The great pandemic: a milder flu season than average. Meanwhile, in Germany, only 5% of the population has gotten the much pushed H1N1 vaccine but the German population seems not to be keeling over with flu deaths. But if you should be one of the few people who actually get some kind of flu this year, don't count on Tamiflu.

Meanwhile, the swine flu push has put other public health work on hold, like restaurant inspections.

But are we healthier? We spend nearly twice as much on prescription drugs as we did a decade ago.

"Everywhere I turn on the Internet and in the media, it seems there’s something about raw milk." Fictional FDA dialogue based on positive real world trends for raw milk.

Alcohol? no; cigarretes? no. Raw milk? Yes -- an "immanent health threat."The Georgia milk dump:



Let the consumer decide about raw milk.

Sound sleep leads to healthy eating habits; less desire for sugar. Less sleep increases hunger. 

Abnormal heart rhythm, atrial fibrillation, on the rise. (Nutrient depletion on the rise...) A little B-complex magnesium and CoQ10 can fix this in a hurry.

AstraZeneca wants to sell its cholesterol drug Crestor to certain people with normal cholesterol levels.

Selling information about which doctors prescribe which drugs is big business.

Cardio-Oncology? Because certain types of chemotherapy can cause heart problems. Oh and Prostrate Hormone Therapy ("androgen deprivation therapy" -- sounds positively medieval) may up heart risks, too.

Become fat and lazy and get dementia thrown in for free.

aa
“We can sell tobacco products, why can’t we sell raw milk?” 

No, not really:  beer could be the new weapon against prostate cancer. Dream on, men. So much "science." so little real progress against cancer.

Forget beer. You want fermentation that's truly healthy? Try this.

Raw milk: South Dakota farmers under attack from the state Department of Agriculture. Long, important letter to the editor here. Hat tip: The Bovine. 

Our ancestors had straight teeth so why don't we?

Feeding the world: organic production delivers. The current use of "non-renewable resources (oil at mineral   phosphates, for example), at huge cost to soil, water, wildlife and environment" can hardly be called efficient.

Testosterone and aggression: all in the mind?

Cutting sugar in kids cereals is at best a baby step in the right direction; but these junk products will never be real food. Good marketing, yes; nutrition, no.

Speaking of processed foods and children, a new article asks why children are being born with chronic dieseases. Using the famous Pottenger cat studies the author reminds us "it only took one generation of processed foods to impair the health of the next generation of cats."

Another reason avoiding excess Omega 6 fatty acids is critical: Omega 6 Linoleic Acid suppresses thyroid signalling.

Umm: natural, herbal product of the day: instant virgin.

The great pandemic: Study confirms low mortality for swine flu.

Interest in getting flu shots declining.

Vitamin D finding of the day: may improve melanoma survival.

Microbial exposure early in life helps control inflammation as we get older.

The raw milk wars are heating up again, this time in the state of Wisconsin. Raw milk guru David Gumpert has a detailed write-up about what's going on here and here. It's all coming down to a December 21st  court date for Max Kane, WI raw milk drinker, activist and seller. A huge rally in his support is planned that day outside the courthouse. A workshop will also be held. Some of the biggest in names in the US raw milk movement will be speaking. Rally information here. The Journal of Natural Food and Healing is also sounding the trumpet on the December 21 rally. There appears to be growing evidence of consumer resistance to crackdowns on raw milk. And the producers themselves are sounding up in arms. Mark McAfee of Organic Pastures Dairy recently spoke about “taking back the food chain.” “The most patriotic thing we can do as farmers is rebel. Tell the FDA (U.S. Food and Drug Administration) to pasteurize themselves….The farmer will become the pharmacist for America.”

Why skeptics love to hate homeopathy. Huge article and hugely important.

Medical school faculty ties to the drug industry:  Now it's Northwestern.

Chinese youth -- traditional (herbal) Chinese medicine is trendy and flourishing. 

Canada: Product safety bill faces herbal "tea party."

Do you get fat over the holidays? Perhaps weekends are as fattening as Christmas.

TIME: Top ten medical breakthroughs of 2009. Come on. Are these really "breakthroughs?" Really? Pretty unimpressive to us.

kk
Tamiflu:  New data calls into question its effectiveness.


Doctors increasingly closing the door to drug reps.


Introducing the $30,000 Per Month Cancer Drug. It has NOT been proven to extend patients' lives and reduces tumor size (by an unreported and therefore presumably unimpressive amount) in 27% of patients who took the drug. Wow.


Hmmm... fascinating look at human facial expressions and how they come across: angry female faces look less female...and happy guys aren't taken seriously. <note to self: no more Mr. nice guy -- begin brooding at once!>


Evidence of the astounding importance of adequate Vitamin D levels in the body just keeps pouring in. Latest: associated with survival in lymphoma patients; a gentic tie to heart disease; and long term diseases risks in infants (and nurshing mothers). "Nutritional rickets among nursing infants whose mothers have insufficient levels of vitamin D is an increasingly common, yet preventable disorder." As to this latter, a remarkable and heartbreaking story of a baby taken away from its parents because a case of Vitamin D deficiency rickets was mistaken for child abuse.

Clinical trials: 15 million Americans participate every year but it seems the guinea pigs are becoming wary.


Slim Fast recall due to bacterial contamination.


Cell phone tumors: fact or fiction?


A new Weston Price event: The Fourfold Path To Healing Conference, January 29-31 in Nashua, New Hampshire. Official announcement, here; and great write-up on the conference, here.


What to tell vegetarians who say eating meat is immoral.


As age related conditions become more prevalent: Did we all just have bad childhoods?


Were they getting enough (or any) healthy, energizing FATS?: Association of Tight Glycemic Control With Road Crashes in Diabetic Patients


H1N1 "pandemic:" mildest on record (save for the hype and hysteria). But some interesting findings from those who did get it.


Just a coincidence: Pro-vaccine article in major mag has big pharma ad right next to it.


Life extension: It may not be just caloric restriction diets that extend life, but the balance of amino acids in such diets.

Weight loss: it may not be isn't just caloric restriction that reduces weight, either. It's the ratio of the macronutrients - carbs, proteins and fats. It's the latter we are concerned with today as a new online experiment is trying the "eat fat to lose fat" theory (based on the book of that title by Mary Enig and Sally Fallon). "The Fat Experiment" is about a 21 year old woman who weighs 296 pounds at 5'8". Her goal is to lose 40-50% of her current body weight and she will do this on a diet consisting of roughly 60 percent fat. Specifically, on her "Principles" page she lists the features of healthy, traditional diets she will be following. Spot-on. I look forward to following her progress. She begins her diet by posting the following YouTube video. She obviously takes her goal very seriously. I take her at her word and wish her the utmost success.



In Canada, Naturopathic doctors are gaining new powers.

New, dangerous drugs that are harmful to your health are being created daily: coma in a bottle.