Toxic Skin Reaction Form Indoor Ozone

It has recently been discovered that oil that is naturally found on a person's skin, has the ability to ensnare substantial amounts of indoor ozone, which it then is able to emit it in the form of chemicals that can cause a skin and lung irritation.

An assistant professor of pharmaceutical sciences at Texas A&M Health Science Center's Irma Lerma Rangel College of Pharmacy in Kingsville, Rajat Sethi, explains:

"They are saying that compounds on the skin react to the ozone and cause more irritation to the skin. They have identified those compounds."

The Study

The discussed study, which was published in the journal entitled 'Proceedings of the National Academies of Science', maintains that the findings are not cause for alarm just yet.

The co-lead author of the study and an adjunct professor at the University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey in Piscataway and a member of the faculty of the Technical University of Denmark in Copenhagen, Charles J. Weschler, address this as follows:

"I would say this is not very alarming at this point. This chemistry has been going on since the dawn of man. As long as humans have existed, they've existed with ozone, and this chemistry has been occurring."

Although there is has been a multitude of studies done and reports written on the dangerous health effects of the ozone outside, hardly any studies have been conducted to address inside ozone.

Wescheler explains: "We're talking about ozone that people breathe, that people come in contact with, as opposed to ozone up in the stratosphere that protects us from the sun."

Indoor Ozone

Little do people realize that ozone has the ability to travel inside through an open window or other type of ventilation, it can also seep into the inside air through the sweat that falls off of office equipment that has not been serviced lately, such as laser printers, computers and photocopier machines.

Sethi presented the study during the meeting of the American Heart Association, in which he attempted to establish a link between 'outdoor ozone an increased risk of ischemic attack and angina', by stating that:

"The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has claimed that indoor ozone exposure may be 100 times more than outdoor exposure."

In another study conducted by Weschler, "proton transfer reaction-mass spectrometry" was used in an attempt to evaluate compounds that were released into the air via the contact between the ozone and human skin oil.

The most universal fat and antioxidant that is found on human skin is called Squalene. When this particular antioxidant from a single person, comes into contact with ozone, together they are able to reduce the ozone concentration in a small by nearly 10 - 25%.

Once this interaction has occurred, by-products are then released back into the indoor environment.

"Some of these products are benign, something like acetone or fingernail-polish remover. Some of these compounds have not been identified before in terms of this chemistry, but we don't expect them to pose much of a health concern simply because of their structure," explains Weschler. Then again, "some of these compounds may be a health concern, but toxicity studies have yet to be done," he added.

Squalene

Reactions can also occur on items where squalene was automatically left after someone had recently touched the item, such as a computer keyboard or counter top.

It was previously believed that vitamin E was the primary antioxidant that protected a person's skin from ozone. However this study has proven that it is in fact squalene.

"Squalene has been doing the heavy lifting when it comes to protecting us from the ozone. Some of these products [resulting from the interaction] we inhale and some stay on our skin. Toxicologists will be looking more closely at what some of the potential health effects are," noted Weschler.

The Assistant vice president of national policy and advocacy at the American Lung Association, Janice Nolen, also believes that this latest study does indeed demonstrate exactly how harmful the ozone can be:

"Ozone by itself is harmful straight out, and we've known for some time that ozone indoors reacts with a variety of things. This study tells us more about how ozone can affect us and reinforces why we don't want ozone indoors," she said.

In light of this study, Nolen does not recommend using any product, such as an air purifying device, that actually produces ozone.

"If it's a mechanism with a filter of some kind, then you're not going to be producing ozone," she said. "If you're using something that uses electric static or a chemical process, the odds are that you're going to be producing ozone."

But even filtering, she added, "is limited in its ability to help clean up indoor air."

Photo Credit: Savara Gallery

How To Identify Organic Foods

These days everyone wants to eat healthier and most people do that by eating organic fruits, vegetables and meats that they purchase from their local supermarket. This is all quite fine, but, how do you know whether or not the produce you pick is really organic? Can you really trust what the shopkeeper is advertising?

It is very difficult to ascertain whether those lovely apples or those delicious oranges that are stocked high on the shelves in your grocer's produce department, are organic, conventionally produced or genetically modified.

In case you are wondering why you would need to know the difference in the origins of your produce, consider this:

* Food that is grown using organic methods have been scientifically proven to be more nutritious than foods that are grown either conventionally or that have been genetically modified.

* Foods that have been genetically modified have not been around for as long a time as conventionally grown food or organically grown food. These foods only started to appear on store shelves in the early 1990's and, therefore, scientists and nutritionists have not had enough to time to evaluate their long-term health risks. Eating genetically modified foods is quite similar to unknowingly being a participate in a science experiment of sorts.

* Some environmentalists are concerned with the possibility that genetically modified foods, and the seeds from which they are sprouted, will have a serious impact on native vegetation in the long run. Perhaps by eradicating them completely or altering their own genetic makeup.

* Concerns have also been raised over conventional farming methods as well. Nutritionists claim that mass farming has caused produce that contains fewer and fewer nutritional value. The soil that is used to plant the seeds has, over the many years of over-farming, become depleted of their natural nutrients and minerals. The pesticides that are used on these crops have been scientifically proven to cause various cancers and other diseases, yet are still being continually sprayed onto the fruit and vegetables that you will putting in your mouth!

* Organic farming methods involve creating healthy food by maintaining healthy soil. This is accomplished by using crop rotation methods and other such organic farming techniques that work towards improving the quality of the soil instead of mindlessly apply harsh chemicals over everything.

Both large supermarket chains and small grocery stores usually keep the organic food that they sell separate from the conventionally grown produce.

Therefore, it should fairly easy to spot the organic produce over produce that has either been genetically modified or conventionally grown.

But not all grocers keep to this layout and sometimes produce can become inadvertently added to the wrong pile. Therefore, you will need to take it upon yourself to make sure that the produce that you are purchasing is truly organic. How do you do this?

The solution is simple. Just check the PLU numbers!

PLU stands for the international price look up system that every grocery chain has in place to help them make the grocery check-out as well as their inventory control a much easier process to handle.

Every produce item, including every apple or orange, will have a small sticker on them. On the sticker will be the letters PLU that are followed by numbers. Some produce, however, will not have stickers on them but will have a tag wrapped around them instead. Those numbers are codes that are used to replace actual pricing amounts as well as the names of the produce. Surprisingly, these numbers can also help you by revealing which produce is grown organically, grown conventionally or genetically modified.

Here is what you should look out for when reading the PLU numbers on the stickers:

* Organically grown produce usually has a 5 digit number that begins with the number 9.

* Conventionally grown produce will have a 4 digit number that will start with either the number 3 or the number 4.

* Genetically Modified produce will usually have a 5 digit number beginning with the number 8.

When you are choosing meats and other products for their organic properties, look on the product label for the USDA Certified Organic seal.

In April 2001, the USDA created very strict labeling requirements in order to assist consumers in purchasing organic products. By choosing products contain the USDA Organic seal you will know that the product is at least 95% organic.

However, bear in mind that the use of the USDA's Certified Organic seal is voluntary and so, therefore, not every organic product will contain the seal.

Photo Credit: Tim Psych

Are Cell Phones A Cause of Brain Cancer?

On Tuesday, 26 August 2009, a detailed report written by a collaboration of international electromagnetic radiation (EMR) watchdogs, such as the EMR Policy Institute and Powerwatch, was given to various government officials as well as the media. Their report pointed out various design flaws that they discovered during a telecom-funded Interphone study.

The report was entitled: "Cellphones and Brain Tumors: 15 Reasons for Concern, Science, Spin and the Truth Behind Interphone."

Since its public release on Tuesday, many people, obviously cellphone users themselves, have become increasingly concerned over the legitimacy of the report. Some concerns have even been raised regarding whether such report was indeed written in satire by telecom conspiracy theorists.

However, it seems that the most important aspects that were covered by the report are the following:

* A "significant" risk of the occurrence of brain tumors actually does exist from the use of a cell phone;

* Exposure limits to electromagnetic radiation that were set by the US government and were then supported by the telecom industry, were actually based on the misleading piece of information that stated that electromagnetic radiation has biological effect other than for heating;

In addition, the report also listed defects in the design of the Interphone study as being the following:

* An unrealistic definition of what truly defines a regular cell phone user;

* Children and young adults were not included in the study;

* Participant selection bias,

* Not enough time was taken into account when considering a tumor diagnosis. In other words, tumors usually take a while to grow before they can be correctly identified and diagnosed. The original study diagnosed the lack of the brain tumors too quickly without allowing enough time to have passed;

* Many different varieties of brain tumors were excluded from the study;

* People who had died because of a brain tumor, or who were too sick to be interviewed because they already had a brain tumor, were excluded from the original study.

Retired electronics engineer and member of the Bioelectromagnetics Society, L. Lloyd Morgan, was the main contributing author of this recent study. It is, however, interesting to note, that he had received the support of scientific endorsers from 14 different countries around the world when he announced that the ongoing use of cell phones can lead to a decrease in a person's overall health, not just brain tumors:

"Exposure to cell phone radiation is the largest human health experiment ever undertaken, without informed consent, and has some four billion participants enrolled. Science has shown increased risk of brain tumors from use of cell phones, as well as increased risk of eye cancer, salivary gland tumors, testicular cancer, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and leukemia. The public must be informed."

However, The World Health Organization countered back with their own nonchalant statement regarding the health risks of cell phone use:

"None of the recent reviews have concluded that exposure to the RF fields from mobile phones or their base stations causes any adverse health consequence."

Morgan's emphasizes that this statement by the WHO was initially drafted over 9 years ago and was based primarily on the data that he and comrades are now saying are flawed.

This is not the first time such a report has been made public. There have been quite a few other studies that were conducted and are, for the most part at least, referenced in a book entitled "Cancer Biology". One of these studies involved 195,775 workers who were manufacturing and testing cell phones. The study proved that were was no immediate link between electromagnetic radiation exposure and brain tumors, or any other type of nervous system cancers for that matter. However, that book was originally published in 1995 so it is high time that it is updated.

Other concerns have been raised since the release of this new report. Such as the fact that cell phones are used on the 1.8GHz band; and, if the cell phones are deemed to be dangerous on this band, what about the danger of other bands, like the frequency of Wi-Fi, which works at 2.4GHz or 5GHz. Are they dangerous to our health as well? Obviously more research has to be conducted by scientists that do not have strong dependency on the telecommunication industry, in order to avoid any biased outcomes.

If you are concerned, or interested if the case may be, about the level of radiation that your cell phone emits, you can log onto CNET's cell phone radiation level chart and look up your cell phone model to see its estimated radiation level. For example, at the top of the list are Motorola cell phones and at the bottom are a few Samsung cell phone models.

Photo Credit: Mike "Dakinewavamo n" Kline

More Breast Cancer Survivors Now Than In Recent Years

A recent study has shown that there were 610,171 breast cancer survivors in 2005 in the United States of America. This same study has forecasted that the survivor number will increase up to 1 million women by the year 2016!

Current breast cancer cases are made up of 20% of newly diagnosed breast cancers, which is the early stage. This is the time when the cancer is limited to cells that are found in the ducts or lobules of a woman's breast.

However, even though there were nearly 2.5 million breast cancer survivors in the USA in 2005, researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Brian L. Sprague and Amy Trentham-Dietz, have taken notice of the fact that breast cancer in situ survivor numbers are not known and documented this research in a report that was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Executive director of the advocacy group Breast Cancer Action, Barbara A. Brenner, explains:

"A lot, but not all, of the increase in in situ breast cancers is a consequence of screening for breast cancer. This is leading to a lot of over-diagnosis, and hence, over-treatment."

Sprague and Trentham-Dietz used data retrieved from the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results registries, to approximately calculate the number of surviving women with breast cancer in situ and based on that they were then able to calculate the development over the next few years.

Their research indicated that 610,171 of women that were diagnosed with breast cancer in situ during the past 30 years were still alive in 2005.

Ductal and lobular are the two different types of breast cancer in situ; because of this, women who have either of these types of breast cancers are four times more likely to develop invasive breast cancer compared with the general female population in the USA, as noted by the researchers.

Sadly, there is no scientific method in existence today that can help in determining which women will actually develop invasive breast cancer. So, these women are given the same type of treatment as women who have localized invasive cancer which results in a lower life expectancy.

Brenner says, "There is currently no way to tell women with ductal breast cancer in situ or lobular breast cancer in situ whether their condition, untreated, will develop into invasive disease. So, knowing you have either condition just puts you in a world of 'What to do now.'"

In comparison to women who were diagnosed with lobular breast cancer in situ, women with ductal breast cancer in situ were actually five times more likely to become breast cancer survivors, according to Sprague and Trentham-Dietz.

The Wisconsin researchers also noted that out of the different racial groups, white women were more prone to being breast cancer survivors than any other female race.

The best results of their research indicated that the survival statistics for women diagnosed with breast cancer, actually improved and increased over a time. In 1975, 21,654 women who were diagnosed with breast cancer, were still alive and well in the year 2005. The research showed that the number of breast cancer survivors quadrupled for those women were diagnosed in 1985, and the number doubled again for women who were diagnosed with breast cancer in 1995.

In the report, Sprague and Trentham-Dietz wrote:

"Assuming constant incidence and survival rates, the estimated prevalence of breast cancer in situ will exceed 1 million cases by 2016."

Sprague and Trentham-Dietz believe that the increase in the breast cancer survival rate is most probably due to improved breast cancer screening which would then lead to an early diagnosis. Breast cancer in situ, prior to 1995, consisted of about 4% of all breast cancer diagnosed during that year.

"If there is an underlying increase in in situ breast cancers that is not the result of screening, and there seems to be, we should be looking for the causes, very likely environmental, of that increase," Brenner said.

The Wisconsin researchers, Sprague and Trentham-Dietz, both agree that in situ breast cancer is a vastly unknown diagnosis and, as such, there is still plenty to learn about this particular type of breast cancer.

Sprague and Trentham-Dietz wrote in their report:

"Current epidemiologic evidence regarding predictors of subsequent invasive breast cancer after breast cancer in situ is limited. Guidelines are necessary to help the increasing number of breast cancer in situ survivors choose the best treatment and lifestyle strategies while still maintaining high quality of life."

Photo Credit: Amy Guth

Medical Astrology

There are many different facets to holistic and natural health. One of the oldest is the belief that your astrological sign can help you determine which foods to eat and which body parts or organs to keep a watchful eye over.

Capricorn

People who are born under this sign should focus their attention on their knees more than any other body part. Capricorns are more susceptible to arthritis and stress, so you relax by watching a movie with popcorn for the antioxidant effects. Foods that contain omega-3 fatty acids are also necessary for Capricorns to consume in order to keep themselves healthy.

Aquarius

For most Aquarians their Achilles tendon is their weakest part of their body, with the lower part of their leg (from the knee down) being the next body part that is prone to injuries such as muscle spasms, ankle problems, and shin splints. Most of these can be avoided by eating magnesium and potassium rich foods like bananas and papayas. Also remembering to stretch properly before and after exercising can prevent muscle spasms from occurring.

Pisces

The feet are the focal point of a Pisces person's health, and often become battered and bruised by tripping over things and generally not being too quick on their feet to begin with. To combat this make sure to wear shoes that are comfortable and offer great support. Eating foods such shellfish and seafood will also do you good as they are filled with Omega-3.

Aries

Ironically, an Aries person is very much like the Ram in that they are constantly using their head. This over-thinking and over-analyzing can lead to headaches and migraines. It is best to remain as relaxed as possible at all times and not to allow the littlest of things to go to your head. Aries is also ruled by the color red and is therefore a fire sign, as such eating tomatoes and peppers will help to keep headaches at bay whilst keeping the body healthy.

Taurus

This astrological sign rules over the throat and Taurus people are prone to sore throats and loss of their voices. Drinking lots of water daily can help prevent a sore throat, but if it does occur then drinking lots of Vitamin C will help.

Gemini

Gemini's can succumb to both muscle pains and have lung issues, like asthma or other respiratory problems. Consuming fruits and vegetables that contain beta-carotene, such as carrots and squash, can be most beneficial to support the lungs. As for muscle pains, these are usually caused by a Gemini person stressing too much. Learn to relax and the pain will ease off.

Cancer

Digestive issues and problems with the esophagus are common causes of concern for Cancer people. Eating plenty of cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower can help keep your digestive system running smoothly. Avoid caffeine as it can wreak havoc on your digestive system.

Leo

Make sure that you take extra precautionary measures and insist on having regular heart scans and blood pressure tests because the heart falls under the ruling of Leo. As with the other astrological signs, avoiding stress is best way to stay healthy, along with a regular exercise regime. Eating antioxidant rich foods, such as grapes, can also help keep your heart strong.

Virgo

Virgo's should make sure that they eat a wide variety of grains and plenty of them too! Since Virgo's can also have issues with their digestive tract, eating wheat and fiber on a daily basis can benefit them greatly.

Libra

Most Libra's like to do physical labor and will often complain of a back ache as a result. Holistic therapies such as chiropractic services, massage and acupuncture can help ease the pain. Eating plenty of berries will help reduce inflammation as well.

Scorpio

The good news is that eating dark chocolate is very valuable to a Scorpio. The bad news is that Scorpio's usually suffer from irregular bowel movements which can lead to weight loss, low energy, constipation and other intestinal issues. However, this can easily be remedied by eating plenty of fiber rich foods.

Sagittarius

Sagittarians love to be always on the go and do not like being still for too long; because of this they usually have very well defined muscles, especially their hamstrings. The problem, however, is that these muscles can sometimes be too tight and a muscle injury can occur. This can be prevented by having regular massages to help the blood to circulate properly around the body. The best food to eat for a Sagittarian is an olive. Olives are full of antioxidants and promote the absorption of good fats within the body.

Photo Credit: Remko van Dokkum

Cheerios Cereal - An 'Unapproved Drug'

Television commercials for the General Mills cereal, 'Cheerios', abound. Besides being on television the cereal is also advertised in most major magazines and newspapers as well.

The cereal is touted as being a good helper in lowering a person's cholesterol, with claims written on the box of cereal itself stating: "diets rich in whole grain foods can reduce the risk of heart disease." These statements can also be found on the website of General Mills.

However, once again the government has stepped in to interfere. A warning letter was sent to General Mills on 5 May 2009, by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The letter stated that the healthy claims that General Mills has placed on its Cheerios cereal box were 'serious violations' of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act as well as other applicable regulations.

Therefore, based purely on General Mill's health claims, the FDA is now recognizing that Cheerios cereal is an unapproved drug and will now need to surrender to the FDA's new drug approval process.

This is not the first time that the Food and Drug Administration has sent such warning letters to other food producers, in an attempt to prohibit them from revealing the true healthy nature of their products to their loyal consumers.

In one instance, cherry growers were under fire by the FDA for using references to peer-reviewed scientific articles in order to prove that cherries were indeed helpful in dealing with gout and arthritis.

In another example of FDA intervention, the health benefits of fish oil for a person's heart health, depression treatment, cancer prevention and arthritis pain were once barred by the FDA.

This ban was only lifted once one particular drug company paid a lot of money so that the FDA could run the fish oil through its stringent approval process.

Since the time it was FDA approved, that specific fish oil retails for much more than any other non-FDA approved fish oil.

The problem this interference causes is that it restricts a general customer's ability to have total access to scientific studies that can provide the customer with beneficial information as it also censors such scientific information. Another drawback of such an intrusion is that it causes the cost of public healthcare to skyrocket.

Tami Wahl, the Legislative Director of the American Association for Health Freedom, explained the FDA's stance:

"FDA is not questioning the validity of the claims made by General Mills. Instead, FDA is saying General Mills cannot tell consumers that Cheerios may have beneficial health effects. The policy behind FDA's action is government censorship, plain and simple. For General Mills not to be able to inform the public about the scientific evidence that Cheerios can help lower cholesterol, a rising health concern for Americans, serves no purpose. American consumers want to take charge of their personal health, and need as much valid information as possible to help them make responsible choices."

So considering all these points above what exactly is the motive behind the meddling affairs of the Food and Drug Administration? It actually seems that the Food and Drug Administration does not want the general public to eat foods that are beneficially healthy for them. People are becoming more and more suspicious of the FDA's involvement in their choices of supplements, food and drinks, believing that the Food and Drug Administration has a hidden agenda in that they do not want the public to eat healthy foods so that they can seek medical help for their ailments and be treated with expensive FDA-approved drugs and other medicines.

However, the Food and Drug Administration's approval process for drugs and other supplements is a very lengthy and expensive process, and as such, is usually unsuitable for a food product.

Another aspect of the control that the Food and Drug Administration strives to have over all medications, supplements, drinks and food products is that they wish to have power over all of the scientific information that is made available to the general public concerning public health.

However, every consumer in the United States has the right to be educated regarding claims about food products that are scientifically based, and should therefore, be allowed to appear on food product labels.

The American Association for Health Freedom strongly believes that the general public should have the right to have access to every single scientific study that was, and is, ever done concerning food and food products that they are likely to eat or drink. At this time, it appears that the only scientific studies that are available for consumers to view are those studies that have already been approved by the Food and Drug Administration, usually after a manufacturer has paid big money to be approved.

Photo Credit: bpende

Internet Suicides

Almost every person in almost every part of the world today has access to the world wide web. People use it to learn, to do research, to email, and to communicate with the rest of the world - not just their own friends and family members but complete and utter strangers.

Sadly, the internet has lead to another increase in communication tactics – suicide pacts. People from a variety of backgrounds, ages and professions, all log in to websites with the specific intention of finding a suicide partner. People who visit such sites do not try to stop them, but instead give them advice on how to properly commit suicide. Their eerie motto seems to be: 'if you are going to do, you may as well do it right'.

In fact, in 2008 alone, Japanese police received 121 reports of internet users who had written a suggestion of their suicide attempt online in a chat room or message board.

Of these people, the Japanese police were able to talk 72 people out of committing suicide, including 9 people who were in the middle to attempting their own suicide.

The Japanese police could not locate 16 other people, whilst 33 cases were eventually filed as being a hoax.

Due to Japan's economic downturn, suicides have been steadily on the rise, leading to approximately 30,000 Japanese suicides per year - one of the highest suicides rates in the world.

Japan does not have any national plan or organization to assist in educating people about the realities of suicide. There is no suicide prevention hotline currently in effect in Japan.

Last year, a 19 year old boy living in Pembroke Pines, Florida, died after announcing via his webcam on a bodybuilding website that he intended to kill himself.

Some of the viewers on the site cruelly egged him on, whilst others tried to persuade him out of it. With his webcam running, he took an overdose of painkillers and apparently when to sleep. The camera kept running for a total of 12 hours before someone became alarmed and notified the website's moderator who was able to contact local police.


However, not all of the suicide stories end in grief. Last week a young man living in New Zealand typed out a message to one particular website detailing that he felt sad and depressed. He then asked the other members of the discussion website what would happen to him if he took a large quantity of pills.

This immediately sent alarm bells ringing for the site's administrator. Without any hesitation, the American website administrator started to search online to find an email address for the New Zealand Police Department, so that he could alert them of the suicide threat.

Luckily he was able to locate such an email address at the end of a media release of a New Zealand police report.

This police department then immediately forwarded the information to the police's southern communications center. Here it was revealed that the man in question had actually used a Tauranga address when he first registered on the website.

Next staff from the Tauranga police department went to the address only to discover that the man was now living in Canterbury.

Julie Brown, the team leader for the southern communications center, called the depressed man in an attempt to verify his true state of mind and being, as well as to obtain his correct address.

A police magazine called Ten One, noted that the man has seemed quite relieved to speak with Ms. Brown.

"He confirmed that he felt like he had run out of choices and needed help to manage the situation."

Soon after that phone conversation, a police patrol car arrived outside of his house and drove the man to mental health care center in Canterbury.

The internet site administrator later received an email from the man and the mental health care center thanking him for acting so quickly in response to the man's plea for help.

The internet does indeed hold great power when it comes to helping other people, whether they are across the globe or across the street. Rob Lee, a New Zealand spokesman stated:

"It just shows how technology can span both nationally and internationally to get an outcome like this. We're just very pleased that the outcome was successful in terms of the man's health and wellbeing and for that of his family. The world has become a very small place via technology and it's changing very quickly."

On the other side of the world, the American administrator stated that he too was relieved to hear that his prompt actions prevented the man from actually going through with his original plan.

"This was a rare opportunity to reach halfway around the world to try and help someone."

Photo Credit: geerlingguy

Do You Have Drug Money In Your Wallet?

A currency bill has a lifetime of approximately 20 months. During these months in circulation, the bill is fed into ATM machines, Vending Machines, folded into wallets and, of course exchanged for a variety of goods and services throughout the USA. Needless to say, each time a US bill changes hands it carries with it a myriad of dirt, germs, food and drug residue. Yes, you read that correctly: drugs!

Professor of Chemistry and BioChemistry at the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, Yuegang Zuo, headed up a research study that found that 90% of all monetary paper bills that are currently being circulated around the US, tested positive for trace amounts of cocaine.

"When I was a young kid, my mom told me the dirtiest thing in the world is money," he said. "Mom is always right."

Although the research indicates that the amount of cocaine that is found on the paper bills is not large enough that it would cause immediate health risks, it is still a cause of concern.

The amount of paper bills that actually contained cocaine proves that cocaine use is still a major problem in the major cities of the USA. Paper bills can easily become contaminated with cocaine when a drug user snorts using the bill or when the money is being used to purchase the drug.

Ironically, a paper bill does not necessarily have to be used as part of a drug use, to become contaminated with cocaine. Paper bills that do carry trace elements of cocaine can contaminate other bills whilst being housed together in a person's wallet or even inside a currency counting machine at a bank.

Professor Zuo explains: "When the machine gets contaminated, it transfers the cocaine to the other bank notes."

As can be expected, these paper bills usually have smaller amounts of cocaine on them. In fact, a few of the paper bills utilized in Professor Zuo's research actually contained .006 micrograms of cocaine. This amount is several thousand times smaller than one little grain of sand.

During the American Chemical Society's annual meeting last week, Professor Zuo stated that those bills that were more likely to contain cocaine were $5, $10, $20 and $50 bills. Most of the $1 bills tested, did not contain cocaine.

Professor Zuo explained:

"Probably $1 is a little too less to purchase cocaine. I don't know exactly. It's an educated guess."

Professor Zuo's recent research has simply re-emphasized what health agencies have been touting for many years by advising citizens to immediately wash their hands with anti-bacterial soap after handling, cold, hard, cash for sanitary reasons.

Besides trace elements of cocaine and other drugs, organisms that are widely known to cause a variety of illnesses and diseases, such as staphylococcus aureus as well as pneumonia-causing bacteria, have also been discovered in paper bills.

The Southern Medical Journal published a study in 2002, stating that nearly 94% of papers bills that were tested contained disease-causing organisms.

However, an associate professor of forensic sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Adam Negrusz, believes that there is no real cause of alarm regarding the unclean state of monetary affairs.

"I never think about this as a source of danger. We have more things which can be potentially harmful," said Negrusz, explaining that cocaine binds to the green dye on the paper bills.

Negrusz is concerned that the cocaine tainted money could cause a false positive drug test, especially involving a policeman or bank teller who regularly handles such cocaine contaminated money.

Negruzs explained further:

"Imagine a bank teller who's working with cash-counting machine in the basement of the bank. Many of those bills, over 90 percent, are contaminated with cocaine. There is cocaine dust around the machines. These bank tellers breathe in cocaine. Cocaine gets into the system, and you can test positive for cocaine. That's what's behind this whole thing that triggered testing money for drugs."

Professor Zuo is hoping to use his research to form a regional drug use map, as the amount of cocaine contaminated bills varied greatly according to the area in which it was found.

For example, 100% of all bills that came from Miami, Florida; Boston, Massachusetts; and Detroit, Michigan, all tested positive for cocaine; whereas 87% to 67% of paper bills originating from Salt Lake City, Utah; Niagara Falls, New York; and Dearborn, Michigan, contained cocaine.

When compared with monetary bills from Canada, China, Japan and Brazil, the bills from the USA contained the highest amount of cocaine with an average of 90% out of 234 US bank notes contaminated.

Canada followed suit with 85% and next with 80% was Brazil. China had 20% and Japan had the lowest amount of cocaine contaminated money with only 12%.


Photo Credit: dslrninja

Snapple Again Being Sued For Not Being 'All Natural'

In 2007, Stacy Holk, filed a law suit in the New Jersey state court against Snapple manufacturer Cadbury Schweppes. Mz Holk's case stated that the company willingly defrauded its consumers by stating that Snapple was 'all natural', even though there was an artificial sweetener amongst the list of ingredients.

Eventually the case evolved into a class action law suit and was brought to the federal court later in 2007.

However, in May 2008, Snapple fell under the new manufacturing name of Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc. and not only sold and manufactured Snapple iced teas and juices but also Dr. Pepper, a popular soda that was originally manufactured by the Coca-Cola company.

A New Jersey federal judge threw out the case in June of 2008, ruling that the law suit was preempted by FDA regulations. These regulations, set forth by the FDA, provide a rough idea to companies about what they are allowed and not allowed to place on their food labels.

According to the preemption argument, the judge, Judge Mary Cooper, cited that the Food and Drug Administration's product labeling regulations actually prohibited the plaintiffs from arguing such a case as it was based on state laws rather than federal laws, stating that the regulations "so thoroughly occupy the field of the beverage labeling at issue in this case that it would be unreasonable to infer that Congress intended states to supplement this area."

In November 2008, Snapple introduced a new beverage line with a revised formula and a new bottle design. The new recipe focused on the drinks' black and green tea leaves and actually replaced the man-made high fructose corn syrup with real sugar.

The company cited that their decision to makeover their drink recipes and bottles was due to increased competition by other tea and juice makers. Their sales figures from previous years seem to prove this statement, especially in consideration of the fact that more and more tea and juice beverages are being introduced on the market.

However, even though Snapple refrained from using high fructose corn syrup in 2008, it did not help in preventing the class action lawsuit from being revisited.

Now, almost two years later, this same consumer-fraud lawsuit has been revived in the U.S. Court of Appeals in Philadelphia, based on the finding that it was not, in fact, excluded from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulations that cover food labeling rules. The revived law suit still argues that Snapple's iced tea contained an artificial sweetener, high fructose corn syrup, even though the label stated that the drink was 'all natural'. The law suit will now be on behalf of all consumers who purchased 'all natural' Snapple prior to the conversion in November 2008.

High fructose corn syrup is a man made ingredient composed of fructose and glucose. It is commonly used in a variety of foods and beverages and is behind one of the nation's worst epidemics of all time – obesity. Unfortunately, high fructose corn syrup is cheaper to make, purchase and use than natural sugar. This is partly due to corn subsidies which are provided by the US government.

It is interesting to note that the the Corn Refiners Association immediately filed an amicus curaie brief on behalf of Snapple.

A panel of three judges concluded that "neither Congress nor the FDA intended to occupy the field of food and beverage labeling and juice products" in such a way that would prevent suits that are filed in a state court from challenging the truthfulness of product labels.

The judges further stated: "It does not appear that Congress has regulated so comprehensively in either the food and beverage or juice fields that there is no role for the states."

A spokesman for Snapple, Greg Artkop, was quoted as saying: "We believe Snapple is all-natural and we're confident we'll ultimately prevail."

The Plano, Texas based company, Dr Pepper Snapple, has actually reported a second-quarter profit that overcame analysts' dim estimates and increased its 2009 forecast. The company's net income was reported as rising to 46% to $158 million, equaling out to be roughly 62 cents per share from $108 million (42 cents per share) last year.

It seems that the company's stock increased after a statement that predicted that the company's earnings would soar to $1.96 per share this year.

To learn more about this class action law suit against the Snapple manufacture, you can search the court documents for Stacy Holk v. Snapple Beverage Corp, 08-3060, 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (Philadelphia).

Photo Credit: justinlai

Do You Know Your Chakras?

Not many people realize the importance of understanding their Chakras.

It is said that chakras are the windows to a person's soul. Chakra is a Sanskrit word that means wheel or circle. Each person has seven chakras and each of these are supposed to continuously spin which helps to keep a person's physical, emotional, and spiritual body in alignment.

When someone becomes ill you can bet that one or more of their chakras are out of alignment.

The Root and Sacral Chakras

For everyone, the root chakra is directly related to their intuition and survival. This chakra, that is located at the base of your spine, is also correlated with issues of employment, money and shelter. In terms of the body's internal organs, the root chakra is connected to the inner adrenal glands and the adrenal medulla in the kidney. The legs and skeletal system are also represented by the root chakra.

The root chakra keeps us grounded to Mother Earth and is also an extension of the relationship you have with your own mother. This chakra is symbolized by a lotus plant with four petals, with red being its primary color.

If you are constantly uncertain about your life and have fear, then your root chakra is probably blocked. If, on the other hand, you feel rather secure with your feet firmly on the ground, then your root chakra is definitely open.

A person's sacral chakra is usually found in the groin area and is linked to the reproductive system, abdomen, stomach, spleen, skin, muscular system, face muscles and the lumbar region of the back.

Because this sacral chakra is also related to our emotions, it affects our wants and needs. For example, if this chakra is blocked, you may find that your appetite may decrease or that you will not enjoy eating anymore.

If you keep your emotions bottled up inside of you then your sacral chakra could become blocked quickly. If you allow yourself to revel in your emotions, then this chakra will always remain open.

The sacral chakra is symbolized by a lotus plant with six petals with orange being its primary color.

The Solar Plexus and Heart Chakras

The solar plexus chakra is located underneath the ribcage and is associated with both high emotions and high energy, specifically those revolving around self-esteem.

Internal organs that are ruled by this chakra are the pancreas and outer adrenal glands, as well as eye sight. It is believed that people who are nearsighted may feel insecure, whereas farsighted people hold more anger. Those with astigmatisms usually have poor self-esteem.

People whose sacral chakras are open are those who are confident in who they are. Those with blocked sacral chakras usually have low self-esteem.
This chakra is symbolized by a lotus plant with ten petals.

The heart chakra influences love, relationships and overall well-being and rules over the immune and endocrine systems. Our perception of love is greatly influenced by the condition of our heart chakra. A person with blocked heart chakra is someone who is very sensitive, does not like to be touched and has difficulty in letting loved ones go. On the flip side, a person's whose heart chakra is clear is loved by many people.

This chakra is symbolized by a lotus plant with twelve petals.

The Throat, Brow, and Crown Chakras

Communication and other forms of expression are overseen by the throat chakra. Besides being associated with the throat it is also associated with the thyroid gland, shoulders, arms, and hands.

A sore throat is one of easiest recognizable signs of a blocked throat chakra, usually because the person is afraid to tell the truth about something.

The throat chakra is symbolized by a lotus plant with sixteen petals and its primary color is Sky Blue.

Linked to the pineal gland, the brow chakra is located right between the eyes and is also referred to as the third eye chakra. Therefore, this chakra is associated with a person's spiritual viewpoint, both of themselves and of the world in which they live. This chakra also affects our subconscious as well. If this chakra appears blocked it can usually be cleared through listening carefully to one’s self.

This chakra is symbolized by a lotus plant with two petals, with Lapis Lazuli being the color with which it is associated.

The crown chakra, which lies just above a person's head, is seen as representing our consciousness and is linked to the pituitary gland. This chakra is revolves around separation and unity issues.

Someone who is unable to feel like they are a part of society usually has a blocked crown chakra.

It is symbolized by a lotus plant with a thousand petals as well as the color violet.

Photo Credit: YOUscription

Last Chance To See The Perseid Meteor Shower

The annual Perseid meteor shower started late Tuesday night. It will continue until about 5 am on Thursday morning. Therefore, if you have not yet caught a glimpse of this spectacular meteor shower, tonight will be your last chance to do so this year!

The Perseids are actually debris particles that have come from the Comet Swift-Tuttle. Throughout the many years that this comet orbits the sun, it routinely leaves numerous streams of debris in its wake. Starting in July of each year, the Earth travels through some of this debris, although the meteors are not usually visible until August.

Needless to say, that quite a few had already been spotted in late July. Since then there has been an average of 25 meteors per hour or, almost one meteor shooting through the sky every two minutes!

The Perseids can put on a very spectacular show, notwithstanding gloomy weather and the moon's brightness of course. Which is exactly the case this week when the moon will be quite bright and might just outshine some of the more fainter meteors.

However, that still leaves plenty of bigger, brighter meteors to be seen with the naked eye down on Earth.

Whilst it is interesting to note that most meteors are smaller than a pea, some can be quite huge. Their brightness is as a result of the meteor vaporizing once they enter the atmosphere of the Earth. This, in turn, creates very vivid streaks across the night sky.

Astronomers believe that the Perseids begin from the Perseus constellation, which usually appears quite high in the sky at around midnight and by dawn it can be seen directly overhead. Therefore, just as with other meteor showers, the Perseids are best seen during the hours from midnight to dawn as that is when the side of the Earth that you are on, rotates in the direction of Earth's travels through space; thereby picking up the meteors from the atmosphere at a high rate of speed.

In the Northern Hemisphere, the Perseid meteors will be best visible during the hours leading up to dawn.

A representative from NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office, Bill Cooke, explained:

"Earth passes through the densest part of the debris stream sometime on Aug. 12. Then, you could see dozens of meteors per hour."

To get the best view of the Perseids, dress warmly and take a blanket or camping chair and travel out of the city and away from the harsh street lights. Try to find an area in which a tree, hill or other solid structure can block the light of the moon from your vision. Then lie back on your blanket or camping chair and look up at the sky. After roughly 15 minutes your eyes should become well adjusted to the darkness and you should start seeing the Perseids flying through the sky above.

Keep in mind that the Perseids, which will look just like any other shooting star, can come from any direction, although when you trace their path back you will find that they all stem from the Perseus constellation. Also, the Perseids can appear quite intermittently. You might see just one shooting through the sky and then a few minutes later a whole cluster will shoot through.

You can start looking for Earthgrazing Perseids that soar just above the northeastern horizon between 9 p.m. and 11 p.m. your local time. Cook explains:

"Earthgrazers are meteors that approach from the horizon and skim the atmosphere overhead like a stone skipping across the surface of a pond. They are long, slow and colorful, among the most beautiful of meteors."

Unlike other areas of science, meteor forecasting is something that is still trying to catch on with main stream astronomers. Therefore, since it is not yet an exact science, it may be in your best interest to start your meteor watching party from 11pm tonight until dawn on Thursday, especially if you want the best chance of seeing the meteors in action.

Even though a few of the lighter meteors will not be truly visible thanks to the brilliant moonlight that will be high in the sky this week, Astronomers are still forecasting 200 meteors to pass through per hour in intervals of 15 minutes each, although this is based on someone who is watching the night sky from a great vantage point out in the countryside. The closer you are to suburbia, the more the lights from the street lamps, houses and cars will obscure your vision.

Photo Credit: jaredten

Vacation Health Hazards

Summer is a great time to plan a family vacation or just a weekend getaway. Regardless of your destination, you should be aware of the hidden health hazards that can exist at your holiday hot spot.

Camping

One of the best ways to spend summer vacation is to go camping: sleeping out under the stars with just the sounds of owls and crickets to lull you to sleep; of course until you are rudely awakened by the shrill buzzing of a mosquito.

Nobody likes being bitten by a mosquito, and the fact that some of them can carry the West Nile Virus, makes them even more dangerous. However, simply spraying a buy spray onto your body may not do the trick in repelling mosquitoes.

Since wearing longs sleeved shirts and long pants may not always be appropriate camping and hiking wear, consider using a non-DEET buy spray. Studies have proven that DEET can interfere with the brain's neurotransmitters. Unless you have been for a swim since first applying the bug spray, one application is usually enough to last you all day.

Going to the Beach

Besides, camping, going to the beach is another favorite vacation destination amongst holidaymakers. However, scientists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill found that beachgoers have a higher rate of diarrhea and gastrointestinal diseases, than non-beachgoers, as a result of being buried in the beach sand or just playing in the sand making sand castles etc. In fact, the beaches of Hawaii, California, Florida and the Great Lakes have all tested positive for high levels of E. coli as well as evidence of fecal contamination.

Travelling

Most public transportation, including airplanes, is riddled with a myriad of disgusting germs. In fact, the influenza virus can continue to live and, therefore, be able to infect an unsuspecting person for up to 17 days, according to a study conducted by the Swiss. The most obvious, germ-infected, objects are door handles, seats, restrooms and food trays.

Be sure to keep a hand sanitizer with you at all times and use it often.

Theme Parks

Theme parks are the one place where even adults can act like kids and not be disrespected for it! What should be treated with disrespect however, are all the different surfaces that contain unhealthy germs. Most amusement park rides are the ideal breeding ground for one of the most relentless germs: E.coli.

Again, carrying a hand sanitizer and using it before every ride will be your best bet and reducing your chances of becoming infected.

Swimming Pools

Every year, specifically during the hot summer months, there has been an outbreak of illnesses, including diarrhea, which has increased drastically over the past 2 decades, according to research that was conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Most of these outbreaks are caused by two distinct parasites, cryptosporidium and giardia. Roughly 54% of 22,000 public swimming pools that were inspected for a study were found to be in violation of at least one public health code.

Try not to swallow the pool water when swimming. Wear goggles, ear and nose plugs too and remember to never swim if you have an open cut or wound as it may become infected.

Visiting the Zoo

Every child loves visiting the zoo. But besides big scary animals, Zoo's can also house tiny, scary germs! Be aware of certain zoonotic disease that can be passed from animals to humans. Such diseases include E. coli, salmonella, campylobacter and streptococcus. These can be transmitted via touching a guard rail or even by petting an animal at the Zoo.

Again, carry a hand sanitizer gel or spray and always wash your hands after petting any animal or touching any part of the animal's enclosure.

Hotel Bugs

When you plan on spending the night in a four star hotel, you usually don't plan on spending the night with bed bugs! Bed bugs are becoming increasingly popular as the number one complaint of hotel guests.

If you are afraid that your hotel room may be infested with bed bugs, pull down the cover and sheets from the bed and carefully inspect the mattress seams. Pay close attention to the corners and look for blood spots which are indicative of bed bugs.

The National Pest Management Association also suggests that you take a peek behind the headboard of the bed as well as closely inspect the sofa and chairs. Bedside table drawers and the wall which the bed is against are also areas in which you may be able to see evidence of bed bugs.

If you do find signs of bed bugs inhabiting your hotel room, immediately tell the hotel manager and find another hotel. Immediately wash your clothing in hot water and vacuum your suitcase.

Photo Credit: smittenkittenorig

Junk Foods That Are Good For You!

It seems that not all junk food is bad for you; there are some junk foods that are actually good for you, at least according to scientific research.

Red Wine

The mostly commonly known 'healthy' junk food is Red Wine. Researchers conducted a study, which was published in The Journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, in which one of the main ingredients in red wine was examined. This ingredient, known as Resveratrol, increases HDL cholesterol and prevents blood clotting. It also reduces inflammation and improves blood circulation around the heart. Resveratrol can be found in both the seeds and the skins of grapes.

Red wine also contains flavonoids and antioxidants as well. The antioxidants help in preventing heart disease and cancer, whilst the flavonoids help in preventing the formation of blood clots and plaques build up in the arteries.

Dark Chocolate

Although the health benefits of dark chocolate have been touted for years, it was not until 2003 when a new report emerged in The Journal of the American Medical Association, which clearly defined the benefits.

For starters, the high amounts of antioxidants in dark chocolate have been proven to lower blood pressure and LDL (bad) cholesterol. Dark chocolate also encourages endorphin production in the body. It also contains serotonin, a natural mood enhancer, which, in turn, works as an aphrodisiac as well.

These benefits only exist if you consume at least 100 grams of dark chocolate per day. However, to be considered truly 'dark', the chocolate must contain a minimum of 65% cacao. In fact, the more cacao that is in the chocolate, the more benefits exist.

Be forewarned, in order to reap the full benefits of dark chocolate, you will need to eat roughly a quarter of a pound of dark chocolate that has a cocoa percentage of 65% or more.

Guinness

Another alcoholic beverage that is good for you is Guinness. Researchers at The University of Wisconsin claim that drinking just one pint of this dark and thick beer can be the equivalent of taking a low dose of aspirin in order to improve blood circulation, thereby lowering any risk of blood clots forming or heart attacks occurring.

Apparently, Guinness contains antioxidant compounds that are quite similar in nature to those commonly found in fruits and vegetables. These antioxidants work to improve a person's health by slowing down the deposit of harmful cholesterol on their artery walls.

Cheese Whiz

In 1992, a study was published in The Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society, indicating that eating Cheese Whiz was good for you. Why? Because Cheese Whiz, like other processed cheeses, dairy and meat products, contains Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA). In fact, this study revealed that processed cheeses, such as Cheese Whiz, actually contained more Conjugated Linoleic Acid than any type of natural cheese, such as gouda. Not only does the Conjugated Linoleic Acid work as an effective antioxidant, but CLA also has certain anti carcinogenic properties too.

Blue M&M's

M&M's are a classic American candy. But, new research from the University of Rochester Medical Center may be set to prove that this candy is actually good for you - at least the blue ones. This research indicated that the blue dye was quite effective in speeding up the recovery process for rats who had suffered spinal cord injuries.

Another study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, states that an artificial dye that has the same chemical characteristics as the blue dye that is used to make the blue M&M's, may be the key in treating spinal cord injuries.

Within approximately 15 minutes of suffering a paralyzing injury, the blue dye compound, called Brilliant Blue G, was injected into the veins of rats.

Surprisingly, those rates who had been administered the Brilliant Blue G compound, became blue momentarily before regaining their ability to walk, although a few rats did have a limp. On the other hand, those rats that did not receive the Brilliant Blue G compound intravenously, made a slower recovery.

The research utilized an earlier finding that demonstrated that adenosine triphosphate, a chemical designed to keep the cells of the body alive and well, would immediately saturate the area surrounding a spinal cord injury, thereby killing off the surrounding good cells that enable a person to move.

However, when the Brilliant Blue G compound was injected, it immediately halted the adenosine triphosphat's effects.

Director of the Center for Translational Neuromedicine at the University of Rochester Medical Center and the co-author of the study, Dr. Maiken Nedergaard, explained that:

"They are actually doing something that the other colors do not."

All the more reason to eat M&M's!

Photo Credit: jswieringa

Americans' Spending More Money on Alternative Medicine

According to a survey that was conducted in 2007, $34 billion was spent by people living in America on alternative health and medicine, roughly equating to about 11% of out of pocket health care spending.

The last time the US government sponsored such a survey to estimate how many dollars are spent on alternative health care was in 1997. The amount at that time was $27 billion.

There are a wide range of medicines and practices that fall under the 'alternative health' category. A few of the more commonly known practices are acupuncture, chiropractic, yoga, herbalism, homeopathy, naturopathy, hypnosis, Reiki, aromatherapy and massage. Practices that are not so well known include biofeedback, Unani, Chakra cleansing, Watsu and Traditional Chinese Medicine. Just as these practices and medicines are varied so too are their histories.

Alternative health, medicine and practices can be based in whole or in part on new healing techniques that have not yet been approved by the mass medical population, folk knowledge, spiritual beliefs and traditional herbal medicines.

The Director of the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, Dr. Josephine Briggs, explains that: "We are talking about a very wide range of health practices that range from promising and sensible to potentially harmful."

Moreover, Dr. Briggs justified more extensive research to be done into all of the different alternative health practices and medicines, so that those that that were in-effective could be eliminated, especially in light of how much money the American consumer is willing to spend to ensure good health for themselves and their families.

Since the majority of alternative practices and medicines are easy on the pocket, the amount of American citizens who do not have health insurance will continue to rise, concluded Dr. Briggs.

Another cause of concern is the fact that the survey was conducted in 2007, a year prior to the economic recession that has ravaged the USA, and it is because of this simple fact that it is known whether or not the economic recession played a part in the increase in spending on alternative practices and medicines.

In December of 2008, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a report in which they had surveyed approximately 23,000 adults across the nation and discovered that the number of adult Americans who used alternative practices and medicines was more than one third of all the people surveyed.

A report on the initial survey demonstrated that the main reason for American's undertaking alternative health care practices and medicines was due to pain control and elimination. The most commonly used alternative practices for pain management was chiropractic care, acupuncture and massage.

In fact, for each dollar that was spent on alternative health care, almost 35 cents was spent on visits with chiropractors, acupuncturists, massage therapists and other such alternative health therapists, and with this amount adding up to be nearly $12 billion, it is representative of nearly one-fourth of spending on conventional doctors.

Regarding monetary spending on alternative health supplements, Glucosamine and Fish Oil were the most commonly bought supplements. Glucosamine is generally used for joint pain and arthritis, whilst Fish Oil is taken to reduce the risks of heart disease.

Approximately 44 cents for each alternative health spending dollar, up to $15 billion, was spent on alternative health supplements. Surprisingly, this amount is equivalent to the amount of money that American's spend for their prescription medications out of pocket.

Dr. Briggs takes somewhat of a traditionalist approach to supplements stating: "I personally am pretty conservative about supplement use."

Dr. Briggs also commented on how research conducted by the center actually influences the popularity level of each supplement. As an example, Dr. Briggs explained that when their research indicated that Echinacea did not necessarily prevent colds and flu, American's stopped purchasing it and sale dropped virtually overnight. But, when their research revealed that Fish Oil could actually help decrease a person's chances of heart risks, sales of Fish Oil increased.

Another $3 billion, according to the survey, was actually spent on paying for homeopathy sessions, supplies and supplements. By simple definition, homeopathy is a form of alternative health practices that utilizes tiny amounts of a particular remedy in order to treat a disease. Larger amounts of the same remedy would actually cause symptoms of the disease to appear in healthy people.

All in all, the survey revealed that nearly 38 million American adults saw an alternative health practitioner and paid less than $50 for each visit, averaging out to be about $122 per year per person. However, homeopathy, hypnosis and acupuncture treatment sessions cost upwards of $75. Spending on supplies, supplements and alternative health products averaged out to be approximately $177 per year per person.

Photo Credit: Wonderlane

The 12 Worst States of Obesity

Each year, the obesity rate amongst adults living in the USA, continues to steadily increase. In fact, 23 US states saw an increase in their obesity rates during the past year, whilst no state saw a decrease in their obesity rate.

Despite public health warnings by medical professionals and the US government, more and more adults are becoming obese, regardless of the fact that society places such a high regard on the importance of health and fitness.

Trust for America's Health, a nonprofit organization that is committed to preventing diseases and promoting good health amongst Americans, joined the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, a charitable foundation that is devoted to improving the quality of health care that every American receives, in order to conduct a study regarding obesity rates across the USA.

The two organizations team up every year to run this study and this year was no exception. In July 2009, they released a report called 'F as in Fat - How Obesity Policies Are Failing in America 2009'.

The study was conducted by surveying every age group in every US state, in an attempt to establish the rate at which obesity either increases or decreases each year in comparison to previous years.

Apparently, the results of this year's study came as a surprise to most of the researchers, as not a single US state had a decrease in their obesity rate in comparison to last year. On top of that, approximately 30% of all children surveyed in 30 of the 50 US states were considered to be obese. This discovery alone sheds some light on the future of America's youth.

Another interesting phenomenon was that the majority of the states that were listed at the top of the obesity list were states that were in the southern and southeastern part of the USA. These areas are well known to be inhabited by food loving people who consume larger portions of food that does not always have a high percentage of healthy ingredients.

The top 12 states that were ranked with the highest obesity rate were as follows:

Mississippi
Alabama
West Virginia
Tennessee
South Carolina
Oklahoma
Kentucky
Louisiana
Michigan
Arkansas (tied with Ohio)
Ohio (tied with Arkansas)
North Carolina

As, you can see, Mississippi came in first in the study with the percentage of its adult population that were deemed to be obese being 32.5%; 44.4% of Mississippi children aged between 10 and 17 were considered to be obese as well. All of the first four states listed (Mississippi, Alabama, West Virginia and Tennessee) were over 30%.

The state that ranked the best with only 18.9% of its adult population being obese was Colorado. After Colorado, the rest of the states with lower obesity rates included Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Vermont - states that all resided on the east coast of the USA.

The study showed Hawaii being placed in the middle of the obesity argument by having only 21.8% of its adult population being considered overweight.

In order to keep things in perspective, it is interesting to note that 15% was the average obesity rate in 1980; and no state had an obesity rate of more than 20% in 1991. This all changed of course by 2008 as American's become more and more obese.

This obesity report should be considered when taking into account the policies set forth by both the federal and state governments are intended to help cut down and prevent obesity among US citizens. The report graded their efforts as being an 'F'.

Keep in mind that every American is experiencing troubling financial times due to the current state of economic affairs and cannot, therefore, afford to buy healthier foods and will, instead, opt for food items that are on sale or that are relatively cheap. Unfortunately in today's world 'cheap' usually equates to being 'unhealthy'. Also, people are eating more due to the stress and depression that has set upon because of the current economic recession.

It is good to note, however, that 27 states have implemented nutritional programs in their school systems that are designed to improve upon their current nutritional standards. There are also 20 states that are mandatorily testing school children to determine their body mass index as part of a physical education program.

Recommendations by Trust for America's Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation were also included in the report. One such suggestion was that each American should be provided with preventative medical coverage for services which would include nutritional counseling.

Other recommendations included the establishment of programs aimed at making healthy foods more affordable, and supporting physical activities and correct nutrition amongst the baby boomer generation in an attempt to lessen the costs of Medicare in the future.

Photo Credit: cutup

Face Lift For Migraines

Statistically speaking, 30 million people living in the USA suffer from migraines. That's the same as 10% of the entire US population! In fact, one in four households has a family member that is troubled by migraines.

Unfortunately for most migraine sufferers, over the counter medications do not cut it for them. According to Dr. Lawrence Newman, this is not uncommon. The Director of the Headache Institute at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital in New York, Dr Newman explains:

"There is a subset of patients who have what we call chronic migraines. Many of those people are quite treatment resistant. Why? We're not really sure. I tell our patients it is a life-altering condition. Having a migraine interferes with the person's life, their family members, their friends, their co-workers."

However, a new procedure may change all of that, albeit a bit unconventional. A very common plastic surgery procedure may be the key to eradicating the common migraine forever. Dr. Bahman Guyuron, the chairman of the Department of Plastic Surgery at University Hospitals Case Medical Center in Cleveland, Ohio, apparently came upon this breakthrough quite by accident. Dr. Guyuron explained:

"I operated on a patient who came for a follow-up after a forehead life. Not only did she like the way she looked, she didn't have migraines headaches for six months since the surgery."

Numerous other patients of Dr. Guyuron also admitted to him that their migraines had stopped after they had received the surgery to lift their foreheads.

Even though, for most patients, the triggers for migraines are unknown, research has indicated that they are usually caused by the irritation of specific nerves in the face by muscles that are close by.

This clearly explains to Dr. Guyuron, how it is that his patients migraines seemingly disappeared after the surgery. The forehead lift that Dr. Guyuron performs actually removes the muscles from the forehead. These are the same muscles that pinch the specific nerves that cause migraines.

If having plastic surgery is just not your cup of tea, perhaps you should give Botox a try. After receiving Botox treatments, quite a few patients have noted that they have had migraine relief. Reason being, it seems, is that Botox paralyzes the muscles surrounding the same facial nerves that become irritated, which in turn causes a migraine to hit.

However, Dr. Guyuron conducted a double blind study in order to determine whether the forehead lift offered a permanent solution in migraine relief. Dr. Guyuron started by treating migraine sufferers with either a mock surgery, or with a surgery targeting three of the most common nerve areas that trigger migraines.

One year later, nearly 57% of the test patients who had received the targeted surgery stated that they had had no migraines since the surgery. Only about 4% of the test patients who had the mock surgery stated that they were migraine free.

Since the results of Dr. Guyuron's study have been made public, there has been quite a bit of a positive reactions by other pain specialists. One such specialist, Dr. Richard Lipton, the Director of the Montefiore Headache Center in New York, explained that the study presented, 'fascinating and promising results' that could be extremely beneficial to migraines sufferers who are unable to take over the counter medication, Botox or who have been unsuccessful and eliminating their migraine pain using any other medical method.

Any negative reaction about the study has revolved around the fact that it may not appear to be as conclusive at first glance. Even though nearly 83% of the test patients, who had received the real surgery, claimed that they were migraine-free, nearly 57% of the test patients who had received the fake surgery claimed the same thing.

Director and founder of the Michigan Headache and Neurological Institute in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Dr. Joel Saper, has established that the results concerning the high placebo success rate to the fake surgery was quite disturbing, explaining:

"Overall, the study raises more doubts than provides answers. Surgery should be a last resort."

Professor of Neurology at the University of Vermont's College of Medicine in Burlington, Dr. Robert Shapiro, concurs with Dr. Saper. Dr. Shapiro believes that the percentage of patients, who had received the fake surgery that claimed to be migraine free, was cause for concern in that the procedure itself needed to be reevaluated and further studied.

"It would be unfortunate if large numbers of migraines sufferers underwent expensive and potentially hazardous surgery which was actually no more effective than sham surgery. This study does not allow a conclusion to be drawn about the effectiveness of the surgeries performed."

Photo Credit: pvera

Aromatherapy for Fertility

Aromatherapy is a form of alternative medicine that utilizes the scents of certain oils and flowers to heal mild pain, tension and stress, as well as certain ailments such as soothing labor pain or helping with arthritis.

The Egyptians and the Ancient Greeks were the first people to realize the benefits of using scented candles, diffusers as well having scented baths. Hippocrates, who is often touted as the Father of Medicine, came up with the idea of spraying the entire city of Athens in order to help purge the city of a plague.

Many years later, in 1930, the basic principles of aromatherapy were created by Dr. Rene-Maurice Gattefosse, quite accidently really: He burnt his hand and had immediately applied lavender oil onto the burn. His hand healed completely. This incident caused Dr Gattefosse to rethink the everyday uses of other scents and oils.

In 1964, a French doctor names Jean Valnet, wrote a book detailing his evidence on how certain oils were effective disinfectants and aided quick healing if they were applied to the skin.

This book led to further experimentation with different oils that were used under different situations. Professor Paolo Rovesti, for example, used Jasmine, Sandalwood, and Lemon Oil to treat depression, and to treat anxiety, he tried Cypress, Orange Leaf, Lime, and Rose.

There is even a historical note on a young child who had developed cancer. Her doctor gave her some rose oil to smell which reduced her pain dramatically.

Aromatherapy can also help in conception and fertility, by improving reproductive health and reducing stress. In fact, aromatherapy has three uses when utilized for fertility. Firstly, to relieve stress which is either caused by work or by the heart-wrenching obsession that every women has when dealing with infertility and trying to become pregnant. Secondly, aromatherapy helps to regulate a women's menstrual cycle which, in turn, strengthens their reproductive system. Thirdly, aromatherapy can also work as a wonderful aphrodisiac!

The most common form of aromatherapy is found in essential oils, which are extracted from plants, trees, fruits and a variety of flowers. There are approximately 150 different essential oils that are obtainable with their own unique therapeutic and antiseptic properties. These essential oils need to be of the most pure, natural form in order to be beneficial.

Rose, lavender, peppermint and lemon are botanical oils that are most commonly used in aromatherapy. When they are inhaled, they fire up the olfactory nerves which then manipulate the brain and nervous system and alleviates any pain, anxiety, or depression that is felt by the patient.

When using aromatherapy for fertility issues, those essentials that are the most beneficial are:

Rose: One of the most common essential oils that can be found today is Rose oil. Experts believe that using essential oil of Rose whilst trying to conceive can actually help in regulating a woman's reproductive system.

Geranium: This essential oil actually has estrogenic properties that are used to remedy hormonal imbalances. Geranium oil is a very calming oil that can be paired with Rose oil to obtain maximum results.

Balm: This essential oil is also known by the name of Melissa and works to relieve menstrual irregularities. Balm Oil also contains soothing properties that help to improve a woman's mood.

Chamomile: Another common essential oil is Chamomile. Used mainly to alleviate menstrual pain, it is also considered to be a calming oil as well.

Tranquil Oils: There are a variety of other essential oils that have relaxing properties, such as lavender and jasmine. These oils enhance relaxation by calming the nerves and increasing the libido.

Just as there are many different essential oils, there are also many different ways in which to use them. However, since they are concentrated, essential oils should never be applied directly to the skin.

Other methods include:

Scented Baths: Having a bath with scented essential oils can be very relaxing and help prepare your body and mind for a good night's rest. It is best to use 5 to 10 drops of your chosen essential oil added to a warm bath to obtain the full benefit. However, essential oils can be diluted in a base oil, such as grape seed oil or jojoba oil, before being added to your bath water, especially if you know that you are sensitive to your chosen essential oil.

Massage: Your favorite essential oil should first be diluted into your favorite base oil. Once diluted, the oil can be used as a massage oil. Massages done with great-smelling scented oils can act as a perfect aphrodisiac.

Using an Oil Burner: Essential oils can also be used in specially designed oil burners. Simply use 3 to 4 drops of your favorite essential oil in an oil burner. Breathing in the scented aroma will help you relax.

Photo Credit: Eggybird