OpEd piece from the Washington Examiner, Barbara Hollingsworth sets the record straight about Gardasil:
"Cervical Cancer accounts for less than 1 percent of all cancer deaths - so it was somewhat suprising when the U.S Food and Drug Administration fast-tracked approval of Gardasil, a Merck vaccine targeting the human papilloma virus that causes the disease.

As of the end of January 2010, 49 unexplained death following Gardasil injections have been reported to the Centres of Disease Control and Prevention's Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System. By contrast, 52 deaths are attributed to unintended acceleration in Toyotas, which triggered a $2 billion recall."

There has been no recall fro Gardasil, however.

Unfortunately, Merck denies any of the deaths are related to its vaccine, and the parents involved can't prove they were.

India has suspended Gardasil vaccination and DNA India reports the program was marred by controversy after 4 deaths and complications among 120 girls were reported after vaccination. The girls complained of stomach disorders, epilepsy, headaches and early menarche.

Sources:
Washington Examiner March 30, 2010
DNA India April 8, 2010

Further, at least 50% of sexually active men and women acquire HPV infection at some point in their lives - and 90% of the time the virus clears up on its own within 2 years, and does not lead to cancer.

Source:
Dr. Mercola - www.mercola.com

PepsiCo is ditching high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) in Gatorade along with the results of a scathing new study from researchers at Princeton. For years, the Corn Refiners Association has been arguing that HFCS is a perfectly natural product that is equal to other forms of sugar. A Princeton research team has again demonstrated that all sweeteners are NOT equal when it comes to weight gain. Rats drinking HFCS gained significantly more weight than those with access to table sugar, even when their overall caloric intake was the same.

Long-term consumption of HFCS also led to abnormal increases in body fat, especially in the abdomen & a rise in circulating blood fats called triglycerides. Two other recent studies have also linked HFCS to liver disease, increased uric acid, decreased kidney function and the risk of chronic kidney disease increased > 150% in those who had >1 soda/day.

Sources:
News at Princeton March 22, 2010
Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior February 26, 2010
Kidney International April 2010; 77(7):609-16
Hepatology January 28, 2010

Women taking osteoporosis drugs called bisphosphonates to prevent broken bones were showing up with rare and serious fractures of their thigh bones. The fractures are highly unusual because they are occurring in the long bone of the thigh, when ordinarily thigh bone fractures occur near the hip socket. Further, because this area does not have a rich blood supply, the fractures are difficult to heal.

Annual sales of osteoporosis drugs have doubled to $8.3 billion since 2003, which is a solid indicator that many people are being kept in the dark about these serious risks. ABC News recently reported that the Food and Drug Administration asked Merck (the maker of Fosamax) to "add information about the report of femur fractures" to the medications' package insert back in 2008!

Fosamax also causes jawbone degeneration, a disease now known to oral surgeons as Bisphosphate-Related Osteonecrosis of the Jaw (BRONJ) or "Fossy Jaw" - a nasty side effect of Fosamax and related drugs that essentially causes your jawbone to rot and decay.

Bisphosphate drugs have been associated with:
- Serious eye inflammation and possible blindness
- Liver damage
- Atrial fibrillation
- Increased risk of ulcers
- Esophageal cancer
- Renal failure
- Skin reactions
- Hypocalcemia (blood calcium levels are too low)

A Safer Road to Bone Health...10 Steps
1. Increase your consumption of vegetables: try vegetable juicing.
2. Avoid processed foods.
3. Consume omega-3 fat and reduce or eliminate the amount of processed vegetable oils such as corn, canola, safflower, cotton seed oil that you consume.
4. Increase your calcium intake along with other related minerals
5. Avoid soft drinks and sugar.
6. Avoid steroids. Steroids increase your risk of osteoporosis.
7. Consider supplements with vitamin K2 if you are not getting enough from food alone eg. green leafy vegetables.
8. Optimize your vitamin D levels with sunshine, oily fish, egg yolks, fortified dairy
9. Exercise. Strength building exercises like weight training are especially helpful here.
10. Consider herbs to boost your hormones.

Source: New York Times March 24, 2010

Studies have found that vitamin D plays an important role in mediating immune function.
New research now shows that low serum vitamin D levels increase the risk of nasal carriage of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).

Source: Scandinavian Journal of Infectious Diseases March 8, 2010

According to statistics only about 20-30% of women diagnosed with breast cancer actually have a family history.
So what thay have found is that it is NOT your genes that dictate your health but rather the expression of your genes. You have the ability to easily turn genes on and off with your diet, lifestyle and emotional state.

Source: Dr Mercola - www.mercola.com

Up to 1/3 of breast cancer cases in Western countries could be avoided if women ate less and exercised more, researchers at a breast cancer conference said. Experts said the focus should shift to changing behaviours like diet and physical activity. Obese women are up to 60% more likely to develop any cancer that normal-weight women. Many breast cancers are fueled by oestrogen, a hormone produced in fat tissue. So experts suspect that the fatter a women is, the more oestrogen she's likely to produce, which could in turn spark breast cancer.

Source: 7th European Breast Cancer Conference March 24-27, 2010, Barcelona, Spain.

The New England Journal of Medicine has published a new study which found that using antihypertensive drugs to lower systolic blood pressure does nothing to lower the risk of heart complications; another found no benefit to adding a drug to raise HDL ("good") cholesterol. Also, 2 drugs given to lower high blood sugar levels showed no benefits.
However, losing excess weight, increasing activity levels, and improving nutritional habits lead to better control of diabetes and lower risks of heart disease.

Sources:US News World Report March 15, 2010
New England Journal of Medicine March 18, 2010

Getting a bit more calcium in your diet could help you live longer, new research suggests. Researchers found that men who consume the most calcium in food were 25% less likely to die over the next decade. Men in the top 1/3 based on their calcium intake were getting nearly 2,000 milligrams a day, on average. Calcium could influence mortality risk in many ways, for example by reducing blood pressure, cholesterol, or blood sugar levels.

Sources: Reuters March 12, 2010
American Journal of Epidemiology February 19, 2010.