Thursday April 23, 2009

Scientists Link Gluten to Diabetes And Schizophrenia
The Herald 04-22-09
SCIENTISTS believe there could be links between glutenrich foodstuffs such as bread, and the triggering of diabetes and schizophrenia in people with a genetic predisposition to the mental disease.
Researchers at UHI, the prospective University of the Highlands and Islands, are pursuing the possible connections.
Two studies are being undertaken by geneticist Dr Jun Wei and his team at the UHI n Inverness, after winning GBP300,000 of grant funding from the Schizophrenia Association of Great Britain.
One project is exploring the links between schizophrenia and diabetes, while the other focuses on the role of gluten in schizophrenia and diabetes.
Gluten has long been recognised as a trigger for serious diseases related to the gut, most notably coeliac disease.
However, it is now emerging that this dietary component might also be associated with the incidence of other autoimmune diseases, including schizophrenia and type one diabetes.
Professor Ian Megson, head of the UHI department, explained: "The reason that gluten might provide a link between these apparently quite different diseases is that, in people with a particular genetic make-up that results in their bodies' inability to handle gluten in the normal way, the immune system becomes unusually active.
"In this way, cells in the blood that are designed to combat infections begin to target healthy tissue, which can lead to impaired function of affected organs (gut, brain or pancreas) and disease.
"This research is at an early stage, but if the theory is correct and those at risk are identified very early in life, a simple change in diet might prevent these diseases developing in some individuals."
http://www.lef.org/news/LefDailyNews.htm?NewsID=8172&Section=Disease

Aging biomarker associated with hypertension and coronary artery disease

LIFE EXTENSIONS April 22, 2009
The April, 2009 issue of the American Heart Association journal Hypertension published an article describing the discovery of a link between shorter telomeres and the development of coronary artery disease in men and women with high blood pressure. Telomeres are structures which cap the ends of chromosomes, helping to stabilize them. Telomere shortening limits the life span of cells, and is considered a marker of aging.
Researchers at the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences in Beijing sought to determine the relationship between telomere length and the risk and prognosis of hypertension in Chinese men and women aged 30 to 80 years. Leukocyte (white blood cell) telomere length measured in 388 participants with hypertension and 379 healthy control subjects revealed shorter telomeres in older subjects than those who were younger, and significantly shorter telomeres in those with hypertension compared with subjects whose blood pressure was normal.
Complications resulting from hypertension, including stroke, coronary artery disease, hypertensive heart disease, hypertensive renal disease, and hypertensive retinopathy were documented among the subjects over 5 years of follow-up. Participants with shorter telomeres were found to be more than three times as likely to develop coronary artery disease compared with those who had longer telomeres. Additionally, among control patients with normal blood pressure, those who developed hypertension or coronary artery disease over the course of follow-up had shorter telomeres than subjects who remained healthy. Analysis of the data confirmed that both short telomeres and high blood pressure were independent risk factors for developing coronary artery disease.
“Our data suggest that mean leukocyte telomere length is a potential predictor of coronary artery disease and support the hypothesis that differences in biological aging can contribute to the risk and variability of developing hypertension and cardiovascular diseases,” the authors conclude.
http://www.lef.org/whatshot/
2009_04.htm#aging-biomarker-associated-hypertension-coronary-artery-disease

Plant-based flavonoid may cut ovarian cancer risk
Last Updated: 2009-04-22 13:10:06 -0400 (Reuters Health)
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Women who eat greater amounts of plant-based foods and drinks with the naturally occurring flavonoid, apigenin, may have a decreased risk for ovarian cancer, study findings suggest.
Apigenin, found in celery, parsley, red wine, tomato sauce, and other plant-based foods may be "particularly beneficial," said Dr. Margaret A. Gates, of Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, in Boston, Massachusetts.
Flavanoids are compounds with antioxidant properties that protect cells against damage by oxygen molecules. In a study that compared flavonoid intake among women with and without ovarian cancer, women reporting the highest apigenin intake had a "borderline significant decrease" in ovarian cancer risk over women reporting the lowest apigenin intake, Gates and her associates report in the International Journal of Cancer.
"These results are promising," Gates told Reuters Health, "but more research is needed to confirm this association."
The researchers assessed the foods commonly eaten over a one-week period by 1,141 women with ovarian cancer and 1,183 women without.
The women, 51 years old on average, had similar characteristics except those with ovarian cancer reported more known risk factors for the disease and had slightly greater body mass and daily calorie intake. By contrast, the disease-free "controls" had a slightly healthier overall diet.
From the food data, Gate's group calculated the women's intake of 5 common flavonoids -- myricetin, kaempferol, quercetin, luteolin, and apigenin -- frequently obtained by drinking tea or red wine, or eating apples, romaine or leaf lettuce, kale, blueberries, oranges, celery, or tomato sauce.
The investigators found no association between total flavonoid intake and ovarian cancer risk in analyses that allowed for factors potentially associated with ovarian cancer risk such as age, oral contraceptive use, childbirth, breastfeeding, history of tubal ligation, and physical activity.
Only apigenin intake, as noted, was associated with a suggestive decrease in ovarian cancer risk.
These findings, in concert with results of other studies suggesting an inverse association between intake of certain flavonoids and risk of ovarian cancer, highlight the need for further research, Gates and her colleagues suggest.
SOURCE: International Journal of Cancer, April 2009.
http://www.reutershealth.com/archive/2009/04/22/eline/links/20090422elin006.html

Recession fuels worries of workplace violence
Last Updated: 2009-04-22 11:38:35 -0400 (Reuters Health)
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A worker recently laid off by a U.S. financial services company grew so upset that the firm had him followed to be sure he didn't strike out violently at his former co-workers or bosses.
"Tough times will cause people to do crazy things," said Kenneth Springer, whose company Corporate Resolutions Inc. did the surveillance. "People are taking more precautions."
Indeed, stories of workplace violence are filling headlines of late -- the San Diego bus mechanic who killed two co-workers or the unemployed man in upstate New York whose 12 shooting victims included a receptionist and a teacher.
With such jarring tragedies, fears of violence fueled by financial worries are growing as the recession puts strain and stress on anxious workers, experts say.
Job losses, job uncertainty and slashed budgets are all pressures that could push someone over the edge.
"People are flat out concerned," said James Cawood, a security expert and author of "Violence Assessment and Intervention: the Practitioner's Handbook."
"People that are staying in companies where there has been significant downsizing and there's also been major dislocation ... are worried at every level," he said. "Even in down economic times, I'm doing more training now than I've done in years."
"A LONG STREAK OF PROBLEMS"
Workplace violence can range from harassment and intimidation to violence and homicides, experts say.
While economic stress can make some people violent, it won't turn just anyone into a killer, said Laurence Miller, author of "From Difficult to Disturbed: Understanding and Managing Dysfunctional Employees."
"People shouldn't be sitting around wondering if someone they've been working with for years who has been a regular guy and no real problem is going to suddenly snap and go ballistic on them," he said. "It's usually somebody that's had a long streak of problems."
Moreover, people prone to violence tend to reveal their intentions, experts say.
"People aren't mushrooms sitting in a dark closet by themselves and all of a sudden one day explode," Cawood said. "If you listen and observe what they're actually doing and saying, they're communicating."
STATISTICS WILL TAKE YEARS TO ANALYZE
Statistics on workplace violence in this recession will take years to compile and analyze, experts say. From 1997 to 2007, the most recent year for which data is available, there were more than 7,000 occupational homicides nationwide, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
While most involved robberies, more than 1,000 involved work associates, the government agency said.
Whether or not the numbers will show a spike in economic-related violence, the fear is valid and significant, said Joel Shults, head of public safety at Adams State College in Alamosa, Colorado and an expert in safety awareness.
Elevating the fear is the fact that so many perpetrators in recent workplace shootings seemed normal, he said.
"It makes it hard to tell ourselves that we're safe because they seem like such ordinary people in such ordinary circumstances," Shults said. "It's hard for us to tell ourselves, no, that's not going to happen us."
Ironically, he added, a heightened sense of fear can make matters worse. "That might potentially actually increase the number of people snapping. It's one more thing to worry about," he said.
http://www.reutershealth.com/archive/2009/04/22/eline/links/20090422elin018.html

U.S. spends $9 billion on child mental illness
Last Updated: 2009-04-22 16:19:37 -0400 (Reuters Health)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Treating depression and other mental disorders in U.S. children cost $8.9 billion in 2006, making mental illness the most expensive condition to treat in childhood, U.S. government researchers reported on Wednesday.
An estimated 4.6 million children were treated for mental disorders in 2006 at an average cost of $1,931 per child, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality reported.
But more children were treated for asthma than any other disease or injury, the AHRQ found. It said nearly 13 million children were treated for asthma in 2006 at an average cost of $621 for a total of $8 billion.
Fractures, sprains, burns, and other physical injuries from accidents or violence sent 7 million children to doctors or clinics at a cost of $658 per child or $6.1 billion, the survey found.
The agency gathered data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey for the report, available here
http://www.reutershealth.com/archive/2009/04/22/eline/links/20090422elin019.html

Wine may improve lymphoma survival
Last Updated: 2009-04-22 15:32:37 -0400 (Reuters Health)
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Drinking wine, but not beer or liquor, may improve survival in patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), a type of blood cancer involving the lymph nodes, according to research reported at the American Association for Cancer Research annual meeting in Denver this week.
"In line with the previous cell, animal and human studies...our study also supports the benefit of moderate drinking of wine on cancer patients," lead investigator Xuesong Han, a doctoral candidate at the Yale School of Public Health, told Reuters Health.
The study team analyzed whether alcohol use prior to diagnosis had an impact on prognosis and survival in 546 women with NHL who were followed for 8 to 12 years.
At 5 years, 76 percent of wine drinkers were still alive compared with 68 percent of non-wine drinkers. Similarly, 70 percent of wine drinkers were alive with no evidence of NHL compared with 65 percent of non-drinkers.
The researchers also found that NHL patients who had been drinking wine for more than 25 years prior to their diagnosis had a 33 percent reduced risk of death and a 26 percent reduced risk of NHL returning, a second cancer, or of dying, when compared to non-wine drinkers.
Beer and liquor consumption, by contrast, did not improve survival or other outcomes.
"It is clear that lifestyle factors like alcohol can affect outcome," Han said in a statement.
"Animal and cell studies showed that the antioxidants in grapes helped inhibit the development of tumors, and several epidemiological studies showed alcohol drinking might be associated with a reduced risk of NHL, so I wasn't so surprised by my findings," she added in comments to Reuters Health.
"However," the researchers caution, "I wouldn't rush to make recommendations to drink more at this moment, because our study needs replication from other data, and excessive drinking could put one (at risk for) so many other problems."
http://www.reutershealth.com/archive/2009/04/22/eline/links/20090422elin026.html

Fatty fish may slash men’s heart failure risk

Nutraingredients.com, 23-Apr-2009

One portion of fatty fish per week may reduce a man’s risk of heart failure, according to new research from the US and Sweden.
The benefits appear linked to the omega-3 content of the fish, report researchers from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and the Karolinska Institute in Sweden in the European Heart Journal. The highest intake of marine omega-3 fatty acids linked to a reduction in the risk of heart failure of 33 per cent. However, larger intakes did not appear to offer any additional benefit.
“Previous research has demonstrated that fatty fish and omega-3 fatty acids help to combat risk factors for a range of heart-related conditions, such as lowering triglycerides [fats in the blood] reducing blood pressure, heart rate and heart rate variability,” said lead author Emily Levitan, PhD.
“Collectively, this may explain the association with the reduced risk of heart failure found in our study,” she added.
Omega-3 fatty acids, most notably DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) and EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid), have been linked to a wide-range of health benefits, including reduced risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and certain cancers, good development of a baby during pregnancy, joint health, and improved behaviour and mood.
The new study is said to be one of the largest studies to investigate the association between fatty fish and omega-3 intake, and heart failure: Almost 40,000 Swedish men between the ages of 45 and 79 were followed between 1998 and 2004.
Heart failure, which arises when the heart can no longer pump enough blood to meet the body’s needs, is the leading cause of hospitalisation among the over 65s, and is characterized by such symptoms as fatigue and weakness, difficulty walking, rapid or irregular heartbeat, and persistent cough or wheezing.
According to Levitan and her co-workers, consuming one portion of fatty fish per week could offer benefits for men by reducing the risk of developing heart failure by 12 per cent, compared with men who ate no fatty fish. The researchers are quick to note, however, that this association was not statistically significant.
Study details
The researchers analysed data from 39,367 middle-aged and older Swedish men with no previous history of heart disease or diabetes. During the course of the study, 597 men developed heart failure, and 34 men died.
In addition to the trend for a reduced risk of heart failure for men who ate one portion of fish per week, men who consumed approximately 0.36 grams per day of omega-3 fatty acids were 33 per cent less likely to develop heart failure than the men who consumed little or no marine omega-3 fatty acids, added Levitan and her co-workers.
“The higher rates of heart failure in men who consumed the most fatty fish or marine omega-3 fatty acids compared with the men who had moderate consumption may be due to chance,” explained Levitan.
“Our study reinforces the current recommendations for moderate consumption of fatty fish,” she added.
“Current guidelines from the American Heart Association recommend eating fatty fish twice a week. It will be important, going forward, to replicate these findings in other populations, particularly those including women, as our study looked at men only.”
The study was funded by the Swedish Foundation for International Cooperation in Research and Higher Education, and the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health.
Source: European Heart Journal
Published online ahead of print, 21 April 2009, doi: 10.1093/eurheartj/ehp111
“Fish consumption, marine omega-3 fatty acids, and incidence of heart failure: a population-based prospective study of middle-aged and elderly men”
Authors: E.B. Levitan, A. Wolk, M.A. Mittleman
http://www.nutraingredients.com/Research/
Fatty-fish-may-slash-men-s-heart-failure-risk

Carotenoids may halve metabolic syndrome risk

Nutraingredients.com, 23-Apr-2009

Increased intakes of antioxidant carotenoids, and particularly lycopene, may reduce the risk of developing the metabolic syndrome by about 50 per cent, says a new study.
Writing in the new issue of the Journal of Nutrition, Dutch scientists report that middle-aged and elderly men with highest average intake of all carotenoids had a 58 per cent lower incidence of metabolic syndrome, while the highest intake of lycopene was associated with a 45 per cent lower incidence, compared to men with the lowest average intakes.
A potentially protective effect was also observed for beta-carotene intakes, report the researchers, led by Ivonne Sluijs from the University Medical Center Utrecht.
Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a condition characterised by central obesity, hypertension, and disturbed glucose and insulin metabolism. The syndrome has been linked to increased risks of both type 2 diabetes and CVD.
Fifteen per cent of adult Europeans are estimated to be affected by MetS, while the US statistic is estimated to be a whopping 32 per cent. Obesity is established to be the main risk factor for MetS.
“Higher total carotenoid, beta-carotene, alpha-carotene, and lycopene intakes were associated with lower waist circumferences and visceral and subcutaneous fat mass,” wrote Sluijs and her co-workers. “Higher lycopene intake was related to lower serum triglyceride concentrations,” they added.
The findings were based on data from a population-based, cross-sectional study involving 374 men aged between 40 and 80, 22 per cent of whom had metabolic syndrome. Intakes of the carotenoids, including alpha- and beta-carotene, beta-cryptoxanthin, lycopene, lutein, and zeaxanthin, were assessed using a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ).
Sluijs and her co-workers report that high intakes of all these compounds was associated with lower incidence of the syndrome, and that lycopene and beta-carotene in particular were linked to apparent protective effects.
“In conclusion, higher total carotenoid intakes, mainly those of beta-carotene and lycopene, were associated with a lower prevalence of metabolic syndrome and with lower measures of adiposity and serum triglyceride concentrations in middle-aged and elderly men,” wrote the researchers.
Source: Journal of Nutrition
May 2009, Volume 139, Number 5, Pages 987-992, doi:10.3945/jn.108.101451
“Dietary Carotenoid Intake Is Associated with Lower Prevalence of Metabolic Syndrome in Middle-Aged and Elderly Men”
Authors: I. Sluijs, J.W.J. Beulens, D.E. Grobbee, Y.T. van der Schouw
http://www.nutraingredients.com/Research/
Carotenoids-may-halve-metabolic-syndrome-risk

Soft drink shake-up called for amidst obesity fears

Foodnavigator-USA.com, 22-Apr-2009

Citing clinical research American consumers may require re-education about beverage intake to wean them off sugary drinks, with some health researchers calling on the industry to develop a new class of reduced calorie soft drinks.
linking higher sugar soft drinks to being a potential contributor to type-2 diabetes, the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) is calling for a new era of beverage formulation using about less sugars to beverages currently on the market.
Responding to the calls, the American Beverage Association played up findings of its own that it says shows consumers of different age groups are already turning to lower calorie beverages compared to previous years.
The new class
Nonetheless, amidst growing concerns about an obesity epidemic in the US and potential connotations in relations to the onset of diseases like diabetes, the HSPH claims that a new class of soft drink may help shift consumer tastes.
The university called for formulation of beverages that use less than 1 gram of sugar per ounce, while not using non-caloric sweeteners, in order to help consumers to adapt to less sweet beverage products.
"Healthier beverage options would allow individuals to make better choices," stated Walter Willett, professor and chair of the HSPH’s Department of Nutrition.
To further support its launch claims, the university researchers also called for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to require drink makers to provide calorie information on packs related to an entire bottle and not a single serving of drink.
“The aim is to re-educate the American palate to a lower expectation of sweetness, as well as to give consumers clear information to help them make healthier choices,” stated the HSPH.
While the researchers retained that water remained the best option for consumers seeking simple refreshment, they accepted that people needed time and support in kicking their higher sugar drink needs.
Pointing to its own research, published this month in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, the HSPH said it found woman who drank more than two servings of high sugar beverages a day were at about 40 per cent higher risk of heart disease than subjects who drank less.
The research was carried out on 90,000 women over two decades, the researchers said.
Drink maker actions
Dr Maureen Storey, senior vice president for science policy at the American Beverage Association, countered the Harvard claims by pointing to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).
In analysis of the data, which is being submitted by the group for peer review ahead of possible publication, Storey claimed that consumption of ‘full-calorie’ soft drinks, milk and 100 per cent juice had all fallen compared to her earlier analysis published back in 2006.
The former research was published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, according to the trade group. Storey suggested this decline reflected an industry wide push, which is already ongoing, to provide reduced calorie products.
"The data shows that the American public is taking advantage of the many beverage innovations being developed by the beverage industry, including the introduction of of new no- and low-calorie beverages," she stated. "This is good news because consumers are beginning to take advantage of lower-calorie beverage options that can help in balancing energy from calories consumed with energy from calories burned through exercise."
http://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/Science-Nutrition/
Soft-drink-shake-up-called-for-amidst-obesity-fears

Meditation key to treat depression

TIMES OF INDIA  22 Apr 2009, 1024 hrs IST, PTI

LONDON: People with severe and recurrent depression could benefit from a new form of therapy that combines ancient forms of meditation with

modern cognitive behaviour therapy, early-stage research by Oxford University psychologists suggests.

The results of a small-scale randomised trial of the approach, called mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT), in currently depressed patients are published in the journal Behaviour Research and Therapy.

In an experiment, 28 people currently suffering from depression, having also had previous episodes of depression and thoughts of suicide, were randomly assigned into two groups.

One group received MBCT in addition to treatment as usual, while the other just received treatment as usual. The result indicated that the number of patients with major depression reduced in the group which received treatment with MBCT while it remained the same in the other group.

The therapy included special classes of meditation learning and advice on how best participants can look after themselves when their feelings threaten to overwhelm them.

Professor Mark Williams, who along with his colleagues in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Oxford, developed the treatment said, "We are on the brink of discovering really important things about how people can learn to stay well after depression."
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Health--Science/
Health/Meditation-key-to-treat-depression/articleshow/4433363.cms

Turmeric can sooth bowel: Study

TIMES OF INDIA, 21 Apr 2009, 1253 hrs IST, PTI

WASHINGTON: Do you have bowel problem? Try out turmeric, for a new study says that the spice relieves symptoms in many cases.

An international team has carried out the study and found that curcumin, the major yellow constituent of turmeric, helps in reducing inflammation in many people suffering from bowel disease, the 'British Journal of Nutrition' reported.

"Crohn's disease, a form of inflammatory bowel, can be aggravated or relieved by the sufferer's diet. Only by linking particular components to effects on the specific genotype can we get true understanding of the disease and how to treat it.

"This finding means that some people with Crohn's disease may benefit from eating turmeric, but this is entirely dependent on their genetic makeup. Others may not get any benefit, or may even have a severe reaction," lead researcher Christine Butts of Plant & Food Research said. And, according to the researchers, the discovery may assist in the development of diet-based treatments for people suffering from the equivalent genetic form of the disease.

"We are one step closer to understanding this disease and how to best control it with diet," Butts said.

Added co-researcher Kieran Elborough: "In diseases with complex genetics, such as Crohn's disease, understanding which genetic variants are affected by which food compounds is important in knowing what to avoid in the diet.

"Using this knowledge, we can develop dietary supplements with added benefits which can help bowel disease sufferers based on their personal genotype."
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Health--Science/Health/
Turmeric-can-sooth-bowel-Study-/articleshow/4429245.cms

Living outside the box: New evidence shows going abroad linked to creativity

American Psychological Association, April 23, 2009
WASHINGTON – Living in another country can be a cherished experience, but new research suggests it might also help expand minds. This research, published by the American Psychological Association, is the first of its kind to look at the link between living abroad and creativity.
"Gaining experience in foreign cultures has long been a classic prescription for artists interested in stimulating their imaginations or honing their crafts. But does living abroad actually make people more creative?" asks the study's lead author, William Maddux, PhD, an assistant professor of organizational behavior at INSEAD, a business school with campuses in France and Singapore. "It's a longstanding question that we feel we've been able to begin answering through this research"
Maddux and Adam Galinsky, PhD, from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, conducted five studies to test the idea that living abroad and creativity are linked. The findings appear in the May issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, published by the American Psychological Association.
In one study, master of business administration students at the Kellogg School were asked to solve the Duncker candle problem, a classic test of creative insight. In this problem, individuals are presented with three objects on a table placed next to a cardboard wall: a candle, a pack of matches and a box of tacks. The task is to attach the candle to the wall so that the candle burns properly and does not drip wax on the table or the floor. The correct solution involves using the box of tacks as a candleholder – one should empty the box of tacks and then tack it to the wall placing the candle inside.
The solution is considered a measure of creative insight because it involves the ability to see objects as performing different functions from what is typical (i.e., the box is not just for the tacks but can also be used as a stand). The results showed that the longer students had spent living abroad, the more likely they were to come up with the creative solution.
In another study, also involving Kellogg School MBA students, the researchers used a mock negotiation test involving the sale of a gas station. In this negotiation, a deal based solely on sale price was impossible because the minimum price the seller was willing to accept was higher than the buyer's maximum. However, because the two parties' underlying interests were compatible, a deal could be reached only through a creative agreement that satisfied both parties' interests.
Here again, negotiators with experience living abroad were more likely to reach a deal that demanded creative insight. In both studies, time spent traveling abroad did not matter; only living abroad was related to creativity.
Maddux and Galinsky then ran a follow-up study to see why living abroad was related to creativity. With a group of MBA students at INSEAD in France, they found that the more students had adapted themselves to the foreign cultures when they lived abroad, the more likely they were to solve the Duncker candle task.
"This shows us that there is some sort of psychological transformation that needs to occur when people are living in a foreign country in order to enhance creativity. This may happen when people work to adapt themselves to a new culture," said Galinsky.
Although these studies show a strong relationship between living abroad and creativity, they do not prove that living abroad and adapting to a new culture actually cause people to be more creative. "We just couldn't randomly assign people to live abroad while others stay in their own country," said Maddux.
To help get at this question of what causes someone to be creative, the authors tried a technique called "priming." In two experiments, they asked groups of undergraduate students at the Sorbonne in Paris to recall and write about a time they had lived abroad or adapted to a new culture; other groups were asked to write about other experiences, such as going to the supermarket, learning a new sport or simply observing but not adapting to a new culture.
The results showed that priming students to mentally recreate their past experiences living abroad or adapting to a new culture caused students, at least temporarily, to be more creative. For example, these students drew space aliens and solved word games more creatively than students primed to recall other experiences.
"This research may have something to say about the increasing impact of globalization on the world, a fact that has been hammered home by the recent financial crisis," said Maddux. "Knowing that experiences abroad are critical for creative output makes study abroad programs and job assignments in other countries that much more important, especially for people and companies that put a premium on creativity and innovation to stay competitive."
Article: "Cultural Borders and Mental Barriers: The Relationship Between Living Abroad and Creativity," William W. Maddux, PhD, INSEAD; Adam D. Galinsky, PhD, Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University; Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol. 96, No. 5.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-04/apa-lot042309.php

Vitamin D levels linked to asthma severity

American Thoracic Soceity, April 23, 2009
New research provides evidence for a link between vitamin D insufficiency and asthma severity.
Serum levels of vitamin D in more than 600 Costa Rican children were inversely linked to several indicators of allergy and asthma severity, including hospitalizations for asthma, use of inhaled steroids and total IgE levels, according to a study that will appear in the first issue for May of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
While previous in vitro studies have suggested that vitamin D may affect how airway cells respond to treatment with inhaled steroids, this is the first in vivo study of vitamin D and disease severity in children with asthma.
Juan Celedón, M.D., Dr. P.H. and Augusto Litonjua, M.D., M.P.H. of Harvard Medical School and colleagues recruited 616 children with asthma living in the Central Valley of Costa Rica, a country known to have a high prevalence of asthma. Each child was assessed for allergic markers, including both allergen-specific and general sensitivity tests, and assessed for lung function and circulating vitamin D levels. Children whose forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) exceeded 65 percent of the predicted value were also tested for airway reactivity.
They found that children with lower vitamin D levels were significantly more likely to have been hospitalized for asthma in the previous year, tended to have airways with increased hyperreactivity and were likely to have used more inhaled corticosteroids, all signifying higher asthma severity. These children were also significantly more likely to have several markers of allergy, including dust-mite sensitivity.
"To our knowledge this is the first study to demonstrate an inverse association between circulating levels of vitamin D and markers of asthma severity and allergy," wrote Drs. Celedón and Litonjua "While it is difficult to establish causation in a cross-sectional study such as this, the results were robust even after controlling for markers of baseline asthma severity."
"This study suggests that there may be added health benefits to vitamin D supplementation" said Dr. Celedón. Current recommendations for optimal vitamin D levels geared toward preserving bone health, such as preventing rickets in children and osteoporosis in adults.
"This study also provides epidemiological support for a growing body of in vitro evidence that vitamin D insufficiency may worsen asthma severity, and we suspect that giving vitamin D supplements to asthma patients who are deficient may help with their asthma control" wrote Drs. Celedón and Litonjua, noting that a clinical trial should be the next step in this research. "Whether vitamin D supplementation can prevent the development of asthma in very young children is a separate question, which will be answered by clinical trials that are getting under way," he said.
A complication is that vitamin D, unlike most other nutrients, is primarily synthesized in the body rather than consumed. Because about 90 percent of circulating vitamin D is produced by the body in response to sun exposure, deficiency is often related to behavioral issues rather than an inadequate dietary intake. Increased time spent indoors, increased use of sunscreen and sun-protective clothing all lead to decreased levels of vitamin D. Dietary sources of vitamin D, primarily fortified foods and fatty fish or fish oils, and vitamin D in current multivitamin preparations are unlikely to make up the deficiency.
"Ultimately, it is only by investigating the effects of vitamin D in doses at, and above, those currently recommended that decisions can be made on the optimal intake of vitamin D and the possible prevention and treatment of asthma," wrote Graham Devereux, M.D., of the Department of Environmental and Occupational Medicine at the University of Aberdeen in the accompanying editorial in the same issue of the journal.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-04/ats-vdl042209.php

Benefit of grapes may be more than skin deep

U-M research shows grapes lowered blood pressure and reduced signs of heart damage by altering cellular activity

University of Michigan Health System, April 22, 2009
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Can a grape-enriched diet prevent the downhill sequence of heart failure after years of high blood pressure?
A University of Michigan Cardiovascular Center study suggests grapes may prevent heart health risks beyond the simple blood pressure-lowering impact that can come from a diet rich in fruits and vegetables. The benefits may be the result of the phytochemicals – naturally occurring antioxidants – turning on a protective process in the genes that reduces damage to the heart muscle.
The study, performed in laboratory rats, was presented at the 2009 Experimental Biology convention in New Orleans.
The researchers studied the effect of regular table grapes (a blend of green, red, and black grapes) that were mixed into the rat diet in a powdered form, as part of either a high- or low-salt diet. Comparisons were made between rats consuming the grape powder and rats that received a mild dose of a common blood pressure drug. All the rats were from a research breed that develops high blood pressure when fed a salty diet.
After 18 weeks, the rats that received the grape-enriched diet powder had lower blood pressure, better heart function, and fewer signs of heart muscle damage than the rats that ate the same salty diet but didn't receive grapes.
Rats that received the blood pressure medicine, hydrazine, along with a salty diet also had lower blood pressure, but their hearts were not protected from damage as they were in the grape-fed group.
"There are the small changes that diet can bring, but the effect of grape intake on genes can have a greater impact on disease down the road," said E. Mitchell Seymour, M.S., who led the research as part of his doctoral work in nutrition science at Michigan State University. He manages the U-M Cardioprotection Research Laboratory, which is headed by U-M cardiac surgeon Steven Bolling, M.D.
Heart cells, like other cells in the body, make an antioxidant protein called glutathione, which is one of our first defenders against damaging oxidative stress. High blood pressure causes oxidative stress in the heart and lowers the amount of protective glutathione. However, intake of grapes actually turned on glutathione-regulating genes in the heart and significantly elevated glutathione levels.
This may explain why the hearts of grape-fed animals functioned better and had less damage.
Although the current study was supported in part by the California Table Grape Commission, which also supplied the grape powder, the authors note that the commission played no role in the study's design, conduct, analysis or the preparation of the journal article for publication. Seymour also receives funding from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health, through a National Research Service Award.
Bolling said the latest results take research on the health benefits of grapes "a step further" by examining the mechanisms impacted by antioxidant-rich grapes.
The rats in the study were from a strain called Dahl rats, which have been specially bred to all be susceptible to salt-induced hypertension. The animals are similar to
Americans who have elevated blood pressure related to diet, and who develop heart failure over time because of prolonged hypertension.
Each group of 12 rats was fed the same weight of food each day with powdered grapes making up 3 percent of the diet (by weight) for rats that received grapes as part of either a low-salt or high-salt diet. The rats that received hydrazine were fed it through their water supply in a dose that has been previously shown to be effective in reducing blood pressure.
Such naturally occurring chemicals have already been shown in other research, including previous U-M studies, to reduce other potentially harmful molecular and cellular activity in the body.
In all, the researchers say, the study further demonstrates that a grape-enriched diet can have broad effects on the development of hypertension and the risk factors that go with it. Whether the effect can be replicated in humans, they say, remains to be seen.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-04/uomh-bog042209.php

Diabetes, obesity and hypertension increase mortality in hepatitis C patients

European Association for the Study of the Liver, April 22, 2009
Copenhagen, Denmark, Wednesday 22nd April: The specific impact of metabolic syndrome on mortality in hepatitis C patients has been revealed by new research to be presented on Sunday April 26 at EASL 2009, the Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of the Liver in Copenhagen, Denmark.
According to the results of the research, type 2 diabetes (DM), obesity and hypertension (HTN) are associated with overall and liver related mortality in hepatitis C (HCV) infected patients. In HCV-infected patients, the top three predictors of liver related mortality were having higher body mass index (BMI), presence of insulin resistance (IR) and elevated serum cholesterol. Overall mortality in HCV patients was most linked to metabolic syndrome, higher BMI and hypertension.
Metabolic syndrome is a combination of medical problems that increase risks of cardiovascular disease and diabetes. It affects one in five people, and prevalence increases with age. Recent data have suggested that metabolic syndrome is associated with adverse outcomes in HCV patients. This study set out to assess which aspects of metabolic syndrome are of most risk to such HCV patients and to quantify their specific impact on mortality.
Professor Zobair Younossi MD, MPH from the Center for Liver Diseases at Inova Fairfax Hospital and the Executive Director of Betty and Guy Beatty's Center for Integrated Research, Virginia, USA, who led the study, said: "Exploring the risk factors associated with adverse outcomes in HCV patients helps us to better understand the complex nature of this highly prevalent disease. This study shows a clear association between key components of metabolic syndrome and mortality in HCV patients and demonstrates the importance of lifestyle improvements and coaching in the management of HCV patients, to potentially minimise the onset and impact of metabolic syndrome and its associated mortality risks."
Researchers in this study utilised the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III) and Linked Mortality Files. HCV was defined as positive HCV RNA by PCR assay. Subjects without other causes of chronic liver disease such as presumed NAFLD with elevated serum aminotransferases (ALT> 40 U/L, AST> 37 U/L in men, and ALT> 31 U/L, AST>31 U/L in women), excessive alcohol use (>10 grams/day in women and > 20 grams/day in men), elevated transferrin saturation (>50%) and positive hepatitis Bs antigen were designated controls without liver disease. HCV patients were compared to HCV-negative individuals and controls without liver disease using Rao-Scott chi-square statistics. Adjusted hazard ratios (AHR, 95% CI) for overall mortality and cause-specific mortality were calculated for HCV patients using persons without HCV. The Cox proportional hazard model was used for calculation of AHR for independent risk factors, and for the presence of HCV as a potential risk factor for overall mortality and cause-specific mortalities. MS was defined according to ATP-III and insulin resistance (IR) was defined as HOMA>3.0.
The cohort included 15,866 individuals with complete data. Among those, 264 patients were HCV-positive, and 13,004 were considered controls. HCV patients had more IR (37.4±3.2% vs. 22.8±0.9%, p< 0.0001) and higher rate of DM (9.2±2.3% vs. 5.5±0.3%, p=0.0885) than controls. In comparison to the HCV-negative patients, HCV patients had higher overall mortality (AHR=2.80, 2.79-2.81), higher liver-related mortality (AHR=17.96, 17.80-18.12), higher DM-related mortality (AHR=18.55, 18.36-18.74) and higher mortality from solid organ malignancy (AHR=1.601, 1.587-1.616). In HCV patients, increased overall mortality was associated with components of MS [DM (AHR=2.139, 2.11-2.16), higher BMI (AHR=1.054, 1.53-1.055) and HTN (AHR=1.408, 1.394-1.422)]. In HCV patients, increased liver-related mortality was associated with higher BMI (AHR=1.275, 1.274-1.277) and HTN (AHR=3.751, 3.653-3.851).
Dr Younossi added "This is the largest population-based study to provide the strongest evidence confirming an association between components of MS, especially type 2 diabetes and obesity, with adverse mortality outcomes for HCV infected patients. These data should help us not only develop better targeted treatment strategies for HCV patients but also encourage public health policies to address the increasing epidemic of obesity and type 2 diabetes that may affect a large number of population, including those infected with HCV".
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-04/eaft-doa042209.php

Why you may lose that loving feeling after tying the knot

Northwestern University, April 22, 2009
EVANSTON, Ill. --- Dating couples whose dreams include marriage would do well to step back and reflect upon the type of support they'll need from their partners when they cross the threshold, a new Northwestern University study suggests.
Will the partner who supports your hopes and aspirations while you are dating also help you fulfill important responsibilities and obligations that come with marriage? The answer to that question could make a difference in how satisfied you are after tying the knot.
Believing a partner is there to help you grow into the person you aspire to be predicted higher relationship satisfaction for both dating and married couples, the study showed. But the belief that your partner helps you live up to your responsibilities and uphold your commitments only predicted higher relationship satisfaction after marriage.
For dating couples, the relationship itself tends to revolve around whether things are moving forward. Happiness with a partner depends on whether the relationship will grow into something more, whether a partner will support the dreams the other eventually hopes to achieve.
For married couples, the feeling that their partners are helping them to advance their relationships and realize their ideal achievements is still important. But the relationships of married couples, now more interconnected both practically and psychologically, tend to revolve around upholding the commitment made to their partners. Unlike dating couples, married couples also put a high premium on their partners' support of whatever they determine to be necessary obligations.
"In other words, the feelings of being loved and supported that people use to judge who makes a good girlfriend or boyfriend may not be completely trustworthy in deciding who makes a good husband or wife," said Daniel Molden, assistant professor of psychology at Northwestern and lead author of the study. "Those feelings may only partially capture the emotions that will determine your satisfaction with the person you marry."
The findings, Molden said, could be important in explaining why so many marriages fall apart.
The study, which will be published in the July issue of Psychological Science, included 92 heterosexual dating couples and 77 married couples. They completed a battery of questionnaires that included an assessment of how much they thought their partner understood and supported both the hopes and responsibilities they had set for themselves. To measure how different types of perceived support were related to happiness with the relationship, couples also completed well-validated measures of satisfaction, intimacy and trust.
Previous research overwhelmingly demonstrates an important connection between feelings about partner support and satisfaction with a relationship but does not reveal any differences for dating versus married couples.
By identifying different ways in which people feel supported by their partners, the new Northwestern study goes beyond past work to show that support for maintaining perceived responsibilities seems to be important for satisfaction only after marriage.
The study also showed that different types of perceived support predicted differences in people's overall satisfaction with their lives.
"People planning to get married should think about not only how their partners support what they hope to achieve but also about how their partners support what they feel obligated to accomplish," Molden said. "We could end up with both happier marriages and more satisfied people in general."
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-04/nu-wym042109.php

United States Earns "D" Grade for Disastrous Mental Health Care

by David Gutierrez, NaturalNews.com

(NaturalNews) The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) has given the mental health care system of the United States a D grade, in the second such report released by the organization. In the first report, issued in 2006, the United States also received a D.

The report, available at www.nami.org, also ranks each of the 50 states plus the District of Columbia on measures of financing and core treatment/recovery services (50 percent of grade), health promotion and measurement (25 percent), consumer and family empowerment (15 percent), and community integration and social inclusion (15 percent). Information was collected from a survey sent to state mental health agencies, as well as data collected by independent researchers on "the number of adults living with serious mental illnesses, the extent of shortages in the mental health workforce [and] hospital-based inpatient psychiatric bed capacity."

Fourteen states received better grades in 2009 than in 2006, while 12 received worse. Oklahoma made the greatest improvement, from a D to a B, while South Carolina made the worst progress, from a B to a D.

No states received As in 2009, although six received Bs: Connecticut, D.C., Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts and New York. Six states received Fs: Arkansas, Kentucky, Missouri, South Dakota, West Virginia and Wyoming. Eighteen received Cs, and 21 received Ds.

NAMI Executive Director Michael Fitzpatrick warned that budget cuts are threatening an already crippled mental health care system.

"Ironically, state budget cuts occur during a time of economic crisis, when mental health services are needed even more urgently than before," he said. "It is a vicious cycle that can lead to ruin."

The organization recommends that states improve their grades by increasing public mental health care funding, improving data collection and accountability regarding outcomes, integrating mental and physical care, promoting recovery and respect, and increasing services for those most at risk with the most severe mental illness.

"The costs of our failure to provide adequate services to people with serious mental illnesses are also well known: Disproportionate dependence on public income supports and medical benefits; over-reliance on costly treatments in emergency rooms; high rates of incarceration in America's jails and prisons; and low rates of employment," NAMI said.
http://www.naturalnews.com/026107.html

The Consequences of Using Fluoride

by Sheryl Walters, NaturalNews.com

(NaturalNews) Fluoride has been used for over sixty years to help prevent tooth decay. Over 60% of people in the U.S. receive fluoride in their drinking water; some water supplies have naturally occurring fluoride in it and some have fluoride added at a water treatment facility. Since the onset of fluoridation of the water supply there has been a drastic reduction in the amount of tooth decay. In fact, the CDC has recognized fluoridation of water as one of the biggest public health breakthroughs of the 20th century. Why, then, is there a controversy over the use of fluoride in drinking water and as a dental supplement? Critics say that the safety and effectiveness of fluoride has never been fully proven, and that it can actually be dangerous to consume with resulting health consequences such as neurotoxicity, cancer, and fluorosis among others.

Studies done on mice have shown varying levels of neurotoxicity when these mice were exposed to fluoride. The first major study that showed fluoride caused neurotoxicity was done in 1995 by Dr. Phyllis Mullenix on mice. All the previous theories about fluoride that the researchers were working from were proved incorrect as the research went on. The mice who were drinking fluoridated water were expected to perform tasks similarly to the control mice and they did not. The fluoride was not expected to cross the blood-brain barrier and it was proven that it did.

Eighteen subsequent studies on fluoride and the brain have shown lower I.Q. levels in children with elevated fluoride levels, even after controlling for other factors that could cause the lower I.Q. such as parental education levels, lead levels, iodine exposure, and family income.

For all the studies that state that there is no association between fluoride and cancer there are just as many noting an association. Research has shown elevated cancer rates in cities with fluoridated water, cancerous changes in liver cells, and unscheduled DNA synthesis.

Fluorosis is a result of over consumption of fluoride. Drinking water is the most significant source of fluoride with fluoride in food, air, and toothpaste also contributing. Dental fluorosis results in staining and pitting of the teeth with some enamel damage possible at advanced levels. Skeletal fluorosis is a more advanced and serious case of fluorosis and results in pain and impairment of joints, muscles, and tissue.

The consequences of fluoride seem to outweigh the benefits, although dentists and other health professionals often disagree. Personal education about the risks and benefits of fluoride is necessary for each individual to make the best choice for themselves.
http://www.naturalnews.com/026103.html

Optimists Enjoy Better Health and Longevity

by Reuben Chow, NaturalNews.com

(NaturalNews) A large study conducted by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and presented at the American Psychosomatic Society's annual meeting in Chicago has found that optimistic post-menopausal women were healthier and lived longer than their less upbeat counterparts.

Details and Findings of Study

The study team, which was led by Hilary Tindle, an assistant professor of medicine at the University, had looked at data from almost 100,000 women who were part of the Women's Health Initiative, a study which follows women aged 50 and above and has been ongoing since 1994. On average, the women's health status was tracked for a period of about 8 years.

The researchers defined "optimism" as the expectation that good things, as opposed to bad things, will take place. It was found that such women had 14% lower risk of dying from any cause and 30% lower risk of dying from heart disease during the study's follow-up period, as compared to their pessimistic counterparts. In addition, the optimists were less likely to have hypertension and diabetes, as well as to smoke cigarettes.

The study team also looked at another trait - the tendency to be "cynically hostile" towards other people. Women with this trait were more likely to agree with statements like "I've often had to take orders from someone who didn't know as much as I did" and "It's safest to trust nobody." Generally speaking, such a tendency indicates an overall mistrust of people.

Women in this group also suffered poorer health, having 16% higher risk of dying from any cause and 23% higher risk of dying from cancer during the follow-up period, as compared to women who were the least cynically hostile.

Significantly, even after the researchers accounted for influencing factors such as health status, lifestyle, income, education, physical activity, alcohol consumption and cigarette smoking, the same trends remained, with optimists enjoying better longevity than pessimists. The researchers are unclear if negative attitudes do indeed directly cause poor health, although their findings do imply an association of some sort.

Being Optimistic and Positive

And it's not just about health. Optimists, it seems, are better achievers in life, are better able to cope with stress, and can take on life challenges more resiliently; these traits had been revealed in previous research.

For the skeptics, consider the following point. In his book "Being Happy!", author Andrew Matthews points out scientific experiments showing the incredibly powerful and toxic effects of negative emotions. When blood samples from people who were experiencing serious anger of fear were injected into guinea pigs, the animals dropped dead within a mere two minutes.

Now imagine what the toxins created by negative emotions such as anger, fear, frustration and stress are doing to our own bodies on a daily basis. It is arguable, but these toxins could even be more potent health-destroyers and killers than the external poisons we ingest, inhale, and absorb every minute of every day.

For people who are somewhat naturally upbeat and positive, the findings of the Pittsburgh study will come as good news. But those who tend to be a little more negative and easily discouraged should not fret, because, according to some experts, optimism is a trait that can be picked up and applied.

Some useful suggestions for becoming more optimistic include staying away from negative environments, staying in the company of persons with brighter outlooks, and focusing and celebrating one's strong points instead of concentrating on the weak ones.
http://www.naturalnews.com/026101.html

Big Pharma: The Somali Pirates of Healthcare Who Hijack Your Health to Extract Profits

by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor

(NaturalNews) As the world's attention is now fixated on the Somali pirates who hijacked the Maersk Alabama ship in their quest for profits, it's fascinating to watch the circus of the American justice system attempt to enforce U.S. laws in a lawless region off the coast of Somalia. Abduwali Muse, the lone surviving pirate (the one who wasn't killed by Navy Seals) is now in the U.S. court system, being led through a circus of a justice system that cannot possibly account for the social and economic complexities that would cause a young man to pick up arms and threaten the use of violence against others in order to acquire financial gain.

Then again, threatening people in order to take their money is deeply ingrained in American culture, and nowhere is it more evident than in the actions of the drug companies. They not only commit egregious acts of biopiracy on a regular basis -- stealing molecules from nature and attempting to patent them as their own -- they also routinely engage in the hijacking of money from families, states and nations as part of their pharmaceutical marketing machine.

It is a well known fact, for example, that every state in the United States of America has been defrauded by drug companies engaged in outrageous (and illegal) price fixing scams designed to extort money from state coffers. This isn't exactly the same as holding a gun to someone's head on the high seas, but it does involve the threat of loss of life when these companies say, "Buy our monopoly-priced drugs or else your citizens will suffer the consequences."

Pirates and vaccines

Big Pharma's pursuit of mandatory vaccination laws is actually quite similar to piracy on the high seas: They both involve the extortion of profits from people who are "just passing through," and they both involve the threat of the use of violence or loss of freedom in order to accomplish their goals.

In the case of the waters near Somalia, the threat is that you'll be kidnapped at gunpoint by Somali pirates. In the case of Big Pharma's mandatory vaccine programs, the threat is that you'll be kidnapped at gunpoint by law enforcement officers working for Child Protective Services unless you submit to having your children injected with dangerous viral fragments and preservative chemicals known to increase the risk of sudden death.

In both cases, you are threatened with violence if you don't comply with the profit-taking agenda of those in charge.

Am I really comparing the actions of vaccine-pushing drug companies with Somali pirates? Absolutely! They're both about extracting money from people under the threat of harm or arrest.

Take the cancer industry as another example: Under the consultation of a typical cancer doctor, a patient is threatened with death unless they submit to toxic chemotherapy chemicals or other experimental cancer drugs that extract the maximum profits from those patients (and their insurance companies) just before they die. What do I mean by saying, "a patient is threatened with death?" It's just what I said: Patients are told by doctors (with a straight face, no less) that, "If you don't do this, you'll be dead in six months" (or some such variation).

It's not putting a gun to their head, but it's just as frightening and manipulative. It's also the No. 1 recruiting method of the cancer industry. I find it fascinating that both cancer centers and Somali pirates use the same method for manipulating people: Fear of death!

Hint to the Somali pirates: Lay down your arms and become pharmaceutical sales reps. The pay is better and you get reimbursed for travel, too!

Big Pharma as pirates of the high seas of American health care

Pharmaceutical pushers are, in many ways, the corporate pirates of the high seas of American health care. They have an ominous presence in every quarter of American culture (media, education, science, etc.) and they stand ready to pounce on any opportunity to extract profits from the sick, wounded or infirmed. The drug companies drool over the idea of a population wave of degenerative disease much like ocean pirates salivate over the spotting of a wounded luxury yacht limping along, far from any port.

And let's face it: The Somali pirates are only doing what they've seen demonstrated time and time again in American culture: The extraction of profits from innocents by any means necessary. Armed piracy of ocean ships is more violent -- but no less insidious -- than the organized theft of trillions of dollars of spending power from U.S. citizens by the Federal Reserve, for example. And the number of people killed by ocean pirates each year is virtually zero, making it insignificant compared to the number of people killed each year by the pharmaceutical profit machine, which continues to terrorize the entire system of medicine, instituting its own FDA-enforced monopolies that eliminate competing health solutions (like natural medicine) and throw people in prison for promoting natural remedies.

I find it hilarious beyond belief that while 100,000 Americans are being killed each year by a criminally-operated pharmaceutical industry, a corrupt FDA and a brainwashed gang of pill-pushing doctors, the nation's blame machine is riveted on a teenage black guy from Somalia. It's as if ocean piracy were somehow terrorizing America, and as usual it's the black guy we should be blaming.

The American public is easily mesmerized

I don't condone the actions of these Somali pirates, by the way, as I'm opposed to the use of violence to accomplish goals. But neither am I so easily distracted from the real problems (and solutions!) in America today that demand our attention. Whether it's singing sensation Susan Boyle, Somali pirates, the Twitter race or some other silly concocted drama, the mainstream media has played the American people like fools, demanding they shift their focus to whatever fleeting piece of nonsense can be sensationalized the most. That so many people agree to allow their minds to be so easily led onto such topics is proof that the mass media is far more effective at mind control than at informing anyone of anything that really matters.

What really matters? How about the future of the human race and the fact that toxic chemicals found in personal care products are causing genetic mutations that will lead to widespread global infertility? How about the fact that our world's rivers, streams and oceans are being polluted beyond repair? How about the coming collapse of the U.S. money supply and all the global economic ramifications arising from that event?

These are the things that should demand our focus right now. Not in the context of bad news, but rather in the quest for finding solutions to these challenges. How can we solve our world's energy crisis, for example, if we're all focused on celebrity singers and essentially meaningless dramas of the high seas? Sure, it makes for great television news, but it's a lousy way to solve the serious, pressing problems facing our world today.

Human beings are easily distracted by imagined violence. At the same time, though, they are lulled into a sense of safety even while the REAL killers are running loose on modern society: Drug companies, chemical companies, pesticide manufacturers, industrial polluters, and so on. There's no drama in the silent deaths of 100,000 Americans each year who are killed by pharmaceuticals. No Navy Seals come to their rescue. No YouTube videos promote their plight. They die in silent ignorance, often oblivious to the fact that their own bodies were hijacked by drug companies who extorted them for profit, then abandoned ship at the moment of death.

The real pirates in our world are not the armed black men in Somalia, I dare say: The real pirates are the suit-wearing, highly-paid CEOs of drug companies, upon whose shoulders now lie the preventable deaths of millions of people across the world whose bodies were hijacked by dangerous chemical medicines designed to accomplish one thing: The extraction of wealth from innocent people.

When will the Navy Seals come to the rescue of all the innocent Americans who suffer under the threat of Big Pharma?
http://www.naturalnews.com/026099.html

Too Much Or Too Little Sleep Increases Risk Of Diabetes
ScienceDaily (Apr. 23, 2009) — Researchers at Université Laval's Faculty of Medicine have found that people who sleep too much or not enough are at greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes or impaired glucose tolerance. The risk is 2½ times higher for people who sleep less than 7 hours or more than 8 hours a night. The findings were published recently on the website of the journal Sleep Medicine.
The researchers arrived at this conclusion after analyzing the life habits of 276 subjects over a 6-year period. They determined that over this timespan, approximately 20% of those with long and short sleep duration developed type 2 diabetes or impaired glucose tolerance versus only 7% among subjects who were average duration sleepers. Even after taking into account the effect attributable to differences in body mass among the subjects, the risk of diabetes and insulin resistance was still twice as high among those with longer and shorter sleep duration than average sleepers.
The researchers also point out that diabetes is not the only risk associated with sleep duration. A growing number of studies have shed light on a similar relationship between sleep and obesity, cardiovascular disease, and overall mortality. The authors observe that among adults, between 7 and 8 hours of nighttime sleep appears to be the optimum duration to protect against common diseases and premature death.
However, it seems that fewer and fewer people sleep the optimum number of hours. A survey conducted in 1960 showed that American adults slept an average of 8 to 8.9 hours a night. By 1995, that average had dropped to 7 hours. A study conducted in 2004 by the National Center for Health Statistics found that one-third of adults aged 30 to 64 slept less than 6 hours a night.
The authors of the study are Jean-Philippe Chaput, Angelo Tremblay, and Jean-Pierre Després of Université Laval, Claude Bouchard of the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton-Rouge, and Arne Astrup from the University of Copenhagen.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090421120900.htm

Think Memory Worsens With Age? Then Yours Probably Will

ScienceDaily (Apr. 23, 2009) — Thinking your memory will get worse as you get older may actually be a self-fulfilling prophecy. Researchers at North Carolina State University have found that senior citizens who think older people should perform poorly on tests of memory actually score much worse than seniors who do not buy in to negative stereotypes about aging and memory loss.
In a study published earlier this month, psychology professor Dr. Tom Hess and a team of researchers from NC State show that older adults' ability to remember suffers when negative stereotypes are "activated" in a given situation. "For example, older adults will perform more poorly on a memory test if they are told that older folks do poorly on that particular type of memory test," Hess says. Memory also suffers if senior citizens believe they are being "stigmatized," meaning that others are looking down on them because of their age.
"Such situations may be a part of older adults' everyday experience," Hess says, "such as being concerned about what others think of them at work having a negative effect on their performance – and thus potentially reinforcing the negative stereotypes." However, Hess adds, "The positive flip side of this is that those who do not feel stigmatized, or those in situations where more positive views of aging are activated, exhibit significantly higher levels of memory performance." In other words, if you are confident that aging will not ravage your memory, you are more likely to perform well on memory-related tasks.
The study also found a couple of factors that influenced the extent to which negative stereotypes influence older adults. For example, the researchers found that adults between the ages of 60 and 70 suffered more when these negative stereotypes were activated than seniors who were between the ages of 71 and 82. However, the 71-82 age group performed worse when they felt stigmatized.
Finally, the study found that negative effects were strongest for those older adults with the highest levels of education. "We interpret this as being consistent with the idea that those who value their ability to remember things most are the most likely to be sensitive to the negative implications of stereotypes, and thus are most likely to exhibit the problems associated with the stereotype."
"The take-home message," Hess says, "is that social factors may have a negative effect on older adults' memory performance."
Hess et al. Moderators of and Mechanisms Underlying Stereotype Threat Effects on Older Adults' Memory Performance. Experimental Aging Research, 2009; 35 (2): 153 DOI: 10.1080/03610730802716413