Environmental Medicine News

The News Review:

- Junk Medicine: Uncertain about the fallout
- Helton placed on disabled list
- China’s enemy within: The story of Falun Gong
- And so to bed
- The long march of evolution
- Child sexual abuse warrants filed against paramedic

Junk Medicine: Uncertain about the fallout
Times Online - Apr 22, 2006
Chernobyl remains by far the worst civil nuclear incident in history but it has a way to go to catch up with the Bhopal chemical leak of 1984, which killed 15,000. This picture is not above challenge. Particularly telling is the charge, made in Nature this week by two scientists, that the WHO has presented its figures with more certainty than is justified. Dillwyn Williams and Keith Baverstock, both respected, independent experts, pointed out that even 20 years is too short an interval to be sure of the long-term effects of radiation. Many health impacts of the Japanese atomic bombs did not come to light for up to45 years. By suggesting a “certainty unwarranted by the underlying statistics”, the WHO has opened itself up to critics with an axe to grind.

Helton placed on disabled list
MLB.com - Apr 22, 2006
“As you know, it’s probably serious when we have to put a guy on the DL,” Dugger said. “He still has the stomach pain in the lower abdomen. He’s on pain medicine. He’s on other type of medicines right now. They’re still running further tests, so they don’t have a definitive diagnosis at this point in time. ”

Dugger indicated that the initial tests — including an MRI on Helton’s stomach — have led the doctors to develop an idea about the problem, but they are “waiting for more tests to confirm their thoughts. ”

Helton is a three-time Gold Glove winner and the batting champ in 2000, and he leads the Rockies franchise in nearly every offensive category.

China’s enemy within: The story of Falun Gong
The Independent - Independent - Apr 22, 2006
It is an exercise technique that involves controlled breathing and five sets of meditation exercises (four standing, and one sitting) which only a few years after its public introduction in 1992 quickly grew to become one of the most popular forms of qigong in Chinese and indeed world history. Why then, is it perceived by the government in Beijing to be the most subversive threat to the Chinese state in the six decades since the Communist Revolution? Disinformation abounds from all sides about Falun Gong. Chinese medicine and religion overlaps in a way which the Western mind finds hard to understand, particularly since the same breathing techniques are the foundation of the disciplines of martial arts ­ which is why some of its best practitioners have been Taoist and Buddhist monks adept in the advanced techniques known as the nei chia. Falun Gong was developed out of this tradition, and registered only in 1992, by a former army musician and clerical worker, Li Hongzhi, in Manchuria in the north-east of China. Amid the physical exercises developed the unshakeable belief that Li was a "Living Buddha" who had supernatural powers and had rediscovered the basic law (fa) of the universe. Officially, the movement is known as Falun Dafa but it is more usually known as the Falun Gong or "Wheel of Law" after its practitioners’ belief that they have a large wheel inside their bodies which they can use to elevate their mind nature (xinxing) and gradually let go of attachments such as selfishness, jealousy, pursuit, lust, zealotry and greed. In his writings, Li Hongzhi made use of many concepts from Buddhism, Taoism and even Christianity which gave Falun Gong the feel of a fully fledged religion to outsiders… Falun Gong was developed out of this tradition, and registered only in 1992, by a former army musician and clerical worker, Li Hongzhi, in Manchuria in the north-east of China. Amid the physical exercises developed the unshakeable belief that Li was a "Living Buddha" who had supernatural powers and had rediscovered the basic law (fa) of the universe. Officially, the movement is known as Falun Dafa but it is more usually known as the Falun Gong or "Wheel of Law" after its practitioners’ belief that they have a large wheel inside their bodies which they can use to elevate their mind nature (xinxing) and gradually let go of attachments such as selfishness, jealousy, pursuit, lust, zealotry and greed. In his writings, Li Hongzhi made use of many concepts from Buddhism, Taoism and even Christianity which gave Falun Gong the feel of a fully fledged religion to outsiders. The movement found easy converts among ordinary Chinese because of its focus on improving health in a country where years of underinvestment have put the Chinese health system under severe strain, and resulted in a return to traditional methods of healing. A craze for Falun Gong swept the country in the early 1990s, attracting up to 70 million adherents. In those early years Chinese governmental organisations granted several awards to Li to encourage him to continue promoting what they then considered a wholesome practice.

And so to bed
Telegraph.co.uk - Apr 22, 2006
There are many health benefits for those who enjoy regular sex. Lucy Atkins looks at the latest scientific researchIt does not take a degree in medicine to work out that sex is good for you. Anything that is free, feels fabulous and leaves you glowing is plainly a good idea. But scientists are now beginning to understand that the perceived feel-good effects of sexual intercourse are merely the tip of the iceberg. Sex, they are discovering, can help protect you from depression, colds, heart disease and even cancer.

The long march of evolution
Pakistan Dawn - Apr 22, 2006
Animals may look different from each other, but from fruit fly to humans, they use the same gene to establish their development pattern. This is called the Hox gene because it contains a region of conserved nucleotide sequence known as homeobox. The conserved nature of the homeobox sequence shows the basic commonality of all life forms. The evolution of the visual system is another good example of linkage between all life forms. The metazoans have generated eyes of diverse nature ranging from simple light-sensitive photoreceptors to compound eyes of insects. Despite this great variation, all of them are generated by a single master gene Pax-6, which was first identified in mouse. Furthermore it has been shown that the induction of Pax-6 in ectopic sites of Drosophila (fruit fly) can generate eyes on various parts of its body… But the human infant starts as a quadruped (crawls) and then gradually becomes a biped, again repeating its evolutionary past. Even in adulthood, humans involuntarily swing their arms while walking, in unison with their legs, as their quadrepedal memory has not totally disappeared. An interesting evidence for Haekel’s idea of evolution came recently from observations made by Gaeth, Short and Renfree of the department of zoology and perinatal medicine, University of Melbourne, Australia, and reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in 1999. It is generally believed that elephants were originally aquatic animals, and then they became terrestrial. In Melbourne University they studied the histology of elephant embryos from animals culled at the Kruger National Park of South Africa. The embryos ranged from 0.

Child sexual abuse warrants filed against paramedic
Shelbyville Times-Gazette - Apr 22, 2006
The other man suggested parents consider whether their children might have been at risk, or possibly victims. Michael Clements, BCEMS assistant director, says Odom has been on administrative leave since April 6, when he was arrested by police. Shortly thereafter, an inventory of EMS medicine cabinets showed nothing was missing. “There are many analgesics” that might have been confused with morphine, Clements said of what might have been used if Odom committed the crimes. Assistant Public Defender Jack Dearing represents Odom. Dearing declined to comment on Friday when told that 11 city and county warrants had grown to a total of 199. Odom, whose city and county cases have been merged, is scheduled to appear in Bedford County General Sessions Court on Wednesday to face Judge Charles Rich because of the new charges… “We have a duty to keep (inmates) safe. ” Odom’s bond increased to $1,025,000, Parker said. Filing many warrants was a result of the nature of the allegations and the way the District Attorney’s office wants charges enumerated, the sheriff said. The lack of a specific date in the new charges is a result of the passage of time. “You narrow it down to as close as possible,” Parker said.