Spread of Norovirus through Pesticide Spraying

As Dr.Mercola mentioned in his article “Pesticide Spraying may Spread Norovirus” norovirus is the leading cause of food-borne outbreaks in the US, with fresh produce, especially leafy vegetables and fruits) among the most common culprits.

Reality is that contaminated water is a potential introduction source of norovirus to fresh produce. This has centered on water used to irrigate crops. Several researches were done to determine if irrigating water could be a source of norovirus spread and the results showed that it could. Environment Health Perspectives reported that in seven of the eight pesticides tested, norovirus persisted even two hours later.

“Farmers mix pesticides with water from sources including wells, irrigation ditches, rivers and lakes. All these water sources have been known to harbor norovirus. Until recently, no one had tested whether norovirus in contaminated water remains infectious after pesticides are added.”

Researches showed the virus is able to stay in contaminated water and be active when it’s sprayed onto crops.

So pesticides “may not only be a chemical hazard, but also a microbiological hazard for public health. The inclusion of antiviral substances in reconstituted pesticides may be appropriate to reduce the virologic health risk posted by the application of pesticides.”

Researches came with recommendations to add antiviral substances to water, a much simpler and healthier.

Buy organic as much as possible, since this eliminates the use of chemical pesticides.

Norovirus

Norovirus is a genus of genetically diverse single-stranded RNA, non-enveloped viruses in Caliciviridae family. The viruses are transmitted by fecally contaminated food or water, by person-to-person contact, and via aerosolization of the virus and subsequent contamination of surfaces.

Norovirus can survive for long periods outside a human host depending on the surface and temperature conditions: can stay for weeks on hard surfaces and up to 12 days on contaminated fabrics, and it can survive for months, maybe even years in contaminated still water. The virus survives 7 days after contamination on several surfaces used for food preparation.

Noroviruses have a big impact on people’s health. Noroviruses are responsible for more than half of all food-borne disease outbreaks each year. They are the most common cause of diarrhea in adults and the second most common cause in children.

Noroviruses are a group of viruses that cause inflammation of the stomach and large intestine lining; they are the leading cause of gastroenteritis in the U.S. . They are originally called the Norwalk virus.

Noroviruses are sometimes called food poisoning, because they can be transmitted through food that’s been contaminated with the virus. They aren’t always the result of food contamination. Noroviruses are also called the stomach flu, although they aren’t the influenza virus.

People become infected with noroviruses when they eat food and drink liquids that have been contaminated, raw or undercooked oysters and raw fruits and vegetables have been implicated in some outbreaks. You can also get infected if you touch an object or surface that has been infected with the virus and then touch an object or surface that has been infected with the virus and then touch your nose, mouth, or eyes.

Noroviruses can survive temperature extremes in water and on surfaces.

Once someone is infected from contaminated food, the virus can quickly pass from person to person through shared food or utensils, by shaking hands or through other close contact. People who have weekend immune system are particularly susceptible to catching noroviruses.

If you come down with a norovirus infection, you will probably go from being completely healthy to feeling absolutely miserable within a day or two after being exposed to the virus. 

Typical symptoms include nausea, vomiting, watery diarrhea and stomach cramps. Other norovirus symptoms include: low-grade fever, chills, headache, muscle aches, fatigue.

Most of these symptoms aren’t serious, but diarrhea and vomiting can deplete your body of the fluid it needs and you can become dehydrated. Children and the elderly are most susceptible to dehydration, as well as malnutrition from not getting enough nutrients.

You have to take stool test to confirm that you have the illness. 

A small percentage of people who are infected with noroviruses never have any symptoms, which suggests they might have some natural protection from the virus.

Noroviruses, like other viruses, don’t respond to antibiotics, which are designed to kill bacteria. No antiviral drug can treat noroviruses, but in healthy people the illness go away on its own within a couple of days. Most people don’t have any long-term problems from the virus.

To prevent dehydration, drink plenty of liquids, especially water and juices. Drink an oral rehydration solution to replace lost fluids and electrolytes. Avoid sugary drinks, which can make diarrhea worse, as well as alcohol and caffeinated beverages, which can dehydrate you further.

Symptoms of dehydration include dizziness when standing, dry mouth and decrease in urination. Severe dehydration is sometimes treated with intravenous (IV) fluids. 

Good hygiene is the key to prevent an infection with norovirus, especially when you are in close surroundings with people. So wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 15 seconds, or use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer, especially after going to the bathroom and before you prepare or eat food. Carefully dispose contaminated items. Wash raw fruits and vegetables thoroughly. Cook oysters and other shellfish before eating them. Clean and disinfect surfaces with the mixture of detergent and chlorine bleach after someone is sick. If you have norovirus, don’t prepare food for at least two to three days after you feel better. Try not to eat food that has been prepared by someone else who is sick.

Mercury and Its Effects

Mercury pollution can be a serious health threat, especially for children and pregnant women.

Mercury is emitted to the air by power plants, cement plants, certain chemical manufacturers and other industrial facilities. In addition, over the years, many companies have used mercury to manufacture a range of products including thermometers, thermostats and automotive light switches. These products can release mercury, particularly at the end of their useful life during waste handling and disposal. Mercury pollution released into the environment becomes a serious threat when it settles into oceans and waterways, where it builds up in fish that we eat. Children and women of childbearing age are most at risk.

Mercury in Fish

Once mercury enters a waterway, naturally occurring bacteria absorb it and convert it to a form called methyl mercury. 

This transition is particularly significant for humans, who absorb methyl mercury easily and are especially vulnerable to its effects.

Mercury then works its way up the food chain as large fish consume contaminated smaller fish. Instead of dissolving or breaking down, mercury accumulates at ever-increasing levels. Predatory fish such as large tuna, swordfish, shark and mackerel can have mercury concentrations in their bodies that are 10,000 times higher than those of their surrounding habitat.

Mercury and Human Health

Humans risk ingesting dangerous levels of mercury when they eat contaminated fish. Since mercury is odorless, invisible and accumulates in the meat of the fish, it is not easy to detect and can't be avoided by trimming off the skin or other parts.

Once in the human body, mercury acts as a neurotoxin, interfering with the brain and nervous system.

Exposure to mercury can be particularly hazardous for pregnant women and small children. During the first several years of life, a child's brain is still developing and rapidly absorbing nutrients. Even in low doses, mercury may affect a child's development, delaying walking and talking, shortening attention span and causing learning disabilities. Less frequent, high dose prenatal and infant exposures to mercury can cause mental retardation, cerebral palsy, deafness and blindness.

In adults, mercury poisoning can adversely affect fertility and blood pressure regulation and can cause memory loss, tremors, vision loss and numbness of the fingers and toes. A growing body of evidence suggests that exposure to mercury may also lead to heart disease.

Mercury and a High-Fish Diet

A 2009 study of federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data concluded that roughly one in 40 women of childbearing age have mercury in their blood above 5.8 micrograms per liter of blood - a level that could pose a risk to a developing fetus. This is a significant improvement from data ten years ago, which showed that one out of 15 women had mercury in their blood at this level. Newer science indicates, however, that mercury actually concentrates in the umbilical cord blood that goes to the fetus, so mercury levels as low as 3.4 micrograms per liter of a mother’s blood are now a concern. Nearly one in 13 women of reproductive age in the United States has mercury in her blood at or above this level, according to the latest data.

Dr. Jane Hightower, a doctor of internal medicine at the California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco also linked fish consumption to elevated mercury levels when she tested her own patients. Her 2003 study found that 89 percent of the participating patients - chosen because of their fish-heavy diets - had elevated mercury levels. Many had levels as much as four times that which the Environmental Protection Agency considers safe.

The good news is that Dr. Hightower and other health professionals conclude that high mercury levels are reversible: cutting consumption of mercury-contaminated fish causes blood mercury to drop, though it can take six months or more.

Poisoned by Mercury

Mercury is a chemical element with the symbol Hg and atomic number 80.

Mercury is a naturally occurring element that is found in air, water and soil. A highly toxic form (methyl-mercury) builds up in fish, shellfish and animals that eat fish. Fish and shellfish are the main sources of methyl-mercury exposure to humans.

Mercury exposure at high levels can harm the brain, heart, kidneys, lungs, and immune system. High levels of methyl-mercury in the bloodstream of unborn babies and young children may harm the developing nervous system, making the child less able to think and learn.

Symptoms of methyl-mercury poisoning may include impairment of peripheral vision; disturbances in sensations ("pins and needles" feelings); lack of coordination; impairment of speech, hearing, walking; and muscle weakness.

Elemental (metallic) mercury primarily causes health effects when it is breathed as a vapor where it can be absorbed through the lungs. Symptoms include tremors, emotional changes, insomnia, weakness, muscle atrophy, twitching, headaches, disturbances in sensations, changes in nerve responses, and performance deficits on tests of cognitive function. Higher exposures may result in kidney effects, respiratory failure and death.

Consult your doctor if you believe you have been exposed to mercury.

Recycling of mercury-containing products is one of the best ways to help prevent mercury releases to the environment by keeping these products out of landfills and incinerators.

Mercury poisoning facts by John P. Cunha, DO, FACOEP

Types of Laughter: from Belly to Cruel

Laughter is a social structure, something that connects humans with one another in a profound way. People usually are 30 percent more likely to laugh in a social setting that warrants it than when alone with humor-inducing media. That means that you're more likely to laugh with friends while watching a comedy together than when you're watching the same show or movie by yourself.

There are many ways to laugh, from giggles to guffaws and from chuckles to cackles. Humans laugh for many reasons, some of them odd. About 90 percent of our laughter is related to jokes or humor.

There are some of the different types and reasons for all the laughter.

Belly Laughter

Belly laughter is considered the most honest type of laughter. It may also be the hardest type to experience, because we have to find something truly hilarious before we'll let go with the kind of laughter that has us clutching our bellies and gasping for air. Of course, that's not the only description for true belly laughter; as you might guess, we all laugh differently. Researchers found that men are more likely to grunt or snort at something they find funny, while women let loose with giggles and chuckles. 

It's good to take note of what tickles your funny bone, however, because it just might save your life. The laughter can be used to fight near incurable illness. Ten minutes of genuine belly laughter had an anesthetic effect and can give at least two hours of pain-free sleep. 

Etiquette Laughter

At the end of a long day, you and your colleague together in the elevator. Instead of talking up your latest accomplishments, though, you find yourself laughing at everything you are talking about. You sounded like a fool and you did just fine. People rely on laughter to get along with others, so whether we're with our colleagues or friends, we tend to laugh at things that just aren't funny.

In a study of laughter episodes, is found that people tend to laugh at perfectly bland statements like "Can I join you?" or "See you later". Laughter could have developed in our ancestors before full speech, so the sound is merely a way to communicate and show agreement.

We tend to laugh with anyone who can help us out, which is why a group of undergraduate students may guffaw at a professor's bad joke, while a job applicant's attempts at humor may fall flat with those who are already gainfully employed.

Contagious Laughter

You're out for dinner with a group of friends. Someone tells a joke and gets one person laughing, which gets a second person laughing, and so on. Catching laughter is like catching a cold. It's very likely. In research experiment is found that nearly half of his 128 undergraduate students giggled on first response to a simulated laugh. And they did this despite knowing the source to be an artificial laugh-simulator. 

Contagious laughter raises the possibility that humans have laugh detectors. In other words, people are made to respond with laughter on hearing laughter itself, much like the mystery of spreading a yawn. Contagious laughter isn't necessarily a laughing matter. Laughter among the group can spread to the much wider community. And it suspected to be a case of mass hysteria.

Nervous Laughter

There are times when we need to project dignity and control, like during presentations to the CEO or during a funeral. Unfortunately, these are the times when uncontrollable nervous laughter is likely to strike. 

During times of anxiety, we often laugh in a subconscious attempt to reduce stress and calm down. However, nervous laughter usually just heightens the awkwardness of the situation.

Nervous laughter is often considered fake laughter. Researchers advised women to stop this kind of laughter immediately. Researches recommended spanking young girls who were developing such a bad habit, told women that once they broke themselves of nervous laughter, they would wonder how people even stood their company before.

Silent Laughter

Those of us who work in cubicles may think that silent laughter is a skill we've perfected. Mindfully practicing silent laughter, though, can have real benefits because it involves the same type of deep breathing that comes with belly laughter.

Teaching sick kids the art of silent laughter enabled them to go back to sleep after waking up from a bad dream. The children got the calming benefits of the rhythmic exhalations without waking up any roommates.

This type of laughter is also practiced in laughter yoga and laughter therapy, where it's often called joker's laughter. To try it on your own, freeze your face into a smile, and then let your belly do the work of pushing air in and out as if you were laughing out loud.

Stress-relieving Laughter

Laughter is a skill we've perfected. Let's face it, life can be tough sometimes. The end of a workday doesn't mean everything's peachy keen. Muscles are still tight. It's a sign you're still carrying the stress of the day. Stress is one of the most important reasons to find something humorous. Laughter is a sure cure for stress. Stress builds tension in the human body, and that tension has to go somewhere. Usually it's the muscles. So what to do? Yes, you could get a massage, but have you ever considered a good laugh? Stress-relieving laughter can encompass many forms, but it's usually found in an outburst, much like belly laughing.

Pigeon Laughter

Say you're out for a walk with a friend when something falls from the sky: pigeon droppings. You're splattered, but your friend is untouched. This event is anything but funny to you, yet your friend can't stop laughing. This is not pigeon laughter. Pigeon laughter, which is often practiced in laughter therapy or laughter yoga, involves laughing without opening your mouth. By keeping your lips sealed, the laughter produces a humming sound, much like the noises a pigeon makes. It's also been compared to the humming of bees, so if you're still angry at those darn pigeons for dropping poop on you, feel free to call it bees' laughter.

Snorting Laughter

When you aren't actively trying to practice the art of silent laughter, odds are some kind of sound will occur when something strikes your funny bone. Most laughter is, after all, a string of vocal ha-has or ho-hos. But what if you're one of the roughly 25 percent of women or 33 percent of men who laugh through the nose? Then you'd be a snorter. 

We all knew the kid in elementary school, the one who blew milk out his nose when the class clown cracked jokes in the cafeteria. You can guess his kind of laughter.

If this is your kind of laughter, you're either blowing air out or sucking it in through the nose when you laugh. There's nothing wrong with this - but you may want to drink in sips for those times when your friends try to catch you off guard with a new joke.

Canned Laughter

Canned laughter is another term for what's commonly referred to as the "laugh track." Canned laughter is real laughter - it just happens to be laughter taken completely out of one context and placed in another. 

Because of laughter's social connection, television producers understand that placing canned laughter over the soundtrack to programming increases the chance of an audience finding humor in the material - or at least laughing in response to it. Of course, the laughter has to "sound" genuine to the audience; humans can quickly tell the difference between genuine and fake laughter.

Cruel Laughter

You've probably heard some motherly person say, "It isn't polite to laugh at others' expense." That probably hasn't always stopped you, either. Let's face it: Whether you were a bully in school or the kid getting picked on, you've found yourself breaking this rule at some point. We may think of cruel laughter as insensitive and out of touch today, but it's been around for a long time.

Add to that derisive laughter's place in ancient texts. Cruel laughter isn't just a thing of the ancient past. In cultures like the Inuit of Greenland, contests of derision and ridicule were their only judicial procedure, even for serious cases.

Use of Water

After breathing, the most important thing we need to do is to drink water.
Water has many crucial duties in our body. The most important are:
-We need water to detoxify our cells from accumulated waste. Without this function, our cells will slow down and stop producing energy. Water is the garbage collector, going through cells to exchange waste for minerals.
-We need water, as electrolyte, to receive and deliver chemical messages in our body.
-We need water to thin our blood and lymphatic fluid and lubricate our eyes.
-We need water to flush out waste from our Digestive system and help the Kidneys to filter and detoxify our blood.
-Without water we would not have saliva, blood, lymphatic fluid, mucosal membrane and our joints would dry out.
-Without water we could not sweat and clean our detoxifying organs.
Without adequate quality and quantity of water, we will slow down, get sick and age early.
You may know that filtering drinking water is a smart thing to do, but do you know that the more you filter your water you will take out not only the “bad things” but all the active ingredients as well. Filtered water, without re-added minerals is “dead” or empty water! Empty water cannot communicate with your body and ends up over diluting your extracellular fluid, causing fluid retention and metabolic slowdown.
There is much confusing and false information about drinking water. Here are some that are not only confusing, but nor right:
Drink as much you can, as soon as you get up, is false.
You should drink not more than a glass of water upon arising otherwise you will dilute your digestive acid and wash most of it down to your small intestine, causing inflammation and reduce the effectiveness of alkaline pancreatic enzymes to break down carbohydrates. Furthermore, by emptying the stomach of gastric juices you will incapacitate the stomach to break down protein, the most desired food for Breakfast. Doing so, you will set yourself up for the development of digestive disorders and will end up with less energy.
Do not drink when you eat, is half true.
One should not drink a large amount of any liquid when you eat, but should sip on up to 150 ml of room temperature water, tea, etc. to help lubricate dry food and increase the quantity of gastric juices. If you eat other than soup or some liquid based food, than you will be better off sipping on some water or other liquid.
Sip at least 2 L of water, every day, is not true.
It depends on the size of your body, your metabolic speed, kidney function, activities and microenvironment as to how much you should drink per day. The best practice is to drink gulp a glass of water every 2 hours to systematically help your kidneys to filter your blood. Only when you are doing moderate to heavy exercise, should you sip water – to help your muscles, introduce sweat and lubricate your body.
Swimming in the ocean and or having regular baths is a blessing for a body, giving it the chance to self-regulate it’s fluids. Having regular foot-spas when you can’t swim or bathe is the next best thing to do, especially when you indulge yourself with few tablesp

oons of Magnesium-oil or chloride crystals.
Most people’s bodies are acidic, so drinking alkaline water and bathing with magnesium could help balance your pH (acid/alkaline). Cancer can develop faster in an acid environment.

Different Levels of #Happiness

Happiness is not just one feeling, just look in any thesaurus. Have you noticed that each synonym reveals different levels of happiness? It's useful to know these when we're learning #howtobehappy. Which 'happy' are we aiming for?
 

Starting from the bottom
Here is my list of the different levels of #happiness. I'm starting with the lowest level of happiness, that hopefully we've all experienced some time in our lives.
•    Well being is a state of being comfortable, healthy and happy,
•    satisfaction is the pleasure derived from the fulfillment of our wishes, expectations, or needs,
•    tranquility is being free from disturbance, being calm,
•    whilst contentment is a state of happiness and satisfaction,
•    and serenity is the state of being calm, peaceful, and untroubled.
 

Is this Normal for you?
Having read that list, do you think, "Hmm, I wish I felt like that!" or maybe "Hey, that's not what I call happiness!" It's interesting that one person's normal level of happiness is on another person's wish list. Or are you thinking that these states of being are so normal and commonplace that you didn't consider them to be states of happiness at all?
 

Moving Higher
Well, the list continues and I'm taking the happiness up a notch with these feelings. Take a look and see if you ever feel these emotions?
•    pleasure can be described as a feeling of happy satisfaction and enjoyment,
•    when you're in good spirits you're feeling cheerful,
•    and cheerfulness is being noticeably happy and optimistic,
•    lightheartedness and gaiety are both cheerful and carefree,
•    merriment is gaiety mixed with fun,
•    and gladness is being happy about good fortune,
•    jollity is being cheerful,
•    whilst joviality is being cheerful and friendly.
So, have you noticed the levels of happiness getting more jolly? Well they get even jollier in this next section.
 

Higher Still
•    joy is the feeling, and joyfulness is the expression of great pleasure and happiness,
•    enjoyment is to take delight or pleasure in something,
•    and delight is a feeling of great pleasure,
•    whilst glee is a great delight.
I do hope you've felt some of those emotions at some time in your life. Now, lets move on to happy emotions that contain more excitement.
 

Feeling Excitement
•    exuberance is being filled with a lively energy and excitement,
•    exhilaration is feeling very happy, animated, or elated,
•    and elation is great happiness and exhilaration,
•    jubilation is a feeling of great happiness and triumph,
•    and felicity is a feeling of intense happiness,
Have you ever felt those emotions? I doubt if anyone feels like this all the time. They are emotions we feel at certain stages and events in our lives like getting married, going on holiday or giving birth.
 

The Icing on the Cake
And now we're going up the top! Or, as some may say, over the top.
•    ecstasy is an overwhelming feeling of great happiness or joyful excitement,
•    delirium is wild excitement or ecstasy,
•    and rapture is a feeling of intense pleasure or joy,
•    blissfulness is being extremely happy and full of joy,
•    euphoria is a feeling or state of intense excitement and happiness
•    whilst transports of delight is totally being carried away by euphoria,
•    and bliss is perfect happiness; great joy; a state of spiritual blessedness (typically that reached after death!)
So there we have them: the different levels of happiness. As we get further up the levels, the emotions are not something we sustain for long. For those people who are basically happy, these emotions are the icing on the cake.

An Apple a Day, and Other Myths

 A trip to almost any bookstore or a cruise around the Internet might leave the impression that avoiding cancer is mostly a matter of watching what you eat. One source after another promotes the protective powers of “superfoods,” rich in antioxidants and other phytochemicals, or advises readers to emulate the diets of Chinese peasants or Paleolithic cave dwellers.
But there is a yawning divide between this nutritional folklore and science. During the last two decades the connection between the foods we eat and the #cellularanarchy called #cancer has been unraveling string by string.
This month at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research, a mammoth event that drew more than 18,500 researchers and other professionals here, the latest results about diet and cancer were relegated to a single poster session and a few scattered presentations. There were new hints that coffee may lower the risk of some cancers and more about the possible benefits of vitamin D. Beyond that there wasn’t much to say.
In the opening plenary session, Dr. Walter C. Willett, a Harvard epidemiologist who has spent many years studying #cancer and nutrition, sounded almost rueful as he gave a status report. Whatever is true for other diseases, when it comes to cancer there was little evidence that fruits and vegetables are protective or that fatty foods are bad.
About all that can be said with any assurance is that controlling obesity is important, as it also is for heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, hypertension, stroke and other threats to life. Avoiding an excess of alcohol has clear benefits. But unless a person is seriously malnourished, the influence of specific foods is so weak that the signal is easily swamped by noise.

Researchers #CloneCells From Two Elder Men

After years of failed attempts, researchers have successfully generated stem cells from adults. The process could provide a new way for scientists to generate healthy replacements for diseased or damaged cells in patients. After years of failed attempts, researchers have finally generated stem cells from adults using the same cloning technique that produced Dolly the sheep in 1996.
A previous claim that Korean investigators had succeeded in the feat turned out to be fraudulent. Then last year, a group at Oregon Health & Science University generated stem cells using the Dolly technique, but with cells from fetuses and infants.
In this case, cells from a 35-year-old man and a 75-year-old man were used to generate two separate lines of stem cells. The process, known as nuclear transfer, involves taking the DNA from a donor and inserting it into an egg that has been stripped of its DNA. The resulting hybrid is stimulated to fuse and start dividing; after a few days the “embryo” creates a lining of stem cells that are destined to develop into all of the cells and tissues in the human body. Researchers extract these cells and grow them in the lab, where they are treated with the appropriate growth factors and other agents to develop into specific types of cells, like neurons, muscle, or insulin-producing cells.
Reporting in the journal Cell Stem Cell, Dr. Robert Lanza, chief scientific officer at biotechnology company Advanced Cell Technology, and his colleagues found that tweaking the Oregon team’s process was the key to success with reprogramming the older cells. Like the earlier team, Lanza’s group used caffeine to prevent the fused egg from dividing prematurely. Rather than leaving the egg with its newly introduced DNA for 30 minutes before activating the dividing stage, they let the eggs rest for about two hours. This gave the DNA enough time to acclimate to its new environment and interact with the egg’s development factors, which erased each of the donor cell’s existing history and reprogrammed it to act like a brand new cell in an embryo. 

The team, which included an international group of stem cell scientists, used 77 eggs from four different donors. They tested their new method by waiting for 30 minutes before activating 38 of the resulting embryos, and waiting two hours before triggering 39 of them. None of the 38 developed into the next stage, while two of the embryos getting extended time did. “There is a massive molecular change occurring. You are taking a fully differentiated cell, and you need to have the egg do its magic,” says Lanza. “You need to extend the reprogramming time before you can force the cell to divide.”  

While a 5% efficiency may not seem laudable, Lanza says that it’s not so bad given that the stem cells appear to have had their genetic history completely erased and returned to that of a blank slate. “This procedure works well, and works with adult cells,” says Lanza.
The results also teach stem cell scientists some important lessons. First, that the nuclear transfer method that the Oregon team used is valid, and that with some changes it can be replicated using older adult cells. “It looks like the protocols we described are real, they are universal, they work in different hands, in different labs and with different cells,” says Shoukhrat Mitalopov, director of the center for embryonic cell and gene therapy at Oregon Health & Science University, and lead investigator of that study.
Second, the findings confirm that the key factor in making nuclear transfer work with human cells is not the age of the donor cell, as some experts have argued, but the quality of the donor egg. “No matter how much you tweak the protocols or optimize them, it looks like the major player in efficiency is the individual egg quality,” says Mitalipov. He notes that all of his stem cell lines came from the same egg donor. The two cell lines described by Lanza’s group also came from one egg donor.
This latest success should reignite the debate over which reprogramming method generates the most reliable, and potentially useful, stem cells for eventually treating patients. The nuclear transfer method may join two other ways of making stem cells: one, developed by James Thomson in 1998, relied on extracting them from days-old embryos left over from IVF, and another, developed by Japanese scientist Shinya Yamanaka in 2006 (and for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize), bypassed the egg and embryo completely, allowing researchers to make stem cells by modifying an adult’s cells using a mixture of just four genes.
Each method has it advantages and risks, however. IVF embryos are difficult to come by, since they require permission from couples to be used for stem cells research, and they may not be genetically matched to patients who might benefit from cells they generate.
While so-called induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPS cells, avoid the need for embryos and could be matched to patients, some studies suggest that the process may not completely reprogram cells, leaving populations of some partially reprogrammed ones in the mix. In addition, iPS cells aren’t useful for treating mitochondrial diseases, which result from mutations in the cell’s energy factories, which have their own DNA outside of the cell’s DNA in the nucleus. If a cell with a mitochondrial mutation is reprogrammed using the iPS technique, any mutations would be reprogrammed as well.

Nuclear transfer, however, could treat these disorders since it involves an egg that provides its own, healthy mitochondria. But the process requires a good supply of eggs, which have to be donated by healthy volunteers. That raises ethical concerns since the technique could produce human clones. That’s why research on nuclear transfer is not funded by the federal government, and scientists know less about these cells and their potential than they do about iPS cells. “They have become kind of like cursed cells,” says Mitalipov of the stem cells generated through nuclear transfer. “But we clearly need to understand more about them.”
For patients who might one day benefit from stem cell-based therapies, that understanding could mean the difference between life and death, which is why the latest findings are potentially significant. “We have another way to skin the cat,” Lanza says. “The hope is that iPS cells work out, but for the future application of stem cell therapies to treating disease, it’s good knowing there is another way to make stem cells should we need to.”

Butter and Fatty Acids May not be as Unhealthy as Previously Thought

Using olive oil instead of butter when cooking a meal may not lower heart risk, according to new research by the British Heart Foundation.

Researchers at the BHF say that there is no evidence that changing the type of fat you eat from "bad" saturated fat to "healthier" fatty acids will cut heart risk. They came to the conclusion after reviewing data from 72 studies, spanning more than 600,000 participants.

Consumers have been widely encouraged to eating unsaturated fats such as olive and sunflower oils. But the research, led by scientists at Cambridge and published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, found no evidence to support this. The research found that saturated fat, whether measured in the diet or in the bloodstream, was not linked to coronary disease risk, and that there was no such thing as "healthy" fat intake.

Researchers stressed however that the study findings did not mean it was fine to eat lots of cheese, pies and cakes. Eating too much saturated fat can still increase the amount of cholesterol in the blood, which can increase the risk of developing coronary heart disease.

Trans fats are also associated with risk of heart diseases. These artificial fats, found in many processed food items and margarine spreads, should continue to be regulated and avoided, the study authors say.

Doctor Rajiv Chowdhury, the study's lead researcher, told the BBC that the findings could potentially stimulate new lines of scientific inquiry and current nutritional guidelines.

The British Heart Foundation stressed that the findings do not change the advice that eating too much fat is harmful for the heart.

"This research is not saying that you can eat as much fat as you like," Jeremy Pearson, an associate medical director at the organisation told the BBC. "Too much fat is bad for you. But, sadly, this analysis suggests there isn't enough evidence to say that a diet rich in polyunsaturated fats, but low in saturated fats, reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease. Alongside taking any necessary medication, the best way to stay heart healthy is to stop smoking, stay active, and ensure our whole diet is healthy - and this means considering not only the fats in our diet but also our intake of salt, sugar and fruit and vegetables," he said.

The prevalence of high levels of cholesterol is highest in the European region (54% for both sexes), according to the World Health Organisation, followed by the Americas (48% for both sexes).

According to a 2011 report by the Cardiovascular Resource Group, 133.3 million people in the five biggest EU countries (Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the UK) suffer from too much bad cholesterol in the blood, comparable to the overall number in the United States (135.1 million people). Statistics in the report show that the numbers have grown steadily. At the same time, it is estimated that 25 million people in the United States are unaware that their level of bad cholesterol is too high, according to the report.

Russia won’t Import #GMOs, Has "Enough Space and Opportunities to Produce Organic Food"

(NaturalNews) Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has announced that Russia will not import any more GMO food products or seeds.
The Russian government has taken a bold stand against genetically altered food ingredients, believing there is no need for them in their country. Medvedev also declared that Russia has "enough space and opportunities to produce organic food," and they will no longer be encouraging the production of GMOs.
He commented, "If the Americans like to eat GMO products, let them eat it then. We don't need to do that."
Russian Minister of Agriculture Nikolai Fydorov agrees, saying that Russia should remain free of genetically modified products to prevent its citizens from being poisoned.
The importation ban, issued with the consent of the Russian parliament, was initiated in late February. As the orders trickle down, a widespread monitoring effort will be placed over the Russian agricultural sector. Imports will be heavily inspected to assure that GMOs aren't entering the country. This new all-out ban strengthens very restrictive policies already put in place. Current Russian law requires producers to label any product containing GMOs in excess of 0.9 percent of the product.
GMOs to remain banned until a standard of control is established proving human health safety
Awareness of GMOs in the food supply is growing. In late 2013, Russia created a Unified State Register that documents various genetically modified plants. The realization that they are untested for their effects on human health and the environment is making many concerned around the globe.
Furthermore, labeling GMOs is always a shadowy issue; the biotech industry likes to keep people in the dark, as not to raise suspicion. Scientific studies like the Seralini study may show the dangers that GMOs pose to animals (inciting tumors) but these studies are often swept under the rug and discredited by the biotech industry and propagandists.
However, Russia's State Duma's Agriculture Committee has suggested that GMOs remain banned until scientists establish a working system of control to establish the effects of GMOs on human health and the environment. With no standards of safety to go by, GMOs are pushed into agriculture as experimental science. Breeding, growing and cross-pollinating these genetic alterations into the natural world changes animals, plants, and microorganisms in startling ways. There are no controls to observe the long-term effects. Russia, though, is putting their foot down as a nation, prohibiting GMOs until safety controls are established and proven.
Irina Ermakova, the Vice President of Russia's National Association for Genetic Safety, stated that it's necessary to ban GMOs, taking the advice of prominent Russian scientists who declared that a moratorium should be imposed on GMOs for at least ten years.
Ermakova stated, "While GMOs will be prohibited, we can plan experiments, tests, or maybe even new methods of research could be developed. It has been proven that not only in Russia, but also in many other countries in the world, GMOs are dangerous. Methods of obtaining the GMOs are not perfect, therefore, at this stage, all GMOs are dangerous. Consumption and use of GMOs obtained in such way can lead to tumors, cancers and obesity among animals. Bio-technologies certainly should be developed, but GMOs should be stopped. We should stop it from spreading."

Traffic Pollution, Noise Linked to Heart Diseases: Study

Exposure to traffic pollution and noise can in the long run lead to atherosclerosis, according to a German study which for the first time explored the links between the two.
The study, which was based on data from the German Heinz Nixdorf Recall Study, calculated the long-term exposure to particle pollutants of 4,814 participants who live nearby roads with high traffic volume.
The results were presented at a European Society for Cardiology event in Rome on Thursday (18 April). For the first time, the cardiological study also took account of road traffic noise and its effect on cardiovascular diseases, as recorded by validated tests. The test group's level of atherosclerosis was then evaluated by measurement of vascular vessel calcification in the thoracic aorta by computed imaging. Results showed that in 4,238 subjects small particulate matter and proximity to major roads were both associated with an increasing level of aortic calcification. For every increase in particle volume up to 2.4 micrometres, the degree of calcification increased by 20.7% and went up an extra 10% for every 100 metre of proximity to heavy traffic. 

Traffic noise associated with increased risk of heart attack. The study also found a increase in atherosclerosis associated with night time noise.
Dr Hagen Kälsch from the West-German Heart Centre in Essen said that long-term exposure to fine particle matter air pollution and to road traffic noise are both independently associated with subclinical atherosclerosis. "These two major types of traffic emissions help explain the observed associations between living close to high traffic and subclinical atherosclerosis. The considerable size of the associations underscores the importance of long-term exposure to air pollution and road traffic noise as risk factors for atherosclerosis," Kälsch said.
The association between road traffic and heart disease has been suggested in previous studies. In 2013 a study from Denmark showed that traffic noise was significantly associated with risk of heart attack. For every 10 decibel increase in noise exposure, there was a 12% increased risk, the study found. 

Fine particle matter and traffic noise are believed to act through similar biologic pathways, thereby increasing cardiovascular risk.  They both cause an imbalance in the autonomic nervous system, which feeds into the complex mechanisms regulating blood pressure, blood lipids, and glucose level.