Cardiovascular Research: Deaths from cardiovascular disease increase globally ♦ Adding peanuts to a meal benefits vascular health ♦ Strokes of unknown origin

Adding peanuts to a meal benefits vascular health 

A study of peanut consumption showed that including them as a part of a high fat meal improved the post-meal triglyceride response and preserved endothelial function. Vascular dysfunction plays a major role in the development of atherosclerosis and the formation of coronary plaques and lesions that lead to coronary artery disease.

Presence of heart pouch may explain strokes of unknown origin, study finds

A pouchlike structure inside the heart's left atrial chamber in some people may explain strokes that otherwise lack an identifiable cause, according to researchers. Stroke is the leading cause of long-term severe disability and the fourth-most-common cause of death in the U.S.

Barriers found that prevent Ugandans with rheumatic heart disease from receiving needed Penicillin

Access to penicillin can prevent deaths from rheumatic heart disease. Researchers collaborated to learn about obstacles that prevent people from receiving the medication and find ways to overcome them

Deaths from cardiovascular disease increase globally while mortality rates decrease

Deaths from cardiovascular disease increase globally while mortality rates decrease, a new report suggests. Cardiovascular diseases, the leading cause of premature death in the world, include heart attacks, strokes, and other circulatory diseases. At the same time, efforts to prevent and treat cardiovascular diseases appear to be working as the rise in deaths is slower

2/28/14 Health News: Live Stock Antibiotics are High Risk - FDA bans Product from Indian Plant - Repair Damage from Heart Attacks - Gene Therapy Cures Blindness

NRDC ANALYSIS OF FDA DOCUMENTS FINDS LIVESTOCK ANTIBIOTICS “HIGH RISK” TO HUMANS

According to a safety review conducted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, penicillin and tetracycline antibiotic feed additives approved for “nontherapeutic use” do not meet the agency’s current safety standards. In a Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) report released today, previously undisclosed FDA documents reveal that none of the 30 products reviewed between 2001... Continue Reading

India's Ranbaxy hit by FDA product ban at 4th Indian plant

Indian drugmaker Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd faces long delays and high costs in launching big-selling generic drugs in the United States after products from a fourth plant were banned from entering its main market due to manufacturing violations. Continue Reading

New Therapy Tries to Repair Damage in Heart Attacks

In a heart attack, the initial harm is often compounded by a person's immune system, which rushes "soldiers" to the heart to fight what it thinks are invaders. An immune system overreaction also causes much of the trouble in irritable bowel syndrome, multiple sclerosis and West Nile Virus. "The immune system does a significant amount of damage while it's trying to protect us," : Continue Reading

Gene Therapy 'Could Be Used to Treat Blindness'

Surgeons in Oxford have used a gene therapy technique to improve the vision of six patients who would otherwise have gone blind. The operation involved inserting a gene into the eye, a treatment that revived light-detecting cells. The doctors involved believe that the treatment could in time be used to treat common forms of blindness..Continue Reading

Shame on Consumer Reports

               Shame on Consumer Reports

Consumer Reports had an article on bacterial contamination in ground turkey products. Some of the things they stated were misleading.

In the report they tested for bacteria that was resistant to antibiotics. Specifically, they tested four antibiotics: ciprofloxacin, penicillin, cephalosporin, and tetracycline. Ciprofloxacin resistance was a bad choice to study in that ciprofloxacin has not been used in turkeys for the last 8 years. They tested for drug resistance to penicillin and cephalosporin which are also not used very much in turkeys. After being over-used for seventy years, you could find bacteria resistant to penicillin in bacteria whether they are in turkey or elsewhere.

Even though they may have made bad decisions on what to test for, they did point out one positive thing turkey farmers have accomplished. There was no Campylobacter bacteria on the turkeys that were tested.

Campylobacter causes more illness than any other bacteria that is on our food. It is a major accomplishment of the turkey producers to rid Campylobacter from the turkeys. They have also reduced the amount of Salmonella on the turkeys.

The odds are that they could get the same results testing any other type of ground meat. Consumers should take precautions when handling meat. Turkey and others meats should be cooked to the proper temperature to kill all bacteria. For turkey, that is 165 degrees. Turkey and other meats should not be washed. Washing will cause water to splatter and spread bacteria around your kitchen. You also need to wash your hands after handling any meat.

Even though I feel that Consumer Reports did a bad job in deciding which drugs to test for resistant bacteria, I think the turkey producers are making one big mistake. They are using antibiotics in the turkey feed instead of just giving antibiotics to sick birds. This causes bacterial resistance.

Eighty percent of the antibiotics used each year in America are used in animal feed. Farmers are quick to point out that sixty-seven percent are types of antibiotics that are not used in humans. Using this sixty-seven percent in their animal feed  just means that there will be no antibiotics for people as well animals. On March 8 of last year, the World Health Organization said that antibiotics would be useless in the future. We already have some bacteria that is totally drug-resistant.

It is time we started using other treatments for bacterial infections. The good news is that Australia has started to use Bacteriophage to treat bacterial diseases. That is the fourth country where Bacteriophage is legal.