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SubscriptionsSites I Read
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| Lungfish may become extinct - HelpPls read and sign the petition, forward this on tho all your friend who you think may be interested Pls leave a comment if you disagree too! Need your help- lungfish very likely to be wiped out Help save the lungfish (world's oldest living fossil).
The ONLY place it lives is to be flooded with an unnecessary and unwanted by everyone I have spoken to, dam.. (its politics gone crazy again IMO)
Progress... and Qld politics, sigh The Australian Lungfish is under serious threat from Dam[n] project on the Mary River Queensland. www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/610807318
This river, along with the Burnett River, and to a much lesser extent the Brisbane River, provides the last vestige of native habitat for the Australian Lungfish (Neoceratodus forsteri). The fact that the Brisbane River is heavily dammed and a large dam on the Burnett River was completed in December 2005 means it is imperative that the Mary River is kept dam free. The Australian Lungfish has very specific breeding requirements, including shallow and weedy running water. The lungfish also lays few eggs and returns to the same breeding sites year after year. The provision of a means for fish to traverse the dam wall will not preserve their spawning/nursery sites. When at full capacity, the dam on the Burnett River will flood 42km of prime lungfish spawning sites, a situation which if repeated on the Mary River will take the listing of the Australian Lungfish under the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (the EPBC Act) from vulnerable to critically endangered. The likely long-term effect would be the extinction of the species.
Please read and decide for yourself.(scroll down petition link page for above) From The Guardian
IMO this dam is not needed. Yes we Do need more water, but there are many dams and there is not enough water to fill them. Another dam is not going to be that much help, without the rain to fill it, and keep it at a reasonable (say >50% full) level.
If there was enough rain to even half fill the present dams we wouldn't need this dam! We need the fertile land more. It will be lost due to the dam. There are other options that could be more fully persued before a huge amount of money is to be spent on this dam and buying back the land. .. money that could arguably more effectively, and with far less negative impact, be spent on rain water tanks, recycling water... Maybe we could justify the wiping out of an important species like the lungfish IF the dam was the only solution, as a last resort for water.. but its NOT! Jean Joss mentioned in the link is a wonderful woman who has studied the lungfish for many years.
She needs our support in this last ditch attempt to save the lungfish. The lungfish need our support.
http://www.econews.org.au/mary-river-dam.php
more Mary River stories on whole page .. this is very fertile farming land.. there is not a lot of that in Australia which is mostly a dry country woth poor soil. It's not like the farmers can move elsewhere..
"Some of southeast Queensland’s most endangered species and ecosystems are likely to be devastated by the Mary River mega-dam. Of most concern are the impacts on three nationally listed animals – the Mary River Cod, Queensland Lungfish and the Mary River Turtle"
"We face losing our home, our farm and our livelihood. Damn the dam"
Damning the Mary … not a smart decision
Traveston dam water too expensive, ecologically, socially and economicallyPremier’s Promise to Protect Species a Fact Free Zone" that, in fact, fish lifts were not successful in protecting the Queensland Lungfish living in the Burnett River near Walla Weir. Prominent Lungfish biologist Dr Jean Joss of Macquarie University claimed two weeks ago that a whistleblower had revealed to her that the Department of Primary Industries had ordered this report shredded"
Greens outraged at Lungfish Report DestructionEnergy infrastructure 'will bust dam budget'Dam proposal threatens ancient fish
Although a final decision has yet to be made, drilling work has begun in the Mary River valley to find bed rock for the proposed dam wall. Despite some initial problems in finding solid rock, the Queensland Premier is insisting the dam is technically and economically feasible."Geology hasn't yet been finished, but as I understand it, is progressing as expected," he said
Although Mary River farmers would be compensated for any loss of property, they are showing no sign of giving up."So not only are we going to fight to protect our homes and properties, but we're also fighting to protect the environment and the rest of Australia from this sort of crazy process," farmer Rick Elliot said. "
Campbell under pressure to halt Qld damMP promises to reveal Mary River dam documents"I know from my meetings with [Premier] Beattie that he's 110 per cent determined to go ahead with this""there are more than enough arguments against this particular dam to suit every taste, with some spares left over"
Please help by signing the online petition and passing this link on to your friends who may be interested in helping too.Asking people to look at and consider signing petitions is not something I usually do, but I do feel strongly about this, Jan
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| To D or not to D ..... Dat is Da Question?Dr. Liu and colleagues at UCLA, publishing in this March's edition of the prestigious journal Science, showed that vitamin D might be, in effect, a potent antibiotic. Vitamin D increases the body's production of naturally occurring antibiotics: antimicrobial peptides. Antimicrobial peptides are produced in numerous cells in the human body where they directly and rapidly destroy the cell walls of viruses and bacteria, including tuberculosis. Furthermore, Liu showed that adding vitamin D to African American serum (African Americans have higher rates of TB) dramatically increased production of these naturally occurring antibiotics.
Science. 2006 Mar 24;311(5768):1770-3.
Plenty of you have e-mailed me that high (pharmacological) doses of vitamin D (1,000 to 2,000 units per kg per day for three days), taken at the first sign of influenza, effectively reduces the severity of symptoms. However, has anyone ever studied giving 100,000, 200,000, or 300,000 units a day for several days to see if vitamin D induces antimicrobial peptides to help fight other life-threatening infections? (By the way, doses up to 600,000 units as a single dose are routinely used in Europe as "Stoss" therapy to prevent vitamin D deficiency and have repeatedly been shown to be safe for short-term administration.) No, you say, studies of "Stoss" therapy in serious infections have never been studied or reported in reputable journals. Well, maybe such treatment has been studied - and reported in the best journals - by way of the weirdest medical invention ever patented in the USA.
Before I get into that, I want to compliment the English for their sense of fair play. Last month I pointed out that the English discovered activated vitamin D (calcitriol) before the Americans. It's important because I suspect the Nobel Committee will get around to awarding a Prize for vitamin D sometime in the next several decades, especially if vitamin D turns out to function like an antibiotic. Well, I got an email from an English scientist who pointed out that it was an American who first discovered calcitriol - but none of the ones I listed. He pointed out that Dr. Tony Norman was actually the first to discover calcitriol - in a series of experiments starting in 1968. Too often, we only think of Dr. DeLuca's and Dr. Holick's lab when we think of vitamin D, while Dr. Norman's lab at UC Riverside is overlooked. He has authored 486 papers about vitamin D beginning in 1963 when he was a student in Dr. DeLuca's lab. (By the way, Dr. DeLuca also trained Dr. Holick as he has many vitamin D researchers) When a Nobel Prize is awarded, how will they choose? I don't know - perhaps they should all share it. I do know that I love the English sense of fair play.
J Biol Chem. 1968 Aug 10;243(15):4055-64.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1969 Jan;62(1):155-62.
J Biol Chem. 1970 Mar 10;245(5):1190-6.
Before I get into this, be warned that what follows is bizarre. It might not make much sense in the beginning. However, if you'll bear with me, you'll see where I'm going. Remember how Professor Reinhold Vieth has written about the complete absence of studies using pharmacological doses of vitamin D (100,000 to 300,000 units a day for several days) in serious diseases. Are there frequently fatal illnesses, such as peritonitis (generalized infection in the abdominal cavity), septicemia (infection of the blood), pneumonia (the Captain of the Men of Death), etc, in which pharmacological doses of vitamin D may be clinically useful when added to conventional treatment?
We know that vitamin D has profound effects on human immunity. Quite recently, three independent groups have reported that vitamin D triggers the release of these powerful natural antibiotics called antimicrobial peptides. If you gave someone large doses of vitamin D, would their bodies make large amounts of antimicrobial peptides?
Cell Mol Biol (Noisy-le-grand). 2003 Mar;49(2):277-300.
J Immunol. 2004 Sep 1;173(5):2909-12.
FASEB J. 2005 Jul;19(9):1067-77.
Science. 2006 Mar 24;311(5768):1770-3.
Knott EK. Development of ultraviolet blood irradiation. American Journal of Surgery 1948; 76(2): 165-171.
So what ended research on ultraviolet blood irradiation in the United States? First, more antibiotics became available, with much improved results (that was before many bacteria developed resistance to antibiotics). Second, Knott's proposed mechanism of action - directly killing bacteria in the irradiated blood or sterilization of the blood - was proven wrong. When you think about Knott's reasoning, it never made any sense. Only a small portion of the blood volume is irradiated so bacteria in the un-irradiated blood would be free to reproduce inside the body. No, direct sterilization of the blood was never a reasonable mechanism of action. However, without a viable mechanism of action, the procedure was doomed, at least in America.
J Bacteriol. 1944 Jan;47(1):85-96.
Archives of Physical Medicine 1948;19:358-65
Another critical study was funded in part by the American Medical Association and appeared in its journal. Again, they found that blood irradiation didn't sterilize the blood. They also administered Knott hemo-irradiation to 68 patients with a wide range of diseases and found it safe, but ineffective, although none of the treated patients died. Although the JAMA article was its death knell in the USA, the authors concluded with the sentence, "A longer and more extensive program of study is warranted before in vivo ultraviolet irradiation of blood can be finally either accepted or rejected."
After its death in the USA, the Germans revived it, then the Russians. One of the German studies was exceptionally well controlled, finding ultraviolet blood irradiation compared favorably to infrared and sham ultraviolet blood irradiation as well as whole-body skin irradiation - which will produce physiological amounts of vitamin D. Therefore, if it works by a vitamin D mechanism, it is producing pharmacological amounts of vitamin D. To this day, it remains a treatment modality in Russia where it is often added to standard treatment of severe infections. Russian scientists have reported it helps improve standard treatment of numerous infections including tuberculosis, just what the UCLA group recently suggested about vitamin D. I've only included the few Russian studies with abstracts; hundreds more have been published without abstracts, so many my wife refuses to read anymore of them to me.
Perhaps I've lost my mind and need to see one of my psychiatric colleagues. Another possibility is that pharmacological doses of vitamin D (via hemo-irradiation) have been tested in life-threatening infections and found to be safe and remarkably effective, first in the USA, then in Germany and finally in Russia. We will never know until the Food and Nutrition Board starts living in the 21st Century. Their Upper Limit of 2,000 units a day effectively prevents vitamin D researchers from testing pharmacological doses of vitamin D, while drug manufacturers test pharmacological doses of vitamin D analogs all the time.
What we really need are some intrepid volunteers, some readers interested in donating their body to science. The study would be simple. Just contact one of the alternative health care providers on the website listed below this paragraph and see if they use the German made, Euphoton® EN 600 NT hemo-irradiator. If so, arrange for a course of ultraviolet blood irradiation. But have your 25(OH)D levels checked the day before you begin treatment and again about a week after the course of treatment is finished. Then we will know if Dr. Knott was - and Dr. Cannell is - out of their minds. Actually, if I had a serious infection, I wouldn't hesitate taking 200,000 units of vitamin D a day for three days, but I wouldn't have my blood irradiated on a bet.
John Cannell, MD
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| Fluoride
Fluoride recommendations Burt
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1607439 ~PMID |
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Burt BA ~Author |
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School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 48109-2029. |
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The changing patterns of systemic fluoride intake. ~Title |
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J Dent Res;71(5):1228-37, 1992 May. |
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0022-0345 ~ ISSN |
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UNITED STATES |
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English language
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Fluorosis prevalence has increased in North America since the 1930's-1940's. It may also have increased since 1970, though the evidence for that is less clear. Continued monitoring will help determine whether increased fluorosis prevalence in children in the United States is a cohort effect from the 1970's. This review considers the evidence for an increase in fluoride ingestion from all sources since the 1970's. If an increase has occurred, the most likely sources are fluoride dietary supplements, inadvertent swallowing of fluoride toothpastes, and increased fluoride in food and beverages. For adults, there is no evidence from dietary surveys to show that fluoride intake has increased over the last generation. Dietary surveys for children aged six months to two years are similarly inconclusive, though the great variation in fluoride content of various infant foods might be obscuring real effects. The data on fluoride intake by children from food and beverages, infant foods included, are not strong enough to conclude that an increase in fluoride ingestion has occurred since the 1970's. However, the suggested upper limit of fluoride intake is substantially being reached in many children by ingestion of fluoride from food and drink ( 0.2-0.3 mg per day) and from fluoride toothpaste (0.2-0.3 mg per day). Two public health issues that arise from this review are: (a) the need for a downward revision in the schedule for fluoride supplementation, and (b) education on the potential for high fluoride concentration of soft drinks and processed fruit juices. |
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Tea and food sources v water
Source of drinking water and other risk factors for dental fluorosis in Sri Lanka.
van der Hoek W, Ekanayake L, Rajasooriyar L, Karunaratne R.
International Water Management Institute, Colombo, Sri Lanka. w.van-der-hoek@cgiar.org
This study was done to describe the association between source of drinking water and other potential risk factors with dental fluorosis. Prevalence of dental fluorosis among 518 14-year-old students in the south of Sri Lanka was 43.2%. The drinking water sources of the students were described and fluoride samples were taken. There was a strong association between water fluoride level and prevalence of fluorosis. Tea drinking before 7 years of age was also an independent risk factor in a multivariate analysis. Having been fed with formula bottle milk as an infant seemed to increase the risk although the effect was not statistically significant. No clear effects could be found for using fluoridated toothpaste, occupation of the father, and socio-economic status. Drinking water obtained from surface water sources had lower fluoride levels (median 0.22 mg l(-1)) than water from deep tube wells (median 0.80 mg l(-1)). Most families used shallow dug wells and these had a median fluoride value of 0.48 mg l(-1) but with a wide range from 0.09 to 5.90 mg l(-1). Shallow wells located close to irrigation canals or other surface water had lower fluoride values than wells located further away. Fluoride levels have to be taken into account when planning drinking water projects. From the point of view of prevention of dental fluorosis, drinking water from surface sources or from shallow wells located close to surface water would be preferable.
Int J Environ Health Res. 2003 Sep;13(3):285-93
PMID: 12909559 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=12909559&query_hl=2&itool=pubmed_DocSum
Fluoride and aluminium concentrations of tea plants and tea products from Sichuan Province, PR China
W. S. Shua, Z. Q. Zhang a, C. Y. Lan a and M. H. Wong , , b
a State Key Laboratory for Bio-control, School of Life Sciences, Zhongshan University, Guangzhou 510275, People's Republic of China
b Institute for Natural Resources and Environmental Management, and Department of Biology, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong SAR, People's Republic of China
Available online 19 June 2003.
Abstract
Some Tibetans in Sichuan Province in southwestern China have been suffering from fluorosis, due to drinking and eating tea with high fluoride (F) and aluminium (Al) contents. Tea plants, soils of tea plantations and tea products from Yaan, Gaoxian and Yibin Cities in Sichuan Province were investigated to evaluate the factors affecting F and Al contents in tea products. The F and Al concentrations of four commercial brands of brick teas were significantly higher than those of 11 brands of green teas. Chemical analysis indicated that total and available F and Al concentrations in tea plantation soils in Yaan and Gaoxian were within the normal range compared with acid soils in South China and tea soils in Fujian Province. Edaphic conditions did not contribute to the high F and Al concentrations in brick tea. Analysis of raw materials of brick tea indicated that old leaves were the major contributors to the high F and Al contents contained in brick tea. There were also great variations among different tea varieties in accumulating F and Al, and concentrations of F and Al in tea variety of Qianmei 303 were about 2–3-fold higher than the other three varieties. Selection of appropriate varieties would be important to lower F and Al contents in tea products.
Chemosphere
Volume 52, Issue 9 , September 2003, Pages 1475-1482
Author Keywords: Fluoride; Aluminium; Tea plants; Brick tea; Green tea; Soil
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0045-6535(03)00485-5
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=12867178&query_hl=2&itool=pubmed_DocSum
Fluorides in groundwater, soil and infused black tea and the occurrence of dental fluorosis among school children of the Gaza strip.
Shomar B, Muller G, Yahya A, Askar S, Sansur R.
Institute of Environmental Geochemistry, University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 236, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany. bshomar@ugc.uni-heidelberg.de
The purpose of this study was to determine the fluoride levels in water, soil and tea, and to identify the major fluoride minerals in soil that supply water with fluoride ions. Another aim was to study the prevalence of dental fluorosis in permanent dentition of the school children of the Gaza Strip. Monitoring of fluoride levels in 73 groundwater wells and 20 topsoil samples for the last three years revealed a general trend of increasing from north to south of the Gaza Strip. A linear regression analysis found a correlation coefficient of r= 0.93 between the fluoride concentrations in groundwater and soil for the same geographic areas. However, the X-ray diffraction technique (XRD) results showed that none of the four major fluoride minerals were detected in the tested soil samples; the PHREEQC model showed that fluorite (CaF2) was the main donating mineral of fluoride ions to groundwater. A high positive correlation was found between fluoride concentrations in groundwater and occurrence of dental fluorosis. Among 353 school children of the five geographic areas of the Gaza Strip the prevalence of dental fluorosis was 60%, and 40% had no signs of fluorosis in their permanent dentitions. The highest occurrence, 94%, was in Khan Yunis, followed by 82% in Rafah, 68% in the middle area, 29% in Gaza and the lowest occurrence of 9% was in the northern area. These percentages were directly proportional to the average content of fluoride in groundwater of each area: 2.6, 0.9, 1.7, 1.2, and 0.7 ppm, respectively. The exception was Rafah where people drank from new groundwater wells that have been dug in the last 10 years. The occurrence of the disease was due to intake of high amounts of fluorides in drinking water, tea and fish. Communication with population indicated a heavy intake of tea starting from a very young age; not uncommonly tea is put in nursing bottles. No significant correlation was found between prevalence figures and gender or age groups. This high prevalence indicates a need to examine other sources of F including diet.
J Water Health. 2004 Mar;2(1):23-35
PMID: 15384727 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=15384727&query_hl=2&itool=pubmed_DocSum
Effect of drinking water change upon the dental fluorosis
Ruan JP, Liu ZQ, Song JL, Bjorvatn K, Ruan MS.
Department of Dental Public Health, Dental School of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710004, China. jianping_ruan@hotmail.com
OBJECTIVE: To assess changes in prevalence and degree of dental fluorosis in individuals born before and after the introduction of water with 1.2 mg/L fluoride instead of water with 2.0-10.0 mg/L fluoride previously used in Da Li County in China. METHODS: The students (n = 291) were divided into 2 groups. The dental fluorosis was scored according to Dean's classification. The statistical analysis was performed by t-test and chi(2) tests. RESULTS: The prevalence of dental fluorosis was significantly lower in the group of the students drinking water from the new well (group 1) as compared to the group of the students drinking the old water (group 2), i.e. 48.8% versus 87.2% (P < 0.01). The percentage of moderate to very severe fluorosis was 13.9% and 0 in group 1 as compared to 32.0% and 8.8% in group 2. The fluorosis community index (FCI), defined by Dean, in group 1 and 2 was medium ( 1.01) and marked (2.12) respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The results showed that: (1) The prevalence of dental fluorosis was significantly lowered by the new source of drinking water. (2) Drinking water, even with 1.2 mg/L fluoride, may cause dental fluorosis during the period of tooth mineralization.
Zhonghua Kou Qiang Yi Xue Za Zhi. 2004 Mar;39(2):139-41.
PMID: 15061890 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=15061890&query_hl=2&itool=pubmed_DocSum
just a sample of the pubd stuff.
Bob | | |
| Na+/K+ATPase and FT3Impaired Na+,K+ATPase activity in red blood cells in euthyroid women treated with levothyroxine after total thyroidectomy for Graves' disease
In patients suffering from hyperthyroidism dependent on Graves' disease, a reduction in Na+,K+ATPase activity has been demonstrated in red blood cells (RBCs), as well as an inverse correlation between this enzymatic action and free triiodothyronine (FT3) levels. The restoration of normal FT3 values also brings about a normalization of Na+,K+ATPase activity in erythrocytes.
NB. after total thyroidectonomy in 2 groups Graves and nontoxic and diffuse nodular goiter(NDNG)
the activity of Na+,K+ATPase in RBCs was once again reduced (NOT normalised despite T4 only replacement in GG,
while normal in GC (who also received T4 only replacement) who underwent total thyroidectomy for nontoxic and diffuse nodular goiter (group control [GC])
So it was something to do with the Graves antibodies?
Note normalization of Na+,K+ATPase activity in erythrocytes was achived during antithyroid therapy with the Graves subjects.
This suppressed the antibody level?
Thionamide treatment restored the normal activity of the Na/K pump, accompanied by normalization of the number of ouabain-binding sites
Me thoughts so far all below..I'm trying to make sense of observation on what happens with myself and friends
In low (inadequate) cortisol state,
K+ UP (maybe high in normal range)
Na+ DOWN (maybe low in normal range)
as Na+,K+ATPase DOWN has reduced activity..impaired..(working slow)
FT3 UP (near top or above normal range)
this is as the FT3 is not being used up (broken down if you insist!)
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A friend , G, was given a K+ drip for a low K+ state, and found her FT3 was above range immediately after.
Assumed test results on 100 mcg thyroxin
before drip..
FT4 18, unknown but not known to be highish in range on T4 alone b4 , TSH 2+
After drip
FT4 11, FT3 near top of range, TSH 2+
It appears the K+ drip caused K+ to go high??
My thoughts, this happened due to a a reduction in Na+,K+ATPase activity.. therefore FT3 increased(same as in the low cortisol case I think)as the FT3 couldn't be used (broken down) due to the lowering activity of the Na+,K+ATPase pump.
Hey G, is this what happened? 
also found
Plasma renin and aldosterone in thyroid diseases
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi? | | |
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