Natural Health Articles on Dr. Mercola’s Members Only Blog

How Airplane Cabin Air Can Get You Sick

2010-03-12T07:00:59Z

Although Boeing's NEW 787 's will be made so this doesn't happen but, they admit that yes, PASSENGERS IN EVERY OTHER PLANE CAN GET OIL MISTS DURING FLIGHTS WHICH HAVE OIL GO INTO passenger's LUNGS AND BRAINS and result ultimately in DEATH.

Watch Video to Discover Why Fructose is a Poison

2010-03-12T07:00:59Z

Dr. Robert H. Lustig explores the damage caused by sugary foods. He argues that fructose is one of the cornerstones of the obesity epidemic through its effects on insulin.

Google Launches New Way to Find Bicycling Trails

2010-03-12T07:00:59Z

There's nothing worse for a bicyclist than finding yourself a mile in to a two-mile stretch of shoulder-less, busy, highway-speed traffic with no alternative route. So Google has added bicycling directions, lanes and routes to Google Maps.

The new feature also includes a "Bicycling Layer", which shows bike paths and bike-friendly streets with or without lanes:

Dark green indicates a dedicated bike-only trail;
Light green indicates a dedicated bike lane along a road;
Dashed green indicates roads that are designated as preferred for bicycling, but without dedicated lanes

According to Google, it has also taken steps to avoid uphill and long downhill routes, busy roads and even busy intersections.

Obese 3-Year-Olds Show Early Warning Signs for Future Heart Disease

2010-03-12T07:00:59Z

A study has found that obese children as young as 3 years old have elevated levels of C-reactive protein, a marker of inflammation that is considered an early warning sign for possible future heart disease.

In addition, the study found elevated levels of two other inflammatory markers -- the ratio of ferritin/transferrin saturation (F/T) and the absolute neutrophil count (ANC). Elevated F/T levels started at age 6 and elevated ANC levels were found starting at age 9.

Their analysis included data from more than 16,000 children, who were grouped into four categories based on their body mass index (BMI). Among very obese children ages 3-5, more than 40 percent had elevated CRP.

FDA Requests Meeting With Activists Exposing Gardasil Adverse Reactions

2010-03-12T07:00:59Z

Six women are coming forward to present their research, documents and findings involving the controversial vaccine Gardasil to the FDA:

Karen Maynor, mother of the late Megan Hild
Rosemary Mathis, whose daughter Lauren was adversely injured
Freda Birrell, political activist and lobbyist
Leslie Carol Botha, broadcast journalist
Cynthia Janak, research analyst
Janny Stokvis, research analyst

Calling themselves ‘Little Women with Big Voices’, they have been formally invited by the FDA to present their information. The women are making the presentation on behalf of the parents whose daughters have died or have been injured by the HPV vaccines. What they have uncovered does not make easy reading.

Over 17,500 adverse reactions and 64 deaths have been reported for Gardasil. Reports of deaths and injuries are now coming in from the United States, New Zealand, Australia, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain and India.

Does Fighting Obesity Also Mean Fighting Corporations?

2010-03-12T07:00:59Z

Corporations go to a lot of trouble to neutralize potential critics. Co-optation is the winning over or neutralization of opponents by bringing them into the fold. It works well.

One example is the new partnership between Weight Watchers and McDonald’s. McDonald’s New Zealand makes three meals that meet criteria for 6 Weight Watchers’ points. Will Weight Watchers New Zealand suggest that its members cut down on fast food? Not likely.

Meanwhile, Yale Medical School proudly announces that PepsiCo has agreed to fund a new fellowship. This fellowship, which creates a new position in the MD-PhD program, is for doctoral work in nutrition science. If you suspect that recipients of this fellowship are unlikely to study the effects of food marketing on obesity or the effects of fructose on metabolism, you’re not alone.

If you want to do something to prevent childhood and adult obesity, you are working against the economic interests of corporations that profit from kids eating too much food or watching too much television. And you must take great care to hold on to your independence.

Central Figure in Vaccine Cover-Up Absconds With $2 Million

2010-03-12T07:00:59Z

Dr. Poul Thorsen, a central figure behind the Center for Disease Control's (CDC) claims disputing the link between vaccines and autism and other neurological disorders has disappeared after officials discovered massive fraud involving the theft of millions in taxpayer dollars.

Thorsen was a leading member of a Danish research group that wrote several key studies supporting CDC's claims that the MMR vaccine and mercury-laden vaccines were safe for children. One of his studies has long been criticized as fraudulent, since it failed to disclose that the increase was an artifact of new mandates requiring, for the first time, that autism cases be reported on the national registry.

Despite this obvious chicanery, CDC has long touted the study as the principal proof that mercury-laced vaccines are safe for infants and young children. The mainstream media has relied on this study as the basis for its public assurances that it is safe to inject young children with mercury -- a potent neurotoxin -- at concentrations hundreds of times over the U.S. safety limits.

Stomach Bug Tied to Irritable Bowels

2010-03-12T07:00:59Z

A serious bout with a stomach bug can raise a child's risk of having irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) later on, new research shows.

People with IBS often have stomach pain, bloating, gas and altered bowel habits such as diarrhea and constipation. The root cause of the condition isn't known.

Among children who were sickened during an outbreak of bacterial gastroenteritis, around 10 percent reported IBS symptoms eight years later, compared to only about 2 percent of those who hadn't gotten sick. This meant the outbreak victims were nearly five times as likely to have IBS.

Scientists Can Read Your Mind with a Brain Scan

2010-03-12T07:00:59Z

By scanning your brain, scientists can tell what memory you are recalling.

To see if they could discern complex information during scans, scientists more recently had 10 volunteers watch three films, each seven-seconds long and featuring a different actress in a fairly similar everyday scenario on a typical urban street. Participants watched the films 15 times.

The researchers scanned the participants' brains using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while the participants were asked to recall the films. Using a computer algorithm, the researchers could accurately predict which film volunteers were recalling as they had their brains scanned.

Obesity Linked to Poor Colon Cancer Prognosis

2010-03-12T07:00:59Z

Obese patients with colon cancer are at greater risk for death or recurrent disease, according to a report.

There are approximately 150,000 new cases of colon cancer diagnosed each year in the United States, and colon cancer tends to affect men and women equally. Remarkably though, many patients remain unaware of the risk associated between obesity and cancer. Results of a recent survey from the American Institute for Cancer Research showed that only 51 percent of the participants knew about the link between obesity and cancer, compared with 94 percent who were aware of the increased cancer risk associated with tobacco use.

In the study, obesity was significantly linked with poorer overall survival and was independent of other variables analyzed. The prognostic impact was stronger in men than in women, and men in the highest body mass index category for obesity had a 35 percent increased risk of death.

Healthier Men Want More Sex for More Years

2010-03-11T07:00:59Z

According to a new study, healthier men, no matter their age, have better sex more frequently and desire it more often than healthier women -- and a healthier sex life could mean a longer life.

The paper's findings have wide implication for attitudes toward public health and how patients respond to doctors' advice. If a doctor tells a man diagnosed with diabetes or high blood pressure that losing weight could mean five extra years of sex life, that could be a powerful incentive.

Women outlive men by an average of five to six years and without a partner, women are less likely to engage in sex. Also, while there is a cultural acceptance for drugs such as Viagra for men, this is not necessarily the case for women.

Road Traffic Accidents are a Major Killer

2010-03-11T07:00:59Z

The World Health Organization global status report on road safety makes for shocking reading. Over 3000 people die on the world's roads every day -- and over 90 percent of the deaths occur in low-income and middle-income countries, which have only 48 percent of the world's registered vehicles.

Tens of millions of people are injured or disabled every year. Nearly 1.3 million people are killed each year. If trends continue unabated, deaths will rise to an estimated 2.4 million a year by 2030.

The report is the first broad assessment of the road safety situation in 178 countries, using data drawn from a standardized survey.

Why People are More Likely to Steal When Its Dark Out

2010-03-11T07:00:59Z

There has always been a correlation between how ethically people behave and how brightly their surroundings are lit; most evil deeds are done under cover of darkness.

A new study suggest that this is not only because of the threat of discovery. Researchers recruited 84 students and divided them between a brightly lit room with 10 fluorescent bulbs burning and a dimmer room with only four bulbs. The subjects were each given a brown envelope with $10 in singles and coins as well as an empty white envelope.

They were all then told they had five minutes to complete a simple mathematical task, looking for pairs of numbers that added up to 10 in a grid of three-digit numbers. They could keep 50 cents for every pair they found and were to put the leftover money in the brown envelope.

When the researchers collected the envelopes and reviewed the results at the end of the five-minute period, what they found was striking. Consistently, the people in the dimmer room reported finding more matches than those in the bright room. When their work was checked, it turned out that cheating was rife in the dim room. The darkness seemed to confer what the researchers called a "false sense of concealment." Two other experiments by the same researchers had similar results.

Soft Drinks Firms Claim Sugary Sodas Cut in Schools

2010-03-11T07:00:59Z

The U.S. soft drinks industry says it has dramatically cut the number of high-calorie soft drinks sold in schools as part of a drive to tackle obesity. The American Beverage Association said shipments of full-calorie drinks to schools were down 95 percent.

Nearly one in three children and teenagers in the U.S. are overweight or obese, and health experts say sugary drinks are part of the problem. Several U.S. states and cities are considering taxing soft drinks.

Under voluntary guidelines in place since 2006, full-calorie soft drinks were removed from school canteens and vending machines. However, other drinks, including diet sodas, are being promoted in their place.

Tracking Mercury’s Fingerprint in Fish

2010-03-11T07:00:59Z

Scientists know that the primary way methylmercury affects people is through consumption of fish and shellfish. But how does the toxic substance get into species that live in the open ocean?

A new study uses chemical signatures of nitrogen, carbon, and mercury to answer those questions. The work opens the door for new ways of tracking sources of mercury poisoning in people.

Researchers wanted to know if tuna and other open-ocean fish pick up methylmercury by eating contaminated fish that live closer to shore. They studied 11 species of fish, including red snapper, speckled trout, Spanish mackerel, and two species of tuna.

The found that coastal fish and open-ocean fish are feeding from two separate food webs. The finding runs counter to the long-held view that the open ocean is too oxygen-rich to support methylation -- but it is consistent with recent studies suggesting more methylation may be occurring in that environment than was previously thought.