Fighting big 'C'

T-cells attacking a tumour Imagine a day when doctors are able to train a patient's blood cells to fight cancer.

They take some blood, extract the white blood cells, then coax them in the laboratory to memorise the cells that cause cancer.

When injected back into the body, the memory T-cells go on to hunt and destroy tumour cells for more than a year.

For a handful of patients around the world - such a treatment has already become a reality. The hope is that in five to ten years' time, this highly experimental therapy could make the leap to approved drug.

This week, US scientists reported their results on nine patients with one of the deadliest forms of cancer.

All had advanced melanoma that had spread from the skin to other parts of the body.

End QuoteDr Marcus ButlerDana-Farber Cancer Institute Melanoma can usually be cured if detected and removed early.

But once they have spread around the body, most patients survive for less than a year.

The experimental therapy using "killer" T-cells did not stop the cancer progressing in most of the nine patients studied.

But in one, his cancers shrank and after two years they cannot be seen on scans.

These are very early days. As the researchers - led by Dr Marcus Butler of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute - point out, this is a phase I trial, and will need to be investigated in far larger numbers of patients.

But it offers a glimpse of what experimental treatments like these might one day offer cancer patients.

Dr Butler told the BBC: "Cancer-killing T-cells trained in the lab can induce long-lasting anti-cancer effects.

"The dream would be that we could make a library of killer T-cells that we could generate quickly for patients."

Immunotherapy

The approach - known as adoptive T-cell therapy - has only been studied in a few hundred patients around the world.

Continue reading the main storyMELANOMA The most serious form of skin cancer Sun exposure is the main - and most preventable - risk factor, causing genetic damage to the skin Around one third of melanomas develop from normal moles The rest develop on areas of previously normal skin Warning signs include: Two halves of a mole do not look the same The edges of the mole are irregular, blurred or jagged Colour is uneven, with more than one shade Mole is wider than 6mm One obstacle is that the cells tend to disappear quickly when injected into cancer patients.

But the Dana-Farber research, published in the journal Science Translational Medicine , shows that the cells' life can be extended by priming them in the lab with an artificial version of cells found naturally in the immune system.

These cells inform the body's immune system that cancer is present and needs to be destroyed.

Co-author, Dr Naoto Hirano, says the next step is to study this technique in conjunction with other therapies that can boost the numbers and effectiveness of the T-cells.

He added: "We will be beginning a series of clinical trials to learn which combinations work best in which patients."

Dr Laura Bell, senior science information officer at Cancer Research UK, said the work is one of a large number of immunotherapy treatments now entering clinical trials.

"Immunotherapy is an exciting area of cancer research, designed to harness the power of the body's own immune system to fight cancer," she said.

"The results of laboratory research in this area are now starting to feed through into the clinic and we'll be following the progress of these trials with interest."

More on This Story Related Internet links Science Translational Medicine Dana-Farber Cancer Institute The BBC is not responsible for the content of external Internet sites

Energy boost

Not the best napping technique Air traffic controllers in the US have been advised to take 26-minute naps, after a string of incidents involving workers falling asleep. So is 26 minutes the ideal length of time for a nap?

Five cases of air traffic controllers falling asleep on the job have been revealed since March.

In three of those cases, disclosed by the Federal Aviation Association, workers have been fired.

Now the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is calling for "controlled naps" to be built into night shifts.

Referring to a 1995 study from Nasa, which he co-authored, NTSB member and fatigue expert Mark Rosekind said that a 26-minute nap would improve performance by 34% and alertness by 54%. There was other supporting evidence that said naps of between 20 minutes and 30 minutes were beneficial, he said.

His call for work naps is supported by the controllers' union, which wants naps to be allowed in both overnight and day shifts.

Beyond the aviation industry, combating fatigue is an issue that affects many people across all professions, working day and night, although it carries obvious risks in jobs that involve motoring or machinery.

But other experts are doubtful that 26 minutes is the optimum napping time.

It's a bit too long and risks you falling into a deep sleep, says Jim Horne, director of the Sleep Research Council in the UK, which advises the government on guidelines for drivers.

Continue reading the main story“Start QuoteOnce you get beyond 20 minutes, you risk a deep sleep and you can be much more groggy when you wake up”

End QuoteJim HorneSleep Research Council, UK "What we recommend is that a nap is combined with a cup of coffee so you have some caffeine, and that takes about 20 minutes to kick in.

"Have a cup of coffee and get your head down. Done together it has a more powerful effect."

It probably works out that a nap of about 15 minutes is best, he says, because once you get beyond 20 minutes, you risk a deep sleep and you can be much more groggy when you wake up.

"A lot of people take caffeine after they wake up, but you have a window of opportunity of 20 minutes, so it will help you wake up. It works, there's no doubt about it."

People can't instantly fall asleep, so it's impossible to exactly time how long you will be asleep, he says. But even 15 minutes of dozing is beneficial.

"At least by having caffeine, you know that in 20 minutes you will feel more alert."

If you haven't had a wink of sleep the night before, then this tactic won't be enough to refresh you, says Mr Horne, but for those that have had merely a poor night's sleep, it will work.

Early or late?

Longer naps would work if they became part of your daily routine, he says, because your body would get used to it and could wake up quite easily without feeling too groggy.

Jennifer Ackerman, author of Sex Sleep Eat Drink Dream: A Day in the Life of Your Body

Health writer Linda Wasmer Andrews, based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, also believes 26 minutes is too long. She says a nap of between 10 and 20 minutes is enough.

The timing of the nap is also important, she says. Putting your head down too early means your body may not be ready to sleep yet, but a nap that is too late in the day might make it harder to fall asleep come bedtime.

Early afternoon is often the best time, between 1-3pm, she says, when people experience a post-lunch dip in energy.

Whatever the best strategy is, it's unlikely that the US air traffic controllers will be adopting any such tactics soon.

Transport Secretary Ray LaHood has dismissed the proposal for on-the-job naps to be implemented in the aviation industry.

He said workers would not be paid to sleep, and instead ordered for more managers be hired to supervise nightshift workers and ensure they don't fall asleep on the job.

Saving lives

Woo Kum Tin managed to overcome liver cancer Exactly eight years ago, Woo Kum Tin had to make a life or death decision.

The 56-year-old was diagnosed with liver cancer and was given three days to decide whether to undergo major surgery to save his life.

"I could not believe it," Mr Woo recalls, adding that his wife made the doctor's appointment after she noticed he had lost his appetite.

"I tried to bargain with the doctor. Give me one month. Give me two weeks," he laughs.

His surgery went well, and although Mr Woo had a large chunk of his liver removed, he remains healthy.

In Asia, this makes him extremely lucky, not least because three-quarters of the world's liver cancer cases in males and two-thirds in females occur in the region.

With a fatality rate of 93%, it is a particularly Asian disease that has a high human and economic cost.

Deadly disease

According to the World Health Organization, liver cancer kills 700,000 people every year, which makes it the third most common cause of death from cancer worldwide.

Weighty issue

Men often give up sport as they get older Too many men are failing to recognise the health risks of being overweight, according to Men's Health Forum chief executive Peter Baker.

He says that by not acting to tackle the problem, the NHS is making "a rod for its own back".

Women face a lot of cultural pressure to be slim. This is largely not because of health concerns and can sometimes have quite tragic consequences.

It does mean though, that many women often have a good understanding of the factors that affect their weight.

The majority of men, on the other hand, appear not to be as bothered about their weight as they maybe should be. Neither are health services.

A significantly greater proportion of men are overweight or obese (66% of men compared with 57% of women).

Body image

Too many men still die too young - 22% of men in England and Wales die before they reach 64 compared to 13% of women.

Overweight and obesity are a major factor in this excess burden of male death.

Two thirds of men are overweight or obese - the obesity rate alone could rise to 60% by 2050.

Overweight men tend to be "apple-shaped", overweight women "pear-shaped". For complex physiological and biological reasons, this extra fat around the middle causes much greater harm.

Yet many men seem unconcerned about their weight.

This is a cultural thing. Women face a lot more body image pressure than men, although that is starting to affect some young men too.

But generally it appears men are less aware of the connection between excess weight and poorer health.

Being overweight increases the risks of heart disease and stroke - the biggest killers of men.

It is also an important risk factor for several cancers.

Men are 70% more likely than women to die from cancers common to both sexes and 60% more likely to get such a cancer.

Services 'not man-friendly'

This is not just about a choice between eating a burger and salad. It goes much further than diet.

More physical activity could make a big impact. Active men have a 20-30% reduced risk of early death and up to 50% reduced risk of developing major diseases.

Men are more likely than women to get some exercise but their exercise levels drop off very quickly as they get into their 30s.

We estimate a million men aged over 35 in England and Wales need to get more exercise if their age group is to be as active as younger men.

Some start feeling they can't keep up like they could when they were younger or become more worried about injuries. But instead of adapting how they play football or rugby, they stop all altogether.

There are other ways to get some exercise and reap the benefits - a Dutch study found commuters who cycle take less time off sick.

We need to let men know about alternatives to the style of football or rugby they played when they were 20.

The result of society's and men's own attitude to men's weight is that services do not really cater well for men. This includes the NHS weight loss services which are often not particularly "man friendly".

We need male-friendly approaches capable of engaging with men and we need them soon - especially in primary care and health promotion.

We need to improve men's physical activity levels, whether through sports or building exercise into routine.

By deterring men from seeking help with their weight the NHS is only making a rod for its own back.

These men will be more likely to need expensive treatment for serious conditions later on.

In the meantime they are more likely to take time off work as they become ill and their illnesses will cause distress throughout their family.

Ageing assets

Many elderly people are happy and healthy. The increasing number of elderly people in society tends to be seen as a problem.

But in this week's Scrubbing Up column, old age psychiatrist Dr Julian Hughes argues we should actually see the over-60s as a bonus.

The prospect of getting old has never seemed alluring. And even if this is changing with the important advocacy of people like Dame Joan Bakewell, the ageing population is still seen as a problem.

The problem of ageing for the individual appears as anything from wrinkles to memory problems; whilst the problem for ageing societies is seen as economic.

Increasingly, however, evidence is emerging that ageing is less of a problem than people, often younger, think it might be.

For a start, even if age does bring aches, it also seems - according to studies all over the world - to bring happiness.

A large study by Newcastle University, for instance, has shown that 85-year-olds, despite having significant levels of disease and impairment, are very positive about their health and are able to function well.

Even at the level of the economy, pointing the finger at older people turns out to be unfair.

The rest of society has to spend money on its older people, for sure, but the traffic is two-way, especially if (what are called) intergenerational transfers are measured broadly.

Putting it bluntly, older people are giving more to their offspring by and large than the other way around.

The big (older) society

If we look at volunteering, we discover that the big society is already here, and has been for years. But it is largely dominated by older people.

From the Women's Royal Voluntary Service, working in our hospitals and communities, to the volunteers working at National Trust properties or the voluntary work of faith-based charities, volunteers are more likely to be naturally silver.

This is active citizenship, but also active ageing.

End QuoteDr Julian Hughes Remaining active, of course, is good for you, both mentally and physically.

But, some will say, albeit we can paint an optimistic picture, isn't it the case that the diseases of old age will catch up with us eventually? Well, they might.

It is certainly true that living longer brings with it an increasing risk of age-associated conditions, from arthritis to stroke disease. However, we have to remember that longevity is a success.

Who wishes to live a life that is brutal and short? And if most people at 85 are enjoying their lives, why would we wish not to enjoy this possibility too?

After all, one aspiration of gerontology, the science of ageing, is that the morbidity curve can be squared off.

In other words, rather than the ends of our lives involving an inevitably slow decline, instead, after a relatively healthy old age, we'll die quickly.

Indeed, given the link between so many diseases and ageing, it makes sense to argue (somewhat radically) that if we could understand ageing itself (as we are increasingly doing), we might then have a better chance with cancer, heart disease, dementia, and so on.

The real challenge, however, is to do with making sense of our lives. If we're going to live longer, which we are, what's it for? Biomedical science and technology will help us to age.

The purpose of ageing, however, what gives life meaning, is a matter for the arts, social sciences and humanities.

'Lipo with your facial?'

Serious procedures like facelifts should not be classed with 'minor beauty procedures' The number of people having both cosmetic surgery and beauty treatments such as botox are increasing.

But in this week's Scrubbing Up, consultant plastic surgeon Fazel Fatah, president of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS), warns lines between the two are being blurred, and more effective regulation is needed.

You wouldn't trust your boiler to an unqualified engineer - so why do people continue to trust their face and body to untrained practitioners?

There is a difference between plastic surgery - facelifts, breast enhancement, tummy tucks, liposuction, etc - and cosmetic salon treatments such as lasers, peels and injectable fillers.

But the two are being confused in a way that trivialises surgery and puts patients in real danger.

Alarmingly, there are many practitioners offering procedures that require specialised surgical training and expertise which they do not have - and there is no regulation whatsoever to protect the public.

Theme parties

The beauty industry, like any other, has a legitimate right to maximize profit through honest marketing while providing a service to the customers.

Continue reading the main story“Start QuoteIt is highly unethical to cross sell serious medical procedures to an unwitting customer”

End QuoteMr Fazel Fatah However, bundling cosmetic surgery under the same terminology turns medical treatment into a commodity.

There is a clear risk to the public here and one I come across regularly when dissatisfied people come for advice, after having undergone a procedure they regret: cross selling.

While you may think there is nothing unethical about encouraging customers to buy two items from a shop when they intend to only buy one, it is highly unethical to cross sell serious medical procedures to an unwitting customer when she or he goes simply to have a non-invasive beauty treatment or injections to reduce wrinkles.

Unlike those, surgery carries risks and serious complications can happen, however rare they may be.

The less-invasive procedures, such as fillers and wrinkle-reducing injections, along with beauty treatments such as lasers and peels are offered by a range of professionals, including beauty therapists, dermatologists, GPs and dentists - some better trained than others.

And unfortunately, anybody can buy injectables on the internet and have a theme party in someone's front room.

While cosmetic treatment may be for vanity, the reasons for having aesthetic plastic surgery are more complex.

Done for the right reason, the reward is a significant enhancement of the wellbeing and quality of life for the patient.

Erosion

The real risk to patients from bundling cosmetic surgery with beauty industry emanates from the lack of enforceable regulations from the government.

The death of a trusting young woman from the UK in a New York hotel room after a silicone injection could happen here too.

The continual eroding of the line between what's considered 'surgical' and what's considered a simple beauty treatment or cosmetic medicine in the UK has lead some medically qualified doctors, who do not have surgical qualifications, to expand their cosmetic medicine to include surgical procedures.

Even more alarming, controversial treatments such as stem cell injection for breast enhancement are currently being offered to trusting women by some private clinics in London.

Continue reading the main story“Start QuoteLegislation is required”

End QuoteMr Fazel Fatah Misleading promises from an unproven technique that is still the subject of research in many countries puts patients at risk and it is unethical.

Such treatments must only be provided in specialist units and by qualified specialists as part of clinical trials to assess its safety and efficacy.

Let's be clear - cosmetic or aesthetic surgery is a branch of plastic and reconstructive surgery.

To become a plastic surgeon you have to go through a six-year program of specialist surgical training after qualifying as a doctor and finishing the basic surgical training.

You also have to pass a specialty examination.

Many qualified plastic surgeons also the undertake further specialist training.

And patient safety is at the heart of it all, before all other considerations - particularly financial interests.

Boundaries

The public expect surgical treatments to be provided by qualified specialists only, and they believe this to be the case.

Sadly, due to lack of regulations in the UK, this is simply not true.

We have now reached a stage where legislation is required to regulate the practice of surgery to protect the public from unqualified practitioners who perform surgery and for qualified surgeons to operate within the boundaries of their specialty.

The public deserves better and we are now falling behind some of the European countries in this respect.

 

Scientists turn 'bad fat' good

Brown fat burns calories while white fat stores them 'Good' baby fat keeps adults slimMore obesity ops 'will save cash' Scientists say they have found a way to turn body fat into a better type of fat that burns off calories and weight.

The US Johns Hopkins team made the breakthrough in rats but believe the same could be done in humans, offering the hope of a new way to treat obesity.

Modifying the expression of a protein linked to appetite not only reduced the animals' calorie intake and weight, but also transformed their fat composition.

"Bad" white fat became "good" brown fat, Cell Metabolism journal reports.

Brown fat is abundant in babies, which they use as a power source to generate body heat, expending calories at the same time.

But as we age our brown fat largely disappears and gets replaced by "bad" white fat, which typically sits as a spare tyre around the waist.

Continue reading the main story“Start QuoteWe will need a lot more work to tease this out, but it could offer a feasible way to develop new treatments for obesity”

End QuoteUK obesity expert Dr Jeremy Tomlinson Experts have reasoned that stimulating the body to make more brown fat rather than white fat could be a helpful way to control weight and prevent obesity and its related health problems like type 2 diabetes.

Novel approach

Various teams have been searching for a way to do this, and Dr Sheng Bi and colleagues at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine believe they may have cracked it.

They designed an experiment to see if suppressing an appetite-stimulating protein called NPY would decrease body weight in rats.

When they silenced NPY in the brains of the rodents they found their appetite and food intake decreased.

Even when the rats were fed a very rich, high-fat diet they still managed to keep more weight off than rats who had fully functioning NPY.

The scientists then checked the fat composition of the rats and found an interesting change had occurred.

In the rats with silenced NPY expression, some of the bad white fat had been replaced with good brown fat.

The researchers are hopeful that it may be possible to achieve the same effect in people by injecting brown fat stem cells under the skin to burn white fat and stimulate weight loss.

Dr Bi said: "If we could get the human body to turn bad fat into good fat that burns calories instead of storing them, we could add a serious new tool to tackle the obesity epidemic.

"Only future research will tell us if that is possible."

Dr Jeremy Tomlinson, an expert at the University of Birmingham's Centre for Obesity Research, said: "This is exciting, novel and interesting.

"We will need a lot more work to tease this out, but it could offer a feasible way to develop new treatments for obesity."

Juice cocktail 'good for heart'

Cranberry juice is in the blend of fruit juices, including grape, cranberry and blackcurrant, may have benefits for the heart, research suggests.

French scientists tested the blend on pig arteries in the lab, and found it caused artery walls to relax.

It remains to be seen whether fruit juices can improve vascular health, they report in a scientific journal.

The study adds weight to evidence fruit and veg reduces heart disease risk, says the British Heart Foundation.

The researchers looked for a chemical called polyphenol in fruit and berries.

They found the most active fruits included blackcurrant, blueberry, aronia (choke berries), cranberry, lingonberry and grape.

Commenting on the study, Tracy Parker, heart health dietitian at the British Heart Foundation, said: "This research adds more weight to evidence that eating fruit and vegetables is good for us in terms of reducing our risk for heart disease.

"However, we still don't fully understand why, or whether certain fruits and vegetables are better than others. Even this study acknowledges that scientists can't yet explain any link.

"What we do know is that we should all eat a wide range of fruit and veg as part of a balanced diet, and fruit juice is a tasty and handy way of doing this.

"Don't forget though, juice contains less fibre and more sugar than the original fruit so it only counts as one of our five-a-day."

FluPhone app to track epidemics

The FluPhone app tracks volunteer 'infected subjects' using Bluetooth technology surveillance maps global disease trends A mobile phone application could help monitor the way infectious diseases such as flu are spread.

The FluPhone app was developed by researchers at the University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory.

Volunteers' phones fitted with the app "talk" to each other, recording how many people each "infected subject" meets during an imaginary epidemic.

The university is one of seven institutions working on the study to reduce the impact of epidemics.

The FluPhone app uses Bluetooth technology to anonymously record interaction between volunteers involved in the study.

When mobile phones come into close proximity, that fact is recorded and data is sent automatically to the research team.

'Valuable insight'

Professor Jon Crowcroft and Dr Eiko Yoneki, co-principal investigators of the study, said they believed the collected data could be used to simulate social interaction during a real epidemic or pandemic.

A three-month FluPhone pilot study, using a basic version of the app, was conducted in Cambridge in 2010.

Dr Yoneki said: "The data was a valuable insight into how human communities are formed, how much time people spend together, and how frequently they meet.

"Such data show complex network-like structures, which is very useful for understanding the spread of disease."

More screening in pregnancy urged

Experts are divided on the need for thyroid screening Thyroid 'risk from pre-eclampsia' All pregnant women should be screened for hidden signs of thyroid disease, according to Czech researchers.

A blood test can pick up about a third of mothers-to-be who have no symptoms but will go on to develop full-blown disease after giving birth, they say.

Early detection could have major implications for the health of mothers and babies, they told the European Congress of Endocrinology.

UK midwives say more evidence is needed of the merits of screening.

The study, led by Dr Eliska Potlukova of Charles University in Prague, followed almost 200 women through early pregnancy and beyond.

About half of these had no symptoms of thyroid problems but had tested positive for a marker in the blood that suggests they may be at future risk.

Continue reading the main storyThyroid disease in pregnancy Thyroid disease happens when the thyroid gland produces too much (hyper) or too little (hypo) thyroid hormone Common causes of hyperthyroidism include Graves' Disease - where the body's immune system turns on itself Another auto-immune disorder - Hashimoto's thyroiditis - which causes hypothyroidism - is also common in pregnancy Uncontrolled thyroid conditions can cause risks to the mother and baby About a third of these women went on to develop thyroid problems within two years of birth.

Dr Potlukova said tens of thousands of European women who will have thyroid problems could be detected earlier, which has major implications for the health of mother and baby.

She told the BBC: "If a woman of childbearing age is thinking of getting pregnant she should visit her GP or gynaecologist to have her blood tested for thyroid function and thyroid auto-immunity.

"Every young women should be sure that her thyroid gland works fine before she gets pregnant."

Screening all pregnant women for thyroid problems has been discussed in many countries.

'Right direction'

In the US, universal screening was rejected in 2006 on the grounds of a lack of evidence that it would improve outcomes for mothers and babies.

Most countries, including the UK, recommend screening only high-risk women who have a family history of thyroid disease or have suffered thyroid problems in the past.

Sue Jacobs, a midwife teacher at the Royal College of Midwives, said more evidence was needed for the benefits of universal screening.

She said: "In the UK we have a comprehensive programme of antenatal care from as early as possible in pregnancy.

"This gives us a good baseline to monitor women throughout pregnancy and immediately after pregnancy."

The research was "a step in the right direction", she added, but needed to be repeated on a larger scale.

Call for teeth-whitening controls

The General Dental Council is calling for tougher controls on who is allowed to carry out teeth whitening in the UK.

Thousands of people have their teeth whitened every year in High Streets and shopping centres, by staff with no formal dental training.

After complaints about poor treatment, the council says teeth whitening is a dental procedure so only dental professionals should administer it.

However, teeth-whitening companies say it is a cosmetic not dental process.

Bleaching methods

The law in this area is unclear as teeth whitening was uncommon when the 1984 Dentists Act came into force.

The act says only dentists can perform dental procedures.

Teeth whitening is a way of lightening the natural colour of teeth using bleaching methods.

People often want it because their teeth have become discoloured through drinking, eating, smoking and with age.

One of the most common forms of teeth whitening is through laser treatment.

This involves putting a bleaching gel on the teeth, which are then exposed to an LED light for 15 to 30 minutes.

General Dental Council (GDC) chief executive and registrar Evlynne Gilvarry said: "Over the last few years we have received hundreds of complaints from the public and dental professionals about poor tooth whitening."

Bad experience

BBC Radio 5 live Breakfast spoke to Paula, who regrets having her teeth whitened at a beauty salon.

Drug hope for muscular dystrophy

Section through muscle fibres. The work could one day lead to a daily pill to treat all patients with the muscle-wasting disease, say Oxford University scientists.

About 100 boys are born with the condition in the UK each year.

It causes progressive muscle weakness, with most patients having to use a wheelchair by the age of 12.

The study, published in the journal PLoS ONE, was led by Professor Dame Kay Davies, of Oxford University.

She said: "We've shown that the drug can dramatically reduce muscle weakness in mice.

"These results give us everything we need to go forward into initial clinical trials in humans."

There is no effective treatment for the inherited disease - steroid and growth hormones help manage the symptoms but cannot protect muscles from decline.

Continue reading the main storyMuscular dystrophy Muscular dystrophies are a group of more than 20 different genetic neuromuscular disorders The most common, Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), affects about one in 3,500 boys Duchenne muscular dystrophy is caused by problems in a gene on the X chromosome that makes a protein called dystrophin, found in muscle fibres Muscle fibres break down and are gradually lost Another form - Becker muscular dystrophy - has similar but milder symptoms The drug was identified by screening thousands of therapeutic compounds for the ability to raise levels of a substance that boosts muscle strength.

The substance - utrophin - seems to compensate for the lack of a key protein, dystrophin, which does not work properly in muscular dystrophy.

The most promising candidate, named SMT C1100, was tested in a mouse model of muscular dystrophy at three laboratories in Oxford, Italy and the US.

Mice given the drug developed stronger muscles that did not tire as easily and could run 50% further in exercise tasks, the PLoS ONE study found.

Preliminary tests in healthy human volunteers raised no safety concerns but suggest a need for further work to improve the drug's formulation.

Professor Max Parmar, of the Medical Research Council, said: "This study, without necessarily providing us with the final solution, does gives us an important platform from which to move forward and really make a serious progression through clinical trials."

Dr Marita Pohlschmidt, director of research at the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign, told the BBC: "At this stage in the game this is very hopeful as it really works in the mice very, very well.

G20 death pathologist faces probe

Dr Patel is currently suspended from working as a pathologist. An investigation has been launched into the pathologist who concluded newspaper seller Ian Tomlinson died of natural causes, the BBC has learned.

The General Medical Council is investigating Dr Freddy Patel's work on the case which resulted in an "unlawful killing" verdict earlier this week.

Dr Patel found Mr Tomlinson died of a heart attack due to coronary artery disease after the 2009 G20 protest.

At the inquest six experts said that he was wrong and blamed internal bleeding.

The jury concluded on Tuesday that the bleeding had been caused by a blow to the abdomen when Mr Tomlinson was pushed to the ground by PC Simon Harwood.

It is thought the GMC began its investigation after receiving a complaint from Mr Tomlinson's family.

Dr Patel is currently serving a four-month suspension from pathological work after the GMC found his fitness to practice was "impaired", following a sub-standard autopsy on a murder victim and his acting dishonestly by falsifying his CV.

Last year, the pathologist was given a three-month ban for failings in post-mortem examination work in three earlier cases.

The GMC said it could not confirm officially whether an investigation was under way because of issues of "confidentiality".

NHS warned over competition drive

NHS reforms will open the health service up to more competition. The government must not become a "slave to competition" over the NHS, the ex-head of the health regulator says.

Anna Walker said competition had an important role to play in making the health service more efficient.

But Ms Walker, now head of the Office of Rail Regulation, said ministers had to learn from other sectors - and limit the scope of private involvement.

It came as private health firms hit out at what they said was scaremongering about the changes in England.

Under plans put forward by the coalition government, the NHS is to be opened up further to competition from private sector firms.

This has prompted unions to suggest the health service is at risk of being privatised.

'Complex beast'

Ms Walker, who was chief executive of the Healthcare Commission for five years until stepping down in 2009, said competition had an essential part to play in modernising the NHS.

But she added it had to be carefully managed.

She said having competition, in markets like the NHS where there was a lot of public money at stake, was complex and not as simple as having full-blown competition.

Instead, she said simply comparing performance between different NHS trusts or setting up strictly regulated mini-markets, like the rail franchises, needed to be explored.

"In my experience, competition is a complex beast.

Bottle-fed toddler 'weight risk'

Babies using a bottle for too long can be consuming too many calories. Babies who are bottle-fed until the age of two are more likely to be obese when they start school, a US study suggests.

Writing in the Journal of Pediatrics, researchers found that children who were still regular bottle users at 24 months were 30% more likely to be obese aged five-and-a-half.

They analysed data from nearly 7,000 children across the United States.

Experts say bottle-feeding can make babies consume too many calories.

The research found 22% of the two-year-olds studied were using a bottle as their main drink container, or were put to bed with a bottle containing a calorie-filled drink.

Nearly a quarter of this group were found to be obese aged five, compared with 16% of children who had not been using a bottle at the age of two.

Too many calories

The study authors, from universities in Ohio and Philadelphia, calculated the odds of obesity for children using a bottle at 24 months as 1.33 times higher than the odds for children not using a bottle.

Continue reading the main story“Start QuoteBabies should be introduced to a cup or beaker from six months and off a bottle completely by one year.”

End QuoteJanet FyleRoyal College of Midwives They suggest that parents should be encouraged to stop using a bottle by the child's first birthday because of the risk of over-feeding.

"Prolonged bottle use may lead to the child consuming excess calories, particularly when parents are using the bottle to comfort the child rather than to address the child's hunger or nutritional needs," the study paper says.

Study co-author Rachel Gooze, from the Centre for Obesity Research and Education at Temple University in Philadelphia, explained: "A 24-month-old girl of average weight and height who is put to bed with an eight-ounce bottle of whole milk would receive approximately 12% of her daily caloric needs from that bottle."

The parents' charity NCT (National Childbirth Trust) advises that babies should stop using a bottle and change to a cup before 12 months.

The Royal College of Midwives agrees. Their professional policy advsior Janet Fyle says that the practices of nutrition in the family determine whether a child is still using a bottle at two years old.

"If the child is continuing to use a bottle then the mother may be tempted to put something else in it like a sugary drink or rusk with milk. Then the child gets used to sweet things in their diet," she said.

"Babies should be introduced to a cup or beaker from six months and off a bottle completely by one year."

Study calls for heart drugs at 55

The study says preventive treatments like cholesterol and blood pressure lowering drugs could be given to all people over 55 Continue reading the main storyRelated StoriesWaist fat 'increases heart risk'Tomato pill 'beats heart disease'Gum and heart link 'breakthrough' All those over 55 should be offered drugs to lower cholesterol and blood pressure, according to a new study.

The report says that when assessing the risk of heart problems, offering treatment to all over-55s had the same results as testing for cholesterol or blood pressure problems.

The authors also argue it would be more simpler and cost effective.

But the Department of Health says the focus of the study is too narrow and ignores other health problems.

Writing in the open access journal PLoS ONE the authors, from the Wolfson Institute at Barts and the London Medical School, said age was by far the biggest factor in assessing someone's risk of cardiovascular disease such as heart attack or stroke.

They compared the effects of two screening programmes on a theoretical population of 500,000 people.

The first approach used screening just by age, where, at the age of 55, people would be offered preventive treatment, regardless of whether they were at risk.

Continue reading the main story“Start QuoteThe policy of selecting people above a certain age is, in effect, selecting people at high risk. It recognises that age is by far the most important determinant of that risk with other factors adding little extra prognostic information”

End QuoteProfessor Sir Nicholas WaldDirector of the Wolfson Institute The second approach used existing screening methods, based on age and sex, and whether someone was a smoker or has high blood pressure or cholesterol.

They found that both approaches had an 84% detection rate, but that offering everyone preventive treatment at 55 would be more cost effective.

The two methods also had a broadly similar false-positive rate - in other words, using age alone would diagnose 24% of people as being at risk, when in fact they would not go on to develop heart problems.

Existing methods of screening identified 21% of false-positives.

If screening by age alone was introduced, the authors believe it could prevent as many as 100,000 heart attacks and strokes each year in England and Wales alone.

Professor Sir Nicholas Wald is the lead author of the report and Director of the Wolfson Institute.

He said: "This study shows that age screening for future cardiovascular disease is simpler than current assessments, with a similar screening performance and cost effectiveness. It also avoids the need for blood tests and medical examinations.

"With age screening, all individuals above a specified age would be offered preventive treatment. Everyone would benefit because, for blood pressure and cholesterol, the lower the better.

"The policy of selecting people above a certain age is, in effect, selecting people at high risk. It recognises that age is by far the most important determinant of that risk with other factors adding little extra prognostic information.

"Prevention is better than measurement. Identifying people at high risk of cardiovascular disease needs to be greatly simplified, enabling people to obtain easy access to preventive treatment from nurses and pharmacists as well as from doctors."

Many parents 'anti sex education'

Many parents said children should only be taught about sex once they were 13. More than half of parents do not think sex education should be taught to children in school from a young age, a survey suggests.

Of 1,700 parents of UK 5-11 year olds surveyed by the BabyChild website, 59% said they disagreed with the practice.

The most common reason given was that it is "inappropriate to teach children about sex".

The survey comes after a Bill calling for girls to be "taught to say no" passed its first reading in parliament.

The Sex Education Bill, proposed as a 10 minute rule Bill by Conservative MP Nadine Dorries, would require schools to give girls aged 13 to 16 extra sex education lessons, giving "information and advice on the benefits of abstinence".

It was passed by 67 votes to 61, though is unlikely ever to become law without support from the government.

'Felt embarrassed'

In the survey, published on Thursday, parents were asked whether they agreed "with the fact that sex education is often taught to children in schools, even from a young age".

In total, 59% of respondents said they did not, 18% said they did, and 23% said they were impartial.

Of those who disagreed, the most frequently cited reason was "it is inappropriate to teach children about sex" (41%), followed by "it should be the parent's choice to teach their own child," (28%), "there is no need for children to know about sex" (27%) and "the lessons may encourage children to ask more about sexuality and sex" (22%).

When parents were asked at what age it was appropriate to teach sex education to children in schools, by far the largest number of parents (48%) said 13 or older.

More than one in six had already been asked about sex by their children, with most of the children first asking between the ages of four and seven years old.

The survey also asked parents how they reacted when asked.

The most popular response was "felt embarrassed" (38%), followed by "didn't know what to say" (32%) - although 31% of parents said they "explained in full everything they asked about".

And 13% admitted to diverting the child to his or her other parent - while 2% said they told the child off for asking.

Personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education - which includes teaching on sex and relationships - is not compulsory in England, unlike other parts of the UK, although it is in the national curriculum.

It is only compulsory to teach the biological facts of reproduction in secondary school science lessons and parents have the right to withdraw their children from sex education lessons.

However, campaign groups such as the Christian Institute say some councils have approved teaching materials for primary school children that contain explicit descriptions and cartoons they say are inappropriate.

'Daftest legislation'

Promoting her Bill, Ms Dorries quoted 2007 Office for National Statistics figures that she said showed that Britain has the highest teenage pregnancy rate in western Europe.

"Girls are taught to have safe sex, but not how to say no to a boyfriend who persists in wanting a sexual relationship," she argued.

Labour MP Chris Bryant said it was the "daftest piece of legislation" he had seen brought forward.

He said that boys, as well as girls, needed good quality sex education.

Countries such Holland, France and Germany had lower teenage pregnancy rates than the UK, and also had "much better sex and relationship education in their schools that starts at a much younger age and is much more explicit", he said.

In response to the Bill, the Sex Education Forum, a network of organisations under the umbrella of the National Children's Bureau, said there was "often misunderstanding" about what sex and relationships education in schools included.

For children aged three to six teaching is centred around issues like, "where do babies come from?", "why are girls' and boys' bodies different?" and "which parts of my body are private?", the SEF said.

At secondary school, lessons go into more detail - young people want more information about resisting pressure from friends or a partner, what to expect from a sexual relationship and how to cope with strong feelings such as anger, sadness, desire and love - and also about the law and sexual consent, it added.

"Girls and boys alike tell us that the sex and relationships education they are getting is often too late, too little and too biological," the SEF said in a statement.

Last year, inspectors for the education watchdog Ofsted said lessons about sex, relationships and health were not good enough in 25% of schools in England.

Teacher embarrassment and lack of knowledge were often to blame, Ofsted said in a report based on findings at 92 primary and 73 secondary schools.

The future of sex education is part of a current review of the entire national curriculum ordered by ministers.

Heart transplant units cut call

The number of heart transplants being carried out is falling The number of adult heart transplant units in the UK should be cut because too few transplants are being performed, heart experts say.

Doctors at Newcastle's Freeman Hospital said it was time to rethink the need for six centres after a 46% fall in transplants in the last decade.

They said having bigger and better resourced units may be preferable, the British Medical Journal reported.

The government has already indicated it is looking to carry out a review.

It is unclear why the number of heart transplants has fallen as the number of potential donors is at a record high.

A decade ago, 159 transplants were carried out each year, but by 2009-10 that had fallen to 86, the researchers said.

Continue reading the main story“Start QuoteEncouraging more people to join the organ donor register, or even better, changing our organ donation system so people must 'opt out' if they don't want to donate would help increase the number of donor hearts available”

End QuoteProfessor Peter WeissbergBritish Heart FoundationRisks The analysis by four doctors, including two surgeons, suggested it could be down to a lack of intensive care beds or it could be because potential donors are found to have hearts which are unsuitable for transplant.

The fall in transplants has meant doctors are having to increasingly rely on the use of mechanical heart pumps instead.

But the experts said it was now important to review whether the right patients were being prioritised for transplants as well as looking whether the six units - in Birmingham, Glasgow, Newcastle, Manchester, Cambridge and London - were still viable.

One of the risks of having smaller centres is that surgeons do not do enough transplants to maintain their skills - although there are no suggestions care is suffering yet.

Professor Peter Weissberg, medical director at the British Heart Foundation, conceded fewer centres may be the solution.

But he added he would like to see more work to increase the number of suitable donors.

"Encouraging more people to join the organ donor register, or even better, changing our organ donation system so people must 'opt out' if they don't want to donate would help increase the number of donor hearts available."

NHS medical director Sir Bruce Keogh said an official review would be starting soon to ensure transplants were being "carried out in the most effective way".

He added: "The department is committed to strengthening the heart transplant programme, increasing the number of organ donors and hearts donated for transplant and giving more people the opportunity to benefit from a heart transplant."

Death's Door: Update on the Fukushima Meltdown and the Media Coverup

Before jumping into today's essay here is the latest news: Radioactive levels at Fukushima were about 250 times higher than a month before. TEPCO said the levels of caesium-134 and -137 increased about 250-fold and iodine-131 increased about 12 times compared with one month ago, after the accident had already happened.

The water level in the No. 4 reactor's turbine building rose by 20 centimeters in 10 days. TEPCO has detected 8,100 becquerels of caesium-137 and 7,800 becquerels of caesium-134 per cubic centimeter in the water in the turbine building's basement. The utility company said on Tuesday the 26th of April that the water level in the tunnel of the No. 3 reactor rose by 10 centimeters over three days.

Beyond that door is death. It's death's door and it has brought us a new hell on earth. What's behind this door and several others like it is so hot, in terms of death, that its effects can be seen 10,000 miles away. Though thanks to the media we almost forgot about this and other similar doors and the nuclear meltdowns that are occurring right here right now on planet earth.

Drastically Decrease Your Exposure to BPA by Eating Less Packaged Food

By Ethan A. Huff
Natural News, May 2, 2011
Straight to the Source

For related articles and more information, please visit OCA's Health Issues page and our Food Safety page.

One of the best ways to avoid exposure to the toxic plastics chemical bisphenol-A (BPA) might simply be to cut packaged foods from your diet, says a new study published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives. Plastic bags, containers, cups, wraps, and other types of food packaging often contain not only BPA, but other harmful plastics chemicals. But by eating only fresh, non-packaged foods, you can reduce your blood levels of these chemicals by up to 90 percent in just three days.

Scientists from both the Breast Cancer Fund and the Silent Spring Institute conducted their study on five families. The families were instructed to remove all packaged foods from their diets for three days, and instead eat only organic foods stored in glass or stainless steel containers. Measured before, during, and after the study, urinary BPA levels dropped an average of 60 percent after just three days. Those with the highest initial levels of BPA saw a 75 percent drop after just three days of non-exposure.

The team also evaluated levels of DEHP; a type of phthalate used in food packaging, and found that after three days of non-exposure, participants' levels dropped an average of 50 percent. Those with the highest initial levels of DEHP saw an astounding 90 percent drop, which indicates that simply removing packaged foods from one's diet, even for just a few days, can virtually eliminate some of these dangerous toxins from the body.

Coke, BPA, and the Limits of 'Green Capitalism'

"Coca-Cola goes green," announced  a 2010 Forbes article. Indeed, the beverages giant maintains partnerships with Big Green groups like Conservation International and World Wildlife Fund. It recently even completed its takeover of Honest Tea, an organic bottled-tea company. It would clearly like to be seen as a paragon of "green capitalism" -- the idea that doing good and doing well go hand in hand.

Let's put aside questions over what can possibly be "green" about a business model geared to sucking in huge amounts of drinking water, blasting it with what are probably toxic sweeteners and other dodgy substances, and then packaging it in little aluminum cans and plastic bottles and sending them far and wide, to be chilled (using fossil energy) before consumption.

OK, so within those tight constraints, Coca-Cola says it wants to be a "green company." So ... WTF? Last week, Coca-Cola shareholders voted by a 3-to-1 margin to continue using BPA, a toxic industrial chemical, in the lining of its soft-drink cans.

I Never Promised You an Organic Garden

A story has been developing over the past month involving lies, toxic sludge, Hollywood celebrities, and poor, inner city school children. It centers around the Environmental Media Association (EMA), a group of environmentally conscious Hollywood celebs, and the "organic" school gardens they've been volunteering at for the past past couple years. Stars like Rosario Dawson, Amy Smart, Emmanuelle Chriqui, and Nicole Ritchie have generously adopted Los Angeles schools, visiting the schools and helping the children garden. What the celebs didn't know is that their organization's corporate donor - Kellogg Garden Products - sells both organic compost and soil amendments and ones made from sewage sludge. Seventy percent of Kellogg's business is products made from sewage sludge. Sewage sludge is not allowed on organic farms and gardens.

In late March, the Center for Media & Democracy (CMD) wrote to EMA, alerting them that Kellogg products contain sludge, which may jeopardize the safety and the organic status of the gardens. As a result of the letter, John Stauber, founder of CMD, then met with Ed Begley, Jr., famous environmentalist and EMA board member, who was concerned about the possibility that sludge was used on the gardens.

Following that meeting, a reply came back from EMA's President, Debbie Levin, who has been called "Hollywood's Conscience," asking CMD to stop communicating with Ed Begley, Jr. and to call off its public campaign against the use of Kellogg products on the LA school gardens. She asserted that her organization never claimed the gardens were organic. Then, in the next week, EMA removed the word "organic" from its webpage about its school garden program... but left it in on some pages. (See screenshots here) EMA refers to the gardens as "organic" in a fundraising form, leading donors to believe they are contributing to organic school gardens. Ironically, in 2003, EMA gave an award to King of the Hill for its episode titled "." Talk about foreshadowing.

SFGate and Mother Jones each wrote articles on this story, published a few days after Levin's initial email reply. The Mother Jones piece features a picture of Rosario Dawson gardening with children, with a bag of Kellogg's Amend (made from sewage sludge and contaminated with dioxins and other hazardous material) behind them. The article says:

"This was one of those unfortunate weird things," says EMA president Debbie Levin, who hadn't known anything about Amend before the shoot. Amend, she later learned, is not approved for organic farming because it's made from municipal sewage sludge.

And

So what to do if you're a home gardener who wants compost without the sewage? Try checking the website of the Organic Materials Review Institute, which vets agricultural products used by certified organic farmers. That's the preferred approach of Levin, who stresses that no Kellogg Amend was ever actually applied to EMA's gardens (though one school may have inadvertently ordered a different sludge-based product). "Everything was according to what we asked for," she says. "We use the organic stuff."

That much is old news. According to Levin, she and EMA were unaware that Kellogg products contained sludge, but not to worry because the products in the photos were never used. (Does that mean the bags of Amend that appear in many pictures of the school gardens were brought in for use as props in photo ops and then removed? Even if that were the case, it's unfortunate that an environmental organization is giving that sort of free publicity to an environmentally unsound product like Amend.)

Here's the new part of the story. Mud Baron, a Master Gardener who worked for the LA Unified School District's garden program from 2006 to 2011, has come forward, with a signed, notarized affidavit, alleging that he informed Levin and others at EMA that some Kellogg products contained sewage sludge, which is not permissible on organic gardens, as early as summer 2009. (See his statement here.) Levin repeatedly assured him that all of the products donated from Kellogg would be organic.

Bill Gates Loves Nukes - Another Reason to Boycott Microsoft Products

Despite the trouble with Japan's Fukushima nuclear power plant following that country's devastating earthquake, Microsoft co-founder and Chairman Bill Gates still hasn't given up on nuclear power.

In a conversation with Wired Editor-in-Chief Chris Anderson today at the magazine's third annual Business Conference, Gates said that one of the best aspects of nuclear power at the moment is its lack of innovation thus far, which leaves it ripe for disruption in the coming years.

When it comes to Japan's current nuclear trouble, Gates pointed out that the Fukushima plant is an older second-generation reactor. Third-generation plants, as well as upcoming fourth-generation plants (which he's also invested in), can easily avoid most of Fukushima's problems - primarily because they have better ways of dealing with the afterheat that results after a nuclear plant shuts down. One third-gen design keeps a pool of water ready in the case of a plant shutdown, while fourth-gen designs have methods in place to avoid the afterheat problem completely.

Take the Pledge for Climate Protection

Here are 10 vital steps to slow global warming and climate destabilization. Some of these steps may be difficult at first, but all are fun, save money, and offer exercise and social opportunities.

A climate background section follows the Pledge, and next are the steps in greater detail: guided explanations and their benefits to you, society, and our Earth. Our postcard featuring these steps is available: email us to request postcards (tree-free paper; 25 cents each or $14 for 100). I pledge to begin taking as many of the following steps as I can to stave off the worst effects of global warming, and spread the word. In so doing I will cut fossil fuel use. I will do some or all of the following:

1.Cut down on driving my vehicle, or carpool. I will walk or bike, and not buy a car if I do not have one (best of all). I will support and use mass transit. I may work closer to my home. 
2.Cut down on working just for money: I can thereby barter more, and cut down on commuting. 
3.Depave my driveway, or help others' depave their driveways, or depave parking lots, and grow food in depaved land. 

America's Environmental Garden Spot: Would You Believe Manhattan?

What's the greenest place in America? If you answered something like the granola-crunchy, Rocky Mountain-high town of Boulder, you'd be wrong. If you guessed the sea breezes and warm sunlight of Santa Barbara, you'd be wrong again. The greenest place in America is almost devoid of nature - the buildings outnumber the trees - and the air isn't all that great. But what it has is density and efficiency - the twin qualities that ultimately define green in the global warming era. Applying those standards, the greenest place in America is New York City - specifically, the overcrowded, overpriced and sometimes overwrought island of Manhattan, which has a per-capita greenhouse gas footprint less than 30% that of the national average.

It's that density - the sheer number of people living in such a small area, often literally on top of each other - that makes Manhattan, and New York City as a whole, so green. Manhattan's population density is 800 times the national average. Density comes with negatives, certainly - small living spaces, air pollution, lots and lots of concrete - but it also enables amazing efficiencies. More than 80% of Manhattanites travel to work by public transit, by bike or on foot - compared to an average of about 8% everywhere else in the country. The vertical apartment buildings that Manhattanites live in are far more energy-efficient than single-dwelling housing in the suburbs. "Most Americans, including most New Yorkers, think of New York City as an ecological nightmare, a wasteland of concrete and garbage and diesel fumes and traffic jams," wrote David Owen in his 2009 book Green Metropolis. "But in comparison with the rest of America it's a model of environmental responsibility."

Social Justice Activists Must Take Into Account Ecological, Cultural, and Economic Transformation

Popular protest against rulers in many parts of Africa and Asia has spread faster than most anyone would have dared hope. Ferment in other countries may well materialize and mount, including the U.S. However, while the recent uprisings have potential and are well stoked by rampant oppression and greed, we are no longer in a 19th or 20th century set of social or ecological conditions. The attainment of peace and prosperity can no longer be fully addressed with revolutions or social movements. The decades of economic growth from cheap oil -- producing wealth for some, not bringing peace -- cannot be replicated.

The common people have always just wanted peace and prosperity, but are pushed beyond a certain point by relentless opportunists seizing greater power. This results in eventual revolt, but new immutable factors in social change include the deteriorating health of the biosphere, cultural breakdown, and economic collapse.

We must view the aims of today's uprisings for social justice as naive, and the expectations outmoded, if much of the population is not in accord with the direction in which humanity and the Earth are actually going. There can be no consensus if unbridled capitalism or other systems for massive industrial development can hold sway, for they leave behind the majority of people, at best, while mostly preying upon them. Even when people are willing to take action in concert to redistribute the pie, whether by Gandhian mobilization or use of force, this may resonate falsely, for the pie is disintegrating. Its recipe and ingredients are obsolete. And freedom attained in harsh austerity, characterized by intense competition for food, will be doubtful or of little comfort. 

Codex to Consider Labeling for Genetically Engineered Foods

Next week, committee members of Codex, the UN-sponsored would-be global regulator, will be reviewing guidelines for genetically engineered (GE) foods. The US delegation to the committee says-surprise-that no labeling is needed! An URGENT new Action Alert -the deadline to send comments is TODAY.

The Codex Committee on Food Labeling will meet May 9-13 in Québec City, Canada, where members will review the Codex guidelines on labeling food. Among the items for review are the Codex labeling standards for genetically engineered foods.

The Codex Alimentarius (Latin for "Food Code") is a collection of internationally adopted food standards, guidelines, codes of practice, and other recommendations which supporters hope will become a global standard. The US is a Codex Committee member country.

In preparation of the upcoming meeting in Canada, the US delegates held a public meeting in Washington, DC, on April 25 to discuss their draft position that they will present in Québec. ANH-USA attended that meeting-and the US position is pretty dismal. The US draft position is open for public comment only through May 2, so we are sending this newsletter out a little early.

The Xtremes: Subversive Recipes for Catastrophic Times

In just a few shortmonths, we’ve witnessed people power in action. From the Middle East to theMidwest, movements have risen up to overturn tired dogma and challengeentrenched power. Many of us were inspired by these events. And many of us weresurprised. Perhaps we were growing skeptical that people power could stillwork. Maybe we had forgotten a vital fact about our world: that bold citizens,united around a common mission, can still come together to create major changeagainst enormous odds.

-- 350.org

Even when people are willing to take action in concert toredistribute the pie, whether by Gandhian mobilization or use of force, this mayresonate falsely, for the pie is disintegrating. Its recipe and ingredients areobsolete. And freedom attained in harsh austerity, characterized by intensecompetition for food, will be doubtful or of little comfort.

Prince Charles: Save the World with Organic Farming

Britain's crown prince has a message for America: You don't pay enough for your food. And the way you produce it is ruining the planet.

Fresh from his oldest son's wedding, Prince Charles came to Washington to slam today's conventional agricultural system as unsustainable because of its reliance on biotechnology and chemicals.

"The current model is simply not durable in the long term," he told a food-policy conference hosted Wednesday by Georgetown University.

The prince, who has long been a virulent opponent of biotechnology, has devoted some of the royal lands to organic farming. He ran through a list of the challenges facing the globe - growing populations, rising commodity prices, increased demand for meat as incomes grow, a changing climate, and limited water supplies. He offered organic farming as the answer to those challenges because of its ability to maintain soil fertility reliance on chemical inputs. 

Eight Foods You Should Almost Never, Ever Eat

Most soybean, corn, cotton and canola crops in the U.S. are genetically altered. Some experts argue that these crops could pose serious health and environmental risks, but the scientific picture is currently incomplete -- deliberately so.

Agricultural corporations such as Monsanto and Syngenta have restricted independent research on the crops. They have refused to provide independent scientists with seeds, or else have set restrictive conditions that severely limit research.  This is legal because under U.S. law, genetically engineered crops are patentable.

The Los Angeles Times reports:

 "Agricultural companies defend their stonewalling by saying that unrestricted research could make them vulnerable to lawsuits if an experiment somehow leads to harm, or that it could give competitors unfair insight into their products. But it's likely that the companies fear something else as well: An experiment could reveal that a genetically engineered product is hazardous or doesn't perform as promised."

Even if you don't want to eat genetically engineered foods, you most likely already are doing so.  Corn and soy are two of the most common food ingredients, especially in processed foods, and over 90 percent of both these crops in the US are now from GM seeds.

Organic food companies and consumer groups are stepping up their efforts to get the government to exercise more oversight of engineered foods. Critics of current policy argue that the genetically modified (GM) seeds are often contaminating the nearby non-GM crops.

ABC News reports:

 "The U.S. government has insisted there's not enough difference between the genetically modified seeds its agencies have approved and natural seeds to cause concern. But Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, more so than his predecessors in previous administrations, has acknowledged the debate over the issue and a growing chorus of consumers concerned about what they are eating."

Sources:

Los Angeles Time February 13, 2011

ABC News February 28, 2011

 Dr. Mercola's Comments:

George Siemon, CEO of Organic Valley, the nation's largest organic farming cooperative, which had more than $600 million in sales last year, put it succinctly in the above article from ABC news.

Missouri Floods Raise Concerns for the Gulf, Drinking Water

The Ohio and Mississippi River levels were falling Wednesday at the site where engineers blasted holes in a Missouri levee to relieve pressure. But unleashing torrents of water across 35 miles of farmland in what has already been a terrible flooding season could carry other consequences.

One risk, scientists cautioned, is fertilizer runoff from the flooded farm country along the Mississippi. As it moves downstream, they predicted it would contribute to the largest-ever summertime depletion of oxygen in the Gulf of Mexico, posing a substantial risk to marine life.

The concern is that the water is likely pulling up components of fertilizers-notably nitrogen and phosphorus-and washing them downstream toward the Gulf, helping slash oxygen to levels marine life can't survive, said Nancy Rabalais, a marine scientist who is executive director of the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium on the Gulf coast.

Those chemicals act as nutrients in the Gulf, intensifying the growth of microscopic plants. Microbes eat away at those plants. In the process, they consume oxygen, reducing it to levels that kill marine life.

Via Organica Participates in Sustainability Workshops

"To a hammer, the whole world looks like a nail."

In many development aid projects around the world, not-for-profits (NFPs) are doing valuable work solving problems for communities and regions.  Many of us who have done some sort of development aid work come to these communities with the NFP's focus area (for example, clean drinking water, sanitation, or agricultural projects) and a set of NFP aid workers who are trained in the NFP focus area. However, when we land on the ground, in real communities and regions, the problems don't necessarily stay contained within the narrow box of the NFP's focus or the expertise of it's workers.  "The real world of people living, eating and growing food, having shelters, dealing with sanitation, having clean drinking water, staying warm or cool, creating families and communities, all of this is a rich mixture, and its problems and solutions don't often fit into tiny neat boxes," says Jim Hallock, of Tierra Y Cal, who has experience building sustainable shettlers in Haiti, South and Central America, and Africa. "When I show up in Haiti to help build a school or a clinic I'm asked about how to grow a food garden or deal with drinking water contamination."

The conundrum so often experienced is that NFP workers are unprepared to deal with aspects of the larger community or regional problems outside the scope of their skills or the not-for-profit's focus.  Sometimes aid workers need a screwdriver, and all they have is a hammer.

It was a little over a year and half ago when a diverse group of people working in development aid, each with expertise in a varied set of skill from sustainable building, energy, water and agriculture, met in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.  They came in part because some had experienced their limitations in development aid work just as Jim Hallock expressed. They came to talk about what each was doing and about collaboration.  What they discovered was that their whole was emerging into something that was greater than each of their individual parts.  They found that the "waste" from one person's work was often a very useful input or resource for someone else's. Take Dr. Robert Marquez for instance, a clay chemist and inventor, whose MK Kiln is transforming the unsustainable traditional firing method of clay bricks into a more profitable, fuel efficient, less atmospherically polluting activity.  "The 'waste' heat from the MK Kilns can be channeled into systems designed to harvest thermal energy and convert it to electricity, used locally within the brick makers' communities or fed and sold back into the grid," Dr. Marquez explains.  

"The heat, further 'degraded' to lower temperatures after electrical generation, could now be fed into farmers' greenhouses, potentially expanding their growing season into the colder winter months," added Doug Weatherbee, of SoilDoctor.org, who works with regenerative microbiology farming techniques.  In an ecological system, there is no waste.  The product of one process is the input of energy and materials for another, and so on.

The group recognized the potential to solve a major problem in development aid work.  Compartmentalization-silos of specialized skills and knowledge and experts that don't have ways to learn from one another and work collaboratively in development aid projects that require expertise in a wide variety of areas.  From this discussion and realization arose the Center for Appropriate Technologies and Indigenous Sustainability (CATIS).  CATIS is an organization that sees collaboration and sustainability as its focus; collaboration between experts in sustainable building, sanitation, agroecology, water, and energy; collaboration between the skills of aid workers and local people and organizations; identifying and promoting sustainable solutions that make sense, whether they are local or "from away."  

CATIS has a education and research Institute near San Miguel de Allende, Mexico called CATIS-Mexico.  This June several members of the CATIS team are teaching a wide range of sustainable building and agroecology workshops. "Building Systems for the Developing World" is a series of workshops will provide attendees with a deep understanding of sustainable earth block buildings and construction, from foundation to roof top.  The "Argo-ecology for the Developing World" series will provide attendees with a holistic set of regenerative agricultural skills for farming and ranching.  The two series are being held simultaneously over four weeks beginning June 6, 2011.  "The goal of having 4 weeks of two streams of building and agroecology workshops is two create collaborative dialogs between the all the instructors and students in both streams," states Jeff Rottler, CATIS Instructor of Sustainable Building techniques.  "Folks within either stream will be taught some incredible skills in sustainable aid work," says Biointensive Gardening instructor Jennifer Ungemach, of Via Organica.  "And, they'll be introduced to the other learning stream through evening presentations and onsite discussions throughout the weeks."  CATIS-Mexico is building a educational environment that is addressing the problem of compartmentalized knowledge in development work.

Attendees of the workshops can camp onsite at the CATIS-Mexico Institute which is a few minutes outside of San Miguel de Allende, Mexico or in nearby San Miguel de Allende.   San Miguel is an UNESCO World Heritage Site, a stunningly beautiful 400 year old Spanish colonial town, and a world renowned expat artist colony that is emerging as a center for sustainability in Mexico.

Please go to http://icatis.org/WORKSHOPS.html for more information and details on registration.