Health and Wellness News from the Underground

Great for helping with allergies and as an antibiotic. However, children under one year of age are susceptible to the botulinum toxin that can be in honey, and should not eat it.

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http://www.drgreene.com/21_825.html

Honey and Infant Botulism

My daughter is now 7 months old. I have been adding locally produced honey to my daughter's food to help with her allergies. In my opinion, this has decreased her allergy like symptoms. My wife and I have had great success decreasing our allergies with this practice. I was told that honey can hurt an infant. Is this true?
Mark Torrans
Pineville, Louisiana

Mark, your care for your daughter comes through clearly in your question. Taking the initiative with preventive measures to insure her health and comfort is a very loving act. Getting information regarding the safety and efficacy of these preventive measures is very wise indeed, and may save your daughter's life.

Like you, I have heard claims that wild honey might reduce allergy symptoms. In fact, today in a local supermarket I saw a jar labeled "100% Natural Raw Honey, Unfiltered Unblended." This product went on to promise great health benefits.

And indeed, careful scientific study has recognized great medicinal value in honey. Honey has significant, known antibiotic properties (Journal of Pharmacology, Nov 1996). Honey is also a traditional remedy for upset stomach. It has now been proven to prevent the growth of Helicobacter pylori in the stomach -- the organism responsible for many ulcers and much abdominal discomfort (J R Soc Med, Jan 1994). Honey also reduces the gastritis caused by drinking too much alcohol (Scandinavian Journal of Gastoenterology, Mar 1991).

Honey has been proven to decrease the cancer-producing effects of many carcinogens, and to be effective in eradicating yeast (Cytologic Genetics, Nov-Dec 1996). Topical honey is known to be useful in treating gangrene, preventing both death and amputation (Surgery, Feb 1993). Burns heal faster when treated with honey than when treated with OpSite burn dressings (British Journal of Plastic Surgery, Jun 1993). There is also less pain, less scarring, and fewer contractures when burns are treated with honey rather than with Silvadene dressings (British Journal of Surgery, Apr 1991). In Russia, honey was even proven to effectively preserve vision when cataracts begin to form in the elderly (Vestn Oftalmol, Nov-Dec 1990). Honey is an amazing substance -- but ...

As it turns out, NOT giving your daughter honey while she is an infant is an important preventive health measure. It may save her life.

The concern is with infant botulism.

Botulinum spores are found widely in soil, dust, and honey. Adults who swallow botulinum spores are almost never affected. When infants swallow the spores, however, the spores can germinate in their immature gastrointestinal tracts and begin producing botulinum toxin. This has occurred even when the honey was only used to sweeten a pacifier (European Journal of Epidemiology, Nov 1993).

Botulinum toxin is the most poisonous natural substance known to man. The lethal dose is only 1/10,000,000 mg per kg of body weight -- an amount that would be invisible to the naked eye. This tiny amount in the blood stream can cause death within minutes through paralysis of the muscles used in breathing.

Infant botulism has been found on every continent except Africa. In the United States it is most common in the states of California, Utah, and Pennsylvania. While infant botulism can occur from taking in soil or dust (especially vacuum cleaner-bag dust), eating honey is the number one preventable cause. Corn syrups are not sterilized and may also be a source of contamination (The AAP Red Book, 2000).

Infant botulism can occur any time in the first year of life, but like SIDS it is most common in the first six months. In fact it has been suggested as the cause of death in up to 10% of SIDS cases (Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics; Saunders 1992).

Thankfully, in most instances of infant botulism, the amount of toxin is so incredibly minuscule that the case remains mild. For this reason it is often misdiagnosed.

The first symptom of infant botulism is constipation (which is also a common benign finding in many infants). This can appear 3 to 30 days following ingesting spore-containing honey (The AAP Red Book, 2000). Typically, the parents then observe increasing listlessness, decreased appetite, and weakened cry over the next several days. Nursing mothers often report new engorgement. Sometimes this is the full extent of the disease. If the disease progresses, however, the child moves less and less and might begin to drool from the mouth. Gagging and sucking reflexes diminish. Loss of previous head control is also an important sign. Complete respiratory arrest can occur either suddenly or gradually.

If an otherwise healthy baby develops constipation, followed by weakness and difficulty in sucking, crying, or breathing, then infant botulism should be considered the most likely diagnosis until proven otherwise.

When infant botulism is diagnosed, the average Intensive Care Unit stay for the baby is about one month, typically including mechanical ventilation and continuous tube feedings. This is followed by another 2 weeks on the hospital ward, with a total hospital cost often exceeding $100,000 (Pediatrics; Feb 1991). Thankfully if the botulism is correctly diagnosed and the baby receives appropriate supportive care, almost all will recover fully and completely. The fatality rate for babies who have been hospitalized with botulism is less than 1%. Recently, an antitoxin for infant botulism has been developed and shown to reduce hospital days, mechanical ventilation, and tube feedings (The AAP Red Book, 2000).

The single most effective way to prevent infant botulism is for infants to avoid honey. Breast feeding also appears to lessen the severity of botulism cases.

Despite other health benefits, honey is an unsafe food for any infant. HONEY SHOULD NOT BE GIVEN TO CHILDREN YOUNGER THAN 12 MONTHS.

Breast feeding, though, is a great way to prevent or decrease allergy symptoms. Breast feeding and minimizing your daughter's being exposed to potential allergens (such as cigarette smoke, cat hair, house dust, etc.) are the best ways to serve your goals of reducing her allergies and her allergy symptoms. These measures will benefit your daughter now, and the benefit will last for years to come.

Alan Greene MD FAAP

June 02, 1997

Reviewed by Khanh-Van Le-Bucklin MD March 2006

Check it out--Merck can't kill you fast enough, so they need you to kill yourself. Take some asthma meds and help them out. What's the Merck death count at now?

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wnyt.com - Their day in court .. and CHASING RAINBOWS

Their day in court .. and CHASING RAINBOWS

You might recall the story I did on Singulair ( asthma drug ) and its apparent link to the suicide of a 15 year old from Queensbury. His parents, Kate and Dave Miller have been battling for the FDA to consider their case and it turns out they have plenty of company - many others have reported emotional difficulties even suicidal thoughts when taking Singulair. The Millers have been invited to testify before the FDA which, after our story aired, announced it would be investigating reports of a suicide link. The drug maker is Merck. Well this hasn't been a great couple of weeks for Merck. Most recently, the FDA put the kibosh on its plans to market a niacin product that doesn't cause flushing. Niacin is recognized as an effective treatment for lowering cholesterol but it can cause flushing. For that reason many people won't take it. Merck had been testing a drug that combined Niacin with a prostaglandin to prevent the flush. Reports indicated Merck was confident the FDA would greenlight the product. Well, guess again. Maybe it's Merck's recent track record - Singulair concerns, Vioxx being pulled, questions over testing of Vytorin - a cholesterol lowering medication - that gave the FDA cold feet, this time. In a report on MedPage today - Allen J. Taylor, M.D., of the Uniform Services University of the Health Sciences and Walter Reed Army Medical Center, said that the FDA had made the right decision, because "laropiprant ( the anti flushing agent) is a first-in-class agent. We need to confirm that this drug is inert aside from its effect on flushing." Dr. Taylor said that he hoped the FDA would require the company to provide data from a trial that compared laropiprant "by itself" to placebo in a population of patients with dyslipidemia or hypercholesterolemia. "We need to find out if this drug truly causes no harm," Dr. Taylor said. "Or, to be completely balanced, we need to find out if there is some benefit with the drug."

The Environmental *cough* Protection Agency (EPA) is currently pondering the question of whether it's OK to have rocket fuel in our drinking water. Take your time, guys. It's not as if this is killing anyone. Oh, wait, it is.

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EPA Ground Water & Drinking Water > Perchlorate

Perchlorate

EPA is currently undertaking efforts to help the Agency determine if regulation of perchlorate in drinking water would represent a meaningful opportunity for reducing risks to human health. To support its decision, the Agency is gathering occurrence data at public water systems, evaluating the availability and cost of treatment technology and assuring that analytical methods are available to monitor for perchlorate in water.

EPA has established an official reference dose for perchlorate which is consistent with the recommended reference dose included in the National Academy of Science’s January 2005 report. A reference dose is a scientific estimate of a daily exposure level that is not expected to cause adverse health effects in humans. The reference dose will be used in EPA’s ongoing efforts to address perchlorate in drinking water. It is important to note that the reference dose in EPA’s draft assessment represents a preliminary estimate of a protective health level and is not a drinking water standard.
• Risk information about perchlorate and perchlorate salts

Additional information about perchlorate can also be found on the EPA Federal Facilities Page
• EPA Federal Facilities and Perchlorate

What is perchlorate?
Perchlorate is both a naturally occurring and man-made chemical. Most of the perchlorate manufactured in the United States is used as the primary ingredient of solid rocket propellant. Wastes from the manufacture and improper disposal of perchlorate-containing chemicals are increasingly being discovered in soil and water.

Does my water contain perchlorate?
There have been confirmed perchlorate releases in at least 25 states throughout the United States. EPA, other federal agencies, states, water suppliers and industry are working to address perchlorate contamination through monitoring for perchlorate in drinking water and source water and developing treatment technologies that can remove perchlorate from drinking water.

How is perchlorate removed from water?
Several types of treatment systems designed to reduce perchlorate concentrations are operating around the United States, reducing perchlorate to below the 4 ppb quantitation level. Biological treatment and ion (anion) exchange systems are among the technologies that are being used, with additional treatment technologies under development.

Throw out your nonstick cookware and don't get your couch treated with stain resister. Honestly, just use some canola oil on your stainless steel or cast iron pan, and clean your couch if you spill something on it. (I recommend products from BioShield and Green Depot.)

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Teflon Chemicals Found In Human Breast Milk

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2008/05/teflon_milk.html
 
Teflon Chemicals Found In Human Breast Milk
Non-stick residues turning up just about everywhere
 
 
May 1, 2008
 
Teflon
Teflon graphic
• Teflon Chemicals Found In Human Breast Milk
• DuPont Hopes Teflon Charges Don't Stick
• Study Finds Teflon Chemical In Newborns' Umbilical Cords
• DuPont Agrees To Teflon Pollution Curbs
• Whistleblower Claims DuPont Failed to Act on Food Contamination
Danger
• Claims Against Teflon May Not Stick
• Teflon Ingredient Found in North Carolina Groundwater
• Grand Jury Probes Chemical Used in Teflon
• Teflon Chemicals Found in Humans
Chemicals used to make nonstick cookware and stain-resistant fabrics
are spreading around the world and turning up in surprising places.
Now, a team of researchers including Kathleen Arcaro of the
University of Massachusetts Amherst has found these suspected
carcinogens in samples of human milk from nursing mothers in
Massachusetts.
 
"Perfluorinated compounds, or PFCs, are found in human blood around
the world, including the blood of newborns, but this is the first
study in the United States to document their occurrence in human
milk," said Arcaro, a professor in the department of veterinary and
animal sciences and a member of the environmental sciences program.
 
"While nursing does not expose infants to a dose that exceeds
recommended limits, breast milk should be considered as an additional
source of PFCs when determining a child's total exposure."
 
The breast milk was collected as part of Arcaro's larger, ongoing
study examining the link between environmental exposures and breast
cancer risk. Chemical analyses were conducted in the laboratory of
Kuruntachalam Kannan at the New York State Department of Health.
Results are scheduled for publication in Environmental Science and
Technology. This research was supported by the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention and the National Institute of Environmental
Health Sciences.
 
Milk samples were collected in 2004 from 45 nursing mothers in
Massachusetts and analyzed for nine different PFCs. Perfluorooctane-
sulfonate (PFOS), used to make stain-resistant fabrics, was found in
the highest concentration in breast milk, followed by
perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), used in nonstick cookware.
 
On average, each liter of milk, which is roughly equivalent to one
quart, contained 131 billionths of a gram of PFOS and 44 billionths
of a gram of PFOA. The amount of PFCs that nursing infants would
consume each day did not exceed Total Daily Intake Values set by the
U.K. Food Standards Agency Committee on Toxicology, which were based
on a review of current toxicology studies.
 
Arcaro cautions that recommended intakes of PFCs based on Total Daily
Intake values should be interpreted with caution, since there is no
consensus on these values, which are derived from rodent studies.
Mothers should also compare the risks of breast feeding with the
benefits, which include better nutrition and immune system
development and enhanced defense against infections in children.
 
Milk from mothers who were nursing for the first time was also
studied to see how PFC concentrations changed over time. Total PFC
concentrations and the concentration of PFOS increased during the
first six months of nursing.
 
"This may be related to increased food intake to meet the energy
demands of nursing, and changes in food consumption patterns in
nursing mothers," said Arcaro. "In a Canadian study, diet was shown
to contribute 61 percent of a person's total daily intake of PFCs."
 
Food sources of PFCs include grease-resistant packaging such as
microwave popcorn bags and pizza boxes, as well as fish and other
animals that contain these chemicals. Exposure can also come from
personal care products including dental floss and shampoo.
 
PFCs are persistent chemicals that can linger in the environment and
the human body for years without being broken down. Several studies
have documented their presence in the blood of newborns collected
immediately after birth, and in children between the ages of 2 and
12, who have blood levels similar to those found in adults.
 
These studies led the team to investigate breast feeding as a source
of PFCs, information that will be needed to determine the sources and
magnitude of exposure in infants and children and whether PFCs have
an effect on birth outcomes in newborns.