Health News

Is Antibacterial Soap Safe?

by Mattew Perrone | AP Health Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) It’s a chemical that’s been in U.S. households for more than 40 years, from the body wash in your bathroom shower to the knives on your kitchen counter to the bedding in your baby’s basinet.

But federal health regulators are just now deciding whether triclosan – the germ-killing ingredient found in an estimated 75 percent of antibacterial liquid soaps and body washes sold in the U.S. – is ineffective, or worse, harmful.

Antibacterial SoapThe U.S. Food and Drug Administration is planning to deliver a review this year of whether triclosan is safe. The ruling, which will determine whether triclosan continues to be used in household cleaners, could have implications for a $1 billion industry that includes hundreds of antibacterial products from toothpaste to toys.

The agency’s review comes amid growing pressure from lawmakers, consumer advocates and others who are concerned about the safety of triclosan. Recent studies of triclosan in animals have led scientists to worry that it could increase the risk of infertility, early puberty and other hormone-related problems in humans.

“To me it looks like the risks outweigh any benefit associated with these products right now,” said Allison Aiello, professor at the University of Michigan’s School of Public Health.

[Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/decade-old-question-antibacterial-soap-safe]

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Research Verifies Anti-cancer Properties of Turmeric

by David Gutierrez | NaturalNews

A growing body of research continues to pile up, showing that turmeric and its naturally occurring compounds have potent anti-cancer properties.

Turmeric root is one of the most important spices and traditional medicines across vast sections of Asia, and has been for hundreds of years. Scientists attribute many of turmeric’s health benefits to the trio of naturally occurring chemicals known as curcuminoids, which give the root its characteristic yellow-orange color. The name curcumin, which technically refers to only one of the curcuminoids, is sometimes also used to refer to the entire group.

Turmeric - Curcuma longa (Haldi) W IMG 2440

By J.M.Garg via Wikimedia Commons

Although many studies have been performed on curcumin rather than on turmeric root itself, it is important to note that the body absorbs curcumin much more effectively from the root than from supplements.

Reviewing the data
As early as 1996, enough research had been conducted on the cancer-fighting benefits of turmeric and curcumin that scientists were able to conduct a comprehensive review of these studies in the journal Nutritional Reviews. The authors noted that studies had shown that even at low doses, turmeric inhibits the accumulation of mutations in DNA. Turmeric tablets were also found to lower the concentration of mutagenic chemicals in the urine of smokers. These tablets also reduced DNA damage and helped repair precancerous lesions. In addition, the reviewers found that turmeric inhibits tumor formation in the skin, breast, mouth and gut.

[Read more: http://www.naturalnews.com/040177_turmeric_curcuminoids_cancer_cells.html]

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3 Studies Linking Beans with Cancer Prevention

Elizabeth Renter

Pulses, legumes, beans—they have far more in common than the production of gas within your digestive system. They are both rich sources of protein and fiber, and contain valuable antioxidants. Bean EaterIt’s these characteristics that are tied to the cancer-preventing properties of the foods and that should motivate you to add more to your diet. Numerous studies have linked beans and legumes with cancer prevention.
How Beans Fight Cancer

Scientists with University College London found that beans actually contain an anti-cancer compound that blocks an enzyme involved in tumor growth. As BBC reported when the study first came out, scientists had been researching cancer treatment options that targeted the enzyme phosphoinositide 3-kinase directly but had difficulty until they found the natural compound in beans to do the work for them. Not only did the compound known as inositol pentakisphosphate block tumor growth, it enhanced other treatment options.

[Read More: Source]

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Vaccinated Sheep Contract Chronic Neurological Syndrome

Bluetongue can be a deadly disease of sheep. The standard approach to an outbreak is vaccination, vaccination, & more vaccination. A new study shows that these vaccines cause an autoimmune neurological disorder called ASIA—the same that vaccines can induce in humans. This study of Spanish sheep provides a frightening look into its frequency and severity. What does it mean in humans?

by Heidi Stevenson

The powers-that-be refuse to do studies comparing the health of vaccinated against unvaccinated children. However, Spanish animal pathology researcher, Lluís Luján, was concerned with serious health problems in sheep following mass vaccination to combat bluetongue, a viral disease spread by insects. So, a study was done to compare vaccinated versus unvaccinated sheep. The results should concern everyone.

Vaccinated Sheep
Though the percentages of affected sheep varied widely, as many as 100% of some flocks were devastated by the vaccine-induced disease called autoimmune/inflammatory syndrome induced by adjuvants (ASIA).
ASIA in Sheep

Researchers of the study, published in the journal Immunology Research, describe a syndrome that has an acute phase in only about one-half of one percent of sheep, from which most recover. However, a chronic phase develops later, and that is devasting, both in numbers and severity of illness. The economic impact is enormous. They describe it like this:

The chronic phase of the ovine ASIA syndrome is a more frequent event in our local conditions of ovine production and causes a neurological and cachectic process that has no parallel in ovine pathology, and it is a serious but unexplained concern for farmers and veterinarians. The chronic phase does not necessarily follow an acute episode, and it is triggered by the combination of multiple alum adjuvant containing inoculations over the years and external stimuli.

Severity is generally related to stress. Conditions like cold weather, poor nutrition, and high levels of milk production result in significantly worse disease.

Frequency of chronic ASIA is about 50-70% of flocks, and up to 100% of the sheep within a flock. The syndrome runs through phases. It starts with “an excitatory period where affected animals show constant movement, abnormal behavior, restlessness and compulsive wool biting, resulting in animals with a very poor wool coat, a diffuse redness of the skin and thinning of the affected sheep.” During this time, the sheep exhibit a normal appetite or even an excessive one. However, this phase ends dramatically with sudden weakness, head tilting to one side, muscle tremors, and weight loss that moves toward cachexia.

In the terminal phase, the animals suffer from lack of response to stimuli, ataxia, and tetraplegia. They then fall into a stupor or coma, and die. They’re also known to have spontaneous abortions. They suffer from lesions of fat deposits, serous fat atrophy, ascites, hydrothorax, hydropericardium, and atrophy of skeletal muscles. Peripheral nerves become thickened in most animals. This can include primary nerves, like the sciatic, also.

[Read more: http://gaia-health.com/gaia-blog/2013-05-01/up-to-100-vaccinated-sheep-contract-chronic-neurological-syndrome-study/]

Posted by postmaster in Health News