Free Republic

Introducing three genes corrects motor defects in monkeys.A potential gene therapy for Parkinson's disease can correct motor deficits in monkeys without causing the jerky, involuntary movements that often accompany long-term treatments for the disease. The approach is undergoing preliminary testing in a handful of human patients, who have all shown promising signs of improvement.At present, the most common remedy for Parkinson's disease involves replacing dopamine — the neurotransmitter that is depleted in patients with the disease — by administering the dopamine precursor levodopa, or L-DOPA. Most patients initially regain near-normal motor control, but after several years on L-DOPA the majority...

Health care workers in New York will no longer be forced to get the H1N1 swine flu vaccine, CBS 2 has learned. A state Supreme Court judge issued a restraining order Friday against the state from enforcing the controversial mandatory vaccination. The order came as the Public Employees Federation sued to reverse a policy requiring vaccination against the seasonal and swine flu viruses, arguing that state Health Commissioner Richard Daines overstepped his authority. Three parties – the Public Employees Federaion, New York State United Teachers, and an attorney representing four Albany nurses – challenged the order and for now the...

If you don’t believe that the Republican party leadership works in concert with the Democrat party leadership to protect the financial interests of unscrupulous big business, as distinguished from honorable businessmen, then you need to brush up on your history starting with the trusts and monopolies of the late 1800’s early 1900’s. If you do this and follow the path forward you will stumble upon the very actions of Congress which have resulted in today’s lack of competition in the purchase of health insurance policies. I will spare you the colorful historical details and hit the highlights for brevity’s sake...

The swine flu virus is spreading rapidly throughout California, public health officials said today, citing physician reports of higher-than-normal flu illnesses for this time of year. More than 5% of patients coming into doctor's offices are presenting flu-like symptoms, which is much higher than the usual 2%, according to an estimate based on about 50 physicians across California who monitor flu activity for the state. "We are seeing a continued ramp-up of the virus activity," Dr. Mark Horton, California's public health officer, said at a news conference today. "That is very unusual for this time of year." Horton said he...

The most important rule in health care is "first do no harm". Unfortunately Congressional Democrats seem totally oblivious to this rule. Many Democrats are so egotistical that they think anything they do will be an improvement. They seem incapable of understanding that changes can make a situation worse instead of better just like giving a patient the wrong medical treatment can worsen the patient's condition. The wrong medical treatment can kill. Making the wrong changes in the health care system can reduce access to health care and reduce the quality of health care. In one of my favorite episodes of...

The Democratic-controlled Congress reached another hurdle in achieving health-care "reform." The Senate Finance Committee passed a version, 14-9, with one Republican vote. At last, "bipartisanship"! It requires people to get health insurance, expands Medicaid, provides tax credits to help low- and middle-income people buying coverage, creates "health insurance exchanges" for individuals and small businesses, and requires employers who don't offer coverage to help pay for employees' government-subsidized coverage. The price? No one really knows – and few really care. The only certainty is that whatever Congress says it will cost will fall woefully short of the real cost. Cost projections...

Congress will probably pass a tax on sugared drinks as part of the health bill. The rationale is it will reduce caloric intake of “unhealthy” drinks. The real reason is simply to increase taxes, with a believable cover, like all prior “sin taxes.” I decided to do a comparison of Classis Coke to my favorite drink, freshly squeezed Florida orange juice. Well the Coke has 100 calories for an 8 oz. serving and the fresh orange juice a whopping....

Ian Pearl has fought for his life every day of his 37 years. Confined to a wheelchair and hooked to a breathing tube, the muscular dystrophy victim refuses to give up. But his insurance company already has. Legally barred from discriminating against individuals who submit large claims, the New York-based insurer simply canceled lines of coverage altogether in entire states to avoid paying high-cost claims like Mr. Pearl's. In an e-mail, one Guardian Life Insurance Co. executive called high-cost patients such as Mr. Pearl "dogs" that the company could "get rid of." A federal court quickly ruled that the company's...

Multiple-session early psychological interventions are no better at reducing posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms than no intervention at all and might even increase symptoms in some individuals, a review of 11 randomized controlled studies shows. “There was no evidence that a multiple session intervention aimed at everyone following a traumatic event was effective. There was a trend that just failed to reach significance for no intervention to result in less self-reported PTSD symptoms at 3 to 6-month follow-up than a multiple session intervention,” wrote Neil P. Roberts, D.Clin.Psy., of the Traumatic Stress Service at Cardiff and Vale National Health Services (Wales),...

New Study Evaluates Surgical Masks Vs. N95 Respirators For Preventing Influenza Among Health Care Workers Surgical masks appear to be no worse than, and nearly as effective as N95 respirators in preventing influenza in health care workers, according to a study released early online today by JAMA. The study was posted online ahead of print because of its public health implications. It will be published in the November 4 issue of JAMA. Influenza is the most important cause of medically attended acute respiratory illness worldwide and the authors write there is heightened concern this year because of the influenza pandemic...

Q: Is it true that if I use my credit card at fast food places, my credit score will decrease or that it will affect my score in some way because it looks like I cannot afford to buy food? I pay my bill in full every month. -- Burger and Fries Lover A: Dear Burger: The fast answer is no, where you eat doesn't have an impact on your credit score, but that's not the full story. Your credit score is just one of the many factors that issuers use when making lending decisions, and while paying plastic for...

(NaturalNews) Prepare to have your world rocked. What you're about to read here will leave you astonished, inspired and outraged all at the same time. You're about to be treated to some little-known information demonstrating why seasonal flu vaccines are utterly worthless and why their continued promotion is based entirely on fabricated studies and medical mythology. If the whole world knew what you're about to read here, the vaccine industry would collapse overnight. This information comes to you courtesy of a brilliant article published in The Atlantic (November 2009). The article, written by Shannon Brownlee and Jeanne Lenzer, isn't just...

(CBS) As members of Congress debate a "public option" for health care coverage, they remain safe and secure in their own generous health plan. CBS News correspondent Sharyl Attkisson reports it's subsidized by millions of your tax dollars annually. The government doesn't even keep track the total cost. What exactly does Congress get? Sen. Lindsey Graham agreed to show CBS News first hand, flashing his Blue Cross Blue Shield insurance card. Blue Cross Blue Shield is one of five plans offered to members of Congress. Most Americans, 74 percent are offered only one plan - if their employer offers insurance...

Yield: 24 servings (serving size: 1 bar) RECIPE INGREDIENTS Non-stick cooking spray 3 cups favorite granola 1 cup wheat germ 1 1/2 cup almond butter 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/3 cup whole-wheat flour 3/4 cup honey 1 cup dried cherries or dried cherry-flavored cranberries 1 cup slivered California Almonds

WASHINGTON - Nobody knew for sure what Senator Olympia J. Snowe would do yesterday when the Finance Committee gathered to vote on its health care bill - not even Snowe. Chairman Max Baucus, Democrat of Montana, had been courting her vote for months, investing long hours in closed-door negotiations with her and the other members of the “Gang of Six.’’ In the late summer and early fall, President Obama spoke with her on the phone and invited her to the White House to address her concerns.

BOSTON, Mass. — One day last month, clad in white plastic garments from head to toe, Dr. David Sinclair showed a visitor around his germ-free mouse room here at Harvard Medical School. Skip to next paragraph Multimedia Graphic Caloric Restriction RSS Feed Get Health News From The New York Times » Enlarge This Image CJ Gunther for The New York Times IN THE LAB Dr. David Sinclair is trying to develop drugs to extend health, and life. The mice, subjects in studies of health and longevity, are kept in wire baskets under intensive nursing care. A mouse gym holds a...

CatholicVoteAction brings to our attention a duplicitous tactic being employed by homosexual activists in the lead-up to Maine's Nov. 4th marriage vote: CatholicVoteAction.org Calls on Maine Group to Pull ‘Catholic’ Gay-Marriage Ad Homosexual advocates have released a shameless new ad featuring a grandmother and two gay men urging Maine voters this November to approve ‘same-sex’ marriage. The grandmother in the new commercial speaks about her Catholic faith and the importance of the institution of marriage, but then urges voters to support ‘same-sex’ marriage. Here is the video: Link Look at how subtly this ad works: "I've been a Catholic...

My Senator is one of those people voting 'aye.' I voted for that person last year but I'm sure as hell not going to next election. Is this debacle actually going to effect things in 2010 & 2012 or is the Dems control growing too fast to stop by then. Here's the link to the video: http://storyballoon.org/videos/senate-finance-committee-voting-on-health-care-reform/

I don't think I'm alone when I just assumed Senator Snowe R-Maine was going to help the Dems push Obamacare through. Over and over again we get this build up of 'will Snowe vote for it?' 'Will Collins vote for it?' When everyone already knows they are going to. Well, she's done it. Here's Senator Snowe speaking on the House floor about her decision to help the Dems. "When History Calls, History Calls." VIDEO: http://storyballoon.org/videos/senator-snowe-on-her-decision-to-help-dems-push-obamacare-through-when-history-calls-history-calls/

Sign petition to expel Snowe from GOP at http://gopetition.com/online/27432.html

Watch these guys, we cannot fail to keep our eyes on them. Watch, listen and take copius notes And make remarks right here!

HEALTH - Blood oxygenation appears to be the key to surviving swine flu for patients suffering respiratory failure, new research shows. The observational study, carried out by New Zealand and Australian flu investigators between June 1 and August 31 this year, showed most patients who experienced respiratory failure after contracting swine flu survived if they were treated with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), a type of life support that adds oxygen to the blood. The study focused on 68 patients with severe swine flu associated acute respiratory distress, who received ECMO in 15 intensive care units across New Zealand and Australia....

"(Romney's)The state’s ambitious plan to shake up(shake down) how providers are paid could(will) have a hidden price for(from) patients: Controlling Massachusetts’ soaring medical costs, many health care leaders believe, may(will) require residents to give up their nearly unlimited freedom to go to any hospital and specialist they want..."

- snip- Fort Lauderdale police are investigating a veteran registered nurse who her employers say knowingly violated infection-control procedures at Broward General Medical Center, potentially exposing more than 1,800 patients to blood-borne diseases such as HIV, and hepatitis B and C. - end snip -

Major hospital, private practices, and large health group are not giving the swine vaccine as originally planned because of the red tape involved with the government.

A senior aide to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) told CNSNews.com that it is “likely” that Reid will use H.R. 1586—a bill passed by the House in March to impose a 90-percent tax on bonuses paid to employees of certain bailed-out financial institutions—as a “shell” for enacting the final version of the Senate’s health care bill, which Reid is responsible for crafting. Under the procedure, the substance of House Resolution 1586 would be removed and replaced with the entire Senate health care package. The maneuver would initially require the support of 60 senators to vote for cloture on the...

Swine Flu Put Many Hospitalized Patients Into ICU Swine flu killed 7 pct of hospitalized US patients; ICU's in Australia hard-hit, study showsOne quarter of Americans sick enough to be hospitalized with swine flu last spring wound up needing intensive care and 7 percent of them died, the first such study of the early months of the global epidemic suggests. That's a little higher than with ordinary seasonal flu, several experts said. What is striking and unusual is that children and teens accounted for nearly half of the hospitalized cases, including many who were previously healthy. The study did not...

Senators aren't counting on reform savings when it comes to their constituents. Senate Finance votes next week, and no doubt this freak of political nature will pass amid fanfare and self-congratulation that their new entitlement will reduce deficits. Never mind that such a spectacle has never happened in the history of the republic. P.T. Barnum had nothing on this crowd, and the bill hasn't even hit the Senate floor yet.

"Step right up: A new entitlement that cuts the deficit! Washington spent the week waiting for the Congressional Budget Office to roll in with its new cost estimates of the Senate health-care bill, and what a carnival. Behold: a new $829 billion entitlement that will subsidize insurance for tens of millions of people—and reduce deficits by $81 billion at the same time. In the next tent, see the mermaid and a two-headed cow. * * * Senate Finance votes next week, and no doubt this freak of political nature will pass amid fanfare and self-congratulation that their new entitlement will...

The Baucus Concepts are disasterous, but that’s for another post. For this post, let me get across a simple concept: THERE IS NO BAUCUS BILL. Your esteemed Senators on the Senate Finance Committee will not be voting on legislation because THERE IS NO BAUCUS BILL. Your esteemed Senators have so little respect for you that some of them are willing to vote in favor of legislation which does not exist because THERE IS NO BAUCUS BILL. The actual legislation will be drafted in secret by Harry Reid and a few other people, including staffers whose names and political connections you...

Genome-wide association studies have identified hundreds of genetic clues to disease. Kelly Rae Chi looks at three to see just how on-target the approach seems to be. Download a PDF of this story Five years ago human geneticists rallied around an emerging concept. Technology had granted the ability to compare the genomes of individuals by looking at tens of thousands of known single-letter differences scattered across them. These differences, called single nucleotide polymorphisms or SNPs, served as reference points or signposts of common variation between individuals. The idea was that common variants in the genome might contribute to the genetics...

As the Senate Finance Committee prepares to vote on health care legislation, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops have made it known that none of the existing bills are adequate. All of them include abortion funding. “So far, the health reform bills considered in committee…have not met President Obama’s challenge of barring use of federal dollars for abortion and maintaining current conscience laws,” the USCCB wrote in its Sept. 30 letter to members of the Senate. “These deficiencies must be corrected.” The bishops’ letter refers to all of the existing health care reform bills currently on the table –...

A couple of days ago, we learned President Obama’s rock tour for universal healthcare may have given his plan a tepid shot in the arm. 46% of Americans support it now (Rasmussen Reports, October 5, 2009, http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/current_events/healthcare/september_2009/health_care_reform). The week before, 41% of America said they wanted universal healthcare. No matter. Consider that even after Obama’s non-booster shot, fewer than half of U.S. citizens want the healthcare fixit the president is proposing. We have the best heath care in the world and many who can afford it come to the America to get treated for ailments and illnesses when they are...

A parody PSA about Big Government and its plans to take over health care. A spoof of Will Ferrell's ad for MoveOn.org ( click here or at YouTube source link)

Lose weight while you sleep? It sounds too good to be true—but recent research indicates that there is a connection between how much you weigh and the amount of shut-eye you get per night. Two hormones, ghrelin and leptin, help to control appetite. When you do not get enough rest, levels of ghrelin, which increases hunger, rise; levels of leptin, which promotes feelings of fullness, sink. A study in the May issue of Psychoneuroendocrinology found a significant disruption in nighttime ghrelin levels in chronic insomniacs. According to the study, this hormone imbalance leads insomniacs to experience an increase in appetite...

Hospitals Begin Giving Kids FluMist Nasal Spray For H1N1 The first doses of H1N1 flu vaccine were given to children today, a day after health care workers began getting doses in what is likely to be the largest flu vaccination campaign in U.S. history. Dr. Richard Besser explains which states have doses of the H1N1 vaccine. These early doses of swine flu vaccine -- all so far given as the nasal spray FluMist -- are being administered at hospitals in Chicago, Georgia and Nebraska, among other places. Doctors, nurses and other health professionals were targeted first so they could safely...

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — More than 1,800 patients treated by one nurse at a South Florida hospital may have been exposed to HIV and hepatitis. Broward General Medical Center said Monday the nurse reused saline bags and tubing during cardiac stress tests involving the injection of fluids. The hospital has sent letters to all 1,851 people who may have been affected from January 2004 to early September. Hospital officials say the risk of exposure is low, but all affected patients should be tested for HIV and hepatitis B and C. The nurse, who has not been identified, resigned and was...

Forget all the pizza and doughnuts -- the British government wants fans of "The Simpsons" to ditch junk food and eat more healthily. The Department of Health is spending 640,000 pounds ($1 million) to sponsor episodes of the long-running U.S. cartoon series broadcast on Channel 4, as part of its Change4Life campaign. Before the start of the sponsored shows, cartoon characters pretending to be the members of the dysfunctional animated family are shown sitting on a sofa tucking into ice cream and chips which then morph into more healthy alternatives. The government hopes that viewers will realize they should follow...

Health care is in the news — but you have to wonder where all the Christians are. This is one of the biggest issues facing our country and our people, yet no one seems to be bringing a Christian voice or tone to that debate. Have you noticed? During the presidential campaign, there was much talk about the 50 million or so who have no health care insurance, many of whom who forgo care altogether and then wind up in emergency rooms with more serious, more fully developed illnesses than would have been the case had they sought preventive care....

Senate Democrats plan to tax the middle class Campaign promises are like fruit flies - they never live very long. The latest to go legs-up is President Obama's campaign pledge that not "one single dime" of new taxes will hit families making less than $250,000 annually. If by "not one single dime" then-candidate Obama meant about $2 billion, he should love the Senate Finance Committee's embrace of additional taxes on the middle class and younger Americans.

Vienna (dpa) -- A substance contained in sperm fluid prolongs life and might be used in fighting Alzheimer disease, Austria's Graz University announced Monday. Researchers Tobias Eisenberg and Frank Madeo have found that the substance spermidine extends the lifespan of human immune cells, as well as of mice, flies, worms and yeast fungus. "We might have found the holy grail of age research," said Eisenberg, whose study involved 29 colleagues in six countries and was published in the British journal Nature Cell Biology on Sunday. In tests with mice treated with spermidine, cell damage linked to aging was reduced, and...

New York (CBS) -- The first doses of the H1N1 vaccine are expected to be released this week. While that is bringing relief to some Americans, it's also helping to ignite a controversy for one group, as CBS News correspondent Randall Pinkston reports. Outside New York 's capitol building, health care workers - shouting "Give me liberty!" - vowed to fight an unprecedented order from state health officials: a requirement for every health care worker to get seasonal and H1N1 flu shots or face the possibility of being fired.

Stephanie Smith, a children’s dance instructor, thought she had a stomach virus. The aches and cramping were tolerable that first day, and she finished her classes. Then her diarrhea turned bloody. Her kidneys shut down. Seizures knocked her unconscious. The convulsions grew so relentless that doctors had to put her in a coma for nine weeks. When she emerged, she could no longer walk. The affliction had ravaged her nervous system and left her paralyzed. Ms. Smith, 22, was found to have a severe form of food-borne illness caused by E. coli, which Minnesota officials traced to the hamburger that...

John Fund - WSJ "Obama's Two America's" http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704471504574445134229948894.html Excerpt: Why is Barack Obama having trouble getting a health care plan through a Congress dominated by his own party? Partly because the coalition that elected him is an unwieldy blend of the rich and the poor. The two groups view the need for radical surgery on the nation's health delivery system quite differently. But he also calls the Obama coalition a fragile one when it comes to economic issues. The Gallup Poll reports that voters earning under $30,000 a year wanted health care reform by a 13-point margin. But those earning...

WASHINGTON -- Despite months of seeming ambivalence about creating a government health insurance plan, the Obama White House has launched an intensifying behind-the-scenes campaign to get divided Senate Democrats to take up some version of the idea in the weeks just ahead. President Barack Obama has long advocated a so-called public option, while at the same time repeatedly expressing openness to other ways to offer consumers a potentially more affordable alternative to health plans sold by private insurers. But now, senior administration officials are holding private meetings almost daily at the Capitol with senior Democratic staff to discuss ways to...

A new molecule that detects and destroys lethal nerve gases has been developed by researchers in the US. It is hoped that the research will help develop new early-warning systems against chemical weapon attacks, and possibly give rise to an effective antidote. Originally developed during the lead up to the second world war, organophosphorus nerve gases such as sarin, tabun and soban are odourless and colourless - and exposure to even a small amount can be fatal within minutes. Despite being outlawed by chemical weapons conventions in the 1990s, their relatively straightforward chemical structure means they could conceivably be deployed by...

"Sen. Thomas Carper (Democrat-Del.), a member of the Senate Finance Committee, told CNSNews.com that he does not expect to read the actual legislative language of the committees health care bill because it is confusing and that anyone who claims they are going to read it and understand it is fooling people."

Microwave reactions in silicon carbide vials - which are heated by microwaves but shield the contents from radiation - have confirmed that most of the benefits seen in microwave-assisted chemistry are purely due to heating, Austrian chemists say.1 Oliver Kappe and his group, from the University of Graz, used custom-made sintered silicon carbide (SiC) reaction vessels to separate the heating effects of microwave radiation from so-called 'non-thermal' or 'specific' microwave effects, whereby enhancements in reaction rate, yield or selectivity are attributed to some direct interaction of the reaction mixture with the microwave radiation. Silicon carbide is ideal for this purpose because it completely absorbs...

Researchers have established the conditions that foster formation of potentially dangerous levels of a toxic substance in the high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) often fed to honey bees. Their study, which appears in the current issue of ACS' bi-weekly Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, could also help keep the substance out of soft drinks and dozens of other human foods that contain HFCS. The substance, hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), forms mainly from heating fructose. In the new study, Blaise LeBlanc and Gillian Eggleston and colleagues note HFCS's ubiquitous usage as a sweetener in beverages and processed foods. Some commercial beekeepers also feed...