Marijuana-based painkiller seeks FDA approval
A quarter-century after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first prescription drugs based on the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, additional medicines derived from or inspired by the cannabis plant itself could soon be making their way to pharmacy shelves, according to drug companies, small biotech firms and university scientists.

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Breast cancer screening cannot be justified, says researcher
Breast cancer screening can no longer be justified, because the harm to many women from needless diagnosis and damaging treatment outweighs the small number of lives saved, according to a book that accuses many in the scientific establishment of misconduct in their efforts to bury the evidence of critics and keep mammography alive. Peter Gøtzsche, director of the independent Nordic Cochrane Collaboration, has spent more than 10 years investigating and analysing data from the trials of breast screening that were run, mostly in Sweden, before countries such as the UK introduced their national programs.

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A Coal Region’s Quest to Switch to Renewables
Germany's bituminous coal mines are soon to lose their subsidies. But one Ruhr Valley company is looking to transform its mines into sources of renewable energy. Along the way, they could solve one of Germany's largest challenges as it attempts to switch over to green energy.

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Controlling what and how much we eat
Our cravings for fat, salt, and sugar started back when humans lived in caves and hunted and gathered for their food. Fat, salt, and sugar were in short supply, so to ensure that we ate adequate supplies of each, we evolved a craving for them.

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Karoshi - Death from Overwork
Japan's rise from the devastation of World War II to economic prominence between 1945 and 1975 was not without human cost. People cannot work for ten or twelve hours a day six and seven days a week, year after year, without suffering physically as well as mentally.

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Mental health prescriptions rise to 29 million a year
Last year in Australia there were 29 million prescriptions written for medications related to mental health issues. Anti-depressant medications accounted for nearly 60 per cent of these scripts, followed by anti-anxiety and anti-psychotic drugs, according to the report by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.

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Laughter: a serious business
Laughter has been shown to have an effect on the heart, lungs, muscles and even the gut. Laughing is a serious business, according to researchers, who say it can help in conditions as diverse as diabetes and eczema, heart disease and asthma. It can boost the immune system and help fight infections, and laughter yoga – clapping and chanting ho ho ha ha ha – can be an effective therapy for depression.

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Is sex exercise? And is it hard on the heart?
As many men get older, they wonder if sex is a good form of exercise or if it’s too strenuous for the heart. Whilst ths question may sound frivolous, it is actually quite important — and now has solid scientific answers..

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What should you look for in skincare products?
Consumers are becoming increasingly aware of and concerned with toxic chemicals in personal care products. However, we don’t only need to know what to avoid, but also what to look for in order to get the best results for your skin. We need equal information on what to avoid as well as what to look for when choosing personal care products which includes that they do not harm your health, that they are good for your body, and also benefit your skin.

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11 ways to curb your drinking
Are you concerned about your alcohol intake? Maybe you feel that you’re drinking too much or too often. Perhaps it’s a habit you’d like to better control. It’s always wise to check with your doctor — they should be able to help you decide whether it is best for you to cut back or to abstain. People who are dependent on alcohol, or have other medical or mental health problems, should stop drinking completely.

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Eating to boost energy
The tried-and-true advice for healthful eating also applies to keeping your energy level high: eat a balanced diet that includes a variety of unrefined carbohydrates, proteins, and fats, with an emphasis on vegetables, whole grains, and healthy oils. Taking a daily multivitamin will ensure that you get the vitamins and minerals you need, but taking extra amounts of individual nutrients won’t give you more energy. In addition, eating certain types of foods in particular amounts can help prevent fatigue.

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Understand the Healing Process from a Whole Systems Perspective
Homeopaths utilise practical guidelines to determine when a real healing is taking place and when the disease process is getting worse. These guidelines are called “Hering’s law of cure,” named after the father of American homeopathy, Constantine Hering, MD (1800-1880), who first made these important observations about the healing process.

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10 small steps for a healthier heart
Change is an important part of living with heart disease or trying to prevent it. A jump in blood pressure or cholesterol earns you a lecture on healthy lifestyle changes. Heart attack and stroke survivors are often told to alter a lifetime of habits.

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Culture shown to make you more healthy
Sick of public health messages relentlessly advocating exercise and diet? Then get to an art gallery or museum to passively soak up some culture and enjoy better health as a result. In particular, men who visit art galleries, museums, and the theatre on a regular basis seem to enjoy better health and are more satisfied with life, research suggests.

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New evidence that caffeine is a healthful antioxidant in coffee
Some of the newest research points to caffeine (also present in tea, cocoa, and other foods) as the source of powerful antioxidant effects that may help protect people from Alzheimer's and other diseases.

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Bamboo may be a ‘new health food’, says review
Young bamboo shoots are a rich source of nutrients which may offer health benefits including antioxidant and anti-cancer properties, according to a new review suggesting bamboo use ‘as a new health food’.
The review, published in Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety explores the use of bamboo as a potential health food, emphasizing the health benefits of bamboo shoots and their potential for utilization as a health food.

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GM food disrupting organ function
A new paper demonstrates that consuming genetically modified (GM) food leads to significant organ disruptions in rats and mice. Researchers reviewed data from 19 studies and found that parameters including blood and urine biochemistry and organ weights were significantly disrupted in the GM-fed animals.

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Keys to Long Life
Friedman and Leslie R. Martin, a 1996 UCR alumna (Ph.D.) and staff researchers, have published their findings in "The Longevity Project: Surprising Discoveries for Health and Long Life from the Landmark Eight-Decade Study" (Hudson Street Press, March 2011). Friedman and Martin examined, refined and supplemented data gathered by the late Stanford University psychologist Louis Terman and subsequent researchers on more than 1,500 bright children who were about 10 years old when they were first studied in 1921.

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Job Rut Can Affect Mental Health
The impact on mental health of a badly paid, poorly supported, or short term job can be as harmful as no job at all, according to a study released by Occupational and Environmental Medicine. Because being in work is associated with better mental health than unemployment, government policies have tended to focus on the risks posed by joblessness, without necessarily considering the impact the quality of a job may have, say the authors of the study.

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Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is increasingly popular in maternity care.
However, healthcare professionals need evidence-based information about its use, according to The University of Queensland's Dr Jon Adams, lead author of a review published in the latest Journal of Advanced Nursing. Associate Professor Adams is also Executive Director of the Network of Researchers in the Public Health of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NORPHCAM).

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Study from University of Maryland Center for Celiac Research Places Gluten Sensitivity on Centre Stage of Spectrum of Gluten-Related Disorders
Scientists at the University of Maryland School of Medicine’s Center for Celiac Research have proven that gluten sensitivity is different from celiac disease at the molecular level and in the response it elicits from the immune system. The research, published online in BMC Medicine, provides the first scientific evidence of a different mechanism leading to gluten sensitivity. It also demonstrates that gluten sensitivity and celiac disease are part of a spectrum of gluten-related disorders.

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CONSUMERS KEPT IN THE DARK AS EU DIRECTIVE LOOKS SET TO BAN MAJORITY OF HIGH STREET HERBAL REMEDIES – Indian and Chinese herbs hardest hit
Consumers across Europe will be denied the right to use the majority of herbal remedies currently available in health food stores and on the Internet when a new European law is fully implemented on 1st May 2011, according to data published today by the Alliance for Natural Health International (ANH-Intl).

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Placebos Work -- Even Without Deception
For most of us, the "placebo effect" is synonymous with the power of positive thinking; it works because you believe you're taking a real drug. But a new study rattles this assumption.
Researchers at Harvard Medical School's Osher Research Center and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) have found that placebos work even when administered without the seemingly requisite deception.

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Vitamins, Pharma and B Vitamins
For those of us in the natural health field, any headline stating that B vitamins can help the brain, and be particularly useful for people with Alzheimer’s, certainly wouldn’t be considered ‘new’ or ‘ground-breaking’.  We are repeatedly told by the media and mainstream medicine that vitamins are bad for you and even downright dangerous at dosages higher than the recommended daily allowances (RDA).

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Thermotherapy alternative to chemotherapy uses heat, not poison, to kill tumours
Yet another study supports the use of heat to kill cancer cells without harming neighbouring cells, in a promising alternative to chemo and radiation therapy. In a study conducted by researchers from Virginia Tech and Ladavpur University in Kolkata, India, and presented at the 63rd annual meeting of the American Physical Society, researchers injected a solution called a ferrofluid into both cancerous cells in the laboratory and into tumour cells inside living humans.

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Half of TCM practitioners will lose herbs when deadline hits
A survey by the Register of Chinese Herbal Medicine (RCHM) indicates that over half (53%) of its members will no longer be able to provide Chinese herbal medicine to their patients, and one fifth will have to close their clinics, when the European Directive on Traditional Herbal Medicinal Products comes into force on 1 May.

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Meditation as good as drugs for depression
Drugs such as selective-serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are effective treatments for the scourge of major depression, but what about the many patients who are reluctant to stay on the medication indefinitely, risking serious relapses? A new Canadian study suggests that a novel alternative – a form of meditation – actually does as good a job in preventing such relapses as the drugs.

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80% university students mentally stressed
More than 80 percent of university students are struggling with psychological distress with almost one-fifth of these classified as having a serious mental illness, according to a University of Queensland study. Further, the rate of psychological distress among university students surveyed (83.9 percent) is almost three times higher than in the general population (29 percent).

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Fatty Acids help prevent gum disease
Research has suggested that polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) found in foods such as fatty fish and nuts, help keep people’s smiles healthy as they have been shown to help lower the risk of gum disease and periodontitis.

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Radiation may be a greater cancer risk to patients than doctors thought
From the sun's ultraviolet rays to the weak cosmic exposure we get on plane flights to the screening tests that doctors recommend, our bodies are constantly bombarded with small but relatively consistent doses of potentially cancer-triggering radiation. And although doctors had thought that the cancer risks posed by such exposure declined with age, a new study reveals that the hazard may be greater in adults than previously believed.

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Bisphenol A officially declared toxic by Canada
Canada has become the first country in the world to declare bisphenol A (BPA) to be a toxic substance that poses risks to human health and the environment. BPA is an industrial chemical used to make a hard, clear plastic such as reusable polycarbonate baby bottles. It is also used in the manufacture of epoxy resins, which act as a protective lining on the inside of metal-based food and beverage cans.

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Survey reveals half of Australians want their children to personally care for them in their old age
Tasmanians are the most caring with 50% prepared to personally provide full time care for their parents. People from ACT are the least caring with only 25% prepared to personally care for their parents. 42% of parents would want their children to take care of them but wouldn’t expect it.

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Doctors advised to avoid information from pharmaceutical companies
Promotional tactics by pharmaceutical companies can influence some doctors and may harm their prescribing according to an international team of researchers led by The University of Queensland.

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Women who take a daily multivitamin may be at a reduced risk of heart attacks, according to new research
The study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, observed multivitamin use to be inversely associated with myocardial infarction in women with no history of cardiovascular disease. The researchers noted that the association grew stronger with long-term use, and was not affected by how often supplements were taken.

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Swiss glucosamine study “left out” positive trial data
Leading figures from the natural health sector in Britain and America have questioned the findings of a survey into the effectiveness of glucosamine and chondroitin. The British Medical Journal (BMJ) has published a study by professor Peter Jüni and his team at the University of Bern who found no “clinically relevant effect” of glucosamine or chondroitin. The Bern team’s conclusion was based on a meta-analysis of 10 published trials.

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Antidepressants linked with significant risk of stroke and fracture
Antidepressant prescribing is associated with a significantly increased risk of stroke, falls and fractures in older people, according to analyses of primary care data by UK researchers.Two analyses by the same team of researchers from the University of Nottingham of the QResearch database – a network of 602 practices in England – found antidepressants increased the stroke rate by up to half, the rate of falls by more than three quarters, and the fracture rate by 87% compared with no antidepressant use.

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Fish Oil Shows Promise in Fight Against Breast Cancer
A recent study published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a Journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, provides further evidence that fish oil supplements may play a role in preventing chronic disease.

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A gassy subject
A popular food additive commonly found in processed foods may be causing flatulence. Researchers at the University of Minnesota in the US have discovered the commonly used food additive, inulin, can cause gastrointestinal distress.

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Homeopathy Prevents Leptospirosis Infection
In the largest study of homeopathy ever conducted, researchers found that a homeopathic intervention effectively battled Leptospirosis. The study, conducted in 2007 on the entire population of Cuba (11 million people), was published in a recent issue of the journal Homeopathy.

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Different practices often produce different results
As doctors increasingly prescribe meditation to patients for stress-related disorders, scientists are gaining a better understanding of how different techniques from Buddhist, Chinese, and Vedic traditions produce different results.

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Cloning of farm animals raises cruelty and ethical issues
The Soil Association (UK) has hit out at the cloning of farm animals which it has described as “cruel” and a “serious threat to genetic diversity within agriculture”. The organic charity was responding to reports in the UK and US media that milk from a cloned cow’s offspring is currently on sale in Britain without a legally required authorisation from the Food Standards Association.

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Vitamins D and E May Lower Dementia Risk
Two new studies from JAMA/Archives publications explore the positive effect of certain vitamins on cognitive decline in the elderly. The first study suggests that low blood levels of vitamin D may increase risk for cognitive decline, and the other demonstrates that a diet rich in vitamin E may reduce the risk for age-related dementia.

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Drug companies sued over false marketing practices
Drug company Pfizer has been sued by a union pension fund in the US for repeatedly violating federal laws governing drug-marketing practices for medicines including Bextra and Neurontin. The $2.3 billion settlement is the largest accord in history with respect to sales techniques.

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Synthetic vitamins
If you shop for supplements at discount stores you may be seriously short-changing yourself because cheap vitamins often use cheap synthetic isolates. Whilst millions of people purchase synthetic vitamins, they may be viewed as a low-end alternative to whole, real complete food, as they are only partial or isolate vitamins and are combined with other chemicals.

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Difficult childhood and alcohol consumption link
An African study has found a link between a difficult childhood and alcohol consumption as a teenager. Researchers writing in BioMed Central's open access journal Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health studied the association between adverse childhood experiences and drunkenness among 9,189 adolescents aged 12-19 years living in Burkina Faso, Ghana, Malawi, and Uganda.

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Major donation to help asbestos disease sufferers
National law firm Slater & Gordon has welcomed the $125,000 donation from the Biaggio Signorelli Foundation to help fund the development of ground breaking national guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of the deadly asbestos related disease, mesothelioma. Australia has the highest incidence of mesothelioma in the world. It is estimated that around 750 Australians will be diagnosed with asbestos-related diseases next year and by 2020 Australia would have some 13,000 cases of mesothelioma.

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Healing Foundation Acknowledges the Journey of the Stolen Generations
On May 26, National Sorry Day, the newly-formed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Healing Foundation honoured the people and organisations that have encouraged Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples on their journeys of healing. The Foundation’s chairperson, Florence Onus, said, “The Foundation has just announced our first round of funding for community healing programs to deliver services that will assist individuals, families and the community in the healing process.”

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Australian's love affair with sweet food
Sugar consumption is an escalating concern among Australian consumers, according to a new report from independent business analyst Datamonitor. The research reveals that nearly four-in-10 of us are paying a high amount of attention to our sugar consumption.

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"Harmless” levels of pesticide exposure linked to child health problems
Exposure to pesticides at levels previously considered harmless has been linked to behavioural problems in young children, reports The Washington Post.

When scientists at the University of Montreal and Harvard University looked at organophosphate pesticide metabolites, an indicator of pesticide exposure, in the urine of 1,139 children (aged eight to 15), they found that close to 95 percent had at least one of these chemical byproducts in their system.

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Peeling back the psychiatric labels that define us
IF A man fantasises about rape then acts on it, he is a criminal. But in three years' time, he may be classified a victim of ''paraphilic coercive disorder''. If a child loses her temper a lot, she's a brat. But in three years' time, she may require treatment for her ''temper dysregulation disorder with dysphoria''.

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Older Australians overprescribed antidepressants
Older Australians are being overprescribed medications for depression, according to a study by University of Queensland researchers published today in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry.

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Prince's Foundation closes after Fraud Investigation
The Prince’s Foundation for Integrated Health has been closed following the arrest of one of its senior officials on suspicion of fraud and money laundering. The announcement, made in a statement on the Foundation’s website, reportedly came after an investigation into £300,000 of unaccounted funds in the books of the charity set up by the Prince of Wales in 1993.

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Type 1 diabetes in children younger than 5 could double by 2020
According to a study published in The Lancet, if current trends continue, new cases of Type 1 diabetes in children younger than 5 could double by 2020. In his book Diabetes Rising: How a Rare Disease Became a Modern Pandemic, and What to Do About It (Kaplan Publishing), freelance medical journalist Dan Hurley, looks at what may be contributing to this increase. "Type 1 diabetes seems to be going up at a level of 3 percent a year in the United States”, says Hurley, a type 1 diabetes sufferer himself. Hurley suggests there are 5 reasons a person may develop type 1 diabetes: (1) Too big too fast (2) Too little sun (3) Too clean (4) Too much cow’s milk (5) Too much pollution.

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World-First VIOXX Class Action Victory
A Melbourne grandfather has won the world’s first class action for people injured by the arthritis drug Vioxx, with a historic win over one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies. The Federal Court win by occupational health and safety consultant Graeme Peterson, 59, of Langwarrin, paves the way for hundreds of other Australians who suffered heart attacks after using the arthritis drug. Mr Peterson has been awarded $287,912 plus interest.

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Australian Obesity Summit: who should carry the weight of regulation?
The inaugural Australian Obesity Summit took place in Sydney on March 29-30, 2010. Despite consensus as to the severity of obesity in Australia, there was an absence of agreement in regards to whether obesity policy should be government-or self-regulated.

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Antipsychotic drugs cause children life-threatening risks, even death
Nearly 10,000 Australian children under 18 have been prescribed antipsychotics, according recent statistics. Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) have obtained the latest figures from the Department of Health & Ageing, and the Adverse Drug Reactions (ADRs) from the Therapeutic Goods Administration.

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Osteoporosis drugs could unintentionally be risking lives
A drug commonly used to treat osteoporosis sufferers could be putting users at risk of potentially life-threatening conditions such as blood clots and strokes. Associate Professor Gustavo Duque, from the University of Sydney, has found that alendronate, a drug commonly used in Australia to treat osteoporosis, can lead to the arrhythmia and the complications associated with it.

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Pancreatic Cancer: More of a threat than car accidents
According to a new report the number of Australians dying from pancreatic cancer is increasing. The report, Pancreatic Cancer: One of Australia’s Most Lethal Diseases, says that at the current rate of five people every day, Australians have a greater chance of dying from pancreatic cancer than in a car accident.

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