Portrait on the Mantel

Prescription drugs ads are banned in every industrialized country except New Zealand and the USA. Most countries have some form of Universal medical coverage, which keep cost from soaring. The FDA changed this in 1997 when they allowed prescription drug advertising in the USA.

Several panel of experts have studied the effect of prescription drug ads on consumers and whether they are effective in educating the public. All but one panel decided that commercial ads of prescription drugs were in fact harmful and either should be banned or restricted. One lone dissenter claimed that TV ads for prescription drugs educate or empower the public.

This premise was disputed by all and they cited that people in countries who banned prescription drug ads are better educated about matters of health, excluding Americans. The general consensus of the panel was that drug ads, especially TV commercials tend to create a pill popping public rather than health conscious citizens. Patients demand advertised drugs from their doctors, Big Pharma’s annual advertising budget had doubled the FDA’s budget.

The cost of advertising is included in price of prescription drugs. But the Big Pharma insist that their high advertising budgets create more sales thus enabling prices to drop.

A recent study seems to disprove that assertion, The Centre for Health Services and Policy Research at the University of British Columbia studied the connection between advertising and product costs. Their study which was published in the Archives of Internal Medicine concluded that product costs went up, yet there was no increase in sales to help lower costs. The study concluded that pharmaceutical advertising expenses contribute to the soaring costs of medical care while encouraging the public to pop pills for every symptom imaginable.

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Experts are becoming increasing concerned about the health problems caused by BPA. BPA is the industrial chemical bisphenol A used to make plastic products hard and transparent, such as water bottles, baby bottles and used to line can foods.

The Endocrine Society has issued an official statement expressing their concern. The research shows that the chemical can leach from the materials into food and tests have found high levels of BPA  in the bodies of both adults and children.

The FDA  has insisted that BPA is safe, however the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences issued a report in 2008 which showed that the chemicals seem to effect the development of the brain and prostate gland.

BPA seems to effect the female heart but not the male heart. BPA seem to mirror the effects of the female sex hormone in the body. Study’s have found that BPA can causes changes at the genetic level binding to DNA and changing its function.

We been following this issue for sometime since Americans use plastic products at an enormous rate. Problems have been seen in plastic products that are microwaved, which seems to activate the chemicals causing them to be released in foods.

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• Average number of calories by which Americans underestimate the total in a hamburger and fries: 463
• Number of states where less than 20% of the population is currently obese: 1
• Number of states where the obesity rate declined last year: 0

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Osteoporosis a condition of the bones characterized by a decreasing bone density, which makes those who suffer prone to fractures especially in the hips and back. Most people who suffer from osteo do not know they have it until they have suffered a bond break. A bone scan is the only way to diagnose the disease. Approximately 25% of pose menopausal women will develop osteo.

Risk factor include family history, heavy alcohol consumption, hyperthyroidism, smoking, women of Caucasian and Asian ethnicity are some of the most common. Others at risk are those who consume a diet high acidic foods. Acidic foods cause require the body to remove calcium from the bones to maintain blood ph balance.

Calcium is a vital component of health bones, diets high in salt and sugar can contribute to an increase excretion of calcium. Avoid consuming too much of one type of food source to avoid nutritional deficiencies. Key vitamins and minerals for bone health include; magnesium, boron, silica, calcium, vitamin D, K and C. Exercise and Weight Training are key activities in preventing osteo because they increase bone density and can cause the creation of new bones.

Foods you want to exclude from you diet; sodas, adding salt, caffeine, sugars and refined carbs, diets with excessive protein, grain fed dairy products.

Foods you want to increase include more; fruits and veggies, green veggies especially good, oats, berries, potatoes, onion soup, apple, grapes, peaches, almonds and hazelnuts.

Many women especially those of my mom’s generation didn’t grow up on cardio and weight training as have women in my generation. Women of my mom’s generation did grow up eating healthier than women of my generation. However both groups of women all grew up with the strains of the perfect body. This outside stresser causes women of every generation to skimp on nutrition and avoid the types of physical activity which could steer them clear of ever worrying about developing osteo.

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The old stereotype of the muscle head with a small brain may be born out in research published in the Journal Molecular Neurodegeneration. They compared 3 types of diets; High Protein diets caused the most significant drop in brain weight.

Researchers tested specific diets to see if they contributed to the formation of amyloid proteins in the brain, amyloid proteins is a precursor to Alzheimer’s disease.

Using rats as their subjects the researchers supplied the specimens with 4 specific diets; high fat low carbs, low fat high carbs, high protein, low carbs and a well balance diet of all nutrients. They studied the rats for 14 weeks before examining them post mortem.

With the exception of the high protein diet all the other rats displayed little difference between them. The rats fed a high protein diets brain was underdeveloped and the portion of the brain adversely affected by Alzheimer’s weighted 5% less than the others.

Researchers believe that until human studies are complete, they can not make specific recommendations as for dieting to avoid Alzheimer’s disease.

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A study published in the British Journal of Nutrition found that boys with low levels of Omega 3s in their diet suffered from lower bone density. Boys with lower omega 3 intake and higher omega 6 had lower bone density. Omega 6s are thought to weaken bones because of their interaction with PPAR-gamma, a receptor in the bone marrow cell, which is believed to regulate bond density and formation.

Kids typically consume more fast food or processed foods which are loaded with omega 6 vegetable oils. Unfortunately, other research has shown that children who drink milk regularly have lower bone density as oppose to those who rarely or never drink milk.

This could be explained by the fact that most regular grocery store milk come from dairy cows that are fed grains, which are loaded with omega 6. Conversely, dairy cows who are graze in pastures produce milk with a higher omega 3s.

So let the rush begin to the store for bone thickening organic milk.

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According to a study conducted by Tufts Medical Center and the University of Bern, statin drugs may cause long term muscle damage that last long after the drugs have been stopped.

Researchers found signs of muscle damage in 25 of the myopathy patients, including the majority of those patients who’ve stopped using the drugs. In clinical practice the majority of patients with muscle symtoms improve rapidly the drugs have stopped being used. The finds showed that another group of patients appear to be more susceptible to statin associated myotoxicity, suffered persistent structural injury.

In this study researchers performed muscle biopsies on patients, 1/2were taking statin and experienced severe myapothy enough to interfere with exercise and daily activities.  Half of those suffering severe myopathy had ceased using the drug while others were still taking the statin drugs.

Researchers are unsure as to why statin use leads to myopathy in some, they know that certain factors may increase risk; including drug doses, age, exercise regiment or combining certain other drugs with the statin drugs.

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Recent study revealed that increasing your consumption of fruits and veggies to twice the amount currently recommended by the FDA, can lower risk of recurrent breast cancer by 1/3.  However, it only seems to affect certain women.

Additionally, the study seems to imply that doubling the FDA requirements for fruits and veggies could lower levels of estrogen in cancer survivors, thereby limiting possibilities for relapse.

After undergoing conventional breast cancer treatment, women who experienced hot flashes have lower levels of estrogen as compared to those who do not have the hot flashes.  The reduced risk of breast cancer recurrence based on this particular study only seem to apply to women who do not experience hot flashes after conventional cancer therapy.

Thus diets high in fruits and veggies, which have been shown to reduce estrogen levels, may only be important among women who have elevated estrogen levels above some threshold, according to John Pierce from U of C San Diego.

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Raw Chocolate is higher in anti oxidants than green tea and wine.  It also contains protein, fats, calcium, iron, carotene, thiamine, riboflavin and magnesium.

Cacao, which is what chocolate is made from, also contains caffeine.  Interesting to note about raw chocolate is that it seems to affect different people differently.  Some say it gives them plenty of energy and they feels great, while other complain that the boost in energy is too much for their system.

Raw Cacao powder can be a 1st line of defense against cravings for sugar but because it’s raw its actually good for you.

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Physical fitness seems to slow damage to your brain’s memory, this from a study conducted at the University of Kansas Medical Center.  Alzheimer’s patients who practice some form of daily exercise show less damage to brain that controls memory as oppose to those who are more sedentary.

Other research is revealing similar findings, dementia patients who participate in daily exercise programs experience higher quality of life and have less falls.

According to Sam Gandy, chairman of the Alzheimer’s Association, “The message is clear if you have Alzheimer’s disease, it’s not too late to start an exercise program.”

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