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On Monday, February 2, 2009 the Institute of Medicine Committee will be meeting in Washington, D.C. on Review of Priorities in the National Vaccine Plan.

The National Vaccine Plan was created in 1986, updated in 1994 and has not been revised since then. Since it is now 2009, I think it's a pretty good idea that the plan be restructured, with new goals to be set.

There is an 85 page draft of new goals and priorities which is very interesting. And it seems the powers at me have heard the concerns of the public, because one of the main goals of this plan is to improve vaccine safety. This improved safety would include vaccine development and administration, which means new research and case studies.

In addition to vaccine safety there is also a call to improve the financial strain of patients who cannot afford vaccines and to improve the scope of people globally that these vaccines actually reach. Particularly in elderly patients the Institute of Medicine Committee says the reach of vaccines is only sub-optimal.

Some of the plans goals have remained the same throughout the years and to some degree have been met, but can of course be improved.

Goal 1: Develop new and improved vaccines
Goal 2: Enhance the safety of vaccines and vaccination practices
Goal 3: Support informed vaccine decision-making by the public, providers, and
policy-makers
Goal 4: Ensure a stable supply of recommended vaccines and achieve better use
of existing vaccines to prevent disease, disability and death in the United States
Goal 5: Increase global prevention of death and disease through safe and effective
vaccination

You can read the full 85-page National Vaccine Plan draft at the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services website.

This IOM workshop will focus on topics related to Goal 3 of the update to the National Vaccine Plan (support informed vaccine decision-making by the public, providers, and policy-makers) developed by federal agencies with coordination by the National Vaccine Program Office (NVPO).

To Listen to Meeting via Audio Webcast: To listen to the webcast, go to http://nationalacad emies.org.
Pre-registration is not necessary for the webcast.

Comments from the public are welcome by phone, mail or e-mail.

Contact Information:

Institute of Medicine,
8th floor, Board on Population Health and Public Health Practice Committee
on Review of Priorities, National Vaccine Plan,
Keck Center of the National Academies 500 5th Street, NW Washington, DC 20001
Phone: 202-334-1361
Fax: 202-334-2939
Email: VaccinePlan@nas.edu

Labels: vaccines

There is a growing epidemiological literature focusing on the association between psychosocial stress and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) disease progression or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), but inconsistent findings have been published.

I think we all know how linked our emotions are to physical ailments and stress. Depression and anxiety definitely take a physical toll on our bodies. Of course findings are inconsistent though because these are things are extremely subjective.

Despite these limitations, the present evidence from prospective observational studies suggests that further research into interventions to reduce distress/promote coping and examine the consequent effects on mortality and related outcomes in HIV is warranted. Specifically, psychological interventions should be considered in the arsenal of adjuvant therapies for this disease.

Yoichi Chida, Kavita Vedhara, Adverse psychosocial factors predict poorer prognosis in HIV disease: A meta-analytic review of prospective investigations, Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, In Press, Accepted Manuscript, Available online 29 January 2009, ISSN 0889-1591, DOI: 10.1016/j.bbi.2009.01.013.
(http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/B6WC1-4VGPSK1-3/2/964fab7a3b7b9afb23a211a5f7ccbafe)

Over the summer, research from the University of California, Los Angeles, was published which indicated chronic emotional stress ages the immune system. One cam easily surmise that with a diagnosis of the HIV virus a person would undoubtedly be weighed down with stress. And HIV specifically attacks your bodies immune system so it's a double whammy so to speak.

Stress harmones called Cortisol suppress the immune cells’ ability to activate their telomerase enzymes, which keep the cells young and in prime condition by enabling their ability to divide.

Cortisol is an important hormone in the body, secreted by the adrenal glands and involved in the following functions and more:

* Proper glucose metabolism
* Regulation of blood pressure
* Insulin release for blood sugar maintanence
* Immune function
* Inflammatory response

Cortisol is known as the stress hormone, because stress activates cortisol secretion.

And here in lies part of the problem for proving the whole emotional stress, immune system link. Cortisol secretion varies among individuals. People are biologically 'wired' to react differently to stress. One person may secrete higher levels of cortisol than another in the same situation.

Labels: AIDS, HIV, Immune System, psychology, stress

You may or may not know that I support the Susan G. Komen Foundation as often as I can. Whether it is my writing to government officials, donating money or keeping my friends up-to-date in their news and research.

So today in reading through my e-mail there is a wonderful message which stems from a team of researchers who had been partially funded by the Susan G. Komen for the Cure(R) research grant.

Scientists used innovative approaches that combine sophisticated new tests and traditional experimental techniques to detect the gene called MTDH, which appears to be involved in more than a third of all breast cancers. Not only did these researchers identify the gene, they were able to show how this gene helps tumors spread. Now they believe drugs could be developed that block the gene -- keeping local tumors from metastasizing or spreading.

"Not only is this an important step toward understanding how certain breast cancer metastasizes, but it's a wonderful example of the impact of Komen's research funding," said Diana Rowden, Komen's vice president of Health Sciences.

"This gives us a real shot at developing a drug that will inhibit metastasis," said Michael Reiss, M.D., of The Cancer Institute of New Jersey, who was part of the team that discovered the gene.

Abstract Source

Labels: breast cancer, susan g komen

In an article [PDF] published in the February 2009 issue of the HortScience Review, University of Texas researcher Donald R. Davis compiles evidence that points to declines in nutrition in vegetables and (to a lesser extent) fruits over the past few decades.

He points to another study in which researchers planted low- and high-yielding varieties of broccoli and grain side-by-side. The high-yielding varieties showed less protein and minerals.

The principle seems to be that when plants are nudged to produce as much as possible -- whether through lots of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides or through selective breeding -- they deliver fewer nutrients. It evidently isn't just the flavor that's become diluted in those bland supermarket tomatoes.

Over three billion of the world's population is malnourished in nutrient elements and vitamins (Welch and Graham, 2004), including in developed countries. Vegetables and fruits are among the richest sources of many nutrients.

I am sure you understand where this is going.

So it's not just pesticides and other sprays fighting our veggies. It's people focusing on yield and supply rather than quality and well that is probably because it's cheaper for the breeder and therefore would be cheaper for the consumer.

I guess you have to choose your health over your wallet. What a shame.

Labels: diet, vegetables

You've seen those annoying commercials about high fructose corn syrup, right? Right now I can think of two of them one where brothers are discussing the corn syrup in their cereal and another where a couple are discussing the syrup in their Popsicle. In both instances we are made to believe eating foods with high fructose corn syrup is perfectly fine in moderation.

Turns out that high fructose corn syrup is commonly tainted with mercury -- a highly toxic substance -- according to a peer-reviewed report published by Environmental Health. Overall, they found detectable mercury in 17 of 55 samples, or around 31 percent.

The abstract of this study concluded the following:

Mercury cell chlor-alkali products are used to produce thousands of other products including food ingredients such as citric acid, sodium benzoate, and high fructose corn syrup. High fructose corn syrup is used in food products to enhance shelf life. A pilot study was conducted to determine if high fructose corn syrup contains mercury, a toxic metal historically used as an anti-microbial. High fructose corn syrup samples were collected from three different manufacturers and analyzed for total mercury. The samples were found to contain levels of mercury ranging from below a detection limit of 0.005 to 0.570 micrograms mercury per gram of high fructose corn syrup.

Several years ago, then-Sen. Barack Obama introduced legislation that would have forced the chlorine industry to phase out mercury.

That bill failed. I hope the new Congress revives it.

You can ready the full scope of the study in PDF format at the Environmental Health website.

Labels: heavy metal, high fructose corn syrup, mercury, toxicity

DelSite Biotechnologies, Inc., its wholly-owned subsidiary, received the approval from the FDA of the Investigational New Drug (IND) application to initiate a Phase I clinical study of the Company's lead product candidate GelVac(TM) nasal powder H5N1 (bird flu) influenza vaccine.

It is preservative-free, adjuvant-free and can stabilize vaccines at room temperature for a long period of time. The vaccine requires no cold chain and allows needle-free administration.

Dr. Yawei Ni, Chief Scientific Officer of DelSite Biotechnologies, said, "The GelVac is a very innovative and effective powder platform; besides deliverable as a nasal powder, GelVac powder vaccines can be reconstituted and administered using classical needle technology. Using this route of administration a strong antigen-sparing effect, i.e., increasing numbers of vaccine doses, is created by a classical depot effect. We believe the paradigm shift under way as to how vaccines are to be stored, shipped and administered will be accelerated by the GelVac platform."

This vaccine candidate is believed to be the only nasal powder vaccine under development that, if approved, could be shipped without refrigeration to peoples' homes and self-administered in the event of a pandemic outbreak of avian bird flu.

After administering one or two doses to test subjects at the highest dose tested,
testing results showed the vaccine is safe and nontoxic. I for one would still like a break down of what is in the vaccine.

Of course far more research will be done in the clinical studies, but DelSite is thrilled at the FDA approval of Phase I.

Whether or not this approval will help DelSite Biotechnologies get more funding is still yet to be seen, for now they have discontinued manufacturing operations.

Labels: avian flu, FDA, press release, vaccines

Children's health care coverage could soon gain a big boost if the Senate completes action this week for the reauthorization of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). Last week, the Senate Finance committee approved the mark established by Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) that could allow an additional four million children to receive health care.

Like the previous measure, the new bill would extend the SCHIP program, which last year covered 7.4 million children in families whose incomes were too high to qualify for Medicaid but couldn't afford private health insurance. The bill would also provide - largely through a 61 cents-per-pack increase in the federal cigarette tax - enough funding to expand the program to an additional 4 million children by the year 2013.

President George W. Bush twice refused to sign the Children's Health Insurance Program bills, because he's so sweet. NOT! The main debate has been how this program works for immigrants. Immigrants can come to the United States illegally to have their children, because anyone born here is entitled to benefits as a citizen. I understand that being a cause for concern, I just don't think it warrants leaving all the other children out in the cold. I'm hoping some sort of compromise can be reached.

Voices urges advocates to call your U.S. Senators and tell them to support SCHIP and oppose any amendments that undermine children's health care.

You may reach your Senators by calling Voices toll-free number that goes directly to the Capitol Switchboard: 1-866-277-7617.

Should you wish to print the Voice Roll Call Ad to share with people, please click here for the PDF.

Labels: children healthcare

In the next couple of weeks we're hoping to find out for sure what is causing Braeden's digestive system to act so crazy.

One of the possible issues he could be experiencing is a gluten allergy. So this weekend I went shopping and was able to find gluten free flour, gluten free brownie mix and other gluten free items at Wal-Mart. I don't remember seeing those products there before, but this weekend they sure were.

This morning my co-worker Jim brought in MI-DEL gluten free chocolate chip cookies. How sweet of him! So I looked up this MI-DEL brand and found they are currently having a promotion where if you buy two packs of their cookies they will pay for a quart of milk for you.

Read more about the MI-DEL promo at their website.

If you're wondering about this gluten business, here's what I know so far. Gluten is the elastic protein in wheat, rye and barley. Gluten is also one of the big elements of MSG, which many of you probably are more familiar with.

And in the craziness of our bodies is an enzyme which has the sole job of breaking down this gluten protein. Well, some people are lacking the essential tools for their body to properly breakdown the gluten proteins. When this happens the person can become very sick or subtly so depending on their sensitivity. So from person to person there will be a variety of symptoms and degrees at which those symptoms are even noticed.

With Braeden he did have a hard time gaining weight but I thought it was because he is so active. And Braeden is sick a lot so I thought perhaps his splattering bowel movements were from being sick or from antibiotics (which still might be part of the problem) but it didn't cross my mind that he could have food allergies.

This is why it pays to be a great parent detective when it comes to finding out how to help your children. In my searches and readings I have learned a great deal about nutrition and just how important the nutritional role is in aiding your immune system.

Having a gluten allergy or intolerance plays a huge part in impairing your digestive system. It effects bowel movements, but it also effects the absorption of nutrients from everything else you eat. What you feel can range from being bloated, having indigestion, constipation or diarrhea, mouth ulcers, muscle cramps, stools that float and even skin issues. As you can see the range is wide and so many times people are diagnosed with something else entirely.

You can test for a gluten allergy with blood work, specifically an IgE test or Enzyme-Linked ImmunoSorbent Assay, (ELISA) testing which can give a doctor detailed information about specific allergies to foods such as eggs, peanuts, wheat, etc.

Here are some more links for where you can buy gluten-free foods.

Gluten Solutions

Gluten Free Gourmet

Jake Bakes

Double Dipped Sweets

Labels: children, diet, gluten free, MIDEL, nutrition

Let's talk about T-cells.

For those doctors and/or patients who deal with immune deficiencies it's very likely you are familiar with T-cells. Of your white blood cells that help fight infections, your t-cells are the bouncers essentially. They need to be balanced and work together to take care of the bad guys which invade your system.

Unfortunately, as far as I can tell, many pediatricians don't really zero in on detailed t-cell activity. I mean they do blood work to make sure you have a sufficient amount of t-cells in your WBC count, but they don't take it that extra step to make sure the balance is there. Imagine you have T1, T2, T3 and T4 and if they don't work in a balanced fashion then your immune system can become oversensitive and start to bounce out more than just the bad stuff in your blood.

Scientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine have been doing clinical research on regulatory t-cell dysfunction that I think would be very useful for all doctors to read over and embrace.

Another study done within the Department of Neurobiology at the Weizmann Institute of Science was conducted in the year 2004, it showed mice deprived of mature T cells manifested cognitive deficits and behavioral abnormalities, which were remediable by T cell restoration. Cognitive activity IS affected by the integrity of the immune system.

Folks at the Division of Biology, California Institute of Technology, recently began examining proinflammatory T helper 17 (Th17) cells control infections caused by microbial pathogens. Surprisingly, several recent reports now reveal that symbiotic gut bacteria modulate Th17 cell differentiation and function in the gastrointestinal tract. As various autoimmune and allergic disorders are mediated by uncontrolled Tcell responses, immune regulation by the microbiota may have direct implications for human health.

You would think with these conclusions and the study which has gone into understanding T cell dysfunction thus far, tat more pediatricians would realize children with weakened or oversensitive immune systems might have irregular T cell maturation. Furthermore, knowing this dysfunction can also impair cognitive ability should open the eyes of even more pediatricians because it could very well explain the behavior of children labeled as ADD or ADHD. I think you'll find those kids have more viruses and colds along with their behavior issues.

Parents, don't be afraid to learn and absorb on your own. Bring information to your doctors if you don't feel they are looking at your child with an open mind.

Labels: behavior, Immune System, t cells

A few co-workers alerted me to a recent article published in regards to a study in the current issue of the New England Journal of Medicine regarding giving Oral Prednisolone to preschool-aged children.

After reading the articles produced from the abstract and/or full NEJM text I talked to my husband about it to hear his thoughts. He's likely to play devil's advocate when it comes to medical articles and studies. And that is true in this case as well. He said there is no alternative in terms of helping to open their airways and it's been known for decades that no other alternative exists, so this isn't really "news" per say.

Braeden is five years old and is currently on Prednisolone due to his asthma. We do see that it helps him better than Albuterol alone when he is having a prolonged attack or week long persistent, hacking cough.

And really there is probably a lot of things effecting his height and weight, not just the use of occasional steroids to help him breath.

Click here to read the NEJM abstract.

Click here to read an article at BBC News - Health: Doubt over child steroid tactic.

Labels: asthma, children, steroid

Li-Huei Tsai, a neuroscientist at MIT, is developing new ways to target gene expression in the brain, in the hope of improving memory.

I wonder what the long term implications for a drug which claims memory loss reversal.

The idea of a pill for memory loss sounds like pure science-fiction. But scientists from the Massachusetts Institute for Technology have taken a first important step to making it a reality, at least for mice.

The mice didn't grow any new neurons, and their brains remained the same size. But Fischer found that they did have many more synapses - the connections between nerve cells - than brain-damaged peers. Even though they had lost a substantial number of neurons, their enriched environments triggered the surviving cells to re-wire themselves.

HDACs or histone deacetylases control whether genes are switched on or off by altering other proteins called histones.

HDACs change the histones so that they wrap more tightly around DNA and render its genetic code unreadable. Any genes contained in these stretches of DNA are silenced. Drugs like sodium butyrate (SB) neutralize HDACs, freeing DNA from the repressive grip of histones.

Any silenced genes can now be freely switched on and among these, are genes that allow the brain's neurons to sprout new synapses.

I suppose any light at the end of a blank and dark tunnel is a good one. and I do feel further research in this area can only help matters. I think it's great that Li-Huei Tsai has the ambition to tackle memory loss. I just hope everyone keeps their pants on and doesn't jump the gun so to speak, because this brain rewiring sounds to me as though it could end up causing trouble. I hate being skeptical though; it will be interesting to learn more.

Labels: Alzheimer Disease, memory

This morning I stumbled across a blog post by a Mom named Carrissa who is having the same inner battle on vaccinations as I have been having with my brain. Where on the one hand I see clearly just how important they have been in ending fatal childhood epidemics. While on the other hand I realize now with the huge advances in technology and medicine those same childhood epidemics are no longer ones which are considered fatal disease. Plus, there are new epidemics coming out of the woodwork which seems to be very much linked to the vaccines we are giving our children.

You can read Carrissa's post on vaccines, here.

Also this morning I came across an article written by Dr. Lawrence B. Palevsky, MD, FAAP. The article is currently published on the National Vaccine Information Center website.

The title of this article is "Aluminum and Vaccine Ingredients: What Do We Know? What Don't We Know?" It's a well written and insightful article which discusses why mercury (Thimerosal) was pulled or supposed to be pulled from vaccines back in 1999.

Now the discussion has been in regards to the aluminum found in the following childhood vaccines - DTaP, Pediarix (DTaP-Hepatitis B-Polio combination), Pentacel (DTaP-HIB-Polio combination), Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, Haemophilus influenzae B (HIB), Human Papilloma Virus (HPV), and Pneumococcal vaccines. Aluminum is a heavy metal with known neurotoxic effects on human and animal nervous systems.

The article also states, "In 1996, the American Academy of Pediatrics issued a position paper on Aluminum Toxicity in Infants and Children which stated in the first paragraph, "Aluminum is now being implicated as interfering with a variety of cellular and metabolic processes in the nervous system and in other tissues."

You would think after 14 years of knowing this they would be pulling aluminum out of vaccines, too. But instead of doing that they have created more vaccines and put the schedule in which children receive them into overdrive.

The remainder of Dr. Palevsky's article discusses our cellular mediated immune system (TH1 cells - T-helper 1), a humoral immune system (TH2 cells - T-helper 2), and a regulator immune system (TH3 cells - T-helper 3) as major pieces of their overall immune systems. He gets into great detail about how these pieces must work together in a balanced environment. Vaccinations increase TH2, upset the balance, and in some kids can cause very dangerous effects to their entire immune system and eventually, due to inflammation, to their brain.

Now, it's not my job to tell anyone what to do in terms of their own children. But as a parent it is my job to be as educated as possible in terms of what goes into my children. Having a son with a sensitive immune system has opened my eyes to a lot. I thrive on knowledge and will continue to educate myself. I believe vaccines can be made safer and I believe they should be spread out over longer periods of time AND only given when the child is healthy (ie. no fever, no sniffles).

Labels: aluminum, Immune System, toxicity, vaccines

I knew this would happen in the future and I'm so glad it was sooner rather than later. All the reading I have done on the brain's amygdala has made it clear to me it plays a huge role in your body's immune system and neurological behavior, but of course I have no proof of means of finding proof.

For the first time, scientists at Children's National Medical Center have successfully identified a key developmental program for the amygdala - the part of the limbic system that impacts how the brain creates emotional memories and responses.

Using studies of embryonic mice, Corbin and his team located two specific pools of precursor cells marked by the transcription factor Dbx1 that migrate from both the ventral pallium and the preoptic area-a previously undiscovered pool of migratory cells-to create the requisite mix of excitatory and inhibitory neurons that ultimately comprise the amygdala. Remarkably, the preoptic area precursor cells are exclusive contributors to the development of the limbic system, and no other portion of the brain.

"Altered function of the amygdala is a hallmark characteristic of disorders such as autism," said Dr. Corbin. "A more clear understanding of the normal development of this important brain structure provides a roadmap to understand the consequences of altered brain development in neurodevelopmental disorders."

The Dbx1-positive, POA-derived population migrated specifically to the amygdala and, as defined by both immunochemical and electrophysiological criteria, generated a unique subclass of inhibitory neurons in the medial amygdala nucleus. Thus, this POA-derived population represents a previously unknown progenitor pool dedicated to the limbic system.

I can't wait until they publish the complete research.

SOURCE

To further explain the importance of understanding the amygdala you should know what it is suspected the amygdala controls.

"Compared with young adults, older adults had greater functional connectivity between the right amygdala and bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortices, a possible reflection of increased emotional regulation of negative pictures, but decreased functional connectivity between the amygdala and typical subsequent-memory regions such as the hippocampus, a possible reflection of decreased modulation by the amygdala and decreased memory retrieval for negative pictures."

A new study appearing online January 2, 2009 reports that high levels of brain activity in an emotional center called the amygdala reflect patients' hypersensitivity to anticipation of adverse events. At the same time, high activity in a regulatory region known as the anterior cingulate cortex is associated with a positive clinical response to a common antidepressant medication.

The study will appear in an upcoming issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry.

Labels: amygdala, brain, children, Immune System, neurology

Aluminum can inhibit the body's ability to digest and make use of calcium, magnesium, iron, phosphorus and fluoride. This can cause anemia, prevent bone growth, and reduce bone density. Aluminum can also cause conditions which actually force calcium out of the bones. Either of these situations can bring on weakness and deformation in the bone structure with crippling effects.

Toxicity can also result in aching muscles, speech problems, digestive problems, lowered liver function, colic, and impaired kidney function.

Aluminum binds up phosphorus in your intestines. And because phosphorus is an essential component of bone crystals, too much aluminum can weaken your bones. The aluminum concentration found in sodas in cans was 6 times higher than that of the same drinks in bottles. A good thing to do is buy soda in glass or plastic bottles instead of cans. The best thing to do is give up soda completely because the sugar is a serious bone robber. Artificial sweeteners aren't much better so it's best to get yourself into the habit of drinking water.

More suggestions of ways to eliminate aluminum: get rid of any aluminum pots and pans, stop using antiperspirant deodorants with aluminum, and use baking soda/baking powder that says it is aluminum free. Say goodbye to American cheese because it can have about 50mg aluminum per slice.

Deodorant's chemicals are very easily to absorb into the lymphatic passages and to your body's systems. Aluminum can get into the brain since it can pass the blood brain barrier.

Other sources of aluminum are:

Food additives: sodium aluminum phosphates (baking powder) and anti-caking agents. They are added to cake mixes, frozen dough, pancake mixes, self-rising flours, processed cheese and cheese foods. Also alum, a form of aluminum sulfate, is used to pickles cucumbers. Some food colors are made with aluminum.

Soy-based infant formula may contain higher levels of aluminum as compared to milk-based infant formulas and breast milk.

Most water utilities use aluminum sulphate to clarify drinking water.

There is aluminum hydroxide in childhood vaccines. Since children are vaccinated poor frequently now and in an accelerated schedule this could cause problems for your child if he or she has an immune system which is particularly sensitive. Of course pediatricians who have wanted this studied have been turned down by agencies who could provide grants and funding for the research. I don't know why this is the case, you would think more knowledge and further study would be a good thing.

How do you remove aluminum from your body?

When you ingest aluminum in your food and liquids, very little goes from your stomach into your bloodstream (note that gastro-intestinal absorption is facilitated by lactate, citrate, and ascorbate). Most aluminum leaves your body quickly in the feces. The small amount of aluminum that does enter the bloodstream leaves in the urine.

Toxic effects are dependent upon the amount of metal ingested, entry rate, tissue distribution, concentration achieved, and excretion rate. When the amount of aluminum ingested exceeds the body's excretory capacity, the excess is deposited in various tissues, including nerve tissues, brain, bone, liver, heart, spleen, and muscle.

Researchers have suggested that aluminum may be more likely to accumulate in the brains of persons whose diets are deficient in magnesium.

Aluminum causes an oxidative stress within brain tissue. Since the elimination half life of aluminum from the human brain is seven years, this can result in cumulative damage.

Aluminum can get into the brain at any age. Because aluminum can cross the placenta, aluminum toxicity can begin in the fetus.

Take supplements of magnesium and malic acid. Adequate amounts of magnesium can help block the toxic effects of aluminum. Malic acid binds with aluminum so that it can be flushed from the body avoiding aluminum build-up, and is especially effective at decreasing aluminum toxicity in the brain. Magnesium malate provides both magnesium and malic acid. One recommendation: take 200 to 2400 mg. of malic acid combined with 300 to 600 grams of magnesium for a period of four to eight weeks.

For a full toxicological profile of aluminum check out resources at the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.

The New England Journal of Medicine also has an interesting abstract about The dialysis encephalopathy syndrome and it being due to a possible aluminum intoxication.

Please note that I understand aluminum might not build up in some people at all and alone it might not cause much of a problem. But if your body is already functioning poorly due to other deficiencies or due to a body predisposed with a dysfunctional detoxification system, aluminum toxicity could end up becoming a huge sore for your immune system.

Labels: aluminum, toxicity, vaccines

Certain compounds in saliva are different in some children with autism spectrum disorders, a new study shows.

Italian researchers analyzed saliva samples from 27 children with autism spectrum disorders and 23 healthy children of the same age.

The scientists, who included Professor Massimo Castagnola of Rome's Universita Cattolica, focused on small proteins and peptides, which are building blocks of protein, in the saliva samples.

Two-thirds of the children in the autism spectrum disorders group had at least one salivary peptide that differed from children without autism.

It's not clear if autism was the reason for those differences or why those differences weren't seen in all of the autistic children.

Seems to me since there are more than just genetic factors involved with autism than depending or giving too much weight to tests like a saliva test. I think then the doctors will be missing out on environmental factors and other factors like supplemental issues or the inability to properly detoxify.

The study appears in full in the Journal of Proteome Research.

Labels: autism

According to an article I just read on Web MD, foods and cosmetics containing the color additives carmine and cochineal extract, which are made from an insect, must list those ingredients on their labels starting on January 5, 2011.

The FDA published that new rule in yesterday's edition of the Federal Register, citing reports of "severe allergic reactions, including anaphylaxis" in a "small subset" of people with allergies.

What Are the Symptoms of Anaphylaxis?

Anaphylaxis may begin with severe itching of the eyes or face, followed by these symptoms, usually within minutes of exposure to the allergen:

* Swelling of the throat, lips, and tongue.
* Difficulty breathing, caused by swelling of the throat and constricting of the airways.
* Difficulty swallowing.
* Hives.
* Generalized flushing (redness and warmth) of the skin.
* Abdominal cramps and nausea.
* Increased heart rate.
* Sudden weakness.
* Drop in blood pressure.
* Vomiting or diarrhea.
* Swelling throughout the body.
* Shock.
* Unconsciousness.

In its new rule, the FDA states that it doesn't consider carmine and cochineal extract to be "major" food allergens, and that carmine and cochineal extract are safe when used in accordance with regulations for color additives.

The FDA won't require food labels to state that carmine and cochineal extract are derived from insects. And the labels won't have to flag those ingredients as potential allergens.

Labels: allergies, Anaphylaxis

And, the winners are.....

Adventures in Ethics and Science: Research with vulnerable populations: considering the Bucharest Early Intervention Project (part 1).

All My Faults are Stress-Related: Data, Interpretations and Field Work

Bad Astronomy: WR 104: A nearby gamma-ray burst?

Bayblab: A History of Beardism and the Science that Backs It

Cabinet of Wonders: A Rule of Thumb

Catalogue of Organisms: Are You Sucking on a Lemon or a Lime?

Charles Darwin's Blog: Someone should invent a device to look at the micro world

Cognitive Daily: How to make your eye feel like it's closed, when it's actually open

Cosmic Variance: The First Quantum Cosmologist

Dear Blue Lobster: Bloop: A Crustacean Phenomenon?

Denialism blog: Fountain pens

Dr. Jekyll & Mrs. Hyde: Why I blog....

Effect Measure: Important new flu paper in Cell: part I

Green Gabbro: The Igneous Petrology of Ice Cream

Hope for Pandora: Dear Reviewer

The Beagle Project Blog: Detecting natural selection: a pika's tale

Laelaps: Who scribbled all over Darwin's work?

Life, Birds, and Everything: Do we see what bees see?

Living the Scientific Life (Scientist, Interrupted): Audubon's Aviary: Portraits of Endangered Species

Mad Scientist, Jr.: Brain Extractions

Marmorkrebs: How Marmorkrebs can make the world a better place

Michael Nielsen's Blog: The Future of Science

Mind the Gap: In which science becomes a sport - hypothetically speaking

Minor Revisions: To Whom it May Concern

Nano2Hybrids: What IS a carbon nanotube?

Neurotic Physiology: Uber Coca, by Sigmund Freud

Not Exactly Rocket Science: Space Invader DNA jumped across mammalian genomes

Nothing's Shocking: Poster session paparazzi

Observations of a Nerd: Having Some Fun With Evolution

Plus magazine - news from the world of maths: United Kingdom - Nil Points

Podblack Blog: Smart Bitches, Not Meerly Sex

Pondering Pikaia: Social Clocks: How do cave bats know when it is dark outside?

Providentia: Dr. Fliess' Patient

Quintessence of Dust: Finches, bah! What about Darwin's tomatoes?

Reciprocal Space: I get my kicks from thermodynamicks!

Rubor Dolor Calor Tumor: Calor?

Science After Sunclipse: Physics Makes a Toy of the Brain

Sciencewomen: A reckless proposal, or 'Scientists are people too, and it's time we started treating them that way.'

Terra Sigilatta: Liveblogging the Vasectomy Chronicles

The End Of The Pier Show: On The Hardness of Biology

The Loom: Even Blood Flukes Get Divorced

The OpenHelix Blog: The Beginnings of Immunofluorescence

The Oyster's Garter: How a coccolithophore without its plates is like a grin without a cat

The Scientist: On the Nature of Networking

The Tree of Life: What is so bad about brain doping? Apparently, NIH thinks something is.

Tom Paine's Ghost: Biochemistry of Halloween: Installment 1

Tomorrow's Table: 10 Things about GE crops to Scratch From Your Worry List

Uncertain Principles: We Are Science

Wired Science Blog: Correlations: The Third Branch of Science?

A canna' change the laws of physics: Expect The Unexpected

You can purchase last year's collection here.

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And something else you might be interested in reading is about baby conversing.

According to a new study, babies who sat in strollers that faced their parents during their daily walks had twice as many conversations, laughed ten times as much, and suffered less stress than babies who were in the more common, front-facing models. The researchers studied 2,722 infants and found that kids who faced their parents had lower heart rates and fell asleep twice as easily as babies who faced forward. So along with generating laughter and baby talk, a face-time stroller will be far more likely to bring you that sweetest of sounds: the snore of your sleeping, soon-to-be-smarter offspring.

Labels: open lab, science blogs