Dental Dork?

I think my dentist may think I am a total weirdo. I hope not.

I had a routine check up/cleaning this morning, during which, she advised me to start using something called MI Paste. I have always had sensitive teeth. So I can’t bite right on into my popsicle. It’s OK. My quality of life is unhindered…

She really wanted me to start using it. She is all for my dental health. I am all for avoiding anything I can’t buy at Whole Foods or make myself. I never-the-less looked at the bottle. It looked natural-ish I guess. So I took the bottle and started to read the ingredients. Hmmm….

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Cold Conundrum

With the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reporting that an estimated 7,000 children are sent to the E.R. each year, primarily because of overdose, it is surprising that 20% of parents still plan to give their children under 2 cold medication.

This comes after this month’s warnings from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration against dispensing cold medicine to children. Evidence suggests parents want to give these drugs, including cough suppressants, antihistamines and decongestants, to their children, even though they have never been shown to benefit young children.

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Starbucks Drops The Organic Milk In Favor Of The rBGH Free

In the new “green” era where organic milk sales increased 25% to $2.67 billion in 2006, it is surprising that Starbucks is dropping the organic dairy option. As of February 26th, you will no longer be able to order your venti, quad, no foam, chai latte with organic milk.

The change comes with an across the board conversion to milk free of rBGH. Starbucks will no longer carry organic milk, but all milk will now be free of the controversial growth hormone.

Apparently, organic milk only made up 1% of beverage sales at the caffeine mecca. Starbucks has stocked organic milk since 2001 in an effort to provide customers with the option of milk free of rBGH. Now that the hormone free milk is widely available, the switch will be permanent. However, customers wishing to forgo the pesticides, fertilizers and antibiotics will have to deal. For the chemical weary java junkies, maybe soy is an option, as Starbucks does use organic soy milk.

For more information on the article reviewed and utilized for this post, please visit the Wall Street Journal.

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Unfavorable Drug Studies Dumped For More Attractive Favorables

If they are unfavorable, they probably won’t get a date with publication.  At least that’s what a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine states.

Apparently, selective publication has become a significant problem.  A team of researchers from the Oregon Health & Science University has discovered nearly a third of antidepressant drug studies are never published in medical literature and nearly all happen to show that the drug in question failed to work.

The research team also states that in some of the published studies, unfavorable results are recast to make the medicine appear more effective than it really is.

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Genetically Modified Mosquitoes Courtesy Of The Sea Cucumber

The sea cucumber- long believed to have healing properties– happens to produce a toxin that destroys malaria parasites. Researchers are hoping this toxin is the key to reducing the one to two million people, most of which are children, who die of malaria each year.

Scientists have inserted the genetic code for the sea cucumber toxin into mosquitoes and witnessed the toxin take out the parasite immediately. Scientists hope this new genetically modified malaria proof mosquito will halt the killer in its tracks.

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EU Follows FDA Approval On Cloned Meat With Opposition

Just days after the FDA approved cloned meat and milk for consumption, the EU shook a disapproving finger and warned Europeans of the dangers.

A report by the European Group on Ethics in Science and New Technologies says that the risks of negative effects were grave enough to keep cloned products off the European market.

There are “doubts as to whether cloning animals for food supply is ethically justified,” the group said in a statement. “At present,” the group said, it does “not see convincing arguments to justify the production of food from clones and their offspring.”

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Martha Stewart Sued On Accusations of Lead Poisoning

Pennsylvania parents, Sandra and Raymond Dombroski, have filed a lawsuit on behalf of their two children, Michael and Matthew, alleging they were poisoned by lead in Martha Stewart’s dinnerware.

The Dombroksi’s are suing Martha Stewart Living and K-Mart, where the dinnerware was sold. The “Everyday Flowers and Buds Border” dinnerware allegedly contains lead, which the Dombroski’s state is responsible for poisoning their children.

The suits states that the boys suffer mental, emotional, and cognitive impairment, learning disabilities, speech problems and physical impairments as well as a host of other problems. The Dombroski’s state that the presence of lead is a result of the negligent, reckless, intentional and outrageous conduct of Martha Stewart Living.

They are suing for compensatory and punitive damages.

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FDA Approves Consumption of Meat and Milk From Cloned Animals

Yesterday, the FDA approved the consumption of meat and milk from cloned animals, stating it was “safe.” But the government has asked animal cloning companies to continue a voluntary moratorium on sales for a little longer — for marketing reasons.

USDA Undersecretary Bruce Knight called it a transition period for “allowing the marketplace to adjust.” He wouldn’t say how long the moratorium should continue.

Several large companies – including Dean Foods Co. and Hormel Foods Corp. – have said they have no plans to sell milk or meat from cloned animals because of the consumer anxiety about the technology.

And maybe with good reason- the technology hasn’t been perfected — and many attempts at livestock cloning still end in fatal birth defects or with deformed fetuses dying in the womb. Dolly, (the first successfully cloned sheep) was euthanized in 2003, well short of her normal lifespan, because of a lung disease that raised questions about how cloned animals will age.

Moreover, the FDA does not require labels on meat or milk stating the source was a cloned animal.

 

For more information on this subject, please visit MSNBC.

 

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Just Say No To The Cow And The Cancer

A recent report published by the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) and the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) concludes that strictly limiting meat consumption (primarily red meat and processed meats) is one of the most integral factors in preventing certain types of cancer, especially colorectal. In the report, researchers conclude that no amount of processed meat (i.e. bacon or lunchmeat) can be considered safe to consume.

The report stated that other factors increasing cancer risk include excess body weight and physical inactivity.

To read more about the report titled, “Food, Nutrition, Physical Activity and the Prevention of Cancer: A Global Perspective,” please visit VegNews.

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Israeli Court Rules On Religious Use Of Chickens

Kapparot is a Jewish ritual in which a person holds a chicken over their head and swings it in a circle three times while praying for atonement.  The fowl are then donated to the poor for food.  It is a traditional ceremony performed between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.  The intention is that the fowl will take on any misfortune that might otherwise occur to the one who has taken part in the ritual, in punishment for his or her sins.

Recently, a court in Petach Tikva, Israel, ruled that kapparot violated the country’s animal welfare laws.  Rabbinical law does permit an alternative though.  Money may be substituted for the bird which is subsequently also donated to charity.

For more information on kapparot, please visit The Jewish Virtual Library. 

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