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Fixing a World That Fosters Fat

Aug 22nd, 2010 by DrB

By NATASHA SINGER

WHY are Americans getting fatter and fatter? The simple explanation is that we eat too much junk food and spend too much time in front of screens — be they television, phone or computer — to burn off all those empty calories.

 



David Plunkert

One handy prescription for healthier lives is behavior modification. If people only ate more fresh produce. (Thank you, Michael Pollan.) If only children exercised more. (Ditto, Michelle Obama.)

Unfortunately, behavior changes won’t work on their own without seismic societal shifts, health experts say, because eating too much and exercising too little are merely symptoms of a much larger malady. The real problem is a landscape littered with inexpensive fast-food meals; saturation advertising for fatty, sugary products; inner cities that lack supermarkets; and unhealthy, high-stress workplaces.

In other words: it’s the environment, stupid.

“Everyone knows that you shouldn’t eat junk food and you should exercise,” says Kelly D. Brownell, the director of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale. “But the environment makes it so difficult that fewer people can do these things, and then you have a public health catastrophe.”

Dr. Brownell, who has a doctorate in psychology, is among a number of leading researchers who are proposing large-scale changes to food pricing, advertising and availability, all in the hope of creating an environment conducive to healthier diet and exercise choices.

To that end, health researchers are grappling with how to fix systems that are the root causes of obesity, says Dee W. Edington, the director of the Health Management Research Center at the University of Michigan.

“If you take a changed person and put them in the same environment, they are going to go back to the old behaviors,” says Dr. Edington, who has a doctorate in physical education. “If you change the culture and the environment first, then you can go back into a healthy environment and, when you get change, it sticks.”

Indeed, despite individual efforts by some states to tax soda pop, promote farm stands, require healthier school lunches or mandate calorie information in chain restaurants, obesity rates in the United States are growing. An estimated 72.5 million adults in the United States are obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Last year, about 27 percent of adults said they were obese, compared with about 20 percent in 2000, as reported in a C.D.C. study published this month. And, the report said, obesity may cost the medical system as much as $147 billion annually.

So what kind of disruptive changes might help nudge Americans into healthier routines? Equalizing food pricing, for one.

Fast-food restaurants can charge lower prices for value meals of hamburgers and French fries than for salad because the government subsidizes the corn and soybeans used for animal feed and vegetable oil, says Barry Popkin, a professor of nutrition at the Gillings School of Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

“We have made it more expensive to eat healthy in a very big way,” says Dr. Popkin, who has a doctorate in agricultural economics and is the author of a book called “The World Is Fat: The Fads, Trends, Policies and Products That Are Fattening the Human Race.”

The inflation-adjusted price of a McDonald’s quarter-pounder with cheese, for example, fell 5.44 percent from 1990 to 2007, according to an article on the economics of child obesity published in the journal Health Affairs. But the inflation-adjusted price of fruit and vegetables, which are not subject to federal largess, rose 17 percent just from 1997 to 2003, the study said. Cutting agricultural subsidies would have a big impact on people’s eating habits, says Dr. Popkin.

“If we cut the subsidy on whole milk and made it cheaper only to drink low-fat milk,” he says, “people would switch to it and it would save a lot of calories.”

Health experts are also looking to the private sector. On-site fitness centers and vending machines that sell good-for-you snacks are practical workplace innovations that many companies have instituted.

On a more philosophical level, innovative companies are training managers not to burn out employees by overworking them, says Dr. Edington of the University of Michigan.

“Stress comes up. It can lead to overeating and obesity,” Dr. Edington says. At companies that see employee health as a renewable resource, he adds, managers encourage employees to go home on time so they can spend more time with their families, communities or favorite activities. “Instead of going home with an empty tank, you can go home with the energy that we gave you by the way we run our business,” he says.

CORPORATE-SECTOR efforts aren’t entirely altruistic. It’s less expensive for businesses to keep healthy workers healthy than to cover the medical costs of obesity and related problems like diabetes. For employees at I.B.M. and their families, for example, the annual medical claim for an obese adult or child costs about double that of a non-obese adult or child, says Martin J. Sepulveda, I.B.M.’s vice president for integrated health services.

I.B.M. has been promoting wellness for employees since the 1980s. But in 2008, it began offering a new program, the Children’s Health Rebate, to encourage employees to increase their at-home family dinners, their servings of fruits and vegetables, and their physical activities, as well as to reduce their children’s television and computer time.

In addition to helping prevent obesity in children, Mr. Sepulveda says, the program is aimed at employees who might neglect to exercise on their own but would willingly participate as part of a family project. Each family that completes the program receives $150.

All of these ideas sound promising. But the architecture of obesity is so entrenched that policy makers, companies, communities, families and individuals will need to undertake a variety of efforts to displace and replace it, says Alan Lyles, a professor at the School of Health and Human Services at the University of Baltimore.

And American efforts can seem piecemeal compared with those in Britain, where the government has undertaken a multipronged national attack, requiring changes in schools, health services and the food industry.

Britain now places restrictions on advertising fatty, sugary and salty foods during children’s shows, for example. And by 2011, cooking classes will be mandatory for all 11- to 14-year-old students in the nation. The hope is to teach a generation of children who grew up on prepared foods how to cook healthy meals, and perhaps to make eating at home — instead of at the local fried fish-and-chips shop — the default option.

Posted in Food - Diet Health Advice | No Comments »

The War Over Raw Milk Heats Up

Aug 15th, 2010 by DrB

raw milk in a canisterThe FDA has long banned interstate sales of raw milk. Many states restrict or prohibit the sale of raw milk entirely.

Raw milk drinkers and sellers began fighting back in early 2010, filing suit against the FDA and claiming that banning interstate sales is unconstitutional. The case is now pending while the crackdowns continue.

Raw (unpasteurized) milk contains enzymes and bacteria have been shown to strengthen your immune system, develop healthy bacteria in your intestines and reduce the risks of everything from respiratory disease to obesity. Pasteurization destroys both good and bad bacteria.

The FDA officially banned interstate sales of raw milk in 1987, but it wasn’t until 2006 that a crackdown began. Agricultural departments in several states, with the help of the FDA, started to stage raids of small dairies and buying clubs.

Daily Finance reports:

“On occasion, people do get sick from drinking raw milk. But the number of people sickened by raw milk compared to other foods does not seem to warrant the FDA’s focused, expensive campaign …

No government regulations of interstate commerce in peanuts, kale, or cantaloupes have been suggested, despite the much greater number of people sickened by consuming these foods. Sushi, a raw food that provides a greater opportunity for illness than raw milk, is legal in all 50 states, too.”

Sources:

Daily Finance July 20, 2010

Millions of Americans get sick every year from eating contaminated foods. Among them, at least 325,000 will be hospitalized and 5,000 will die, according to FDA statistics.

Many foods are responsible for these illnesses. Most recently, romaine lettuce sold to wholesalers was recalled in multiple states after concerns of E. coli contamination, and a few weeks later romaine lettuce-based, ready-to-eat salads were recalled due to possible Salmonella bacteria.

Americans are no strangers to such recalls.

One of the most memorable occurred in 2006, when all spinach was pulled from store shelves. Alfalfa sprouts, tomatoes, beef and jalapeno peppers have also been recalled in recent years after serious illnesses have been reported.

Yet, only one food — raw milk — has been unfairly singled out and targeted by the FDA, the USDA and even the FBI as a “health risk” worthy of armed raids and crackdowns — a food that also happens to be so low on the food-borne illness risk scale it’s hardly measurable.

Why is Raw Milk Being Targeted?

According to CDC data, from 1993 to 2006 there were only about 116 illnesses a year linked to raw milk — that amounts to less than .000002 percent of the 76 million people who contract a food-borne illness in the United States each year!

This is the reality of the “dangerous” food the FDA has launched an attack against — seizing raw dairy products from private food coops, arresting small raw dairy farmers and threatening distributors with fines and jail time. They’ve also devoted an entire section of their web site to extolling the “dangers of unpasteurized milk.”

Meanwhile, ground beef sold in supermarkets across the United States, with the FDA’s gold seal of approval, commonly contains meat from hundreds of animals, often from different parts of the world.

The animals are not only raised in concentrated feedlots that are breeding grounds for dangerous bacteria and viruses, but they are fed an unnatural diet of grains, which creates a much higher level of acidity in the animal’s stomach, which E. coli bacteria need to survive.

Despite this, there is no federal requirement for meat grinders to test their ingredients for E.coli prior to selling them. And most retailers do not test either. So not only is your meat being raised in ways that are known to encourage disease-causing organisms, but little to no testing is being done to make sure the meat is safe before it reaches your dinner plate — and the FDA is A-OK with this.

It may also surprise you to learn that Chinese-raised fish, which are commonly sold in U.S. supermarkets, are often fed a diet of chicken waste and human waste, while toxic sewage sludge is used to fertilize many U.S. crops — and again this is all within the realm of FDA regulations.

But raw milk — a food that promotes the growth of healthy bacteria in your intestine, which in turn has a significant, beneficial impact on your overall immune function and health — has been literally outlawed in many states.

Raw Milk Safety Standards Often Exceed Those of Pasteurized Milk

The dairy cows used to produce most of the pasteurized dairy sold in the United States are raised in similarly deplorable conditions, which is why the milk has to be pasteurized in order to make it safe for human consumption.

But high-quality raw dairy farmers march to an entirely different, and superior, drummer. California, specifically, (where raw milk is legal) has its own special set of standards for raw milk for human consumption, in which farmers must meet or exceed pasteurized milk standards, without pasteurizing.

The conventional dairy industry, realizing that increasing numbers of consumers are recognizing the health benefits of raw milk and going to great lengths to obtain it, has redoubled their efforts to make sure that raw milk sales are not able to grow, and certainly not able to become mainstream, where they could begin to threaten their very own livelihoods.

If raw dairy really caught on, you would think that the dairy industry would simply follow suit and begin producing raw products to meet the demand. But this would be virtually impossible with the way their overcrowded farms are run.

Their business depends on pasteurization, and that is why their powerful lobbyists will stop at nothing to persuade government agencies to keep raw milk bans in full force.

Unfortunately, as is often the case the FDA has jumped on the Big Business bandwagon and is doing everything in their power — even arresting small farmers! — to protect the interests of the Big Dairy industry.

The Raw Milk Revolution is Upon Us …

Right now the “war” between the FDA and consumers looking to secure their right to purchase and drink raw milk is reaching a peak.

Earlier this year, the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund (FTCLDF) filed a lawsuit against the FDA over their raw milk ban, claiming it is unconstitutional. The FDA’s rebuttal contained the following extremely concerning and outrageous statements, which make it very clear they believe you have no right to unprocessed food:

  • “There is no absolute right to consume or feed children any particular food.”
  • “There is no ‘deeply rooted’ historical tradition of unfettered access to foods of all kinds.”
  • “Plaintiffs’ assertion of a ‘fundamental right to their own bodily and physical health, which includes what foods they do and do not choose to consume for themselves and their families’ is similarly unavailing because plaintiffs do not have a fundamental right to obtain any food they wish.”
  • The FDA’s brief goes on to state that “even if such a right did exist, it would not render the FDA’s regulations unconstitutional because prohibiting the interstate sale and distribution of unpasteurized milk promotes bodily and physical health.”
  • “There is no fundamental right to freedom of contract.”

If you go by these assertions, it means the FDA has the authority to prohibit any food of their choosing and make it a crime for you to seek it out. If, one day, the FDA deems tomatoes, broccoli or cashews capable of causing you harm (which is just as ludicrous as their assertions that raw milk is harmful), they could therefore enact such a ban and legally enforce it.

Get Informed and Protect Your Food Freedom

By joining the campaign to make access to healthy raw milk a right for all Americans, you are not only standing up for raw milk; you’re taking a stand to protect your freedom of food choice.

For more information, I urge you to listen to my interview with Mark McAfee, the founder of Organic Pastures, one of the largest producers of raw milk in the United States, along with this video with health and business journalist David E. Gumpert.

You can also find lots of valuable information in Gumpert’s book, The Raw Milk Revolution, and on McAfee’s website.

Finally, if you’re interested in purchasing raw milk, RealMilk.com can help you find a high-quality source in your area.

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Posted in Advanced Medicine, Food - Diet Health Advice, Health Controversies, Informative | No Comments »

Phys Ed: Your Brain on Exercise – Well Blog – NYTimes.com

Jul 9th, 2010 by DrB

By GRETCHEN REYNOLDS Jim Wehtje/Getty Images What goes on inside your brain when you exercise? That question has preoccupied a growing number of scientists in recent years, as well as many of us who exercise. In the late 1990s,

Brain MRI

Dr. Fred Gage and his colleagues at the Laboratory of Genetics at the Salk Institute in San Diego elegantly proved that human and animal brains produce new brain cells (a process called neurogenesis) and that exercise increases neurogenesis. The brains of mice and rats that were allowed to run on wheels pulsed with vigorous, newly born neurons, and those animals then breezed through mazes and other tests of rodent I.Q., showing that neurogenesis improves thinking.

But how, exactly, exercise affects the staggeringly intricate workings of the brain at a cellular level has remained largely mysterious. A number of new studies, though, including work published this month by Mr. Gage and his colleagues, have begun to tease out the specific mechanisms and, in the process, raised new questions about just how exercise remolds the brain.

Some of the most reverberant recent studies were performed at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. There, scientists have been manipulating the levels of bone-morphogenetic protein or BMP in the brains of laboratory mice. BMP, which is found in tissues throughout the body, affects cellular development in various ways, some of them deleterious. In the brain, BMP has been found to contribute to the control of stem cell divisions. Your brain, you will be pleased to learn, is packed with adult stem cells, which, given the right impetus, divide and differentiate into either additional stem cells or baby neurons. As we age, these stem cells tend to become less responsive. They don’t divide as readily and can slump into a kind of cellular sleep. It’s BMP that acts as the soporific, says Dr. Jack Kessler, the chairman of neurology at Northwestern and senior author of many of the recent studies. The more active BMP and its various signals are in your brain, the more inactive your stem cells become and the less neurogenesis you undergo. Your brain grows slower, less nimble, older.

 Phys Ed Pic

Related More Phys Ed columns Faster, Higher, Stronger Fitness and Nutrition News But exercise countermands some of the numbing effects of BMP, Dr. Kessler says. In work at his lab, mice given access to running wheels had about 50 percent less BMP-related brain activity within a week. They also showed a notable increase in Noggin, a beautifully named brain protein that acts as a BMP antagonist. The more Noggin in your brain, the less BMP activity exists and the more stem cell divisions and neurogenesis you experience. Mice at Northwestern whose brains were infused directly with large doses of Noggin became, Dr. Kessler says, ‘little mouse geniuses, if there is such a thing.’ They aced the mazes and other tests.

Whether exercise directly reduces BMP activity or increases production of Noggin isn’t yet known and may not matter. The results speak for themselves. ‘If ever exercise enthusiasts wanted a rationale for what they’re doing, this should be it,’ Dr. Kessler says. Exercise, he says, through a complex interplay with Noggin and BMP, helps to ensure that neuronal stem cells stay lively and new brain cells are born.

But there are caveats and questions remaining, as the newest experiment from Dr. Gage’s lab makes clear. In that study, published in the most recent issue of Cell Stem Cell, BMP signaling was found to be playing a surprising, protective role for the brain’s stem cells. For the experiment, stem cells from mouse brains were transferred to petri dishes and infused with large doses of Noggin, hindering BMP activity. Without BMP signals to inhibit them, the stem cells began dividing rapidly, producing hordes of new neurons. But over time, they seemed unable to stop, dividing and dividing again until they effectively wore themselves out. The same reaction occurred within the brains of living (unexercised) mice given large doses of Noggin. Neurogenesis ramped way up, then, after several weeks, sputtered and slowed.  The ‘pool of active stem cells was depleted,’ a news release accompanying the study reported. An overabundance of Noggin seemed to cause stem cells to wear themselves out, threatening their ability to make additional neurons in the future.

This finding raises the obvious and disturbing question: can you overdose on Noggin by, for instance, running for hours, amping up your production of the protein throughout? The answer, Dr. Gage says, is, almost certainly, no. ‘Many people have been looking into’ that issue, he says. But so far, ‘there has not been any instance of a negative effect from voluntary running’ on the brain health of mice. Instead, he says, it seems that the effects of exercise are constrained and soon plateau, causing enough change in the activity of Noggin and BMP to shake slumbering adult stem cells awake, but not enough to goose them into exhausting themselves.

Still, if there’s not yet any discernible ceiling on brain-healthy exercise, there is a floor. You have to do something. Walk, jog, swim, pedal — the exact amount or intensity of the exercise required has not been determined, although it appears that the minimum is blessedly low. In mice, Mr. Gage says, ‘even a fairly short period’ of exercise ‘and a short distance seems to produce results.’

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Posted in Advanced Medicine, General, Health Conditions, Informative, Science | No Comments »

Popular Brew May Lower Cholesterol, Blood Pressure, and Triglycerides

Jul 9th, 2010 by DrB

Popular Brew May Lower Cholesterol, Blood Pressure, and Triglycerides: “

teaDrinking three or more cups of tea a day is as good for you as drinking plenty of water — and may be even better.

Research dispels the common belief that tea dehydrates. Tea not only rehydrates as well as water does, but it can also protect against heart disease and some cancers.

Rodale states that:

‘As in previous studies, a strong link between the beverage and heart-protective qualities was established, most likely a result of the beneficial flavonoid activity in the tea.

The research suggests that drinking one to eight cups (cups, not gigantic mugs) a day is associated with a reduced risk of chronic disease.’

Sources:

Dr. Mercola’s Comments:

I still believe the majority of your daily fluid intake should be high quality pure water. However, if you use pure water as a base, adding a high quality organic tea can actually improve the health benefits you receive, as long as you avoid sweetening each cup with added sugar. I also do not recommend adding pasteurized milk to your tea.

Tea has been linked to a variety of health benefits, including:

  • Reduced risk of heart disease and cancer
  • Improved insulin response and reduced blood sugar levels
  • Reduced pain and inflammation associated with rheumatoid arthritis
  • Reduced risk of dementia
  • Reduced glaucoma risk
  • Improved digestion

There’s still some debate as to which kind of tea is the most beneficial — green- and black tea being the most cited, but you can also consider Indian herbal teas like Tulsi.

One so-called ‘health benefit’ of tea that I strongly disagree with however, is the claim that the increased intake of fluoride from tea would have a positive impact on your health.

It’s important to realize that fluoride is a toxic substance that can have profoundly negative effects on your body. For more information, I highly recommend listening to my recent interview with Dr. Paul Connett, one of the leading experts on fluoride.

Several studies have made it clear that tea can be a source of fluoride, and contrary to what you’ve been led to believe by health officials and the conventional media, the risk of consuming fluoride far outweighs any stated benefit.

So, when I recommend drinking tea, it’s with the caveat that the tea be of high quality and free of fluoride.

How Tea Benefits Your Health

A growing body of research suggests that many of the health benefits attributed to tea are largely imparted by its polyphenols (naturally occurring antioxidants), including epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), which is the main active component of the tea polyphenol’s biological activity.

It is generally recognized that antioxidants protect your health by fighting free radicals in your body, thereby preventing damage from oxidation.

Free radicals are highly reactive molecules that steal electrons from everything they encounter, be it a cell wall, or a strand of DNA. The loss of an electron, in turn, oxidizes these cells, which makes them unstable and easily breakable. As this free-radical damage continues, cells can no longer perform properly, and hence, tissues begin to degrade and disease sets in.

Polyphenols, specifically, have been shown to:

  • lower your cholesterol
  • lower your triglyceride levels
  • lower your blood pressure
  • ease inflammation and pain

EGCG is also known to have a regulatory effect on fat metabolism, and several studies suggest it may even improve exercise performance.

Because it’s the least processed kind of tea, green tea contains the most EGCG of all tea varieties. So other than water, I believe high-quality green tea is one of the most beneficial beverages you can consume.

As I mentioned above, another excellent choice is Tulsi tea.

It too is chock-full of antioxidants, but the complex and unique chemistry of this aromatic herb also offers benefits that go over and beyond that of other teas.

Tulsi tea contains hundreds of beneficial compounds known as phytochemicals. Phytochemicals are non-nutritive plant compounds that have protective and health promoting properties.

Working together, these compounds possess potential antioxidant, adaptogenic, and immune-enhancing properties that can fight stress and help promote your general health in multiple ways, including:

  • Bolstering your immune system
  • Providing you with a calming effect and relief from occasional stress
  • Promoting healthy metabolism
  • Helping maintain optimal blood sugar levels
  • Providing skeletal and joint support
  • Supporting normal cholesterol levels

How to Evaluate the Quality of Green Tea

Out of the seemingly endless varieties of tea out there, there are only a handful I would recommend drinking. My two favorites are Tulsi tea and matcha green tea. But as I mentioned earlier, quality is paramount when selecting tea — especially when it comes to green tea.

Matcha tea is a vibrant bright green tea that contains the entire ground tea leaf, and can contain over 100 times the EGCG provided by regular brewed green tea.

A telltale sign of high quality is that it is in fact green.

If your green tea looks brown rather than green, it’s likely been oxidized, which can damage or destroy many of its most valuable compounds.

Should You Worry About the Caffeine Content of Your Tea?

Some people avoid drinking tea because it contains caffeine. Indeed, caffeine has been linked to many health problems, like increased blood pressure and levels of stress hormones. Still, caffeine is far less dangerous than fruit juice or soda and in small quantities should not be a problem, especially if it comes from tea.

A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in July 2008 found that caffeine from tea (as opposed to caffeine from coffee) contains a natural protein called theanine, which actually counters the normal side effects of caffeine such as raised blood pressure, headaches and tiredness.

The exception here is women who are pregnant or breastfeeding.

Caffeine is a stimulant drug that easily passes through the placenta to the developing fetus and is also transferred through breast milk, and can have devastating effects on the baby. So pregnant and breastfeeding women should avoid all caffeinated beverages.

If you’re looking for the one with the least caffeine, green tea, again, comes out as a clear winner. Green tea contains about half the caffeine as coffee. Black tea typically contains slightly more caffeine than green tea.

If you really need to avoid caffeine, Tulsi is your best choice as it has doesn’t have any.

What’s a Healthy Amount of Tea?

There’s a common misconception that you’d have to drink an entire pot or two of tea to experience any significant health benefits. But much of the research on green tea, for example, has been based on about three cups daily.

One cup of green tea will provide you with 20-35 mg of EGCG, depending on the quality of your tea, so three cups a day will supply you with anywhere from 60 to 105 mg.

My advice?

If you enjoy tea, go ahead and add a few cups of green tea or Tulsi tea to your day. Some people may not like the flavor of high quality green tea. If you fall in that category, you may want to try Tulsi tea instead. It’s delicious, and can be served hot or chilled.

Stevia is an excellent choice if you want to sweeten your tea.

(Via Mercola Natural Health Articles.)

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Toxic Montana Mine Kills Hundreds

Jun 4th, 2010 by DrB

SCIENTISTS SEEK FORMER STUDENTS IN TOXIC MT TOWN

By NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS Associated Press Writer

SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — Researchers have embarked on an ambitious study to track the health of thousands of high school graduates over a half century in a Montana town where a toxic mine has killed hundreds of people and made it the deadliest Superfund site in the nation.

People who attended Libby High between 1950 and 1999 and then moved away are being asked to submit to tests to help determine the extent of contamination caused by asbestos mining and processing in the northwestern Montana town. Researchers will track down many of the 13,000-plus graduates with the help of the school district and alumni groups, and then ask them to undergo a battery of X-rays, CT scans and pulmonary function tests.

Dr. Stephen M. Levin of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York said the study is part of a larger range of work trying to figure out why asbestos-related disease coming out of Libby appears to be particularly fast-moving and virulent.

“This progresses much more rapidly than your grandfather’s asbestos-related disease,” Levin said.

The mineral vermiculite was mined in Libby for much of the past century. At the mine’s peak in the l970s, operator W.R. Grace produced almost 2 million tons of ore annually and employed about 200 miners and others. Vermiculite was shipped around the world to make insulation.

But unmarketable material – much of it asbestos – made up about 80 percent of the ore. The crushing of the rock in the course of the vermiculite mining set billions of asbestos fibers loose in clouds of dust that drifted six miles down to Libby. Many residents of the town of 3,000 who never set foot in the mine were exposed, and kids once frolicked in polluted piles of fluffy white waste dumped behind the community baseball field.

A recent Associated Press examination of the toxic legacy of Libby found that the pollution has killed more than 400 people while revealing that the federal government has been overwhelmed in its response to the catastrophe.

The Environmental Protection Agency only last year declared a health emergency in the town, nearly a decade after saying it would take about two years to clean up the mess at a cost of $5.6 million. Ten years on, the price tag has exceeded $333 million as asbestos keeps showing up in schools, businesses and houses. Environmental workers in haz-mat suits are still working in people’s yards.

The findings of the study could be important in helping the federal government understand what it’s up against as it attempts to clean up the pollution.

The study was announced this week and will begin later in June. As part of the research, subjects must have spent the majority of their high school years in Libby between 1950 and 1999 and then moved away without coming back in their adult years to live or work.

Lungs develop until a child reaches about age 18, so looking at the lungs of people who left town about that age and did not live there again can show how much damage occurs in childhood as compared to adulthood, Levin said. Scientists believe asbestos exposure in childhood is more dangerous because lungs are still developing, he said.

The research will also compare exposure of Libby asbestos to that of more common commercial forms and examine the presence of autoimmune disorders like lupus in people exposed to asbestos. The Center for Asbestos Related Disease is performing the $4.8 million epidemiology study.

Scientists will also examine quirks that sometimes show up in asbestos exposure. For example, a person who suffered only a secondary exposure to asbestos in Libby might see disease develop more quickly than a construction worker who worked directly with asbestos, and researchers hope the study will explain why the Libby asbestos is so aggressive.

To evaluate that, researchers will be comparing infected people in Libby with records of building trades workers who installed insulation in New York City, Levin said.

“We are sort of the petri dish of asbestos here in Libby,” said Gayla Benefield, a member of the Class of 1961 who has spent the past two decades advocating for local residents.

Libby is a small town and many of the people who used to live here keep in touch with friends they left behind.

“It’s a unique situation to have a group of people with a high degree of exposure to a toxin and to be able to bring them back,” said Kimberly Rowse, clinical coordinator at the center. “They are willing to engage because this is their hometown.”

The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, a branch of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is funding the project.?

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Posted in Environmental Health, General, Informative | No Comments »

New Warning About Everyday Poison Linked to Alzheimer’s, ADHD, and Autism

Mar 22nd, 2010 by DrB

New Warning About Everyday Poison Linked to Alzheimer’s, ADHD, and Autism: “

Dr. David Ayoub is a radiologist and a physician, and has become a specialist on the additives and preservatives used in vaccines. He was a presenter at the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) Conference in Washington D.C. last year.

Here he discusses the practice of using aluminum as an adjuvant, and why he believes aluminum may be far more toxic than thimerosal in vaccines.

Dr. Mercola’s Comments:

Dr. Ayoub was, as many of you are, very concerned about mercury (thimerosal) in vaccines for a number of years, and attended a number of autism conferences that featured physicians who were highlighting the dangers of mercury.

However, a few personal encounters heightened his interest in another toxic metal frequently used in vaccines, namely aluminum.

Parents of autistic children kept pointing out the fact that their children’s heavy metal toxicity profiles showed high amounts of aluminum, and they wanted to know what that meant.

Secondly, a well respected nutritionist who deals with industrial aluminum toxicity showed him toxicity profiles of middle school children who had ADHD. In his estimate, 90 percent of the children in one particular school had developed ADHD during the course of a single year, and their toxicity profiles showed massive amounts of aluminum.

In addition, he did a pilot study with Dr. Usman, who treats autism with biomedicine, and when he evaluated the aluminum burden of these autistic children, he found that high percentage of them also had very high aluminum burdens.

All of these events led him to look deeper into the aluminum issue, which we discuss at length in this interview.

Why is Aluminum Used in Vaccines?

Mercury (thimerosal) exposure has declined significantly since it was eliminated from the single-dose vials of most childhood vaccines, yet autism rates have continued to skyrocket. This has led many to assume that mercury isn’t a problem, and anyone questioning the safety of vaccines is considered to be a hysterical wingnut.

However, while mercury use has decreased, the use of aluminum additives has increased!

Aluminum, like any other adjuvant, is added to the vaccine in order to boost the host’s immune response to the antigen. The antigen is what your body responds to and makes antibodies against (the virus being injected). By boosting your body’s immune response, the vaccine manufacturer can use a smaller amount of antigen, which makes production less expensive.

Interestingly enough, according to Dr. Ayoub, even our modern medical literature admits that how this happens exactly is still a mystery. And it’s not a consistent finding. He mentions a couple of studies on the more recent HPV vaccine, which found that the aluminum adjuvant had no effect at all on the immune response.

So, although aluminum is frequently added to vaccines for this particular purpose, no one knows with any degree of confidence that it actually makes a more effective vaccine.

Is Aluminum a Heavy Metal?

Aluminum is by many considered to be a heavy metal. However, based on the Periodic Table, it’s just shy of a heavy metal. So it’s called a ‘light metal.’

But regardless of its precise classification, aluminum is in the metal grouping, and it’s a common compound.

You will find aluminum in the earth’s crust, and in air, soil and water. However, although aluminum is a common, ‘natural’ substance, it’s important to realize that it has absolutely no biological role inside your body.

In fact, we already know that aluminum is a poison.

Which Vaccines Contain Aluminum?

Many vaccines contain aluminum, including:

  • Hepatitis A
  • Hepatitis B
  • DTaP (diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis)
  • Hib vaccine
  • Pneumococcal vaccine
  • Gardasil (HPV vaccine)

This is NOT an all-inclusive list, however. Your best bet is to read through the package insert of each vaccine in question.

You can find a comprehensive list of approved vaccines on the FDA’s website, with links to each package insert.

The amount of aluminum in each vaccine will vary. However, according to Dr. Ayoub, it’s important to realize that the toxicity is not entirely dependent on dose, but also on how it’s distributed in your body.

For example, a small dose released rapidly from the injection site into your body can cause a rapid rise in blood aluminum levels. So a small dose released quickly may be much more toxic than a large dose that ends up staying longer in the tissue at the injection site.

The variables of personal differences and differences in how the injection is given are too numerous to count, and they may play a role in how toxic a shot ends up being once injected into your body.

How Much Aluminum is Your Child Getting Through Vaccines?

Dr. Ayoub has identified one vaccine in particular as being one of the absolute worst in terms of aluminum content – Pediatrix. It’s a combination vaccine, which contains 850 mcg of elemental aluminum.

The average aluminum content per vaccine ranges between 200 to 400 mcg. Others contain less, such as Prevnar, which has 125 mcg of aluminum.

Adding to the problem, however, is the fact that many children end up receiving multiple vaccines at a time. In effect, children are getting concentrations of aluminum that are 10 to 20 times higher than mercury.

Based on the number of vaccines given, children today are receiving 17 shots that contain aluminum, compared to four vaccines in the 1970s into the mid-80s. According to Dr. Ayoub’s calculations, the milligram dose of aluminum received has more than doubled in that time.

This can have significant implications, as aluminum is not only toxic in and of itself, but it also impairs your body’s ability to excrete mercury, and it impairs glutathione synthesis. As a consequence, aluminum will make whatever amount of mercury you have in your system even more toxic.

Remember, you and your children are exposed to mercury from other sources as well, not just vaccines. Fish and amalgam dental fillings are two major sources of mercury exposure as well.

Problems with the Legal Limits on Aluminum

In the U.S., the FDA sets the guidelines for what and how much aluminum is allowed in vaccines. According to the FDA, the maximum amount of allowable elemental aluminum is 850 mcg per vaccine.

Clearly, it makes a major difference if this amount is injected into a small infant or an adult, but the FDA makes no distinction to that effect.

In fact, when Dr. Ayoub dug deeper into the FDA regulations on aluminum, he discovered that the limitation of 850 mcg per vaccine is based on the effectiveness of the adjuvant role of aluminum and has nothing to do with limitations based on safety whatsoever!

Shocking?

Yes! But not surprising, at this point.

However, it may be wise to keep this fact in mind, as those who argue that the amounts of aluminum in vaccines is a ‘legally safe dose’ are really just citing a regulatory guideline that is based solely on the efficacy of the vaccine, and NOT based on any safety data whatsoever.

Approach to Treatment and Prevention of Aluminum Ttoxicity

’1) Avoid/minimize exposures

  • ‘Test drinking water with and without filter
  • ‘Avoid cooking with aluminum utensils/pans
  • ‘Never store food in contact with aluminum
  • ‘Use non aluminum baking soda, deodorant, toothpaste
  • ‘Avoid aluminum-containing vaccines, or separate multiple aluminum- containing vaccines by 2-4 weeks, only take single formulas/shots
  • ‘Avoid drinks in aluminum pouches/cans, especially if they contain citrates/ascorbates which enhance aluminum absorption
  • ‘Take vitamin C and fruit juices on an empty stomach
  • ‘Minimize exposure to calcium carbonate-containing medicines””’

2) Testing for body levels

””’ Blood aluminum only useful in cases of large, acute exposures (i.e., acute vaccine reaction) for chronic exposures: hair analysis, post-provocative (EDTA or DFO) urine metals, urinary porphyrin testing
‘

3) Treatment of deleterious actions of chronic aluminum exposure’maintain normal serum vitamin D levels

  • ‘Melatonin has powerful antioxidant properties and is particularly depleted from aluminum exposure
  • ‘Curcumin
  • ‘Supplements or foods that dirve the methylation process (methionine cycle), i.e., B6, B12, folic acid, folinic acid, etc””’
  • Natural chelation like cilantro”

Medial Chelation:’

Calcium disodium EDTA pulls lead and aluminum. It is also contaminated with aluminum, as many calcium-containing products are. Oral dose is easiest but rectal suppository is available.
(Detoxamin) and may have the added benefit of low absorption of the aluminum contaminant that requires iron-transport system found mostly in small bowel as opposed to the rectum. Intravenous EDTA can be used by healthcare professional.

Medical chelation has been performed for many years using deferoxamine (DFO). This is a potent chelator for iron and aluminum and has been used’ mostly’ by nephrologists in treating aluminum toxicity from oral phosphate binders once used in patients with chronic renal failure. This is potent enough to reverse severe acute neurotoxicity from aluminum poisoning but has potential serious side effects and can only be used by a physician..

Learn More About the Health Implications of Aluminum!

I strongly urge you to listen to the interview with Dr. Ayoub in its entirely to learn more about the dangers of this common vaccine adjuvant. Clearly, aluminum stands poised to take over mercury as one of the worst offenders against health.

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