Thursday, November 3, 2016
Wednesday, November 2, 2016
10-Year-Old Tears Up After Seeing His Mom’s Face For The First Time
When 10-year-old Benny Francey stared at his mom last Wednesday, something was different. He could see her face clearly for the first time, and it was enough to bring him to tears.
Benny is from Selkirk in Manitoba, Canada. He normally can’t perceive much more than silhouettes. He and his younger brother Ashton, 8, both live through a rare disease called Leber congenital amaurosis that affects their eyesight.
Their aunt Amanda Vitt, back in July, initiated a GoFundMe for the boys, with the aim of raising at least $15,000 U.S. for a pair of eSight glasses for Benny. Donations have already surpassed that goal.
The glasses have a small camera that picks up everything the user is looking at, then shows it on a powerful HD screen close to their eyes.
Vitt said the tears kept pouring when Cason showed Benny family photos. “He could finally point out people in the family.
In a video of his reaction, he teasingly told his mom she had a “big nose.” Whatever the size is, it was a detail he had never been able to see before.
Benny used Braille to read and write. Last week, he was able to see words on a piece of paper for the first time.
More importantly, the family was delighted to find out that the glasses actually worked for Benny as there was no assurance he would be able to see with them, Vitt said.
Currently, Benny is patiently waiting for his personalized glasses to be delivered at his home some time next month. He can’t wait to see his mom’s face again and begin surveying the world in a new way.
The rest of the money raised will assist in paying for curative horseback riding for Ashton. He has also been diagnosed with OCD and autism. His eyesight is so bad that the eSight glasses won’t help him. However, the family has left the GoFundMe campaign active to solicit more money for Ashton’s other needs.
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Tuesday, November 1, 2016
Where Did All The Candy Go?
A post-holiday custom is gaining momentum as Halloween has rocketed from a charming local tradition into an all-out sugar grab. Donation campaigns and candy buybacks to take in the enormous leftovers are getting to be popular post-Halloween activities in recent years.
It began with pediatric dentists, who started paying for surplus candies to protect kids against obesity and cavities. Subsequently, support-the-troops organizations, such as Soldiers’ Angels and Operation Gratitude, joined the fray. These organizations set up national networks of donation spots where charitable youngsters can unload their piles of candy. The sweets are occasionally used instead of packing peanuts in gift boxes for far-off soldiers.
Schools throughout the country will be gathering candies on Tuesday morning to assist a range of charities. Some of these institutions even have daunting restrictions, like a minimum donation of a gallon.
Operation Gratitude founder Carolyn Blashek said that she had no idea this would get so huge. Semitrailers full of candy will begin pulling in soon at the warehouse in Chatsworth, California, that the group utilizes as a staging ground.
Presently, the constantly increasing effort at recycling reflects the spreading popularity of the holiday itself. And just as many people condemn booze-fueled Halloween parties for grown-ups, so do some dentists and nutritionists cringe at some of the places that donated candy ends up: soup kitchens, food banks, and in the hands of poor children with other urgent needs.
Orthodontists and dentists were the first to hit on the post-Halloween mandate to unload some candy. Some started organizing buyback campaigns more than a decade ago,.
Chris Kramer, a dentist in Wisconsin, offers around $1 a pound for leftover candy at his office. It’s the same amount he offers on HalloweenCandyBuyback.com, a website he started to assist people in finding local candy donation spots.
Toys and prizes are also common trading currency. At Kool Smiles, a countrywide dental chain based in Marietta, Ga., children can exchange 25 pieces of wrapped candy for a monster dump truck, a stuffed animal, or another plaything. That earned more than three tons of donated sweets last year.
But the trend has expanded. Candy donation sites are becoming pervasive at schools and other community gathering locations. In a nation combating obesity, loads of leftover treats lying around, available for foraging, are an attraction many would rather shun.
Nearly every piece of donated candy is viewed by some dental professionals and health advocats as a victory against weight gain and tooth decay.
Bright Side Dental, a chain with 13 offices in the metro Detroit neighborhood and elsewhere, began collecting candy donations for military care packages seven years ago. The amount that comes in each year has nearly doubled, tallying at least 5,000 pounds last year.
“At first, we wondered if kids would give up their candy,” said Bright Side Dental spokeswoman Pam Lenning. “It’s been the complete opposite. They love it, and they’re very willing to donate. It’s turned into this fun thing in the community.”
Some of those slightly used snacks will already be in the discarded pile just days after the loot settles in trick-or-treat bags. These castoff snacks are headed for a second life at food banks and other charitable outlets.
‘Tons’ of candy collected
Operation Gratitude, which began gathering leftover candy in 2007, is one of many support-the-troops organizations that bring military-level logistics to the task of collecting, sorting and redistributing literal tons of surplus candy.
Ms. Blashek said the donated candy comes in massive quantities, but it all gets put to use. Volunteers use it like packing peanuts, chucking handfuls into care packages to protect the other items. These include things like DVDs, hats, toiletries, knitted scarves, games, and letters.
The soldiers who receive the packages often distribute the candy to local children in the areas where troops are deployed. A Twix bar given to a costumed goblin or ghost in America could make its way to a child in Iraq.
“We found that people were using it to develop relationships,” Ms. Blashek said. “That’s when we started trying to get as much candies as we could.”
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Monday, October 31, 2016
UNICEF: Air Pollution Deadly Hazard to 2 Billion Children
New Delhi, India, – Over the weekend, Indian skies were filled with extravagant fireworks. The celebration, however, adds another significant misery to their daily lives. The smoke coming from the fireworks aggravated the city’s air pollution problems and is a severe health risk to residents, particularly children.
New Delhi turns out to be one of the most polluted cities in the world.
Deadly health hazard
According to The United Nations Children’s Fund report, air pollution worldwide affects 2 billion children. A third of the statistical data lives in Northern India and nearby countries. The outcome could not have been more serious, if not deadly. Serious health problems can be developed in prolonged exposure to air pollution which includes lung and brain damage to top the list.
Out of the 2 billion children worldwide, 300 million, including 200 million in Southeast Asia suffer unhealthy exposure. These children are subjected to the pollution level six times more that the average of the World Health Organization standard.
Sure enough, the cause of the pollution is the customary garbage burning of residents to stay warm in winter. Hence, air pollution in the Indian capital is at its highest during winter which is further exacerbated by the season’s weak airstreams.
The Diwali Effect
Prior to the much anticipated Hindu holiday, the Diwali festival, experts noted the high levels of concentration of microscopic lung- obstructing particles called PM 2.5. On Friday, the presence of PM 2.5 recorded was beyond 300 micrograms per cubic meter.
Correspondingly, local officials released health warnings mostly for children, elderly and to people suffering respiratory or heart problems. The notice instructs residents to just stay indoors because of the pollution. The nearby states of Punjab and Haryana worsened the condition because of an on-going burning of spent agricultural crops.
An 18-year-old student in Delhi, Dharmendra said, “My eyes are irritated, I’m coughing and I find it difficult to breathe”. He added that because of the pollution, he does not “go out so much nowadays.” The teenager is using only one name, an ordinary custom in India.
Health disaster
The executive director of the Centre for Science and Environment, Anumita Roy Chowdhury said, “Pollution levels every winter gallop, and we are already beginning to see the signs of it”.
Several local studies show that a third of the city’s children have acquired lung and respiratory illnesses which “signals health disaster”, according to Chowdhury.
Children are more vulnerable to develop air pollution related diseases since they breathe twice as fast compared to adults. Their brain and body are taking in more air while their immune systems are still developing.
According to UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake, “The impact is commensurately shocking”. A study published on Monday showed that 600,000 children not more than 5 years old are dying worldwide because of air pollution related problems. He added that “Millions more suffer from respiratory diseases that diminish their resilience and affect their physical and cognitive development.”
The Real Deal
Out of the total 2.26 billion children worldwide, 2 billion children suffered from air pollution; 620 million in South Asia, mostly in northern India, 520 million children in Africa and 450 million, chiefly in China.
The report was taken in ‘combined satellite images’ of air pollution with ground data to pinpoint demographic patterns of the highest risk areas. For the WHO, it is a very alarming state where a huge total of the population were exposed to unhealthy air.
“Change the Air”
New Delhi, well aware of their air pollution situation started to pass legislation to control the worsening condition.
They started to ban cargo trucks from main highways and require drivers to purchase new vehicles which can meet the higher emission standards. They created a strategic limitation of the number of vehicles on the road and planned experimental traffic control.
Authorities also turn to mobile phones for their advocacy. Last week they launched “Change the Air” app. They hope it will spark a chain reaction for residents to send in photos and report illegal sources of pollution.
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Thursday, October 27, 2016
US Liver Donor Marries Organ Recipient
This unconventional love story started when Former Marine Officer Christopher Dempsey decided to be a liver donor to a stranger who he never thought would become his wife.
Heather Krueger was diagnosed with a stage 4 liver cancer and she had been sick for about 2 years. Doctors told her that she only had 50% chance of living more than two months.
Her family was under pressure to find the right donor. This was a difficult task in a country with more than 119,000 people on its waiting list for a transplant.
That is where code enforcement officer Mr. Dempsey entered, he was in the break room in Frankfort, a village south of Chicago, Illinois one day when he overheard a guy talking about this woman who needed a liver donor.
In his statement, he said, “I heard a co-worker talking about his cousin who needed a liver transplant.”
“I just thought to myself, I would want someone to help me or my family in that situation.” He added.
Mr. Dempsey {38 years old} went in for the test and discovered he was a match.
On February 2015, they talked for the first time. Dempsey called Krueger to inform her about the good news, that she finally had a donor.
In the same way, Krueger also wanted to tell him how she and her mother had cried to tears after receiving the good news.
He later then treated Ms. Krueger to lunch, and that was their first meeting.
Love grows
“We were going out looking for donations for a benefit, and I just started thinking, she’s a really nice girl, she is somebody I would like to get to know.” Mr. Dempsey said.
By the time of the surgery at the University Of Illinois Hospital on March 16, they had already been on a couple of dates. Nevertheless, they only made it official afterwards.
“I was really confident everything was going to be okay,” said Mr. Dempsey. “I was still nervous – there is always the chance [something might go wrong] – but at no point did I rethink the decision.
“It was just really good knowing she was going to be okay.”
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Tuesday, October 25, 2016
A Promising Future in Hemp Cultivation For Native Americans
During the 1980’s, the casino industry brought billions of dollars in revenues in the tribal economies, thus diminishing the number of people living in poverty. According to the National Indian Gaming Commission, the casino industry provided an estimated $30 billion of revenues last year. Experts hope that developing industrial hemp can also generate the same revenue for the Native American tribes.
Hemp is from the family of plants that produce marijuana. Cultivating hemp needs a permit from the US Drug Enforcement Administration since it can only be produced strictly for research. Nevertheless, in 2014, the Department of Justice gave leniency for hemp cultivation. This, with the provision that the tribes will set cannabis-related laws just like the states are able to do.
The largest federally recognized tribe, the Navajo Nation and the Native American-owned CannaNative LLC arranged final negotiations on developing industrial hemp.
The ‘gray area’ of hemp
Hemp contains less than 1 percent tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive component of the cannabis plant. The federal law classifies hemp and other cannabis varieties as a dangerous drug with no positive medicinal importance. Nonetheless, it is widely used in the variety of products from food to construction materials.
A Very Hemp Business
The United States solely depends on hemp imports because there is no “large-scale commercial” hemp market in the country.
Based on the Hemp Industries Association (HIA) calculations, in the year 2013 alone, the entire US retail value of the product was at $581 million. However, Congressional Research Service disputed the report saying the numbers are “under-reported”. This is due to the report excluding the sales of L’Oreal SA’s The Body Shop and Whole Foods Market Inc. These are the two leading retailers of hemp-based products.
Al Henderson, the senior Navajo economic adviser said, “The industrial hemp project could probably overtake Indian gaming, not only in terms of employment but also in terms of revenue to the Navajo”. He pointed out the 360,000 constituents of the tribe had an unemployment rate of 40% to 50%.
The ‘other way’ around
Anthony Rivera, the CannaNative CEO justified that cultivating industrial hemp will help the aging Native American residents. They can treasure their culture by growing plant-based medicine and decrease the necessity in relying on the American taxpayer’s money.
He said in an interview with Reuters, “We can’t wait for the federal government … so we are working with tribes to pass their own laws in consultation with federal authorities to demonstrate that we are doing this legally and responsibly,
According to Chief Executive of Medical Marijuana Inc (MMI) Stu Titus, the affiliation with the Navajo Nation will help hemp cultivation in the country. Further, it will also lessen the cost up to 25%. He said, “Our goal is to plant our initial pilot program test crop in the spring of 2017 in the Navajo Nation”.
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Man Dies from Flesh Eating Bacteria Infection
A man from Arizona, infected with a flesh eating bacteria, died after four days. His family described the experience was “like a horror movie.”
Michael Funk just returned home from his Ocean City, Maryland condominium after cleaning crab pots last September 11. Funk fell ill and was taken to a hospital, where a surgeon removed infected skin from his leg. Then he was taken to a trauma hospital in Baltimore to get his infected leg operated on and later, amputated, DelmarvaNow reported.
Michael’s wife Marcia Funk told DelmarvaNow, “It was very fast moving,” she added, “He was in so much pain.”
Funk added that Ocean City failed to give an adequate warning about spreading Vibrio Vunificus bacteria.
“I really feel they kept it quiet because it’s a tourist resort,” she told DelmarvaNow. “It’s like something out of a horror movie.”
Ocean City spokeswoman Jessica Waters told DelmarvaNow that they have made outreach and education campaigns, but never about the bacteria. She added the bacteria, “has never been part of our awareness efforts, at least to my knowledge.”
In 2014, state officials issued an advisory about an outbreak of bacteria that infected 57 people in 2013.
Infected through wound
Vibrio Vunificus is a bacteria most commonly found in warm, brackish waters with low salinity. According to Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention, a person can be infected by either consuming raw or undercooked seafood, or in Funk’s case, from entering through a wound cut.
Funk’s widow told Delmarva now, “He loved the water, he loved boating, and he loved crabbing.”
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Sunday, October 23, 2016
Sexually Transmitted Disease is at its ‘Highest Level’
On Wednesday, Federal authorities said that Sexually Transmitted Disease increased drastically compared to the previous years. they also said both federal and local health offices funds were not enough to cure the epidemic.
According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 1.5 million cases of Chlamydia {the most common Sexually Transmitted Disease}. Furthermore, roughly 400,000 cases of Gonorrhea and almost 24,000 cases of Syphilis were turned up.
“The STD epidemic is getting worse in the United States and, in fact, is at its highest levels yet,” said Dr. Jonathan Mermin, director of CDC’s National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention
Based on the CDC report, 2014 is a record year for STD and it is getting worst.
“Last year was the first year that we saw increases but those increases are actually continuing and at a higher rate,” Mermin said.
The new numbers translate to a 19 percent increase in Syphilis cases, a 13 percent rise in Gonorrhea and a 6 percent increase in Chlamydia, Mermin said.
While some of the new numbers may be due to better reporting of cases, most of the rise appears to be a real increase in new infections, he added.
Records shows, Gay and bisexual men got the highest number of new STD cases. The highest proportion was from young adults between late teens and early 20s.
“Half of all STDs occur in youth under age 20,” Mermin said.
CDC officials said, “Part of the increase may be due to better treatment for HIV, which may make people believe — usually wrongly — they do not need to use condoms.”
Also, CDC identified budget cuts to federal and local health clinics as a major factor in the high rates of STDs.
“That is correlated with an eroding infrastructure for sexually transmitted disease clinics,” Mermin said. “In 2012 alone, half of state public health programs had to close some of those clinics.”
“That means young people most vulnerable to new infection have fewer places to go for help, advice, testing, and treatment”, he said.
All these three epidemic diseases can be treated thru antibiotics. However, people who were infected showed no symptoms in early stage and didn’t even realize they were infected.
Sex Education for the Youth
Mermin strongly stressed in a statement. “Parents and providers and teachers can provide young people with safe and effective ways to prevent STDs,” he said. “Good sex education prevents STDs.”
“There is no evidence that talking about sexually transmitted disease prevention increases sexual activity,” he said.
Babies at risk
According to CDC statistics, some pregnant women give birth to babies infected with Syphilis. Mermin said there’s no excuse.
“Clinicians can make STD screening a standard part of clinical care,” he added, “the way to prevent infants from dying of syphilis is to help women get diagnosed and treated when they are pregnant.”
Congenital syphilis cases hit a record high in 2015 while more than 430 babies were born with syphilis. In addition, up to 40 percent of babies born to women with untreated syphilis may be stillborn or die from the infection as a newborn,” the CDC said.
While some women get no prenatal care at all — about 22 percent of women whose babies were born infected had no prenatal care in 2014 — others may be tested early in pregnancy. He cautioned though that this may not be done later on, he said.
CDC reports show that 43 percent of pregnant women with syphilis who did see a doctor or other health professional while pregnant nonetheless got no cure for the infection.
All pregnant women should be tested again in the third trimester of pregnancy, he said.
Dating apps a tool for prevention
Some reports have linked dating and hook-up apps with an increase in STDs in some communities. Nevertheless, Mermin said there is no hard evidence to show cause and effect. And he said such apps can be tools for good.
“The dating apps can also be vectors of prevention by increasing the amount of prevention information that people can see and also by linking people to STD and HIV testing,” he said.
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Wednesday, October 19, 2016
US Health Care Quality Remained ‘Largely Flat’
Over the last decade, the US quality of outpatient care shows no significant change despite all the government efforts and encouragement to improve the quality of care it currently delivers.
In a statement released via email, the Lead Study Author Dr. David Levine of Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard University in Boston said, “overall, the quality of outpatient care has remained largely flat; there are some areas of improvement, but we also see areas of decline,”
“The take-home for patients: there is likely recommended care that you are not receiving but should, and there is likely extra care that you are receiving and could be harmful to you,” He added.
According to the survey conducted by Levine and his fellow worker from nationally representative sample of patients, clinicians, hospitals, pharmacists and employers gathered from 2002 to 2013.
Every year, the survey has more or less 21,000 to 27,000 people.
On the other hand, the ratio of patients who needs counseling for weight loss, exercise and smoking cessation grew from 43% to 50%. Furthermore, the number of patients recommended for cancer screenings spiked from 73% to 75% and avoidance of inappropriate cancer screenings increased from 47% to 51%.
Meanwhile, Patients’ satisfaction improved, 77% of patients participated in giving a high rank for their care experience while the ratio of participants giving a high rating for physician communication jumped from 55% to 63%, then high marks for access to care rose from 48% to 58%.
Still, some other measures got worse
The number of cases when patients avoided inappropriate medical care such as opioids for headaches or MRIs for back pain went down from 92% to 89%. Skipping unnecessary antibiotic use for things like the flu or acute bronchitis dropped from 50% to 44%.
Studies show, most Americans are more prone to sickness, get older, less white but get more educated on average. Adult Americans also became less interested in smoking and most likely to live with multiple chronic diseases.
In a statement authors said, ‘One limitation of the study is that the quality measures included don’t address all outpatient care’,
“The quality assessment in the study also doesn’t account for how easy or difficult it may be to achieve certain measures, making it impossible to say how care for heart disease may have changed relative to treatment for diabetes” authors added.
While Elizabeth McGlynn, author of an accompanying editorial and vice president at Kaiser Permanente Research in Pasadena, California said, “Even so, the findings add to a growing body of evidence suggesting there’s room for outpatient care in the U.S. to improve.”
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Tuesday, October 18, 2016
Regular Exposure to Toxic Chemicals Costs the US $340 Billion Annually
Regular contact to plastic materials such as plastic bottles, food containers, toys, cosmetics, and flame retardants containing “endocrine-disrupting chemicals” may result to increase of toxic and potentially lead to medical conditions.
Health problems. because of regular exposure to these chemicals cost the US $340 billion per year in health costs and loss of wages. This was stated by researchers at NYU Langone Medical Center.
Childrens’ developing brains are more vulnerable to develop health conditions from chemicals, said Dr. Leonardo Trasande, a Professor at NYU Langone and lead investigator of this study. According to Trasande there are simple steps to reduce exposure to “endocrine-disrupting” chemicals at home.
“Families can eat organic. People can avoid the use of pesticides in their homes to get rid of unwanted creatures. They can avoid aluminium can food consumption. They can stop using microwaving plastic and machine-dishwashing plastic containers,” Transande said. He also to avoid using plastic containers with the number 3, 6, or 7 on the bottom.
Hormonal Effects
Studies over the past three decades show how regular exposure to these chemicals have negative effects on human health. Furthermore, evidence shows endocrine-disrupting chemicals can interfere with the body’s natural sex hormones.
Harmful chemicals like Bisphenol A (BPA) are found in food cans. Phthalates is an ingredient for making cosmetics and food containers. Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) can be found in furniture and flame retardants. Lastly, there are pesticides such as chlorpyrifos and organophosphates.
The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology team at NYU reviewed the levels of endocrine-disrupting chemicals in blood and urine samples. These came from five thousand volunteers from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.
An advanced computer model was then used to estimate total disease effects that resulted from exposure to levels of these harmful chemicals. Trasande and his colleagues also calculated the estimated health cost for each disease. The total came up to an annual cost of $340 billion. Worst of all, most financial headaches resulted from neurological damage in unborn children.
Trasande said people talk about cost to manufacturer. What they never really talk about are the benefits of regulating the use of these harmful chemicals.
“Typically, when policy discussions are had about regulation, the arguments are one-sided,” Trasande added.
This study is intended “to facilitate a transparent dialogue about the real and substantial tradeoffs for human health. The things that we make or do by failing to act to protect against the chemicals of greatest concern,” said Trasande.
Chemical Regulatory and Policies
On June 2016, President Obama signed into law the revised Toxic Substance Control Act, “the major law that reviews chemicals for their safety and decides whether they should be allowed for use in the broad environment,” including furniture, cosmetics and electronics.
Trasande added,”that law presumed that chemicals are innocent until proven guilty”.
The June overhaul, also known as the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety Act, means “the Environmental Protection Agency is on a fast timeline to deal with the requirements associated with that action,” said Frankie Wood-Black, a principal of Sophic Pursuits, Inc. and an instructor at Northern Oklahoma College.
The timing and actions of the EPA intrigue “all of us in the regulatory world,” said Wood-Black.
“There is an opportunity here to ensure effective implementation of the law,” Trasande said.
Crucial for similar tests to be done in the U.S.
Andrea Gore, a professor at the University of Teas at Austin and Trasande calculated the costs based on prediction of exposures to the harmful chemicals in the European Union.
“It is important that they did a similar study in the US, because it shows that costs of endocrine-disrupting chemicals to health are an international problem,” Gore added, “learning about exposures in one part of the world can inform decisions in other places that may be considering whether or not to allow or ban a chemical.”
“These authorities have a broader definition of endocrine disrupting-chemicals than that used by the US EPA,” according to Michele La Merril, a developmental toxicologist and an assistant professor at University of California-Davis.
“This exposes a weakness in the archaic US EPA definition and indicates a need for the US EPA to include endocrine-disrupting effects they currently do not consider, such as obesity,” La Merrill said.
The post Regular Exposure to Toxic Chemicals Costs the US $340 Billion Annually appeared first on Newsline.
Monday, October 17, 2016
PepsiCo to cut-down calorie content by 2025
Indra Nooyi Chairman and CEO of PepsiCo committed on Monday to cut down calorie count of the company’s famous beverages as they look at the counter health concerns about sugar-sweetened beverages. As part of their new sustainability initiative, they plan to double water efficiency companywide.
Nooyi told CNBC “Over the last decade, we have made progress in reducing sugar.” She added, “but there’s a lot more we needed to do because countries which loved sugar were growing faster than countries which were consuming lower-sugar products.”
Available in about 180 countries worldwide, the company earns over $1 billion yearly. Most of this revenue, from the sale of its most famous product the sugar-based Pepsi drink. PepsiCo is definitely taking a huge commitment. The decrease of calories will be followed by several communities to raise tax on sugar-based drinks as a way to fight rising incidents of obesity worldwide.
“Technology breakthroughs right now are resulting in better-tasting colas, almost as good as the full-sugar colas, but with lower calories,” said Nooyi. “So we’re now faced with [an] interesting opportunity to step the consumer down to lower sweetness levels.”
Today almost 25% of the company’s global revenue is coming from soda based products. They also make Pure Leaf iced tea products and Starbucks unsweetened ready-to-drink coffee. Furthermore, there are several sparkling flavoured water and juice under the Gatorade sports drink brand.
According to Mintel estimated 74% of total market shares belongs to diet carbonated soft drinks. Diet category is around 26%, which makes carbonated soft drinks the majority of the category sales industrywide.
Mintel added that the said diet soda business has been decreasing. This is the result of “negative health perceptions surrounding artificial sugar. Also helping the decline is the large number of “better-for-you and low/no calorie beverages available.”
PepsiCo’s initiative to decrease calorie isn’t limited to North America. According to the company’s CEO, as part of the initiative, it has lowered 30% sugar of 7-Up products in Mexico, UK, China and India.
“The consumer can’t tell the difference, and that’s the greatest thing about all of the R&D work, which is now yielding results,” she said.
They also have started efforts to lower-down sodium in products including the snacks sold by the Frito-Lay division.
“By applying the seasoning differently, we can actually still make it a salty snack, but with lower sodium levels, and that’s what we have managed to do with… our products in countries like the U.K. and China, where we’ve reduced salt levels significantly,” she said.
PepsiCo said by 2025, three-quarters of its global foods portfolio will contain sodium volumes not exceeding 1.3 milligrams per calorie. Moreover, not more than 1.1 grams of saturated fat per 100 calories.
The company had made a significant progress and is now frying snacks using a “heart-healthy oil”. The CEO added that they have developed a new frying technique to reduce saturated fat levels by 20%. On the other hand, increasing the machine’s capacity by 25%.
Hello goodness
As part of their “Hello Goodness Initiative”, PepsiCo is now taking its vending machines to contain most company products. These include Frito-Lay’s baked chips, Sabra hummus products and other healthier beverages.
Hello Goodness Machine sales are moving higher than other vending machines. She said “because all of a sudden, people look at this and go, ‘Gee, I can eat everything I want out of this machine rather than, you know, having to go to convenience store or going to my pantry to bring stuff.”
PepsiCo’s sustainability goal is to reduce the company’s total carbon footprint and to increase water savings worldwide.
“We cannot keep operating in communities if we don’t have prudent water goals or greenhouse gas emissions goals because societies won’t allow us in,” said Nooyi. “So I think in many ways, what we are doing with our goals right now is much more — you know a way to drive our performance on a sustained basis, so we are financially motivated with a very strong conscious.”
By 2030, the company’s target is to reduce 20% greenhouse gas emissions across its valued chain. This includes everything from production activities, packaging to transportation, and its agricultural supplies worldwide.
PepsiCo said they are now working to reach their customers and business suppliers to reduce emissions.
The company is targeting “15% improvement in water efficiency of its direct agricultural supply chain in high water-risk areas by 2025”. That means saving equivalent to the total amount of water used in manufacturing operations.
The water saving efforts would lead to 100% replenishing of its water consumption in manufacturing operations within “high-water-risk areas.”
PepsiCo committed that it would “improve water efficiency of its direct manufacturing operations by 25% by 2025”. This is in addition to the 25% savings the company achieved since 2016.
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Friday, October 14, 2016
World Health Organization : Tuberculosis Hardly Under Control
Tuberculosis disease was listed as one of the top 10 causes of death worldwide, ranking higher than HIV and Malaria.
In the 2014 World Health Assembly, world leaders agreed to the 2030 ‘twin goals’. These goals are to decrease the number of deaths due to the respiratory infection by 90% . Furthermore, they aim to bring down the cases reported, by 80%, compared to the number reported last 2015.
But, according to the World Health Organization Tuberculosis report released last Thursday, deaths and cases increased between 2013 and 2015. The case hike reflects a very serious problem in the fight against tuberculosis. The record shows that the number
In about 10.4 million new cases in 2015, only 6.1 million were identified and reported to the authorities.
It clearly shows that the world governments are failing to meet their 2030 “twin goals”.
Dr. Margaret Chan, the WHO director-general, said “There must be a massive scale-up of efforts, or countries will continue to run behind this deadly epidemic and these ambitious goals will be missed,” she further said, “We face an uphill battle to reach the global targets for tuberculosis.”
Seconded by Greg Elder, a medical coordinator for Doctors without Borders, called the report a “shockingly bad report card.”
In a statement, he said, “Governments need to get their heads out of the sand and realize that TB is not a disease consigned to the 1800s, we see and treat TB in our clinics every day, and it’s a deadly threat to all of us.”
Meanwhile, Mario Raviglione, the director of the WHO Global TB Program shared his sentiment about the issue.He called the global TB response in the last year “dismal”. Raviglione also added that program needs more money for rapid tests and drugs.
The report says, if the fund issue for TB treatment and prevention will not be addressed, the gap will increase to $6 billion by 2020.
U.S. top donor
According to Kaiser Family Foundation, who tracks health aid funding, most of the global aid support for TB comes through international donations. These are funneled to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. The US is the single largest donor to the fund. Over the next three years, the U.S. has pledged $4.3 billion to be spent fighting AIDS, TB, and malaria.
However, tuberculosis-specific funding for programs run by the U.S. Agency for International Development has declined since 2012, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation’s analysis of federal appropriations. If it is approved, the budget request for 2017 will be the lowest level of funding for USAID TB programs since 2009.
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Vietnamese Man Hospitalized for Broken Penis
A Vietnamese man was taken to a hospital in late September with a ‘broken’ penis, allegedly from attempting exotic positions in bed, doctors said.
The 59-year-old man from south-central Vietnam’s Binh Thuan Province was admitted to Binh Dan Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City on September 25. He showed up with a bruised and swollen genital, doctor Mai Ba Tien Dung said.
The middle-aged patient disclosed that he was participating in sexual intercourse with his partner when a ‘crack’ was heard from his erect penis.
According to the patient, purple coloration then appeared across his genital and scrotum. This prompted him to seek medical help at the hospital.
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) results revealed a two-centimeter gash and undue bleeding at the right cavernous body of patient’s penis. This is somewhere around the fixed segment of the urethra.
The following day, a surgery was performed to connect the patient’s fibrous envelope, which surrounds the cavernous bodies.
A broken Penis may lead to a lot of….”very bad things”
The doctor said purple coloration around the pain area would ensue. Also, this can swiftly spread along the length of the penis and to the scrotum. The foreskin can also swell up and cover the penis gland.
The patient can suffer from a deformed and curved penis, infected hematoma, erectile dysfunction, and formation of abscess cavities. Not to mention arteriovenous fistula, pain during erection, and even high rates of impotence without appropriate surgery.
The case of the 59-year old patient is uncommon. It happened only once out of a thousand cases of broken penises documented in medical text, Dung said.
The doctor cautioned that without examination by professionally trained physicians, the damages of this type of injury are difficult to ascertain. This can lead to late complications that affect the quality of life of the patient.
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France: New Law Allows Transgender to Legally Change Gender Without Going Through Sterilization
The French legislative body finally passed a petition on Thursday allowing transgender people to legally change gender without enduring sterilization. The rights activists rejoiced in victory as the long-awaited legislation was finally approved.
The decision came out after several European nations supported to improve the rights of transgender people. They urged other nations to remove sterilization as a legal requirement. In order to legally recognize the desired gender, transgender people need to undergo a medical procedure of sterilization. The United Nations strongly condemned the procedure as a violation of human rights.
Denmark, Malta, and Ireland started the reform in 2014 where they made changes in their policies. These nations implied a policy which only needs informing authorities of the desired gender without medical intervention.
French transgenders still require court approval
However, the new legislation is not as liberal with other nations like Denmark, Malta, and Ireland. The French law still requires transgender people the need to go to court for them to change their desired gender.
According to Delphine Ravisé-Giard, a spokeswoman for the National Transgender Association or ANT, “France has sometimes done revolutions, but this is not a revolutionary law”.
France disregards any statistical data of the transgender people. Similarly, France does not hold any official record in the numbers of transgender people. Although activists claim there are tens of thousands living in the European country.
In a European Union report published in December of 2014, transgender people tend to be gay and usually prone to be attacked, threatened or insulted.
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Wednesday, October 12, 2016
American Heart Association says Dementia, Hypertension has Strong Connection
In a statement released on their website and AHA journal Hypertension, the American Heart Association (AHA) says that high blood pressure and brain diseases like Alzheimer’s have a strong connection. However, it does not show a clear causal connection between the two conditions. Rather, this study came from meta-analysis about how hypertension will impact illnesses such as dementia, vascular cognitive impairment, and stroke.
Dr. Costantino Iadecola, chair of the writing committee, said. “Many observational studies suggest treating hypertension may reduce the cognitive impact of high blood pressure, especially on vascular cognitive impairment. Observational studies are not designed to prove cause and effect, however.”
According to AHA, the primary causes of cognitive impairment are vascular cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease.
This condition refers to a range of changes in brain function caused by impaired blood flow to the brain. Patients with dementia often have a combination of vascular cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s.
AHA appealed for a more intensive study about the possible connection between hypertension and brain disease. Scientists found it challenging because of the time difference when a patient has high blood pressure and when cognitive issues appear.
This long-term studies would examine more to protect and treat at-risk patients before their illness gets worst. They expressed that this would be an ideal medication for patients with blood pressure diseases.
Iadecola also sits as director of the Brain and Mind Research Institute at Well Cornell Medicine released another statement. It said, “We know treating high blood pressure reduces the risk of heart diseases such as heart attacks, congestive heart failure and stroke, and it is important to continue treating it to reduce the risks of these diseases,”
“However, we need randomized controlled studies— which do prove cause and effect— to determine if treating high blood pressure, especially in middle age, will also decrease the risk of cognitive impairment later in life.”
The National Institute on Aging, part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), ended recruitment for one such long-term study. They call it the Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial: Memory and Cognition in Decreased Hypertension (SPRINT-MIND), says the NIH website.
“The SPRINT-MIND trial is a new study designed to evaluate the role of treating high blood pressure relative to cognitive impairment. It may provide answers to some of the outstanding questions about treating high blood pressure relative to reducing the risk of cognitive impairment,” Iadecola added.
Global increase of Dementia cases
Approximately 30 to 40 million people worldwide have Dementia disease. This number is expected to triple in the year 2050 due to the aging population. By that time, estimated treatment would exceed $1.1 trillion.
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WHO: Tax Hike on Drinks with High Sugar Content Recommended to Combat Obesity
The World Health Organization appealed to the international communities to start taxing sugary beverages to fight obesity. On October 11, the UN’s health agency announced the end result of their research. The study shows that the connection of price hike has a noticeable decreasing effect on consumption.
The WHO recommendation about the sugary drinks resulted from the immediate solution for the increasing number of obesity cases. The agency targets to bring the obesity rates to 1 in 3 overweight adults.
In short, the price hike on an item relates to the consumption. The agency explained the analogy as an increase of 20% on the price will decrease the consumption by 20%. While a 50% price hike will cut the consumption in half.
According to Douglas Bettcher, department head of WHO’s prevention of non-communicable disease, “If governments tax products like sugary drinks, they can reduce suffering and save lives”.
In 2014, WHO estimated that 39% of adults worldwide were overweight, and more than half a billion people aged over 18 were obese. The agency found out that 42 million children under the age of 5 were overweight: a direct indication of increase about 11 million children within the span of 15 years.
The number of people affected by diabetes ballooned from 108 million in 1980 to 422 million in 2014.
Sweet, Deadly Sugar
Diabetes caused 1.5 million deaths in 2012. People with high glucose levels linked to diabetes were accountable for another 2.2 million deaths within the year according to the latest data from WHO.
The recommendation was based on a meeting held last year by fiscal experts. These experts are assigned to gather data and case studies worldwide to find the best possible solutions to lessen obesity.
According to the report, “Fiscal policies should target food and beverages for which healthier alternatives are available”. “When you drink, your appetite control is not active, so you tend to over consume calories”. The department head of WHO’s health and development, Francesco Branca told reporters.
In the past, WHO recommended the sugar intake should compose less than 10% of a person’s total daily diet. They are now urging countries in lowering it further to 5%. It means the equivalent sugar intake is about 6 teaspoons or 25 grams of sugar a day. An average can of soda has 10 teaspoons of sugar.
The WHO report also indicates subsidization of prices in fruits and vegetables, a reduction of 10 to 30 percent in the price. This can eventually result in improving dietary lifestyles.
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Tuesday, October 11, 2016
Flu Vaccine: Is Getting a Shot Really Worth It?
The Current flu vaccine contains the same virus strain since the spring of 2009. The virus extracted from a patient in California is the earliest form of the pandemic virus H1N1 or swine flu.
The very same reason, that The World Health Organization suggested drug makers create an updated virus for the flu vaccine. Prolonged used of a flu virus in the vaccines are normally similar to the present one.
Influenza epidemiologist of the British Columbia Center for Disease Control in Vancouver, Dr. Danuta Skowronski said that the “A/California had a good run” as an anti-virus.
Flu vaccines contain harmless viruses when exposed to the immune system it signals to release the particular antibodies to combat the disease. It then stores the information of the protective ammunition to fight future infection.
The H1N1 virus on the present flu vaccines latest evolution loses its efficiency on people ages 30 to middle age. These groups of people are not getting sufficient protection against the influenza family disease. Generally, healthy adults are subjects to have the best response to vaccines. However, for the past years that has not been the case for the H1N1 anti-virus component.
See Related Article: This is the Best Time to Get Your Flu Shots as Flu Season is Fast Approaching
Surprisingly, children and older adults develop positive antibodies response to H1N1 after vaccination.
The New Anti-Virus Component
The new virus to replace the H1N1 component has even a longer and peculiar name, the A/California/7/2009 (H1N1)pdm09. The new anti-virus defined as an influenza virus linked to the H1N1 family transpired in the 2009 pandemic. Scientist recovered the virus in the same year in California and confirmed to have links to the new virus discovered recently.
Flu experts worldwide who recently met in Geneva, advised WHO to use a different virus retrieved in 2015. WHO agreed with the flu experts. They recommended using a virus from the same family retrieved in 2015 from a patient in Michigan instead of A/California/7/2009 (H1N1)pdm09
Jacqueline Katz, the deputy director of the influenza division at the Centers for Disease control and Prevention in Atlanta believed this strain of virus will be more effective. It can better protect the group of people that was not getting enough benefit from the H1N1 virus. That can be done without compromising the efficiency for children and the elderly.
Usually, flu vaccines are made for “one-size-fits-all” but this time, a huge modification needs to be done. The scientist must formulate a change in the virus strain because of a setback of the vaccine within a specific group of people.
Dr. Danuta Skowronski discussed last week about the drawback of WHO strain’s selection committee will eventually need to tackle. He said, “We don’t make age-based vaccine strain decisions. So if the vaccine isn’t protecting well the non-elderly adults, but seems to function OK in the young, what do you do with that information?”
The decision to change the virus strain is even more significant. Since scientists are able to monitor closely the effectiveness and performance of the vaccines in different age group sector. They are more vigilant now on the after effects of the vaccines than in the previous years.
The H1N1 virus component worked out well since its discovery after the 2009 pandemic. But in 2013 it shows a decrease of efficiency in people aged 30 to middle age.
The problem with the current virus strain begins to emerge when CDC started blood testing. They performed the test from vaccinated people in different age group and saw a difference on antibodies responses.
Scott Hensley, an associate professor of microbiology at the University of Pennsylvania said, “If you do that same experiment and instead of using ferret antibodies if you use antibodies from humans that actually received the 2009 vaccine, what you find is that there’s a significant number of [vaccinated] middle-aged people that … fail to react to the strain that’s actually circulating,”
Hensley believed that the sectors of people who have diminishing antibodies responses were born in 1960s 1970s and 1980s. Their body first exposed to the H1N1 virus circulated in 1977 until 1985. The 1977 virus strain is from the family disappeared when the new H1N1 started circulation in 2009.
They share a name but are different in so many aspects, it evolved so much that the immune system failed to recognize the new version. Hensley said although it evolved some of the aspects remains in the corresponding section of H1N1 viruses of the 1977 pandemic.
People whose immune system that got exposed to the first H1N1 virus would probably recognize the new virus. The current H1N1 vaccines acted like a booster shot for their antibodies.
However, in 2013 the early recognition of the new virus disappeared when the H1N1 virus changed dramatically losing a segment. Hensley believed it was a factor that the immunological profile lost its detection to deploy the right type of antibodies to fight against the H1N1.
Hensley considered updating the H1N1 component in the vaccine will solve the problem. He pointed out that WHO made the right decision in urging drug-makers to make proper changes.
In the Northern Hemisphere, flu season is about to start. There is a concern for contracting flu within this season. Last winter H1N1 was so active in most of the flu cases transpired but Katz said: “We had such a big H1N1 season last year I doubt we’ll have a very robust season this year”
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New Study Says Extreme Exercise, Anger May Trigger Heart Attack
A substantial, global research links heavy exertion while mad or stressed to a tripled risk of suffering a heart attack within an hour. So if you feel upset or angry, you should cool down before heading out for a run or intense workout.
Regular exercise helps prevent heart disease and is a healthy remedy to stress. Too many people get too little of it however. Also, the new study suggests that there may be better or worst times to exercise and extremes can bring harm.
Previous studies, though they looked at exertion and anger as heart attack triggers, included only a few women or minorities. This latest study included 12,461 people experiencing a first heart attack in 52 countries. Three fourths of the people studied were men and their average age was 58.
The respondents answered a survey about whether they experienced heavy exertion, or felt angry or upset. These should have occurred during the same time period the previous day or in the hour before their heart attack. That way, researchers would be able to compare risk at various times in the same people and the effect of these possible heart triggers.
Being distressed or angry heightened the risk of suffering heart attack symptoms two-fold within an hour. Heavy physical exertion did the same. Undergoing both at the same time more than tripled the threat for a heart attack.
The risk was independent of other factors such as high blood pressure, obesity or smoking and was greatest between 6 p.m. and midnight.
Caution may be in order, though. Patients reported their own anger or stress, and people who just suffered a heart attack may be more inclined to remember or think they suffered one of these triggers than they otherwise might have. Additionally, arduous exertion is whatever the patient perceives it to be. It could be climbing the stairs for some people while for others, running a marathon.
The study is possibly the best kind of data available. Nevertheless, it cannot prove cause and effect since it is only observational.
Physical exertion + intense emotions = heart attack
Also, the research‘s conclusions are biologically credible. Study leader Dr. Andrew Smyth of McMaster University said that exertion and emotional stress can increase blood pressure and heart rate. Furthermore, they reduce the heart’s blood supply, and change the flow of blood in the vessels. Consequently, a trigger could block blood flow and lead to a heart attack in an artery already jammed with plaque.
The Canadian Institute of Health Research, grants from drug companies, and other governmental bodies from different countries that took part funded the study.
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Friday, October 7, 2016
This is the Best Time to Get Your Flu Shots as Flu Season is Fast Approaching
With winter drawing near, public health doctors are saying that this is the best time to get flu shots. Flu vaccines administered during this period would certainly last through to spring.
However, there is bad news for kids who have avoided the needle last year. Many parents whose children are too petrified to get the needle shots usually use the Flu Mist nasal spray as the alternative. This year however, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention said to not use the nasal spray anymore. The CDC determined that this method did not work last year.
Standard flu shots on the other hand shows a 63 percent effectiveness between the same age group.
Dr. Matt Zahn, medical director at the Orange County Health Care Agency said, “We know that this year some kids who were getting the nasal vaccine in the past will be getting a shot. You have to go with what works.”
Best time to take the shots
CDC says that about 5 to 20 percent of Americans acquire the flu each year. About 3,000 to 49,000 of those will die of complications. “Every year, thousands of people will die of influenza in the U.S.,” Zahn said. “We’ve come to accept it but we don’t have to.”
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Wednesday, October 5, 2016
Is 125 years the upper limit for human lifespan?
The human body could be designed to live no longer than 125 years, according to new research.
While we now live longer than ever before, there does seem to be a natural cut off for the lifespan of the human body.
No human has ever lived longer than 122 years and researchers from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, New York, believe 125 years is the upper limit.
Even with ever more advances in health care and medical science, they do not expect to see a lot of 125 year old people around.
In fact the research team calculated that the chances of anyone living to 125 in any given year was one in 10,000.
Advances
Life expectancy has been increasing relentlessly since the nineteenth century thanks to better sanitation, greater understanding of how diseases are spread, vaccines, better diets and preventative medicine.
Given new advances in medical science every year and better drugs and clinical therapies to treat disease people are living longer than ever.
If there was no natural upper limit on human lifespan, the researchers say we should expect to see a large increase in the numbers of people living into extreme old age.
The researchers said: “The rate of improvement in survival peaks and then declines for very old age levels which points towards diminishing gains in reduction of late-life mortality and a possible limit to human lifespan.
“Our data strongly suggest that the duration of life is limited.”
Mortality
The team analysed data from the Human Mortality Database and the deaths of people over 110 in France, Japan, UK and US.
The data showed increases in life expectancy were slowing in centenarians and that the maximum age of death had plateaued for at least two decades.
One of the researchers, Professor Jan Vijg, said: “In people over 105 we make very little progress, that tells you we are most likely approaching the limit to human life.
“For the first time in history we’ve been able to see this, it looks like the maximum life span – this ceiling, this barrier – is about 115.
Dismal
“It’s almost impossible you’ll get beyond it, you need 10,000 world’s like ours to end up with one individual in a given year who will live until 125 – so a very small chance.”
However not every scientist agrees with the findings. Prof James Vaupel, from the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, dismissed the study as a “dismal travesty” and said it added nothing to the scientific knowledge about how long we will live.
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