Free Republic

The prepper can take many lessons from the situation that developed in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. One lesson is that when the social order breaks down for a period of days or weeks, adequate medical care will disappear. So preparedness requires a medical kit. And no medical survival kit is complete without a good book or two on emergency medicine, anatomy, drug reference and medical terminology. Some good ones to choose from are:

In a book set for publication Tuesday, a politics and government professor at The Citadel claims President Obama’s 2009 health care reform law was, in part, a union-driven effort to organize 21 million health care workers. In ”Shadowbosses: Government Unions Control America and Rob Taxpayers Blind,” Mallory Factor describes a December 9, 2008 memo from Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Healthcare president Dennis Rivera to the Obama-Biden transition team. That memo outlined a legislative proposal calling for “increasing the capacity of the health care workforce” as part of a larger health care reform initiative.

When President Obama's Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA, aka "Obamacare") goes fully into effect in 2014, the American people will only then begin to see the implications of its thorough government takeover of health care, in all its glory. But what they are not expecting is the massively expanded role of the Internal Revenue Service ("IRS") in our lives, as the IRS is the chief agency responsible for enforcing the Act.That is explained in a new paper by Dan Pilla, just published by the Heartland Institute, "Implementing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act." Pilla is a tax...

Yes, transit in the Milwaukee region should be improved to give citizens, especially the many inner city residents without driver's licenses, better transportation options. And, yes, the state should ramp up transit aid and road maintenance even at the expense of new highway projects. But none of that means that reconstruction of the Zoo Interchange in Milwaukee County should be delayed and that planning for the interchange rebuild should go back to square one, as a lawsuit filed last week seeks to do. The interchange, the busiest in Wisconsin, is vital to commerce and the state's economy. It needs the...

Just as you were ready to tuck into a nice three-egg omelet again, comforted by the reassuring news that eggs are not so bad for you, here comes a study warning that for those over 40, the number of egg yolks consumed per week accelerates the thickening of arteries almost as severely as does cigarette smoking. Server, can you make that an egg-white omelet instead, please?

Taryn Hook with Larry, a beloved boa constrictor whose affliction prompted the lifelong keeper of reptiles to get in touch with a researcher who hunts down viruses. Snake story IBD afflicts pythons and boa constrictors, causing a host of strange symptoms. The snakes tie themselves in knots, they projectile vomit and engage in an eerie behavior called stargazing; the snakes raise their heads over and over, stare into thin air, and sway drunkenly from side to side.  ... The scientists put out a call for samples of diseased and nondiseased snakes ... the Steinhart Aquarium ... had a sudden...

"Nearly a year after several advocacy groups threatened a boycott against Johnson & Johnson over the use of potentially harmful chemicals in its Baby Shampoo and other products, the healthcare giant has agreed to remove carcinogens and other toxic chemicals from numerous adult toiletries and cosmetic products by the end of 2015. In all, J&J will reformulate hundreds of items that are sold in 57 countries. The move was announced by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, which is a coalition of more than 175 nonprofit organizations that raised awareness of the issue over the past two years and succeeded last...

On "Situation Room" DNC Chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz has no answers to Wolf Blitzer's questions on Medicare attacks (August 13, 2012).

(CBS News) An ingredient used in artificial butter flavoring for popcorn may worsen the effects of an abnormal brain protein that's been linked to Alzheimer's disease. A new study in Chemical Research in Toxicology examined diacetyl (DA), an ingredient used to produce the buttery flavor and smell in microwave popcorn, margarine, candy, baked goods, and even pet food. It is also created naturally in fermented drinks like beer, and gives some chardonnay wines its buttery taste, according to the study. Scientists at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis conducted an analysis of DA, a chemical which previously has been linked...

One of the world's oldest vaccines now has a new use. Bacillus Calmette-Guerin, or BCG, is an 80-year-old vaccine designed to tread tuberculosis. Bit it has now been found effective in treating long-term type 1 diabetes, which is on the rise worldwide. BCG has long been administered to children in developing countries to guard against tuberculosis. But in a recent clinical trial, researchers at Harvard Medical School found the vaccine was also able to increase insulin production in patients with type 1 diabetes. Dr. Denise Faustman, the lead researcher, says the team was able to cure type 1 diabetes in...

TUESDAY, Aug. 7 (HealthDay News) -- Use of powerful antipsychotic medications such as Abilify and Risperdal to control youngsters with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and other behavior problems has skyrocketed in recent years, a new study finds. Antipsychotics are approved to treat bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, other serious mental problems and irritability related to autism. But they don't have U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for ADHD or other childhood behavior problems, and their use for this purpose is considered "off label." "Only a small proportion of antipsychotic treatment of children (6 percent) and adolescents (13 percent) is for FDA-approved clinical indications,"...

The wife has had RA for seems like forever. But over the last several years the pain has gotten so much that the doctor has her living on Vicodin. He's even said to take it when there is no pain so she won't feel it when it returns. But she never went that far and gets by on maybe 6 or so a day. But then he told her to go to San Antonio and see a spine specialist. And this lady doctor immediately went about getting the wife approved for a spinal implant. They run two wires up and...

NEW YORK — Pfizer Inc. and Johnson & Johnson said Monday they are ending development of an intravenous formulation of a drug to treat Alzheimer’s disease after the treatment failed in two late-stage clinical trials. The companies said bapineuzumab intravenous did not work better than placebo in two late-stage trials in patients who had mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease. The drug is designed to prevent the buildup of plaque in the brain. J&J said it is not discontinuing development of the compound and noted it has ongoing studies including a mid-stage neuroimaging study with bapineuzumab delivered subcutaneously...

Researchers at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have discovered a mutant form of the gene, Chk1, that when expressed in cancer cells, permanently stopped their proliferation and caused cell death without the addition of any chemotherapeutic drugs. This study illustrates an unprecedented finding, that artificially activating Chk1 alone is sufficient to kill cancer cells. "We have identified a new direction for cancer therapy and the new direction is leading us to a reduction in toxicity in cancer therapy, compared with chemotherapy or radiation therapy," said Dr. Zhang, assistant professor, Department of Pharmacology at the School of Medicine, and...

Medical care is going to get worse under Obamacare. Robert S. Dotson, M.D. tells us why: As income reductions are being imposed on private practice, costs are being driven up by exploding regulations. In addition, the plethora of new mandates and laws have increasingly criminalized every aspect of the practice of medicine and created vast new armies of armed bureaucrats whose sole aim is to impose civil and criminal penalties on any provider unlucky enough to be singled out for attention... New restrictions, rules, and regulations on healthcare – on providers and patients alike – have imposed legal constraints with...

Cancer-busting chemotherapy can cause damage to healthy cells which triggers them to secrete a protein that sustains tumour growth and resistance to further treatment, a study said Sunday. Researchers in the United States made the "completely unexpected" finding while seeking to explain why cancer cells are so resilient inside the human body when they are easy to kill in the lab. They tested the effects of a type of chemotherapy on tissue collected from men with prostate cancer, and found "evidence of DNA damage" in healthy cells after treatment, the scientists wrote in Nature Medicine. http://ca.news.yahoo.com/chemotherapy-backfire-boost-cancer-growth-study-164516832.html

Results from a study conducted at Georgia State University suggest that a "fight" between bacteria normally living in the intestines and the immune system, kicked off by another type of bacteria, may be linked to two types of chronic disease. The study suggests that the "fight" continues after the instigator bacteria have been cleared by the body, according to Andrew Gewirtz, professor of biology at the GSU Center for Inflammation, Immunity and Infection. That fight can result in metabolic syndrome, an important factor in obesity, or inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The results were published in the journal Cell Host &...

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) have partnered in creating six food safety booklets for different groups that are most susceptible to food borne illness. These pamphlets target adults, transplant recipients, pregnant women, and people with diabetes, HIV/AIDS, or cancer in an effort to reduce their risk for foodborne illnesses. These booklets contain much needed information for consumers who have an increased chance of becoming sick from the food they eat. The goal is to present clear and understandable information on how to confidently and safely prepare...

New federal demands for healthier school lunches are causing a summer scramble for Long Island school districts to meet the new demands. The real impact will likely be felt during the first weeks of school in September, when many kids begin to notice smaller portions of meat and increased portions of fruits, vegetables and whole grains. Across the region, and the nation, districts are struggling with both the need to match new guidelines and to communicate the changes to parents and students. Districts are having to respond to the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, championed by President Obama and First Lady...

Governor Terry Branstad and his wife Chris have moved out of the Iowa governor's mansion in Des Moines after black mold was found in their third-floor residence, a spokeswoman said. Chris Branstad had not been feeling well for a few weeks and suggested her sickness might be caused by something at Terrace Hill, the state-owned mansion that has been home to Iowa governors since 1976. Tests were done on the mansion and confirmed black mold on the third floor, which was converted into living quarters for the state's governor and family. "The governor and first lady are fine," Spokeswoman Jenae...