"Our findings illustrate that what you eat affects how you think," study researcher Fernando Gomez-Pinilla, of the University of California, Los Angeles, said in a statement. "Eating a high-fructose diet over the long term alters your brain's ability to learn and remember information. But adding omega-3 fatty acids to your meals can help minimize the damage."

The study was published in the May 15 issue of the Journal of Physiology. The research was done on rats, but the researchers believe their brain chemistry is similar enough to humans to extend the findings.

Sugar v. syrup

The researchers zeroed in on high-fructose corn syrup, an inexpensive liquid six times sweeter than cane sugar, that is commonly added to processed foods, including soft drinks, condiments, applesauce and baby food.

The average American consumes more than 40 pounds of high-fructose corn syrup per year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Some scientists even think sugar should be taxed the way alcohol and tobacco products are.

"We're not talking about naturally occurring fructose in fruits, which also contain important antioxidants," Gomez-Pinilla said. "We're concerned about high-fructose corn syrup that is added to manufactured food products as a sweetener and preservative."

Maze & Memory

Before starting the experimental diet the rats were taught to navigate their way through a maze using visual landmarks to remember the way.

The researchers then separated the rats into two groups, both consumed a fructose solution as their water, but one half of the rats also received omega-3 fatty acids, which are thought to protect against damage to the synapses — the chemical connections between brain cells that enable memory and learning. After six weeks of their new diet, the researchers tested the rats' recall of the maze route.

"The second group of rats navigated the maze much faster than the rats that did not receive omega-3 fatty acids," Gomez-Pinilla said. "Their brains showed a decline in synaptic activity. Their brain cells had trouble signaling each other, disrupting the rats' ability to think clearly and recall the route they'd learned six weeks earlier."

Sugar problems

The rats fed only high fructose corn syrup developed insulin resistance, which the researchers think may be what's hurting the brain cells.

Insulin resistance due to the constant flow of fructose may have changed how cells use and store sugar and use it as the energy required for processing thoughts and emotions. (sugar is the only fuel that brain cells know how to use.) If the brain cells can't use insulin correctly, it could impact how they work.

"Insulin is important in the body for controlling blood sugar, but it may play a different role in the brain, where insulin appears to disturb memory and learning," Gomez-Pinilla said. "Our study shows that a high-fructose diet harms the brain as well as the body. This is something new."

Their study also suggests that omega-3 fatty acids may help protect or heal the brain from this damage, Gomez-Pinilla said, though researchers aren't sure how either of these effects happen at the molecular level in the brain. He recommends taking one gram of omega-3 fatty acids per day.

To fix a health problem – understand your body

The thyroid gland produces hormones which stabilize our metabolic rate and energy levels. Protein synthesis, body temperature regulation and oxygen consumption of the cells would not occur without a healthy thyroid gland. In other words, if you abuse your thyroid with a poor diet and lifestyle choices – the rest of the body will suffer.

Our immune system is under attack from toxins within our air, water and food supply. These pollutants over-stimulate our immune system, create auto-immune reactions and damage thyroid function. The good news is thyroid disease is reversible without pharmaceuticals.

The underlying issue behind thyroid disease

According to Dr. Brownstein, his clinical practice has revealed that just about everyone suffering with Thyroid dysfunction has severe iodine deficiency. But, it's not enough to just eat salt or supplement with iodine. You MUST be sure to get the right kind of iodine to produce a positive result.

Have you been tested properly? Dr. Brownstein says the commonly-used, spot iodine (skin) test is useless! It's better to get a "spot urinary iodine test" – which test your morning urine to see how much iodine is present. Or, you can take a "24 hour iodine loading test" – which give you a pretty good idea how much iodine has been excreted and retained. Bottom line: get tested and consult a qualified, holistic medical professional.

Most chemotherapeutic drugs are cytotoxic and work by impairing mitosis (cell division), and targeting fast-dividing cells for destruction. Chemotherapy is supposed to kill fast-growing cancer cells but it also targets the body's white blood cells that also grow quickly. This destruction also targets the rapidly growing healthy cells in your hair, digestive system, and bone marrow (where blood cells are produced). Unfortunately, in older tumors and in the center of solid tumors, cell division has already ceased, making them insensitive to chemotherapy even if the chemotherapeutic agent does somehow reach the core of the tumor.

Surviving chemotherapy is not about quality of life
Each year, more than 1 million cancer patients receive outpatient chemotherapy, radiation, or both. On the US National Library of Medicine website (PubMed), – is the news of a study estimating the overall contribution of chemotherapy to 5-year "survival" in adults in the US at a shameful 2.1%. Top this off with 201 side effects listed on the Chemocare website alone. The American Chinese Medicine Association says that "most cancer patients die of chemotherapy." How does this factor into the medical dictum "First Do No Harm"? It is actually misleading to promote chemotherapy for cancer treatment because it permanently damages the body and immune system and causes other cancers to spring up later.

The "double standard" of conventional medicine
In conventional medicine all you hear about is that everything needs to be double blind/ placebo controlled to really know the scientific facts. But chemotherapy drugs are NOT double blind/ placebo controlled. If they were, the placebo might do as well or even better than the chemotherapy. And anything that out-performs chemotherapy would wreak havoc on the Big Pharma hold that is gripping millions of Americans. And yet medical scorn is heaped on natural cures and botanical medicine that only has hundreds if not thousands of years of clinical trials.

R. Webster Kehr of the Independent Cancer Research Foundation says that we are not to believe that the federal government is looking for new cancer cures. He goes on to claim: "The medical establishment could have a 90% cure rate for cancer tomorrow if they really wanted to cure cancer…" There are alternatives to chemotherapy that work and work very well. If you have been put in the position to have to consider chemotherapy, or if you have tried chemotherapy that failed to put your cancer in remission, you will want to make a careful and informed decision before putting your health in the hands of a chronically failed Big Pharma system.

"Children should only use a 'pea-sized' portion of fluoride toothpaste when they brush."

"If you accidentally swallow more than used for brushing, seek professional help or contact a poison control center immediately."

You can view and sign Simms' petition here:
http://www.change.org

Concerned about the extreme toxicity of fluoride when the chemical is ingested, Simms wants to raise awareness about the issue in order to convince the local water treatment division to stop forcibly medicating his entire community with fluoride chemicals. Unlike the naturally-occurring element fluorine, sodium fluoride, a highly-toxic byproduct of industrial manufacturing that is commonly added to water supplies, is known to cause considerable health damage, including tooth decay.

"Sodium fluoride comes from the aluminum industry, it's a byproduct of where aluminum is created. And it's unfortunately a very expensive toxin to be able to dispose of, and they even told them it was too dangerous to pour into the ocean for disposal," said Simms to 6 News Lawrence during a recent interview. "So, it would seem that they decided to dilute it down and just start putting it into drinking water. If it's listed as a poison, it does not need to be in drinking water."

Simms refers, of course, to sodium fluoride's Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) listing, which clearly indicates that sodium fluoride may be fatal if inhaled, swallowed, or absorbed through the skin (http://www.sciencestuff.com/msds/C2579.html). Lawrence's roughly 90,000 area residents, in other words, are exposed to toxic sodium fluoride in each one of these ways every time they wash their hands, take a shower, or drink a glass of tap water that has not been filtered through a reverse osmosis system.

In a sorry attempt to counter Simms' efforts, Dan Partridge, Director of the Lawrence Health Department, told 6 News Lawrence that fluoride is naturally-occurring, and that it "would occur in the public water supply whether we add it or not." Not only is this statement patently false, as artificial fluoride chemicals are far different from naturally-occurring fluorine, but it also supports the idea of not adding fluoride chemicals to water if they already occur naturally.

Try as they might to maintain the illusion that fluoride chemicals are safe and effective at preventing tooth decay, pro-fluoride apologists simply do not have sound science on their side. Dozens of studies, many published just within the past year, have proven unquestioningly that ingestion of fluoride chemicals is dangerous, and provides no legitimate health benefits.

This is why city after city, and town after town, continue to end their water fluoridation programs. Not only will the cut save these communities thousands of dollars a year in needless expenses, but it will also save local residents from developing dental fluorosis, thyroid problems, cancer, bone disorders, and the many other conditions caused by fluoride ingestion (http://www.fluoridealert.org/fluoride-dangers/health/index.aspx).

While local police haven't yet embraced this tactic, the federal government appears to be on board with it. Documents recently released by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), in response to a Freedom of Information Act request filed by the Electronic Freedom Foundation (EFF), show that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is considering collecting DNA samples from children 14 and up, and is even considering collecting samples from kids younger than that.

Policy could affect 1 million people every year
The request appears to stem from a Department of Justice regulation requiring all federal agencies to collect DNA samples from all suspects arrested for federal crimes, including "from non-United States persons who are detained under the authority of the United States," even if they haven't been involved in any criminal activity.

The law supposedly exempts some classes of "aliens," but according to reports, it appears DHS is prepared to begin taking samples from anyone the department arrests. And right now, that's anyone 14 and older, though some records indicate ICE could lower the age further.

According to DHS estimates, as many as 1 million people subject to arrest or administrative detention annually may now be subject to DNA collection. The thing is, many of these people have not committed any crime. And the trend, thanks to the courts, is towards more DNA collection on anyone who comes into contact with the justice system, regardless of whether they are eventually found innocent or not.

ICE is the first agency within the purview of DHS to collect DNA under the Justice Department's new guidelines. The policy is the result of pilot programs run out of ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) offices in San Diego, St. Paul, and San Juan, Puerto Rico, which began around July 2010. After the pilot program, the rest of the department's HSI offices – some 200 of them across the country – will begin collecting the samples, and the perception is all other DHS agencies will start in short order.

Not everyone is on board
Some state courts are resisting the federal trend – or are trying to. Earlier this month, Maryland's Supreme Court backed a lower court's ruling that blocks police from collecting DNA samples upon arrest.

But in a slap at the civil rights of Maryland residents, state Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler is planning to appeal the case to the U.S. Supreme Court. In doing so, he's trying to justify this sham by saying, in essence, that police should have the right to screen everyone who is arrested as guilty of committing some other crime as well.

"All this ruling does is allow people to get away with very, very serious crimes," Gansler told The Baltimore Sun newspaper. "The reasoning by the Court of Appeals doesn't make a whole lot of sense to most people."

Only those who understand the Constitution, Mr. Gansler.

Stephen Mercer, chief attorney for the state office of the public defender's forensics division, gets it. In supporting the state court's decision to reject the procedure as unconstitutional, he says allowing police to collect DNA samples on all suspects is tantamount to putting them under "lifelong genetic surveillance."

That there is some sanity left in Maryland's legal community should make its residents feel a bit more secure "in their papers and effects." At least for now.

“What the hell?” White House Deputy Chief of Staff Jim Messina, who is now Obama’s campaign manager, complained to a lobbyist for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) in January 15, 2010 email. “This wasn’t part of our deal.”

This reference to “our deal” came two months before the final passage of Obamacare in an email with the subject line, “FW: TAUZIN EMAIL.” At the time, Billy Tauzin was president and CEO of PhRMA.

The email was uncovered as part of investigation into Obama’s closed-door health care negotiations launched by the House Energy and Commerce committee’s oversight panel.

“In the coming weeks the Committee intends to show what the White House agreed to do as part of its deal with the pharmaceutical industry and how the full details of this agreement were kept from both the public and the House of Representatives,” the committee’s Republican members wrote in a memo today.

On June 20, 2009, Obama released a terse 296-word statement announcing a deal between pharmaceutical companies and the Senate that didn’t mention any involvement by the White House.

 “The investigation has determined that the White House, primarily through Office of Health Reform Director Nancy Ann DeParle and Messina, with involvement from Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel, was actively engaged in these negotiations while the role of Congress was limited,” the committee members wrote. “For example, three days before the June 20 statement, the head of PhRMA promised Messina, ‘we will deliver a final yes to you by morning.’ Meanwhile, Ms. DeParle all but confirmed that half of the Legislative Branch was shut out in an email to a PhRMA representative: ‘I think we should have included the House in the discussions, but maybe we never would have gotten anywhere if we had."

That's enough drugs to give every single American 64 Percocets or Vicodin. And pain pill prescriptions continue to surge, up 600 percent in ten year, thanks to doctors who are more and more willing to hand out drugs to patients who are suffering.

As more people get their hands on these potentially-dangerous drugs, more are taking them to get high. Their drug abuse leads to 14,800 deaths a year — more than from heroin and cocaine combined.
Howard Levine

'Society of wusses': Howard Levin, a Long Island, New York, pharmacist, says doctors are too willing to hand out prescription painkillers

'We've become a society of wusses,' Long Island, New York, pharmacist Howard Levine told the BBC.

Mr Levine stopped carrying all of the major addictive prescription drugs after he was robbed twice by addicts looking to get high.

Nationwide, police are reporting increases in robberies and other crimes by people who are addicted to oxycodone and hydrocodone, the key ingredient in most prescription pain pills.

One of the people lured into crime by drug dependency was Rich Elassar, 36, who once owned a successful business in New Jersey.

Crime spree: Mr Levin stopped carrying several major painkillers after he was robbed twice by drug addicts looking to get high

But an addition to painkillers led to him taking 90 Percosets a day, he told BBC. When the money ran out he was desperate for more drugs.

One day, he walked into a bank and handed the teller a note demanding cash. He was caught and arrested shortly after the robbery.

When the police came to bust him, he said he was actually relieved.

'I looked in my rear-view mirror and I saw the cops, I saw their lights flashing and I really, really, really remember thinking, well this is it. I'm going to get clean now,' he said.
Rich Elassar

Lost everything: Rich Elassar spent three years in prison after he robbed a bank to feed his Percocet habit

But three years in prison and a drug recovery program wasn't enough to help him kick the powerful hold oxycodone had over him. He has released three times since his release and must take medication every day to keep the drug withdrawal symptoms at bay.

He's been clean since June, but he's still doesn't know whether he's kicked his addiction for good.

'I think this is definitely it. I mean, I say think and I pray to God every day that this is it.'

After losing much of his fortune during the early days of the current economic collapse, McAfee sold off his business and relocated to Belize where he started up a few new companies, including one that is currently researching medicinal herbs in the rainforests of Belize for the purpose of mitigating the drug-resistant bacteria epidemic. But it appears as though McAfee somehow landed himself in the crosshairs of the local military dictatorship.

"In the early morning hours of May 1 (2012), a law enforcement arm of the Belize police force, called the Gang Suppression Unit (GSU), raided McAfee's research facility in the northwest district Orange Walk," writes Diane Bullock from Minyanville.com. "The GSU allegedly ransacked the property looking for drugs and firearms, shot and killed McAfee's dog, handcuffed him and his 12 employees, confiscated his passport, and put him under arrest for possessing illegal weapons."

Though released the following morning around 2 a.m., McAfee says there was no reason why he was targeted. All of his weapons are registered and permitted, he said, which debunks the claim that authorities were after him for possessing illegal weapons. If it were not for the help of the American embassy, however, McAfee could still be sitting in prison for no legal cause.

Jackboot raid on McAfee similar to those now occurring in U.S. on family farmers, food cooperatives
Was McAfee the target of the medical-industrial mafia in his new country, which eerily resembles the medical-industrial mafia in the U.S. that has conducted many similar raids in recent years? Or was the whole thing just a big misunderstanding? According to McAfee himself, as reported by Channel 5 Belize, he was merely the target of a corrupt government looking to intimidate and ultimately extort money from him.

"It began, innocently enough, with my refusal to donate to the local political boss of the district where I lived in Orange Walk," McAfee is quoted as saying, hinting that the raid may have been payback for his refusal to kowtow to politics. In his defense, McAfee says he has, on the other hand, voluntarily donated millions to local philanthropies, police departments, and towns in order to improve quality of life throughout the region.

At this time, McAfee is seeking legal advice for how best to handle the situation. Since he was not ultimately charged with any crime, the tyrannous raid and killing of his dog constitutes illegal force under the Belizean legal system, which is based on the common law of England.