There is little or no doubt that synthetic chemicals harm our health. Part of attaining good health thus entails minimizing our exposure to and consumption of such chemicals.
The bad news is that our potable water supplies which come right through to our taps at home have been found to contain these harmful substances, even after treatment. This makes it all the more crucial that we filter our drinking water before consumption. The following article reveals more. (more…)
The modern world we live in today is quite literally a minefield of dangerous toxins and chemicals, none more so than for a pregnant mother. Fetuses, together with infants and other young children, are especially susceptible to such harmful substances, partly because they are still in a developmental phase, and partly because of their relatively lower body weight (which increases the impact of the chemicals).
Recent research has linked pregnant ladies’ exposure to hairspray to an increased risk of hypospadias, a common genital birth defect in boys. (more…)
Some of the main dangers of commercial meat and animal farming today is linked to the use of antibiotics. Such drugs are used to fight illness in the animals, which are almost always raised in unhygienic and overcrowded conditions.
Besides the fact that most of us consume such meats, the following article outlines another way in which the toxins resulting from such farming practices may be making their way into our lives. (more…)
If you have ever taken a CT scan or MRI, which is most likely the case, you would know just how costly these tests are. And, do you realize that at the facilities where these tests are conducted, the scan rooms are always marked out with huge “danger” signs, and everybody scrams leaving you alone with the machinery? Yes, the radiation and magnetic fields are damaging to health!
These are two of the most worrying aspects of the fact that the number of medical imaging tests conducted is on the rise. (more…)
When a cellphone or mobile phone is placed next to a computer monitor or a television and an incoming signal is received, either for an SMS or a call, the image on the screen gets all distorted and contorted. After using a cellphone for a number of minutes, it is not uncommon for one’s ears to hurt, and one’s side of the face to feel almost like it’s burning.
These are signs of the potential dangers of cellphone radiation. With these little contraptions becoming so common and so much a part of our daily lives (some of us even sleep with our cellphones next to us!), what detrimental effects on health are lurking and waiting to explode on the cellphone-using population? (more…)
Is soy a healthy food?
Yes, according to many. In fact, soy and soy products form significant portions of the diets of many vegetarians, vegans and health-conscious people. There are tofu burgers, soy milk, and what not. (more…)
A number of recent studies have highlighted some possible things we can do to prevent and beat cancer.
The findings of these studies are summarized below. Click on the respective links to read more. (more…)
We have been told for years that having fluoride in our drinking water is good for us, in particular our teeth. Without fluoride, we are told, our teeth will decay and fall out.
How true are these assertions? And what about the health dangers of fluoride? The authorities barely speak about that. If you wish to take responsibility for the purity of your drinking water supplies and the health of your family, read the following article on the potential negative effects of fluoride, in particular on fetuses and infants. (more…)
Over the past few months, several studies have surfaced information on some possible causes and triggers of asthma. These factors could be lurking in our environment, or we could be unwittingly inhaling or consuming them.
Not surprisingly, the big culprits are household chemicals as well as pharmaceutical drugs. (more…)
Artificial or synthetic playing turfs are increasingly being installed and used in place of grass fields. But how safe exactly are they?
Philip J Landrigan, MD, MSc, Professor of Pediatrics, the Director of the Children’s Environmental Health Center at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, had quite recently written to the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection and raised some concerns. Prof Landrigan is also Chairman of the Department of Community & Preventive Medicine. (more…)
Pregnant woman who smoke are increasing the risk of their children getting serious cancer later in life.
This was revealed in a study commissioned by the newspaper “The Australian” and carried out by the Cancer Institute in New South Wales. (more…)
The role of food, diet and nutrition in the development of chronic and degenerative diseases, including cancer, cannot be overstated. As the saying goes, you are what you eat.
With specific regard to lung cancer, do you know someone, or heard of people, who got the disease despite not having smoked at all? (more…)
A study carried out in Italy has revealed that smoking increases the risk of getting colorectal cancer by about 18%, as well as of dying from the disease by about 25%.
The study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. (more…)
According to the California Air Resources Board (CARB), a long-term study has revealed that workers in the trucking industry who have been regularly exposed to diesel as well as other kinds of vehicle exhaust had heightened risk of getting lung cancer with more years of work.
The study was led by E. Garshick and published in the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences’ journal, Environmental Health Perspectives. It is titled “Lung Cancer and Vehicle Exhaust in Trucking Industry Workers” and examined lung cancer deaths from 1985 to 2000, according to job type in 31,135 Teamsters Union members. (more…)
A long-term study conducted by Dutch researchers has linked smoking and drinking to three subtypes of esophageal and stomach cancer.
The study was conducted on almost 121,000 people and spanned about 16 years. Its findings were presented at the annual cancer prevention conference of the American Academy of Cancer Research, held in Washington DC. (more…)
In Dec 2008, an issue of the medical journal Nature published an article which gathered 7 scientists (two of them were on the payroll of the pharmaceutical companies). What did it say?
It said that doctors should be able to prescribe psychotropic drugs, for example the drugs given to children for ADHD, to healthy people. The purpose? To “improve brain function”. (more…)
The whole melamine and milk saga in China created quite a big hoo hah. But somehow, we believe that it happened in some faraway place, perhaps in a rather backward country, and we should be well sheltered from the problem.
The thing is, melamine was actually found in infant formulas in the US. That’s not the scariest part - the more frightening issue is that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the US actually hid the truth from the public. (more…)
As a consumer, if I see a food packaging label which claims that a product is “sugar-free”, “fat-free”, “organic”, “contains no preservatives”, or some other similar sounding phrase, I would assume it to be true.
If I see a label which states that a chicken is “raised without antibiotics”, I would presume, ethically and legally speaking, the food manufacturer is telling me the truth. But, unfortunately, that does not seem to be the case, and food corporations are making use of sneaky and misleading word play. (more…)
On 1 July 2003, Pueblo, Colo banned cigarette smoking in work venues as well as other indoor public places. Three years after the change in legislation, the hospitalization rate from heart attacks fell from a pre-ban figure of 257 per 100,000 people to 153 per 100,000 people.
Could there be other reasons? In the two adjacent communities, no such fall in statistics was noted. (more…)
We have all heard of first-hand smoke and second-hand smoke. But have you heard of third-hand smoke?
Quite honestly, I hadn’t, until now. And a recent study published in the journal Pediatrics has revealed the health dangers of third-hand smoke, which continue to linger long after a cigarette has already been put out. (more…)
Food on the shelves and even food prepared in restaurants today often contain a compound which makes them taste better than they otherwise would – monosodium glutamate, or MSG, as it is more commonly known as.
“It’s a pretty powerful flavor enhancer. You’re eating a lot of MSG and you probably don’t even realize it. It’s just a baseline across a lot of foods,” said Melanie Pearsall, a nutritionist. (more…)
Air pollution is bad for the lungs, the nose and the throat. That is pretty obvious.
Now, a study earlier this year, conducted by the University of Southern California, has shown that it directly damages blood vessels too. (more…)
According to recent research in Italy, being exposed to benzene, an industrial solvent, increases the risk of getting multiple myeloma. It also increased the risk of developing chronic lymphoid leukemia.
The risk of chronic lymphoid leukemia was also increased with exposure to two other oil-derived industrial chemicals, namely xylene and toluene. (more…)