By Brian Sutton, DCPalm and Coconut Oils May Be Healthy
A study published in the Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry1 finds that volunteers who consumed a mixture of palm and coconut oils improved their blood cholesterol ratios.While the total cholesterol level was elevated, only the HDL portion (considered beneficial) increased. Researchers suggest that these tropical oils have been getting a bum rap lately and that they may actually promote good health.
Paranoia about Breast Cancer
Researchers investigating breast cancer awareness of women in their forties have found that the chances of dying from this condition is much less than these women fear. Also, the study2 found that they tend to have unrealistic expectations of the benefits of mammography.
When queried about the prevalence and the likelihood of succumbing to the disease, the women's estimates were from 10 to 20 times more pessimistic than current statistics show. More than half (90 percent of whom recently had mammograms) overestimated the medical benefits of routine mammography more than 100-fold. This study would suggest that the breast cancer educational programs aimed at women in recent years have been more than successful.
Antibiotic Resistance Fears Grow
The American Society of Microbiologists have called for a national program of research and education to raise awareness of growing bacterial resistance to antibiotics. A University of Alabama microbiologist3 says that the United States will "pay dramatically"4 if action is not soon taken. The problem is known to be growing, but no one really knows how quickly or to what extent. However, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that at least $4 billion is spent each year treating antibiotic-resistant infections in America.
The task force recommended a number of things that could be done immediately to at least lessen the problem, such as asking doctors working in intensive care units to wash more frequently and to choose organism-specific antibiotics instead of the shotgun-type, broad-spectrum varieties when possible. Another interesting recommendation was to ask patients to stop pressuring their doctors for antibiotics that they do not need (for example, treatment of viral infections), because many doctors apparently cannot turn them down, even when they know better!
Some interesting facts:5
Researchers at the City University of New York have traced the path dioxin takes on its way to the Great Lakes area. They have determined that about half of the compounds originate from incinerators in Florida, Texas, and Utah.7 Most of the sources are incinerated medical and municipal wastes. The chemical is carried in vapor and dust particles, then brought to the ground in rain drops to contaminate grass and feed. It then accumulates in fatty tissues of animals such as cattle. Consumption of beef and dairy products is the main way dioxin enters humans.
Carry It on Your Head, Not Your Shoulder
Studies show that African tribal women who carry loads of up to 20 percent of their body weight on their heads burn no extra calories as a result of the burden. Apparently, gait biomechanics are much more efficient when weight is carried in this manner.8 It has also been shown that weights up to 70 percent are carried more efficiently in this manner than when using backpacks. I wonder how well they hold an atlas adjustment?
High Fat Diet for Epilepsy
The Ketogenic diet, an old treatment for epilepsy, is growing in popularity among many physicians. Why the high fat, low carbohydrate diet works is not known, but studies done in the 1970s have proven its value.9 High fat consumption was first proposed for epilepsy in the 1920s when it was observed that fasting improved the clinical picture for epileptics. However, the advent of anti-seizure drugs lessened popularity of the diet.
Weight gain from the diet does not seem to be a problem, in fact some patients lose weight.
Driven by the fear of cholesterol in egg yolks, American consumption of eggs has dropped by 25 percent per capita since 1960. Now, some nutrit