28 Amazing Benefits and Uses for Hydrogen Peroxide.

Hydrogen peroxide is the only germicidal agentcomposed only of water and oxygen. Like ozone, it kills disease organisms by oxidation! Hydrogen peroxide is considered the worlds safest all natural effective sanitizer. It kills microorganisms by oxidizing them, which can be best described as a controlled burning process. When Hydrogen peroxide reacts with organic material it breaks down into oxygen and water.

1. Whiten Clothes – An Alternative to Beach

Add a cup of Peroxide to white clothes in your laundry to whiten them. Peroxide is great to get rid of blood stains on clothes and carpets. If there is blood on clothing, just pour directly on the spot, let it sit for about a minute, then rub and rinse with cold water. Repeat if necessary.

2. Health

Your body makes Hydrogen peroxide to fight infection which must be present for our immune system to function correctly. White blood cells are known as Leukocytes. A sub-class of Leukocytes called Neutrophils produce hydrogen peroxide as the first line of defense against toxins, parasites, bacteria, viruses and yeast.

3. Rejuvenating Detoxifying Bath

Use about 2 quarts 3% Hydrogen peroxide to a tub of warm water. Soak at least 1/2 hour, adding hot water as needed to maintain a comfortable water temperature.

4. Foot Fungus

To cure a foot fungus, simply spray a 50/50 mixture of Hydrogen peroxide and water on them (especially the toes) every night and let dry.

5. Douche

Add 2 capfuls of 3% Hydrogen peroxide in warm distilled water once to twice a week to remove even chronic yeast infections.

6. Colonic or Enema

For a colonic, add 1 cup (8 ozs.) 3% H202 to 5 gallons warm water. (Do not exceed this amount) For an enema, add 1 tablespoon of 3% H202 to a quart of warm distilled water.

7. Infections

Soak any infections or cuts in 3% for five to ten minutes several times a day. Even gangrene that would not heal with any medicine has been healed by soaking in Hydrogen peroxide. Put half a bottle of hydrogen peroxide in your bath to help rid boils, fungus or other skin infections.

8. Bird Mites Infections

Patients infected by tiny mites report that hydrogen peroxide effectively kills the mites on their skins. They spray it on their skin a couple of times (with a few minutes in between the applications) with amazing results.

9. Sinus Infections

A tablespoon of 3% Hydrogen peroxide added to 1 cup of non-chlorinated water can be used as a nasal spray. Depending on the degree of sinus involvement, one will have to adjust the amount of peroxide used.

10. Wound Care

3% H2O2 is used medically for cleaning wounds, removing dead tissue, and as an oral debriding agent. Peroxide stops slow (small vessel) wound bleeding/oozing, as well.

Some sources recommend soaking infections or cuts for five to ten minutes several times a day. However, washing and rinsing action is sufficient. You shouldn’t leave the solution on open tissue for extended periods of time as, like many oxidative antiseptics, Hydrogen peroxide causes mild damage to tissue in open wounds. Therefore it is important to use with caution.

Personal Care

Mouthwash / Tooth Care

Healing Properties: Take one capful (the little white cap that comes with the bottle) and hold in your mouth for 10 minutes daily, then spit it out. You will not have canker sores and your teeth will be whiter. If you have a terrible toothache and cannot get to a dentist right away, put a capful of3% Hydrogen peroxide into your mouth and hold it for 10 minutes several times a day. The pain will lessen greatly.

11. Mouthwash

Many people don’t realize that hydrogen peroxide makes a very effective and inexpensive mouthwash. Use 3% H202 – add a dash of liquid chlorophyll for flavoring if desired.

12. Toothpaste

Use baking soda and add enough 3% H202 to make a paste.

13. Toothbrush

Or, just dip your brush in 3% H202 and brush. Soak your toothbrush in Hydrogen peroxide to keep them free of germs.

14. Tooth Ache

Hydrogen peroxide is not a pain killer; however, as an anti-viral, antibacterial and anti-fungal agent, it is effective at treating the pathogen that is causing the infection. The following is from my own personal experience: My dentist wanted to give me a root canal some time ago as one tooth was inflamed and, in her opinion, would die. I felt some discomfort but told her that I would give it chance to heal. I rinsed with hydrogen peroxide (several times a day) as well ascoconut oil (once a day). The discomfort went away and I have had no further problems with the tooth.

15. Tooth Whitening

Having used 3% Hydrogen peroxide as a mouth wash for sometime ago, I am thrilled to note that my teeth have been beautifully and effortlessly whitened. I used to pay so much for professional whitening, those silly strips and uncomfortable trays. Live and learn.

NOTE: Do not swallow any peroxide. When the peroxide rinse is done, be sure to rinse out your mouth with water.

16. Hair Lightening

Peroxide is a bleaching agent and is used for lightened hair. Dilute 3% Hydrogen peroxide with water (50 / 50) and spray the solution on your wet hair after a shower and comb it through. You will not have the peroxide burnt blonde hair like the hair dye packages, but more natural highlights if your hair is a light brown, faddish, or dirty blonde. It also lightens gradually so it’s not a drastic change.

17. Contact Lenses

Hydrogen peroxide is used as a disinfectant in CIBA Vision’s Clear Care no rub contact lens cleaning solution, due to its ability to break down the proteins that build up on the lense from the eye’s immune response, resulting in increased comfort for those with sensitive eyes.

Sanitizing / Disinfectant / Cleaning

18. Straight or Diluted Hydrogen Perioxide

Clean your counters and table tops with hydrogen peroxide to kill germs and leave a fresh smell. Simply put a little on your dishrag when you wipe, or spray it on the counters. Use hydrogen peroxide to clean glass and mirrors with no smearing.

Keep a spray bottle of 3% (straight) to disinfect the interior of the refrigerator and kids’ school lunch boxes.

19. In the Dishwasher

Add 2 oz. of 3% Hydrogen peroxide to your regular washing formula.

Fill a spray bottle with a 50/50 mixture of 3% Hydrogen peroxide and water and keep it in every bathroom to disinfect without harming your septic system like bleach or most other disinfectants will. After rinsing off your wooden cutting board, pour or spray hydrogen peroxide (and then vinegar) on it to kill salmonella and other bacteria.

I use peroxide to clean my mirrors with, there is no smearing.

Combination of vinegar and hydrogen peroxide make a cheap, effective and non-toxic disinfectant agent and is said to be more effective at killing pathogens than bleach.  As it is non-toxic, you can use it to disinfect fruits and vegetables, as well as pet toys, equipment and cages.  In tests run at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, pairing Vinegar and Hydrogen Peroxide mists, kills virtually all Salmonella, Shigella, or E. coli bacteria on heavily contaminated food and surfaces.

Directions

You need TWO spray bottles. DO NOT MIX the solutions together. Put straight vinegar in one and straight Hydrogen peroxide in the other spray bottle.

NOTE: Light destroys peroxide rather quickly. It’s best to leave it in its original bottle and screw in a spray head. DO NOT DILUTE THEM.

Remember for any sanitizer to work properly, the surface has to be clean before you use it.

When you want to sanitize a surface (vegetables, cutting board, counters, sink, cages, toys. toilets, floors, etc.), spray one (it doesn’t matter which one you use first) on the surface, then you spray on the other.  When they mix, for a brief time the chemical action of the two make a very powerful sanitizer.  You can rinse off the surface afterwards, if you want, but the result is non-toxic.
Fortunately it is cheap. BTW, we use it in the bathroom to sanitize the counters, toilets, floors, etc.

20. Mold

Clean with Hydrogen peroxide when your house becomes a biohazard after its invaded by toxic mold, such as those with water damage.

21. Humidifiers/Steamers

Use 1 pint 3% Hydrogen peroxide to 1 gallon of water.

22. Laundry / Stain Removing

Stain Remover

3% Hydrogen peroxide is the best stain lifter if used fairly soon – although blood stains as old as 2 days have been successfully lifted with Hydrogen Peroxide. Although it will bleach or discolor many fabrics. If a little peroxide is poured onto the stain it will bubble up in the area of the blood, due to a reaction with catalase. After a few minutes the excess liquid can be wiped up with a cloth or paper towel and the stain will be gone.

3% H2O2 must be applied to clothing before blood stains can be accidentally “set” with heated water. Cold water and soap are then used to remove the peroxide treated blood.

23. Washing/Laundry

You can also add a cup of hydrogen peroxide instead of bleach to a load of whites in your laundry to whiten them. If there is blood on clothing, pour directly on the soiled spot. Let it sit for a minute, then rub it and rinse with cold water. Repeat if necessary.

Peroxide is a perfect alternate solution to keep those clothes white. Also, when chlorinating clothes, they tend to wear out faster – peroxide won’t do that.

Food Preparation

24. Vegetable Soak

Use as a vegetable wash or soak to kill bacteria and neutralize chemicals. Add 1/4 cup 3% H202 to a full sink of cold water. Soak light skinned (light lettuce) 20 minutes, thicker skinned (like cucumbers) 30 minutes. Drain, dry and refrigerate. Prolongs freshness.

If time is a problem, spray vegetables (and fruits) with a solution of 3%. Let stand for a few minutes, rinse and dry.

25. Meat Sanitizing

You can also use it to rinse off your meat before cooking.

26. Leftover tossed salad

Spray with a solution of 1/2 cup water and 1 Tbsp. 5%. Drain, cover and refrigerate.

27. Marinade

Place meat, fish or poultry in a casserole (avoid using aluminium pans). Cover with a dilute solution of equal parts of water and 3% H202. Place loosely covered in refrigerator for 1/2 hour. Rinse and cook.

28. Sprouting Seeds

Add 1 ounce 3% Hydrogen peroxide to 1 pint of water and soak the seeds overnight. Add the same amount of hydrogen peroxide each time you rinse the seeds.

Grades of Hydrogen Peroxide

A) 3.5% Pharmaceutical Grade: This is the grade sold at your local drugstore or supermarket. This product is not recommended for internal use. It contains an assortment of stabilizers which shouldn’t be ingested. Various stabilizers include: acetanilide, phenol, sodium stanate and tertrasodium phosphate.

B) 6% Beautician Grade: This is used in beauty shops to color hair and is not recommended for internal use.

C) 30% Reagent Grade: This is used for various scientific experimentation and also contains stabilizers. It is also not for internal use.

D) 30% to 32% Electronic Grade: This is used to clean electronic parts and not for internal use.

E) 35% Technical Grade: This is a more concentrated product than the Reagent Grade and differs slightly in that phosphorus is added to help neutralize any chlorine from the water used to dilute it.

F) 35% Food Grade: This is used in the production of foods like cheese, eggs, and whey-containing products. It is also sprayed on the foil lining of aseptic packages containing fruit juices and milk products. THIS IS THE ONLY GRADE RECOMMENDED FOR INTERNAL USE.

G) 90%: This is used as an oxygen source for rocket fuel.

Only 35% Food Grade hydrogen peroxide is recommended for internal use. At this concentration, however, hydrogen peroxide is a very strong oxidizer and if not diluted, it can be extremely dangerous or even fatal. Any concentrations over 10% can cause neurological reactions and damage to the upper gastrointestinal tract. There have been two known fatalities in children who ingested 27% and 40% concentrations of H202. Another reports tells of a 26 month old female who swallowed one mouthful of 35% H202. She immediately began vomiting, followed by fainting and respiratory arrest. Fortunately, she was under emergency room care and although she experienced erosion and bleeding of the stomach and esophagus, she survived the incident. When she was re-examined 12 days later, the areas involved had healed (J Toxicol Clin Toxicol 90;28(1):95-100).

Personal note:  As with ANY food, drug, or supplement, using the product according to instructions is key to safety.  If someone uses too much, then of course ramifications may be felt.  We’ve NEVER heard of ANY harmful side effects from the correct usage of Food Grade hydrogen peroxide.

 

35% Food Grade H202 must be….

1. handled carefully (direct contact will burn the skin- immediate flushing with water is recommended).

2. diluted properly before use.

3. stored safely and properly (after making a dilution the remainder should be stored tightly sealed in the freezer).

One of the most convenient methods of dispensing 35% H202 is from a small glass eye dropper bottle. These can be purchased at your local drugstore. Fill this with the 35% H202 and store the larger container in the freezer compartment of your refrigerator until more is needed. Store the eye dropper bottle in the refrigerator. The drops are mixed with either 6 to 8 ounces of distilled water, juice, aloe vera juice or gel.

(Don’t use chlorinated tap water to dilute the peroxide!)

 

Source: http://wakeup-world.com

 

Dental Composites for Kids: Even Worse Than Mercury Amalgam?

Dental Composites Linked To Behavioral Issues In Children

Research published in the journal Pediatrics indicates that some dental composites — long promoted as overall safer than mercury-based amalgams — are having a significant negative impact on the psychosocial functioning of children. In fact, bisphenol-A based dental restorations were found to be worse than mercury-based amalgams when it came to learning impairment and behavioral issues. [i]

The study used data from The New England Children’s Amalgam Trial, which, surprisingly, found that children randomized to amalgam restorations had better psychosocial outcomes than those assigned to bisphenol-A based epoxy resin composites (bisGMA) for tooth restorations. The new analysis aimed to “examine whether greater exposure to dental composites is associated with psychosocial problems in children.”

The results of the study, which looked at a group of 534 children, 6 to 10 years old,  were as follows:

Children with higher cumulative exposure to bisGMA-based composite had poorer follow-up scores on 3 of 4 BASC-SR [self-reported Behavior Assessment System for Children] global scales: Emotional Symptoms (β = 0.8, SE = 0.3, P = .003), Clinical Maladjustment (β = 0.7, SE = 0.3, P = .02), and Personal Adjustment (β = -0.8, SE = 0.2, P = .002). Associations were stronger with posterior-occlusal (chewing) surfaces, where degradation of composite was more likely.

Moreover, researchers found that “at-risk” or clinically significant scores were more common among children with greater exposure for “total problem behavior,” and numerous “BASC-SR syndromes.”

They noted “No associations were found with [non BPA-based] compomer, nor with amalgam exposure levels among children randomized to amalgam.”

In conclusion

Greater exposure to bisGMA-based dental composite restorations was associated with impaired psychosocial function in children, whereas no adverse psychosocial outcomes were observed with greater urethane dimethacrylate-based compomer or amalgam treatment levels.

It should be emphasized that this study should not be misinterpreted to mean that amalgams are safe. So, let us dispel the myth of a “safe” or “safer” amalgam in the following way. What follows is an article published in the journal The Science of the Total Environment, well worth reading in its entirety, which covers disturbing facts about amalgams quite thoroughly:

Dental amalgam is 50% metallic mercury (Hg) by weight and Hg vapour continuously evolves from in-place dental amalgam, causing increased Hg content with increasing amalgam load in urine, faeces, exhaled breath, saliva, blood, and various organs and tissues including the kidney, pituitary gland, liver, and brain. The Hg content also increases with maternal amalgam load in amniotic fluid, placenta, cord blood, meconium, various foetal tissues including liver, kidney and brain, in colostrum and breast milk. Based on 2001 to 2004 population statistics, 181.1 million Americans carry a grand total of 1.46 billion restored teeth. Children as young as 26 months were recorded as having restored teeth. Past dental practice and recently available data indicate that the majority of these restorations are composed of dental amalgam. Employing recent US population-based statistics on body weight and the frequency of dentally restored tooth surfaces, and recent research on the incremental increase in urinary Hg concentration per amalgam-filled tooth surface, estimates of Hg exposure from amalgam fillings were determined for 5 age groups of the US population. Three specific exposure scenarios were considered, each scenario incrementally reducing the number of tooth surfaces assumed to be restored with amalgam. Based on the least conservative of the scenarios evaluated, it was estimated that some 67.2 million Americans would exceed the Hg dose associated with the reference exposure level (REL) of 0.3 μg/m(3) established by the US Environmental Protection Agency; and 122.3 million Americans would exceed the dose associated with the REL of 0.03 μg/m(3) established by the California Environmental Protection Agency. Exposure estimates are consistent with previous estimates presented by Health Canada in 1995, and amount to 0.2 to 0.4 μg/day per amalgam-filled tooth surface, or 0.5 to 1 μg/day/amalgam-filled tooth, depending on age and other factors.

While bisphenol-A is actually better known for its endocrine disrupting properties, as it mimics and/or interferes with estrogen receptors and pathways in the body, research indicates that it moves freely through the blood-brain barrier, due to its lipophilic (fat-loving) properties.[ii] This means that whatever bisphenol-A is released from the composite material will eventually have direct access to the children’s developing central nervous system. There is also preliminary research indicating that bisphenol A may result in central nervous system hyperactivity. BisGMA-based dental composites have also been studied in vitro experiements to be highly toxic to human DNA, raising concern that the the adverse effects of these dental restorations stretch far beyond behavioral/cognitive problems to increasing childhood cancer risk.

Unfortunately, BPA (and similar bisphenol analogs, such as Bisphenol-S), are omnipresent in food liners, thermal printer papers, and paper currencies, to name but a few common sources of exposure, making the issue far larger than dental restorations.

While reducing or eliminating exposure should be the first priority, there are natural substances which have been studied to reduce bisphenol A toxicity either through enhancing its elimination from the body, or by enhancing its degradation. One of the most interesting examples are probiotics. Read Probiotics Destroy Toxic Chemicals In Our Gut For Us to learn more.

Article Sources

[i] Nancy N Maserejian, Felicia L Trachtenberg, Russ Hauser, Sonja McKinlay, Peter Shrader, Mary Tavares, David C Bellinger. Dental Composite Restorations and Psychosocial Function in Children.Pediatrics. 2012 Jul 16. Epub 2012 Jul 16. PMID: 22802599

[ii] C S Kim, P P Sapienza, I A Ross, W Johnson, H M D Luu, J C Hutter. Distribution of bisphenol A in the neuroendocrine organs of female rats. Toxicol Ind Health. 2004 Jun ;20(1-5):41-50. PMID: 15807407

 

Source: http://wakeup-world.com

Pineapple’s Amazing Healing Properties Revealed.

Enjoyed the world over as something of an icon of the tropical experience, the pineapple was used in indigenous medicine for a wide range of ailments; uses that are only now being confirmed by modern scientific methods.

While most know pineapple as an exceptionally delicious tropical fruit, indigenous peoples used it to treat a variety of ailments. Unfortunately, much of this intimate plant knowledge was considered by early anthropologists to be based on mere “superstition” and subsequently disregarded, so few in the modern world have been made aware of its formidable healing powers.

Thankfully, research on the medicinal properties of pineapple has steadily accumulated over the past few decades, to the point where the conventional medical system has been compelled to take notice.

Bromelain, for instance, is a protein-digesting enzyme extract from the pineapple plant, and has even been found to be superior to the highly toxic chemotherapy agent 5-fluorouracil as an anti-tumor agent in preclinical research.[i] [For more details, see our article on the topic: Research: Pineapple Enzyme Kills Cancer Without Killing You]

This remarkable compound, concentrated primarily within the stem (i.e. fibrous core), which is often wastefully discarded, has been researched for the following potential medicinal applications:

• Allergic Airway Disease[ii]
• Asthma[iii]
• Breast Cancer[iv]
• Breastfeeding Problems: Poor Milk Production/Quality[v]
• Colitis[vi] [vii]
• Colon Cancer[viii]
• Constipation: Post-operative[ix]
• Debriding Agent[x]
• Dyspepsia[xi]
• Edema[xii]
• Glioma (Brain Cancer)[xiii]
• Immune Disorders: Low Function[xiv]
• Inflammation[xv] [xvi] [xvii] [xviii]
• Irritable Bowel Disease [xix]
• Influenza [xx]
• Liver Damage [xxi]
• Lung Cancer[xxii] [xxiii]
• Melanoma[xxiv]
• Myocardial Infarction (Heart Attack)[xxv]
• Osteoarthritis of the Knee[xxvi]
• Sinusitis[xxvii]
• Skin Cancer[xxviii] [xxix] [xxx]
• Tendon Injury[xxxi] [xxxii]
• Thrombophlebitis[xxxiii]
• Thrombosis (pathological clot)[xxxiv] [xxxv]

How To Eat Pineapple To Get The Benefits of Bromelain

Bromelain extracts are actually composed of a variety of substances, including peroxidase, acid phosphatase, calcium, and protease inhibitors. But the main active ingredients are two enzymes known as fruit and stem bromelain, respectively.  Keep in mind that bromelain’s potential therapeutic activity, depends entirely on how you take it. When consumed on an empty stomach, the plant’s enzyme will enter the blood and exert systemic action. When consumed with food, its activity will mostly be expended on helping the body to break down dietary proteins, easing the body’s digestive burden.

Bromelain is an example of something we eat that actually eats us back. Commonly used as a meat tenderizer, when used appropriately it can tenderize our overly inflammed and fibrin-congested muscles and connective tissues with its enzymes.

Word of Caution: Bromelain’s fibrinolytic properties can contribute to thinning the blood, so those on blood-thinning medications must be careful, especially when consuming part of the bromelain-rich core. Also, bromelain has the ability to enhance the absorption of other nutrients and drugs due to its ability to modulate intestinal permeability. This can be a good thing, for instance, if one is trying to absorb more of a therapeutic herb or nutrient, but a bad thing if one does not wish to disrupt the delicate pharmacokinetics of the bodily absorption and distribution of potent drugs.

The Part Is Not Superior To The Whole

Keep in mind that the benefits of whole pineapple cannot be reduced down to a singular constituent such as bromelain, no matter how impressive. The pharmaceutical model only goes so far when applied to natural substances. As with most things in the realm of whole food nutrition,the whole is more than the sum of the parts. Pineapple juice and leaves, for example, have additional benefits not found in bromelain alone:

• A Rich Source of Dietary Melatonin: Pineapple has been identified to be one of the richest sources of dietary melatonin tested (beating out orange and banana), capable of causing significant blood level elevations, peaking two hours after ingestion.[xxxvi]
• Pineapple Leaf Has Anti-Diabetic Properties: All parts of the pineapple plant have potential value. The leaf has been studied to have insulin-sensitizing and/or anti-diabetic properties.[xxxvii] [xxxviii]
• Pineapple Leaves May Beat Cholesterol-Drugs: Preclinical research indicates that pineapple leaves may modulate cholesterol synthesis and activity in a manner similar to statins, but likely without the over 300 known adverse health effects of the statin drug chemical class.[xxxix]
• Pineapple Juice Deactivates Rotavirus Transmission: Pineapple juice, due to its low pH and other constituents in the juice, has been found to be effective at inactivating rotavirus, while honeydew and papaya juice failed. [xl]

Whether you are fascinated by the research, simply enjoy the amazing taste and feel of pineapple, or its juice, we can be certain of one thing: food and medicine are inseparably bound within this amazing plant.

Article Sources

• [i] Roxana Báez, Miriam T Lopes, Carlos E Salas, Martha Hernández. In vivo antitumoral activity of stem pineapple (Ananas comosus) bromelain. Planta Med. 2007 Oct;73(13):1377-83. Epub 2007 Sep 24.
• [ii] Eric R Secor, William F Carson, Michelle M Cloutier, Linda A Guernsey, Craig M Schramm, Carol A Wu, Roger S Thrall. Bromelain exerts anti-inflammatory effects in an ovalbumin-induced murine model of allergic airway disease. Cell Immunol. 2005 Sep;237(1):68-75. Epub 2005 Dec 6.
• [iii] Eric R Secor, William F Carson, Anurag Singh, Mellisa Pensa, Linda A Guernsey, Craig M Schramm, Roger S Thrall. Oral Bromelain Attenuates Inflammation in an Ovalbumin-induced Murine Model of Asthma. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2008 Mar;5(1):61-9.
• [iv] Kulpreet Bhui, Shilpa Tyagi, Bharti Prakash, Yogeshwer Shukla. Pineapple bromelain induces autophagy, facilitating apoptotic response in mammary carcinoma cells. Biofactors. 2010 Sep 16. Epub 2010 Sep 16.
• [v][v] A Contreras, M J Paape, R H Miller, J C Corrales, C Luengo, A Sánchez. Effect of bromelain on milk yield, milk composition and mammary health in dairy goats. Trop Anim Health Prod. 2009 Apr;41(4):493-8. Epub 2008 Jul 27.
• [vi] Laura P Hale, Maciej Chichlowski, Chau T Trinh, Paula K Greer. Dietary supplementation with fresh pineapple juice decreases inflammation and colonic neoplasia in IL-10-deficient mice with colitis. Inflamm Bowel Dis. 2010 Dec;16(12):2012-21.
• [vii] Laura P Hale, Paula K Greer, Chau T Trinh, Marcia R Gottfried. Treatment with oral bromelain decreases colonic inflammation in the IL-10-deficient murine model of inflammatory bowel disease. Clin Immunol. 2005 Aug;116(2):135-42.
• [viii] Ibid vi
• [ix] Suping Wen, Tom H W Huang, George Q Li, Johji Yamahara, Basil D Roufogalis, Yuhao Li. Bromelain improves decrease in defecation in postoperative rats: modulation of colonic gene expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase. Pharmacol Res. 2007 Sep;56(3):254-60. Epub 2007 Jul 14.
• [x] J C Houck, C M Chang, G Klein. Isolation of an effective debriding agent from the stems of pineapple plants. Int J Tissue React. 1983;5(2):125-34.
• [xi] R Pellicano, S Strona, D Simondi, S Reggiani, F Pallavicino, C Sguazzini, A G Bonagura, M Rizzetto, M Astegiano. Benefit of dietary integrators for treating functional dyspepsia: a prospective pilot study. Clin Exp Allergy. 2009 Jun;39(6):875-82.
• [xii] F Inchingolo, M Tatullo, M Marrelli, A M Inchingolo, V Picciariello, A D Inchingolo, G Dipalma, D Vermesan, R Cagiano. Clinical trial with bromelain in third molar exodontia. Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci. 2010 Sep;14(9):771-4.
• [xiii] B B Tysnes, H R Maurer, T Porwol, B Probst, R Bjerkvig, F Hoover. Bromelain reversibly inhibits invasive properties of glioma cells. Neoplasia. 2001 Nov-Dec;3(6):469-79.
• [xiv] H Barth, A Guseo, R Klein. In vitro study on the immunological effect of bromelain and trypsin on mononuclear cells from humans. Eur J Med Res. 2005 Aug 17;10(8):325-31.
• [xv] Eric R Secor, Anurag Singh, Linda A Guernsey, Jeff T McNamara, Lijun Zhan, Nilanjana Maulik, Roger S Thrall. Bromelain treatment reduces CD25 expression on activated CD4+ T cells in vitro. Int Immunopharmacol. 2009 Mar;9(3):340-6. Epub 2009 Jan 20.
• [xvi] Jing-Rong Huang, Chia-Chuan Wu, Rolis Chien-Wei Hou, Kee-Ching Jeng. Bromelain inhibits lipopolysaccharide-induced cytokine production in human THP-1 monocytes via the removal of CD14. J Huazhong Univ Sci Technolog Med Sci. 2003;23(2):151-3.  :18569070
• [xvii] Rolis Chien-Wei Hou, Yuh-Shuen Chen, Jing-Rong Huang, Kee-Ching G Jeng. Cross-linked bromelain inhibits lipopolysaccharide-induced cytokine production involving cellular signaling suppression in rats. J Agric Food Chem. 2006 Mar 22;54(6):2193-8.
• [xviii] David J Fitzhugh, Siqing Shan, Mark W Dewhirst, Laura P Hale. Bromelain treatment decreases neutrophil migration to sites of inflammation. Clin Immunol. 2008 Jul;128(1):66-74. Epub 2008 May 14. PMID: 18482869
• [xix] Jane E Onken, Paula K Greer, Brian Calingaert, Laura P Hale. Bromelain treatment decreases secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines by colon biopsies in vitro. Clin Immunol. 2008 Mar;126(3):345-52. Epub 2007 Dec 21.
• [xx] Iu A Smirnova, L V Kordiukova, M V Serebriakova, I Iu Filippova, E N Lysogorskaia, L A Baratova. [Flu virion as a substrate for proteolytic enzymes]. Bioorg Khim. 2008 May-Jun;34(3):409-15.
• [xxi] Ralf Bahde, Daniel Palmes, Evgeni Minin, Udo Stratmann, Ricarda Diller, Jörg Haier, Hans-Ullrich Spiegel. Bromelain ameliorates hepatic microcirculation after warm ischemia. J Surg Res. 2007 May 1;139(1):88-96. Epub 2007 Feb 8.
• [xxii] S Batkin, S J Taussig, J Szekerezes. Antimetastatic effect of bromelain with or without its proteolytic and anticoagulant activity. J Cancer Res Clin Oncol. 1988;114(5):507-8. PMID: 3182910
• [xxiii] Ibid i
• [xxiv] Kulpreet Bhui, Shilpa Tyagi, Amit Kumar Srivastava, Madhulika Singh, Preeti Roy, Richa Singh, Yogeshwer Shukla. Bromelain inhibits nuclear factor kappa-B translocation, driving human epidermoid carcinoma A431 and melanoma A375 cells through G(2) /M arrest to apoptosis. Mol Carcinog. 2011 Mar 22. Epub 2011 Mar 22.
• [xxv] Bela Juhasz, Mahesh Thirunavukkarasu, Rima Pant, Lijun Zhan, Suresh Varma Penumathsa, Eric R Secor, Sapna Srivastava, Utpal Raychaudhuri, Venugopal P Menon, Hajime Otani, Roger S Thrall, Nilanjana Maulik. Bromelain induces cardioprotection against ischemia-reperfusion injury through Akt/FOXO pathway in rat myocardium. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 2008 Mar;294(3):H1365-70. Epub 2008 Jan 11. PMID: 18192224
• [xxvi] A F Walker, R Bundy, S M Hicks, R W Middleton. Bromelain reduces mild acute knee pain and improves well-being in a dose-dependent fashion in an open study of otherwise healthy adults. Phytomedicine. 2002 Dec;9(8):681-6. PMID: 12587686
• [xxvii] J M Braun, B Schneider, H J Beuth. Therapeutic use, efficiency and safety of the proteolytic pineapple enzyme Bromelain-POS in children with acute sinusitis in Germany. In Vivo. 2005 Mar-Apr;19(2):417-21. PMID: 15796206
• [xxviii] Kulpreet Bhui, Shilpa Tyagi, Amit Kumar Srivastava, Madhulika Singh, Preeti Roy, Richa Singh, Yogeshwer Shukla. Bromelain inhibits nuclear factor kappa-B translocation, driving human epidermoid carcinoma A431 and melanoma A375 cells through G(2) /M arrest to apoptosis. Mol Carcinog. 2011 Mar 22. Epub 2011 Mar 22.
• [xxix] Kulpreet Bhui, Sahdeo Prasad, Jasmine George, Yogeshwer Shukla. Bromelain inhibits COX-2 expression by blocking the activation of MAPK regulated NF-kappa B against skin tumor-initiation triggering mitochondrial death pathway. Cancer Lett. 2009 Sep 18;282(2):167-76. Epub 2009 Mar 31.
• [xxx] Neetu Kalra, Kulpreet Bhui, Preeti Roy, Smita Srivastava, Jasmine George, Sahdeo Prasad, Yogeshwer Shukla. Regulation of p53, nuclear factor kappaB and cyclooxygenase-2 expression by bromelain through targeting mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway in mouse skin. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol. 2008 Jan 1;226(1):30-7. Epub 2007 Aug 23.
• [xxxi] Ayoola I Aiyegbusi, Olaleye O Olabiyi, Francis I O Duru, Cressie C Noronha, Abayomi O Okanlawon. A comparative study of the effects of bromelain and fresh pineapple juice on the early phase of healing in acute crush achilles tendon injury. J Med Food. 2011 Apr;14(4):348-52. Epub 2011 Jan 23.
• [xxxii] A I Aiyegbusi, F I O Duru, C C Anunobi, C C Noronha, A O Okanlawon. Bromelain in the early phase of healing in acute crush Achilles tendon injury. Ann Nutr Metab. 2009;54(4):283-90. Epub 2009 Jul 27.
• [xxxiii] H R Maurer. Bromelain: biochemistry, pharmacology and medical use. Cell Mol Life Sci. 2001 Aug ;58(9):1234-45.
• [xxxiv] C Metzig, E Grabowska, K Eckert, K Rehse, H R Maurer. Bromelain proteases reduce human platelet aggregation in vitro, adhesion to bovine endothelial cells and thrombus formation in rat vessels in vivo. In Vivo. 1999 Jan-Feb;13(1):7-12.
• [xxxv] Doreen Gläser, Thomas Hilberg. The influence of bromelain on platelet count and platelet activity in vitro. Platelets. 2006 Feb;17(1):37-41.
• [xxxvi] Manit Sae-Teaw, Jeffrey Johns, Nutjaree Pratheepawanit Johns, Suphat Subongkot. Serum melatonin levels and antioxidant capacities after consumption of pineapple, orange, or banana by healthy male volunteers. J Pineal Res. 2012 Oct 5. Epub 2012 Oct 5.
• [xxxvii] Weidong Xie, Wei Wang, Hui Su, Dongming Xing, Yang Pan, Lijun Du. Effect of ethanolic extracts of Ananas comosus L. leaves on insulin sensitivity in rats and HepG2.Comp Biochem Physiol C Toxicol Pharmacol. 2006 Aug;143(4):429-35. Epub 2006 Apr 28.
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Source: http://wakeup-world.com

Effectiveness of a bundled intervention of decolonization and prophylaxis to decrease Gram positive surgical site infections after cardiac or orthopedic surgery: systematic review and meta-analysis.

Abstract

Objective To evaluate studies assessing the effectiveness of a bundle of nasal decolonization and glycopeptide prophylaxis for preventing surgical site infections caused by Gram positive bacteria among patients undergoing cardiac operations or total joint replacement procedures.

Design Systematic review and meta-analysis.

Data sources PubMed (1995 to 2011), the Cochrane database of systematic reviews, CINAHL, Embase, and clinicaltrials.gov were searched to identify relevant studies. Pertinent journals and conference abstracts were hand searched. Study authors were contacted if more data were needed.

Eligibility criteria Randomized controlled trials, quasi-experimental studies, and cohort studies that assessed nasal decolonization or glycopeptide prophylaxis, or both, for preventing Gram positive surgical site infections compared with standard care.

Participants Patients undergoing cardiac operations or total joint replacement procedures.

Data extraction and study appraisal Two authors independently extracted data from each paper and a random effects model was used to obtain summary estimates. Risk of bias was assessed using the Downs and Black or the Cochrane scales. Heterogeneity was assessed using the Cochran Q and I² statistics.

Results 39 studies were included. Pooled effects of 17 studies showed that nasal decolonization had a significantly protective effect against surgical site infections associated with Staphylococcus aureus (pooled relative risk 0.39, 95% confidence interval 0.31 to 0.50) when all patients underwent decolonization (0.40, 0.29 to 0.55) and when only S aureus carriers underwent decolonization (0.36, 0.22 to 0.57). Pooled effects of 15 prophylaxis studies showed that glycopeptide prophylaxis was significantly protective against surgical site infections related to methicillin (meticillin) resistant S aureus (MRSA) compared with prophylaxis using β lactam antibiotics (0.40, 0.20 to 0.80), and a non-significant risk factor for methicillin susceptible S aureus infections (1.47, 0.91 to 2.38). Seven studies assessed a bundle including decolonization and glycopeptide prophylaxis for only patients colonized with MRSA and found a significantly protective effect against surgical site infections with Gram positive bacteria (0.41, 0.30 to 0.56).

Conclusions Surgical programs that implement a bundled intervention including both nasal decolonization and glycopeptide prophylaxis for MRSA carriers may decrease rates of surgical site infections caused by S aureus or other Gram positive bacteria.

Discussion

Although multiple studies have assessed the efficacy of interventions to prevent surgical site infections caused by Gram positive bacteria, these interventions are not uniformly applied to surgical patients. Our results showed that nasal decolonization was associated with decreased rates of Gram positive surgical site infections andStaphylococcus aureus surgical site infections among patients undergoing cardiac or orthopedic surgical procedures. However, these results remained statistically significant for S aureus surgical site infections, though not all Gram positive surgical site infections, when the meta-analysis was limited to randomized controlled trials. Additionally, a bundle that included nasal decolonization and glycopeptide prophylaxis for patients who carried methicillin (meticillin) resistant S aureus (MRSA) was associated with significantly decreased rates of surgical site infections caused by Gram positive bacteria and by S aureus.

We also found that routine use of prophylactic glycopeptides protected against MRSA infections but not against all Gram positive surgical site infections. Additionally, dual prophylaxis with a glycopeptide and another antimicrobial agent seemed to be more protective against Gram positive surgical site infections than prophylaxis with glycopeptides alone. This finding is consistent with studies of methicillin susceptible S aureus (MSSA) bacteremia, which found that vancomycin is less effective than a β lactam antibiotic for treating MSSA infections.^63 64 These results are similar to the conclusions of a recent review article, which stated that vancomycin is not recommended for preoperative prophylaxis but may be considered as a component of an MRSA bundle to prevent surgical site infections.⁶⁵

Our meta-analyses were the first to assess a bundle that included nasal decolonization and targeted glycopeptide prophylaxis for MRSA carriers. Other meta-analyses have assessed nasal decolonization or glycopeptide prophylaxis alone,^66 67 68 and our results confirm the findings of the previous studies and extend these by including the results of recent studies. Future meta-analyses should assess other outcomes associated with these interventions. These outcomes could include duration of hospital stay since one group of researchers found that the mean duration of hospital stay was significantly shorter in those randomized to mupirocin and chorhexidine gluconate rather than to placebo.²⁷ Future meta-analyses should also confirm our preliminary findings that these interventions do not open a niche for pathogens other than S aureusto fill, and should also analyze other patient populations such as those requiring trauma surgery to determine if these findings are generalizable to other surgical specialties.

Nasal decolonization protected against S aureus surgical site infections when all patients were decolonized and when only S aureus carriers were decolonized. Routine nasal decolonization of all surgical patients may be easier to implement and more cost effective than using cultures or polymerase chain reaction testing to screen patients preoperatively.⁶⁹ None the less, it may be prudent to reserve mupirocin decolonization for patients who carry S aureus to prevent widespread mupirocin resistance.⁷⁰Similarly, it may be prudent to do further research on targeted prophylaxis with vancomycin before including this bundle in clinical practice. Of note, the pooled relative risks assessing Gram positive surgical site infections were identical for both the decolonization studies and the bundle studies. Thus high quality studies such as cluster randomized trials are still needed to determine whether adding glycopeptide prophylaxis to nasal decolonization will further decrease the incidence of Gram positive surgical site infections.

In our sensitivity analyses we found that nasal decolonization was associated with a 1% risk difference and the bundle was associated with a 0.5% risk difference in Gram positive surgical site infections. Although these differences seem small, they are clinically significant considering that cardiac and orthopedic operations are common and surgical site infections are associated with considerable morbidity. Each year, approximately 300 000 cardiac operations and approximately 900 000 total joint arthroplasties are done in the United States alone.⁷¹ Thus these interventions could prevent 6000 to 12 000 surgical site infections per year in the United States and even more worldwide.

Limitations of this study

Our study has some limitations. Firstly, meta-analyses are only as valid as the studies that contribute to the pooled risk ratio. We included many studies that were simple before and after quasi-experimental studies. Additionally, none of the included studies adjusted statistically for potential confounders, thus confounding may be problem, especially among the observational studies. To mitigate this limitation, we performed subset analyses on the results of only randomized controlled trials. Secondly, we did not include studies that did not report or could not provide specific data on Gram positive infections, thus we may have excluded important decolonization and prophylaxis studies. However, nine of 15 contacted investigators submitted additional data for inclusion in the analyses. Thirdly, studies of the association between interventions and Gram positive surgical site infections were heterogeneous, and thus some of the meta-analysis results should be interpreted with caution. Once these studies were stratified by potential sources of heterogeneity, the stratified subsets were homogeneous. For example, nasal decolonization aims to decrease the incidence of endogenous S aureus surgical site infections. The association between nasal decolonization and Gram positive surgical site infections may have been different for studies in which S aureus caused most Gram positive surgical site infections compared with studies in which surgical site infections due to other Gram positive pathogens were common. Thus we limited heterogeneity by doing subset analyses that separated studies focusing on S aureus surgical site infections from those focusing on all Gram positive surgical site infections.

Conclusion

Surgical site infections caused by Gram positive bacteria may be prevented by decolonizing patients who carry S aureus in their nares and potentially by adding a glycopeptide to the usual prophylaxis using β lactam antibiotics for MRSA carriers. High quality randomized controlled trials or cluster randomized trials should be performed to further assess this bundle.

What is already known on this topic

• Surgical site infections (SSIs) are potentially preventable adverse events of cardiac and orthopedic operations
• SSIs significantly increase hospital length of stay, readmission rates, healthcare costs, and mortality rates
• Clinicians and researchers have debated whether nasal decolonization or glycopeptide antibiotic prophylaxis reduce SSIs caused by Gram positive bacteria
• Among patients undergoing cardiac or orthopedic surgery:
• Nasal decolonization with mupirocin ointment was protective against Gram positive SSIs
• Preoperative prophylaxis with anti-methicillin (meticillin) resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) antibiotics when given to all patients was not protective against Gram positive SSIs
• A bundle that included nasal decolonization and anti-MRSA prophylaxis for MRSA carriers was significantly protective against Gram positive SSIs

What this study adds

 

• Among patients undergoing cardiac or orthopedic surgery:
• Nasal decolonization with mupirocin ointment was protective against Gram positive SSIs
• Preoperative prophylaxis with anti-methicillin (meticillin) resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) antibiotics when given to all patients was not protective against Gram positive SSIs
• A bundle that included nasal decolonization and anti-MRSA prophylaxis for MRSA carriers was significantly protective against Gram positive SSIs

Source: BMJ

 

 

Comic Learning.

I FOUND THIS SITE REALLY INTERESTING. LEARNING WITH FUN.

VISIT : WWW.http://www.medcomic.com

 

Rapid Activation of Stat3 and ERK1/2 by Nicotine Modulates Cell Proliferation in Human Bladder Cancer Cells.

Cigarette smoke is a major risk factor for bladder cancer. The main component in cigarette smoke, nicotine, can be detected in the urine of smokers. Nicotine has been implicated as a cocarcinogen that promotes lung cancer development through prosurvival pathways. Although the mechanisms of nicotine-induced cell proliferation have been well studied in lung epithelial cells, the molecular mechanism of its action in bladder epithelial cells is still unclear. The aims of this study were to investigate whether there is nicotine-induced bladder epithelial cell proliferation and to identify the signaling transduction pathway regulated by nicotine. We found that nicotine simultaneously activates Stat3 and extracellular signal regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2) in T24 cells. Stat3 activation via nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR)/protein kinase C signaling pathway was closely linked to Stat3 induction and nuclear factor-κB DNA binding activity, which is associated with Cyclin D1 expression and cell proliferation. ERK1/2 activation through nAChR and β-adrenoceptors plays a dual role in cell proliferation; it phosphorylates Stat3 at Ser727 and regulates cell proliferation. We conclude that through nAChR and β-adrenoceptors, nicotine activates ERK1/2 and Stat3 signaling pathways, leading to Cyclin D1 expression and cell proliferation. This is the first study to investigate signaling effects of nicotine in bladder cells. The current findings suggest that people exposed to nicotine could be at risk for potential deleterious effects, including bladder cancer development.

• Source: http://toxsci.oxfordjournals.org

 

 

 

Should electronic cigarettes be as freely available as tobacco cigarettes? No.

The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency has decided to license electronic cigarettes as medicines from 2016. Simon Chapman agrees with regulation, seeing e-cigarettes as another way for big tobacco to try to make nicotine addiction socially acceptable again, but Jean-François Etter (doi:10.1136/bmj.f3845) says restrictions will result in more harm to smokers

Amid the feverish embrace of electronic cigarettes, come several statements by the tobacco industry that should cause public health proponents of such products to get a grip. For example, the chief executive of Reynolds America told shareholders in November 2012, just six months before entering the e-cigarette market, “We have a little mantra inside of the company . . . which we call the 80-90-90 . . . We spend about 80% of our resources in the combustible space. The combustible space is still 80%, 80+% of our operating income . . . [and] 90% of the organizational focus . . . And despite a lot of these new innovations that you see coming out, 90% of our R&D [research and development] budgets are actually directed at the combustible category . . . That is the category that’s still going to deliver a lot of growth into the future.”¹

Misconceptions

Big tobacco is not investing in e-cigarettes to wean itself off cigarette sales. Its recent

oleaginous rhetoric about them saving lives is utter duplicity. None of the big companies now in the e-cigarettes market have desisted from virulent opposition to policies that are known to reduce smoking. None has declared accelerated targets for reducing cigarette sales. As with other forms of smokeless tobacco, big tobacco wants smokers to use e-cigarettes as well as cigarettes, not instead of them. Its five goals are widespread dual use; retarding smoking cessation; resocialising public smoking back into fashion from its forlorn exile outside buildings; conveying to young, apprehensive would-be smokers that nicotine is a benign drug; and welcoming back lapsed smokers.

If big tobacco succeeds with any of these ambitions, e-cigarettes may cause a net increase in population harm. Urged on by myopic health professionals who seem to have lost any population health focus they might have had, this may become one of the biggest blunders of modern public health.

Public health enthusiasts for e-cigarettes see their promise as a way to get smokers to quit or reduce toxic exposure, but they seem blasé about the other possible effects described above. There are many impassioned, vocal testimonies that e-cigarettes have helped many thousands to quit or cut down smoking. But the first prospective study found that although smoking cessation and harm reduction motivated many e-cigarette users, there were no differences in smoking quit rates between e-cigarette users and non-users.² And importantly, cutting down cigarettes rather than quitting confers little if any health benefit,³ so dual use may be as bad as continued smoking in terms of health outcomes.

Regulation is required

So how should we respond to e-cigarettes? The first step must be to move beyond anecdotal testimony and naive optimism and study large populations to build the evidence about whether e-cigarettes do accelerate quitting and to quantify behaviours indicative of the important industry goals above.

Tobacco use may kill a billion people this century,⁴ largely because of tobacco’s historic treatment as an unexceptional item of commerce and, later, decades of glacial action by governments failing to regulate this dangerous consumer product. But in the past 50 years, we have learnt much about how to reduce tobacco use—for example, only 15.7% of Australians aged 15 or over now smoke daily,⁵ and youth smoking has never been lower.⁶ We are finally pulling access to tobacco products back to where it should have started: expensive, highly regulated, non-advertised, plain packaged, and out of retail sight.

We should make none of the many disastrous mistakes made with cigarettes in the name of allowing e-cigarettes to compete better with cigarettes. We should start by not assuming they are benign items of commerce. Drug companies have long been able to sell nicotine in small doses as a quitting aid but have never tried to register high dose products. Their awareness of the role of nicotine in apoptosis, angiogenesis, inflammation, and cell proliferation^7 8 9 has always put the brakes on any temptation to have regulatory agencies allow them to sell products with doses that genuinely compete with cigarettes. So why should e-cigarettes, for which users can create their own e-juice, escape such regulation?

Many smokers want to access e-cigarettes to quit or reduce risk, and they should not be denied this opportunity. But the needs of often desperate smokers must not become the tail that wags the dog of tobacco control policy, putting at risk the massive gains we have achieved. The advent of e-cigarettes provides a perfect pretext to introduce a form of user licence for nicotine products in the same way that access to potent drugs has long required a temporary licence (a prescription) for those who need them.¹⁰ This would balance the right to use e-cigarettes with all the constraints and disincentives that are now, and should be further, applied to cigarettes. For countries where e-cigarettes are virtually “off the leash” this will probably be impossible. But for most nations that have acted cautiously, e-cigarettes may in fact turn out to be a Trojan horse, stimulating regulators to take more seriously the regulation of all tobacco and nicotine products—not just pharmaceutical nicotine—regardless of the motive of the individual user or the stated and unstated motives of the manufacturer.

Notes

Cite this as: BMJ 2013;346:f3840

Footnotes

• Competing interests: I have read and understood the BMJ Group policy on declaration of interests and have no relevant interests to declare.
• Read Jean-François Etter’s side of the debate at doi:10.1136/bmj.f3845.
• Provenance and peer review: Commissioned; not externally peer reviewed.

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Adkison SE, O’Connor RJ, Bansal-Travers M, Hyland A, Borland R, Yong H-H, et al. Electronic nicotine delivery systems. International tobacco control four-country survey. Am J Prev Med2013;44:207–15.

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Chen RJ, Ho YS, Guo HR, Wang YJ. Rapid activation of Stat3 and ERK1/2 by nicotine modulates cell proliferation in human bladder cancer cells. Toxicol Sci2008;104:283-93.

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Source: BMJ

 

 

globalisation of unhealthy lifestyles.

Sauli Ninistö, President of Finland, opened the conference stressing that health is important for achieving other goals, but also has value in its own right. He spoke of Finland’s huge improvements in health since the 1940s achieved through investing the fruits of economic development in social and health infrastructure.

Congratulations to Margaret Chan, director general of the World Health Organization, for her powerful opening speech saying corporate interests on health pose a daunting challenge for health. She noted health is shaped by the “globalisation of unhealthy lifestyles,” leading to an epidemic of NCDs which is blowing out health budgets—e.g. diabetes consumes 15% of health budgets. Previously, progress has meant diseases vanished, whereas now NCDs are flourishing along with urbanisation and economic growth.

Chan said public health has been used to fighting Big Tobacco, but now also have to fight “Big Alcohol,” “Big Food,” and “Big Soda.”  She cast industry involvement in policy making as dangerous and leading to distortions. She pointed to the many tactics industry uses to water down public health measures. These include: civil society “front groups;” promising that self-regulation will be effective; industry funded research, which confuses the evidence; positioning government action to promote health as curbs on individual liberty. Her speech defined the problem well. Solutions are needed now!

On the opening panel, Alireza Marandi talked of Iran’s success in designing an effective primary healthcare system, which included reform of medical education. The Secretary of the Finnish Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Jaana Husu-Kallio, called for the “borders between professions” to be demolished in the interests of health and noted the need for a whole of government approach to food policy covering food security, production, safety, and nutrition. Tarja Halonen, former President of Finland, said education and health are “the tools of wellbeing.” There was much discussion about how the lessons from the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control can be applied to other areas and agreement that legal instruments should be more widely used to protect public health.

The afternoon’s panel on political will for Health in All Polocies (HiAP) disappointingly has gave few clues about how to create the will. The best suggestion was from Abdellatif Mekki, minister of health of Tunisia, who suggested that ministers of health should be vice presidents to give them more power, which they can then use against, for example, trade ministers who promote unhealthy industries like sugar.

I ended the day in a session on agriculture policy, food, and health. Bibi Giyose, from the African Union, reminded us that women make up more than 75% of food producers in Africa.  Priorities for nutritional sensitive agriculture are female empowerment, ensuring product diversity, and that processing sees food retaining its nutritional value. Yet we heard that global food chains dominate, rather than local food for local consumption, and that free trade agreements encourage unhealthy food supply. Fast food and supermarkets have increased massively. How do we change our food supply away from ultra processed food? Eating it seems to be killing people around the world!

Source: BMJ

 

 

Why real name HIV testing won’t fly in China

Two interesting documents that came across my desk this week got me thinking about how different HIV-related human rights look depending on where you’re standing. The first was a press release from UNAIDS, UNDP, and the International Commission of Jurists about the first ever judicial dialogue about HIV, human rights, and the law. The second was a news story from the China Daily about legislation recently passed in Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region requiring real names to be used for HIV tests.

The authorities in Guangxi, including doctors charged with the task of treating people who are living with HIV, and keeping the epidemic under control, have sound reasons for wanting to use real name testing. They say it will reduce loss to follow-up and it will be easier to track people down and convince them to get treated. It will also contribute to better public health policymaking because the region will have a more accurate picture of its HIV epidemic.

No it won’t, AIDS NGOs say, because people won’t come forward for testing in the first place, never mind being lost to follow-up. Instead they will at best do home self-testing, which is not accurate, and could leave them with a positive test result and no clue what to do next.

It’s a typical example of how public health policy often serves the needs of the health system instead of the patients. One of the main reasons patients prefer anonymous testing is that they want to know their status but have no inclination to share that information. Once the information leaks out of the medical system, all too common in a society where individuals’ rights are routinely trampled on by the state, people living with HIV are subject to widespread stigma and discrimination.

A 2009 survey conducted by the China Stigma Index found that over 49% of people living with HIV interviewed had experienced discrimination related to their HIV status. Over three quarters said their family had suffered the same discrimination. Pregnant women living with HIV are routinely advised to terminate their pregnancies: 12% of the respondents reported being pressured into having an abortion. The children of 9% of respondents were forced to leave school regardless of their own HIV status. Discrimination by medical staff, teachers, and government officials was rampant.

So I think it’s great that eminent judges from the Asia Pacific region gathered to discuss what they can do to provide a supportive legal environment for people living with HIV and to protect those particularly vulnerable to being infected. The conversation has to start somewhere, and there were Mainland Chinese judges participating in this ground breaking event.

But for people on the receiving end of public policy about HIV, it will be a long while yet before the target of zero discrimination is reached. And until that time, the Guangxi authorities would do well to turn around in their minds the conundrum of how to combat HIV and look at it from the perspective of their patients. Until they can guarantee that those who test positive won’t feel the chill of stigma from the very same healthcare workers responsible for testing and treating them, and until their communities are educated out of shunning them, real name testing is still just a good idea in theory.

I declare that I have read and understood the BMJ Group policy on declaration of interests and I have no relevant interests to declare.

Jane Parry is a Hong Kong based public health and medical journalist and researcher.

Source: BMJ

 

How can governments globally get “Big Food” to change its addiction to sugar and fat?

It was good to hear Pekka Puska present Finland’s health promotion success which has resulted in an 80% reduction in cardiovascular disease over 30 years. He stressed that this has been a long term complex process. The Finns realised early on that victim blaming doesn’t work and that changing the environment is vital. So they regulated food supply so it was lower in fat and salt and worked with the food industry to encourage them to make food healthier. Subsidies for dairy products were reduced and dairy farmers were encouraged to change to berry farming. Finland’s experience raises the question of how governments globally can get “Big Food” to change its addiction to sugar and fat?

Ravi Narayan presented a civil society perspective and noted the rapidly increasing inequities occurring everywhere. He spoke of the importance of listening to people at the grassroots and hearing their concerns. He stressed the importance of solidarity to social movements and the crucial importance of involving civil society in all policy making. He documented the mechanism society uses including “watches” such as the People’s Health Movement Global Health Watch, health tribunals, health assemblies, and campaigns. He spoke of the importance of social vaccines that build active civil society movements to protect health. Ravi also stressed the importance of seeing people not just as patients and customers, but also as citizens who can help plan and shape the style of health and other services. He also spoke of his work training “activist health professionals.”

The next plenary was on capacity bullding. Viroj Tangcharoensathien described the sophisticated Thai approach to Health in All Policies (HiAP) which uses constitutional mandates, regulation, citizen engagement through the Thai National Health Assembly, and organisational capacity development. Thailand offers many lessons for progressive health policy. Ilona Kickbusch (described by the chair as “the mother of health promotion”) talked about health as an overall societal goal which needs whole of government commitment. She stressed speed and agility as crucial skills to navigate health promotion systems. She also noted that complexity science and political science are essential to understanding HiAP processes because policy processes are chaotic and political. She says HiAP is an ever moving target and its work is never done. Stakeholder and network analysis and management are also crucial skills for HiAP. Learning systems are required where people can experiment and make mistakes and so keep their courage for challenging the status quo. She also spoke of the need for both hard (law) and soft (incentives) governance. This session would have benefited from a sharper analysis of how power interacts within and outside organisations to restrict capacity for action.

Work is progressing on the Helsinki Declaration and participants are invited to comment on drafts in plenary sessions and by email. It will be hard to come up with as robust a document as the Ottawa Charter. The conference is flagged as a green conference, but I wonder about the excessive use of bottled water when Finnish tap water perfectly is fine to drink!

Fran Baum is a professor of public health. She is the director of the Southgate Institute of Health Society and Equity, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia, and is a member of the Global Steering Committee, People’s Health Movement. She is an Australian Research Council Federation fellow.

Source: BMJ