Health/Remedies

5 Responses to Health/Remedies

1. Felix Wing says:

   January 25, 2011 at 11:29 am

   My toddler recently had an ear ache. Setting a heating pad on his pillow really helped make it feel bearable for him.

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2. MamaNis says:

   May 12, 2011 at 12:37 pm

   Here is a very important article from the Chicago Tribune today on Plastics and Children.

   Most of us know very little about plastic, something we touch or use every day. If you’ve got questions about how it might affect children, Freinkel and reproductive endocrinologist Shanna Swan, a leading phthalate researcher and the vice chair of preventive medicine at Mount Sinai Medical Center, will be on hand at noon CT Tuesday, for a health web chat.

   In the meantime, here’s some information Freinkel discovered while working on her book, an experience that made her “more appreciative and more worried about plastic” than she’d been before.

   1. In 1960, the average American went through 30 pounds of plastics a year. Today, just 50 years later, Americans consume on average 300 pounds a year.

   2. Though most plastic can be recycled, almost none is.

   3. Hormone disrupting chemicals (which are found in some plastics) have their greatest impacts at critical points of development, making fetuses, infants, young children and teen-agers especially vulnerable.

   4. Biomonitoring studies have found that children tend to have higher level of hormone disrupting compounds in their systems than most adults.

   5. The 10 states with bottle bills have dramatically higher recycling rates and far lower amounts of litter.

   6. Production of bioplastics is the fastest-growing area in the industry, with double-digit projected growth rates. Every major producer of raw plastic resins is exploring ways to make polymers from plants, waste and other renewable sources of carbon.

   7. Manufacturers aren’t required to tell us what chemicals are contained in the products we use everyday. Because of the long supply chain involved in making many plastic products, they may well not know themselves.

   8. Things made from soft vinyl, like bath books or squeeze toys, may contain chemicals called phthalates, which can disrupt production of testosterone, potentially leading to a host of health effects.

   9. Some plastics, and some plastic products pose greater problems than the benefits they bring. Freinkel puts vinyl, Styrofoam foodware and plastic shopping bags in that list.

   10. Plastics are a double-edged sword when it comes to our health. They have made possible most of the miracles of modern medicine and are indispensible to the everyday practice of health care. But they also have introduced new health risks by virtue of the chemicals used in their manufacture.

   jdeardorff@tribune.com

   Twitter: @juliedeardorff

   Copyright © 2011, Chicago Tribune
   chi-plastic-10-things-you-may-not-know-20110509

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   • jenjame says:

     May 12, 2011 at 2:49 pm

     Woah!!! This is disturbing and VERY informative. Thank you so much for sharing this!!

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3. MamaNis says:

   May 17, 2011 at 4:59 pm

   GREAT ARTICLE!

   An Organic Future for Healthier Kids
   by Erik Hoffner, writer for Grist.org and Orion magazine on May 16, 2011

   Recently published human health studies link prenatal exposure to pesticides with learning problems in children. Turns out that these commonly used agricultural pesticides, designed to act like brain poisons, really do their job, and not only on insects! Specifically, a family of chemicals called organophosphates has links to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and lower IQs in children, syndromes with life-long ramifications. Children suffer these effects long after birth, too. Those with above-average levels of the pesticides in their urine have been found to be twice as likely to have a diagnosis of ADHD, for example.

   The findings (and those associated with other chemical assaults on our kids’ brains) are laid out brilliantly in “Mind Games,” a feature piece in a recent edition of Orion magazine by biologist, author, and mother Sandra Steingraber, whose new book Raising Elijah came out this March, and who has a rare knack for making dry research data come to life. After reading it, I could not dispute her statement that “If organophosphate pesticides are damaging children’s brains at background levels of exposure and above, they should be abolished.”

   Think of the enormous amount of fossil fuels that the agri-chemical industry uses to synthesize chemicals like organophosphates, which in turn irreparably harm the developing brains of our next generations. All because our farms are so huge—in seeking those economies of scale—that sustainable pest management techniques cost too much. Which really begs the question of what kinds of costs ought to be borne, and which ones ought not.

   Until these chemicals are indeed abolished for their long-ranging effects on human health and the environment, the main way to protect yourself and your kids is by buying organic food. As Organic Valley’s “Why Organic” page states, “An organic diet provides a dramatic and immediate protective effect against exposures to organophosphorus pesticides.” This rapid decrease in the levels of such chemicals in kids’ bodies, just by eating different food, is a very hopeful fact.

   But it would be unwise to halt our remedial action at the point of food consumption. In order to see the end of these chemicals, a grassroots movement to pressure the government will be needed. The EPA, after absorbing the findings of the studies, responded weakly that its work to date has phased out a limited number of organophosphate pesticides. Which means that millions of pounds of these toxins remain in regular use annually on U.S. farms!

   Sorry, that’s just not good enough. As Steingraber expressed in an email to me this week:

   “At what point do we parents rise up and say, ‘Enough is enough. Like cigarette smoke in public places, pesticide residues in food represent, for our children, acts of reckless endangerment.’ Like seatbelts, sobriety, and smoke-free buildings, organic agriculture needs to become the new normal way of growing food. Parents are perfectly poised to lead that charge.”

   I invite you to consider the moving thesis of Steingraber’s Orion article and decide for yourself what role parents can play in this debate, and what future, if any, agricultural shortcuts like organophosphate pesticides should have in a society that loves its kids.

   Erik Hoffner is a photojournalist, fine art photographer, and a writer for Grist.org, the biggest green news site in the U.S. By day he’s Outreach Coordinator for the award-winning journal of nature/culture/place, Orion, based in Western Massachusetts. See more of his work at http://www.erikhoffner.com.

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4. MamaNis says:

   May 28, 2011 at 12:15 pm

   Check this out! http://www.naturalnews.com/032484_vaccines_immunity.html#ixzz1NfpXPeFS

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