CDC advisory panel declares that young boys should be vaccinated against HPV, cervical cancer

(NaturalNews) In a shocking display of utter corruption and ignorance, a US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advisory committee has officially declared that young boys and men between the ages of 11 and 21 should be vaccinated against human papillomavirus (HPV), the viral infection supposedly linked to causing cervical cancer in women. Despite the fact that males do not even have a cervix, 12 of the 14 CDC committee members decided that vaccinating boys as young as nine against the virus is still a good idea. And in a separate vote, the majority of the committee members also decided that men as old as 26 should be vaccinated against HPV as well, which encompasses practically all young men. The decision is founded in the CDC’s belief that Merck and Co.’s Gardasil and GlaxoSmithKline’s (GSK) Cervarix, the two vaccines approved for HPV, also help to prevent genital warts and various types of cancers in males. Such claims, though, have never actually been proven. The studies used as proof are skewed, and all of them were funded by the vaccine manufacturers. There really is no solid medical proof that either Gardasil or Cervarix prevent HPV infections, cancer, or the transmission of HPV from men to women, as proponents of the vaccines claim. “Though about 40 other countries have approved the vaccine (Gardasil) for males, there is still no medical proof Gardasil prevents penile cancer or other HPV-associated cancers in men,” says an Associated Press (AP) report from 2008. “There also is no evidence the vaccine prevents the spread of HPV from men to women” (http://www.nj.com/business/index.ssf/2008/11/study_mercks_gardasil_may_prev.html). But the CDC advisory committee cannot let the facts get in the way of the pro-HPV vaccine agenda. A recent CNN report on the announcement even admits that the sudden push to vaccinate boys against HPV has little to do with actually stopping the spread of disease, and everything to do with getting as many people vaccinated as possible. “One reason for the push now is that girls aren’t getting vaccinated in the numbers doctors had expected,” says the report. And the reason girls are not getting vaccinated is because HPV vaccines are linked to a host of very serious and deadly side effects, and have never been proven to be effective at preventing or treating anything (http://www.naturalnews.com/Gardasil.html). To learn more about the dangers of Gardasil, visit: http://sanevax.org/ Sources for this article include: http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/25/health/hpv-vaccine/index.html

TSA deploys ‘VIPR’ teams throughout Tennessee to set up illegal security checkpoints on interstates

(NaturalNews) When the US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) announced last year that it would soon begin setting up security checkpoints in places other than just airports, it definitely was not joking. News Channel 5 in Nashville, Tenn., has announced that Tennessee is the official inaugural state for the launch of TSA’s new Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response (VIPR) program, which will be setting up security checkpoints along interstates to conduct random (illegal) searches of vehicles. TSA set up one of its first VIPR checkpoints in Tampa, Fla., last December after announcing to the world its plans to expand illegal searches to all aspects of American life. Presumably a test to see how the public would respond. VIPR teams groped and patted down passengers at a local Greyhound bus station, and they even brought in sniff dogs to add an extra layer of intimidation (http://www.naturalnews.com/030596_TSA_security_checkpoints.html). Later on during the summer of 2011, TSA announced again its plans to search innocent Americans at train stations, bus stops, and truck stops. At that time, TSA requested 12 more units to add to its fleet of VIPR teams, most of which had still not necessarily been deployed (http://www.naturalnews.com/032778_TSA_groping.html). Just a few months after that, the National Football League (NFL) announced that it would be implementing TSA VIPR checkpoints at all 32 NFL stadiums across the country. The procedures at these checkpoints subjected football fans to full-body pat downs similar to what air travelers face at US airports (http://www.naturalnews.com/033598_NFL_enhanced_pat-downs.html). And now an entire state has succumbed to the encroachment of the illegitimate US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and its unlawful violations of the Fourth, Fifth, and Tenth Amendments to the US Constitution. VIPR teams have already been deployed to five truck weigh stations and two bus stations across Tennessee, with more soon to come. Random security checkpoints, perpetual paranoia about terrorists around every corner, a rogue government that is pressing citizens to spy on each other and report their activities to authorities — these are all protocols that took effect in Nazi Germany during the rise of Hitler, and they are all protocols that are now in effect in the US today. Think about it. Sources for this article include: http://www.newschannel5.com/story/15725035/officials-claim-tennessee-becomes-first-state-to-deploy-vipr-statewide

Study: Vegetarian diet may help children stay fit, avoid obesity

(NaturalNews) With the poor quality of many of today’s conventional meat products, a vegetarian diet just might be an appropriate fit for some modern children, one of three that are now overweight in the US. A new study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition suggests that people of all ages, including children, that adhere to a vegetarian diet generally have lower average body mass indexes (BMI) than others, and are generally leaner than their meat-eating counterparts. The report explains that obesity is less prevalent among vegetarians, and that average BMI increases progressively higher depending on how much meat a person eats. Vegans, for instance, generally have the lowest BMI, while vegetarians that eat dairy and eggs have a slightly higher average BMI. Meat eaters, suggest study authors, have the highest average BMI of all. Besides simply the visible weight benefits, adhering to a vegetarian diet may also improve lipid profile, say the authors, which means that a person is less likely to experience coronary heart disease. This means that vegetarians may have a lowered risk of developing high cholesterol, or having a heart attack or stroke. Because a plant-based diet can contain far more nutrients, complex carbohydrates, fiber, and water, than a meat-based diet, it is more likely to promote lean body mass rather than added fat, says the team. The extra fiber found in plant-based diets also contributes to making a person feel “full” more quickly than a meat-based diet would, which results in less food being eaten. “[O]besity represents a significant threat to the present and future health of children and leads to a wide range of physical and psychological consequences,” write the study authors. “(A) plant-based diet appears to be a sensible approach for the prevention of obesity in children.” The report does not, however, differentiate between meat-based diets that include pastured meats, and meat-based diets that include conventional, feedlot-derived meats. The two differ greatly, as pastured meat contain higher levels of beneficial nutrients than does conventional meat, and is also higher in healthy fats and amino acids like omega-3s (http://www.naturalnews.com/027199_meat_fat_cattle.html). Also, when choosing a vegetarian diet, it is important to carefully select foods, especially when children are involved, that contain a full profile of necessary vitamins and minerals. Some vegetarian diets lack crucial nutrients like B vitamins, vitamin D, zinc, iron, and calcium, as well as protein, which is essential for the growth and development of healthy muscle mass. Sources for this story include: http://newhope360.com/vegetarian-diet-helps-kids-stay-slim

Exposed: California officials manipulated safety data on methyl iodide, ignored scientist warnings against approving deadly strawberry chemical

(NaturalNews) Many of those plump, juicy strawberries found on produce section shelves are hiding a deadly little secret. In 2010, regulators in California, where over 90 percent of conventional strawberries are grown, quietly approved the use of toxic methyl iodide as a fruit pesticide after the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approved it nationally. But new evidence has now surfaced that government officials twisted study data to make the chemical falsely appear safe in order to get it approved — and individuals everywhere are now increasingly demanding that methyl iodide be banned. A recent report from Mother Jones explains that the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) cherry-picked data from varying studies on methyl iodide in order to paint the chemical in an artificially positive light. The agency then used this deceptive data to justify allowing smaller buffer zones between farms that use methyl iodide and farms that do not use methyl iodide. DPR also used the flawed data to increase the permitted spray concentration maximum for the chemical. Early on, DPR’s own scientists decried the agency’s intended actions, having noted in an internal memo that numbers cited in the agency’s report endorsing methyl iodide had been extracted from “different risk assessment methodologies that are not interchangeable.” They added that such data was “not scientifically credible,” and that any data of that type is only accurate when compiled from the same source. But DPR refused to listen to these scientists, and instead approved methyl iodide in spite of the evidence against it. Not long after, environmental protection groups, farmers, and ordinary citizens together sparked a burgeoning battle to force the state to ban methyl iodide, including a recent rally that took place on the steps of the California State Capital. Methyl iodide causes miscarriages, thyroid dysfunction, cancer Arysta LifeScience, the chemical company that produces methyl iodide, claims that it is largely safe, and that the neurotoxic damage it can cause is “transient.” But according to data cited by leading scientists, this is simply not the case, and permanent brain damage can ensue from exposure to methyl iodide. Back in 2007 before methyl iodide’s approval, a group of more than 35 esteemed scientists wrote a letter to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) urging it to deny approval for the chemical on the grounds that it is “highly toxic,” and has a “significant adverse impact on public health.” After methyl iodide was approved anyway, the same group sent another letter to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson once again urging the agency to withdraw approval for the chemical (http://www.panna.org/sites/default/files/Jackson_MeI_5-7-11_Final-1.pdf). “Due to the potent toxicity of methyl iodide, its transport and ultimate fate in the environment, adequate control of human exposure would be difficult, if not impossible,” wrote scientists from California’s Scientific Review Committee (SRC) concerning methyl iodide. “We have concluded there is little doubt that the compound possesses significant toxicity.” SRC’s thorough report also notes that, despite claims made by Arysta about methyl iodide’s supposedly transient neurotoxicity, “no robust studies of neurotoxicity (were) actually conducted.” If they had been, it would have been revealed, of course, that methyl iodide is a highly neurotoxic substance that is known and recognized by the state of California to cause cancer (http://www.oehha.ca.gov/prop65/prop65_list/files/P65single061308.pdf). Methyl iodide, of course, is the same chemical that scientists have used to deliberately create cancer cells in laboratories for research purposes that is how powerfully dangerous it is! The Pesticide Action Network – North America (PANNA) also notes that methyl iodide is responsible for causing late-term miscarriages as well, especially at the 100 pounds (lbs) per acre spread rate to which it has been approved for California strawberries (http://www.panna.org/cancer-free-strawberries). Methyl iodide has no legitimate place in American agriculture On December 30, 2010, Earthjustice and California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc. filed a lawsuit against DPR for approving of methyl iodide, which ignored all available evidence against the chemical, as well as the more than 53,000 comments submitted by Californians against the chemical’s use. The use of methyl iodide violates the California Environmental Quality Act, the California Birth Defects Prevention Act, and the Pesticide Contamination Prevention Act, according to the suit. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of PANNA and numerous other groups representing farmers and consumers, many of whom stand to be affected most by the pumping of soils with toxic methyl iodide gas. Many of the farm fields that spray methyl iodide are located directly near homes and schools, where high-risk individuals like pregnant mothers and young children face routine exposure. In truth, there really is no need to use methyl iodide on strawberries, peppers, or any of the other varieties of produce for which it has been approved. Several large strawberry growers, including Swanton Berry, Driscoll’s, and Martinez Farms, have been able to develop thriving organic strawberry operations that require no pesticides — surely the rest can make modifications to avoid pumping toxic poisons into the soils of one of America’s major produce production regions. Sources for this story include: http://motherjones.com/blue-marble/2011/08/california-methyl-iodide-scientists http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/07/methyl-iodide-controversy_n_602904.html http://www.pesticidereform.org/article.php?id=342

Prenatal exposure to common chemicals called phthalates linked to brain damage

(NaturalNews) According to the American Chemistry Council, a family of plasticizer compounds called phthlates are fine and dandy additions to everything from wall coverings, flooring, toys, perfumes, shampoos and IV tubes. In fact, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) studies show average phthalates exposures are below levels set by U.S. federal agencies to be protective of human health. So that means they must be safe and nothing to worry about, but this is not true. Although the federal government and the chemical industry lobbyists may want you to believe phthalates are innocuous, scientists have found that these widepread chemical contaminants are potent endocrine system disrupters. And now a newly published study by researchers at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health links phthalate exposure while still in the womb to changes in the brain and increased behavioral problems in children by the age three. Previous studies of school-age children have already pointed to a strong association between prenatal exposure to phthalates and developmental problems. However, the new study, just published in Environmental Health Perspectives , is the first to investigate phthalate exposure before birth and the prevalence of mental, motor and behavioral problems in children during their preschool years. The children of 319 non-smoking inner city women who gave birth between 1999 and 2006 were followed for several years by the research team, headed by Robin M. Whyatt, DrPH, deputy director of the Columbia Center for Children’s Environmental Health. The scientists documented prenatal exposure by measuring metabolites of four phthalates in the mothers urine. Then the researchers evaluated links between pre-birth exposures to these phthalates and the mental, motor and behavioral development of toddlers when they were 3 years old. The scientists used a well-known developmental test, the Bayley Scales of Infant Development II, to document the mental and motor development of the children. In addition, behavioral problems were assessed by asking the moms who participated in the research to complete the widely used Child Behavior Checklist (used for kids between one and a half and 5 years of age). The results showed that higher prenatal exposures to two of the phthalates significantly increased the odds of motor delay, an indication of potential future problems with fine and gross motor coordination. But the news gets even more troublesome. One of the phthalates appeared to cause significant decreases in mental development in girls. Prenatal exposures to three of the phthalates were also significantly associated with behavior problems including anxiety and depression and withdrawn behavior in both little boys and girls. “Our results suggest that prenatal exposure to these phthalates adversely affects child mental, motor and behavioral development during the preschool years,” Dr. Whyatt said in a statement to the media. “The results add to a growing public health concern about the widespread use of phthalates in consumer products.” So how could phthalates affect the developing brain? No one knows for sure yet. But Dr. Whyatt, who is also professor of clinical Environmental Health Sciences, pointed out that phthalates disrupt the body’s hormone systems, including the function of the thyroid gland. They also lower production of testosterone, which is needed for the brain to develop normally. “The results are concerning since increasing exposures from the lowest 25 percent to the highest 25 percent among the women in our study was associated with a doubling or tripling in the odds of motor and/or behavioral problems in the children,” Pam Factor-Litvak, PhD, the senior epidemiologist on the study, explained in the press statement. For more information: http://www.mailman.columbia.edu/news

Philadelphia exurb ends water fluoridation

(NaturalNews) We can only hope that the recent surge in American communities voting to end water fluoridation is an omen to the eventual end of this abominable and toxic practice across the entire country. A recent report in the The Mercury explains that officials in Pottstown, Penn., a northwest exurb of Philadelphia with over 21,000 residents, have decided to stop fluoridating the borough’s public water supply. Reports indicate that, despite the fact that not a single Pottstown resident showed up at any of the public hearings concerning fluoride, the Pottstown Borough Authority voted to remove the toxic chemical on its own, which it had been importing from China. Pottstown had been one of only a few communities in Pennsylvania that artificially fluoridate their water supplies. Only one board member, Aram Ecker, opposed removing fluoride — and he did so, of course, using the same outdated and pseudo-scientific talking points peddled by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the American Dental Association (ADA), and others who continue to deny the numerous, more recent studies that show fluoride consumption causes brain damage, thyroid dysfunction, and other health problems (http://www.naturalnews.com/fluoride.html). The move will save Pottstown as much as $60,000 a year, which is roughly what it costs to import the liquid toxin from China, and lace it in the water supply. As a result, the borough’s water department workers will also no longer have to go through the intense handling procedures that are required when dealing with highly corrosive fluoride chemicals. Pottstown’s decision came just one day after Spring Hill, Tenn., a suburb of Nashville, voted to remove fluoride from its water supply, which marks what appears to be the eventual decline of the chemical’s use across the US (http://www.tennessean.com/article/20110818/WILLIAMSON12/308180009/Spring-Hill-drop-fluoride). Sources for this story include: http://www.pottsmerc.com/articles/2011/08/17/news/doc4e4c8b9451e2d973211155.txt

Don’t be afraid: very old patients treated with Vitamin K antagonists, if adequately managed, benefit from anticoagulation

Results of the EPICA Study (Elderly Patients followed by Italian Centers for Anticoagulation Study), were presented at the ESC Congress 2011 today. This is the largest study on very old patients anti-coagulated with vitamin K antagonists for the prevention of venous thromboembolism and, for the major part (75 percent), for the prevention of stroke because affected by atrial fibrillation.

Gardening activities reduce lung cancer risk by 50%

(NaturalNews) Not only is having a green thumb a great way to stay healthier and happier , but new research shows it can actually protect you from cancer. Noted cancer treatment and research center M.D. Anderson, at the University of Texas, found in a study that time spent gardening once or twice a week can reduce the risk of cancer by 50 percent in lifelong nonsmokers. Moreover, researchers found, the same level of gardening activity by former smokers can reduce cancer risk by as much as 40 percent. And while researchers said they weren’t exactly sure if gardening reduced the incidence of cancer more than other physical activities, they did find that it was the most commonly shared trait among the study’s participants. The cancer-prevention benefits of gardening are also echoed by the American Institute of Cancer Research, which said that gardening is a physical activity that not only helps prevent cancer but also contributes to overall health and endurance. People who garden tend to eat better food – food that is untainted by chemicals and poisons and food that is much tastier than what you’re used to buying in a supermarket. Along those lines, gardening means exposure to the sun and its known vitamin D-supplying qualities that have been linked to the prevention of some cancers and a wide variety of other illnesses and diseases. In fact, along the lines of exposure to the sun, scientists now believe that exposure can actually help prevent skin cancer because sunlight exposure helps in the body’s manufacture of vitamin D, a cancer-stunting agent in its own right. “Melanoma (skin cancer) patients tend to avoid the sun as sunburn is known to increase the risk of melanoma. We use sunshine to make vitamin D in the skin, so melanoma patients’ levels of vitamin D may be especially low,” said Prof. Julia Newton Bishop of the Leeds Institute of Molecular Medicine, and lead author of a recent study which found that higher levels of vitamin D were linked with better skin cancer survival odds. Another reason why gardening may contain some anti-cancer, better health qualities, is because contact with soil, and the nutrients it supplies our garden-grown fruits and vegetables, tends to be good for us as well . Finally, home-grown vegetables also contain anti-cancer nutrients and flavonols that can decrease certain cancers, like pancreatic cancer. You may have thought you didn’t have a thumb that was green enough to be able to grow your own food, but based on continuing research that verifies the healthy, cancer-busting qualities of such a wonderful, self-fulfilling activity, doesn’t learning how sound like a fantastic opportunity to stay healthy?

UK authorities mimic CDC by revealing self-defense strategy for when ‘zombies’ invade

(NaturalNews) Remember when the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a bizarre and cryptic warning back in May warning Americans to prepare for a “zombie apocalypse” (http://www.naturalnews.com/032454_zombie_apocalypse_CDC.html). Well now authorities in the UK have apparently done the same thing, with supposedly “top secret” reports revealing contingency plans should there be an “outbreak” of zombies. According to a recent report in the UK’s Guardian , a man by the name of “P Store” contacted officials in Bristol and asked what plans the city had in place in the event of an invasion by the undead. Peter Holt, the city’s service director of communication and marketing, apparently responded to him by sharing a secret document that outlines preparation tactics for various levels of zombie invasion. “Please note that this document contains various reactions as it has been considered that some information contained therein must be redacted for the purpose of safeguarding national security,” states the letter’s headline. It then goes on to detail instructions for dealing with four stages of zombie invasion: ambient zombie level, enhanced activity level, major outbreak, and zombie pandemic level. The rest of the report notes areas around town that are more prone to zombie invasion than others, and instructs the staff to whom the document was originally written to listen for certain codewords on radio and television that are indicative of a zombie invasion. Even more bizarre are the instructions for dealing with a zombie should an individual run into one. “Fully connect the brain-stem from the body through either blunt force of full head removal,” states the instructions. It also highlights the availability of handcuffs, tasers, protection suits, and other necessary equipment through the staff intranet. The document was released in accordance with a Freedom of Information request, and is oddly similar to the strange announcement made by the CDC back in May. Sources for this story include: http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/jul/07/when-zombies-attack-bristol-city-council-undead-invasion?INTCMP=SRCH

Superbug horror — scientists discover gonorrhea superbug that defies all known antibiotics

(NaturalNews) The danger of superbugs — infectious germs that are resistant to a host of Big Pharma’s drug arsenal — a growing and deadly problem in the 21st century. For example, as NaturalNews covered earlier this year, the U.S. meat supply is contaminated with disease-causing bacteria, including the superbug variety (http://www.naturalnews.com/032099_poultry_superbugs.html). And hospitals are now breeding grounds for the antibiotic resistant germs. In fact, the heartbreaking truth is that newborn babies are acquiring these superbug infections at an alarming rate in neonatal units (http://www.naturalnews.com/026587_infections_infection_superbug.html). But while superbugs are resistant to most antibiotics, a new superbug strain has been found that is completely resistant to every antibiotic . That’s the finding of an international research team who just announced their discovery — a superbug form of gonorrhea — at the International Society for Sexually Transmitted Disease Research (ISSTDR) currently underway in Quebec City, Canada. In a statement to the media, Dr. Magnus Unemo of the Swedish Reference Laboratory for Pathogenic Neisseria, warned that the new strain is likely to transform a common and once easily treatable infection into nothing less than a global threat to public health. Dr. Unemo, Dr. Makoto Ohnishi and their colleagues have identified a variant of the bacterium which causes gonorrhea, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, that has never been documented before. And, as the researchers analyzed this new strain, (called H041, for short) they found genetic mutations in the bacterium that have resulted in a fearsome superbug that shows what the scientists called “extreme resistance” to all cephalosporin-class antibiotics — the only drugs that, until now, have remained effective in treating gonorrhea. “This is both an alarming and a predictable discovery,” Dr. Unemo said in the media statement. “Since antibiotics became the standard treatment for gonorrhea in the 1940s, this bacterium has shown a remarkable capacity to develop resistance mechanisms to all drugs introduced to control it.” “While it is still too early to assess if this new strain has become widespread, the history of newly emergent resistance in the bacterium suggests that it may spread rapidly unless new drugs and effective treatment programs are developed,” Dr. Unemo continued. The new superbug strain is especially dangerous because gonorrhea is one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases on the planet. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the number of cases in the U.S. alone is around 700,000 annually. It’s a particularly insidious STD because it doesn’t immediately produce symptoms in around half of infected women and approximately 2 to 5 percent of men. When symptoms occur, they include a burning sensation during urination and a discharge of pus from the genitals. If it is left untreated — or, in the case of the new strain, can’t be treated, gonorrhea can cause serious, irreversible health complications in both sexes, including skin, blood, joint and heart problems leading to death. Not only can infection with gonorrhea result in chronic pelvic pain and ectopic pregnancy, it can cause infertility in women (and, to a lesser degree, in men). It also increases the risk of HIV transmission. Babies born to mothers infected with gonorrhea are at high risk for developing serious blood and joint infections and may be blind, too. While the discovery a new strain of gonorrhea superbug is worrisome, don’t panic. Remember that your first line of defense is safe sex and a healthy immune system bolstered by good nutrition and a healthy lifestyle. In addition, you can search the NaturalNews archives for natural approaches to fighting superbugs without relying on Big Pharma’s drugs. For more information: http://www2.ulaval.ca/en/press-room.html http://www.naturalnews.com/superbugs.html http://www.naturalnews.com/027879_superbugs_disinfectants.html

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