Diets fail 'because advice is wrong'

Weighing and measuring yourself regularly helps track your weight-loss progress Calories busted by cafe culture Eat less and you will lose weight.

This simple piece of advice is true, but it's one that many of us struggle to follow.

It is easy to blame a lack of willpower or a penchant for sugary, fat-laden snacks. And often weight does pile back on because people revert to their old way of eating too much of the wrong foods.

But researchers say the reason so many of us relapse and fail on diets is because we have unrealistic expectations.

And this is not our fault but that of experts, because the advice they give us is flawed.

Long slog

Most people start dieting with the notion that they will start to see results fast.

Experts tell us that if we cut around 500 calories from our daily diet, or burn them off exercising, then we can expect to lose 1lb (0.5kg) in weight every week.

Continue reading the main story“Start QuoteStudies show that somewhere between 50% and 80% of dieters will put weight back on”

End QuoteDr Kevin Hall of the US National Institutes for Health The British Dietetics Association, the NHS and the American Dietetic Association all say losing weight at this rate is "about right" and that if you stick at it for 12 months, for example, you will shed about 52 lb (26kg).

But US researchers from the National Institutes for Health say this is a gross overestimation because the calculation used is flawed.

They say it takes much longer to lose the weight - around three years to be precise, according to their work published in The Lancet.

For example, a year of dieting will result in only half of the amount of weight loss that experts currently predict.

Dr Kevin Hall and colleagues say this explains why many of us give up within months, because we expect unrealistic results that cannot be achieved.

Studies of outpatient weight loss programmes show most dieters peak at six months with the pounds starting to creep back on after this.

'Robo legs' for stroke patients

The prototype device is called the Lower-extremity Powered ExoSkeleton, or LOPES, and works by training the body and mind of a patient to recover a more natural step.

The machine is also being tested on spinal injury patients who have recovered some restricted movement in their legs.

It is hoped a commercial version could be made available to rehabilitation centres around the world as early as next year.

Feedback mechanism

LOPES has been developed by engineers at the University of Twente in Enschede in the Netherlands over several years. Designed for the rehabilitation clinic, it is not a mobile device but supports the patient as they walk on a treadmill.

It can do all the walking for the patient, or it can offer targeted support in either one leg or with one element of the walking process. The machine can also detect what the patient is doing wrong.

"For instance, some people cannot lift their foot up appropriately," explains Dr Edwin van Asseldonk, who is working on the project. "What this device does is it senses that the foot is not lifting properly.

"It then compares it with a reference pattern and then exerts a force or torque to assist that subject in doing it."

Vending machines 'undermine' hospitals'

Vending machines tend to dispense high-calorie food like chocolate. Hospitals are, by definition, buildings that are dedicated to health.

But in this week's Scrubbing Up, Dr Rachel Thompson, deputy head of science at World Cancer Research Fund, says that good work is being undermined by the contents of hospital vending machines.

Whenever I visit hospitals, I am always struck by how the efforts of the dedicated healthcare professionals who work in them are being undermined by what is happening in the waiting areas.

All too often, these waiting areas have vending machines that are filled with high-calorie foods and drinks such as chocolate bars, crisps and sugary drinks.

But because these foods are a cause of obesity, they are part of the reason many of the people will have ended up in hospital in the first place.

There is strong scientific evidence that excess body fat is a risk factor for cancer, as well as other non-communicable diseases such as heart disease and diabetes.

And yet hospital vending machines are selling products that are a cause of obesity at the same time as the health professionals working there are trying to cope with its consequences.

That is why hospitals should put an end to vending machines that sell high calorie foods and drinks.

Little focus

It is true that on its own this would be unlikely to have a serious impact on obesity levels.

You would have to spend a lot of time in hospital waiting rooms for the contents of the vending machines to make much of a difference to your weight.

Continue reading the main story“Start QuoteThere is no great mystery about what needs to happen”

End Quote But rather, the fact that hospital vending machines are filled with these kinds of foods and drinks is a symptom of how little meaningful focus there is on the obesity crisis.

Across society, big changes are needed if we are to address obesity and the preventable cases of cancer and other diseases that result from it.

The changes that we need are supported by common sense.

If you prioritise the needs of motorised transport when you plan a town, it is to be expected that people won't walk or cycle enough.

If you allow the food and drinks industry to market unhealthy products to children, then don't be surprised when children pester their parents to buy those products.

But the fact that hospital vending machines are still stocked with high-calorie foods and drinks illustrates that we are not recognising the problem.

There is no great mystery about what needs to happen.

There is already a large evidence base for what works and doesn't work when it comes to policy changes. What we need to see is political will and a change to the mindset where we tolerate the things that promote obesity.

This would not only mean the end of the kind of culture where the sale of unhealthy foods and drinks in hospital waiting rooms is seen as acceptable.

It could also mean fewer people end up in those waiting rooms in the first place.

My unexpected trip to a Libyan hospital

Pain resurfaces

Grave at Libyan prison revives painful memories

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What causes Chronic Fatigue Syndrome?

When it comes to controversy and heated debate, few illnesses come close to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, also known as Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME).

There have been arguments about whether it exists, the cause, the best treatments and even the name itself.

These disagreements have reached the level of abuse and death threats.

The disease itself, however, remains poorly understood - or as one doctor put it: "The whole thing is surrounded by uncertainty".

Does it exist?

For a long time, the existence of CFS/ME was widely dismissed and labelled as "yuppie flu". That opinion has largely been reversed in the past decade.

Continue reading the main storyToo vague, too precise?

Should the illness be called CFS, ME or CFS/ME?

Doctors prefer the term CFS as the main symptom is fatigue, while ME has a specific meaning related to inflammation of the brain and spinal cord.

However, this is not popular with some patients' groups or charities, which talk about ME as a specific disease, saying "fatigue" is too broad a term.

Prof Michael Sharpe, of the University of Oxford, said: "The concepts of CFS and ME have been conflated as CFS/ME. That may be right but it may be a bit like an apple/banana - we need to be clearer what we are talking about."

In 2002, then chief medical officer Prof Sir Liam Donaldson described it as a "disease in the wilderness". He was presenting a report which said CFS/ME was a "genuine illness and imposes a substantial burden on the health of the UK population".

It is thought to affect about a quarter of a million people in the UK.

The main symptom is severe fatigue, made worse by exertion, which does not go away after resting. Muscle pains, headaches, memory problems and depression can also be involved. In some cases it can be completely debilitating, resulting in patients being unable to leave their beds.

Understanding of the disease is largely led by those symptoms. There is no test for CFS/ME, instead it is diagnosed by ruling out other conditions which might produce the same symptoms.

The underlying cause, or indeed causes, have been more elusive.

Uncertain origins

One of the issues in the field is that there is an emerging consensus that CFS/ME is not one illness.

Woman's limb artificially regrown

Liz Coveney is three months into a 12-month recovery process and is able to exercise more easily A Hampshire woman has become one of the first patients in the country to have part of a limb artificially regrown in a laboratory and put back in her body.

Liz Coveney, 50, from Hythe, had holes in the cartilage in her right knee.

She underwent two operations. Firstly a pea-sized piece of cartilage containing 200,000 cells was taken from her knee.

In a Belgian laboratory these were then grown into four million cells and placed back in her knee at Spire Southampton Hospital.

'Extremely uncomfortable'

Before the operations on the inch-long holes in her cartilage were carried out, Mrs Coveney was in constant pain and found it difficult to walk.

She said: "It was extremely uncomfortable and stairs really were the bane of my life.

"You notice it when you're standing up and sitting down, and getting out of the car.

Why your child's care should be moved

Fifty children's wards 'might close' Every parent wants the best care for a sick child.

But - as this government makes its first decision about restructuring hospital care - Dr David Shortland, vice-president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health says being treated further away from home might be necessary to get the best.

As changes within the NHS and the financial squeeze start to bite, hospitals are looking again at the affordability of keeping skilled paediatricians available on call 24 hours a day in small hospitals where there are similar services within about 30 minutes drive.

There are many units operating with dangerously low levels of staff, and trainee doctors being left to manage wards because there are just not enough senior consultants.

There is increasing pressure from the government to reconfigure children's services so that senior paediatricians are located in more specialist inpatient units, with smaller hospital wards closing or being converted to daytime-only units staffed by specialist nurses and visiting consultants.

It is likely that up to 50 of the existing 218 inpatient wards would need to close in the UK.

Many of these units will have experts on site to see children during the day rather than taking in-patients as they do now.

Although A&E departments don't only provide paediatric services, we are all aware that they are all under the same pressures.

Closures 'inevitable'

It is completely understandable that parents are worried about their local services moving away, but these changes are important so specialist units can achieve and sustain the necessary excellence and quality.

If we want our health service to protect health outcomes and safeguard children and young people, then parents have to face travelling further for treatment if their child needs an overnight stay.

As a parent, I would expect and want my child to have the highest quality care possible - and it is crucial the standards of care are not comprised in any way.

Continue reading the main story“Start QuoteIf your local unit can't meet the minimum standards of care for your child - wouldn't you rather drive that little bit further to one that can?”

End Quote These changes will allow doctors and nurses to be more readily available to the sickest children whilst continuing to offer the local service for early diagnosis and observation.

The new changes proposed will ensure that children are seen by senior trainees and consultants with better expertise and experience in a set period of time.

It's also important to highlight that it is not just paediatric services that are feeling the strain on services - we have seen opinion divided over children's heart surgery centres in recent weeks.

The government is also considering reducing the number of units locally and focusing on the regional centres for providing better care and outcomes for patients with a decision to be made by the end of this year, and changes implemented in 2013.

No matter which units are under scrutiny, the quality of care must remain or it only right those who cannot meet minimum standards should be closed down.

But any change should be solely on the basis of ensuring that the right standards of care can be met and children's health is paramount, taking into consideration the implications of longer journeys and transport arrangements.

Closure and changes to children's services are inevitable, but the reasons should be completely about the quality of care and support so children get better.

If your local unit can't meet the minimum standards of care for your child - wouldn't you rather drive that little bit further to one that can?

'Club drug' treatment unit opens

The clinic will aim to help users of drugs such as ecstasy. Ecstasy 'may help trauma victims'Police fears over mephedrone use A clinic helping people who use or have used club drugs has opened in west London.

Doctors say it will offer treatment for those with problems caused by drugs such as ketamine, ecstasy and mephedrone.

Users of such drugs may think treatment services are geared towards crack or heroin and not seek help, it said.

The NHS clinic, based at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in south-west London, has funding for two years.

It is staffed by doctors, nurses, drug workers, psychologists and HIV workers.

Clinic founder Dr Owen Bowden-Jones said: "The health risks associated with excessive use of club drugs are under-estimated by many people.

"Little is known about the potential problems of the newer drugs."

Dr Bowden-Jones said most existing services focused on alcohol, heroin and crack cocaine use.

"Many people experiencing club drug problems do not see current treatment services as well equipped to help them," he added.

"As a result they do not seek treatment."

The new clinic was piloted for five months and received more than 70 referrals.

It has the capacity to see nine new patients every day.

A similar unit opened at the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust in 2009.

More on This Story Related Stories Warning to clubbers over ecstasy 02 AUGUST 2011, LONDON Ecstasy 'may help trauma victims' 19 JULY 2010, HEALTH Police fears over mephedrone use 24 MARCH 2010, BRISTOL Related Internet links Chelsea and Westminster Hospital South London & Maudsley The BBC is not responsible for the content of external Internet sites

Libyan boy's London hospital op

Fifteen-year-old Abdul Malek El Hamdi was evacuated from Tripoli and brought to St Mary's Hospital on Thursday.

He suffered severe lower limb injuries and infected wounds when a grenade exploded at his school.

Doctors operated immediately to remove the shrapnel and are hopeful that they have saved his leg, but he may need more surgery.

The teenager is the first of up to 50 injured patients the Libyan government has asked the NHS to care for.

The treatment and rehabilitation that Abdul needed is not currently available in his native Tripoli.

On arrival Abdul had a full assessment by the A&E and trauma team at St Mary's Hospital.

Walk again

X-rays revealed Abdul's left leg was littered with fragments of the grenade, large pieces of which were embedded in his foot.

The surgical team decided to operate to remove the shrapnel and stem the spread of infection.

Mr Shehan Hettiaratchy, clinical lead for plastic and reconstructive surgeon, said: "Abdul suffered severe and life-changing injuries to his left leg. His wounds are infected and could have stopped him from walking again.

"We are delighted to be able to continue Abdul's treatment at St Mary's, and hopeful that we've saved his leg.

"Ultimately we want to give him the treatment he can't currently get at home so he'll be able to live a full and normal life again."

Abdul is currently being looked after on a children's ward.

St Mary's is one of London's four major trauma centres. Many of the surgeons have direct experience of dealing with bomb blast injuries, having worked directly in war zones and areas of natural disaster like Afghanistan and Haiti.

The cost of Abdul's care is being funded by the Libyan authorities.

Success in trial of cancer drug

Alpha particles can damage cells. A trial of a new cancer drug, which accurately targets tumours, has been so successful it has been stopped early.

Doctors at London's Royal Marsden Hospital gave prostate cancer patients a powerful alpha radiation drug and found that they lived longer, and experienced less pain and side effects.

The medics then stopped the trial of 922 people, saying it was unethical not to offer all of them the treatment.

Lead researcher Dr Chris Parker said it was "a significant step forward".

Cancer Research UK said it was a very important and promising discovery.

Radiation has been used to treat tumours for more than a century. It damages the genetic code inside cancerous cells.

Alpha particles are the big, bulky, bruisers of the radiation world. It is a barrage of helium nuclei, which are far bigger than beta radiation, a stream of electrons, or gamma waves.

Dr Parker told the BBC: "It's more damaging. It takes one, two, three hits to kill a cancer cell compared with thousands of hits for beta particles."

Alpha particles also do less damage to surrounding tissue. He added: "They have such a tiny range, a few millionths of a metre. So we can be sure that the damage is being done where it should be."

Continue reading the main storyProstate cancer Each year in the UK about 36,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer; about 10,000 die from it In most cases, it is a slow-growing cancer and may never cause any symptoms or problems. Some men will have a fast growing cancer that needs treatment Worldwide, an estimated 913,000 men were diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2008, and more than two-thirds of cases are diagnosed in developed countries In 90% of patients with advanced prostate cancer, the tumour will have spread to the bone. At this stage there are no treatments which affect survival.

The study looked at patients with these secondary cancers, as the source of radiation - radium-223 chloride - acts like calcium and sticks to bone.

Half were given the radium-223 chloride drug alongside traditional chemotherapy, while the other patients received chemotherapy and a dummy pill.

The death rate was 30% lower in the group taking radium-223. Those patients survived for 14 months on average compared to 11 months in the dummy group.

The trial was abandoned as "it would have been unethical not to offer the active treatment to those taking placebo", said Dr Parker.

He added: "I think it will be a significant step forward for cancer patients".

Researchers also said the treatment was safe. Curiously there were fewer side-effects in the group taking the treatment than those taking the dummy medicine.

The findings are being presented at the European Multidisciplinary Cancer Congress but they have not yet been peer-reviewed by other academics.

Prof Gillies McKenna, Cancer Research UK's radiotherapy expert and director of the Gray Institute for Radiation Oncology and Biology, said: "This appears to be an important study using a highly targeted form of radiation to treat prostate cancer that has spread to the bones.

"This research looks very promising and could be an important addition to approaches available to treat secondary tumours - and should be investigated further."

Nurses want longer visiting hours

The Royal College of Nursing said it did not want relatives performing nurses'

RCN head Peter Carter said he did not want relatives performing tasks nurses were employed to carry out, but that there were "real benefits" for patients when family members helped with care.

The Department of Health said family help needed to be alongside NHS care.

But patients' groups warned such a move could be "the tip of the iceberg".

'Amazing work'

Dr Carter, the RCN's general secretary, said the college was not suggesting families be compelled to carry out any tasks.

"We know that there are real benefits for patients where relatives can get involved in care, if that is what both the patient and family want," he said.

"We know from areas such as children's care that having familiar people involved at mealtimes for example can make hospital stays in particular less stressful for all concerned.

"What we would like to see is flexibility to allow relatives to help make patients comfortable, such as extending visiting times."

Department of Health chief nursing officer Christine Beasley praised the "amazing work" work of carers and relatives and welcomed their help but added: "This must be in addition to NHS care, not instead of it.

"Nurses should spend their time caring for patients and it is important to look at the way wards are run to help ensure this happens."

"I expect all hospitals to ensure that they are providing safe, high quality nursing care because this must be at the heart of the NHS."

Training call

But Patients Association chief executive Katherine Murphy said patient care - including helping with feeding and taking patients to the toilet - should be carried out by nurses.

"It is just the tip of the iceberg," she said. "Where will we draw the line?"

She added that some patients would not have families nearby or with the time to help out.

If there were not enough nurses to provide the care, then more nurses needed to be employed, she said.

Earlier this week, Dr Carter said the NHS had become too reliant on healthcare assistants who often end up doing more than the basic tasks they were employed to do.

He recommended better training and regulation of health care assistants.

Scots nurses fear job insecurity

The Royal College of Nursing say the workforce in Scotland is at "breaking point" Fewer than a third of Scotland's nurses feel the profession offers a secure job, the Royal College of Nursing says.

Its survey of 700 nurses and health care support workers found 30% felt secure, compared with 82% in 2009.

RCN director Theresa Fyffe said Scotland's nurses are under "immense pressure" due to financial worries and that morale is "plummeting".

Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon said government would do "everything in its power to support the NHS".

Other findings included 38% of respondents saying they would recommend nursing as a career, compared with 54% two years previously.

Almost three quarters of those surveyed believed stress had increased at work. Theresa FyffeRCN director Two thirds are more worried about job cuts and possible redundancy than a year ago and 68% said financial concerns had increased since 2010.

'Warning shot'

Director of RCN Scotland Theresa Fyffe said: "Given the continuing cuts to the nursing workforce, prolonged pay freeze and planned pension increases, it is no surprise that the morale of nurses and health care support workers in our NHS is plummeting.

"While the impact of such pressures could be expected, it doesn't mean the situation should continue. If action is not taken and stress continues to increase, standards in patient care will begin to fall.

Physios could write prescriptions

At present, physiotherapists can only prescribe medication when working with the written authority of a doctor.

A Department of Health consultation exercise envisages them being able to prescribe medication for pain relief and conditions such as asthma.

The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy says this will improve patient care.

In 2002, specially trained nurses were given the right to write prescriptions for a wide range of drugs, including antibiotics for infections.

In 2004, the then Health Secretary John Reid started the push to give prescribing rights to optometrists, chiropodists, physiotherapists and radiographers.

Under the current proposals, physiotherapists would be able to prescribe a range of medication for respiratory diseases such as asthma, neurological conditions such as the effects of a stroke, and for pain relief.

'Best placed'

Ann Green, chairwoman of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, said the consultation was a major step towards improving patient care by physiotherapists.

Continue reading the main story“Start QuoteThis is about making things better for patients, so they can get the appropriate medicines”

End QuotePip WhiteChartered Society of Physiotherapy "The other big benefit is that the new rights will relieve a currently unnecessary burden on doctors who are simply asked to write a prescription for medication recommended by the physiotherapist.

"Though the proposed change will mean greater responsibilities and additional training to become independent prescribers, physiotherapists are well placed to take this on as they have already been 'supplementary prescribers' since 2001."

Pip White, medicines and prescribing professional advisor at the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, said acquiring the right to prescribe medication was not about the profession.

"This is about making things better for patients, so they can get the appropriate medicines from the health professional who is best placed to help them."

"It is important to bring us into line with professions like nurses and pharmacists."

She added that not all physios would get the right to prescribe medication.

"Physiotherapists would have to undergo a training course and be approved before being allowed to be an independent prescriber.

"This is really only for experienced physios who are specialists."

At present there are 35,000 registered physiotherapists with The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, but only 200 of them are "supplementary providers".

Mr White said this number would grow if the proposals were given the green light.

A full government review will take place after the consultation. If enough support for the plans is shown then amendments to the Medicines Act 1968 and the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001 would be required.

A spokesman from the British Medical Association it was were open to the proposals and added: "Doctors undergo years of training to equip them with the skills to be able to prescribe medicines for all conditions.

"However, there is a role for other healthcare professionals to prescribe from a limited range of medicines for specific conditions.

"Nurses and pharmacists have been able to do this since 2009. Any extension of prescribing rights to other healthcare professionals should be accompanied by rigorous training as patient safety must be paramount.

"It will also be important for physiotherapists to ensure they tell GPs about their prescribing decisions so a comprehensive patient record can be maintained in order to avoid adverse events occurring."

Warning of cancer cost 'crisis'

alue" of new treatments and technologies.

It says the number of cancer patients and the cost of treating each one is increasing.

It argues for reducing the use and analysing the cost of cancer services.

About 12 million people worldwide are diagnosed with cancer each year. That figure is expected to reach 27 million by 2030.

The cost of new cancer cases is already estimated to be about £185bn ($286bn) a year.

Rising costs
A group of 37 leading experts from around the world say the burden of cancer is growing and becoming a major financial issue.

Their report says most developed countries dedicate between 4% and 7% of their healthcare budgets to dealing with cancer.

"The issue that concerns economists and policymakers is not just the amount of money spent on healthcare, but also the rate of increase in healthcare spending or what has become known as the cost curve."

It says the UK's total spend on breast cancer has increased by about 10% in each of the past four years.

"In general, increases in the cost of healthcare are driven by innovation. We spend more because we can do more to help patients."

For example, the number of cancer drugs available in the UK has risen from 35 in the 1970s to nearly 100, but the report warns they can be "exceedingly expensive".

It adds: "Few treatments or tests are clear clinical winners, with many falling into the category of substantial cost for limited benefit."

The cost of drugs is not the only target for criticism.

Lead author Prof Richard Sullivan told the BBC: "It's not just pharmaceuticals. Biomarkers, imaging and surgery are all getting through with very low levels of evidence - the hurdles are set too low."

The report calls for a proper evaluation of the relative merits of conventional surgery and less invasive robotic surgery.

Too much

Another criticism is "overusing" treatments and technologies.

"It is often easier to order a scan than to reassure the patient or physician on the basis of a careful history and a physical examination," the report claims.

There is also criticism of "futile care" - providing expensive chemotherapy which gives no medical benefit in the last few weeks of a patient's life.

Prof Sullivan said: "We're on an unaffordable trajectory. We either need to manage and reduce the costs or the cost will increase and then inequality rises between rich and poor."

He said failure to manage costs could result in a "train crash".

The report says solutions fall into two categories: reducing the cost of services or reducing the number of people using them.

Drug 'aids albino people's sight'

White hair and pale eyes and skin are the hallmarks of albinism albino boy 'dismembered' A drug which is already licensed for use could be used to treat sight problems in some albino people, say US researchers.

People with albinism produce little or no melanin, which has a range of health consequences including poor sight and greater risk of skin cancer.

Writing in The Journal of Clinical Investigation, doctors said a drug increased melanin production in mice.

Other doctors described the work as a "substantial leap forward".

People with a type of albinism - OCA1 - have light skin, white hair and light irises caused by defective tyrosinase genes which mean they struggle to produce melanin.

Mice tests

Scientists at the National Eye Institute, Maryland, were investigating a drug - nitisinone - which is used to treat a blood condition, but is also known to increase hair and eye pigmentation.

Giving the drug to albino mice increased the amount of melanin in the eyes after one month of treatment.

However, the researchers could not tell it this improved eyesight in the mice as the generally nocturnal creatures have different eye structures.

The researchers also do not know what would happen in human patients.

"A significant unanswered question is whether improving pigmentation in patients with albinism would improve visual function," the report said.

However, they added it was: "plausible that increasing pigmentation may help with symptoms".

Dr Prashiela Manga and Dr Seth Orlow, from New York University School of Medicine, said the study "represents a substantial leap forward toward the possible treatment of all forms of oculocutaneous albinism (OCA)".

Aluminum in Vaccines May be More Dangerous than Mercury

By Dr. Mercola
When it comes to vaccine safety, much of the talk about toxic ingredients focuses on thimerosal (contains mercury) that is added to killed (inactivated) vaccines as a preservative. But vaccines also contain adjuvants -- agents that stimulate your immune system to greatly increase immunologic response to the vaccine - and one of the most toxic is aluminum. Aluminum is a known neurotoxin that is contained in a number of common childhood and adult vaccines and may even exceed the toxicity of mercury in the human body.

 According to a new study published in Current Medical Chemistry, children up to 6 months of age receive 14.7 to 49 times more aluminum from vaccines than the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) safety limits allow.

Fukushima Farmers Keep Calm and Carry On

By Ed M. Koziarski
Round, rough-skinned pears fill our Fukushima City apartment. Before the pears it was enormous, impossibly succulent peaches. Apples will be next.

Prior to the meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant six months ago, people all across Japan would send seasonal Fukushima-grown fruit to their relatives and neighbors. But now those outside Fukushima are too wary of possible radioactive contamination in produce grown here -- and the fruit piles up.

The locals live with the risk. With a surplus of crops growing in the adjacent countryside, the fruits circulate in Fukushima like proverbial American fruitcakes at Christmas. We conspired to regift a box of pears to one neighbor, but they beat us to it and gave us another box. So we eat them all.

Since May, my partner Junko Kajino and I have been filming organic farmers who search for solutions to protect the Japanese food supply and recover their land and livelihoods from the nuclear fallout. Our days revolve around exploring the impact of food contamination. But we still have to eat. We drink bottled water and avoid the most notoriously contaminated items -- beef, milk, green tea, mushrooms. And we assume that everything we eat contains some radionuclides. We estimate our internal exposure based on levels reported for similar products, combined with our exposure to background contamination.

Dark Chocolate May Help You Avoid Cardiovascular Disease

By Dr. Mercola
A recent meta-analysis sought to evaluate the association between chocolate consumption and the risk of developing cardiometabolic disorders. "Cardiometabolic disorders" is a term that represents a cluster of interrelated risk factors that promote the development of coronary heart disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes.

These risk factors include:

 Hypertension 
Elevated fasting glucose 
High cholesterol levels 
Abdominal obesity 
Elevated triglycerides

In the featured analysis, researchers pooled the results of seven studies that collectively included more than 114,000 participants. Five of the seven studies reported a beneficial association between chocolate consumption and reduced risk of developing cardiometabolic disorders.

Bear in mind that not all chocolate is created equal. I'll review that in more detail below. As a general rule, any time "chocolate" is evaluated for its health benefits, we're dealing with dark unprocessed chocolate and/or raw cacao-not your average processed milk chocolate candy bar. That said, the featured analysis found that the highest levels of chocolate consumption were associated with:

37 percent reduction in cardiovascular disease, and  29 percent reduction in stroke

Does Walmart's Money Help or Hurt?

By Tom Laskawy
don't dispute the problematic nature of Walmart's million dollar donation to the urban agriculture group Growing Power. It certainly feels wrong to give a corporation with a questionable relationship to food reform such a prime opportunity for positive PR. As Andy Fisher, co-founder of the Community Food Security Coalition said of Walmart on Civil Eats:

 It is common knowledge that Wal-Mart demands its suppliers to charge them rock bottom prices, which are not economically viable for family scale farmers. With regards to sodium reduction in their products, one highly placed official at Kraft told me, "Wal-Mart is far behind the competition. Other food manufacturers have been working in this area for years." With regards to their apparently altruistic intentions to build in food deserts, this is little more than a Trojan horse packaged in shiny PR gift wrap.

Walmart's attempts at "buying its way in" to the Good Food Movement feels intrusive. And there is something ominous about the idea that Growing Power could find itself relying on the kindness of Walmart to make its payroll. At the same time, we shouldn't be so shocked by this development: There is an obvious motivation behind Walmart's act of charity.

According to the Milwaukee Business Journal, which reported the donation, Walmart has plans to build 15 stores in the southern Wisconsin area -- not very far from Growing Power's Milwaukee location. The math (from Walmart's perspective) is simple: It's spending $1 million for community goodwill that will, it hopes, defuse the kinds of grassroots hostility that can arise in communities when a multinational chain moves in and all but decimates the small businesses in the area.

Prescription Drugs and Industrial Chemicals Threaten the Great Lakes

By Brian Kemp
The Great Lakes have faced various threats for years, from industrial pollution to invasive species, but another challenge worries many researchers these days - the emerging chemical threat.

It's not just pesticides, as scientists are finding worrying levels of pharmaceutically active compounds such as anti-inflammatories, antibiotics, anti-epileptics, and beta blockers in lake water. As well, hormones, pesticides and alkylphenols have been identified as threats.

These products and medicines flushed down toilets and dumped into sinks are not stopped at water treatment plants, which are not geared to deal with them.

A new report prepared for the International Joint Commission by two Windsor, Ont., researchers has outlined the threats the chemicals pose. The International Joint Commission was formed by the U.S. and Canadian governments to find solutions to problems in the Great Lakes Basin.

The compounds "are receiving attention due to their potential adverse effects on animals and humans at low levels of exposure," said the report, co-authored by Merih Otker Uslu and Nihar Biswas of the University of Windsor. They sound a warning later in the report, which is a review of data collected from 2007-11.

$1 Trillion In Loans? How Student Debt Is Killing the Economy and Punishing an Entire Generation

By Sarah Jaffe
Tarah Toney worked two full-time jobs to put herself through college, at McMurry University in Abilene, Texas, and still has $75,000 in debt. She graduated in six years with a Bachelor's in English and wanted to go on to teach high school.

"Right about the time I graduated, Texas severely cut funding to our education system-thanks, Perry--and school districts across the state stopped hiring and started firing. It became abundantly clear that there was no job for me in the Texas public school system," she told me. "After two months of job searching I got a temporary position in a real estate office."

She continued, "In August my post-graduation grace period was up and all of the payments on my student loans amount to $500/month. Adding that expense to my monthly bills puts me at $2,100 per month. If I don't make my payments they will revoke my real estate license, which I need in order to do my job."

Max Parker (not his real name) enrolled at Texas A&M in College Station, Texas to get a BA in economics and a BS in physics. His freshman year was great-his parents had saved some money to help pay the bills, and after that he was able to get "more generous" student loans. He took a job to help cover the fees and bills that his student loans wouldn't cover, and worked about 35 hours a week during his sophomore year while taking 15 hours of classes-but found that his grades dropped with his workload.

"Part of the reason I thought to take on such a heavy load was the university's newly (at the time) implemented policy of flat-rate tuition," he explained. "This policy stated basically, no matter how many hours you enroll in (full time) for the semester, you will pay for 15. This means, you enroll in 12 hours or 20 hours, and you'll pay for 15 hours either way. Being economically minded, I wanted to make the best decisions I could with the money I had been loaned, so I enrolled in 15 hours."

He adjusted his course load, but in the spring of his junior year, a family emergency led him to withdraw midway through the semester, taking incompletes in his courses.

"I am 25 years old now, and shacking up in my parents' guest bedroom," he told me. "I have successfully made four payments on my student loans in the past three and a half years. I have over $48,000 dollars of student loan debt, and absolutely nothing to show for it. No degrees. No certificates. No qualifications. I have continued my education to the best of my ability since leaving A&M, but always at community colleges and always paying for everything out of pocket. As you can imagine, since I'm not 'qualified' for a decent paying job, my savings for school piles up very slowly, and then disappears when August and January roll around. I haven't been back to school in about a year now, and I currently work at Subway, making sandwiches. I don't make my loan payments."

The Long, Murderous Arm of the Law Has Killed Troy Davis

By Kai Wright and Jamilah King
Let us not mince words: The state of Georgia just murdered Troy Davis. The state coroner will list homicide as his cause of death. But he wasn't the first and, sadly, he won't be the last person slaughtered in the name of U.S. law and order. There are today dozens more people scheduled to be killed by states, according to Amnesty International. Their likely deaths represent the ultimate act of perversity in a system that destroys untold thousands of primarily black and brown lives every day.

The execution came following a harrowing and wrenching night for Davis's family and supporters all over the world. Hundreds had gathered for a vigil outside of the Jackson, Ga., prison where Davis was put to death. Literally minutes before Davis's scheduled 7 p.m. execution, the U.S. Supreme Court delayed the killing in order to review a final appeal. A little over three hours later, news broke that the court had refused to block the execution. He was slain at 11:08 p.m. eastern.

As the world waited those agonizing hours, the crowd chanted, sang songs and prayed. Perhaps the most moving speaker of all was Davis's 17-year-old nephew DeJaun Davis-Correia. Jen Marlowe has reported for Colorlines.com on how DeJaun grew up visiting his uncle in prison, and was inspired by his plight to get involved in the fight against inequity in the criminal justice system. In an interview with Democracy Now's Amy Goodman outside of the prison, DeJaun said pointedly, "I am Troy Davis, we are Troy Davis, and you could be Troy Davis, too, Ms. Amy Goodman."

Amnesty International director Larry Cox offered that, importantly, the massive movement that developed around this case offers an opportunity to question this country's values. And it offers a chance to engage the many people who are repulsed that the state would murder in our names and yet remain silent about it. "We have to take people who were against the death people and never did anything about it," Cox told Goodman, and mobilize them. "Now is the time."

Corporate Agribusiness Launches National PR Campaign to Brainwash Americans

By Jill Richardson
Today marks the big launch of a $11 million PR campaign to make consumers like GMOs, fertilizer, pesticides, and factory farms. The U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance (USFRA) is hosting "Food Dialogues" in New York, California, Washington, DC, and Indiana and broadcasting it live on the internet. (The hashtag is #FoodD if you are following on Twitter.)

USFRA claims "The goal is not to advance an agenda or to persuade you to any particular point of view. We simply want to create a forum that, we hope, will result in all of us being better informed about issues that affect our lives, our health, our planet and our future" but that's only what they are saying AFTER they hired the major PR firm Ketchum to handle their campaign. Before the PR firm came on board, they were much more open about their goals. I guess the PR gurus told them to tone it down, and to instead discuss how they use "modern" technology in "production" (i.e. industrial) agriculture. Now instead of overtly promoting pesticides, GMOs, and veal crates, they say they "have collaborated to lead the dialogue and answer Americans' questions about how we raise our food - while being stewards of the environment, responsibly caring for our animals and maintaining strong businesses and communities."

Stewards of the environment? USFRA gets 25-30% of its funding from industry, including from some of the biggest pesticide companies on earth. And the agricultural groups that make up USFRA have long histories of lobbying against any environmental regulation, livestock welfare standards, labor reform, competition reform, and more. And as for their claim they don't want to convince anybody of anything - you don't hire a PR firm if you don't want to convince anybody of anything. 

"Rome Wasn't Burned In A Day": Replacing Liberal Timidity with Leftist Passion

By Phil Rockstroh
Why is it that self-termed progressives are in full retreat (and have been for decades) from the witless army of angry clowns and hack illusionists of the U.S. rightwing?

One contributing factor involves the sterile cultivation of the persona of the "reasonable liberal," a type favored and rewarded by the status quo-protective power brokers of the Democratic Party and by corporate media organizations that find useful his trait of rendering himself feckless (e.g., the current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue) by the passion-annihilating (but self-serving) device of his preening amiability?

But in so doing, the self-gelded liberal has sacrificed libido and discarded sacred vehemence for careerist privilege. Worse, the rest of us are advised to follow suit that, in order to gain credibility, one must slouch towards center-hugging irrelevance.

We are counseled that in order to navigate this age of corporate dominance that one's irascible apprehensions and unruly aspirations must be suppressed, for such passions are deemed too radical for mainstream sensibilities, and are therefore regarded as impractical as they are untoward by the crackpot realists of the corporate bottom line whose dictates dominate the political discourse and economic arrangements of our time.

Organic Farming as a Green Jobs Strategy? Demand for Organics to Stimulate 42,000 Jobs

By Cole Mellino
A new report released this week finds that demand for organics may create up to 42,000 jobs by 2015, up from 14,000 today.

That's only a fraction of the 980,000 farmers in the U.S. But the organization that released the report, the Organic Farming Research Foundation, is calling on Congress to consider the growing economic impact of organic farming as it reconfigures the 2012 farm bill. Due to the rapid growth in consumer demand for organics and the labor-intensity of organic farming, OFRF says that job creation in the sector can more than double the rate of the conventional sector:

As our country has been dramatically affected by the worst economic downturn in 80 years, the organic industry has remained in positive growth territory and has come out of the recession hiring employees, adding farmers, and increasing revenue. The organic industry has grown from $3.6 billion in 1997 to $29 billion in 2010, with an annual growth rate of 19 percent from 1997- 2008. The organic agriculture sector grew by 8 percent in 2010.

The latest data indicate that 96 percent of organic operations nation-wide are planning to maintain or increase employment levels in 2011. Organic farms hired an average of 61 year-round employees compared with 28 year-round employees hired on conventional farms, according to a recent survey of organic and conventional farmers in Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, and Mississippi. 

Monsanto Wins Lawsuit against Indiana Soybean Farmer

By Carey Gillam
Monsanto Co., the world's largest seed company, has prevailed in another lawsuit against a U.S. farmer, earning a ruling from a federal appeals court that protects Monsanto's interests even when its patented seeds are sold in a mix of undifferentiated "commodity" seeds.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington issued its ruling Wednesday, affirming the lower court decision that favored Monsanto.

The St. Louis, Mo.-based company sued Indiana soybean farmer Vernon Bowman in 2007, accusing Bowman of patent infringement for planting and saving seeds that contained Monsanto's genetically altered Roundup Ready technology even though Bowman said he bought those seeds as part of a mix of commodity seeds.

Commodity seeds come from farms that use Roundup Ready technology as well as those that do not without differentiation. No licensing agreements are required with the sale of such seeds. 

American Breakfast Foods Are a Corporate Scam

By Dr. Mercola
Starting your morning with a bowl of cereal and a glass of orange juice, a donut and a cup of coffee, or a bagel and cream cheese may seem like second nature, but did you ever stop to think about why or how these foods came to signify breakfast in America?

 It wasn't always this way, that's for sure.

 Generations ago Americans would have scoffed at a cold breakfast of flaked grain cereal. Instead, they fueled their bodies with a hearty meal of eggs and meats (sausage, ham, bacon), and sometimes pancakes or bread. This was intentionally the heaviest meal of the day, as workers, particularly farmers, often wouldn't eat again until dinner.

 What happened to make cold cereal, juice, donuts and bagels the "norm" of American breakfasts? Breakfast food became corporate food.

How Much of YOUR Diet is Dictated by Corporate Creations?

 You're probably well aware that nowadays most of the food Americans eat is no longer dependent on local farmers and seasonal growing conditions. Instead, it's dictated by corporate America. The foods you may call "staples" are actually wildly successful marketing creations drummed up by some of the forerunners of the modern-day food industry. 

Occupy Wall Street: The Protesters Speak

Casey O'Neill had no regrets. He had travelled thousands of miles across the country - and gave up a well-paying job as a data manager in California - to sleep rough in a downtown Manhattan public square, enduring rain and increasingly chilly nights. Police keep a close eye on him every day.

But O'Neill was happy to be part of the "Occupy Wall Street" protests that have transformed New York's Zuccotti Park from a spot where Wall Streeters grab a lunchtime sandwich into an informal camp of revolutionaries, socialists, anarchists and quite a lot of the just-plain-annoyed.

"Regrets? No. God, no," said O'Neill, 34. "It is a little scary for sure. Somebody had to make a stand to do this. It is kind of amazing right now." O'Neill is even happy to sleep on the park's concrete benches. "It's OK, actually," he said.

O'Neill is part of an encampment in the square that looks ramshackle but in fact is highly organised, and looks rapidly on the way to becoming a fixture of downtown Manhattan life - if the police let the protesters stay there. 

'Face' of Agriculture Increasingly Female, Small Farm, Organic

By Jim Ewing
In case you missed it, there's a new organization (started in April) called Mississippi Women for Agriculture. Its a "professional association for women interested in giving voice to agriculture."

It's based on Annie's Project, an educational program "dedicated to strengthening the roles of women in the modern farm enterprise."

The story of Annie's Project is an interesting one, and perhaps helpful to women in Mississippi, too. It's based on the life of a farm woman in Illinois.

According to the organization, Annie grew up in a small town and had a goal to marry a farmer. She spent a lifetime learning how to be an involved business partner, and faced the challenges of three generations living under one roof, low profitability, changing farm enterprises and raising a family. Her daughter, Ruth Hambleton, founded Annie's Project out of needs she observed in farm women she knew.