Common Paint-Stripping Chemical Linked to at Least 13 Deaths

Anthony Gucciardi
Activist Post

Common paint-stripping products containing a little-known chemical known as methylene chloride could not only be posing serious risks to the health of home improvement workers, but home owners and the general public as a whole.

Now linked to at least 13 deaths, the true negative effects of these methylene chloride-containing products are only now fully coming to light thanks to an investigation by researchers at Michigan State University.

Launched in 2011, the scientists conducting the research found that at least 13 deaths have occurred from the usage of paint-stripping products containing methylene chloride since the year 2000. Widely used as a degreaser and paint stripper in over-the-counter products that any consumer can take home, methylene chloride is a highly toxic chemical. Colorless and highly volatile, the chemical inhabits many home improvement products sold at popular “DIY” store chains.

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Hypoglycemia Affects Productivity at Work

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A survey of type 1 and type 2 diabetes patients in the United States, United Kingdom, France, and Germany indicates that more than one in every five have arrived late at work or not shown up at all because of a hypoglycemic episode the night before.

The survey, sponsored by Denmark-based drug maker Novo Nordisk, asked 1,404 people aged 18 and older if hypoglycemic incidents affect their productivity at work. About 22.7 percent said that episodes the night before had forced them to arrive late at work or miss an entire day. An almost equal percentage-18.3 percent--said that at-work hypoglycemic episodes have forced them to leave work early.

In a hypoglycemic episode, blood sugar plummets to dangerously low levels, bringing on trembling, sweating, confusion, and rapid pulse. If left untreated, the patient can slip into a coma. Treatment calls for a rapid infusion of glucose to bring blood sugar levels back up. Such incidents can be exhausting, causing patients to require observation and rest that can cut into their normal work day. Read more...

Diet Soda Tied to Heart Attack Risk

Diet soda may benefit the waistline, but a new study suggests that people who drink it every day have a heightened risk of heart attack and stroke.

The study, which followed almost 2,600 older adults for a decade, found that those who drank diet soda every day were 44 percent more likely than non-drinkers to suffer a heart attack or stroke.

The findings, reported in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, don't prove that the sugar-free drinks are actually to blame.

There may be other things about diet-soda lovers that explain the connection, researchers say.

"What we saw was an association," said lead researcher Hannah Gardener, of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. "These people may tend to have more unhealthy habits."

Read more: Study: Diet Soda Tied to Heart Attack Risk
Important: At Risk For A Heart Attack? Find Out Now.

The secret to long life? Starve yourself on alternate days to boost brain power and shed weight

Starving yourself can prolong your life

Starving yourself on alternate days can make you live longer, according to scientists.

A group of Americans have said that fasting on and off can boost brain power and help to lose weight at the same time.

The National Institutes for Aging said their research was based on giving animals the bare minimum of calories required to keep them alive and results showed they lived up to twice as long.

The diet has since been tested on humans and appears to protect the heart, circulatory system and brain against age-related diseases like Alzheimer's.

'Dietery energy restriction extends lifespan and protects the brain and cardiovascular system against age-related disease,' said Mark Mattson, head of the laboratory of neurosciences at the NIA and professor of neuroscience at John Hopkins University in Baltimore.

'We have found that dietary energy restriction, particularly when administered in intermittent bouts of major caloric restriction, such as alternative day fasting, activates cellular stress response pathways in neurones,' he said to the Sunday Times.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2103286/The-secret-long-life-Starve-alternate-days-boost-brain-power-shed-weight.html#ixzz1mqZLoCpI

Having a curry could help ward off dementia

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Tests on fruit flies found that those given curcumin, the key chemical in turmeric, lived 75 per cent longer.

The findings, published in the journal PLoS One, could help explain why rates of dementia are lower among the elderly in India than in their Western peers.

Alzheimer’s is linked to the build-up of protein in the brain called amyloid plaques damaging the wiring.

Curcumin did not dissolve the plaque, but accelerated the formation of nerve fibres by reducing the amount of their precursor forms, known as oligomers, from which they were formed.

Prof Per Hammarstrom, of Linkoping University in Sweden, said: “The results confirm our belief that it is the oligomers that are most harmful to the nerve cells.”

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Calm down dear, with a sip of water: Dehydration can alter mood and ability to think

People who feel like losing their temper might find a glass of water calms them down, researchers claim.

Mild dehydration can alter a person’s mood, energy level and ability to think clearly, according to studies at America’s University of Connecticut.

‘Even mild dehydration – 1.5 per cent loss in normal water volume in the body – that can occur in the course of our ordinary daily activities can degrade how we are feeling, especially for women, who are more susceptible to the adverse effects of low levels of dehydration,’ said Harris Lieberman, one of the studies’ co-authors.

Drink up: Mild dehydration can have an adverse effect on the mood especially in women

Tests showed that it didn’t matter if a person had just walked for 40 minutes on a treadmill or was sitting at rest, the adverse effects were the same.

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• How eating too much could double risk of memory loss

Lawrence Armstrong, one of the studies’ lead scientists, added: 'Our thirst sensation doesn’t really appear until we are one per cent or two per cent dehydrated.

By then dehydration is already setting in and starting to impact how our mind and body perform.

'Dehydration affects all people, and staying properly hydrated is just as important for those who work all day at a computer as it is for marathon runners, who can lose up to 8 percent of their body weight as water when they compete.'

Research: Test subjects who were dehydrated experienced more difficulty when performing mental tasks

Subjects were put through a series of tests measuring vigilance, concentration, reaction time, learning, memory, and reasoning.

Their results were then compared against those of individuals who were not dehydrated.

In young women, mild dehydration was found to cause headaches, fatigue, and difficulty concentrating.

Female subjects found tasks more difficult although they suffered no substantive reduction in cognitive ability.

Young men experienced some difficulty with mental tasks, particularly in the areas of vigilance and working memory and also experienced fatigue, tension, and anxiety.

Changes in mood and symptoms were 'substantially greater in females than in males, both at rest and during exercise'.

Experts recommend drinking two litres of water a day.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2103230/Calm-dear-sip-water-Dehydration-alter-mood-ability-think.html#ixzz1mqYvbwpe

A List of Vegetables High in Nitrates

Forward from The Plain Truth: This week we are going to be doing some stories on Sodium Nitrate and Nitrites, the ingredients in many of our foods that have come under fire from the health conscious and many people. We have a drive underway to stop consuming Nitrates and Nitrites in our diet. Are we really informed? Do you really know what Sodium Nitrate is? Is it a man made products, only a part of processed foods and cured meats? Have they been wrongfully accused of causing everything from headaches to high blood pressure. Just what are sodium Nitrates.


A List of Vegetables High in Nitrates
By Kent Ninomiya

Nitrates are created in vegetables when micro-organisms break down fertilizers and other nutrients in the soil. Nitrates occur naturally in vegetables in small amounts. Adding fertilizer to vegetables increases their nitrate levels. Michigan State University says the average American consumes 75 to 100mg of nitrates per day. About 80 to 90 percent of it comes from vegetables. According to Colorado State University, a diet too high in nitrates can lead to gastric problems. Selecting the right vegetables can help reduce your nitrate levels.

Radishes

According to the University of Missouri, radishes contain more nitrates than any other vegetable. Typical radishes that you buy at the grocery store contain approximately 0.4 to 1.5 percent nitrates. That is 1.8 to 6.8g of nitrates per pound of radishes. This is significantly more than the 0.1g of nitrates the typical American consumes each day.

Find about more about this. How about BEETS, LETTUCE and TURNIPS!

Read the rest of the list

List of Foods That Have Sodium Nitrate

Forward from The Plain Truth: This week we are going to be doing some stories on Sodium Nitrate and Nitrites, the ingredients in many of our foods that have come under fire from the health conscious and many people. We have a drive underway to stop consuming Nitrates and Nitrites in our diet. Are we really informed? Do you really know what Sodium Nitrate is? Is it a man made products, only a part of processed foods and cured meats? Have they been wrongfully accused of causing everything from headaches to high blood pressure. Just what are sodium Nitrates.

Facts About Sodium Nitrate

Nitrates and nitrites are chemical compounds commonly used in making cured meat products like bacon and hot dogs. A lot of ink has been spilled discussing the idea that nitrates and nitrites are bad for you, and food manufacturers have introduced all kinds of supposedly "nitrate-free" products to meet the resulting consumer demand.

But what you may not know is that not only are the fears over nitrates completely overblown, but these "nitrate-free" products can actually contain many times more nitrates than conventional products.

Not only that, but a truly nitrate-free hot dog would be much more likely to you sick than a conventional one.

Nitrates and Nitrites

One of the things that happens when sodium nitrate is used as a curing agent is that the sodium nitrate is converted to sodium nitrite. It's sodium nitrite that actually possesses the antimicrobial properties that make it a good preservative. Interestingly, the sodium nitrate that we consume through fruits, vegetables and grains is also converted to sodium nitrite by our digestive process. In other words, when we eat fruits, vegetables or grains, our bodies produce sodium nitrite.

As we have seen here in YOUR HEALTH TODAY, tobacco and smoking dangers have been way overblown over the years as an excuse to raise tax money, nothing more. It is a proven fact that those who smoke a cigar a day, or pipe smokers actually live longer than the average non-smoker. Diseases attributed to cigarettes have more to do with the paper rappers, the glues and the "fillers" than the tobacco itself. Smoking 4 packs a cigarettes a day will probably kill you. Smoking 3 cigarettes a day will probably ad 5 years to your life! And this comes from a non-smoker!

The “No Nitrites Added” Hoax

By Michael Ruhlman | Published: May 10, 2011

Trader Joe's "uncured" bacon/Photo by Donna Turner Ruhlman

During a recent phone call with the excellent Elise of simplyrecipes, Elise wished aloud that I would address the nitrite issue directly. “Trader Joe’s carries it! Go look. Is there one near you?”

Indeed there is, and indeed they sell at least two products pitching themselves as a “healthier” bacon because they don’t add sodium nitrite. This is as odious as those sugar laden granola bars trumpeting “No Fat!” on their label—food marketers preying on a confused consumer who has been taught to fear food because of harmful additives (such as the recent, apparently genuine, Red Dye 40 warnings).

Full disclosure if you don’t already know: I am a vocal bacon advocate, and one of my books, Charcuterie, relies on sodium nitrite and sodium nitrate for many of its recipes to cure foods such as bacon, ham and salami, so take all this with, um … no, I’m too pissed off to pun.

Please, if someone can tell me what is wrong with nitrates (in green vegetables) and nitrites (in curing salts and in our bodies, a powerful antimicrobial agent in our saliva, for instance), I invite them to do so here. In the 70’s there were studies finding that at high temps, they could form nitrosamines, cancer causing compounds. I don’t disagree, but burnt things containing nitrite are bitter and unpleasant so we’re not likely to crave them in harmful quatities.

Aspirin is not bad for you, right? Helps with a morning head and achy joints. It’s even taken for its heart benefits. But eat enough of it and it’s toxic.

Read the rest here>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Aluminum and Vaccines — A Brain-Destroying Duo, Says Top Doc

Aluminum has been added to vaccines for about 90 years in the belief it spurs the body to produce disease-fighting antibodies. But aluminum is toxic, and many common vaccines, including pneumonia, tetanus, and HPV, contain large doses. The result is children are getting amounts that are much higher than those considered safe by regulatory agencies, and adults are adding to the lifetime cumulative amounts of aluminum in their bodies. These megadoses can have a devastating effect on the brain, says Newsmax Health expert Dr. Russell Blaylock, causing everything from brain damage in children to Alzheimer's in adults.

"Aluminum is toxic," Dr. Blaylock tells Newsmax Health. "Compelling research has demonstrated that aluminum is an accumulative neurotoxin, even in small concentrations. It has a tendency to concentrate in the hippocampus, an area of the brain vital to crucial functions including learning, memory, and behavior.

"Recent articles on aluminum have shown that aluminum in vaccines is producing severe problems in the brains of developing children," he says. "The evidence is overwhelming, but many officials and doctors ignore it. They refuse to look at the evidence because it scares them — it's powerful evidence.

"Of the 36 vaccines children get, 18 of them contain aluminum," says Dr. Blaylock. "One article showed that children get doses 46 times higher than those considered safe by government agencies."

Mainstream medicine promotes vaccines to protect children from being crippled or dying from childhood diseases, says Dr. Blaylock. "But that's very rare," he says. "And you're talking about giving perfectly healthy children a vaccine that will cause their brains to develop abnormally, and they will essentially be neurologically ruined for the rest of their lives.

"How can you justify destroying perfectly normal children when the diseases you are fighting are far less common than the complications from the vaccine itself?" he asks.

"It doesn't make sense," he says. "You don't go out and damage the brains of millions of children because 200 children might die from a particular infection." In addition to neurological damage, vaccines suppress the immune system, says Blaylock.

Adults, who are being encouraged to have a number of vaccines that contain aluminum,

Read more: Aluminum and Vaccines — A Brain-Destroying Duo, Says Top Doc
Important: At Risk For A Heart Attack? Find Out Now.

Hot new tip... eating a curry once (or twice) a week could stave off dementia, say scientists

Few of us need too much encouragement when it comes to heading off to the curry house.

But scientists have come up with one of the best excuses ever: a spicy ingredient in curry could be an effective treatment for Alzheimer's disease.

Tests on fruit flies with a nervous disorder similar to the neurodegenerative illness found those given curcumin - the key chemical in turmeric used in everything from mild Kormas to the hottest Vindaloos - lived 75 per cent longer.

Brain food: Curcumin, an active ingredient found in turmeric, has been linked with a range of potential health benefits. Now scientists say it can combat dementia

Alzheimer's is linked to the build up of knots of protein in the brain called amyloid plaques, damaging the wiring in brain cells.

The findings, published in the journal PLoS One, could help explain why rates of dementia are much lower among the elderly in India than in their Western peers.

Previous research has found Alzheimer's affects just one per cent of people over the age of 65 living in some Indian villages.

Drugs with similar properties to curcumin could potentially be used as preventative treatments.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2101585/Dementia-Eating-curry-twice-week-stave-symptoms.html#ixzz1mVTkODg1