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Show of The Money April 6 2013

 

Walmart’s Death Grip On Groceries Is Making Life Worse For Millions Of People

 

More Parents Say They Won't Vaccinate Daughters Against HPV

Organic Labels Bias Consumers Perceptions Through the 'Health Halo Effect

Water Collecting and Extracting

Blocking EMF’s

 

Sustainable Freedom- Surging Opposition to Agenda 21, “Sustainable Development

 

You Don't 'Own' Your Own Genes: Researchers Raise Alarm About Loss of Individual                                                                                                                                                    'Genomic Liberty' Due to Gene Patents

One Patented Sequence Matched More Than 91 Percent of Human Genes

 

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Walmart’s Death Grip On Groceries Is Making Life Worse For Millions Of People (Hard Times USA)

Alternet

 This article was published in partnership with the Institute for Local Self-Reliance.

Walmart's growing control of our food system has been to intensify the rural and urban poverty that drives unhealthy food choices---In Springfield -This Midwestern city provides a chilling look at where Walmart wants to take our food system.----Springfield is one of nearly 40 metro areas where Walmart now captures about half or more of consumer spending on groceries, according to Metro Market Studies. Springfield area residents spend just over $1 billion on groceries each year, and one of every two of those dollars flows into a Walmart cash register. The chain has 20 stores in the area and shows no signs of slowing its growth. Its latest proposal, a store just south of the city's downtown, has provoked widespread protest. Opponents say Walmart already has an overbearing presence in the region and argue that this new store would undermine nearby grocery stores, including a 63-year-old family-owned business which still provides delivery for its elderly customers. A few days before the First Lady's visit, the City Council voted 5-4 to approve what will be Walmart's 21st store in the community[F1] .---As Springfield goes, so goes the rest of the country, if Walmart has its way. Nationally, the retailer's share of the grocery market now stands at 25 percent. That's up from 4 percent just 16 years ago. Walmart's tightening grip on the food system is unprecedented in U.S. history. Even A&P — often referred to as the Walmart of its day — accounted for only about 12 percent of grocery sales at its height in the 1940s. Its market share was kept in check in part by the federal government, which won an antitrust case against A&P in 1946. The contrast to today's casual acceptance of Walmart's market power could not be more stark.[F2] ---Having gained more say over our food supply than Monsanto, Kraft, or Tyson, Walmart has been working overtime to present itself as a benevolent king. It has upped its donations to food pantries, reduced sodium and sugars in some of its store-brand products, and recast its relentless expansion as a solution to "food deserts." In 2011, it pledged to build 275-300 stores "in or near" low-income communities lacking grocery stores.[F3]  The Springfield store Obama visited is one of 86 such stores Walmart has since opened. Situated half a mile from the southwestern corner of a census tract identified as underserved by the USDA, the store qualifies as "near" a food desert. Other grocery stores are likewise perched on the edge of this tract. Although Walmart has made food deserts the vanguard of its PR strategy in urban areas, most of the stores the chain has built or proposed in cities like Chicago and Washington D.C. are in fact just blocks from established supermarkets, many unionized or locally owned. As it pushes into cities, Walmart's primary aim is not to fill gaps but to grab market share.----***

The real effect of Walmart's takeover of our food system has been to intensify the rural and urban poverty that drives unhealthy food choices. Poverty has a strong negative effect on diet, regardless of whether there is a grocery store in the neighborhood or not, a major 15-year study published in 2011 in the Archives of Internal Medicine found. Access to fresh food cannot change the bottom-line reality that cheap, calorie-dense processed foods and fast food are financially logical choices for far too many American households. And their numbers are growing right alongside Walmart. Like Midas in reverse, Walmart extracts wealth and pushes down incomes in every community it touches, from the rural areas that produce food for its shelves to the neighborhoods that host its stores.----Walmart signed a deal with Monsanto last year to sell their unlabeled GMO corn that they want you to eat. Numerous studies show GMO corn is extremely hazardous to our health.It's all about money ,they don't care if you go sterile or worse.---- Walmart has made it harder for farmers and food workers to earn a living. Its rapid rise as a grocer triggered a wave of mergers among food companies, which, by combining forces, hoped to become big enough to supply Walmart without getting crushed in the process. Today, food processing is more concentrated than ever.  Four meatpackers slaughter 85 percent of the nation's beef.  One dairy company handles 40 percent of our milk, including 70 percent of the milk produced in New England.  With fewer buyers, farmers are struggling to get a fair price. Between 1995 and 2009, farmers saw their share of each consumer dollar spent on beef fall from 59 to 42 cents [7]. Their cut of the consumer milk dollar likewise fell from 44 to 36 cents.  For pork, it fell from 45 to 25 cents and, for apples, from 29 to 19 cents.  ----Onto this grim reality, Walmart has grafted a much-publicized initiative to sell more locally grown fruits and vegetables.  Clambering aboard the "buy local" trend undoubtedly helps Walmart's marketing, but, as Missouri-based National Public Radio journalist Abbie Fentress Swanson reported [8] in February, "there's little evidence of small farmers benefiting, at least in the Midwest."  Walmart, which defines "local" as grown in the same state, has increased its sales of local produce mainly by relying on large industrial growers. Small farmers, meanwhile, have fewer opportunities to reach consumers, as independent grocers and smaller chains shrink and disappear. --- Food production workers are being squeezed too. The average slaughterhouse wage has fallen 9 percent since 1999.  Forced unpaid labor at food processing plants is on the rise.  Last year, a Louisiana seafood plant that supplies Walmart was convicted of forcing employees to work in unsafe conditions for less than minimum wage. Some workers reported peeling and boiling crawfish in shifts that spanned 24 hours. ---The tragic irony is that many food-producing regions, with their local economies dismantled and poverty on the rise, are now themselves lacking grocery stores. The USDA has designated large swaths of the farm belt [9], including many agricultural areas near Springfield, as food deserts. --One might imagine that squeezing farmers and food workers would yield lower prices for consumers.  But that hasn't been the case.  Grocery prices have been rising.  There are multiple reasons for this, but corporate concentration is at least partly to blame.  For most foods, the spread between what consumers pay and how much farmers receive has been widening.  Food processors and big retailers are pocketing the difference.  Even as Walmart touts lower prices than its competitors, the company's reorganization of our food system has had the effect of raising grocery prices overall. --As Walmart stores multiply, fewer families can afford to eat well.[F4]   The company claims it stores bring economic development and employment, but the empirical evidence indicates otherwise.  A study [10] published in 2008 in the Journal of Urban Economics examined about 3,000 Walmart store openings nationally and found that each store caused a net decline of about 150 jobs (as competing retailers downsized and closed) and lowered total wages paid to retail workers.  Other research [11] by the economic consulting firm Civic Economics has found that, when locally owned businesses are replaced by big-box stores, dollars that once circulated in the community, supporting other businesses and jobs, instead leak out.  These shifts may explain the findings of another study [12], published in Social Science Quarterly in 2006, which cut straight to the bottom line: neighborhoods where Walmart opens end up with higher poverty rates and more food-stamp usage than places where the retailer does not expand[F5] --This year, Walmart plans to open between 220 and 240 stores in the U.S., as it marches steadily on in its quest to further control the grocery market.  Policymakers at every level, from city councilors to federal antitrust regulators, should be standing in its way.  Very few are.  Growing numbers of people, though, are drawing the line, from the Walmart employees who have led a string of remarkable strikes against the company, to the coalition of small business, labor, and community groups that recently forced Walmart to step back [13] from its plans to unroll stores across New York City. --Back in Springfield, as Michelle Obama was delivering her remarks, framed by a seductive backdrop of oranges and lemons, a citizens group called Stand Up to Walmart [14] was also at work, launching a referendum drive to overturn the City Council's vote and block Walmart from gaining any more ground in the city. 

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More Parents Say They Won't Vaccinate Daughters Against HPV

Mar. 18, 2013 — A rising percentage of parents say they won't have their teen daughters vaccinated to protect against the human papilloma virus, even though physicians are increasingly recommending adolescent vaccinations, a study by Mayo Clinic and others shows. More than 2 in 5 parents surveyed believe the HPV vaccine is unnecessary, and a growing number worry about potential side effects, researchers found. The findings are published in the new issue of the journal Pediatrics.---In all, researchers looked at three vaccines routinely recommended for U.S. teens: a vaccine to protect against the sexually transmitted HPV; Tdap, for tetanus, diphtheria and acellular pertussis; and the meningococcal conjugate vaccine, or MCV4 vaccine. While the up-to-date immunization rates rose for all three vaccines, the proportion of girls fully immunized against HPV (three doses over six months) was substantially lower than the proportion for the other two vaccines.--Five years ago, 40 percent of parents surveyed said they wouldn't vaccinate their girls against HPV. In 2009, that rose to 41 percent, and in 2010, to 44 percent.--"That's the opposite direction that rate should be going," says senior researcher Robert Jacobson, M.D., a pediatrician with the Mayo Clinic Children's Center.--Parents concerned about HPV vaccine safety rose from 5 percent in 2008 to 16 percent in 2010, while less than 1 percent worried about the safety of the Tdap and MCV4 vaccines, the study found.---During the same years, more and more studies showed how safe and effective the HPV vaccine is in this age group, says Dr. Jacobson, who has taken part in the safety review committees for two such studies. The vaccine prevents cervical cancer and other genital cancers by preventing the HPV infections that lead to those cancers, he says.[F6] --Researchers analyzed vaccination data for teens ages 13 to 17 in the 2008-10 National Immunization Survey of Teens. They found that as of 2010, 8 of 10 teens had the Tdap vaccine and roughly 63 percent had the MCV4 vaccine. Only about one-third of girls were immunized against HPV.--The HPV vaccination rate did rise; it was only 16 percent in 2008. But at the same time, more parents reported that they did not intend to have their daughters vaccinated for HPV. Among the reasons they gave: the vaccine was not recommended; lack of knowledge; it is unnecessary; the vaccine is inappropriate for the child's age; worry about safety/side effects; and the child isn't sexually active.--According to parents surveyed, more clinicians are recommending the HPV vaccine, but still, they are advising it only about half the time. The facts show the vaccine is necessary, Dr. Jacobson says.-----"HPV causes essentially 100 percent of cervical cancer and 50 percent of all Americans get infected at least once with HPV. It's a silent infection. You cannot tell when you've been exposed or when you have it," he says. "While most HPV infections clear, a percentage linger and start the process of cancerous changes. The HPV vaccine is an anti-cancer vaccine."[F7] Dr. Jacobson says the vaccine is more effective in younger adolescents than older teens. Mayo Clinic routinely starts the series at age 9.---"The vaccine works better the younger the child is, and it doesn't work after the child is grown up and is exposed to the virus, so our message should be: 'Give this vaccine now to your child while your child is young and responsive to it,'[F8] " says Dr. Jacobson, medical director of the Employee and Community Health Immunization Program at Mayo Clinic.

Study co-authors include Paul Darden, M.D., David Thompson, Ph.D., Jessica Hale, and Monique Naifeh, M.D., M.P.H., University of Oklahoma; and James Roberts, M.D., M.P.H., and Charlene Pope, Medical University of South Carolina.--Story Source-The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Mayo Clinic. --Journal Reference-Paul M. Darden, David M. Thompson, James R. Roberts, Jessica J. Hale, Charlene Pope, Monique Naifeh, and Robert M. Jacobson. Reasons for Not Vaccinating Adolescents: National Immunization Survey of Teens, 2008–2010. Pediatrics, March 18, 2013 DOI: 10.1542/peds.2012-2384

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Organic Labels Bias Consumers Perceptions Through the 'Health Halo Effect

Apr. 1, 2013 The word "organic" can mean many things to consumers. Even so, the power of an organic label can be very strong: studies have shown that this simple label can lead us to think that a food is healthier,[F9]  through what is known as the 'health halo effect'. But can this bias go further?--A study by Cornell University's Food and Brand Lab researchers Wan-chen Jenny Lee, Mitsuru Shimizu, Kevin M. Kniffin and Brian Wansink set out to answer this question. Their study shows that an organic label can influence much more than health views: perceptions of taste, calories and value can be significantly altered when a food is labeled "organic." Certain people also appear to be more susceptible to this 'health halo' effect than others…115 people were recruited from a local shopping mall in Ithaca, New York to participate in this study. Participants were asked to evaluate 3 pairs of products -- 2 yogurts, 2 cookies and 2 potato chip portions[F10] . One item from each food pair was labeled "organic," while the other was labeled "regular." The trick to this study was: all of the product pairs were organic and identical! Participants were asked to rate the taste and caloric content of each item, and how much they would be willing to pay for the items. A questionnaire also inquired about their environmental and shopping habits.[F11] --Even though these foods were all the same, the "organic" label greatly influenced people's perceptions. The cookies and yogurt were estimated to have significantly fewer calories when labeled "organic" and people were willing to pay up to 23.4% more for them. The nutritional aspects of these foods were also greatly biased by the health halo effect. The "organic" cookies and yogurt were said to taste 'lower in fat' than the "regular" variety, and the "organic" cookies and chips were thought to be more nutritious![F12]  The label even tricked people's taste buds: when perceived as "organic," chips seemed more appetizing and yogurt was judged to be more flavorful. "Regular" cookies were reported to taste better--possibly because people often believe healthy foods are not tasty. All of these foods were exactly the same, but a simple organic label made all the difference!---Who is less susceptible? This study found that people who regularly read nutrition labels, those who regularly buy organic food, and those who exhibit pro-environmental behaviors (such as recycling or hiking) are less susceptible to the organic 'health halo' effect. So, if you do not consider yourself in one these groups, take a closer look when shopping for organic foods -- they are, after all, still cookies and chips!--Story Source-The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Cornell Food & Brand Lab. The original article was written by Rachel Eklund and Wan-chen Jenny Lee. --Journal Reference-Wan-chen Jenny Lee, Mitsuru Shimizu, Kevin M. Kniffin, Brian Wansink. You taste what you see: Do organic labels bias taste perceptions? Food Quality and Preference, 2013; 29 (1): 33 DOI: 10.1016/j.foodqual.2013.01.010

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Water Collecting and Extracting

Tree Transpiration Technique:

In the morning, dew and humidity is abundant, tie a bag around a leafy green tree, bush or shrub branch, use a twist tie or rubber band to wrap around the open end of the bag like so- In a few hours you should see water collecting at the bottom of the bag, just untie from the branch and drink! It’s important to use a leafy green tree or branch that is non-poisonous, the water will taste like whatever plant you choose. It isn’t much but is better than nothing.

Dew Container + Grass Technique:

The EASIEST way to collect water from air is just place a plastic bowl over grass in the sun, moisture will collect on the inside, when ready, lift the plastic bowl and swish the water condensation around and there you have it, free water

Below-ground Still Technique:

Another water collection technique is the below-ground Still Technique, to do this you would need a thin plastic bag, a digging tool, a water container, a drinking tube (optional) and a rock.---Find a moist area that gets a fair amount of sunlight, it’s best to use these water collection techniques in the morning when dew and humidity is abundant (if you live in a dry humid area is a plus).

1) Dig a hole in the soil about three feet across and two feet deep, make sure the top soil is green with grass and somewhat moist and soft soil, the bottom of the hole should be flat for your container.

2) Place the container in the hole.

3) Now place the plastic over the hole.

4) Cover the sides of the plastic with large rocks to keep it secure so when you place the weight on top of the plastic that it won’t collapse.

5) Now place the rock or weight in the middle just over the container, let it hang about 15-18 inches directly over the container.

The moisture from the ground reacts from the heat of the sun to produce condensation on the inside of the plastic, you can also add green leafy vegetation inside the hole for more moisture content (basically any organic material that has moisture). To collect the water, just remove the rock and grab the container. This technique can produce up to one quart of water per day.

(There are other ways to use this same technique)

If you use this belowground tehnique you should filter out any sediment that may end up in the container

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Blocking EMF’s---

What you can do is take a cool mist or hot mist humidifier—add colloidial Silver-Essential oils-Iodine-Aspirin –or anything you wish to nebulize or vapour in the air this will form a moisture or mist in the air that can assist in blocking out the frequencies you maybe getting hit with while sleeping –and may find a more restful sleep and feel less pain when awakened –due to the reducing effect this will have

 

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 Sustainable Freedom- Surging Opposition to Agenda 21, “Sustainable Development

 

Alabama banned it. The Republican National Committee (RNC) officially opposes it. Even a group of Democrats has now joined the fight. And the movement to stop it is growing stronger every single day. Twenty years after the United Nations birthed the global “sustainable development” scheme known as Agenda 21, its tentacles have stretched across America into every level of government. But the battle to stop it is in full swing.---While the planetary plot was never ratified by the U.S. Senate, the executive branch has played a crucial role in its success thus far, using grants and mandates to foist it on the American people. Bush, Clinton, and Obama all worked on implementing it. But now, activists from across the political spectrum — Tea Party groups, Occupy Wall Street types, Republicans, liberals, and moderates — are turning up the heat. Scientists are defecting in record numbers, too.----Of course, opposition has existed all along, though it was largely ignored by the establishment press and the political class. In the United States in recent years, however, outrage over the controversial global plan has become overwhelming — impossible to conceal any longer. So in response to the growing nationwide outcry, cities, counties, political parties, and states have all started to take action to defend citizens and their rights. It is paying off; more victories are being announced almost weekly.

“Think globally, act locally”----“Think globally, act locally” has been the marching slogan of the environmental Left for many years, as its partisans have worked to fasten, incrementally, more and more of Agenda 21’s global mandates on local communities. In the past few years, opponents of Agenda 21 have gone to the same playbook.-----Local governments, for example, are withdrawing en masse from the UN’s chief mechanism for foisting the plan on communities: ICLEI-Local Governments for Local Environmental Initiatives — formerly known as the International Council of Local Environmental Initiatives. Dozens of cities and counties have already withdrawn from ICLEI in recent years. In fact, membership in the international organization has declined from over 600 local governments in America in 2009 to well under 550 today. And a new wave of withdrawals is expected in 2012 as public outrage over the schemes and the dangers they represent to freedom continues to build.---“This organization is a threat to our individual rights and our local government’s sovereignty in decision-making,” noted College Station, Texas, City Councilman Jess Fields when announcing that the local government was withdrawing from ICLEI, citing UN documents to highlight the danger. “It is an insidious, extreme institution that does not represent our citizens, and for our taxpayers to continue to fund it would be ridiculous.”---
“We do not need international organizations leading the way for us in how we develop our planning and development tools and regulations,” Fields added. “It is better for policies to reflect the actual needs of our community than some amorphous concept of greenness or sustainability, promoted by an overarching international body.”---Shortly after College Station’s withdrawal, Irving, Texas, also dropped its membership. “Agenda 21 is becoming a hot issue in Texas because of its connection to the United Nations,” noted activist Frank Koch, founder of the grass-roots group Stop Agenda 21 in Texas working to expose and fight the UN scheme in the Lone Star State. “I applaud Irving, Texas, for having the wisdom to join the growing number of cities rejecting this insidious program.”----------Ocean County, New Jersey, rejected the scheme recently as well. “According to Agenda 21 policy, social justice is described as the right and opportunity of all people to benefit equally from the resources afforded us by society and the environment which would be accomplished by socialist/communist redistribution of wealth,” county lawmakers said in a resolution slamming ICLEI and the UN.

Statement by States

State officials all across the country, meanwhile, are fighting back as well. Alabama recently became the
first state to formally ban Agenda 21 within its territory, when Governor Robert Bentley signed into law strongly worded legislation prohibiting any involvement in the scheme by state agencies or local governments. The legislation was passed unanimously in both the Alabama House and Senate.--“The State of Alabama and all political subdivisions may not adopt or implement policy recommendations that deliberately or inadvertently infringe or restrict private property rights without due process, as may be required by policy recommendations originating in, or traceable to ‘Agenda 21,’” the law states.---The people of Alabama, acting through their elected representatives — not UN bureaucrats — have the authority to develop the state’s environmental and development policies, the official synopsis of the law explains. Therefore, infringements on the property rights of citizens linked to “any other international law or ancillary plan of action that contravenes the Constitution of the United States or the Constitution of the State of Alabama” are also prohibited under the new measure.-----As the law points out, the UN has enlisted a broad array of non-governmental and inter-governmental organizations in its effort to foist Agenda 21 on the world, most notably the Germany-based ICLEI. But the new measure takes direct aim at that problem, too: “The State of Alabama and all political subdivisions may not enter into any agreement, expend any sum of money, or receive funds contracting services, or giving financial aid to or from” any such entities, as defined in Agenda 21 documents.---Responding to an article about the new law, popular U.K. Telegraph columnist James Delingpole said Alabama had just “helped save the world” with its victory against Agenda 21. Citing Delingpole’s piece, Investor’s Business Daily said in an editorial: “Alabama has just told the U.N. and the EPA what they need to be told — don’t tread on us.” The alternative media, of course, praised the landmark achievement as well.

Before Alabama adopted its tough law, lawmakers in Arizona almost succeeded in adopting a similar measure. The popular bill would have prohibited all state agencies and political subdivisions from implementing or supporting any portion of the UN’s so-called “sustainable development” scheme. After being approved by the state Senate, it cleared several initial hurdles in Arizona’s House of Representatives. The legislative session, however, ended before the measure obtained final approval.

Tennessee recently adopted a strongly worded resolution slamming the UN scheme as “insidious” and “socialist.” “This United Nations Agenda 21 plan of radical so-called ‘sustainable development’ views the American way of life of private property ownership, single-family homes, private car ownership and individual travel choices, and privately owned farms all as destructive to the environment,” the resolution explains. “We hereby endorse rejection of its radical policies and rejection of any grant monies attached to it.”

Kansas, New Hampshire, Arkansas, Louisiana, and numerous other state legislatures are also working on similar anti-Agenda 21 measures.

Going Forward---------The RNC adopted a strongly worded resolution slamming Agenda 21. “The United Nations Agenda 21 is a comprehensive plan of extreme environmentalism, social engineering, and global political control,” it states, noting that the scheme would — by its own admission in official documents — use “socialist” and “communist” redistribution of wealth to advance the UN’s vision of so-called “social justice.”----“The Republican National Committee recognizes the destructive and insidious nature of United Nations Agenda 21 and hereby exposes to the public and public policy makers the dangerous intent of the plan,” it added.----Numerous state parties followed suit. The Texas GOP, for example, passed a resolution denouncing Agenda 21 as a serious threat to the U.S. Constitution, the individual rights of Americans, and the institution of private property.

On June 2, North Carolina’s GOP also adopted a resolution.---A broad array of activists and organizations ranging from Democrats Against UN Agenda 21 to The John Birch Society, Americans for Prosperity, Tom DeWeese’s American Policy Center, and numerous other conservative and libertarian groups has put the UN scheme on the map. And candidates for office all across the land, from city and county government to state legislatures, to governor (North Carolina) to the U.S. Senate (Texas), have made opposition to Agenda 21 a focal point of their campaigns.-------Former Charlotte, North Carolina, Mayor Pat McCrory, who is now the Republican candidate for governor of the Tar Heel State, says he is “proud to support” the NCGOP’s resolution against Agenda 21.----
“Under the guise of world sustainability the plan establishes a regime of rules that attempt[s] to bypass Congress and the American people, handing … power over vast areas of the US economy to unelected UN bureaucrats,” said insurgent Tea Party Republican Ted Cruz, a leading contender in Texas’ U.S. Senate race. “Agenda 21 is wrong, and it must be stopped.”

When asked by The New American at Rio+20 about the growing U.S. opposition and Alabama’s latest prohibition in particular, ICLEI President David Cadman seemed perplexed. “I haven’t seen that about Alabama, and I’m quite surprised about that,” he said, adding that he did not think states could pass such laws. ----
On the growing backlash against “sustainability” more generally, Cadman also sounded somewhat confused. “I’ve got to confess I don’t really understand the Tea Party.... We find that [opposition] nowhere else but in America,” he said. “I think, quite frankly, a lot of that is because America is not well served by its media…. There are times when I’ll turn on Fox News, and I’ll say, ‘This wouldn’t be allowed in Canada,’” Cadman added, pointing to Canadian laws that force media outlets to give “both sides of the story.”
[F13]  My Comment  here---this fellow is smoking a drug of illusion---- reality, the establishment press and an assortment of attack dogs including UN-funded propaganda organs and the discredited Southern Poverty Law Center are fighting back hard against the opposition. But each time Agenda 21 critics are attacked, a tsunami of activists exposing the UN scheme flood the article’s comment section with links to the global body’s documents. And, perhaps more importantly, awareness of the global plan spreads even further — with the growing resistance that entails.

 

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You Don't 'Own' Your Own Genes- Researchers Raise Alarm About Loss of Individual                                                                                                    'Genomic Liberty' Due to Gene Patents

Mar. 25, 2013 Humans don't "own" their own genes, the cellular chemicals that define who they are and what diseases they might be at risk for. Through more than 40,000 patents on DNA molecules, companies have essentially claimed the entire human genome for profit, report two researchers who analyzed the patents on human DNA.---Their study, published March 25 in the journal Genome Medicine, raises an alarm about the loss of individual "genomic liberty."----In their new analysis, the research team examined two types of patented DNA sequences: long and short fragments. They discovered that 41 percent of the human genome is covered by longer DNA patents that often cover whole genes. They also found that, because many genes share similar sequences within their genetic structure, if all of the "short sequence" patents were allowed in aggregate, they could account for 100 percent of the genome.---Furthermore, the study's lead author, Dr. Christopher E. Mason of Weill Cornell Medical College, and the study's co-author, Dr. Jeffrey Rosenfeld, an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey and a member of the High Performance and Research Computing Group, found that short sequences from patents also cover virtually the entire genome -- even outside of genes.---"If these patents are enforced, our genomic liberty is lost," says Dr. Mason, an assistant professor of physiology and biophysics and computational genomics in computational biomedicine at the Institute for Computational Biomedicine at Weill Cornell. "Just as we enter the era of personalized medicine, we are ironically living in the most restrictive age of genomics. You have to ask, how is it possible that my doctor cannot look at my DNA without being concerned about patent infringement?"---The U.S. Supreme Court will review genomic patent rights in an upcoming hearing on April 15. At issue is the right of a molecular diagnostic company to claim patents not only on two key breast and ovarian cancer genes -- BRCA1 and BRCA2 -- but also on any small sequence of code within BRCA1, including a striking patent for only 15 nucleotides.---In its study, the research team matched small sequences within BRCA1 to other genes and found that just this one molecular diagnostic company's patents also covered at least 689 other human genes -- most of which have nothing to do with breast or ovarian cancer; rather, its patents cover 19 other cancers as well as genes involved in brain development and heart functioning.---"This means if the Supreme Court upholds the current scope of the patents, no physician or researcher can study the DNA of these genes from their patients, and no diagnostic test or drug can be developed based on any of these genes without infringing a patent," says Dr. Mason.

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One Patented Sequence Matched More Than 91 Percent of Human Genes

Dr. Mason undertook the study because he realized that his research into brain and cancer disorders inevitably involved studying genes that were protected by patents.---Under U.S. patent law, genes can be patented by those researchers, either at companies or institutions, who are first to find a gene that promises a useful application, such as for a diagnostic test. For example, the patents received by a company in the 1990s on BRCA1 and BRCA2 enables it to offer a diagnostic test to women who may have, or may be at risk for, breast or ovarian cancer due to mutations in one or both of these genes. Women and their doctors have no choice but to use the services of the patents' owner, which costs $3,000 per test, "whereas any of the hundreds of clinical laboratories around the country could perform such a test for possibly much less," says Dr. Mason.---The impact on these patents is equally onerous on research,[F14]  Dr. Mason adds.---"Almost every day, I come across a gene that is patented -- a situation that is common for every geneticist in every lab," says Dr. Mason.----Dr. Mason and his research partner sought to determine how many other genes may be impacted by gene patents, as well as the overall landscape of intellectual property on the human genome.---To conduct the study, Dr. Mason and Dr. Rosenfeld examined the structure of the human genome in the context of two types of patented sequences: short and long fragments of DNA. They used matches to known genes that were confirmed to be present in patent claims, ranging from as few as 15 nucleotides (the building blocks of DNA) to the full length of all patented DNA fragments.---Before examining the patented sequences, the researchers first calculated how many genes had common segments of 15 nucleotide (15mer), and found that every gene in the human genome matched at least one other gene in this respect, ranging from as few as five matches 15mer to as many as 7,688 gene matches. They also discovered that 99.999 percent of 15mers in the human genome are repeated at least twice.---"This demonstrates that short patent sequences are extremely non-specific and that a 15mer claim from one gene will always cross-match and patent a portion of another gene as well," says Dr. Mason. "This means it is actually impossible to have a 15mer patent for just one gene."---Next, researchers examined the total sequence space in human genes covered by 15mers in current patent claims. They found 58 patents whose claims covered at least 10 percent of all bases of all human genes. The broadest patent claimed sequences that matched 91.5 percent of human genes. Then, when they took existing gene patents and matched patented 15mers to known genes, they discovered that 100 percent of known genes are patented.---"There is a real controversy regarding gene ownership due to the overlap of many competing patent claims. It is unclear who really owns the rights to any gene," says Dr. Rosenfeld. "While the Supreme Court is hearing one case concerning just the BRCA1 patent, there are also many other patents whose claims would cover those same genes. Do we need to go through every gene to look at who made the first claim to that gene, even if only one small part? If we resort to this rule, then the first patents to be granted for any DNA will have a vast claim over portions of the human genome."--A further issue of concern is that patents on DNA can readily cross species boundaries. A company can have a patent that they received for cow breeding and have that patent cover a large percentage of human genes. Indeed, the researchers found that one company owns the rights to 84 percent of all human genes for a patent they received for cow breeding. "It seems silly that a patent designed to study cow genetics also claims the majority of human genes," says Dr. Rosenfeld.---Finally, they also examined the impact of longer claimed DNA sequences from existing gene patents, which ranged from a few dozen bases up to thousands of bases of DNA, and found that these long, claimed sequences matched 41 percent (9,361) of human genes. Their analysis concluded that almost all clinically relevant genes have already been patented, especially for short sequence patents, showing all human genes are patented many times over.---"This is, so to speak, patently ridiculous," adds Dr. Mason. "If patent claims that use these small DNA sequences are upheld, it could potentially create a situation where a piece of every gene in the human genome is patented by a phalanx of competing patents."---In their discussion, the researchers argue that the U.S. Supreme Court now has a chance to shape the balance between the medical good versus inventor protection, adding that, in their opinion, the court should limit the patenting of existing nucleotide sequences, due to their broad scope and non-specificity in the human genome.-"I am extremely pro-patent, but I simply believe that people should not be able to patent a product of nature," Dr. Mason says. "Moreover, I believe that individuals have an innate right to their own genome, or to allow their doctor to look at that genome, just like the lungs or kidneys. Failure to resolve these ambiguities perpetuates a direct threat to genomic liberty, or the right to one's own DNA."---Story Source-The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Weill Cornell Medical College. -- Journal Reference-Jeffrey Rosenfeld, and Christopher E Mason. Pervasive sequence patents cover the entire human genome. Genome Medicine, 2013 (in press) DOI: 10.1186/gm431

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TOP


 [F1]More like bought the votes for this approval

 [F2]Reason why today this is not the case –is due to the fact the gov’t has shares in the food industry such as Monsanto who sells a ton of Crap they call food to Walmart

 [F3]The perfect weapon  if you can’t starve people then the next best thing is to poison them

 [F4]AN Oxy Moron if anyone would see this---the more you support this black hole the bigger and blacker it gets

 [F5]It would appear Walmart causes Poverty

 [F6]There is No evidence to this---in fact if a womans immune system is healthy with the adequate immune minerals and fats then this is totally unnecessary

 [F7]THIS IS A FABRICATION AND A IMAGINED CURE HERE

 [F8]Do I smell STERILIZATION

 [F9]The concept is an illusion ---lead us to think is exactly this---with cross contamination and adulterations from genetics and other pollutants---unless the food is grown in isolation then at best you have a convulated food

 [F10]Cookies and Potato Chips are not an organic food in the sense that the foods are grown and come fresh---these are heated and filled with sugars or acrylamide that is also a Natural byproduct but not healthy or  potentially unhealthy

 [F11]This is Truly a Deception the elements we should really be looking for –is what was it mixed with –soy, canola, aspartame, HFCS, molasses- agave—colouring agents-metal contaminants-nano particles-aborted baby flavouring agents---these are things that is in the so called organic foods today irrespective of governing bodies regulations

 [F12]Junk Food ---glorified junk food ---this shows 2 things---people are really ignorant of what is really food –and 2nd corporations realize that people are ignorant enough and conditioned enough to realize that if you label things a  certain way people will buy them irrespective of nutrional conten or lack thereof--

 [F13]Not sure what this fellow is smoking ---canada has not give both sides of the news for over 20 years---this is what is called an illusion not even remotely close to the truth---the only way anyone gets both sides is if you watch both sides of the world and not just watch your  indigenious media

 

 [F14]In other words the facts are going to based on the companies providing the services

 

 

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Show of The Month April 13 2013

 

Morgellon Remedies

 

How to Make A Filter

 

Filtration and Distillation

 

Quick reference chart for RADAR neurological reprogramming experiments and kill ratio statistics

Recharging Alkalines

Treating  Skin Blemishes

 

TURPENTINE.  DATA

 

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Morgellon Remedies

Spray topical---mix a salt solution ---while simmering or heating water add table salt to this until saturated ( mix in the salt little at a time—allow it to dissolve and repeat this til the water can no longer dissolve the salt) then add TSP 20 grams---and vinegar 2 oz and distilled water 2 cups stir this til it dissolves---when it has stop the stove pour into a container ( preferably glass) do not pour in if the solution is to hot---allow to cool before pouring

Add the content to a spray bottle---then spray afflicted areas----use on pets as well---to alleviate the blotching and the out break

 

THINGS TO DO IN CONJUNCTION WITH THIS—if applying to animals do not feed them any grain based foods or mixes –these grains and soy will further exasperate the out break –the same is applicable to people---NO RICE-CORN-PASTA-CEREAL-BREAD-PASTRIES-BOXED OR BAGGED GRAIN TYPE FOODS---DO NOT FEED ANIMALS THESE EITHER---NO MILK BONE OR COOKIE SNACKS FOR THE DOGS OR CATS OR ANY OTHER CARNIVORE LIKE ANIMALS

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Creams and Lotions

Make a cream or lotion by adding either sunflower lecithin or egg yolk lecithin to assist the cells in the skin to restore there connections –to make add your bees wax---salt and oils such as coconut—palm or shea butter or any other base you desire ( avoid soy )—add an essential oil of choice---if you wish a disinfectant then apply the woodier oils such as rosemary thyme sage pine fir etc ---citrus lime lemon orange etc once you melt your fats the in the blender add your salt more essential oils ---you can add as a preservative  either rosemary essential oil or sage  or ( BHT) water ( distilled)  and alcohol ( vodka-gin-or any clear base alcohol) about 1 oz water you will gradually increase to desired levels of thickness for the cream or lotion---use xanthium gum to bind the materials so they do not separate( fat and water will separate unless you have a binding agent)blend this altogether adding water as needed and xanthium---til you get the desired texcture---put in glass jar and apply after cleaning areas---will help in the restoration of the fat cells

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Baths

Make a saline solution of these ingredients where you  add salt ( table will be good)  1 cup-epsom salt 1 cup-baking soda ½ cup-borax ½ cup and a iodine soap 1 oz and fill the tub with hot water as hot as you can handle---sit in it for at the least 20 – 30 minutes lightly scrubbing with either a wash cloth or a brush and releasing the cells from the polymers and breaking the biofilm--- This will remove radiation as well as particulates caught in the skin

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Internal Extraction---utilize pectin internally--- and add to it wine---or a extract of grape raison---in this mix this will draw out from the colon  and draw it out of a person----take  raisons and add to wine in a pot and heat-simmer it down to about half and then when done turn of stove and then add to a blender and blend together and strain--- mix this with pectin…

 

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How to Make A Filter

1) Find a plastic bag (preferably with handles)

2) place charcoal at the bottom, next sand, next pebbles, another layer of sand and more rocks.

3) tie the handles of the plastic bag to a tree branch or a hook to elevate the bag (like shown in picture).

4) pour the water in the bag.

5) poke a small hole at the bottom of the bag.

6) place a water container or jar at the bottom to catch the clean water.

This only removes large sediment and the charcoal improves the taste, note: this DOES NOT FULLY PURIFY WATER.

Also, you can purchase a “almond milk bag” or a “mesh screen bag” on Amazon to make this process even easier, or just use a shirt or cloth to remove the large particles.

If you use this below ground tehnique you should boil the water for 10 minutes at a steady boil before drinking, or use iodine tablets to be safe.--Also you can purchase a “LifeStraw” its basically a filter that is a shape of a straw so you can drink unpureified water straight from the device. It gets rid of 100 percent waterborne bacteria and 98.7 percent of viruses and particles. Five million people per year die from waterborne illness, mostly children and people that have compromised immune systems.

It’s not safe to drink unpurified water from the below-ground technique, you can catch Cryptosporidium or other viruses even parasites if you don’t purify the water. You should

1)     get a reliable water filter like the lifeStraw.
or
2) Boil the water for 10 minutes at a steady boil.
or
3) Use iodine tablets.

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Filtration and Distillation

All of these condensation techniques produce clean, distilled water ready to drink water. Distillation removes 99% of all contaminants, however you may get a few stray plant or soil particles doing this. In that case you might want to filter it out, re-distill or boil the water just to make sure it’s safe to drink.

Filter out large particles-You can use a t-shirt or a mesh screen bag to filter out big particles, you can find “almond milk bags” online that work quite well, but if you’re in a pinch you can always make one------Take a bag, fill it with pebbles/rocks, next layer would be charcoal, next would be more pebbles/rocks, next would be sand, more pebbles/rock. Then hand the plastic bag on a tree branch or hook and pour in the dirty water, now cut a tiny hole at the bottom and let the water slowly drip down into a container, this will take care of removing any sediment and charcoal improves the taste. (note: This doe not fully purify water)----- Purifying Water:

There are two ways of doing this, boiling the water for 10 minutes at a steady boil, or distillation. Distillation is basically what we did above, using heat to steam water, the water transpiring or condensing and turning into pure drinking water.

If you have dirty water, rain water, ocean water, or otherwise questionable drinking water, purify it by using distillation.

Solar Distillation---If you have no access to fire, use this method. This is the same concept as the solar still technique, you are using heat of the sun to distill water. You would need a large metal bowl, plastic wrap, a rock, and a small container to catch the clean water. Fill the metal bowl with the dirty or questionable water, place the small container in the middle, cover the large metal bowl with plastic (make sure that its completely sealed), then place a rock in the middle on-top of the plastic wrap or sheeting. Now, place this contraption in the sun. In no time you will have pure drinking water!

Fire Distiller--Same concept as the solar distiller but you’re using fire to heat up a large pot of dirty water so the steam catches on a sheet of plastic and drips down into a cup(s). -- Prepare a campfire, get a metal pot. Then construct a makeshift arch above the campfire about 3-4 ft tall over the campfire using sticks (it should resemble a door frame). Then cover the top of the arch with long plastic sheeting so that it’s over the pot and the campfire (the plastic sheet should be 1-2 feet over the boiling pot). Tie the corners of the plastic with sticks and anchor to the ground, make the plastic somewhat loose and not too tight. Now on each side, place a rock on the plastic, and under the rock place a water container (like the solar still technique), do this on each side. Now get a campfire going, place the pot on the campfire and pour in the dirty water, get the water to a roaring boil. The steam from the boiling water should rise up towards the plastic sheeting, and gravity should eventually move the condensation where the rock weights have been placed, and the condensation should drip into the water containers that have been placed on the ends of the plastic sheeting. You can constantly fill up the pot with dirty water, in this video it shows survivalists pouring sea water into the boiling pot while doing other survival tasks.

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 Quick reference chart for RADAR neurological reprogramming experiments and kill ratio statistics

 

Weapon capability

 

Effectiveness/Risk Mechanisms

Defenses

 

Blood Clots Not very effective except under long duration exposure and other preconditions. Increases platelets and red blood cell count. Unidentified waveforms of bio-signaling mechanisms to human cells. An aspirin a day will dilute the blood.
Stroke Low. Only effective on the elderly or congenital conditions. Vasoconstriction, adrenal runaway process, uses CIA spooking and scaring scripts. Also can increase probability by using an abnormal atrium fibrillation signal that increases probability of clots. Don’t panic. Valium. Meditation.
Heart Attack, Arrhythmias, weakened beating Near term – Low probability of success. Longer term stress takes its toll. Risk is determined by Congenital conditions. Vasoconstriction, adrenal runaway process, uses CIA spooking and scaring scripts. Alterations in heart beat using ion cyclotron heating techniques. Beta-wave enhancers and brain entrainments. Don’t panic. Valium. Meditation. Thick leather over chest. Other shielding and jamming techniques for directed energy. Beta blockers stop brain signals from being able to increase heart rate. US Air Force is most interested in improving these kill figures.
Leukemia and autoimmune diseases Long term risk. These effects are by products of experiments done to enhance the immune system. Microwave frequencies. Increased white blood cell count and over stimulation of the immune system. Alteration of sugar metabolism in cells is well documented in the world health organization. Good diet. No defenses known other than superconductor shielding.
Addiction and self medicating Many. Used to both discredit target and speed along menticide for deletion and reduce risk of retaliation. Amplification of addictive brain entrainments. Stress, and negative sublimal and hypnotic suggestion using silent sound programming. Pain signals. Post traumatic stress syndrome from tortures. Shielding and Jamming. Alpha wave dominant bio-feedback practice. Knowledge of CIA scripts and tactics. Positive hypnosis.
Cancer 5% according to classified documents over entire Earth population Electromagnetic energy/pollution Unimportant risk compared with others.
Global Warming high All the ionospheric heaters and phased arrays pump billions of watts into the atmosphere over the Earth. Unimportant risk compared to what else has been done to the human race and time line. Fluorocarbons and pollution might be a bigger contributor.
V2K – A denial of service attack to the mind. 70% . Discrediting method and productivity reduction. Negativity of the language causes depression and despair. audio cortex mapping. Language bots – computer generated conversations also called mind viruses. Positive hypnosis. Remember real people are not usually behind the verbal beatings and can’t be reasoned with.
Pain and severe discomfort 95% Pre-recorded pains can be played through the brain like mp3 files. EEG cloning allows hive mind participants to share all senses and thoughts. One pain is everyone’s pain. Automated mind virus torture programs. Follows Dr. Camerons periodic torture depatterning approach. All real pains are amplified. Take ibuprofen. Bio-feedback training. When the brain hits alpha dominant cycles, the torture stops. Hypnosis also blocks the remote entrainment cycles.

 

Psychological and Sociological Effects of CIA scripts and Directed Energy Assaults

Isolation High Psychology of public is programmed to distance themselves from whomever talks about this in public. Obsession over being tortured and amazement over technology. CIA setting up track record for mental illness so can use as a programmed assassin or terrorist and be discredited in public eye. Support groups. Don’t talk about your situation to family or all your friends. Force yourself to interact normally in coffee shops and the like. Speak out under pseudonyms. More visible you are at condemning these human rights abuses, less likely they will program you to do their killing for them.
Depression High Uses 3.3 and 6.6 hertz harmonics known to cause depression. Other more complex depression signals also used in brain entrainment inductions. 10 hertz binaural beats. SSRI reuptake inhibitors have mixed effects and may actually increase the effectiveness of the “not immediately lethal” weapons system. Don’t isolate. Find support groups.
Suicide High All techniques are used to get rid of the human experiment with plausible denial after the majority of tests are done and it is used to improve kill ratio statistics before battlefield use. Support groups.
ADD High Obvious scrambling of brain signal inductions lead to inability of targets to prioritize correctly and focus. Ritalin and pseudo-ephedrine have helped some targets counter effects.
Obsessive/Compulsive High Part of the whole sequence simulating every known mental illness in targets to discredit and disable them. Take time off of this topic. More you train your mind to think about it, the more engrained those pathways become. Yes, it is exciting to learn the greatest secrets of neural linking technology but the knowledge can’t be shared or used by civilians so it isn’t really all that useful. The excitement is the sirens’ song.
Bi-polar, panic and hysteria High risk. Total emotional control and amplification. Used to increase probability of isolation and dysfunction in groups. Army has written about creating white hot anger in radio frequency targets. Brain entrainments of common fundamental human algorithms. Valium, mood stabilizers. Practice not reacting to inner emotions. Disassociation.
Stalking/break-ins/gas lighting 80% They are agents in training or other. Due to the increased paranoia from a few gas lighting incidences, everyone soon looks like a gas lighter. Know the head games. Take pictures of suspects and add to TI database. Simply ignore. Don’t fall for the gas lighting. Once it stops bothering you and you accept total invasion, they usually stop.
Implants < 1% RFID tracking chips. Way to instill false hope in targets if they can just remove it…. #2 Discrediting tactic after alien abduction to explain experiences. The most common head games played with targets. Delusional guidelines lists implant claims to diagnose you as crazy. Even if you had one, removal will not stop it. The human body and brain prints are enough of unique identifiers. Chips are necessary.

 

Other ways to disrupt and jam the RADAR sensor systems or change your brain print and bio-amplification factors

Mylar Shielding on ceilings and walls Effectiveness can be improved by grounding. Effectiveness can be improved more by adding ions using inverters to charge sheets to 10,000 volts. Staple loosely so that air convection currents can wiggle them.
Body/head resonance scramblers This is a communication war. Adding noise to the RADAR grids readings decreases the return signal effectiveness. Scrambling/jamming helps destroy the informal coherence of the bio signal that the brain can learn.  
Mu Metal arc over head while sleeping Low frequency, low intensity magnetic fields are used. See Dr. Persingers work. Decreasing the decibel of at least one component of the induction signal can disconnect the feedback loop.  
Super conductor shields Very expensive but block 100% of magnetic fields. They aren’t portable and require liquid nitrogen to keep functional.    
Language reprogramming EEG software The brain learns the communication signals. Re-association using a linguistic Pavlov effect can scramble the low probability of deciphering communication strategy for silent sound assaults.    
Education More you understand about the how, who, and why the less of a mystery it is. And more grounded you become. Don’t waste your time or money making the same mistakes as others before you. Become a soldier in this silent holocaust and make yourself useful by furthering the research and public education. Try the low risk solution others have succeeded with in combination. Think of yourself like a cell phone. Each method you use in combination reduces the effectiveness until suddenly the signal drops out. Then you have developed coping mechanisms.

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Recharging Alkalines

While waiting for my battery tester and alkaline charger to arrive, I sorted through the box, weeding out any leakers as well as odd ball batteries such as cell phone and hearing aid batteries.  According to Wikipedia, the reason a battery leaks is this:

As batteries discharge — either through usage or gradual self-discharge — the chemistry of the cells changes and some hydrogen gas is generated. This out-gassing increases pressure in the battery. Eventually, the excess pressure either ruptures the insulating seals at the end of the battery, or the outer metal canister, or both. In addition, as the battery ages, its steel outer canister may gradually corrode or rust, which can further contribute to containment failure.

Surprisingly, most of the batteries in my box were clean.  Something to keep in mind as you go through the sorting process is that if there is even a single leaker in the box, the residue can spread on to other batteries so it helps to have a rag handy to wipe each battery off to see if it is okay.  If you even suspect that a battery has leaked, or if shows any rust or corrosion, don’t take a chance.  Throw the baddies back in to the recycle box.

WHO SAYS THAT DEAD BATTERY IS REALLY DEAD?

I purchased an inexpensive battery tester from Amazon.  There was nothing special about it and it was easy to use.  Plus, it had the ability to test 9V batteries as well as button batteries and the traditional AA, AAA, C and D sized batteries.

I then set to work, testing each and every battery in my box.  Much to my surprise, there were a number of batteries that tested “fully charged”. It is interesting to note that many were 9 Volt batteries that came out of one of my carbon monoxide detectors. This leads me to believe that the detector is bad and not the batteries.

Furthermore, I now believe that what commonly happens is that, for example, a remote control or flashlight is dead.  You dump the batteries into the recycle box and install new ones.  Easy peasy.  But in truth, perhaps only a single battery of the 2 or 3 are bad so in effect, you are dumping out 1 discharged battery and 2 or 3 perfectly usable batteries.  I even proved this myself.  Since I now keep one of these $8 testers in my desk drawer, when my wireless mouse died a couple of days ago, I found that only one of the two AAA batteries that I had removed was dead.  The other was showing almost a full charge.  Go figure.

The other thing, and something that makes me feel careless and stupid, there were some perfectly good rechargeable batteries in the box.  Now how the heck did that happen?

LET THE RECHARGING BEGIN

After reading reviews on various rechargers, I settled on the Maximal Power FC999 Universal Battery Charger.  It wasn’t the most expensive available but according to a couple of the reviewers, this unit was exactly the same as a higher priced model.  The difference was that this one is black and the other one was gray.---Now here is the deal with this charger.  It has four separate charging chambers that operate independently of each other.  This means that you can mix and match battery sizes (AA, AAA, C, D) without a problem.  It also has a center 9V battery chamber but I have not been able to figure out whether that piggy backs upon one of the adjacent chambers or whether it operates separately.

Note:  this charger can also be used to charge Ni-cd and Ni-MH batteries but I only tested it on Alkaline batteries.  There is a slider switch that allows you to select the type of batteries you are charging – they can not and should not be mixed and matched by type (although, as I mentioned, various sizes of the same type work just fine.)

There is no question that I experienced a bit of trepidation when I inserted the batteries into the charger for the first time.  But there was no smoke and no explosion so I continued on.

A few seconds after you insert the batteries, the tester will recognize the status and the LED window will either say “CHA” (for charging) or “BAD” (for sorry, this is a bad battery and it cannot be charged).  In addition, the following lights will glow:

  • Red – Charging
  • Green – Fully Charged
  • Red Flashing – BAD

As I mentioned above, each of the four chamber operates independently so you could have a combination of these three options all going at once.

There is a chart in the manual that indicates that a AAA battery will take 2.5 hours to charge, a AA 5 hours, a C size 6 hours, and a D sized 10 hours.  In my experience, however, they charge to the fully-charged, green light stage a lot sooner that than.  Now here is the thing.  Once fully charged, the charger switches to a trickle charge to keep the battery “at its optimum capacity” whatever that means.

My experience is that if you leave the recharged batteries in the charger overnight – or say for about 10 or 12  hours – you will get a much stronger charge.  I say this because I first tested some batteries right after the green light came on.  On my tester, they would register at about the half way mark in the fully-charged area.  If I put them back in the charger, the green fully-charged light would come on right away but when I took them out the next morning, the tester showed them about 90% charged.--After doing this a few times, I realized that next on my bucket list was a tester that would give me the actual voltage of the re-charged battery.  My brother and nephew – both electronics wizards – have one and tell me that is the only way to truly test the remaining juice left in a used battery.

OTHER TESTING NOTES

The little manual that came with the charger stated that alkaline batteries can be charged to 75 – 90% of their original capacity.  It further said that the batteries should be fully drained before recharging but I found that as a practical matter, the fully drained batteries came up “BAD” and could not be recharged at all.

There is one more rather important note that I want to make.  I checked on my recharged batteries about two weeks after storing them in a box in my utility cupboard.  Much to my surprise there were some new leakers.  Now whether these were overlooked initially (had I wiped away the residue not realizing they were compromised) or a byproduct of the charging process – I do not know.  Even more curious, they were all the Costco Kirkland brand batteries.

The manual also indicates that alkaline batteries should not be recharged more than 30 times. 30 times – holy moly – that seems like a lot of charging to me.  For now, I will charge them once until I go through the pile and then start anew.  But 30 times?  I am going to play it safe and protect my devices by recharging no more than a dozen times if that.

SO REALLY, HOW DID THEY WORK?

Using the recharged batteries on low power devices such as mini LED flashlights and of course, my computer mouse, worked great.  As a matter of fact, I can not tell the difference between the recharged Alkalines and standard rechargeables.  On the other hand, the Survival Husband uses wireless headphones to watch TV and the recharged alkalines only last abut 8 hours as opposed to the typical 15 to 20 hours with standard Ni-mh rechargeables.

STORING THE BATTERIES

I purchased these inexpensive storage cases for my recharged batteries. They are really quite handy and I like that the six individual cases interlock and connect together to make a larger case.  The rest of my spares are in the plastic pencil case you see pictured above.

THE FINAL WORD

For a total investment of about $34 I now have what for all intents and purposes, a lifetime of free batteries.  The reason I say “lifetime” is that my friends have indicated an willingness to give me all of their dead batteries and you can bet that many will still be either good as is or eligible for recharging.

Would I trust these recycled batteries in a survival situation – sure, if that is all I had,  But of course, that is not the case.  I still have a large supply of brand new alkaline batteries in all sizes plus a good supply of standard rechargeables (you know how I love those eneloop rechargeables).

But as spare batteries to use day to day, heck, these are great.  As my tests have proven, a recharged alkaline battery can keep a small LED flashlight going to over a week and a computer mouse for much longer than that.  As a matter of fact, you might say I have become obsessed with using these recharged alkaline batteries.  But that, of course, is a story for another time

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Treating  Skin Blemishes

 Hot steaming towels then are applied to the afflicted area at least three times and, afterward, the afflicted area is patted dry.

 

One tablespoon of common table salt is dissolved in one measuring cup of very hot water having a temperature of not more than 120° F. The salt is completely dissolved in the water and a facecloth is immersed and soaked in the salt water. Sea salt with naturally occurring substances may have antibacterial characteristics that are superior to ordinary table salt and thus, sea salt water may be preferable for use in this step of the treatment process. The salt kills, it is believed, through osmosis.

 

 A towel is folded lengthwise and then across. One side of the towel is thoroughly saturated with ordinary tap water and then folded into thirds in order to keep the wetted side of the towel on the inside of the folds. The towel is heated, preferably in a toaster  oven or dryer, for several minute in order to heat the water in the wetted interior until it steams.

 With the subject's head slightly inclined to prevent inhalation of water from the towel (when treating facial acne), the hot salt water soaked facecloth is placed over the affected area, the saline water soaked facecloth then being covered by the unfolded steaming towel. Preferably, a second steaming towel can be placed over the first towel to maintain the facecloth's heat for a longer period of time. Care must be taken, however, to make sure that these hot applications are sufficiently cool to avoid burning the skin that is undergoing treatment. With respect to this step in the treatment, it is thought that the hot applications help to further open the pores and gravity promotes flow of the saline water from the facecloth into the pores.

 

The heat, it seems, also promotes an increase in capillary blood flow that not only increases the supply of white and red blood cells to advance the healing process, but also removes waste products from the afflicted area. The effect of the heat applied to the subject's skin also might destroy at least some of the bacteria that are related to the acne condition. As a general matter, heat may aid in the process in several ways. It may denature proteins, cause membrane damage and also may cause enzymatic cleavage of DNA. Moist heat, moreover, sterilizes at a lower temperature than dry heat because water serves to disrupt noncovalent bonds (hydrogen bonds) which hold protein chains together in their secondary and tertiary structures.

 

The steaming towel is replaced at least one more time, this replacement being repeated when the subject feels that the applied towel is no longer hot or has a noticeably elevated temperature. In this instance, the towel may actually be very warm, but the subject has at this point in the treatment become so conditioned to heat that the sensation of heat fails to register with the patient as being significant. The process temperatures need to be continually increased to and maintained at the desired levels to cause morbidity of proionibacterium acnes, dilation of the body's own vascular structures to bring in the body's own defensive mechanisms, remove waste through the dilated structures, and allow the salt to enter deep into the affected pilosebaceous unit. The salt will, but is not limited to, deprive the bacterium of water needed to survive, and the sodium that enters the bacterium's membrane can not be excreted (it is a one-way trap for sodium, much like a diode is in electricity), but more water has to be brought into the bacteria to dilute the absorbed sodium until the bacteria actually ruptures.

After the last steaming towel is felt to be cool by the subject, the steaming towels and the underlying saline water soaked facecloth are removed.

The afflicted area then is further treated by being washed with a castile soap. For the purpose of the invention, the soap marketed as “Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps 18-in-1 Hemp Peppermint Pure-Castile Soap” has been found to be particularly efficacious. The Dr. Bronner's soap that is used in the invention is a compound of water, saponified coconut-hemp-olive oils (with retained glycerin), olive fatty acids, peppermint oil (boosted with menthol), vitamin E, and citric acid.

The treated area is rinsed and dried, having on visual inspection a rosy appearance that will disappear in about twelve hours.

Within three days after treatment, the red pustules will be gone from the afflicted area, leaving only a few circular, dark brown freckle-like areas in those portions of the skin that were most seriously afflicted. To post treat these residual marks, a cotton applicator, soaked in either turpentine or in honey, is touched to the dark areas.---

 

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TURPENTINE.  DATA

Research suggests that the term "turpentine" is used imprecisely to describe either the oleoresin obtained from the longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) or the slash pine (P. elliottii Engelm.) along with other Pinus species that yield exclusively terpene oils, or the essential oil obtained from the above oleoresin. More than a half-dozen additional Pinus species have been used in the production of turpentine. The oleoresin is sometimes referred to as "gum turpentine" while turpentine or its oil (also known as spirits of turpentine) are terms for the essential oil. Following steam distillation, gum turpentine yields turpentine oil and a resin called colophony (also known as rosin). Alternately, rosin is collected by scarring the tree trunk, and various grades of material are then refined. Turpentine and rosin also are obtained by the steam distillation of wood chips of that are by-products of the lumber and paper industries, and these sources account for the bulk of the production of these compounds. In terms of volume, turpentine is the largest volume essential oil product in the world, with the bulk of production occurring in the United States. The labor-intensive production of rosin, however, occurs to a greater extent in Spain, Greece, India, and Morocco.----Turpentine is composed primarily of monoterpene hydrocarbons, the most prevalent of which are the pinenes, camphene, and 3-carene. Rosin contains mostly diterpene resin acids such as abietic acid, dehydroabietic acid, palustric acid and isopimaric acid. Numerous other compounds are present in small quantities in all turpentine products.---Canada turpentine or Canada balsam is an oleoresin obtained from the stems of the balsam fir, Abies balsamae (Family Pinaceae).

Summary

Terebinthina.—It is an exudation from different species of Pines. It is a valuable remedy, either externally or internally. Sprinkled on flannel dipped in hot water, wrung out, and then locally applied, it is a powerful counter-irritant, acting like mustard, and even blistering. It is useful for local pains, for lumbago, sciatica, and for inflammatory diseases in the abdomen. As an external application to burns, turpentine has been much used. ---------Internally turpentine is anthelmintic[I1] , diaphoretic, diuretic, purgative and stimulant, It is also given as an astringent. As a destroyer of worms, it should be given in combination with Castor Oil, lest failing to purge it should over-stimulate the urinary organs. As a diuretic, it is prescribed in dropsy, and suppression of urine. As a purgative, it is useful in cases of tympanitic distension of the abdomen, and in acute stages of puerperal fever. As a stimulant to the nervous system, in neuralgia and epilepsy.

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Uses of Turpentine

Turpentine has been used experimentally in a bath for the treatment of disseminated sclerosis and sexual dysfunction. It also has been studied for its antibacterial activity and inhibition of osteoclast activity. Turpentine is utilized in experimental models of inflammation to induce a systemic inflammatory immune response in animals.

 

Clinical data[I2] 

One study from Russia documents the use of turpentine white emulsion baths in patients with sexual dysfunctions, but the safety of this treatment has not been established***** Karpukhin IV, Li AA, Gusev ME. Turpentine white emulsion baths in the rehabilation in patients with sexual dysfunctions [in Russian]. Vopr Kurortol Fizioter Lech Fiz Kult . 2000;32-33.******** --Application of yellow turpentine baths in patients with chronic prostatitis complicated by sexual dysfunctions].

[Article in Russian]-[No authors listed]

Abstract---Patients with chronic prostatitis complicated by sexual dysfunction took turpentine baths with yellow solution in concentration rising from 5 to 55 ml solution per 200 l water, temperature 35-40 degrees C, duration 5-16 min, daily, 12-15 procedures. Yellow turpentine baths raise efficacy of treatment of patients with copulative dysfunction to 64% due to intensive arterial blood inflow to the sexual organs including the cavernous bodies of the penis.

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Turpentine white emulsion baths in the rehabilation in patients with sexual dysfunctions].

[Article in Russian]

Karpukhin IV, Li AA, Gusev ME.

Abstract

100 patients with sexual dysfunction (SD) and 20 SD patients took turpentine white emulsion baths and sodium chloride baths, respectively. The turpentine baths were given with step-by-step rise in turpentine concentration from 20 to 50 ml per 200 l of water, temperature 36-37 degrees C, duration of the procedure 10-15 min. The course consisted of 10-12 procedures which were conducted daily or each other day. The turpentine baths were more effective than sodium chloride baths (85 vs 50%, respectively).-PMID: 11247146 -[PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Use of white turpentine bath emulsion and yellow turpentine solution for the treatment of chronic prostatitis complicated by excretory pathospermia].

[Article in Russian]

Karpukhin IV, Li AA, Gusev MA.

Abstract

The paper reports a review of up-to-date methods for the use of white turpentine bath emulsion and yellow turpentine solution in the treatment of chronic prostatitis complicated by excretory pathospermia. The results of bath therapy are presented. It is shown that the efficiency of white turpentine bath emulsion amounted to 69.7% compared with 88.3% in patients treated with the use of yellow turpentine solution.---Preliminary reports from Russia suggest that turpentine baths may assist in the treatment of disseminated sclerosis, but the safety of this treatment has not been established.******** . Ludianskii EA. The extension of the use of physical methods of treatment to patients with disseminated sclerosis [in Russian]. Vopr Kurortol Fizioter Lech Fiz Kult . 1992;34-37.*******

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Turpentine possesses antibacterial activity in vitro  and has been applied topically to debride severe wounds infested with fly larvae***** Leung AY. Encyclopedia of Common Natural Ingredients Used in Food, Drugs, and Cosmetics . New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1980*******Benign skin tumors have been observed in animal models following chronic topical application of turpentine

 

 

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 [I1]Internal USES--- anthelmintic [I1], diaphoretic, diuretic, purgative and stimulant, It is also given as an astringent. As a destroyer of worms- As a diuretic, it is prescribed in dropsy, and suppression of urine. As a purgative, it is useful in cases of tympanitic distension of the abdomen, and in acute stages of puerperal fever. As a stimulant to the nervous system, in neuralgia and epilepsy.

 

 

 [I2]Turpentine for ED

 

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HOME

 

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 

Speech on Hidden Truth

None are so hopelessly enslaved, as those who falsely believe they are free. The truth has been kept from the depth of their minds by masters who rule them with lies. They feed them on falsehoods till wrong looks like right in their eyes.”

 

 

 

Show of The Month April 20 2013

 

 

Myths & Truths About Soy

Doctors Not Informed of Harmful Effects of Medicines During Sales Visits

THE BENFITS OF HIGH CHOLESTEROL

Summary of latest data on antibiotic resistance in the European Union

 

Recipe for Insulin Regulating

 

Eggs Prevent Heart Disease and Cancer

 

Eggs' Antioxidant Properties May Help Prevent Heart Disease and Cancer,

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Myths & Truths About Soy

 

Myth: Use of soy as a food dates back many thousands of years.

Truth: Soy was first used as a food during the late Chou dynasty (1134-246 BC), only after the Chinese learned to ferment soy beans to make foods like tempeh, natto and tamari.

Myth: Asians consume large amounts of soy foods.

Truth: Average consumption of soy foods in Japan and China is 10 grams (about 2 teaspoons) per day. Asians consume soy foods in small amounts as a condiment, and not as a replacement for animal foods.

Myth: Modern soy foods confer the same health benefits as traditionally fermented soy foods.

Truth: Most modern soy foods are not fermented to neutralize toxins in soybeans, and are processed in a way that denatures proteins and increases levels of carcinogens.

Myth: Soy foods provide complete protein.

Truth: Like all legumes, soy beans are deficient in sulfur-containing amino acids methionine and cystine. In addition, modern processing denatures fragile lysine.

Myth: Fermented soy foods can provide vitamin B12 in vegetarian diets.

Truth: The compound that resembles vitamin B12 in soy cannot be used by the human body; in fact, soy foods cause the body to require more B12

Myth: Soy formula is safe for infants.

Truth: Soy foods contain trypsin inhibitors that inhibit protein digestion and affect pancreatic function. In test animals, diets high in trypsin inhibitors led to stunted growth and pancreatic disorders. Soy foods increase the body's requirement for vitamin D, needed for strong bones and normal growth. Phytic acid in soy foods results in reduced bioavailabilty of iron and zinc which are required for the health and development of the brain and nervous system[F1] . Soy also lacks cholesterol, likewise essential for the development of the brain and nervous system. Megadoses of phytoestrogens in soy formula have been implicated in the current trend toward increasingly premature sexual development in girls and delayed or retarded sexual development in boys.

Myth: Soy foods can prevent osteoporosis.

Truth: Soy foods can cause deficiencies in calcium and vitamin D, both needed for healthy bones. Calcium from bone broths and vitamin D from seafood, lard and organ meats prevent osteoporosis in Asian countries—not soy foods.

Myth: Modern soy foods protect against many types of cancer.

Truth: A British government report concluded that there is little evidence that soy foods protect against breast cancer or any other forms of cancer. In fact, soy foods may result in an increased risk of cancer.

Myth: Soy foods protect against heart disease.

Truth: In some people, consumption of soy foods will lower cholesterol, but there is no evidence that lowering cholesterol with soy protein improves one's risk of having heart disease.

Myth: Soy estrogens (isoflavones) are good for you.

Truth: Soy isoflavones are phyto-endocrine disrupters. At dietary levels, they can prevent ovulation and stimulate the growth of cancer cells. Eating as little as 30 grams (about 4 tablespoons) of soy per day can result in hypothyroidism with symptoms of lethargy, constipation, weight gain and fatigue.

Myth: Soy foods are safe and beneficial for women to use in their postmenopausal years.

Truth: Soy foods can stimulate the growth of estrogen-dependent tumors and cause thyroid problems. Low thyroid function is associated with difficulties in menopause.

Myth: Phytoestrogens in soy foods can enhance mental ability.

Truth: A recent study found that women with the highest levels of estrogen in their blood had the lowest levels of cognitive function; In Japanese Americans tofu consumption in mid-life is associated with the occurrence of Alzheimer's disease in later life.

Myth: Soy isoflavones and soy protein isolate have GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe) status.

Truth: Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) recently withdrew its application to the FDA for GRAS status for soy isoflavones following an outpouring of protest from the scientific community. The FDA never approved GRAS status for soy protein isolate because of concern regarding the presence of toxins and carcinogens in processed soy.

Myth: Soy foods are good for your sex life.

Truth: Numerous animal studies show that soy foods cause infertility in animals. Soy consumption enhances hair growth in middle-aged men, indicating lowered testosterone levels. Japanese housewives feed tofu to their husbands frequently when they want to reduce his virility.

Myth: Soy beans are good for the environment.

Truth: Most soy beans grown in the US are genetically engineered to allow farmers to use large amounts of herbicides.

Myth: Soy beans are good for developing nations.

Truth: In third world countries, soybeans replace traditional crops and transfer the value-added of processing from the local population to multinational corporations.

 

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Doctors Not Informed of Harmful Effects of Medicines During Sales Visits

Apr. 10, 2013The majority of family doctors receive little or no information about harmful effects of medicines when visited by drug company representatives, according to an international study involving Canadian, U.S. and French physicians. ---Yet the same doctors indicated that they were likely to start prescribing these drugs, consistent with previous research that shows prescribing behaviour is influenced by pharmaceutical promotion.--The study, which had doctors fill out questionnaires about each promoted medicine following sales visits, was published online today in the Journal of General Internal Medicine. It shows that sales representatives failed to provide any information about common or serious side effects and the type of patients who should not use the medicine in 59 per cent of the promotions. In Vancouver and Montreal, no potential harms were mentioned for 66 per cent of promoted medicines.---"Laws in all three countries require sales representatives to provide information on harm as well as benefits," says lead author Barbara Mintzes of the University of British Columbia. "But no one is monitoring these visits and there are next to no sanctions for misleading or inaccurate promotion."---Serious risks were mentioned in only six percent of the promotions, even though 57 per cent of the medications involved in these visits came with US Food and Drug Administration "black box" or Health Canada boxed warnings -- the strongest drug warning that can be issued by both countries.---"We are very concerned that doctors and patients are left in the dark and patient safety may be compromised," says Mintzes, an expert on drug advertising in UBC's School of Population and Public Health.--Doctors in Toulouse were more likely to be told of a harmful effect in a promotional visit, compared to doctors in Canada and the U.S., according to the study. Researchers suggested that this may reflect stricter regulatory standards for promotion of medicines in France.

About the study

The UBC-led study is the most comprehensive to date of the quality of pharmaceutical sales representative promotions to family physicians.--Researchers recruited physicians to participate using random samples from lists of primary care physicians at four sites -- Vancouver, Montreal, Sacramento and Toulouse. Among 704 eligible physicians contacted, 255 (36 per cent) chose to participate. Information was collected on 1,692 drug promotions at sales visits between May 2009 to June 2010.

Doctors were asked to fill out a questionnaire about the information provided for each promoted medicine following each visit they received from pharmaceutical sales representatives. Sales representatives regularly visit doctors' offices to promote medicines by providing information, free samples and in some cases food and invitations to events. The study focused on how often information was provided about drug safety.--The team includes researchers from UBC, York University, University of Montreal, University of California, Davis and the University of Toulouse.

Story Source-The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of British Columbia, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS. -Journal Reference---Barbara Mintzes, Joel Lexchin, Jason M. Sutherland, Marie-Dominique Beaulieu, Michael S. Wilkes, Geneviève Durrieu, Ellen Reynolds. Pharmaceutical Sales Representatives and Patient Safety: A Comparative Prospective Study of Information Quality in Canada, France and the United States. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 2013; DOI: 10.1007/s11606-013-2411-7

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THE BENFITS OF HIGH CHOLESTEROL

People with high cholesterol live the longest. This statement seems so incredible that it takes a long time to clear one´s brainwashed mind to fully understand its importance. Yet the fact that people with high cholesterol live the longest emerges clearly from many scientific papers. Consider the finding of Dr. Harlan Krumholz of the Department of Cardiovascular Medicine at Yale University, who reported in 1994 that old people with low cholesterol died twice as often from a heart attack as did old people with a high cholesterol.1 Supporters of the cholesterol campaign consistently ignore his observation, or consider it as a rare exception, produced by chance among a huge number of studies finding the opposite. But it is not an exception; there are now a large number of findings that contradict the lipid hypothesis. To be more specific, most studies of old people have shown that high cholesterol is not a risk factor for coronary heart disease. This was the result of my search in the Medline database for studies addressing that question.2Eleven studies of old people came up with that result, and a further seven studies found that high cholesterol did not predict all-cause mortality either. Now consider that more than 90 % of all cardiovascular disease is seen in people above age 60 also and that almost all studies have found that high cholesterol is not a risk factor for women.2 This means that high cholesterol is only a risk factor for less than 5 % of those who die from a heart attack. But there is more comfort for those who have high cholesterol; six of the studies found that total mortality was inversely associated with either total or LDL-cholesterol, or both. This means that it is actually much better to have high than to have low cholesterol if you want to live to be very old.

High Cholesterol Protects Against Infection
Many studies have found that low cholesterol is in certain respects worse than high cholesterol.
For instance, in 19 large studies of more than 68,000 deaths, reviewed by Professor David R. Jacobs and his co-workers from the Division of Epidemiology at the University of Minnesota, low cholesterol predicted an increased risk of dying from gastrointestinal and respiratory diseases.3 Most gastrointestinal and respiratory diseases have an infectious origin. Therefore, a relevant question is whether it is the infection that lowers cholesterol or the low cholesterol that predisposes to infection? To answer this question Professor Jacobs and his group, together with Dr. Carlos Iribarren, followed more than 100,000 healthy individuals in the San Francisco area for fifteen years. At the end of the study those who had low cholesterol at the start of the study had more often been admitted to the hospital because of an infectious disease.4,5 This finding cannot be explained away with the argument that the infection had caused cholesterol to go down, because how could low cholesterol, recorded when these people were without any evidence of infection, be caused by a disease they had not yet encountered? Isn´t it more likely that low cholesterol in some way made them more vulnerable to infection, or that high cholesterol protected those who did not become infected? Much evidence exists to support that interpretation.

Low Cholesterol and HIV/AIDS
Young, unmarried men with a previous sexually transmitted disease or liver disease run a much greater risk of becoming infected with HIV virus than other people. The Minnesota researchers, now led by Dr. Ami Claxton, followed such individuals for 7-8 years. After having excluded those who became HIV-positive during the first four years, they ended up with a group of 2446 men. At the end of the study, 140 of these people tested positive for HIV; those who had low cholesterol at the beginning of the study were twice as likely to test postitive for HIV compared with those with the highest cholesterol.6 Similar results come from a study of the MRFIT screenees, including more than 300,000 young and middle-aged men, which found that 16 years after the first cholesterol analysis the number of men whose cholesterol was
lower than 160 and who had died from AIDS was four times higher than the number of men who had died from AIDS with a cholesterol above 240.7

Cholesterol and Chronic Heart Failure
Heart disease may lead to a weakening of the heart muscle. A weak heart means that less blood and therefore less oxygen is delivered to the arteries. To compensate for the decreased power, the heart beat goes up, but in severe heart failure this is not sufficient. Patients with severe heart failure become short of breath because too little oxygen is delivered to the tissues, the pressure in their veins increases because the heart cannot deliver the blood away from the heart with sufficient power, and they become edematous, meaning that fluid accumulates in the legs and in serious cases also in the lungs and other parts of the body. This condition is called congestive or chronic heart failure. There are many indications that bacteria or other microorganisms play an important role in chronic heart failure. For instance, patients with severe chronic heart failure have high levels of endotoxin and various types of cytokines in their blood. Endotoxin, also named lipopolysaccharide, is the most toxic substance produced by Gram-negative bacteria such as Escherichia coli, Klebsiella, Salmonella, Serratia and Pseudomonas. Cytokines are hormones secreted by white blood cells in their battle with microorganisms; high levels of cytokines in the blood indicate that inflammatory processes are going on somewhere in the body. The role of infections in chronic heart failure has been studied by Dr. Mathias Rauchhaus and his team at the Medical Department, Martin-Luther-University in Halle, Germany (Universitätsklinik und Poliklinik für Innere Medizin III, Martin-Luther-Universität, Halle). They found that the strongest predictor of death for patients with chronic heart failure was the concentration of cytokines in the blood, in particular in patients with heart failure due to coronary heart disease.8 To explain their finding they suggested that bacteria from the gut may more easily penetrate into the tissues when the pressure in the abdominal veins is increased because of heart failure. In accordance with this theory, they found more endotoxin in the blood of patients with congestive heart failure and edema than in patients with non-congestive heart failure without edema, and endotoxin concentrations decreased significantly when the heart’s function was improved by medical treatment.9A simple way to test the functional state of the immune system is to inject antigens from microorganisms that most people have been exposed to, under the skin. If the immune system is normal, an induration (hard spot) will appear about 48 hours later at the place of the injection. If the induration is very small, with a diameter of less than a few millimeters, this indicates the presence of “anergy,” a reduction in or failure of response to recognize antigens. In accordance, anergy has been found associated with an increased risk of infection and mortality in healthy elderly individuals, in surgical patients and in heart transplant patients.10 Dr. Donna Vredevoe and her group from the School of Nursery and the School of Medicine, University of California at Los Angeles tested more than 200 patients with severe heart failure with five different antigens and followed them for twelve months. The cause of heart failure was coronary heart disease in half of them and other types of heart disease (such as congenital or infectious valvular heart disease, various cardiomyopathies and endocarditis) in the rest. Almost half of all the patients were anergic, and those who were anergic and had coronary heart disease had a much higher mortality than the rest.10 Now to the salient point: to their surprise the researchers found that mortality was higher, not only in the patients with anergy,
but also in the patients with the lowest lipid values, including total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol and HDL-cholesterol as well as triglycerides. The latter finding was confirmed by Dr. Rauchhaus, this time in co-operation with researchers at several German and British university hospitals. They found that the risk of dying for patients with chronic heart failure was strongly and inversely associated with total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol and also triglycerides; those with high lipid values lived much longer than those with low values.11,12 Other researchers have made similar observations. The largest study has been performed by Professor Gregg C. Fonorow and his team at the UCLA Department of Medicine and Cardiomyopathy Center in Los Angeles.13 The study, led by Dr. Tamara Horwich, included more than a thousand patients with severe heart failure. After five years 62 percent of the patients with cholesterol below 129 mg/l had died, but only half as many of the patients with cholesterol above 223 mg/l. When proponents of the cholesterol hypothesis are confronted with findings showing a bad outcome associated with low cholesterol—and there are many such observations—they usually argue that severely ill patients are often malnourished, and malnourishment is therefore said to cause low cholesterol. However, the mortality of the patients in this study was independent of their degree of nourishment; low cholesterol predicted early mortality whether the patients were malnourished or not.

Smith-Lemli-Opitz Syndrome
As discussed in The Cholesterol Myths (see sidebar), much evidence supports the theory that people born with very high cholesterol, so-called familial hypercholesterolemia, are protected against infection. But if inborn high cholesterol protects against infections, inborn low cholesterol should have the opposite effect. Indeed, this seems to be true. Children with the Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome produce very little cholesterol because the enzyme that is necessary for the last step in the body’s synthesis of cholesterol does not function properly. Most children with this syndrome are either stillborn or they die early because of serious malformations of the central nervous system. Those who survive are imbecile, they have extremely low cholesterol and suffer from frequent and severe infections. However, if their diet is supplemented with pure cholesterol or extra eggs, their cholesterol goes up and their bouts of infection become less serious and less frequent.14

Laboratory Evidence
Laboratory studies are crucial for learning more about the mechanisms by which the lipids exert their protective function. One of the first to study this phenomenon was Dr Sucharit Bhakdi from the Institute of Medical Microbiology, University of Giessen (Institut für Medizinsche Mikrobiologie, Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen), Germany along with his team of researchers from various institutions in Germany and Denmark.15  Staphylococcus aureus a-toxin is the most toxic substance produced by strains of the disease-promoting bacteria called staphylococci. It is able to destroy a wide variety of human cells, including red blood cells. For instance, if minute amounts of the toxin are added to a test tube with red blood cells dissolved in 0.9 percent saline, the blood is hemolyzed, that is the membranes of the red blood cells burst and hemoglobin from the interior of the red blood cells leaks out into the solvent. Dr. Bhakdi and his team mixed purified a-toxin with human serum (the fluid in which the blood cells reside) and saw that 90 percent of its hemolyzing effect disappeared. By various complicated methods they identified the protective substance as LDL, the carrier of the so-called bad cholesterol. In accordance, no hemolysis occurred when they mixed a-toxin with purified human LDL, whereas HDL or other plasma constituents were ineffective in this respect.  Dr. Willy Flegel and his co-workers at the Department of Transfusion Medicine, University of Ulm, and the Institute of Immunology and Genetics at the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg, Germany (DRK-Blutspendezentrale und Abteilung für Transfusionsmedizin, Universität Ulm, und Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, Heidelberg) studied endotoxin in another way.16 As mentioned, one of the effects of endotoxin is that white blood cells are stimulated to produce cytokines. The German researchers found that the cytokine-stimulating effect of endotoxin on the white blood cells disappeared almost completely if the endotoxin was mixed with human serum for 24 hours before they added the white blood cells to the test tubes. In a subsequent study17 they found that purified LDL from patients with familial hypercholesterolemia had the same inhibitory effect as the serum.
LDL may not only bind and inactivate dangerous bacterial toxins; it seems to have a direct beneficial influence on the immune system also, possibly explaining the observed relationship between low cholesterol and various chronic diseases. This was the starting point for a study by Professor Matthew Muldoon and his team at the University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They studied healthy young and middle-aged men and found that the total number of white blood cells and the number of various types of white blood cells were significantly lower in the men with LDL-cholesterol below 160 mg/dl (mean 88.3 mg/l),than in men with LDL-cholesterol above 160 mg/l (mean 185.5 mg/l).18 The researchers cautiously concluded that there were immune system differences between men with low and high cholesterol, but that it was too early to state whether these differences had any importance for human health. Now, seven years later with many of the results discussed here, we are allowed to state that the immune-supporting properties of LDL-cholesterol do indeed play an important role in human health.


Animal Experiments

The immune systems in various mammals including human beings have many similarities. Therefore, it is interesting to see what experiments with rats and mice can tell us. Professor Kenneth Feingold at the Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, and his group have published several interesting results from such research. In one of them they lowered LDL-cholesterol in rats by giving them either a drug that prevents the liver from secreting lipoproteins, or a drug that increases their disappearance. In both models, injection of endotoxin was followed by a much higher mortality in the low-cholesterol rats compared with normal rats. The high mortality was not due to the drugs because, if the drug-treated animals were injected with lipoproteins just before the injection of endotoxin, their mortality was reduced to normal.19

Dr. Mihai Netea and his team from the Departments of Internal and Nuclear Medicine at the University Hospital in Nijmegen, The Netherlands, injected purified endotoxin into normal mice, and into mice with familial hypercholesterolemia that had LDL-cholesterol four times higher than normal. Whereas all normal mice died, they had to inject eight times as much endotoxin to kill the mice with familial hypercholesterolemia. In another experiment they injected live bacteria and found that twice as many mice with familial hypercholesterolemia survived compared with normal mice.20

Other Protecting Lipids
As seen from the above, many of the roles played by LDL-cholesterol are shared by HDL. This should not be too surprising considering that high HDL-cholesterol is associated with cardiovascular health and longevity. But there is more. triglycerides, molecules consisting of three fatty acids linked to glycerol, are insoluble in water and are therefore carried through the blood inside lipoproteins, just as cholesterol. All lipoproteins carry triglycerides, but most of them are carried by a lipoprotein named VLDL (very low-density lipoprotein) and by chylomicrons, a mixture of emulsified triglycerides appearing in large amounts after a fat-rich meal, particularly in the blood that flows from the gut to the liver. For many years it has been known that sepsis, a life-threatening condition caused by bacterial growth in the blood, is associated with a high level of triglycerides. The serious symptoms of sepsis are due to endotoxin, most often produced by gut bacteria. In a number of studies, Professor Hobart W. Harris at the Surgical Research Laboratory at San Francisco General Hospital and his team found that solutions rich in triglycerides but with practically no cholesterol were able to protect experimental animals from the toxic effects of endotoxin and they concluded that the high level of triglycerides seen in sepsis is a normal immune response to infection.21 Usually the bacteria responsible for sepsis come from the gut.
It is therefore fortunate that the blood draining the gut is especially rich in triglycerides.

Exceptions
So far, animal experiments have confirmed the hypothesis that high cholesterol protects against infection, at least against infections caused by bacteria. In a similar experiment using injections of Candida albicans, a common fungus, Dr. Netea and his team found that mice with familial hypercholesterolemia died more easily than normal mice.22 Serious infections caused by Candida albicans are rare in normal human beings; however, they are mainly seen in patients treated with immunosuppressive drugs, but the finding shows that we need more knowledge in this area. However, the many findings mentioned above indicate that the protective effects of the blood lipids against infections in human beings seem to be greater than any possible adverse effects.

Cholesterol as a Risk Factor
Most studies of young and middle-aged men have found high cholesterol to be a risk factor for coronary heart disease, seemingly a contradiction to the idea that high cholesterol is protective. Why is high cholesterol a risk factor in young and middle-aged men? A likely explanation is that men of that age are often in the midst of their professional career. High cholesterol may therefore reflect mental stress, a well-known cause of high cholesterol and also a risk factor for heart disease. Again, high cholesterol is not necessarily the direct cause but may only be a marker.
High cholesterol in young and middle-aged men could, for instance, reflect the body’s need for more cholesterol because cholesterol is the building material of many stress hormones. Any possible protective effect of high cholesterol may therefore be counteracted by the negative influence of a stressful life on the vascular system.

Response to Injury
In 1976 one of the most promising theories about the cause of atherosclerosis was the Response-to-Injury Hypothesis, presented by Russell Ross, a professor of pathology, and John Glomset, a professor of biochemistry and medicine at the Medical School, University of Washington in Seattle.23,24 They suggested that atherosclerosis is the consequence of an inflammatory process, where the first step is a localized injury to the thin layer of cells lining the inside of the arteries, the intima. The injury causes inflammation and the raised plaques that form are simply healing lesions.  Their idea is not new. In 1911, two American pathologists from the Pathological Laboratories, University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Oskar Klotz and M.F. Manning, published a summary of their studies of the human arteries and concluded that “there is every indication that the production of tissue in the intima is the result of a direct irritation of that tissue by the presence of infection or toxins or the stimulation by the products of a primary degeneration in that layer.”25 Other researchers have presented similar theories.26 Researchers have proposed many potential causes of vascular injury, including mechanical stress, exposure to tobacco fumes, high LDL-cholesterol, oxidized cholesterol, homocysteine, the metabolic consequences of diabetes, iron overload, copper deficiency, deficiencies of vitamins A and D, consumption of trans fatty acids, microorganisms and many more. With one exception, there is evidence to support roles for all of these factors, but the degree to which each of them participates remains uncertain. The exception is of course LDL-cholesterol. Much research allows us to exclude high LDL-cholesterol from the list. Whether we look directly with the naked eye at the inside of the arteries at autopsy, or we do it indirectly in living people using x-rays, ultrasound or electron beams, no association worth mentioning has ever been found between the amount of lipid in the blood and the degree of atherosclerosis in the arteries. Also, whether cholesterol goes up or down, by itself or due to medical intervention, the changes of cholesterol have never been followed by parallel changes in the atherosclerotic plaques; there is no dose-response. Proponents of the cholesterol campaign often claim that the trials indeed have found dose-response, but here they refer to calculations between the mean changes of the different trials with the outcome of the whole treatment group. However, true dose-response demands that the individual changes of the putative causal factor are followed by parallel, individual changes of the disease outcome, and this has never occurred in the trials where researchers have calculated true dose-response. A detailed discussion of the many factors accused of harming the arterial endothelium is beyond the scope of this article. However, the protective role of the blood lipids against infections obviously demands a closer look at the alleged role of one of the alleged causes, the microorganisms.


Is Atherosclerosis an Infectious Disease?
For many years scientists have suspected that viruses and bacteria, in particular cytomegalovirus and Chlamydia pneumonia (also named TWAR bacteria) participate in the development of atherosclerosis. Research within this area has exploded during the last decade and by January 2004, at least 200 reviews of the issue have been published in medical journals. Due to the widespread preoccupation with cholesterol and other lipids, there has been little general interest in the subject, however, and few doctors know much about it. Here I shall mention some of the most interesting findings.26 Electron microscopy, immunofluorescence microscopy and other advanced techniques have allowed us to detect microorganisms and their DNA in the atherosclerotic lesions in a large proportion of patients. Bacterial toxins and cytokines, hormones secreted by the white blood cells during infections, are seen more often in the blood from patients with recent heart disease and stroke, in particular during and after an acute cardiovascular event, and some of them are strong predictors of cardiovascular disease. The same is valid for bacterial and viral antibodies, and a protein secreted by the liver during infections, named C-reactive protein (CRP), is a much stronger risk factor for coronary heart disease than cholesterol  Clinical evidence also supports this theory.
During the weeks preceding an acute cardiovascular attack many patients have had a bacterial or viral infection. For instance, Dr. Armin J. Grau from the Department of Neurology at the University of Heidelberg and his team asked 166 patients with acute stroke, 166 patients hospitalized for other neurological diseases and 166 healthy individuals matched individually for age and sex about recent infectious disease. Within the first week before the stroke, 37 of the stroke patients, but only 14 of the control individuals had had an infectious disease. In half of the patients the infection was of bacterial origin, in the other half of viral origin.27 Similar observations have been made by many others, for patients with acute myocardial infarction (heart attack). For instance, Dr. Kimmo J. Mattila at the Department of Medicine, Helsinki University Hospital, Finland, found that 11 of 40 male patients with an acute heart attack before age 50 had an influenza-like infection with fever within 36 hours prior to admittance to hospital, but only 4 out of 41 patients with chronic coronary disease (such as recurrent angina or pervious myocardial infarction) and 4 out of 40 control individuals without chronic disease randomly selected from the general population.28 Attempts have been made to prevent cardiovascular disease by treatment with antibiotics. In five trials treatment of patients with coronary heart disease using azithromyzin or roxithromyzin, antibiotics that are effective against Chlamydia pneumonia,yielded successful results; a total of 104 cardiovascular events occurred among the 412 non-treated patients, but only 61 events among the 410 patients in the treatment groups.28a-e In one further trial a significant decreased progression of atherosclerosis in the carotid arteries occurred with antibiotic treatment.28f However, in four other trials,30a-d one of which included more than 7000 patients,28d antibiotic treatment had no significant effect. The reason for these inconsistent results may be that the treatment was too short (in one of the trials treatment lasted only five days). Also, Chlamydia pneumonia, the TWAR bacteria, can only propagate inside human cells and when located in white blood cells they are resistant to antibiotics.31 Treatment may also have been ineffective because the antibiotics used have no effect on viruses. In this connection it is interesting to mention a controlled trial performed by Dr. Enrique Gurfinkel and his team from Fundación Favaloro in Buenos Aires, Argentina.32 They vaccinated half of 301 patients with coronary heart disease against influenza, a viral disease. After six months 8 percent of the control patients had died, but only 2 percent of the vaccinated patients. It is worth mentioning that this effect was much better than that achieved by any statin trial, and in a much shorter time.


Does High Cholesterol Protect Against Cardiovascular Disease?
Apparently, microorganisms play a role in cardiovascular disease. They may be one of the factors that start the process by injuring the arterial endothelium. A secondary role may be inferred from the association between acute cardiovascular disease and infection. The infectious agent may preferably become located in parts of the arterial walls that have been previously damaged by other agents, initiating local coagulation and the creation of a thrombus (clot) and in this way cause obstruction of the blood flow. But if so, high cholesterol may protect against cardiovascular disease instead of being the cause! In any case, the diet-heart idea, with its demonizing of high cholesterol, is obviously in conflict with the idea that high cholesterol protects against infections. Both ideas cannot be true. Let me summarize the many facts that conflict with the idea that high cholesterol is bad. If high cholesterol were the most important cause of atherosclerosis, people with high cholesterol should be more atherosclerotic than people with low cholesterol. But as you know by now this is very far from the truth. If high cholesterol were the most important cause of atherosclerosis, lowering of cholesterol should influence the atherosclerotic process in proportion to the degree of its lowering.  But as you know by now, this does not happen.If high cholesterol were the most important cause of cardiovascular disease, it should be a risk factor in all populations, in both sexes, at all ages, in all disease categories, and for both heart disease and stroke. But as you know by now, this is not the case I have only two arguments for the idea that high cholesterol is good for the blood vessels, but in contrast to the arguments claiming the opposite they are very strong. The first one stems from the statin trials. If high cholesterol were the most important cause of cardiovascular disease, the greatest effect of statin treatment should have been seen in patients with the highest cholesterol, and in patients whose cholesterol was lowered the most. Lack of dose-response cannot be attributed to the knowledge that the statins have other effects on plaque stabilization, as this would not have masked the effect of cholesterol-lowering considering the pronounced lowering that was achieved. On the contrary, if a drug that effectively lowers the concentration of a molecule assumed to be harmful to the cardiovascular system and at the same time exerts several beneficial effects on the same system, a pronounced dose-response should be seen. On the other hand, if high cholesterol has a protective function, as suggested, its lowering would counterbalance the beneficial effects of the statins and thus work against a dose-response, which would be more in accord with the results from the various trials. I have already mentioned my second argument, but it can’t be said too often: High cholesterol is associated with longevity in old people. It is difficult to explain away the fact that during the period of life in which most cardiovascular disease occurs and from which most people die (and most of us die from cardiovascular disease), high cholesterol occurs most often in people with the lowest mortality. How is it possible that high cholesterol is harmful to the artery walls and causes fatal coronary heart disease, the commonest cause of death, if those whose cholesterol is the highest, live longer than those whose cholesterol is low?

To the public and the scientific community I say, “Wake up!”


REFERENCES

1. Krumholz HM and others. Lack of association between cholesterol and coronary heart disease mortality and morbidity and all-cause mortality in persons older than 70 years. Journal of the American Medical Association 272, 1335-1340, 1990.

2. Ravnskov U. High cholesterol may protect against infections and atherosclerosis. Quarterly Journal of Medicine 96, 927-934, 2003.

3. Jacobs D and others. Report of the conference on low blood cholesterol: Mortality associations. Circulation 86, 1046–1060, 1992.

4. Iribarren C and others. Serum total cholesterol and risk of hospitalization, and death from respiratory disease. International Journal of Epidemiology 26, 1191–1202, 1997.

5. Iribarren C and others. Cohort study of serum total cholesterol and in-hospital incidence of infectious diseases. Epidemiology and Infection 121, 335–347, 1998.

6. Claxton AJ and others. Association between serum total cholesterol and HIV infection in a high-risk cohort of young men. Journal of acquired immune deficiency syndromes and human retrovirology 17, 51–57, 1998.

7. Neaton JD, Wentworth DN. Low serum cholesterol and risk of death from AIDS. AIDS 11, 929–930, 1997.

8. Rauchhaus M and others. Plasma cytokine parameters and mortality in patients with chronic heart failure. Circulation 102, 3060-3067, 2000.

9. Niebauer J and others. Endotoxin and immune activation in chronic heart failure. Lancet 353, 1838-1842, 1999.

10. Vredevoe DL and others. Skin test anergy in advanced heart failure secondary to either ischemic or idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy. American Journal of Cardiology 82, 323-328, 1998.

11. Rauchhaus M, Coats AJ, Anker SD. The endotoxin-lipoprotein hypothesis. Lancet 356, 930–933, 2000.

12. Rauchhaus M and others. The relationship between cholesterol and survival in patients with chronic heart failure. Journal of the American College of Cardiology 42, 1933-1940, 2003.

13. Horwich TB and others. Low serum total cholesterol is associated with marked increase in mortality in advanced heart failure. Journal of Cardiac Failure 8, 216-224, 2002.

14. Elias ER and others. Clinical effects of cholesterol supplementation in six patients with the Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome (SLOS). American Journal of Medical Genetics 68, 305–310, 1997.

15. Bhakdi S and others. Binding and partial inactivation of Staphylococcus aureus a-toxin by human plasma low density lipoprotein. Journal of Biological Chemistry 258, 5899-5904, 1983.

16. Flegel WA and others. Inhibition of endotoxin-induced activation of human monocytes by human lipoproteins. Infection and Immunity 57, 2237-2245, 1989.

17. Weinstock CW and others. Low density lipoproteins inhibit endotoxin activation of monocytes. Arteriosclerosis and Thrombosis 12, 341-347, 1992.

18. Muldoon MF and others. Immune system differences in men with hypo- or hypercholesterolemia. Clinical Immunology and Immunopathology 84, 145-149, 1997.

19. Feingold KR and others. Role for circulating lipoproteins in protection from endotoxin toxicity. Infection and Immunity 63, 2041-2046, 1995.

20. Netea MG and others. Low-density lipoprotein receptor-deficient mice are protected against lethal endotoxemia and severe gram-negative infections. Journal of Clinical Investigation 97, 1366-1372, 1996.

21. Harris HW, Gosnell JE, Kumwenda ZL. The lipemia of sepsis: triglyceride-rich lipoproteins as agents of innate immunity. Journal of Endotoxin Research 6, 421-430, 2001.

22. Netea MG and others. Hyperlipoproteinemia enhances susceptibility to acute disseminated Candida albicans infection in low-density-lipoprotein-receptor-deficient mice. Infection and Immunity 65, 2663-2667, 1997.

23. Ross R, Glomset JA. The pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. New England Journal of Medicine 295, 369-377, 1976.

24. Ross R. The pathogenesis of atherosclerosis and update. New England Journal of Medicine 314, 488-500, 1986.

25. Klotz O, Manning MF. Fatty streaks in the intima of arteries. Journal of Pathology and Bacteriology. 16, 211-220, 1911.

26. At least 200 reviews about the role of infections in atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease have been published; here are a few of them: a) Grayston JT, Kuo CC, Campbell LA, Benditt EP. Chlamydia pneumoniae strain TWAR and atherosclerosis. European Heart Journal Suppl K, 66-71, 1993. b) Melnick JL, Adam E, Debakey ME. Cytomegalovirus and atherosclerosis. European Heart Journal Suppl K, 30-38, 1993. c) Nicholson AC, Hajjar DP. Herpesviruses in atherosclerosis and thrombosis. Etiologic agents or ubiquitous bystanders? Arteriosclerosis Thrombosis and Vascular Biology 18, 339-348, 1998. d) Ismail A, Khosravi H, Olson H. The role of infection in atherosclerosis and coronary artery disease. A new therapeutic target. Heart Disease 1, 233-240, 1999. e) Kuvin JT, Kimmelstiel MD. Infectious causes of atherosclerosis. f.) Kalayoglu MV, Libby P, Byrne GI. Chlamydia pneumonia as an emerging risk factor in cardiovascular disease. Journal of the American Medical Association 288, 2724-2731, 2002.

27. Grau AJ and others. Recent bacterial and viral infection is a risk factor for cerebrovascular ischemia. Neurology 50, 196-203, 1998.

28. Mattila KJ. Viral and bacterial infections in patients with acute myocardial infarction. Journal of Internal Medicine 225, 293-296, 1989.

29. The successful trials: a) Gurfinkel E. Lancet 350, 404-407, 1997. b) Gupta S and others. Circulation 96, 404-407, 1997. c) Muhlestein JB and others. Circulation 102, 1755-1760, 2000. d) Stone AFM and others. Circulation 106, 1219-1223, 2002. e) Wiesli P and others. Circulation 105, 2646-2652, 2002. f) Sander D and others. Circulation 106, 2428-2433, 2002.

30. The unsuccessful trials: a) Anderson JL and others. Circulation 99, 1540-1547, 1999. b) Leowattana W and others. Journal of the Medical Association of Thailand 84 (Suppl 3), S669-S675, 2001. c) Cercek B and others. Lancet 361, 809-813, 2003. d) O’Connor CM and others. Journal of the American Medical Association. 290, 1459-1466, 2003.

31. Gieffers J and others. Chlamydia pneumoniae infection in circulating human monocytes is refractory to antibiotic treatment. Circulation 104, 351-356, 2001

32. Gurfinkel EP and others. Circulation 105, 2143-2147, 2002.

About the author

Dr. Ravnskov is the author of The Cholesterol Myths and chairman of The International Network of Cholesterol Skeptics (thincs.org).


Risk Factor
There is one risk factor that is known to be certain to cause death. It is such a strong risk factor that it has a 100 percent mortality rate. Thus I can guarantee that if we stop this risk factor, which would take no great research and cost nothing in monetary terms, within a century human deaths would be completely eliminated. This risk factor is called “Life.”


Barry Groves, second-opinions.com


Familial Hypercholesterolemia - Not as Risky as You May Think
Many doctors believe that most patients with familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) die from CHD at a young age. Obviously, they do not know the surprising finding of the Scientific Steering Committee at the Department of Public Health and Primary Care at Radcliffe Infirmary in Oxford, England. For several years, these researchers followed more than 500 FH patients between the ages of 20 and 74 and compared patient mortality during this period with that of the general population.

During a three- to four-year period, six of 214 FH patients below age 40 died from CHD. This may not seem particularly frightening but as it is rare to die from CHD before the age of 40, the risk for these FH patients was almost 100 times that of the general population.

During a four- to five-year period, eight of 237 FH patients between ages 40 and 59 died, which was five times more than the general population. But during a similar period of time, only one of 75 FH patients between the ages of 60 and 74 died from CHD, when the expected number was two.

If these results are typical for FH, you could say that between ages 20 and 59, about 3 percent of the patients die from CHD, and between ages 60 and 74, less than 2 percent die, in both cases during a period of 3-4 years. The authors stressed that the patients had been referred because of a personal or family history of premature vascular disease and therefore were at a particularly high risk for CHD. Most patients with FH in the general population are unrecognized and untreated. Had the patients studied been representative for all FH patients, their prognosis would probably have been even better.

This view was recently confirmed by Dr. Eric Sijbrands and his coworkers from various medical departments in Amsterdam and Leiden, Netherlands. Out of a large group they found three individuals with very high cholesterol. A genetic analysis confirmed the diagnosis of FH and by tracing their family members backward in time, they came up with a total of 412 individuals. The coronary and total mortality of these members were compared with the mortality of the general Dutch population.

The striking finding was that those who lived during the 19th and early 20th century had normal mortality and lived a normal life span. In fact, those living in the 19th century had a lower mortality than the general population. After 1915 the mortality rose to a maximum between 1935 and 1964, but even at the peak, mortality was less than twice as high as in the general population.

Again, very high cholesterol levels alone do not lead to a heart attack. In fact, high cholesterol may even be protective against other diseases. This was the conclusion of Dr. Sijbrands and his colleagues. As support they cited the fact that genetically modified mice with high cholesterol are protected against severe bacterial infections.

“Doctor, don’t be afraid because of my high cholesterol.” These were the words of a 36-year-old lawyer who visited me for the first time for a health examination. And indeed, his cholesterol was high, over 400 mg/dl.

“My father’s cholesterol was even higher,” he added. “But he lived happily until he died at age 79 from cancer. And his brother, who also had FH, died at age 83. None of them ever complained of any heart problems.” My “patient” is now 53, his brother is 56 and his cousin 61. All of them have extremely high cholesterol values, but none of them has any heart troubles, and none of them has ever taken cholesterol-lowering drugs.

So, if you happen to have FH, don’t be too anxious. Your chances of surviving are pretty good, even surviving to old age.

Scientific Steering Committee on behalf of the Simon Broome Register Group. Risk of fatal coronary heart disease in familial hypercholesterolaemia. British Medical Journal 303, 893-896, 1991; Sijbrands EJG and others. Mortality over two centuries in large pedigree with familial hypercholesterolaemia: family tree mortality study. British Medical Journal 322, 1019-1023, 2001.

From The Cholesterol Myths by Uffe Ravnvskov, MD, PhD, NewTrends Publishing, pp 64-65.

See also: Uffe Ravnskov, MD, PhD New cholesterol guidelines for converting healthy people into patients

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Summary of latest data on antibiotic resistance in the European Union

 

Highlights on antibiotic resistance  Antibiotic resistance is a major global public health problem and is, for a large part, driven by use of antibiotics. As a result, patients are suffering from infections caused by bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics, sometime to multiple antibiotics. Resistance in bacteria commonly responsible for infections such as Klebsiella pneumoniae and Escherichia coli has been increasing Europe wide for all Antibiotic classes under surveillance. Single and combined resistance to several antibiotics (multidrug resistance) are increasing in these bacteria. The percentage of carbapenem -Resistant lebsiella pneumonia is increasing in the European Union and these resistant bacteria are now spreading to several European countries . Transfer of patients across borders poses a clear risk for the transmission of carbapenem resistant bacteria, especially when patients are transferred from areas with high rates of such bacteria to healthcare facilities in another country or have received medical care abroad in areas with high rates of carbapenem resistant bacteria.Carbapenems are the major last line class of antibiotics to treat infections with multidrug resistant Gram negative bacteria such as  K. pneumoniae and E. coli Resistance to carbapenems limits available options for treatment of infected patients to only few antibiotics which often are old antibiotics that were developed several decades ago and often have limitations and side effects . The occurrence of  meticillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) shows a decrease in some European countries. However, one fourth of countries are still reporting that of all Staphylococcus aureus invasive infections, more than 25% are MRSA. Antibiotic resistance  In the European Union The data presented in this section were collected by the European Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance Network (EARS Net) which is coordinated by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). The maps presented in this summary show the occurrence of antibiotic resistance in selected bacteria causing invasive infections and are based on laboratory results reported by countries participating in EARS Net. 2 Klebsiella pneumoniae ( K. pneumoniae ) K. pneumoniae is one of the common causes of Gram negative urinary and respiratory tract infections. This micro organism can rapidly spread from the gastrointestinal tract of patients and via the hands of the hospital personnel to other patients, leading to nosocomial outbreaks. Importantly, patients with impaired immune defences are at higher risk to acquire these infections. The percentage of carbapenem resistant K. pneumoniae has increased dramatically in the European Union since 2009--In 2009, carbapenem resistance in K. pneumoniae was only established in Greece, although carbapenem resistance in invasive isolates of K. pneumoniae was also found in Italy and Cyprus [F2] . In 2010, an increasing trend of carbapenem -

resistant  K. pneumonia e was observed for Austria, Cyprus, Hungary and Italy (Fig. 1). This increasing trend is a particularly worrying phenomenon since carbapenems are last line antibiotics for treatment of infections with multidrug Resistant Gram negative bacteria including those which produce an extended spectrum beta lactamase (ESBL). Treatment options for patients infected with carbapenem resistant K. pneumoniae or other carbapenem resistant bacteria are severely limited [F3] 3 Figure 1 Klebsiella pneumoniae : percentage of invasive isolates resistant to carbapenems in 2009 (A) and in 2010 (B) (Data source: EARS Net) Percentage of carbapenem resistant K. pneumoniae in 2009 B:Percentage of carbapenem resistant K. pneumoniae in 2010

4 In addition to resistance to carbapenems, a high frequency of Multidrug resistant K. pneumoniae (resistance to third generation cephalosporins, fluoroquinolones and aminoglycosides ) is evident in Southern, Central and Eastern Europe (Fig.2). Figure 2: Kleb siella pneumoniae percentage of multidrug resistant K. pneumoniae (third generation cephalosporins, fluoroquinolones and aminoglycosides) in 2010 (Data source: EARS Net)

5

Escherichia coli ( E. coli ) E. coli is the most frequent cause of bacteraemia caused  by Gram negative bacteria, as well as community and hospital - acquired urinary tract infections. It is also one of the most common foodborne pathogens worldwide. The occurrence of antibiotic resistance in E. coli continues to increase Europe wide for both multidrug resistance and for single antibiotics under surveillance. For some antibiotics ,the increase is evident even among countries already presenting relatively high levels of resistance. For fluoroquinolones, which are important antibiotics for treatment of E. coli infections, the resistance situation in Europe in 2010 is displayed in

Fig. 3

6 Figure 3 Escherichia coli  Percentage of invasive isolates with resistance to fluoroquinolones in 2009 and 2010 ( Data source  EARS Net)

A:Percentage of  E. coli resistant to fluoroquinolones in 2009 B

Percentage of  E. coli resistant to fluoroquinolones in 2010  7 Meticillin -

resistant  Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA ) MRSA is the most important cause of antibiotic - resistant healthcare -associated infections worldwide. Infections with MRSA may result in prolonged hospital stay and increased mortality rates[F4] . In 2010, seven countries ( Austria, Cyprus, Estonia, France, Greece, Ireland and the UK ) reported decreasing trends for MRSA. This brings hope that national efforts on infection control and containment of resistance may in some cases slow down the development of resistance. Nevertheless , MRSA remains a public health priority, since significantly increasing trend of MRSA was observed in four countries (Italy, Hungary, Germany and Slovenia ) and the proportion of MRSA remains above 25% in more than one fourth of countries (Fig. 4). 8

Figure 4 Staphylococcus aureus Percentage of invasive isolates resistant to meticillin (MRSA) in 2009 A) and in 2010 (B)  (Data source EARS Net)

A: Percentage of MRSA in 2009

B: Percentage of MRSA in 2010

 

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Recipe for Insulin Regulatingtake Fenugreek and Ginger Powder---equal portions and either make a tea with this or fuse with Honey ( Unpasteurized) –when fused Utilize ¼ tsp of this twice a day or as needed---you will find this  will reduce hunger as a direct result of insulin regulating and may find as well the benefits of the components of these herbs—Or brew a tea with this and drink throughout the day – may as well see GH response from this as well Hormonal Levels for regenerating the Body and muscle integrity –potential Testosterone Regulating as well---Estrogen Blocking—Immune Support

 

Fenugreek Elements

Flavonoids Flavone (apigenin, luteolin) glycosides including

orientin and vitexin, quercetin (flavonol).

Saponins 0.6–1.7%. Glycosides yielding steroidal sapogenins

diosgenin and yamogenin (major), with tigogenin, neotigogenin,

gitogenin, neogitogenin, smilagenin, sarsasapogenin, yuccagenin;(

 

1) fenugreekine, a sapogenin-peptide ester involving diosgenin

and yamogenin;(2) trigofoenosides A–G (furostanol

glycosides).(3–6)

Other constituents Coumarin,(7) lipids (5–8%),(8) mucilaginous

fibre (50%),(8) vitamins (including nicotinic acid) and minerals

 

Proteins and amino acids Protein (23–25%) containing high

quantities of lysine and tryptophan. Free amino acids include 4-

hydroxyisoleucine (0.09%), histidine, lysine and arginine

 

Ginger Elements-

Oleo-resin Gingerol homologues (major, about 33%) including

derivatives with a methyl side-chain,(4) shogaol homologues

(dehydration products of gingerols), zingerone (degradation

product of gingerols), 1-dehydrogingerdione,(5) 6-gingesulfonic

acid(3) and volatile oils.

Volatile oils 1–3%. Complex, predominately hydrocarbons. b-

Bisabolene and zingiberene (major); other sesquiterpenes include

zingiberol, zingiberenol, ar-curcumene, b-sesquiphellandrene, bsesquiphellandrol

(cis and trans); numerous monoterpene hydrocarbons,

alcohols and aldehydes (e.g. phellandrene, camphene,

geraniol, neral, linalool, d-nerol).

 

Proteins and amino acids

Amino acids (e.g. arginine, aspartic acid,

cysteine, glycine, isoleucine, leucine, serine, threonine and valine),

protein (about 9%), resins, diterpenes (galanolactone),(6) vitamins

(especially nicotinic acid (niacin) and vitamin A), minerals.(2)

The material contains not less than 4.5% of alcohol (90%)-

soluble extractive and not less than 10% of water-soluble

extractive.(G15)

 

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Eggs Prevent Heart Disease and Cancer

 

New Evidence That Egg White Protein May Help High Blood Pressure

Apr. 9, 2013 — NEW ORLEANS, April 9, 2013 — Scientists reported new evidence today that a component of egg whites –– already popular as a substitute for whole eggs among health-conscious consumers concerned about cholesterol in the yolk –– may have another beneficial effect in reducing blood pressure. Their study was part of the 245th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS), the world’s largest scientific society, which continues here through Thursday.---“Our research suggests that there may be another reason to call it ‘the incredible, edible egg,’” said study leader Zhipeng Yu, Ph.D., of Jilin University. “We have evidence from the laboratory that a substance in egg white –– it’s a peptide, one of the building blocks of proteins –– reduces blood pressure about as much as a low dose of Captopril, a high-blood-pressure drug.”---Yu and colleagues, who are with Clemson University, used a peptide called RVPSL. Scientists previously discovered that the substance, like the family of medications that includes Captopril, Vasotec and Monopril, was an angiotensin-converting-enzyme (ACE) inhibitor. It has a powerful ability to inhibit or block the action of ACE, a substance produced in the body that raises blood pressure.---They set out to further document RVPSL’s effects, using laboratory rats that develop high blood pressure and are stand-ins for humans in such early research on hypertension. The results of feeding the substance were positive, showing that RVPSL did not have apparent toxic effects and lowered blood pressure by amounts comparable to low doses of Captopril.---“Our results support and enhance previous findings on this topic,” Yu said. “They were promising enough to move ahead with further research on the effects of the egg white peptide on human health.”---Yu noted that the research was done with a version of the peptide that was heated to almost 200 degrees Fahrenheit during preparation — less than the temperatures typically used to cook eggs. He cited evidence from other research, however, that egg whites may retain their beneficial effects on blood pressure after cooking.--One, for instance, published in the ACS’ Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, showed that fried egg protein, cooked at high temperatures, actually showed greater ability to reduce blood pressure than eggs boiled at 212 degrees F.--Yu believes that egg white peptides, either in eggs or as a supplement, could become useful as an adjunct to high-blood-pressure medication. For now, he said people with high blood pressure should consult their health care provider before making any changes. --And he noted that findings about egg white and high blood pressure add to the emerging nutritional image of eggs. Once regarded as a food to avoid in a healthy diet, studies in recent years have concluded that many people can eat eggs without raising their blood cholesterol levels, benefiting from an inexpensive food low in calories and rich in protein, vitamins and other nutrients.---The American Chemical Society is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. With more than 163,000 members, ACS is the world’s largest scientific society and a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.

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Eggs' Antioxidant Properties May Help Prevent Heart Disease and Cancer, Study

July 6, 2011 — One of nature's most perfect foods may be even better for us than previously thought.---While eggs are well known to be an excellent source of proteins, lipids, vitamins and minerals, researchers at the University of Alberta recently discovered they also contain antioxidant properties, which helps in the prevention of cardiovascular disease and cancer. --Jianping Wu, Andreas Schieber and graduate students Chamila Nimalaratne and Daise Lopes-Lutz of the U of A Department of Agricultural Food and Nutritional Science examined egg yolks produced by hens fed typical diets of either primarily wheat or corn. They found the yolks contained two amino acids, tryptophan and tyrosine, which have high antioxidant properties. --After analyzing the properties, the researchers determined that two egg yolks in their raw state have almost twice as many antioxidant properties as an apple and about the same as half a serving (25 grams) of cranberries.---However, when the eggs were fried or boiled, antioxidant properties were reduced by about half, and a little more than half if the eggs were cooked in a microwave.[F5]  -"It's a big reduction but it still leaves eggs equal to apples in their antioxidant value," said Wu.--The findings were published in the peer-reviewed journal Food Chemistry. --The discovery of these two amino acids, while important, may only signify the beginning of finding antioxidant properties in egg yolks, said Wu, an associate professor of agricultural, food and nutritional science.--"Ultimately, we're trying to map antioxidants in egg yolks so we have to look at all of the properties in the yolks that could contain antioxidants, as well as how the eggs are ingested," said Wu, adding that he and his team will examine the other type of antioxidant already known to be in eggs, carotenoids, the yellow pigment in egg yolk, as well as peptides. ( see list below )---In previous research, Wu found that egg proteins were converted by enzymes in the stomach and small intestines and produced peptides that act the same way as ACE inhibitors, prescriptions drugs that are used to lower high blood pressure.--That finding defied common wisdom and contradicted the public perception that eggs increased high blood pressure because of their high cholesterol content. Additional research by Wu suggests the peptides can be formulated to help prevent and treat hypertension.---Wu is convinced the peptides also have some antioxidant properties, which leads him to suggest that when he completes the next step in his research, the result will likely be that eggs have more antioxidant properties than we currently know.

Other Antioxidants as well as Fats crucial for regenerating

 

Eggs Contain these Substances  note

 

(mg of Substance per 100 grams)

 

Alkaloids:                  Betaine          0.53               

Amino Acids:                        Methionine                        Neurine *      

Carotenoids:             Xanthophylls: *    Lutein              Zeaxanthin       

Enzymes:                   Lysozyme                             

Lipids:            11,200 Arachidonic Acid                Phosphatidylcholine           1,875

Cholesterol   371 -548         Docosahexaenoic Acid ( DHA)         

Phosphatidylethanolamine*                      Phosphatidylinositol*        

Linoleic Acid             Alpha-Linolenic Acid ( Omega 3)    

Stearic Acid               Sphingomyelin         10.74

Minerals:                   Calcium         52        Chromium*   16 mcg

Zinc*  1.5       Sodium          140

Potassium     140      Iron    2

Phosphorus               Sulfur

Proteins: **               Avidin #                     Ovalbumin *

Ovomucoid *            Ovoglobulin *          

Conalbumin *                       Vitellin*        

Vitellenin *                Ovomucin # 

Levitin                       Albumin #    

Vitamins:                   Biotin*           25 mcg           Choline *       251

Vitamin A   140 mcg       Vitamin B5   

Vitamin B1    0.09    Vitamin B2    0.47

Vitamin D      50 IU  Vitamin E    1.6

Folic Acid (Yolks only)       25 mcg           Vitamin B12  1.7 mcg

Vitamin K *               Vitamin B3    3.7

*          Egg Yolks only

#         Egg Whites only

**        The biological value of the Proteins in Egg Whites is 88

-          The biological value of the Proteins in whole Eggs is 100.

 

 

 

TOP B


 [F1]And then you wonder why kids are spun and grown ups cannot think ir remember anything

 [F2]The Mediterranean Region—so this would be what is recorded ---the concern would be what is not recorded

 [F3]In cases like this then you will utilize iodine –turpentine---essential oils –and minerals such as zinc –copper—salt –and a combinations of salt with other elements to insure penetration and removal---what is going on is that these pathogens are forming a biofilm polymer that will layer inside a body developing a protective shield  --to eliminate a immune response while it feeds on the host utilizing the bodies own resources to further cascade the system and take over---a rewriting of the genetic code---which may be tied to direct infiltration through vaccines and Genetically modified foods which are loaded with viral –fungal and bacterial elements not normally seen in the balanced biology of botany---even the soil in which they are grown are being shown to have issues and cause a furthering of genetic distortion in the plants---further exasberating there damage internally---further causing the infections to breakdown the host

 [F4]It is completely curable with either essential oils –iodine or turpentine---even botanicals in combination with minerals will remove this

 [F5]Never use a Microwave--EVER

 

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Show of the Month April 27 2013

 

Antibiotic Overload In feed

Scot's pine

 

Balsam Fir

 

Eucalyptus

 

Caffeine and Exercise May Be Protective Against Skin Cancer Caused by Sun Exposure

Caffeine Shown As Effective At Reducing Exercise-Induced Asthma Symptoms As An Albuterol Inhaler

Immune-modifying and antimicrobial effects of Eucalyptus oil and simple inhalation devices.

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 Antibiotic Overload In feed

Did you know that each year more antibiotics are fed to food-animals in North Carolina than are given to all Americans? Thanks to this kind of misuse, antibiotic-resistant diseases now kill more Americans than HIV/AIDS.---On March 9, 2011, Rep. Slaughter re-introduced H.R. 965, The Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act (PAMTA), which is designed to end the routine use of antibiotics on healthy animals and curb the growing threat of superbugs.---PAMTA would preserve the effectiveness of medically important antibiotics by phasing out the use of these drugs in healthy food-producing animals, while allowing their use for treatment of sick animals. The legislation also requires the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to apply the same tough standards to new applications for approval of animal antibiotics.

PAMTA-_80_percent_slide

On February 23, 2011, Slaughter confirmed with the FDA an alarming statistic: 80 percent of all antibiotics used in the United States are used not on humans but on food-animals, most of which are perfectly healthy.---This kind of habitual use of antibiotics has been conclusively linked to the growing risk of antimicrobial-resistant infections in humans. A National Academy of Sciences report stated that, "a decrease in antimicrobial use in human medicine alone will have little effect on the current situation. Substantial efforts must be made to decrease inappropriate overuse in animals and agriculture as well."---When our limited supply of antibiotics is used indiscriminately and without care, there are public health consequences. It is time to put a stop to big agribusinesses doling out pharmaceuticals to healthy animals just because it is better for their bottom line. Antibiotic use in food-animals must be limited to prevent the inadvertent creation of superbugs that are too powerful for our own medicine.  In addition to introducing legislation, Slaughter has called upon the FDA and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to take action to improve regulatory oversight[F1] , surveillance, and monitoring of food-animal production and antibiotic resistance. Last year, the Governmental Accounting Agency (GAO) released a report that Rep. Slaughter requested in 2009, which found that federal agencies have made limited progress in combating the growing threat of antibiotic resistance.---On March 11, 2011, Slaughter led a letter to Secretary Sebelius at the Department of Health and Human Services to urge the formation of a national plan to combat antibiotic resistance. Since that letter was written, a national plan to combat antibiotic resistance has been issued.

IMG_3961

Slaughter's work continues to raise awareness of this important issue. On December 13, 2011, she hosted a briefing in which farmers and successful businesses extolled the benefits of tapping into the growing domestic and international demand for antibiotic-free meat.---Slaughter was joined by an impressive panel, including Steve Ells, CEO of Chipotle Mexican Grill, one of the nation's fastest growing restaurant companies, Stephen McDonnell, CEO of award-winning Applegate Farms, and Paul Willis, President of Niman Ranch, a network of over 650 independent sustainable farms. To learn more about the briefing, click here.-----As businesses such as Applegate Farms, Niman Ranch, the Ozark Mountain Pork Cooperative, and Chipotle Mexican Grill, continue to pioneer affordable, antibiotic-free meat, Slaughter continues to push the federal government to address this looming public health threat.----Earlier this year, Slaughter sent letters to over 60 fast food companies, producers, processors, and grocery store chains asking them to disclose their policies on antibiotic use in meat and poultry production. Very simply, consumers have a right to know what is in their food. The U.S. is facing a growing public health crisis in the form of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and information about how companies may or may not be contributing to the problem should be available to consumers. To view Slaughter's letter, click here.

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Scot's pine

 

Edible Parts: Inner bark.
Edible Uses: Condiment.

Inner bark - dried and ground into a powder and used in making bread[2, 66, 105, 177]. It is often mixed with oatmeal[115]. A famine food, it is only used when all else fails[115]. A vanillin flavouring is obtained as a by-product of other resins that are released from the pulpwood[200].

Medicinal Uses

 
Antirheumatic;  Antiseptic;  Aromatherapy;  Bach;  Balsamic;  Diuretic;  Expectorant.

 

Joint Healing

Wound Cleaning

Utilizing Scent-or Vapour

Energy Frequency

Usage

The resinous materials

Urine Expulsions

Respiratory

Release


Scot's pine has quite a wide range of medicinal uses, being valued especially for its antiseptic action and beneficial effect upon the respiratory system. It should not be used by people who are prone to allergic skin reactions whilst the essential oil should not be used internally unless under professional supervision[254]. The turpentine obtained from the resin is antirheumatic, antiseptic, balsamic, diuretic, expectorant, rubefacient and vermifuge[4, 13, 46]. It is a valuable remedy in the treatment of kidney, bladder and rheumatic affections, and also in diseases of the mucous membranes and the treatment of respiratory complaints[4]. Externally it is used in the form of liniment plasters and inhalers[4]. The leaves and young shoots are antiseptic, diuretic and expectorant[9]. They are harvested in the spring and dried for later use[9]. They are used internally for their mildly antiseptic effect within the chest and are also used to treat rheumatism and arthritis[254]. They can be added to the bath water for treating fatigue, nervous exhaustion, sleeplessness, skin irritations[9]. They can also be used as an inhalant in the treatment of various chest complaints[9]. The essential oil from the leaves is used in the treatment of asthma, bronchitis and other respiratory infections, and also for digestive disorders such as wind[254]. An essential oil obtained from the seed has diuretic and respiratory-stimulant properties[254]. The seeds are used in the treatment of bronchitis, tuberculosis and bladder infections[254]. A decoction of the seeds can be applied externally to help suppress excessive vaginal discharge[254]. The plant is used in Bach flower remedies - the keywords for prescribing it are 'Self-reproach', 'Guilt feelings' and 'Despondency'[209]. The essential oil is used in aromatherapy. Its keyword is 'Invigorating'[210].

 

Other Uses

Dye;  Essential;  Fibre;  Fuel;  Herbicide;  Lighting;  Packing;  Resin;  Shelterbelt;  Wood.

A tan or green dye is obtained from the needles[168]. The needles contain a substance called terpene, this is released when rain washes over the needles and it has a negative effect on the germination of some plants, including wheat[201]. A reddish yellow dye is obtained from the cones[6]. This tree yields resin and turpentine[64, 66, 100, 171]. Oleo-resins are present in the tissues of all species of pines, but these are often not present in sufficient quantity to make their extraction economically worthwhile[64]. The resins are obtained by tapping the trunk, or by destructive distillation of the wood[4, 64]. In general, trees from warmer areas of distribution give the higher yields[64]. Turpentine consists of an average of 20% of the oleo-resin[64] and is separated by distillation[4, 64]. Turpentine has a wide range of uses including as a solvent for waxes etc, for making varnish, medicinal etc[4]. Rosin is the substance left after turpentine is removed. This is used by violinists on their bows and also in making sealing wax, varnish etc[4]. Pitch can also be obtained from the resin and is used for waterproofing, as a wood preservative etc. An essential oil obtained from the leaves is used in perfumery and medicinally[46, 61]. A fibre from the inner bark is used to make ropes[115]. The roots are very resinous and burn well. They can be used as a candle substitute[115]. The leaves are used as a packing material[46]. The fibrous material is stripped out of the leaves and is used to fill pillows, cushions and as a packing material[7]. Trees are very wind resistant and quite fast growing. They can be planted as a shelterbelt, succeeding in maritime exposure[75, 200]. Wood - light, soft, not strong, elastic, durable, rich in resin. Used in construction, furniture, paper manufacture etc.[13, 46, 100]. A good fuel but it is somewhat smokey[6, 66, 115].

 

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Balsam Fir

 

Edible Parts: Inner bark.
Edible Uses: Condiment;  Gum;  Tea.

Inner bark - cooked. It is usually dried, ground into a powder and then used as a thickening in soups etc or mixed with cereals when making bread[105, 177]. Fir bark is a delight to chew in winter or early spring, slightly mucilaginous and sweetish, better raw than cooked[269]. Another report says that it is an emergency food and is only used when all else fails[183]. An aromatic resinous pitch is found in blisters in the bark[64]. When eaten raw it is delicious and chewy[101, 183]. Another report says that the balsam or pitch, in extreme emergency, forms a highly concentrated, though disagreeable, food[269]. An oleoresin from the pitch is used as a flavouring in sweets, baked goods, ice cream and drinks[183]. Tips of young shoots are used as a tea substitute[177, 183].

Medicinal Uses

Plants For A Future can not take any responsibility for any adverse effects from the use of plants. Always seek advice from a professional before using a plant medicinally.

Analgesic;  Antiscorbutic;  Antiseptic;  Diuretic;  Poultice;  Stimulant;  Tonic;  VD.

 

Pain

Relief

Anti Curvy

Cleaner of Wounds

Water flow

Kidney

Support

Patch  to draw out infections

Or

Blockages

Energizing or increases Alertness or flow

Strength

And Vitality Support

Fights STD’s


The resin obtained from the balsam fir (see 'Uses notes' below) has been used throughout the world and is a very effective antiseptic and healing agent. It is used as a healing and analgesic protective covering for burns, bruises, wounds and sores[213, 222, 226]. It is also used to treat sore nipples[213] and is said to be one of the best curatives for a sore throat[245]. The buds, resin, and/or sap are used in folk remedies for treating cancers, corns, and warts[269]. The resin is also antiscorbutic, diaphoretic, diuretic, stimulant and tonic[4, 171, 222]. It is used internally in propriety mixtures to treat coughs and diarrhoea, though taken in excess it is purgative[238]. A warm liquid of the gummy sap was drunk as a treatment for gonorrhoea[212]. A tea made from the leaves is antiscorbutic[4, 171]. It is used in the treatment of coughs, colds and fevers[222]. The leaves and young shoots are best harvested in the spring and dried for later use[238]. This plant was widely used medicinally by various North American Indian tribes[257]. The resin was used as an antiseptic healing agent applied externally to wounds, sores, bites etc., it was used as an inhalant to treat headaches and was also taken internally to treat colds, sore throats and various other complaints[257].

 

Other Uses

Adhesive;  Fibre;  Gum;  Kindling;  Microscope;  Repellent;  Resin;  Stuffing;  Waterproofing;  Wood.

The balsamic resin 'Balm of Gilead'[11, 46] or 'Canada Balsam' according to other reports[64, 226, 238] is obtained during July and August from blisters in the bark or by cutting pockets in the wood[222]. Another report says that it is a turpentine[171]. The term Canada Balsam is a misnomer because balsams are supposed to contain benzoic and cinnamic acids, both absent from the Canada oleoresin[269]. Turpentine is also a misnomer, implying that the oleoresin is entirely steam volatile. Actually it contains 70 - 80% resin, only 16 - 20% volatile oil[269]. Canada Balsam yields 15 - 25% volatile oil, the resin being used for caulking and incense[269]. It is used medicinally and in dentistry, also in the manufacture of glues, candles and as a cement for microscopes and slides - it has a high refractive index resembling that of glass[11, 46, 64, 82, 222, 226, 238]. The pitch has also been used as a waterproofing material for the seams of canoes[257]. The average yield is about 8 - 10 oz per tree[171]. The resin is also a fixative in soaps and perfumery[171, 238]. "Turpentine" is usually collected during July-August by breaking the turpentine blisters into small metal cans with sharp-pointed lids. Trees are then allowed to recuperate for 1 - 2 years before being harvested again[269]. The leaves and young branches are used as a stuffing material for pillows etc - they impart a pleasant scent[46, 61, 257] and also repel moths[169]. The leaves contain an average of 0.65% essential oil, though it can go up to 1.4% or even higher[269]. One analysis of the essential oils reports 14.6% bornyl acetate, 36.1% b-pinene, 11.1% 3-carene, 11.1% limonene, 6.8% camphene, and 8.4% a-pinene[269]. To harvest the oil, it would appear that the branches should be snipped off younger trees in early spring[269]. Fifteen year old trees yield 70% more leaf oil than 110-year-old trees; oil yields are highest in January - March and September, they are lowest from April to August[269]. A thread can be made from the roots[257]. Wood - light, soft, coarse grained, not strong, not very durable. Weighs 24lb per cubic foot[235]. Used mainly for pulp, it is not used much for lumber except in the manufacture of crates etc[46, 82, 226, 229]. The wood is commercially valuable for timber even though it is relatively soft, weak, and perishable[269]. Balsam fir is used in the US for timber and plywood, and is the mainstay of the pulp wood industry in the Northeast. The wood, which is rich in pitch, burns well and can be used as a kindling[257]

 

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Eucalyptus

 

Edible Parts:
Edible Uses: Condiment.

An essential oil from the fresh or dried leaves is used as a flavouring in sweets, baked goods, ice cream etc[177, 183].

 

Plants For A Future can not take any responsibility for any adverse effects from the use of plants. Always seek advice from a professional before using a plant medicinally.

Antibacterial;  Antiperiodic;  Antirheumatic;  Antiseptic;  Antispasmodic;  Appetizer;  Aromatherapy;  Aromatic;  Deodorant;  Expectorant;  Febrifuge;  
Hypoglycaemic;  Stimulant.

 

Antibacterial—kills bactieria

Stops the flow of menses

Joint Stiffness

relief

Cleaner of  Wounds

Stops spasms of muscles and nerves

Increases

Desire for food

Remedial use in aromatherapies

Scents  Utilize  for therapies

Sanitizes

The Body

Free’s lungs from mucous build up

Fever Reducer

Sugar regulator for low sugar

Energizer

 


Eucalyptus leaves are a traditional Aboriginal herbal remedy. The essential oil found in the leaves is a powerful antiseptic and is used all over the world for relieving coughs and colds, sore throats and other infections[254]. The essential oil is a common ingredient in many over-the-counter cold remedies[254]. The adult leaves, without their petioles, are antiperiodic, antiseptic, aromatic, deodorant, expectorant, febrifuge, hypoglycaemic and stimulant[4, 7, 21, 46]. The leaves, and the essential oil they contain, are antiseptic, antispasmodic, expectorant, febrifuge and stimulant[218]. Extracts of the leaves have antibacterial activity[218]. The essential oil obtained from various species of eucalyptus is a very powerful antiseptic, especially when it is old, because ozone is formed in it on exposure to air. It has a decided disinfectant action, destroying the lower forms of life[4]. The oil can be used externally, applied to cuts, skin infections etc, it can also be inhaled for treating blocked nasal passages, it can be gargled for sore throat and can also be taken internally for a wide range of complaints[4]. Some caution is advised, however, because like all essential oils, it can have a deleterious effect on the body in larger doses[4]. The oil from this species has a somewhat disagreeable odour and so it is no longer used so frequently for medicinal purposes, other members of the genus being used instead[4]. An oleo- resin is exuded from the tree[238]. It can also be obtained from the tree by making incisions in the trunk[4, 152]. This resin contains tannin and is powerfully astringent, it is used internally in the treatment of diarrhoea and bladder inflammation[4, 152, 238], externally it is applied to cuts etc[4, 152]. The essential oil is used in aromatherapy. Its keyword is 'Respiratory system'[210].

 

Cleanser;  Deodorant;  Dye;  Essential;  Fuel;  Repellent;  Wood.

The leaves and the essential oil in them are used as an insect repellent[14, 152, 174, 240]. The trees can also be planted in wet areas where mosquitoes abound. The ground will be dried out by the trees, making it unsuitable for the mosquitoes to breed[238]. A decoction of the leaves is used for repelling insects and vermin[269]. Africans use finely powdered bark as an insect dust[269]. An essential oil is obtained from the leaves[46, 61, 156]. It is used in perfumery and in medicines[100]. The yield is about 0.9% by steam distillation[154]. The essential oil is also in spot removers for cleaning off oil and grease[238]. Yields of 40 to 45 kilos of oil per hectare have been reported[269]. A yellow/brown dye is obtained from the young leaves. It does not require a mordant[168]. Grey and green dyes are obtained from the young shoots[168]. A dark green dye is obtained from the young bark[168]. Wood - heavy[46, 61], (or light according to another report[167]), durable, fire resistant[155]. An important timber species, it is used for various purposes such as carpentry, construction, fences, piles, platforms, plywood, poles, sheds, tool handles and veneer[238, 269]. The oil-rich wood is resistant to termites[269]. This is one of the best eucalypts for pulp production for making paper[152, 269].

 

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Caffeine and Exercise May Be Protective Against Skin Cancer Caused by Sun Exposure-- Study Suggests

Apr. 3, 2012The combined effects of exercise plus caffeine consumption may be able to ward off skin cancer and also prevent inflammation related to other obesity-linked cancers.---"We found that this combination treatment can decrease sunlight-caused skin cancer formation in a mouse model," said Yao-Ping Lu, Ph.D., associate research professor of chemical biology and director of skin cancer prevention at the Rutgers Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy in Piscataway, N.J. He presented these findings at the AACR Annual Meeting 2012, held in Chicago March 31 -- April 4.--"I believe we may extrapolate these findings to humans and anticipate that we would benefit from these combination treatments as well," Lu added.---The researchers evaluated the effects of caffeine and exercise on mice at high risk for developing skin cancer. Results showed that mice that took a dose of caffeine and exercised with a running wheel experienced 62 percent fewer skin tumors. The volume of tumors also decreased by 85 percent compared with the mice that did not consume caffeine or exercise.----Positive effects were found with either caffeine or exercise alone, but to a lesser extent. Researchers observed a 27 percent reduction in tumors in caffeine-only mice and a 61 percent reduction in tumor size. In the exercise-only mice, researchers found that tumor activity decreased by 35 percent and tumor volume decreased by 70 percent.---The researchers also found that exercise and caffeine reduced weight and inflammation. They fed mice a high-fat diet of omega-6 fatty acid-rich foods and measured the volume of the parametrial fat pad (the largest fat pad in a mouse) after two weeks of exercise and/or caffeine treatment.----Mice that had caffeine and exercised had a fat pad weight decrease of 63 percent. Caffeine-only mice had a 30 percent decrease, and exercise-only mice had a 56 percent decrease. Development and size of cancer decreased as well. The link, Lu believes, is inflammation, which dropped as much as 92 percent in mice that exercised and consumed caffeine.---This research was funded by the National Institutes of Health.- Story Source-The above story is reprinted from materials provided by American Association for Cancer Research (AACR).

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Caffeine Shown As Effective At Reducing Exercise-Induced Asthma Symptoms As An Albuterol Inhaler

June 1, 2009 — An Indiana University study found that the ingestion of caffeine within an hour of exercise can reduce the symptoms of exercise induced asthma (EIA).

A large dose -- 9 milligrams of caffeine per kilogram of body weight [F2] -- was as effective as the use of an albuterol inhaler, which is commonly used to treat or prevent exercise-induced asthma. Smaller amounts of caffeine -- for example, 3 and 6 milligrams of caffeine per kilogram of body weight -- also reduced the wheezing, coughing and other symptoms of EIA.---Timothy Mickleborough, an associate professor in the Department of Kinesiology and co-investigator of the study, said no additional benefit was found when caffeine was combined with an albuterol inhaler.---Mickleborough and his research colleagues have been investigating the efficacy of a number of nutritional factors, and his research to date has shown that a diet high in fish oil and antioxidants and low in salt has the potential to reduce the severity of EIA and perhaps reduce the reliance on pharmacotherapy. This is especially important since prolonged use of daily medications can result in reduced effectiveness, and there is growing concern about the potential side effects of inhaled corticosteroid use.--*Background: The caffeine study involved 10 asthmatic subjects who also had EIA, in a randomized, double-blind double-dummy crossover study. They ingested 3, 6, or 9 milligrams of caffeine per kilogram of body weight or a placebo an hour before running on a treadmill. Pulmonary function tests were conducted 15 minutes before the a eucapnic voluntary hyperpnea challenge (a surrogate for an exercise challenge) and then again 1, 5, 10, 15 and 30 minutes afterward.--For someone weighing 150 pounds, 3 to 9 milligrams of caffeine per kilogram of body weight equals around 205 to 610 milligrams of caffeine. Earlier research has found that caffeine can reduce the symptoms of EIA. This study extends this earlier work and is the first to examine any synergistic effect of caffeine use along with an albuterol inhaler.---The study, "Comparative and Synergistic Effects of Caffeine and Albuterol on The Severity of Exercise-Induced Bronchoconstriction," was presented at the American College of Sports Medicine conference during the Respiratory Session on May 29. Co-authors include lead author Timothy A. VanHaitsma, now at the University of Utah; Martin R. Lindley, Loughborough University, United Kingdom; and David Koceja and Joel Stager, IU's Department of Kinesiology

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Immune-modifying and antimicrobial effects of Eucalyptus oil and simple inhalation devices.

Sadlon AE, Lamson DW.

Source

dr.a.sadlon@gmail.com

Abstract

Eucalyptus oil (EO) and its major component, 1,8-cineole, have antimicrobial effects against many bacteria, including Mycobacterium tuberculosis and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), viruses, and fungi (including Candida). Surprisingly for an antimicrobial substance, there are also immune-stimulatory, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, analgesic, and spasmolytic effects. Of the white blood cells, monocytes and macrophages are most affected, especially with increased phagocytic activity. Application by either vapor inhalation or oral route provides benefit for both purulent and non-purulent respiratory problems, such as bronchitis, asthma, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). There is a long history of folk usage with a good safety record. More recently, the biochemical details behind these effects have been clarified. Although other plant oils may be more microbiologically active, the safety of moderate doses of EO and its broad-spectrum antimicrobial action make it an attractive alternative to pharmaceuticals. EO has also been shown to offset the myelotoxicity of one chemotherapy agent. Whether this is a general attribute that does not decrease the benefit of chemotherapy remains to be determined. This article also provides instruction on how to assemble inexpensive devices for vapor inhalation.

Self-Constructed Pocket Inhaler

A suitable-sized piece of stockinet or loosely woven fabric can be rolled on a small wooden skewer and twisted into a two-dram glass vial (Patient Handout 2). The fabric easily accepts 70 drops of EO without saturation. Carrying the vial inhaler in a pocket close to the body furnishes heat for satisfactory vaporization. Hold the vial close to or touching the lips or nostrils during inhalation. The amount of vapor intake is regulated by the distance from the vial and the speed of breathing – the closer and slower, the more vapor. Best results seem to be obtained by alternating mouth and nasal inhalation during sessions of 3-5 minutes several times daily

 

 

TOP C


 [F1]This is a Joke—asking the wolf to watch the henhouse ---there will be no protection at all here on this issue and nothing will be resolved---The FDA has constantly refused to obey congress or any other gov’t in the act of prevention ofr removal of there influence and usually has become more defiant in there quest to control the very fabric of life ---and the USDA does absolutely nothing these days to enforce safety in fods and food imports nor do they do anything in regard to Chemtrails or Flouridation of water

 [F2]9MG’S/1KG (2.2 LB)

TAKE YOUR weight and divide by 2.2 to  get a Kg weight—example 170/2.2= 77kgs approx---then multiply by 9= 693 mgs  or 3 mgs /KG--- so take as a example 170/2.2===77 X 3 =231mgs