Saturday, July 31, 2010

Food: The Ultimate Secret Exposed - Videos

Pregnancy Denial

Why Are French Women Killing Their Babies?

The question is as horrifying as it is important to ask: Why are a rising number of French women killing their newborn babies? Finding the answer has become a matter of urgency following the discovery Wednesday of eight infants allegedly smothered to death and buried by their mother in northern France. And with that case marking at least the fifth instance of multiple infanticide reported in France since 2003, it's now become vital for the nation to seriously confront the phenomenon that appears to be behind it all: a mental condition known as pregnancy denial.

This latest case of newborn murder in France was uncovered in the northern town of Villiers-au-Tertre, after eight tiny bodies were found buried in the gardens of two separate homes. Six of the cadavers were unearthed on July 29 by police at the house of Dominique Cottrez, 45, and her husband Pierre-Marie, 47.

Investigators searched their home after the current resident of a house previously owned by Dominique's parents turned up two tiny bodies on July 24 while digging a pool in the backyard. According to the French prosecutor leading the inquiry in the town a short distance south of Lille, Dominique has admitted to hiding her pregnancies - and the killings of her babies - from her husband, who police describe as being "dumb-struck" by the revelations. Dominique was charged for the murders; Pierre-Marie has been cleared of wrongdoing and released, but could yet become the subject of investigation. (See the top 10 crime stories of 2009.)

The case in Villiers-au-Tertre is only the most recent example of a father of slain babies being apparently unaware of his wife's pregnancies. Four other such cases since 2003 include that of VÉronique Courjault, 42, who was convicted in June 2009 of killing three of her newborns - two of whom she hid in a freezer, and which were later discovered by her husband. Just last March, CÉline Lesage, 38, was found guilty of murdering six of her babies after she hid her pregnancies from the men who had fathered them. Both were sentenced to prison terms; Courjault for eight years and Lesage for 15.

Experts explained each of those cases as resulting from pregnancy denial, an often misunderstood and minimized condition. According to Michel Delcroix, a former gynecologist who served as a court expert in the Courjault trial and others involving pregnancy issues, pregnancy denial is a quasi-schizophrenic condition in which women either don't realize or cannot accept that they are with child - not even enough to have their unwanted babies aborted. Whether these women are afflicted by the condition before they deliver or as they're suddenly giving birth, Delcroix explains, the psychological denial of their pregnancy is so strong that they refuse to believe it even when it confronts them as reality.

"These women are so convinced pregnancy is impossible that once the child they never wanted arrives, they don't accept it as real and get rid of it to restore order to what they believe is non-pregnant reality," Delcroix says. "However terrible its consequences, pregnancy denial acts in infanticide cases much as a psychotic state that drives someone to kill another person does. Yet we still try women for what they do during pregnancy denial when we don't try psychotic killers deemed not responsible for their actions." Delcroix and others who are fighting for pregnancy denial to be medically and legally recognized as an illness argue that improving ways to identify and treat women with the ailment makes more sense than simply punishing the crimes they commit as a result of it.

What causes the condition? Several things, Delcroix says, including previous trauma such as beatings and rape. But other non-physical factors can also be involved, and denial can kick in even if a woman has had and raised children without problem previously - Lesage has a 14-year-old son; Dominique Cottrez has two grown daughters. And while pregnancy denial has been around for decades or longer, Delcroix says it's now rising in frequency. The probable reason, he says, is changes in wider social factors that have downgraded the value of childhood, parenting and family.

But in some cases, it can also be a matter of women simply failing to see themselves as mothers. "Some women never manage to update their self-identity during pregnancy, [while others] want to become pregnant without wanting to procreate," psychiatrist Pierre Lamothe told Le Parisien on Thursday. "When the child arrives, it doesn't really exist for them. They don't give it life, in psychological terms. If they saw it as a [real] baby, they wouldn't kill it." (See the 25 crimes of the past century.)

Others just never realize - or acknowledge - that they're with child. Experts on pregnancy denial say most sufferers are either sufficiently overweight or experience such little body change that they simply assume they've gained some weight. In France, 230 women a year discover their pregnancy only while giving birth. Though only a fraction resort to infanticide, Delcroix fears that there are more of those cases that remain undiscovered than there are ones that come to light, as in Villiers-au-Tertre. And he poses a chilling question: does anyone really believe that the spreading phenomenon of pregnancy denial - and the infanticide it can lead to - is purely a French problem?

By BRUCE CRUMLEY / PARIS Bruce Crumley / Paris

http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20100729/wl_time/08599200735900

Related:

Empowerment: Women Now Choose Objectification Over ‘Creepy’ Breastfeeding

Reposted: True Health Is True Wealth

Saturday, July 24, 2010

2050: 1.1 Million Over 100 Years Old; Their Aging Brains

Over-turn ObamaCare and the Opportunity of More People Living to 100+ will Happen

Amy Sherman  -  Mclatchy-Tribune News Service.

07-21-10

There was a recent article in my local paper about brain fitness and how to retain optimal brain function well into our senior years. As boomers, we are all concerned about moments of memory loss and wonder if we are experiencing dementia or other signs of cognitive impairment.

Chances are our memory loss is more about our ability to retrieve information and filter out unnecessary irrelevant material than it is about cognitive decline and illness. Because there's so much information bogging us down and distracting us, it becomes difficult to shut off the "noise" long enough to remember what we want to remember. That makes us feel forgetful and susceptible to those numerous senior moments.

However, we can't ignore that cognitive decline may happen, but we don't have to feel helpless to the aging process. Most researchers will agree that a challenged, stimulated brain will retain and regenerate brain cells and that translates into maintaining, restoring and revitalizing cognitive acuity well into the golden years of our lives.

Therefore, if you want to slow up the aging process, you may want to learn a new language, do crossword puzzles, play Sudoku or take piano lessons to reduce your risk of getting Alzheimer's or other forms of dementia.

Research is now taking aging a step further. Apparently, not only is it important to learn challenging new experiences, but it is important to do so in a social setting, connecting and interacting with others. The University of Southern California has been studying this concept with a group of seniors who are well into their 90s. The key to their brain health is their afternoon bridge game where they are required to maintain a strong focus by remembering the bidding, the dealt hands and the strategies of their partner.

These residents in Southern California are considered the most successful seniors in the world. In fact, this research is altering the way scientists are looking at the aging brain. While mental exercises and good diet can't hurt to keep you healthy and alert, it seems you need to be involved socially with others to maintain your cognitive alertness and acuity.

Successful aging is really based on lifelong choices, a good attitude and a keen sense of your life's purpose. The Census Bureau estimates that by 2050 there will be 1.1 million people 100 years old. Baby boomers who continue to train their brain on a regular basis are twice as likely to retain high cognitive function than someone who doesn't. This means that if you start now, you'll reap the rewards of a healthy, sharp, active brain for many fruitful years to come.

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Amy Sherman is a licensed mental health counselor and trainer. She is the founder of Baby Boomers' Network, a resource designed to give baby boomers the insights, information and inspiration they need to live their best lives. She is the author of the ebook, "Distress-Free Aging: A Boomer's Guide to Creating a Fulfilled and Purposeful Life" and "The Joy of Optimism 10-Lesson eCourse." To learn more, go to www.bummedoutboomer.com. Amy can be reached at amy@bummedoutboomer.com

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See more Basil & Spice content at www.basilandspice.com.

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(c) 2010, Basil & Spice

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

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Meet Your Science Czar

Holland Takes Euthanasia to an Extreme:  Are We Next?

2/3 of the HC Bill Passed Already! Hidden in the Stimulus Package that No One in Congress Read…  - Including Rationing!

ObamaCare for Illegal Aliens – While Granny Gets Duty to Die Lecture

12 Surprising Signs That You Will Live To Be 100

Waltz Into Old Age

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Ageless

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Codex Alimentarius Signed Into Law By Obama!

Weekly New Tips

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Codex Alimentarius Signed Into Law By Obama!

 

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What is Codex Alimentarius?

The quick and dirty version-A law to make vitamins and supplements either illegal or extremely costly.

In 1996, the German delegation put forward a proposal that no herb, vitamin or mineral should be sold for preventive or therapeutic reasons, and that supplements should be reclassified as drugs. [This is their true intention.] The proposal was agreed, but protests halted its implementation. The 28th Session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission was subsequently held July 4 - July 9, 2005. Among the many issues discussed were the "Guidelines for Vitamin and Mineral Food Supplements", which were adopted during the meeting as new global safety guidelines. This text has been the subject of considerable controversy, in part because many member countries may choose to regulate dietary supplements as therapeutic goods or pharmaceuticals or by some other category. [In our case, we do not have many member countries. It's just the United States. Therefore, it will be enforced in an entirely different light than the European Union.]

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The Codex Alimentarius (Latin for "food code" or "food book") is a collection of internationally recognized standards, codes of practice, guidelines and other recommendations relating to foods, food production and food safety. Its texts are developed and maintained by the Codex Alimentarius Commission, a body that was established in 1963 by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO). The Commission's main aims are stated as being to protect the health of consumers and ensure fair practices in the international food trade. The Codex Alimentarius is recognized by the World Trade Organization as an international reference point for the resolution of disputes concerning food safety and consumer protection.

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Below is the Exact document from the White House Website.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/executive-order-establishing-national-prevention-health-promotion-and-public-health

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release June 10, 2010

Executive Order-- Establishing the National Prevention, Health Promotion, and Public Health Council

EXECUTIVE ORDER

ESTABLISHING THE NATIONAL PREVENTION, HEALTH PROMOTION, AND PUBLIC HEALTH COUNCIL

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including section 4001 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Public Law 111-148), it is hereby ordered as follows:

Here is an excerpt:

"Section 6 (g) contains specific plans to ensure that all prevention programs outside the Department of Health and Human Services are based on the science-based guidelines developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention under subsection (d) of this section."

In other words, ALL prevention programs, even those outside of the umbrella of the Department of Health and Human Services, must align with CDC guidelines, which are "science-based." What do we take for prevention? Herbs and vitamins. Herbs that you grow in your backyard and vitamins that are not approved by your doctor do not fall under these "science-based" guidelines, and are not allowed. Therefore, this will effectively open the door to outlawing ALL disease prevention practices that use herbs and vitamins not prescribed by a doctor, and implement CODEX ALIMENTARIUS right here in the good old U.S.A.

You can of course go to the White House website and get the entire document.

If you have not heard about this law, which has already been approved, and on the books from any mainstream media, you should most definitely jump up and down and know that the bad guys have succeeded in pulling the wool over the general public's head again.

On a very casual survey, every single vitamin shop that I have talked to in the last two days have absolutely no clue that this is a fact in the United States. The fact that it has been devoid of mainstream media means that there are other plans in the works. I've already started to see some red herrings being thrown about in the Senate how they need to address this subject of Codex Alimentarius when it has already been put in law.

This executive order completely bypassed Congress and the general open discussion on this particular subject of food, vitamins, and prevention. Please forward this short e-mail to as many health practitioners, friends, alternative doctors, for this is the only way this data will get around.

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I expect two types of response. Either it's the good old ostrich head in the sand, or the tiger on cocaine.

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Something can always be done! Just because the law is on the books, does not mean that it can't be repealed! And repealed it shall be!  And Executive Orders are often nullified when the next President comes into office.  So please help us stand up and get the word out.

Remember that when they tried to change the organic laws to allow city sewage sludge & other things, it was the public outcry that stopped it. You do have the power-use it!

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Source: Go Beyond Organic  -  Posted:  True Health Is True Wealth

Black Listed Cancer Treatment(s) Could Save Your Life… Hidden, Stolen and Blocked…

     As unbelievable as it seems the key to stopping many cancers has been around for over 30 years. Yet it has been banned. Blocked. And kept out of your medicine cabinet by the very agency designed to protect your health -- the FDA.

     In 1966, the senior oncologist at a prominent NY hospital rocked the medical world when he developed a serum that "shrank cancer tumors in 45 minutes!"

     Headlines hit every major paper around the world. Scientists and researchers applauded. Time and again this life-saving treatment worked miracles, but the FDA shut him down, ignoring the research he had done and the hope he had given to many.

     You read that right. He was not only shut down -- but also forced out of the United States where others may have benefited from his discovery. That was 32 years ago. How many other treatments have they been allowed to hide? Just as in the case of this miracle serum, these too go unmentioned.

Two-Nutrient Cancer Breakthrough...

     Decades ago, European research scientist Dr. Johanna Budwig, a six-time Nobel Award nominee, discovered a totally natural formula. It not only protects against the development of cancer, but fights existing cancer as well. People all over the world who were diagnosed with incurable cancer and sent home to die have greatly benefited from this research and went on to lead normal lives-- thanks to this amazing formula.

     After 30 years of study, Dr. Budwig observed that the blood of seriously ill cancer patients was deficient in certain nutrients. It was the lack of these nutrients that allowed cancer cells to grow out of control.

     By simply eating a combination of two natural and delicious foods (found on page 134) not only can cancer be prevented -- but in case after case it was actually healed! "Symptoms of cancer, liver dysfunction, and diabetes were completely alleviated." Remarkably, what Dr. Budwig discovered was a totally natural way for eradicating cancer.

     However, when she went to publish these results so that everyone could benefit -- she was blocked by drug manufacturers who stood to lose a lot of money. Since natural substances cannot be patented, drug companies won't make money by marketing them. For over 10 years now her methods have proved effective -- yet she is denied publication -- blocked by the giants who don't want you to read her words.

What's more, the world is full of expert minds like Dr. Budwig who have pursued cancer remedies and come up with remarkable natural formulas and diets that work for hundreds and thousands of patients. How to Fight Cancer & Win author William Fischer has studied these methods and revealed their secrets for you -- so that you or someone you love may be spared the horrors of conventional cancer treatments.

As early as 1947, Virginia Livingston, M.D., isolated a cancer-causing microbe. She noted that every cancer sample analyzed (whether human or other animal) contained it.

This microbe -- a bacteria that is actually in each of us from birth to death -- multiplies and promotes cancer when the immune system is weakened by disease, stress, or poor nutrition. Worst of all, the microbes secrete a special hormone protector that short-circuits our body's immune system -- allowing the microbes to grow undetected for years. No wonder so many patients are riddled with cancer by the time it is detected. But there is hope even for them...

Turn to page 82 of How to Fight Cancer & Win for the delicious diet that can help stop the formation of cancer cells and shrink tumors.

They walked away from traditional cancer treatments...and were healed!

Throughout the pages of How to Fight Cancer & Win, you'll meet real people who were diagnosed with cancer -- suffered through harsh conventional treatments -- turned their backs on so called modern medicine -- only to be miraculously healed by natural means! Here is just a sampling of what others have to say about the book.

"We purchased How to Fight Cancer & Win, and immediately my husband started following the recommended diet for his just diagnosed colon cancer. He refused the surgery that our doctors advised. Since following the regime recommended in the book he has had no problems at all, cancer-wise. If not cured, we believe the cancer has to be in remission." -- Thelma B.

"I bought How to Fight Cancer & Win and this has to be the greatest book I've ever read. I have had astounding results from the easy to understand knowledge found in this book. My whole life has improved drastically and I have done so much for many others. The information goes far beyond the health thinking of today." -- Hugh M.

"I can't find adequate words to describe my appreciation of your work in providing How to Fight Cancer & Win. You had to do an enormous amount of research to bring this vast and most important knowledge to your readers.

My doctor found two tumors on my prostate with a high P.S.A. He scheduled a time to surgically remove the prostate, but I canceled the appointment. Instead I went on the diet discussed in the book combined with another supplement. Over the months my P.S.A. has lowered until the last reading was one point two." -- Duncan M.

Related Works and Resources:

Knockout

The One-Minute Cure

Sanoviv Medical Center

Monday, July 19, 2010

Study: Adult stem cells successful in restoring sight

Posted on Jul 6, 2010 | by Tom Strode

WASHINGTON (BP)--Adult stem cells have restored sight to more than three-fourths of patients blinded by chemical burns to their eyes, according to a new research study.

The results, reported at the International Society for Stem Cell Research meeting in San Francisco, showed success in 77 percent of people in the study after one or two procedures, according to Bloomberg News. It showed partial success in 13 percent of the cases and failure in 10 percent.

Italian researchers tracked participants in the study for an average of three years, some for as many as 10 years.

The procedure involved taking healthy stem cells from a patient's eye and, after growing them, layering the tissue onto the injured eyes, Bloomberg reported. The stem cells were taken from the limbus, which is at the intersection of the cornea and the sclera, the white portion of the eye. The cells produced a healthy cornea in the successful cases, resulting in an eye that is normal in color and appearance.

"The patients, they are happy, even the partial successes," said lead researcher Graziella Pellegrini of the University of Modena's Center for Regenerative Medicine, according to Bloomberg. "We have a couple of patients who were blind in both eyes. Can you imagine for these patients the change in their quality of life?"

The study involved treatment of 112 people.

The method may assist in other therapies, a researcher said.
"This is bigger than just the surface of the eye," said Ivan Schwab, a stem cell researcher at the University of California-Davis, according to Bloomberg. Schwab said it may work on regenerating "livers or other organs."

The study is another success for adult, or non-embryonic, stem cells, which have produced therapies in trials for at least 73 ailments in human beings, according to Do No Harm, a coalition promoting ethics in research. Embryonic stem cell research, which results from the destruction of human embryos, has yet to generate successful treatments in human beings.
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Tom Strode is Washington bureau chief of Baptist Press.

Posted: WallBuilders - Cross-Posted: True Health Is True Wealth

Beginning at 6.22 mins in the GB American Revival Below (Part 3) and into the beginning of Part 4, Glenn Beck talks about having been diagnosed with Macular Dystrophy… and that he could go blind.

Sunday, July 18, 2010

How Many Red Bulls Would Kill You??

How many Red Bulls would it take to kill me?

How Many Red Bulls Would Kill You?

It is a picture of a fridge full of energy dri...

Image via Wikipedia

The folks at Energy Fiend have developed an online calculator called “Death by Caffeine” that tells you roughly how many Red Bulls, Monsters, Rock Stars, etc you’d have to drink to keel over. The number of drinks you can choose from on the killer-drink drop down menu is staggering, but upon closer inspection it looks like they include regular sodas like Pepsi, Coke and the like along with the amped up drinks (and even energy mints and coffee ice cream).

I’m going to enter my information, choosing Red Bull as my initial poison. Here’s the result:

It would take 204.75 cans of Red Bull to put you down.

Comparatively:

Gulp down 474.78 cans of Coca-Cola Classic and you’re history.

You could drink 297.82 cans of Mountain Dew before croaking.

It would take 109.20 cups of Starbucks Tall Caffe Americano to put you down.

If you eat 341.25 Cups of Haagen-Dazs Coffee Ice Cream, you’ll be pushing up daisies.

By the way (and I say this as a die-hard coffee drinker), imbibing caffeine to stay awake is one of the silliest things we humans do. The reason is this: in the brain, caffeine acts as an antagonist (a blocker) of adenosine–the neurotransmitter that pushes us closer and closer to sleep until we nod off–and it’s very good at accomplishing this. The problem is that with less exposure to adenosine, we become even more sensitive to the neurotransmitter’s effects. If we reduce our intake of caffeine, or simply become more tolerant of it, we actually find ourselves becoming more tired. So then we jack up the caffeine to counteract the withdrawal, but that just increases our tolerance.

Takeaway: you can only fool your brain into not sleeping for so long before succumbing to the inevitable crash.

HT: MindHacks

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Carbo Unloading

Healthy Food Choices

There could be more heart- disease dangers in your diet than the usual suspects. By Paula Goodyer.

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WHEN CONSIDERING which foods increase the risk of heart disease, you might think of fatty bacon rashers, but not a bowl of refined breakfast cereal. But to defend arteries from the thickening and hardening that can lead to heart disease and stroke, it might pay to be choosy about your carbs.

We're all familiar with the standard dietary advice to head off heart disease - avoid saturated fat and trans fats in favor of healthier fats. But, according to Professor Jennie Brand-Miller of the School of Molecular Biosciences at the University of Sydney, there's growing evidence that too many carbohydrates with a high Glycemic Index (GI) - the kind that cause rapid rises in blood sugar - may also contribute to heart disease.

The trouble with a diet heavy on rapidly digested carbohydrate foods - such as many white breads, refined breakfast cereals, processed snack foods, biscuits and potatoes - is their potential to increase levels of blood glucose. High levels of glucose are "toxic" to arteries, Brand-Miller explains. "Not only do they encourage plaque to form in the artery walls, they also cause inflammation that ages arteries, making them stiffer and less elastic, while also increasing the formation of blood clots."

And it's not just people with diabetes who are likely to have high blood glucose levels either - increasing numbers of Kiwis and Australians now have blood glucose levels that hover somewhere between normal and diabetic, and that's not healthy.

"This isn't saying that high GI carbohydrates are the only villain as far as arteries are concerned - it means we need to beware of both too much saturated fat and too many high GI carbohydrates," says Brand-Miller. "It's the quality of both carbohydrates and fat that influence heart health. Carbs and fat both taste good - but we have to be choosy about which type we eat."

Some research also suggests women's hearts may be more easily damaged by high GI carbs than those of men. A study recently published in the Archives of Internal Medicine found that in women, but not men, a high carb intake more than doubled the risk of developing heart disease over an eight-year period. Eating more high GI carbs seemed to increase the risk, while eating more low GI carbs did not. But with men it was a different story - the amount of carbohydrate foods and their GI rating didn't seem to matter - at least not to their heart health.

Why carbs should have an effect in women, but not men, isn't clear, but Brand- Miller speculates that heart disease might develop in a different way in women compared to men.

"Some research has found that a predictor of heart disease in women is a high level of C-reactive protein (CRP), a substance measured in blood that's a sign of inflammation. This low grade inflammation is probably a result of oxidative stress - and this fits in with the idea that a high GI diet can increase oxidative stress. A study at the University of Sydney has suggested that women may be more vulnerable to the effects of high GI carbohydrates on weight gain, but it's only a hypothesis - we don't know for sure."

None of this is to say that you should never bake a potato or eat toasted Turkish but it does suggest it's not smart to let refined carbs and potatoes dominate your diet. And not just for your heart's sake either.

A broad mix of vegetables and eating denser, grainier breads delivers a lot more heart healthy nutrients and fiber.

Sunday Star-Times - 07-14-10

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

DNA 'molecular scissors' discovered

2010-07-12

Scientists at the University of Dundee have discovered a protein that acts as a 'molecular scissors' to repair damaged DNA in our cells, a finding which could have major implications for cancer treatments.

Dr John Rouse and colleagues in the Medical Research Council (MRC) Protein Phosphorylation Unit, which is based in the College of Life Sciences at Dundee, discovered a protein, known as FAN1, which is present in each cell and plays a vital role in maintaining healthy DNA and thus prevents mutations which can lead to cancers.

'The DNA in our cells is like an instruction manual for the proper working of each cell,' said Dr Rouse, a Programme Leader in the Medical Research Council Protein Phosphorylation Unit in the College of Life Sciences.

'A major problem is that DNA becomes damaged regularly. If DNA damage is not fixed quickly then these instructions are changed and the result is mutations - undesirable changes in DNA - that can cause the cell to become abnormal. This is essentially what causes cancer.

'However, cells are very good at recognising when DNA has become damaged and they are good at finding DNA damage and repairing it. For example, cells can quickly detect breakages in DNA and quickly fix these breaks. Many different factors help this process but we still haven't identified all of them or exactly how this process works.

'With our findings we have unlocked a major part of the puzzle. We discovered a new protein, FAN1, which is essential for the repair of DNA breaks and other types of DNA damage.

'During repair of DNA damage, DNA 'flaps' are produced that must be trimmed for repair to be completed. These leftover pieces of DNA get in the way during DNA repair and that is why they have to be removed. FAN1 carries out this task, and in this sense it acts like a 'molecular scissors'.

'Our study shows that superfluous pieces of DNA are cut by FAN1. Cells that do not have FAN1 are unable to repair DNA breaks and their DNA becomes irreversibly damaged and cells die. This underlines the fundamental importance of FAN1.

Physorg

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Why morning people rule the world

Philip Delves Broughton - 05.07.10

Why morning people rule the world

We are all morning or evening people. Scientists have established that our genes dictate around half of what they call our “chronotypes” — our natural preference for certain times of the day.

Evolution has produced a range of humans capable of being alert to danger at every hour of the day. Our experience confirms these findings. We all know people who love to be at work bright and early, with a cup of coffee to hand and decisions to make, and others who would rather stumble through the day until reaching a state of relaxed clarity around dusk, when their minds are purring.

The problem is that those with the genetic gift of “morning-ness” tend to be more highly rewarded. Morning-ness is perceived as a sign of activity and zest, whereas evening-ness implies laziness and loafing. How often did we have to see David Cameron on one of his early-morning runs to get the idea that here was a leader of potency and vigour? How different would it have been if he slunk out of bed to work, then exercised at around 8pm? Could a Prime Minister be elected today who worked like Churchill, reading, writing and thinking in bed before getting out of it at noon?

History is full of great bores praising the virtues of early rising, but few have made the case for letting the day drift by until you kick into gear around happy hour.

Yet the research continues to mount, arguing that evening people have qualities which should be nurtured. They tend to be more creative, intelligent, humorous and extroverted. They are the balance to morning people, who are said to be more optimistic, proactive and conscientious.

Evening and morning are the right and left sides of our brain, the creative and the analytical, both of which we need to organise, process and advance our lives.

New research by Christoph Randler, a biology professor at the University of Education at Heidelberg, however, concludes that morning people are more likely to succeed in their careers because they are more proactive than evening people.

He surveyed 367 university students, asking them when they were most energetic and willing to change a situation. It was the morning people who were more likely to agree with statements such as “I feel in charge of making things happen” and “I spend time identifying long-range goals for myself.”

Discussing his research in the Harvard Business Review, Randler says: “When it comes to business success, morning people hold the important cards. My earlier research showed that they tend to get better grades in school, which gets them into better colleges, which then leads to better job opportunities. Morning people also anticipate problems and try to minimise them. They're proactive.”

Christopher Coleridge, the founder of V Water, the fast-growing vitamin-enhanced water brand, has a different view on the advantages of morning-ness. “Morning is always the best time to get people to make decisions because people are full of optimism in the morning. By 9am, nothing really can go wrong. You're full of hope. By 4pm, at least six annoying things will have happened, so by the evening you're slightly annoyed and frustrated. Fortunately, you then have the rest of the evening to pick yourself up.”

Earlier in his career, when Coleridge worked in advertising, he found the culture much more focused on the evenings, when conversations over drinks would lead to creative ideas. But as an entrepreneur, he found mornings were the best time to corral people's energies.

Evening-ness, he says, can be exploited by companies that are full of young people. But mornings appeal more to people with families who want a schedule which allows them to get in early and leave on time. For the growing army of part-time and freelance workers, tight schedules are just as important. “They tend to be very focused because they are moving from project to project and they don't have time to yack away.”

In certain environments, morning-ness is unavoidable. In the City, many of the most significant meetings take place before the markets open. Schools, however, force morning-ness on teenagers at a moment when everything else in their lives — their hormones, their social lives, their working patterns — is drifting towards the evening.

But can one change one's chronotype from evening to morning? Randler says “somewhat”, but it can be hard. He cites one study that showed half of school pupils were able permanently to shift the time they woke up by one hour. Chronotypes, however, do evolve over one's life. Adolescents tend towards evening-ness; from the ages of 30 to 50, people are evenly split between morning and evening; and over-50s are more morning types.

The challenge for companies, Randler says, is to accept that evening-ness is an inherent trait and, rather than battling against it, find ways to “get the best out from their night owls”.

The Night Shift isn’t Called Graveyard for No Reason

Adoption and Social Styles

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Filling your home with mercury

If you've fallen for the compact fluorescent (CFL) light bulb scam, you're the one getting screwed -- in more ways than one.

Not only are these things expensive and dim, they're also dangerous. A reader named Ken wrote in to say that these bulbs did a number on him.

"I think the new CFL light bulbs are death," he wrote. "I am extremely angry at them for allowing them to be sold without a warning on the box!!"

Allowing? Heck, Ken -- they're MANDATING it. CFLs are the law of land, passed by those dim bulbs in Congress. Starting in 2012, America's beacon of freedom is going to be a mercury-laden death ray -- and that light will be shining on YOU.

There's emerging evidence that these bulbs can cause seizures and dizziness, worsen migraine headaches and send lupus patients doubling over in agony. They've been linked to skin disorders and even cancer.

I can only wonder what else they'll discover when hundreds of millions of people are forced to sit under these bulbs all day, every day... at home, at work, and everywhere in between.

Even worse, CFL bulbs are filled with mercury. They'll tell you it's a "tiny" amount, but a single bulb contains enough mercury to contaminate 6,000 gallons of water.

Does that sound safe to you?

Let me shine a little light in this one: Small amounts of mercury can lay waste to your central nervous system, and all it takes is a whiff, taste or touch. Mercury can damage your vision, ruin your speech, wreck your hearing, turn you into a herky-jerky spastic, and give you the rash of a lifetime.

Ever hear the phrase "mad as a hatter?" It's because hatters worked with mercury -- and it literally drove them nuts.

And when the greenies get their way, we'll all be mad hatters. After all, light bulbs break -- and it's just a matter of time before you and your family are exposed to mercury from a shattered CFL bulb.

All that, and I haven't even touched on what's going to happen when all the mercury from discarded and "recycled" bulbs seeps into the ground and ends up in the already-filthy water supply.

I'm no fan of ordinary incandescent lights, either -- I'm convinced they're responsible for poor health and cataracts. But in this case it's a lesser of two evils. And if you hope to keep using them, you'd better stock up now.

Soon, you won't have a choice.

William Campbell Douglass II, M.D.