Information about Complete MoisturePlus contact lens solution.

Blinding amoebas cause health scare in US - New Scientist

Extract:

"An outbreak of a rare type of eye infection that can lead to blindness has sparked concern among people in the US who wear contact lenses."

Smokers should be prescribed a drug that triples their chances of giving up, the Government's rationing watchdog, Nice, said yesterday.

NHS to pay for £163 drug to help smokers quit - Telegraph

Extract:

"Smokers should be prescribed a drug that triples their chances of giving up, the Government's rationing watchdog said yesterday.

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) said the NHS should pay for twice daily doses of varenicline, sold as Champix, for those who want to quit.

The draft guidelines follow controversy over Nice's decision to reject the drugs Aricept, Exelon and Reminyl for those in the early stages of Alzheimer's. The institute ruled that at £2.50 per day per patient they were not cost-effective.

Champix costs £1.95 per patient per day. Anti-smoking campaigners welcomed Nice's provisional ruling, saying the £163.80 cost to the NHS for each 12-week course would be more than recouped from the NHS's £1.5 billion annual bill for treating diseases caused by smoking.

Others questioned why people who chose to take up smoking should receive help from the public purse to give up when Nice has turned down funding for a number of Alzheimer's and cancer drugs."

I think it would be better to make the drug available to purchase over the counter, rather than have it as a free prescription-only drug.

People who give up smoking often complain that they then gain weight. - Here is help for them. - Lose weight by eating less salt! Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!
See my website www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk
(The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

Big rise in deaths, previously unreported, from superbug Clostridium difficile.

Big rise in deaths from 'superbug' - Telegraph

Extract:

"Fears about the real scale of the "superbug" threat in Britain's hospitals were raised yesterday after a report claimed that as many as 26,000 cases of Clostridium difficile had gone unreported in the last three years.

And no fewer than 176,450 people had contracted the bug - known as C. difficile - over that period, the research warned.

Grant Shapps, the Conservative MP who compiled the report, accused the Government of "dramatically underestimating" the extent of C. difficile by not counting anyone under 65 who contracted it.

Mr Shapps used Freedom of Information requests to every acute hospital trust in Britain to compile what he said was "the complete germ map of Britain".

According to his report, the three worst hospitals for C. difficile infections in 2006/07 were University Hospitals of Leicester, with 1,739 cases, North Bristol with 1,324 and Gloucestershire with 1,271."

Lord Winston, the fertility expert, has said that IVF clinics are exploiting women who are desperate for a baby.

Fertility expert says IVF clinics exploit women - Telegraph

Extract:

"Lord Winston, the fertility expert, has said that IVF clinics are exploiting women who are desperate for a baby.

Robert Winston, professor of fertility studies at Imperial College London, has said couples are being charged over the odds and the fertility watchdog is doing too little to protect them.

"One of the major problems facing us in healthcare is that IVF has become a massive commercial industry," he said.

"It’s very easy to exploit people by the fact that they’re desperate and you’ve got the technology which they want, which may not work."

Lord Winston is one of the world’s most respected medical academics and researcher of the human reproductive system. But he is perhaps best known as the presenter of the Human Body and Super Human television series.

He said: "Amazing sums of money are being made through IVF.

"It is really rather depressing to consider that some IVF treatments in London are charged at ten times the fee that is charged in Melbourne, where there is excellent medicine, where IVF is just as successful, where they have comparable salaries - money is corrupting this whole technology."

Lord Winston, who was speaking at the Hay Literary Festival in mid-Wales, said: "Hundreds of women are being exploited out of their desperation to get pregnant from people who are taking large sums of money from them in private clinics."

"The regulatory authority has done a consistently bad job," he said of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority. "It’s not prevented the exploitation of women." "

Obesity reduces fertility. Cutting down on salt/sodium reduces obesity, so women can boost their fertility by eating less salt.

Lose weight by eating less salt! Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!
See my website www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk and http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/conditions.html
(The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

Deny surgery to obese people, says poll.

Deny surgery to obese, says poll - Guardian

This would be very wrong - very, very unjust - because obesity is not caused by overeating!

Here is an extract from my 'political' page. - I urge you to read ALL the page, right to the end. - You will then have a good idea of where the responsibility/blame lies for the present 'obesity epidemic'; it lies squarely with the professions who are extremely highly paid precisely to prevent this sort of health catastrophe - medics, politicians, etc.

"Calorie counting and advice about increasing exercise and reducing fat and carbohydrate intake to reduce obesity are ineffective, counter-productive and often damaging. - See the article in the British Medical Journal of November 2003 BMJ article for actual research on what happens when this advice is followed! - Over 800 obese adults were put on energy deficit diets, given diet sheets and plenty of instruction and help from trained staff, and apparently, visited fortnightly for a year, at the end of which they had GAINED weight! This mirrors the real experience of obese people, viz. - dieting makes you fat.

It is commonly accepted now, except by the 'experts', that less than 5% of dieters actually lose weight, and most gain weight as a result of dieting. - Even the ones who manage to lose weight do not usually improve their health. - See Guardian article for a report in The Guardian of Monday, June 27th 2005. It is about a huge research study of nearly 3000 people over a period of 18 years. The study found that overweight people who diet to reach a healthier weight are more likely to die young than those who remain fat. It also found that dieting causes physiological damage that in the long term can outweigh the benefits of the weight loss.

Contributing to the increase in obesity we have the widespread prescribing of steroids and HRT and other drugs which cause weight gain, and the failure of doctors to adhere to the protocols connected with the prescribing and monitoring of steroids. But pre-eminent, in my opinion, is the catastrophically damaging calorie-reduction advice that continues to be given despite such a wealth of evidence that it is bad advice.

Another possible factor is the increase in the amount of oestrogen in the water table.

Salt produces obesity only in vulnerable people, i.e.

1. People whose veins are weak because of immaturity (babies, children).

2. People whose veins are weak because of steroids, HRT, amitriptyline or certain other prescribed drugs, too readily prescribed, often in very high dose.

3. People whose natural hormone levels are abnormally high (pregnant women, PMT sufferers).

4. 'Slimmers' - People whose blood vessel walls have been weakened by 'slimming' - i.e. eating insufficient food.

Most medics do not understand what sodium retention is, and most are unaware that tablets they prescribe are causing this extremely damaging condition. They tend to blame obesity, mistakenly, on overeating. Similarly, most nutritionists and dieticians do not realise that obese people need to lose excess water to lose weight, and that excess water held in the body will not be affected by cutting calories. There can scarcely be anyone who has not heard hundreds of times over the message that overweight people should cut calories and cut down on fat and sugar. They have been conditioned to believe this. They do not need to be told it another thousand times.The advice from the nutritionists is WRONG. It does not work! This nation HAS reduced its intake of fat and sugar for some years now. With what result? Ever increasing obesity levels! Obese people need to concentrate on reducing salt, not calories.

Since the summer of 2001 I have been writing to MPs, to medical people, to journalists, to nutritionists and others, urging that suitable warnings be printed on packs of the tablets so that the destruction of more lives can be prevented. I have written hundreds of letters. The warning label should say something like:

DO NOT EAT SALT, OR FOODS CONTAINING SALT, WHILE TAKING THIS MEDICATION, BECAUSE IT COULD CAUSE FLUID RETENTION RESULTING IN MASSIVE WEIGHT GAIN.

To the best of my knowledge, no action has been taken. Nor is the public being told the truth about weight gain and weight loss. The best way to lose weight is to concentrate on eating less sodium and more potassium. (A book, written a few years ago by a hospital professor, about the health dangers of salt, makes no mention of steroid victims and specifically states, incorrectly, that HRT does not cause a salt problem!)"

Lose weight by eating less salt! - Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!
See my website http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/
Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection
(The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

GlaxoSmithKline shares fell as doctors avoid prescribing Avandia, their diabetes drug.

GSK suffers as doctors avoid allegedly risky diabetes drug - Guardian

Extract:

"GlaxoSmithKline took another hit yesterday amid signs that doctors in the US were avoiding its blockbuster diabetes drug Avandia after a study linked it to increased risks of heart attacks and death.

Data from ImpactRX indicated that the drug's share of the market for newly prescribed oral anti-diabetics in the US fell to around zero from about 10% in the two days after the study was published on May 21st. ImpactRX, a market intelligence firm, tracks the impact of pharmaceutical promotion on the prescribing behaviour of physicians in the US.

A Deutsche Bank note, which highlighted the information, said: "This reaction is far worse than we had anticipated and suggests that there could be as much as 22% downside risk to GSK's near-term earnings, suggesting that there is still further downside to GSK's share price."

It added that switching rates, or patients moving from one drug to another, were currently three times their usual level.

Shares fell accordingly, closing down 28p, or 2.1%, at £13.06, having tumbled 9% last week following publication of the study in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).
Avandia is GSK's second-biggest selling drug, with sales around £1.4bn last year."

An excellent non-drug measure people with diabetes can take is to reduce their intake of salt and salty food to a minimum. It really does make a big difference. This has the added benefit of reducing and excess weight and reducing high blood pressure and risk of stroke, etc. - See http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/conditions.html

Lose weight by eating less salt! Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!
See my website www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk
(The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

Carers failed by benefits system - Guardian

Extract:

"The punishing financial implications of looking after a disabled or chronically ill relative are revealed in new research that shows almost three-quarters of people are worse off as a result of caring.

Carers have been forced to cut back on food and heating and even sell their homes to offset the financial burden, according to the report by Carers UK. The charity also said the situation was likely to get worse, as it predicted an additional three million carers would be needed over the next 30 years. Campaigners said the findings proved the current benefit system does not work in the interests of carers and called for a full review into the incomes and services of those providing unpaid support."

You can reduce your risk of developing degenerative diseases like osteoporosis, heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, kidney failure, liver disease, arthritis, stroke, type 2 diabetes, dementia, obesity, enlarged heart and many other illnesses by cutting down on the amount of salt and salty food that you eat. - See http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/conditions.html

Lose weight by eating less salt! Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!
See my website www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk
(The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

Inuit leader, Aqqaluk Lynge, seeks to end the expansion of Stansted Airport, giving evidence of the harm done to his people by climate change.

Inuit leader: stop expansion of Stansted airport - Independent

Extract:

"The Inuit politician, who is the head of Greenland's indigenous population and the former president of the Inuit Circumpolar Council, told The Independent: "When I was a boy in north Greenland, the sea ice formed in November. Now we don't see it for months after that. All our certainties are being changed by global warming, from the location of hunting grounds to the loss of our homes to the rising sea.

"This is caused by pollution from the South. There is now a connection between our backyard and your backyard and we would like to you to question some points of your lifestyle such as flying and creating more emissions.

"That is why Stansted is important. Getting on a plane in England for a cheap holiday is felt here on the ice today and for you tomorrow. We are not even 160,000 people but global warming is not just threatened polar bears and melting ice. It is about our right to a viable existence."

Inuit communities are already having to deal with the reality of global warming. In written evidence to the Stansted inquiry before he attends in person at the end of July, Mr Lynge, who was invited to appear by the Stop Stansted Expansion group, details how one Inuit village in Alaska has already lost 10 homes to the encroaching sea, which has moved 300ft inland since 2000. Engineers predict all 600 houses face being swallowed by 2050."

I have a few suggestions that would help in reducing global warming. They are included on my webpage http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/socio.html


Lose weight by eating less salt! Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!
See my website www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk
(The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

Using pesticides can increase your risk of developing Parkinson's disease.

Gardeners 'more likely to get Parkinson's' - Telegraph

Extract:

"Gardeners may be increasing their risk of developing Parkinson's disease by using pesticides, researchers have warned.

A study has found that the potential damage caused to the brain by pesticides is similar to being knocked unconscious in a boxing ring.

The risk of developing the degenerative condition increases according to the level of exposure to pesticides - as well as the frequency of being struck unconscious, the study showed.

Dr Finlay Dick from the University of Aberdeen, who led the study, said that further research could identify which pesticides were associated with this effect, so that these agents could be substituted."

You can improve your health by eating less salt. - See http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/conditions.html

Lose weight by eating less salt! Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!
See my website www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk
(The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

NHS Trust Hospitals employing less-qualified Maternity Support Workers instead of midwives may be risking patient safety.

Maternity care flaws may put patients at risk, says report - Guardian

Extract:

"NHS trusts could be risking the safety of mothers and babies by using maternity support workers to do the work of trained midwives, a report says today.

The independent study for the Department of Health found a number of trusts across England were converting midwife positions into posts for lesser-qualified maternity support workers (MSWs).

The health secretary, Patricia Hewitt, has always insisted MSWs would not be used as substitutes for professionally qualified midwives. But the report found they were doing tasks deemed within the role of midwives and requiring specialist midwifery knowledge and training.

The report said a lack of consistency in the training and role of MSWs had the potential to leave midwives and hospital managers uncertain about their competence, and placed patients at risk from a low standard of care."

Cutting down on salt and salty food is good for the health of pregnant mothers and their unborn babies. - See pregnant mothers

Lose weight by eating less salt! Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!
See my website www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk
(The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

Calcium and vitamin D reduce risk of developing breast cancer.

Vitamins reduce breast cancer risk - Telegraph

Extract:

"The authors of the report, supported by a grant from the National Cancer Institute and published this week in the Archives of Internal Medicine, believe calcium and vitamin D interact with proteins in cancerous cells to combat their growth.

They wrote: “Calcium, vitamin D and insulinlike growth factor (IGF) binding protein 3 have been shown in vitro to interact with each other in promoting growth inhibition in breast cancer cells.”

But the researchers added: “Further investigation is warranted to study the potential utility of calcium and vitamin D intake in reducing the risk of breast cancer.”

Vitamin D is found naturally in oily fish and is produced in humans through exposure to sunlight, while dairy products and nuts are rich in calcium, but both are often taken as supplements in tablet form. "


Lose weight by eating less salt! Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!
See my website www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk
(The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

The disgraced head of China's food and drug agency was sentenced to death today amid a wave of consumer safety scandals...

China sentences former food and drugs chief to death - Guardian

Extracts:

"The disgraced head of China's food and drug agency was sentenced to death today amid a wave of consumer safety scandals that have rippled across the world.

Zheng Xiaoyu was found guilty of accepting 6.5m yuan (£433,000) worth of bribes from pharmaceutical companies to expedite the approval of new drugs.

Underscoring the state's determination to crackdown on corruption and consumer safety violations, he is the most senior official to receive the death penalty in seven years."

""Zheng was supposed to use the power given to him by the state and the people seriously and honestly, but instead he has ignored their vital interests by taking the bribes," the Xinhua news agency quoted the court as saying. "This has threatened the safety of people's life and health and has caused an extremely bad social impact."

The unusually harsh penalty may have been handed down to reassure foreign as well as Chinese consumers that the government is taking action."

So - this fellow has been sentenced to death because what he did "threatened the safety of people's life and health". - In contrast, the people in my country who similarly protect the drug companies rather than "the safety of people's life and health" do not get punished at all! - In fact, it appears that they continue to be paid for it! - See http://aboutsalt.blogspot.com/2007/04/is-mhra-medicines-and-healthcare.html


Lose weight by eating less salt! Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!
See my website www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk
(The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

Why doesn't Harry Potter tell Hagrid the easy, fast way to lose weight? - It would only take two little bits of magic...(o:

Why doesn't Harry Potter tell Hagrid the easy, fast way to lose weight? - It would only take two little bits of magic...(o: -

1) just enough to make him forget all the conditioned thinking about obesity being caused by overeating and cured by dieting.

2) just enough to get him to understand that obesity is actually caused by fluid retention, which in turn is caused by salt sensitivity, and that obesity can easily be reduced by eating less salt and salty food. - Dieting is not necessary and usually results in greater obesity because it weakens the blood vessels and leads to greater fluid retention.

I can understand that Harry doesn't want to tell his cousin, Dudley, but I do wish he'd tell Hagrid!

Lose weight by eating less salt! Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!
See my website www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk and
Mensa article: Obesity and the Salt Connection
(The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

Discovery of breast cancer genes opens door to new research.

Discovery of breast cancer genes will identify sufferers - Independent

Extract:

"Some scientists believe that the latest studies, published online in the journals Nature and Nature Genetics, are among the most important in the field of breast cancer since the first susceptibility genes for inherited forms of the disease were identified in the mid-1990s.

"This set of incredible scientific studies points to the future understanding of the genetics of cancer," said Professor Karol Sikora, a leading cancer specialist, who was not directly involved with the latest work.

"In theory, it allows you to look at thousands of people to study their genes and to find associations that we just didn't see before," Professor Sikora said.

Several teams of scientists took part in the latest studies, with the biggest led by Douglas Easton, a professor of cancer epidemiology at Cambridge University, who studied the DNA of nearly 50,000 women, half of whom had breast cancer.

The scientists used "DNA chips" to screen each person's genome for genetic variations that were found to be strongly linked with breast cancer. Small variations in four genes emerged as the most likely associations.

"We're very excited by these results because the regions we identified don't contain previously known inherited cancer genes," Professor Easton said.

"This opens the door to new research directions. Only very recent advances in technology have allowed us to carry out such a large comparison study," he said.

Already, the scientists are applying the same approach to other cancers, such as prostate, lung and bowel cancers, in the hope of identifying genetic changes that can trigger a higher risk of developing any of the diseases.

Breast cancer is one of the most common forms of cancer in British women with some 44,000 new cases diagnosed each year.

Inherited forms of breast cancer that are known to run in families account for between 5 and 10 per cent of cases. These genes - called BRCA1 and BRCA2 - were the first to be identified in the mid-1990s."

A safe, easy way to lower your risk of developing cancer is to stop eating salt and salty food and to eat plenty of fruit and fresh vegetables. This is because obesity is implicated in most cancers and obesity is principally caused by sensitivity to salt/sodium, resulting in sodium and water retention in the bloodstream. Fruit and fresh vegetables help because these foods are rich in potassium, and potassium displaces some of the sodium and its accompanying water from the bloodstream.

Lose weight by eating less salt! Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!
See my website www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk
(The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

Feeling tired? - Exhausted even? - But you're puzzled because you've not been very active?

Cut down on your salt intake and you'll have more energy...(o: - When you eat less salt and salty food your body excretes some of the excess fluid it is holding, leaving you less weight to carry around - so you'll have more energy. - Honestly! - Why not give it a try?

Lose weight by eating less salt! Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!
See my website www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk
(The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

Further fears over E211 and other E-numbers as evidence accumulates about food additives.

E211 Revealed: Evidence highlights new fear over drinks additive - Independent on Sunday

It's best to read the whole, detailed article, but here is an extract:

"The Independent on Sunday's revelations focus on another potential side-effect of soft drinks and one that may have much longer-term implications.

The substance is known as E211, or sodium benzoate, and the findings of Professor Peter Piper, from Sheffield University, represent another challenge to the already blemished reputation of food additives.

New studies have emerged over the past few years that call into question whether E-numbers approved for use in Europe are as harmless as regulators and the food industry suggest.

The most famous of them all is probably E621 - monosodium glutamate, the "flavour enhancer" found in many takeaways and pasties.

In all, the EU sanctions 395 additives: 71 thickeners and emulsifiers, 64 colours, 54 preservatives, 54 antioxidants, 54 anti-caking agents and acidity regulators, 52 miscellaneous, 27 additional chemicals, and 19 flavour enhancers.

Some additives are just innocuous everyday things such as E601 (vitamin B2) and E901 (beeswax), but others have properties that alarm university professors.

Perhaps the most controversial are the "azo dyes", a series of vivid yellow and orange colourings that give a lurid colour to fruit squash, fizzy drinks, sweets, jelly, cakes and other foods often eaten by children. The best-known azo dyes are sunset yellow (E110), quinoline (E104), and tartrazine (E102).

Professor Piper's research touches on a common preservative, sodium benzoate, which is found in everything from Fanta to barbecue sauce.

For some time, there have been fears about the ability of sodium benzoate to form benzene (a carcinogenic chemical) when it reacts with another preservative in soft drinks, ascorbic acid (vitamin C)."

Do your health a big favour! - Stop eating salt - or at any rate, cut down on it seriously.

Avoid high blood pressure and many other health problems, and lose weight by eating less salt and salty food! - Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!
See my website www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk
(The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

Fanta, Pepsi Max and some other soft drinks may be damaging your health because they contain E211 (sodium benzoate).

Caution: Some soft drinks may seriously harm your health - Independent on Sunday

Extract:

"A new health scare erupted over soft drinks last night amid evidence they may cause serious cell damage. Research from a British university suggests a common preservative found in drinks such as Fanta and Pepsi Max has the ability to switch off vital parts of DNA.

The problem - more usually associated with ageing and alcohol abuse - can eventually lead to cirrhosis of the liver and degenerative diseases such as Parkinson's.

The findings could have serious consequences for the hundreds of millions of people worldwide who consume fizzy drinks. They will also intensify the controversy about food additives, which have been linked to hyperactivity in children.

Concerns centre on the safety of E211, known as sodium benzoate, a preservative used for decades by the £74bn global carbonated drinks industry. Sodium benzoate derives from benzoic acid. It occurs naturally in berries, but is used in large quantities to prevent mould in soft drinks such as Sprite, Oasis and Dr Pepper. It is also added to pickles and sauces.

Sodium benzoate has already been the subject of concern about cancer because when mixed with the additive vitamin C in soft drinks, it causes benzene, a carcinogenic substance. A Food Standards Agency survey of benzene in drinks last year found high levels in four brands which were removed from sale.

Now, an expert in ageing at Sheffield University, who has been working on sodium benzoate since publishing a research paper in 1999, has decided to speak out about another danger. Professor Peter Piper, a professor of molecular biology and biotechnology, tested the impact of sodium benzoate on living yeast cells in his laboratory. What he found alarmed him: the benzoate was damaging an important area of DNA in the "power station" of cells known as the mitochondria.

He told The Independent on Sunday: "These chemicals have the ability to cause severe damage to DNA in the mitochondria to the point that they totally inactivate it: they knock it out altogether."

As far as cirrhosis of the liver and many other degenerative diseases are concerned, the best way to reduce the risk of developing them is to stop eating salt and salty food. - See http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/conditions.html

Lose weight by eating less salt! Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!
See my website www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk
(The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

Foxes and cows and pheasants and calves... "The Lie of the Land"

Hay festival: Molly Dineen's shocking new film - The Observer

Extracts:

"Dineen lays bare our hypocritical attitude to animals - why was so much time at the highest levels of government spent on protecting foxes when thousands of pheasants and calves are culled every year because they are simply not economically viable? Why is the value of one animal life so much higher than another's?

Many of us, perhaps wilfully, shield ourselves from the reality of the food we eat - dead cows helpfully appear as abstract chunks of flesh squashed into cellophane wrappers, no extra thinking required to throw it into a frying pan. The effect of that ease of consumption, where supermarket monopolies mean that it's cheaper to import cows from Venezuala than to rear calves born in England, is given a human face in Dineen's film."

"Our refusal to pay an extra penny or three for a pint of milk forces farmers to stop farming; it ends in the conversion of farms across great swathes of the country into second homes for the wealthy. And it isn't helped by a government policy that is indifferent about whether the food Britain eats is grown here."

Food Aid: - does it do more harm than good? - Pros and cons.

How America is betraying the hungry children of Africa - The Observer

Extract:

"Edina gets a free mug of porridge each day. Good news? Well, it is for the US government who dumps its leftovers in the name of charity. Read more from Alex Renton on food aid on our brand new food blog, Word of Mouth and join the debate. "

Are you trying to stick to a low fat diet and finding it difficult and finding that it makes you feel low? - You are not alone!

I found this interesting webpage a few days ago - Anthony Colpo - Why the Low-Fat Diet is Stupid and Potentially Dangerous and I was pleased to find such sensible advice and that it is backed up by authoritative articles and scientific evidence.

Extract:

"For years Anthony Colpo has maintained The Omnivore, a website bursting at the seams with articles and insights into studies and claims about being healthy - all with references to studies.

This week, Colpo penned "Why the Low-Fat Diet is Stupid and Potentially Dangerous" - a lengthy and well referenced article about the null findings from the Women's Health Initiative Dietary Modification Trial."

To lose weight you do not need to reduce fat intake or calorie intake. - You need only to reduce salt intake, because this reduces fluid retention, and it is fluid retention that causes obesity. - Dieting is unnecessary, ineffective and dangerous to health.

Lose weight by eating less salt! Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!
See my website www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk and
Mensa article - Obesity and the Salt Connection
(The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

Rising level of teenage diabetes alarms researchers.

Rising level of teenage diabetes alarms researchers - Guardian

Extract:

" The rise of diabetes among teenagers and their poor adherence to treatment programmes is creating a serious public health problem, scientists have said.

Research published in the Lancet today highlights the need to address type 2 diabetes among young people, which goes hand-in-hand with obesity.

The condition, which can lead to high blood pressure, blindness, the destruction of nerves and muscle, heart, liver and kidney disease, and psychiatric disorders, is often worse in young people than in older adults. Coma and death are possible if uncontrolled blood sugar is left untreated.

The charity Diabetes UK said it was concerned by the research - the result of a review of several international reports on acute and longterm illness associated with type 2 diabetes in young people.

Teenagers with diabetes are prone not to manage it properly because they want to lead a "normal" life with their friends, which puts them at greater risk of complications, Diabetes UK's chief executive, Douglas Smallwood, said. He called for an urgent improvement in services for young people with diabetes saying there had been cuts in the number of paediatric diabetes specialist nurses (PDSN).

The researchers, led by Dr Orit Pinhas-Hamiel, from Sheba medical centre in Tel-Hashomer, Israel, wrote: "Substantial morbidity [illness] and mortality have been reported in children and adolescents with type 2 diabetes."

This is a wholly needless and avoidable tragedy for these young people and their families. It is directly caused by the failure of the medical profession and nutritionists to give the correct advice about the causes and alleviation of obesity, allied to the failure of successive Departments of Health to curb the calamitous practice of food manufacturers of ladling massive quantities of salt into bread and other processed foods for decades, plus the catastrophic effects of corticosteroids, HRT and many other drugs that cause sodium and water retention being recklessly prescribed and inadequately monitored by doctors ill-informed/ignorant about their side-effects.

Details on my website. - See http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/story.html
http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/steroids.html
http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/ami.html
my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection
and other pages.

Reduce your risk of developing type 2 diabetes and lose weight by eating less salt! Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!
See my website www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk
(The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

Russell Reid found guilty of serious professional misconduct.

Sex change doctor guilty of misconduct - Guardian

Extract:

"The UK's best-known expert on transsexualism was today found guilty of serious professional misconduct for rushing five patients into sex-changing treatments, but avoided being struck off.

The General Medical Council ruled that Russell Reid, who retired last year, could only return to work under strict conditions imposed for the next 12 months that mean he can only work under strict supervision.

He must provide the GMC with a record of his treatments of any patients with gender identity disorders such as transsexualism every three months.

The disciplinary panel ruled that Dr Reid must no longer prescribe patients with sex-changing hormones at the first appointment, nor without a firm diagnosis that they are transsexual or a proper psychiatric assessment.

The panel determined that the consultant psychiatrist was too quick to provide patients with hormones and to refer them for genital surgery.

"The panel considers that the seriousness of your misconduct lies in your lack of caution in initiating hormonal and surgical gender reassignment treatment in these patients without more careful and through investigation and assessment," said John Shaw, the panel chairman.

"The panel therefore determined that your misconduct was serious, and that you are guilty of serious professional misconduct.""

Not much of a punishment, is it? The GMC can always be relied upon to exercise unwarranted leniency in dealing with negligent doctors...)o:


Lose weight by eating less salt! Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!
See my website www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk
(The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

Lord Winston considers this imported blood products scandal "the worst treatment disaster in the history of the NHS".

Officials 'knew of Aids risk' in US blood imports - Telegraph

Extracts:

"Government advisers were aware that patients were in danger of contracting Aids from imported blood products as early as 1983 but decided against a ban due to fears of causing a shortage of supply.

The Committee on Safety of Medicines (CSM) knew that "patients who repeatedly receive blood clotting-factor concentrates appear to be at risk" of Aids.

It was also aware that the risks were highest if the blood products came "from the blood of homosexual and IV drug users in areas of high incidence - e.g. New York and California" and for those who repeatedly received high doses of the blood plasma products.

A possible link between Aids and blood transfusions was known about in December 1982, but it took another four years before safer, heat-treated products reached Britain. However, the CSM still ruled that the risk of contracting Aids had to be balanced against their "life-saving" benefits."

"Yesterday at the resumption of an inquiry into what the Labour peer, Lord Winston, has described as "the worst treatment disaster in the history of the NHS", victims and their relatives gave emotional accounts about living with HIV and/or hepatitis C.

Stephen Martin-Hanley, 37, who also has haemophilia, told the hearing that he felt the stress of him having HIV and hepatitis C status had killed his father. He said he was 13 years old when he was told he had been given HIV-contaminated treatment.

Reading a statement from his mother, after she became too emotional to read it herself, he said it was likely that his father, who administered his treatment, had given him the "fatal injection"."

Mother died from multiple organ failure after consulting eight GPs.

Mother died after consulting 8 GPs - Telegraph

Extract:

"The partner of a mother who died from multiple organ failure after contacting eight doctors at an out-of-hours GP service called today for health authorities to sit up and take notice of a damning report into the service.

Penny Campbell, a 41-year-old journalist, died in March 2005 despite six telephone calls and two face-to-face meetings over the course of the four-day Easter weekend with doctors working for an out-of-hours GP service.

As a report published today found there had been a "major systems failure" in the care offered to her, Miss Campbell's partner described the service as an "accident waiting to happen".

He said the failings were the result of people being told to make "ridiculous changes that should never have been implemented in the first place".

"That created situations where safety was compromised and the whole system became an accident waiting to happen," added Mr MacKinnon, also a journalist, who is pursing a civil action over the case.

"The doctors also underperformed and should have compensated for the system. They have individual responsibilities for that."

An investigation into Miss Campbell's death found that she was not offered appropriate care as a result of the actions of a GP and because of problems in how the out-of-hours service was run. "

Many doctors. like these doctors, fail to recognise the seriousness of a patient's condition, especially if the patient is a woman. I regard this case as a glaring example of medical negligence. - Fortunately this particular case, unlike most instances of medical negligence, is receiving the oxygen of publicity.

Pregnant women or those trying to conceive should not drink any alcohol at all, the Department of Health says today.

Pregnant women told to stop drinking - Telegraph

Extract:

"Pregnant women or those trying to conceive should not drink any alcohol at all, the Department of Health says today.

Previously, government advice had been that pregnant women should consume no more than one or two units - two glasses of wine or one pint of beer - once or twice a week.

The Department of Health wants its new "abstinence" policy to appear on alcohol packaging and labels.

The sudden turnaround comes amid concerns that women are either ignoring previous advice that they could consume a little, have various ideas of what "a little" is, or are being told different things in different parts of the UK."

If this advice is taken it will also help the pregnant mother to avoid getting high blood pressure problems.

Pregnant women can avoid excess weight gain and further protect the health of the unborn baby by avoiding eating salt and salty food during pregnancy, because during pregnancy they are vulnerable to salt. - See http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/pregnant_mothers.html

Lose weight by eating less salt! Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!
See my website www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk
(The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

Fake batches of Eli Lilly drug Zyprexa found in UK

Fake batches of Eli Lilly drug Zyprexa found in UK - Yahoo News

Extract:

"Initial laboratory tests on the seized counterfeits have found they contain around 60 percent of the labelled active ingredient. Work is still continuing to find out if there are any additional ingredients that could be harmful, although there is no evidence yet of any adverse patient reactions."

No evidence yet of adverse patient reactions? - NOT LIKE THE REAL ZYPREXA THEN!

See http://www.drugs.com/zyprexa.html and http://zyprexa.pbwiki.com/ and loads of other stuff on the internet.

Prescription drugs are dangerous. Avoid them if you can...

Improve your health by eating less salt! Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better! See my website www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk (The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

Extortionate charges by some NHS dentists

A shocking investigation into extortionate charges by NHS dentists - Independent

Breastfeeding - here's another reason that it is good for your baby.

There are many reasons why, if you are able to manage it, breastfeeding is best for your baby. Here is a reason you probably do not know about. - Human breast milk is very low in salt/sodium.

A low sodium intake at the beginning of a baby's life helps to protect the baby from becoming obese. The longer you continue to breastfeed, the better the protection from obesity and the stronger your baby's blood vessels will be. - six months would be good; longer still would be better still. - A low salt intake is best for mothers too...(o:

Read about the damaging effect (obesity) of high sodium intake on children on my webpage http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/children.html

Lose weight by eating less salt! Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!
See my website www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk
(The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

WeightWatchers? - Their suggestions for sandwich fillings don't look very healthy to me! - Nor are those sandwiches likely to help you lose weight!

This is the webpage I've been looking at - http://www.weightwatchers.co.uk/util/art/index_art.aspx?art_id=30171&tabnum=1&sc=3023&subnav=What%e2%80%99s+Cooking

If you look at it, you will see that the suggested fillings tend to have half a teaspoon of salt added...)o: - That's a LOT of salt! - And that's salt in addition to the salt in the bread of the sandwiches, and most bread is highly salted. - And also, in the sandwiches containing olives, the olives suggested are "brine-cured" - that's even more high salt stuff!

WHAT VERY, VERY UNHEALTHY SANDWICHES! - Unless, of course, you're not bothered about developing high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes, risking a stroke, having a heart attack, etc...

And you certainly won't lose weight eating high salt meals like that!

If you are overweight or obese, it is because you are sensitive to salt and have developed fluid retention. - The way to reduce the fluid retention is to reduce your salt/sodium intake. You will then lose some of the excess fluid by excreting it in your urine and you will, of course, lose weight by losing that excess fluid. - It is a very easy, fast and safe way to lose excess weight and you don't need to go to the expense of attending 'slimming' classes to do it...(o:

Lose weight by eating less salt! Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!
See my website www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk and http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/sodium_foods.html
(The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

Working out at the gym is good for pensioners' muscles.

Working out at the gym 'may reverse ageing' - Telegraph

Extract:

"Working out at the gym can reverse the ageing process in the muscles of pensioners, a study has shown.

Scientists in Canada studied a group of 25 pensioners, with an average age of 70. Not only did they get stronger, but the molecular machinery powering their muscles became as active as those found in much younger people."


Lose weight by eating less salt! Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!
See my website www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk
(The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

I was horrified to see on TV the poor hygiene and the falsifying of the dates on out-of-date food in two Tesco and Sainsbury's supermarkets...)o:

I watched the BBC TV whistleblower programme last evening. It was about unhygienic practices in a Tesco supermarket and a Sainsbury's supermarket, and also unhygienic practices at a Ready Meals supplier. The bad practice was observed and recorded by undercover reporters working as supermarket staff.

I already do not buy/eat ready meals (because they are high in salt), but if I did, this programme would have put me off forever, 'cos I'm not keen on catching salmonella...)o: - But also, the 'fresh' meat and 'fresh' fish being sold in these particular supermarkets could clearly not be trusted actually to be fresh, because sell by dates were being falsified...

You can read an account by one of the undercover journalists here - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6676345.stm and you can view the programme online from a link on that webpage for a week following programme transmission, which was Tuesday 22nd May.


Lose weight by eating less salt! Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!
See my website www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk
(The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

Techniques by which you can feel better and happier.

Smiles better - Guardian

"Marc Leverton reports on the doctor who wants fellow medics to embrace happiness and the techniques by which it can be harnessed."

Interesting article.

Remember, if you are depressed, MIND, the respected mental health charity, has found that a walk in the country will probably make you feel better and works better than antidepressants.

You will also feel better and happier is you reduce your salt intake. - See http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/conditions.html

Lose weight by eating less salt! Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!
See my website www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk
(The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

Avandia is suspected of increasing risk of heart attacks.

Health alert over diabetes drug linked to heart risks - Guardian

Extract:

"A review of the safety of a diabetes drug used by millions of patients was launched in America last night after a study linked it to an increased risk of heart attacks.

Patients using Avandia, the brand name given by GlaxoSmithKline to rosiglitazone, ran a 45% higher risk of a heart attack than those using a placebo or alternative treatment, according to the results of the study published in a leading medical journal.

The US regulator the food and drug administration (FDA) responded by issuing a formal alert to doctors. And congressional leaders in Washington announced that the House oversight committee would hold hearings on GSK's handling of the drug next month.

GSK, the UK's leading pharmaceutical company, disputed the study's findings, arguing it was based on "incomplete evidence and a methodology that the author admits has significant limitations".

Avandia has been taken by more than 6 million people worldwide since it was licensed eight years ago. The drug is one of a group that lower blood glucose levels for people with type 2 diabetes - the late onset form of the disease which is linked to obesity. The FDA warned doctors to be aware of the study published online by the New England Journal of Medicine linking it to heart disease. "

Pharmaceuticals usually carry risks...)o: - You can reduce your risk of developing type 2 diabetes by eating less salt/sodium. And if you already have type 2 diabetes, you can improve your condition by eating less salt/sodium.

Lose weight by eating less salt! Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!
See my website www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk
(The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

Pharmaceutical companies, aligned with patient groups they give funds to, want to be able to advertise their drugs directly to the public in Europe.

Drug firms and patient groups join in fight to overturn advertising ban - Guardian

Further about pharmaceutical companies wanting to advertise their drugs directly to the public in Europe.

Extracts:

"Drug companies in Europe, faced with declining sales and a shortage of new products, appear to be making ground in their attempt to enlist a major new ally in their struggle for profits - the patient.

Sales soared in the US after companies were allowed to advertise their prescription medicines on TV and radio and in magazines and newspapers. Patients in America began demanding more drugs and specific, expensive brand-name drugs from their doctors. Now the firms want to target the UK in the same way, and are strongly challenging a ban on direct consumer advertising in the EU.

This has been tried before. In 2002, there was an attempt to persuade the European parliament to allow companies to launch "disease awareness campaigns", which critics believed would encourage people to believe they were sick and lead to demand for new drugs from doctors.

Then, as now, industry was aligned with certain patient groups which it funds."

"The European parliament refused to weaken the advertising rules five years ago. But the industry, with the backing of drug company-funded patient groups and a few vocal MEPs, has again succeeded in persuading the European commission that the rules need reform, and it is now discussing how this could be done."

"Recent scandals, such as the heart deaths linked to the arthritis painkiller Vioxx, "are potent reminders that pharmaceutical companies often minimise or even fail to disclose adverse effects", they said.

"In a fiercely competitive marketplace, pharmaceutical manufacturers naturally have an obligation to their shareholders to realise profits from sales. They must therefore promote their own drugs rather than other preventative or treatment options. As a result, pharmaceutical companies are utterly incapable of providing the reliable comparative information needed by patients.""

"GAMIAN-Europe

The Global Alliance of Mental Illness Advocacy Networks was founded by the drug company Bristol Myers Squibb in March 1997, bringing together 12 organisations including Depression Alliance from the UK. GAMIAN-Europe, registered in Belgium, does not detail its funding on its website, apart from acknowledging drug company grants for specific projects. It told the Guardian that nearly half (45%) of its €234,000 (£160,000) income in 2006 came from Eli Lilly, manufacturers of Prozac. Other antidepressant makers also contributed. Lundbeck sponsorship was 26% of the group's income, Pfizer 11%, GlaxoSmithKline 6% and Wyeth 1%. Just 2% came from membership subscriptions."


Lose weight, lower your blood pressure and lower your risk of developing cancer and other illnesses by eating less salt! - Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!
See my website www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk
(The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

Coming soon: the shopping channel run by drug firms - Guardian

What a truly horrifying prospect! - Drug companies cannot be trusted to tell the truth...)o: And pharmaceutical drugs cause very great harm because of dangerous side-effects and because of reckless prescribing or wrong administration.

See http://aboutsalt.blogspot.com/search/label/Pharmaceutical%20industry and http://aboutsalt.blogspot.com/search/label/Pharmaceutical%20companies and http://aboutsalt.blogspot.com/2007/05/nhs-hospital-patients-dying-as-10000.html and http://aboutsalt.blogspot.com/search/label/Steroid%20Victims

Extract from the Guardian article:

"Four of the world's biggest pharmaceutical companies are proposing to launch a television station to tell the public about their drugs, amid strenuous lobbying across Europe by the industry for an end to restrictions aimed at protecting patients. Pharma TV would be a dedicated interactive digital channel funded by the industry with health news and features but, at its heart, would be detailed information from drug companies about their medicines.

A 10-minute pilot DVD, seen by the Guardian, featured a white-coated doctor discussing breast cancer and a woman patient who reassured viewers that "there are many new treatments available". Under the proposals, viewers could use their remote control to click on treatment options and read what manufacturers have to say about the latest branded breast cancer drugs.

Four companies, Johnson and Johnson, Pfizer, Novartis and Procter and Gamble, are behind the pilot, which they are offering to the European commission as a way to give patients more information. The commission is consulting on potential changes to the regulations that ban all direct-to-consumer advertising of medicinal drugs.

The industry has been lobbying in Europe to be allowed direct access to patients. It argues that lifting restrictions would help its competitiveness and has hinted that companies may relocate to the US, where they can advertise to patients who then demand drugs from their doctors. Profits have soared there as a result.

The proposed change in the rules is being led within the commission by its trade arm, DG Enterprise, and not health, DG Sanco. It is backed by a number of influential patient groups that are themselves heavily funded by drug companies. But consumer organisations are opposed, warning that the companies will play down risk, and that their real interest lies in boosting profits.

The International Society of Drug Bulletins (ISDB) - consumer publications which analyse the benefits of drugs and draw comparisons between them - warns that the industry is not a reliable source of trustworthy information.

The US and New Zealand allow drug companies to advertise to the public; the ISDB says in both these countries this has been shown to be detrimental to health.

"Pharmaceutical companies' messages are focused on relatively few top sellers, exaggerating effects and concealing risks, confusing patients and putting pressure on doctors to prescribe drugs they would not use otherwise," it says. "Lack of comparative information in advertising means people cannot choose among several options." Johnson & Johnson presented the companies' proposals to a meeting in Brussels of the Centre for Health, Ethics and Society, a thinktank which describes itself as "developed in partnership with Johnson & Johnson". The audience comprised members of the commission, patient groups and others."

Mental health problems lead to a sick man killing himself while in jail.

Did my sick husband have to die in jail? - Guardian

Extract:

"To Alan Mullin's family, the irony was cruel. Famous as one of Scotland's leading mountaineers, Mullin was now spending days and nights on end in front of a computer screen, his mind spinning out of control. Having taken on some of the toughest winter climbs in the world, he found himself exploring the peaks and depths of his own mind, looking for answers in cyberspace.

In the two-and-a-half years since Alan was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, his wife, Marion, felt they had managed to cope. But last January his condition worsened. Increasingly desperate, Marion Mullin reached out for help. The consequences of that decision will, she says, haunt her for the rest of her life.

Within days, Alan Mullin had hanged himself in his cell while on remand in Porterfield Prison in Inverness for a breach of the peace.

Marion Mullin is angry and bitter about the way her husband was treated. He was, she says, a danger only to himself. She wants an explanation for why a man who was delusional and had attempted suicide several times was in prison rather than in hospital.

She also fears that the new Mental Health Bill will make the situation of patients such as her husband worse, not better. The bill, which is being debated in parliament, is criticised by doctors and mental health charities for failing to meet the real needs of the mentally ill."

Soaring obesity rates have lumbered Britain with a "cancer time bomb", warns an expert.

Britain's obesity epidemic has created 'cancer time bomb' - Independent

Extract:

"Soaring obesity rates have lumbered Britain with a "cancer time bomb" which, combined with an ageing population, will cause a massive increase in cases unless urgent action is taken, an expert has warned.

Research has shown up to 40 per cent of cancers, particularly hormone-sensitive types such as breast and endometrial cancer (affecting the womb lining), can be prevented by adopting a healthy diet and taking regular exercise, said Dr Greg Martin, science and research manager at the World Cancer Research Fund. Obesity was also associated with cancer of the oesophagus and bowel, said Dr Martin.

"There has been plenty of attention recently on the problems of obesity, but a lot of people still do not realise how closely obesity is linked to cancer," he said. "People getting fatter will lead to an increase in the number of cancer cases as surely as night follows day.

Dr Martin, who was speaking at the start of his charity's Cancer Prevention Week, added: "You also have to add into the mix that cancer is largely an older person's disease, and the UK has an ageing population. So if you have an ageing population that is getting more obese, there could be really serious consequences in terms of the number of people getting cancer if people do not act now. It's a cancer time bomb."

Although the biological mechanics connecting obesity and cancer were far from clear, he said, adipose tissue, which makes up the rolls of fat that form around the belly, was not inert but produced oestrogen. The hormone is known to fuel certain cancers. For people with oesophagus cancer, which is especially deadly, obesity may increase acid reflux which in turn raises the risk of cancer."

It is correct that there is a connection between obesity and several cancers, and it is correct that this is not widely realised. - What is even less widely realised though, even by this expert, Dr Martin, is that obesity is caused by fluid retention and that this can be lessened by reducing sodium intake and increasing potassium intake, which means, in practical terms, eating less salt and salty food, and eating more fruit and fresh vegetables. Exercise does not help to reduce obesity, nor does portion control.

Lose weight (and reduce your risk of developing cancer) by eating less salt! Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!
See my website www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk
(The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

Are baby monitoring devices harming babies with radiation?

Radiation from baby monitors 'poses risk' - Independent on Sunday

Extract:

"Baby monitors, bought by parents to keep their children safe, may instead be harming them, some scientists fear. They warn that the devices are bathing the infants in radiation at an age when they are most vulnerable to it.

The radiation, similar to that given off by modern cordless phones, is part of the increasing electronic smog to which mobile phones, their masts and Wi-Fi systems also contribute. The monitors use the same digitally enhanced cordless telecommunication (Dect) technology as cordless phones.

Over recent weeks The Independent on Sunday has exclusively reported growing concern that the smog may be damaging human health. The paper reported that Sir William Stewart, chairman of the Health Protection Agency, has been privately pressing an investigation into the effects on children of installing Wi-Fi networks in schools.

Baby monitors are typically placed close to infants, who are particularly at risk from radiation. An inquiry by Sir William into mobile phones seven years ago reported that a one-year-old child could absorb about twice as much per kilogram of body weight as an adult.

Babies are especially vulnerable because their bodies and nervous systems are still developing and because they will have more time to accumulate exposure to the radiation and for any delayed effects to develop.

Professor Denis Henshaw of the University of Bristol said the monitors are "being marketed without any checks and balances or even studies into their effects"."

NHS Robot Nurses! - Whatever next!

NHS staff shortages? Call Robo-nurse! - Independent on Sunday

Extract:

"Nurses, those caring people who have pulled many a patient back from the brink with their expertise, brow-wiping and tender words, are likely to be replaced soon by yards of wiring, transistors, hydraulics, a motherboard and light-emitting diodes. Enter the Robo-nurse.

Scientists have been developing robots to treat patients and ease staff shortages. This week ministers will announce plans to develop robotic "medical assistants". In trials, robots that check patients' ID tags and give them their drugs have cut down dispensing errors. Experts believe they could soon be taking patients' temperatures, helping to clean and even carrying out consultations with doctors via video-link."


Lose weight by eating less salt! Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!
See my website www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk
(The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

House of Lords will shame MPs over Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill.

Lords to shame MPs over secrecy bill - The Observer

Extract:

"Members of Parliament who voted to remove themselves from anti-secrecy laws are to be 'put to shame' by peers gearing up to block a similar move for the House of Lords.

The radical action being discussed by peers across the political divide would result in the bizarre situation in which the public could find out about a member of the Lords' expenses, but not those of their local MPs.

Anger was mounting about the methods used to push the controversial Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill through from the Commons on Friday night. It had the tacit backing of Gordon Brown and his supporters, who rejected calls to block the proposals."

More about the HIV and hepatitis C blood contamination scandal. - You can't trust Downing St on matters of health and gross NHS negligence.

Number 10 hiding blood scandal facts - The Observer

Extract:

"An independent public inquiry into how thousands of haemophiliacs contracted HIV or hepatitis C from contaminated blood discovered last night that Downing Street is withholding crucial information about how hundreds of relevant documents were shredded.

More than 1,700 patients died and many more are now terminally ill as a result of one of the biggest medical disasters of recent times, when haemophiliacs were given infected blood clotting products during the late Seventies and early Eighties. The products came from American prisoners who were allowed to sell their blood even though there were fears about the risks of contamination.

But it has since emerged that many of the files detailing the scandal were shredded by civil servants in the Nineties. This week, the second hearing of the contaminated blood inquiry, chaired by the former Solicitor-General, Lord Archer of Sandwell, will ask why the results of an internal inquiry into the destruction of crucial files are being withheld.

Jenny Willott, Liberal Democrat MP for Cardiff Central, has discovered that Downing Street is holding back the report, carried out by the Department of Health in 2000, when Alan Milburn was Health Secretary. Some of the destroyed documents detailed meetings between the blood transfusion service, health boards, government officials and consultants during the Seventies and Eighties. The records also contained information on when precisely the government became aware of the risks from imported blood and what measures were taken to warn patients.

The Haemophilia Society said last night that Downing Street's decision was 'incomprehensible, given the public interest'. In 1989, the society brought legal action on behalf of thousands of patients who had become infected with HIV after being given the clotting product Factor 8. Haemophilia is a rare hereditary condition in which the blood does not clot properly. British doctors used the American products despite some senior scientists knowing that there was a risk. Compensation was then agreed with the Tory government in 1990 and thousands of patients received one-off payments of between £21,000 and £80,000.

However, it then transpired that hundreds of documents relating to the case were shredded, allegedly by accident, by junior civil servants. It is now known that there were two separate instances of documents being destroyed, or mislaid, at some point between 1990 and 1998. Some copies of documents had been made by a solicitor's firm, and these were returned to the government, but others are thought to have been lost forever. The total number of destroyed documents is not known. In 2000, the Department of Health held the audit but it was never published."

Read even more about the COLOSSAL negligence of the Department of Health and the Chief Medical Officer in the early 90s, (actually Kenneth Calman) here http://aboutsalt.blogspot.com/search/label/Kenneth%20Calman and here http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/story.html

NHS hospital patients dying as 10,000 injections are bungled...

Patients dying as 10,000 injections bungled - Sunday Telegraph

Extracts:

"Hospitals across Britain have been ordered to review how drugs are given to patients after figures revealed that almost 10,000 injections are bungled each year.

Mistakes led to the deaths of 25 patients and harmed more than 3,000 between January 2005 and June 2006, a study found.

In all, 14,000 errors were discovered during the 18 months assessed by the National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA), a watchdog created to advise the NHS on safety matters.

Most involved administering wrong dosages. Other errors included injecting drugs into the wrong part of the patient's body, incorrectly formulating medicine, wrongly storing products, giving patients drugs to which they were allergic or failing to administer prescribed drugs. As a result, the NPSA has told all hospitals to carry out a risk assessment of the products they use and ordered them not to skimp on safety on the grounds of cost."

"Six years ago, Wayne Jowett, a teenager, died in agony after the highly toxic drug vincristine was injected into his spine when it should have been injected into a vein. The lethal blunder came when two chemotherapy drugs stored in similar syringes were mixed up.

The 18-year-old, who was in remission from leukaemia, suffered irreparable nerve damage, causing excruciating pain, followed by creeping paralysis and organ failure.

His father, also called Wayne, who has campaigned for the development of a new type of connector that would make it impossible to pump drugs intended for the veins into the spine, said that neither the NPSA alert nor the pilot schemes went far enough. Mr Jowett, 47, from Nottingham, said: "We don't think enough has been done. We are just waiting for a case like Wayne's to happen again.""

Australian pensioners are creating an unlikely crime wave by manufacturing a banned barbiturate in crude back-yard drug factories...

Pensioners defy death drug laws - Sunday Telegraph

Extract:

"Australian pensioners are creating an unlikely crime wave by manufacturing a banned barbiturate in crude back-yard drug factories to ensure that they can have peaceful deaths.

The pensioners are also resorting to smuggling to obtain Nembutal, a powerful veterinary sedative which is illegal for human use in Australia. It is considered the most effective euthanasia drug available, and those found possessing it face a two-year jail term.

According to Exit International, the voluntary euthanasia organisation, about 120 elderly Australians have travelled to Mexico since last year to buy a lethal dose of Nembutal, disguising it as another form of medication or secreting it among their possessions to evade detection.

Another group set up a makeshift laboratory in a tent in a supporter's back garden in rural New South Wales. After 18 months and numerous failed attempts, they succeeded in making a substance with similar properties to Nembutal."


Lower your blood pressure and lose weight by eating less salt! Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!
See my website www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk
(The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

A woman with severe arthritis and osteoporosis spent the night on a hospital car park bench after the doctor told her to leave as there were no beds.

A&E patient 'forced to sleep in car park' - Guardian

Extract:

"A woman with severe arthritis and osteoporosis spent the night on a hospital car park bench after casualty staff told her to leave because there were not enough beds available.

Evelyn Beale, 61, from Lydney, Gloucestershire, was taken to the accident and emergency ward at Gloucestershire Royal hospital by ambulance on April 28 after a fall. Complaining of agonising pain in her back and neck she was given some painkillers by her doctor who then told her there was little he could do because her pain was part of ongoing medical problems.

"He said there were no beds available anyway so he discharged me and told me I could go home," Miss Beale said. "I said I couldn't because I had no money with me and I was only wearing a pair of half-length trousers, a thin top and a very thin coat. I had nothing on my feet."

Despite asking instead if she could stay in the waiting room until someone could come and collect her as she couldn't afford the £40 taxi fare, she was discharged at 2:30am. Miss Beale, who has no family, then spent six hours on a bench in the hospital grounds before walking into the city in her hospital slippers.

"I was frozen and terrified every time someone went by," she said. "They just wanted to get rid of me. It was the one place you would think they would look after you if you were sick, but they couldn't care less ...

"I couldn't walk properly, I was in so much pain. I was stumbling around. People thought I was drunk. I came across a bench and felt quite poorly. I thought 'I'm going to have to lie down'. It was so cold.""

Beggars belief, doesn't it? - But all too often patients on their own find that: "It was the one place you would think they would look after you if you were sick, but they couldn't care less ... "

I consider this medical negligence and that a doctor so lacking in sense and in compassion should not be practising as a doctor. He is clearly a danger to patients.

A new study will investigate possible links between diet and Alzheimer's disease.

Scientists to probe Alzheimer's link to diet - Telegraph

Extract:

"A new study will investigate possible links between diet and Alzheimer's disease.

The Alzheimer's Society will carry out research to look at the side effects of food and drink such as fruit juice, red wine and oily fish on the incidence of the disease.

It will analyse new and existing data to discover if a "Mediterranean style" diet could reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer's.

The BBC reports that the charity predicts dementia will affect almost one million people by 2020.

The Mediterranean diet - rich in fruit, vegetables and cereals with some fish and alcohol and very little dairy and meat - has been generally viewed as good for health for some time. "

I invite you to consider the following: - according to the Alzheimer's Society, Alzheimer's disease is multifactorial, and they say, "Research has also shown that people who smoke and those who have high blood pressure or high cholesterol levels increase their risk of developing Alzheimer's." (See page on Alzheimer's Society website)

Now set aside smoking, and consider just "high blood pressure or high cholesterol levels." - Both of these conditions are mainly caused/initiated by salt sensitivity and can easily be lowered by minimising intake of salt and salty food and making sure to eat plenty of food cooked from fresh (as opposed to processed food), including plenty of fruit and vegetables.

Now consider the second most common form of dementia after Alzheimer's disease - vascular dementia. The Alzheimer's Society's website tells us: "There are a number of conditions that can cause or increase damage to the vascular system. These include high blood pressure, heart problems, high cholesterol and diabetes. It is therefore important that these conditions are identified and treated at the earliest opportunity. "

Well, all of "high blood pressure, heart problems, high cholesterol and [type 2]diabetes" are principally caused/initiated by salt sensitivity and can easily and swiftly be improved by minimising intake of salt and salty food.

So you can lower your risk of developing Alzheimer's disease or vascular dementia (as well as many other illnesses and degenerative conditions) by restricting the amount of salt and salty food you eat. If you already have these illnesses, you can slow their progress by eating less salt and making sure to eat plenty of food cooked from fresh (as opposed to processed food), including plenty of fruit and vegetables.

The most important thing is the salt reduction.

You can read further and with more explanation and suggestions on my website http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/ (The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)
I hope you will also look at some of the other pages on my website, such as conditions often associated with salt sensitivity and my Mensa article Obesity and the Salt Connection

Patricia Hewitt is accused of misleading Parliament over junior doctors fiasco.

Hewitt 'misled MPs' on junior doctor fiasco - Telegraph

Extract:

"Patricia Hewitt, the Health Secretary, was accused last night of misleading Parliament by concealing the true scale of the problems that have crippled the online recruitment system for junior doctors.

In an emergency statement to the Commons this week, Miss Hewitt said she had jettisoned the system in response to the concerns of junior doctors and recent security breaches. But legal documents drawn up by the Department of Health disclose that fundamental flaws with the system's software means it does not work properly and is not allocating jobs to the best candidates as expected - an issue she failed to mention in the Commons on Wednesday.
In a document submitted to the High Court on the same day as her statement, Nicholas Greenfield, the Department of Health's director of workforce, spelt out the system's failings and even described the software used to allocate posts as a "work in progress".
He said Beverley Bryant, the Department's head of information services, warned last month that any attempt to overhaul the system could prove "fatal to the programme".


Lose weight by eating less salt! Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!
See my website www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk
(The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

"Functional foods" may not be all they are cracked up to be...

Boasts of 'functional foods' ought to be taken with a pinch of salt - Independent

Extract:

"So-called "functional foods", containing added ingredients claimed to be good for health, are increasing in popularity. Consumers have been persuaded that additives can be good for them as well as bad.

Margarines that reduce cholesterol, yogurts to improve digestion and sports drinks that boost energy are among the top sellers.

But researchers warn today that the medicinal effect of the foods, also known as nutraceuticals, could rebound to produce unexpected side effects. They are banned in some parts of the world because of the risks.

Walk down any supermarket aisle and you will see omega-3 fortified eggs, probiotic yogurt drinks, sleep-inducing milk, and selenium-enriched bread.

New functional foods due for launch include the first cosmetic yogurt, made by a French manufacturer, which it is claimed will "nourish the skin from the inside". Cola drinks are planned with added vitamins and minerals. Mineral waters with added vitamins already sell well in the US.

A one-shot drink claimed to aid slimming which contains an extract of pine nuts containing hormones that increase feelings of fullness is already on sale in the UK.

But the new foods and their added medicinal ingredients are not being monitored in the same way as the launch of a new drug.

Even data on their sales is limited. Dutch researchers from the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment in Bilthoven, who are experts in the post-launch monitoring of functional foods, say in one three-month period from January to April 2005, 200 new products were launched in the UK."

The cheapest, safest, most reliable and fastest way to improve your health is to stop eating salt and salty food...(o:

Lose weight and improve your health by eating less salt! Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!
See my website www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk
(The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

GPs could save £85m by more systematic prescribing of lower cost, generic forms of more-expensive brand-name drugs according to National Audit Office.

GPs waste £85m a year by prescribing expensive drugs - Independent

Extract:

"GPs could save £85m by more systematic prescribing of lower cost, generic forms of more-expensive brand-name drugs, according to the report by the National Audit Office (NAO).

However, more savings could be made by reducing the number of drugs prescribed each time by the GPs and by keeping abreast of the cheaper drugs available to treat the same conditions, said the report.

"We found that drugs wastage is a significant cost for the NHS: at least £100m a year, and perhaps considerably more than this," the report added.

The findings could see Gordon Brown order a renewed drive to reduce the NHS drugs bill, which is up to £22m a day for prescriptions in primary care alone, excluding hospitals. The NAO said the Department of Health should carry out a survey of residual drugs including those left in medicine cabinets for a more accurate estimate of the scale of medicines wastage.

One of the problems in tackling the waste on drugs, highlighted in the report, was the influence of the drug companies on GPs through their use of marketing. They are investing £850m a year on pushing products to doctors. GPs, surveyed by the NAO, said it was difficult to assimilate all the information they received on prescribing, and many were influenced by what the drug companies told them."


Lose weight by eating less salt! Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!
See my website www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk
(The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

Rebecca Riley - a four year old - has died because of medication prescribed for "a bipolar personality"...)o:

Bipolar children - is the US overdiagnosing? - New Scientist

Extract:

"Rebecca Riley seemed a normal, playful young child, if at times a little boisterous. Then, aged 2, she was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and at 3 as having a bipolar personality. By the age of 4, Rebecca was dead, killed by an overdose of the drug clonidine, which was being used to treat her condition. She was also taking the anti-convulsant Depakote (valproate) and the anti-psychotic Seroquel (quetiapine fumarate) to stabilise her mood."

I believe it is foolhardy and indefensible to give psychotropic drugs to children, especially to such a young child as this. Children should be protected BY LAW from being prescribed these drugs. Prescription drugs are potentially very harmful, particularly to children. And attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is not a real disease, of course, only a putative disease. - This poor child was given THREE dangerous drugs, apparently all at the same time. - Giving more than one dangerous drug at the same time potentiates the risk...)o:

Is peanut allergy misdiagnosed in a lot of children?

Peanut allergy is misdiagnosed in many children - New Scientist

Extract:

"Many children are erroneously told they have a peanut allergy because the standard skin-prick test is not accurate enough, a new study suggests."

The health secretary, Patricia Hewitt, faced fresh calls to resign over MTAS.

Hewitt branded 'incompetent' in junior doctors row - Guardian

IT delays are 'endangering patients', it is thought.

IT delays 'endangering patients' - Guardian

Extract:

"Patient safety across the NHS in England is being put at risk by long delays in a £12bn programme to modernise IT systems, according to a study of opinion among senior managers reported today by the British Medical Journal.

The study found that hospitals were left relying on outdated patient information systems and some were considering buying interim programmes while they wait for the agency responsible for IT procurement, Connecting for Health, to deliver on its promises."


Lose weight by eating less salt! Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!
See my website www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk
(The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

Older people are often denied medical treatment because of age discrimination.

Medical treatment 'denied to older people' - Telegraph

Extract:

"The report "Age of equality? Outlawing age discrimination beyond the work place" said these in-built discriminatory regulations, as well as unfair practices and ageist attitudes, meant older people often receive reduced care.

Calling for legislation to promote equality, Gordon Lishman, the director general of Age Concern, said: "Older people can be openly and unfairly discriminated against because of their age. It means they can be denied life-saving or life-enhancing treatment.""

You can reduce your risk of obesity, hypertension, stroke, type 2 diabetes, most cancers, osteoporosis and many other illnesses and degenerative conditions by eating less salt.

Lose weight by eating less salt! Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!
See my website www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk
(The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)