Lose weight by eating less salt! - Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!
See my website
Wilde About Steroids

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

Read my Mensa article on Cruelty, Negligence and the Abuse of Power in the NHS: Fighting the System

Read about the cruel treatment I suffered at the Sheffield Dental Hospital: Long In The Toothache

You can contact me by email from my website. The site does not sell anything and has no banners, sponsors or adverts - just helpful information about how salt can cause obesity.

Monday 30 June 2008

New York will become the first city in America to ban artificial fat from food sold to the public. Let's hope other cities follow their lead.

New York bans trans fats
Article in the Telegraph

Extract:

"The ban, which comes into force on Tuesday, extends to almost all prepared food in restaurants, bakeries, cafeterias and even hot dog and pretzel stands.

Caterers will be given a three month grace period to comply before facing a $2,000 (£1,000) fine.

Trans fats are a type of unsaturated fat which is partially hydrogenated to give it a higher melting point, extending its shelf life and making it useful for baking."

A senior NHS hospital manager has been suspended after a laptop containing the confidential details of 21,000 patients was stolen.

Hospital manager suspended over stolen laptop with 21,000 patient records
Article in the Telegraph

Extract:

"The manager, from the Colchester Hospital University NHS Foundation Trust, is understood to have the left the password-protected computer in the car while it was parked in Edinburgh on June 18th.

It has on it unencrypted names, dates of birth and treatment plans and a police investigation had been launched."

Incredible, isn't it, the laxity of security of NHS patient records?

Sunday 29 June 2008

Labour is no longer the party trusted to bring in the health reforms that are need to safeguard the NHS for future generations

Labour no longer trusted on NHS reforms
Article in the Telegraph

Extracts:

"Barely one in five people believe the Labour party will deliver a better health service over the next ten years, the You Gov poll shows."

"The results of the poll show he Tories have a clear lead on health policy with 31 per cent of people saying they would do a better job of running the health service, compared to 23 per cent who think Labour would deliver on the NHS.

The results of the latest poll confirm a shift in the political debate over health care, away from funding and towards improved management and organisation.

After years of above-inflation increases in health spending, most voters now believe the NHS has enough money. But they worry that the service has become bureaucratic and over-burdened with managers."

Medical privacy/patient confidentiality and ethics

I came across this blog today - about medical privacy/patient confidentiality and ethics:

medical privacy blog

Hospital acquired infections or medical errors are more likely to cause death than extreme sports like high-altitude mountaineering and bungee-jumping

NHS hospitals more dangerous than bungee-jumping
Article in the Sunday Telegraph

Extract:

"The risks from infection, mistakes over drugs and failings in care mean that nearly one in 100 patients admitted to an NHS hospital will die an avoidable death, compared with one in 1,000 of those taking part in dangerous sports.

The findings define health care as a "hazardous activity" for patients and compare it unfavourably with air travel and the nuclear power industry, both of which carry a one in 100,000 risk.

The research, which was compiled by the NHS National Patient Safety Agency and the health care charity, the Health Foundation, reveals that up to 104,000 patients die each year as a result of poor infection management and basic medical errors."

I'd say this is a gross underestimate of the harm done by hospitals and by doctors.

Friday 27 June 2008

A woman whose daughter died after taking a rare fat-burning drug she bought over the internet has warned of the dangers of unlicensed slimming pills.

Mother's warning after woman dies from fatal dose of fat-burning drug DNP
Article in the Telegraph

Extract:

"Anjennis Waldrond spoke out after an inquest heard how her daughter Selena was poisoned by a fatal dose of Dinitrophenol – known as DNP – which she bought from a Chinese website in a desperate bid to lose weight.

Selena, 26, of Croydon, south London, was found in a freezing bath trying to cool her body, on August 19 last year, after taking a large dose of the drug.

Croydon Coroner's Court heard that she was rushed to hospital "sweating, agitated and running a fever" but died later that day.

Speaking after the hearing her mother warned: "Selena's life has been cruelly snatched away, all because she was desperate to lose weight.

"DNP is lethal. Please do not take it. If you want to lose weight, do it the sensible way.

"Not a day goes by where I do not think about my beloved daughter.""

It is tragic that obese people are driven to such measures because the medical profession and other 'experts' have for many years been giving dangerously harmful, incorrect information about the causes of obesity and how to treat it...)o: -

Obesity is not caused by overeating/too many calories/carbs or by eating too much fat or taking too little exercise. - It is caused by fluid retention.

It affects the groups of people who are sensitive/vulnerable to salt/sodium. - Reducing salt intake reduces fluid retention and so reduces excess weight safely and rapidly. - Dieting, i.e. eating fewer calories than your body requires, increases fluid retention because it weakens the blood vessel walls and so dieting usually causes weight gain, not weight loss. Dieting makes you tired, cold and hungry; it weakens your bones and makes your skin thinner; it causes hair loss.

Dieting and/or taking so-called slimming drugs is harmful and does NOT reduce obesity.

Lose weight, reduce your risk of most cancers, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, stroke, heart disease, angina, vascular dementia, osteopenia, osteoporosis, hypercholesterolaemia, depression, liver and kidney problems, and improve your health in many other ways without drugs or expense by eating less salt! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/children.html

See my website http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/.html (The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

Read my Mensa article on http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/obesity_and_the_salt_connection.html

See http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/fatretention.html

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/vulnerable_groups.html

See http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/sodium_foods.html and

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/conditions.html

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/ami.html

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/steroids.html

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/pregnant_mothers.html

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/socio.html- social and economic considerations

If you need my further help, I can be contacted from my website. - My help is free.


Thursday 26 June 2008

Sad story of a young mother who lost her life four days after undergoing gastric surgery in an attempt to lose weight for the sake of her young son.

Mother who vowed to slim for son dies after gastric surgery
Article in the Telegraph

Extract:

"Suzanne Murphy, 29, requested the major operation because she felt her obesity limited the things she could do with her five-year-old son Jacob. After a 16-month wait, she was admitted to Huddersfield Royal Infirmary for surgery on October 31, 2006, but died from multiple organ failure four days later.

In a note left under her son's pillow before the operation, Miss Murphy wrote, "I don't want my baggage to become a weight you have to carry, son."

An inquest heard how although she had contracted MRSA in hospital, Miss Murphy was likely to have died from an extreme reaction to the operation, exacerbated by her obesity.

At the hearing in Huddersfield, her sister Linda Richardson said in a statement: "She had put on a lot of weight over the years and felt it was stopping her doing the things she wanted to with Jacob.""

People are given the wrong information about obesity and it leads to this sort of tragedy.

Lose weight, reduce your risk of most cancers, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, stroke, heart disease, angina, vascular dementia, osteopenia, osteoporosis, hypercholesterolaemia, depression, liver and kidney problems, and improve your health in many other ways without drugs or expense by eating less salt! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!

See http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/children.html

See my website http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/ (The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

Read my Mensa article on http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/obesity_and_the_salt_connection.html

See http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/fatretention.html

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/vulnerable_groups.html

See http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/sodium_foods.html and

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/conditions.html

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/ami.html

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/steroids.html

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/pregnant_mothers.html

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/socio.html - social and economic considerations

If you need my further help, I can be contacted from my website. - My help is free.

Wednesday 25 June 2008

Thousands of people were warned to boil drinking water today after a cryptosporidium contamination scare.

Householders told to boil water after safety alert
Article in the Independent

Extract:

"Thousands of people were warned to boil drinking water today after a contamination scare.

Anglian Water issued the warning after cryptosporidium was found in samples in Northamptonshire. It is thought the affected area covers 108,000 properties and 250,000 people.

Cryptosporidium is naturally occurring but can cause severe stomach upsets, especially in young or elderly people.

An Anglian Water spokesman said: "We do about one thousand samples every day just testing on water quality and last night we had traces of cryptosporidium.

"It's a naturally occurring bacteria but if it gets into the human body it can cause quite severe stomach upsets."

The contraceptive Pill is outdated and leading to unwanted pregnancies and abortion as few women take it correctly, a leading expert said.

'Contraceptive Pill is outdated and does not work well', expert warns
Article in the Telegraph

Extracts:

"One in 12 women taking the Pill get pregnant each year because they miss so many tablets, Prof James Trussell, of Princeton University in America warned.

Women should instead use longer-lasting methods such as the implant or intra-uterine device (IUD) which can be fitted and forgotten, he said.

Half of all pregnancies in America are unintended and half of those happen because contraception failed or was not taken properly, the rest were not using any contraception.

No UK studies have ever been carried out but the rates are thought to be similar. Half of unintended pregnancies end in abortion.

Prof Trussell was speaking at the British Pregnancy Advisory Service conference in London and said few GPs offer long acting reversible contraceptives or are trained at fitting them, so most women end up using the Pill by default.

Also sexual health clinics where the methods are available are being closed down, either because of financial deficits in the NHS or just because it is a low priority, Prof Trussell said.

He said: "The Pill is an outdated method because it does not work well enough. It is very difficult for ordinary women to take a pill every single day. The beauty of the implant or the IUD is that you can forget about them."

"Ministers are 'insulting the intelligence' of British women by refusing to allow them to take medication to induce an abortion at home, experts said.

Current laws mean women seeking early abortions using drugs instead of surgery have to make two visits to an abortion clinic to take the two separate doses of medication.

Elsewhere in the world, including American and most of Europe, women take the first dose in the clinic and are given the second dose to take away and take at home 48 hours later.

"It implies British women are more stupid than the rest of the world," Prof Mitchell Creinin, of the University of Pittsburgh said at the British Pregnancy Advisory Service conference in London.

An amendment is expected to be tabled next month to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill to allow women to be prescribed the drugs in a licensed premises but for them to be administered elsewhere."

A simple checklist which has the potential to save thousands of lives could soon be implemented in all British NHS hospitals, it has emerged.

Medical checklist could save thousands of patients
Article in the Telegraph

This is so basic and so obvious that you'd think even the arrogant medical profession would have thought of it before and been using it for years...

Extract:

"A coalition of 13 medical organisations, led by the National Patient Safety Agency and including the Royal Colleges of Surgeons, Anaesthetists, Obstetricians and Nurses, has pledged to introduce the checklist to every operating theatre in Britain.

Martin Fletcher, chief executive of the agency, said: "All these professional groups have committed to making this a reality in the UK. We are one of the first countries to get behind it."

The basic checks range from confirming which area of the body is being operated on, to counting the number of swabs and needles used to ensure none has been left inside the patient.

Another involves simply making sure each member of the surgical team is aware of who is doing what during the procedure.

Of the eight million operations carried out in the UK last year there were 129,000 reported incidents in which patients were put at risk, according to the National Patient Safety Agency.

An estimated 2,000 NHS patients die each year as a result of errors in treatment, and an inquiry by the National Audit Office in 2005 concluded that half of all incidents could have been avoided."

Study shows more benefits of vitamin D, the sunshine vitamin


People with a vitamin D deficiency are as much as twice as likely to die compared to people whose blood contains higher amounts of the so-called sunshine vitamin, Austrian researchers have said. Their study - the latest to suggest a health benefit from the vitamin - showed death rates from any cause as well as from heart-related problems varied greatly depending on vitamin D levels.
Read news report at reuters.com

See also FAT RETENTION

Doctors are regularly prescribing two powerful psychiatric drugs, risperidone and olanzapine, to elderly dementia patients despite 2004 safety warning

Doctors 'ignoring drugs warning'
Article on BBC website

Extracts:

"File On 4 questioned 355 GPs and found more than half prescribed the drugs risperidone and olanzapine.

The former Committee on Safety of Medicines (CSM) warned the drugs risked strokes in elderly dementia patients.

Prescribing the drugs was indefensible for many dementia patients, Ivan Lewis, Minister for Care Services, said."

"Dr Tim Kendall, of government agency NICE (The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence), said it was horrifying that some GPs were prescribing these drugs for up to 90% of their dementia patients and it was an "awful indictment."

He added: "I think the doctors should be disciplined.

"A doctor prescribing for 90% of their patients an anti-psychotic when there is enough guidance to say don't - it's unacceptable.""

Are you overweight and apple-shaped? - Your problem is fluid retention/salt sensitivity and the solution is to avoid salt and salty food.

Lose weight, reduce your risk of most cancers, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, stroke, heart disease, angina, vascular dementia, osteopenia, osteoporosis, hypercholesterolaemia, depression, liver and kidney problems, and improve your health in many other ways without drugs or expense by eating less salt! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!

See my website http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/ (The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection - http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/obesity_and_the_salt_connection.html

See http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/fatretention.html

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/vulnerable_groups.html

See http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/sodium_foods.html and

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/conditions.html

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/ami.html

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/steroids.html

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/pregnant_mothers.html

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/socio.html - social and economic considerations

If you need my further help, I can be contacted from my website. - My help is free.


Tuesday 24 June 2008

One in ten British five-year-olds is obese - official figures. This is because the experts are giving the wrong advice.

One in ten five-year-olds is obese - official figures
Article in the Telegraph

Extracts:

"Doctors are concerned at the figures as overweight and obese children are storing up health problems for the future and are more likely to develop diabetes, and die early from conditions like heart disease and cancer.

It is feared that the growing obesity epidemic will mean today's children will be the first to be outlived by their parents.

Obesity amongst children is calculated using height and weight but also takes into account their growth and so is best measured by an expert."

"Dr Tim Crayford, president of the Association of Directors of Public Health, said the regional differences in childhood obesity should be judged with caution as they are based on voluntary weighing in schools. But nevertheless there are differences in the rates of obesity around the country.

He said: “Systematic surveys of obesity in adults has found big regional differences and for that to be magnified in children would not be surprising.

“Obesity is quite strongly linked to deprivation and it can also reflect the ethnicity of the population.”

Dr Crayford added that a child’s risk of being obese is strongly linked to the health and weight of their parents. If neither parent is obese there is just a one in ten chance the child will be, compared to a four in ten chance is one parent is obese and an eight in ten chance is both are obese.

“It is about the ethos of the family,” he said. “It is about what the family eats, what activities they do, if for example they go out and play sport at the weekend or play computer games.”"

Dr Crayford, like most doctors, clearly still believes that lack of exercise is a cause of obesity, despite the fact that research has repeatedly shown that exercise does not reduce obesity. - Don't the 'experts' EVER read research findings?

Children, tragically, are becoming obese because the experts are giving the wrong information and advice about obesity. - Obesity is not caused by overeating and/or inactivity. - Obesity is caused by fluid retention and is easily and speedily reduced by reducing salt intake.

Lose weight, reduce your risk of most cancers, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, stroke, heart disease, angina, vascular dementia, osteopenia, osteoporosis, hypercholesterolaemia, depression, liver and kidney problems, and improve your health in many other ways without drugs or expense by eating less salt! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!

Children and Obesity

See FAT RETENTION

If you need my help, I can be contacted from my website. - My help is free.

Monday 23 June 2008

Pizzas could be contaminated by toxic chemicals found in take-away boxes, and could, therefore, be harmful to human health, according to a new study.

Pizza boxes could harm human health
Article in the Telegraph

Extract:

"Scientists found boxes made from recycled material sometimes contain toxic inks, glues and dyes which could be transferred to food when heated.

One chemical, diisobutyl phthalate (DIBP), is causing particular concern because of fears it could affect sex hormones.

DIBP is part of the phthalate group of chemicals, which according to the Food Standards Agency "may have a harmful affect on human reproductive development because they have been reported to be endocrine (hormone) disrupters."

German paper and cardboard manufacturers have stopped using the chemical for fear of its potential dangers.

Monica Bononi, lead scientist in the research, explained that as hot pizzas are placed in boxes there is a chance food will be exposed to chemicals in the cardboard."

Sunday 22 June 2008

Claire Rayner has some well-justified criticisms of the NHS and some suggestions to improve it.

NHS at 60: In the end I had to go private
Article in the Sunday Telegraph

Extracts:

"In 1988 she suffered chest pains. Efforts to contact a local doctor at 3am led instead to a locum service, which insisted she find her NHS number before any help could be given. "In the end we gave up and got through the night, but next day we signed up with a private GP," she says.

The chest pains revealed a hole in her diaphragm, while arthritis has since resulted in her having five knee operations and surgery to both shoulders. In 2002, breast cancer led to a double mastectomy. She used an NHS hospital on two occasions and was infected by the superbug MRSA.

"The tissue on my knee suddenly split, and I had to go to Accident and Emergency," she says. "For four hours, I was left in a highly infected room with a totally exposed wound. For at least an hour I could see the doctor sitting gossiping with a colleague.

"When she came over her hair wasn't tied back, then she used the wrong kind of gauze to patch me up. I felt so angry. When I discovered afterwards that I had MRSA I was appalled, but I wasn't all that surprised."

Now, she and her husband, Des, who is 80, avoid the NHS. "I have a list of hospitals with lower infection rates that I would go to if I was desperate, but we avoid it when we can. I'm embarrassed and ashamed to admit it, but I had to put my health first."

Determined to use her public profile as Patients Association president to achieve better services, Mrs Rayner urges the NHS's political masters to learn from the values and standards she saw in the service's early years."

"Now, as the NHS is about to turn 60, Mrs Rayner offers hospitals a three-point prescription to return the service to robust health.

"Firstly I would get rid of the nurses' station on the ward. It is a hiding place for them to hang around gossiping. Secondly, I would get rid of the targets. Third, get rid of all the middle layers of management and all the deceit to meet targets that happens as a result.""

Saturday 21 June 2008

The GMC has suspended Raj Persaud from practice for three months for plagiarism.

Persaud suspended from practice for three months over plagiarism
Article in the Guardian

Extract:

"It was the scale of his dishonesty which did for Dr Raj Persaud, the celebrity psychiatrist who was reprimanded and suspended from practice for three months by the General Medical Council last night.

The best-known "mind doctor" in Britain could be either an outstanding practitioner or a matchless media performer for the profession, the GMC decided. But he did not have time to do both. Laden with columns, book commissions and broadcasting jobs, Persaud harvested eight degrees and diplomas, a hospital consultancy, two research medals and a professorial chair by the age of 43.

"I was under stress. I should have been much more careful," he told a four-day fitness-to-practice hearing in Manchester. But the stress was of his own making and drove him to make plagiarism a habit.

He was told by Dr Anthony Morgan, chairman of the panel of four experts, two men and two women: "The public is entitled to expect that doctors will be honest and trustworthy at all times, and that they adhere to the highest standard of probity. Your conduct has fallen below the standards of behaviour that the public is entitled to expect from doctors and undermines the public's confidence in the profession."

Persaud, who appeared regularly on TV's This Morning programme, admitted nine cases of plagiarism but denied that he had been deliberately dishonest. The panel heard evidence that he wrongly had blamed sub-editors for missing out attributions and quotation marks, and dismissed his defence.

Morgan said that all four members were "in no doubt that your dishonest conduct and plagiarising other people's work on multiple occasions represents a serious breach of the principles that are central to good medical practice".

Imposing the suspension, Morgan told Persaud that the panel's lightest option, of a warning and imposing conditions on his practice, was "insufficient as they would not adequately reflect the gravity of your misconduct, or protect the public interest by maintaining public confidence in the medical profession".

The short suspension was influenced by the fact that Persaud had "cut down on [his] media and journalistic projects" and "was more cautious about taking on extra work".

The action was triggered by a complaint from the Scientology movement, which has crossed swords with Persaud over modern psychiatry, but widened to include a growing number of allegations.

The Citizens Commission on Human Rights, founded by the Scientologists, complained to the GMC that a hostile article by Persaud in the Independent in 2005 plagiarised several passages from another professor.

Persaud, a keen poker player and risk-taker, was embedded in the medical establishment in a way which partly explains the GMC decision to go for suspension rather than a warning. He lectured to the National Institute for Clinical Excellence, examined students, and was even a referee for articles submitted to the Journal of Medical Ethics.

Persaud claimed his dual skills made him an ideal "talking head" for psychiatry, compared to what he called "unqualified media pundits who normally dominate the media debate". Personable and fluent, he seemed well-qualified to advise other people on how to run their lives. His undoubted talents made lasting friendships, and several media figures, including Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan, and the broadcaster Martin Bashir, said last night that they wanted to work with him again."

Well he has been foolish and dishonest but at least he hasn't harmed any of his patients, unlike so many of the medical profession.

Thinking of having liposuction? - Think again! - You can shed excess fat SAFELY. - Read here how to lose excess water weight and reduce fat retention.

Lose weight, reduce your risk of most cancers, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, stroke, heart disease, angina, vascular dementia, osteopenia, osteoporosis, hypercholesterolaemia, depression, liver and kidney problems, and improve your health in many other ways without drugs or expense by eating less salt! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!

Children and Obesity

See my website http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/ (The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

See FAT RETENTION

vulnerable groups

See Sodium in foods and

Associated health conditions

amitriptyline

prescribed steroids and HRT

advice for pregnant mothers

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/socio.html - social and economic considerations

If you need my further help, I can be contacted from my website. - My help is free.

Friday 20 June 2008

A person needs to take in about 15 calories per pound of body weight per day. - Obviously then, fat people need to eat more calories than slimmer folk

A person needs to take in about 15 calories per pound of body weight per day. - Obviously then, heavy, fat people need to eat more calories than slimmer people. - They need the extra calories because they have heavier bodies to carry around and to service and they need extra calories to maintain body temperature because the amount of heat a body loses is proportional to its surface area, and obviously a fat person's surface area is larger than a slim person's.

If people do not eat sufficient calories their health will suffer and they will feel tired, cold and hungry. - So fat people wanting to lose excess weight should not try to do so by eating too few calories. - Here is the safe, fast, effective way to lose excess weight without dieting, without hunger, without drugs, without counting calories, without strenuous exercise - just eat less salt. - Eating less salt/sodium reduces the fluid retention which is the cause of the overweight. It also reduces fat retention, which tends to follow from fluid retention.

Overweight and obesity are caused by fluid retention, not by eating too many calories, and occur only in people who are sensitive to salt/sodium. - To lose excess weight it is necessary to cut down on salt and salty food. - So instead of eating ready meals you need to cook a meal from fresh ingredients and use little or no salt to flavour it. - You could try using pepper or herbs instead of salt, or if you feel you cannot yet give up salt, then use one of the low sodium salt substitutes, e.g. LoSalt, Solo Low Sodium Sea Salt or AlsoSalt, instead of ordinary salt.

Lose weight, reduce your risk of most cancers, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, stroke, heart disease, angina, vascular dementia, osteopenia, osteoporosis, hypercholesterolaemia, depression, liver and kidney problems, and improve your health in many other ways without drugs or expense by eating less salt! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!

See my website http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/ (The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

If you need my help, I can be contacted from my website. - My help is free.

Thursday 19 June 2008

Cancer patients with high levels of vitamin D - the sunshine vitamin - are more likely to survive, research has found.

Cancer patients with high levels of vitamin D more likely to survive
Article in the Telegraph

Extracts:

"The study carried out by a team at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard School of Public Health, both in Boston, USA, found colon cancer patients who had abundant vitamin D in their blood were less likely to die than those with a deficiency.

Previous studies have found high levels of the vitamin can reduce the risk of developing colorectal cancer by around half but it its effect on patients who already have the disease has never been investigated."

"Kimmie Ng, and Charles Fuchs, of Dana-Farber, wrote: "Our data suggest that higher prediagnosis plasma levels of [vitamin D] after a diagnosis of colorectal cancer may significantly improve overall survival.

"Future trials should examine the role of vitamin D supplementation in patients with colorectal cancer."

Vitamin D is found in eggs, oily fish and many cereals and powdered milk are fortified with it.

Pregnant women and small children are recommended to take supplements.

The body can also make the vitamin when exposed to sunlight, 15 minutes of exposure on the hands and face is enough for a daily dose although many parts of Northern England do not receive the right kind of sunlight in the winter to ensure sufficient levels.

Vitamin D deficiency is associated with rickets and other bone problems but too much can also weaken bones."

Wednesday 18 June 2008

The FDA and Pfizer were told of safety concerns about Chantix a year ago but disregarded them.

A physician and top smoking cessation researcher says U.S. regulators and a drugmaker brushed aside his concerns a year ago about possibly dangerous side effects from longer-term use of the stop-smoking drug Chantix. Now a new report from the nonprofit organization Institute for Safe Medicine Practices cites nearly 1,000 adverse event reports associated with Chantix. That report, released late last month, has prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to ban the drug's use among commercial pilots.
Read article on the ABC News website (USA)

Legal Drugs Kill Far More Than Illegal, Florida Says

Florida's drug problem has been portrayed as the story of a single narcotic: cocaine. But for Floridians, prescription drugs are increasingly a far more lethal habit. An analysis of autopsies in 2007 released this week by the Florida Medical Examiners Commission found that the rate of deaths caused by prescription drugs was three times the rate of deaths caused by all illicit drugs combined.
Read article in the New York Times (USA)

Chronic muscle diseases associated with statin exposure

Statin use is twice as high in patients with chronic muscle diseases as in unaffected controls, according to a report in the May issue of the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases. Some clinical reports have suggested that statins can trigger chronic muscle diseases, including dermatomyositis and polymyositis, the authors explain, but no previous study has investigated exposure to statins in patients who develop a chronic muscle disease.
Read article at medicalimagingmag.com

Vitamin D may protect against heart attack

Men with low levels of vitamin D have an elevated risk for a heart attack, researchers said in the latest study to identify important possible health benefits from the "sunshine vitamin." In the study, men classified as deficient in vitamin D were about 2 1/2 times more likely to have a heart attack than those with higher levels of the vitamin. "Those with low vitamin D, on top of just being at higher risk for heart attack in general, were at particularly high risk to have a fatal heart attack," study author Dr. Edward Giovannucci of the Harvard School of Public Health and Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston said in a telephone interview.
Read news report at reuters.com

Tuesday 17 June 2008

This evening I've been watching Ten Years Younger on Channel 4.

In case you've never seen the programme I'll explain that the format is that a person (usually it's a woman) who looks older than her real age is helped by several professionals to look younger, and the aim is for the person to look at least ten years younger.

The woman this evening had had all her teeth out at the early age of 18, and this had made her look much older - her cheeks sunken, her mouth sunken in despite her false teeth, her lips thin, her chin too prominent. She had also lost a lot of hair and this hair loss was what distressed her most.

Her loss of confidence had led to her giving up the effort to look her best using make-up, and clothes-wise. But she wants now to become a teacher and so felt the need to improve her looks and applied to the programme for help to do so.

It must be quite an ordeal and must take a lot of courage to be the subject of the programme, because we the viewers see the subject at her worst - sans teeth, sans hair, sans make-up, etc.

However, we also see the wonderful transformation as it takes place...(o:

This woman was operated upon by an excellent surgeon. He gave her face a chemical peel and a face lift. He reduced her nose and her chin and I think he also did something to the skin around her eyes. It all made a big difference.

A cosmetic dentist made her some (larger) cosmetic dentures and these looked very nice and filled out her face more.

The show's presenter, Nicky Hambleton-Jones, coaxed her into more up-to-date and flattering clothes, and a make-up expert gave her instruction in how to use make-up.

What I had never seen before was the fantastic work of a team of people who made her hair look fuller/thicker. - A net was put onto her hair and her hair was pulled through and additional human hair (not her own) was added, particularly at the front of her head, where the hair was very thin indeed. She also had her hair coloured in an attractive way.

She certainly did look younger - and happier, and more confident - as a result of the work done on her and it was nice to see her happiness and the pleasure of her family and friends.

If, Dear Reader, you happen to be very overweight/obese, and tired and fed up of looking fat and trying - and failing - to lose weight by dieting, I can tell you how to look ten years younger, how to improve the condition of your skin and your hair, how to improve your health and happiness, without the help of the Channel 4 programme and without surgery or dentistry or dieting or expense!

Here is what to do:

Overweight and obesity are initiated by fluid retention, and occur in people who are sensitive to salt/sodium. - To lose excess weight it is necessary to cut down on salt and salty food. - So instead of eating ready meals you need to cook a meal from fresh ingredients and use little or no salt to flavour it. - You could try using pepper or herbs instead of salt, or if you feel you cannot yet give up salt, then use one of the low sodium salt substitutes, e.g. LoSalt, Solo Low Sodium Sea Salt or AlsoSalt, instead of ordinary salt.

Lose weight by eating less salt! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!

See my website http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/ (The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

If you need my help, I can be contacted from my website. - My help is free.

Monday 16 June 2008

More than a quarter of health trusts in England are failing to meet basic hygiene standards, official figures show today.

NHS trusts fail to meet hygiene standards
article in the Telegraph

Extract:

"The Healthcare Commission reports that no improvement has been made on a year ago.

In total, 103 out of 391 trusts admitted they did not achieve the minimum requirements, brought in by the Government to help combat the hospital superbugs, MRSA and Clostridium difficile.

Patients groups and politicians said that it was "shocking" that one in four still did not meet the standards, despite ministers' pledges to tackle cleanliness.

More than 8,000 deaths were related to MRSA and C. diff. The report shows that 26 per cent of trusts failed to keep facilities clean, did not have adequate infection control or follow guidelines on decontaminating reusable equipment.

Only 40 per cent of trusts claim to have met all the Governments standards, which include patient care and confidentiality as well as hygiene, a slight fall on last year."

Salt intake is the biggest risk factor in the development of asthma in children.

Too much television 'is an asthma risk'
article in the Telegraph

Extract:

"The study of 20,000 six and seven-year-olds, published in the medical journal Epidemiology, confirmed a strong link with asthma and obesity, but found that salt was the biggest risk. Those with the highest intake were two and a half times more likely to develop asthma."

The main cause of obesity in children is, of course, eating salt and salty food. - See http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/children.html

Raj Persaud, the television psychiatrist, has admitted copying the work of other academics in his book `From the Edge of the Couch' and in articles

TV psychiatrist Dr Raj Persaud admits copying work of other academics
article in the Telegraph

Extracts:

"Dr Persaud, who is a regular on Richard and Judy, made the admission on the first day of a General Medical Council hearing that will determine whether he has been guilty of misconduct.

Today the presenter of Radio 4's 'All in the Mind' programme was found to have "copied" other people's papers and written articles that were not his own work."

"Dr Persaud's 2003 book `From the Edge of the Couch' contained passages plagiarised from four different academic articles written by nine authors.

Passages from an article and book by Professor Thomas Blass titled `The Man Who Shocked the World' were also plagiarised for four of Dr Persaud's articles.

Extracts from Prof Blass's work were found in Dr Persaud's paper `Why the Media Refuses to Obey' published in the March 2005 edition of 'Progress in Neurology and Psychiatry'.

Prof Blass's work was also lifted for an article 'Frailty That Allows Evil to Triumph' published in the Times Educational Supplement in February 2005.

Dr Persaud's paper 'The Man Who Shocked the World: The Life and Legacy of Stanley Milgram', which was published by the British Medical Journal in August 2005 also drew from Prof Blass's work.

The same applied to Dr Persaud's article 'Do You Obey Or Do You Rebel' submitted to the BMJ for publication before the end of 2005.

On June 30 2005, the Independent newspaper ran a piece by Dr Persaud titled 'A Dangerous War on Psychiatry', which was plagiarised from 'The Globalization of Scientology; Influence, Control and Opposition in Transnational Markets' by Professor Stephen Kent.

The allegations first arose in November 2005. At the time Dr Persaud was a consultant psychiatrist for the South London and Maudsley NHS Trust, a position he still holds."

I've always considered Raj Persaud one of the better psychiatrists. (There are a lot of lousy ones.) His books show sympathy and understanding, and he gives good advice. Many years ago he used to have regular short articles in British Mensa's monthly glossy magazine. They were excellent.

Most fast foods/convenience foods/ready meals contain a lot of SALT. - That is why they are 'fattening'.

Overweight and obesity are caused by fluid retention, and occur only in people who are sensitive to salt/sodium. - To lose excess weight it is necessary to cut down on salt and salty food. - So instead of eating a ready meal you need to cook a meal from fresh ingredients and use little or no salt to flavour it. - You could try using pepper or herbs instead of salt, or if you feel you cannot yet give up salt, then use one of the low sodium salt substitutes, e.g. LoSalt, Solo Low Sodium Sea Salt or AlsoSalt, instead of ordinary salt.

Lose weight and improve your health in many other ways without drugs or expense by eating less salt! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!

See my website http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/ (The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

If you need my help, I can be contacted from my website. - My help is free.

Sunday 15 June 2008

Poor hygiene in a lot of popular food outlets

Exposed: the hygiene scandal on the high street
article in the Independent

Extract:

"Restaurants run by some of Britain's largest food chains are failing to meet basic legal hygiene standards, an investigation by The Independent has found.

A third of Yo! Sushi restaurants surveyed did not meet all the legal standards required of them, according to food safety ratings given by local councils. Twenty per cent of Pizza Hut outlets had similar problems while 18 of Pizza Express's 132 surveyed restaurants did not meet the standards.

Britain's foremost food expert, Professor Hugh Pennington, said the findings were disturbing.

Under the law, all restaurants are inspected every two years by environmental health officers and most hand out star ratings of between five and zero. Restaurants with no stars are "very poor" with a general failure to comply with legal requirements. One-star establishments have poor compliance while those with two stars need to make more effort to hit all the legal requirements – designed to stop the spread of bacteria that can cause gastro-intestinal diseases.

The Independent analysed the star rating of 1,270 outlets run by 10 of Britain's best-known restaurant chains. They include the likes of McDonald's, Burger King and KFC as well as more upmarket chains such as Pizza Express, Gourmet Burger Kitchen and Wagamama. Separately we used the Freedom of Information act to obtain reports on the most unhygienic restaurants. All of the companies had at least one branch, and in some cases dozens, failing fully to comply with food safety legislation.

Yo! Sushi, the Japanese seafood chain, was the worst performer of the 10 chains, with eight of its 23 restaurants in our sample (two thirds of its 37 outlets) receiving two stars or less.

Almost one in five Pizza Hut outlets failed to score three stars, deemed as meeting all legal requirements. For Pizza Express, one in eight was found to have unsatisfactory problems.

Among the individual reports, an inspector who called at Yo! Sushi in Soho, central London, in October 2006 found dirty staff changing areas, failures in defrosting and cooking, dirty floors, mice droppings on a food shelf, slime on cutting boards and no records of staff training. "Staff understood the basics but were not attending to cleanliness," reported Westminster Council's inspector. The restaurant in Rupert Street was subsequently closed.

In January last year, Pizza Express in St Martin's Lane, central London, was found to have mice droppings under and behind the pizza oven, a dirty ice machine and dirty chopping boards.

At Pizza Hut in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, last September, dirt and grease were clogged in the broken flooring and the general standard of cleanliness was "poor". The chain was ordered to clean the walls, floors, wheels and under the equipment.

The problems were much less prevalent at chains such as Gourmet Burger Kitchen and Pret A Manger, which had good hygiene at 98 per cent of its shops.

Professor Pennington said: "Any restaurant scoring two stars [more effort required to meet all legal requirements] is unsafe. Lower scores indicate imminent danger. I would expect those with a score of zero to have been closed on the spot.""

The number of powerful psychiatric/anti-psychotic drugs prescribed to England's children has risen by more than half in four years

Britain's child victims of the chemical cosh
article in the Independent on Sunday

Extract:

"The number of powerful psychiatric drugs prescribed to England's children has risen by more than half in four years, government figures have revealed.

GPs in England are handing out prescriptions for anti-psychotic drugs for children as young as seven at the rate of 250 a day, according to figures obtained by The Independent on Sunday.

Latest data compiled for the NHS show that tranquillisers designed to treat serious conditions including schizophrenia in adults were prescribed to young people 57,000 times in 2003. But the total had risen to more than 90,000 by 2006 – a 59 per cent rise in three years. The figures do not include drugs dispensed in hospitals. Experts believe the increase is partly down to early detection and treatment of serious mental health problems in children, but there is also concern they are being used inappropriately to treat psychological and learning difficulties."

In my opinion, this is evil and does great harm and should be prohibited by law. - See also http://aboutsalt.blogspot.com/2008/06/for-years-harvard-child-psychiatrist.html

The diseases of old age are seldom caused by advancing years! - They are caused by fluid retention/obesity/salt sensitivity, compounded by dieting.

Strange as it may seem, the diseases of old age are seldom caused by advancing years! - They are caused by fluid retention/obesity/salt sensitivity, usually compounded by dieting. These health problems can be made less severe by cutting down on salt/sodium and salty food. Dieting is harmful and unnecessary; it should be avoided.

Lose weight, reduce your risk of most cancers, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, stroke, heart disease, angina, vascular dementia, osteopenia, osteoporosis, hypercholesterolaemia, depression, liver and kidney problems, and improve your health in many other ways without drugs or expense by eating less salt! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!

See my website http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/ (The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

If you need my help, I can be contacted from my website. - My help is free.

Saturday 14 June 2008

Sanofi-Aventis Diet Pill Linked To Deaths

Acomplia, which was rejected last year by an FDA panel, was linked to five deaths by the UK's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency since the pill went on sale two years ago. There were 720 reports of adverse drug reactions, some of which involved more than one side effect, bringing the total to more than 2,100. Five cases were fatal, including one suicide. The data, covering reports from the June 2006 introduction to May 9, was released on the MHRA web site.
Read article at pharmalot.com

Apart from being so harmful, as detailed above, diet pills are completely unnecessary. - Overweight and obesity are caused by fluid retention, and occur only in people who are sensitive to salt. - To lose excess weight it is necessary to cut down on salt and salty food.

Lose weight, reduce your risk of most cancers, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, stroke, heart disease, angina, vascular dementia, osteopenia, osteoporosis, hypercholesterolaemia, depression, liver and kidney problems, and improve your health in many other ways without drugs or expense by eating less salt! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!

See my website http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/.html (The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

Children and Obesity

vulnerable groups

See Sodium in foods and

Associated health conditions

amitriptyline

prescribed steroids and HRT

advice for pregnant mothers

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/socio.html - social and economic considerations

Mothers suffering from depression are increasingly pushed into taking pills, at great potential risk to themselves and their infants.

Paxil Babies: The Dangers of Antidepressants

Today in the United States, 11 percent of women take antidepressants, the use of antidepressants by pregnant women has dramatically increased, and postpartum depression -- rare in those cultures in which women receive high levels of social support following childbirth -- has become so staggeringly common among U.S. women that Congress is legislating increased medical treatment.
Read article at alternet.org
Comment: In 2006 the Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine reported that 30 percent of infants who had prenatal exposure to antidepressants experience some withdrawal symptoms, with 13 percent of them experiencing severe ones, most notably tremors, respiratory distress, gastrointestinal problems, sleep disturbances, and high-pitched crying. Other withdrawal symptoms include rapid heart beat, irritability, feeding difficulties, and profuse sweating.

The above is taken from the Dr Rath Foundation newsletter which I recommend to you.

With regard to pregnant mothers taking antidepressants: - pregnant women should avoid ALL drugs, both prescription drugs and over-the-counter drugs (and, of course, illegal drugs), as far as they possibly can. Unborn babies are at such very great risk of harm from drugs their mothers take - alcohol and cigarettes, for example, and as above, antidepressants - but also from many other drugs too. - That doctors are prescribing antidepressants so freely to pregnant women in America is nothing short of medical negligence.

Pregnant mothers should avoid salt and salty food. - See advice for pregnant mothers

Avoiding salt and salty food also reduces depression.

Lose weight, reduce your risk of most cancers, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, stroke, heart disease, angina, vascular dementia, osteopenia, osteoporosis, hypercholesterolaemia, depression, liver and kidney problems, and improve your health in many other ways without drugs or expense by eating less salt! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!

See my website http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/.html (The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

Children and Obesity

vulnerable groups

See Sodium in foods and

Associated health conditions

Friday 13 June 2008

The rising popularity of body piercing could "place a significant burden on health services for many years," a public health official has warned.

Body piercing boom could place burden on health service
article in the Telegraph

Extracts:

"According research by the Health Protection Agency (HPA), one in three young people aged 16-24 have experienced medical complications as a result of having a part of their body pierced.

One per cent of all piercings have resulted in a hospital admission.

As much as a tenth of the adult population has been pierced somewhere other than their ear lobe, according to the survey.

Piercing can cause a range of problems including serious bleeding from the punctures and the creation of excess scar tissue. Using unsterilised equipment carries the risk of life-threatening infections such as hepatitis C, HIV or septicaemia.

The research, which drew on responses from 10,503 people, is the first of its kind and was carried out by public health doctors from the HPA and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine."

"The research, published online by the British Medical Journal, found that a quarter of people with piercings suffered problems such as bacterial infections or bleeding and tearing around the wound.

Women are three times more likely than men to have a body piercing, with navels their most popular location.

Nipples were the most popular spot for men, who were also twice as likely as women to opt for genital piercing.

The most common complications were swelling, infection and bleeding with almost half of tongue piercings causing problems - the worst record by far."

Thursday 12 June 2008

SMA, the UK manufacturer of baby milk, has been forced to pull 40,000 cartons of baby milk after complaints the milk had curdled and made a baby ill.

SMA baby milk recalled after product makes children sick
article in the Telegraph:

Extract:

"The Food Standards Agency has confirmed SMA Nutrition has pulled 40,530 1 litre packs of SMA Gold ready-to-use liquid infant milk off shop shelves following 11 complaints.

The packs of milk will be found on shop shelves around the country. The packs have a best before date of 12 March 2009 and carry the code 06033G.

A spokesman for SMA Nutrition said customers complained of opening the packs to find the milk had separated and curdled.

Most customers did not use the milk, but two babies refused to feed and one vomited immediately after drinking the product.

One mother from north London was reported to have given the milk to her nine-month old daughter, who was subsequently "extremely sick" for three days, she claimed."

"Customers can call the SMA Careline on 0800 0890075 to discuss concerns and receive a replacement carton."

A call for the banning of GMOs.

Dr. Mae-Wan Ho warns that further indulgence in GMOs will severely damage our chances of surviving the food crisis and global warming; organic agriculture and localised food systems are the way forward.
Read press release on the Institute of Science in Society website (ISIS) (UK)

Wearing sandals and flip-flops can put people at risk of developing skin cancer on their feet, doctors have warned.

Flip-flops linked to skin cancer
Telegraph article

Extracts:

"Specialists say that wearing open-toed footwear can increase the chance of getting lesions as the skin becomes exposed to intense sunlight, a key cause of skin tumours, or melanomas.

Cancer that affects the feet is known as "acral melanoma" and typically occurs on the sole of the foot, between the toes or under the toenails.

Research shows that only half of patients with foot melanomas survive, compared with four out of five people who develop cancer elsewhere on their legs.

One clinic has seen at least two patients with sun-related foot cancer in the past three months.

Anthony Kontos, head of the clinic at the Hospital of St John and St Elizabeth, said patients often mistook skin cancer on the feet for bruising."

"Exposure to sun in childhood is the biggest risk factor for melanomas."

"Bob Marley, the reggae singer, died from a melanoma on his foot he believed was a football injury. The singer refused to have his toe amputated for religious reasons and died when the cancer spread."

Novartis says experimental multiple sclerosis treatment FTY720 is linked to death and infection

Novartis SA, Switzerland's second- largest drugmaker, said a patient died and another developed a serious infection in tests of its experimental multiple sclerosis treatment FTY720.
Read article at bloomberg.com

For years a Harvard child psychiatrist recommended powerful antipsychotics for use in children, without disclosing that he was paid by the drug makers

A world-renowned Harvard child psychiatrist whose work has helped fuel an explosion in the use of powerful antipsychotic medicines in children earned at least $1.6 million in consulting fees from drug makers from 2000 to 2007 but for years did not report much of this income to university officials, according to information given Congressional investigators.
Read article in the New York Times (USA)

Many (possibly even most) doctors in positions of being able to influence prescribing practices are in the pockets of the drug companies. Sleaze is rife in the medical profession. - See http://aboutsalt.blogspot.com/2006/07/sleaze-in-medical-profession.html

I invite you to read this page, the author of which has a particular interest in the drug, Seroxat - http://fiddaman.blogspot.com/2007_04_05_archive.html - Here is an extract from the page:

"I've looked through the pdf file for THE COMMITTEE ON SAFETY OF MEDICINES ANNUAL REPORT FOR 2004 and will show you all those members who have ties with Glaxosmithkline.

Remember, The Committee on the Safety of Medicines (CSM) was 'apparently' an independent advisory committee that for 40 years advised the UK Licensing Authority on the quality, efficacy and safety of medicines - In other words they offered advice to the MHRA. It was replaced on 30 October 2005 by the Commission on Human Medicines which combines the functions of both the former committee and the Medicines Commission

I've just gone through the declared Personal Interests to highlight the members whom had ties with Glaxosmithkline.

PERSONAL INTERESTS

MEMBER

Professor A Blenkinsopp - GSK Specific – Fees

Professor H Dargie - GlaxoSmithKline Consultancy

Dr M Donaghy - GSK Shares

Dr J C Forfar - GSK Shares

Dr R Leonard - GSK Fees/ Publicity work

Prof D J Nutt - GSK Consultancy Psychotropics and 300 shares

Professor J F Smyth - GSK Consultancy

Professor Christopher Bucke - SKB Shares

Prof Nicholas Mitchison - GSK Shares

Dr Brian J Clark - GSK PHD student funding

Professor Robert Booy - GSK Consultancy

Professor S M Cobbe - GSK Research grant

Professor J E Compston - GSK Consultancy

Dr A Glasier - GSK Shares (£10,000)

Dr Andrew A Grace - GSK Consultancy

Dr P Hindmarsh - GSK Consultancy on growth, probably lapsed by now

Professor P D Home - GSK Consultancy

Dr R F A Logan - GSK Shares

Professor R MacSween - SmithKline Beecham Shares

Professor J O’D McGee - SmithKline Beecham Shares

Calcium pills reduce risk of fractures in new clinical trial

Daily supplements of calcium may reduce the risk of fractures in a healthy population by 72 per cent, according to results of a randomised placebo-controlled trial. Emphasising the importance of the supplements, researchers from University Hospital Zurich and Dartmouth Medical School in New Hampshire report that the benefits were no longer observed when supplementation was stopped. The results are published in this month's American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
Read article at nutraingredients.com

Vitamin D is needed to metabolise calcium, and many people are short of vitamin D, so you may like to make sure that you are getting enough of this vitamin. - Possibly you would find it helpful to take one of those multivitamin/multimineral tablets each day to cover any possible shortages. These only provide small amounts so you do not risk overdosing on any particular nutrient.

If you click on the 'calcium' tag at the bottom of this post, you will be able to read about how calcium helps to reduce fat retention and obesity.

Wednesday 11 June 2008

A young mother had to have her right leg amputated after doctors failed to spot she was suffering from a rare type of cancer for seven month

Mother loses leg after doctors 'miss cancer'
Article in the Telegraph

Extracts:

"Sally Hurst, 29, a radio producer, repeatedly complained of pains in her knee before it was discovered she had potentially fatal and aggressive tumour.

She had been planning to marry her fiance Peter on an Italian cliff top when her physiotherapist referred her to a specialist. Subsequent tests revealed she the bone cancer Osteosarcoma in her right tibia and had to have her leg amputated from her mid-thigh.

Mrs Hurst had to postpone the wedding, and the couple all but gave up hope of having children.

She said: "For months I was made to feel like a hypochondriac and felt as though I was just being neurotic but ultimately, if I had been referred to a specialist earlier, I might not have lost my leg."

Three months after first visiting her doctor, she was sent for physiotherapy for "ligament damage".

But the pain became so bad that she was walking with a crutch and was given a disabled parking space by her employers.

Mrs Hurst said: "I was ringing my physio constantly complaining of the pain and alarm bells started ringing with him that it wasn't quite right.""

"She and Mr Hurst married the following year at a small ceremony in Rochdale Town Hall, and eight months ago Mrs Hurst gave birth to their daughter Holly.

Mrs Hurst added: "I was told I was going through the menopause in October 2006 as a result of the intense chemotherapy.

"So we couldn't believe it when we found out I was expecting. I felt my body was giving something back to me.""

"Mrs Hurst is now taking legal action against her local West Lodge Surgery, in Pudsey, West Yorks, alleging clinical negligence resulting in the loss of a limb.

Rachelle Mahapatra, of law firm Irwin Mitchell, who is representing her, said: "Despite her continued pleas for help from her GP her symptoms were dismissed as a sprain.

"Time is of the essence when you have an aggressive tumour and the delay meant she could not be considered for limb-sparing surgery.""

The incompetence/negligence/ignorance of doctors is so frequently, as in this case, compounded by their insulting sexist attitudes and demoralising remarks about hypochondria and neuroticism.

Tuesday 10 June 2008

Italian police have arrested 13 doctors from a private hospital in Milan who allegedly performed unnecessary surgery to claim more insurance money.

Milan doctors performed unnecessary surgery for insurance cash
Article in the Telegraph

Extract:

"At least five patients at the Santa Rita clinic in Milan died after operations that were not needed, investigators said. The former lawyer of the clinic was also arrested.

According to investigators, the entire team of surgeons from the clinic's thoracic team were involved in the fraud.

Colonel Riccardo Rapanotti, a police spokesman, said the operations were "useless, damaging, ill-considered and inexplicable given the cases of the patients". The surgeons performed 10 lung transplants allegedly in order to cure tuberculosis.

One 92-year-old woman was operated on three times in seven months and died under the knife."

Monday 9 June 2008

Survey discloses that three out of four councils have cut free home support services for the elderly and the disabled in order to save money.

Three out of four councils are cutting care for elderly and disabled
Telegraph article

Extracts:

"The poll by the Local Government Association found that town halls are increasingly withholding support for all but those with the most severe needs, as Britain's ageing population puts their budgets under increasing strain.

This means that thousands of pensioners and disabled people must either pay for their own care - and scrimp on food and heating - or remain effectively trapped in their own homes with no help to carry out basic tasks such as eating or washing.

The LGA, which represents local authorities across the country, is calling for the Government to use a forthcoming Green Paper to simplify the social care system and increase its funding to ensure those in need are not denied help."

"Gordon Lishman, Director General of Age Concern, added: "These figures are further evidence that the care system is coming apart at the seams and needs urgent reform.

"It is disgraceful that people who need care and can't afford to pay are being told they simply won't get any help. It is positively Orwellian that these cuts are being delivered through a process known as 'Fair Access to Care Services'."

Britain should brace itself for a diabetes "explosion" with the number of people suffering from the disease set to almost double within two decades...

Four million Britons will have diabetes by 2025
Telegraph article

Extracts:

"More than four million people in the country will be diagnosed as diabetic by 2025, researchers estimate.

The majority are expected to develop the disease needlessly because of lifestyle factors such as obesity, the charity Diabetes UK warns.

Around 80 per cent of those diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, the most common kind, are overweight.

But Diabetes UK warns that diabetes can also lead to extremely serious complications including heart disease, blindness, kidney disease and amputation.

The NHS already spends around £10,000 per minute treating diabetes and its complications, the charity estimates.

Simon O'Neill, from Diabetes UK said: "We should be worried about this predicted diabetes explosion.

"These new figures are truly shocking and confirm that diabetes is one of the main health challenges facing the UK today.

"Awareness and prevention are crucial if we want to avert this future health crisis and see the number of people with Type 2 diabetes fall.

"We need to encourage people to reduce their risk of developing the condition by eating healthily, maintaining a healthy weight and leading an active lifestyle.""

" The figures were released to mark the start of Diabetes Week, which aims to highlight risk factors for the disease, and are based on calculations derived from a study into the prevalence of diabetes by Yorkshire and Humber Public Health Observatory."

See also http://healthintelligence.bmj.com/hi/do/public-health/topics/content/Diabetes%20Type%202/ipts.html

The trouble is, people are not being given the facts about what causes type 2 diabetes. - The main cause of type 2 diabetes is fluid retention, and the way to reduce fluid retention is to cut down on salt and salty food.

Lose weight, reduce your risk of most cancers, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, stroke, heart disease, angina, vascular dementia, osteopenia, osteoporosis, hypercholesterolaemia, depression, liver and kidney problems, and improve your health in many other ways without drugs or expense by eating less salt! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!

See my website http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/.html (The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

Children and Obesity

vulnerable groups

See Sodium in foods and

Associated health conditions