Massive wildfires threaten to ignite 30000 barrels of plutonium waste at New Mexico nuclear weapons facility, EPA on radiation alert

(NaturalNews) Threats of radioactive disaster from what is shaping up to be the largest wildfire in the state’s history are escalating, as heavy winds and plenty of dry brush have fueled flames to within 50 feet of New Mexico’s Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), home of the first atomic bomb. Crews claim there are currently no fires burning on the lab’s 36 square mile property, but the entire town of Los Alamos, population 11,000, has been evacuated, and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is now on radiation alert in the area. As of Sunday, the massive wildfire had already burned up nearly 145 square miles of land across New Mexico, or 92,735 acres, which is just a few hundred acres short of the massive Dry Lakes fire that swept Gila National Forest in 2003. But the current wildfire’s proximity to the nuclear facility is particularly troubling because there are about 30,000 55-gallon drums of radioactive plutonium waste on the site that, according to some reports, are not particularly well-protected. “The concern is that these drums will get so hot that they’ll burst,” said Joni Arends, executive director of Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety. “That would put this toxic material into the plume. It’s a concern for everybody.” EPA is now monitoring for radiation the giant smoke plume that has been building and spreading across the area as a result of the fire. Because the nuclear facility itself has conducted countless nuclear experiments, some experts say that nuclear-contaminated soil, in addition to the waste drums, could also be disrupted by the fire, releasing old, but deadly, radioactive waste into the plume. LANL officials claim that everything is under control, and that the nuclear waste drums are at a low risk of catching fire or exploding from high heat because several canyons allegedly separate them from the current location of the fire. Fire officials have also been burning out dead zone areas in between the fire and the plant in the hopes that doing so will eliminate the brush fuel needed by the fire to spread any closer. Sources for this story include: http://www.ndtv.com/article/world/los-alamos-nuclear-lab-under-siege-from-wildfire-115591&cp http://www.lanl.gov/news/releases/fire_updates.html

Busted! Big Pharma epilepsy study rigged to push drug gabapentin

(NaturalNews) If you think being concerned over natural health issues means you automatically dismiss everything that mainstream medicine has to say – think again. Not only are many mainstream researchers coming up with evidence that nutrition and other natural therapies really are effective but now comes a report published in none other than Archives of Internal Medicine , a Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), that blows the lid off an unethical Big Pharma practice. Specifically, the article shows how drug pushing – not science – appears to have been the motivation behind a study that supposedly was testing the drug Neurontin (gabapentin), currently widely used to treat nerve pain. The test was allegedly designed to document how various doses could treat epilepsy. But it turns out the trial was set up to “seed” the results in order to sell the drug, much like a card shark might stack a deck of cards in order to cheat at a game of poker. According to the just published article, when researchers are involved in so-called seeding research, they are conducting clinical trials primarily as marketing tools so the drug can be promoted and sales pushed by doctors. Bottom line: these are promotional trials used for selling drugs and research subjects and physicians may not be told the true purpose of the studies. Surely, promoting a study as true scientific research when it is really a ploy used to market drugs must be illegal, right? According to the new report, Big Pharma is allowed to get away with seeding studies under the current law. However, the authors (Samuel D. Krumholz, B.A., David S. Egilman, M.D., M.P.H., and Joseph S. Ross, M.D., M.H.S., who are consultants at the request of plaintiffs currently suing Pfizer Inc. over the gabapentin seeding study in the U.S.), report the practice is clearly unethical. To prepare their report, entitled “Study of Neurontin: Titrate to Effect, Profile of Safety (STEPS)”, the researchers investigated whether the study was a seeding trial by looking into documents related to the marketing, sales practices, and product liability litigation of Neurontin (gabapentin), prescribed for epilepsy. Because the authors were consultants to the plaintiffs in a lawsuit involving the drug, they had access to depositions and the document database. And that meant they were able to get their hands on damning correspondence, clinical research reports and market research analyses for a look inside the workings of Big Pharma’s pushing of the drug. What did they discover? Although the trial’s supposed purpose was to study dose-titration of gabapentin among 2,759 patients enrolled by 772 investigators, the study was uncontrolled and unblended. In other words, it didn’t meet the basic criteria for a sound drug study. However, articles based on the results of this anything-but-gold-standard-science study managed to be published in two journals – even though the sloppy study design was questioned by two outside sources and that “data quality during the study was often compromised.” But here’s even more compelling evidence something was not on the up and up: the authors cite documents that strongly suggest drug company marketing personnel were involved in collecting the trial data. What’s more, the Big Pharma marketing heads viewed the trial (and not only its results) as a way to push sales of gabapentin. This involvement of the marketing team and the failure to disclose the study’s real purpose from both research subjects and collaborators are the “smoking guns” that mark the STEPS study as a seeding trial, according to the authors. They are calling for institutional review boards (IRBs) to finally take a strong stance in discouraging these types of marketing-over-science trials. “Reform of the current IRB system,” they wrote, “as well as promoting better clinical trial practice in the human subjects research community, are necessary to prevent continued conduct of seeding trials by the pharmaceutical industry.” In an accompanying commentary to the study, G. Caleb Alexander, M.D., of the University of Chicago, noted that seeding trials negatively affect scientific knowledge and clinical care. “The biomedical enterprise depends on good science for its foundation, and good science requires transparency of methods and integrity of purpose,” he wrote. He pointed out the evidence presented by Krumholz and colleagues “strongly supports the conclusion that STEPS meets key criteria of seeding trials.” Dr. Alexander also stated that these unethical seeding trials can detract from the legitimate value of well-designed and well-conducted phase 4 studies of pharmaceutical drugs. “Although the road is long and the hill steep, these and other changes offer the promise of incrementally improving and safeguarding the integrity of the biomedical enterprise. One can only hope that the report by Krumholz et al will contribute to this evolution,” he concluded. Let’s be blunt here: the new report in the Archives of Internal Medicine shows that Big Pharma’s research results cannot always be trusted and may place more importance of skewing data to promote and push drugs on the public than in coming up with true scientifically sound data. For more information: http://archinte.ama-assn.org/current.dtl

Deep penetrating X-ray body scanners to be installed at airports

(NaturalNews) If you think the current backscatter and millimeter-wave naked body scanners found at airports are bad, wait until you see what authorities have in store for phase two of their privacy molestation agenda. A new generation of full-body scanners that use full-strength radiation to look deep inside the body may soon pop up at airports, according to reports, and the negative health effects caused by such machines are even worse than those caused by the current machines. The new machines use ultra-strength radiation to penetrate deep within the body, allowing security personnel to view bones and organs. The system uses the same internal X-ray technology that doctors and hospitals use on patients, which is extremely hazardous to health. The emitted radiation is so excessive, in fact, that only licensed professionals are permitted to operate the machinery. In case you are unaware, the X-radiation can cause a host of serious problems, including but not limited to coronary heart disease, cell and DNA damage, and cancer. This is why dental patients, for instance, wear lead vests during their dental X-rays — if they didn’t, their vital organs would be exposed to a heavy dose of ionizing radiation (http://www.naturalnews.com/025767_Radiation_Ct_Scans.html). Even the full-body scanners in current use are a significant health threat. Many doctors and scientists have come out saying that the naked body scanners expose the skin to very concentrated levels of radiation, which alters DNA, raises the risk of cancer, and even causes sperm mutations in males (http://www.naturalnews.com/030607_naked_body_scanners_radiation.html). Reports indicate that the deep penetrating scanners could show up soon at Australian airports, should the Federal Parliament approve them for use. And they may eventually end up not only in US airports, but also in mobile fleet vehicles deployed by the US Department of Homeland Security to scan citizens at public events, train stations, sport gatherings, and even at random checkpoints. Sources for this story include: http://www.prisonplanet.com/security-theatre-creep-full-strength-x-ray-body-scanners-touted-for-airports.html http://blogs.forbes.com/andygreenberg/2011/03/02/docs-reveal-tsa-plan-to-body-scan-pedestrians-train-passengers/

The most evil corporation of the year? Vote now on NaturalNews

(NaturalNews) Which corporation deserves to win the “Most Evil Corporation of the Year” award for 2010? NaturalNews readers can voice their views on this question by voting in our online survey (below). The candidates for the “Most Evil Corporation of the Year” award include Monsanto, Pfizer, the Federal Reserve, British Petroleum and more (see below). Only one vote is allowed per user. After you vote, you will immediately see the current survey results in real time. Here’s the survey: We will announce the winner here on NaturalNews. Thank you for your participation!

Free radicals good for you? Banned herbicide makes worms live longer

It sounds like science fiction — scientists tested the current “free radical theory of aging” by creating mutant worms that had increased production of free radicals, predicting they would be short-lived. But they lived even longer than regular worms! Moreover, their enhanced longevity was abolished when they were treated with antioxidants such as vitamin C.

Viagra linked to hearing loss

(NaturalNews) Erectile dysfunction drugs such as viagra appear to double the risk of long-term hearing loss, according to a study conducted by researchers from the University of Alabama-Birmingham and published in the journal Archives of Otolaryngology — Head and Neck Surgery . Viagra, generically known as sildenafil, is a drug in the phosphodiesterase type five inhibitor (PDE-5i) family. The FDA requires that the labels of all PDE-5is, including Viagra, Cialis and Levitra, carry a prominent “black box” warning about the risk of sudden hearing loss. In addition, prior studies have shown that PDE-5is can increase the risk of hearing loss in mice. “Before the current paper the focus has always been on sudden hearing loss,” said James E. Saunders of Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, N.H., who was not involved in the study. “This study suggests that maybe there are small incremental changes that occur over time.” Researchers conducted an epidemiological study on 11,526 U.S. males over the age of 40. While only one in six men who had never taken a PDE-5i drug were deaf or hard of hearing, the rate of hearing loss was twice as high — one in three — among men who were taking an erectile dysfunction drug. “It appears from these findings that the current government warning regarding hearing loss and the use of PDE-5i medications is warranted,” researcher Gerald McGwin said. “Though there are limitations to this study, it is prudent that patients using these medications be warned about the signs and symptoms of hearing impairment and be encouraged to seek immediate medical attention to potentially forestall permanent damage.” Saunders agreed with this conclusion, advising that men already suffering from hearing loss avoid the use of PDE-5i drugs. Some researchers have suggested that the very same mechanism that makes erectile dysfunction drugs work might also damage other systems in the body. “PDE-5i medications work in erectile dysfunction patients by their ability to increase blood flow to certain tissues in the body,” McGwin said. “It has been hypothesized that they may have a similar effect on similar tissues in the ear, where an increase of blood flow could potentially cause damage leading to hearing loss.” Sources for this story include: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE64I6YA20100519; http://healthandfitnesstimes.com/possible-hearing-loss-from-viagra/774/; http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2010-05-21-viagra-hearing_N.htm

Urban pollution found to raise blood pressure

(NaturalNews) Exposure to urban pollution may be a cause of high blood pressure, according to a study conducted by researchers from the University of Dusiburg-Essen in Germany and presented at a meeting of the American Thoracic Society. “Our results show that living in areas with higher levels of particle air pollution is associated with higher blood pressure,” lead researcher Barbara Hoffman said. “This finding points out that air pollution does not only trigger life-threatening events like heart attacks and strokes, but that it may also influence the underlying processes, which lead to chronic cardiovascular diseases,” she said. “It is therefore necessary to further our attempts to prevent chronic exposure to high air pollution as much as possible.” Prior studies have shown that short-term spikes in the levels of air pollutants lead to equivalent increases in blood pressure, but little research had been done on the effects of longer-term exposure. In the current study, the researchers recorded air pollution levels over the course of a year, and compared this with blood-pressure readings among 5,000 residents of those areas over the course of four years. The researchers found that after adjusting for potential confounding factors such as age, gender, smoking and weight, increased exposure to fine particulate matter was significantly correlated with higher blood pressure. The effect was stronger in women than in men. Fine particulate matter is produced primarily by automobiles, power plants, heating and industry. Although blood pressure is known to increase the risk of atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), the current study could not prove that exposure to air pollution would actually produce heart disease. In their next study, the researchers plan to look for that connection directly. “There is extensive ongoing research into the link between air pollution and heart disease,” said Judy O’Sullivan of the British Heart Foundation. “This will help us understand what needs to be done to minimize harm to heart health and protect people most at risk from pollution.” Sources for this story include: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8682137.stm.

FDA uses egg recall to demand more power, authority over food

(NaturalNews) Following the recall of more than half a billion commercially-produced eggs potentially tainted with salmonella, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is now petitioning the U.S. Congress for more power and authority over food. Margaret Hamburg, FDA chief, recently pressed for laws to be enacted that would permit the agency to take a “preventive approach” in food safety endeavors. According to reports and estimates from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), roughly 1,300 people have been sickened by salmonella poisoning from eggs distributed by two mega-farms in Iowa, prompting a widespread egg recall. At this point, there are no reported deaths from the bacteria. Ironically, the FDA already has the power and authority to regulate the food industry in a way that could have prevented this outbreak, but the agency has utterly failed to hold producers responsible for maintaining clean and safe facilities. For years, the FDA has permitted large commercial egg producers to run filthy operations without consequence. Commercial egg production has continued to become more consolidated over the years as well. Many commercial flocks live in tighter, filthier conditions than they used to, which has caused more disease to spread. The two producers involved in the current egg recall, both of which operate egg production facilities that have been in violation of safety standards on numerous occasions, have been permitted to continue operating despite their atrocities. “It’s a horrible story. It could have been prevented. Everybody knew it was a problem, and nobody was willing to take action,” explained Marion Nestle, a professor of nutrition at New York University and author of several books on food safety and nutrition. But instead of apologizing for its grave regulatory errors, the FDA actually had the audacity to ask for more power. The last thing the agency needs is more control. If anything, a massive reduction in FDA power is more fitting in light of the current dilemma. Sources for this story include: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/FDA-commissioner-says-agency-apf-380640816.html?x=0

Folate prevents alcohol-induced congenital heart defects in mice, study finds

A new animal study found that high levels of the B-vitamin folate prevents heart birth defects induced by alcohol exposure very early in pregnancy, a condition known as fetal alcohol syndrome. The dose that best protected against heart defects in mice was considerably higher than the current dietary recommendation of 400 micrograms of folate daily for women of child-bearing age, researchers report.

Hurom Slow Juicer review: Why it has become an essential appliance for a healthy kitchen

(NaturalNews) I’ve been using my Hurom Slow Juicer every day for quite some time now, and because so many NaturalNews readers have expressed interest in this new “slow juicing” technology, it’s a good time to review my experience with juicer in more detail. First off, let me repeat that this juicer is absolutely amazing. I’ve been juicing garden vegetables and making almond milk almost daily with it. It juices carrots just as easily as wheat grass or sprouts (yes, it juices sprouts!). It handles parsley, cucumbers, kale, beets, fruits and much more. The diversity of what it can handle is truly amazing. It even juices berries very efficiently, just spitting out the seeds while extracting the fresh juice. Lately, I’ve been harvesting fresh guavas off the trees here in Ecuador, then tossing them into the Hurom Slow Juicer to make fresh guava juice! It’s amazing, too, because it’s so incredibly easy. Guavas are usually a very difficult fruit to work with. Using a Vita-Mix and a nut milk bag, you have to blend it, then pour it into the nut milk bag, and then spend way too much time (it seems) squeezing the nut milk bag to get some of the juice out. But because guava juice is inherently thick and foamy, it’s extremely difficult to get much juice with this process. With the Hurom Slow Juicer, however, it’s ridiculously easy: Just pop the guava fruit into the juicer, add a little water with each fruit, and you get a raw guava smoothie ready to drink! One step. Couldn’t be easier. Almond milk lasts longer, too I have a lot of experience making almond milk with a Vita-Mix and a nut milk bag. I’ve done it that way for years, and one thing I’ve noticed about this process is that the almond milk goes bad within 48 hours . I always thought this was just a normal part of making raw, living foods with no preservatives, but when I started making almond milk with the Hurom Slow Juicer, I noticed something quite remarkable: The almond milk lasted longer! Yep, the same almond milk that used to last only 1-2 days was now lasting twice as long (or more) in the refrigerator. But why? I believe the answer to this question is that the juicing process used with the Hurom Slow Juicer is essentially a “cleaner” process that introduces far less airborne bacteria into the final product. The Vita-Mix method, while it works fine, also results in more air being blended into the liquid. Plus, squeezing the nut milk bag can introduce a lot of additional bacteria that may be on your hands. The Hurom Slow Juicer method, on the other hand, doesn’t “blend” the almonds to make almond milk. It just squeezes them really, really well, releasing the juice. This juice goes right into the receiving container and you never touch it with your hands . So it stays cleaner. And that means it lasts longer in the refrigerator without going bad. Also, if you think about it, blending foods in a blender may prematurely oxidize them by mixing them with air. (When you blend, you’re stirring air into the liquid at very high speed.) By using the slow juicing method, in contrast, you are preserving the natural antioxidants in the food , and isn’t that part of the reason to be drinking fresh juice in the first place? The Hurom Slow Juicer is about to get more expensive The Hurom Slow Juicer is an amazing machine. We’ve been selling it at the NaturalNews store at the best price on the ‘net: http://store.naturalnews.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=316_320_325 At the current price, it’s a great value. But NaturalNews has been informed by the manufacturer that the price is going up on March 1. It will be raised by a mandatory additional $30 to meet the “minimum advertised price” requirements of the manufacturer. That means right now is the best time to get the Hurom Slow Juicer — before the price increase! Our store offers free shipping to 48 states, and this juicer comes with a solid warranty (10 years on the motor). To read the other benefits of this breakthrough juicing appliance, read the full article here: http://www.naturalnews.com/028128_Hurom_slow_juicer_juicing.html I have stopped using my Breville juicer The most remarkable part about this Hurom Slow Juicer is that it has totally replaced the Breville juicer in my kitchen. Breville makes a fine juicer. It’s an amazing machine and I still recommend it as the very best centrifugal juicing machine on the market. But I’ve found that the Hurom Slow Juicer has become my preferred juicing machine. It makes more juice , it’s quieter, it’s easier to use and it can juice a much wider assortment of fruits and vegetables. Plus, it can make almond milk and soy milk. And that makes the Hurom Slow Juicer my current #1 top choice for an affordable, efficient countertop juicing machine for any home. You’ll seriously love this machine. We’ve already received heaps of positive feedback from NaturalNews readers who bought this machine after our first announcement. If you don’t absolutely love it, send it back to the NN store for a full refund. Beat the $30 price increase by ordering now, while we still have inventory at the lower price. The price goes up on March 1. http://store.naturalnews.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=316_320_325 Enjoy your Hurom Slow Juicer! (And enjoy your guava juice if you can get your hands on some guavas!)

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