News Alerts: Week 17, 2016

Error in mandatory Californian vaccination laws

Tetyana Obukhanych, a PhD Immunologist, has written an open letter to legislators highlighting the errors in logic leading to the SB27 mandatory vaccination rule of law in California. She sheds light on the various misconceptions supporting the law, stating that, “Non-vaccinated individuals pose no greater risk of transmission of polio, diphtheria, pertussis – vaccination is not risk-free – outbreaks of measles cannot be entirely prevented”. She supports freedom of choice where vaccinations are concerned, and urges legislators to, “formulate a fair and balanced understanding that is supported by accepted vaccine theory and new scientific findings”. ANH-Intl has long campaigned to respect, promote and protect the freedom of informed vaccination consent in Europe and other parts of the world. Currently the European Forum for Vaccine Vigilance (EFVV) is petitioning the European Parliament to uphold the Charter of Fundamental Rights, which clearly states that, “Free and informed consent must be respected in the fields of medicine and biology”. Make your voice heard by adding your signature to the petition — available in Croatian, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Polish, Slovak and Lithuanian.

Could France end the TTIP?

France has threatened to end negotiations on the dreaded EU-US free trade deal, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). French Trade Minister Matthias Fekl has said, “If there’s no reciprocity, if there is no transparency, if there’s a danger to farmers, if we don’t have access to public markets while the U.S. has access to everything we do here, then I won’t accept it.”

Fructose linked to gene damage

Fructose is a natural sugar commonly found in fruits, corn and plants. It’s now used in many processed and ultra-processed food products and soft drinks as a cheap sweetener, usually in the form of high-fructose corn syrup. Previous studies have already found it to be to be hazardous to health, leading to insulin resistance, obesity and elevated blood pressure to name just a few. A new study has increased this list further. Scientists at the University of California found that, “A diet high in fructose can kill hundreds of genes in a way that could lead to several diseases”. Interestingly, the researchers found an omega-3 fatty acid, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), was able to go some way to reversing the effects.

Common drugs linked to dementia

It has been found that certain drugs called anticholinergics, used to treat a wide range of conditions from gastrointestinal cramps to depression, may increase the risks of developing dementia. Benadryl, Dimetapp and Xanax are just a few common examples. The study found that use of the drugs could lead to physical changes in the brain, reducing volume and increasing thickness in areas linked to cognitive function. Participants taking the drugs scored lower in memory tests, as well as showing lower levels of glucose processing in the brain. The researchers recommend that, “Older adults who might be at risk of dementia, or who feel their memory has started to change might want to go see their doctors if they are on these medications”.

Social isolation leads to serious illness

A new study has concluded that, “Social isolation and a prolonged sense of loneliness were potential risk factors for heart-disease as well as strokes in the samples covered”. It is well known that social isolation leads to loneliness, however other life-threatening factors are a newer and increasingly worrying development. These findings underline further how much more attention society needs to give to tackle social isolation, instead of masking it with pharmaceutical use.

Nutrition links to mental health

A current study shows that different combinations of intestinal bacteria can affect the quality of the myelin sheath, causing social avoidance in mice. The myelin sheath is, “the insulating sheath around the axons of nerve cells that allows for faster electrical impulse conduction”. It’s encouraging that this research suggests that targeting intestinal bacteria, or their metabolites, could be one way to treat debilitating psychiatric disorders and demyelinating diseases, like multiple sclerosis.