that would otherwise not be available in rural areas. A pilot study is set to be conducted for a period of three months starting on February 1. It will be carried out between the University Teaching Hospital of Butare (CHUB) and Bushenge Hospital in Rusizi District, Western Province and Nyanza Hospital in the Southern Province. After the pilot study, the project will extend to four other district hospitals. “Our target is to have all district hospitals in the country covered,” said Eng. Van Joseph Majyambere, a technician consultant working on the project. “The extension will depend on the availability of all needed infrastructure including teleconference equipment and a fibre-optic network for a stable internet connection”. According to Majyambere, a feasibility study was successfully conducted countrywide. “A team of doctors and technicians is ready to start implementing the project,” he observed. The project will be monitored by an Italian expert in telemedicine, Dr G. L. Alcaro.

Sparks Healthcare touts telemedicine benefits to Arkansas Governor Beebe

Dr. Margaret Tremwel, a physician at Sparks Health System, explains the hospital’s telemedicine network to Gov. Mike Beebe. Arkansas and Oklahoma medical personnel on Wednesday (Jan. 25) made a 30-minute  presentation that resulted in Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe suggesting their model for stroke treatment could represent the future of medicine. Dr. Margaret Tremwel, a physician at Sparks Health System and leading neurologist in the field of stroke management, worked with Sparks CEO Melody Trimble and officials with Sequoyah Memorial Hospital in Sallisaw, Okla., to explain to Beebe the benefits of a regional telemedicine network.  The network, according to information from Sparks, has “preserved or save the lives” of 41 regional residents between January and November 2011.

Hopeful Factors Pave Way for Further Growth in Global Telemedicine Market

In the recent years, the telemedicine has evolved from a trend to a developing industry. According to a new research report by RNCOS, several promising factors have become instrumental in the growth of the telemedicine industry across the globe. The need for good quality healthcare in rural areas, lack of sufficient hospitals and healthcare centers, shortage of good quality physicians and nurses, and geographical limitations to healthcare are among the major factors promoting the global telemedicine market, which is receiving support from governments worldwide. The study, “Global Telemedicine Market Analysis”, anticipates that the global telemedicine market is forecast to grow at a CAGR of around 19% during 2010-2015. Driven by rising aging population, augmented medical requirements in isolated locations, and technological developments, the global market for telemedicine was anticipated to be nearly US$ 9.8 Billion in 2010. Telemedicine and its varied applications are growing and diversifying. Besides, there are promising developments happening in the sector across the globe. Through its varied advantages, the telemedicine aims at overcoming healthcare limitations in geographies, namely the US, Europe, Japan, China and India. At the geographical front, the US and Europe dominate the global telemedicine market. The report, which is spread over 60 pages, provides a thorough research and rational analysis of the current and expected status of the global telemedicine market. Highlighting various telemedicine processes, such as Real-time Telemedicine, Remote Monitoring and Store-and-forward Telemedicine, the study facilitates the present and future forecasts for the industry.

Dermatologists find telemedicine effective for patient care

UC Davis Health System dermatologists, using videoconferencing technology known as teledemedicine, have determined that live interactive consultations can improve clinical outcomes for patients because they usually involve beneficial changes in medical diagnosis and disease management that otherwise might not occur. The findings appear in the current issue of the Archives of Dermatology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals, which was published this week.  April Armstrong, the study’s senior author and a UC Davis assistant professor of dermatology, said she and her team wanted to investigate the efficacy of live video consultations to provide patient care from a distance. “Telemedicine for dermatology patients is a great tool in dermatology because skin conditions can be readily examined in digital still or video images,” said Armstrong.

Telemedicine may reduce barrier to access for ROP treatment

Treatment of retinopathy of prematurity in pediatric patients is 99% successful, a speaker said here, assuming the children can be properly diagnosed and treated in time. Proper use of telemedicine and a software safety net to manage the data help ensure that treatment is delivered when and where it is needed, Antonio Capone, MD, FACS, said at Retina 2012. “In the future, we will employ remote digital image interpretation to ensure a proper level of ROP care,” Dr. Capone said. A key aspect to the use of telemedicine is the software necessary to track the data, Dr. Capone said. Such a tool must be able to remotely acquire digital images, provide a platform for interpretation of fundus findings, include an algorithm for evidence-based disease management, include access to expertise, and provide a summary report and recommendations that can be tied into electronic health records that will follow the patient, he said.

Telemedicine Market Trends

A Shift away from reimbursement models – Reimbursement has been the Holy Grail for telemedicine in America but the rapid growth of managed care, Accountable Care Organizations and medical homes are changing the way we pay for telemedicine services. One quarter of all Americans–73 million patients–are now covered under a managed care health insurance program. With this shift, the focus of decision-making is gradually turning to local and regional healthcare decision makers.  Telemedicine as a standard of care – Medical images, like x-rays and CT scans, have been viewed in digital form for forty years. “Teleradiology” is now so common that many hospitals don’t recognize the name – outsourcing part or all of a radiology program is just the way things are now done in healthcare. Providing 24/7 services by a radiologist, using telehealth technologies, may be the first form of telemedicine that becomes a true standard of care; as such it would be included in state, federal and Joint Commission requirements and be a basis for court decisions on medical liability and hospital accountability. It would not surprise me to see a legal case decided on this basis.  Emergence of remote clinical enterprises outsourcing the interpretation of medical images is now used by most hospitals in the United States. A relatively new and related market is the use of private firms of medical specialists to provide other remote clinical consultations. If a hospital can completely outsource its (non-interventional) radiological services, why not outsource neurology, psychiatry or a host of other clinical services? A series of small vendors have emerged to provide telehealth consults for stroke care, mental health, hospitalist services, and dermatology. Some of these firms may be considered competitors to hospital-based telemedicine programs. Look for mergers and expansions of such enterprises as the market grows.

The rise of virtual medical centers

In October, Mercy Hospitals announced that it would build a $90 million virtual care center near its headquarters in Chesterfield, Missouri. This center will host an array of clinical specialists who will serve patients in outlying centers across the four states in which Mercy operates. On a smaller scale, intensivists at Inova Health System in Virginia are based at corporate office building and provide remote ICU services to 122 ICU beds throughout northern Virginia. Other health systems are looking closely at these developments and, if proven successful, will start on their own versions.

A digital speech infrastructure for hospitals in the Middle East

Speech recognition can improve healthcare workflow in a wide range of clinical specialties and administrative tasks. With healthcare modernization top of the agenda across the Middle East, HealthTech Wire talked to Lincoln Payne, Nuance Healthcare Middle East Sales Director, about experiences with the technology in the region so far and why new hospitals can benefit quickly. In the Middle East, Nuance has to provide a speech recognition solution for a multi-lingual, multi-cultural community of doctors – how does this work? We offer English language speech recognition solutions across the Middle East. But the amazing thing about Nuance technologies is that the software can recognize many accents. It learns and adapts to its user and will even correct what you are trying to say. This is important, because, as you said, many hospital staff are expatriates, speaking English as a second language in a variety of accents and we need to ensure that all of them deliver consistent, high-quality medical documentation.

European Commission supports Global eHealth Strategies

The European Commission (DG Information Society and Media) is a partner of the Global eHealth Strategies symposium. The European Union has actually established a policy framework in Global Health, which for the first time brings together internal and external policies around the objective of improving the EU collective contribution to global health. This Communication aims to contribute to improved governance at global and national levels. In this context, the EU will work to enhance its current work on health care data collection with relevant national and international bodies such as WHO, the OECD and the Health Metrics Network, to improve health information systems and the collection of comparable data and statistics to allow benchmarking and inform global, European and national policies. The EU will also continue to promote the use of ICT, including eHealth. The Communication also provides an opportunity to better link EU efforts in advancing health knowledge with global needs and, in turn, to better link this knowledge and evidence with the overall dialogues on health policies. In the context of the Joint Africa-EU Strategy (JAES) and its Partnership on Science, Information Society and Space, eHealth has also been identified as a priority domain and a political commitment. As far as implementation is concerned, the objective is to promote coordination among all public-private stakeholders, in order to avoid fragmentation of initiatives, dilution of resources and therefore maximising impact on the ground.

Upcoming Events

Don’t miss out on the largest telehealth event of the year: ATA 2012 in San Jose, Calif.

ATA 2012 (April 29 to May 1 in San Jose, Calif.) meets the changing needs of healthcare professional who utilize telemedicine, telehealth and mHealth technologies. Whether you a novice or an expert, the ATA 2012 program offers new energy and new ways to learn about the latest developments in the field. ATA 2012 will be our largest meeting ever, with 450-plus peer reviewed presentations, 200-plus exhibitors and a keynote presentation by Apple Co-Founder, Steve Wozniak.

1st HEALTH 2.0 INDIA

New Delhi, India

Jan 30, 2012

______________

 

eTELEMED 2012

Valencia, Spain

Jan 30- Feb 04, 2012

______________

 

International Congress on Telehealth and Telecare 2012

The King’s Fund, London, United Kingdom

March 6-8, 2012

 

Telemedicine Experience@Prospects

Donetsk, Ukraine

March 19-20, 2012

______________

 

Med-e-Tel 2012

Luxembourg

April 18-20, 2012

_____________

 

ISPHT 2012

Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
May 14-16, 2011

_____________

 

World Health Care Congress Europe

Amsterdam, Netherlands

May 23-24, 2012

_____________

IFA 11th Global Conference on Ageing
Prague, Czech Republic
May 28 – June 1, 2012

_____________

 

3rd International Conference on Transforming Healthcare with IT

Hyderabad, India

August 31 – Sept 1, 2012
_____________

 

Health 2.0 Europe (2012)Berlin, Germany

Nov 6-7, 2012

Source for Story:

Admin

to customers in large cities or other areas far away from dairies.

“I think that in European countries there is big knowledge about raw milk,” Pszowski is quoted as saying to The Bovine. “People know what products they can make out of this milk. They know how to produce house cheese, sour milk, butter … In my opinion interest in it will grow all over the world. Especially that we are more aware of [...] what we eat.”

Be sure to read Pszowski’s full interview with The Bovine here:
http://thebovine.wordpress.com/2012/01/26/raw-milk-in-poland-interview-with-a-polish-raw-milk-vending-machine-maker/

No matter how they choose to use it, Europeans are free to decide for themselves whether or not to consume raw milk and raw milk dairy products, and raw milk vending machines just make it easier and more convenient for them to do so. And because the milk is routinely inspected for quality and proper sanitation, it is safe for human consumption.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), on the other hand, is stuck in the stone ages of bad science on the raw milk issue. The agency has decided that raw milk is inherently dangerous, despite myriad evidence to the contrary, and has done everything it possibly can with taxpayers’ money to restrict access to it, including raiding small dairies and confiscating product from buyers’ clubs (http://www.naturalnews.com/033280_FDA_raids_timeline.html).

But what is happening in Poland and throughout Europe with raw milk and the widespread installation of raw milk vending machines proves that American regulators and health authorities are willfully ignorant of the facts about raw milk, and have forcefully extended their ignorance onto the public with tyrannical laws against its sale and distribution.

Check out this interesting map which lists all raw milk vending machines just in the country of Italy:
http://www.milkmaps.com/

Source for Story:

http://www.naturalnews.com/034786_raw_milk_vending_machines_Europe.html#ixzz1kh6JMFtp

The heart of the sensor is a vibrating cantilever, a thin beam attached at one end like a miniature diving board. Music within a certain range of frequencies, from 200-500 hertz, causes the cantilever to vibrate, generating electricity and storing a charge in a capacitor, said Babak Ziaie, a Purdue University professor of electrical and computer engineering and biomedical engineering.

“The music reaches the correct frequency only at certain times, for example, when there is a strong bass component,” he said. “The acoustic energy from the music can pass through body tissue, causing the cantilever to vibrate.”

When the frequency falls outside of the proper range, the cantilever stops vibrating, automatically sending the electrical charge to the sensor, which takes a pressure reading and transmits data as radio signals. Because the frequency is continually changing according to the rhythm of a musical composition, the sensor can be induced to repeatedly alternate intervals of storing charge and transmitting data.

“You would only need to do this for a couple of minutes every hour or so to monitor either blood pressure or pressure of urine in the bladder,” Ziaie said. “It doesn’t take long to do the measurement.”

Findings are detailed in a paper to be presented during the IEEE MEMS conference, which will be Jan. 29 to Feb. 2 in Paris. The paper was written by doctoral student Albert Kim, research scientist Teimour Maleki and Ziaie.

“This paper demonstrates the feasibility of the concept,” he said.

The device is an example of a microelectromechanical system, or MEMS, and was created in the Birck Nanotechnology Center at the university’s Discovery Park. The cantilever beam is made from a ceramic material called lead zirconate titanate, or PZT, which is piezoelectric, meaning it generates electricity when compressed. The sensor is about 2 centimeters long. Researchers tested the device in a water-filled balloon.

A receiver that picks up the data from the sensor could be placed several inches from the patient. Playing tones within a certain frequency range also can be used instead of music.

“But a plain tone is a very annoying sound,” Ziaie said. “We thought it would be novel and also more aesthetically pleasing to use music.”

Researchers experimented with four types of music: rap, blues, jazz and rock.

“Rap is the best because it contains a lot of low frequency sound, notably the bass,” Ziaie said.

The sensor is capable of monitoring pressure in the urinary bladder and in the sack of a blood vessel damaged by an aneurism. Such a technology could be used in a system for treating incontinence in people with paralysis by checking bladder pressure and stimulating the spinal cord to close the sphincter that controls urine flow from the bladder. More immediately, it could be used to diagnose incontinence. The conventional diagnostic method now is to insert a probe with a catheter, which must be in place for several hours while the patient remains at the hospital.

“A wireless implantable device could be inserted and left in place, allowing the patient to go home while the pressure is monitored,” Ziaie said.

The new technology offers potential benefits over conventional implantable devices, which either use batteries or receive power through a property called inductance, which uses coils on the device and an external transmitter. Both approaches have downsides. Batteries have to be replaced periodically, and data are difficult to retrieve from devices that use inductance; coils on the implanted device and an external receiver must be lined up precisely, and they can only be about a centimeter apart.

A patent application has been filed for the design.

Source for Story:

http://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/research/2012/120126ZiaieMusic.html

The trick for you is to make sure you have enough antioxidants in your body to hunt down free radicals before they can accumulate and cause damage.

Now — back to citrus fruit and its neuroprotective effects in the brain. Oxidative stress is associated with many diseases, including brain degenerative disorders. Researchers have discovered that one particular group of antioxidants called “flavonoids” are particularly good at protecting the brain from oxidative stress. And citrus flavonoids, which exert little adverse effect and have low or no cytotoxicity to healthy, normal cells, can actually cross the blood-brain barrier, making them all the more effective.

To add some citrus fruits to your diet and to get some brain protection, try eating these three fruits every week:

1. Oranges. One orange nets you about 100% of the daily value for vitamin C. Vitamin C is the main water-soluble antioxidant in your body, disarming free radicals, and preventing damage in the watery liquid both inside and outside your cells.

2. Limes. Limes contain special flavonoids called “flavonol glycosides.” Not only are these flavonoids powerful antioxidants that help stop free radical damage, but they also potentially have the power to stop cancer cells from dividing and spreading.

3. Grapefruit. Not only are grapefruits high in free-radical- scavenging vitamin C, but they also contain a healthy dose of lycopene. Among all the dietary carotenoids, lycopene has the greatest capacity to help fight oxygen free radicals in your brain cells and elsewhere.

Source for Story:

doctorshealthpress@lombardipublishing.com

a good safety record for using bio-identical hormones in these circumstances, especially if you apply them transdermally (on your skin) instead of taking them as pills.

The use of bio-identical hormone therapy is becoming more popular with the increasing awareness of its potential benefits for a range of age and hormone related conditions. At the same time, people have been searching for ways to make this therapy as safe as possible. A promising approach is to look closely at how hormones are metabolized in each person, using advanced urine analysis. Once we obtain an accurate view of an individual’s hormone metabolism, we can help to optimize hormone therapies with appropriate food choices as well as lifestyle habits and supplementation.

Test Your Body’s Hormone Metabolism

We can increase the safety of hormone use by supporting healthy hormone breakdown. A relatively new 24-hour urine hormone test being offered by several laboratories has made it possible to look at how hormones are being processed by the body. This is an important strategic tool for evaluating hormone usage in both men and women, and provides insight into possible risk factors for breast, prostate and other hormone related cancers.

This information has value for anyone who wants to be proactive in healthy aging and cancer prevention, those who are taking hormones or those who have hormone-dependent cancers. The information can help guide treatment strategies and determine individual supplement and dietary guidelines. Some of the intermediate compounds produced as the body breaks down hormones can promote the growth of cancer and cause damage to DNA. But each person’s metabolism differs. By using this test, we can tell if an individual is having problems with hormone breakdown and provide more support for these important processes. This can greatly improve the safety of taking hormone preparations for both men and women.

Recommendations For Healthy Hormone Breakdown

A number of nutrients, foods and lifestyle interventions can support healthy hormone metabolism and breakdown. Beneficial supplements include:

• Activated forms of B vitamins such as methylcobalamin (B12), 5 methyltetrahydrofolate (folic acid), pyridoxyl-5-phosphate (B6),
• Trimethylglycine (TMG)
• Sulfur donors (SAM-E, whey protein, MSM)
• DIM
• Zinc
• Flax lignans
• Cruciferous vegetables
• Medicinal mushrooms
• Compounds such as quercetin and curcumin
• Integrative formulas for women that include herbs, flavonoids, reishi, and astragalus
• Integrative formulas for men that include minerals and medicinal mushrooms

Diet and Lifestyle Factors for Hormone Health

Healthy lifestyle habits can also have a positive impact in helping to balance and breakdown hormones. Minimizing alcohol intake, eating an organic unprocessed diet, getting enough sleep, reducing stress, increasing regular exercise and improving the omega-3 to omega-6 ratio in the body with balanced omega or essential fatty acid supplements also help to promote normal hormone balance.

By taking a deeper and broader approach to using bio-identical hormones, we can improve the safety of this popular and valuable therapy. If you are taking hormones or are considering this area of treatment, ask your doctor about urine hormone testing to help evaluate and guide your hormone treatment plan.

Source for Story:

http://www.easyhealthoptions.com/alternative-medicine/using-hormones-what-you-need-to-know/

• Frost bite
• Hypothermia
• Increased heart attack risk

Better Options than Exercising in Cold Weather

There are several concerns about exercising in cold weather and the colder the weather the more serious the concern.

It is unclear the damage you can do if you are rapidly ventilating large amounts of frigid air.

Your lungs were not designed to breathe in large amounts of very cold air, which may also have very little moisture, and it’s unclear whether you might cause some damage this way.

Fortunately most areas do not have many weeks or months of extremely cold temperatures, so this is something that would have to be moderated, typically, for only a few days or weeks until the weather improves.

I used to be an avid runner and would run year round in below zero temperatures. However the older I got the wiser I became and I gradually increased the minimum temperature I would run in. This was until I decided that after 42 years of running I had enough and switched to Peak Fitness exercises and strength training instead of running.

Another potential concern and danger is slipping and falling on an icy patch. Yes I did this too and actually broke one of my wrist bones (carpal navicular), which took about six months to heal, so I was in a highly inconvenient and uncomfortable cast for about a half a year. This wasn’t a serious problem but older individuals can fall on the ice and break their hip, and a significant number of people actually die after breaking their hip as a result of a lung clot (pulmonary embolus) after long periods of immobilization.

So it would seem highly prudent to go indoors under extreme temperature conditions and do some high intensity training on a recumbent bike or elliptical, or do some strength training Peak Fitness exercises until the temperatures warm up. If you feel you need to or would like to exercise outdoors then I have listed some additional concerns and recommendations below.

Signs of Frostbite and Hypothermia

Once the thermometer dips down to 20 degrees Fahrenheit (-6.6 degrees Celsius) or so, you’ll want to use extreme caution and make sure to protect your skin from exposure, as such subfreezing temperatures dramatically increase your chances of developing frost bite.

Your cheeks, nose and ears are the most vulnerable, but your hands and feet are also easily affected. Early warning signs of frostbite include a stinging sensation, numbness or loss of feeling. If you suspect you may be developing frostbite, you’ll want to get out of the cold immediately, and slowly warm the affected area. You should NOT rub the affected area however, as this may cause skin damage.

If the numbness persists, you need to seek emergency care.

Hypothermia is when your core body temperature slips below 95 degrees Fahrenheit (35 degrees Celsius). Most of your body heat is lost through your skin, and as much as 50 percent of it can be lost via your head—which is why you should always cover your head during cold weather. As the air temperature gets colder, your body compensates by shivering. The increased muscle activity generates body heat. But if the heat loss is greater than your body’s ability to generate it, then your core temperature starts to fall.

As it falls, your body compensates by shunting blood away from your skin and towards your vital organs such as your heart, lungs and brain. Of your organs, your brain and heart are the most cold-sensitive, and as your core temperature drops, the electrical activity in these organs slows. Eventually, if your temperature drops too low, heart- and brain activity ceases altogether, and you die.

If you suspect hypothermia, you need to seek immediate emergency help. Symptoms of hypothermia include:

• Intense shivering
• Slurred speech
• Loss of coordination
• Fatigue

Who Should Avoid Cold Weather Exercise?

Besides drawing blood away from the surface of your skin, in toward your vital organs, as described above, when you are in low temperatures outdoors, your cardiovascular system also tends to respond by increasing blood pressure and heart rate, which can promote a heart attack. Additionally, when you’re cold, your airway tends to narrow, making breathing more difficult.

Therefore, exercising in cold weather may not be ideal if you have any of the following health conditions. If you do, I’d recommend conferring with your doctor prior to engaging in cold weather exercise:

• Asthma
• Exercise-induced bronchitis
• Heart condition
• Raynaud’s disease (a condition that limits blood circulation to certain areas of your body, causing them to numb in response to cold temperatures or stress. This may not only make it difficult to determine whether or not you’re getting hypothermic, the reduced blood flow may also increase your risk)

How to Stay Warm and Safe During Cold Weather Exercise

If, for whatever reason, you determine that you want to exercise outdoors then it would be prudent to exercise some caution. Dressing appropriately and paying attention to the following safeguards can help keep you safe and warm when exercising outdoors this winter:

• Dress in three or more layers:
  1. Use a lightweight synthetic material to wick moisture away from your skin. Avoid heavy cotton materials as these absorb sweat, trapping wetness close to your body, which can increase your risk of hypothermia
  2. Add another layer or two of wool or fleece for insulating warmth
  3. Top it off with a lightweight, water-repellant and wind-resistant material
• Always wear a hat, as you lose about 50 percent of your body heat from your uncovered head
• Wear gloves to protect your fingers from frostbite. Layering thin gloves with heavier mittens is a good idea so you can remove a layer if needed without exposing your bare skin to the frigid air
• Cover your face with mask or scarf when the temperature is below freezing to avoid frostbite. This can also help warm the air a bit before entering your lungs
• Wear sturdy footwear with good traction to prevent slips and falls on snow or ice
• Check the temperature and the forecast. Health risks increase when the combined temperature and wind chill falls below -20°F
• Wear light and/or reflective clothing as it gets darker sooner during the winter months. You want to make sure drivers can see you
• Drink plenty of fluids. Staying properly hydrated is just as important during cold weather as during hot weather. Drink before, during and after your workout, even if you don’t feel very thirsty, as dehydration may be more difficult to notice during cold weather exertion
• Tell someone what route you’re taking, and when to expect your return, just in case something goes wrong. If you slip and fall in the winter, hypothermia can get the better of you if no one knows to go looking for you

While staying warm is important, a common mistake people make is actually dressing too warmly when exercising in cold weather. Remember that exercise will generate body heat and sweating, even though it’s cold outside. And once your sweat starts to accumulate in your clothes, it can have a significantly chilling impact. If it’s really cold outside, it may even end up freezing close to your skin, which can lower your body temperature and increase your risk of hypothermia. Staying DRY is equally important as being warm—hence the importance of putting on a wicking layer closest to your skin, and dressing in layers so you can remove a layer or two if you’re sweating profusely. Just remember to put those layers back on once you begin to cool down.

Keep in mind that wind chill can make exercising risky even if you dress warmly. As a general suggestion, I’d recommend taking a break from outdoor activities if the temperature dips well below 0 degrees Fahrenheit (-17.8 C), or if the wind chill factor is high, and opt to exercise indoors instead.

How to Find Time for Exercise

Aside from the question of safety, many people probably struggle more with finding the time to exercise… More than half of U.S. adults don’t get the recommended amount of exercise, and 24 percent are completely sedentary. But exercise doesn’t have to take up a lot of time, and it can be built into your everyday routine.

BBC Health suggests a number of ways in which you can be more active at work and at home, such as:

• Talk to your employers about promoting health at work
• Walk or bicycle to and from work
• Walk your child to school, but recognize you will need far more intense exercise than walking to achieve any major benefits
• Be active in and around your home — use the stairs to exercise, work in the garden, or install some gym equipment

These are all excellent recommendations. However, I recommend not settling there, but continuing and implementing a well-rounded fitness program to really optimize your health benefits. Of course, if you’re just getting back into exercising, you’ll need to work your way up slowly. Trying to do too much at once can lead to burnout and make you less likely to continue your program—which is why starting with the suggestions above can be such a great way to ease into a more regimented fitness program.

As your body grows more conditioned, you can then increase to a higher intensity workout.

To achieve the full range of benefits of exercise you need to exercise more intensely so you will want to tailor your fitness plan to include a variety of more challenging techniques. You should be getting not only strength training and aerobics, but also core-building activities, stretching and, most importantly, anaerobic or high-intensity interval training-type exercises. Please don’t make the mistake I did for decades by wasting your time logging in steady, hour-long cardio sessions on the treadmill as your primary form of exercise. It’s actually one of the least effective forms of exercise there is…

High intensity interval training, on the other hand, whether you do it on a treadmill or a recumbent bike, or using weights, has been shown to be one of the most effective forms of exercise—even providing benefits you can’t get any other way! For more information, please follow the hyperlinks provided.

Make Exercise a Non-Negotiable Part of Your Schedule…

Whenever you struggle with your time management, remember that exercise is every bit as important as eating, sleeping and breathing… It should not be viewed as an ancillary part of your day, but rather a necessity. Viewing exercise as a non-negotiable part of your day is really the trick to getting it done. Ideally, schedule it into your appointment book the way you would an important meeting or social event. Set the time for it and then make no excuses about keeping it.

Ideally it is something that you would schedule an appointment for even if you are doing it alone. You would certainly need to do this if you had a personal trainer, which is one of the reasons trainers are good as they help you keep your exercise commitment. But it is just as easy to make an appointment for yourself.

What you’ll find is that the more you exercise, the better you’ll feel and the more addictive it will become. Soon you won’t want to miss your exercise sessions because you’ll notice a dip in your energy or stamina when you back off for too long.

You just have to place a HIGH PRIORITY on it and schedule your day around the exercise, not the other way around… Also, please don’t use your age as an excuse to avoid exercise, because no matter what your age, exercise can provide enormous benefits for your health. As a matter of fact, if you happen to be over 40, it’s especially important to either start or step up your exercise program. This is the time of life when your physical strength, stamina, balance and flexibility start to decline, and exercise can help to counteract that dramatically.

So get up; get outside; and get going! Regardless of the season, you can exercise outside—or take it indoors if you prefer. The option is yours—the possibilities are just about endless!

Source for Story:

http://fitness.mercola.com/sites/fitness/archive/2012/01/27/6-cold-weather-exercise-tips.aspx?e_cid=20120127_FNL_art_1

How do you get rid of that pain? For us, the common methods of pain relief include analgesic and anti-inflammatory medications, which reduce symptomatic pain and swelling. But these treatments have a downside: They offer relief only during the time the medication is active in the body. They do nothing to correct the structural issues in the body causing the trigger points, spasms and pain.

You can also alternate the application of ice and heat to treat muscle pain. These are safe methods for symptomatic relief, but are difficult to apply for a prolonged period. And you need to keep using these techniques if you don’t treat the root cause of the pain.

Acupuncture, chiropractic, massage and physical therapy can also be used to treat muscle pain caused by structural issues. These are all reliable and play a role in re-establishing normalcy in the body. But there is another method, less well known yet powerful, that I’d like to share. It is called gua sha or “scraping” therapy.

A Form Of Bodywork

Gua sha can be thought of as a form of bodywork. It is similar to massage, but is carried out with a blunt instrument. Also, it is only applied to one area at a time and in only one direction.

Let’s say you experience tightness or a chronic trigger point in your shoulders. When you receive gua sha, you sit, shoulders exposed to the practitioner. The practitioner’s fingers press along the line of your shoulder. If the fingers show white marks on your skin after being removed, this is considered to be a sign of blockage. The blood and fluids are not moving freely in the shoulder, and this is the cause of the pain. When the sha or white compression marks take a long time to disappear, the problem has been there for a long period of time or the trouble spot lies deep within the muscle.

After initially testing the spot, the therapists lubricates the area and uses the blunt end of an instrument (like an old coin, rounded metal bottle cap, a piece of jade or hard plastic) to scrape over the troubled area. The movement is always deep, slow and steady and in the same direction away from the spine. (In other cases, like mid-back pain, the movement is parallel to the spine, but not toward or on it). The instrument is held at about a 30-degree angle, and the motion is repeated again and again until discoloration of the skin occurs.

During this process, patients often become worried. But there’s no need for alarm. What is happening is that the repetitive motion of the instrument brings the toxic, stagnant blood and fluids to the surface of the skin where the lymphatic system can clear it. At the same time, as the old, stagnant blood is removed from the muscle, fresh blood carrying fresh oxygen and nutrients is brought into the area to aid in healing. While the skin surface looks as if it is bruised, if the technique is performed properly, there should be no pain when the area is touched. This is a case where something looks worse than it feels. Interestingly, if there is no problem in that area, no dark discoloration comes to the surface and the skin retains its normal color.

Logical Treatment

While the 1,000-year-old method of gua sha may sound peculiar, it is actually based on the same logic used today in physical therapy and sports medicine. It is a form of deep-tissue massage or myofascial release. It augments soft-tissue mobilization. The process of applying the device gently yet firmly over the spasm area acts to mildly re-injure the area to promote proper healing.

In many cases, trigger points and muscle spasms are caused by injuries that may be decades old. These injuries often shorten muscles, tendons or ligaments after healing takes place improperly. Too much connective tissue can be formed which restricts movement and blood flow. Gua sha scraping breaks through this and allows for proper re-healing of the area, thereby correcting once and for all the origin of the pain and tightness.

While scraping can be performed on most muscles of the body, it should be avoided directly over bony areas, and never on a location where there is a new injury, painful bruising, sunburn or rash, or a break in the skin. Moles and pimples must be covered by the practitioner’s fingers so they are not scraped and made painful.

The Very Idea

The very idea of scraping away pain, or causing a new micro-injury to heal an old chronic injury, and of allowing a practitioner to bring dark purple bruising to the surface of your skin may seem a little unreasonable and odd; but I’d like you to put aside your judgment of this ancient healing method and read more about it online. There are many sites and pages and images available via a simple Internet search. If you can, call an acupuncturist or other bodywork therapist and ask if they are proficient in the method. If so, give it a try. A few days of skin discoloration beats decades of pain meds and physical therapy.

Source for Story:

http://www.easyhealthoptions.com/alternative-medicine/scraping-pain-away/

examining the level of mercury in their toenails and their hair. They found that higher levels of mercury were abundant in heart attack victims — boosting the risk of heart disease by 50%.

So what is the best plan of action? Cutting out fish is not advisable. Knowing the species that are typically high in mercury is the way to go. The first thing to know is that fish high in mercury are large predators. They live for a long time and eat lots of smaller fish, which could be carrying trace amounts of mercury. Mercury is also naturally present in ocean water and all throughout the food chain that operates beneath the waves. The type, called “methyl mercury,” binds to proteins in fish tissue. For this reason, most fish have small amounts of mercury. Thus, large fish that eat lots of small fish may be high in mercury.

The problem fish go like so:

• Shark, king mackerel, tilefish, and swordfish: You should avoid these entirely.
• Escolar: Member of the mackerel family. In Japanese restaurants, it might be sold raw as “sashimi” or “sushi.” Elsewhere it might be referred to as white tuna, oilfish, or butterfish. It is sold in stores in steak form. Try to avoid this fish if you can. Also, if you do eat this fish, be sure to cook it in a way that allows oil to run off, because it is not digestible in the body.
• Marlin: This large ocean fish is notoriously high in mercury. It is actually more of a game fish than one we’d regularly eat.
• Orange roughy: The U.S. is the world’s biggest market for this deep-sea fish that is easily processed into boneless filets. Frozen orange roughy is commonly found in supermarkets. Try to avoid this one or eat it only once in a while.
• Tuna: Either fresh or frozen, tuna can be high in mercury. In cans, choose light tuna rather than albacore (“white”) tuna. You don’t have to avoid tuna steaks by any means, but they generally have more mercury than their canned counterparts.

Source for Story:

doctorshealthpress@lombardipublishing.com

against the influenza virus that often enters through the mouth or nasal cavities. Additionally, green tea polyphenols can be used as a natural remedy to treat bad breath, or halitosis as the medical community calls it. The sulfur compounds in green tea are thought to be responsible for its breath-freshening effect.

Smokers could also benefit from drinking green tea, the researchers say. Cigarette smoke, which is at its most concentrated when first breathed into the mouth, contains many harmful compounds such as nicotine that can lead to infections and more serious conditions like oral cancer. Green tea polyphenols could help to offset the negative health effects of cigarette smoke.

Green tea has an ability to defend healthy cells from transforming into malignant cells. The research team suggests that green tea could help induce death in oral cancer cells. They conclude by saying that green tea could be used as part of the prevention and treatment of oral health complaints.

Source for Story:

doctorshealthpress@lombardipublishing.com

• Vitamin A: A powerful antioxidant, important in the prevention of cancer and immune function; reduces the risk of heart attack, stroke, and macular degeneration; a deficiency is uncommon. A diet rich in fruits and vegetables containing carotenoids, including beta-carotene or pro-vitamin A, and organ meats, milk, oysters, and mackerel is recommended.
• Vitamin B1 (thiamin): Essential for carbohydrate digestion, a healthy nervous system, strong muscles, and proper functioning of the heart; a deficiency occurs alongside other B-vitamins, with poor intake of dairy products, meat and cereals; deficiency symptoms include weight loss, apathy, weakness, confusion, and loss of appetite.
• Vitamin B2 (riboflavin): Important in the synthesis of amino acid and fatty acids, as well as tissue repair; deficiency occurs with other B-vitamins; symptoms of deficiency include sore mouth and tongue or cracked lips, irritability, moodiness, depression and nervousness.
• Vitamin B6: Critical for metabolizing amino acids and essential fatty acids, and for the formation of neurotransmitters in the brain; deficiency occurs with other B-vitamins, especially in those with dementia, stroke, or rheumatoid arthritis, as well as anyone living in a nursing home; symptoms of deficiency include nervousness, insomnia, dizziness, confusion, depression, and irritability. Good food sources include banana, leafy greens, beef, chicken, fish, and avocado.
• Folate: Plays a role in reducing the risk of heart attacks and stroke; deficiency is often seen with poor nutrition, alcoholism, or certain medications; deficiency symptoms include depression and anemia. Dietary sources of folate include leafy greens, orange juice, liver, legumes, and brewer’s yeast.
• Vitamin B12: Important in the efficient use of fats, carbohydrates and protein; helps maintain a normal nervous system; helps body form and make red blood cells; also breaks down homocysteine (thus lowering the risk of heart disease); deficiency can be due to impaired absorption (which occurs in 15% of the elderly), a “Helicobacter pylori” infection in the stomach, gastric resection, or long- term use of acid suppression treatment (e.g. proton-pump inhibitors); symptoms of deficiency include anemia, numbness in the extremities, difficulty walking, mental confusion, and even dementia.
• Vitamin C: Functions as an antioxidant; important in recycling vitamin E; major role in collagen formation; lowered intake of this vitamin is associated with memory loss, lung disease, senile cataracts, cancer, and hardening of the arteries; deficiency is more common in nursing homes; deficiency readily responds to increased intake of fruits, fruit juice and vegetables or to vitamin supplements.
• Vitamin D: Produced by sun exposure; dietary sources include fortified dairy products, fatty fishes, and shrimp; deficiency symptoms include muscle weakness, functional impairment, and increase in fractures and falls.

Source for Story:

doctorshealthpress@lombardipublishing.com

PhD, assistant professor of molecular biology and microbiology, advanced his controversial framework in his manuscript “Theory of the Origin, Evolution, and Nature of Life,” published in the peer-reviewed journal, Life. His theory explains not only the evolutionary emergence of life on earth and in the universe but also the structure and function of existing cells and biospheres.

In addition to resolving long-standing paradoxes and puzzles in chemistry and biology, Dr. Andrulis’ theory unifies quantum and celestial mechanics. His unorthodox solution to this quintessential problem in physics differs from mainstream approaches, like string theory, as it is simple, non-mathematical, and experimentally and experientially verifiable. As such, the new portrait of quantum gravity is radical.

The basic idea of Dr. Andrulis’ framework is that all physical reality can be modeled by a single geometric entity with life-like characteristics: the gyre. The so-called “gyromodel” depicts objects—particles, atoms, chemicals, molecules, and cells—as quantized packets of energy and matter that cycle between excited and ground states around a singularity, the gyromodel’s center. A singularity is itself modeled as a gyre, wholly compatible with the thermodynamic and fractal nature of life. An example of this nested, self-similar organization is the Russian Matryoshka doll.

By fitting the gyromodel to facts accumulated over scientific history, Dr. Andrulis confirms the proposed existence of eight laws of nature. One of these, the natural law of unity, decrees that the living cell and any part of the visible universe are irreducible. This law formally establishes that there is one physical reality.

Another natural law dictates that the atomic and cosmic realms abide by identical organizational constraints. Simply put, atoms in the human body and solar systems in the universe move and behave in the exact same manner.

“Modern science lacks a unifying, interdisciplinary theory of life. In other words, current theories are unable to explain why life is the way it is and not any other way,” Dr. Andrulis says. “This general paradigm furnishes a fresh perspective on the character and meaning of life, offers solutions to protracted problems, and strives to end divisive debates.”

One debate swirls around the scientific merit of James Lovelock’s popular Gaia hypothesis. By showing that the earth is theoretically synonymous with life, Dr. Andrulis’ paradigm substantiates the Gaian premise that all organisms and their surroundings on earth are closely integrated to form a single self-regulating complex system.

Another legendary quarrel is that between biblical creationists and neo-Darwinian evolutionists. In demonstrating that the origin and evolution of life is a consequence of natural laws and physical forces, this theory synthesizes arguments and dispels assumptions from both sides of the creation-evolution debate.

To test his paradigm, Dr. Andrulis designed bidirectional flow diagrams that both depict and predict the dynamics of energy and matter. While such diagrams may be foreign to some scientists, they are standard reaction notation to chemists, biochemists, and biologists.

Dr. Andrulis has used his theory to successfully predict and identify a hidden signature of RNA biogenesis in his laboratory at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. He is now applying the gyromodel to unify and explain the evolution and development of human beings.

For more information, see “Theory of the Origin, Evolution, and Nature of Life,” Life, Vol. 2:1-105 (2012).

About Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine

Founded in 1843, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine is the largest medical research institution in Ohio and is among the nation’s top medical schools for research funding from the National Institutes of Health. The School of Medicine is recognized throughout the international medical community for outstanding achievements in teaching. The School’s innovative and pioneering Western Reserve2 curriculum interweaves four themes–research and scholarship, clinical mastery, leadership, and civic professionalism–to prepare students for the practice of evidence-based medicine in the rapidly changing health care environment of the 21st century. Eleven Nobel Laureates have been affiliated with the school.

Annually, the School of Medicine trains more than 800 M.D. and M.D./Ph.D. students and ranks in the top 25 among U.S. research-oriented medical schools as designated by U.S. News & World Report “Guide to Graduate Education.”

The School of Medicine’s primary affiliate is University Hospitals Case Medical Center and is additionally affiliated with MetroHealth Medical Center, the Louis Stokes Cleveland Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, and the Cleveland Clinic, with which it established the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University in 2002.

Source for Story:

http://case.edu/medicus/breakingnews/theoryoflife.html

were found to have elevated estrogen levels, but this result was not statistically significant.

Total caffeine intake was calculated from any of the following sources: coffee, black tea, green tea, and caffeinated soda.

Findings differed slightly when the source of caffeine was considered singly. Consuming 200 milligrams or more of caffeine from coffee mirrored the findings for overall caffeine consumption, with Asians having elevated estrogen levels, whites having lower estrogen levels, and the results for blacks not statistically significant. However, consumption of more than one cup each day of caffeinated soda or green tea was associated with a higher estrogen level in Asians, whites, and blacks.

The changes in estrogen levels among the women who took part in the study did not appear to affect ovulation. Studies conducted in animals had suggested that caffeine might interfere with ovulation.

The study was published online in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

“The results indicate that caffeine consumption among women of child-bearing age influences estrogen levels,” said Enrique Schisterman, Ph.D., of the Division of Epidemiology, Statistics and Prevention Research at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), the NIH institute where some of the research was conducted. “Short term, these variations in estrogen levels among different groups do not appear to have any pronounced effects. We know that variations in estrogen level are associated with such disorders as endometriosis, osteoporosis, and endometrial, breast, and ovarian cancers. Because long term caffeine consumption has the potential to influence estrogen levels over a long period of time, it makes sense to take caffeine consumption into account when designing studies to understand these disorders.”

The study authors noted that 89 percent of U.S. women from 18-34 years of age consume the caffeine equivalent of 1.5 to two cups of coffee a day.

The study’s first author was Karen C. Schliep, Ph. D., M.S.P.H., from the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, who conducted the study during a research appointment at NICHD. Dr. Schliep undertook the research with Dr. Schisterman and colleagues at the University of Utah, the NICHD and the State University of New York at Buffalo.

More than 250 women from 18 to 44 years old participated in the study between 2005 and 2007. On average, they consumed 90 milligrams of caffeine a day, approximately equivalent to one cup of caffeinated coffee.

Most of the participants in the study reported to the study clinic one to three times a week for two menstrual cycles. Their visits were scheduled to correspond with specific stages of the menstrual cycle. At the visits, the women reported what they had eaten in the last 24 hours and answered questions about their exercise, sleep, smoking and other aspects of their lifestyle and reproductive hormone levels were measured in blood. The study authors noted that collection of these details during multiple time points across two menstrual cycles produced more precise information about the link between caffeine and hormones than was possible in earlier studies. The researchers also noted that the study participants were more racially diverse than those who took part in previous studies.

###

About the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD): The NICHD sponsors research on development, before and after birth; maternal, child, and family health; reproductive biology and population issues; and medical rehabilitation. For more information, visit the Institute’s website at http://www.nichd.nih.gov/.

About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation’s medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.

Source for Story:

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-01/nioc-nss012612.php

It is not the unstudied synergistic effect of the millions of tons of toxic waste released each year, creating a veritable toxic soup from which we breathe that may be dangerous to human health. Rather it is detoxification itself that poses a threat.

These communities of “thinkers,” who largely agree with Bender, believe the body incapable of self-healing (i.e. every symptom must be suppressed rather than expressed). They obviously see that chemicals and pharmaceuticals can be useful in manipulating symptoms; however, they fail to appreciate the merit and influence of eliminating harmful chemicals from the body through detoxification. In short, they want it both ways.

Is detoxification a fanciful notion?

To consider the skepticism which often surrounds detoxification, one must start with two specific questions: Is it possible to rid the body of harmful chemicals via detoxification; and, if so, is it necessary? Natural health advocates answer “yes” to both questions while conventional science and medicine generally say “no”.

Setting aside the idea – which to some degree may be accurate – that every diet is based on some form of marketing scheme, the blanket claim that detoxification is completely unnecessary and even dangerous is absurd. Simply because it is possible that a person could harm him or herself when engaged in, let’s say, a severe diet or fast does not mean detoxification is dangerous.

Detoxification is a critical part of any weight loss plan

Toxins have the ability to interfere with our metabolism in a number of ways. They overburden our liver and kidney’s detoxification system, promote insulin resistance, activate the stress response, interfere with thyroid function and increase inflammation – all leading to obesity. It is naive to believe our body is capable of naturally detoxifying from the numerous stressors encountered in any given day.

The reason someone cannot lose weight is complicated. Dr. Mark Hyman writes in his book The UltraSimple Diet, “Obesity and weight problems are not always related to what we eat or how much we exercise. New research points to the role that environmental toxins play in causing weight gain and preventing weight loss.”

For example, engaging in a diet for weight loss, in conjunction with a sound detoxification program, can be a most effective approach. We know that certain toxins and neurotoxic materials are stored in fat cells to protect the body from their toxicity. The body keeps these toxins from entering the bloodstream by creating a protective shield to act as their home until they can be processed by the liver.

Toxins are a fairly new concept to the human experience

We are just beginning to unearth the myriad mechanisms which can go awry when the body is overburdened with these mind and body-damaging poisons. Contrary to the many skeptics of detoxification, like Professor Bender, an emerging body of scientific evidence suggests detox diets can markedly improve the body’s ability to cope in an environment fraught with an ever-increasing exposure to toxins.

Source for Story:

http://www.naturalnews.com/034726_detoxification_diets_skeptics.html#ixzz1kWIFFw25

The study found that:

• Pycnogenol® elevated COL1A1 by 29 percent and COL1A2 by 41 percent and increased hyaluronic acid production in skin by 44 percent
• Pycnogenol® enhanced skin elasticity by 25 percent, in addition to skin hydration by eight percent, and was especially noticeable in women who had dry skin from the start, with an increase of 21 percent
• Pycnogenol® decreased skin fatigue considerably
• Pycnogenol® reduced skin wrinkles by three percent and increased skin smoothness by six percent

“To date, Pycnogenol® is the only natural supplement that stimulates hyaluronic acid production in human skin. And, we are encouraged by the molecular evidence confirmed in this study that shows nutritional supplementation with Pycnogenol® benefits human skin,” explains Dr. Jean Krutmann, the lead researcher from the Leibniz Research Institute in Dusseldorf, Germany.

Study results confirmed Pycnogenol® improved skin at a physiological and molecular level. Pycnogenol® increased hyaluronic acid in women by 44 percent after 12 weeks of supplementation. Hyaluronic acid binds large quantities of water in the skin and in other tissues, such as cartilage. An increased amount of hyaluronic acid explains the increased skin hydration, higher elasticity and overall smoother skin appearance found in women taking Pycnogenol®.

“This exciting and technically advanced investigation with women representing actual consumer profiles greatly supports our efforts for targeting the skin beauty category for both dietary supplements and functional foods,” says Victor Ferrari, CEO of Horphag Research, exclusive worldwide suppliers of Pycnogenol®, who welcomes the publication.

According to Ferrari, beauty from within has been a driver in Horphag’s business for the last several years, with Asian markets providing numerous Pycnogenol® products in the skincare field. This study joins a sizable and largely expanding portfolio of already established skin research on Pycnogenol®. It confirms previous indications that Pycnogenol® improves human skin conditions, including promoting glowing skin and reducing the appearance of over-pigmentation and skin inflammation, resulting in a more even complexion.

About Pycnogenol®

Pycnogenol® is a natural plant extract originating from the bark of the maritime pine that grows along the coast of southwest France and is found to contain a unique combination of procyanidins, bioflavonoids and organic acids, which offer extensive natural health benefits. The extract has been widely studied for the past 40 years and has more than 280 published studies and review articles ensuring safety and efficacy as an ingredient. Today, Pycnogenol® is available in more than 700 dietary supplements, multi-vitamins and health products worldwide.For more information, visit www.pycnogenol.com.

Source for Story:

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-01/mg-pm012412.php

and 2008 Nobel Prize co-winner in chemistry for his work on green fluorescent protein.

“The most common method right now monitors the movement of calcium ions into the cell,” said Miller. “It provides some broad indication, but it’s an indirect measurement that misses activity we see when directly measuring voltage changes.”

The new method employs dyes that penetrate only the membrane of neurons, either in in vitro cells cultured with the dye or, for this study, taken up by neurons in a living leech model. When the dyed cells are exposed to light, neuronal firing causes the dye momentarily to glow more brightly, a flash that can be captured with a high-speed camera.

“One of the tradeoffs with using voltage-sensing dyes in the past is that when they were reasonably sensitive to voltage changes, they were slow compared to the actual physiological events,” said Miller. “The new dye gives big signals but is much faster and doesn’t perturb the neurons. We essentially see no lag time between the optical signal and electrodes (used to double-check neuronal activity).”

The new method provides a wider view of neuronal activity, said Miller. More importantly, it makes it possible for neuroscientists to do accurate, single trial experiments. “Right now, you have to repeat experiments with cells, and then average the results, which is physiologically less relevant and meaningful.”

For Tsien, the new dyes address a career-long challenge.

“These results are the first demonstration of a new mechanism to sense membrane voltage, which is particularly satisfying to me because this was the first problem I started working on as a graduate student in 1972, with little success back then,” said Tsien. “Later, we devised indirect solutions such as calcium imaging or dyes that gave big but slow responses to voltage. These techniques have been very useful in other areas of biology or in drug screening, but didn’t properly solve the original problem. I think we are finally on the right track, four decades later.”

Source for Story:

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-01/uoc–nfd012512.php

Fortunately, the pathogen is so new that it is still not resistant to powerful antibiotics. His parents were so grateful that they changed the boy’s name from Hilai to Ilai.

The proteobacteria from the order of Neisseriales was first isolated in 1960, but until the 1990s culture techniques didn’t improve enough for it to become recognized as a significant cause of infection in young children.

It often causes infections in the covering of the heart, the ligaments and bones and sometimes in the lungs and brain, but it has very rarely affected the eyes.

It is part of the bacterial flora of the throat in young children and transmitted from one child to another.

Prof. Ayala Pollack, an ophthalmologist at Kaplan, said it was the first time they had seen a breakout of the virulent bacteria. When the antibiotic was given directly into the hollow of the eye and the pathogen was weakened and destroyed, the doctors knew that the baby’s sight in the affected eye had been saved.

He was taken four weeks ago to Kaplan with a high fever, nausea, vomiting and a very red eye. Pollack, who examined him, said the condition was very hard to diagnose.

Finally, the source of the infection was identified by a multidisciplinary team, who said that it had reached the eye from the circulating blood.

“It was very unusual. During a very short time it could have led to complete blindness, thus it was very important to take him to the operating room to neutralize the advance of the infection,” she said.

His mother, Pninit, was very grateful.

“We arrived at the hospital when the eye was red, with a white spot on the iris,” she said. “We didn’t know what the problem was, and it was very scary, but the angels in white saved my baby.”

After the operation succeeded, the hospital rabbi, Zamir Cohen, recommended his name be changed to the similarly sounding Ilai, in memory of the brilliant rabbinical scholar of the Talmud from the second century CE.

Source for Story:

http://www.jpost.com/Health/Article.aspx?id=253946

for doctors and nurses to communicate effectively with patients to deliver the best care. But in the hectic and distracting environment of an emergency department, those key instructions can be lost.

“Discharge communication is an opportunity to recap the visit, teach patients and families how to safely care for themselves or their loved ones at home, and address any remaining questions,” Porter said in a release.

“Failure to understand important elements of care can result in medical error at home and safety risks including incorrect medication use, inappropriate home care and failure to follow-up on concerning symptoms.”

Porter and his co-authors found multiple reports in the medical literature showing poor comprehension at discharge, with patients or parents frequently unable to describe the diagnosis, treatment plan or why they should return, the study’s authors said in the January issue of the Annals of Emergency Medicine.

For example, one study found while 72 per cent of patients could read the discharge instructions aloud, only 49 per cent could report the treatment plan back.

Another study asked parents to understand the type of treatment, frequency and duration but not the name or dose of the medication for their child. Even then, only about 20 per cent of parents were able to show they understood the instructions.

Comprehension tips

To enhance recall, the authors suggested providing patients with structured content that is presented verbally with written and visual cues.

Clear written instructions should be in the patient’s own language at an appropriate reading level, they added.

Demonstrating medication use and dosing is vital, especially in pediatrics, where instructions for over-the-counter medications are often unclear, the authors said.

Preliminary studies of technologies such as using computer kiosks and discharge videos suggest these may also help.

The review was supported by Program for Patient Safety and Quality at Children’s Hospital Boston, the Emergency Medicine Foundation, the Institute for International Emergency Medicine and Health, Brigham and Women’s Hospital Department of Emergency Medicine and SickKids Foundation.

Source for Story:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/story/2012/01/24/emergency-room-discharge-communication.html

the doctor in question still refused, recommending that the girl just be left to die.

Little Amelia suffers from an affliction known as Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome (WHS) that causes developmental delay, a characteristic facial appearance, and sometimes other birth defects. Amelia had been seeing a nephrologist at CHP for three years before the horrific incident denying her right to life took place, and had made much progress in spite of her condition, thanks to the unconditional love and dedication of her long-suffering parents.

But all of this changed on January 10, 2012, when an unnamed Peruvian doctor of about 65 years old told Amelia’s parents that he would not be approving a life-saving kidney transplant. The hubristic doctor, presumptuously assuming the role of God, explained his opinion that Amelia’s “mentally retarded” and “brain damaged” state rendered her unworthy of the transplant, and proceeded to explain that Amelia would not, under any circumstances, receive the transplant at CHP.
Be sure to read the full sobering account of Amelia’s parents’ harrowing experience here(http://www.wolfhirschhorn.org/2012/01/amelia/brick-walls/).

As we all know, the mainstream medical system is wrong about a lot of things, including its assessments of “quality of life” and determinations of who is worthy of living. After all, how many times have stories emerged about terminal patients living far longer than doctor assessments, for instance, or individuals in a “permanent” vegetative state miraculously recovering in spite of physicians declaring that such individuals would never recover?

Allowing an individual with developmental deficiencies to die because you consider his or her life to be less valuable is the epitome of eugenicist ideology. And such thinking is becoming increasingly more common as government agencies in concert with megalith insurance corporations seize control of healthcare and dictate who is worthy of receiving it.

Sources for Story:
http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/eugenics-in-action-3-year-old-girl-denied-kidney-transplant-because-she-is-mentally-retarded

http://www.naturalnews.com/034713_eugenics_kidney_transplant_mentally_retarded.html#ixzz1kQ11qpRc

Treating your pet

Using diatomaceous earth is not a new idea when it comes to treating animals for fleas. DE is a naturally occurring rock, similar to pumice, and is comprised of the fossilized skeletons of diatoms, a type of hard-shelled algae. The shells are abrasive, and when crushed into a powder, create a deadly insecticide for fleas, ticks, mites, bedbugs, chiggers and other insects. DE works by making microscopic cuts in the exoskeleton of the insect as they pass through the powder; and then absorbing their bodily fluids, killing them. It’s safe to apply DE to pet fur as a powder and gently rub or brush it through. Leave it on the pet, and within 24 hours, fleas will be dead. However, take care to protect the pet and owner from inhaling the dust, which can cause damage to the lungs. Shake the powder on carefully and close to the pet’s body to avoid creating a dust cloud. Ingested DE will not harm an animal and is useful for deworming instead of using veterinary chemicals.

In addition to applying DE to pets’ coats, it can also be sprinkled around cracks and crevices in the home and on furniture. Vacuum up after allowing it to sit for several hours or longer. Use only pure food grade DE, which is available at feed stores and online.

Treating your house

Staphysagria is a homeopathic remedy known for being able to protect against the bites of certain insects, especially mosquitoes. Additionally, it makes an excellent flea repellant and insecticide when used as a spray around the house. No one knows exactly how the remedy works to kill fleas and other parasitic pests; however, anecdotal evidence indicates that mixing several pellets of Staphysagria 6C with water and spraying around cracks, crevices, and furniture will kill adult fleas and prevent eggs from maturing. Repeat twice a month or more frequently to keep the house free of fleas during summer.

Combining these two methods should rid pets of fleas and protect against new infestations. To ensure that dogs and outdoor cats remain free of fleas, apply DE to the yard with a fertilizer spreader. This must be done on a dry day where there is no threat of rain for several days afterwards. DE will not only destroy fleas, but will also kill ticks. To treat bushes for pests, place DE powder in a kitchen strainer and sprinkle throughout foliage. Repeat every few weeks during flea season.

Sources for Story:

http://www.naturalnews.com/034728_flea_killer_natural_pets.html#ixzz1kPrnFFKB

has been found. Biotin helps our bodies to break down fats, protein and carbohydrates. It can be found naturally in Swiss chard, liver, halibut and goat milk, to name a few.

Several other B vitamins help with hair loss or slow hair growth as well. Panthenol, or vitamin B5 is often used externally in shampoos and other hair products to help increase thickness. It has the ability to penetrate the cuticle and increase the diameter as a topical supplement.

A deficiency of vitamin B12 can lead to anemia, which stunts hair growth. Supplements of this vitamin often fall short as they don’t absorb very well. Vitamin B12 shots are given for energy support in those who are deficient. However you can also increase your levels of this vitamin by eating foods such as grass fed beef, egg yolks and free range poultry.

Antioxidant vitamins are also an important source of nutrition for healthy hair. Vitamins C, E and A are important for the health of the skin and hair. They increase the health and efficiency of the entire body, thereby “freeing up” the resources to feed your hair the nutrients it needs on a daily basis. They help promote healthy connective tissues and cellular growth. A diet rich in these vitamins provides support for vibrant, abundant hair growth. Vitamin E also increases scalp circulation which in turn promotes hair growth.

Herbs for healthy hair

The foremost herb known for adding beauty and luster to the hair when taken orally is horsetail. Named for its long brush-like appearance, this herb is packed with a nutrient called silica. Silica is a substance that strengthens bones, nails and hair.

Siloca adds resilience to the hair by fortifying it with strength and thereby lessening breakage and thinning. Silica also is known for increasing shine and body thanks to the additional strength and presumably increased volume of hair. It is a relatively inexpensive herb and is used extensively for brittle or unhealthy hair.

Rosemary is an excellent herb to use topically to promote hair growth and increase scalp health. When applied to the scalp rosemary increases circulation and helps to gently remove excess sebum and dandruff, which can inhibit healthy hair growth.

Lavender is another herb that enhances the beauty of the hair. Lavender helps increase shine and gently cleanse deposits that dull the hair.

Hops are not only a main ingredient in beer. They make an excellent natural hair conditioner and softener when applied topically. The herb also contains silica so it helps fortify the hair from within. Many popular hair supplements use this to add strength and resilience.

Source for Story:

http://www.naturalnews.com/034727_herbs_healthy_hair.html#ixzz1kPhb70cY

half of normal weight and half overweight or obese. It found that among those with excess pounds, the low-glycemic diet reduced “C-reactive protein” by 22%. This is a major marker that indicates inflammation in the body.

C-reactive protein has long been tied to a higher risk for cancers and heart disease. So, in a way, choosing high-fiber foods is a cancer prevention diet. Lowering inflammation is vital for reducing a broad range of health risks. This low-glycemic diet can improve health for the tens of millions of Americans who are overweight or obese.

They also discovered that this type of diet increased the blood levels of a hormone called “adiponectin” by about five percent. This plays a key role in protecting against several cancers, including breast cancer, as well as metabolic disorders such as type-2 diabetes, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, and hardening of the arteries.

“Glycemic load” refers to how the intake of carbohydrates, adjusted for total grams of carbohydrate, affects blood-sugar levels. Lentils or pinto beans have a glycemic load that is approximately three times lower than instant mashed potatoes, for example, and therefore won’t cause blood-sugar levels to rise as quickly.

The bottom line: when you are protecting against chronic disease, not all carbohydrates are equal. You want quality carbs, including whole grains, legumes such as kidney beans, soy beans, pinto beans and lentils, milk, and fruits such as apples, oranges, grapefruit and pears. Steer clear of white sugar, white flour, and sugar-sweetened foods.

Source for Story:

doctorshealthpress@lombardipublishing.com

resveratrol in particular.Resveratrol helps battle LDL (“bad”) cholesterol and protect your brain from the ravages of Alzheimer’s.

4. Quinoa is an ancient grain that is full of protein, but not just any protein. Quinoa contains “complete protein,” meaning all nine essential amino acids are found in this delicious grain. Whole grains are great for your digestive health and can aid in keeping you slim and trim.

5. Wild salmon is high in omega-3 fatty acids. These special fatty acids go to work in your brain keeping it healthy and functioning optimally. Omega-3s are also great mood moderators — they can take away that edge of irritability that can cloud your day.

6. Green tea is rich in Polyphenols that can literally kill cancer cells while protecting healthy cells.

7. Oatmeal is full of cancer-fighting insoluble fiber. Insoluble fiber also reduces LDL cholesterol and helps to regulate blood sugar levels.

8. Garlic has super powers when it comes to fighting damaging free radicals. It contains special sulfur compounds, which are talented cancer and infection fighters.

9. Olive oil is full of healthy fats that help protect your heart from disease. The polyphenols in olive oil are also great for fighting inflammation and for boosting cognitive health.

10. Broccoli is a vegetable that can help detox your body. It contains special phytonutrients that fight the invasion of contaminants from food, water and air. Broccoli is also anti-inflammatory and can help lessen the impact of allergens on your body.

Source for Story:

doctorshealthpress@lombardipublishing.com

“We believe that infants are born with expectations about the objects around them, even though that knowledge is a skill that’s never been taught. As the child develops, this knowledge is refined and eventually leads to the abilities we use as adults.”

In a review of related scientific literature from the past 30 years, vanMarle and Susan Hespos of Northwestern University found that the evidence for intuitive physics occurs in infants as young as two months – the earliest age at which testing can occur. At that age, infants show an understanding that unsupported objects will fall and that hidden objects do not cease to exist. Scientific testing also has shown that by five months, infants have an expectation that non-cohesive substances like sand or water are not solid. In a previous publication, vanMarle found that children as young as 10 months consistently choose larger amounts when presented with two different amounts of food substance.

“We believe that infants are born with the ability to form expectations and they use these expectations basically to predict the future,” vanMarle said. “Intuitive physics include skills that adults use all the time. For example, when a glass of milk falls off the table, a person might try to catch the cup, but they are not likely to try to catch the milk that spills out. The person doesn’t have to consciously think about what to do because the brain processes the information and the person simply reacts. The majority of an adult’s everyday interactions with the world are automatic, and we believe infants have the same ability to form expectations, predicting the behavior of objects and substances with which they interact.”

While the intuitive physics knowledge is believed to be present at birth, vanMarle believes parents can assist skill development through normal interaction, such as playing and talking with the child and encouraging him/her to interact with objects.

“Despite the intuitive physics knowledge, a parent probably cannot do much to ‘get their child ahead’ at the infant stage, including exposing him or her to videos marketed to improve math or language skills,” vanMarle said. “Natural interaction with the child, such as talking to him/her, playing peek-a-boo, and allowing him/her to handle safe objects, is the best method for child development. Natural interaction with the parent and objects in the world gives the child all the input that evolution has prepared the child to seek, accept and use to develop intuitive physics.”

The study, “Physics for infants: characterizing the origins of knowledge about objects, substances and number,” is published in the January issue of WIREs Cognitive Science.

Source for Story:

http://munews.missouri.edu/news-releases/2012/0124-babies-are-born-with-%E2%80%9Cintuitive-physics%E2%80%9D-knowledge-says-mu-researcher/