Gary Secondino: Medical/Health

Could Wireless Radios Become the Next Tobacco?

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 05:23:28 GMT

Steve Rubel raises an excellent point. People just don't have enough damage and death behind us to make a decision that cell phones are dangerous. However, if you think about it radioactivity is a known killer. Doesn't the idea of holding a microwave radio transmitter to you ear for hours every day give you a somewhat unsettled feeling? No? Well how about this cell phone video?

New drug for deadly prostate cancer

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 12:25:22 GMT

Scientists are hailing a new drug to treat aggressive prostate cancer as potentially the most significant advance in the field for 70 years. I have a happy prostate gland. But this is still good news to me.

Military Medical Care Scandal Grows

Mon, 05 Mar 2007 12:24:17 GMT

The George Bush administration is doing it's best to kill this story but this one has legs, long legs that go deep into the US government bureaucracy. This scandal goes from indifference to lies to fraud. It is systemic and must dug up and ripped out. The Washington Post has an article poorly named 'It Is Just Not Walter Reed' a better name in the same vein is 'It's not only Walter Reed'. I know it's a nitpick but headlines are there to get attention and poorly worded one's are likely to be missed. BUT, the article is loaded with real world first hand accounts from VA patients in the system that are plainly horrific. It's hard to read but this is your George Bush government in action.

My New Years Message

Tue, 02 Jan 2007 12:44:38 GMT

Tomorrow Never Knows: Lyrics, AMG, Wikipedia Whithin You Without You: Lyrics, AMG, Wikipedia

Parasite makes men dumb, women sexy

Fri, 29 Dec 2006 01:37:24 GMT

The Sydney Morning Herald December 26, 2006 A common parasite can increase a women's attractiveness to the opposite sex but also make men more stupid, an Australian researcher says. About 40 per cent of the world's population is infected with Toxoplasma gondii, including about eight million Australians. Human infection generally occurs when people eat raw or undercooked meat that has cysts containing the parasite, or accidentally ingest some of the parasite's eggs excreted by an infected cat. The parasite is known to be dangerous to pregnant women as it can cause disability or abortion of the unborn child, and can also kill people whose immune systems are weakened. Until recently it was thought to be an insignificant disease in healthy people, Sydney University of Technology infectious disease researcher Nicky Boulter said, but new research has revealed its mind-altering properties. "Interestingly, the effect of infection is different between men and women," Dr Boulter writes in the latest issue of Australasian Science magazine. "Infected men have lower IQs, achieve a lower level of education and have shorter attention spans. They are also more likely to break rules and take risks, be more independent, more anti-social, suspicious, jealous and morose, and are deemed less attractive to women. "On the other hand, infected women tend to be more outgoing, friendly, more promiscuous, and are considered more attractive to men compared with non-infected controls. "In short, it can make men behave like alley cats and women behave like sex kittens". Dr Boulter said the recent Czech Republic research was not conclusive, but was backed up by animal studies that found infection also changes the behaviour of mice. The mice were more likely to take risks that increased their chance of being eaten by cats, which would allow the parasite to continue its life cycle. Rodents treated with drugs that killed the parasites reversed their behaviour, Dr Boulter said. Another study showed people who were infected but not showing symptoms were 2.7 times more likely than uninfected people to be involved in a car accident as a driver or pedestrian, while other research has linked the parasite to higher incidences of schizophrenia. "The increasing body of evidence connecting Toxoplasma infection with changes in personality and mental state, combined with the extremely high incidence of human infection in both developing and developed countries, warrants increased government funding and research, in particular to find safe and effective treatments or vaccines," Dr Boulter said.

The Pernicious Price of Petroleum

Thu, 14 Dec 2006 13:59:36 GMT

In his book Lives Per Gallon: The True Cost of Our Oil Addiction, Terry Tamminen outlines the direct and indirect impact that petroleum consumption has on millions of Americans every year. Tamminen, a former secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency, spoke with Wired News about how we got into this mess, who is to blame, and his state's current efforts to hold energy providers and the auto industry responsible for their environmental impact.

A Simple Solution for Clean Water

Tue, 28 Nov 2006 17:47:07 GMT

LifeStraw - Donald G. McNeil Jr. demonstrates how a new personal water filter, worn around the neck, could help ensure people around the world have clean water to drink. NYTimes Video.

Get the lead out

Tue, 28 Nov 2006 17:43:59 GMT

How to make sure that your drinking water is safe.

[Salon]

Your Government in-Action

Tue, 28 Nov 2006 17:41:53 GMT

Lead on tap. An alarming return of lead in drinking water is being ignored by the EPA and municipal officials.

[Salon]

Bush the Environmentalist?

Tue, 31 Oct 2006 10:49:26 GMT

The Federal Environmental Protection Agency shuts down five public libraries full of environmental data, and employees and activists question the Bush administration's motives. More: Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility On the face of these and other actions actions by this administration it's clear to me that Republican's are trying to kill us and destroy The United States.

Unnecessary Suffering

Fri, 02 Sep 2005 12:21:25 GMT

Katrina started it but now in New Orleans the old, the infirm, the poor, the children are suffering and dying as a direct result of the president and his administration's decisions. Here's a five year chronology of Bush's bad management.
It Was No Accident
E & P concurs with Did New Orleans Catastrophe Have to Happen?
The NYTimes editorial (free subscription) Waiting for a Leader

"In what seems to be a ritual in this administration, the president appeared a day later than he was needed. He then read an address of a quality more appropriate for an Arbor Day celebration: a long laundry list of pounds of ice, generators and blankets delivered to the stricken Gulf Coast. He advised the public that anybody who wanted to help should send cash, grinned, and promised that everything would work out in the end."

iSay - More evidence for the miserable failure, Bush Co. and the christian conservatives. Yes, sadly they are painted with the same "faith based" brush. And now for the faith based misdirection and spin on this tragedy we have Repent America Back to reality and some good news, at least one net connection company is up in New Orleans, via Wired.

Uh-Oh

Wed, 24 Aug 2005 11:41:39 GMT

Erotic images can turn you blind via NewScientist.com

Cashing In on Female Orgasms

Fri, 08 Jul 2005 19:54:04 GMT

Big pharma has made billions pumping up the male population with erectile-disfunction drugs. Now neuroscientists are turning their attention to women.
By Annalee Newitz from Wired magazine. [Wired News]

Terri Schiavo's Brain

Fri, 25 Mar 2005 17:07:36 GMT

A sad triumph of politics over science. Tragic for Terri Schiavo, and for us all. And by Frank Rich
The God Racket, From DeMille to DeLay

Report finds EPA lacked data to support its claims for relaxing air pollution rules

Wed, 27 Aug 2003 16:23:55 GMT

Congressional investigators say the Environmental Protection Agency relied on anecdotes from industries it regulates, not comprehensive data, when it claimed that relaxing air pollution rules for industrial plants would cut emissions and reduce health risks.

Sen. James Jeffords, I-Vt., the No. 2 senator on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, said the report was another indication that the Bush administration's weakening of the Clean Air Act was unwarranted.

"This report should be the final nail in the coffin of environmental credibility for this administration," he said.

"Polypill" Could Protect Against Heart Attacks, Strokes

Thu, 26 Jun 2003 19:01:02 GMT

Scientists should combine five widely used drugs into a single pill that doctors would give to everyone older than 54, potentially protecting millions of people from heart attacks and strokes, two of the world's biggest killers, researchers proposed today.

The benefits of the "polypill" would easily outweigh the risks because it would incorporate medicines proven to be generally safe -- aspirin, the nutrient folic acid, and well-studied medications that cut blood pressure and cholesterol, the researchers said.

An analysis of more than 750 studies involving 400,000 people indicates that combined, these drugs would slash the risk of heart attacks by 88 percent and the risk of strokes by 80 percent, the researchers reported in three papers being published in Saturday's British Medical Journal.

WHO says SARS is stopped dead

Thu, 19 Jun 2003 08:37:54 GMT

The chief of the World Health Organization declared Tuesday that SARS has been "stopped dead in its tracks" ? contained less than 100 days since the sounding of a global alert.

But experts said China, whose capital, Beijing, is the only place still under a WHO travel warning, holds the key to whether severe acute respiratory syndrome will resurface.

Health Czar Warns Fast-Food Joints to Shape Up

Fri, 09 May 2003 14:30:43 GMT

Fast food joints may soon get singled out by U.S. health czar Tommy Thompson if they don't shape up and stop feeding the country's obesity problem. U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson said public pressure may do far more than lawsuits and legislation to curb the junk food explosion that costs the government $117 billion each year in obesity-related health care costs. 'I'm going to start giving out awards and singling out ones that are doing good and the ones that aren't,' he told reporters at a food policy conference.

China fears 'many more' Sars cases

Fri, 02 May 2003 11:47:13 GMT

BBC - Beijing is likely to continue seeing new cases of Sars at the current high rate of more than 100 a day, a city health official has said.
China says no quick resolution to SARS Channel News Asia
Hong Kong researchers warn SARS virus mutating, hard to fight. Channel News Asia - Researchers in Hong Kong have warned that the SARS virus is mutating fast and this could complicate efforts to develop a solid diagnosis and a vaccine.
More SARS Cases Are Reported; Virus Found to Persist in Patients New York Times

Further 21 SARS deaths in China , Hong Kong

Sun, 27 Apr 2003 14:09:40 GMT

LONDON: Nine more SARS deaths announced in China, while in Hong Kong two more killed in the deadly epidemic, a press report said on Sunday.
SARS and ASEAN: Some facts - Some perspective Asian Business Strategy
SARS could doom China's leadership role Asia Times Online

SARS News

Fri, 11 Apr 2003 21:32:35 GMT

Utah Man, in China, Dies of Disease. A Utah man teaching English in China died of severe acute respiratory syndrome on his way to a Hong Kong hospital on Wednesday. By Michael Janofsky Hong Kong Officials Resist Wide Quarantine for Mystery Illness. Despite growing international pressure to halt the spread of SARS, Hong Kong is strongly resisting the broad quarantines that other countries have imposed. By Keith Bradsher Carrier of SARS Made 7 Flights Before Treatment. Health officials announced that a man infected with a new respiratory disease, SARS, had flown to cities in Asia and Europe before entering a hospital. By Keith Bradsher Federal Agency Issues Guidelines on Handling Infected Students. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued the first guidelines for school officials in determining what to do if a student has SARS. By Lawrence K. Altman. SARS forces third Toronto school closure. ABC Online - A third school was closed in Toronto due to the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which has killed 10 people in Canada, the most severely affected country outside Asia.
Another 1268 in quarantine Toronto Star
Nearly 200 people forced into isolation The Globe and Mail

Healthy dose of history: upholding FDA's role

Sun, 06 Apr 2003 14:13:13 GMT

Boston Globe - Philip J. Hilts's absorbing history of the Food and Drug Administration explores the intersection of business and morality, clarifies the relationship between government and commerce, and forcefully reaffirms the ...
Impotency drug must stand up to scrutiny Independent
House Rebukes FDA's Tactics Newsday

Justices Uphold Law Forcing HMOs To Open Doctor Network

Wed, 02 Apr 2003 21:58:16 GMT

Quicken - In a unanimous ruling Wednesday, the US Supreme Court said states can force health-maintenance organizations to let "any willing provider" into a company's medical-care network.
Justices Rule H.M.O.'s Can Be Forced to Open Networks New York Times
Justices: States can force HMOs to open networks CNN

4 more people die of mystery illnesses in Asia

Wed, 19 Mar 2003 16:19:17 GMT

4 more die in mystery illnesses in Asia. International Herald Tribune - HONG KONG Four more deaths were confirmed Wednesday three in Hong Kong and one in Vietnam as health authorities around the world continued to report new cases of a mysterious kind of pneumonia.
Possible Breakthrough on Mystery Pneumonia Voice of America
Three more travellers found with symptoms The Age

Short Thighs Linked To Greater Likelihood Of Diabetes

Tue, 11 Mar 2003 06:52:08 GMT

Science Daily - People with short upper legs are more likely to have glucose intolerance or diabetes, researchers reported today at the American Heart Association's 43rd Annual Conference on Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention.
Short thighs linked to diabetes CNN Europe
Study links short thighs to higher risk of diabetes Arizona Republic