STUMBLE UPON

European Doctors Support Warning on Toxic Trio of Asthma Drugs

Late last year, the FDA asked the manufacturers of three common asthma medications -- Advair, Serevent and Foradil -- to include safety warnings about a patient's increased chances of severe and fatal asthma attacks. That toxic trio of beta-agonist drugs has prompted European experts to request the very same warning.
European patients use any one of those drugs as a single treatment and without an inhaler, a worrying trend, says one researcher. Children make up the bulk of chronic asthma sufferers, and are typically treated with one beta-agonist drug.
Makes great sense, considering a 2003 drug trial of salmeterol (Serevent) on 26,000 patients was halted when early results showed more people died from respiratory ailments after taking salmeterol than a placebo. No surprise, such prohibitions haven't been enforced.
Some safer, natural treatments for your asthma that have nothing to do with taking a toxic drug:
Balance your ratio of omega-3 fats by taking a high quality krill oil daily.
Avoid all processed milk products.
Get moving on an exercise program.
Retool your diet to fit the foods your body burns best based on its unique metabolic type.

Times Online July 27, 2006


Air Fresheners May Damage Your Lungs

Air fresheners have been linked to cancer in the past, and this new study from the National Institutes of Health found that chemicals in not only air fresheners, but also toilet deodorizers and mothballs, can harm the lungs.
The chemical, 1,4-dichlorobenzene or 1,4-DCB, is in the blood of 96 percent of Americans. The 10 percent of people with the highest blood levels of 1,4-DCB did 4 percent worse in a test of lung function than the 10 percent of people with the lowest blood levels. Aside from being problematic for people with asthma or lung problems, the test is a risk factor for heart disease, stroke, lung cancer and death from any cause.
How can you tell if 1,4-DCB is in your home? Simple -- it smells like mothballs. It's best not to introduce any chemicals into your home, however, even those that may smell good.
If you are trying to eliminate unpleasant scents, try to prevent them from occurring in the first place, and if you are using air fresheners because you like the scent, therapeutic essential oils are an excellent, and safe, alternative.

WebMD July 27, 2006

Toxic Contact Lens Cleaner a Long-Term Problem

Evidently, Bausch and Lomb knew they had a problem with their toxic contact lens solutions long before the most recent reports of Fusarium keratitis, the fungal eye infection that can cause blindness.
As drug companies do when trying to fend off controversy -- think Merck and the Vioxx debacle -- Bausch and Lomb and its competitors took great pains to minimize any past concerns raised by scientists about multipurpose solutions (designed for cleaning, storing and disinfecting contact lenses) raised as long as nine years ago.
Now, the FDA has woken up to the problem and promised to re-evaluate their testing methods. Meanwhile, some researchers believe some contact lens solutions, when used with specific lenses, could cause corneal staining, also making patients more vulnerable to infection.
If all these new concerns, on top of the recent ones, make you more leery about using contact lenses in the future, I'm not surprised. But you don't have to be saddled with glasses or contacts either. You can get rid of both for good by learning the important visual habits that restored my eyesight in the Secrets of Regaining Your Vision Naturally program.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette July 26, 2006

Another Bird Flu Scam

Just as some states are having second thoughts about funding an imaginary flu pandemic with real tax dollars, here comes a cheaper flu vaccine under development by GlaxoSmithKline that may hit the consumer market as early as next year.
Projected to cost no more than the standard flu shot (about $7), Glaxo's H5N1 vaccine contains less than 4 micrograms of antigen (coming from chicken eggs). Two immunizations did the trick, the company claims, protecting 80 percent of patients participating in clinical trials.
The real reason why Glaxo jumped into the bird flu vaccine market: Business analysts project the H5N1 vaccine could add as much as 5 percent to the company's long-term earnings and $2 billion in annual sales. That might put a crimp into Tamiflu sales and all future profits U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld may earn as a former board member of Gilead Sciences.
Whether this "new and improved" vaccine will have the same deadly effect as Tamiflu does, however, is anyone's guess. To avoid the inherent dangers of vaccines without a health-harming drug, I urge you to review my quick tips for strengthening your immune system today.

Yahoo News July 26, 2006

The Best: Deadly Poisons Ingested or Inhaled

I'm sharing this interesting list of the 10 deadliest poisons from the latest issue of Wired for a reason. With a little luck, you won't be exposed to anthrax, sarin gas, ricin or tetrodotoxin, but you're probably well aware of at least two poisons: Mercury and botulinum.
What's insidious about mercury and botulinum is how both of these deadly toxins hide in plain sight, one contained in "safe" vaccines that harm the minds of babies and the other used to smooth wrinkles and "cure" excessive sweating.
Just a reminder, you're exposed to common toxins every day that pose a far greater threat on your health than amatoxin or something called compound 1080. Among them:
Pesticides
Mold and fungal toxins
Phthalates
Dioxins
Asbestos

Wired August 2006