Sunday, January 7, 2007

San Francisco Bans Toxic Children’s Toys

With the new year, the city of San Francisco will take a step toward protecting the health of its youngest residents. Beginning Dec. 1, the city of San Francisco will install a ban on the sale, distribution and manufacture of baby products that contain any level of the toxic chemical bisphenol A or certain levels of phthalates.

Numerous studies have linked the chemicals to problems with child organ development, reproductive systems, and various cancers in adults including breast cancer and prostate cancer. Studies have found that products with bisphenol can leach significant levels of the chemical from the plastic. read more

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FDA May Balk at Celebrex for Kids

The FDA may step in on the side of consumer health in a bid by the drug giant Pfizer Inc. to sell the dangerous pain medication Celebrex to kids.

In a special alert in April of 2005, the FDA warned doctors and consumers that, “Celebrex has been linked to an increased risk of serious cardiovascular (CV) events (such as heart attack or stroke) which appears to be a risk shared by all medicines called non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). Based upontis serious risk, the FDA now requires the most stringent warnings for Celebrex to highlight the potential increased risk of CV events, and the well known risk of serious, and potentially life-threatening, stomach bleeding.” read more

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Natural Medicines in the Clinical Management of HIV/AIDS

There are two types of retroviruses responsible for AIDS: HIV-1 and HIV-2. HIV-1 is most prevalent in North America. HIV-2 is more prevalent in Africa.

Here are some interesting facts about HIV:13788

* In the year 2000, 36.1 million people worldwide were living with HIV
* Approximately 1 to 1.6 million patients live with HIV/AIDS in North America
* There are about 42,000 new cases of HIV in the US each year:
o 60% of HIV cases are contracted by men who have sex with men
o 25% are contracted through injection drug users
o 15% are contracted through heterosexual contact
o Women comprise 17% of all HIV-infected people
o A woman with HIV during pregnancy has a 20% to 30% chance of passing it to her newborn in utero
* New York, California, and Florida report the highest number of AIDS cases in the U.S.
* Ontario has the highest number of cases of any province in Canada read more

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Fiber's Benefits Go Well Beyond Healthy Digestion

By Allen S. Josephs, M.D.
President, Vitacost.com 09/22/2005

Autumn is now officially upon us. In the next several weeks we'll see tremendous changes in the weather and, unfortunately for a lot of us, in our body habitus. As the winter months come, we tend to be less physical and tend to eat more, especially around the holidays. Perhaps some of you are already thinking about next year's New Year's resolution as you contemplate the likelihood of adding another 10 or 20 pounds between Thanksgiving and New Year's. Weight gain is obviously not aesthetically pleasing, but more importantly, with increasing weight comes associated disease. Your risk of heart disease, diabetes, hypertension and even cancer can rise dramatically by only gaining an additional 15 to 30 pounds.

One important relationship that we need to understand in our battle against weight gain is between dietary fiber and our metabolism. Fiber can help protect us against many illnesses through read more

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Smoking Cessation

Change happens. The issue is not if things will change over time, or, if we will change. Rather, it's whether we want to try to take some control over the direction in which our lives and our health will change.

I am of the belief that any day, or any time is an opportunity for change. However, for many people, the New Year is the time to put thoughts into action. We make resolutions. We want to eat better, be more organized, exercise or lose weight. Or perhaps we want to give up an unhealthy habit, like smoking. Read more

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Your Most Important Weight Loss Tool Is Your Head

If you own a television, you've probably seen the commercial in which a very slim Anna Nicole Smith smiles seductively into the camera and reveals the secret to her weight loss success is "TrimSpa, baby."

Or perhaps you've heard how Cortisol, the hormone that controls your body's stress levels, causes you to gain weight; and that Cortislim can fight off the fat-accumulating effects of this hormone. Read more

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Saturday, January 6, 2007

Fight winter blues with Chinese medicine

You'll have a chance to meet an acupuncturist, a Chinese herbalist and a hot stone therapist, as well as try hand or foot reflexology during "Parkway to Your Health Day" on Jan. 20. read more

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