sábado, 26 de noviembre de 2011
but of course
“La lactancia materna, casi imprescindible para la supervivencia infantil hace no muchos años, ha variado durante la segunda mitad del siglo XX debido, principalmente, a la aparición de la lactancia artificial”, explica Juan Ramón Ordoñana, investigador de la Universidad de Murcia y autor principal del estudio.
El trabajo, publicado recientemente en el Journal of Human Lactation, analiza cómo han evolucionado las tasas de lactancia materna en la Región de Murcia y, por extensión en España, en las últimas décadas, si se comportaban igual las mujeres que tenían hijos en los años 60’ que las que lo hacían en los 80’ o en los 90’.
Los autores estudiaron a 666 mujeres que habían sido madres por primera vez desde principios de los 60 hasta finales del siglo pasado. Además de recoger información sobre la alimentación de sus hijos, los expertos tomaron datos sociodemográficos, fundamentalmente el nivel de estudios que habían alcanzado.
“El efecto de un mayor nivel educativo sobre la duración de la lactancia no es siempre el mismo y depende del contexto social en que se produce”, subraya Ordoñana.
Así, las mujeres con un nivel de estudios medio o superior disminuyeron la duración de la lactancia de forma drástica al inicio de los 70 y sus tasas se equipararon al de mujeres con menos estudios en las décadas de los 70 y 80. Sin embargo, posteriormente presentaron una tendencia firme al aumento (del 3,4% anual) que se mantuvo hasta el final de siglo.
Los autores explican estos resultados en la mayor facilidad de las mujeres con mayor nivel de estudios para asimilar los mensajes del personal sanitario acerca de los beneficios de la lactancia materna. “También es probable que las condiciones de sus trabajos, su nivel económico y su mayor acceso a servicios sanitarios facilitaran el mantenimiento de la lactancia materna si lo deseaban”, recalcan.
Igualmente, los expertos asocian esta evolución con la incorporación progresiva de las mujeres al mundo laboral, el movimiento hacia la recuperación de lo natural que apareció a finales de los 90, la ampliación del permiso de maternidad y un amplio número de factores socioculturales que han influido en el comportamiento de las mujeres ante la llegada de sus bebés.
Además, las recomendaciones del personal sanitario en torno a la alimentación de los recién nacidos han oscilado desde la lactancia artificial durante los años 70 y 80, al posterior fomento de la lactancia materna, debido a los beneficios para la salud que se descubrían y a las recomendaciones de la Organización Mundial de la Salud de prolongarla hasta los seis meses como mínimo.
Este estudio se enmarca dentro del proyecto Registro de Gemelos de Murcia, cuyo objetivo es analizar la contribución relativa de factores tanto genéticos como ambientales en el desarrollo de conductas relacionadas con la salud.
Fuente: SINC.
El trabajo, publicado recientemente en el Journal of Human Lactation, analiza cómo han evolucionado las tasas de lactancia materna en la Región de Murcia y, por extensión en España, en las últimas décadas, si se comportaban igual las mujeres que tenían hijos en los años 60’ que las que lo hacían en los 80’ o en los 90’.
Alargar la lactancia meterna vuelve a ser importante para las madres
“Encontramos una gráfica con forma de U”, afirma Ordoñana. “Las duraciones de lactancia materna más altas se encontraron a principios de los 60’ (61,3% más de seis meses) y a finales de los 90’ (29% para la misma duración) y las más bajas, en la década de los 70’ y 80’ (14,4% y 19,2%, respectivamente)”.Los autores estudiaron a 666 mujeres que habían sido madres por primera vez desde principios de los 60 hasta finales del siglo pasado. Además de recoger información sobre la alimentación de sus hijos, los expertos tomaron datos sociodemográficos, fundamentalmente el nivel de estudios que habían alcanzado.
“El efecto de un mayor nivel educativo sobre la duración de la lactancia no es siempre el mismo y depende del contexto social en que se produce”, subraya Ordoñana.
¿Por qué las mujeres con más formación prolongan más la lactancia?
La investigación relaciona estos resultados con los cambios sociales ocurridos y su impacto en las mujeres.Así, las mujeres con un nivel de estudios medio o superior disminuyeron la duración de la lactancia de forma drástica al inicio de los 70 y sus tasas se equipararon al de mujeres con menos estudios en las décadas de los 70 y 80. Sin embargo, posteriormente presentaron una tendencia firme al aumento (del 3,4% anual) que se mantuvo hasta el final de siglo.
Los autores explican estos resultados en la mayor facilidad de las mujeres con mayor nivel de estudios para asimilar los mensajes del personal sanitario acerca de los beneficios de la lactancia materna. “También es probable que las condiciones de sus trabajos, su nivel económico y su mayor acceso a servicios sanitarios facilitaran el mantenimiento de la lactancia materna si lo deseaban”, recalcan.
De la maternidad arropada por las mujeres de la tribu al apoyo de la pareja
La investigación relaciona estos resultados con los cambios sociales ocurridos y su impacto en las mujeres. Por ejemplo, se ha pasado de una estructura familiar amplia, donde convivían las mujeres de varias generaciones y se apoyaban unas a otras en el “arte de lactar”, a una familia nuclear, donde la mujer cuenta cada vez más con el apoyo emocional e instrumental de su pareja, pero no tanto con el de otras mujeres.Igualmente, los expertos asocian esta evolución con la incorporación progresiva de las mujeres al mundo laboral, el movimiento hacia la recuperación de lo natural que apareció a finales de los 90, la ampliación del permiso de maternidad y un amplio número de factores socioculturales que han influido en el comportamiento de las mujeres ante la llegada de sus bebés.
Además, las recomendaciones del personal sanitario en torno a la alimentación de los recién nacidos han oscilado desde la lactancia artificial durante los años 70 y 80, al posterior fomento de la lactancia materna, debido a los beneficios para la salud que se descubrían y a las recomendaciones de la Organización Mundial de la Salud de prolongarla hasta los seis meses como mínimo.
Este estudio se enmarca dentro del proyecto Registro de Gemelos de Murcia, cuyo objetivo es analizar la contribución relativa de factores tanto genéticos como ambientales en el desarrollo de conductas relacionadas con la salud.
Fuente: SINC.
martes, 22 de noviembre de 2011
jueves, 17 de noviembre de 2011
god
Like most people, questions about the existence of God and all things spiritual plague me frequently. I want to believe in such things, especially when it comes to continuity of my consciousness. I don’t like the idea of disappearing when I die. I suspect most other people don’t either, which is what makes belief in systems like Heaven, reincarnation, or even Hell an attractive prospect to our minds. Despite my desire to accept religious teachings, I am constantly prevented by a simple fact: no one has found any physical evidence of something like a soul, or any mechanism which might enable a persistent consciousness beyond our current brain. The lack of physical evidence coupled with the strong benefit of believing in life after death, leads to strong doubt in my mind.
My assumption has always been: If something like a soul exists, and it affects our consciousness in any manner, then it must be detectable by some scientific device. I find it difficult to imagine that something can interact with my physical body without leaving any physical trace. But though I find it hard to imagine, is it possible for something like a soul to interact with me without leaving any physical trace?
I chose to test this hypothesis using a thought experiment, and ended up formulating a computer model to simulate our souls, the afterlife, and a spiritual model which requires no visible physical component.
MORE.
My assumption has always been: If something like a soul exists, and it affects our consciousness in any manner, then it must be detectable by some scientific device. I find it difficult to imagine that something can interact with my physical body without leaving any physical trace. But though I find it hard to imagine, is it possible for something like a soul to interact with me without leaving any physical trace?
I chose to test this hypothesis using a thought experiment, and ended up formulating a computer model to simulate our souls, the afterlife, and a spiritual model which requires no visible physical component.
MORE.
miércoles, 16 de noviembre de 2011
Caveman was buried like a woman, leading scientists to question his sexual orientation.
Stone Age remains Photo: ZUMA Press
Archaeologists investigating a 5,000-year-old Copper Age grave in the Czech Republic believe they may have unearthed the first known remains of a gay or transvestite caveman, reports the Telegraph.
The man was apparently buried as if he were a woman, an aberrant practice for an ancient culture known for its strict burial procedures.
Since the grave dates to between 2900 and 2500 BC, the man would have been a member of the Corded Ware culture, a late Stone Age and Copper Age people named after the unique kind of pottery they produced. Men in this culture were traditionally buried lying on their right side with their heads pointing west, but this man was instead buried on his left side with his head pointing east, which is how women were typically buried.
“From history and ethnology, we know that people from this period took funeral rites very seriously so it is highly unlikely that this positioning was a mistake,” said lead archaeologist Kamila Remisova Vesinova. “Far more likely is that he was a man with a different sexual orientation, homosexual or transsexual.”
Another clue is that Corded Ware men would typically be buried alongside weapons, hammers and flint knives, as well as food and drink to prepare them for their journey to the other side. But this man’s grave instead contained only a traditional egg-shaped pot, which was what women were typically buried with.
With all the evidence taken together, archaeologists are confident that the best explanation for the strange burial is that the man was effeminate, perhaps a homosexual, and possibly a transvestite.
“We believe this is one of the earliest cases of what could be described as a ‘transsexual’ or ‘third gender grave’ in the Czech Republic,” reiterated cooperating archaeologist Katerina Semradova.
Semradova also noted that archaeologists from a previous dig had uncovered a grave from the Mesolithic period where a female warrior was buried as a man, so mixed gender burials, though rare, were not unprecedented.
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Stone Age remains Photo: ZUMA Press
Archaeologists investigating a 5,000-year-old Copper Age grave in the Czech Republic believe they may have unearthed the first known remains of a gay or transvestite caveman, reports the Telegraph.
The man was apparently buried as if he were a woman, an aberrant practice for an ancient culture known for its strict burial procedures.
Since the grave dates to between 2900 and 2500 BC, the man would have been a member of the Corded Ware culture, a late Stone Age and Copper Age people named after the unique kind of pottery they produced. Men in this culture were traditionally buried lying on their right side with their heads pointing west, but this man was instead buried on his left side with his head pointing east, which is how women were typically buried.
“From history and ethnology, we know that people from this period took funeral rites very seriously so it is highly unlikely that this positioning was a mistake,” said lead archaeologist Kamila Remisova Vesinova. “Far more likely is that he was a man with a different sexual orientation, homosexual or transsexual.”
Another clue is that Corded Ware men would typically be buried alongside weapons, hammers and flint knives, as well as food and drink to prepare them for their journey to the other side. But this man’s grave instead contained only a traditional egg-shaped pot, which was what women were typically buried with.
With all the evidence taken together, archaeologists are confident that the best explanation for the strange burial is that the man was effeminate, perhaps a homosexual, and possibly a transvestite.
“We believe this is one of the earliest cases of what could be described as a ‘transsexual’ or ‘third gender grave’ in the Czech Republic,” reiterated cooperating archaeologist Katerina Semradova.
Semradova also noted that archaeologists from a previous dig had uncovered a grave from the Mesolithic period where a female warrior was buried as a man, so mixed gender burials, though rare, were not unprecedented.
Share this article
lunes, 14 de noviembre de 2011
mossad
Senior Iranian´s son murdered by same method as Hamas´ Mabhouh (DEBKAfile) Special Report 11/13/11
Shortly after two big explosions rocked Iranian Revolutionary Guards bases near Tehran Saturday, Nov. 12, Ahmed Rezaie, 31, was found dead in Dubai´s Gloria Hotel. He was the the son of a high-ranking Iranian official, Mohsen Rezaie, secretary of the powerful Expediency Council and former IRGC commander. The cause of his death strongly resembled the method by which Hamas´ contact man with Tehran Mahmoud al-Mabhouh was slain on Jan. 19, 2010 in another Dubai hotel. The local authorities laid that death at the door of Israel´s Mossad. For instance, Rezaie´s body showed no signs of violence. He appeared have been injected with the Suxamethonium muscle relaxant and then smothered with a pillow.
Shortly after two big explosions rocked Iranian Revolutionary Guards bases near Tehran Saturday, Nov. 12, Ahmed Rezaie, 31, was found dead in Dubai´s Gloria Hotel. He was the the son of a high-ranking Iranian official, Mohsen Rezaie, secretary of the powerful Expediency Council and former IRGC commander. The cause of his death strongly resembled the method by which Hamas´ contact man with Tehran Mahmoud al-Mabhouh was slain on Jan. 19, 2010 in another Dubai hotel. The local authorities laid that death at the door of Israel´s Mossad. For instance, Rezaie´s body showed no signs of violence. He appeared have been injected with the Suxamethonium muscle relaxant and then smothered with a pillow.
Mooks
A term coined by Douglas Rushkoff in an episode of PBS’s “Frontline” entitled “The Merchants of Cool.”; Mooks are archetypal young males(teens-early 20s) who act like moronic boneheads. They are self centered simpletons who live a drunken frat-boy lifestyle(or are frat-boys). Examples can be found anytime someone watches “Jackass.” Rushkoff claimed that the media glorifies this ideal and stifles natural self expression, however, some people might argue teenage boys have always acted like morons(its actually a long-standing stereotype). Nonetheless, standardized conformist dumbass-culture behind a veneer of exhuberance is a scary notion indeed.Opposite of Mooks are Midriffs; oxymoronic innocent skanks who are modeled after Britney Spears.Although everyone likes to blame Jackass, anyone on that show is a model Mook.
sábado, 12 de noviembre de 2011
miércoles, 9 de noviembre de 2011
comorrrrrrr
Six mysterious London deaths attributed to the "curse of Tutankhamun" were murders by a Satanist called Aleister Crowley, a historian claims in a new book.
...At the time, a frenzied press blamed the "curse" and speculated on the supernatural powers of ancient Egyptians. But author Mark Beynon has now drawn on previously unpublished evidence to conclude the deaths were all ritualistic killings masterminded by Crowley, an occultist called "the wickedest man in the world".
After unique analysis of Crowley's diaries, essays and books and inquest reports, the armchair detective argues that he was a killer obsessed with Jack the Ripper's reign of terror in 1888.
...At the time, a frenzied press blamed the "curse" and speculated on the supernatural powers of ancient Egyptians. But author Mark Beynon has now drawn on previously unpublished evidence to conclude the deaths were all ritualistic killings masterminded by Crowley, an occultist called "the wickedest man in the world".
After unique analysis of Crowley's diaries, essays and books and inquest reports, the armchair detective argues that he was a killer obsessed with Jack the Ripper's reign of terror in 1888.
rogues
One of the most disturbing pieces of evidence in the United Nations report about Iran’s program to develop a nuclear “device” isn’t even about an Iranian. It’s about a Russian physicist who has evidently assisted Iran with weapons design. And there may be tens of thousands more just like him, nonproliferation analysts say, ripe for hiring by rogue states or terrorist groups.
Congratulations, Vyacheslav Danilenko: You’re infamous. Danilenko, a former Soviet weapons scientist, was reportedly found by the International Atomic Energy Agency to have tutored the Iranians “on building high-precision detonators of the kind used to trigger a nuclear chain reaction.”
Danilenko isn’t named in the IAEA report. But the report refers obliquely to “a foreign expert” who worked “in the nuclear weapon programme of the country of his origin.” That expert, whom the IAEA interviewed, helped Iran from 1996 to 2002 research a kind of “high explosives initiation system” used in nuclear devices.
Congratulations, Vyacheslav Danilenko: You’re infamous. Danilenko, a former Soviet weapons scientist, was reportedly found by the International Atomic Energy Agency to have tutored the Iranians “on building high-precision detonators of the kind used to trigger a nuclear chain reaction.”
Danilenko isn’t named in the IAEA report. But the report refers obliquely to “a foreign expert” who worked “in the nuclear weapon programme of the country of his origin.” That expert, whom the IAEA interviewed, helped Iran from 1996 to 2002 research a kind of “high explosives initiation system” used in nuclear devices.
martes, 8 de noviembre de 2011
liar liar
There may be no true windows in to the souls of politicians, but perhaps the inadvertently open microphone is an aural equivalent – the briefest of glimpses of what lies beneath the polished veneer of stock phrases and party lines.
Thus we discovered yesterday what Nicolas Sarkozy really thought of Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu. At the G20 meeting in Cannes the French president was clearly unaware a nearby microphone was open when he turned to Barack Obama and said: "Netanyahu, I can't stand him. He's a liar."
The US president, according to the French translator, replied: "You're sick of him? I have to work with him every day."
Incidentally, the fact that we are only learning this four days after the event says something about French media culture. The journalists who heard the exchange on their headphones before a press conference apparently did not report it immediately because the comments were deemed private under "French press traditions". It was a media watchdog website, Arrêt sur images, whothat finally leaked the remarks.This is up there with the best of past open-mic gaffes. It is reminiscent of John Major referring to his Eurosceptic cabinet colleagues in 1993 as "bastards", in a post-interview chat with an ITN reporter. There is also George Bush junior's open-mic aside to Dick Cheney, referring to a prominent New York Times reporter in 2000 as a "major league asshole".
Those cases somehow said less about the intended targets than the speakers. Major and Bush had gone out of their way to cultivate an image of politeness and fair play, and for a moment the curtain was swept aside. Similarly, Bush's open-mic conversation with Tony Blair at the G8 summit in Russia ("Yo Blair. How are you doing?") said as much about his casual lack of respect for foreign leaders as it did about Blair's obsequiousness around the American leader.
On balance, Sarko's aside does more damage to Netanyahu. After all, he came to power as the most pro-Israel French president in decades and is clearly losing patience. To call someone a 'liar' is no profanity (although MPs are not permitted to apply it to each other in parliament), but is all the more cutting because of it, especially with another world leader nodding in agreement. It reinforces Netanyahu's image at home as an opportunist who is losing Israel friends abroad.
Oh to be a fly on the wall at their next encounter.
Thus we discovered yesterday what Nicolas Sarkozy really thought of Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu. At the G20 meeting in Cannes the French president was clearly unaware a nearby microphone was open when he turned to Barack Obama and said: "Netanyahu, I can't stand him. He's a liar."
The US president, according to the French translator, replied: "You're sick of him? I have to work with him every day."
Incidentally, the fact that we are only learning this four days after the event says something about French media culture. The journalists who heard the exchange on their headphones before a press conference apparently did not report it immediately because the comments were deemed private under "French press traditions". It was a media watchdog website, Arrêt sur images, whothat finally leaked the remarks.This is up there with the best of past open-mic gaffes. It is reminiscent of John Major referring to his Eurosceptic cabinet colleagues in 1993 as "bastards", in a post-interview chat with an ITN reporter. There is also George Bush junior's open-mic aside to Dick Cheney, referring to a prominent New York Times reporter in 2000 as a "major league asshole".
Those cases somehow said less about the intended targets than the speakers. Major and Bush had gone out of their way to cultivate an image of politeness and fair play, and for a moment the curtain was swept aside. Similarly, Bush's open-mic conversation with Tony Blair at the G8 summit in Russia ("Yo Blair. How are you doing?") said as much about his casual lack of respect for foreign leaders as it did about Blair's obsequiousness around the American leader.
On balance, Sarko's aside does more damage to Netanyahu. After all, he came to power as the most pro-Israel French president in decades and is clearly losing patience. To call someone a 'liar' is no profanity (although MPs are not permitted to apply it to each other in parliament), but is all the more cutting because of it, especially with another world leader nodding in agreement. It reinforces Netanyahu's image at home as an opportunist who is losing Israel friends abroad.
Oh to be a fly on the wall at their next encounter.
sábado, 5 de noviembre de 2011
the truth
Un polémico libro recientemente publicado en Francia dice que sí. Su tesis es que hay quienes sacan provecho de mantener en secreto los factores de riesgo de las enfermedades neurodegenerativas
¿Por qué aumenta tanto el número de personas que sufren estas patologías? ¿Por qué afectan a individuos cada vez más jóvenes? Esas son las preguntas que la obra busca responder.
Amenaza a nuestras neuronas: Alzheimer, Parkinson, y los que sacan provecho, es el atrapante título de este libro publicado recientemente en Francia, al que la revista Marianne2 dedica un artículo. Se trata de la investigación de dos periodistas, Marie Grosman, especialista en salud pública, y Roger Lenglet, filósofo. El libro asegura que muchos posibles factores de riesgo de estas enfermedades son ocultados por razones políticas y por presión lobbista.
Los autores dicen haber recibido una advertencia del Ministerio de Ecología francés: "No alarmen a la población. Sobre todo, no creen pánico, ¡sería mucho más catastrófico! Somos perfectamente conscientes del problema".
Pero tanto Grosman como Lenglet se rebelaron contra esta consigna de no hacer ni decir nada. Actualmente, entre 800 mil y 1 millón de franceses padecen la enfermedad de Alzheimer, y cada año se suman 225 mil nuevos casos. En Europa, ya son 6 millones, y de aquí al 2050, se prevé que sean 16 millones. Un número escalofriante.
Pero quizá la principal alarma provenga del hecho de que el Alzheimer afecta cada vez con mayor frecuencia a personas más jóvenes, lo que contradice la creencia de que esta enfermedad viene con la edad. Algunos pacientes tienen menos de 60 años y hasta hay casos de personas de 30.
Según estos autores, "la edad es una condición de la enfermedad, pero no la causa". "La enfermedad se produce frecuentemente al final de la vida porque es el tiempo necesario para la acumulación de sustancias tóxicas en el cerebro", explican.
Con seguridad la tesis más polémica de Grosman y Lenglet es que "se sabe desde hace decenios cuáles son las verdaderas causas de la enfermedad de Alzheimer y de Parkinson".
¿Por qué no se les pone fin entonces? ¿Quién tiene interés en acallar esto y evitar la prevención? El libro responde a estos temas basándose en estudios publicados en revistas especializadas como Lancet, que sólo publica artículos luego de su aprobación por un comité científico.
Para los autores son los lobbies industriales los que apuntan al inmovilismo de las autoridades públicas del área sanitaria en materia de prohibición del uso de materiales de los que se conoce el daño neuronal que causan. Mercurio, aluminio, pesticidas y otros productos por el estilo que persisten y se acumulan en el ambiente y también en el cerebro serían los responsables de esta verdadera epidemia de enfermedades neurodegenerativas. También los campos electromagnéticos están en la mira.
Y esto es cierto no sólo para el Alzheimer y el Parkinson, también vale para el autismo o la hiperactividad en el niño, por ejemplo. Las madres transmiten a sus hijos los factores de riesgo a través de la placenta y del amamantamiento, porque también ellas han estado expuestas a los neurotóxicos.
Para Grosman y Lenglet, la información sería esencial. Pero, dicen, los investigadores científicos publican en medios especializados que no llegan al gran público.
En su libro, apuntan a los conflictos de intereses que rigen la toma de decisiones por parte de la Alta Autoridad de Salud de Francia (HAS, por sus siglas en francés) en lo que concierne a la prescripción de medicamentos contra el Alzheimer. Denuncian que "relaciones incestuosas" entre organismos de salud pública y empresas privadas han permitido que el Estado reembolse a los pacientes la compra de medicamentos cuya inutilidad -cuando no peligrosidad- ha sido reiteradamente denunciada por asociaciones médicas.
También señalan que, en vez de destinar los fondos públicos a un amplio programa de información y prevención, que permitiría a la población disminuir su exposición a los principales factores de riesgo, se financia la investigación privada de esos mismos laboratorios farmacéuticos que lucran prescribiendo remedios de eficacia no demostrada.
Los autores creen, sin embargo, que hay esperanza porque existen formas de reducir la exposición a los neurotóxicos y porque están convencidos de que en un futuro próximo habrá demandas colectivas (class actions) de las víctimas de esta contaminación que, finalmente, harán que se ponga el foco de la atención pública en este drama.
En concreto, Grosman y Lenglet denuncian la mercantilización de las enfermedades del cerebro y la parálisis de la prevención. Pese a los conocimientos que ya se tienen sobre esto, se permite, por afán de lucro, que la gente siga expuesta a los neurotóxicos desde la más temprana edad.
¿Por qué aumenta tanto el número de personas que sufren estas patologías? ¿Por qué afectan a individuos cada vez más jóvenes? Esas son las preguntas que la obra busca responder.
Amenaza a nuestras neuronas: Alzheimer, Parkinson, y los que sacan provecho, es el atrapante título de este libro publicado recientemente en Francia, al que la revista Marianne2 dedica un artículo. Se trata de la investigación de dos periodistas, Marie Grosman, especialista en salud pública, y Roger Lenglet, filósofo. El libro asegura que muchos posibles factores de riesgo de estas enfermedades son ocultados por razones políticas y por presión lobbista.
Los autores dicen haber recibido una advertencia del Ministerio de Ecología francés: "No alarmen a la población. Sobre todo, no creen pánico, ¡sería mucho más catastrófico! Somos perfectamente conscientes del problema".
Pero tanto Grosman como Lenglet se rebelaron contra esta consigna de no hacer ni decir nada. Actualmente, entre 800 mil y 1 millón de franceses padecen la enfermedad de Alzheimer, y cada año se suman 225 mil nuevos casos. En Europa, ya son 6 millones, y de aquí al 2050, se prevé que sean 16 millones. Un número escalofriante.
Pero quizá la principal alarma provenga del hecho de que el Alzheimer afecta cada vez con mayor frecuencia a personas más jóvenes, lo que contradice la creencia de que esta enfermedad viene con la edad. Algunos pacientes tienen menos de 60 años y hasta hay casos de personas de 30.
Según estos autores, "la edad es una condición de la enfermedad, pero no la causa". "La enfermedad se produce frecuentemente al final de la vida porque es el tiempo necesario para la acumulación de sustancias tóxicas en el cerebro", explican.
Con seguridad la tesis más polémica de Grosman y Lenglet es que "se sabe desde hace decenios cuáles son las verdaderas causas de la enfermedad de Alzheimer y de Parkinson".
¿Por qué no se les pone fin entonces? ¿Quién tiene interés en acallar esto y evitar la prevención? El libro responde a estos temas basándose en estudios publicados en revistas especializadas como Lancet, que sólo publica artículos luego de su aprobación por un comité científico.
Para los autores son los lobbies industriales los que apuntan al inmovilismo de las autoridades públicas del área sanitaria en materia de prohibición del uso de materiales de los que se conoce el daño neuronal que causan. Mercurio, aluminio, pesticidas y otros productos por el estilo que persisten y se acumulan en el ambiente y también en el cerebro serían los responsables de esta verdadera epidemia de enfermedades neurodegenerativas. También los campos electromagnéticos están en la mira.
Y esto es cierto no sólo para el Alzheimer y el Parkinson, también vale para el autismo o la hiperactividad en el niño, por ejemplo. Las madres transmiten a sus hijos los factores de riesgo a través de la placenta y del amamantamiento, porque también ellas han estado expuestas a los neurotóxicos.
Para Grosman y Lenglet, la información sería esencial. Pero, dicen, los investigadores científicos publican en medios especializados que no llegan al gran público.
En su libro, apuntan a los conflictos de intereses que rigen la toma de decisiones por parte de la Alta Autoridad de Salud de Francia (HAS, por sus siglas en francés) en lo que concierne a la prescripción de medicamentos contra el Alzheimer. Denuncian que "relaciones incestuosas" entre organismos de salud pública y empresas privadas han permitido que el Estado reembolse a los pacientes la compra de medicamentos cuya inutilidad -cuando no peligrosidad- ha sido reiteradamente denunciada por asociaciones médicas.
También señalan que, en vez de destinar los fondos públicos a un amplio programa de información y prevención, que permitiría a la población disminuir su exposición a los principales factores de riesgo, se financia la investigación privada de esos mismos laboratorios farmacéuticos que lucran prescribiendo remedios de eficacia no demostrada.
Los autores creen, sin embargo, que hay esperanza porque existen formas de reducir la exposición a los neurotóxicos y porque están convencidos de que en un futuro próximo habrá demandas colectivas (class actions) de las víctimas de esta contaminación que, finalmente, harán que se ponga el foco de la atención pública en este drama.
En concreto, Grosman y Lenglet denuncian la mercantilización de las enfermedades del cerebro y la parálisis de la prevención. Pese a los conocimientos que ya se tienen sobre esto, se permite, por afán de lucro, que la gente siga expuesta a los neurotóxicos desde la más temprana edad.
viernes, 4 de noviembre de 2011
miércoles, 2 de noviembre de 2011
A day in Earth planet
Findings
By Rafil Kroll-Zaidi–Harper’s
Wisconsin was expecting a full harvest of bears, giant king crabs had invaded the Antarctic Abyss, and snakes continued to bite large numbers of Africans. Hyenas can count to three, dolphins may understand death, and honeybees were found capable of pessimism; scientists who impersonated badgers by violently shaking the bees’ hives further proposed that today’s bees may be particularly pessimistic because of pesticides, and hoped in future to elicit happiness from bees. Thirty percent of U.S. honeybees were found to have died last winter. Honeybees had brought new viruses from Mississippi to California via South Dakota, and a new species of solitary bee was discovered in Florida. The Asian bee-eating hornet had invaded Western Europe.
In Scotland, researchers were attempting to decipher the language of bees. “Whether this is just bee noise,” admitted the neuroscientist leading the study, “we don’t know.” Ecologists were surprised to find Scottish bumblebees ascending to hilltops in search of females. “In between drinking,” said the principal researcher, “they go looking for mates.” South London was found to be rife with stag beetles.
An amateur botanist in Brazil co-described a new species of strychnine that buries its own seeds. “This is my first botanical publication in a peer-reviewed journal,” said Alex Popovkin. “Hopefully, there will be more to follow. I had since early adolescence felt attraction to plants.” Spring break was blamed for the spike in March conceptions among Ontarian teenagers, and alcohol consumption was found to make no difference for a quarter of American rapists. Koi herpes was widespread among Michigan’s common carp, as was vulvar pain among its women. Ten percent of women dislike performing oral sex on men. Treatment by magnetotherapy may help stroke victims overcome their inability to swallow. Transcranial magnetic stimulation inhibits the ability to lie. The brains of older humans are cluttered with irrelevant information.
Men tend to gain weight after divorce, whereas women tend to gain weight following marriage. Women who shoot themselves are less likely than men to aim for their heads. Fetuses learn to differentiate touch from pain when they are between thirty-five and thirty-seven weeks old. Scottish authorities declined to launch a formal investigation into the possibility of sea eagles’ carrying off small children. Britain’s January babies are more likely to grow up to be debt collectors, and those born in the spring are prone to anorexia. Irish twins whose birth weights differ by 18 percent or more are at greater risk of bowel disorders. Ireland was the only country with substantial demand for the donor sperm of redheads. Racism among white home-plate umpires causes minority pitchers to pitch conservatively and thereby to earn lower salaries. White umpires do not, however, display racist favoritism toward catchers. Gay African-American men were being made anxious by prejudice and harassment. Delusive overconfidence may be beneficial in the long run, and the sunk-cost effect was contributing to Americans’ renewed enthusiasm for the Iraq war. “People,” explained one of the study’s authors, “are notoriously bad at making assessments on when it’s time to stop.” At a health spa in China, an eel swam up a man’s penis.
via Findings—By Rafil Kroll-Zaidi (Harper’s Magazine).
Wisconsin was expecting a full harvest of bears, giant king crabs had invaded the Antarctic Abyss, and snakes continued to bite large numbers of Africans. Hyenas can count to three, dolphins may understand death, and honeybees were found capable of pessimism; scientists who impersonated badgers by violently shaking the bees’ hives further proposed that today’s bees may be particularly pessimistic because of pesticides, and hoped in future to elicit happiness from bees. Thirty percent of U.S. honeybees were found to have died last winter. Honeybees had brought new viruses from Mississippi to California via South Dakota, and a new species of solitary bee was discovered in Florida. The Asian bee-eating hornet had invaded Western Europe.
In Scotland, researchers were attempting to decipher the language of bees. “Whether this is just bee noise,” admitted the neuroscientist leading the study, “we don’t know.” Ecologists were surprised to find Scottish bumblebees ascending to hilltops in search of females. “In between drinking,” said the principal researcher, “they go looking for mates.” South London was found to be rife with stag beetles.
An amateur botanist in Brazil co-described a new species of strychnine that buries its own seeds. “This is my first botanical publication in a peer-reviewed journal,” said Alex Popovkin. “Hopefully, there will be more to follow. I had since early adolescence felt attraction to plants.” Spring break was blamed for the spike in March conceptions among Ontarian teenagers, and alcohol consumption was found to make no difference for a quarter of American rapists. Koi herpes was widespread among Michigan’s common carp, as was vulvar pain among its women. Ten percent of women dislike performing oral sex on men. Treatment by magnetotherapy may help stroke victims overcome their inability to swallow. Transcranial magnetic stimulation inhibits the ability to lie. The brains of older humans are cluttered with irrelevant information.
Men tend to gain weight after divorce, whereas women tend to gain weight following marriage. Women who shoot themselves are less likely than men to aim for their heads. Fetuses learn to differentiate touch from pain when they are between thirty-five and thirty-seven weeks old. Scottish authorities declined to launch a formal investigation into the possibility of sea eagles’ carrying off small children. Britain’s January babies are more likely to grow up to be debt collectors, and those born in the spring are prone to anorexia. Irish twins whose birth weights differ by 18 percent or more are at greater risk of bowel disorders. Ireland was the only country with substantial demand for the donor sperm of redheads. Racism among white home-plate umpires causes minority pitchers to pitch conservatively and thereby to earn lower salaries. White umpires do not, however, display racist favoritism toward catchers. Gay African-American men were being made anxious by prejudice and harassment. Delusive overconfidence may be beneficial in the long run, and the sunk-cost effect was contributing to Americans’ renewed enthusiasm for the Iraq war. “People,” explained one of the study’s authors, “are notoriously bad at making assessments on when it’s time to stop.” At a health spa in China, an eel swam up a man’s penis.
via Findings—By Rafil Kroll-Zaidi (Harper’s Magazine).
martes, 1 de noviembre de 2011
Low
Second time I had to refuse the job of my fucking life.
Being a mom ain´t that easy.
J lost within himself and his circumstances.
2011 go away
Being a mom ain´t that easy.
J lost within himself and his circumstances.
2011 go away
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