Medical Advisories – May 2013

• Medical mistakes are the 5th leading cause of death in the U.S. The number of patients killed by preventable medical errors every year is equivalent to four jumbo jets crashing every week. One in four hospital patients are harmed by a mistake.
• Some 20-30% of all medications, tests, and procedures are unnecessary, according to research done by medical specialists who surveyed their own field.
• A report prepared by 29 authors from 10 countries, which reviewed data from 1,800 studies, revealed that the human health risks from electromagnetic fields and radio frequency radiation are real. Cell phone use has been linked to certain cancers and immune system disorders, and at least a dozen studies connected cell phone radiation to sperm damage, as a result of phones being kept in a pocket or on a belt.
• “Smart meters” are the latest culprit in harm caused by radiation.
• CFL light bulbs may cause skin cancer.
• A study of 10 newborn babies revealed they had more than 200 synthetic chemicals in their blood. The list included flame retardants, stain removers, and pesticides that had been banned three decades ago by the federal government.
• The Life Extension Foundation reports that elevated fasting blood glucose (above 84 mg/dL) increases incidence of breast cancer and brain shrinkage.
• One soda per day may raise the risk of prostate cancer.
• The Public Library of Science (PLOS) reported that erectile dysfunction (ED) signals an increased risk of dying from heart disease and other causes within 2.8 years.
• Victoza, a Type II Diabetes drug, could be harmful to your pancreas, and the same holds true for other incretin mimetic drugs, such as Byetta, Nesina, and Januvia.
• More than 100 drugs produce side effects that mimic dementia—and this has led to at least 1 million incorrect Alzeimer’s diagnoses!
• Xeljanz, a drug used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, is not only expensive ($24,000 per year), it comes with a black box warning that it can cause tuberculosis and lymphoma.
• Skim milk is not helpful for losing weight, as numerous studies have revealed, and in a recent study of 10,500 school-age children, it was actually harmful in terms of weight gain and loss of calcium absorption as a result of the “skimming” process. (The fat content in whole milk slows sugar absorption and improves calcium uptake.)
• In a related note on experimenting with the health of our children, the Health Sciences Institute reported on an NPR discussion about testing BioThrax, the anthrax vaccine, on kids, even though there were thousands of reports on its side effects, including brain inflammation, seizures, paralysis, and memory loss, not to mention 300 cases of permanent disability and 25 deaths linked to it.
• The McClatchy Washington Bureau reported on an audit that revealed USDA inspectors may be missing deadly contamination from a strain of E. coli in mechanically-tenderized meat.
• A U.S. Department of Agriculture official said that food stamp fraud totals $750,000,000 each year.
• 75% of the costs of Obamacare will be paid by those making $120,000 or less.

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