Thursday, July 04, 2013

DOES CELL PHONE RADIATION CAUSE CANCER ? How to protect your health!


DOES CELL PHONE RADIATION CAUSE CANCER 

How to protect your health

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South Korea: Teens Who Are Addicted to Net, Mobile Devices, Now Get Cognitive Disorders


04 July 2013

South Korea: Teens Who Are Addicted to Net, Mobile Devices, Now Get Cognitive Disorders

A 15-year-old had symptoms of early onset dementia due to intense exposure to digital technology. Since the age of five, Kim was tethered to either the television or the computer. He is an avid computer game lover.  “His brain’s ability to transfer information to long-term memory has been impaired because of his heavy exposure to digital gadgets,” said psychiatrist Kim Dae-jin at Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital in southern Seoul, who diagnosed Kim and is treating him.  

‘Digital dementia’ is on the rise
by Baek Il-Hyun, Park Eun-Jee, Korea Jung Gang Daily, 24 June 2013

Teens addicted to Net, mobile devices now get cognitive disorders 

Kim Min-woo, 15, started having memory problems recently. He started flunking tests in subjects that required heavy bouts of memorization. And then he couldn’t remember the six-digit keypad code to get into his own home. He had to call the code up on his smartphone to get in the door.

Kim’s mother took him to a doctor and the diagnosis was shocking: Kim had symptoms of early onset dementia due to intense exposure to digital technology. Since the age of five, Kim was tethered to either the television or the computer. He is an avid computer game lover.

“His brain’s ability to transfer information to long-term memory has been impaired because of his heavy exposure to digital gadgets,” said psychiatrist Kim Dae-jin at Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital in southern Seoul, who diagnosed Kim and is treating him.

Koreans were the earliest converts to digital life, and they may be the first to be afflicted by its most harmful side effects. Penetration of wireless broadband, at 104.2 out of 100 people, is the world’s highest.

More than 67 percent of Koreans over the age of 16 have smartphones, again the world’s highest. And where adult Koreans go, so do the kids and teens.

According to the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning, 64.5 percent of teens now have smartphones, up from 21.4 percent in 2011.

Internet addiction was recognized as a problem in both adults and young people as early as the late 1990s. Now Korea is discovering a scourge called “digital dementia” - the kind of early onset dementia, or deterioration of cognitive abilities, that usually only comes about following a head injury or psychiatric illness.

Korean doctors are finding a growing number of cases of memory problems, attention disorders and emotional flattening among kids and teens spending too much time web searching, texting and using multimedia.

They think young people are at particular risk because their brains are still developing.

“Overuse of smartphones and game devices hampers the balanced development of the brain,” says Byun Gi-won, a medical doctor who runs the Balance Brain Center in southern Seoul, which helps people with cognitive problems related to computers and smartphones.

“Heavy users are likely to develop the left side of their brains, leaving the right side untapped or under developed,” the doctor said. Engaging with computer or mobile devices is the kind of activity that is handled by the left side of the brain, he said.

“Left-brain skills include rational, linear, fact-finding thinking processes whereas right brain skills include intuition, imagination, emotional thoughts,” says Doctor Kim Young-bo at Gachon University Gil Medical Center in Incheon.

“Since smartphone use mostly stimulates the left side of the brain, the right side, which is linked with concentration, eventually degenerates, reducing attention and memory span,” Doctor Kim said.

Psychiatrist Park Ki-jeong warned that the cognitive disorders such as shortened attention span and reduced memory capacity could lead to actual early onset dementia.

“Ten to 15 percent of those with the mild cognitive disorders develop dementia,” he said. “And there’s an increasing number of young people experiencing those disorders.”

The government-run Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service reports that the number of people suffering from cognitive problems in their 20s to 40s jumped to 1,585 last year from 1,160 in 2008.

“From the early 2000s, I’ve seen a drastic increase in patients with reduced memory spans, especially young people. When I looked at it, most of them were exposed of the heavy consumption of digital gadgets,” said Dr. Kim at Gachon University Gil Medical Center in Incheon, who works at the hospital’s brain research institute.

“The gadgets ease the burden of memorizing tedious information but if we don’t use our brain functions, the overall cognitive skills of being aware and perception will ultimately decrease,” he said.

Dr. Choi Jeong-seok of Boramae Medical Center in southern Seoul recently noticed an increase in the number of teens coming to the psychiatry center of the hospital.

“Many of them are affected by mental and cognitive disorders because they are addicted to computer games and smartphones,” he says.

And the number of teens getting hooked on smartphones is only going up, as figures from the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning announced this month demonstrate.

The percentage of young people between 10 and 19 who use their smartphones for more than seven hours a day was 18.4 percent, a 7 percent increase from last year.

Clinics dedicated to helping teens and young people restore impaired cognitive ability are springing up.

Experts point out that some brain functions are going through major developments at the age of 17 to 19.

“Right and left prefrontal lobes mature at around 17 to 19 so the period is critical,” said Jang Won-woong, a researcher at the Balance Brain center in southern Seoul. “Teens can impair that development by being exposed to many devices.”

Despite such sobering warnings from medical professionals, Korea is now poised to fully adopt digital devices in the classroom, making even broader use of the Internet and computers.

“In reality, using digital media in kindergarten or primary school is actually a way of getting children addicted,” wrote German psychiatrist Manfred Spitzer of the Ulm University Hospital in his 2012 book “Digital Dementia.”

“I’m not sure whether classrooms equipped with advanced technology work well,” said Kim Young-bo of the Gil Hospital. “Children are easily distracted and they are vulnerable to addiction.”

BY BAEK IL-HYUN, PARK EUN-JEE [ejpark@joongang.co.kr]

http://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/article/article.aspx?aid=2973527
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Kill or Cure : Karina Hansen ME Patient Incacerated For Psychiatric Treatment In Denmark


Kill or Cure : Karina Hansen ME Patient Incacerated For Psychiatric Treatment In Denmark

  BY 
Confined to her bed since contracting an Epstein-Barr infection at the age of 16, Denmark citizen 23 year old Karina Hansen is like many people across the world coping severe ME. Before February 12th this year, she was cared for at home by her parents who follow the advice given by the ME experts and her GP about her well being and treatment. She has been diagnosed with ME by at least 4 Doctors. She has tried a Graded Exercise treatment programme in the past but it exacerbated her symptoms to such an extent, she had to stop.
Karina Hansen
Recently the Danish Government and the Psychiatrists at  The Research Clinic for Functional Disorders and Psychosomatics ( RFD ) became involved in Karina’s life and care.
The RFD is a clinic which focuses on the treatment of somatic disorders. Somatic disorders are ones where a person has multiple physical complaints, but no physical cause can be found.
Psychosomatic disorders are physical illnesses that are mental / emotional in origin.  Within Denmark, they are both illnesses that can be approached and treated as Psychiatric conditions.
Despite the World Health Organisation  agreeing that ME is a physical, neurological condition with no Psychiatric origin, in Denmark all ME patients are in a hierarchy of care from GP upwards and the buck stops with the two Psychiatrists running the RFD.
These Psychiatrists are given the right by the Danish Government – via the Medical Officer – to control and make decisions about all patients with ME. These decisions are based on ME being regarded by Denmark as a somatic illness only.
Karina needed to go into hospital to have a feeding tube inserted through her nose and into her stomach. From that point onwards, the machinery in the medical hierarchy started whirring. The GP involved with her care notified  the Medical Officer who in turn involved the Psychiatrists at the RFD.
Despite Karina having been assessed as mentally fit to understand and make her own decisions ( something in the UK we call having ‘Mental Capacity’ ) and being diagnosed with ME, they assessed Karina again and changed her life completely.
In an extraordinary move, they contradicted the diagnosis of the 4 Doctors who had already diagnosed ME and her GP who was working hard to advocate for Karina’s care remaining at home. The diagnosis that was superimposed on Karina was that her condition was a somatic illness, Psychiatric in origin.
Within a short length of time, Karina was removed from her home against her will and taken to a clinic called the Hammel Neurocentre. Here she is being forcibly treated with a programme of Graded Exercise. Her previous regimen of medication or supplements has not been transferred into the clinic. A decision has been made that she unable to have visitors unless they support the treatment Karina is having. Anyone would have to be accompanied by a Nurse during that visit to ensure she was ” not affected in an inappropriate direction “.
Her sister, who is a Nurse, has had one visit and reported that Karina didn’t seem to know where she was. Again, in an extraordinary move, her parents have not been able to access her in a face to face visit since her committal to the Hammel Neurocentre. All the information that is given to her family is supplied by the Psychiatrists involved with her care and appears to be limited.
Karina finds speaking exhausting. When asked by her Nurses who are implementing GED on a daily basis – part of her treatment, Karen repeats the sentence: ” You are killing me “. She repeatedly said that she did not want to be there, particularly in the first week when she made numerous phone calls including to The Police and continued to do so until her phone stopped working.
Her words speak to the utter desperation she feels. She has recently been placed on suicide watch as she spends much of her time crying. There is no evidence that can be evaluated reported from the Hammel Neurocentre that indicates the treatment Karina is receiving is affecting her symptoms positively. From the scant information given out to family and friends, there is no positive change to her level of functioning in comparison to when she was cared for at home. Her parents report that she did not cry when at home, which is a noticeable negative change. That she has been assessed as a suicide risk is again, extremely concerning.
Despite the intervention of Rebecca Hansen, Chairman of The ME Association in Denmark and her family hiring a Lawyer, Karina remains in a locked ward at the Hammel Neurocentre undergoing this treatment. Recently, The State Administration For Central Jutland has been appointed as legal guardian for Karina. This is a worrying move. It means that Karina and her parents are not considered to be legally influential in her care and any decisions now rest with the State.
Rebecca Hansen recently attended a meeting at the Hammel Neurocentre with Karina’s family. The doctor who met with them received his information from the two Psychiatrists responsible and accountable for her care. The Doctor is quoted as saying that ME is a “ figment of the imagination ” and Doctors who believe in ME are “ imbeciles.” He believes that Karina has a mental illness which originated before she became ill. He regards the Doctors advice and input before her committal to the Hammel Neurocentre as  ” Malpractice “.
Around the world, people are responding to this news with horror and a desire to help. Human Rights Legislation will be essential in this fight, but you can help as well.
You can gain information from justice4karinahansen@hotmail.com and follow Karina’s story on the Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/JusticeForKarinaHansenwhere people around the world are posting messages, creating videos and posting photos holding a message saying ” Free Karina , Respect ME “.
Rebecca Hansen has asked that if anyone is interested in talking with her directly, particularly Journalists and Bloggers who can cover the story, she can be contacted aticerebel62@hotmail.com.
You can write to the Denmark Officials by following the link in Facebook here. If you write your own letter, be polite and courteous. What you write affects the tone of the entire campaign and may negatively influence the attitude of those controlling Karina’s care.
Send to:
Danish Health and Medicines Authority (Sundhedsstyrelsen)
Axel Heides Gade 1
2300 Copenhagen S
Denmark
Email: sst@sst.dk
Danish regional Office:
Statsforvalningsen Midtjylland
St. Blichers Vej 6
Postbox: 151
6950 Ringkobing
midtjylland@statsforvaltning.dk
County Office:
Holstebro County – Mayor’s Office
Rådhuset
Kirkestræde 11
7500 Holstebro
Tlf. 9611 7500
email: kommunen@holstebro.dk
If you get any replies, scan them and email them to Rebecca Hansen: she will use them in the Legal process.
There are petitions that you can sign:
Show Karina you care and send her a real-life postcard using this address :
Hammel Neurocenter
Kognitiv Klinik, H4
Voldbyvej 15, 8450 Hammel, Denmark
Att: Karina and Ketty Hansen
The horror and sadness that is felt in hearing such barbaric treatment, treatment that goes against all medical principles of doing no harm to others, against all ideas about patient choice and patient – centered care is utterly galling.
It is a pressing question how Karen is in this situation as she was assessed as having ‘Capacity’ to make her own decisions. The structure of the system in Denmark is allowing her to lose every human right, legally, personally and in terms of her health.
I will keep blogging about Karina – will you do one thing for her today and click on a link and sign a petition – or re-post this post -  join The Justice For Karina Hansen Facebook page or send her a postcard.
It is a thing to ask which could make every piece of difference to Karina surviving through an ordeal we wouldn’t wish on anyone.
http://mecfsblog.com/2013/06/28/kill-or-cure-karina-hansen-me-patient-incacerated-for-psychiatric-treatment-in-denmark/
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The mysterious honeybee apocalypse: Up to 12 million bees found dead and dying in Florida and no one knows why


The mysterious honeybee apocalypse: Up to 12 million bees found dead and dying in Florida and no one knows why

By MICHAEL ZENNIE
UPDATED: 17:05 GMT, 3 October 2011

Honeybee carcasses coated the ground around hundreds of Florida beehives after a mysterious massacre claimed millions of bees and mutilated a way of life for local bee keepers. 

Experts have ruled out 'colony collapse disorder' and the bee keepers suspect that their bees were poisoned with pesticide. Florida agriculture officials and the local sheriff's office are both investigating.

No one can tell yet what killed as many as 12 million bees from 800 hives this week in Brevard County, on central Florida's Atlantic coast.

Dead bees
Dead: Charles Smith, a Florida bee keeper, says millions of his bees were mysteriously poisoned this week

The massive bee die-off has stung Charles Smith, whose Smith Family Honey Company lost $150,000 worth of bees.

'I'm a pretty tough guy but it is heart wrenching,' he told News 13 in Orlando. 'Not only is it a monetary loss here, but we work really hard on these bees to keep them in good health.'

Smith scooped up handfuls of dead bees that littered the ground around his hives. The bees he raises go to farmers around the country to pollinate numerous crops, he said. 

Dead bees
Carcasses: Dead bees litter the ground around the hives where they once thrived

The bee deaths show the tell-tale signs of pesticide poising, experts said. State officials are testing dead bees to determine exactly what killed them. 

The Brevard County Sheriff's Office is investigating the deaths, which spanned 30 sites in a mile-and-a-half radius, as a possible crime. 

'The fact that it was so widespread and so rapid, I think you can pretty much rule out disease,' Bill Kern, a University of Florida entomologist, told Florida Today. 'It happened essentially almost in one day. Usually diseases affect adults or the brood, you don’t have something that kills them both.'

Pollinators
No disease: Experts have ruled out "colony collapse disorder" as the cause of death

So-called 'colony collapse disorder' has killed bees in millions of hives around the world, but the effects of that disease are more gradual and the bees typically leave the hive before they die, Kern said. 

County officials sprayed mosquito-killing pesticide from the air last week, though they said the poison dissipates quickly and should not have harmed the bees. 

'I'll never get completely compensated for this unless someone handed me 400 beehives,' Smith told Treasure Coast Newspapers. 'I lost the bees, the ability to make honey and the ability to sell the bees.'

Photo of Smith courtesy of www.tcpalm.com.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2044764/The-mysterious-honeybee-apocalypse-Up-12-million-bees-dead-dying-Florida-knows-why.html#ixzz2Y49xGcOY 

See also Bees, Birds, and Mankind for a scientific explanation:

http://www.kompetenzinitiative.net/broschuerenreihe/brochure-series/english/bees-birds-and-mankind.html


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Blue whales are disturbed by military sonar


Blue whales are disturbed by military sonar

Military sonar has been found to disrupt the feeding behaviour of endangered blue whales.

Blue whales are disturbed by military sonar
Scientists found the giant sea mammals would cut short dives for food after a sonar 'ping' Photo: National News
By , Science Correspondent
6:00PM BST 03 Jul 2013

Researchers studied the responses of the biggest living animal on the planet to simulated mid-frequency military sonar, which is used by military submarines and ships to detect other vessels.





Using tracking tags on 17 blue whales, which feed on large swarms of krill in the ocean, the scientists found the giant sea mammals would cut short dives for food after a sonar “ping”.
The animals also tended to avoid areas where the sonar had been used for some time afterwards. The sonar was played at levels below the current regulatory thresholds.
The scientists claim this could mean the animals, which must eat large amounts of krill due to their body size, would miss out on vital time needed to forage for food.
They found that the whales stopped feeding for more than an hour after the sonar, resulting in a loss of around a metric ton of krill for the animals.
The researchers claim their findings contradict claims that military sonar has no impact on blue whales and other related species of baleen, or filter feeding, whales.
The findings are published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
A second study by the same researchers, published in the journalBiology Letters, also showed that military sonar caused another species of whale, the Cuvier’s beaked whale, to stop feeding and swim away from the sound.
Dr Brandon Southall, from the Long Marine Laboratory at the University of California who led the project, said: “The two studies provide the first direct measurements of individual responses - for Cuvier's beaked whales and for any baleen whale species - to these kinds of mid-frequency sonar signals.
“These findings help us to understand risks to these animals from human sound and inform timely conservation and management decisions.”
The scientists argue that the impact of “active” military sonar on blue whales must be considered in environmental assessments before military naval exercises.
They said they hoped the US Navy, which funded the work, would use the findings to search for ways of reducing the impact of sonar on whale species.
Dr Stacy DeRuiter, from the University of St Andrews who also took part in the studies, said: "While there have been suspicions that military exercises are linked to whale strandings we don't really understand the chain of events that lead to that.
"The number of strandings also do not match the number of military exercises and sonar events, so the Navy is keen to understand this more."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/wildlife/10158068/Blue-whales-are-disturbed-by-military-sonar.html?fb
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Wednesday, July 03, 2013

Local Activists Block Smart Meters

Local Activists Block Smart Meters


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Mobile devices in power play

Mobile devices in power play

Date

Cynthia Karena


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