Health
Now, computer game to aid recovery from strokePlace: London | Agency: ANI
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Relax! It’s just chemo..
By Craig Stellpflug,
(NaturalNews) Relax! It’s just chemo… In an enlightening study in Molecular Cancer Research, researchers found that anyone who gets stressed out before chemotherapy (and who wouldn’t…) can awaken the stress protein HSF-1, or heat shock factor-1. This one “side effect” of chemotherapy alone makes the treatment worse than the disease by allowing cancer cells to repair themselves in spite of the poisonous chemo. Even when used “correctly”, toxic chemotherapy drugs can kill you, destroy your digestive…
Becoming whole by letting go of your parts
By Mike Bundrant,
(NaturalNews) My colleague Jake Eagle of Green Psychology, author of the popular free e-book Why Smart People Struggle to be Happy, once related the following: In the world of mental health and psychotherapy — as well as many other places — we often talk about ourselves as if we’re made up of a bunch of different parts. We have mature parts and immature parts, wounded parts and angry parts, embarrassed parts and scared parts. It’s remarkably common to hear people in everyday conversations referring…
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Holistic Health
Marijuana eases painful MS muscle cramping
By PF Louis,
(NaturalNews) A recent Reuters write-up of a marijuana for an MS pain and spasticity trial highlighted positive results for the MS (muscular or multiple sclerosis) patients after using marijuana. They felt less pain and spasticity, which consists of extreme muscular tension, cramps and uncontrollable muscle spasms. MS is a degenerative autoimmune disease of the central nervous system that eats away at the nerves’ protective myelin sheaths, which also assist with transmitting nerve signals. The…
Green coffee bean extract is a powerful anti-oxidant
By Dr. David Jockers,
(NaturalNews) While most in society believe that coffee is bad for health this is only a half-truth. Pure green-coffee extract has become one of the top selling weight loss products on the market. Green coffee bean extract has some very good health and performance related benefits. There are two major types of coffee plants; Arabica and Robusta. The highest quality green coffee bean extract comes from the Arabica plant which is higher in the polyphenol anti-oxidants chlorogenic and caffeic acids…
Medical Board of California bullies couple into shutting down colon hydrotherapy practice, entire profession now at risk
By Ethan A. Huff,
(NaturalNews) “Our sole source of income and our livelihoods, both taken from us in an instant,” Shea Baird explained to me, struggling to fight back the tears. This veteran colon hydrotherapist and her husband Stephen are the latest victims of the medical establishment’s rogue authoritarianism, as they were recently coerced under threat of imprisonment into signing a cease and desist order that prohibits them from further conducting their practice, even though they have done nothing wrong. For…
The best foods to eat for type-2 diabetes
By Aurora Geib,
(NaturalNews) Getting diagnosed with type-2 diabetes can do a lot of things to your perspective: Your life, your priorities, your family and even your food. “What am I supposed to eat now?” is a common question after the initial prognosis. Fortunately, enjoying food may still be possible. Diabetes educator, Kathy Honick, of the Barnes Jewish Hospital at St. Louis suggest that patients newly diagnosed with diabetes ask a dietitian to learn what foods may now be available for them and what to avoid…
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Pet Health
Kitten Checkup
Baby’s First Checkup
Here’s what you need to know for a stress-free and productive veterinary visit.
Your new little fluffball entertains you with hilarious antics and classic kitten curiosity, and when finally exhausted it warms your lap and heart. You want to make sure your kitten stays safe and healthy for a long, happy life.
Contemplating that first veterinary checkup brings many questions to mind perhaps even some anxiety. Is your kitten as healthy as it seems? Most likely the answer is a resounding “Yes,” and your veterinarian will gladly confirm this. Then he or she will give you all the tools you need to keep your kitten that way.
Before setting out, gather the following items:
Cat Teeth
Brushing Your Cat’s Teeth
Home care is important to your cat’s dental health. Follow these tips to keep your pet’s teeth in good condition.
With home care, regular checkups and professional cleaning, your cat can maintain her healthy teeth well into old age. The mainstay of home care is brushing your cat’s teeth. Establish rules of good dental hygiene before your kitten loses her baby teeth.
Your kitten can be trained early to tolerate tooth-brushing. Retract the kitten’s lips with one hand, and brush in a circular pattern in strokes horizontal to the gum margin. Use brushes designed for cats and toothpaste formulated for cats when she becomes accustomed to the procedure. Some people find using their finger, a gauze sponge or a specialized toothbrush that slips over the index finger easier than a toothbrush.
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Wildlife
New Yorkers Push For a Ban on Shark Fin Trade in The State As Some Chinese Businesses Try to Adapt
Published on May 18, 2012 by IBTimesTV
In New York City’s bustling Chinatown neighborhood, shoppers have a wide variety of dried shark fins to choose from. But at Po Wing Hong Food Market Inc., an immensely popular and long-standing grocery store, change appears to be afoot.
Large glass jars in the store display dried shark fins in different colours and sizes, ranging from 70 to 300 dollars (USD) a pound. The fins are used to make shark’s fin soup, considered a delicacy and a “status symbol” within the Chinese community. But the current stock of shark fins in this food market is likely to be the last. Nancy Ng, who has owned the store for 35 years, has stopped ordering further supplies and is phasing out shark fins.
She pointed out that the shark fin prices have gone up considerably in the last few months while demand has faltered, especially for the most expensive varieties.
In February, legislators in New York State introduced a bill that would ban the sale, trade, possession and distribution of shark fins.
Margaret Chin, a New York City Council member and a Chinese American herself, has been lobbying with the Asian American community to gather support for the legislation.
“Shark fin soup may be a time honored tradition for a small group of people. But it has no place in today’s society. I stand here today to say that I will not support the shark fin industry that thrives off cruelty and I call on the Asian American community in New York to stand with me,” she told the gathering.
Consumption of shark fins is also considered a driving factor behind the threat to the shark population, including endangered shark species such as hammerheads. According to the World Wildlife Fund more than 180 species were considered threatened in 2010 compared with only 15 in 1996.
New York State legislature might vote on the ban as early as June.
Race to save the devil Down Under
by Staff Writers
Tomalla Station, Australia (AFP)
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It’s been hundreds of years since the Tasmanian devil last lived on the Australian mainland but, in the misty hills of Barrington Tops, a pioneering group is being bred for survival.
Rat-like in appearance but with a marsupial pouch and carnivorous jaws that can crack bone, Tasmanian devils are an enigmatic Australian species.
They are reclusive creatures who sleep by day and forage by night, and are best known for the guttural cries which saw the early British settlers call them “devils” and inspired a Warner Bros. cartoon character.
But the burrowing, tree-climbing animals are in a battle for survival against an aggressive and contagious facial cancer which experts fear could see them become extinct in the wild in as little as five years.
“Its viability at present seems critical,” said conservationist Tim Faulkner of the animal.
“In 1996 the disease was first found — since then you’ve had a 91 percent population decrease,” Faulkner, who is based at the Australian Reptile Park, said.
“There’s no sign of a cure, there’s no sign of a vaccine and there’s no sign of the disease slowing up.”
Devil facial tumour disease has seen the animals plunge from a pest species to endangered in a very short period, with Faulkner estimating their numbers — once in excess of 250,000 — in the “low tens of thousands.”
They once roamed Australia but since about 1600 have been isolated to Tasmania, an island state south of the mainland, where a series of disease outbreaks has seen their genetic stocks severely diminished.
The cancer, which typically causes death within three to six months, is spread during fighting over food and territory, when a healthy devil will bite an infected devil’s face and pick up cancer cells.
Because the devils are so inbred their immune systems fail to recognise the cancer cell as foreign and don’t fight it off, according to geneticist Kathy Belov, who describes the animals as “immunological clones”.
Belov’s team at the University of Sydney are studying the tumour in search of a vaccine or cure, but she believes cataloguing the genes of healthy animals and selectively breeding them in captivity is the devils’ best hope.
“In 30 years’ time, a few generations down the track, we want devils that we can release back into the wild that can hunt and can fend for themselves,” Belov told AFP.
“We want to have devils that behave like wild animals, but not to lose any of that (genetic) diversity, and that’s going to be the challenge.”
Enter “Devil Ark” — 500 hectares (1,236 acres) of farmland set in pristine national park which was gifted to the Tasmanian devil conservation movement by the wealthy Packer family of casino and media fortunes.
Situated in remote and mountainous alpine forest very similar to the devils’ natural habitat, Devil Ark is what keeper Adrian Good describes as a “free-range” captive breeding project.
Devils are kept in densely vegetated pens of between two and three football fields in size enclosed by a climb and burrow-proof fence, and their pen mates are chosen by experts from a genetic “stud book” to optimise breeding.
Their lives are designed to closely mirror those of wild devils; they are left a kangaroo or other carcass to eat in the evenings and will sleep through the day.
Each pen contains between six and 10 devils, with an even mix of males and females, and Good said there had been excellent breeding success last year, which was the Ark’s first year of operation, with 24 babies — or “joeys” — born.
“They just love being here, all the signs are that they are happy and healthy devils,” he said.
Social dominance is a constant battle in the wild and Devil Ark is no different — having to share their territory with others forces the devils to fight for their food and mating rights, skills they can quickly lose in a zoo.
“Those wild traits are crucial for them being able to survive when they’re re-released,” said Good.
There are currently just under 100 devils living at the Ark and keepers are targeting 350 by 2016, with plans for as many as 1,000 in the years after that to be trickled back into Tasmania once the wild population dies out.
The Australian Reptile Park’s Faulkner is overseeing the project and said it was unique in the world because unlike most other endangered species captive-bred devils would be able to be returned to their habitat.
“Its environment’s pristine, feral predators aren’t a problem, if we can just get past the disease you can put them back and it literally has a happy ending,” he said.
Belov said there would be valuable lessons for the management of other vulnerable native species, including the koala.
“I think we have to learn from the devil, this disease simply couldn’t have spread like it has had there been more genetic diversity,” she said.
“It’s a warning for us because we have a lot of wildlife populations that are isolated… and that’s where you have problems.”
Related Links
Darwin Today At TerraDaily.com
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Positivity Mind and Body
The Dalai Lama: Cultivating Peace and Justice
Published on May 18, 2012 by UCtelevision
(Visit: http://www.uctv.tv/) His Holiness the Dalai Lama continues his “Compassion without Borders” tour in San Diego with “Cultivating Peace and Justice,” a public lecture at the University of San Diego addressing escalating violence among nations and alternatives that emphasize shared human values across societies. Series: “Dalai Lama” [5/2012] [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 22480]
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Articles of Interest
Action Alert: California legislature passes AB 2109, making it more difficult for parents to opt out of vaccines for their children
By Ethan A. Huff, May 11 2012
(NaturalNews) The medical establishment in California is quietly waging war against parental rights with a new legislative bill that will make it more difficult for parents to opt out of vaccines for their children. According to reports, the California State Assembly recently voted 44-19 to pass AB 2109, a bill that, if signed into law, will require that all parents who choose to opt their children out of vaccines for personal reasons obtain a signed waiver from a doctor of “health care practitioner…
Freezing makes little impact on nutritional content of fresh produce
By Raw Michelle,
(NaturalNews) A recent study examined the nutritional disparity between foods that were fresh, frozen, dried or canned. This study is particularly important when examining the cost value of a food product. Canned vegetables are generally much cheaper, and are therefore a more common choice for lower income households. Fresh vegetables have the highest price and the shortest shelf life. It is well known that economic divides reflect on dietary options, and can manifest distinct patterns of disease…
Lawrence, Kansas, fights to end water fluoridation
By Jonathan Benson,
(NaturalNews) A health freedom advocate in Lawrence, Kansas, the sixth largest city in the state, is pushing to have artificial fluoride chemicals removed from his city’s municipal water supply. Lawrence-area resident Richard Simms recently created a petition at Change.org that he hopes will garner enough signatures to convince city officials to follow the lead of hundreds of other towns and cities across North America that have nixed the poison from their water supplies in recent months. You…
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