Category: Featured Articles

By Ben  Taylor

The Gangsters in Government are working hard at the behest of the Pharma-Industrial Complex and their New World Order cronies to classify colloidal silver as a ‘pesticide’ so that the EPA can claim (unlawfully of course) that they have the right to regulate it. We all know that their real intent is not to ‘protect the environment’ and the people, but to ‘regulate’ silver products off the market. Whether you believe it or not, these criminals in the one world government movement have mass bio-terrorism planned for America and they do not want the people to have access to anything that might be used to thwart that plan.

Classifying silver as a pesticide flies in the face of any logical analysis and here is where a minute amount of common sense will reveal the truth without studying volumes of research papers. While closing a blind eye to the undisputed fact of environment pollution by millions of gallons of chlorinated and fluorinated water going down the drains, agricultural pesticides and herbicides being sprayed on crops and ending up in streams and lakes and in underground water and dangerous pharmaceuticals being flushed into the sewers and also ending up in the water supplies, the EPA is instead focused on a naturally occurring mineral that has no known toxicity for multi-celled organisms and the volume used is a micro-fraction of a percentage of the volume of the truly dangerous pesticides noted above. It is these simple numbers and known scientific facts that are easy to see and which points us to the truth. The dangerous pesticides not under attack are known to kill, not only one-celled organisms, but to also kill or seriously harm multi-celled organisms, such as people and animals. So, why the focus on a few thousand gallons of colloidal silver rather than on the ‘real’ harm done by tens of millions of gallons of truly dangerous, but EPA approved and therefore ‘acceptable’ pesticides?

If there was ever reason to stand up, that time is now! We must make our voice heard as encouraged in the article below by health writer and researcher Tony Isaacs. If the EPA and the other so-called ‘regulatory’ agencies fail to heed our voice and that of reason it will not be the end because we have right on our side and simply must peacefully decline to follow the directives of The New World Order. They have no lawful authority to take any action against Colloidal Silver and we will continue to fight these gangsters as we always have. We will fight them alone if need be, but our real strength is in standing together against this intrusion against our right to use mankind’s oldest natural anti-biotic and immunity booster. Mark these words, ‘we will need it in the coming days and years’ because patented antibiotics will not work – make no mistake about that.

If there was ever reason to stand up, that time is now! We must make our voice heard as encouraged in the article below by health writer and researcher Tony Isaacs. But if the EPA and the other ‘regulatory’ agencies fail to heed our voice and that of scientific fact, then it is not the end; we truth and we have right on our side and simply must peacefully decline to follow the orders of The New World Order. They have no lawful authority to take any action against Colloidal Silver and we will continue to fight these gangsters as we always have. We will fight them alone if need be, but our real strength is in standing together against this intrusion against our right to manufacture and use mankind’s oldest natural anti-biotic and immunity booster. Mark these words, ‘we will need it in the coming days and years’- make no mistake about that.

URGENT ACTION ALERT!
Big Pharma Backed Activist Groups Have Used the Public Comment Extension Period to Flood the EPA with Thousands of Comments and Make False Claims about a "Major New Study"

By Tony Isaacs

Only three days are left to prevent the EPA from regulating colloidal silver as a pesticide – and petition that has been exposed as a Big Pharma effort to use environmental and other activist groups to help eliminate competition from a substance that the EPA itself has tested to be safe in the past and which millions of Americans use instead of the expensive, side effect laden and often less effective antibiotic drugs that generate literally billions of dollars in profits each year.

Though the efforts to regulate silver appear to come from activist groups, recent investigations have found that the large majority of the groups routinely receive funding from pharmaceutical companies and they are pulling out all the stops to take colloidal silver and other nano-silver products off the market, including massive email and regular mail campaigns to their members, thousands of comments generated by automated comment forms on their websites and publishing a misleading report in the closing days of public comment which they falsely claim is proof of silver causing harm to humans.

Many may have thought that the initial efforts to further erode our health freedom and take yet another supplement away from the public were thwarted by an outpouring of public comments to the EPA against the petition.  As you will see in the story that follows, such thinking was premature and the reality is that while many of us have been lulled to sleep, the Big Pharma backed activist groups have regained the upper hand by redoubling their efforts after the initial deadline was extended.  Now, only scant days remain to again take action and reverse the tide or very likely see access to colloidal silver taken away.

After the initial tide of public comments turned against the thousands of comments solicited by the activist groups, the original deadline for comments was extended from January 20th to this Friday, March 20th.  In the interim, the well orchestrated campaign redoubled their efforts and they have dumped several thousands of the fill-in-the-blanks "form letters" and other comments on the EPA sight. They have also published a report from a so-called major study in China which actually proved to be anything but a major study and which actually proved that colloidal silver prevents the deadly E. coli bacteria from multiplying, exactly what colloidal silver, which has been found to be effective against virtually all pathogens, actually does.  NO human cells were even used in the study.

As Spencer Jones reports at the Colloidal Silver Secrets blogspot:
"First they state, "Yet another major study on nano-silver toxicity has been published during the comment period."

What's wrong with that statement? First of all, the study they are referencing is hardly what you could call a "major" study. It is in fact a very small study conducted in the People’s Republic of China (yes, Red China, home of the melamine scandal and tainted toothpaste scare) by a little known group calling themselves the Bio-X Life Science Research Center.

Interestingly, the Bio-X Life Science Research Center admits on their own web site that they are operating in association with two major drug companies, AstraZeneca International and Roche.

Who are These 2 Big Drug Companies?

Roche (aka Hoffman-LaRoche) is a huge, well-known multi-national drug company which makes Bactrim, Rocephin, Lariam, Tamiflu, Invirase and numerous other antibiotic and antiviral drugs for the treatment of infectious diseases.

AstraZeneca, another huge, multi-national drug company, state right on their web site that they too are focusing a large part of their business model on developing and marketing infection-fighting antibiotic and anti-viral drugs and vaccines. In fact, they state, “We aim to build a leading franchise in the treatment of infectious diseases by increasing the sales of the marketed brands Synagis, Merrem and Flumist and bringing new products to market by exploiting our structural and genomic-based discovery technologies and our antibody platforms.”

In other words, the group behind the study supposedly demonstrating that nano-silver is harmful is, in reality, in bed with two of the largest drug companies on the face of the earth, both of which are major players in the antibiotic drug, anti-viral drug and vaccine markets.

These are the among the very same drug companies that hate colloidal silver and other silver-based products the most, and have the most to lose if silver ever becomes a major resource in products designed to prevent and cure infections and related disease!

More Deception and Exaggeration from the Environmentalists

Once their first exaggeration is established, the radical environmentalists go on to say in their statement that “The study found that nano-silver used in food storage materials, such as plastic bags and containers, can directly interact with genomes and bind with DNA, interfering with DNA replication.”

Sounds serious, but is this true? No. Once again, it is a cleverly worded deception.

First of all, according to the study abstract, the study authors first openly admit that “…information on whether or how nano-silver particles bring changes in genetic materials remains scant.”

In other words, the study authors admit they simply don’t know whether or not tiny particles of silver bring about changes in genetic materials, or how it might happen if they did. It is all speculation. And that speculation is fueled by the radical neo-Luddite environmentalists who oppose the use of tiny silver nano-particles in on behalf of the major drug companies who pay their bills.

Secondly, and most importantly, the study is not even specifically designed to prove that products containing silver nano-particles are potentially harmful to humans, or even that silver nano-particles could, by themselves, could harm to humans. Yet the environmentalists would have you believe the exact opposite.

Indeed, their statement is cleverly designed to make you think that the study authors actually took plastic bags and other containers with silver particles embedded in them and tested to see whether or not the silver would somehow leach from the bag or container, and then enter a human being and harm human DNA replication. In reality, the study did no such thing.

What Really Happened

Here’s what the researchers actually did, and what the study actually demonstrated:

First, the researchers exposed E. coli cell cultures – not human cell cultures, but bacterial cell cultures — to three different types of nano-silver, including colloidal silver. (As most people know, E. coli, also known as Escherichia coli, is a gram negative bacteria most widely known for its ability to cause food poisoning.)

And what did they find? They found that “The results showed that the replication fidelity of the rpsL gene was differentially compromised by all three kinds of nano-silver particle compared with that without nano-silver.”

In other words, they discovered that silver disrupts the ability of this infectious microorganism to replicate. That’s it. They actually proved what colloidal silver users have been saying all along, i.e., that tiny particles of silver destroy pathogens from the inside out!

So what did this study have to do with human cells? NOTHING. And what did this study have to do with products containing silver nano-particles? NOTHING."
Big Pharma Companies Linked to Funding of the Activist Groups Behind the Petition to Regulate Silver
It was reported recently that that a handful of the activist agencies behind the petition to the EPA to regulate nano-silver as a pesticide have received funding from pharmaceutical giant Merck, which annually has hundreds of billions of dollars in profits from patented antibiotics.  Now, further investigation by this author has discovered that the initial revelations may just be the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Merck and other pharmaceutical companies' funding of the groups who support the EPA petition.
As it turns out, virtually all of the activist groups receive funding and support connected to major pharmaceutical companies with donations running from the tens of thousands of dollars to millions of dollars – and that is only what could be found with simple internet searches.  No one really knows the true scope of such funding and support, since many such donations and efforts are made anonymously and shielded from the public.
For more information about the funding links which were uncovered, see:
"Merck, other Pharma Companies Funding Activist Groups behind the EPA Petition to Regulate Silver"
http://www.tbyil.com/EPA_Petition_Funding.htm
Clearly, the EPA petition is little more than a thinly disguised effort from the same people who tirelessly work to circumvent DSHEA and limit our health freedoms and access to vitamins, minerals and other natural supplements in order to protect their monopoly on our health and dictate to us through unconstitutional laws and agency codes how we are allowed to address what should be our very private health issues however we choose.
I urge each and every one of you who values liberty, health freedom and what should be your unalienable right to make your own health decisions to go to the EPA site and let them know exactly how you feel – and do so immediately, because time is running out and the powers of greed and suppression are holding sway.
Quoting again from Spencer Jones:
The public comments deadline is this Friday, the 20th of March. So the next three days are, euphemistically speaking, our “midnight hour.”

And like Gideon of old, who was instructed to attack at the midnight hour with his tiny, rag tag band, we need to start…

Sounding the trumpets (i.e., emailing the EPA)…

Breaking open the lanterns (i.e., faxing the EPA)…

And shouting at the tops of our voices (i.e., calling the EPA on the phone)

We need to let them know in no uncertain terms that we don’t want them to regulate nano-silver in any form as a “pesticide,” and especially, we don’t want them to enforce such “pesticide” regulations against any form or brand of dietary colloidal silver.

We need, simply speaking, to unleash a final massive renewed storm of protest over the plan to have silver regulated as a “pesticide.” Nothing less will do.

So if you can do all three things (i.e., phone, fax and email) please get to it right away. It is absolutely critical that we, like Gideon of old, shake the adversary up like he has never been shaken before. We literally need to make them tremble at the sound of our voices, the light of our determination to maintain our basic health freedoms, and the sword of truth in regards to the safety and benefits of colloidal silver.

Here is the contact information you’re going to need:

Email Your Comments: Email your comments opposing the petition to regulate silver particles as “pesticides” to the new EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson. Her email address is: [email protected]
Phone the EPA Administrator's Office: To call the EPA Administrator's office and voice your opinion on this issue, dial (202)-564-4700

Fax Your Comments: Fax your comments to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, at her Washington DC fax number: (202)-501-1450.

It is simply too late to write personal letters at this point in time, so I’m not going to bother to reprint that contact information, though you can find it in the previous post entitled “Dirty Tricks in the Battle to Save Colloidal Silver from EPA Regulation.”

If you don’t have personal access to a fax machine (they are available to use for just a few dollars at just about any local “Mail Boxes Etc.” or “UPS Store”) then use the EPA public comments page. But that’s only a last ditch choice. Right now, faxes will make the most dramatic impact, followed by your personal phone calls and emails.

If you can, please do all three. We need to make a righteous noise for the next three days. And we need to start now. Just call, fax and email the EPA saying the following:

“I respectfully request the EPA reject the petition by environmental groups such as Center for Technology Assessment and Friends of the Earth to force the regulation of silver nano-particles ass ‘pesticides.’ The petition is clearly without merit, as there is no evidence to suggest that tiny particles of silver are causing any harm whatsoever to the environment. Such a new regulatory burden should not be undertaken by the EPA with such flimsy evidence, which amounts to little more than conjecture and exaggeration on the part of the environmentalists. It is particularly important that you do not attempt to regulate any form of colloidal silver dietary supplement – regardless of its content — as a “pesticide” as this is not only outside of the regulatory purview of the EPA, but is detrimental to the widely acknowledged health freedoms of all Americans.”

Note: In your faxes and emails, please be sure to reference “Petition for Rulemaking Requesting EPA Regulate Nanoscale Silver Products as Pesticides,” and Docket #: EPA-HQ-OPP-2008-0650-0506. That way the EPA knows exactly what you are talking about.
And I might add, send this notice to as many people and groups as possible.
Yours in health freedom and liberty,
Tony Isaacs
For more information:
http://www.colloidalsilversecrets.blogspot.com/
http://www.tbyil.com/EPA_Colloidal_Silver.htm

by Mike Adams

(NaturalNews) The health community is up in arms over the discovery that a highly-respected and influential clinical researcher, Dr. Scott Reuben, fabricated the data used in over twenty pharmaceutical studies published in peer-reviewed medical journals.

These studies promoted the safety and "benefits" of drugs like Bextra (Pfizer), Vioxx (Merck), Lyrica, Celebrex and Effexor. The lead researcher on these studies, Dr. Scott Reuben, was being paid by Pfizer and Merck, so there's a verified financial connection between this clinical researcher and at least two of the drug companies that benefitted from his fabricated findings. (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/11/h…)

Note carefully the names of the medical journals that published Dr. Reuben's fabricated data (see below). These so-called "science journals" claim to be peer-reviewed, which means these studies were approved by multiple scientists who agreed with the findings.

What this scandal reveals is that even peer-reviewed medical journals cannot be trusted to publish truthful, accurate information about pharmaceuticals. In fact, they are just as much a part of the Big Pharma / FDA conspiracy as the pill-pushing researchers who fabricate these studies, in my opinion.

The only honest medical science journal I've found is PLoS Medicine (http://medicine.plosjournals.org). Everything else I've seen is just tabloid medicalized fiction sandwiched in between pages of false advertising.

And conventional doctors, for all their self-proclaimed intelligence and scientific skepticism, were universally hoodwinked by this faked data! Apparently the best way to convince doctors that a drug is safe and effective is to just invent whatever story you want and submit it to a medical journal, which then gladly publishes it.

If you're looking for a career as a fiction writer, the heck with authoring books sold in the "fiction" section of the local bookstore… just write for medical journals and drug companies! They pay is better and the fiction is even more outrageous!

Speaking of fiction and false advertising, here's a list of studies authored or co-authored by Dr. Scott Reuben who admittedly fabricated at least twenty-one of these studies. Dr. Reuben was recently a faculty member at Tufts Medical School and co-founder of the Orthopedic Anesthesia, Pain and Rehabilitation Society, by the way. You can read more about his fraud in Scientific American (http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id…).

Medical studies authored / fabricated by the shamed Dr. Scott Reuben
Preventing the development of chronic pain after thoracic surgery.
Reuben SS, Yalavarthy L.
J Cardiothorac Vasc Anesth. 2008 Dec;22(6):890-903. Epub 2008 May 7. No abstract available.
PMID: 18834790

A prospective randomized trial on the role of perioperative celecoxib administration for total knee arthroplasty: improving clinical outcomes.
Reuben SS, Buvenandran A, Katz B, Kroin JS.
Anesth Analg. 2008 Apr;106(4):1258-64, table of contents.
PMID: 18349203

Update on the role of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and coxibs in the management of acute pain.
Reuben SS.
Curr Opin Anaesthesiol. 2007 Oct;20(5):440-50. Review.
PMID: 17873597

The effect of initiating a preventive multimodal analgesic regimen on long-term patient outcomes for outpatient anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction surgery.
Reuben SS, Ekman EF.
Anesth Analg. 2007 Jul;105(1):228-32.
PMID: 17578979

Evaluating the analgesic efficacy of administering celecoxib as a component of multimodal analgesia for outpatient anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction surgery.
Reuben SS, Ekman EF, Charron D.
Anesth Analg. 2007 Jul;105(1):222-7.
PMID: 17578978

Preventing the development of chronic pain after orthopaedic surgery with preventive multimodal analgesic techniques.
Reuben SS, Buvanendran A.
J Bone Joint Surg Am. 2007 Jun;89(6):1343-58. Review.
PMID: 17545440

The efficacy of postoperative perineural infusion of bupivacaine and clonidine after lower extremity amputation in preventing phantom limb and stump pain.
Madabhushi L, Reuben SS, Steinberg RB, Adesioye J.
J Clin Anesth. 2007 May;19(3):226-9.
PMID: 17531734

Chronic pain after surgery: what can we do to prevent it.
Reuben SS.
Curr Pain Headache Rep. 2007 Feb;11(1):5-13. Review.
PMID: 17214915

The analgesic efficacy of celecoxib, pregabalin, and their combination for spinal fusion surgery.
Reuben SS, Buvanendran A, Kroin JS, Raghunathan K.
Anesth Analg. 2006 Nov;103(5):1271-7.
PMID: 17056968

Acute post-surgical pain management: a critical appraisal of current practice, December 2-4, 2005.
Rathmell JP, Wu CL, Sinatra RS, Ballantyne JC, Ginsberg B, Gordon DB, Liu SS, Perkins FM, Reuben SS, Rosenquist RW, Viscusi ER.
Reg Anesth Pain Med. 2006 Jul-Aug;31(4 Suppl 1):1-42.
PMID: 16849098

Postoperative modulation of central nervous system prostaglandin E2 by cyclooxygenase inhibitors after vascular surgery.
Reuben SS, Buvanendran A, Kroin JS, Steinberg RB.
Anesthesiology. 2006 Mar;104(3):411-6.
PMID: 16508386

The incidence of complex regional pain syndrome after fasciectomy for Dupuytren's contracture: a prospective observational study of four anesthetic techniques.
Reuben SS, Pristas R, Dixon D, Faruqi S, Madabhushi L, Wenner S.
Anesth Analg. 2006 Feb;102(2):499-503.
PMID: 16428550

The effect of cyclooxygenase-2 inhibition on acute and chronic donor-site pain after spinal-fusion surgery.
Reuben SS, Ekman EF, Raghunathan K, Steinberg RB, Blinder JL, Adesioye J.
Reg Anesth Pain Med. 2006 Jan-Feb;31(1):6-13.
PMID: 16418018

Interscalene block superior to general anesthesia.
Reuben SS.
Anesthesiology. 2006 Jan;104(1):207; author reply 208-9. No abstract available.
PMID: 16394719

High dose nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs compromise spinal fusion.
Reuben SS, Ablett D, Kaye R.
Can J Anaesth. 2005 May;52(5):506-12.
PMID: 15872130

More on current issues in pain management for the primary care practitioner. Acute pain: a multi-modal management approach.
Carr DB, Reuben S.
J Pain Palliat Care Pharmacother. 2005;19(1):69-70. No abstract available.
PMID: 15814519

The effect of cyclooxygenase-2 inhibition on analgesia and spinal fusion.
Reuben SS, Ekman EF.
J Bone Joint Surg Am. 2005 Mar;87(3):536-42.
PMID: 15741619

The prevention of post-surgical neuralgia.
Reuben SS.
Pain. 2005 Jan;113(1-2):242-3; author reply 243-4. No abstract available.
PMID: 15621388

Surgery on the affected upper extremity of patients with a history of complex regional pain syndrome: the use of intravenous regional anesthesia with clonidine.
Reuben SS, Rosenthal EA, Steinberg RB, Faruqi S, Kilaru PA.
J Clin Anesth. 2004 Nov;16(7):517-22.
PMID: 15590255

Preventing the development of complex regional pain syndrome after surgery.
Reuben SS.
Anesthesiology. 2004 Nov;101(5):1215-24. Review. No abstract available.
PMID: 15505459

Evaluation of efficacy of the perioperative administration of venlafaxine XR in the prevention of postmastectomy pain syndrome.
Reuben SS, Makari-Judson G, Lurie SD.
J Pain Symptom Manage. 2004 Feb;27(2):133-9.
PMID: 15157037

Analgesic effect of clonidine added to bupivacaine 0.125% in paediatric caudal blockade.
Joshi W, Connelly NR, Freeman K, Reuben SS.
Paediatr Anaesth. 2004 Jun;14(6):483-6.
PMID: 15153211

The perioperative use of cyclooxygenase-2 selective nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs may offer a safer alternative.
Reuben SS, Connelly NR.
Anesthesiology. 2004 Mar;100(3):748. No abstract available.
PMID: 15109000

An evaluation of the safety and efficacy of administering rofecoxib for postoperative pain management.
Joshi W, Connelly NR, Reuben SS, Wolckenhaar M, Thakkar N.
Anesth Analg. 2003 Jul;97(1):35-8, table of contents.
PMID: 12818939

An evaluation of the analgesic efficacy of intravenous regional anesthesia with lidocaine and ketorolac using a forearm versus upper arm tourniquet.
Reuben SS, Steinberg RB, Maciolek H, Manikantan P.
Anesth Analg. 2002 Aug;95(2):457-60, table of contents.
PMID: 12145071

Preoperative administration of controlled-release oxycodone for the management of pain after ambulatory laparoscopic tubal ligation surgery.
Reuben SS, Steinberg RB, Maciolek H, Joshi W.
J Clin Anesth. 2002 May;14(3):223-7.
PMID: 12031758

Intravenous regional anesthesia with clonidine in the management of complex regional pain syndrome of the knee.
Reuben SS, Sklar J.
J Clin Anesth. 2002 Mar;14(2):87-91.
PMID: 11943518

Preemptive multimodal analgesia for anterior cruciate ligament surgery.
Reuben SS, Sklar J.
Reg Anesth Pain Med. 2002 Mar-Apr;27(2):225; author reply 225-6. No abstract available.
PMID: 11915075

Evaluation of the safety and efficacy of the perioperative administration of rofecoxib for total knee arthroplasty.
Reuben SS, Fingeroth R, Krushell R, Maciolek H.
J Arthroplasty. 2002 Jan;17(1):26-31.
PMID: 11805921

The preemptive analgesic effect of rofecoxib after ambulatory arthroscopic knee surgery.
Reuben SS, Bhopatkar S, Maciolek H, Joshi W, Sklar J.
Anesth Analg. 2002 Jan;94(1):55-9, table of contents.
PMID: 11772800

by Sherry Baker

(NaturalNews) A host of religious and spiritual traditions, as well as many natural health advocates, have long advocated periods of fasting. And in recent decades, scientists have found that calorie restriction appears to increase life span and may slow down aging. Now new research just published in the online issue of the journal Nature suggests restricting calories could help fight some cancers.

Scientists at the Whitehead Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts, have pinpointed a cellular pathway that could explain why some cancerous tumors respond to dietary restriction. By studying human prostate, breast, brain, and colon cancer cell lines in mice, the researchers discovered that when this pathway (identified as PI3K) is permanently "turned on" through a mutation, cancer tumors grow and spread no matter how much food is consumed. But when the PI3K pathway operates normally, a 60 percent restriction of dietary calories results in far smaller, weaker tumors.

In a statement to media, the researchers noted the link between food consumption and cancer growth has long been known. For example, in the early 20th Century, scientists found there was a correlation between a restricted diet and a decrease in some tumors' size and incidence.

"Our findings indicate that each tumor cell bears a signature that determines whether or not that cell will be affected by dietary restriction," Nada Kalaany, first author of the paper and a postdoctoral researcher in the lab of Whitehead scientist David Sabatini, said in the press statement. "We think that mutations in the PI3K pathway are a major determinant of the sensitivity of tumors to dietary restriction."

Dr. Sabatini added that the results of Dr. Kalaany's research could lead to cancer treatments tailored specifically to the characteristics of an individual person's cancer tumor cells. He also pointed out in a media statement that the relationship between too much food and an increase in tumors was intriguing. "We already know that the United States has an epidemic of obesity and that obesity is probably the biggest contributor to cancer in the U.S., even more so than smoking. Does this research have anything to do with that correlation between obesity and cancer, that if we make animals really obese, that this pathway is also involved in determining their sensitivity to cancer? Answering that question is the next step," he stated.

An earlier study by Swedish researchers published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that caloric restriction in early life greatly reduced the risk of invasive breast cancer in women. In addition to possibly helping fight cancer, calorie restriction was shown in recent research by the Salk Institute to improve the memory of elderly adults.

by Reuben Chow

(NaturalNews) According to the Macular Degeneration Foundation, macular degeneration is the number one cause of blindness among persons aged over 65 in the United States and the United Kingdom. Some good news, though, was revealed in a study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine. It had found that intake of vitamin B6, vitamin B12 and folic acid could help prevent the onset of the disease.

About the Macula and Macular Degeneration

The retina is the surface at the back of the eyeball which is opposite the lens, while the macula is the central part of this surface, situated directly opposite the lens. The macula contains cones, or cells, which give us the ability to see things in fine detail and color. There are three types of cones, and every type is most sensitive to each of the primary colors: red, green or blue.

Macular degeneration is a condition whereby the cells of the macula which sense light stop functioning properly or even stop working altogether over time. Sharp, central vision is then gradually lost; such vision is needed to view things clearly and to undertake day-to-day activities such as reading and driving.

This ailment tends to hit persons aged above 60, although hereditary forms of the disease also affect children and teenagers; the former is referred to as Age Related Macular Degeneration (ARMD), while the latter is called Juvenile Macular Degeneration. The condition does not cause pain, and progression of symptoms can be so gradual that the change is hardly noticeable.

Among Americans aged 55 to 64, the incidence rate of macular degeneration is 1 in 6; among those aged 65 to 74, it's 1 in 4; among those over 75, it's 1 in 3. It is estimated that as many as 12 million Americans could suffer from macular degeneration, and about 10% of these people will suffer severe central vision loss each year. Every year, about 200,000 of this group will suffer total loss of central vision in at least one eye.

Details and Findings of Study

For the said study, which was funded by the National Eye Institute, researchers had used data from a cardiovascular disease study which involved over 5,200 women aged above 40 years; those women had reported that they did not suffer from macular degeneration at the commencement of that study.

By random assignment, the women consumed a daily combination of vitamin B6, vitamin B12 and folic acid supplements or a placebo; the dosages used were more than the recommended daily amounts. Annually for a period of 7 years, the women filled in surveys regarding their consumption of these supplements and their health status.

It was found that the women who took the supplements had a 41% lower likelihood of getting macular degeneration, as compared to those in the placebo group. These findings are groundbreaking. "This is the first randomized trial to indicate a possible benefit of folic acid, B6 and B12 vitamin supplements in reducing the risks of age-related macular degeneration," said William Christen, an associate professor of medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, the leader of the study.

High levels of homocysteine, an amino acid, have been linked to heightened risk of ARMD, and that could provide a clue to why these supplements helped to ward off the disease. "It's fairly well-established that folic acid, B6 and B12 can reduce blood levels of homocysteine, so there's a reason to suspect a possible benefit," said Christen. The researchers believe that, even though the study was only conducted on women, its findings could probably be extrapolated to all older Americans.

How to Prevent Macular Degeneration – Simple Tips and Suggestions

With macular degeneration affecting such a large proportion of the older population, you may want to take some precautionary steps to prevent this disease. These measures would also be useful for those who are already affected by the condition.

Diet – Low Fat, Low Cholesterol
To function well, the macula requires a constant and rich supply of ions, oxygen and nutrients. A diet which is high in saturated fats and cholesterol could result in plaque formation in the macula's blood vessels, restricting its blood supply. This affects the optimal functioning of the macula and, in the long run, leads to its degeneration.

Antioxidants
Consume foods high in potent antioxidants like vitamin C (broccoli, red peppers, citrus fruits) and vitamin E (whole grains, green leafy vegetables, nuts and seeds). Antioxidants help to protect against fatty deposits attaching themselves to the walls of blood vessels.

Dark Green, Leafy Vegetables
Consume at least two servings each day. Examples of these vegetables include collard greens, kale and spinach. Besides a host of beneficial nutrients, such vegetables are rich in lutein, an antioxidant in the carotenoid family. Lutein is the main carotenoid found in the macula, and it may help protect the macula against potentially damaging types of light.

Avoid Cigarette Smoke
This applies to both smoking and exposure to second-hand smoke. Cigarette smoke, like fats and cholesterol, also affects the blood and oxygen supply to the macula, thus again contributing to its malfunction and deterioration.

Exercise
A recent study conducted by the United States Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory found that running helped to protect against the onset of ARMD. You may read more about that study at http://www.naturalnews.com/025755.html.

Do the above suggested lifestyle and dietary habits sound familiar? Indeed, they are a subset of any health-promoting lifestyle and dietary protocol. This tells us that, by taking good care of our bodies overall, there is a great likelihood that healthy eyes will also follow, barring the presence of any specific risk factors for eye disease.

by Mike Adams

(NaturalNews) The culture of deceit and fraud that permeates conventional medicine became even more apparent today with the announcement that Howard Richman, the former vice president of a pharmaceutical company named Biopure, faked his own cancer and even impersonated a doctor in order to convince a federal judge that he was dying from colon cancer.

by James J. Gormley

(NaturalNews) Where did I leave my keys? Who am I supposed to call again? What did I mean by that scribbled note, anyway? Everybody experiences these incidents of forgetfulness.

As we get older, these kinds of memory lapses can become routine, and are casually attributed to "advancing years" by many baby boomers, according to Dr. Heidi White, assistant professor of geriatric medicine at Duke University Medical Center.

Age isn`t the only factor in memory loss, however, says White. She notes that among possible causes for cognitive decline are medications (such as sedatives, which can dull the mind), depression (which affects concentration), and hearing or vision impairment.

Baby boomers and the battle for the mind
Keeping the brain healthy much longer is a goal of many of us, especially people who, as of this writing, were 45 to 63 years old – otherwise called baby boomers. If you consider that a baby boomer turns 50 every 7.5 seconds, by the year 2024 there will be 115 million people over age 50 in the U.S.

Today, approximately 78 million people, about 26 percent of the total U.S. population, were not only born between 1946 and 1964 but are, say demographers and researchers, greatly concerned about loss of memory and the aging of the mind.

True failing memory is different from the forgetfulness of a busy person or the stereotypical absentminded professor. Clinically speaking, failing memory is often accompanied by a person`s declining sense of well-being, and is often described by symptoms such as a lack of mental clarity (brain fog), altered mood (as in depression), decreased mental abilities, worsening sleep patterns, and declining overall energy.

Age of Information Overload
Whence the brain drain? Some researchers believe our brains are overtaxed today. Not many would disagree that we`ve moved beyond the Information Age into the "Age of Information Overload." It`s believed that our cognitive processing, and maybe even our memory storage capacity itself, can become overburdened as we age.

To one extent or another, there`s little doubt that all of us are bombarded by work and personal e-mail, Internet spam and junk mail, faxes, magazines, 24-hour news, digital pages, telemarketer calls, cell phone voice-mail and even the arcane logistics of play-date scheduling for the kids after school!

Cognition is sensitive to a wide variety of nutritional factors, and modern nutritional science is uncovering that we can improve our mental powers effectively, and even powerfully, through a wide array of nutrients and supplements, including antioxidants, herbs, fats and other targeted dietary supplements.

A November 2008 review in the Journal of the American Nutraceutical Association pointed to benefits of a variety of bioactive nutritional supplement ingredients (often called nutraceuticals), some of which we will look at, in slowing age-associated memory impairment. Vinpocetine and acetyl-L-carnitine were especially effective, followed by huperzine A; rhodiola; ginseng and alpha lipoic acid. The least effective compounds were the drugs, Aricept and Nemanda.

The brain train – vitamins to the rescue
Vitamin C. To test whether vitamin C protects against mental decline, called "cognitive impairment" in this study, researchers from Australia`s University of Sydney looked at 117 elderly people in a retirement community over a four-year period — those who took vitamin C supplements and those who did not. Seniors who took vitamin C supplements experienced a lower incidence of severe cognitive decline. The authors concluded that, "Vitamin C might protect against cognitive impairment."

Vitamin E. Research from Italy and the U.S. has shed new light on vitamin E`s role in brain health. A July 2005 study by Italian researchers from Perugia`s Institute of Gerontology and Geriatrics (the InCHIANTI study) included 1,033 participants aged 65 and older. The research group found that people with the lowest blood levels of vitamin E had the highest incidence of senile dementia and "cognitive impairment" compared to those who had the highest vitamin E levels.

Another 2005 study, this out of Chicago`s Rush Institute for Healthy Aging, studied 6158 people 65 years of age or older between 1993 and 2002, including a subset of 1,041 patients who were clinically evaluated. The researchers, led by Martha C. Morris, Sc.D., found that higher intakes of vitamin E were associated with a reduced incidence of Alzheimer`s disease.

Other recent studies have looked at different combinations of vitamins and minerals, with vitamins C and E as a foundation.

ALA anyone?
Alpha lipoic acid is a very powerful brain-friendly antioxidant that has been found to directly restore vitamin C and glutathione to their active forms (after they have been used up) and to indirectly restore vitamin E to its powerful form, as well.

In animals, alpha lipoic acid protects brains cells against beta amyloid plaque, the buildup of which is associated with dementia and Alzheimer`s disease. In fact, animal studies published in 2002 and 2003 showed that treatment with alpha lipoic acid prevented or reversed cognitive impairment similar to dementia in humans.

In 2001, researchers gave nine patients with Alzheimer`s disease 600 mg each day of ALA in addition to Aricept or Exelon for an average of one year. This was the first such study to find that treatment with alpha lipoic acid may be "neuroprotective" against Alzheimer`s disease and related dementias.

In a 2007 follow-up, 43 ALA-supplemented patients were observed for a period of up to 48 months. In patients with mild dementia, the disease progressed extremely slowly; in patients with moderate dementia, dementia progressed twice as slowly.

B is for brain
In the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, researchers looked at 69 people with Alzheimer`s disease, including 33 patients who were taking a multivitamin supplement of folic acid, vitamin B6 and vitamin B12.

In the 66 patients who were available for the eight-week follow-up, the high-dose B-vitamin supplement significantly reduced levels of homocysteine, which is important since high levels of homocysteine may be associated with the breakdown of the myelin sheaths that encase nerves and may be partly responsible for the symptoms of Alzheimer`s-like dementia.

Botanical brain boosters
Ginkgo. Since stress in humans is associated with decreased memory and learning function, Polish scientists gave an extract of Ginkgo biloba (EGb 761 or Ginkgold) to rats that had been chronically stressed. According to their study, the supplement improved memory and cognition in all rats, including those that had been stressed.

The last 30 years have yielded a large body of evidence supportive of ginkgo supplementation for brain-boosting, although some studies have studied the wrong groups, have looked for the wrong results or have used too low a dose. According to 2000 review by New York University`s P.L. LeBars, daily dosages of 240 mg a day appeared to demonstrate the most benefit in patients with memory disorders or dementia.

Ginseng. In 2008, a group of South Korean researchers published the results of an open-label study in which patients with Alzheimer`s disease received Panax ginseng extract or a placebo for 12 weeks. In the ginseng-supplemented group, all main measures cognitive performance began to show improvements and continued for up to 12 weeks. After discontinuing ginseng, the improved scores declined to the levels of the control group. According to the authors, "These results suggest that Panax ginseng is clinically effective in the cognitive performance of [Alzheimer`s disease] patients."

Pomegranate. A 2005 rodent study found that drinking pomegranate juice during pregnancy may lower the risk of hypoxia ischemia-related brain injuries (a condition caused by decreased blood flow and oxygen to the fetal brain) in babies. The authors said their results "demonstrate that maternal dietary supplementation with pomegranate juice is neuroprotective for the neonatal brain."

A more recent study in newborn mice, published in 2007, suggest that special compounds in pomegranate, polyphenols, should be further investigated as a potential treatment to decrease brain injury due to neonatal hypoxia-ischemia.

Vinpocetine. Vinpocetine is a supplement that`s derived from vincamine, an extract of the periwinkle plant (Vinca minor). Widely used and studied in Europe for over 25 years, awareness of this product and the research behind is now starting to come into its own.

A 2001 review (meta-analysis) in the Journal of the American Nutraceutical Association by the University of Miami`s Bernd Wollschlaeger, M.D., winnowed down 39 vinpocetine studies involving 1,912 subjects into three studies – from 1986 through 1991 – involving a total of 174 patients treated with vinpocetine and 114 given a placebo.

According to Wollschlaeger, all three studies "suggest a significant [mental] improvement in the cognitive function of patients suffering from dementia or other symptoms of cerebrovascular diseases." Based on several mental-performance tests, the significant improvement in cognitive function, in these three studies, says Wollschlaeger, "suggest[s] a clinical application of vinpocetine in the early phases of mild cognitive impairment" before full-blown "senile dementia" or Alzheimer`s disease start to develop.

"Designer" supplements for brain support
Acetyl-L-carnitine (ALC). A 2004 review of 21 double-blind, placebo-controlled studies using acetyl-L-carnitine in the treatment of "mild cognitive impairment" and mild Alzheimer`s disease showed significant improvements versus the placebo or "dummy" pills.

CDP-choline. A relative of phosphatidylserine (PS), cytidine-5-diphosphocholine, or CDP-choline, has been attracting some recent research interest. In 2005, scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) found, in an animal study, that long-term supplementation with CDP-choline may hold back memory impairment.

Huperzine A. Huperzine A is a purified substance derived from Chinese club moss (Huperzia serrata). A 2005 paper on this supplement speculated that the beneficial effects in Alzheimer`s disease are probably due to several cell- and neuro-protective effects operating at the same time.

Food-based mental mojo?
In a 2004 observational study from the U.K. looking at dietary supplement use, people born in 1936 received mental ability testing in 1947 and later in 2000-2001. At age 64, cognitive function was better in dietary supplement users than in non-users, especially in those people who were also taking marine oil supplements.

Quality of mind = quality of life
Many would argue that quality of mind – a well functioning brain – is truly at the elemental core of quality of life; therefore, ways in which we can improve our mental abilities and functions, and fend off the memory and general cognitive declines associated with aging, should be more than welcome – especially when these ways are holistic, supplement-based, and without the profound unwanted side effects often associated with synthetic pharmaceutical drugs.

References

Gormley J and Liberman S. User`s Guide to Brain-Boosting Supplements. North Bergen, NJ: Basic Health Publications, 2004.

Reynolds J et al. Retarding cognitive decline with science-based nutraceuticals. Journal of the American Nutraceutical Association. 11(1):19-27, 2008.

Paleologos M et al. Cohort study of vitamin C intake and cognitive impairment. Am J
Epidemiol. 148(1):45-50, 1998.

Cherubini A et al. Vitamin E levels, cognitive impairment and dementia in older persons: the InCHIANTI study. Neurobiol Aging. 26(7):987-994, 2005.

Morris MC et al. Relation of the tocopherol forms to incident Alzheimer disease and to cognitive change. Am J Clin Nutr. 81(2):508-514, 2005.

Arivazhagan P and Panneerselvam C. Neurochemical changes related to ageing in the rat brain and the effect of DL-alpha-lipoic acid. Exp Gerontol. 37(12):1489-1494, 2002.

Sharma M and Gupta YK. Effect of alpha lipoic acid in intracerebroventricular streptozotocin model of cognitive impairment in rats. Eur Neuropsychopharmacol. 13(4):241-247, 2003.

Farr SA et al. The antioxidants alpha-lipoic acid and N-acetylcysteine reverse memory impairment and brain oxidative stress in aged SAMP8 mice. J Neurochem. 84(5):1173-1183, 2003.

Hager K et al. Alpha-lipoic acid as a new treatment option for Alzheimer type dementia. Arch Gerontol Geriatr. 32(3):275-282, 2001.

Hager K et al. Alpha-lipoic acid as a new treatment option for Alzheimer`s disease – a 48 months follow-up analysis. J Neural Transm Suppl. 72:189-193, 2007.

Aisen PS et al. A pilot study of vitamins to lower plasma homocysteine levels in Alzheimer`s disease. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 11(2):246-249, 2003.

Walesiuk A et al. Ginkgo biloba extract diminishes stress-induced memory deficits in rats. Pharmacol Rep. 57(2):176-187, 2005.

LeBars PL and Kastelan J. Efficacy and safety of a Ginkgo biloba extract. Public Health Nutrition. 3(4A):495-499, 2000.

Lee ST et al. Panax ginseng enhances cognitive performance in Alzheimer disease. Alzheimer Dis Assoc. Disord. 22(3):222-226, 2008.

Loren DJ et al. Maternal dietary supplementation with pomegranate juice is neuroprotective in an animal model of neonatal hypoxic-ischemic brain injury. Pediatr Res. 57(6):858-864, 2005.

West T et al. Pomegranate polyphenols and resveratrol protect the neonatal brain against hypoxic-ischemic injury. Dev Neurosci. 29(4-5):363-372, 2007.

Wollschlager B. Efficacy of vinpocetine in the management of cognitive impairment and memory loss. Journal of the American Nutraceutical Association. 4(2):25-30, 2001.

Ames BN and Liu J. Delaying the mitochondrial decay of aging with acetylcarnitine. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1033:108-116, 2004.

Teather LA and Wurtman RJ. Dietary CDP-choline supplementation prevents memory impairment caused by impoverished environmental conditions in rats. Learn Mem. 12(1):39-43, 2005.

Wang R Tang XC. Neuroprotective effects of huperzine A: a natural cholinesterase inhibitor for the treatment of Alzheimer`s disease. Neurosignals. 14(1-2):71-82, 2005.

Whalley LJ et al. Cognitive aging, childhood intelligence, and the use of food supplements: possible involvement of n-3 fatty acids. Am J Clin Nutr. 80(6):1650-1657, 2004.

Vitamin C (Ester C) , Alpha Lipoic Acid , B12 , Stress B Complex

by David Gutierrez

(NaturalNews) Children as young as two years old notice what foods their parents are bringing into the house and tend to mimic those food choices, according to a study conducted by researchers from Dartmouth Medical School and published in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.

by Reuben Chow

(NaturalNews) Teenagers today are spending more and more time slouched on a couch in front of the electronic box – although nowadays it's rather too flat to really be called a box anymore – called a television. And a recent University of Pittsburg and Harvard Medical School study has found that TV time for teens could elevate their risk of becoming depressed adults.

Details and Findings of Study

The study was published in the Archives of General Psychology and the research team had looked at the lifestyle habits of 4,142 healthy adolescents, obtained from data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. That study had covered a nationally representative sample of teens in the US for a period of 7 years.

The initial survey had taken place in 1995 and the subjects, then in junior high and high school, watched a mean of 2.3 hours of TV per day. Each day, they also spent an average of 37 minutes watching videocassettes, 2.3 hours tuning in to the radio, as well as 25 minutes on computer games.

7 years later, in 2002, a follow-up survey was carried out. It was discovered that 308 of the subjects, now young adults in their 20s, had met the criteria for depression. It was found that these persons had watched an average of 22 minutes more TV each day than their non-depressed counterparts. The researchers calculated that each additional hour spent watching TV each day translated to an increase of 8% in depression risk.

Interestingly, such a link was only observed for television, whereas computer games and videos were not associated with higher chances of being depressed.

What Caused What?

But, is it a case of TV causing depression, or is it a case of low spirits making people turn to the tube? "It could be argued that people with the predilection for later development of depression also happen to have a predilection for watching lots of TV," said Dr Brian Primack from the University of Pittsburgh's Center for Research on Health Care, the leader of the study.

The evidence does seem to indicate that TV is the causative factor. According to Primack, the dose-response relationship does suggest that television would at least be partly accountable for the increased risk of depression.

The Link Between Television and Happiness Levels

This study is by no means the first to draw a link between television watching and one's mental health. A University of Maryland study, for example, looked at 35 years of data of about 45,000 Americans and found that the happiest people watched the least TV, while the least happy people spent the most time in front of the tube.

In that study, TV was the only activity which registered a negative score, while the other 9 activities studied, which included going to church and visiting friends, were associated with happier people. The same issue with that the study's findings existed, though – it was not totally clear, between watching TV and being unhappy, which was the cause and which was the effect.

A 1998 study found, too, that too much time spent watching TV can triple one's hunger for more physical possessions, while every hour spent each day on the tube can lower one's personal contentment by about 5%.

Why Could TV Depress Mental Health?

Television has become so much a part of modern life that it is almost shocking to learn of somebody who does not own a TV or who does not watch any programs on it. But why could TV be linked to unhappiness and depression?

The truth is, while TV has brought a fair amount of entertainment into our lives, it has numerous side effects. It subjects us, for example, to hours of political propaganda and consumerism brainwashing. It can thus instill fear and anxiety into us – TV, could, for example, alert us to possible dangers like viruses or natural disasters, causing unnecessary worry.

And it can make us feel inadequate and worthless, too. For example, we may become unhappy that we are not as pretty, or as slim, or as rich as TV personalities, or that we are incomplete because we don't own the latest electronic gadgets or expensive handbags being advertised.

TV watching is a passive activity which reduces our brains to mush. How hard, after all, do we have to think while watching TV? And time spent watching TV means less time for other active, meaningful, health-promoting and happiness-boosting pursuits.

TV time, too, could affect one's sleep patterns, which is important for good mental and emotional health. It is also a direct cause of junk food feasting and couch potato lifestyles, which in turn translate to sluggish bodies and obesity.

What exacerbates all of the above possibilities is that TV is such an absorbing and time-consuming activity (if it can be called an activity at all). It's not uncommon, after all, to hear of people fixated on the set for 5 or even 10 hours at a stretch. That's pretty frightening. And the massive amounts of advertisements certainly do not help.

Conclusion

It is becoming increasingly clear that excessive TV time has no place in a happy and healthy person's lifestyle. Some even choose to totally steer clear of television. If that's too drastic for you, you may want to consider starting a habit of picking your programs and watching only what you really want to watch, as supposed to what most people do, which is just to spend time with the TV regardless of whatever programs are on it.

You may wish to read a related article on how too much television for teens translates to higher risk of being fast food junkies as adults at http://www.naturalnews.com/025667.html.

Colloidal Gold , Plant Minerals

by Susanne Morrone

(NaturalNews) On Feb. 26, 2009, ScienceDaily reports results from a seven-year study by Oxford University researchers, UK. The study associated alcohol consumption and cancer in 1,280,296 women. Even low to moderate alcohol use showed a significant increase in cancer risk and may account for nearly 13% of the cancers of the breast, liver, rectum and upper aero-digestive tract combined.

Prior studies have focused on alcohol's impact on breast cancer, while little has been reported on overall cancer risk and site-specific cancer in women. Participants were recruited between 1996 and 200l, and were followed on the average of over seven years. Most had just one drink per day which is typical in high-income countries. Very few drank three or more drinks per day. Regardless of the type of alcohol, it did not alter the association between consumption and cancer risk.

Dr. Naomi Allen and her colleagues found 68,775 women from the group were diagnosed with cancer. Women smokers had an increased risk of cancers of the oral cavity and pharynx, esophagus, and larynx. Each additional alcoholic drink regularly consumed per day was associated with 11 additional breast cancers per 1000 women up to age 75, one additional cancer of the oral cavity and pharynx, one additional cancer of the rectum, and an increase of 0.7 each for esophageal, laryngeal, and liver cancers. For these cancers combined, there was an excess of about 15 cancers per 1000 women per drink per day. (The background incidence for these cancers was estimated to be 118 per 1000 women in developed countries.)

The authors also stated: "Although the magnitude of the excess absolute risk associated with one additional drink per day may appear small for some cancer sites, the high prevalence of moderate alcohol drinking among women in many populations means that the proportion of cancers attributable to alcohol is an important public health issue."

Two doctors from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, in Bethesda, MD, agreed. Michael Lauer M.D., and Paul Sorlie, Ph.D. wrote in an accompanying editorial that although other studies have shown some cardiovascular benefits with moderate alcohol consumption, the excess cancer risk identified in the current study may outweigh that benefit. They said, "From a standpoint of cancer risk, the message of this report could not be clearer. There is no level of alcohol consumption that can be considered safe."

The Oxford University researchers identified the cancer cases through the National Health Service Central Registries. Their full report is listed in the March 4 Journal of the American Cancer Institute.

Other factors not mentioned in this study may be worth considering. Women have less muscle mass than men, which means less water in the body for the dilution principle. The transit time through the liver is slower. The liver also may be sluggish from a number of other toxic assaults. The question of chemical additives in the products also has bearing since there are no legal requirements to list them.

Sources:
Journal of the National Cancer Institute (2009, February 26). Million Women Study Shows Even Moderate Alcohol Consumption Associated With Increased Cancer Risk.
ScienceDaily. Retrieved February 27, 2009, from http://www.sciencedaily.com/release…
The Washington Post (Feb. 25, 2009) "Women: How Bad is a Regular Nip?"