Confront the coffee controversy

(NaturalNews) Just a couple of decades ago, quitting coffee was a prerequisite for establishing a healthy diet and adopting a healthier lifestyle. But gradually, several new research studies into coffee drinking have provided health benefits from drinking coffee. So now we have both positive and negative health effects from drinking coffee. Coffee benefits It’s not just the caffeine, but a synergistic combination of caffeine and an unnamed natural compound stimulate higher blood levels of GCSF (granulocyte colony stimulating factor), which protect the brain from dementia and degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. This conclusion was published in The Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease , May/June 2011 from research by a team at the University of South Florida. Coffee drinkers also showed lower rates of diabetes and strokes. An American Heart Association’s journal, Stroke , published findings from a long term Swedish study involving 35,000 women. Dr. Susanna Larsson led this study from The Division of Nutritional Epidemiology at the Karolinska Institute’s National Institute of Environmental Medicine. The heaviest coffee consumption is commonly found in regions that are often overcast, drizzly, and dreary. The Pacific Northwest in America is a good example. Apparently coffee offers some protection against depression also. The protections against the diseases of concern noted in the studies were very substantial. Since coffee beans are loaded with antioxidants, coffee should be consumed without dairy, sugar, or artificial sweeteners. Sweetening with Stevia would be okay. Avoid flavored coffees. Of course, forget the standard pastries and cigarettes normally associated with drinking coffee. That could be what causes bad health more among coffee drinkers than just coffee. Organic black coffee with natural whole grain toast or pastries is a good way to have your java fix without adding items that minimize or neutralize coffee’s antioxidants. Coffee drawbacks Addiction, inability to fall asleep if consumed at night, and caffeine jitters are the most obvious downsides. Using decaffeinated coffee, which leaves just enough caffeine to combine with the mystery compound and antioxidants, has shown similar, albeit lesser, health benefits as regular coffee. Just make sure it’s decaffeinated with water or steam, not chemicals. Since caffeine is a diuretic, any kidney or bladder problems can be exacerbated. If not, beware of not replenishing eliminated liquid with purified water. Perhaps the worst ill effect of excess coffee drinking involves the adrenal glands. When we drink coffee, the adrenal glands are stimulated to produce adrenaline. This is part of the flight or fight syndrome. It is what causes irritability, especially since it also inhibits soothing serotonin. If coffee is consumed excessively too often and too long, one can experience Adrenal Fatigue, a malady that seems to be recognized by holistic medicine only. Adrenal Fatigue lowers cortisol production, making it very difficult to cope with stress. Read more here: http://www.naturalnews.com/024985_cortisol_blood_fatigue.html Clarifying coffee type confusions There are generally two basic types of beans sold widely, Arabica and Robusta. You’ll find Arabica beans in discriminating coffee shops and health food stores. Arabica beans offer richer flavor than Robusta beans, which are usually used in less expensive coffees. Organic coffee beans are easy to find nowadays. Types of roast vary from light to dark. Contrary to popular belief, dark roasted beans contain slightly less caffeine than lighter roasts . And espresso, commonly spelled incorrectly as expresso, does not depend on the level of roasting. Purists argue that only lever operated steam pressure machines make real espresso. And any roast can be used. You can enjoy your java without guilt if the positive exceeds the negative. Sources for this article include: http://www.liveinthenow.com/article/mystery-compound-in-coffee-protects-against-alzheimer%e2%80%99s?utm_source=san&utm_medium=newsflash&utm_content=a&utm_campaign=10_23_11 http://www.bewellbuzz.com/wellness-buzz/coffee-good-bad/ http://longevity.about.com/od/lifelongnutrition/a/coffee_health.htm http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-the-different-types-of-coffee-beans.htm http://www.naturalnews.com/012352.html

The true history of Dole, banana plantations, chemical pesticides and human suffering

(NaturalNews) One Hundred Years of Solitude, a novel by Gabrielle Garcia Marquez, is a historical account of the fictional town Macondo. A town loosely set around his Mr. Marquez’s hometown in Aracataca, Columbia. A tale that is a social commentary of sorts on the effect of the American banana industry and the environmental, social, and physical havoc that followed it its wake. Dole’s Early Years Castle and Cook to Standard Fruit to Dole, the name changes but Dole’s dirty game stays the same because dirty is the way Dole likes to play. American naturalist Dan Koeppel relates an often forgotten story surrounding some of Dole’s initial business dealings in the Honduras. In 1903 the town hall in La Ceiba burned down taking with it marriage, birth, and land records. (http://www.dn.se/kultur-noje/essa/det-sekellanga-kriget-om-bananerna) The destruction of the land records left the officials with no official determination of who owned what land. Joseph Vaccato and his company Standard Fruit capitalized on this event in two ways- they no longer had to pay plot owners for using their land to grow bananas and the Dole plantations surrounding the village got most of the land in the reshuffle. Fast forward to 2011 where Dole is now the largest fresh fruit company with revenues over 7 billion dollars. Dole and DBCP In June 1989, Mother Jones went down to Costa Rica to get a first hand account from workers in the small villages of Rio Frio and Valle de la Estrella regarding the effect of the toxin DBCP on their lives. DBCP, formally known as dibromochloroproprane, is often referred to by its street name Nemagon. This nematicde was the all the rage with fruit companies because it was extremely effective at killing a microscopic worm that feeds on banana plant roots without damaging the plants. The problem is that Nemagon is directly tied to sterility in men, miscarriages, stillbirths, birth defects, various types of cancer, depression, impotence and the list goes on. The workers interviewed explained that direct exposure resulted from workers carrying the chemical in containers on their backs as they treated the banana plants. One worker reported that the chemical felt at first hot and stingy, then quickly went to cool and icy and that “it smelled awful and made us sleepy”. Workers also commented on the environmental effects, ” All the frogs and toads were gone in the valley after we used Nemagon… the fish would die in the rivers”. (http://books.google.com/books?id=NucDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA20&lpg=PA20&dq=dark%20history%20of%20dole%20banana&source=bl&ots=h9OpHIZdlP&sig=h0vS5IgGNlaZ_FbOuOy3WcYWH8o&hl=en&ei=3W_mTfWTGpGjtgeloPHCCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBsQ6AEwADgU#v=onepage&q&f=false) Both the manufactures of Nemagon and the U.S. government have been aware of its sterility and carcinogenic effects since the 1950′s. Yet it wasn’t until 1977 when workers at an Occidental plant noticed that they all were sterile, that the true effects of Nemagon became painfully clear. In the midst of the news storm that followed the discovery- Dow and Shell closed down production of DBCP. Also, the EPA began the process of deregulating the toxin: making it illegal to use within the United States. Main competitors Chiquita and Del Monte stopped using the chemical in 1977, but not Dole. Instead Dole took the position of favoring its profits over the health and well being of its workers. When Dow tried to back out of shipping Dole DBCP, Dole threatened to sue them for breach of contract. (http://books.google.com/books?id=DY4r1GsMq1wC&pg=PT192&dq=dole%20banana&hl=en&ei=WHPmTbvAJM-UtwfX9vXuCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&sqi=2&ved=0CC4Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=dole%20banana&f=false) Mother Jones reporters Constance Mattheissen and David Weir spoke with Jack Dement, who was at the time of the Nemagon scandal, in charge of overseeing what chemicals were to be used on Dole plantations abroad. In an internal memo, dated August 6, 1977, Dement made the decision to continue to use DBCP until it was banned in the company’s areas of operation. EPA findings be damned – Dole publicly used the chemical in various countries around the world until mid- 1978. However, Mother Jones reported that another internal report existed that contained evidence that Dole was using Nemagon in its foreign banana plantations as late as November 1980. Again, in 1988 45 Dole workers were poisoned by a DBCP substitute named Temik a highly toxic known disrupter of the human immune system. In 2002 the Human Rights watch uncovered abuses by Dole in Ecuador, a country that supplies Dole with one-third of all of their bananas. The report contained evidence that children as young as 8 were working 12-hour days, using sharp and dangerous equipment, frequently exposed to pesticides, and subject to sexual harassment. Granted similar abuses existed on other fruit company plantations, however seventy percent of the children interviewed worked on a plantation that supplied Dole. (http://www.globalexchange.org/campaigns/bananas/hrw042502.html) In 2010 Dole was included on the scrooge list of the International Labor Rights Forum as a company notorious for suppressing workers right to organize. The company has been accused of making payment to a paramilitary group in Columbia known as the AUC. Statements given by AUC commanders attest to receiving this payment from Dole and other multi-national corporations. A lawsuit (that was subsequently dismissed) alleged that Dole was the mastermind being the murder of 51 men, in a bid to takeover their land. (http://www.laborrights.org/sites/default/files/publications-and-resources/WorkingForScrooge2010.pdf) Dole and DBCP Litigation Early litigation cases against Dole were relatively successful- in 1992 over 1000 Costa Rican workers won a damage awared of of 20 million. In 1993 another class action suit against Dole, Chiquita, Del Monte, Dow, Shell and Occidental resulted in a 41.5 settlement for workers from Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and the Philippines. Yet other cases have fallen short, Dole alleges fraud, and somehow verdicts are lessened and judgments are overturned. In a now infamous case, Attorney Juan Dominguez filed suit in 2008 against both Dow and Dole. In a classic Dole move the company sought to have the case dismissed on the grounds of fraud by Juan Dominguez and some of the Plaintiffs. In 2009, relying on testimony from John Doe witnesses (Dole successfully won a motion for them to remain anonymous due to concern for their safety), Judge Victoria Cheney dismissed the case. Another victory for Dole, but maybe just temporarily, in January 2010, the plaintiff’s new attorney made a motion challenging the dismissal. It seems as if some of those “Jane Doe” witnesses have come forward and publicly stated that their testimony was procured by Dole via bribery. http://www.elnuevodiario.com.ni/nacionales/74115 Earlier this year the Tellez case received another small victory – Juan Dominguez, the attorney whom Dole accused of participating in the fraud, was cleared of any wrongdoing by the State Bar of California Dole Goes BANANAS! Swedish filmmaker Frederick Gertten filmed a documentary about the Tellez case and when a trailer was shown after the film’s entry into the 2009 LA Film Festival competition, Dole flipped their wig. Dole didn’t even wait until it’d seen the movie to begin its campaign of harassment. Dole deployed their hired gun- law firm Gibson, Dunn, and Crutcher – and sent numerous cease and desist letters to individuals involved directly and indirectly with the film. Dole even went as far as to petition Judge Cheney and the Swedish Embassy to step in and block the film. (http://www.bananasthemovie.com/wp-content/uploads/resources/letter_from_dole_may8_09.pdf ) (http://www.bananasthemovie.com/wp-content/uploads/resources/letter_dole-hafstrom_june5_09.pdf) Soon after the films limited release Dole filed a SLAPP suit, then they got slapped…. in the face with a furious backlash from the Swedish community that climbed as high as the Swedish Parliament. Soon a bi-partisan petition was circulating in Parliament that called upon Dole to dismiss its suit, which it eventually did. The anti-SLAPP filed by Gertten and his crew was granted and Dole was ordered to pay their attorneys fees. Dole’s reaction to the film was telling, this is a company that doesn’t want their machinations revealed to the American public. Those bananas on your kitchen counter come at a pretty steep price – the destruction of workers lives and their environment- the only question left to be answered is whether or not this system is one in which you want to be an active participant. 1. http://books.google.com/books?id=NucDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA20&lpg=PA20&dq=dark%20history%20of%20dole%20banana&source=bl&ots=h9OpHIZdlP&sig=h0vS5IgGNlaZ_FbOuOy3WcYWH8o&hl=en&ei=3W_mTfWTGpGjtgeloPHCCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBsQ6AEwADgU#v=onepage&q&f=false 2. http://www.bananasthemovie.com/juan-dominguez-cleared-of-any-wrongdoing-by-state-bar 3. 3. http://www.vipirg.ca/publications/pubs/student_papers/02_ecofootprint_bananas.pdf 4. http://www.bananasthemovie.com/wp-content/uploads/resources/letter_from_dole_may14_09.pdf 5. http://www.lakartidningen.se/07engine.php?articleId=12678 6. http://www.dn.se/kultur-noje/essa/det-sekellanga-kriget-om-bananerna 7. http://www.bananasthemovie.com/bananas-under-fire-timeline 8. http://www.bananasthemovie.com/dole-to-withdraw-defamation-suit 9. http://www.dailyfinance.com/financials/dole-food-company-inc-common-stock/dole/nys/income-statement

After being arrested twice, dedicated activists tie themselves to tractors to stop plantings of GM potatoes

(NaturalNews) When petitions, protests, and even sit-ins were not enough to stop the biotechnology giant BASF from planting its genetically-modified (GM) Amflora potato in Sweden, Greenpeace activists there “walked their talk,” so to speak, by literally tying themselves to the tractor plows that were about to be used to spread the GM seeds throughout fields. As we recently reported here on NaturalNews, an initial group of activists, for the second year in a row, had been blocking the entrance to the BASF warehouse near the field where Amflora was to be planted, that is until police came and arrested them (http://www.naturalnews.com/032544_BASF_GM_potatoes.html). Now, a new group has taken their place to continue the efforts of the first by doing whatever it takes to stop BASF from planting the crops in violation of EU law, even if it means going directly after the company’s planting equipment. Amflora potatoes contain an artificially added gene that is resistant to antibiotics, which opponents say is contributing to the rising epidemic of antibiotic resistance around the world. Amflora was also never properly investigated for safety, nor was it subjected to a rigorous environmental impact review as it should have been — the Swedish government basically just allowed the European Commission to approve the “Frankencrop” arbitrarily without so much as a peep of opposition. So activists have decided to take matters into their own hands once again, this time directly accosting BASF tractor plows, which were actually accompanied by a police escort in expectation of the activists. Police arrested seven members of the group early on, but a number of others made it through the blockade where they proceeded to tie themselves to the plows. You can view photos of Greenpeace’s efforts here: https://info.greenpeace.se/a_mediarelease/?openfolder=110519_Haparanda_Sweden_GMO_repository_blockade/ “What we see here happening is that the profit interests of a company like BASF is ranked higher than the health interests of the European public who by large majority rejects the cultivation of GMOs,” said Ludvig Tillman of Greenpeace Sweden. “The Commission rubberstamped the approval of risky Amflora and the Swedish government did nothing but watching [sic]. So if they do not act, we have to act.” To help stop BASF’s efforts to plant GM Amflora in Sweden, visit: http://www.naturalnews.com/032585_GM_potatoes_petition.html Sources for this story include: http://gmwatch.eu/latest-listing/1-news-items/13232-greenpeace-hinders-basf-from-planting-risky-gm-potato

Dental surgery causes American woman to speak with British accent

(NaturalNews) “When I talk now people ask me where I got my accent from. Well, I got it from a dentist in Toledo.” jokes Karen Butler. Butler believes she has foreign accent syndrome, a condition so rare that there are only 60 known cases worldwide. Butler, a 56-year-old tax consultant who grew up in Toledo, Ore., woke up with the strange accent, which could be taken for anything from Eastern European to Swedish or British, after dental surgery in November 2009. Butler had the surgery to remove her top teeth and front bottom teeth due to gingivitis. After the swelling went down the following week, she had still not regained her original accent. Her dentist told her that it was a matter of getting used to the new teeth. But a year and a half later the accent remains. “I had just had surgery, so at first we assumed it was because of all of the swelling, but within a week the swelling went down and the accent stayed,” said Butler. The accidental accent is usually fleeting and goes away within weeks or months, said Dr. Ted Lowenkopf, a neurologist and medical director of Providence Stroke Center in Portland, Ore. But the longer it lasts, the more likely it is to stick for good. The syndrome is often the result of brain injury, but Butler believes she hasn’t had a stroke or any brain trauma. She said she has not been able to get a brain scan because her medical insurance will not cover it. “We don’t know exactly how or why it happens, but it simply affects rhythm of language,” said Dr. Helmi Lutsep, professor and vice-chair of the Department of Neurology at Oregon Health and Science University. He says that in some cases the speech just sounds a bit “off” while other cases are far more extreme. “I’m absolutely convinced this is a real phenomenon. These people are not making it up.” “Although we think it sounds like a British accent, if you had a language expert listening to her, they would say that’s not an English accent,” said Lowenkopf. “It’s sort of an amalgam of different-sounding speech that sounds like a foreign accent. But it’s not truly typical of any one foreign accent.” Butler said she can’t hear her own accent when she speaks, but can feel herself forming words differently. She talks about her daughter, Jamie, as a “twenty-VUN” year old. Although speech therapy could help Butler regain her old accent, she said she is used the new one. “I appear to be completely normal otherwise and I’m quite OK with [the accent],” she said. “With a sense of humor, you can face anything.” She feels the accent is a benefit to her in a way. “I used to be painfully shy,” she said. “And now there’s always something to talk about” Sources for this story include: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/MindMoodNews/foreign-accent-syndrome-oregon-woman-wakes-surgery-accent/story?id=13518030 http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_FOREIGN_ACCENT_SYNDROME?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-06-05-16-55-04

WHO panel warns that cell phone use may cause cancer

(NaturalNews) Scientists from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), a group affiliated with the World Health Organization (WHO), say that mobile phones are a “possible” carcinogen that may be a cause of cancer. The findings, which support previous research on the subject, add to the growing body of evidence which suggests that the electromagnetic radiation emitted from mobile phones causes serious health problems. “A positive association has been observed between exposure to the agent and cancer for which a causal interpretation is considered … to be credible,” states the IARC. However, in the same train of thought, the agency claims that evidence is “limited” to suggest that mobile phone usage is linked to glioma or acoustic neuroma, two types of brain cancer. In 2009, IARC published a study in the Journal of Clinical Oncology that linked mobile phone usage to an 18 percent increase in brain tumor risk. And because it was observed that such tumors tended to form on the sides of brains where mobile phones were primarily used, the connection between the two is even more striking (http://www.naturalnews.com/027448_cell_phone_brain_health.html). Another report issued in 2010 by the International Electromagnetic Field Cooperative (IEFC) also found a link between mobile phone usage and increased rates of brain tumors. Included in this report is a Swedish study that found a 420 percent increase in brain cancer rates among children who began using mobile and cordless phones as teenagers, as opposed to those that did not (http://www.naturalnews.com/028078_cell_phones_brain_cancer.html). With all of this research now available and the latest announcement from IARC, one would think more people would be concerned about the risks involved with the excessive use of mobile phones and looking for less-risky alternatives or using hands-free devices at the very least. But because the period between when a cancer patient is exposed to this radiation and when he or she develops tumors typically spans several decades, some experts claim that the link between the two is inconclusive and are content to tell the public there is really little to worry about. Sources for this story include: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110531/ap_on_he_me/eu_med_cellphones_and_cancer

Eat spinach for bigger muscles, better cell performance

(NaturalNews) Popeye was right; eating spinach really does help build muscle strength and improve cellular function, according to a new study released by the Swedish medical school Karolinska Institutet. A follow-up to a similar study released by the school back in the 1990s, researchers again observed that the natural nitrates found in spinach and other leafy greens feed muscular mitochondria, and thus help regulate blood pressure, immune defense, and cell metabolism. Inorganic nitrates, which are different than the synthetic nitrates commonly added to processed foods, are used by the body to produce nitric oxide (NO), a vital molecular component that delivers oxygen to blood and performs a variety of other physiological and pathological processes in the body. NO is a powerful anti-inflammatory, anti-thrombotic, and vasodilation agent, all of which result in numerous health benefits. And it turns out that spinach is loaded with these nitrates, which are converted into NO and used throughout the body. Professors Eddie Weitzberg and Jon Lundberg, coauthors of the Swedish study, observed that consuming the nitrate equivalent of 200-300g of spinach for just three days along with intense exercise improves mitochondrial efficiency. This in turn reduces oxygen consumption and increases the production of energy-rich substances in muscle tissue, resulting in both improved muscle gains and better overall health. “The mitochondria play a key role in cellular metabolism,” said the authors. “Improved mitochondrial function probably has many positive effects on the body, and could explain some of the health benefits of vegetables.” Besides improving muscle growth and cellular health, the NO-producing substances in spinach also help treat diseases like diabetes and heart disease, which are a product of mitochondrial dysfunction. Since NO helps reduce blood pressure, it is capable of warding off diabetes in pre-diabetic individuals, as well as reducing strain on the heart, which can lead to heart attack or stroke. Sources for this story include: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-02/ki-nim020211.php

Chocolate compounds fight high cholesterol

(NaturalNews) Chocolate has received a lot of attention for being a treasure trove of nutritional goodness. Polyphenols in cacao beans are linked to promoting heart, brain, and liver health, which has sparked renewed interest in chocolate as a medicinal food. And a new study adds to the growing list of benefits, showing that chocolate polyphenols also help to lower bad cholesterol. Published in the journal Diabetic Medicine , the study tested the effects of polyphenol-rich chocolate in a group of 12 volunteers with type-2 diabetes. After 16 weeks, the researchers from Hull University in the U.K. discovered that the polyphenols helped lower participants’ bad cholesterol levels while raising good cholesterol levels. “Chocolate with a high cocoa content should be included in the diet of individuals with type-2 diabetes as part of a sensible, balanced approach to diet and lifestyle,” said professor Steve Akin, author of the study. Back in August, NaturalNews covered a Swedish study that found similar results (http://www.naturalnews.com/029559_cocoa_cardiovascular.html). It also showed that high-flavanol chocolate that has been minimally processed is much different than the highly-processed chocolate candy sold in most grocery stores. Actual cacao beans are rich in vital nutrients, including alkaloid bitters like theobromine (a different substance than the harmful bromine chemical), which stimulates the heart muscle and dilates blood vessels. This compound and others provide demonstrable benefits in lowering high blood pressure and maintaining healthy arteries. Processed chocolate, however, has been stripped of most or all of these nutrients. Add in the bad fats and refined sugars and you are left with a chocolate product that is actually bad for your health. So when consuming chocolate, be sure to look for unprocessed, superfood varieties like those made by Transition Nutrition (www.TransitionNutrition.com), Empowered Chocolate (www.EmpoweredFoods.com), Sacred Chocolate (http://www.sacredchocolate.com/raw-chocolate-sacred-chocolate.html), and WildBar (www.WildBar.info). Sources for this story include: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-11554951

Using ultrasounds to determine gestational age could kill your baby

(NaturalNews) Ultrasounds can be a great way to monitor the development of an unborn baby, but improper use of them could have potentially fatal outcomes for the child. A new study out of Sweden has found that using ultrasounds alone to determine the gestational age of a baby girl could cause her to unnecessarily be born post-term, which in some cases can lead to death. Dr. Alkistis Skalkidou from Uppsala Universitet in Uppsala and his colleagues found that doctors who use ultrasound measurements alone to determine the age of baby girls during their second trimester of development may mistakenly think those babies are younger than they actually are, and thus deliver them late. Babies who stay in the womb for too long face potentially serious health problems, including death. For the study, researchers compared two sets of data from the Swedish Medical Birth Register: one set from between 1973 and 1978, a time when doctors typically used women’s menstrual periods to estimate fetal age, and the other from between 1995 and 2007, when ultrasound measurements were more commonly used. They found that during the latter period, baby girls were 40 percent more likely to develop meconium aspiration, a potentially fatal lung disease, and 60 percent more likely to die during labor, compared to boys. The team believes that “systemic misclassification” is to blame, where doctors simply rely on the size of the baby in ultrasound images to determine its age, rather than utilize multiple methods, including keeping track of the mother’s menstrual cycles. Researchers are urging doctors to use both ultrasounds and menstrual cycles as evaluative tools in determining the age of unborn babies in order to reduce the number of mistaken post-term deliveries. Sources for this story include: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE68M4E320100923

A simple massage could keep you from getting sick

(NaturalNews) Massages are a great way to release tension and stress and promote relaxation. But a new study published in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine has revealed for the first time that massages also provide a measurable, therapeutic benefit to the immune system as well. Dr. Mark Rapaport and his team of researchers from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, Calif., evaluated 53 people, 29 of which received 45-minute Swedish massages–one of the most common forms of massage used in the U.S.–and 24 who received gentler, light touch massages. Researchers took blood samples at intervals before and after the massages and found that those who received even just one Swedish massage experienced significant, positive changes in blood composition. “This research indicates that massage doesn’t only feel good, it also may be good for you,” explained Dr. Rapaport in a press release. “People often seek out massage as part of a healthy lifestyle but there hasn’t been much physiological proof of the body’s heightened immune response following massage until now.” Besides experiencing a significant increase in lymphocytes, the white cells in the body that help fight and prevent disease, the Swedish massage group experienced lower cortisol levels as well. Cortisol is the hormone released by the adrenal gland in response to stress. The Swedish massage group also experienced a decrease in arginine vasopressin, a hormone linked with aggressive behavior. “European-style massage is often used to treat back pain, sleep disorders, and other stress-related disorders,” explain Bradley J. Willcox, D. Craig Willcox and Makoto Suzuki in their book The Okinawa Program: How the World’s Longest-Lived People Achieve Everlasting Health . Sources for this story include: http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/la-heb-massage-20100909,0,6924718.story

Conventional prostate cancer treatments increase risk of blood clots by 250 percent

(NaturalNews) A recent study published in The Lancet Oncology has found that men with prostate cancer are twice as likely as healthy men to suffer a blood clot, and those with the disease who undergo certain conventional treatments are at an even greater risk. The study involved 76,000 Swedish men who were evaluated based on the number of cases of deep-vein thrombosis (DVT), pulmonary embolism and arterial embolism that occurred. Participants on hormone therapy were twice as likely to suffer a pulmonary embolism and two-and-a-half times more likely to have DVT than those who did not receive the treatment. Similar results were observed for those receiving curative prostate cancer treatments. Pulmonary embolism risk doubled as a result of the treatment while DVT risk increased by 173 percent. Scientists cannot explain how having prostate cancer alone increases the likelihood of a patient suffering from a blood clot, but they do know that conventional treatments increase the risk even more. Some even suggest that the treatments themselves are fully responsible for causing clots. According to reports, up to 50 percent of all patients treated in a hospital are at risk of developing a blood clot in their legs. The clots can spread throughout the body and end up in places like the lungs where they can cause serious damage. Some symptoms of a leg blood clot include considerable swelling and/or pain in the calf or thigh. There may also be a heat sensation in the leg and it may turn red or purple. Patients should contact their doctors immediately if they suspect a blood clot. Prostate cancer patients on these therapies may wish to consult with their doctors about alternative treatment options. Though many supposed experts disagree, there are alternative methods to fight prostate cancer that are effective and that don’t destroy the rest of the body along with the disease. Just last December, experts at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research Conference, shared the results of three recent studies on natural ways to treat and prevent cancer, which included a study on hops, another on coffee and another on exercise. Saw palmetto, walnuts, tomatoes and pomegranates have all been studied and found to fight prostate cancer as well. A diet composed of a variety of nutrient-rich fruits, vegetables, herbs, nuts and healthy oils will work to combat the disease. Sources for this story include: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article7096725.ece

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