Essential Oils Help Combat Acne and Scarring
January 11th, 2011
Natural News
By: Fleur Hupston
Acne medications on the market often contain acids and chemicals that dry the skin and cause rashes, redness and peeling. Essential oils provide a gentle and inexpensive way of treating acne, clearing infections and healing acne scarring. Known for their antiseptic, antibacterial and calming properties, essential oils can help to clear acne outbreaks and promote healing.
Best Essential Oils for Acne Treatment
Choose only a therapeutic grade essential oil, although it may be more expensive. Cheaper, adulterated oils may exacerbate acne problems.
Essential oils effective in the treatment of acne include palmarosa, geranium, lemon and petitgrain, which help to regulate the control of sebum. Other useful oils include juniper, lavender, lime, neroli, rosemary and sandalwood.
Tea Tree Oil for Acne
Tea tree has antimicrobial properties which act on viruses, bacteria and fungi. Studies have shown a significant reduction in inflamed and non-inflamed lesions when applied topically.
Undiluted tea tree oil may cause skin irritation, redness, blistering, over-drying, and itching when applied directly to the skin.
A tea tree oil solution can be made by mixing 5 parts tea tree oil to 95 parts water (5ml tea tree oil, 95ml water), or by mixing a few drops of tea tree oil with a carrier oil such as sweet almond oil.
Lavender Oil for Acne
Lavender is an antiseptic and anti-inflammatory. It has a balancing effect on the skin, helps scar tissue to heal and can generally be used for all skin types. Lavender oil is one of the few oils that can be applied directly to the skin, or try mixing 5 drops of lavender oil and 15 drops of sweet almond oil to make a soothing serum for the skin.
Bergamot Essential Oil for Acne
Bergamot’s antiseptic action and ability to promote skin growth makes it perfect for treating acne. It is great for oily skin types and is effective for other skin conditions such as psoriasis and dermatitis.
Bergamot oil can be used in the treatment of depression, stress, tension, fear, hysteria, infection (all types including skin), anorexia, psoriasis, eczema and general convalescence.
Rose Oil
Rose is an antiseptic and very effective for treating acne. Rose essential oil softens and nourishes the skin. It is generally effective for all skin types. A bath taken with a few drops of rose oil can also help to reduce stress.
Click here for the full report from Natural News
Do Synthetic Food Colors Cause Hyperactivity?
January 11th, 2011
Chicago Tribune
By: Julie Deardorff
Food coloring is the reason glace cherries are red rather than beige and that children’s tongues sometimes appear freakishly blue. But man-made dyes may do more than make processed food look vibrant and whimsical. Some blame the additives for triggering behavioral problems in youngsters.
Acting on research published in the Lancet, the European Parliament last year began requiring products containing synthetic food colors to carry warning labels saying that “consumption may have an adverse effect on activity and attention in children.”
Now, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has scheduled a March hearing on whether food dyes adversely impact children’s health. The Center for Science in the Public Interest, or CSPI, is asking the agency for a synthetic food-dye ban and to place warnings on products until the colors are removed.
The dyes are often used to enhance the appearance of sugary cereals, candies, sodas, fruit-flavored snacks, fast food and other products that are aimed at children and have little nutritional value, the CSPI said in a citizen’s petition signed by 18 physicians and researchers. Since naturally derived alternatives exist, the continued use is hardly worth any potential risk, it said.
“What’s the benefit? To make junk food even more appealing to children than it already is?” asked CSPI Executive Director Michael Jacobson.
Other experts say food dyes, which require pre-market approval, are among the most tightly regulated additives on the market and there’s little evidence for the long-suspected link between food colors and hyperactivity.
“The (synthetic food dyes) used in the U.S. are absolutely safe,” said Joseph Borzelleca, a professor emeritus of pharmacology and toxicology at Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine. “Food colors are among the most thoroughly studied of the food ingredients.”
That hasn’t always been the case. Originally, naturally derived ingredients were used to make food look more appealing — saffron, for example, gave rice a yellow tint. In the 1850s, manufacturers began using long-lasting coal-tar dyes to brighten both fabric and food, a practice that sickened countless unsuspecting consumers.
Nearly 200 substances were in use when safety testing was finally required in 1960; only a handful survived the testing process.
Today, the nine synthetic hues approved for use in food — meaning they’ve been certified by the FDA — are used primarily to help restore the color washed away by industrial processing, even out natural variations and make foods look more appealing or “fun.”
Click here for the full report from the Chicago Tribune
Obesity May Be a Factor in Vitamin D Deficiency
January 11th, 2011
Natural News
By: Amelia Bentrup
People who weigh more have lower circulating levels of Vitamin D according to recent research conducted at the Rikshospitalet-Radiumhospitalet Medical Center in Oslo, Norway and published in the Journal of Nutrition. Lead researcher, Zoya Lagunova, MD and her colleagues measured the serum levels of Vitamin D and 1,25(OH)2D in 1,779 patients at a Medical and Metabolic Lifestyle Management Clinic in Oslo, Norway. The associations among 1,25(OH)(2)D, serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D], and body composition were analyzed. Lagunova noted that generally people with higher BMI had lower levels of Vitamin D. Age, season, and gender were also found to influence serum 1,25(OH)(2)D.
Vitamin D is not a true vitamin, but rather a vitamin-steroid thought to play a key role in the prevention of cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, multiple sclerosis and other diseases. It is likely not coincidental that obesity is also a risk factor for many of these diseases.
Vitamin D is vital to the regulation of calcium. Studies have shown that calcium deficiency increases the production of synthase, an enzyme that converts calories into fat. It has been shown that calcium deficiency can increase synthase production by up to 500 percent. Vitamin D has also been shown to play a role in the regulation of blood sugar levels; proper blood sugar regulation is vital to the maintenance of a healthy weight.
Vitamin D is produced from sunlight and converted into various metabolites. It is stored in fat tissue. According to Lagunova, obese people may take in as much Vitamin D as other people; however, because it is stored in fat it may be less available. This may result in lower circulating levels of Vitamin D.
A previous study conducted by Shalamar Sibley, MD, MPH, an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Minnesota, showed that subjects who have higher levels of Vitamin D at the start of a weight loss diet lose more weight than those with lower levels. The study measured Vitamin D levels of 38 overweight men and women both before and after following an 11-week calorie-restricted diet. Vitamin D levels at the start of diet was an accurate predictor of weight loss…those with higher levels of Vitamin D lost more weight. It was found that for every nanogram increase in Vitamin D precursor, there was an 1/2 pound increase in weight loss.
Seventy-five percent or more of Americans, teenage and older, are Vitamin D deficient according to a recent study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine. According to the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, 26.5% of American are obese. More research needs to be conducted into the exact role Vitamin D plays in obesity and weight loss and the possibility of increased Vitamin D consumption (through the form of supplementation and/or increased sun exposure) being a key factor to achieving a healthy weight.
Click here for the full report from Natural News
Birch Bark Nutrient Prevents Obesity, Diabetes and High Cholesterol
January 11th, 2011
Natural News
By: Jonathan Benson
Researchers from the Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences (SIBC) in China have identified a powerful compound in birch bark called betulin that helps lower cholesterol and prevent both diabetes and obesity. And betulin works particularly better than the statin drug lovastatin at lowering cholesterol, except without the harmful side effects.
Dr. Bao-Liang Song and his colleagues from SIBC tested the effects of betulin and found that it specifically targets the genes responsible for making harmful blood fats like triglycerides by effectively lowering their activity and protecting against disease. And since the compound is “abundant in birch bark,” it has the potential to revolutionize the way blood fat levels are managed.
Concerning cholesterol levels, betulin was shown to lower lipid levels more effectively than lovastatin. And insulin-wise, betulin helps keep artery walls free and clear of build-ups and blockages, also known as atherosclerosis.
Click here for the full report from Natural News
Osteoporosis Drugs Cause Thigh Bone Fractures
January 11th, 2011
Natural News
By: David Gutierrez
A class of widely prescribed osteoporosis drugs may significantly increase the risk of a rare type of thigh fracture, the FDA has warned.
The FDA ordered a new warning label for all drugs in the bisphosphonate family, including Merck’s Fosamax (marketed generically as alendronate), Roche’s Boniva, Novartis’ Reclast and Warner Chilcott’s Actonel. It is also requiring that consumer-friendly guides be distributed with every bisphosphonate prescription to make sure that patients understand the risks and how to minimize them.
The thigh fractures in question occur with little or no preceding trauma and may be preceded for months by a dull, aching pain in the thigh or groin. The agency said that patients experiencing such symptoms should visit a doctor at once to try and prevent a fracture.
“Today’s label change is likely to raise the level of concern among patients about the safety of bisphosphonates significantly,” said Geoff Porges, an analyst at Bernstein & Co.
The FDA also directed doctors to reassess whether patients should continue taking the drugs after five or more years. According to Felicia Cosman of the National Osteoporosis Foundation, the drugs appear to offer little or no benefit after this time, while the rate of fractures seems to increase.
“If the safety profile is changing and the efficacy is not clear, then many people should consider having an interruption in continuous use of the drug,” Cosman said.
Bisphosphonates are meant to stop the bone-thinning processes of osteoporosis by interfering with the mechanism by which the body normally breaks down old bone cells and replaces them with new ones. Some doctors now believe that interfering with this process may cause bones to weaken over time, however.
Analysts predicted that the new warning might provide a boost for Amgen’s new osteoporosis drug Prolia, which is not in the bisphosphonate family.
Click here for the full report from Natural News
Vaccinations and Allergy Shots Causing Allergies to Aluminum
January 11th, 2011
Natural News
By: S.L. Baker
An allergic reaction to aluminum used to be extraordinarily rare. That’s not true any more, however, and researchers have been baffled for an explanation. Now it appears one has been found. It turns out that as the number of vaccinations people are given has increased, so has the incidence of the formerly almost non-existent aluminum allergy.
The connection? Swedish researchers think the aluminum added to many vaccinations as an “intensifier” has caused an increasing number of people to become allergic to the metal. And, with aluminum in everything from medications and deodorant to make-up and more, it’s not an easy allergen to avoid.
The first inkling of the aluminum allergy/vaccination connection was revealed a few years ago when a study of whooping cough vaccinations in Gothenburg showed that about one percent of youngsters who received these vaccinations developed pruritic nodules (small lumps under the skin that itch and can last for years) in the area of the shot. And 75 percent of these kids with the nodules also became allergic to aluminum.
“This was completely unexpected. Aluminum has been used as an adjuvant, intensifier, in vaccines for over 70 years with only a small number of reports of pruritic nodules and allergic contact dermatitis,” scientist Eva Netterlid said in a statement to the media. She is conducting research on the vaccination/allergy connection at the Occupational and Environmental Dermatology Unit in Malmo, Sweden.
So what has changed that’s caused aluminum allergies to become far more common? Netterlid thinks it’s because the types of aluminum compounds used in vaccines and other mainstream medical treatments such as allergy desensitization shots have been changed over the years. In addition, people are receiving more vaccinations than ever, in part because of the increase in international travel.
Click here for the full report from Natural News
On Passports, Mother and Father Will Soon Be ‘Parent 1′ and ‘Parent 2′
January 11th, 2011
Politics Daily
By: Christopher Weber
Gay-rights proponents are cheering and some conservatives are up in arms after the State Department said it would replace the words “mother” and “father” on U.S. passport applications with gender-neutral terms.
Instead of “mother” and “father,” the forms will read “parent one” and “parent two.”
A statement on the agency’s website called the changes “improvements” that are being made to provide a more accurate description “of a child’s parents and in recognition of different types of families.”
Brenda Sprague, deputy assistant secretary of State for Passport Services, told Fox News the new forms reflect the realities of the modern world.
“We find that with changes in medical science and reproductive technology that we are confronting situations now that we would not have anticipated 10 or 15 years ago,” Sprague said.
Christian conservative organizations were quick to slam the forthcoming changes.
“Only in the topsy-turvy world of left-wing political correctness could it be considered an ‘improvement’ for a birth-related document to provide less information about the circumstances of that birth,” Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, said in a statement.
Perkins said the gender neutral terms were “designed to advance the causes of same-sex ‘marriage’ and homosexual parenting without statutory authority, and violates the spirit if not the letter of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).”
Under the 1996 federal law, marriage is legally defined as a union between one man and one woman.
Gay-rights supporters hailed the move toward gender neutral terminology.
“Changing the term ‘mother’ and ‘father’ to the more global term of ‘parent’ allows many different types of families to be able to go and apply for a passport for their child without feeling like the government doesn’t recognize their family,” Jennifer Chrisler, executive director of Family Equality Council, told Fox News.
Chrisler, who pushed for the changes for years, praised the government for recognizing that “the family structure is changing.”
“The best thing that we can do is support people who are raising kids in loving, stable families,” she said.
The State Department said the new passport applications will be available online next month.
Click here for the full report from Politics Daily
Suspect in Giffords Shooting Had a History of Troubling Behavior
January 11, 2011 by Andrew
Filed under Government
January 11th, 2011
Politics Daily
By: Bruce Drake
Jared Loughner, the 22-year-old suspect accused of shooting Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in a rampage that killed six people and wounded more than a dozen others, had a history of troubling behavior that surfaced in rambling postings on his MySpace page, YouTube videos and classes he attended at Pima Community College in Tucson.
One of his videos prompted college officials to suspend him and tell his parents that he would have to get a mental health evaluation if he wanted to return to school, according to the New York Times. Loughner attended Pima from the summer of 2005 until October when he withdrew after his suspension.
Loughner tried to enlist in the Army in 2008 and took a physical. But First Sgt. Brian Homme, a Tucson recruiter, told the Arizona Daily Star that he was rejected as unqualified. Citing confidentiality rules, the Army did not make public its reasons.
Officials said that Loughner so far is not cooperating with their investigation.
Caitlin Parker, a former friend of Loughner, told ABC News that Loughner had once met Giffords.
“As I knew him more and more after high school, he got a little bit more odd,” Parker said. “I mean, he was obsessed with the 2012 prophecy. I mean, he met Gabrielle Giffords once in ’07 and told me he asked her some question that made absolutely no sense to me, but he said, ‘I can’t believe she doesn’t understand it. Politicians just don’t get it.’”
The federal complaint filed Sunday containing the charges against Loughner said that investigators found a letter from Giffords in a safe at Loughner’s house thanking him for attending one of her “Congress on Your Corner” meetings in 2007. The complaint added: “Also recovered in the safe was an enveloped with handwriting on the envelope stating ‘I planned ahead,’ and ‘My assassination’ and the name ‘Giffords’ along with what appears to be Loughner’s signature.”
At college, Loughner “disrupted class frequently with nonsensical outbursts,” according to Lynda Sorenson, who told the Daily Star she once took a math class with him.
Another former classmate of Loughner’s, Lydian Ali, told the Star, that Loughner would frequently laugh aloud to himself during an advanced poetry class that they took.
Loughner’s writings and videos, which were mostly blocks of text, ranged from what appeared to be grievances against the college to disconnected thoughts on mind control and establishing a new currency.
“This video is my introduction to you!” said one white type-on-black-background screen from a YouTube video. “My favorite activity is conscience dreaming; the greatest inspiration for my political business information. Some of you don’t dream – sadly.”
Tommy Marriotti, a high school friend of Loughner, told the Daily Star that “conscience dreaming” – trying to manipulate your dreams – was an interest that Loughner had pursued.
(Loughner’s original YouTube postings are no longer available on the website but others have reposted them, and the content of this one is consistent with published accounts of others who viewed them).
In the video he described as his introduction, Loughner said, ” The current government officials are in power for their currency! If you’re treasurer of a new money system, then you’re responsible for the distributing of a new currency. We now know – the treasurer for a new money system, is the distributor of the new currency. As a result, the people approve a new money system which is promising new information that’s accurate, and we truly believe in a new currency. Above all, have your new currency, listener?”
In another posting, he said, “I won’t pay debt with a currency that’s not backed by gold and silver.”
Click here for the full report from Politics Daily
Federal Judge, 9-year-old Girl Among Ariz. Shooting Victims
January 11, 2011 by Andrew
Filed under Government
January 11th, 2011
USA Today
By: Judy Keen
• Christina-Taylor Green
Christina-Taylor, 9, was born on Sept. 11, 2001, was featured in Faces of Hope, a book that told the story of one baby from each state born the day of the attacks. She was a student council member at her school and went to see Giffords because of her interest in government after a neighbor invited her. She was the granddaughter of former Philadelphia Phillies manager Dallas Green.
“She was a beautiful girl, inside and out,” her mother, Roxanna Green, told USA TODAY. “She cared about people and did so many charitable things. She was high energy. I remember her smile, her laugh.”
Green said she got a call from her neighbor’s husband, saying Christina-Taylor and his wife were taken to the hospital. “I thought they had been in some kind of car accident,” Green recalled.
At the hospital, the surgeon said the doctors couldn’t save her. Green said her daughter had been shot in the chest.
The friend, Susan Hileman, is hospitalized with multiple gunshot wounds, Green said.
Christina-Taylor recently received first Communion at St. Odilia Catholic Church. Her father, John Green, a Los Angeles Dodgers scout, says she loved ballet and gymnastics and was the only girl on her baseball team. She also had a brother, Dallas, 11.
•Dorothy Morris
Morris, 76, was the wife of George Morris, a retired airline pilot, says Clyde Nelson, whose son is married to their daughter.
Her husband was wounded and is hospitalized, family friend Bill Royle told the Reno Gazette-Journal.
She was “well-versed in world affairs,” Nelson says. “She was a beautiful person. … They don’t get any better.” She loved entertaining her family and friends, Nelson says. “It is a great loss.”
•John Roll
Roll, 63, chief judge of the U.S. District for Arizona, was presiding over a challenge of a ban on ethnic studies in Tucson schools and received death threats in 2009 during a case filed by illegal immigrants against a rancher who made citizen’s arrests.
Lawyer Richard Martinez, who presented cases in Roll courtrooms for 20 years, says the judge was “very serious, always in control of his courtroom … and very committed to allowing everyone to have their day in court.”
Outside court, Martinez says, “you saw the smile come on his face.”
Roll, he says, was a devout Roman Catholic who attended Mass almost daily and was proud of his family. “He lit up most when he talked about his family,” Martinez says.
Roll is survived by his wife, Maureen, three sons and five grandchildren.
He started his career as a bailiff, was an assistant city attorney in Tucson and joined the U.S. Attorney’s office in 1980. He served on the Arizona Appeals Court in 1987 and was appointed to the federal bench in 1991 by President George H.W. Bush.
•Phyllis Schneck
Schneck, 79, was a snowbird who spent eight months of the year in Tucson and the rest at home in New Jersey, says her son Ernie Schneck of Rutherford, N.J.
“She was a great person, had a lot of friends,” he says. “She liked to cook, she liked to bake, she made quilts, she was very active in church.” Ernest, her husband of 56 years, died in 2007. She had two daughters, seven grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
Schneck was generous, her son says, and once helped raise money to donate an ambulance to a New Jersey hospital. Her latest hobby, he says, was making barbecue aprons with New York Jets and Giants logos to sell at church bazaars. She wasn’t usually interested in politics, but neighbors have told the family that she took an interest in Giffords.
Ernie Schneck planned to fly to Arizona next Sunday to visit his mom and always sent her off for her winter stay in Tucson with a round-trip ticket to be sure she would come home, he says.
•Dorwan Stoddard
Stoddard, 76, was a retired heavy equipment operator in charge of maintenance at Mountain Avenue Church of Christ, says Jody Nowak, the church’s office manager.
“He loved to sit and just talk and tell you stories,” she says. His wife, Mavy, was wounded in the attack, Nowak says.
The couple first thought the popping Saturday was firecrackers. When Dorwan realized they were gunshots, he told his wife to dive for some nearby chairs. Then Dorwan dove on top of his wife to protect her. She was shot in the legs.”He’s going to be sorely missed,” Nowak says.
•Gabe Zimmerman, 30
Zimmerman, 30, was Giffords’ community outreach director. “He was sweet. He was gentle. He was soft-spoken,” says lawyer Michael McNulty, who chaired Giffords’ campaigns.
Zimmerman, he says, was perfectly suited for his job.
“Gabe not only had sort of a native instinct to care for people,” McNulty says, “he had a degree in social work.”
Zimmerman recently was engaged. He is survived by a brother.
Among those injured:
• Two of Giffords’ staff members: District director Ron Barber and community-outreach worker Pam Simon
•Susan Hileman, neighbor of Christina-Taylor Green, who was killed during the attack
•Mary Reed, sheltered daughter Emma McMahon during the attack
•Mavy Stoddard, wife of Dorwan Stoddard who was shot and killed during the attack
Click here for the full report from USA Today
The Kevin Trudeau Show: 1-10-11
Today, Kevin explains why paying attention and following the recipe is so important on the road to success. PLUS! Kevin finally reveals more insider information about the link between extraterrestrials and specific events in history.
Self Help:
Change The Way You Think
Prosper Financially
Education:
Serious Errors Found In Virginia History Textbook
Everything Kevin:
Become An Insider!
Kevin is on YouTube!
Sign Up For Kevin’s FREE Podcast
Follow Kevin on Twitter
Become Kevin’s Friend on Facebook
Kevin’s Film Club
Kevin’s Book Club
Take Trudeau on the Go! Click here to download this show to your iPod, mp3 player, or PC through iTunes!
Click Below to Watch the Kevin Trudeau Show LIVE!
