Saturday 30 October 2010

"Environment Only" Theory of Human Behaviour Destroyed by Discovery of “Liberal Gene”

The environmental theory of human development — which holds that all humans are born blank slates and are shaped solely by their environments — has received a death blow with the news that scientists have discovered a genetic link to liberalism.
The announcement of the existence of a “liberal gene” which predisposes individuals to being liberal even in the face of the most incontrovertible evidence that their world view is wrong, was made in the reputable Cambridge University Press' Journal of Politics.
The lengthy study, based on research carried out on more than 2,000 test subjects (and which can be seen in full here), proves that genetics plays a substantial role in behaviour.
This means that people with certain genetic make-ups behave in a predetermined way, irrelevant of their place of birth.
The environmental “blank slate” world view has, from the time of the infamous Frankfurt School and the anthropological standard set by Karl Mannheim and Franz Boas at the beginning of the 20th Century, held that hereditary plays no part in predetermining human behaviour.
For decades, this leftist argument has been used to stifle any suggestion that individuals, both within and between racial groups, have different inherent abilities, intelligence levels or behavioural and psychological make-ups.
The advent of the science of genetics has however completely undermined this leftist delusion, and the discovery of a “liberal gene” must come as the most shocking of all developments to proponents of the now-disproven environmental theory.
According to the new study’s lead researcher, James H. Fowler of the University of California in San Diego, people with a variant of what is known as the “dopamine receptor gene” (called DRD4-7R) are more liberal in their political outlook than those people without it.
The gene, which has previously been associated with novelty-seeking behaviour, means that individuals carrying it are exposed “to a wider variety of social norms and lifestyles would make them more liberal than average,” his study paper said.
“Studies of animals indicate that DRD4 is involved in cortical excitability and behavioral sensitisation,” the paper said.
“These alterations in cortical arousal affect ‘‘approach traits’’ such as novelty seeking and sensation seeking, which in turn affect personality and behaviour.
“The relationship between openness to experience and ideology holds when ideology is measured either as support for ideological political parties or as ideological self-placement.”
The paper was extremely scientific and fair in its overview, stressing that it did not “claim that this evidence proves a causal relationship between DRD4 and political ideology. However, the association is consistent with a causal theory that we develop about the way genes and environments combine to affect political ideology.
“It is important to note that the 7R allele by itself does not make a person liberal and neither does simply having a greater number of friends as a teenager,” it stated.
“Rather, it is the crucial interaction of two factors—the genetic predisposition of having a greater number of 7R alleles and the environmental condition of having many friends in adolescence—that is associated with being more liberal.”
As a result, the study said, it can be concluded that “genetic effects take place in complex interaction with other genes and environments, and it is likely the combination of hundreds if not thousands of genes interacting with each other and with external stimuli that influence political attitudes and behaviour.
“In light of these and other findings, political scientists can no longer afford to view ideology as a strictly social construct, perfectly malleable and completely subject to historically changing circumstances.
“Finally, the results here suggest that, contrary to Mannheim’s assertion and the body of work that followed him, the social and institutional environment cannot entirely explain a person’s political attitudes and beliefs.
“We must take into account the role of genes and gene-environment interactions in the formation and maintenance of political beliefs,” the paper said in its conclusion.
Further recommended reading: Race, Evolution and Behaviour: A Life History Perspective, 2nd Special Abridged Edition, by Professor J. Philippe Rushton.
Using evidence from psychology, anthropology, sociology and other scientific disciplines, this book shows that there are at least three biological races (subspecies) of man: Orientals (i.e., Mongoloids or Asians); Blacks (i.e., Negroids or Africans), and Whites (i.e., Caucasoids or Europeans).
There are recognisable profiles for the three major racial groups on brain size; intelligence; personality and temperament; sexual behaviour, and rates of fertility, maturation, and longevity. The profiles reveal that, ON AVERAGE that Orientals and their descendants around the world fall at one end of the continuum, Blacks and their descendants around the world fall at the other end of the continuum and Whites regularly fall in between. This worldwide pattern implies evolutionary and genetic, rather than purely social, political, economic, or cultural, causes. Softcover, small format, 106 pp. £4.78 including postage and packaging. Order online here.

Friday 22 October 2010

Study finds that Use of Post-menopausal Hormones BOOST Risk of Dying from Breast Cancer!

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

According to a landmark US study, women who take a popular hormone replacement drug after menopause not only increase their chances of getting breast cancer but also face an increased risk of dying from breast cancer. Yet Millions of women still take them?

The new breast cancer findings surprised even some experts who have remained more supportive of hormone use.

The study of more than 12,000 women who were followed for about 11 years produced powerful evidence that deaths from breast cancer were more common among hormone-users.

"Women taking estrogen plus progestin are at greater risk from dying from the two leading causes of cancer death in women," said Rowan T. Chlebowski of the Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, who led the analysis.

Chlebowski said he was confident that the risk was real, and others said the actual risk was probably far greater.

"This really is a paradigm shift," said Hugh S. Taylor, chief of reproductive endocrinology at Yale University. "There was a whole group of people, including myself, who had been thinking hormone use was associated with an increased detection of breast cancer but not necessarily an increase risk of death from breast cancer. But this really nails it."

The previous study reported on earlier this week found that hormone use appeared to double the relative risk of dying from breast cancer. In the new study, 25 women among those taking the hormones died from breast cancer, compared with 12 among those who took a placebo. The increased risk translates into 2.6 vs. 1.3 deaths from breast cancer each year for every 10,000 women taking hormones, or about 1.3 additional deaths, the study found.

But typically and as can be expected from the money hungry medical profession - "Let's not throw the baby out with the bath water," Taylor said. "Hormonal symptoms can really be life-changing for many women - changing their ability to concentrate, their mood, their personality. It can be really horrendous. Just because there is a very small risk associated with a therapy doesn't necessarily mean we completely abandon it." HE MUST BE (sic) JOKING, right?

In 2002, more than 110 million prescriptions for hormones were filled; by 2009, the number had dropped to about 40 million, according to IMS Health, which tracks prescription drug sales.

Breast cancer diagnoses subsequently started to drop. It helped explain one of the biggest mysteries about breast cancer - why the number of cases rose steadily for decades: Hormone use probably played a key role in the increased cases of breast cancer.

Peter B. Bach, an epidemiologist at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York who wrote an editorial accompanying the new report said "I don't mean to be alarmist, but when it comes to hormone replacement therapy, we've been wrong, wrong and wrong about this stuff." and he concluded with "I just don't have the confidence to say that we know that any duration of therapy is safe."

Read the full article here :
Post-menopausal hormones boost breast cancer risk, study finds
By Rob Stein
Washington Post Staff Writer
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/19/AR2010101905232.html

Thursday 21 October 2010

The Bank of Life

Imagine that you had won the following prize in  a contest:
Each morning your bank would deposit $86,400.00 in your private account for your use.

However, this prize had rules, just as any game  has certain rules.

The first set of rules would be: 
1. Everything that you didn't spend during each  day would be taken away from you.
2. You may not simply transfer  money into some other account.
3. You may only spend it. 

Each morning upon awakening, the bank opens your account with another $86,400.00 for that day.

The second set of rules:
1. The bank can end the game without warning; at any time it can say, "It's over, the game is over!" 
2. It can close the account and you will not receive a new one. 

What would you personally do? 

You would buy anything and everything you  wanted, right?
Not only for yourself, but for all people you  love, right?
Even for people you don't know, because you  couldn't possibly spend it all on yourself, right?
You would try to spend every cent, and use it  all, right?

ACTUALLY, THIS GAME IS REALITY!! 

Each of us is in possession of such a "magical"  bank.
We just can't seem to see it.

THE MAGICAL BANK IS TIME!

Each awakening morning we receive 86,400 seconds  as a gift of life,
And when we go to sleep at night, any remaining  time is NOT credited to us.
What we haven't lived up that day is forever  lost.
Yesterday is forever gone.

Each morning the account is refilled, 
but the bank can dissolve your account at any  time....... WITHOUT WARNING.

WELL, what will you do with your 86,400 seconds? 
Aren't they worth so much more than the same  amount in dollars?
Think about that, and always think of this: 

Enjoy every second of your life, because time  races by so much quicker than you think.
So take care of yourself, and enjoy life! 

Here's wishing you a wonderfully beautiful  day!!!
Dream like you'll live forever;
Live like you'll die  tomorrow.

Exercise can Adversely Affect Performance of Medication

From American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine
Pharmacokinetic Drug Interactions with Physical Activity
Thomas L. Lenz, PharmD, MA, PAPHS
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/729027?src=mp&uac=46290BK&spon=17

Abstract

Physical activity produces many positive physiological changes. Some of these physiological changes, however, can adversely affect the performance  (absorption, distribution, metabolism, and/or excretion) of certain medications when taken concurrently. The liver and the kidney play significant roles in calculating the absorption parameters of medications. Blood flow to these organs is significant at rest but decreases during exercise. These changes in blood flow, as well as other physiological changes during exercise, have shown to alter the actions of some drugs. Medications that require extra therapeutic monitoring may be affected by this drug-exercise interaction.

Health care professionals and patients should be aware of these potential drug-exercise interactions.

Introduction

When researchers design a drug, certain parameters are followed to ensure that the drug performs as it was designed. These parameters are expressed in the discipline of pharmacology called pharmacokinetics. There are 4 basic areas involved in pharmacokinetics: absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion of drugs. Exercise can have a significant effect on one or more of these areas. The specific type and degree of effect are dependent on the individual characteristics of each drug and the specific type and duration of exercise being performed.

There are 2 ways to address the interactions that are believed to exist between exercise and drug therapy. The first is to look at drugs that can adversely affect exercise performance in ways such as decreasing cellular oxygen uptake (ie, β-blocker medications). The second is to assess the effect exercise may have on drug pharmacokinetics or the ability of drugs to exert their intended effects within the body.

The full article also covers the following :

Physiological Changes Due to Exercise
Drug Absorption and Exercise
Drug Distribution and Exercise
Drug Metabolism and Exercise
Drug Excretion and Exercise
Conclusion

Read the full article at :
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/729027?src=mp&uac=46290BK&spon=17

Wednesday 20 October 2010

Walking can Maintain Brain Volume and Prevent Cognitive Impairment

New research suggests that walking six miles (9.7km) per week maintains your brain's volume and preserves your memory as you age.

MRI scan measurements showed that walking as little as one mile (1.6km) a day significantly affects brain volume nine years later, and dementia 13 years later, but walking more than nine miles did not increase gray matter volume any more.

"Based on our results, we can conclude that there is a relation between the amount of walking earlier in life and brain volume in later adulthood and that greater volume of tissue related to walking is associated with a reduced risk of cognitive impairment," the study authors said.

Kirk I. Erickson, PhD, at the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania, and his colleagues reported these findings in the October 13 issue of the journal, Neurology.

The study was supported by the National Institute on Aging.

Further reading :

This article was summarized from Digital Journal
http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/299158

Medscape Medical News
Walking Maintains Brain Volume, Prevents Cognitive Impairment
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/730395

Breast Cancer Is More Advanced in Women Using Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT)

Study Examines Breast Cancer Risk Tied to HRT

Oct. 19, 2010 - According to the latest research from the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) study on combined estrogen-plus-progestin hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and breast cancer risk, breast cancers tied to the use of hormone replacement therapy in postmenopausal women tend to be diagnosed at a more advanced and deadly stage.

The WHI study's intervention phase was stopped earlier in 2002 due to an increased risk of breast cancer among the participants taking HRT, compared to those taking a placebo.

Researchers analyzed data based on 11 years of follow-up of 12,788 women in the original WHI study. They found that HRT was associated with an increased risk of breast cancer; the participants' cancers were more commonly diagnosed in an advanced stage.

The researchers found that more than twice as many women who took HRT died within the follow-up period, compared with those who took the placebo (25 vs. 12 deaths, respectively).

Study results published in The Journal of the American Medical Association.

"Now, with longer follow-up results available, there remains a cumulative, statistically significant increase in breast cancers in the combined hormone therapy group, and the cancers more commonly had lymph node involvement," write researcher Rowan T. Chlebowski, MD, PhD, of Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Torrance, Calif., and colleagues.

Further reading :

This article was summarized from WebMD Health News
http://www.webmd.com/breast-cancer/news/20101019/hrt-related-breast-cancer-is-more-advanced

Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA)
ABSTRACT : Estrogen Plus Progestin and Breast Cancer Incidence and Mortality in Postmenopausal Women
http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/short/304/15/1684

PBS News Hour
Study: Post-Menopausal Hormone Therapy Increases Cancer Risk
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/health/july-dec10/hormone_10-19.html


Related articles :

National Cancer Institute (USA)
Menopausal Hormone Replacement Therapy Use and Cancer
What has medical research found out about the risks and benefits of hormone use after menopause?
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/menopausal-hormones#q4

Hormone replacement therapy tied to ovarian cancer
http://www.curetoday.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/news.showNewsArticle/id/13/news_id/1440

Hormone replacement therapy doubles breast cancer risk
http://article.wn.com/view/2010/08/11/Hormone_replacement_therapy_increases_breast_cancer_risk/

Tuesday 19 October 2010

Dental Surgery Linked To Short Term Stroke And Heart Attack Risk

Summarized article for your convenience :

Heart attack and stroke risk may rise in the month following invasive dental treatments such as tooth extractions, British researchers have revealed in an article published in the peer-reviewed journal Annals of Internal Medicine.

While there was a significantly increased heart attack or stroke risk during the month following dental work the risk disappeared six months later.

Researchers reviewed medical aid claims data of 32,060 adults who had a heart attack or stroke, backtracked to see if the person had undergone any invasive dental procedures. 650 people had a stroke and 525 had a heart attack after invasive dental work. The researchers considered other factors known to increase risk for heart attack and stroke, such as diabetes and high blood pressure.

More than half of the heart attack and strokes in the study occurred in women and 30% in people younger than 50.

Dr Liam Smeeth, from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said:

"Many people who are only at moderate risk most of the time will enter periods of very high risk intermittently in response to inflammatory or infectious triggers due to surgery, and those people might benefit from short periods of prophylactic (preventive) therapy that most of the time they don't need."

The authors concluded:

"Invasive dental treatment may be associated with a transient increase in the risk for vascular events. However, the absolute risks are minimal, and the long-term benefits on vascular health will probably outweigh the short-lived adverse effects."

Further reading from the source articles :

Medical News Today
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/205129.php

WebMD
http://www.webmd.com/oral-health/news/20101018/some-dental-treatment-is-linked-to-heart-risk

Monday 18 October 2010

New emergency care guidelines for performing CPR


Summarized here for your convenience from Digital Journal : http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/299094

CPR in Canada releases guidelines to 'push fast and push hard'
By KJ Mullins.

Canada released new emergency care guidelines for performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) today in the 2010 Guidelines for Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and Emergency Cardiovascular Care (ECC).

If you find a person who is collapsed and unresponsive, the first step now is to call 911 (or your local emergency number), and not to delay by 'looking, listening and feeling' for breathing or pulse.

When it comes to CPR be forceful to insure that blood is flowing.

"Think about moving the heel of your hands up and down about two inches (five cm) into the chest - or the height of your pinky finger," says Dr. Travers.

The guidelines are reviewed every five years with updates only when it is clear that changes need to take place in order to save lives.

Today the guideline is to :

1) make the emergency call ; and then
2) push hard before starting rescue breathing.

The speed of getting blood flow back is a significant factor in reducing brain and heart damage following cardiac arrest.

When CPR is performed right away the chances of surviving a cardiac arrest are almost four times greater.

When CPR is combined with an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) the odds of survival shot up to 50 percent.

Further reading :
http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2010/10/15/cpr-chest-compression-guidelines-heart.html?ref=rss

http://topnews.co.uk/214725-push-hard-and-push-fast-advisory-issued-aha

New numbers reveal more Gardasil deaths - Douglass Report

Summarized here for your convenience from the Douglass Report :
http://douglassreport.com/2010/10/18/more-gardasil-deaths/

Newly uncovered documents reveal that the Gardasil, Merck’s HPV / "cervical cancer" vaccine , has been linked to 16 more deaths — including four suicides — and other side effects.

In addition to the deaths already linked to this vaccine, FDA documents obtained by Judicial Watch revealed 16 new deaths between May 2009 and last month.

The FDA papers also revealed 3,589 new cases of adverse events after Gardasil vaccinations, including 789 "serious" cases, 213 that led to permanent disability, and 25 diagnoses of Guillain-Barre Syndrome (the debilitating and paralyzing nervous system disorder).

One parent named in the new report said she initially declined the vaccination for her daughter, but was talked into it by the doctor. Five weeks later, her 13-year-old girl was dead.

Further reading :

http://www.newsinferno.com/archive/gardasil-tied-to-16-additional-deaths/

http://biggovernment.com/tfitton/2010/10/06/fda-records-detail-16-new-deaths-tied-to-gardasil/

http://www.sfexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/update-foia-uncovers-16-new-gardasil-related-deaths-104022043.html