Posted December 21, 2018
There are few things quite as debilitating as excruciating back pain. It seems to overtake your entire life, leaving you miserable and unable to accomplish ordinary tasks since every waking moment is spent penetrated by the pulsating pain in your back. Often as a last resort, people suffering from severe back pain will turn to epidural steroid injections in the hopes of alleviating their unbearable discomfort, but something many people are entirely unaware of is how dangerous these injections can be. Even the FDA has warned people of the risky complications involved! (1, 2) Read more.
Archives for December 2018
Burnout Among Physicians is a Crisis in Medicine that Can lead to Medical Errors
Posted December 21, 2018
Up before dawn making breakfast for her two sons and daughter, who has special needs… And that’s all before doctor […] starts her shift in the Stanford emergency department. The busiest time in the ER, afternoon? Yeah, evening. Yep. Today, Dr. […] is teaching medical students. On buy days, she’ll see 15 to 20 patients and do hours of paperwork. If I work an eight-hour shift, I might spend two hours or three hours in front of a computer, rather than at the bedside talking to my patients. View here.
Why do Vitamin B12 Supplements Contain Cyanide?
Posted December 21, 2018
Unknown to most consumers, cyanide is found in a wide range of vitamins and foods in a form known as cyanocobalamin. Fortunately the cyanide has a very low potential to do harm because it is organically bound to cobalamin (vitamin b12) — that is, as long as everything is working correctly and that person hasn’t already been burdened with environmental chemical exposures from cyanide, and related xenobiotic compunds. Read more.
Protein in Royal Jelly Shows Promise in the Facilitation of Stem Cell Research
Posted December 21, 2018
Aside from being vital pollinators, bees produce a number of products that benefit human health. Honey1 is an obvious one, but there are others as well, such as royal jelly, a nutritious substance secreted by nurse bees as exclusive nourishment for the queen of the hive. Recent research2,3,4,5 by Stanford University scientists found royalactin (also known as major royal jelly protein 1, or MRJP1), a protein found in royal jelly responsible for the queen’s massive growth, has the ability to keep embryonic stem cells pluripotent. Read more.
Study: Microplastics Were in the Gut of Every Sea Turtle Tested
Posted December 21, 2018
Every year, anywhere from 5 million to 12 million tons of plastic debris enter waterways worldwide, which equates to an estimated 5 trillion pieces of plastic.1 While some of this plastic is in the form of large debris like plastic bottles, six-pack rings and bags, much of it is in the form of tiny particles known as microplastics, which are less than 5 millimeters (mm) in size. Read more.
Judge Rules False Advertising Lawsuit Against Sanderson Poultry CAFO Will Proceed
Posted December 21, 2018
Sanderson Farms, the third-largest poultry producer in the U.S., has stood firm against the tide of calls to reduce antibiotic use, vowing to continue using the drugs in their chickens, going so far as to use it as a selling point. Sanderson Farms advertises their chicken as 100 percent natural. However, tests reveal a number of questionable and potentially hazardous drugs in Sanderson’s chicken. Read more.
How to Determine a Saturation Level of Niacin
Posted December 21, 2018
Niacin is vitamin B-3, one of the water soluble B-complex vitamins. One of niacin’s unique properties is its ability to help you naturally relax and get to sleep more rapidly at night. And it is well established that niacin helps reduce harmful cholesterol levels in the bloodstream. Abram Hoffer, M.D., Ph.D. explains: “Niacin is one of the best substances for elevating high density lipoprotein cholesterol (the “good cholesterol) and so decreases the ratio of the total cholesterol over high density cholesterol.” Read more.
Videos: Michael Pollan, “Eating Together”
Posted December 21, 2018
More than half of America’s meals are eaten outside the home. Food journalist Michael Pollan talks about why shared meals make for healthier, happier families and kids. View here.
Straw vs. Hay: What Makes a Better Mulch?
Posted December 21, 2018
Straw mulch vs. hay mulch: In the battle to control weeds, add fertility, and improve the water retention of your soil, is one really better than the other? Well, in a word . . . yes! Read more.
What You Need to Know to Crush the Cold and Flu
Posted December 21, 2018
Though the media and the government keep telling you to get the flu shot, the highly respected Cochrane Collaboration found that “[e]vidence from systematic reviews shows that vaccines have little or no effect on the effects measured” (BMJ 2006;333:912). That means flu vaccines have not helped prevent the flu. A 2014 Cochrane Collaboration evaluation of 116 studies—all the research up to 2013–found that vaccinating adults did not change the number of people hospitalized or the number of lost days of work (Cochrane Database of Syst Rev 2014, Issue 3. Art. No.: CD001269). Read more.