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More pharmaceuticals have been linked to a meningitis outbreak which has sickened 214 people killed 15.

New England Compounding Center, NECC, is the pharmaceutical company at the center of the outbreak and is cooperating with the FDA and the CDC advising doctors and surgeons to contact patients who have come in contact with drugs which may be responsible for the spread of meningitis.

The connection between sugar and Alzheimer’s can not be disputed.

The New Scientist Magazine, September 3, 2012 issue explains the sugar-Alzheimer’s link as the condition by which our muscle, fat, and liver cells stop responding to insulin.

The cells no longer metabolize glucose properly thereby leading to insulin resistance or pre-diabetes.

This, then causes the pancreas to produce excess amounts of insulin even as excess glucose builds up in the blood causing insulin spikes which overwhelm the brain.

Insulin also regulates neurotransmitters such as acetylcholine, which are crucial for memory and learning and is also important for the function and growth of blood vessels, which supply oxygen and glucose to the brain.

There’s also research tying brain dysfunction directly to excess sugar consumption. In a 2012 study, UCLA scientists fed rats a heavy ration of fructose (which makes up roughly a half of both table sugar and high-fructose corn syrup) and noted both insulin resistance and impaired brain function within six weeks. Interestingly, they found both insulin function and brain performance to improve in the sugar-fed rats when they were also fed omega-3 fatty acids. In other words, another quirk of the American diet, deficiency in omega-3 fatty acids, seems to make us more vulnerable to the onslaught of sweets.

Another facet of our diets, lots of cheap added fats, may also trigger insulin problems and brain dysfunction. New Scientist flags yet another recent study, this one from University of Washington researchers, finding that rats fed a high-fat diet for a year lost their ability to regulate insulin, developed diabetes, and showed signs of brain deterioration.

Government subsidies of corn and sugar have made these commodities incredibly inexpensive for the food industry which puts sweeteners in almost everything we eat.

This, at the same time Alzheimer’s costs $200 billion a year in health care alone.

The U.S. government has declared a mandate to find a cure for Alzheimer’s by 2025.

Cheap sugar comes at a very high price, indeed.

It seems that buying organically produced food does’t provide all of the solutions that we are looking for.

Researchers at Stanford University help shed some light on this debate.

In this interview the most common questions are asked and answered to help you understand what you’re paying for and what you’re getting when you choose organic.

So if you ask people, they say that the two main reasons they eat organic food are because it’s nutritious, and because it’s good for the environment. But she also finds there are a whole bunch of emotional values that are tied up with eating organic food. So people who eat organic food tend to value altruism. They tend to value benevolence. They tend to value spirituality. And organic food has gotten wrapped up in all of these values that don’t necessarily have to do with the very specific things that science studies.

Is it normal aging or low testosterone?

This is the question being asked by government researchers, specifically, the National Institute on Aging, which has seen big advertising dollars spent pharmaceutical companies hoping to turn old age into a treatable disease.

There is no real agreement on what the effects of low testosterone as one ages has on the body.

The normal range of 300 and 1,000 nanograms per deciliter fluctuates during the day and what seems low for one individual produces no adverse affects in another.

Unknown side affects, and dubious claims made by research funded by drug makers calls into question the validity of treatment claims.

Baby boomers are also pushing an industry to supply the “fountain of youth” when real vitality is better obtained through lifestyle choices than through medicine.

Adding to the confusion over what defines “low testosterone,” there’s not much understanding of whether testosterone replacement therapy actually improves men’s symptoms. Evidence of the benefits of testosterone is mixed, and the potential health risks are serious. The largest study conducted to date, a 2008 trial involving 230 patients in the Netherlands, found no improvement in muscle strength, cognitive thinking, bone density or overall quality of life among men taking testosterone. Muscle mass increased 1.2 percent, but not enough to improve physical mobility.
The National Institute on Aging is currently conducting an 800-man trial to definitively answer whether testosterone therapy improves walking ability, sexual function, energy, memory and blood cell count in men 65 years and older. But those results aren’t expected until 2014.
In addition to concerns about testosterone’s effectiveness, the long-term side effects of the hormone are not entirely understood because most trials to date have only followed patients for a few months. But the most serious risks include heart problems and prostate cancer. In fact, all testosterone drugs carry a warning that the hormone should not be given to men who have a personal or family history of prostate cancer.

Outbreak of West Nile Virus is unusually high this year, however, in 2003, 9,862 cases were reported and 264 people died, according to the CDC’s records.

This year’s outbreak is far from that, however, with human cases reported in 44 states it is still cause for alarm.

Although the disease can be deadly, not everyone will develop serious, neuro-invasive illnesses.

Some will have such light symptoms that they may not know that they are infected at all.

The nationwide numbers were up from 1,590 cases and 65 deaths reported Aug. 28, said Dr. Lyle R. Petersen, director of the CDC’s division of vector-borne infectious diseases.
“We expect this increase to continue for the next several weeks, probably until October,” said Petersen, who added that he was infected with the virus himself a few years ago. Many cases have not yet been logged because of the lag in reporting time, he said.
More than half the cases — 54 percent — are the serious neuroinvasive variety, which can lead to encephalitis or meningitis. The vast majority of West Nile infections, some 80 percent, are so mild that people don’t know they’re infected. About 20 percent develop symptoms and about 1 percent may develop serious, neuro-invasive illnesses.

The disease is spread by infected mosquitos which breed in water.

Unusual weather patterns, light winter and a hot, wet summer have contributed to a rise in the mosquito population.

See you physician if you feel that you may have any symptoms.

Convenience may be outweighed by safety when it comes to pre-packaged produce.

Although experts disagree on which is better there is some good advice to help avoid contamination and food poisoning:

Bruhn is also a staunch advocate of irradiation, which she says can ensure food safety.
She encourages consumers to take steps to avoid compromising bagged lettuce. Buy only bags kept very cold in the grocery store and pay attention to sell-by dates. Once you’ve got it home, open the bag and dump it directly into a clean bowl.
“Don’t stick your own hands in there,” she said.
She also urges home cooks not to re-wash bagged greens because of the possibility of cross-contamination with other bacteria already in the kitchen.
If you want to use bulk lettuce, make sure to clean it correctly, Bruhn said. First, wash your hands and also the sink with hot soapy water.
Then, break off each lettuce leaf individually, rinse it under cold running water while rubbing gently. Dry in a salad spinner or with paper towels, not with cloth towels, which may transmit bacteria.

The CDC has alerted the public to an outbreak of salmonella poisoning from mangoes which has sickened 103 people in the United States, mostly in California, including 22 people in Canada.

Salmonella poisoning can cause mild illness in otherwise healthy people 12 to 72 hours after infection.

Symptoms include fever, diarrhea and abdominal cramping.

In those individuals with a weakened immune system salmonella can cause severe illness requiring hospitalization.

Once a specific source is identified, CDC said public health officials will offer advice and take steps to prevent illness.
However, CDC officials did confirm that the genetic fingerprint of the salmonella strain was identical to that found in the recalled mangoes that made people sick in Canada, which were identified as Daniella brand mangoes imported from Mexico.
A U.S. importer of those mangoes, Splendid Products of Burlingame, Calif., has voluntarily recalled nationwide shipments of Daniella mangoes with PLUs #4959, 3114, 4051, 4311 or 4584. Several U.S. grocery stores have pulled the fruit from their shelves, the Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday. They were sold at retail locations across the U.S. from July 12 to Aug. 29.

Researchers from the State University of New York at Stony Brook, last month, showed in a paper that tiny defects in the bulbs can let through UV light that can damage skin cells and lead to cancer.

The phosphorus coating inside the bulb contains the dangerous UV light rays, however, the curly shape of the bulbs creates opportunity for cracks in the coating allowing harmful rays to escape.

The researchers’ data, published in the journal Photochemistry and Photobiology, is preliminary, and based on experiments in a lab. In other words, there aren’t any known cases of sunburn from light bulbs yet. The researchers say it’s also not that hard to avoid the dangerous rays; they recommend putting the light behind glass or keeping a few feet away from the bulb.

While there is no need to panic it is simply one more thing to consider when trying to keep your family safe.

Gonorrhea is a sexually transmitted disease caused by the bacterium Neisseria gonorrhea.

Those infected with gonorrhea often show no symptoms, however, the disease can lead to serious complications, including infertility and chronic pelvic pain in women, and in men, a painful inflammation of the ducts attached to the testicles that may cause infertility.

Left untreated, according to the CDC. If the bacteria spread to the blood or joints, the condition can be life-threatening, the CDC says.

Over the last several decades, the bacteria that cause gonorrhea have developed resistance to many antibiotics used to treat the condition, including penicillin, tetracycline and fluoroquinolones.

That left just one class of drugs, called cephalosporins — which include the drugs cefixime and ceftriaxone — to be used as treatment.

But today, the CDC announced it no longer recommends cefixime, an oral medication, as a first-line treatment for gonorrhea, citing data over the last several years that show cefixime has become less effective at treating the infection.

New technology enables a disposable wristband to read the amount of ultraviolet ( UV ) radiation to which you are being exposed.

In addition to sunscreen, the “UV Dosimeter” let’s you know when you’ve spent too much time in the sun; even with SPF protection.

At .15 cents per bracelet it is an affordable way to protect from yourself skin damage and skin cancer.

The wristbands contain an acid-release agent and a dye that work in concert to pick up UV light and then change color depending on the levels of radiation detected. Different bands will be tailored for people of varying skin types, who have different levels of UV tolerance. The band made for fair-skinned and fair-haired types will change color faster than bands made for darker-complected people.

In the U.S., skin cancer is the most common form of cancer, with more than 3.5 million cases diagnosed each year. Sunburn or overexposure to the sun is a major risk factor for developing skin cancer, and Intellego is betting that the worldwide market for the new wristband will be substantial.