Archive for the ‘Alternative Science’ Category

via Jo Nova

by Jonathan Benson, NaturalNews

Exposure among amphibians and other vertebrate animals to Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide has been shown, for the very first time, to actually induce physical changes to the shapes of these animals’ bodies. Published in the journalEcological Applications, the new study reveals once again the incredible hormone-altering power of Roundup, and how even minute exposure to this highly-toxic chemical brew can have disastrous health consequences.

In their natural environment, tadpoles, which are just amphibians in the larval stage of their life cycle, have a natural ability to detect the presence of predators and respond accordingly. In order to avoid insect predators, for instance, tadpoles can actually develop deeper or longer tails in order to swim away from them faster, which helps ensure their survival (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10862727).

But it appears as though Roundup, which has already been shown in other studies to be highly pervasive throughout the environment (http://www.naturalnews.com/033699_Roundup_pollution.html), induces these very same physical changes. And when exposed to both Roundup and natural predators, tadpoles will develop grossly large tails that are much larger than normal, which is likely the result of both the tadpoles’ detection of Roundup, and Roundup’s ability to chemically-induce hormonal changes.

“What shocked us was that the Roundup induced the same changes,” said Rick Relyea, a professor of biological sciences at theUniversity of Pittsburgh‘s (Pitt)Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciencesand director of Pitt’sPymatuning Laboratory of Ecology, referring to changes in the tadpoles’ tails that caused them to actually become twice as large as normal.

“This discovery highlights the fact that pesticides [...] can have unintended consequences for species that are not the pesticides’ target. [W]e are learning that [pesticides and herbicides] can have a wide range of surprising effects by altering how hormones work in the bodies of animals.”

For his study, Relyea examined how tadpoles living in water tanks respond to varying exposures of Roundup, as well as to predators. And his findings revealed that Roundup visibly alters tadpoles’ stress hormones, which appears to coincide with an earlier study that revealed Roundup-induced hormonal changes in humans (http://www.naturalnews.com/035135_Roundup_herbicide_testosterone.html).

Meanwhile, more than a dozen Argentinian farmers have filed a lawsuit against Monsanto, creator of Roundup, and several tobacco companies for allegedly knowingly poisoning them with Roundup and other pesticide and herbicide chemicals. According to the filing, Monsanto’s pesticides and herbicides caused the farmers’ children to be born with “devastating birth defects” (http://www.courthousenews.com/2012/04/10/45469.htm).

Sources for this article include:

http://www.news.pitt.edu/Pesticides_MOrph

Learn more:http://www.naturalnews.com/035533_Roundup_amphibians_deformities.html#ixzz1rrP3rtyc

by Tony Isaacs, NaturalNews

In a groundbreaking new study just published in the peer reviewed journalStem Cells, researchers at UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center Department of Oncology found that, despite killing half of all tumor cells per treatment, radiation treatments on breast cancer transforms other cancer cells into cancer stem cells which are vastly more treatment-resistant than normal cancer cells. The new study is yet another blow to the failed and favored mainstream treatment paradigm of trying to cut out, poison out or burn out cancer symptoms (tumors) instead of actually curing cancer.

Senior study author Dr. Frank Pajonk, associate professor of radiation oncology at the Jonsson Center, reported that induced breast cancer stem cells (iBCSC) “were generated by radiation-induced activation of the same cellular pathways used to reprogram normal cells into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS) in regenerative medicine.” Pjonk, who is also a scientist with the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine at UCLA, added “It was remarkable that these breast cancers used the same reprogramming pathways to fight back against the radiation treatment.”

In the new study, Pajonk and his team irradiated normal non-stem cell cancer cells and placed them into mice. Through a unique imaging system, the researchers observed the cells differentiate into iBCSC in response to radiation treatments. Pjonk reported that the newly generated cells were remarkably similar to non-irradiated breast cancer stem cells. The team of researchers also found that the radiation-induced stem cells had a more than 30-fold increased ability to form tumors compared with non-irradiated breast cancer cells.

Despite mounting evidence, mainstream medicine clings to surgery, chemo and radiation and ignores natural solutions

Despite all the billions of dollars spent on cancer, the 40 year “war on cancer” has been a losing one by any honest evaluation. One hundred years ago, anywhere from 1 in 50 to perhaps 1 in 100 people could be expected to develop cancer. Now it is estimated that 1 in every 2 men and 1 in every 3 women will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetimes. Despite more people around the world developing cancer and dying from cancer every year, mainstream medicine continues to cling to failed treatments which more often than not fail to eliminate the cancer and help cancer spread and return more aggressively than ever. Notably, two of the three major mainstream cancer treatments – radiation and chemo – are themselves highly carcinogenic.

One might think that the new study provided ample reasons to rethink using radiation. However, the study authors looked at the results as an opportunity to continue and enhance the use of radiation by finding ways to control the cell differentiation. What the scientists failed to note is that natural alternatives have already been found which prevent the development of cancer stem cells.

As just one example, Natural News reported in May 2010 that a University of Michigan study had found a compound in broccoli and broccoli sprouts which had the ability to target cancer stem cells. See:

http://www.naturalnews.com/028822_broccoli_breast_cancer.html

The researchers failed to note how cancer cells fought against unnatural treatments. They also failed to take into account the mounting evidence that the best way to beat cancer as well as avoid it is to build and enhance our natural first line of defense – our immune system.

The safest and most effective way to enhance the natural immune system and fight cancer in general is by working with nature. It is also by far the least expensive way, and therein likely lies the rub. You can’t patent and profit from nature like you can with mainstream drugs and treatments.

Note: Neither NaturalNews nor this author condone the inhumane use of animals in medical studies.

Other sources included:

www.cancer.ucla.edu/Index.aspx?page=644
www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120213185115.htm
www.naturalnews.com/cancer_cells.html
www.naturalnews.com/stem_cells.html

About the author:
Tony Isaacs, is a natural health author, advocate and researcher who hostsThe Best Years in Lifewebsite for those who wish to avoid prescription drugs and mainstream managed illness and live longer, healthier and happier lives naturally. Mr. Isaacs is the author of books and articles about natural health, longevity and beating cancer including “Cancer’s Natural Enemy” and is working on a major book project due to be published later this year. He is also a contributing author for the worldwide advocacy group “S.A N.E.Vax. Inc” which endeavors to uncover the truth about HPV vaccine dangers.

Mr. Isaacs is currently residing in scenic East Texas and frequently commutes to the even more scenic Texas hill country near Austin and San Antonio to give lectures and health seminars. He also hosts the CureZone “Ask Tony Isaacs – featuring Luella May” forum as well as the Yahoo Health Group “Oleander Soup” and he serves as a consultant to the “Utopia Silver Supplement Company“.

Learn more:http://www.naturalnews.com/035289_radiation_cancer_stem_cells.html#ixzz1qOJRXuzq

by Ethan A. Huff, NaturalNews

A recent study published in the Journal of Toxicology in Vitro has found that, even at very low levels, Monsanto’s herbicide formula Roundup destroys testosterone and ultimately leads to male infertility. The findings add to the more than 25 other diseases known to be linked to Roundup, which include DNA damage, birth defects, liver dysfunction, and cancer.

For their study, Emilie Clair and her colleagues from the Universite de Caen Basse-Normandie Institute of Biology in France tested the effects of glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, on testicular cells from rats. Ranging in dilution from one part per million (ppm) to 10,000 ppm, which accounts for varying exposure levels in real life situations, each of the tests revealed undeniable cell toxicity caused by Roundup.

Interestingly, the findings revealed that even at one ppm, Roundup was responsible for causing severe endocrine disruption that reduced testosterone levels by 35 percent. And a one ppm exposure level is considered to be extremely low, and much lower than typical exposure levels in everyday environmental situations.

At higher exposure levels, Roundup was shown to induce testicular cell death in a little as one hour, and typically no later than 48 hours after exposure. And this is only acute toxicity, as the study did not analyze the long-term effects of continual and repeated exposure to Roundup, which has already been shown to seep into rivers and groundwater supplies.

A similar study published in the journalReproductive Toxicologyback in 2007 found similar results. In vivo tests with Roundup revealed that the ducks exposed to Roundup exhibited “alterations in the structure of the testis and epididymal (a part of the male reproductive system) region as well as in the serum levels of testosterone and estradiol, with changes in the expression of androgen receptors restricted to the testis.”

So contrary to the claims made by Monsanto, there is truly no safe exposure level to Roundup. At typical exposure levels, it has been proven to destroy human cells and cause serious reproductive harm. And at trace levels, it has been proven to severely disrupt proper hormonal function and lead to low testosterone in men.

“Because it’s a systemic pesticide and sprayed in high doses, produce and fruit and nut trees often take up the poison into the parts of the food we eat,” writes Leah Zerbe in a recentRodale Newspiece on Roundup. “Three easy ways to reduce your exposure? Eat organically grown foods … [a]dopt organic lawn care techniques in your yard, and start an organic garden to further reduce your exposure to harmful chemicals.”

Sources for this article include:

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0887233311003341

http://www.activistpost.com

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0890623806002711

http://www.greenmedinfo.com/toxic-ingredient/roundup-herbicide

http://www.rodale.com/roundup-dangers?page=0,0

Learn more:http://www.naturalnews.com/035135_Roundup_herbicide_testosterone.html#ixzz1oImrFXEg

by Jonathan Benson, NaturalNews

The more that researchers truly study the effects of antidepressant drugs on depression patients, the more it becomes painfully obvious that these mind-altering medications are utterly useless. A new study conducted by the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) has revealed that antidepressant drugs work no better than talk therapy, placebo pills, or basically anything else, at relieving depression.

Funded in part by the drug industry, the new study follows the same pattern as several other recent studies that, even though they were not intended to do so, actually expose antidepressant drugs as a scam. Though the study’s authors and various commentators were quick to dismiss the findings as not necessarily indicative of the fact that antidepressants provide no medical benefits, any reasonable person looking at the study with an open mind can clearly see that this is, in fact, the case.

For the study, which was published in theJournal of Clinical Psychiatry, researchers randomly assigned 156 depression patients to either take the antidepressant drug Sertraline (Zoloft) daily for 16 weeks; a form of psychotherapy called supportive-expressive therapy twice a week for four weeks, then weekly for 12 weeks; or take inactive placebo pills for 16 weeks.

At the conclusion of the study period, researchers reported virtually no difference at all among the groups in how depression patients responded to their treatments — roughly 25 percent from each group saw an improvement in their depression symptoms, while the rest continued to struggle with their symptoms.

“I was surprised by the results,” said lead researcher Jacques P. Barber, dean of the Institute of Advanced Psychological Studies at Adelphi University in Garden City, New York. “They weren’t what I’d expected.”

And to those who put their faith in Western medicine’s drug-based solutions for depression, how could the results not be surprising? After all, a study such as this one is an embarrassment to both the drug and mental health industries, as it shows that their so-called solutions are no better at treating depression symptoms than taking a sugar pill.

It’s not that the drug doesn’t work, it’s that everything works, including the drug!

And in trying to gloss over the results, some outside commentators inadvertently admitted that virtuallyanythingcan work to treat depression — yes, anything. Dr. David Mischoulon, an associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, for instance, actually told Reuters Health that, rather than disprove the effectiveness of antidepressants, the study actually shows that “everything seems to work to some degree.”

So when a scientific study proves that a certain pharmaceutical drug fails to live up to its hype, experts trying to defend that particular drug just have to claim thateverything, including that drug, can be helpful in treating a condition, and voila, it is still effective. This is, of course, an amazingly unscientific and absurd way of looking at the findings, but it is the only way apart from scrapping the useless drug that its defenders can (very poorly) try to justify its existence.

Sources for this article include:

http://old.news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111221/hl_nm/us_antidepressant

Learn more:http://www.naturalnews.com/034625_placebo_depression_antidepressants.html#ixzz1jfzITsLo

by Todd Bishop, Geekwire

Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen makes the case for broader sharing of scientific data — an “open science” model – in a newly published opinion piece (subscription required) in the Wall Street Journal, drawing from the experiences of the Allen Institute for Brain Science in Seattle.

Allen explains that the institute initially considered charging for access to its online database, before deciding to make the research freely available, with no registration required and a terms-of-use agreement “about 10% as long as the one governing iTunes,” as Allen puts it.

The piece is also interesting from a historical perspective, given Microsoft’s intense focus on protecting its intellectual property, and its longtime aversion to open-source software, even though that stance has since softened in many respects.

Allen writes of the Brain Institute, “Most important, we generate data for the purpose of sharing it. Since opening shop in 2003, we’ve had 23 public releases, or about three per year. We don’t wait to analyze our raw data and publish in the literature. We pour it onto the public website as soon as it passes our quality control checks. Our goal is to speed others’ discoveries as much as to springboard our own future research.”

He concludes with a call for foundations and funders of scientific research to help promote open science by asking about the researchers’ policies and practices on sharing data before writing a check.

Update: Try searching for “Paul Allen Open Science” in Google News for a free pass to read the full piece behind the Wall Street Journal firewall.

An epidemiologic study conducted amongst middle and high school students in Michigan showed that an alarming 1 in 5 of them have abused prescription drugs in the past year.  The study shows that abuse rates amongst adolescents are as high as they are for young adult and adult populations, highlighting concerns that Rx medications are now the drug of choice.

This adolescent age group is a particularly vulnerable one, said Sean Esteban McCabe, PhD, research associate professor at the University of Michigan Substance Abuse Research Center and Institute for Research on Women and Gender in Ann Arbor, and the study’s lead author. “Adolescence represents an important period to monitor controlled medications because individuals often become responsible for their own medication management during older adolescence,” Dr. McCabe said in an email to Pain Medicine News. “In addition, adolescents serve as the leading diversion source for their adolescent peers and many adolescents report using their own leftover medication nonmedically.”

The study was published in the August issue of the journal Archives of Pediatric Medicine (2011; 165:729-735) and it covered four classes of prescription drugs: pain, stimulant, sleeping and anti-anxiety.  It asked specific questions regarding the medicines’ use, including misuse and diversion.  It also included the DAST-10 and CRAFFT mnemonic, both measures of drug or alcohol dependence.

18% of those responding were prescribed the medication in question and 22% of those misused the prescription within the past year.  Close to 10% said they used their prescription meds to intentionally get high or increase the effect of other drugs or alcohol.

Overall, students abused pain drugs more than any other, but these were the least popular (9.8%) for intentionally getting high – that class of drug was actually least used for this purpose.  That dubious honor goes to sleeping pills (17.1%) and anti-anxiety drugs (15.8%).  Not surprisingly, those who abuse prescription drugs are also more likely to abuse other substances like alcohol.

Since the mid-1990s, all four of the drug types in question have been prescribed to younger and younger people.  Given the penchant for older populations to abuse these drugs the more they’re prescribed, seeing children doing it is not surprising. They have both role models (young adults, adults) doing so and easier access.

The use of complementary and alternative medicines (CAM) has been extensively studied globally among adult and paediatric populations. Parents, as a group, had not been studied to assess their knowledge and attitude to CAM and general medicine use.

This study is necessary since parents’attitude to medicine use is known to influence their child’s attitude to medicine use later in life. We therefore aim to assess the extent and types of CAM use among Finnish parents, and to determine the factors that promote the CAM use.

Also, we aim to determine parents’attitude to general medicine use.

Methods: Children less than 12 years old, as of spring 2007, were identified from the database of the Finnish Population Register Centre and were selected by random sampling. The parents of these children were identified and a questionnaire was sent to them.

Only the parent who regularly takes care of the child’s medicine was requested to fill the questionnaire. Cross-tabulations and Chi-square test were used to determine the associations between categorical variables.

CAMs were defined as natural products that are not registered as medicines, such as homeopathic preparations, dietary food supplements, and traditional medicinal products.

Results: The response rate of the survey was 67% (n=4032). The use of CAM was 31% in the preceding two days.

The most commonly used CAM products were vitamins and minerals, followed by fish oils and fatty acids. Prescription and OTC medicines were used concomitantly with CAM by one-third of the parents.

CAM was frequently used by parents over 30 years (33%), female parents (32%), highly educated parents (35%), and parents with high monthly net income (3000-3999 euros, 34%). The users of CAM had more negative attitudes towards medicines than non-users of CAM.

Conclusions: Our findings are in accordance with those of previous studies that women over 30 years of age with a high education and income typically use CAMs.

Finnish parents seem to use CAMs as complementary rather than alternative to medicines. Health care professionals should take into consideration both the concomitant use as well as the negative attitudes among CAM users in encounters with the parents.

Author: Katri Hameen-AnttilaUlla NiskalaSanna SiponenRiitta Ahonen
Credits/Source: BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine 2011, 11:107

by PF Louis, NaturalNews

There are many interlocking financial conflicts of interest between Big Pharma and medical institutions. Many members of major medical groups, universities, and medical journals also have financial ties with pharmaceutical companies.

These Big Pharma connections push dangerous drugs into the collective consciousness while keeping safe and inexpensive non-drug health solutions out of public awareness.

Medical Journals and Big Pharma

Dr. Marcia Angell, author ofThe Truth About the Drug Companies: How They Deceive Us and What to Do About It,issued this statement after her tenure withThe New England Journal of Medicineas Editor in Chief: “It is simply no longer possible to believe much of the clinical research that is published.”

Pharmaceutical companies even hire ghost writers to concoct favorable product reports. Then those companies pay corrupt doctors or researchers to sign those biased reports that are then published in medical journals.

There have been occasions of medical journal reports claiming successful medical drug trials, but no one tried the drugs! These were totally faked trial reports. Yet they were published in medical journals and quoted by medical practitioners who prescribed them.

This sort of dishonesty was part of selling Vioxx, the heart medicine that killed more than it cured for a few years before finally being withdrawn from the market.

Funding Medical Societies

The AMA (American Medical Society) is not the only medical society. It’s the largest and most encompassing one. But there are as many medical societies as medical specialists. Medical equipment and drug manufacturers infiltrate those specific specialty groups to sell their wares.

An interesting recent expose on one such group, The Heart Rhythm Society with its 5000 plus mostly cardiologist membership, received half of last year’s $16 million budget from companies that make drugs and devices to treat arrhythmia.

Adding to this influence, those same companies had 12 of the 18 Heart Rythm society’s board members on their payroll as consultants and lecturers. Do you see the revolving doors and dual membership conflicts of interest?

They are not rare. They are business as usual and common with Big Pharma and government agencies as well.

The Cancer and Vaccine Industries

According to Reshma Jagsi, M.D., D.Phil., assistant professor of radiation oncology at the University of Michigan Medical School, almost one-third of cancer research reports surveyed in the major medical journals hadobvious conflicts of interests. Learn more:http://www.naturalnews.com/026314_c…

The vaccine industry may be the most corrupt and influential aspect of Big Pharma yet. Health Ranger Mike Adams recently revealed a network involving the vaccine industry, the military, and the IOM (Institute of Medicine), a strange alliance at first glance.

But the more one knows of the dark side of vaccinations, the more it makes sense for those demanding covert depopulation efforts under the cover of humanitarian aid.

The IOM is as influential as it gets. Whatever they say goes with the mainstream media and authority figures in all levels of government. If the IOM says a vaccine is safe and effective, there is no further discussion. Read more at:http://www.naturalnews.com/033455_I…

Money Talks Way Too Much

We all need to make a living. But when money pervasively trumps truth and disregards health, there is no protection from the harm it causes.

Sincere health practitioners and MDs who step out the Big Pharma box are persecuted and prosecuted for healing without harm. Their lives are often ruined. The liars who falsely promote dangerous drugs make plea bargains or pay affordable fines, if caught, after many are harmed.

Sources for more information:

Jon Rappoport quotes Dr. Marcia Angell and elaborateshttp://jonrappoport.wordpress.com/2…

Medical societies maintain secret financial ties to drug companies
http://www.fiercehealthcare.com/sto…

Big Pharma medical journal ghost writers write and doctors signhttp://www.naturalnews.com/029945_H…

http://www.naturalnews.com/033455_I…

http://www.naturalnews.com/026314_c…

Learn more:http://www.naturalnews.com/033583_financial_ties_medical_societies.html#ixzz1YGGur3XS

Coming soon… a vaccine documentary that will leave no doubt in your mind that the “science” of vaccination is a fraud, that the moral decision to vaccinate is not what you thought, and that vaccines are one of the worse causes of illness, suffering, and death in the history of mankind.

Written and produced by: Clint Richardson

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