission washes its hands of the matter, saying it is up to the member states to interpret and apply the directive. In this way, instead of promoting a single market of medicinal herbs, the new European law has entirely excluded the major non-european herbal traditions and has, inside Europe, created a great confusion. National health authorities are confused - no one really knows what to do with herbs any more.
Codex Alimentarius adopts guidelines to allow labeling of genetically modified foodCodex guidance on the topic of labeling GMO food began in 1991 and was met with a tremendous amount of resistance from the US. In 1995, the Codex executive committee stated that, “The claimed right to know was ill-defined and variable and in this respect could not be used by codex as the primary basis of decision making on appropriate labeling.”
Currently, there are no regulations [in the US] requiring GM foods to be labeled as such and the best way for consumers to avoid GM foods is to choose organic products.
European Parliament backs legislation that allows Member States the right to ban GM crop cultivationMembers of the European Parliament (MEPs) have overwhelmingly given their support to draft legislation, which, if turned into law, would give individual European Union (EU) Member States the right to ban genetically modified (GM) crop cultivation for environmental reasons at their discretion. The move is awaiting approval from the Council of Ministers (in this case, environment ministers from all 27 EU Member States). The draft legislation proposes that in Member States where cultivation is permitted, measures to prevent contamination of organic and conventional farming must be taken, and it must be ensured that those responsible for any contamination can be held ‘financially liable’.
Preventive use of tocotrienol vitamin E may reduce stroke damageTen weeks of preventive supplementation with a natural form of vitamin E called tocotrienol in dogs that later had strokes reduced overall brain tissue damage, prevented loss of neural connections and helped sustain blood flow in the animals' brains, a new study shows.
Researchers say the findings suggest that preventive, or prophylactic, use of this natural form of vitamin E could be particularly helpful to people considered at highest risk for a major stroke: those who have previously suffered a ministroke, or a temporary stoppage of blood flow in the brain.
See also: 'Gifted' natural vitamin E tocotrienol protects brain against stroke in three ways
Probiotics for your neurological well-being"Until recently the idea that probiotic bacteria administered to the intestine could influence the brain seemed almost surreal", said Reid, "Yet in Lyte's paper the concept is supported by studies showing that microbes can produce and respond to neurochemicals, which can induce neurological and immunological effects on the host."
"The research presents an idea for selecting probiotic strains with neurological applications and linking this with immune-modulatory effects, while highlighting the fact that microbial strains already being widely ingested in fermented food can produce neurochemicals," concluded Reid.
Video: Signs and Symptoms of Magnesium Deficiency
Europe: Committee report confirms ‘no obvious advantage’ to water fluoridationHaving examined evidence, the committee concludes that topical application of fluoride on the surface of the teeth has a strongly protective effect, whereas the same cannot be said of ‘systemic application’ via drinking water. The report states: “No obvious advantage appears in favour of water fluoridation as compared with topical application of fluoride”!
UK: Drugs firms lavished millions on freebies for NHS staffBig drug firms have spent millions of pounds on bankrolling events and trips for NHS staff, an Independent on Sunday investigation of trust records has revealed. The catalogue of freebies includes Pfizer providing hospitality to dozens of doctors attending a meeting at the five-star Gleneagles hotel resort in Scotland, and a dinner meeting between three Eli Lilly staff and two nurses at which 22 alcoholic drinks were consumed.
Healthcare staff, who influence how the £12bn annual NHS drugs budget is spent, insist they are not swayed by hospitality.
UK: Polypharmacy increases risk of death in over-65sThe stark truth is that adequate research into the effects of multiple drug combinations on the human body has not been carried out. On one level, this is understandable, since it is practically impossible to perform the necessary studies into all the drug combinations that could potentially be prescribed by doctors. However, in this context, it is utterly indefensible that some patients are on as many as 17 different medications [2]. Millions of patients, especially our older generations, are taking increasingly complex regimens of powerful, new-to-nature, synthetic pharmaceutical drugs every day of their lives, without anyone having a comprehensive idea of how the drugs are likely to interact in combination.
Isn’t this a case of the ‘cure’ being more harmful than the ‘disease’?
WHEN THE BLOOD BOILS - VACCINES AND AUTISMIf you control the meaning of words like “evidence,” “cause,” “relationship between,” you own the playing field. You can manipulate outcomes and conclusions, and you can define science itself.
Your power derives from ownership of those simple words.
Suppose a healthy baby with all his faculties intact receives a barrage of vaccines at 15 months. Then, three days later, his temperature soars to 105, he has seizures, he screams, and then he goes silent. He withdraws from the world, from his parents. In the ensuing months, he doesn’t speak. He doesn’t laugh. He shows no interest in life around him. He doesn’t recover from this. He doesn’t regain his former health.
In what sense can it be said that the vaccines caused his condition? That may seem like an absurd question to be asking, but scientists claim it is important. So do judges and government officials. So do drug companies who make and sell vaccines...
Study Shows Autism Increases with VaccinationA regression analysis controlling for family income and ethnicity revealed a positive and statistically significant relationship between vaccines and autism. The higher the proportion of children receiving recommended vaccinations, the higher the rates of autism.
Delong says that neither parental behavior nor access to care affected the results and further study into the relationship between vaccines and autism is warranted.
Mobile Phones Damage the BrainLeif Salford at Lund University, Sweden, is head of an interdisciplinary team that has been studying the effects of EMFs on rat brain since 1988, with a major interest in the blood-brain barrier (BBB). In mammals including humans, the BBB protects the brain from potentially harmful compounds circulating in the blood, so normally, very little passes from the blood to the brain.
Their studies revealed that EMFs emitted by mobile phones at extremely low ‘non-thermal’ levels leads to increased permeability of the BBB both immediately after 2 hour of exposure, and also at 7, 14 and 50 days afterwards. Furthermore, damaging effects on neurons have been found even at 28 and 50 days after the single exposure.
Mason is a modern day 'sungazer' and subject of Peter Sorcher’s award-winning and suspenseful documentary film that follows Mason on an unbelievable and often hilarious cross-country tour into the little known world of sungazing – an ancient practice of looking directly at the sun for a range of physical and spiritual benefits.
Throughout his journey, Mason is riddled with uncertainty. Will he damage his eyes? Is the man who inspires thousands lying? Will Mason succeed in his quest to uncover the truth? This captivating documentary will challenge your deepest held beliefs.
Official Trailer - "Eat The Sun"
I reported on this one before - eight years ago. Here is the original report ...
Surviving on a diet of sunlight
- - -
If you liked this collection of health news, subscribe to get it directly by email every week.
Just enter your email at the top of the page ( http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/sepp ) right side column, and click "subscribe me".
If you find a particularly interesting story somewhere else, please tell me about it.
You can email me at (sepp@lastrega.com).
You can also find me on facebook (facebook.com/hasslberger)
and on TwitterIf you are interested in more than just health, also check out my other site on physics, economy and new energy
More information out there...
There is a lot more information out there about natural health and pharmaceutical medicine that I cannot cover ... but fortunately other sources for this kind of information exist.
Dr Mercola has a good health blog
Mike Adams publishes Natural News.
In the UK we have the One Click Group.
The Dr Rath Foundation campaigns for a New Healthcare System.
Natural health and nutrition on La Leva di Archimede
Food, Agriculture and more on the Organic Consumers Association site.And remember...
"The individual is supreme and finds the way through intuition"And since you got to reading so far, here's a little bonus. Check out this YouTube video about the WAYSEER MANIFESTO. For all you troublemakers and revolutionaries out there...
posted by Sepp Hasslberger on Sunday July 10 2011
updated on Tuesday December 13 2011URL of this article:
http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/sepp/2011/07/10/europe_the_herbal_medicines_impasse_health_supreme_newsgrabs_10_july_2011.htm
