Consumentenmagazine met actuele reportages,
tests en individuele problemen. Speciale uitzending over de gevaren van voedsel. -Hoe
veilig is ons voedsel eigenlijk? Voor groenten en fruit gelden strenge normen als het gaat
om de hoeveelheid bestrijdingsmiddelen. Maar uit tot nu toe niet-openbare gegevens van de
Voedsel- en Warenautoriteit blijkt dat er nogal eens forse overtredingen worden
vastgesteld. Is ons fruit wel zo schoon? En de groente wel veilig? -Ook de hoeveelheid
dioxine in ons eten is zorgwekkend. In vlees, zuivel en vis zitten vaak grote hoeveelheden
en die stapelen zich op in ons lichaam. Hoeveel vlees en vis mag je eten voor je aan je
tax zit? Minder dan veel mensen denken, zo blijkt!
Chlorella kan dioxine verminderen, zie onderstaande studies
Studie 1
Morita K, Ogata M, Hasegawa T. Chlorophyll
derived from Chlorella inhibits dioxin absorption from the gastrointestinal tract and
accelerates dioxin excretion in rats. Environ Health Perspect 2001 Mar;109(3):289-94 2002;
109: 289-94. http://www.ehponline.org/docs/2001/109p289-294morita/abstract.html
Studie 2
Nakano et al., 2007. Chlorella ( Chlorella
pyrenoidosa ) Supplementation Decreases Dioxin and Increases Immunoglobulin A
Concentrations in Breast Milk. Journal of Medicinal Food 10 (1): 134–142 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17472477
Eénvandaag
-Wat is er met IJsland gebeurd? Hoe heeft
het zo fout kunnen gaan in IJsland? Het land dat in onze herinnering staat voor
stabiliteit en rust, maar nu op de rand van de financiële afgrond staat. Het hele
banksysteem is als een kaartenhuis ineen gestort. De IJslandse overheid heeft inmiddels
ingegrepen in drie van haar grootste banken. Maar wat ligt er aan deze crisis ten
grondslag? En hoe komt IJsland hieruit? -Nooit meer zeilen. Zaterdag gaat de meest
prestigieuze zeilrace ter wereld van start: de Volvo Ocean Race. Een zeilwedstrijd die
tijdens de vorige editie het leven eiste van de Nederlandse zeiler Hans Horrevoets. Hij
sloeg overboord van de ABN AMRO 2. Zijn vrouw Petra en twee dochtertjes bleven achter. Zij
vertelt over twee jaar leven zonder Hans.
Consumentenprogramma op het gebied van
gezondheid. Is wat men zegt over voeding, hygiëne, fitness en medische zaken wel waar?
Door middel van tests en reportages wordt de waarheid van bekende gezondheidsfabels en
-feiten boven tafel gehaald.
De overheid test regelmatig groenten en
fruit op resten bestrijdingsmiddelen. Maar bij welke supermarktketens of handelaren de
overtredingen of gezondheidsrisico's zijn geconstateerd werd tot voor kort geheim
gehouden. Door dit gebrek aan openbaarheid kan de consument geen bewuste keuze voor
gezonde producten maken. Zij worden door de overheid feitelijk geblindoekt de supermarkt
ingestuurd. Daarom hebben de organisaties van Weet wat je eet besloten om de gegevens zelf
te publiceren.
ps: deze lijst al eens genoemd maar
belangrijk genoeg om nog eens te noemen
BTW plannen staan haaks op EU
beleid
De plannen om BTW te heffen op
complementaire en alternatieve geneeskunde zijn in strijd met het voornemen van de
Europese Unie om de regelgeving te vereenvoudigen. Ook wil de Europese Unie
grensoverschrijdende activiteiten stimuleren. Als Nederland als enige Europese lidstaat
BTW zou gaan heffen op de complementair werkende artsen die hier te lande werkzaam willen
zijn, dan zou ons kleine landje zich gaan isoleren.
EU ruimt volwaardige plaats in voor
complementaire behandelwijzen
Op 23 oktober 2007 is door het Europees
Parlement en de Raad van de Europese Unie een - zeer belangrijk - gezamenlijk het besluit
aangenomen, namelijk het 'Besluit ter vaststelling van een tweede communautaire
actieprogramma 2008-2013 op het gebied van gezondheid'. De Raad van de Europese Unie is de
Raad van Ministers die de lidstaten op het niveau van de Europese Unie vertegenwoordigen.
De kern van het Europese Besluit is dat het belang moet worden erkend van een holistische
en pluralistische benadering van de volksgezondheid en rekening gehouden dient te worden
met complementaire en alternatieve geneeswijzen.
Veel mensen met huidallergie door
stoffen in consumentenproducten
Nederland kent relatief veel mensen met een
huidallergie in vergelijking tot andere allergische aandoeningen, zoals astma, hooikoorts
en voedselallergie. Een groot deel hiervan komt door de blootstelling aan allergene
stoffen uit consumentenproducten. De grootste veroorzakers zijn nikkel in sieraden en
geurstoffen in cosmetica. Daarnaast kunnen ook conserveermiddelen en harssoorten allergie
veroorzaken.
Mijn zoon kwam afgelopen week met de vraag
wat een dief was dus ik uitgelegd wat een dief was, iemand die centjes steelt van mensen
die daar erg bang en ongelukkig door worden. Kort daarna luister ik naar de radio mbt de
bankencrisis en hoor het laatste nieuws mbt de diefstal door een bank die massaal
spaarders erin heeft geluisd en er nog mee weg komt ook, zelf de lokale overheid geeft
geen krimp. Misdaad loont en wordt niet gestraft als je maar voor een bank, verzekeraar of
pensioenfonds werkt, je krijgt dan meestal nog een leuke zak geld mee. Heb je een
shoarma tent en iemand wordt ziek dan krijg je een boete maar werk je voor de
voedingsindustrie en maak je duizenden mensen dik en ziek dan ben je belangrijk voor de
economie en gezondheidszorg, je zorgt namelijk met je surrogaatvoeding voor veel banen in
beide sectoren.
En de kudde graast en slaapt door,
verslaafd aan gemaksvoeding, vastgeroest in denkpatronen en murw gebeukt door propaganda
die natuurlijke voeding als iets voor loosers ziet. Gelukkig zijn steeds meer mensen in
staat zich los te weken van deze groep volgzame lemmings die letterlijk alles slikken wat
je ze voorzet. Eet puur natuur en je gaat zaken weer helderder zien. Kiezen voor gemak
betaal je met je gezondheid en kost je uiteindelijk al je zuur verdiende centjes.
Investeer in je voeding en zo in je eigen lijf, dat geeft meer rendement dan al die
finaniciële goocheltrucs van die gladjakkers die misbruik maken van je gebrek aan kennis
en vertrouwen in je medemens. Voor de grote jongens (Big money, Big food, Big pharma) ben
je niets meer dan een melkkoe die ze uitwringen als een citroen.
Verbeter de wereld, begin bij je voeding en
deel de kennis met de mensen die wel willen veranderen,
Ron
Internationaal nieuws &
informatie
On the trail of a targeted therapy
for blood cancers
Investigators from the Herman B Wells
Center for Pediatric Research at the Indiana University School of Medicine are focusing on
a family of blood proteins that they hope holds a key to decreasing the toxic effects of
chemotherapy in children and adults. Their findings may one day help in the development of
targeted therapies for leukemia, multiple myeloma and other cancers of the blood. The
researchers, led by Kristin T. Chun, Ph.D., assistant professor of pediatrics and of
biochemistry and molecular biology, studied how the cullin family of proteins affects the
degradation of proteins that control the development of blood cells. Their work was
published in the July 15 issue of Blood, the journal of the American Society of
Hematology. The cullin family of proteins is involved in the degradation of proteins that
control a myriad of cell functions, including those that determine whether a blood cell
will eventually develop into a mature blood cell, will divide, or will undergo programmed
cell death.
Consumers want their food to be untainted.
To avoid the use of fungicides yet nevertheless protect plants from disease, researchers
have developed a method that involves bombarding seeds with electrons to kill fungal
spores and viruses. Whereas a few years ago, organic products were sold exclusively by
small health-food stores, they can now be found in the majority of supermarkets. A growing
number of consumers prefer to buy organic food that has been grown without the use of
chemical pesticides. Conventional farming practice involves treating seeds with a mixture
of chemicals: Fungicides to protect the emerging seedlings from attack by microscopic
fungi, insecticides against wireworms, aphids and biting insects, herbicides to suppress
weeds. Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Electron Beam and Plasma Technology FEP
in Dresden have developed an alternative to fungicide treatment. “If cereal crops
succumb to disease, this is usually due to microscopic fungi and spores present on the
outer surface and in the husk of the seeds. Instead of using chemical products to
eradicate these spores, we make use of accelerated electrons,” says FEP team leader
Dr. Olaf Röder. So what happens when the electrons hit the seeds? “It’s not
unlike cooking. For instance, when you make strawberry jam, the germs are killed by the
high temperature – and your jam will keep for years. The electrons destroy the
chemical bonds that hold together the molecules in the fungal spores and other pathogens,
but without generating heat. You might say that they cause the molecules to explode,”
explains Röder.
Letters are warped, syllables left out
– about four percent of the German population are dyslexics. Scientists seek to spot
responsible genes and try to develop a genetic screening test to support affected children
at an earlier age.
Why could ethyl pyruvate attenuate
severe acute pancreatitis?
Excessive activation of inflammatory
mediator cascade during SAP is a major cause of distant organ injury and the high
mortality. Cytokines such as TNF- alpha and IL-1 beta are released early in the
development of systemic inflammatory response. This leaves a narrow therapeutic window for
administration of therapeutics and delayed delivery of that anti-inflammatory therapeutics
is not effective after the inflammatory mediator cascade has developed. A research article
to be published on July 28, 2008 in the World Journal of Gastroenterology addresses this
question. The research team led by Prof. Wang from Centre of Pancreatic Surgery of Xiehe
Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Sciecne and Technology,
demonstrated that the serum levels of HMGB1 began to rise significantly at 12 h, and
maintained at high levels up to 48 h after induction of experimental SAP in rats. The
delayed kinetics indicated that HMGB1 may provide a broader therapeutic window for
treating this lethal systemic inflammatory disease. EP was proved could inhibit HMGB1
release from macrophages and prevent the accumulation of serum HMGB1 levels in mice with
lethal sepsis through inhibiting NF- kappaB and p38 MAPK signaling. The research,
performed by this team, investigated whether delayed EP therapy attenuates experimental
SAP via reducing serum HMGB1 levels in rats or not.
Abdominal venous thrombosis may present as
BCS or SVT. Hereditary and acquired risk factors have been implicated in the
etiopathogenesis of abdominal venous thrombosis. Hereditary risk factors for thrombophilia
include Factor V Leiden gene mutation, Prothrombin gene mutation, homozygous methyl
tetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene mutation and deficiencies of coagulation inhibitor
Protein C, Protein S and Antithrombin III. There are few studies from South Asian region
which have comprehensively evaluated prothrombotic risk factors in BCS and PVT. A research
article to be published on July 28, 2008 in the World Journal of Gastroenterology
addresses this question. The research team led by Prof. Ashok Chacko at the Christian
Medical College & Hospital, Vellore, India investigated the inherited and acquired
risk factors causing clotting of blood in abdominal veins.
A new alternative in treating short
bowel syndrome
SBS is a clinical condition characterized
by diarrhea, dehydration, electrolyte imbalance, malabsorption, and progressive
malnutrition related to a wide resection of the small intestine. The most important
therapeutic objectives in the management of SBS are maintenance the patient's calorie
intake and nutritional status. However, some enteral nutrition (EN) products use for
energy supports in order to reduce total parenteral nutrition (TPN) demand. The new
treatment modalities alternate the current ones are still under research with the
experimental and clinical studies. Chlorella is a species of green algae that grows in
fresh water. It has been consumed as a food source for centuries in mainly Japan and other
Far East countries, besides, it's healing properties has enhanced it's consumption too.
Several EN products have been used for SBS. A research article to be published on July 28,
2008 in the World Journal of Gastroenterology addresses this question. The research team
was led by Mustafa Kerem from Gazi University Experimental Surgery Center. In this
original study, it has been seen that there's a positive effect of chlorella crude extract
(CCE) on intestinal adaptation of rats which had undergone short bowel syndrome.
Administration of CCE lead significant increase in intestinal villi height and villi
width, intestinal protein and DNA amount, and serum citruline levels which is a sign of
improved intestinal absorption. As being the first it's an important study. By this
information algs which are easily found widely in salt and fresh waters and can be
generated easily, can be used in clinical settings.
Is CT-colonoscopy a valuable tool
to detect colorectal cancer?
Fecal occult blood test is a world-wide
spread screening test for colorectal cancer. Subjects with positive FOBT are usually
examined by colonoscopy which can be incomplete. A research group in Italy reported the
usefulness of computed tomography colonography to complete colonic examination in subjects
with positive FOBT and incomplete colonoscopy from a population-based screening program.
Research Shows Link Between
Bisphenol A And Disease In Adults
A research team from the Peninsula Medical
School, the University of Exeter, the University of Plymouth and the University of Iowa,
have found evidence linking Bisphenol A (BPA) to diabetes and heart disease in adults.
Their research paper is to be published in the Journal of the American Medical Association
on Wednesday 17 September and it is the first time that evidence has emerged of the
association between higher BPA levels and disease in adults. BPA is a controversial
chemical commonly used in food and drink containers. It has previously caused concerns
over health risks to babies, as it is present in some baby’s bottles. BPA is used in
polycarbonate plastic products such as refillable drinks containers, compact disks, some
plastic eating utensils and many other products in everyday use. It is one of the
world’s highest production volume chemicals, with over 2.2 million tonnes (6.4
billion pounds) produced in 2003, with an annual growth in demand of between six and 10
per cent each year.
Many previous studies in laboratory animals have suggested that BPA is safe, but some
laboratory studies have raised doubts. Experiments in which mice and rats were exposed to
BPA have shown that higher doses of the chemical can lead to liver damage, insulin
resistance, diabetes and obesity. The laboratory animal evidence is complicated and
controversial. Some scientists believe that BPA can disrupt the work done by hormones,
especially oestrogen, but the full biological effects of BPA in humans is far from clear.
The research team analysed information from the US government’s National Health and
Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2003-2004, the only large-scale data available on
BPA concentrations excreted in urine. The research team analysed the results for the 1455
adults aged between 18 and 74 years old for whom measures were available. This study group
is representative of the general population of the USA. The analysis found that the 25 per
cent of the population with the highest BPA levels were more than twice as likely to have
heart disease and/or diabetes, compared to the 25 per cent with the lowest BPA levels.
Higher BPA levels were also associated with clinically abnormal liver enzyme
concentrations. While this study has identified a statistical association between BPA and
adult diseases for the first time, much more research is needed. Future work needs to
exclude the small possibility that the association is due to some other unstudied factor,
or that people with these diseases somehow become more exposed to BPA. It is also unclear
whether the liver enzyme changes are linked to liver damage.
DNA, the molecule that acts as the carrier
of genetic information in all forms of life, is highly resistant against alteration by
ultraviolet light, but understanding the mechanism for its photostability presents some
puzzling problems. A key aspect is the interaction between the four chemical bases that
make up the DNA molecule. Researchers at Kiel University have succeeded in showing that
DNA strands differ in their light sensitivity depending on their base sequences. Their
results are reported by Nina Schwalb and colleagues in the current issue of the journal
Science appearing on October 10, 2008. It has been known for many years that the
individual bases that code the genetic information contained in DNA show a high degree of
photostability, as the energy that they take up from UV radiation is immediately released
again. Surprisingly, however, it is found that in DNA, which consists of many bases, those
mechanisms are ineffective or only partially effective. It seems that the deactivation of
UV-excited DNA molecules must instead occur by some completely different mechanisms
specific to DNA, which are not yet understood. Through measurements by a variety of
methods on DNA molecules with different base sequences, the research group led by
Professor Friedrich Temps at the Institute of Physical Chemistry of Kiel University has
now been able to confirm and clarify that assumption.
High-tech eye-tracking equipment
reveals autistic children look at a teacher's face less than normal children
A study by researchers at the UC Davis
M.I.N.D. Institute has discovered an important clue to why children with autism spectrum
disorders have trouble imitating others: They spend less time looking at the faces of
people who are modeling new skills. The study was conducted using high-technology
eye-tracking headgear and software that measures with precision the point at which a child
is looking when learning a task. Researchers used an actor to demonstrate a task on a
computer screen. “We found that the children with autism focused on the
demonstrator’s action and looked at the demonstrator’s face much less often than
did typically developing children,” said Giacomo Vivanti, a postdoctoral researcher
at the M.I.N.D. Institute and the study’s lead author. "The typically developing
children may be looking at the demonstrator’s face to check for information on what
to do or how to respond appropriately, information that the children with autism are less
inclined to seek. This is an important finding, because children with autism have
difficulty learning from others. This might be one key to why that is so," Vivanti
said. Imitation plays an important role in how children learn, as well as in how people
interact socially, said M.I.N.D. Institute researcher and senior study author Sally J.
Rogers, who has been studying imitation impairment and autism for more than 20 years.
“This is a trait we see as early as we can diagnose autism, and it’s one of the
traits that is present even in mildly impaired adults,” Rogers said.
Scientists adapt economics theory
to trace brain's information flow
Scientists have used a technique originally
developed for economic study to become the first to overcome a significant challenge in
brain research: determining the flow of information from one part of the brain to another.
Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and Florida Atlantic
University report the new capability in The Journal of Neuroscience. It will provide
important insights into brain organization and function, advancing efforts to help
patients recover from brain injuries and mental disorders. For years, scientists have used
scanners to identify the brain regions involved in particular mental tasks. But they
cannot get that data fast enough to trace the flow of information from one area of the
brain to another. "It's been like getting a picture of the members of an orchestra
but not knowing the sequence in which each instrument was playing," says senior
author Maurizio Corbetta, M.D., the Norman J. Stupp Professor of Neurology. "Now, for
the first time, we can look at the questions of who's talking to whom in the brain, and
what directions the activations of brain areas are flowing in."
Lees verder
Clue to Genetic Cause of Fatal
Birth Defect
A novel enzyme may play a major role in
anencephaly, offering hope for a genetic test or even therapy for the rare fatal birth
defect in which the brain fails to develop, according to a study from researchers at the
University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine. In the U.S., 1,000 to 2,000
children are born with anencephaly each year. Most do not survive more than a day or two.
Although anencephaly can sometimes be diagnosed through ultrasound, which picks up the
malformation of the head, there is no genetic test, and its cause is unknown.
By breeding special "knockout" mice that were missing the gene for the enzyme
called HSD17b7, UIC researchers found that such mice died on the tenth day of gestation
with the severe lack of brain development that characterizes the human birth defect. The
failure of the mice to develop, as well as the extreme nature of the changes in the
formation of the animals, was very surprising, said Geula Gibori, UIC distinguished
professor of physiology and biophysics and principal investigator of the study. Mice that
lack enzymes of similar function are born with subtle changes in their cognitive ability,
but they survive. The UIC researchers had previously discovered this novel enzyme and were
focused on its role in converting the weak hormone estrogen into the more potent estradiol
in the ovaries and its possible role in breast cancer.
Vitamin D a Key Player in Overall
Health of Several Body Organs
Essential for life in higher animals,
vitamin D, once linked to only bone diseases such as rickets and osteoporosis, is now
recognized as a major player in contributing to overall human health, emphasizes UC
Riverside’s Anthony Norman, an international expert on vitamin D. In a paper
published in the August issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Norman
identifies vitamin D’s potential for contributions to good health in the adaptive and
innate immune systems, the secretion and regulation of insulin by the pancreas, the heart
and blood pressure regulation, muscle strength and brain activity. In addition, access to
adequate amounts of vitamin D is believed to be beneficial towards reducing the risk of
cancer. Norman also lists 36 organ tissues in the body whose cells respond biologically to
vitamin D. The list includes bone marrow, breast, colon, intestine, kidney, lung,
prostate, retina, skin, stomach and the uterus.
Nerve stimulation therapy
alleviates pain for chronic headache
A novel therapy using a miniature nerve
stimulator instead of medication for the treatment of profoundly disabling headache
disorders improved the experience of pain by 80-95 percent, according to a new study from
the University of California, San Francisco and the National Hospital for Neurology and
Neurosurgery in London. The findings give doctors the promise of a non-drug treatment
option for pain sufferers unable to tolerate indometacin, the standard medication known to
cause stomach bleeding in some patients. Findings are reported online at www.thelancet.com
and also will appear in the November 2008 issue of “Lancet Neurology.” Up to 35
million Americans suffer migraine and other forms of headache, according to the American
Academy of Neurology.
Age-related macular degeneration:
new genetic association identified
A team of clinicians and scientists at the
University of Southampton has identified a major new genetic association with age-related
macular degeneration, the most common cause of blindness in developed countries. Their
research, which is published online today in The Lancet, adds to the growing understanding
of the genetics of age-related macular degeneration and they believe it will better help
predict those at risk and ultimately lead to better treatments. The team, including
Professor Andrew Lotery and his research group in the University's Clinical Neurosciences
Division, together with Dr Sarah Ennis and Professor Andy Collins from the Genetic
Epidemiology and Bioinformatics Group in the University's Human Genetics Division, found
an association with the SERPING1 gene, which is involved in production of proteins for the
'complement' system within the eye, which helps clear foreign material and infection.
Together with colleagues from the University of Iowa, they found evidence of proteins
expressed by SERPING1 in the retina and the choroid layer (the vascular layer next to the
retina), the two areas affected by AMD. The findings suggest that the complement system is
malfunctioning, attacking the retina and choroid layer.
Antioxidants could help
Huntington’s Disease sufferers
Therapeutic strategies to strengthen
antioxidant defences could help to prevent the progression of Huntington’s Disease.
This is the suggestion from the results of the first ever trial on human samples carried
out by researchers at the University of Lleida. The results have been published in the
latest issue of Free Radical Biology & Medicine magazine. A study carried out by
Catalan researchers shows that oxidative stress and damage to certain macromolecules are
involved in the progression of Huntington’s Disease (HD), which is characterised by
psychiatric and cognitive disturbance, involuntary movements (chorea) and dementia. The
research was carried out using human brain samples obtained post mortem from people
affected by HD, which were compared with samples from control patients (C) who had died
from unrelated illnesses or other causes. The two cerebral areas most affected by this
illness – the striate cortex and cortex – were studied. The samples, which were
provided by the tissue bank at the University of Barcelona’s Institute of
Neuropathology, were divided into HD-C group pairs based on gender, age, and the length of
time after death before the tissue had been removed. “Bidimensional electrophoresis
techniques were used to compare the differences between the proteins present in the brains
of the sick people and those of the controls,” said Elisa Cabiscol, professor of
biochemistry at the University of Lleida, and one of the report’s authors. “The
results showed that more than half of these were enzymes related to antioxidant defence
systems.”
This study, which used human samples for the first time and was funded by Spain’s
Consolider-Ingenio 2010 Programme, found that the brain tissue from people suffering from
HD had elevated levels of proteins that eliminate reactive oxygen species (ROS), or free
radicals, as they are more commonly known.
