Synopsis: 5. medicine & health:


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There is growing recognition that the absence of buffalo has led to deterioration of the ecological integrity of grasslands diminished the health of our people and led to an incalculable cultural loss.

and First Nations along the Medicine Line (the international boundary with Canada) to promote the conservation of prairies and the repatriation of American bison.


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Health Benefits, Risks & Nutrition Facts Apples are one of the healthiest foods a person can eat.

which function as antioxidants#said Laura Flores a nutritionist based in San diego. These polyphenols are found in both the skin of the apples as well as in the meat

All of these benefits mean that apples may mitigate the effects of asthma and Alzheimer's disease while assisting with weight management bone health pulmonary function and gastrointestinal protection.

Often called a miracle food and nutritional powerhouse an apple a day really may keep the doctor away.

Here are the nutrition facts from the U s. Food and Drug Administration which regulates food labeling through the National Labeling and Education Act:

Nutrition Facts Serving size: 1 large apple (8 oz/242 g) Raw edible weight portion Calories 130 Calories from Fat 0*Percent Daily Values(%DV

which in turn helps prevent atherosclerosis and heart disease. In a 2011 study women who ate 75 grams of dried apples every day for six months had a 23 percent decrease in bad LDL cholesterol said study researcher Bahram H. Arjmandi

and antioxidants Flores explained that they work in the cell lining to decrease oxidation resulting in lowering risk of cardiovascular disease.

Apples'antioxidant benefits can help lower the risk of asthma#Flores told Live Science. Also a study of 2500 middle-aged men in Wales found improved lung function among those who ate an apple a day according to the University of California Davis. A study in Brazil showed that adding three apples a day to women

The American Institute for Cancer Research recommends eating lots of fruits and vegetables including apples. The antioxidant content of apples ranks among the highest for fruits and research shows that antioxidants help prevent cancer.

Lung cancer risk can especially be lowered through apples'antioxidants according to Flores. A study in Hawaii found that people who regularly eat apples onions

and white grapefruit cut their lung cancer risk in half. Eating apples in excess will not cause many side effects said Flores.

But as with anything eaten in excess apples may contribute to weight gain. Furthermore apples are acidic

A study published in 2011 in the Journal of Dentistry found that eating apples might be up to four times more damaging to teeth than carbonated drinks.

Dentists recommend cutting up apples and chewing them with the back teeth. They also recommend rinsing the mouth with water to help wash away the acid and sugars.

however that the health benefits of a diet rich in fruits and vegetables outweigh the risks of pesticide exposure.

because the Food and Drug Administration has evaluated not then for safety or effectiveness. Some researchers say not to worry about pesticides.

Dr. Dianne Hyson a research dietitian at the University of California Davis writes that laboratory tests have shown very low levels of pesticide residue on apple skins.

which can release cyanide a powerful poison when it comes into contact with digestive enzymes.

but if you chew the seeds you may be exposed to the toxins. One or two will not be harmful as the body can handle small doses of cyanide

and swallows a lot of seeds you should seek medical attention immediately. A very large helping of apple seeds may be fatal.


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however so the EPA needs to ensure that whatever replaces glyphosate isn't just substituting one harm for another.


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But both native bees and imported honeybees are struggling in the face of colony collapse disorder a mysterious ailment that kills off whole hives.

Feeding bees may help them stave off illness the agency hopes particularly in an agricultural landscape dominated by corn soybean and cotton not the insects'preferred plants.


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Weight-Loss Supplement May be Toxic to Some The use of Garcinia cambogia a popular weight-loss supplement may pose health risks to people who are taking certain antidepressants a recent case report suggests.

or three months while also taking an antidepressant started stuttering and sweating profusely. In the emergency room of a local hospital the medical staff noted that the woman's heart rate

and blood pressure were high and that she had developed also foot clonus involuntary muscle spasms that cause a person's foot to flex.

The woman's symptoms were characteristic of serotonin toxicity a drug reaction that occurs when levels of the neurotransmitter serotonin are too high.

After the woman was given medication for serotonin toxicity and spent a few days at the hospital her symptoms subsided

and she eventually recovered. 14 Oddest Medical Cases I am hesitant to label it Garcinia cambogia as a dangerous supplement

because until we see more than one case we want to make sure that this actually is something that is going to occur said Dr. Robert Hendrickson one of the authors of the case report.

However previous studies on people and animals have shown that Garcinia cambogia may indeed increase serotonin levels.

And taking the supplement in combination with antidepressants known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIS) which also cause serotonin levels to rise could lead to serotonin toxicity said Hendrickson a toxicologist at the Department of Emergency Medicine of Oregon Health and Sciences University.

Hendrickson added that based on the animal and human data suggesting both SSRIS and Garcinia increase serotonin levels he recommends that people who are taking an SSRI not use Garcinia at least until further research is done.

or a patient who was considering starting Garcinia and they were on an SSRI I would recommend that they don't do it for now Hendrickson told Live Science.

And one study in rats suggested that extremely high doses of Garcinia may cause testicular atrophy and toxicity.

The woman in the case report had been diagnosed previously with serotonin toxicity while she was taking a different kind of antidepressant.

At that time she had also been taking Garcinia for a month or two but she didn't tell the doctor who prescribed her antidepressant that she had also been taking the weight-loss supplement Hendrickson said.

Therefore her doctor attributed her first case of serotonin toxicity to her first antidepressant and switched her to another one.

Then she developed her second case of toxicity for which Hendrickson saw her. The question is

whether this person was uniquely susceptible to this problem or if this is a bigger problem Hendrickson said.

if there are a lot more people with this toxicity. The researchers said they cannot be absolutely sure that it was indeed the use of Garcinia that caused the patient to develop serotonin toxicity.

Another potential but less likely trigger of the reaction could have been the SSRI that she had been taking.

There is a big difference between a pharmaceutical like a medication and a supplement Hendrickson said.

Medications are regulated highly. Supplements on the other hand are completely unregulated he said. Whereas people can be relatively certain that a bottle of medication contains the ingredients that it is supposed to contain the same cannot be said about supplements.

Aspirin to Zoloft: How 4 Common Medicines Work There is no regulatory agency that's watching that says that you had to test it

and prove that there is Garcinia in it Hendrickson said adding that there is also currently no way to test

whether a certain pill really contains Garcinia or not. Previous research has shown that some supplements did not contain the herbs

or other substances that their bottles said they contained. Moreover there have also been instances in

which other substances sold as supplements contained pharmaceutical agents Hendrickson said. For instance valerian root supplement pills that are sold as an herbal sleep aid have been found to contain valium as it was cheaper for the pill manufacturer to use the drug than the herb he said.

However most capsules labeled Garcinia likely do include Garcinia Hendrickson said. And because previous studies have shown that Garcinia causes a serotonin increase it is quite likely that this also occurred in the case discussed in the study the researchers said.

The study was published online April 4 in the Journal of Medical Toxicology. Follow Agata Blaszczak-Boxe on Twitter.


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and consequences of this diet and how the U s. industrialized food system could be a major contributor to the national obesity epidemic.

and Drug Administration (FDA. When we pick up a package of food at the store cereal frozen pizza chips an energy drink a nutrition bar cake we assume that everything in it is OK to eat.

And that oversight is needed sorely to protect our health. Some additives which manufacturers claim to be recognized generally as safe have been linkedto fetal leukemia in human cell tests

or testicular degeneration in animal tests or according to FDA scientists may trigger an allergic reaction in people with peanut allergies.

Despite these potential risks these additives are already in our food supply. NRDC found these additives listed as ingredients in at least 20 food products.

and protect public health if it doesn't know the identity of these chemicals in the first place or if it can't review the evidence demonstrating that their use in food is safe.

but throughout the natural systems that sustain our health and the planet. Our food system encourages food waste on a massive scale about 40 percent of the food in this country never gets eaten.

The abuse of antibiotics in the livestock industry where animals that aren't sick are fed low doses of antibiotics day after day to try to compensate for unsanitary conditions risks impairing the effectiveness of those essential medicines

which pose serious threats to human health and wildlife pollute water and deplete nutrients in the soil.

By raising awareness of these issues ensuring that strong health-protective standards are being enforced by the agencies responsible for protecting the public not profits


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#Pregnant Women May Lack Info on Household Toxins Pregnant women could be missing out on information about how environmental toxins may affect their unborn babies new research suggests.

A nationwide survey of U s. obstetricians found that few discussed toxins with their patients in depth

although many considered counseling their patients about environmental health hazards to be important. OB/GYN's are very good at talking about tobacco

or flame-retardant chemicals said Dr. Naomi Stotland a professor of gynecology at the University of California San francisco (UCSF) and a physician at San francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center.

Women should be aware of the environmental toxins found in households Stotland said. For example chemicals called phthalates are found in air fresheners

and have been linked to obesity and birth defects. Bisphenol A (BPA) is found in plastics and has been linked to heart disease.

The researchers noted that a 2011 study of more than 250 pregnant women found that all of them carried environmental chemicals in their bodies that could be passed onto the fetus.

Top 5 Ways to Reduce Toxins in Homes In the new study Stotland and her colleagues surveyed 2500 obstetricians finding that 78 percent said they believed counseling their patients about chemicals in the environment could reduce harm to the baby.

However only 50 percent said they asked their patients about their environmental health history and about 7 percent said they had been trained to take

and interpret a patient's environmental health history. In a focus group with some of the obstetricians the doctors said they didn't discuss environmental toxins

because they felt they didn't have enough knowledge about such chemicals and didn't want to cause fear or anxiety in their patients.

Some physicians also said they wanted to focus on a patient's more-urgent and chronic medical concerns.

Stotland said medical schools should include environmental toxin education in their curricula. But women can also take the initiative for themselves by thinking critically about objects in their environments that may appear harmless she said.

Household cleaners are one of the main toxins pregnant women can try to avoid Stotland said.

Many women feel a mistaken belief that you need to use strong chemicals to get your house clean

but that's not backed up by science she told Live Science. You can use water

Many plastics release toxic chemicals such as vinyl chloride or BPA according to a document released by UCSF researchers called Toxic Matters.

Other tips for women include eating organic food to avoid the pesticides found in certain fruits

or lotion that contain nontoxic ingredients. But Stotland said there's no need to go overboard about the survey's findings.

Dr. Jeanne Conry president of the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists said she agreed with this stance.


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Eating Habits The researchers used data from a large study of the health effects of children's diets that was conducted between September 2006 and February 2012.

Previous research among adults has found an association between those who follow the Mediterranean diet and a decreased risk of heart attack stroke and death from heart disease.

and the health authorities in south Europe before this kind of dietary pattern will stop being called'Mediterranean'he said.


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Scientists are concerned also that climate change could bring a new danger to the giant sequoias via diseases.

and Kings Canyon National parks. Sequoias are normally resistant to most diseases that plague California's forests.

But a giant sequoia planted by John Muir in the San francisco bay 85 years ago outside its natural range is now dying of a fungal disease Nydick said.


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and plants that can resist climate stresses. Farmers have done much of this for millennia but now they have to do more


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#Bacteria in Wine May Bring Health Benefits There are bacteria in wine that may be beneficial for people's health new research finds.

In the study researchers in Spain isolated 11 strains of bacteria from wine including strains of Lactobacillus

5 Probiotics Myths Probiotics are live organisms that can bring health benefits when consumed in the right amounts Gonzã¡

in order to have an impact on human health. The researchers looked to see whether the bacteria in wine could survive

or even better than the survival of several strains of bacteria known to be beneficial to human health.

and therefore the bacteria may provide beneficial effects such as the exclusion of pathogens or harmful bacteria from the intestine they wrote in the study.

In particular one strain of bacteria found in wine called P. pentosaceus CIAL-86 had an excellent ability to stick to the intestinal wall

however that drinking a couple glasses of wine a day will provide the same health benefits as eating a food like yogurt she said.

Even though the moderate consumption of wine which she defined as two glasses per day may confer certain health benefits wine does not currently provide a sufficient amount of probiotics to be beneficial


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whether alcohol or marijuana is worse for health is being debated once again this time sparked by comments that President Barack Obama made in a recent interview with The New yorker magazine.</

<a href=http://www. livescience. com/42738-marijuana-vs-alcohol-health-effects. html target=blank>Marijuana vs.

Which Is Really Worse for Your Health?</</a p><p></p><p>A 42-year old electrician in California developed star-shaped cataracts in his eyes after a serious work-related accident caused electricity to run through his body according to a new


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If you believe this article from Collective Evolution a site that claims to be one of the worlds most popular alternative media company#there is currently DNA from genetically modified plants floating in your blood that must be causing some harm.

Foreign DNA can cause harm only if it is able to encode proteins that are harmful to the human body.

or health and in the pockets of agribusiness as many anti-GMO websites will make you believe.

But in Spisak s case the analysis involved tiny amounts of DNA which made Lusk think that contamination

In a follow up study uploaded few weeks ago on arxiv he concludes that Spisak must consider contamination as the source of PLANT DNA.


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Maathai's writings and activism on poverty sustainable livelihoods climate change corruption and HIV/AIDS (and the connections she has made among these topics) drew the ire of powerful people.

By her 2011 death from ovarian cancer she was not only a Nobel laureate but also a former parliament member with honorary doctoral degrees from Williams College and Yale university.


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and the chemical feel-good factor comes from the world s most widely consumed psychoactive drug.

For a start there is the world s most widely consumed psychoactive drug: 1 3 7-trimethylxanthine by name.

which also happens to be the molecule that makes chocolate poisonous to dogs. Then there is serotonin a natural neurotransmitter

These receptors were originally found to be sensitive to the most important psychoactive molecule in cannabis Î-THC.

It is a naturally occurring substance with a structure that is closely related to synthetic amphetamines which of course are also stimulants.

which some scientists think may help improve cardiovascular health (but chocolate manufacturers have been known to remove bitter flavanols from dark chocolate).


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#Food safety Returns To Nature (ISNS) Outbreaks of foodborne diseases carried by bacteria can be a nuisance at best and deadly at worst.

One way to destroy these pathogens is with more pathogens. Bacteriophages are viruses that specifically attack bacteria.

H7 the pathogen that was estimated to have caused more than 63000 illnesses and 2138 hospitalizations between 2000 and 2008 in the U s. The researchers mixed a cocktail of three phages

and added it to ground beef or sprayed it on spinach. They found that the combination eliminated over 99%of E coli O157:

It s highly unlikely that they will ever evolve to cause diseases for humans or animals.

#oe Phages are not human pathogens. The bacteria are the human pathogens#said Paul Ebner a professor of animal sciences at Purdue

and the lead author of the E coli study. Sulakvelidze added that phage bio-control products are an alternative to chemical washes

Researchers are also looking into ways to treat bacterial infections in livestock using phages but Sulakvelidze said that results from these tests are inconclusive so far.

However if phages prove successful in this way it would greatly reduce the need for antibiotics in livestock

Antibiotic resistance in bacteria is a crisis. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention each year in the United states at least two million people become infected with bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics

and at least 23000 people die each year as a direct result of these infections.##Phages are a hopeful alternative.

Phage therapy was the big thing in the 19 20s and 30s#said Jason Gill a microbiologist at Texas A&m University in College Station who was involved not in the study.

Since then researchers have struggled to get consistent results with phages. After penicillin hit the market in the early 1940s phage therapy was abandoned largely.

But now that many bacteria are resistant to one or more antibiotics phages are making a comeback.

Bacteria can become resistant to phages as well. But one type of bacteria usually only develops resistance to one or two types of phages

But numerous obstacles obstruct the path to phage therapy in humans in the U s. Regulations make phages difficult to patent.

Given those economic concerns getting to clinical trials for human treatment takes millions of dollars that many drug companies aren t willing to invest.

We re just harnessing that antibacterial process#Ebner said. Inside Science News Service is supported by the American Institute of Physics.


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If you care about the drugs that make it into the United states'food supply or only about

or restrict the use of this drug during pig production including all countries in the European union Russia and China.

It belongs to a class of drugs beta-agonists that were developed to treat asthma and only adapted for animal use

The U s. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved ractopamine for use on pigs after just one human health study an evaluation of six young healthy men one of whom dropped out

Three years later the FDA sent ractopamine's sponsor a 14-page letter accusing the company of withholding information about the drug's adverse animal drug experiences and safety and effectiveness.

Shortly thereafter the FDA required drug manufacturers to add this warning label: Ractopamine may increase the number of injured and/or fatigued pigs during marketing.

Protect Public health Not Toxic Chemicals (Op-Ed) The FDA has linked ractopamine to nearly a quarter-million reported adverse events in pigs (more than half of those pigs were sickened

or killed) more than any other animal drug. These pigs became lame or unable to stand started trembling

The dispute over ractopamine speaks to a broader illness in the nation's pork industry.

The pork industry insists on using a dangerous drug and then complains when other nations and American consumers don't want their pork.


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The disorder causes the last joint in one or both wings to unnaturally twist outward rather than lie flat against a bird's body.

and instead starve succumbing to injuries or freezing to death. The birds most likely to contract angel wing are those residing in parks on ponds

If the patients treated are very young the condition can sometimes be minimized by splinting and repositioning the affected wing while feeding the birds a proper diet for optimal growth.

The risk of birds developing this disease doesn't mean the enjoyable and bonding activity of feeding birds must be eliminated you just have to identify areas where feeding waterfowl is supported.

and offer the birds the right food to sustain their health. Feeding wild birds a proper diet preserves a treasured family tradition


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A disease or pest infestation in a neighboring plant sends out chemical signals that cause nearby plants to respond.

After injury any plant cell can revert to similar pluripotency. Animals by contrast lack meristems and stem cells are much harder to come by as shown by the difficulties faced by cloning efforts Rayburn said.


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#Apple's Health App Tracks Almost Everything, Except Periods Apple has released finally its much-anticipated health app

but also oodles of other health-related data including users'blood alcohol content body fat percentage respiratory rate and intake of sodium magnesium calcium fiber iodine

so Health K it doesn't need a period tracker. Perhaps the app lacks a menstrual tracker

But that shouldn't excuse the company which has partnered with medical experts at the Mayo Clinic


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#Diseases spread quickly through cattle herds and calves are particularly vulnerable so for generations traditional farmers have raised newborn cows in their own pens for the first six to eight weeks until they are weaned from milk.


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#Origins of Inebriation Revealed In prehistoric Eurasia drugs and alcohol were reserved originally for ritual ceremonies

. But written records aren't the only indication of early drug and alcohol use. It is thought generally that mind-altering substances

or at least drugs are a modern-day issue but if we look at the archaeological record of prehistoric Europe there are many data supporting their consumption said study author Elisa Guerra-Doce a prehistory expert at the University of Valladolid in Spain.

The History of 8 Hallucinogens Despite numerous indications archaeologists have overlooked largely the use of mind-altering substances in Eurasian prehistory.

So Guerra-Doce decided to sort through the scarce and scattered information in the scientific literature in hopes of gaining a better understanding of the history and context of ancient drug and alcohol use.

macrofossil remains of psychoactive plants residues from fermented alcoholic drinks psychoactive alkaloids (chemical compounds) on artifacts and skeletal remains and artistic depictions of psychoactive plants and drinking scenes.

For instance at a Neanderthal burial cave at Shanidar in northern Iraq dating to around 60000 B c. researchers discovered the remains of many medical plant species suggesting the grave belonged to a shaman.

In particular at an archaeological site near Bucharest Romania scientists found charred Cannabis seeds from plants in some tombs.

The main psychoactive compound of marijuana is tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) which is most abundant in the female plants (Cannabis plants are typically

either male or female with male plants producing pollen that pollinates the seed-producing flowers of the female plant).

7 Potent Medicinal Plants Alcoholic residues suggest many prehistoric Eurasians drank fruit wines mead beer (from barley

The discovery of alcoholic fermentation appears to date back to about 7000 B c. in China. By 5000 B c. people in the Zagros Mountains of northwestern Iran drank wine instilled with pine resin (for its preservative or medicinal properties.

And at a site in southeastern Armenia dating to 4000 B c. scientists unearthed a fully equipped winery#they think the wine was made for mortuary practices considering there were 20 burial graves which contained drinking cups next to the winemaking facility.

Many tombs have provided traces of alcoholic drinks and drugs Guerra-Doce said. I think these substances were used to aid in communication with the spirit world.

Some artistic representations also hint at ceremonial drug and alcohol use in prehistory. One of the most revealing items may be a 30-inch-tall (76 centimeters) terracotta figurineknown as the Poppy Goddess.

The figurine found in an almost 3000-year-old cult chamber in Crete depicts a bare-breasted woman with upraised arms and a head bearing three movable hairpins shaped like poppy capsules.

Certain features of the capsules suggest how opium may have been extracted and the figurine displays a serene facial expression which some experts interpret as depicting a trancelike state gained from inhaling opium fumes.

Only for the elite? Guerra-Doce's analysis further suggests that psychoactive substances may have been reserved for the elite.

For example at a Bronze age cemetery in southeastern Spain archaeologists have found psychoactive alkaloids of opiates in tombs of the upper class.

I think that prior to a large-scale production alcoholic drinks were reserved for special events and they played a similar role as drug plants Guerra-Doce said.

After large-scale production became possible alcohol likely became available to many people (not just elites)

Interestingly the common names of some of these plants refer to madness to evil spirits to harmful effects


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