Shocking cancer treatment may also yield weapon A technique thought to be a promising cancer treatment

A technique thought to be a promising cancer treatment is also being investigated as the basis for a Taser-like weapon that stuns for longer, New Scientist has learned.

The technology involves short, nanosecond-long pulses of extreme voltage.

Microsecond pulses have been used for years to punch temporary holes in cell membranes, to shove genes or drugs into cells. But the nanosecond pulses have similar effects on individual organelles inside a cell, such as the nucleus.

For reasons as yet unknown, this can cause a cell to destroy itself in a process known as apoptosis, something being investigated as a cancer treatment. But the nanosecond pulses are also being researched as a way to temporarily disable human muscles.


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Depression pill OK'd for kids but probe goes on

NEW YORK - Just weeks after prosecutors accused Forest Laboratories Inc. of illegally marketing its anti-depressants Celexa and Lexapro to children and paying pediatricians kickbacks, U.S. health regulators have approved Lexapro for depression in kids.

Forest said Lexapro, its biggest product with annual sales of more than $2 billion, was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat major depressive disorder in adolescents aged 12 to 17 and as a maintenance therapy, meaning to maintain control of symptoms. It is already approved for adults.

But federal prosecutors have said that Lexapro and Celexa have long been used improperly to treat depression in children.


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Foodies Celebrate White House Veggie Garden

Bringing fresh food from the farm to the plate for a healthy dinner isn't easy at the end of a busy day, but the Obama family has a plan

Foodies and environmentalists are thrilled about the Obamas' plans to break ground today on a new White House vegetable garden in their yard.

"A garden like this is one of those small gestures that is powerfully symbolic," Michael Pollan, author of "Omnivores Dilemma" and vocal advocate for agricultural reform, told ABC News.


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Sugar Is Back on Food Labels, This Time as a Selling Point Sugar, the nutritional pariah that dentists and dietitians have long reviled, is enjoying a


Sugar, the nutritional pariah that dentists and dietitians have long reviled, is enjoying a second act, dressed up as a natural, healthful ingredient.

From the tomato sauce on a Pizza Hut pie called “The Natural,” to the just-released soda Pepsi Natural, some of the biggest players in the American food business have started, in the last few months, replacing high-fructose corn syrup with old-fashioned sugar.

ConAgra uses only sugar or honey in its new Healthy Choice All Natural frozen entrees. Kraft Foods recently removed the corn sweetener from its salad dressings, and is working on its Lunchables line of portable meals and snacks.

The turnaround comes after three decades during which high-fructose corn syrup had been gaining on sugar in the American diet. Consumption of the two finally drew even in 2003, according to the Department of Agriculture. Recently, though, the trend has reversed. Per capita, American adults ate about 44 pounds of sugar in 2007, compared with about 40 pounds of high-fructose corn syrup.

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Old age begins at 27: Scientists reveal new research into ageing

Beyonce Knowles

Getting old already? 27-year-old singer Beyonce Knowles is already past her mental peak according to new research

Old age is often blamed for causing us to misplace car keys, forget a word or lose our train of thought.

But new research shows that many well-known effects of ageing may start decades before our twilight years.

According to scientists, our mental abilities begin to decline from the age of 27 after reaching a peak at 22.

The researchers studied 2,000 men and women aged 18 to 60 over seven years. The people involved – who were mostly in good health and well-educated – had to solve visual puzzles, recall words and story details and spot patterns in letters and symbols.

Similar tests are often used to diagnose mental disabilities and declines, including dementia.

The research at the University of Virginia, reported in the academic journal Neurobiology Of Aging, found that in nine out of 12 tests the average age at which the top performance was achieved was 22.

The first age at which performance was significantly lower than the peak scores was 27 – for three tests of reasoning, speed of thought and spatial visualisation. Memory was shown to decline from the average age of 37. In the other tests, poorer results were shown by the age of 42.

Professor Timothy Salthouse said the results suggested that therapies designed to prevent or reverse age-related conditions may need to start earlier, long before people become pensioners.


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Chocolate should be taxed to control obesity epidemic, doctors are told

More Big Brother......

Dr David Walker said chocolate used to be a treat, but has become a harmful addiction, causing weight problems, diabetes, high blood pressure and back pain.

Consumers are often eating more than half a day's worth of calories when they polish off a bag of chocolates in front of the television, he claimed.


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Bite From Brown Recluse Spider Helps Paraplegic to Walk for First Time in 20 Years !!!


Bite From Brown Recluse Spider Helps Paraplegic to Walk for First Time in 20 Years 03-14-2009 7:42 am - KOVR-TV
Dateline: Manteca, CA

"When they zapped my legs, I felt the current, I was like 'whoa' and I yelled."

Mom Was Right: Eat Your Broccoli

Study finds substance in sprouts cuts inflammation linked to asthma, heart disease

THURSDAY, March 5 (HealthDay News) -- A compound found in broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables may help prevent respiratory inflammation linked to diseases such as asthma, allergic rhinitis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, according to a University of California, Los Angeles, study.

The compound sulforaphane stimulates increased production of antioxidant enzymes in the airway that protect against the large amounts of tissue-damaging free radicals humans breathe in every day in polluted air, pollen, diesel exhaust and tobacco smoke. This tissue damage can lead to inflammation.

The study included 65 people who received varying doses of either broccoli or alfalfa sprout preparations for three days. Broccoli sprouts are the richest natural source of sulforaphane, while alfalfa sprouts don't contain the compound.

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