MMR: Vaccine can cause blood disorder

There’s more bad news for advocates of the MMR (measles-mumps-rubella) vaccine with the discovery this week that it can cause a blood disorder. Researchers have found that it may trigger immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP), an immune system malfunction that destroys the body’s own blood platelets.
The effect seems to last for an average of seven days, during which time the child’s platelet count could fall.
The risk is relatively low, say researchers, and one case of ITP will be caused per 40,000 vaccinations. The risk appears to last for up to 42 days after vaccination.
Researchers from Kaiser Permanente Colorado, Denver analysed the health profiles of more than 1 million children who had been vaccinated. Of these, 259 developed ITP, and they reckon the vaccine was responsible for 76 per cent of these cases.
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* CLARIFICATION: Several readers responded to last week’s news story about the child who developed autism after receiving the MMR and other vaccinations. They were concerned by the suggestion that the MMR vaccine contains the preservative thimerosal, and, of course, the live vaccine doesn’t. However, the article didn’t say it did either. The story stated that the child received nine vaccines, including the MMR, and two of them contained thimerosal.

Broccoli: Why it’s so good for us
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It’s been called the king of vegetables, and scientists are getting closer to understanding just why broccoli has so many health-giving qualities. Broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables can boost the immune system, and fight the free radicals that damage our cells. [/LEFT]
[LEFT]Broccoli’s secret ingredient is a chemical called sulforaphane, which can switch on a set of antioxidant genes and enzymes in immune cells that help fight disease and the effects of aging. [LEFT]Our bodies lose their natural disease-fighting abilities as we age, and so vegetables such as broccoli can help replace that which the years have taken away. [LEFT]Researchers from the School of Medicine at UCLA have discovered that sulforaphane in broccoli reverses the decline in cellular immune function in a test on mice. The chemical was especially effective in kick-starting the dendritic cells, which also improve immune functioning. [/LEFT]

Diesel Exhaust: It can affect the way our brain works
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[FONT=Comic Sans MS]Diesel exhaust from heavy lorries can affect the way our brain works. Researchers have finally discovered that tiny particles from diesels change the way our brains function, although it’s not clear if they can impair our abilities.
The effects – as measured on special brain-monitoring equipment – occur within 30 minutes of exposure to the particles.
Until this study was carried out, scientists didn’t know if the particles had an effect, although they knew that particles can reach the brain.
To find out, they wired up 10 volunteers, half of whom were exposed for one hour to fumes, and who were monitored during the trial and for an hour afterwards. They discovered a significant alteration in brain activity within 30 minutes, and which increased during the hour following exposure.
Although the pollutants may have a potential effect on the central nervous system, the researchers were unable to figure out if this was happening, or if they were affecting our abilities in any way.

Heart Attack: 200 chest compressions could save your life

A heart attack victim should receive up to 200 chest compressions without interruption for the best chance of survival. It’s part of a new emergency technique called minimally-interrupted cardiac resuscitation (MICR), which can increase survival rates by eight times compared with the current approach.
Emergency crews who have been trained in MICR are already achieving extraordinary results, a new study has discovered.
Researchers carried out a ‘before and after’ study into the success rates of fire department emergency medical crews in Arizona. Before MICR training, the crews were achieving a 4.7 per cent survival rate in heart attack patients – but this leapt to 17.6 per cent once they started applying MICR techniques.
MICR is far more aggressive than current emergency treatment. It involves 200 uninterrupted chest compressions, then single shock treatment, followed by 200 more chest compressions.

Drugs in Water: A cocktail is in our drinking water

A cocktail of pharmaceutical drugs – including antibiotics, anti-convulsants and mood stabilizers – is in the public water supply in the USA and the UK. Up to 100 different drugs have been detected in our water supply, and in reservoirs, lakes and rivers.
While the amounts are very low, scientists are worried that they may still have a detrimental effect. “These are chemicals that are designed to have very specific effects at very low concentrations. That’s what pharmaceuticals do. So when they get out to the environment, it should not be a shock to people that they have effects,” says zoologist John Sumpter at Brunel University in London.
The drugs are getting into the water supply from human waste and from people who are throwing away the drugs unused. Anabolic steroids, which are put into cattle to pump them up, are also getting into our drinking water.
Scientists are concerned that the drugs could be made more toxic by the chlorine that is increasingly being introduced into the public water supply.
A new report in America has discovered that at least 41 million homes throughout the States are regularly drinking water that is laced with a vast cocktail of drugs. The water supply in 24 metropolitan areas, including Southern California, Northern New Jersey, Detroit and Louisville, has been contaminated.
None of the existing filtration plants has been designed to eliminate drugs, and the same may also go for the standard home filter systems. Reverse osmosis is the only technology that can remove traces of pharmaceuticals, but it is too expensive for water companies to install for large-scale filtration.

Multivitamins: The new spin that claims they are killer
Medical researchers will tie themselves up in knots in order to get people off nutritional solutions. The latest comes from Harvard, which claims that multi-vitamins may be bad for us – and could even cause cancer.
Despite numerous studies that have found that antioxidants are vital for good long-term health, the Harvard research team concludes that antioxidant supplements not only don’t protect against heart disease or cancer, they also “in some cases may actually do more harm than good.”
Turning to the B vitamins – B6, B12 and folic acid – the researchers say the B vitamins don’t prevent heart disease and, worse, folic acid may cause cancer. They point to a study of men who were taking 1000 mcg of folic acid – more than twice the recommended daily amount – and they developed more colorectal adenoma and prostate cancers than those taking a placebo. However, every participant was already at high risk of developing colorectal cancer before the trial began.

Prostate Cancer: Most men suffer diminished quality of life after surgery
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[/LEFT][LEFT][TABLE][TR][TD]Most men suffer some deterioration in their quality of life after treatment for prostate cancer, a new study has discovered. Post-operative problems range from urinary incontinence, sexual dysfunction, depression, and hormonal problems.
The three standard surgical procedures for prostate cancer – prostatectomy, radiotherapy or brachytherapy – each comes with its own set of problems. The single biggest change occurs with prostatectomy, with more than half the patients complaining about sexual problems afterwards.
Researchers from Harvard Medical School followed 1,201 patients after prostate cancer treatment. Generally, patients who have nerve-sparing procedures with the therapy seem to fare better.
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Nurse u must be a genius Ty for the posting such kind of things