August 2007 Health in the News Archive
Cage-Free Eggs are All the Rage
August 2007
The New York Times reports that eggs from chickens raised in large, open barns instead of stacks of small wire cages, have become the latest addition to menus at universities, hotel chains like Omni and cafeterias at companies like Google. The Whole Foods supermarket chain sells nothing else, and even Burger King is getting in on the trend.
Ice cream maker Ben and Jerry's got plenty of attention last September when it became the first major food manufacturer to announce future plans to use only cage-free eggs.
The eggs can cost an extra 60 cents a dozen on the wholesale market.
But most chicken farmers are not ripping out cages and retrofitting their barns. They say that converting requires time, money and faith that the spike in demand is not just a fad.
They also question whether the birds are really better off, saying that keeping thousands of hens in tight quarters on the floor of a building can lead to hunger, disease and cannibalism.
Dr. Grout's Comment:
Consumer beware: not all cage-free eggs are equal. The term "cage free" is lightly regulated. Companies get approval to use it on their labels through the Food Safety Inspection Service of the Agriculture Department, which does not actually inspect laying operations. Most cage-free chickens never peck in a barnyard during their lives.
Picture if you will hundreds of wire cages, about the size of a printer, stacked one atop another, inside a building. That is what is called "battery cages." Now picture those hundreds (or thousands) of chickens all stuffed together inside a barn, kind of like you and me getting on an elevator full of people - the proverbial sardine can. Is that any better?
Stores like Whole Foods sell eggs labeled organic and free-range which come from chickens with at least some access to the outdoors.
Common supermarket eggs often come from caged or "cage-free" chickens fed a grain-based feed laced with hormones and antibiotics. Supermarket eggs have been found to have an omega-6 to omega-3 ratio of perhaps 19 to 1. Farm eggs are likely to have a 2 to 1 ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 which is much healthier for human beings. Too much omega-6 can breed inflammation and too much inflammation can breed autoimmune diseases and cancer.
The best chicken eggs are those which come from chickens allowed to peck for bugs in the dirt, and not fed a supplemental diet of genetically modified corn.
Kids Throw Away Nutritious Food
August 2007
A new survey indicates that mothers want their children to eat nutritious snacks, but more than half the children want snacks that are tasty and sweet.
"With best intentions in mind, most mothers pack their children's lunchbox with wholesome snacks. But what those same mums don't realise is that 50 per cent of kids are either throwing those snacks away or giving them to a friend," says a new survey, commissioned by Kellogg's and conducted by the Weekly Reader Researcher's Insiders survey panel.
This may mean that other companies need to start looking at ways of making snacks more nutritious while still maintaining the taste and appeal of the products, too.
"We recognise that a lot of bartering happens between parents and kids when deciding what to include in the lunchbox and that can be a challenge," said director of wholesome snacks marketing at Kellogg, Jane Ghosh.
Dr. Grout's Comment:
The food industry is grappling with the obvious epidemic of childhood obesity. This survey comes a month after some of the top food and beverage companies announced new voluntary restrictions on marketing practices to children in an effort to avoid the implementation of new regulations or a complete ban in advertising.
Given what has passed for "expert nutritional advice" in the past 50 years, the lack of mandates may not be a bad thing.
I tend to think a ban on advertising though might be a good thing. According to at least one study, after watching commercials for food, kids ate as much as 134% more than they ate after seeing toy commercials. Young children are highly influenced by what they see on TV.
Kudos to the moms who insist on good nutrition because what your children eat affects the condition of the genes they will pass down to their children and grandchildren. See "The Ghost In Your Genes."
CDC Investigated for Fluoride Promotion
August 2007
A joint meeting of two ethics committees for the Centers for Disease Control has received a detailed formal complaint alleging a series of unethical activities by the CDC Oral Health Division and the CDC Director. The complaint specifically questions why CDC's own data on disproportionate harm from ingested fluoride in minority groups is not being communicated to these communities, and points to new, state of the art National Research Council information showing certain groups to be especially susceptible to harm from fluoride.
The charges were presented to CDC's joint ethics panel on August 9th. The complaint says, in part, that the CDC has:
- Justified fluoridation in terms that mislead Americans into confusing the fundamental concepts of concentration versus dose. This had led citizens to believe that a low concentration of fluoride in water cannot result in a harmful dose of the chemical, regardless of volume of water consumed and other sources of fluoride -- and in this context CDC has also failed to appropriately disclose that fluoride can accumulate harmfully in the body over time; and
- Misled the public concerning the results of studies about harm from ingested fluoride.
In a separate development, news surfaced on the same day that 600 doctors, dentists, and other professionals have signed a petition calling for a halt to water fluoridation and for congressional hearings on fluoridation.
On August 9, 2007, more than 600 professionals issued a signed statement calling for an end to fluoridation and a call to legislators in fluoridating countries to hold hearings to determine why, after the release of the landmark National Research Council report in 2006, aggressive promotion of fluoridation continues.
Dr. Grout's Comment:
The ethics complaint and the professionals' statement are the latest in a string of blows to the conventional wisdom that fluoride and water fluoridation are safe.
In 2005, frustrated by EPA administrators' lack of response to mounting evidence of harm from fluoride, eleven unions within EPA representing 7,000 lab workers, scientists, and others publicly called for the immediate halt to fluoridation based on concerns about fluoride-caused bone cancer. In 2006, the American Dental Association quietly stated on its web site that mothers of newborns might wish to consider using unfluoridated water when mixing powdered infant milk formula. CDC this year similarly changed its policy about use of fluoridated water for mixing formula, but did so only on its web site, not issuing even a press release to alert millions of parents to the news. The U.S. Dept. of Agriculture has recently developed software to begin to assess the quantity of fluoride Americans are ingesting, citing concern that cumulative fluoride intake could lead to a painful bone and joint condition called "skeletal fluorosis."
Look at your tube of fluoride-containing toothpaste. You will see a warning on it that you should not swallow it, and to call a poison control center if children under the age of 6 swallow it.
Europe for the most part, does not fluoridate city water. Fluoride has a long, dark history in the United States. At best, it speaks to the questionable issue of compulsion medication. At worst, its history includes allegations of the aluminum industry maneuvering public opinion to accept dumping of very toxic waste into American city water systems. You can read more at http://www.fluoridealert.org
FDA Warning for Red-Yeast Rice Products
August 2007
The FDA is warning that consumers should not buy or eat three red yeast rice products promoted and sold on Web sites as dietary supplements for treating high cholesterol. The products may contain an unauthorized prescription drug that could cause muscle weakness, leading to kidney damage.
The products are Red Yeast Rice and Red Yeast Rice/Policosonal Complex, sold by Swanson Healthcare Products Inc., and manufactured by Nature's Value Inc. and Kabco Inc., respectively; and Cholestrix, sold by Sunburst Biorganics. FDA testing revealed that the products contain lovastatin, the active ingredient in Mevacor, a prescription drug approved for treating high cholesterol, the FDA said in a prepared statement.
"This risk is even more serious because consumers may not know the side effects associated with lovastatin and the fact that it can adversely interact with other medications," said Dr. Steven Galson, director of the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.
Dr. Grout's Comment:
Have we forgotten that Lovastatin is derived from red rice yeast? Not that I'm advocating the use of either of them for lowering cholesterol – we have far better ways, through nutritional modification – but this seems like talking out of both sides of the mouth simultaneously – take statins, give them to children even, but don't take red rice yeast? Where is the logic?
The amount of lovastatin delivered by red yeast rice is typically 7.2 milligrams. The amount of lovastatin in the pharmaceutical form of lovastatin ranges from 10 to 40 milligrams. It is unclear why a lovastatin dose of 7.2 milligrams in red yeast rice appears to have more potent lipid-lowering activity than higher doses of pharmaceutical lovastatin. It is speculated that other substances in red yeast rice besides the HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors, may have lipid-lowering activity themselves or may work synergistically with the HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors.
President Bush Treated for Lyme Disease
August 2007
President George Bush was successfully treated for Lyme disease nearly a year ago, the White House announced Wednesday. The condition had never been revealed until the White House on Wednesday made public the results of his annual physical exam. They said that he was treated for what they called "early, localized Lyme disease" last August after developing the characteristic bullseye rash, and that it did not recur. Lyme disease is a common tick-borne infection that if left untreated can cause arthritis and other problems. The president's main form of exercise and recreational activity is mountain biking, which could bring him in contact with ticks.
Dr. Grout's Comment:
Lyme Disease is one of the most heartbreaking battles in medicine. It is either a growing world wide epidemic of a debilitating disease you can never cure, or it is not much more than a short-lived rash.
Those who suffer with chronic Lyme, say that once bitten, there is no cure. A person always has Lyme in their system. If the immune system is really strong, the Lyme will stay dormant. However, most people weaken their immune systems daily by poor diet. Sodas, sugar, gluten, fast foods, and additives like MSG and aspartame feed Lyme. An outbreak of Lyme can be triggered by major emotional stress, physical stress or surgical procedures.
In the other camp are a number of infectious disease doctors who would say that is hogwash, there is no such thing as chronic Lyme, and that four weeks of antibiotics will cure the disease. "I wouldn't expect any problem at all for the president," said Gary Wormser, chief of infectious diseases at New York Medical College and an expert on Lyme disease. "He won't be impacted by this infection in the future."
The communication boards of those with chronic Lyme were fast to point out that Bush's bouts of recent unsteadiness and ear infections which have been reported in the press are characteristic of the underlying, ever present infection.
Let us hope that George Bush will not be one of the chronic sufferers.
Statin Therapy for Children with Familial Hyper-Cholesterolemia
August 2007
As reported in the August 7th edition of issue of Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association, early long-term statin therapy -- the earlier the better -- can help prevent arterial damage in familial hypercholesterolemia, researchers found.
Younger age at statin initiation was significantly linked to less carotid intima-media thickening, a marker of atherosclerosis; each year statins were delayed would increase carotid intima-media thickness 0.003 mm.
These findings and the lack of serious adverse events in the study support starting statins early in childhood for those with the genetic disorder.
"These data strongly indicate that early statin treatment reduces atherosclerotic burden more vigorously than treatment started later, supporting the concept that statin treatment should be initiated in childhood."
Dr. Barbara A. Hutten and colleagues wrote, "We consider it unlikely that statin treatment in these young subjects affects hormonal regulation and sexual maturation."
Dr. Grout's Comment:
This is one of many, many "routine studies" encouraging the use of pharmaceutical drugs in new circumstances. The most telling part of the article is that the study "was funded by Bristol-Myers Squibb. One of the researchers reported receiving consulting fees, lecture fees, and grant support from Pfizer, Merck, Schering-Plough, AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and Sankyo."
How objective do you think this research is? And if their guess is wrong that it is "unlikely that statin treatment in these young subjects affects hormonal regulation and sexual maturation," will the parents or young adults ever be able to connect the dots years from now that this recommendation was tragically flawed?
Familial hypercholesterolemia is a rare, inherited disorder that causes very high cholesterol levels and greatly increases the chance of having a heart attack at a younger age.
How about if, instead of drugging the children, we teach them how to manage cholesterol levels through nourishing food? It would be very beneficial in these cases to eat a nutrient dense diet and eliminate the sugars, the simple carbohydrates, the additives and colorings, and thereby eliminate the need for the drugs entirely.
Statins are anti-inflammatory, yes. They lower cholesterol, yes. But are you willing to make your children pay the price?
Statins also stop the manufacture of cholesterol in the body. They also stop the manufacture of CoQ-10. This enzyme is crucial for energy production within the cellular energy factory call the mitochondria. Did you ever wonder why some people are unable to take statins? Why the "side effects" are of muscle pains and weakness? It is because they are no longer able to get rid of the molecular "trash" within the cell. Their energy factories are unable to function.
Giving out prescriptions for statins like this risks producing children whose mitochondria are starved for energy, leading to muscle weakness and even heart failure.
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