Betterhumans > Eye Injection Stops Vision Loss

Betterhumans > Eye Injection Stops Vision Loss

Woman, 67, having twins - to emotionally use and abuse

Talk about selfish. This woman is having twins - at 67, and so, will leave their upbringing to someone else. One has to wonder just how self-centered a person has to be to do something like this: have children when you are old enough to be their grandparent, then leave them within a few years (abandon them is actually the correct term).

ABC News: Drug Maker Withheld Paxil Study Data

Why... what a shocker! A drug manufacturer hiding the fact that the drug can harm people? No!

They knew as far back as 1997 that the drug was dangerous, but with GWB in the White House, they felt confident enough that in 2001 they issued a statement about how great this drug is. (not mentioning how profitable, but the article has a link to the business plan)

Of course, all the FDA has done is had the company put warnings on the bottle. So what if no amount of warnings is going to prevent teenagers from commiting suicide or anyone taking it having withdrawal symptoms when they quit.

Doctors are, by and large, complete idiots. I knew back in the early 90's that SSRI's cause withdrawal, and I'm not a doctor, I just used to work in a drug crisis center. When a friend called me about her mom, who has just quit another SSRI, becoming suicidal because she felt 'crazy', I suggested that her mom contact the doc and go back on the SSRI, with a gradual reduction plan over 6 months. Things worked out great. But the fact is, most doctors did, and still do, say, "Well, you don't need this anymore.", so they cold-turkey you, or - more likely - you lose your job and your insurance and are forced into withdrawal because you can't afford the doctor visits and the drugs. There is no one to watch out for those thousands and thousands of people who suffer - or die - because of that scenario.

Certainly not the heartless Bush Bunch.

ABC News: Doctors Debate the Safety of Celebrex

Here's a news flash: another COX-2 drug increases the risk of heart attacks, like one could not draw that inference from the Vioxx case.

And now they say that the doctors are 'debating' it. The only thing they're debating is how badly it will hurt the maker.

If you don't think that this drug is coming off of the market - and soon - then you've got a really different view of this - not that you are definitely wrong; who knows? But history would indicate that this is just a stall to reap more money, but that the drug, like Vioxx, will disappear.

Remember, Vioxx went through the same, "Well, let's evaluate this.", long after it was already obvious that it was a killer.

BBC NEWS | Health | Ten odours 'help spot dementia'

Who knew that memory is measured in smell? Well, I guess I've said in the past my memory was weak, though I'm not sure - because, sometimes, my memory is weak. It's an interesting concept, though.

This is how Bush does 'science'

The researchers in this country hid the fact that the drug that Bush as pushing for Africans with Aids was actually a pretty dangerous drug.

Now comes this article, giving some substance and detail to just how Bush does 'science'. It may not be good science, but it's good profit for the drug company.

Study linking soda drinking in kids with liver damage

I never understood why parents fed kids drinks with lots of sugar (a setup for diabetes) and caffeine, but this study links soda drinks and liver damage.

Puff in; IQ out. Puff in; IQ out

Interesting. A study that tracked people from age 11 that shows that smoking reduces your intellect. Well... duh!

Laptops cause fertility problems. Don't tell Republicans, OK?

New car smell linked to cancer

Pollutant 'damages bone marrow'

New report shows 1 in a million parts of benzene harms the bone marrow. That is WAY below the U.S. maximum allowed. Naturally.

ABC News: Study: First Impressions Really Matter

ABC News: Study: First Impressions Really Matter

Drought is actually the norm in the West

You think there's a drought in the West? You ain't seen nothin' yet!

BBC: Red meat link to arthritis risk

Maybe the reason dinosaurs died it is that they were all finally paralyzed by arthritis! ;).

Paralyzed woman walks again after stem cell therapy

Don't you just HATE it when stem cells heal someone? I know, I know, conservatives think that the disabled should stay that way unless God chooses to heal them, but - you know - God wouldn't have given us the knowledge to use stem cells unless it was supposed to be that way. (assuming you think God does all of this stuff) My conservative friends think the mentally and physically disabled should just be left to starve to death unless their families can support them. It seems we've heard all of that before. Wasn't it back in the 30's or something??

Ground 'Moves' as Cane Toads Invade Australia Park - * funny twist to this, also

It turns out that government workers is OZ aren't any brighter than their counterparts in America. They imported baby cane toads from Hawaii in 1935 to stop the spread to two foreign beetles (no, not VWs); the problem was that the beetles could just... you know... fly away! So now, these toads, some as big a dinner plate and who (at least, the females) lay 35,000 eggs a year, have become somewhat of a problem.

Now, who woulda thought that a toad couldn't catch an bug that could fly??

Pennsylvania School District Retreats from Evolution - and backwards toward the dark, we retreat

In yet another sign that religion is experiencing a revival, and intellect and thoughtfulness are on the wane, a school district is endorsing 'intelligent design', saying it's not really creationism. We have 2 problems here. One, a school district in the 21st century is retreating to the Medieval times, and 2) people believe that 'intelligent design' is a valid cover story for creationism.

The real joke, of course, has always been that humans ever had the audacity to even imagine that they knew the real, underlying truth to how reality works, and the proof of that is that almost everyone still believes in Newtonian gravity. If you want to read how 'gravity' really works, just Google 'gravity newton einstein field effect'.

The point is: if Einstein admitted that even he couldn't picture how gravity works in the universe, even though his math described it. And, the proof that he was right is in the fact that time runs slower near a mass - and that was proven in - I think - 1925.

1500 years ago, EVERYONE knew the Earth was the center of the univers. 500 years ago, EVERYONE believed the Earth was flat. Today, people believe that Bush has a brain and a heart. Go figure.

U.S. Reports Possible Case of Mad Cow

I've been saying for several years that we have mad cow, but that the government is not doing enough testing. You will remember back to a couple of months ago when a farmer was fined for testing all of his cattle. No, there was nothing else to it; he just wanted to test all of his cattle, and the government came down on him for it. Strange but true; read about that here.

The USDA is *still* not testing a significant percentage of the cattle, though they are testing all 'downer' cattle; at least, that's a start.

FDA Is Flexing Less Muscle; Have to Protect Those Corporate Contributors

RE: the previous post, here's your proof that Bush puts protecting his contributors ahead of protecting your health.

FDA Officer Suggests Strict Curbs on 5 Drugs - only under questioning by a Senator

It's not surprise that there are drugs, other than Vioxx, which should be taken off of the market, but it took direct questioning by a Senator to bring that little fact out in the open; Bush wouldn't want to hurt a major contributing industry's bottom line by having the FDA do anything until absolutely required to. Yet, the Bush administration has been taking the legal stance than consumers can't sue drug manufacturers for injuries because the drugs were FDA-approved. Yeah.. some protection FDA scrutiny is. I feel safer already. Realistically, though, you can't expect a beady-eyed chimp to watch over a war, evil-doers, tax refunds to the rich and deregulation of mining, forestry and oil, and the FDA at the same time, can you?

Ovarian Cancer Does Have Early Warning Signs, Mayo Clinic And Olmsted Medical Center Find

Researchers Find Effective Treatment For Unusual Fever Syndrome Caused By Cold Exposure

It turns out, that for a small number of people, being cold can make then ill.

Yahoo! News - Melting Swiss Glaciers Threaten Alps - Scientist

The people who says global warming isn't real - you know, like DUHbya, are as unconnected with reality as people who believe that we never landed on the moon.

Singapore will not promote condom use publicly to fight AIDS: report

Singapore isn't going to go on a publicity blitz to encourage condom use, even though it's HIV-infected population is doubling every 2 years, because it might offend the conservatives in the society. That would seem to indicate that they are trying to make sure that conservatives keep getting infected. Hmm... could we do that here??

DHEA Cuts Abdominal Fat in Elderly

Bush protects us from Bextra - or at least, the bad news about Bextra

A researcher was booted from an FDA meeting concerning Bextra because - sin of sins - he had publicly expressed doubts about it. Just because he did a peer-reviewed study that showed it was no different from Vioxx, and therefore was the most qualified person to speak, seemed liked no reason to have him be at the meeting. Bush: redefining science. Pretty soon, anything that's wrong with you will be due to evil spirits and an unGodly lifestyle.

Are we seeing the emergence of a new disease? Hong Kong has 19 ill

Pollution link to heart disease makes Bush's new EPA rules just that much more dangerous

Vitamin E could be a risk for elderly people

First Time in the US: Devastating Soy Rust Found in Louisiana

This is the kind of thing that would be much easier, and more undetectable, for the terrorists to do.

(Extremely Selfish) Mom Celebrates Birth of Twins at Age 56

This is nothing but rank egoism. Every sentence about the kids starts with the word "I".

Bush lies about science - again; claims link between abortion and breast cancer.

One wonders when they're going to start sacrificing chickens to protect the troops. Despite many international studies showing no abortion/breast cancer link, Bush pushes that lie. Nothing is below this man.

She's got an arm up on the other women

Well, she's almost got a leg up on other women. Link

Painkiller Use in Pregnancy Tied to Schizophrenia

General Mikhail Kalashnikov decides to invent something else

This is interesting. The inventory of the most widely used - by far - weapon in war, the AK-47 and it's cousins, has decided to turn his hand to making vodka. Well, there you go. Nothing like stocking up, and loading up, on vodka before you load up the 'ole AK-47 for a little target practice. Perhaps that weiner dog next door, um? Or your mother-in-law! Hey, no dang cop is gonna take YOUR gun! If that cop would only quit swaying and weaving, back and forth, back and forth, you'd pop him a good one!: "General Mikhail Kalashnikov"

ABC News: U.S. Short at Least 500,000 Poll Workers

Who would have thought, with registrations running at an all-time high and interest in this election higher than any in recent memory, that we would need more poll workers? Apparently, not one politician or bureaucratic hack. 1/2 a million short. Well... duh!

Russian Expert Says Flu Epidemic May Kill Over One Billion This Year; WHO convenes emergency meeting

I've been saying for a year that this was coming in the next year or two, and while one Russian scientist does not constitute a consensus on just WHEN one is coming, I think it's interesting that WHO (remember, though, it's part of that organization that GWB hates so much) is convening a rather hasty summit. Perhaps the people who disdain the UN would rather just go this alone, also, rather than all countries co-operating to develop a vaccine for the H5N1 avian flu and manufacture it. Sure, we could do it all alone, assuming the profit was there to encourage our companies to bother to protect us. Isn't it nice to think that Pfizer and the rest's patriotism pretty much depends on the % profit they make? Much like Cheney and Halliburton, actually. They're good Americans as long as they get ample rewards to be good Americans. Otherwise, as Cheney so succinctly pointed out, we can go fuck ourselves.

Mad Cow or Chronic Wasting Disease or Scrappie or other prion diseases making headway while we sit, doing almost nothing

I've noticed a trend: yes, Mad Cow or CWD or scrappie or any of the other prion diseases becoming more common, yes, but that's not the trend I've noticed. I've been saying for years that the Chronic Wasting Disease that infects deer, elk and moose in this country is but yet another wake-up call for people, just like the AIDS virus was in monkeys.

The trend I've noticed is a repeat of the AIDS crisis: the governments keep telling us that there is nothing to worry about. Yet, the US government has investigated a cluster of CJ (brain wasting) in humans in the Northeast and found 'no problem' Ten people in one area, when the infection rate of CJ, an infection that we know nothing about, is supposedly less than 1 in a million, is just a bit much to look at and then say, "No problem."

The governments said that about global warming, yet there is a major report out that was a collaboration of eight nations, that says that not only is global warming real, but that it's already here, in a big way, and that it has come on much, much faster than anyone would have anticipated. Take, for instance, the ocean conveyor that the Gulf Stream is part of. I've been watching the Gulf Stream reports for a year, and for the past 6 months, the Gulf Stream strength has been described by the agency that monitors it, as 'strikingly weak'. The Movie "The Day After Tomorrow" was about the exaggerated effects of the ocean conveyor stopping, but they were only exaggerated, not imaginary. The problem is is that we are already past the point of no return on the ocean conveyor, but people still have their heads in the sand.

Politicians won't do anything major about these problems for 3 reasons: 1) it would panic the people if they were told the truth about what's coming and 2) it would cost a lot of money to reduce the coming problems - if we could and 3) the politicians would lose their job in a 'kill the messenger' move by the people.

So, we return to the Mad Cow/CWD problem. While the government has said, "No problem there for humans", a report from the AP in 2002, discusses 3 men who, as friends, at wild game together in the 1980's, only to die in the 1990's. However, it was enough of a problem for the CDC to investigate, though they did not come to any CWD-connected conclusion.

Yet, on October 27, 2004, the Rocky Mountain News, one of the 2 Denver papers, reported that the fear of CWD is waning.

People must not be paying attention. Take a look at the chart from the National Prion Disease Pathology Surveillance Center that runs through 2003: here. Like the AIDS crisis, it has started out slowly, but in just 6 years, the number of diagnosed cases has more than tripled. Remember, these are just the diagnosed cases. CWD/CJD/or whatever, can look an awful lot like Alzheimer's, so I would imagine that there are quite a few undiagnosed cases out there, and you can be the undiagosed have also tripled in the past 6 years.

This is, I believe, one of the major crisis of our time - long term, though the coming flu epidemic - perhaps as early as this year, is calculated to kill more than a billion people. In the long run, AIDS and CWD/CJD/whatever will kill far more.

Yahoo! News - AstraZeneca's Crestor May Harm Kidneys

Another screw up by the FDA
Yahoo! News - AstraZeneca's Crestor May Harm Kidneys

Scientists Reveal Significant Behavioral Impacts Of Early Life Stress, Study Therapies

I've said this since I worked at Inlet Drug Crisis Center in the early 70's in Houston. I think they will also find that 'in the womb' experiences are more influential than have been realized, because the neurotransmitters from the mother cross the placental barrier, so the baby actually feels what the mother feels, but has no idea why. Studies have show that babies of mothers who didn't want them act different from the moment they are born.

Perhaps we'll get away from this 'blame the victim' stuff and start dealing with what is really happening.

If the link above does not work, the original article may still be here.

Anesthesia Can Dim Patients' Minds

I've often said that my 2 neurosurgeries have caused a decline in mental functioning (no laughing from the peanut gallery, please!)

So, I don't think it's just the elderly that have to be concerned; I think it's everyone.

If the link above does not work, the original article might be here.

'Brain' In A Dish Acts As Autopilot, Living Computer

Perhaps this could help Bush!

If the link above does not work, the original article might be here.

Older father schizophrenia link

Just another reason that old men shouldn't try to act younger or pronounce their manhood by having (more) kids.

If the link fails, the original article may be here.

World Living Beyond Its Environmental Means

It's not really news that we're living high on the hog, nor should it be news that the earth cannot sustain even this level, much less the billions more expected soon. This is the best of times; remember it well.

If link above fails, the original document may be here.

Yahoo! News - Some Supplements Can Damage Eyes

Eyes going bad? Trouble focusing? Object near to you harder to focus on? Trouble picking up visual clues? It turns out that some herbal remedies can adversely affect the eyes. The original article was in the American Journal of Ophthalmology, October 2004.

here

Passive smoking turns out to be worse than thought

Passive smoking, in a major study of all the studies done on this subject, turns out to be worse than was ever thought.

To quote:
Breathing in secondhand smoke massively increases the risk of lung cancer and heart disease, an official report by medical scientists shows.
Ministers have sat on the results for months amid fears it will fuel calls for a ban on smoking in public places, claim campaigners.
(being from England, they have Ministers instead of Administration members)

Original article is here.

Talk about your long life span! 180,000 to 430,000 years!

Fungus from a deep-sea sediment core that is hundreds of thousands of years old can grow when placed in culture, scientists have discovered.
Indian researchers say the fungi come from sediments that are between 180,000 and 430,000 years old.

Then there are the bacteria from a salt cave in Utah that are over 250,000 years old that came to life and reproduced. (here)

The original article is here.

2nd original article here.

Biologists Hunt for Snakehead in Chicago

It seems that the frankenfish, as it's called, has established itself in America. I wish they could find the person responsible for this! This fish will change the lakes and rivers of America forever, so go fishing now, while there's still time, if you like that sort of thing.

Original article here