OFFICIAL ‘UKRAINE CRISIS’ NUMBERS 12/08/09

2,187,836 Sick with Influenza/ARI

132,178 Hospitalized

472 Dead

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Ukraine Cases Spike – D225G & D225N Found – and Transmitting

Patient in Utah has “swine flu” virus mutation causing lung hemorrhaging

NIH Bulletin says New York swine flu victim autopsies show lung damage similar to 1918 Spanish Flu

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Mega Corruption Scandal At The WHO

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Fatal Tamiflu Resistant Cases In The Netherlands

Just 1 in 5 people given Tamiflu by UK NHS hotline actually had swine flu

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Researchers Scale Back Severity Of Swine Flu

Swine Flu deaths higher among minorities in Illinois

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Reported flu stats by country

(courtesy of Flu News Network)

Canada
•  More H1N1 cases reported in Nunavut (Link)

China
•  Local authorities ‘could be under-reporting’ (Link)
•  China offers aid to Ukraine to fight H1N1 (Link)
•  Ongoing H1N1 Outbreak Cover-up in China (Link)

Egypt
•  Death 30 and 31 from swine flu (translated) (Link)

France
•  French deaths spark vaccine demand (Link)

Greece
•  confirmation of 32 deaths in new totals, 3 more critical (Link)

India
•  Nine more swine flu deaths (Link)
•  Five swine flu deaths in Delhi, India toll 632 (Link)
•  4 more H1N1 deaths in New Delhi, a 5th not counted (Link)
•  Himachal Pradesh confirms 3rd H1N1 death (Link)
•  3 more deaths confirmed in Punjab, total either 6 or 8 now (Link)
•  Five swine flu deaths in Delhi, India toll 632 (Link)
• Jaipur counts 4 more deaths, total in Rajasthan state now 77  (Link)

Japan
•  70% set to hoard in swine flu crisis (Link)
•  100 H1N1 deaths (translated) (Link)

Palestine
•  Gaza: First swine flu death (Link)

Saudi Arabia
•  10 more H1N1 deaths (Link)

South Korea
•  Republic Of Korea plans to help DPRK with A/H1N1 flu (Link)

Tajikistan
•  Tajiks Fear First Swine-Flu Death (Link)

United Kingdom
•  Just one in five people given Tamiflu by NHS hotline was actually suffering from swine flu (Link)

United States

•  US: At death’s door with H1N1 for three weeks (Link)
•  FL: Two More H1N1 Deaths In Miami-Dade  (Link)
•  IL: Minorities hit harder by H1N1 (Link)
•  IN: Vanderburgh County Opens H1N1 Clinics to General Public (Link)
•  MA: Massachusetts confirms 7 more deaths in past 2 weeks, total now 24 (Link)

•  MD: Maryland Governor O’Malley: Swine Flu Vaccine Available To All (Link)

•  OR: 3 days, 5 deaths, 5 hospitalizations (Link)
•  PA: Washington Co-4th county death (Link)
•  PA: (1) New Death on PA DOH Website (Link)

•  PA: Hospital workers allege they were fired for not getting SF vaccine (Link)
•  TN: Flu vaccines available in Rutherford County (Link)
•  TX: Dallas announced last week, started this morning (Link)
•  WA: Swine flu vaccine open to everyone in Island County (Link)

General
•  CIDRAP: Autopsies show damage to entire airway (Link) Full NIH Report (Link)
•  Doctors query ability of Tamiflu to stop severe illness (Link)

Research
•  Research throws up doubts over Tamiflu (Link)

Commentary
•  Experts say flu pandemic could be mildest on record (Link)
•  Effect Measure: Flu Vaccine Safety (Link)

]]> http://emssolutionsinc.wordpress.com/2009/12/09/h1n1-swine-flu-autopsies-show-same-lung-damage-as-1918-flu/ Wed, 09 Dec 2009 14:37:03 +0000 Regina Phelps EMS Solutions http://emssolutionsinc.wordpress.com/2009/12/09/h1n1-swine-flu-autopsies-show-same-lung-damage-as-1918-flu/

Highlighting the H1N1 flu’s ability to turn deadly is a new study from James R. Gill, MD, from the New York City Medical Examiner’s office, and Jeffrey Taubenberger, MD, PhD, of the National Institutes of Health.  The scientists reviewed autopsy reports, hospital records and other clinical data from 34 people who died of 2009 H1N1 influenza infection between May 15 and July 9, 2009. All but two of the deaths occurred in New York City.

A microscopic examination of tissues throughout the airways revealed that the virus caused damage primarily to the upper airway—the trachea and bronchial tubes—but tissue damage in the lower airway, including deep in the lungs, was present as well. Evidence of secondary bacterial infection was seen in more than half of the victims.

The scientists reviewed autopsy reports, hospital records and other clinical data from 34 people who died of 2009 H1N1 influenza infection between May 15 and July 9, 2009. All but two of the deaths occurred in New York City.

The researchers also examined 33 of the 34 cases for evidence of pulmonary bacterial infections. Of these cases, 18 (55 percent) were positive for such infections. Not all of those individuals who had bacterial pneumonia along with 2009 H1N1 virus infection had been hospitalized, however, indicating that some had acquired their bacterial infections outside of a health-care setting.  This raises the possibility, say the authors, that community-acquired bacterial pneumonia is playing a role in the current pandemic. “Even in an era of widespread and early antibiotic use,” write the authors, “bacterial pneumonia remains an important factor for severe or fatal influenza.”

Computerized tomography (CT) lung images were available in four cases of pulmonary bacterial infection. In all four cases, the CT scans showed an abnormality known as ground-glass opacity, which are patches of rounded haze not seen in normal lung images.

It is not known, say the researchers, whether the abnormalities detected by CT in the four cases also occur in people who have milder H1N1 infections. They call for additional investigation into the utility of CT scans as a tool to help clinicians identify and better treat severe H1N1 infections.

http://www3.niaid.nih.gov/news/newsreleases/2009/FluAutopsy.htm

MP3 UPLOAD – Dr Van Steenis Speaks to Douglas

SLIDESHOW – Audio and Some Photos, No Video – Doctor van Steenis speaks to Douglas

FULL VIDEO – Dr Dick van Steenis speaks to Douglas community

Photo & Video Credit: Nicholas Roberts

The St Bride Centre was packed this past Wednesday, 23 September, with around 100 attendees. Among the attendees were 3 doctors, in addition to Dr. Dick van Steenis himself.

The Sunday Herald published an article on Dr. van Steenis’ lecture that has gone to press today: Opencast mines will lead to public health disaster, warns poison expert

Early on in his lecture, Dr. van Steenis cited examples of ill-health arising from pollution, and in the case where such ill-health effects are denied, he decried corruption in the field of public health in the UK. Dr. van Steenis also disputed the veracity of environmental reports issued by consultancy companies in the employ of coal companies.

Later on in his lecture, Dr. van Steenis described the mechanisms whereby particulate matter less than approximately 3 microns (a micron is a millionth of meter) causes inflammation and damage in the lungs, and leads to the development of cardiopulmonary disease and other disorders.

September 23, 2009 – Writing in the journal Science nearly four decades ago, New York State University sociologist Erich Goode documented the media’s complicity in maintaining cannabis prohibition.

He observed: “[T]ests and experiments purporting to demonstrate the ravages of marijuana consumption receive enormous attention from the media, and their findings become accepted as fact by the public. But when careful refutations of such research are published, or when later findings contradict the original pathological findings, they tend to be ignored or dismissed.”

A glimpse of today’s mainstream media landscape indicates that little has changed — with news outlets continuing to, at best, underreport the publication of scientific studies that undermine the federal government’s longstanding pot propaganda and, at worst, ignore them all together.

Here are five recent stories the mainstream media doesn’t want you to know about pot:

1. Marijuana Use Is Not Associated With a Rise in Incidences of Schizophrenia

Over the past few years, the worldwide media, as well as federal officials in the United Kingdom, Canada and the U.S. have earnestly promoted the notion that smoking pot induces mental illness.

Perhaps most notably, in 2007 the MSM reported that cannabis “could boost the risk of developing a psychotic illness later in life by about 40 percent” — a talking point that was also actively promoted by U.S. anti-drug officials.

So, is there any truth to the claim that pot smoking is sparking a dramatic rise in mental illness? Not at all, according to the findings of a study published in July in the journal Schizophrenia Research.

Investigators at the Keele University Medical School in Britain compared trends in marijuana use and incidences of schizophrenia in the United Kingdom from 1996 to 2005. Researchers reported that the “incidence and prevalence of schizophrenia and psychoses were either stable or declining” during this period, even the use of cannabis among the general population was rising.

“[T]he expected rise in diagnoses of schizophrenia and psychoses did not occur over a 10-year period,” the authors concluded. “This study does not therefore support the specific causal link between cannabis use and incidence of psychotic disorders. … This concurs with other reports indicating that increases in population cannabis use have not been followed by increases in psychotic incidence.”

As of this writing, a handful of news wire reports in Australia, Canada, and the U.K. have reported on the Keele University study. Notably, no American media outlets covered the story.

2. Marijuana Smoke Doesn’t Damage the Lungs Like Tobacco

Everyone knows that smoking pot is as damaging, if not more damaging, to the lungs than puffing cigarettes, right?

Wrong, according to a team of New Zealand investigators writing in the European Respiratory Journal in August.

Researchers at the University of Otago in New Zealand compared the effects of cannabis and tobacco smoke on lung function in over 1,000 adults.

They reported: “Cumulative cannabis use was associated with higher forced vital capacity [the volume of air that can forcibly be blown out after full inspiration], total lung capacity, functional residual capacity [the volume of air present in the lungs at the end of passive expiration] and residual volume.

“Cannabis was also associated with higher airways resistance but not with forced expiratory volume in one second [the maximum volume of air that can be forcibly blown out in the first second during the FVC test], forced expiratory ratio, or transfer factor. These findings were similar amongst those who did not smoke tobacco. … By contrast, tobacco use was associated with lower forced expiratory volume in one second, lower forced expiratory ratio, lower transfer factor and higher static lung volumes, but not with airways resistance.”

They concluded, “Cannabis appears to have different effects on lung function to those of tobacco.”

Predictably, the scientists’ “inconvenient truth” was not reported in a single media outlet.

3. Cannabis Use Potentially Protects, Rather Than Harms, the Brain

Does smoking pot kill brain cells? Drinking alcohol most certainly does, and many opponents of marijuana-law reform claim that marijuana’s adverse effects on the brain are even worse. Are they correct?

Not according to recent findings published this summer in the journal Neurotoxicology and Teratology.

Investigators at the University of California at San Diego examined white matter integrity in adolescents with histories of binge drinking and marijuana use. They reported that binge drinkers (defined as boys who consumed five or more drinks in one sitting, or girls who consumed four or more drinks at one time) showed signs of white matter damage in eight regions of the brain.

By contrast, the binge drinkers who also used marijuana experienced less damage in 7 out of the 8 brain regions.

“Binge drinkers who also use marijuana did not show as consistent a divergence from non-users as did the binge drink-only group,” authors concluded. “[It is] possible that marijuana may have some neuroprotective properties in mitigating alcohol-related oxidative stress or excitotoxic cell death.”

To date, only a handful of U.S. media outlets — almost exclusively college newspapers — have reported the story.

4. Marijuana Is a Terminus, Not a ‘Gateway,’ to Hard Drug Use

Alarmist claims that experimenting with cannabis will inevitably lead to the use of other illicit drugs persist in the media despite statistical data indicating that the overwhelming majority of those who try pot never go on to use cocaine or heroin.

Moreover, recent research is emerging that indicates that pot may also suppress one’s desire to use so-called hard drugs.

In June, Paris researchers writing in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology concluded that the administration of oral THC in animals suppressed sensitivity to opiate dependence.

Also this summer, investigators at the New York State Psychiatric Institute reported in the American Journal on Addictions that drug-treatment subjects who use cannabis intermittently were more likely to adhere to treatment for opioid dependence.

Although a press release for the former study appeared on the Web site physorg.com on July 7, neither study ever gained any traction in the mainstream media.

5. Government’s Anti-Pot Ads Encourage, Rather Than Discourage, Marijuana Use

Sure, many of us already knew that the federal government’s $2 billion ad campaign targeting pot was failing to dissuade viewers from toking up, but who knew it was this bad?

According to a new study posted online in the journal Health Communication, survey data published by investigators at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania found that many of the government’s public-service announcements actually encouraged pot use.

Researchers assessed the attitudes of over 600 adolescents, age 12 to 18, after viewing 60 government-funded anti-marijuana television spots.

Specifically, researchers evaluated whether the presence of marijuana-related imagery in the ads (e.g., the handling of marijuana cigarettes or the depiction of marijuana-smoking behavior) were more likely or less likely to discourage viewers’ use of cannabis.

Messages that depict teens associating with cannabis are “significantly less effective than others,” the researchers found.

“This negative impact of marijuana scenes is not reversed in the presence of strong anti-marijuana arguments in the ads and is mainly present for the group of adolescents who are often targets of such anti-marijuana ads (i.e., high-risk adolescents),” the authors determined. “For this segment of adolescents, including marijuana scenes in anti-marijuana (public-service announcements) may not be a good strategy.”

Needless to say, no outlets in the mainstream media — many of which donated air time to several of the beleaguered ads in question — have yet to report on the story. By Paul Armentano.

There has been no commissioned research into the effects of open-cast coal mining on the health of Douglasdale residents.  There has, however, been a single individual, Dr. Dick van Steenis, who has investigated the health impacts of open-cast coal mining as a public service, and without payment.

As such, Dr. van Steenis’ work cannot be found in the peer-reviewed literature, but his results on open-cast mining and his references can readily be accessed at The Country Doctor Magazine, which features a section on Dr. van Steenis’ findings on the front page.

For the past few decades, Dr. van Steenis’ work has comprised the bulk of the available research into the health effects of open-cast coal mining on the local population.

In 1992, however, a study entitled “Asthma and open cast mining” [1] appeared in the British Medical Journal, with the finding of greatly increased asthma in the populations adjacent the mine.  The onset of the dramatic asthma increases occurred immediately after the mine began operations.  The local physicians were not informed about the commencement of mine operations until several weeks after the mine had opened, to assure that the increased diagnoses of asthma were factual, not occurring due to bias on the part of the physicians.  The final line in the study conclusion states:  “The results of this small study give cause for national concern in view of the current increasing trend toward open cast mining in Britain”.

The next peer-reviewed study, published two years later, was entitled “Respiratory Morbidity in Merseyside schoolchildren exposed to coal dust and air pollution” [2].  In this study “an increased prevalence of respiratory symptoms in primary schoolchildren exposed to coal dust was confirmed”.  The study noted that although “the association with known coal dust pollution is suggestive, a cross-sectional study cannot confirm a causal relation and further studies are needed”.

The following year, the study “Status of Air Pollution Caused by Coal Washery Projects in India” [3] was published in Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, and noted that 50% of the suspended particulate matter arising from the coal washing activities was of diameter less than 10 microns (a micron is 1 millionth of a meter).

The revelations of this 1995 study are important because the single coal-associated activity that they investigated revealed the presence of substantial quantities of particles less than 10 microns.  Regrettably, most particulate-measuring studies performed in the 1990’s neglected to measure particles less than 10 microns, but it has since been demonstrated by numerous studies that repeated exposure to particles of diameter less than 10 microns, and in particular, particles of less than 2.5 microns, damages the lining of the lung [9,10].

In a 2002 article entitled “Air pollution and health” [9], reviewed the evidence at time of publication, finding that the body of medical literature indicates that “exposure to pollutants such as airborne particulate matter and ozone has been associated with increases in mortality and hospital admissions due to respiratory and cardiovascular disease”.  The authors observed that “these effects have been found in short-term studies, which relate day-to-day variations in air pollution and health, and in long-term studies, which have followed cohorts of exposed individuals over time”, and that “effects have been seen at very low levels of exposure”.  Another review, published in 2008, entitled “Air Pollution, Oxidative Stress, and Dietary Supplementation:  A Review” [10], confirms the results from the 2002 review.

Returning to the open-cast coal mining literature review:  in 1998, there was a single, preliminary study performed on the Lanarkshire population, entitled “Does open-cast coal mining increase respiratory disease?” [4].  Because the study was presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Social Medicine, it does not constitute part of the body of peer-reviewed literature.  The study used geographical methods that are common now, although the methods were untested at that time, but nonetheless “a small but significant association” was found between living near open-cast coal mines and contracting a respiratory disease.  It was noted that “this association warrants further investigation”.

Three studies came out of the University of Newcastle upon Tyne over the 2000-2001 period, all of which considered the health of children with regard to open-cast coal mines.

The first, “Living near opencast coal mining sites and children’s respiratory health” [5], studied children in five communities and found “little evidence for associations between living near an opencast site and an increased prevalence of respiratory illnesses … but children in opencast communities 1-4 had significantly more respiratory consultations”.   The second, “Consultations of Children Living Near Open-Cast Coal Mines” [6], found that “Consultations were higher in opencast communities for respiratory, skin, and eye conditions ” and “for respiratory conditions alone”, but noted that “increases in consultation rates in open-cast communities were generally not seen over the portions of the 52-week periods when the open-cast sites were either active or inactive”.  The third, “Prevalence of asthma and other respiratory symptoms in children living near and away from opencast coal mining sites” [7], found “little evidence for associations between living near an opencast site and an increased prevalence of respiratory illnesses, or asthma severity.”

In 2004, a study that examined most of the life-cycle of coal was published, entitled “Environmental Impacts of Coal Mining In India” [8].  This article provides a comprehensive review into the environmental and health impacts arising along the path coal takes, beginning with deforestation of the point of extraction, continuing along with the particulate pollution and accidents associated with extraction and haulage, and finishing with the sulfur, particulates, and greenhouse gases emitted at the point of combustion.

A study of Czech children living in a coal mining district came out in 2007, “Early Childhood Lower Respiratory Illness and Air Pollution” [11], with the finding that “ambient PAH and fine particles were associated with susceptibility to bronchitis” and suggested that “Preschool age children may be particularly vulnerable to air pollution-induced illness”.  Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) are found in coal and oil, and are released in combustion.  Particulates are produced by mechanical means (crushing, drilling, etc) as well as by combustion.

Two studies regarding the dusts produced by mechanical means at open-cast coal mines came out in 2007: “Generation and Quantification of Hazardous Dusts from Coal Mining in the Indian Context” [12], and “Characteristics of Hazardous Airborne Dust Around an Indian Surface Coal Mining Area” [13].  The first study determined that it is possible to assess the quantity of particulates generated by activities such as drilling and transport at an open-cast coal mining site.  The second study concluded that “more stringent air quality standards should be adopted for coal mining areas and due consideration should be given on the particle size distribution of the air-borne dust while designing control equipment”.

In 2008, the first study examining the health of the open-cast coal mining communities in the United States was published in the American Journal of Public Health:  “Relations between Health Indicators and Residential Proximity to Coal Mining in West Virginia” [14]   This study found that people living in proximity to open-cast coal mines have higher rates of cardiopulmonary disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, hypertension, lung disease, and kidney disease, even after correcting for the effects of covariates such as smoking and poverty.

Another Appalachian study came out in 2008 in the Lung Cancer journal, with the primary finding noted in the title: “Lung Cancer Mortality is elevated in coal-mining regions of Appalachia” [15].   This finding of lung cancer disease in populations living in the presence of pollution may be attributable to the incidence of COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) occurring in the population in these areas, according to an article published this year in the European Respiratory Journal, entitled “COPD Prevalence is Increased in Lung Cancer, Independent of Age, Sex, and Smoking History” [16].

The most recent comparative study in the United States came out this year in the Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health, entitled “Mortality from heart, respiratory, and kidney disease in coal mining areas of Appalachia” [17].  This 2009 study demonstrated unusually high mortality rates for respiratory, cardiac, and kidney diseases in counties with open-cast coal mines, with the worst effects manifesting in populations near mines with extraction rates of greater than or equal to 4 million tonnes over a 4-year time period.

As these ill-health effects have been observed to occur for extraction rates in the United States that are less than the open-cast extraction rates ongoing in and proposed for the Douglasdale area, an preliminary examination of the health of the Douglasdale residents was performed in August 2009, entitled “Adverse effects of coal-mining”.  This preliminary examination does not form part of the peer-reviewed literature, but as the study findings have demonstrated striking ill-health in the populations living adjacent open-cast coal mines, it has formed the seed for ongoing research to be submitted for peer-review.

————————————–

[1]  Asthma and open cast mining.  J.M.F. Temple and A.M. Sykes, British Medical Journal, 1992.

[2]  Respiratory Morbidity in Merseyside schoolchildren exposed to coal dust and air pollution. B. Brabin, M. Smith, P. Milligan, C. Benjamin, E. Dunne, and ,M. Pearson, Archives of Disease in Childhood, 1994.

[3]  Status of Air Pollution Caused by Coal Washery Projects in India.  M.K. Ghose and S.K. Banerjee, Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 1995.

[4] Does open cast coal mining increase respiratory disease?  G.C. Leng, A.C. Douglas, M. Donaghy, D. Gordon, Plenary Presentation, Society for Social Medicine Annual Meeting, 1998.

[5]  Living near opencast coal mining sites and children’s respiratory health  T. Pless-Mulloli, D. Howel, A. King, I. Stone, J. Merefield, J. Bessell, and R. Darnell, Occup. Env. Med., 2000.

[6]  Consultations of Children Living Near Open-Cast Coal Mines.  D. Howel, T. Pless-Mulloli, and R. Darnell, Environmental Health Perspectives, 2001.

[7]  Prevalence of asthma and other respiratory symptoms in children living near and away from opencast coal mining sites.  T. Pless-Mulloli, D. Howel, and H. Prince, International Epidemiological Association, 2001.

[8] Environmental Impacts of Coal Mining In India.  Krishnamurthy, K.V.  Proceedings of the National Seminar on Environmental Engineering with special emphasis on Mining Environment, NSEEME-2004, March 2004.

[9]  Air pollution and health.  B. Brunekreef and S. Holgate, Lancet, 2002.

[10]  Air Pollution, Oxidative Stress, and Dietary Supplementation:  A Review.  I. Romieu, F. Castro-Giner, N.Kunzli, and J. Sunyer, European Respiratory Journal, 2008.

[11]  Early Childhood Lower Respiratory Illness and Air Pollution. I. Hertz-Picciotto, R.J. Baker, P-S. Yap, M. Dostal, J. Joad, M. Lipsett, T. Greenfield, C.E.W. Herr, I. Benes, R.H. Shumway, and K.E. Pinkerton,  Environ Health Perspect. 2007.

[12]  Generation and Quantification of Hazardous Dusts from Coal Mining in the Indian Context.  M.K. Ghose, Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 2007.

[13]  Characteristics of Hazardous Airborne Dust Around an Indian Surface Coal Mining Area.  M.K. Ghose and S.R. Majee, Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 2007.

[14]  Relations between Health Indicators and Residential Proximity to Coal Mining in West Virginia. M. Hendryx and M. Ahem.  American Journal of Public Health, 2008.

[15]  Lung Cancer Mortality is elevated in coal-mining regions of Appalachia.  M. Hendryx, K. O’Donnell, and K. Horn, Lung Cancer, 2008.

[16]  COPD Prevalence is Increased in Lung Cancer, Independent of Age, Sex, and Smoking History.  R.P. Young, R.J. Hopkins, T. Christmas, P.N. Black, P. Metcalf, and G.D. Gamble, European Respiratory Journal, 2009.

[17] Mortality from heart, respiratory, and kidney disease in coal mining areas of Appalachia.  M Hendryx, Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health, 2009.

Ok, ok, I know smoking is bad for me. I get it, ok?

I realise I’m damaging my lungs, heart, circulatory system, etc, etc, etc, etc.

But… well if I’m honest, it’s pretty tough giving up, and I don’t much fancy the challenge right now. I did give up for two whole years… eventually unsuccessfully as it turns out, but a good go all the same. And I will give up again, when I feel the time is right, otherwise all that will happen is that I’m going to have two days from hell and then start again anyway. Bit silly really.

And you know what? I actually feel bad about smoking – smoking is a huge drain on the NHS. Up to £5 billion every single year is spent on patching up, repairing, re-inflating, burying smokers. Every single year. That’s a lot of money even for a premiership footballer.

I do love the delicious irony of a lifetime of smoking, following a death related to smoking… to then be cremated – your last big smoke.

But haaaaaang on one darn-tooting second.

Here’s me feeling bad about the drain on the NHS that is smokers today… when up pops some research that reveals a slightly different truth… and a truth that won’t be overly promoted by the British Heart Foundation.

You see it turns out that, obviously somewhat unsurprisingly, smokers die younger than their ‘healthy-living’ counterparts. That’s right, you heard me.

We. Die. Quicker.

So what, I hear you cry. Well the non-smokers among you anyway… I realise the smokers are a bit wheezy in this hot weather and are probably catching their breath.

Well the Dutch studied healthy people, obese people, and smokers. And you know what? Yes, smokers and the obese (and the corpulent smokers – double trouble) do cost more each year to national health services than the healthy. I know, I know, I’m shocking you with this sparking wisdom and insight…

But, and here’s the rub, because smokers and the rotund die sooner, it’s actually the healthy that cost the NHS more over their lifetime. An extra £50,000 each. Per person.

Bastards.

So, after much guilt, it turns out that I’m actually merely doing my bit for my fellow tax-payers by reducing their tax burden (and considering a no-win-no-fee claim against the British Heart Foundation for making me feel unnecessarily guilty). Go me!

And it is the British Heart Foundation (BHF) that is pushing these £5 billion a year figures in an attempt to put people of smoking. Now I’m not trying to tell the BHF how to do their job, but… smokers are a stubborn (and obviously smelly) bunch as a whole, and if the common knowledge that smoking will kill you quicker, whilst smoking from a packet with a blackened lung or a corpse on it, is not enough to deter them (and yes, me) having a drag, I’m not sure the fact that they’re costing the NHS a few quid is going to cut a lot of ice now, is it? Just a thought.

weekendalcoholic

Scarring of the Lungs

First, what is Pulmonary Fibrosis?    “Pulmonary Fibrosis literally means lung (pulmonary) scarring (fibrosis). The lung scarring occurs in the tissue of the lung called the interstitium, which supports the structures of the lung (air sacs/alveoli). There are an estimated 130-200 related diseases called Interstitial Lung Disease that are similar in characteristics and can result in scarring. Pulmonary Fibrosis causes the lung tissue to thicken and become stiff. Scarring inhibits oxygen from entering the blood stream.”

Symptoms include “shortness of breath (dyspnea), especially during or after physical activity, and a dry cough.” -Mayo Clinic

What damages your lungs?  There are quite a few possible causes, including environmental factors, gerd, radiation, and various medical conditions, but don’t be surprised that it could be your medication. “Many drugs can damage your lungs, especially chemotherapy drugs (methotrexate, cyclophosphamide); medications used to treat heart arrhythmias and other cardiovascular problems (amiodarone, propranolol); certain psychiatric medications; and some antibiotics (nitrofurantoin, sulfasalazine).”-Mayo Clinic

If you are in the advanced stages of Pulmonary Fibrosis, your doctor may give you little hope.  “No cure exists for pulmonary fibrosis, and current treatments often fail to slow the progress of the disease or relieve symptoms.”-Mayo Clinic

Before you give up, alternative medications may be your best option.  Why Enzymes work:  “Enzymes eat scar tissue and fibrosis. Fibrosis is scar tissue and most doctors learn in anatomy that it is fibrosis that eventually kills us all. Let me explain. As we age, which starts at 27, we have a diminishing of the body’s output of enzymes. This is because we make a finite amount of enzymes in a lifetime and we use up a good deal of them by the time we reach our 40’s (Cystic Fibrosis patients who have virtually no enzyme production to speak of, even as children usually don’t make it past their 20’s before they die of the restriction and shrinkage in the lungs from the formation of fibrosis or scar tissue).

So our body begins to dole out our enzymes with an eyedropper instead of with a tablespoon. Result: the repair mechanism of the body goes off balance and has nothing to reduce the over abundance of fibrin it deposits in nearly everything from simple cuts, to the inside of our internal organs and blood vessels. It is then when most women begin to develop things like fibrocystic breast disease, uterine fibroids, and endometriosis. We all grow arterial sclerotic (meaning scar tissue) plaque, and have fibrin begin to spider web its way inside of our internal organs, reducing their size and function over time. This is why as we age our wounds heal with thicker, less pliable, weaker and very visible scars.

If we replace the lost enzymes, we can control and reduce the amount of scar tissue and fibrosis our bodies have. As physicians in the US are now discovering, even old scar tissue can be “eaten away” from surgical wounds, pulmonary fibrosis, and kidney fibrosis even colloid years after their formation. Medical doctors in Europe and Asia have known this and used orally administered enzymes for such for over 40 years! “

Sounds too good to be true?  If you have no options, why wouldn’t you try alternative medications.  According to Biomediclabs, “Within 4 weeks, patients should notice improvement of their symptoms including shortness of breath and coughing with phlegm.  After a 3-6 month treatment, patients should have significant improvement in their lung structure.  We recommend that patients take a chest x-ray before and after the treatment and compare the diagnostic results to monitor their progress.”

Before I tried alternative medications, I didn’t truly believe in miracles.  Serracor-NK was created for Pulmonary Fibrosis.  I know it has changed my life, and I have Rheumatoid Arthritis.  I believe in this product because of what it has done for me.

Respiratory Physician, Dr Onn Min Kon, in a press conference emphasised the danger of the public perception that cannabis is safer to smoke than tobacco.

“The lung effects of smoking cannabis is going to be a public health issue and that type of message isn’t apparent in terms of the way the public is perceiving it,” said Dr Kon.

THC (tetrahydrocannabinol)  in cannabis contains carcinogens, like cigarettes do, which cause cancer. Now the concentration of THC is much stronger than it was 10 years ago. During an interview with Ken Checinski, a psychiatrist that works with cannabis patients, he pointed out that the concentration of THC is 5 to 8 times as much now. “It’s very easy to become a statistic with this high potency,” he said.

“In New Zealand research, they found that in terms of lung function they have shown that a joint is equivalent to two and a half tobacco cigarettes,” said Dr Kon.

“Only 10 to 20% of people who smoke cannabis will chronically smoke it, 2 to 4 joints a day. Most people will only smoke one joint.  Some even use it once or twice a week,” Dr Onn said. “Those who smoke three to four times a week will have evidence of lung damage. Even if you smoke 3 a day you still won’t hit 20 a day to tobacco smoker,” he added.  Factors like this mean that cannabis is not really a high priority in health and is underresearched.

The British Crime Survery hasn’t registered a change in the number of people smoking cannabis after reclassification to a class B drug, points out Dr Kon. This suggests that the public are not easily swayed into thinking it is more dangerous to smoke cannabis, despite the stronger strains.

There is now the risk that in these bad economic times cheaper drugs will seem a more attractive option to alleviate people’s anxiety caused by price inflation and unemployment. After all, drug use increased during the last recession in the 1980s. In these economic times, I think Dr Onn’s concern becomes justified.

FOX NEWS  MAY 16 2008

Doxycyline – the antibiotic commonly used to treat acne, sinus infections and urinary tract infections – can also prevent tissue damage caused by emphysema, researchers said.

A team from the Universities of Leeds and California, San Diego studied a protein called VEGF found that the antibiotic can boost the body’s ability to protect against damage to the lungs, since VEGF helps maintain healthy lung tissue and emphysema suffers have low levels of the protein.

Dr. Harry Rossiter from Leeds’ Faculty of Biological Sciences said the lungs of healthy people have an active restorative system, but in diseased lungs, the body’s natural protective processes are inhibited as a result of the low levels of the VEGF protein.

Rossiter and his team reduced the levels of the protein in the lungs of mice and at the same time gave them doxycyline. They found the lung damage in the mice was minimal in these mice, compared with the group of mice that was not given the drug.

Dr. Ellen C. Breen from the School of Medicine at the University of California, San Diego said it is important to note that this is not a cure and the research team has more work ahead of them.

       Ozone producing air purifiers have been advertised as “smelling like nature after a thunderstorm”, but the reality is quite different.   Ozone is something that is helpful in the upper atmosphere but is a menace down below.  When inhaled, ozone can do damage to your lungs and may even result in longer term respiratory problems.

The IQAir HealthPro Plus does not produce any ozone at all!  The technology used to purify the air is commonly referred to as HEPA filtration.  This type of air cleaner actually pulls the air through the HEPA filter and reduces the pollutants in the air by trapping the particles.  The efficiency of this kind of air purifier is found in the engineering of the housing (to prevent leakage) and the power of the motor.

Purchasing cheaper HEPA units from common retail outlets is of little value.  They are not quality engineered like the IQAir air cleaner which is manufactured in Switzerland and has set the world standard in air technology.  Do not waste your money or risk your health on any air purifier that emits ozone or produces negative ions.

Read more information about the dangers of ozone generators here.

A bunch of Bengalis hypothesized that the oxidative stress caused by cigarette smoke could be countered by the antioxidants from black tea. So in order to test this hypothesis, they exposed guinea pigs to cigarette smoke from five cigarettes (two puffs/cigarette) per guinea pig /day for seven days [Yes, in exactly that amount!] and then gave them water or black tea to drink. As a control, they had another bunch of guinea pigs exposed to air instead of cigarette smoke. They measured the lung damage caused by the exposure.

They observed that cigarette smoke exposure indeed caused lung damage (surprise surprise …!!), and not only that – the damage was prevented when the guinea pigs exposed to cigarette smoke were given black tea to drink instead of water.

Conclusion – lung damage from cigarette smoke can be prevented by drinking chai …

The results have been accepted for publication in the Journal of Inflammation.

Black tea prevents cigarette smoke-induced apoptosis and lung damage
Shuvojit Banerjee , Palas Maity , Subhendu Mukherjee , Alok K. Sil , Koustubh Panda , Dhrubajyoti Chattopadhyay and Indu B. Chatterjee
J. Inflammation 4(3) , 2007, doi:10.1186/1476-9255-4-3

Newsflash: Major tobacco companies just announced strategic partnerships with Tata Tea and Hindustan Lever to market cigarettes with genuine Darjeeling and Assam tea that will prevent lung damage.