`Health authorities in Madrid have acted to close a pro-anorexia website, accusing it of endangering the lives of teenage girls.
Four months after the city led the world in the Size 0 debate by banning ultra-skinny models from its catwalks, health officials are shining the spotlight on the growing number of “pro-ana” websites that glorify starvation diets.
Their first strike is against The Great Ana Competition, a website that awards a diploma to the girl who eats the fewest calories in a two-week period. They have filed a suit against the competition, which uses a scoring system that doctors said “would cause malnutrition in normal women”.’
`But polio is not the only threat Justice faces. Almost since birth, he has had respiratory trouble. His neighbors call it “the cough.” People blame fumes and soot spewing from flames that tower 300 feet into the air over a nearby oil plant. It is owned by the Italian petroleum giant Eni, whose investors include the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. [..]
The makeshift clinic at a church where Justice Eta was vaccinated and the flares spewing over Ebocha represent a head-on conflict for the Gates Foundation. In a contradiction between its grants and its endowment holdings, a Times investigation has found, the foundation reaps vast financial gains every year from investments that contravene its good works.’
`An incident recently occurred at an outpatient imaging center in western New York State, in which a firearm spontaneously discharged in a 1.5-T MR imaging environment with active shielding. To our knowledge, this is the first documented case of such an occurrence. The event confirms previously reported theoretic risks of a firearm discharging in an MR imaging environment [1]. In this report, we examine the incident in detail from the official police and ballistic reports.’
‘Although tales about men suffering severe burns to their genitalia (or even being electrocuted) through urinating on electric fences or electrified train rails are common in urban legendry, such occurrences are exceeding unlikely (if not outright impossible). Accordingly, the story accompanying the photograph reproduced above about a “Texas redneck” who met with an unfortunate injury after drinking too much and then “peeing on a 3-phase electric fence” — is a fanciful invention that has nothing to do with the picture’s actual origins.
This image accompanied an article authored by five Chinese doctors (from the Department of Urology at the Third Military Medical University in Chongqing) and published in the Asian Journal of Andrology, a case report from 2003 about a 38-year-old man who sought medical attention at a clinic for genital herpes simplex. A circumcision was performed and the patient was treated with short-wave diathermy that proved excessive, producing a severe burn to the penis that resulted in necrosis and gangrene.’
see it here »
`After seven years of toiling, scientists at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine and Harvard School of Medicine report they have isolated stem cells from a new source: amniotic fluid. The researchers not only succeeded in separating the progenitor cells from the many cells residing in the watery fluid in the placenta surrounding an embryo, but were also able to coax the cells to differentiate into muscle, bone, fat, blood vessel, liver and nerve cells.
According to lead author Anthony Atala, director of Wake Forest’s Institute of Regenerative Medicine, 99 percent of the U.S., population could conceivably find genetic matches for tissue regeneration or engineered organs from just 100,000 amniotic fluid samples. [..]’
‘An Australian family mortgages their house to pay for their frumpy daughter’s plastic surgery. She goes from swamp donkey to a smokin hot after several surgeries. Too bad there’s no surgery to remove awful accents.’
(4.3meg Windows media)
see it here »
This goes through the whole performance step by step with images and descriptions.
SRS, btw, stands for Sexual Reassignment Surgery.
`A devoted mother is battling a rare medical condition that puts her into a coma every time she tells her children: ‘I love you.’
Wendy Richmond, 53, slips into a ‘waking sleep’ that leaves her almost paralysed every time she becomes emotional or wants to laugh or cry.
But drugs to treat the condition are expensive and not funded by her local NHS trust, meaning she has to shut off her emotions to avoid collapsing.’
Tapeworms in your intestines are bad enough. But erk.
see it here »
`Self-cleaning fabrics could revolutionize the sport apparel industry. The technology, created by scientists working for the U.S. Air Force, has already been used to create t-shirts and underwear that can be worn hygenically for weeks without washing.
The new technology attaches nanoparticles to clothing fibers using microwaves. Then, chemicals that can repel water, oil and bacteria are directly bound to the nanoparticles. These two elements combine to create a protective coating on the fibers of the material.
This coating both kills bacteria, and forces liquids to bead and run off.’
`An opera singer has filed a $6 million lawsuit against the Hilton Hotels Corp., complaining that bedbugs bit her over her arms, chest, neck and face when she stayed in one of its Phoenix hotels in November.
Soprano Alison Trainer says in court papers she had 150 bites all over her body, a “horrific” experience that left her afraid to sleep in a bed, caused her to lose weight and made her uncomfortable about her physical appearance.
Trainer’s lawyer, Kenneth J. Glassman, said that because of the bites his client suffered at Phoenix’s Hilton Suites between Nov. 20 and Nov. 26, “She looks like a piece of wood that has been attacked by termites.”‘
`A group of researchers claim that they are patenting a possible cure for cancer involving nothing more than sugar and short-chain fatty acid combination.
The Johns Hopkins researchers cautioned that their double-punch molecule, described in the December issue of the journal Chemistry & Biology, has not yet been tested on animals or humans. [..]
The researchers focused on a sugar called N-acetyl-D-mannosamine, or ManNAc, for short, and created a hybrid molecule by linking ManNAc with butyrate.
The hybrid easily penetrates a cell’s surface, then is split apart by enzymes inside the cell.’
`Could there be forbidden sequences in the genome – ones so harmful that they are not compatible with life? One group of researchers thinks so. Unlike most genome sequencing projects which set out to search for genes that are conserved within and between species, their goal is to identify “primes”: DNA sequences and chains of amino acids so dangerous to life that they do not exist.
“It’s like looking for a needle that’s not actually in the haystack,” says Greg Hampikian, professor of genetics at Boise State University in Idaho, who is leading the project. [..]’
`On New Year’s Eve, the number of U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq passed 3,000. By Tuesday, the death toll had reached 3,004 — 31 more than died in the Sep. 11 attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon.
But the number of injured has far outstripped the dead, with the Veterans Administration reporting that more than 150,000 veterans of the Iraq war are receiving disability benefits.
Advances in military technology are keeping the death rate much lower than during the Vietnam War and World War Two, Dr. Col. Vito Imbascini, an urologist and state surgeon with the California Army National Guard, told IPS, but soldiers who survive attacks are often severely disabled for life.’
`New research supports growing concerns that herpes plays a role in the development of Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of dementia.
The latest work, announced today, shows a link between a gene and herpes simplex 1, or HSV. The form of the ApoE gene called ApoE-4 is the leading known risk factor for Alzheimer’s. And HSV is the form of herpes that causes cold sores around the mouth. More than 80 percent of Americans are infected with HSV.
The researchers, at the University of Rochester Medical Center, found that ApoE-4 effectively puts out a welcome mat for the herpes virus, allowing it to be more active in the brain.’
`Her name is Ashley X, and she is the little girl who will never grow up.
Until New Year’s Day, not even her first name was known. Ashley was a faceless case study, cited in a paper by two doctors at Seattle Children’s Hospital as they outlined a treatment so radical that it brought with it allegations of “eugenics”, of creating a 21st-century Frankenstein’s monster, of maiming a child for the sake of convenience.
The reason for the controversy is this: three years ago, when Ashley began to display early signs of puberty, her parents instructed doctors to remove her uterus, appendix and still-forming breasts, then treat her with high doses of oestrogen to stunt her growth.
In other words, Ashley was sterilised and frozen in time, for ever to remain a child. She was only 6.’
Followup to: Young disabled girl ‘kept small’
`AIDS researchers said a new drug shows promise for inhibiting the HIV virus in patients new to treatment or those currently taking a drug cocktail.
Clinical studies of the drug, called an integrase inhibitor, showed that, when combined with two existing drugs, it reduced the virus to undetectable levels in nearly 100 percent of HIV patients prescribed a drug regimen for the first time, The Los Angeles Times said Tuesday. It had a similar effect in 72 percent of salvage therapy patients, who take a mixture of existing medications aimed at stalling the virus until new drugs appear.
The drug essentially prevents the virus’ DNA from integrating with a host’s cells, inhibiting its ability to replicate itself.’
`Scientists said yesterday that they have used genetic engineering techniques to produce the first cattle that may be biologically incapable of getting mad cow disease.
The animals, which lack a gene that is crucial to the disease’s progression, were not designed for use as food. They were created so that human pharmaceuticals can be made in their blood without the danger that those products might get contaminated with the infectious agent that causes mad cow.
[..] In one experiment, tissues from one of the animals’ brains were grown in a culture dish and exposed to two different strains of infectious, mad cow prions. As expected, the bad prions did not propagate, according to a report in yesterday’s online issue of the journal Nature Biotechnology.’
`Over a thousand Turks spent the first day of the Muslim feast of Eid al-Adha in emergency wards on Sunday after stabbing themselves or suffering other injuries while sacrificing startled animals.
At least 1,413 people – referred to as “amateur butchers” by the Turkish media – were treated at hospitals across the country, most suffering cuts to their hands and legs, the Anatolia news agency reported.
Four people were severely injured, crushed under the weight of large animals that fell on top of them, the agency reported. Another person was hurt when a crane used to lift an animal tumbled onto him, the agency said.’
`A synthetic chemical similar to the active ingredient in marijuana makes new cells grow in rat brains. What is more, in rats this cell growth appears to be linked with reducing anxiety and depression. The results suggest that marijuana, or its derivatives, could actually be good for the brain.
In mammals, new nerve cells are constantly being produced in a part of the brain called the hippocampus, which is associated with learning, memory, anxiety and depression. Other recreational drugs, such as alcohol, nicotine and cocaine, have been shown to suppress this new growth. Xia Zhang of the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, Canada, and colleagues decided to see what effects a synthetic cannabinoid called HU210 had on rats’ brains.
They found that giving rats high doses of HU210 twice a day for 10 days increased the rate of nerve cell formation, or neurogenesis, in the hippocampus by about 40%.’
`In 1922, a bank teller named Grace Fryer became concerned when her teeth began to loosen and fall out for no discernible reason. Her troubles were compounded when her jaw became swollen and inflamed, so she sought the assistance of a doctor in diagnosing the inexplicable symptoms. Using a primitive X-ray machine, the physician discovered serious bone decay, the likes of which he had never seen. Her jawbone was honeycombed with small holes, in a random pattern reminiscent of moth-eaten fabric.’
`High doses of vitamin D can reduce the risk of developing some common cancers by as much as 50%, US scientists claim.
Researchers reviewed 63 old studies and found that the vitamin could reduce the chances of developing breast, ovarian and colon cancer, and others.
Experts said more research was needed to draw firm conclusions.’
`British scientists are on the verge of producing a revolutionary flu vaccine that works against all major types of the disease.
Described as the ‘holy grail’ of flu vaccines, it would protect against all strains of influenza A – the virus behind both bird flu and the nastiest outbreaks of winter flu.
Just a couple of injections could give long-lasting immunity – unlike the current vaccine which has to be given every year.’
`The government has decided that food from cloned animals is safe to eat and does not require special labeling. [..]
Consumer groups say labels are a must, because surveys have shown people to be uncomfortable with the idea of cloned livestock.
However, FDA concluded that cloned animals are “virtually indistinguishable” from conventional livestock and that no identification is needed to judge their safety for the food supply.’
`Kevin Reed launched his medical marijuana business two years ago, armed with big dreams and an Excel spreadsheet.
Happy customers at his Green Cross cannabis club were greeted by “bud tenders” and glass jars brimming with high-quality weed at red-tag prices. They hailed the slender, gentle Southerner as a ganja good Samaritan. Though Reed set out to run it like a Walgreens, his tiny storefront shop ended up buzzing with jazzy joie de vivre. Turnover was Starbucks-style: On a good day, $30,000 in business would walk through the black, steel-gated front door.
Today, the 32-year-old cannabis capitalist is looking for a job, his business undone by its own success and unexpected opposition in one of America’s most proudly tolerant places. [..]’
`A man who portrayed Santa Claus at a Toledo-area mall tested positive for a bacteria that causes meningitis, health officials have said.
The man was admitted to St. Luke’s Hospital in suburban Maumee last week with a respiratory ailment, according to the Toledo-Lucas County Health Department. Tests showed that the man did not have meningitis but carried a bacteria that can cause the disease, said Health Commissioner Dr. David Grossman.
Parents of children who may have been exposed to the man should call a doctor about preventive antibiotics, he said Saturday.’
`Siberian scientists believe that addiction to alcohol and narcotics, as well as depression, suicidal thoughts and psychosomatic diseases occur when an individual loses his or her interest in life. The absence of the will to live is caused with decreasing production of endorphins – the substance, which is known as the hormone of happiness. If a depressed individual receives a physical punishment, whipping that is, it will stir up endorphin receptors, activate the ‘production of happiness’ and eventually remove depressive feelings.
Russian scientists recommend the following course of the whipping therapy: 30 sessions of 60 whips on the buttocks in every procedure. A group of drug addicts volunteered to test the new method of treatment: the results can be described as good and excellent.’
`Imagine watching your cannabis-smoking son stab himself three times in the stomach right in front of you – and later having to deal with his suicide.
Imagine watching your beautiful daughter become a schizophrenic after using drugs and having to take over the job of caring for her baby.
Imagine realising you had a mental health problem and were seeking help, only to be turned away because the mental health service classified your problem as drug-related.
For years the parents of cannabis users have seen a link between their child’s use of cannabis and mental illness.
Now evidence is emerging that they are right.’
`A Japanese civil servant has described for the first time how he survived for more than three weeks in a mountain forest without food or water in what doctors believe is the first known case of a human in hibernation. [..]
When a climber found him 24 days later, Mr Uchikoshi’s body temperature had fallen to just 22 degrees, his pulse was barely discernible and he was suffering from multiple organ failure and blood loss. Doctors who treated him believe he lost consciousness after his fall and his body’s survival instincts kicked in, sending him into a state akin to hibernation as the temperature on the mountain dropped as low as 10 degrees.’
`A 23-year-old British woman is thought to have made medical history by giving birth to three babies in two wombs. In September this year, Hannah Kersey, from Northam in Devon, had twins who were conceived in one womb, and a third daughter who grew in another.
Dr Ellis Downes, consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist at Chase Farm hospital in London, said: “This is so rare you cannot put odds on it. I have never heard of this happening anywhere before. It is quite amazing. Women with two wombs have conceived a baby in each womb before, but never twins in one and a singleton in the other.”‘
