Corrupt legislation designed to benefit corrupt corporations against the public interest

Along the same lines of protecting telecommunications for their illicit role in spying on citizens.

Forcing drug companies to publish negative trial results ‘is against law’

David Rose

An election pledge to require drugs companies to publish full details of clinical trials for medicines cannot be fulfilled because it is illegal under EU law, the Government has admitted.

Psychiatrists and health campaigners renewed a call yesterday for all data on the effectiveness of medicines to be published after a review of clinical trials concluded that antidepressant drugs were no more effective than a placebo for patients suffering from depression.

The pharmaceutical industry is encouraged to publish findings of all clinical trials online but is still, to a large extent, allowed to regulate itself. Critics argue that this system is not enough to ensure that patients, doctors and watchdogs, such as the the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), get the information that they need to assess the effectiveness of drugs properly.

The review referred to trials submitted in the 1980s and 1990s when four antidepressant medications were being licensed by the US Food and Drug Administration.
Related Links

* Anti-depression drugs 'no better than a placebo'

* Pressures of consumerism make children depressed

The team, led by Irving Kirsch at the University of Hull, examined published and unpublished data from clinical trials obtained under Freedom of Information rules in the United States.

NICE said that it will consider the findings when it reviews its guidance on treatments for depression in December.

It is a criminal offence to withold information about safety issues or adverse drug reactions to the European Medicines Agency or the Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory

Authority, which licence medicines. But companies can still choose to not publish negative studies or supply full details to NICE, which rates the clinical effectiveness and value-for-money of treatments.

The 2005 election manifesto of Labour promised to “require registration of all clinical trials and publication of their findings for all trials of medicinal products with a marketing authorisation in the UK”. But the Department of Health said that it would be illegal, under European regulations, to make companies do this.

Tim Kendall, deputy director of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, who helped to create NICE’s guidance on treating depression, said: “We have called on the Government to change this and it is extraordinary that we did not know about this legal barrier before.”

A spokesman for the Department of Health said: “We planned to support the principle of mandatory registration of clinical trials but legal advice stated this would be illegal under EU law. For that reason we have adopted a voluntary approach in the UK.”

The spokesman said that the department had created a register of trials, which was available publicly, and that it was encouraging the EU to make public its medicines agency register.

The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry said that since 2005 all its members have been required to publish findings online within a year of clinical trials taking place.

In the review Professor Kirsch and his team found that even trials suggesting benefit for the depressed did not provide evidence of clear clinical benefit when compared with a placebo.

Louis Appleby, the National Clinical director for Mental Health, said: “New guidance on the treatment of depression will be issued later in the year. Until then the message to patients and doctors remains that antidepressants are an appropriate treatment.”

Heart Health, Heart Risk

On a daily basis I work with people who have complex and complicated health conditions. I see things that few see in my process of uncovering what may be the best approach for a client, based on their biochemistry, doctor's diagnosis (or even too often, no dx), and other factors.

Generally I rely on nutrition, the use of supplements and herbs. I may use or suggest other therapies, especially for the emotional and spiritual component so important for health. I am partial to energy medicine and homeopathy, but it seems few people choose this approach, at least in the US where it is mostly unknown.

As I always tell people, natural healing takes time. There is a lot of coaching on my part because people are used to a pill for a symptom so they seem to feel better.

Feeling better is not always a good thing. Sometimes it seems as if it is one step back before two forward.

Patience surely wins out in the end. Just this week I have reports from two clients with serious heart problems and other health problems. Neither of these two people are taking aspirin. It has taken some months to see the improvement but here is one with a BNP reduced from 200 to 128 in three months. The other client suffered from a clot secondary to atrial fibrillation because of hyperthyroidism with severe low adrenal function. Now her thyroid is normal without radiation and she won't have to see the cardiologist for a year.

There are good benefits from vitamin E (the correct kind), nattokinase, magnesium, herbs with blood thinning properties like garlic, red clover, gingko, or hawthorne. I try to stay away from aspirin, for reasons I've know a long time, and as reported below.

I use NON-SOY vitamin E with tocotrienols and hawthorne as a first line of defense. This is based on science, decades and hundreds of years old.

I always hope my clients are a bridge to the medical community to help open eyes, minds too.

Aspirin doesn't always help heart attacks
Published: Feb. 27, 2008

BUFFALO, N.Y., Feb. 27 (UPI) -- A U.S. study has found up to 20 percent of patients may not benefit from taking aspirin to prevent second heart attacks and strokes.

The study, published online in advance of print in the Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, found about 20 percent of patients don't have have the anti-platelet response from aspirin -- the effect thought to protect against a second stroke, second heart attack or second episode of peripheral artery disease.

"In those three indications, it's crystal clear that aspirin reduces the risk of a second heart attack or stroke in most patients," lead study researcher Francis Gengo of the University of Buffalo said in a statement.

"But we have known for years that in some stroke and heart attack patients, aspirin has no preventive effect."

If blood drawn from a patient taking aspirin shows the aspirin isn't helping -- platelets are still aggregating -- a patient is diagnosed as being aspirin resistant. If a stroke patient has a second stroke while on aspirin, the patient has experienced what is known as clinical aspirin failure.

"We found, across the board, about 80 percent of the patients in our study were aspirin sensitive -- their platelets did not aggregate in arteries -- and 20 percent were aspirin resistant," Gengo said.

© 2008 United Press International.

A new note on hawthorne

If you had a heart ailment during Shakespeare's era your doctor might have given you an extract of hawthorn, a flowering shrub that grows wild throughout Europe. In fact, hawthorn was probably the statin drug of its day – automatically prescribed to improve heart health.

Over the past four centuries, scientists have shown that hawthorn extract is rich in flavonoids, which help dilate arteries, improve blood flow, and lower blood pressure.

These actions clearly benefit the heart, but could hawthorn help treat patients with a health challenge as severe as chronic heart failure? That's a tall order, but a new study shows that hawthorn is up to the task.

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Symptom control
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Last year, in the e-Alert "Relaxed and Flexible" (4/9/07), I told you about a 2003 study in which more than 200 patients with chronic congestive heart failure (CHF) were divided into three groups to receive either 900 mg or 1,800 mg of hawthorn extract daily or placebo. After 16 weeks, maximum exercise tolerance increased significantly in the high- dose group compared to the other two groups, and heart failure symptoms improved in both of the extract groups, but not the placebo group.

That study was probably included in an Exeter University meta-analysis of clinical trials in which hawthorn was tested on hundreds of patients.

STUDY PROFILE
Researchers combed through five medical databases looking for randomized, double- blind, placebo controlled trials in which extracts of hawthorn leaf and flower were tested on CHF patients Fourteen trials, which included more than 1,100 subjects, met the criteria for inclusion In most of the trials hawthorn was used as a complementary treatment along with conventional drug treatments for CHF As in the trial mentioned above, exercise tolerance was significantly improved by hawthorn intervention, as was maximal workload and pressure-heart rate product (an index of cardiac oxygen consumption) Analysis showed that CHF symptoms such as shortness of breath and fatigue also improved In the most recent issue of the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, the Exeter team writes: "These results suggest that there is a significant benefit in symptom control and physiologic outcomes from hawthorn extract as an adjunctive treatment for chronic heart failure."

Adverse side effects were described as "infrequent, mild, and transient."

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Working daily miracles
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Some heart specialists would have you believe that the Exeter results are of no significance.

In a MedPage Today report about the trial, Gregg Fonarow, M.D., director of the heart failure program at UCLA described hawthorn as safe but "not particularly helpful." He based his assessment on a large, two-year trial that I told you about in "Relaxed and Flexible." In that study, more than 2,600 subjects with advanced CHF were given either 900 mg of hawthorn daily or a placebo. Results showed that the extract didn't prevent death associated with cardiac events and didn't prevent non-fatal cardiac events.

Do you get the feeling Dr. Gonarow is missing the point?

The Exeter study shows that hawthorn extract may improve quality of life measures for CHF patients. Granted, hawthorn may not actually save the lives of gravely ill patients, but many CHF patients will likely find the extract to be "particularly helpful" in coping with the day-to-day challenges of their disease.

It should also be noted that at the 18-month follow up assessment in the 2007 study, patients who were taking the extract had a 20 percent reduced risk of CHF-related death compared to placebo – a difference that equaled four additional months of survival time.

Talk to your doctor before adding hawthorn to your daily regimen. CHF patients might want to consult with an experienced herbalist to make sure they receive a potent, high- quality hawthorn extract.

Depressed people can improve without chemical treatments

A very good study and an important one for sure. With so many events surrounding the use of the SSRI calss of drugs this study tells us a very important thing; people can improve without dugs.

For people like me it is important support for the benefit of the work I do, especially when it applies to uncovering the nutritional deficiencies leading to depression.

The long time benefit of a sound food plan and the orthomolecular approach, now with some 60 + years of use, study and effectiveness without side effects and murderous incidents, we can certainly offer more hope to people suffering with depression and other mental health concerns.

I feel as good about this study as I did in the 70s when I refused to participate in ECT at the psych hospital where I worked. An unsettling move for vested interests unwilling to see beyond a limited horizon of drugs are the only hope or ECT is good.

Depression drugs 'little better than placebos' by Katherine Haddon

Best-selling anti-depressants like Prozac and Seroxat are barely more effective than placebos in treating most people with depression, according to a study published on Tuesday.

The research, which analysed 47 clinical trials, breaks new ground by incorporating data not previously released by drug companies which researchers obtained under US freedom of information laws.

Its findings prompted some academics and mental health campaigners to question whether people with mild and moderate depression should be prescribed drugs like Prozac, which has been taken by 40 million people worldwide.

"The difference in improvement between patients taking placebos and patients taking anti-depressants is not very great," said Professor Irving Kirsch of Hull University, who led the team.

"This means that depressed people can improve without chemical treatments.

"Given these results, there seems little reason to prescribe antidepressant medication to any but the most severely depressed patients unless alternative treatments have failed to provide a benefit."

The study, published in the journal PLoS (Public Library of Science) Medicine, looked at Prozac, Seroxat, Effexor and Serzone and found the drugs were only better than a placebo for some people with severe depression.

Kirsch's team said it was one of the most thorough probes into the impact of new generation anti-depressants or selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs).

Drug companies strongly questioned the findings.

A spokesman for Eli Lilly, which makes Prozac, said that "extensive scientific and medical experience" had shown it is "an effective anti-depressant".

And GlaxoSmithKline, which makes Seroxat, said the study had not acknowledged the "very positive benefits" of the drugs.

"Their conclusions are at odds with what has been seen in actual clinical practice," a spokesman said.

"It is widely recognised by experts in the field that studies in depression are challenging and very difficult to conduct."

One leading academic who has studied why drug companies only publish some of their data on new drugs said in the wake of the findings they should be obliged to do so.

Doctor Tim Kendall, deputy director of the Royal College of Psychiatrists research unit, said the study was "fantastically important".

"I think it's too dangerous to allow drug companies -- where profit is a key factor -- to be able to withhold data which shows that a drug is ineffective or harmful," he said.

Alison Cobb, of mental health charity Mind, hailed the findings as "a serious challenge to the predominance of drugs in treating depression".

"Anti-depressants do help many people but by no means all and some people experience severe side-effects with them," she said.

"Nine out of 10 GPs say they've been forced to dish out drugs because they don't have proper access to 'talking treatments' such as cognitive behavioural therapy, which are recommended as the first-line treatment for mild to moderate depression."

Another mental health charity, Sane, warned the findings "could remove what has been seen as a vital choice for thousands," adding people should not stop taking their drugs immediately.

Copyright © 2008 Agence France Presse.

Hawaii attempts what failed in New Mexico-BAN ASPARTAME

Already banned in the Philippines, Hawaii may become the first state in the US to ban neurotoxic aspartame. A previous effort in New Mexico failed. During the heated debate, New Mexico governor Bill Richardson allegedly accepted a $10,000 contribution from Ajinmoto, a company that manufactures aspartame.

I am for this ban.

If you are trying to stay healthy, you want to avoid it at any cost.

From the Hawaii Reporter:Health Concerns Warrant the Removal of Aspartame Products Should Be Removed from Hawaii Marketplace
By H. J. Roberts, M.D., 2/25/2008 8:43:47 AM

I strongly urge the removal of aspartame products from the market in Hawaii, based on clinical observations and extensive corporate-neutral research on aspartame disease for over a quarter century.

The medical and public health basis for this recommendation has been detailed in my numerous original articles/letters and four books -- including the 1000-page text "Aspartame Disease: An Ignored Epidemic."

The widespread existence of severe reactions to aspartame products remains a tragedy and disgrace that not only has endangered our population, but also future generations.

The FDA has failed to act on the matter notwithstanding an enormous amount of clinical and scientific evidence. My data base alone reflects over 1,400 victims.

I admire the courage of Hawaii lawmakers in tackling this issue despite the inevitable corporate and political pressures to ignore it.

Hawaii lawmakers, should they pass this proposal this legislative session, are essentially pioneering the correction of a major public health problem for the entire country... and the world.

H. J. Roberts, M.D., FACP, FCCP is from West Palm Beach, Florida

Help for those of us who are attacked

Natural health care professionals are attacked in various ways, and have been over more than a century. The core issue is control.

Many doctors and others who are 'licensed' often are the main group attacked or subjected to abuses by licensing agencies and propaganda mills in efforts to discredit the work we do, and THE SCIENCE BEHIND THE BENEFITS OF NATURAL HEALTH CARE.

One long time advocate against these unfounded attacks by bureaucrats with no knowledge of the field is Tim Bolen.

Tim is back with some new information about Barrett and his ridiculous group of alleged "quackbusters".

What Tim has to say and the updates he offers is enlightening. His information may make you wake up to realize that the busters are the real quacks. The information they promulgate is not based in fact, yet they have some sort of reliability factor that always makes me scratch my head. I wonder how journalists and others can take them on face value as 'experts' with no further investigation.

The Bolen Report

More reports on low cholesterol and cancer

Repeatedly we have found, on years of reviewing the cholesterol lowering drugs, that immune defense is lowered, leading to an increase risk of cancer.

We have also reported on the impact of liver problems from these drugs and impairment of the detoxification process. This becomes a much higher risk is you are taking any dugs for acid reflux (GERD).

Forewarned is forearmed.

Fri Feb 22, 2008

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - People with very low cholesterol levels seem to be at increased risk of developing stomach cancer, Japanese researchers report.

Some studies have linked low cholesterol levels to higher death rates from cancer in general, Dr. Kouichi Asano, of Kyushu University, Fukuoka, and colleagues explain in the International Journal of Cancer. "With respect to gastric cancer, a limited number of studies suggest this inverse association, while others do not."

The researcher looked into this in a study involving some 2,600 residents of Hisayama, Japan, who were followed for 14 years.

Gastric cancers developed in 97 subjects. After accounting for age and gender, stomach cancer rates rose significantly with descending cholesterol level. For example, among subjects with the highest cholesterol levels, the gastric cancer rate was the equivalent of 2.1 cases per 1000 persons per year; among those with the lowest cholesterol, the rate was 3.9 per 1000 person-years.

"Our data suggest that patients with low serum cholesterol should consider regular gastro-intestinal examination for the prevention of gastric cancer," the investigators conclude.

SOURCE: International Journal of Cancer, February 15, 2008.

© Reuters 2007. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by caching, framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.
Reuters journalists are subject to the Reuters Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.

Cellular shows more damage

Cellphone radiation alters skin proteins

HELSINKI, Finland — Research in Finland indicates that protein in human cells is altered when subjected to cellphone radiation, but the health effects of such radiation remain unclear.

The Finnish Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority subjected a small area of skin on the forearms of 10 female volunteers to cellphone radiation — otherwise known as radio frequency modulated electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF) — for one hour.

The report found that biopsies from exposed skin showed alterations not seen in similar biopsies on non-exposed skin.

Researcher Dariusz Leszczynski said “even if the changes are small, they still exist.”

But he said the study did not indicate any possible health hazards and was conducted to find out only if living human skin responds to cellphone radiation.

The study, published Monday in the online journal BMC Genomics, said that analysis of 580 proteins identified eight proteins that were affected.

The agency claimed it was the first study showing that “molecular level changes might take place in human volunteers in response to exposure to RF-EMF,” describing it as “globally unique.”

The agency said it plans a more extensive study in 2009, with 50 to 100 volunteers, according to this AP report.

Leading to Weightiness; Light on what happened to the healthy pyramid

Everybody is hot on the track of increasing weight gain. I have my theories, and I'll be exposuing on it in the next issue of herbalYODA Says! Much has to do with food and its impact on unsuspecting people who beleive everything told them by government agencies, like USDA.

USDA is the home of the Food Pyramid.

Read a little about how USDA used something to lead you down a primrose path to health problems, only to benefit Big Agra.

Another reason not to beleive all the current adds for cheap ingredients with high profit under the guise of 'probiotics' and 'plant sterols'.

More here:

The "absurd American food pyramid" - a dietary guide that first came out in the 1980s, and in which our "government" recommended starch as the foundation of our diet. This was of particular interest to Dr. Luise Light because it was she and her team of nutrition experts who had created the concept of the food pyramid - one with a very major twist. The real food pyramid, Light wrote, was completely different from the "adjusted" pyramid distributed to an unsuspecting American public.

The true pyramid that Dr. Light and her team developed was not absurd. Instead of starch as the foundation, it called for a base of a wide variety of fruits and vegetables; 5 to 9 servings daily.

Whole grain cereals and grains were recommended as only 2 to 4 servings daily. Women were to have lower amounts of gains as were those with less active lifestyles. The real pyramid placed baked goods, crackers, sweets and other low-nutrient foods up with the sugars and fats at the top of the pyramid, where they were recommended only as occasional treats.

Light tells us that there had been a deliberate, unexplained switch made at the political level completely distorting the pyramid. In her book, Ketchup is Not a Vegetable; Sane Eating in a Toxic Food World, you can learn more.

"Instead of fruits and vegetables making up the base of the diet," she wrote, "the cereals and wheat products were made the base of the pyramid. The recommendation [for starchy foods] was no longer 2 to 4 as we had determined. It had been switched 6 to 11 servings!

We couldn't believe it! What possible rationale could there be for such an unprecedented and unjustified switch?

In fact the health consequences of encouraging the public to eat so much refined grain, which the body processes like sugar, was frightening!

Our exhortations to the political heads of the agency fell on deaf ears.

The new food guide, replacing the 'Basic Four,' would become only a promotional tool to get the public to buy and consume more calories, sugar and starch." Ultimately, this would result in a poorer quality diet.

and if you wonder about genetically engineered/modified food that isn't planned to be labelled as well as how it can impact your health, read here.

Alcohol abuse continues to be in the news...

Here is another drug for what is a very large market, if you can get past side effects and related possible long term risks. It would be hard to tell because it will be pushed by drug reps before any long term large sample size studies are completed. I guess more of a search for guinea pigs.

On the other hand here is my approach to the issue with herbs, proven in actual studies on campus at a big party school.

New Herbal Remedy Developed for College Binge Drinking Can Help Reduce Campus Drinking and Associated Fatalities.

Well known natural health educator and consultant, Dr. Gayle Eversole, Founder and Director of Creating Health Institute of Pullman, Washington, has taken an active role to prevent binge drinking and other risky alcohol related behavior for those away at college.

November 1, 2004 “ Concerned about college drinking, Dr. Gayle Eversole developed an herbal treatment to help binge drinking and other risky behavior on campus.

In September, N22 Nutrition contacted Dr. Eversole to develop a formula to reduce muscle cramping and improve recovery rates for use in extreme athletic endeavors like Motocross racing. This formula, PUMPX, has resulted in greater than expected results,
as well as showing benefits for recovery in related sports injuries.

During development discussions the idea to create a formula to address the problems of campus drinking, in the wake of repeated incidents of campus deaths reported nationwide. 'Chalmer's Choice' Booze-Bust Balancer was developed based on remedies used in Oriental Medicine and traditional folk medicine for centuries.

Dr. Eversole has extensive experience in addiction treatment. She stated that "the pressures are great on campus and there is a great need to respond to the power of the college subculture in order to understand and respond to the dangers of college drinking behavior." Washington State University and the University of Idaho are located in the area of Pullman, WA. These two schools have recently experienced serious alcohol related incidents.

A recent study shows that excessive alcohol use is epidemic on campuses across America. Nationally, 1,400 college students die each year from alcohol-related
unintentional injuries, according to Harvard University.

The Harvard study also said two out of five students binge drink at least once a week and that besides the deaths, another 500,000 are injured while 600,000 are assaulted by someone who is drinking. According to the nonprofit group Drug Strategies, college students spend $5.5 billion a year on alcohol, more than they spend on non-alcoholic beverages and books combined. CNN reported that parents of college kids ranked binge
drinking as their greatest fear as far back as 2001.

College drinking is usually associated with random acts of stupidity and/or peer bonding, and it can sometimes be life altering when it challenges judgment. It can interfere with the body's ability to function properly and affect the heart, liver, lungs or brain, and can be life threatening.

College students often have a poor sense of self and identity, who may encounter the possibility of substance use in the family or mental health problem, are more vulnerable to binge drinking and associated behavior.

Dr. Eversole is a health writer and educator, medical herbalist, homeopath and nurse practitioner. Dr. Eversole has served as a consultant to business, governments and organizations. She has been a faculty member at several institutions of higher learning. She is also a consultant in legal and forensic nursing and a certified mediator and registered arbitrator. Eversole is a published author and presents a Natural Health program on net radio.

Dr. Gayle Eversole is available for commentary and interviews on this and many subjects pertaining to natural health and bridging the gap with mainstream medicine.

As far as my experience in community mental health, chemical dependency, psychiatric nursing and related areas, I believe that this is more of a spiritual issue. Working Step 12 in the AA model is they key to resolution of major portions of this problem. Current treatment, from my perspective maintains people at Step 3-4, serving the system not the client.

It might take a long time before we see change.

New drug can treat alcoholism: Sat Feb 16

A new drug can help alcoholics overcome their addiction by reducing stress-induced cravings, a study released Thursday has found.

There is already a drug on the market, Revia, which treats alcoholism by reducing the body's ability to enjoy its effects.

This new drug cuts cravings by taking the edge off of stressful situations which might push recovering alcoholics to pick up the bottle again.

Behavioral stress is a major factor in extending the "vicious cycle" of alcoholism, said lead author Markus Heilig, clinical director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

That's because alcohol deprivation causes depression and increased sensitivity to stressful situations such as an argument with a spouse or tension at work.

"Alcohol is a particularly nasty drug because it actually makes you feel better, but it pushes you to feel worse once you're without alcohol," he told AFP.

The drug Heilig and his team tested targets an area of the brain, the neurokinin 1 receptor, which mediates responses to behavioral stress. It had previously been shown to reduce social anxiety but did not enter the market because results were inconsistent.

Helig and his team first tested its effectiveness on mice and then on a group of 50 alcoholics with anxiety problems who had been through detox and remained hospitalized for the four weeks of the trial.

Half were given a placebo and the other half were given the drug.

Cravings declined over time for all patients in the protected inpatient environment and were minimal in the majority of patients by the end of the study period.

However, those who had been drug showed a more marked improvement in the severity of their cravings when measured by self-reporting questionnaires, the assessment of their clinicians, and tests where they were exposed to socially stressful situations and then told to touch a bottle and smell their favorite alcohol.

Interestingly, there was no impact on anxious or depressive psychopathology which suggests that "the improvements observed might be specific for brain processes related to alcoholism," the study published online in Science Express concluded.

The drug also led to increased brain responses to positive imagery and lessened responses to negative imagery, something which a recent study showed predicts less alcohol consumption over the next six months, tests using MRI mapping showed.

The next step is larger clinical trials to see if the drug can be of assistance to alcoholics who do not suffer from anxiety problems.

Copyright © 2008 Agence France Presse.

Vaccine Madness Continues

UPDATE: 19 February
Lining up for another really ineffective vaccine may be something you may not want to do. I like the concept that makes you stop and think whether or not you are willing to be a lab experiment that's using your body as a Petri dish.

The CDC seems alarmed about current vaccine refusals, like those for shingles, whooping cough and cervical cancer vaccines, which haven't met their numbers. (Great to be a statistic isn't it).

Here's the turn-out for these vaccines so far:

Shingles: In its first year on the market, only 2 percent of folks age 60 and older got the vaccine.
Whooping cough: Just 2 percent of folks between the ages of 18 and 64 got a booster vaccine when it was approved in 2005.
HPV: Only 10 percent of women recommended to have this shot (ages 18 to 26) had received at least one shot of the three-vaccination series.

Those aren't the only low numbers. Here's a couple that have been in the arsenal that a lot of people have passed on:
Flu vaccine: 69 percent of seniors get it
Pneumonia vaccine: 66 percent have rolled up their sleeves

Perhaps the problem is the nasty mix of unnatural chemicals that they want you to inject directly into your body. I'm allergic to chicken eggs so for me I sure wouldn't want to line up, but maybe no one asked you if you are allergic to chicken or eggs. Many of the vaccines are developed using chicken eggs in case you didn't know.

When the shingles vaccine first came out, it worked only half the time for people ages 60 to 69. In people over 70 — the age most at risk - the vaccine's "success" rate was a mere 38 percent. (Hardly a raging success.)

In direct opposition to the overblown hype, the study showed that the vaccine was no better than the placebo at preventing deaths, hospitalizations, total use of pain medications, and daily functioning capability.

If you have had chicken pox you have the shingles virus in your body. Stress can activate it and it is very painful.

I had a break out of shingles following my father's death. I applied valerian root salve I blended to my skin where I had the outbreaks, and took a combination of tinctures of valerian and St. John's Wort I developed for pain. This solved the problem PDQ. Some other herbs are known to be helpful.

UPDATE:18 February

Pneumonia Deaths Seen With Rotavirus Vaccine

WASHINGTON (Reuters) Feb 15 - Rotarix, GlaxoSmithKline Plc's investigational rotavirus vaccine, is associated with increased pneumonia-related deaths and other adverse reactions, U.S. regulatory staff said in documents posted on Friday.

The review comes ahead of a Food and Drug Administration advisory meeting next Wednesday to consider approval of the oral vaccine. Their analysis of 11 studies revealed a statistically significant increase in deaths related to pneumonia with the vaccine compared with placebo in the largest trial, according to documents posted on the FDA's Web site.

That study, which enrolled about 63,000 children, also found an increase in convulsions in children given the vaccine. Another study found an increased rate of bronchitis compared with placebo.

The FDA advisory panel will weigh the staff review, but makes its own recommendation, which is typically followed by the FDA.

Meningococcal Vaccine - "First US Cases Of Resistant Meningococcal Disease"

This is another dis-ease with a common vaccine, generally now required by all colleges for incoming freshman.

Some children find it in their list of "required" shots.

Now with Tamiflu not working - some how I seem the feel that it IS because of the vaccines, and maybe I should wonder if it isn't built in, as a self-destruct suicide recombinant something added along with all the aluminum and mercury.

Also, since most of the current antibiotics are fluoride based, and aluminum is in the adjuvant carrier fluids of vaccines, perhaps it is a Fluoride Aluminum reaction that creates this.

One really has to wonder, because FDA and CDC are not!

According to a new survey, fewer than half of the U.S. medical schools queried have policies in place to safeguard against improper financial links with drug companies. And it is not clear whether those with such safeguards actually enforce them. The findings come from the first national survey to examine the potential for what are called institutional conflicts of interest (ICOI) between pharmaceutical manufacturers or other for-profit groups and academic medical research centers that oversee drug testing on human subjects. Full Article

In its first year on the market, the new meningococcal conjugate vaccine (MCV4) was potentially associated with an increased risk of Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS), a rare neurological disorder that causes increasing weakness in the limbs. The meningococcal vaccine (Menactra) was recommended by the ACIP in May 2005 for routine vaccination of adolescents, college freshmen who live in dormitories, and other high-risk individuals.9

By September 2006, 17 confirmed cases of GBS in recipients of MCV4 had been reported to VAERS (all affected individuals had recovered or were recovering).10 Although this association does not necessarily mean the vaccine caused the illness, the CDC has reported that the timing of the onset of GBS symptoms—within one to five weeks of vaccination—is of concern. As of October 2006, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and CDC were monitoring the situation, and the CDC continued to recommend the vaccine for adolescents and others.11

The current vaccine failures highlight shortcomings in vaccine target selection, which will continue to deteriorate as influenza evolution is driven by vaccine mismatches and productive homologous recombination. Full Article

Remembering that Pasteur recanted his theory on his death bed, see more in depth coverage to help you make informed decisions about vaccines: Part 1; Part 2; Part 3

Golden Glow

Well, that golden glow is in my life because I am lucky enough to have a Golden Retriever, now going on 9 years old.

Golden's are really remarkable dogs, but this post isn't about dogs.

I think the fellow doing the research here is on to something. I do like the concept, but in the end I think it is still lineal thinking.

While it might be a great idea to cause drug resistant bacteria to self destruct in the midst of infection, it might lead to serious long term impact. You might have no S. aureus left on your skin to function as the protector it is, in the natural order of things.

Carotenoids are very beneficial, but maybe I'll saty with specific pure essential oils.

New Approach May Render Disease-causing Staph Harmless

U. of I. graduate student Fenglin Yin worked with Oldfield on the study. (Credit: Michael Hudock)ScienceDaily (Feb. 16, 2008) — Researchers at the University of Illinois helped lead a collaborative effort to uncover a completely new treatment strategy for serious Staphylococcus aureus ("Staph") infections. The research, published Feb. 14 online in Science, comes at a time when strains of antibiotic-resistant Staph (known as MRSA, for methicillin-resistant S. aureus) are spreading in epidemic proportions in hospital and community settings.

Among the deadliest of all disease-causing organisms, Staph is the leading cause of human infections in the skin, soft tissues, bones, joints and bloodstream, and drug-resistant Staph infections are a growing threat. By federal estimates, more than 94,000 people develop serious MRSA infections and about 19,000 people die from MRSA in the U.S. every year. MRSA is believed to cause more deaths in the U.S. than HIV/AIDS.

The multi-institutional team exploited a chemical pathway that allows the Staph bacterium to defend itself against an immune response. The researchers showed that a compound (BPH-652) originally designed to lower cholesterol blocks a key enzyme in that pathway, weakening the organism's defenses and allowing the body's immune cells to prevail against the infection.

A golden-colored pigment called a carotenoid gives the S. aureus bacterium its edge. "Aureus" is Latin for "golden." The carotenoid acts as an antioxidant for the bacterium, allowing it to evade attack by the body's immune cells. By crippling production of the carotenoid, the compound strips Staph of one of its key defenses.

The new research builds on a recent discovery by scientists at the University of California, San Diego. The UCSD team, led by Dr. Victor Nizet, a professor of pediatrics and pharmacy, showed that knocking out a gene for an enzyme in the chemical pathway that produced the Staph carotenoid reduced its virulence.

When he read about this finding, University of Illinois chemistry professor Eric Oldfield realized that the chemical precursors of the Staph carotenoid were identical to those that led to production of cholesterol in humans. Oldfield, who is the senior author of the paper, had spent decades exploring this pathway, which has implications for the treatment of some cancers, as well as fungal and parasitic diseases. He noted that an enzyme in the human pathway, squalene synthase, was strikingly similar to one that led to the production of the carotenoid in Staph. He also knew that many compounds already had been developed to block the human enzyme.

"I thought there was a good chance that squalene synthase inhibitors developed early on as cholesterol lowering agents might also work on this other pathway," he said. "Current cholesterol-lowering drugs like statins work in a completely different way and would be ineffective."

The researchers began by testing dozens of new compounds for their activity against the Staph enzyme. This allowed them to narrow the field of potential candidates to eight. When they tested these drugs on Staph cells, they found that BPH-652 was the most effective at getting into the cells. A tiny dose impaired the cells' ability to produce the carotenoid. The cells, once golden, turned white.

"We have found that the same golden armor used by Staph to thwart our immune system can also be its Achilles' heel," said Nizet, a study co-author, who is affiliated with the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at UCSD.

Preliminary studies were conducted in the laboratories of Nizet and Dr. George Liu, a professor of pediatrics at Cedar-Sinai Medical Center. Exposure to BPH-652 also markedly reduced bacterial levels in a mouse model of severe Staph infection.

Because the approach reduces the virulence of the bacteria by stopping pigment production, it may not cause selective pressures on the population, which can lead to antibiotic resistance. It also targets only S. aureus, possibly reducing side effects.

The key to the compound's success is that the human and bacterial enzymes it targets are so similar. Andrew Wang and his colleagues at Academia Sinica and the National Taiwan University, both in Taipei, used X-ray crystallography to determine the structure of the enzyme and how it interacts with the inhibitors.

"Our structural studies pinpointed how these drug candidates bound to the bacterial enzyme to shut off pigment production," Wang said.

The new findings are particularly promising because BPH-652 already has been used (as a cholesterol-lowering agent) in human clinical trials, reducing the cost and time for development.

Adapted from materials provided by University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (2008, February 16). New Approach May Render Disease-causing Staph Harmless. ScienceDaily. Retrieved February 18, 2008, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2008/02/080214144409.htm

Change your thinking, change your mind

UPDATE February 19:Not only are the vaccines suspect, the usual treatment is ineffective as well.

Antibiotics Do Little for Inner Ear Infections By Steven Reinberg

(HealthDay News) -- Antibiotics don't significantly reduce fluid buildup in young children with inner ear infections, a new analysis shows.

Whether such drugs work in this regard has been a matter of conjecture, with one recent study suggesting a benefit in children aged 2 and under. So, Dutch researchers did a meta-analysis of several previously published studies and found the results don't support the use of antibiotics for the fluid buildup that can accompany inner ear infections.

"Due to the marginal effect and the known negative effects of prescribing antibiotics, such as the development of antibiotic resistance and side effects, we do not recommend prescribing antibiotics to prevent middle ear effusion," said lead researcher Maroeska M. Rovers, from the Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care at the University Medical Center Utrecht in The Netherlands.

Ear infections are very common among infants and children. They can lead to fluid buildup in the ear, which is known as otitis media with effusion. This buildup can result in hearing loss, which can affect language development, cognitive development, behavior and quality of life, according to the researchers.

The report was published in the February issue of the Archives of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery.

In the study, Rovers' team collected data on 1,328 children aged 6 months to 12 years with acute middle ear infection. These children had participated in five studies that compared treating ear infections with antibiotics to a placebo or no treatment at all.

Among the children in the studies, 44 percent were younger than 2. Of these children, 51.8 percent had recurrent ear infections. It was in this group of children that the risk of fluid buildup was the greatest.

Rovers' group found that the children taking antibiotics were 90 percent as likely to develop fluid buildup as children who weren't taking the medications. However, this difference was not statistically significant. "No difference in the development of effusion could be detected between the placebo and the antibiotics group," Rovers said.

"More research is, however, needed to identify relevant subgroups of children that have middle ear effusion that might benefit from other treatments," Rovers added.

One expert noted that doctors do not routinely prescribe antibiotics to prevent fluid buildup in ear infections.

"To the best of my knowledge, physicians generally don't prescribe antibiotics for acute otitis media in order to prevent middle-ear effusion; they prescribe them to bring about more prompt resolution of the infection and of its symptoms, especially pain," said Dr. Jack Paradise, a professor of pediatrics and otolaryngology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and a pediatrician at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh.

The question of prescribing to prevent middle-ear effusion has become a non-issue over the past decade, Paradise said. "Asymptomatic middle-ear effusion is extraordinarily common and has been shown to be essentially harmless under ordinary circumstances," he said.
Copyright © 2008 HealthDay.

Vaccines are it, or so MSM wants you to believe.

If you want to believe it go right a head, but think about this while you're trying to decide:

20% reduction in ear infection from vaccines (2007)
http://www.sciencedaily.com/videos/2007/0908-vaccine_for_ear_infections.htm

BUT!

85% reduction in ear infections from a simple device (2007)
http://www.sciencedaily.com/videos/2006/0105-ear_popper.htm

My how things change over time, or gee Grandma, what big teeth you have.

Maybe the device takes the teeth out of vaccine manufacturer profit vampire.

Maybe the device takes the teeth of pain and agony of the ear infection/antibiotic merry-go-round.

You know auralgan homeopathic drops worked just fine when I was a child and always had swmimmer's ear. The use of them was even taught in med school.

An old proven treatment of colloidal silver might beat the infection too.

Sometimes a drop or two of the child's own urine did the trick of healing up this problem, or at least many nuns might tell you so.

Chiropractic often works as well.

Sure beats all these fancy new shots and drugs shoved at unsuspecting mom's and their babies and children, maybe bringing about more problems.

Lest they tell you about the aluminum based red dye in pediatric amoxicillin and the aspartame added to it now.

And so it goes....

Folate Deficiency Associated With Tripling Of Dementia Risk, Study Shows

As you know the reported cases of dementia rise daily.

What you may not know is that there are numerous reports of cholesterol lowering drugs causing memory impairment severe enough to be categorized as 'dementia'.

Laying the ground with a popular premise of lineal thinking in mainstream medicine being as it is (sadly), you might wonder why all the prescribing cholesterol lowering drugs failed elementary education.

Try to imagine this puzzle -

Cholesterol lowering drugs are known to impair and or reduce the following nutrients:
Beta-carotene, Folic Acid, Vitamin B12, Iron, Zinc, Calcium, Magnesium, Vitamin A, Selenium, Vitamin D, Vitamin E, Vitamin K, Coenzyme Q10, Vitamin B 6, and there may be others not reported.

Looking at this list and knowing a bit about nutrition, I'd say there are more than a few factors here associated with dementia.

Did your doctor tell you this? Or better, did you ask your doctor if he/she knew of any of the risks of other health problems, such as lowered immunity, cancer, dementia, caused by cholesterol lowering drugs?

"Money can't buy you love."

ScienceDaily (Feb. 5, 2008) — Folate deficiency is associated with a tripling in the risk of developing dementia among elderly people, suggests research published ahead of print in the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery and Psychiatry.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The researchers tracked the development of dementia in 518 people over two years from 2001 to 2003. All participants were over the age of 65 and lived in one rural and one urban area in the south of the country.

Validated tests were carried out at the start and end of the two year period to find out if they had a dementing illness. Similarly, blood tests were taken to assess levels of folate, vitamin B12, and the protein homocysteine, and how these changed over time.

High levels of homocysteine have been associated with cardiovascular disease.

At the start of the two year period, almost one in five people had high levels of homocysteine, while 17% had low vitamin B12 levels and 3.5% were folate deficient.

The higher the levels of folate to begin with, the higher were vitamin B12 levels, and the lower those of homocysteine.

By the end of the study, 45 people had developed dementia. Of these, 34 had Alzheimer's disease, seven had vascular dementia, and four had "other" types of dementia.

Dementia was more likely in those who were older, relatively poorly educated, inactive, and had deposits of the protein ApoE.

The onset of dementia was significantly more likely in those whose folate levels then fell further over the two years, while their homocysteine levels rose. People who were folate deficient to begin with, were almost 3.5 times more likely to develop dementia.

The authors suggest that changes in micronutrients could be linked with the other typical signs that precede dementia, including weight loss and low blood pressure.

While weight loss is unlikely to alter micronutrients levels in the blood, it may indicate dietary changes in the quality of quantity of food intake.

Adapted from materials provided by BMJ-British Medical Journal, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

BMJ-British Medical Journal (2008, February 5). Folate Deficiency Associated With Tripling Of Dementia Risk, Study Shows.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080204212850.htm

I think there is something wrong with this thinking

Usually I don't stray far from the health focus of my blog but today I have to add something about what I believe is a clear example of faulty thinking.

I generally do not have faith in the legal/court system, judges, attorneys, law enforcement or related people.

I say this as a person who has been both a witness in cases, won based on the factual matter of my testimony, and a victim of corrupt cops-attorneys-prosecutors-judges-other elected persons.

I am against people who molest children. I am for fair and unbiased treatment in the legal system as best as one can (very tough today).

I do not think it gives fair grounding for any prosecutor or attorney -anyone for that matter - the right to condemn what a person has to say on the mere basis of a criminal history. Talk about creating bias for the jury panel! YIKES!

Maybe attorney King should get an ethics check-up. After all it is NOT his job to decide for jury panel members, and his comments might lead to a mistrial.

I think too this has applicability in health care litigation, but again, it is my humble opinion. I just have seen too much to believe things will change soon.

16 allege abuse at Morning Star
SPOKANE, Wash., Feb. 16 (UPI) -- A total of 16 men have alleged they were sexually abused at Morning Star Boys' Ranch in Washington, it was reported Saturday.

The Spokesman Review in Spokane, Wash., reported three additional plaintiffs -- ages 39, 48 and 55 -- filed suit in Spokane County Superior Court. Two of the men claim they were abused by the Rev. Joseph Weitensteiner, the facility's former director, in the 1960s and 1980s. The third claims to have been abused at the Catholic facility south of Spokane in the 1970s by the Rev. Patrick O'Donnell, an admitted pedophile, and by an unnamed ranch volunteer.

Timothy Kosnoff, a Seattle lawyer representing the plaintiffs, said the latest filings are the strongest yet against Weitensteiner.

"He now has been credibly accused by so many people," Kosnoff told the Review. "The evidence is mounting and it's so overwhelming that we think it's necessary."

Jim King, an attorney for Morning Star, countered that Weitensteiner has voluntarily taken a polygraph test and passed "with flying colors." King brought into question the credibility of those making the allegations.

"Did he (Kosnoff) tell you how many of his clients are felons?" King asked. "These cases are going to involve the credibility of the accuser and the accused."

Copyright 2008 by United Press International. All Rights Reserved.

Natural help, Adult ADD, BiPolar

Can help children as well....

Somewhere about 1985 or so, and on to 1993, I have been finding nutrient deficiency a problem for people with so-called ADD, ADHD, and the ever increasing catch-all diagnosis called bipolar.

The first case I reviewed clearly showed a nutrient deficiency state because the person was lucky enough to have a vitamin testing profile.

I always see some degree of trauma as well, added to thyroid impairment and a few other health issues.

Natural treatment is available and effective. Check with us for options.

But also remember that vaccines, drugs, food, lifestyle(EMF exposure) fluoride exposure and more do their job of setting you up for this and many other health problems.

See also

What is making people so manic?
By Oliver James
Last Updated: 11:21pm GMT 16/02/2008

Will, 35, is a leading psychiatrist who also happens to be a multi-millionaire businessman living his 18-hour days at breakneck speed.

His big issue regarding himself is whether he is suffering from adult ADHD or a minor form of bipolar disorder.

My view is that, like so many other modern people, he is someone lacking identity, craving a label for his unhappiness.

advertisementThis widespread hunger for identity through diagnosis enables drug companies and their close cousins, the psychiatric profession - who are the diagnosticians - to peddle the ideas that genes cause illness at a physical level and chemicals are the solution.

That neither idea is well-established, and the fact that there are well-proven social causes and treatments, is much less highly publicised.

Yet, far from investigating whether adults need drug treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, it might be better for the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence to examine what is making people so manic and inattentive.

The environmental origins of ADHD start before birth. In several studies, children whose mothers were stressed or anxious in pregnancy during the last trimester were significantly more likely to have ADHD symptoms at ages seven and 10, as well as behavioural problems and anxiety. The effect of prenatal stress is still there even after other postnatal causes of these childhood disturbances, such as depression and marital disharmony, are taken into account.

The mechanism by which the prenatal stress is converted into ADHD is the hormone cortisol. Prenatal stress activates the mother's fight-flight system, jacking up cortisol levels which are passed via the placenta to the foetus - maternal and foetal levels correlate.

In itself, this should lead the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (Nice) and the Department of Health actively to pursue policies that protect pregnant mothers from stress during the last trimester - such as stopping work at six months.

But that is only the tip of the environmental evidence iceberg. Many other studies show that having a depressed mother who does not respond to your needs, or being in a dodgy day-care set-up as a baby or toddler, creates a permanent insecurity which becomes electrochemically enshrined as abnormally high or low cortisol levels.

Even after this damage has been done, it can be repaired without resort to dangerous drugs. Talking therapies are highly effective and preferable, because drugs like Ritalin are very close in their effects on the brain to small doses of illegal Class A drugs such as cocaine and amphetamine. Why is it safe to give the equivalent of a large daily dose of such drugs to children with developing brains but illegal to consume them as an adult?

Although Will's affliction, however labelled, almost certainly has its roots in his early childhood nurture, what has to be added to the equation is that he lives in an English-speaking nation.

World Health Organization studies show that we have twice as much mental illness, 23 per cent at any one time, as mainland western Europe, on 11.5 per cent.

The difference? One is that, from pregnancy onwards, throughout education and into our careers, workaholia and speed of delivery always take priority in our crazy world.

• Dr James is a psychologist and the author of 'Affluenza' and 'The Selfish Capitalist: Origins of Affluenza'

telegraph.co.uk

Obesity, a state of malnutrition

Should you like to purchase our nutritional evaluation service that pinpoints nutrient deficiency please contact us.

Vitamin deficiency may cause modern ills
By Steve Connor
The Independent
Saturday, 16 February 2008

Professor Bruce Ames, of the University of California, Berkeley, who invented one of the standard tests for cancer-causing chemicals, said many people's diets were deficient in one or more of the 40 micronutrients essential for a healthy life.

Taking dietary supplements in the form of vitamin pills could help to counteract many of the disorders associated with ageing, Dr Ames told the American Association meeting.

He said many people on a high-calorie diet in the West or poor diet in developing countries were short of micronutrients and this caused the body to go into an emergency "triage" response in which it tried to keep its metabolism in balance by a process of compensation. This ensures immediate survival, but the consequences are an increase in DNA damage, which causes future cancers, a lowered immune defence, and a decay of the mitochondrial "power plants" of the cells, which causes accelerated ageing," he said.

He said a shortage of minerals, vitamins and other nutrients could also be partly responsible for obesity.

Cell phone-cancer link found

If you are a regular reader of Natural Health News and/or subscriber to our monthly newsletter, herbalYODA Says!, you may already be aware of the fact that we have - now for at lease a decade - warned about the cancer risk associated with EMF/ELF. Here is an report on a current study establishing a link between cell phone use and cancer.

Remember, we are trying to bring you current information and sound science about your health to assist you in making your own informed choices.

Your health is in your hands!

Cell and portable phone safety devices

Public release date: 14-Feb-2008
Contact: George Hunka, ghunka@aftau.org
212-742-9070
American Friends of Tel Aviv University

Cell phone-cancer link found by Tel Aviv University scientist
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

An Israeli scientist, Dr. Siegal Sadetzki, has found a link between cell phone usage and the development of tumors.

Dr. Sadetzki, a physician, epidemiologist and lecturer at Tel Aviv University, published the results of a study recently in the American Journal of Epidemiology, in which she and her colleagues found that heavy cell phone users were subject to a higher risk of benign and malignant tumors of the salivary gland.

Those who used a cell phone heavily on the side of the head where the tumor developed were found to have an increased risk of about 50% for developing a tumor of the main salivary gland (parotid), compared to those who did not use cell phones.

The fact that the study was done on an Israeli population is significant. Says Sadetzki, “Unlike people in other countries, Israelis were quick to adopt cell phone technology and have continued to be exceptionally heavy users. Therefore, the amount of exposure to radiofrequency radiation found in this study has been higher than in previous cell phone studies.

“This unique population has given us an indication that cell phone use is associated with cancer,” adds Sadetzki, whose study investigated nearly 500 people who had been diagnosed with benign and malignant tumors of the salivary gland.

Controlled Study Reveals Link

The study’s subjects were asked to detail their cell phone use patterns in terms of how frequently they used one, and the average length of calls. They were compared to a sample of about 1,300 healthy control subjects.

The study also found an increased risk of cancer for heavy users who lived in rural areas. Due to fewer antennas, cell phones in rural areas need to emit more radiation to communicate effectively.

Sadetzki predicts that, over time, the greatest effects will be found in heavy users and children.

While anecdotal evidence has been substantial, the consistency of the results of this study support an association between cell phone use and these tumors. The risks have been hard to prove, mainly due to the long latency period involved in cancer development, explains Sadetzki.

Keep Calling but Call Smarter

Today it is estimated that more than 90% percent of the Western world uses cell phones. As the technology becomes cheaper and more accessible, its usage by a greater number of people, including children, is bound to increase.

“While I think this technology is here to stay,” Sadetzki says, “I believe precautions should be taken in order to diminish the exposure and lower the risk for health hazards.” She recommends that people use hands-free devices at all times, and when talking, hold the phone away from one’s body. Less frequent calls, shorter in duration, should also have some preventative effect.

While she appreciates the ease of communication that cell phones allow between parents and their children, Sadetzki says that parents need to consider at what age their children start using them. Parents should be vigilant about their children’s using speakers or hands-free devices, and about limiting the number of calls and amount of time their children spend on the phone.

“Some technology that we use today carries a risk. The question is not if we use it, but how we use it,” concludes Sadetzki.

Sadetzki’s main research on this new study was carried out at the Gertner Institute for Epidemiology and Health Policy Research at the Sheba Medical Center. Her research is part of the international Interphone Study, which attempts to determine an association between cell phones and several types of brain and parotid gland tumors.

###

At Tel Aviv University’s Sackler Faculty of Medicine, she trains doctors of the future, by teaching courses on epidemiology and cancer. She is also part of an international team of doctors studying cell phone radiation on a global scale. Other new research findings are expected to be published shortly.

American Friends of Tel Aviv University supports Israel’s leading center of higher learning, the largest Jewish university anywhere. It is ranked among the world’s top 100 universities in science, biomedical studies, and social science, and rated one of the world’s top 200 universities overall. Internationally recognized for the scope and groundbreaking nature of its research programs, Tel Aviv University consistently produces work with profound implications for the future.

For your information, results from recent studies confirm that cell and cordless phone microwave can:

* Damage nerves in the scalp

* Cause blood cells to leak hemoglobin

* Cause memory loss and mental confusion

* Cause headaches and induce extreme fatigue

* Create joint pain, muscle spasms and tremors

* Create burning sensation and rash on the skin

* Alter the brain's electrical activity during sleep

* Induce ringing ! in the ears, impair sense of smell

* Precipitate cataracts, retina damage and eye cancer

* Open the blood-brain barrier to viruses and toxins

* Reduce the number and efficiency of white blood cells

* Stimulate asthma by producing histamine in mast cells

* Cause digestive problems and raise bad cholesterol levels

* Stress the endocrine system, especially pancreas, thyroid, ovaries, testes

Anti-Depressants involved in another killing

If any courageous journalist would go back and review the high school shootings from Columbine onward through this terrible event they would find in all of the cases - Anti-depressant pharmaceuticals recently stopped. The Dartmouth study was very telling!

Most of the anti-depressants involved in these cases are of the SSRI class and a few others. The majority of SSRI drugs are fluoride based, haloperidol is a halide (chemically related to fluoride).

Perhaps the question to ask is which is the more potent weapon? The drugs ? or The Gun?

Kazmierczak had recently stopped taking his medication and "had become somewhat erratic," Grady told reporters.

Natural medicines – the safest way to avoid death

"Mark my words. There is no way to health except the natural way." Excerpt from M to Bond - read the entire quote above in our mast head.

REPORT FROM NEW ZEALAND

A report just released by the Acting Chair of the Coroner’s Council has shown natural medicines have the lowest fatality rate of all medical treatments in this country.

Despite extensive research, coroner Dr Wallace Bain found no deaths have occurred in this country due to natural medicines such as vitamins, minerals and herbal products.

Dr Bain, who is also a trained pharmacist and lawyer, undertook the study in light of growing opposition to new legislation that will see New Zealand’s natural health industry come under Australian laws.

The safety of natural products is often sited as a reason for the need for such a move.

The Labour government plans that the Australia New Zealand Therapeutic Products Authority (ANZTPA) will soon replace the current Medsafe agency as part of a `trans-Tasman harmonisation’ push. Opponents fear this move will decimate New Zealand’s natural health industry as has already occurred in Australia.

At present lack of support from New Zealand First, the Maori and Green parties is the only thing stopping the legislation coming into effect.

Says Dr Bain: “In my capacity as Acting Chair of the Coroner’s Council, I enquired of all Coroners as to whether or not from a search of their Coronial findings they could find any instances where there had been a problem with any of these natural products.

“They were asked to provide any information from inquests where these products had been involved whether or not a death had resulted. At the same time the Coronial records held by the Ministry of Justice in Wellington were searched at my request by ministry staff.”

Dr Bain’s study returned a finding of zero deaths from natural remedies.

His only findings were:
* A three-year-old child who choked to death on a vitamin tablet in 2003 that was too large for the child to swallow
* A woman who terminated her third pregnancy after a scan showed the foetus had spina bifida. The woman had been taking 300mg of folic acid a day rather than the recommended 800mg per day
* A man who died from non-viral hepatitis of unknown origin who also had a pre-existing prostrate cancer condition. The man had been taking an Indian herbal product K4. The Corner’s report said despite no certainty of a link with the herbal product, the remedy such be banned until more was known about its effects on liver toxicity
* Some ongoing inquests into party pills

In contrast, deaths in 1998 (the last year of detailed official statistics available) caused by adverse reactions to pharmaceutical drugs killed 1524 New Zealanders and deaths associated with medical injury (mistakes by doctors and medical staff) killed 4222 New Zealanders.

Says Dr Bain: “A recent Australian study shows that 1 in 10 patients presenting to a general practitioner had an adverse pharmaceutical drug event in the preceding six months with 50% of those being in the moderate to severe range and 8% requiring hospitalisation.

“A New Zealand study reported in July of 2006 and referred to Parliament’s Health Committee pointed to previous research suggesting problems such as hospital acquired infection, drug error and staff mistakes are costing this country around $870 million a year. This prompted the Health Minister to ensure that District Health Boards gave priority to reducing such adverse events – most clearly identified as being drug induced.”

Also in Dr Bain’s report is mention of a US study that puts complications resulting from medication errors in American hospitals at $US1.5 billion dollars per year. Studies also show that prescription drug errors double a person’s risk of dying in hospital. Another study put the cost of a single adverse drug event to a hospital in the US at $US2,500.

“The estimate of costs incurred by US hospitals as a result of drug-related injury or death was put at $US76.6 billion which was three times the cost of all diabetes care in the United States,” says Dr Bain.

“What is ironic here is that what is being held out as a justification for high regulation and compliance in the area of complementary medicines and natural products in New Zealand is public safety and risk. Despite a diligent search of Coronial records and the literature, no instances have been found to demonstrate that in fact these products have any serious public health issue or risk.

“The problem is clearly with prescription and other drugs,” says Dr Bain. “The Coronial and literature searches in so far as natural products are concerned and linkages to public safety and risk can be described legally as De minimis no curat lex. That is – of minimal risk importance.

“The law does not and should not concern itself with such trifles.”

Dr Bain’s report has been sent to Annette King, Health Minister.

email: info@zeusinfoservice.com

Garlic to the rescue

A healthy tip for today -

Garlic sweeps through the body as a natural cleanser and tonic with no side effects. It maintains a healing factor in the bloodstream for up to 10 hours and doesn't destroy the body's friendly bacteria.

Eating parsley with your garlic helps stave off any offensive odor.

Safety Alert: Duragesic Recall

On Tuesday, February 12, 2008, PriCara, the manufacturer of transdermal fentanyl (Duragesic®), announced that supply lots of their 25mcg/hr patches were recalled due to a flaw in the cut of one edge. To be aware that some patches may unintentionally expose patients directly to the medication gel (because the integrity of the barrier could be compromised), these lots as well as those manufactured by ALZA and sold by Sandoz have been voluntarily recalled to remove them from the market place. Other strength patches (12.5, 50, 75 and 100 mcg/hr) are not affected.

If you have recently received a new supply of the 25 mcg/hr Duragesic patch with an expiration date on or before December 2009, PriCara recommends the following action:
Check the box or foil pouch for the expiration date to see if they have patches that are being recalled (dates on or before December 2009).
Contact the following manufacturer immediately for further instructions:
Anyone with 25 mcg/hr Duragesic patches being recalled should call 800-547-6446.
Anyone with 25 mcg/hr Sandoz Inc. patches being recalled should call 800-901-7236.
Notify your healthcare provider who prescribed this pain medication that you have received a recalled lot.
If you have already opened one the foiled patches that is being recalled:
First inspect the cut edge to see if the gel has leaked.
Do not use the affected patches.
These affected patches should not be handled directly. Place them into a plastic baggie or wrap them in aluminum foil until directed further by the manufacturer.
If you accidently touch the fentanyl gel, thoroughly rinse the area using a large amount of water -- without soap.
Contact the manufacturer and your healthcare provider as instructed above.

The Information Given is Just Plain Incorrect

While the government seems to be protecting telecommunications companies over illegal use of customer information its also protecting vaccine manufacturers. Along with this it is also making sure what you know is confusing at best, and not in keeping with the science.

This comment is very important in regard to the mercury consumption forced on children through a vaccine program that fails to allow room for required informed consent.

Science knows mercury is toxic, and to many children it has caused harm. Those creating products containing mercury and aluminum need to be held accountable for the damage.

Research supports mercury-autism link
By Michael Wagnitz

It was reported repeatedly in 2006 that the link between mercury-containing vaccines and autism has been disproven. Yet if one looks at the most recent research coming from some of our major universities, one may draw the opposite conclusion.

What we have learned in the last couple of years is that the underlying medical condition of autism is neuroinflammatory disease. In a study conducted at John Hopkins University, brain tissue from deceased autistic patients was examined. The tissue showed an active neuroinflammatory process and marked activation of microglia cells. Neuroinflammatory disease is synonymous with an activation of microglia cells.

A study done at the University of Washington showed that baby primates exposed to injected thimerosal (50 percent mercury), at a rate equal to the 1990s childhood vaccine schedule, retained twice as much inorganic mercury in their brains as primates exposed to equal amounts of ingested methylmercury. We know from autometallographic determination that inorganic mercury present in the brain, following the dealkylation of organic mercury, is the toxic agent responsible for changes in the microglial population and leads to neuroinflammation.

Recently it was shown that in more than 250 examined patients, atypical urinary porphyrins were almost three times higher in autistic patients than controls. Porphyrins are precursors to heme, the oxygen-carrying component of blood. Mercury inhibits the conversion of porphyrins to heme. When the patients were treated to remove mercury, urinary porphyrins returned to normal levels.

In a study done at the University of Arkansas, autistic children were found to have significantly lower levels of the antioxidant glutathione. Glutathione is the major antioxidant needed for the elimination of mercury at the cellular level. This may explain why some children are more severely affected by thimerosal in vaccines than others.

While all the government-conducted epidemiological (statistical) studies show no link between thimerosal and autism, the clinical studies examining brain tissue, blood, urine and human cells show a completely different picture.

Michael Wagnitz is a Madison resident with more than 20 years of experience as a chemist working with trace metal analysis.

Published: February 27, 2007
http://generationrescue.org/index.html

Maybe Its Pink, Maybe Its Not Breast Healthy

Currently the legislature in Hawaii is contemplating a ban on aspartame. I have spoken out about this toxin for decades. I speak out as well about the risk of its heir, sucralose. Both should be avoided without question.

A pharmacist comments: I have practiced pharmacy for 50 years during which time several products including thalidomide, MER 29 and Vioxx, have been marketed with FDA approval, which have resulted in disfigurement and death.

In the sheer numbers, nothing has ever come close to aspartame in causing harm to people. I deal extensively with diabetics and I have seen close to miraculous improvements in insulin response once they stop using aspartame. I have seen similar results in patients with Lupus, headaches and joint pain.

To The Honorable Rep. Josh Green, M.D., Chair:

Aspartame consumption as a causative agent of Breast Cancer

Woodrow C. Monte Ph.D.
Professor of Food Science, Arizona State University (Retired), Page, Arizona
woodymonte@canyoncountry.net

It is a pleasure to be writing to a physician. The mechanism of Aspartame poisoning is so much easier to explain to someone with a medical background.

I am a retired Professor of Food Science from Arizona State University. I have studied, researched and written about Aspartame since 1983, shortly after its manufacturer applied to the FDA to expand its use as an additive to soft drink beverages. In 1984 I published a scientific paper warning of the potential harm that
Aspartame might cause by increasing the methanol consumption of the unwary consumer(1).

I have within the last 3 months published 3 additional articles chronicling, in detail, the aftermath of 27 years of Aspartame poisoning of the general public(78,194,202). These articles and all of the reference material that they draw on are freely available on my website.
http://www.thetruthaboutstuff.com/
Article 1
http://www.thetruthaboutstuff.com/review1.shtml
Article 2
http://www.thetruthaboutstuff.com/review2.shtml
Article 3
http://www.thetruthaboutstuff.com/review3.shtml

Every molecule of Aspartame converts to methanol within minutes of being consumed. The first step in methanol metabolism is production of formaldehyde. Next to the liver the greatest concentration of Alcohol Dehydrogenase Enzyme(ADH) in the human body is located in the endothelial tissue of the human breast(190b). It is human ADH that converts methanol into formaldehyde, a powerful carcinogen.

The chart below shows the relationship between Aspartame consumption and the increase of breast cancer in the United States. Similar increases in breast cancer(190) have occurred in other aspartame consuming countries of the world.[]

Formaldehyde is a powerful cancer causing agent, one of the handful of chemicals classed as a Group I carcinogen by the IARC, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, Lyon, France(11), because of this there is no known safe level of formaldehyde exposure. Formaldehyde from contaminated air, at very low
concentrations(11), causes cancer in humans. Gaseous environmental formaldehyde causes nasopharyngeal cancer, however, it is not known, in the gaseous form, to cause breast cancer. The probable reason for this is that formaldehyde has an extremely high reactivity(201) it reacts with and does its damage to the first human tissue with which it makes contact. Formaldehyde does not travel well in protein rich
blood supply(122) and because of this it is blocked from reaching the breast and other internal organs. The only way that formaldehyde can reach the mammary tissue, aside from purposely injecting formaldehyde solution(122) (as in embalming) is to disguise the formaldehyde as methanol. The methanol from Aspartame can reach a woman's breast and will there is readily converted into formaldehyde by ADH(190b).

It is not possible to prevent Aspartame from producing the cancer causing compound formaldehyde in a woman's breast(78). All of the methanol in diet soda must be transformed into formaldehyde before the body can metabolize it. The scientifically acclaimed Ramazzini Institute recently found consumption of Aspartame over time caused Breast Cancer in Rats(50). The methanol that is responsible for producing this formaldehyde is also found in our processed food supply, the average modern woman not exposed to diet products consumes, conservatively, less than 8 milligrams of it a day(1). One can of diet soda contains over 4 times this amount, one liter almost 20 times what would be average. Primitive and or impoverished woman
consume little methanol and are protected, to a very great extent, from breast cancer. Conversely increased consumption of Aspartame has caused breast cancer rates to increase dramatically(194).

It can be shown that the incidence of breast cancer has increased dramatically in populations exposed to Aspartame(194).

The breast is an organ with no way to protect itself from formaldehyde with no means to render it harmless. The methanol, always produced when Aspartame is consumed (20,51),will convert directly into formaldehyde, there is no intermediate compound or
alternate path(7,30). Alcohol dehydrogenase ADH is required for the conversion of methanol to formaldehyde(112). ADH is not a common enzyme in the human body, not many cells in the human body contains this enzyme. The human breast is one of the few organs in the body with a high concentration of ADH(190b) and it is found there
exclusively in the mammary epithelial cells, the very cells known to transform into adenocarcinoma(190c) (breast cancer). The most recent breast cancer scientific literature implicates ADH as perhaps having a pivotal role in the formation of breast cancer, indicating a greater incidence of the disease in those with higher levels of ADH activity in their breasts(190a). One article went so far as to implicate acetaldehyde as a potential culprit(190a). Acetaldehyde is the molecule that ethanol is metabolized into by ADH, the first step in the manufacture of vinegar, a beneficial molecule with no link to carcinogenicity, what so ever. Recent scientific literature is a desert when it comes to methanol. It is as if there were no such thing as methanol in the environment as if methanol did not exist, as if all the laboratories doing work in methanol toxicity had vanished from the face of the
earth 40 years ago and with them the science of methanol poisoning(39).

The truth is that methanol acts as a golden bullet, wasting none of its destructive power but administering a carcinogen directly inside those breast cells most vulnerable to cancer.

All of the hundreds of test that were done to prove Aspartame safe were done on animals insensitive to methanol poisoning(78). This was well known to the company who invented Aspartame, why else would they have hired the worlds methanol research laboratories to help them prove aspartame was safe(39) These animals have a specialized catalase enzyme in their livers that humans do not(55). Catalase
keeps methanol out of their general circulation and therefore they are mostly immune to methanol as a poison. Many thousands of people lost their lives in the early nineteen hundreds when methanol was allowed in foods and medications after it was proven falsely safe by trusting methanol safety testing done on an identical array of
animals(17,30).

Twenty six years ago I traveled from my laboratory at Arizona State University to Washington DC to view the results of the testing done by the company who invented Aspartame and were seeking it's approval for use in carbonated beverages. I will never forget viewing the data from the only high dosage human consumption study done on diabetics. This study was never to be repeated. Before the test began the subjects were screened for all manner of illnesses and certified disease free (save from diabetes) as a prerequisite to being accepted into the study. During that study, after 11 weeks of high dose aspartame consumption two of the women developed
epithelial cancer. Both were removed from the study, one had a mastectomy, subsequent pathology tested conclusively for adenocarcinoma. To my most profound horror, the executive summary of that study concluded that Aspartame was safe! The
rational used to ignore the fact that none of the placebo group but fully 8% of the Aspartame consumption subjects developed epithelial cancer during the high dosage consumption study was that "no such cancers were seen in the numerous animal studies"(48). The Bressler Report exposed that this was a lie (197), These cancers should have never been ignored.

I can not say that methanol is the only cause of breast cancer, there are so many other poisons in our modern environment. I will say that it is intuitively obvious that there would be no good done producing one more cancer causing agent inside a sensitive breast cell already exposed to other cancer causing agents.

Forming Opinions For You

Mainstream Media (MSM) and Mainstream Medicine (MSM) are two forces coming into your life like rolling thunder, bringing you ideas in the form they want you to believe. This is an ever more increasing experience, and I see it every day. What I don't get is how people just take it a face value.

What ever happened to gathering enough information outside these narrow pipelines, considering all perspectives and making your own decision about information.

I guess like most other things, people just find it easier to take it on face value.

What is wrong about taking things on face value leads to a lot of damage done to thousands of people, and the profiteers then smile all the way to the bank.

One of the topics that falls into this venue is the cell phone-cell tower debate. This might get much more heated once digital TV raises its ugly head in about a year. Since I've done the research I've seen through the smoke and mirrors.

Now hear is another little piece thrown at you this week in the form of a Japanese study that tells you mobile phones won't give you cancer.

I read this report when it was first released in the press. I really had a hard time figuring out exactly what was the basis of the study, because it seemed too much like a non-study.

The non-study method is in high gear these days and you see almost every where. It's a profitable method, because its just enough to catch your attention in a news report, and settles easily into your views.

Single Small-Scale Study in Japan Claims Mobiles Clear of Cancer

Yes?

How about NO, and here's why. Plus you might want to know as well that another study has proven that cell phone EMF affects the heart and heart rate of a baby in the womb. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18246230?dopt=Abstract) So if you are pregnant or have a very new baby, stay off that cell phone.

It won't hurt the profit motive at all...

Latest study from Japan press release states "Japanese study clears mobiles of brain cancer risk" .

This is rather a far-fetched statement and one can only be suspicious of the
motives,

One study can never alone be "proof".

In September 2007 a pooled analysis of the 11 existing studies into brain
tumours and phone use over 10 years was made.[i]

The scientists found that for tumours on the side of the head where the
phone is held people were twice as likely to get a glioma, and two and a
half times more likely to get an acoustic neuroma.

Hardell and Mild (on the MTHR) from Sweden who carried out the analysis have
also conducted their own independent studies into long term use, which show
for over 2000 hours use the risk increases five times on the same side of
the head where the phone is held.

In September Professor Mild told The Independent on Sunday: "I find it quite
strange to see so many official presentations saying that there is no risk.
There are strong indications that something happens after 10 years."
He also said that mobiles should not be given to children, whose thinner
skulls and developing nervous systems make them particularly vulnerable.

Interestingly, this advice was given to French parents by the French Health
Ministry in December 2007 [ii] after the release of an Israeli
Interphone study on salivary gland tumours showed a 50% increased risk on
the same side as the phone was held. [iii]

"The time is past when it could be said that this technology does not cause
damage; apparently it damages health," said Dr Sadetzki [iv]
According to Sadetzki, director of the Gertner Institute for Epidemiology
and Health Policy Research at Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, current
regulations do not relate to cancer as caused by radiation but to the health
risks posed by the instrument heating up.

Dr Sadetzki also called for children¹s use to be limited.

There was no press release about this Industry funded research presumably
because it showed negative effects. However the large study was conducted in
16 countries and studied 466 patients and 1266 controls.

In January more research funded by the MMF found that radiation from mobile
phones delays and reduces sleep, and causes headaches and confusion. [v]

Again there was no release on the newswires since this research had found
adverse effects despite that it was performed at 2 blue-chip universities in
the USA and Sweden.. Likewise it was only reported by 1Ž2 the mainstream
media in the UK.

It is hard to comment on this new Japanese study since there is as yet no
access to the paper however The Guardian seem to have been able to get a
copy!

This study needs to be put into context when it is made available.

A recent report on Australian TV gives the alarming statistic that brain
tumours in children have risen 21% in the last 10 years and are now the
number one cause of death in children. [vi]
The Stewart Report warned back in 2000 that children should only use mobiles
for emergencies. This needs to be enforced by the government.
The Stewart Report warned back in 2000 that children should only use mobiles
for emergencies. This needs to be enforced by the government.
Note the Interphone studies are industry funded and concentrate on short
term users.

Interesting that this Japanese study was only released at 6pm on Tuesday 5th
February but by 10.30pm the story was already written up on The Guardian web
site to be printed on Wednesday. The study is not available online and yet
The Guardian seem to have detail of the study.
It is interesting to note that The Guardian chair talks on phone risk for
MP¹s paid for by the Mobile Operators Association.
They are also promoting WiFi in schools despite The Chairman of the HPA¹s
doubts and no safety testing.

For more information on The Guardian involvement please read Martin Walker¹s
recent essays.

http://www.slingshotpublications.com/guardian1.html
Guardian of What?

The statements made by representatives of Cancer Research are rather
worrying and lack knowledge of previous studies.
Cancer Research spend about 2% of their funds on prevention
Cancer Research the Medical Research Council and Hutchison 3G have built a
state of the art cancer unit in Cambridge.
http://www.lksf.org/eng/media/press/20020520.shtml

[i] Long-term use of cellular phones and brain tumours:
increased risk associated with use for >=10 years by
Lennart Hardell, Michael Carlberg, Fredrik Söderqvist, Kjell Hansson Mild,
L. Lloyd Morgan - http://oem.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/64/9/626

[ii] http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23001212-29277,00.html

[iii] http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/kwm325v1
Cellular Phone Use and Risk of Benign and Malignant Parotid Gland Tumors
Nationwide Case-Control Study Published 6th Dec 2007

Siegal Sadetzki1,2, Angela Chetrit1, Avital Jarus-Hakak1, Elisabeth Cardis3,
Yonit Deutch1, Shay Duvdevani4, Ahuva Zultan1, Ilya Novikov5, Laurence
Freedman5 and Michael Wolf2,4

"The objective of this nationwide study was to assess the association
between cellular phone use and development of parotid gland tumors (PGTs).
The methods were based on the international INTERPHONE study that aimed to
evaluate possible adverse effects of cellular phone use.

For ipsilateral use, the odds ratios in the highest category of cumulative
number of calls and call time without use of hands-free devices were 1.58
(95% confidence interval: 1.11, 2.24) and 1.49 (95% confidence interval:
1.05, 2.13), respectively. The risk for contralateral use was not
significantly different from 1. A positive dose-response trend was found for
these measurements. Based on the largest number of benign PGT patients
reported to date, our results suggest an association between cellular phone
use and PGTs.

[iv] http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/932578.html

[v] http://piers.mit.edu/piersonline/piers.php?volume=3&number=7&page=1148
The Effects of 884 MHz GSM Wireless Communication Signals on Self-reported
Symptom and Sleep (EEG)- An Experimental Provocation Study
Bengt B. Arnetz, Torbjorn Akerstedt, Lena Hillert, Arne Lowden, Niels
Kuster, and Clairy Wiholm