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Urgent Health Warning:
Salmonella food poisoning risk for Vegetable
Protein results in recall of chips, soups and dips
March 10, 2010
Please be aware that according to Thaindian News, there has been a recall of
several chips and dips due to the fact that there is a recall for vegetable
protein products in the chips, soups and dips due to a salmonella food poisoning
risk.
The FDA has recalled the T. Marzetti vegetable dips, Castella Chicken Soup,
Homemade Gourmet Tortilla Soup Mix, and numerous products by Tim's Cascade
Snacks and even the products of Earth Island's "Follow Your Heart".
The Basic Food Flavors Incorporation manufactures all these products, and
they notified the FDA of positive Salmonella results last month. If you have any
of these products please contact the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and they
will give you further instructions. The website is:
www.fda.gov.
These products are particularly dangerous for immune-compromised, young and
old people. For more information on recent food borne illnesses and poisoning,
check out this site
www.pritzkerlaw.com/salmonella/.
New fertility study shows women
lose 90% of their eggs by the time they are 30!
February 2, 2010
We always knew that fertility begins to decline as early as 27 but
researchers had no idea that by the age of 30, the average female has already
lost 90% of them. This new study was carried out by the University of St.
Andrews and Edinburgh University in Scotland. This new information could explain
why many women feel a strong "biological clock" tick as they get into their mid
20's. Perhaps it is indeed their bodies signaling to them that their fertility
has a limited amount of time. It is a fact that women are putting off having
children until their thirties, especially those women who attended college.
There could be a correlation between this and the rise of babies born as a
result of fertility treatments or doctor intervention.
Women in the 1950's often did not attend college, and in fact, many were
married right out of high school or soon there after. The man often wanted to be
able to purchase a home so the couple put off having their first child until
they were in their early to mid 20's, which agrees with the Office for National
Statistics. They put these women at approximately 26.3 years old by the time
they finished having children, which is well within the optimal fertility
window. The study looked at 325 women of different ages in the U.S., U.K., and
other parts of Europe. By age 40, only three percent of ovarian eggs remain,
researchers determined. And not only do women run out of eggs at a certain
point, making it difficult to conceive, but the quality of eggs also
deteriorates. Women can help to stretch out this window by avoiding pollutants,
environmental as well as alcohol, smoking and being overweight. The study
encourages women to take this information into consideration when planning for a
family.
My two cents on the whole
Michael Jackson story
August 1, 2009
OK, I really tried to hold my judgment back, but as a month has gone by and
in place of facts in the form of an official cause of death and toxicological
results, as well as tissue microscopic examinations of what I assume will be not
just the missing brain, but all of his vital organs, we simply have the
Celebrity TV talking heads bringing on the same people on daily basis to discuss
their "possible" relationships with him and how they all knew he was going to
die.
No wonder the police are investigating, knowing someone is in imminent danger
of dying by their hand or another's is a crime. Is it a coincidence that one of
these talking heads is a recovering alcoholic who is pimping her book at the
very mention of the words "drug" or "addiction". Hey what the heck a lot of
other people used the tragedy that was Michael Jackson's life as a way to make
money for herself.
What really ticks me off here is that since his death he has been labeled as
anorexic, a chronic multiple drug abuser, and if that is true, well then if he
was so doped up all the time and using Diprivan constantly to sleep, when did he
have time to be a dad? He must have been an absentee father and neglectful in
this drug haze, right? Well, actually not according to someone who I DO
believe...his daughter. Her raw, truthful and heart wrenching speech let us all
know that all those horrible things people have been saying about her dad are
not true. He, by her account, was ALWAYS a wonderful father. The children are
all well mannered and according to the staff who have been interviewed, all of
them were well educated and even wore uniforms when it was "home-school" hours.
Many of these sessions were often monitored by Jackson, and according to an
interview with his personal chef, Kai Chase the children were kind, thoughtful
and Jackson never seemed to be on drugs, or out of it, and even usually ate both
lunch and dinner with his kids (You can check out the article by
clicking here)
So what does that leave us with? Here are some facts...Mr. Jackson by
admission not only had a hard and stressful life, but was often beaten severely
by his own father. He was also severely burned while filming a Pepsi commercial
in the 1980s. That event left him with severe second and third degree burns, as
well permanent bald spots in certain areas of his head. He admitted that he
became dependent on prescription pain medication as the weight of his trial
pressed down on him, but he sought help and as FAR AS WE KNOW until a
toxicological report says otherwise, he had not relapsed. In fact even IF he had
narcotic medications in his home, it could have been due to when he broke his
leg or injured his back. Doctors can not continue helping an addict get
narcotics, but they can and are by law allowed to prescribe an ex-addict
narcotics if and when medically appropriate and with the required monitoring
like random drug tests or random pill counting. So even if he did take narcotics
again, it does not mean he relapsed.
All of these people's stories... from the "nurse" who he supposedly begged to
get him the drug in question, (Umm.... I really doubt Michael Jackson ever
begged for anything except for some peace that he sadly cannot find, even in
death), to Uri Gellar and Deepak Chopra, supposed friends who would go on CNN
the day after he died talking all this smack about how they warned him, and he
was trying to get drugs out of Chopra etc.... well if they were so concerned,
why did neither get an intervention together, or call Child Protective Services
since 40 Zanax a day plus other alleged meds would clearly make him unfit to
make decisions for or care for those kids...no one was shouting FIRE
then...strange, eh?
The sad facts are that even Rock Stars get older, he was 50, and had a
stressful life at least 45 out of those 50 years. He also had autoimmune
diseases which put him at high cardiac risk. He had
Vitiligo and had not been trying to bleach himself
white as was widely reported by other "friends" of his in the 1990s. This
autoimmune disease is most likely responsible for the rest of the reported
baldness seen at the autopsy from unknown, but surely reliable "insiders".
Michael Jackson also had Lupus, another autoimmune disease which has more
serious and often life threatening complications that can go along with it,
including sudden cardiac arrest. In fact, according to the Lupus Foundation,
heart disease is now the number one cause of death for people who suffer from
Lupus. Lupus can affect every major organ system in a person's body and could
easily have been the cause of death. Lupus can also cause terrible joint and
body pain that could have merited the use of narcotics. Former narcotic addicts
can safely and responsibly take narcotic medication if medically warranted
according to the FDA, and DEA's guidelines.
In closing this long rant of sorts, I want to say: remember that this was a
human with feelings, just as his children have feelings and seeing as they just
lost their father, they should not have to suffer the pain and indignity of
having their father labeled an addict or anything else. We should let this quiet
down until all of the facts are known and then the proper people will take the
proper action if there is anything to be done. Until then anyone who keeps
speculating or giving inside scoops is just another parasite trying to make
money off a dead man and torturing his family and kids....I think that should be
a crime.
The Future of Diabetes Testing
June 25, 2009
When we think about testing for blood glucose we often think about pricking a
fingertip and testing a drop of blood. This is very painful and inconvenient for
most people. An international committee of experts have recommended a test
called the A1C assay, at the American Diabetes Association's 69th Scientific
Sessions over the weekend. The findings from this meeting could instigate a
change in the way diabetes is diagnosed, the American Diabetes Association said.
The A1C assay has been used for nearly 30 years to determine how well a
patient controls diabetes, and is a more stable, reliable test and tool for
diagnosing patients. The A1C test consists of a simple blood test, is easier on
the patient and more convenient than the two tests commonly used for diabetes --
the fasting plasma glucose and the oral glucose tolerance test. The fasting test
means the patient has to fast for 12-14 hours which is very hard to do and the
Glucose Tolerance Test forces you to drink a horrible sickly sweet solution in a
very short amount of time, and then you have to wait at the lab to have your
blood drawn an hour later. Trust me, that test makes even the strongest person
want to vomit and it often gives false positives, especially in pregnant women.
Pregnant women are naturally glucose intolerant and will test higher, causing
them to be falsely diagnosed with gestational diabetes. This causes unnecessary
daily blood tests and restriction of carbohydrates to keep the baby from
becoming too large. The actual reason is that you are on a strict diet and the
baby is smaller because it is not getting the variety of foods it would normally
get. There are very few cases of actual gestational diabetes in which insulin is
necessary in order for blood glucose control. In fact the guidelines used in the
United States to classify a pregnant woman as having gestational diabetes would
be well within the normal range in several other major industrialized nations.
The advantage of the A1C is that it tracks blood glucose levels over a
120-day period, providing a long-term view that takes blood glucose spikes and
dips into account without making them the primary focus. The lowest and highest
results are thrown out and a percentage is obtained in which 6.5% is the cut off
point for diagnosing diabetes. Those who have results of 6.5% or higher are
considered diabetic. Individuals with A1C levels running more than 6%, but not
quite as high as 6.5%, are considered at high risk of developing type 2
diabetes.
"The American Diabetes Association supports the concept, supports the use of
the A1C to diagnose diabetes, and just has to look at the implications of it,
and the implementation of it," said Richard Kahn, Chief Scientific and Medical
Officer for the American Diabetes Association, who was part of the committee."
"Using A1C in diagnosis would be particularly useful for determining whether
patients have type 2 diabetes, which is more difficult to diagnose than type 1",
said Dr. William Bornstein, assistant professor of endocrinology at Emory
University, who was not part of the committee. However they go on to say that
the current means of diabetes testing and diagnosis is more than adequate, and
that using A1C is more costly and takes longer (3 months), and therefore there
is no rush to switch treating methods even though it would indeed help prevent
some cases of type 2, by making people aware that they are at risk.
Switching to this A1C assay still only requires simple blood tests, is far
more accurate but is not currently being considered as becoming the next
standard of diagnosing diabetes as there are still far too many "incentives"
from blood glucose companies such as free meters, discounted strips and even
discounts on other expensive non-diabetes medical supplies from large
pharmaceutical companies to stick with the current standard. This is wonderful
for all of their bottom lines, but not for the patients or the future of their
diagnosis and care.
Urgent Health Message
Unacceptable Contamination Risk
for Some Colonoscopy/ ENT Patients
March 25, 2009
Miami Veterans Affairs Healthcare System officials announced Monday that
thousands of veterans who had colonoscopies in facilities in Miami, Florida,
Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and Augusta, Georgia were at risk of contracting
hepatitis and HIV. This disturbing information came to light when hospital
officials said a review of safety procedures found that the tubing used in
endoscope procedures was rinsed but not disinfected.
While the Miami Health Department has said that, "the risk of infection is
minimal", there is still a real possibility that people may have been infected
at the worst, and at the least these people are very concerned about their
health. The Veteran's Administration has notified more than 6,000 people who
underwent colonoscopies between May 2004 and March 12, 2009 at the clinic were
notified and offered free testing for infections. Since these patients were
notified via a letter sent by U.S. mail, anyone that had this procedure at any
of these clinics should call for more information and to set up testing.
At the VA clinic in Murfreesboro alone, over 6,000 patients were notified
that they were at risk. In Miami, on Monday, the VA sent letters to 3,260 people
who may have been infected, and the Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center in
Augusta, Georgia also said it had "recently notified 1,200 veterans they may
have been exposed to infection when undergoing ear, nose and throat (ENT)
procedures between January and November of 2008." This breach of standards
for maintaining health and safety is so egregious that Representatives Kendrick
B. Meek, D-Florida, and Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Florida are requesting an official
inquiry by the inspector general of the VA.
For more information on this contact the Veterans Administration.
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