Mom’s Soap Box

Man Vs. Woman

Success:
A successful man is one who makes more money than his wife can spend.
A successful woman is one who can find such a man.

The Morning:
Men wake up as good-looking as they went to bed.
Women somehow deteriorate during the night.

Money Management:
A man is a person who will pay two dollars for a one-dollar item he wants.
A woman will pay one dollar for a two-dollar item that she doesn’t.

Happiness:
To be happy with a man you must understand him a lot and love him a little.
To be happy with a woman you must love her a lot and not try to understand her at all.

Marriage Expectations:
A woman marries a man expecting he will change, but he doesn’t.
A man marries a woman expecting that she won’t change and she does.

Marriage Decisions:
Men marry because they are tired.
Women marry because they are curious.
Both are disappointed.

Marriage and the Future:
A woman worries about the future until she gets a husband.
A man never worries about the future until he gets a wife.

Memories:
A woman will always cherish the memory of the man who wanted to marry her.
A man cherishes the memory of the woman who he didn’t marry.

Understanding Women:
There are two times when a man doesn’t understand a woman - before marriage and after marriage.

What a Woman Wants:
Only two things are necessary to keep one’s wife happy:
One is to let her think she is having her own way.
The other is to let her have it.

Longevity:
Married men live longer than single men, but married men are a lot more willing to die.

Mistakes:
Any married man should forget his mistakes - no use two people remembering the same thing.

The Battle:
A woman always has the last word in any argument.
Anything a man says after that is the beginning of a new argument.

Every day, over 27,000 children are exposed to domestic violence in the U.S. and four will die as a result of child abuse and neglect. But if everyone knew the 10 common signs of child abuse, we could help these kids live lives free from violence and full of possibility.

Learn and watch out for the 10 common signs of child abuse:

* Unexplained injuries. Visible signs of physical abuse may include unexplained burns or bruises.

* Changes in behavior. Abused children often appear scared, anxious, depressed, withdrawn or more aggressive.

* Returning to earlier behaviors. Abused children may display behaviors shown at earlier ages, such as thumb-sucking, bed-wetting, fear of the dark or strangers.

* Fear of going home. Abused children may express apprehension or anxiety about leaving school or about going places with the person who is abusing them.

* Changes in eating. The stress, fear and anxiety caused by abuse can lead to changes in a child’s eating behaviors, which may result in weight gain or weight loss.

* Changes in sleeping. Abused children may have frequent nightmares or have difficulty falling asleep, and as a result may appear tired or fatigued.

* Changes in school performance and attendance. Abused children may have difficulty concentrating in school or have excessive absences, sometimes due to adults trying to hide the children’s injuries from authorities.

* Lack of personal care or hygiene. Abused and neglected children may appear uncared for.

* Risk-taking behaviors. Young people who are being abused may engage in high-risk activities such as using drugs or alcohol or carrying a weapon.

* Inappropriate sexual behaviors. Children who have been sexually abused may exhibit overly sexualized behavior or use explicit sexual language.

Some signs that a child is experiencing violence or abuse are more obvious than others. Trust your instincts. Suspected abuse is enough of a reason to contact the authorities. You do not need proof. The parents and authorities will be able to sort out legitimate behaviors, such as the risk-taking of an ADHD child, from those caused by abuse. Don’t be afraid of being a troublemaker. This kind of trouble is worth it. Children are worth it.

A little boy in foster care is dead by his own hand, but a poorly functioning child welfare system also is responsible. 7-year-old Gabriel Myers hanged himself while in a South Florida foster home.

St. Petersburg Times staff writer Kris Hundley reported that at the time of his death, Gabriel was taking Vyvanse, an ADHD drug, and Symbyax, a combination antipsychotic and antidepressant, which warns of heightened suicide risk in children particularly when first prescribed.

Those drugs are so hard on children, even when they have a loving, supportive family to help them deal with the use of such strong psychiatric medications. I can’t even imagine my ADHD daughter dealing with foster care, and she doesn’t have even half the “issues” that Gabriel had to deal with on his own. It’s obscene that “the system” consistently fails such vulnerable children.

When a child is in state custody, a parent must give explicit consent after being “expressly informed” about changes in a child’s medication, including being told of medications’ benefits and risks and about alternative treatments. That never happened in Gabriel’s case, and it appears this case is not unique. It has been a common practice for DCF workers and physicians to fail to obtain parental consent when a psychotropic drug is for a nonpsychotherapeutic use, under the mistaken impression that the law didn’t require it.

And foster care advocates say that DCF’s internal records are abysmal in tracking children taking psychotropic medications. Six times, Gabriel’s caseworker documented that the Department of Children and Families had parental consent for the medication. There was no such consent. Gabriel’s mother signed a general medical authorization on the same day she was found unconscious in her car with powder cocaine, crack and oxycodone in her possession. This suggests that proper consents are not being obtained.

DCF Secretary George Sheldon is closing the loophole that allowed the prescribing of mood-altering drugs without parental consent. He also named an impressive committee to investigate Gabriel’s death and make recommendations. Sheldon made public the details of Gabriel’s situation rather than try to cover up DCF’s failings. That alone bodes well for an honest accounting and a sincere desire to reform.

But to prevent a similar situation, Sheldon will have to look beyond a caseworker’s failure to inform a parent and address a system’s failure to adequately meet Gabriel’s needs.

Gabriel said he had been a victim of sexual abuse before moving to Florida, which means he should not have been placed in any foster home where there were small children present. Gabriel also didn’t receive all the behavioral therapy he needed, and he lost the therapist with whom he had established a relationship. As Gabriel started engaging in inappropriate touching, he was bounced from one foster placement to another to protect other children. This kind of shuffling can add trauma to a child who is already at risk.

Sheldon noted that in the days before his suicide Gabriel changed medications, moved to a new foster home and received a new therapist. State law needs to be followed when prescribing medication for children in foster care. And particularly when it comes to traumatized children, there has to be a realization that drugs are no substitute for basic human care and attention.

It’s not entirely brand new but interest in the PediSedate has been resurrected by Technologizer looking at Game Boy oddities as part of a 20th anniversary tribute to Nintendo’s handheld gaming console. The PediSedate is a clever medical gadget consisting of a colorful, toy-like headset that connects to a game console like a Game Boy system or some portable digital music player.

The pediatric sedation headset is designed to distract children, through giving them something that is fun and familiar, so they are calm and comfortable while they are being sedated in preparation for surgery or some other medical procedure.

While the child is listening to music or playing a game, the PediSedate monitors breathing continuously and distributes nitrous oxide, an anesthetic gas. By being in a calm state when sedated, the child has less chance of being traumatized by a stressful medical or dental procedure.

Maegan has been sedated twice for dental procedures and once for a surgical procedure. (She’s only 7!) The first time she was only three and needed tubes placed in her ears for drainage. The worst part of the whole experience was the sedation. The pre-op sedation wasn’t too bad, although she did almost fall out of her seat before going completely under. I think the PediSedate would have been a handy way to keep her still while the sedatives kicked in. The subsequent sedation experiences were even worse. She hates sitting still and doesn’t understand that moving around while being sedated is a risky proposition at best. If only the PediSedate had been available then, the whole experience might have been much less traumatic for us.

Now if they could just find a way to make coming out from under sedation easier. If you have never had to deal with a small child waking from sedation, count yourself very, very lucky. It is not pretty or enjoyable. In fact, it was more painful than childbirth for me.

Are they dead that yet speak louder than we can speak, and a more universal language? Are they dead that yet act? Are they dead that yet move upon society and inspire the people with nobler motives and more heroic patriotism? ~Henry Ward Beecher

The legacy of heroes is the memory of a great name and the inheritance of a great example. ~Benjamin Disraeli

Better than honor and glory, and History’s iron pen, Was the thought of duty done and the love of his fellow-men. ~Richard Watson Gilder

A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself. ~Joseph Campbell

I have never been able to think of the day as one of mourning; I have never quite been able to feel that half-masted flags were appropriate on Decoration Day. I have rather felt that the flag should be at the peak, because those whose dying we commemorate rejoiced in seeing it where their valor placed it. We honor them in a joyous, thankful, triumphant commemoration of what they did. ~Benjamin Harrison

All we have of freedom, all we use or know -This our fathers bought for us long and long ago. ~Rudyard Kipling, The Old Issue, 1899

Your silent tents of green We deck with fragrant flowers; Yours has the suffering been, The memory shall be ours. ~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

“Four things support the world: the learning of the wise, the justice of the great, the prayers of the good, and the valor of the brave” ~Muhammad

“The bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is before them, glory and danger alike, and yet notwithstanding, go out to meet it.” ~Thucydides

“True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost.” ~Arthur Ashe

“Nurture your minds with great thoughts, to believe in the heroic makes heroes.”~Benjamin Disraeli

Whoever, and however, you remember, have a safe and peaceful Memorial Day.

Tires are made to last a long time and are almost indestructible, yet about a billion of them are discarded worldwide each year. Disposal typically involves shredding, burning or dumping in landfill, all of which can lead to health and environmental problems such as toxic fires, leaching of chemicals into the soil and creating breeding grounds for vermin and pests.

With the growing affordability and popularity of cars, especially in countries such as India and China, global demand for rubber far exceeds supply, making the need for an economical and environmentally friendly recycling solution, such as this, all the more critical

A much-needed new process of recycling old tires is being developed in Australia. The developers say the energy-efficient, economically viable method is environmentally responsible, and could result in 50 per cent more tires being recycled.

CSIRO and VR TEK are working together to create a new technique that will cut old tires into specific segments for reuse. Those segments are then used to produce high-quality rubber powders for making new rubber products. Even better, this new method enables tires to be recycled without metal contamination. Which has been one of the main deterrents for recycling tires.

The rubber powders could be used to produce new tires, elasto-polymer-based rubber products, industrial insulation, road pavement, industrial and domestic flooring or geo-textiles for retaining walls and embankments.

VR TEK managing director Michael Vainer says that “not only is there commercial potential for all these new products, but also, recycling rubber is a cheaper and more energy-efficient option than producing virgin materials.”

Four negative effects of industrial agriculture:

• Genital feminization of male humans and animals: This one always gets them where it hurts, but the industrial pesticides used in agriculture are among the class of chemicals that mimics or stimulates estrogenic activity in the body and are linked, or suspected of being linked, to decreased sperm counts and genital abnormalities in male animals up and down the food chain.

• Herbicides linked to cancer, neurological disorders: Nanaimo, British Columbia, has recently banned the use of herbicides on residential lawns based on the growing body of evidence that they’re linked to a host of cancers, reproductive problems, respiratory illness and neurological effects from learning disorders to full-blown Parkinson’s disease. The herbicides used on lawns are often just repackaged versions of the same chemicals, like Roundup, sold in bulk to farmers.

1. Antibiotics fed to livestock have created antibiotic-resistant bacteria: Called MRSA, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, these difficult to treat infections commonly only attack people with compromised immune systems and were once more commonly associated with hospital environments. They don’t seem to have developed forms that are very easily transmissible, but they keep showing up in farm environments where low-dose antibiotics are used as growth promoters and infection preventives.

• Plants absorb antibiotics from soil amendments: If you use manure from an animal that’s been given lots of antibiotics as a plant fertilizer, the plants will incorporate those antibiotics into their tissue. Even people who eat organic food, even people who have a totally vegan diet, can thus get our livestock antibiotics passed on to them in low, irregular doses - just about the worst possible way to take antibiotics. The genes that confer antibiotic resistance in bacteria don’t necessarily help them survive any better in the environment at large; which is why penicillin has become useful again, because the resistance genes faded from the active bacterial population after it fell into disuse. Maintaining regular exposure of bacterial populations to antibiotics puts positive selection pressure on antibiotic resistance genes.

Developed at the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, the controller automatically recharges electric vehicles during times of least cost to the consumer and lower demand for power. Widespread use of these devices could help advance a smart power grid.

“If a million owners plug in their vehicles to recharge after work, it could cause a major strain on the grid,” said PNNL engineer Michael Kintner-Meyer. “The Smart Charger Controller could prevent those peaks in demand from plug-in vehicles and enable our existing grid to be used more evenly. Using the device could save up to $150 a year for electric vehicle owners who pay based on when they charge their vehicle,” Kintner-Meyer said.

A previous PNNL study showed that America’s existing power grid could meet the needs of about 70 percent of all U.S. light-duty vehicles if battery charging was managed to avoid new peaks in electricity demand.

The Smart Charger Controller does just that. Owners program the controller to charge at a specific time or at a set price point. The controller uses a low-range wireless technology to communicate with the power grid and determine the best and cheapest time to recharge vehicles. By charging vehicles during off-peak times, the controller saves consumers money.

In addition to the financial savings, “smart” technologies also save the grid from brownouts with little impact to the consumer. Grid Friendly™ technology inside the Smart Charger Controller senses stress conditions on the grid. When the grid says more power is needed, the controller can temporarily stop charging the vehicle until the stress subsides.

This instant reduction in charging load, multiplied on a large scale with many vehicles, could serve as a shock absorber for the grid. The technology would relieve load instantly and give grid operators time to bring new power generation sources on line to stabilize the grid - a process that usually takes several minutes.

Sounds like a win-win situation to me.

You are constantly being advised, by the media, to drink milk, eat low-fat yogurt, or cheese, and other dairy products, and to take calcium supplements and estrogen.

Why?

To avoid osteoporosis.

Here’s the bad news . . . . . despite taking calcium supplements, getting exercise and taking estrogen, at least 1.2 million women suffer fractures due to osteoporosis every year. And the number of these fractures has been increasing - more than twice as many fractures occur now, compared with 30 years ago.

A study by the Mayo Clinic reported that extra calcium supplementation tripled the risk of fractures in some women already suffering from osteoporosis. A 1972 study of autopsies showed a close correlation between osteoporosis and calcification of the abdominal aorta. What this means is the calcium is leaving one place, namely your bones, and ending up in the wrong place - your arteries.

According to researchers, osteoporosis is a disease of modern civilization. Skeletons from the 1700’s and 1800’s have been studied. Scientists found that the women living two to three centuries ago had stronger bones than the women today. In underdeveloped countries, there is also much less osteoporosis with a daily calcium intake much less than ours. So, clearly osteoporosis is not simply a lack of calcium in our diets.

Calcium is just one element in a delicate balance of vitamins, minerals, enzymes and hormones. Many women actually have plenty of calcium but are very low in magnesium and/or other essential minerals. The first problem with taking calcium supplements is that you increase the need for other minerals, like magnesium, which helps to get the calcium out of your bloodstream and into your bones.

If you don’t have enough magnesium in your body to match the extra calcium, then the calcium you’re taking gets deposited in your muscles, arteries, and joints (causing fibromyalgia, blocked arteries, and arthritis). And if the calcium starts to clog the fine capillaries in your brain, guess what - your thinking and memory can be affected. If this happens in your arms and legs you may experience cold hands and feet.

Viral infections, fatigue, muscle aches and pains (fibromyalgia), diabetes, increased urination (so you may not have a bladder infection after all), constipation, flatulence, or serious depression are signs of too much calcium in your system.

Our bodies are very good at recycling calcium - that’s one of the great functions of your bones - they are a storehouse of calcium. And it’s a two-way street - when everything is working properly you can get calcium out of your bones or put more into your bones - kind of like a bank account - money in, money out. However, our bodies are not good at storing and recycling magnesium. Taking more calcium may be causing a magnesium deficiency.

Some other important minerals are:

· B-6 & ZINC (birth control pills are especially noted for depleting these)

· VITAMIN “F” or essential fatty acids like flax seed oil (if you get cold sores, fever blisters, canker sores, if you have itching, or if you get hives from going out in the sun you need more vitamin “F”; this vitamin unloads calcium out of your bloodstream and delivers it to your tissues)

· MANGANESE (at least half of the manganese in your diet is lost by eating breads with refined flour instead of whole wheat flour),

· COPPER

· PHOSPHORUS

· VITAMIN K (known for blood clotting, it’s also necessary for strong bones - it’s depleted by using antibiotics).

· HYDROCHLORIC ACID, a normal stomach acid, is also essential. Having adequate hydrochloric acid is more important for your bones than calcium, because stomach acid helps you to absorb nutrients from your food. Most nutrients must first be dissolved or put into solution. Calcium dissolves easily in stomach acids, but dissolves hardly at all in water. If you have low stomach acid you won’t be able to break down all the calcium you’re taking.

Knowing what to do is much more complicated than just swallowing a few calcium tablets. If you want to see how your minerals are doing, one of the best tests I know of is a hair mineral analysis.

FOUR THINGS YOU MUST DO IF YOU WANT STRONGER BONES AND BETTER HEALTH

#1) Find out which vitamins and minerals, besides calcium, are important to maintain YOUR bones.

#2) Find out if you need natural progesterone. Estrogen is not the only hormone that influences your bones.

#3) Reduce your body’s burden of heavy metals such as aluminum, cadmium, and lead.

#4) Reduce bone robbing foods in your diet. (There are five major “bone mineral robbing” bandits: sugar, caffeine, refined grains (white bread), soda, and smoking.)

Spices have untapped health benefits and have recently been stealing the scene as powerful cancer preventatives and fighters. Below are five you might want to consider adding to your diet:

1. Cayenne Pepper

Cayenne pepper contains capsaicin, yet another cancer preventative. When used in excess it can cause heartburn, but a little sprinkled onto everyday foods should be enough for you to see the benefits. Cayenne peppers are full of beta-carotene, other antioxidants and immune boosters and help to build healthy mucous membranes - our first level of defense against bacteria and viruses.

1. Cinnamon

Besides being a yummy addition to coffee, cinnamon protects against Type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Derived from tree bark, this wonderful spice stimulates the body’s circulatory system. Just half a teaspoon taken daily lowers blood glucose, cholesterol, and triglyceride levels. It also counteracts congestion, may be useful treating osteoarthritis and improves blood circulation.

1. Garlic

Garlic is one of the most potent weapons in preventing cancer, particularly colon cancer. Containing the photochemical allicin, garlic stimulates the production of cancer-fighting enzymes. Daily garlic consumption can lower total cholesterol and triglyceride levels by 10 percent

1. Ginger

For centuries, this knobby little root has been used for an upset tummy. We now know that it holds anti-inflammatory properties, shows promise in treating cancer, osteoarthritis and, when used topically, rheumatoid arthritis. It can be used as an appetite stimulant, and a treatment for nausea.

1. Turmeric

Researchers have discovered that, not only does it fight cancer, but turmeric also contains an entire spectrum of other health benefits, including inflammation-fighting compounds called curcuminoids. These compounds may help prevent Alzheimer’s, arthritis, and carpal tunnel syndrome. When used topically turmeric has been known to help heal skin infections.

“HELP ME TO FOCUS” Please teach me through my sense of “touch”. I need “hands-on” and body movement to learn.

“I need to know what comes next” Please give me a structured environment where there is a dependable routine. Give me an advanced warning if there will be changes.

“Wait for me, I’m still thinking” Please allow me to go at my own pace. If I rush, I get confused and upset.

“I’m stuck! I can’t do it!” Please offer me options for problem-solving. I need to know the detours when the road is blocked.

“is it right? I need to know NOW!” Please give me rich and immediate feedback on how I’m doing.

“I didn’t know I WASN’T in my seat!” Please remind me to stop, think and act.

“Am I almost done now?” Please give me short work periods with short-term goals.

“What?” Please don’t say “I already told you that.” Tell me again in different words. Give me a signal. Draw me a symbol.

“I know, It’s ALL wrong,isn’t it?” Please give me praise for partial success. Reward me for self-improvement, not just for perfection.

“But why do I always get yelled at?” Please catch me doing something right and praise me for my specific positive behaviour. Remind me (and yourself) about my good points, when I’m having a bad day.

“I may be hard to live with, and have ADHD, but I still have feelings and would have never chosen to behave like I do sometimes.”

In 1995, over 2 million children were diagnosed with ADHD (Woodwell 1997) — twice the number diagnosed in 1990. By 1999, 3.4 percent of all American children had received a stimulant prescription for an attention disorder. Today, that number is closer to ten percent. Stimulants aren’t the only drugs being given out like candy to our children. A variety of other psychotropics like antidepressants, antipsychotics, and sedatives are finding their way into babies’ medicine cabinets in large numbers. In fact, the worldwide market for these drugs is growing at a rate of ten percent a year, $20.7 billion in sales of antipsychotics alone (for 2007, IMSHealth 2008).

While the sheer volume of psychotropics being prescribed for children might, in and of itself, produce alarm, there has not been a substantial backlash against drug use in large part because of the widespread perception that “medically authorized” drugs must be safe. Yet, there is considerable evidence that psychoactive drugs do not take second place to other controlled pharmaceuticals in carrying grave and substantial risks. All classes of psychoactive drugs are associated with patient deaths, and each produces serious side effects, some of which are life threatening.

• In 2005, researchers analyzed data from 250,000 patients in the Netherlands and concluded that “we can be reasonably sure that antipsychotics are associated in something like a threefold increase in sudden cardiac death, and perhaps that older antipsychotics may be worse” (Straus et al. 2004).
• In 2007, the FDA chose to beef up its black box warning (reserved for substances that represent the most serious danger to the public) against antidepressants concluding, “the trend across age groups toward an association between antidepressants and suicidality . . . was convincing, particularly when superimposed on earlier analyses of data on adolescents from randomized, controlled trials” (Friedman and Leon 2007).
• According to a confidential FDA report, prolonged administration of amphetamines (the standard treatment for ADD and ADHD) “may lead to drug dependence and must be avoided.” They further reported that “misuse of amphetamine may cause sudden death and serious cardiovascular adverse events” (Food and Drug Administration 2005).
• The risk of fatal toxicity from lithium carbonate, a not uncommon treatment for bipolar disorder, has been well documented since the 1950s.
• Incidents of fatal seizures from sedative-hypnotics, especially when mixed with alcohol, have been recorded since the 1920s.
• A 2005 report from the Partnership for a Drug Free America, based on a survey of more than 7,300 teenagers, found one in ten teenagers, or 2.3 million young people, had tried prescription stimulants without a doctor’s order, and 29 percent of those surveyed said they had close friends who have abused prescription stimulants.

The whole undertaking has had the disturbing effect of making drug use an accepted part of childhood. Few cultures anywhere on earth and anytime in the past have been so willing to provide stimulants and sedative-hypnotics to their offspring, especially at such tender ages. An entire generation of young people has been brought up to believe that drug-seeking behavior is both rational and respectable and that most psychological problems have a pharmacological solution. With the ubiquity of psychotropics, children now have the means, opportunity, example, and encouragement to develop a lifelong habit of self-medicating.

Mental illness is a fact of life, and it is naïve to imagine that there are not seriously disturbed children in every neighborhood and school. What is more, in the straitened economy of child rearing and education, medication may be the most efficient and cost effective treatment for some of these children. Nevertheless, to medicate not just the most complicated cases, but one child in every ten, despite the availability of less destructive treatments and regardless of doubtful science, is a tragedy of epic proportions.

source

If there was any question about how the Obama administration would get behind agricultural biotechnology, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is removing any doubt. In fact, he says he’s going to do a better job than the Bush administration. (at poisoning us?)

Just back from the G8 summit in Italy, Vilsack pledged to bring a “more comprehensive and integrated” approach to promoting agricultural-biotech overseas.

That will be good news to biotech companies such as Pioneer Hi-Bred and Monsanto but it shouldn’t be much of a surprise. Vilsack was a vocal backer of the biotech industry as governor, and President Barack Obama has been a supporter as well.

Speaking to a group of agriculture journalists, Vilsack cited a recent inspector general’s report that said USDA had not done enough to “facilitate trade opportunities” for biotech products. However, the report noted that some USDA officials have been opposed to getting involved in promoting the products of private companies.

Much of the international opposition to genetically engineered seeds is centered in the European Union but that has led to resistance among countries in Africa and elsewhere that export food to Europe.

The declaration issued at the end of the G8 farm ministers’ summit called for increased “investments in agricultural science, research, technology, education, extension services and innovation.”

A long-term feeding study commissioned by the Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety, managed by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Health, Family and Youth, and carried out by Veterinary University Vienna, confirms genetically modified (GM) corn seriously affects reproductive health in mice. Non-GMO advocates, who have warned about this infertility link along with other health risks, now seek an immediate ban of all GM foods and GM crops to protect the health of humankind and the fertility of women around the world.

Feeding mice with genetically modified corn developed by the US-based Monsanto Corporation led to lower fertility and body weight, according to the study conducted by the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna. Lead author of the study Professor Zentek said, there was a direct link between the decrease in fertility and the GM diet, and that mice fed with non-GE corn reproduced more efficiently.

In the study, Austrian scientists performed several long-term feeding trials over 20 weeks with laboratory mice fed a diet containing 33% of a GM variety (NK 603 x MON 810), or a closely related non-GE variety used in many countries. Statistically significant litter size and pup weight decreases were found in the third and fourth litters in the GM-fed mice, compared to the control group. 

The corn is genetically modified with genes that produce a pesticidal toxin, as well as genes that allow it to survive applications of Monsanto’s herbicide Roundup.

A book by author Jeffrey M. Smith, Genetic Roulette, distributed to members of congress last year, documents 65 serious health risks of GM products, including similar fertility problems with GM soy and GM corn: Offspring of rats fed GM soy showed a five-fold increase in mortality, lower birth weights, and the inability to reproduce. Male mice fed GM soy had damaged young sperm cells. The embryo offspring of GM soy-fed mice had altered DNA functioning. Several US farmers reported sterility or fertility problems among pigs and cows fed on GM corn varieties. Additionally, over the last two months, investigators in India have documented fertility problems, abortions, premature births, and other serious health issues, including deaths, among buffaloes fed GM cottonseed products.

The principle GM crops are soy, corn, cottonseed and canola. GM sugar from sugar beets will also be introduced before year’s end.

Mr. Smith, who is also the Executive Director of the Institute for Responsible Technology says, “GM foods are likely responsible for several negative health trends in the US. The government must impose an immediate ban on these dangerous crops.” He says, “Consumers don’t need to wait for governmental action. They can download a free Non-GMO Shopping Guide at www.HealthierEating.org.”

The Institute for Responsible Technology’s Campaign for Healthier Eating in America mobilizes citizens, organizations, businesses, and the media, to achieve the tipping point of consumer rejection of genetically modified foods.

The Institute educates people about the documented health risks of GMOs and provides them with healthier non-GMO product choices.

The Institute also informs policy makers and the public around the world about the impacts of GMOs on health, environment, the economy, and agriculture, and the problems associated with current research, regulation, corporate practices, and reporting.

###

Institute For Responsible Technology
Media Contact: NJ Jaeger
Expert Contact: Jeffrey M. Smith
Email: njmail@cox.net
Phone: +1-310-377-0915

Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety
Corporate Communication: Univ.-Doz. Ingrid Kiefer
Tel: +43 50 555-25000; E-Mail: ingrid.kiefer@ages.at

Links

Austrian Study: http://www.ages.at/ueber-uns/presse/pressemeldungen/klarstellung-zu-neuen-er
Institute for Responsible Technology: http://responsibletechnology.org
Non-GMO Shopping Guide: http://www.responsibletechnology.org/DocumentFiles/144.pdf
Genetic Roulette: http://www.geneticroulette.com

When I was a kid, about the worst anyone could say about sugar was that it would give you cavities and ruin your appetite for dinner. How innocent we all were! Now we know that over consumption of refined sugar contributes directly to heart disease and diabetes and indirectly to cancer, osteoporosis, and other illnesses.

Yet we now eat (and drink) more of it than ever. In fact, our national epidemic of obesity has continued unabated despite the introduction of an enormous number of beverages and foods sweetened with sugar substitutes over the past few decades. As the health consequences of our sugar addiction become more and more obvious, many consumers are turning to sweeteners that are supposedly healthier or more “natural.”

Which misses the point. In terms of safety, most sweeteners have looked good when they were introduced only to later prove detrimental to health. Concentrated sweeteners—whether they come from a beehive, a lily plant, a maple tree, or a sugar refinery—should be consumed in very limited quantities. And it is true; all of these sweeteners are fine in moderation. But Americans don’t consume moderate amounts of high-fructose corn syrup.

High-fructose corn syrup: Where to find it

High-fructose corn syrup makes up, on average, about 10% of all of our calories consumed. It is added to sodas, crackers, sweets, bacon, barbeque sauces, breads, and an amazing array of other manufactured foods. One study of eighth graders found that between 14% and 16% of calories eaten in an average day was in the form of fructose. If you are a typical American, only about one-third of the fructose that you get in your diet comes from fruits and vegetables (which are great sources of healthy fiber). Nearly all the rest comes from food and drinks that contain high-fructose corn syrup. Since we’re eating so much of it, high-fructose corn syrup had better be healthy even when we don’t eat it in moderation.

It is ironic that pure corn syrup (not the high-fructose kind) has no fructose at all. Pure corn syrup is made of dextrose, which is 100% glucose. It is about three-quarters as sweet as high-fructose corn syrup. It is not the kind of corn syrup that is used in most processed foods. For our health, I would like to see the corn refining industry change their manufacturing process, to make a no-fructose or reduced-fructose sweetener.

Parents trying to limit the amount of sugar consumed by their little ones may also be interested in recent research showing that if you can teach very young children the benefits of delayed gratification, you’ll reduce the chances of their being overweight as middle-schoolers.