Can calcium actually make your bones weaker?

Check out what the latest information is with Dr. Mercola here:

CAN CALCIUM MAKE YOUR BONES WEAKER?

Live Avian flu virus mixed with vaccines sent to 18 countries........

(NaturalNews) There's a popular medical thriller novel in which a global pandemic is intentionally set off by an evil plot designed to reduce the human population. In the book, a nefarious drug company inserts live avian flu viruses into vaccine materials that are distributed to countries around the world to be injected into patients as "flu shots." Those patients then become carriers for these highly-virulent strains of avian flu which go on to infect the world population and cause widespread death.

There's only one problem with this story: It's not fiction. Or, at least, the part about live avian flu viruses being inserted into vaccine materials isn't fiction. It's happening right now.

Deerfield, Illinois-based pharmaceutical company Baxter International Inc. has just been caught shipping live avian flu viruses mixed with vaccine material to medical distributors in 18 countries. The "mistake" (if you can call it that, see below...) was discovered by the National Microbiology Laboratory in Canada. The World Health Organization was alerted and panic spread throughout the vaccine community as health experts asked the obvious question: How could this have happened?

As published on LifeGen.de (http://www.lifegen.de/newsip/showne...), serious questions like this are being raised:

"Baxter International Inc. in Austria 'unintentionally contaminated samples with the bird flu virus that were used in laboratories in 3 neighbouring countries, raising concern about the potential spread of the deadly disease'. Austria, Germany, Slowenia and the Czech Republic - these are the countries in which labs were hit with dangerous viruses. Not by bioterrorist commandos, but by Baxter. In other words: One of the major global pharmaceutical players seems to have lost control over a virus which is considered by many virologists to be one of the components leading some day to a new pandemic."

Or, put another way, Baxter is acting a whole lot like a biological terrorism organization these days, sending deadly viral samples around the world. If you mail an envelope full of anthrax to your Senator, you get arrested as a terrorist. So why is Baxter -- which mailed samples of a far more deadly viral strain to labs around the world -- getting away with saying, essentially, "Oops?"

But there's a bigger question in all this: How could this company have accidentally mixed LIVE avian flu viruses (both H5N1 and H3N2, the human form) in this vaccine material?

Was the viral contamination intentional?
The shocking answer is that this couldn't have been an accident. Why? Because Baxter International adheres to something called BSL3 (Biosafety Level 3) - a set of laboratory safety protocols that prevent the cross-contamination of materials.

As explained on Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biosaf...):

"Laboratory personnel have specific training in handling pathogenic and potentially lethal agents, and are supervised by competent scientists who are experienced in working with these agents. This is considered a neutral or warm zone. All procedures involving the manipulation of infectious materials are conducted within biological safety cabinets or other physical containment devices, or by personnel wearing appropriate personal protective clothing and equipment. The laboratory has special engineering and design features."

Under the BSL3 code of conduct, it is impossible for live avian flu viruses to contaminate production vaccine materials that are shipped out to vendors around the world.

This leaves only two possibilities that explain these events:

Possibility #1: Baxter isn't following BSL3 safety guidelines or is so sloppy in following them that it can make monumental mistakes that threaten the safety of the entire human race. And if that's the case, then why are we injecting our children with vaccines made from Baxter's materials?

Possibility #2: A rogue employee (or an evil plot from the top management) is present at Baxter, whereby live avian flu viruses were intentionally placed into the vaccine materials in the hope that such materials might be injected into humans and set off a global bird flu pandemic.

It just so happens that a global bird flu pandemic would sell a LOT of bird flu vaccines. Although some naive people have a hard time believing that corporations would endanger human beings to make money, this is precisely the way corporations now behave in America's ethically-challenged free-market environment. (Remember Enron? Exxon? Merck? DuPont? Monsanto? Need I go on?)

Make no mistake: Spreading bird flu is a clever way to create demand for bird flu vaccines, and we've all seen very clearly how drug companies first market the problem and then "leap to the rescue" by selling the solution. (Disease mongering of ADHD, bipolar disorder, etc.)

Why it all suddenly makes sense
Until today, I would not have personally believed such a story. I personally thought talk of bird flu vaccines being "weaponized" was just alarmist hype. But now, in light of the fact that LIVE bird flu viruses are being openly found in vaccine materials that are distributed around the world, I must admit the evidence is increasingly compelling that something extremely dangerous is afoot.

Baxter, through either its mistakes or its evil intentions, just put the safety of the entire human race at risk. Given all the laboratory protocols put in place to prevent this kind of thing, it is difficult to believe this was just a mistake.

There is some speculation, in fact, that the 1918 influenza pandemic, which killed up to 50 million people worldwide (http://images.google.com/images?hl=...), was intentionally started by injecting servicemen with "experimental" flu vaccines that actually contained live, "weaponized" flu material just like the material being distributed by Baxter today.

Examine the historical record. You'll find that the 1918 flu originated with servicemen. Even more interestingly, it began in multiple cities, simultaneously! There is no single point of origin with the 1918 flu. It appears to have "spontaneously" sprung up across multiple cities all at once, including a military base in Kansas. (Kansas? Yep. So how did it get to Kansas in an era when air traffic was virtually non-existent? Vaccines, of course!)

All those cities and servicemen have one thing in common: Flu shot vaccinations given to them by the military.

If you put the pieces together on this, it's not too difficult to suspect that influenza could potentially be used as a tool of control by governments or drug companies to catalyze outrageous profit-taking or power grabbing agendas. A desperate, infected population will gladly give up anything or pay anything for the promise of being cured.

Or was it just an innocent mistake? Oops!
But for the skeptics who dismiss any such talk of conspiracy theories, let's examine the other possibility: That a global avian flu pandemic was nearly unleashed unintentionally due to the outrageous incompetence of the companies handling these viral strains.

As we just saw, this is a very real possibility. Had this live bird flu virus not been detected, it could have very easily found its way into vaccines that were injected into human beings. And this, in turn, could have unleashed a global avian flu pandemic.

If the drug companies making and handling these materials are so careless, then it seems like it's only a matter of time before something slips through the safety precautions again and gets unleashed into the wild. And that leads to essentially the same scenario: A global pandemic, widespread death, health care failures and a desperate population begging for vaccines.

So either way -- whether it's intentional or not -- you essentially get the same result.

Why a global pandemic is only a matter of time
I am on the record stating that a global pandemic is only a matter of time. The living conditions under which humans have placed themselves (crowded cities, suppressed immune systems, etc.) are ideal for the spread of infectious disease. But I never dreamed drug companies could actually be accelerating the pandemic timeline by contaminating vaccine materials with live avian flu viruses known to be highly infectious to humans. This, it seems, is a whole new cause for concern.

You can believe what you will. Maybe you agree with the nefarious plot theory and you agree that corporations are capable of great evils in their quest for profits. Or perhaps you can't accept that, so you go with the "accidental contamination" theory, in which your beliefs describe a very dangerous world where biohazard safety protocols are insufficient to protect us from all the crazy viral strains being toyed with at drug companies and government labs all across the world.

In either case, the world is not a very safe place when deadly viral strains are placed in the hands of the inept.

We are like children playing God with Mother Nature, rolling the dice in a global game of Viral Roulette where the odds are not in our favor. With companies like Baxter engaged in behaviors that are just begging to see the human race devastated by a global pandemic wipeout, it might be a good time to question the sanity of using viral strains in vaccines in the first place.

Vaccine-pushing scientists are so proud of their vaccines. They think they've conquered Mother Nature. Imagine their surprise when one day they learn they have actually killed 100 million human beings by unleashing a global pandemic.

We came close to it this week. A global pandemic may have just been averted by the thinnest of margins. Yet people go on with their lives, oblivious to what nearly happened.

What's inescapable at this point is the fact that the threat of a pandemic that looms for all of human civilization, and that drug companies may, themselves, be the source of that threat.

Important Resources
Read my book How to Beat the Bird Flu here: http://www.truthpublishing.com/bird...

See a remarkable collection of quotes and accounts from authors writing about the 1918 influenza pandemic here: www.NaturalNews.com/025759.html

Stories about Baxter International, Inc. and its avian influenza "oops" moment

The Canadian Press: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ca...

Bloomberg.com: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?...

LifeGen.de: http://www.lifegen.de/newsip/showne...

About the author: Mike Adams is a natural health researcher and author with a mission to teach personal and planetary health to the public He is a prolific writer and has published thousands of articles, interviews, reports and consumer guides, impacting the lives of millions of readers around the world who are experiencing phenomenal health benefits from reading his articles. Adams is an honest, independent journalist and accepts no money or commissions on the third-party products he writes about or the companies he promotes. In 2007, Adams launched EcoLEDs, a manufacturer of mercury-free, energy-efficient LED lighting products that save electricity and help prevent global warming. He's also a successful software entrepreneur, having founded a well known email marketing software company whose technology currently powers the NaturalNews email newsletters. Adams volunteers his time to serve as the executive director of the Consumer Wellness Center, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, and pursues hobbies such as Pilates, Capoeira, nature macrophotography and organic gardening. Known on the 'net as 'the Health Ranger,' Adams shares his ethics, mission statements and personal health statistics at www.HealthRanger.org

AIDS Fraud Exposed: HIV Science Papers from 1984 were Falsified

Natural health authors like Dr. Gary Null have been talking about the AIDS fraud for decades. What's the fraud? The false believe that AIDS is caused by the HIV virus. As it turns out, the entire basis of that belief is pure scientific fraud.
The original papers upon which that now-common medical myth was based were, in fact, partly fabricated by Dr. Robert Gallo. The electron microscope photos used by Gallo to "prove" HIV causes AIDS didn't even contain viruses at all! Even so, his papers were published in 1984 in the journal Science, and from that point forward, it was accepted as "scientific fact" that HIV causes AIDS.
This was a convenient medical myth, since it placed the drug companies in the position of manufacturing and selling anti-viral medications to AIDS patients, promising them hope while, in reality, offering them nothing but a lifetime of continued immune system suppression and a cocktail of expensive, toxic pharmaceuticals.
On December 1, 2008, a group of 37 scientists sent a letter to Science, requesting that the journal retract its 1984 publication of Gallo's papers. This, of course, would cause huge upheavals throughout the conventional AIDS pill-pusher communities (Big Pharma, conventional doctors, etc.) because Gallo's papers have been quoted by literally thousands of other scientific papers published in the last 25 years. If Gallo's work is retracted, it would mean that every paper published since then might deserve additional scrutiny, too, and pretty soon the whole AIDS house of cards (and lies) comes tumbling down.
The entire (high-profit) AIDS industry, in other words, depends on the continued belief in the HIV / AIDS lie for its own survival. This is similar to the way in which the breast cancer industry depends on the mammography lie to stay in business, too. Behind every disease-based medical industry, there's a secret lie that keeps it in business.
So don't expect Science to act with much motivation on this issue. Medical journals, after all, aren't really about science: They're about promotion! And promoting AIDS drugs depends entirely on pushing the medical myth that AIDS is caused by HIV.
If there's one thing that conventional medical research can't stand, it's scrutiny. How dare we question AIDS, or vaccines or flu shots? Because every time there's any serious scientific inquiry into the subject, the fraud is readily exposed. For example, as mentioned on the website RethinkingAids.org:
In the early 1990s, several highly critical reports on the research underlying Gallo's papers were produced as a result of governmental inquiries working under the supervision of scientists nominated by the National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine. The Office of Research Integrity (ORI) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services concluded that the lead paper of the four was "fraught with false and erroneous statements" and that the “ORI believes that the careless and unacceptable keeping of research records . . . reflects irresponsible laboratory management that has permanently impaired the ability to retrace the important steps taken." Further, a Congressional Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations produced a staff report on the papers, containing scathing criticisms of their integrity.
Click the link below to read more.

Click to read:
AIDS Fraud Exposed: HIV Science Papers from 1984 were Falsified

Bayer Knowingly Sold HIV-Contaminated Vaccines, Say Internal Documents

Here's a little-known truth about Bayer that needs to be revisited. In 2006, it was discovered that Bayer found out a vaccine it was selling in the United States was accidentally contaminated with HIV.
In order to cover its tracks, say the journalists in this video (below), Bayer pulled the vaccines off the market and sold them to consumers in Japan, France, Spain and other countries, where hemophiliacs were then contaminated with HIV due to the vaccine.
Watch the video yourself
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wg-52mHIjhs
And yet, despite these apparent crimes, no Bayer executives ever faced arrest or prosecution in the United States.
A Bayer spinmeister had this to say: "Bayer behaved responsibly, ethically and humanely... [and its actions] were consistent with regulations."
Sure they did. Don't forget that Bayer is the same pharmaceutical company linked to Nazi Germany's medical experiments on concentration camp prisoners. They have a long and dark history of being involved in the manufacture of chemical weapons. As stated on CorporateWatch.org (http://archive.corporatewatch.org/profi...):
" IG Farben continued to grow during the inter-war period as one of the most powerful chemical and pharmaceutical companies in the world. Products included polyurethanes and the first 'sulpha' drugs. It is during Nazi-era Germany and WW2 that IG Farben (Bayer) entered its most sinister phase. IG Farben as the leading chemical company in Nazi Germany took over chemical plants across Nazi occupied Europe, used slave-labour in their factories (including operating their own concentration camp), conducted medical experiments on those held in the concentration camps and manufactured the poison gas used to kill thousands. At the end of the war the 1945 Potsdam Agreement called for the break up of IG Farben into its constituent companies. Twelve IG Farben employees and directors were jailed for war crimes at the Nuremburg Trials."
Anybody who takes anything made by Bayer is, in my opinion, supporting a corporation that has been committing crimes against humanity for nearly a hundred years.

XDR - TB

Raw foods versus cooked foods.....the great American rat experiment......(I am slowly starting to make the transition to a raw foodie)

(NaturalNews) The following is an account of an interesting three-part experiment comparing the effects of raw foods versus cooked foods in rats. This account is taken from a book titled Goldot, by Lewis E. Cook, Jr. and Junko Yasui:

"It has been found that a group of rats who were fed diets of raw vegetables, fruits, nuts and grains from birth grew into completely healthy specimens and never suffered from any disease. They were never ill. They grew rapidly, but never became fat, mated with enthusiasm, and had healthy offspring. They were always gently affectionate and playful and lived in perfect harmony with each other. Upon reaching an old age, equivalent to 80 years in humans, these rats were put to death and autopsied. At that advanced age, their organs, glands, tissues and all body processes appeared to be in perfect condition without any sign of aging or deterioration.

A companion group of rats were fed a diet comparable to that of the average American and included white bread, cooked foods, meats, milk, salt, soft drinks, candies, cakes, vitamins and other supplements, medicines for their ailments, etc. During their lifetime, these rats became fat and from the earliest age, contracted most of the diseases of modern American society including colds, fever, pneumonia, poor vision, cataracts, heart disease, arthritis, cancer, and many more.

Most of this group died prematurely at early ages, but during their lifetime, most of them were vicious, snarling beasts, fighting with one another, stealing one another's food and attempting to kill each other. They had to be kept apart to prevent total destruction of the entire group. Their offspring were all sick and exhibited the same general characteristics as the parents.

As this group of rats died one by one or in epidemics of various diseases, autopsies were performed revealing extensive degenerative conditions in every part of their bodies. All organs, glands, and tissues were affected, as were the skin, hair, blood, and nervous system. They were all truly total physical and nervous wrecks. The same conditions existed in the few which survived the full duration of the experiment.

A third companion group of rats was fed the same diet as the second group to an age equivalent to about forty years in humans. They displayed the same general symptoms as the second group. They were sick and vicious so that they had to be separated to prevent them from killing each other and stealing one another's food. At the end of this initial period, all rats in this group then received the natural (raw) diet of the first group of rats. Within one month, the behavioral pattern had changed completely so that the now docile, affectionate, playful creatures were once again able to live together in a harmonious society and from this point on never suffered any illness.

Several rats were put to death and autopsied at the end of the initial period revealing the same general deterioration as that exhibited in the second group of rats. However, the remaining rats lived out the full duration of the experiment, to the equivalent of 80 years in humans, and when they were autopsied there were no signs of aging or deterioration or disease just as those in the first group. The obvious disease, degeneration, and deterioration of body parts evident in their first half of life had been completely reversed and excellent health restored.

The same principles apply to human life as there is only one Truth! Thus, it may be concluded that sick people may be restored to health simply by choosing the proper diet and observing the other rules of health. There is no mystery. There is no external force that will help –- all healing is accomplished within the body, by the body, in accordance with the laws of organic life and health."

BEWARE of lemon slices in your restaurant drinks...

Admit it, you’ve done it -- squeezing the lemon wedge into your water and then dropping it right into your glass. It certainly isn’t something you would think of as particularly harmful, that is until now.

Still, this study, though gross, is not particularly shocking.

It appears that many in the restaurant industry are failing to properly wash their hands after they have a bowel movement. Obviously this is something very difficult to police as there aren’t surveillance cameras in the restrooms and the offending bacteria are essentially invisible.

However, even if they hadn’t washed their hands, if they at least were wearing protective gloves when they handled the lemons or any of your food, this would be a non-issue.

Unfortunately, even the most well-run, health-minded restaurants probably have disease-causing bacteria crawling all over places it shouldn’t be, it’s just that no one has conducted a test yet to bring it to light.

Restaurant Lemon Wedges: Playing Russian Roulette With Your Health?

Should you now boycott all restaurant lemon wedges, because sooner or later you will get one that will make you sick?

Well, if you have a compromised immune system, are elderly, or are referring to a small child, perhaps. These are the people who are most likely to become sick from rogue bacteria.

For most of you, however, particularly if you’ve been following basic health principles, your immune system can more than handle the bacteria found on a contaminated lemon rind.

If it couldn’t, we’d all be in trouble, considering that over 65 percent of colds, 50 percent of all cases of diarrhea and 50 percent to 80 percent of food-borne illnesses are caught not in restaurants but in your own homes.

So while the idea of strange fecal bacteria coating your restaurant lemon wedge is disgusting, and certainly not hygienic, your own kitchen is probably home to some of it as well. Studies have actually shown that there could be up to 200 times more fecal bacteria on your kitchen cutting board than on your toilet seat.

The sponge that you use to wash your dishes is another one that is commonly loaded with disease-causing bacteria (for a quick tip on how to really clean your sponges, click here), as are computer keyboards, desks, phone receivers and shopping cart handles.

And did I mention that one of the “riskiest” ways to get an infection is by simply shaking hands with someone? It’s true. So unless you plan to shun not only lemon wedges but also your kitchen, dishwashing sponges, computer keyboard, grocery shopping and handshakes, I’d suggest following these simple tips to keep your immune system up to par:

* Get a good night’s sleep
* Minimize stress in your life
* Exercise regularly and effectively
* Get enough sun exposure or, alternatively, enough of the right vitamin D (if you live in a cold environment where you can't stay out in the sun)
* Avoid sugar and grains, and instead eat plenty of raw foods
* Take a high-quality probiotic (good bacteria)

A Dirty Lemon May be the Best Thing on Your Plate

Most of you probably know that I am not a huge fan of eating out, not because of this lemon video, but because of the major unknowns at most restaurants, such as food quality, preparation and addition of toxic unknowns like high-fructose corn syrup, preservatives and MSG. Also much of the food is actually cooked in microwaves to speed up delivery. So that is one of the primary reasons why I rarely eat out.

Unfortunately, this is not the attitude of most people in the United States, as in 2006 the average U.S. household spent close to HALF of its food budget on meals eaten away from home, according to The Survey of Consumer Expenditures for 2006, released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Did you know, for instance, that an order of “Aussie Cheese Fries” at Outback Steakhouse has 2,900 calories, which is more calories than most people need in an entire day (and more French fries than anyone needs in a lifetime)?

Or that the “100 percent all-natural chicken” served at Arby’s contains artificial flavoring?

My point here is this: when you go out to a restaurant, you MAY end up with some extra bacteria on your lemon wedge, but you will almost assuredly end up with an extra-large plate full of artificial flavors, corn syrup and maybe some trans fats. Even at a higher end restaurant, you’ll likely be served farm-raised fish, grain-fed meat, and overcooked veggies.

So what is your option?

Either you, or one of your friends or relatives, needs to invest some quality time in the kitchen so most of your meals are made with unprocessed, high-quality food that you can enjoy with your family. This way, you control the ingredients, you control the portion sizes, and you control whether or not you wash your hands before cutting up your lemon wedges.

think twice before agreeing to the GARDASIL vaccine series...

[PROVE Note: Judicial Watch recently reported that through several Freedom of Information Act requests, they have discovered 3,461 adverse reactions including eleven deaths reported to the FDA and CDC's Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System for the HPV vaccine. You can read Judicial Watch's report and documents at the link posted below.

Additionally, I'm including two recent articles on two different HEALTHY ALTHLETIC teenage girls becoming very seriously injured by the HPV vaccine. We'd like people to think about the fact that this is the same vaccine that is being pushed for mandates by misinformed or conflict-of-interest ridden legislators around the country.

As political races continue to heat up, be aware of the candidates from the presidential level down to your county officials and where they feel the government's role should be in health care. Experience shows that the more control the government has over your health care, the less freedom you will have, period. Don't forget that WITH OUR TAX DOLLARS - our FDA approved the HPV vaccine, our Congress gave the vaccine maker liability protection from the harm caused by this vaccine, and some of our state legislators and governors have tried to FORCE this vaccine on our young daughters. Look at these articles and ask yourself how much more you want the government deciding for you what you must do to be healthy. Find some candidates you believe in and help them. Our lives depend on it.

Mom Says HPV Vaccine Caused Paralysis in 12-Year-Old

http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/local/news-article.aspx?storyid=95517

By Jackelyn Barnard

First Coast News

11/12/2007

JACKSONVILLE, FL -- Brittany is a twelve-year-old girl who doesn't like to sit still. She's played softball. She ran cross country. The plan was to stay on the team and get a college scholarship, but two months ago, those plans drastically changed.

"She was walking through my house and collapsed. She told me she couldn't feel her leg. We went right to the hospital," says Christina Bell, Brittany's mom.

Bell says there were no answers at first, but then she started to put the pieces of the puzzle together.

Two weeks before her daughter's collapse, Brittany received her first injection of a vaccine called Gardasil.

"The doctor recommended we get the Gardasil shot and I'd been thinking about it because I've seen it on TV all the time," says Bell.

The vaccine, produced by Merck, is to help prevent contracting the Human Papillomavirus or HPV.

The virus causes 70 percent of cervical cancer.

Over the last year, the vaccine has been the center of moral controversy, but little has been mentioned about the number of vaccine reactions reported to the FDA.

Recent news reports link an association with paralysis and death with the vaccine.

"The reason I'm skeptical with this is this isn't a virus," says Dr. Guy Benrubi, an OB/GYN with Shands.

Dr. Benrubi says the HPV vaccine is one of the safest and he recommended it to his own child.

"The immediate risks are minimal. The FDA looked at those. We have not seen any major catastrophes," says Dr. Benrubi.

Benrubi says the majority of complaints are patients fainting during or after the shot.

So far, more than four million vaccinations have been done and nearly 4,000 adverse reactions have been reported.

"Even the worst case scenario, if you have four thousand in four million that is a one to one thousand potential adverse effect," says Dr. Benrubi.

The list of complaints range from temporary blindness, blurry vision, convulsions, seizures and numbness in arms and legs that won't go away.

"If you know something is happening why do you let it continue?" asks Bob Giuliano, Brittany's grandfather.

Giuliano and his daughter want answers as to how they didn't know paralysis could be a possibility for Brittany.

"I am very angry," says Brittany's mom. Two months later and after hours of physical therapy,

Brittany still has no feeling in her left leg.

Getting around is difficult. It's hard for Brittany to walk and balance and she often needs a little help.

"She's mad. I can tell she's mad," says Brittany's mom. A little shy, Brittany did not want to talk to us, but she did want her story told so parents and young girls know how her life has changed.

Now she is learning to cope with braces, crutches and a walker. "It's changed everything for us," says Bell.

Brittany's doctors have diagnosed her with Acute Demyelinating Encephalomyelitis or ADEM.

It is an inflammation of the brain that has been associated with a vaccination.

"I think there is a little cart before the horse going on here. I'm not saying this is not a good vaccine, but anyone who is going to have their daughter or child have this shot, they need to be fully informed of risks or potential risks associated with it," says Sean Cronin, Brittany's attorney.

Cronin says he can't go after Merck with a lawsuit because Gardasil is now part of a federal fund which pays out to those injured from vaccines.

First Coast News has learned, Gardasil was added to the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Fund just months after it hit the market. "The Federal government would not put it on the list without medical scientific justification," says Cronin.

Brittany's family is filing an injury claim with the government.

They are also on a mission to spread the news of what they say can happen with the vaccine.

The family also holds out hope that one day, old Brittany will be back walking and running like she did once before.

"I do wish the doctor would have known and would have said there is a chance that this could happen. If he would have said, I would have never done it," says Bell.

The FDA told First Coast News the adverse reaction reports are not a good indicator of a direct cause or relation with an incident. The FDA also says they have investigated several deaths but did not find any association with the vaccine.

Merck told First Coast News it is unaware of Brittany's case. Merck also says it actively monitors the adverse reaction reports and other databases throughout the world.

As for the vaccine being added to the government vaccine fund, Merck says it is their understanding that all new vaccines are added to the fund.

The Pharmaceutical giant says the latest numbers show that ten million HPV vaccines have been given in the United States.

---------------------------

Teen falls ill after vaccine injection

Reported by: Larry Seward

Email: seward@nbcactionnews.com

Last Update: 11/13 9:08 am

http://www.nbcactionnews.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=fabcbaad-8971-4db0-8ed1-42ccbc106f20

LAWRENCE, Kan. - A Lawrence couple is furious over a new government-approved vaccine designed to prevent a type of cancer. They say it almost killed their daughter and significantly altered her life.

15-year-old Marissa Omon is an athlete. The daughter of a Nigerian soccer player she played basketball, volleyball and track, until now.

Surgeons put a defibrillator inside her chest Monday night fearing her heart could stop at any moment.

"HPV cost my daughter. It almost cost her her life," said Edem Omon.

Edem Omon is convinced his healthy, athletic teenage daughter Miranda almost died because of a vaccine doctors gave her to prevent cervical cancer.

Three weeks ago Miranda took a physical. Edem said he reluctantly allowed a doctor to give her the HPV vaccine.

"He convinced me the drug was safe," said Edem.

Less than three hours later, while practicing basketball at Free State High School, Miranda suddenly collapsed. Her heart stopped. Paramedics needed a defibrillator to revive her. Miranda was rushed to Children's Mercy where she spent several days unable to walk or talk.

Doctors ran a battery of tests, CT scans, x-rays and biopsies. They could find no explanation for Miranda's sudden heart problem.

They say they do not believe the HPV vaccine has anything to do with it.

"I do believe it's safe," said Dr. Scott Dattel.

Dattel is not Miranda's doctor but said he's never heard of any major side effects caused by HPV, only soreness and fever.

"HPV vaccine was thoroughly tested before the FDA approved it and I do think for that reason it is safe," said Dattel.

Miranda is still in Children's Mercy. If all goes well she could go home this week but doctors will not allow her to play competitive sports that she loves.

-----------------------------

Judicial Watch Uncovers New FDA Records Detailing Deaths in 1,824 Adverse Reaction Reports Related to HPV Vaccine

http://judicialwatch.org/judicial-watch-uncovers-new-fda-records-detailing-deaths-1-824-adverse-reaction-reports-related-hpv-

Judicial Watch Sues FDA for Producing "Partial Response" to FOIA Request

(Washington, DC) -- Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, today released new documents obtained from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act, detailing 1,824 reports of adverse reactions to the vaccination for human papillomavirus (HPV), Gardasil, including as many as eight deaths related to the vaccine. Judicial Watch had previously obtained 1,637 reports relating to Gardasil on May 15, 2007, bringing the known total to 3,461 adverse reactions including eleven deaths since FDA approval. Among the new information uncovered by Judicial Watch:

"20-Jun-2007: Information has been received - concerning a 17 year old female who in June 2007 - was vaccinated with a first dose of Gardasil. During the evening of the same day, the patient was found unconscious (lifeless) by the mother. Resuscitation was performed by the emergency physician but was unsuccessful. The patient subsequently died."

"12-Jun-2007: Information has been received - concerning a 12 year old female with a history of aortic and mitral valve insufficiency - who on 01-MAR-2007 was vaccinated IM into the left arm with a first does of Gardasil. On 01-MAR-2007 the patient presented to the ED with ventricular tachycardia and died."

"28-Aug-2007: Initial and follow-up information has been received from a physician concerning an "otherwise healthy" 13 year old female who was vaccinated with her first and second doses of Gardasil. Subsequently, the patient experienced paralysis from the chest down, lesions of the optic nerve. At the time of the report, the patient had not recovered."

From May 10 to September 7, 2007, the 1,824 adverse vaccination reactions reported to the FDA via the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) included 347 serious reactions. Of the 77 women who received the vaccine while pregnant, 33 experienced side effects ranging from spontaneous abortion to fetal abnormities. Other serious side effects continue to be reported including, paralysis, Bells Palsy, Guillain-Barre Syndrome, and seizures.

"In light of this information, it is disturbing that state and local governments might mandate in any way this vaccine for young girls," said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. "These adverse reaction reports suggest the vaccine not only causes serious side effects, but might even be fatal."

Judicial Watch filed its request on August 20, 2007, and received the adverse event reports from the FDA on September, 13 2007. (On October 3, 2007, Judicial Watch filed a new lawsuit against the FDA for its failure to fully respond to Judicial Watch's FOIA request as required by law.

SOME FACTS ON THE GARDASIL VACCINE:

How safe is Gardasil? ( extracted from the Immunise Australia literature)

It is a frustrating time when our young girls and women are being lined up and jabbed with a vaccine that has the potential to affect their future fertility - HPV (Gardasil) vaccine - and that may be the least of the problems. Anyone with a HPV infection (and they are common), who is given the vaccine risks immune system shutdown or autoimmune disease. "Purpura vaccinatoria" - an abnormal immune system response has been recorded following vacination with smallpox and other vaccines when the vaccine recipient is already incubating the same infection. They are not testing for wart virus infection prior to vaccination. In the trials for this vaccine they were careful to exclude anyone with a wart virus or who developed a wart virus infection. They chose women who were not likely to have more than one sexual partner, thereby minimising this risk. THIS IS AN UNKNOWN RISK FACTOR but when you read the reports already in from overseas you will see that once again vaccination is not rocket science, unless you equate it with the ones that explode and obliterate!
Please pass on the following information and contact VISA for articles and flyers

"Your daughter may experience minor side effects such as redness, pain, swelling at the injection site and mild fever. (and the rest?)
She should not have the HPV vaccine if she is pregnant or if she has had a serious allergic reaction to yeast or any other vaccine components (aluminium phosphate, sodium chloride, L-histidine, polysorbate and sodium borate)."

*exposure to borax may impair fertility or cause damage to an unborn child. (there were 5 reported cases of babies born with congenital birth defects to women who had the vaccine within 30 days of becoming pregnant.
*aluminium is implicated as a cause of brain damage, a suspected factor in Alzheimers Disease, dementia, seizures, comas, allergic skin reactions.
* polysorbate is known to cause cancer in animals.

Imunise Australia literature also states:

*Cervical cancer is not common in Australia
*Most women who have HPV, slowly clear the virus naturally and do NOT develop cervical cancer
*(HPV) is so common that four in five people will have had genital HPV infection at some time in their lives. Most genital infections with HPV do not cause any symptoms and people do not know they have the infection. (* girls will not be screened for any HPV infection prior to vaccination)

On the subject of safety, as usual the promotional brochure that states "This information is correct as at March 2007", (re-enforcing my belief that carrier pigeons are exceptionally slow between the US and AUS) makes no mention of the myriad of adverse events already being reported at an alarming rate after 6 months of vaccinating in the US.

See the NVIC website for the full story but - “Out of the 385 individual GARDASIL adverse event reports made to VAERS, (Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting Sysytem) two-thirds required additional medical care and about one-third of all reports were for children 16-years-old and under, with nearly 25 percent of those children having received simultaneously one or more of the 18 vaccines that Merck did not study in combination with GARDASIL. NVIC is calling on the FDA and CDC to warn parents and doctors that GARDASIL should not be combined with other vaccines and that young girls should be monitored for at least 24 hours for syncopal (collapse/fainting) episodes that can be accompanied by seizure activity, as well as symptoms of tingling, numbness and loss of sensation in the fingers and limbs, all of which should be reported to VAERS immediately.”

"There are twice as many children collapsing and four times as many children experiencing tingling, numbness and loss of sensation after getting a GARDASIL vaccination compared to those getting a Tdap (tetanus-diphtheria-acellular pertussis) vaccination. There have been reports of facial paralysis and Guillain-Barre Syndrome. And doctors who give GARDASIL in combination with other vaccines are basically conducting an experiment on their young patients because Merck has not published any safety data for simultaneous vaccination with any vaccine except hepatitis B vaccine."(Barbara Loe Fisher)

Also -
*Merck only studied GARDASIL in fewer than 1200 girls under age 16 in pre-licensure trials
*Merck has not published any safety data for simultaneous vaccination with any vaccine except hepatitis B vaccine
*There were several VAERS reports of HPV infection, genital warts and cervical lesions after GARDASIL vaccination. It is unknown if the girls were infected with HPV before being vaccinated or if GARDASIL failed to protect them. One case of HPV infection occurred in a 22-year-old girl who had participated in a Merck GARDASIL trial in 2003 when she had shown "strong conversion to all 4 vaccine types" but "tested positive for high risk HPV" in 2006, according to the VAERS report.

“There have been estimates that fewer than 10 percent, even as low as 1 to 4 percent, of adverse events which occur after prescription drug or vaccine use are ever reported to government adverse event reporting systems.”
"If only 1 to 4 percent of all adverse events associated with GARDASIL vaccination are being reported to VAERS, there could have been up to 38,000 health problems after GARDASIL vaccination in 2006 which were never reported," said Fisher. "How many girls are really having short-term health problems associated with getting this vaccine that could turn into long-term neurological or immune system disorders? And how many will go on to develop fertility problems, cancer or damage to their genes, all of which Merck admits in its product insert that it has not studied at all? We just don't know enough to be mandating GARDASIL for anyone, much less vulnerable 11 to 12 year old girls entering puberty."

http://www.nvic.org/

But wait! There's more!

"Diane M. Harper, a lead researcher in the development of the humanpapilloma virus vaccine, says giving the drug to 11-year-old girls "is a great big public health experiment." Not only that, she says it's not been tested for effectiveness in younger girls, and administering the vaccine to girls as young as 9 may not even protect them at all. And, in the worst-case scenario, instead of serving to reduce the numbers of cervical cancers within 25 years, such a vaccination crusade actually could cause the numbers to go up.

"It is silly to mandate vaccination of 11- to 12-year-old girls There also is not enough evidence gathered on side effects to know that safety is not an issue."

“HPV is not just spread through sex. We have multiple papers where that's documented. We know that 3-year-olds, 5-year-olds, 10-year-olds, and women who have never had sex have been found to be positive for the cancer-causing HPV types."

More Information by Patricia Bohackyi - PDF : Cervical Cancer Vaccine Deception

http://www.vaproject.org/

AND the vaccine costs 120.00 a shot and you have to get THREE and it is ONLY GOOD FOR FIVE YEARS meaning boosters would be needed.

Can everyone see that this is ONE BIG GOVERNMENT APPROVED possibly soon to be mandated experiment using our kids? I would never recommend it to anyone......male or female.......and some say boys would really need the shot too in order for this to be truly effective but MERCK does not yet know if the vaccine is effective in boys. They are currently doing their silly studies on that now. Personally I think everyone should steer clear of this....especially if someone tells you to give it to your little girl. AND by that I mean anyone under 13 years of age.....which is the next targeted range they are after. They want to immunize kids now with Gardasil as young as possible. I hate to think more kids would have to die or suffer long-term physical consequences because of playing around to see what will or won't happen with this vaccine. ALL the docs I work for are PUSHING this vaccine left and right to all their female patients and those patient's daughters! It has become a mandatory offering for them...and they push it big time. I know how the system works with drug companies and our docs.......and the government who "quietly" tells many what they have to do and not do. I KNOW this has been laid on the docs to PUSH this vaccine to all their patients and it happens over and over every day. AND IT DOES NOT PROTECT AGAINST ALL STRAINS OF HPV......only a couple......so the so-called 100% effectiveness of this vaccine in preventing cervical cancer is BULLSHIT!

Here's more:

There is a lot of discussion around the blogosphere right now about the HPV vaccine, because Texas has made it “compulsory.”

In fact, in most states, to include Texas, exemptions are available to parents for religious, philosophical, conscientiously held, or personal reasons. Here is exemption information from NVIC, the National Vaccine Information Center:

Legal Exemptions to Vaccination

Medical, philosophical or personal belief exemptions are worded differently in each state. To use an exemption for your child, you must know specifically what the law says in your state.

Philosophical Exemption:

The following 18 states allow exemption to vaccination based on philosophical, personal or conscientiously held beliefs: Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Idaho, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin.

In many of these states, individuals must object to all vaccines, not just a particular vaccine in order to use the philosophical or personal belief exemption. Many state legislators are being urged by federal health officials and medical organizations to revoke this exemption to vaccination. If you are objecting to vaccination based on philosophical or personal conviction, keep an eye on your state legislature as public health officials may seek to amend state laws to eliminate this exemption.

Religious Exemption:

All states allow a religious exemption to vaccination except Mississippi and West Virginia. …

Complete information here. In point of fact, all you have to do is assert a religious exemption in order to get it. Nobody has to vouch for you, sign for you, anything like that. Most parents don’t realize exemptions are available, that’s not information that is widely publicicized or that, for that matter is widely known, but exemptions are available in almost every state, and parents who choose not to immunize should take them. It’s a matter of simply filling out a line on the Immunization Record which states that parents have taken a philosophical/religious/personal/conscientious/medical exemption to immunization for their children. That’s all that’s required in most states.

The HPV vaccine is not safe, despite the claims of Merck:

The early reports of potential safety problems with GARDASIL raise concerns and questions that need to be addressed by government regulators, manufacturers and prescribing physicians. Specifically, the following concerns need to be addressed

Syncope, seizures and Guillian-Barre Syndrome have now been reported with hours to a week after GARDASIL vaccination. GARDASIL manufacturer, Merck, should add these serious adverse events to the product manufacturer insert.

Considering that over 20 girls have experienced syncopal episodes sometimes combined with seizures and serious injuries, physicians should consider only giving GARDASIL when the patient is safely laying down on the examining table. Because there seems to be syncopal reactions up until 15 minutes after vaccination, patients should be asked to lie down for 15 minutes after receipt of GARDASIL.

The information provided by Merck indicates that it is safe to administer GARDASIL with Hepatitis B vaccine. The prescribing information states, “Results for clinical studies indicate that GARDASIL may be administered concomitantly (at a separate injection site) with hepatitis B vaccine (recombinant). Co-administration of GARDASIL with other vaccines has not been studied.” [4] Due to the small number of girls aged 9 to 15 who appear to have been evaluated for GARDASIL safety in Merck clinical trials (fewer than 2,000) and lack of publicly available information about how many of these girls were given GARDASIL and hepatitis B vaccine simultaneously, the safety of administering GARDASIL and hepatitis B vaccine to all pre-adolescent girls is uncertain.[5]

Aside from Hepatitis B, Merck does not state that it is safe to simultaneously administer GARDASIL with any other vaccine. Considering that there are ongoing evaluations of a reported association between Menactra (meningococcal vaccine) and Guillain-Barre Syndrome, and Merck does not explicitly indicate that it is safe to administer to administer GARDASIL and Menactra simultaneously, consumers and clinicians should question whether administering both GARDASIL and Menactra at the same time is safe.

Similarly, adverse reactions were reported when GARDASIL was administered with eight other vaccines: Hepatitis A, MNQ (?), MEN (Menactra), TD (Tetanus and Diptheria Toxoids), DPP (Diptheria/Pertussis/Polio), PNC Prevnar (Heptavalent pneumococcal conjugate), DTaP (Diphtheria And Tetanus Toxoids and Acellular Pertussis Vaccine), and TDAP (Tetanus, Diptheria and Pertussis). Because Merck does not state that it is safe to administer simultaneously GARDASIL with any vaccine other than Hepatitis B, consumers and clinicians should question whether co-administration of GARDASIL and other vaccines is safe.

Most, if not all, of the reactions reported to VAERS were in response to the first of the three doses of GARDASIL. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Vaccine Information Sheet (VIS) developed for HPV vaccine states that severe reactions include “any unusual condition, such as a high fever or behavior changes. Signs of a serious allergic reaction can include difficulty breathing, hoarseness or wheezing, hives, paleness, weakness, a fast heart beat or dizziness.” [6] The CDC also states that “anyone who has ever had a life-threatening allergic reaction to yeast, to any other component of HPV vaccine, or to a previous dose of HPV vaccine should not get the vaccine.” Which of the reactions reported to VAERS constitute a “life-threatening allergic reaction” and which, if any, of the children and young adults who experienced reactions should receive additional doses of vaccine? At the October 2006 ACIP meeting, CDC staff stated that only “three serious reports were reported to VAERS after HPV vaccination in females 14 and 16 years of age. One of these patients had vasovagal syncope and was hospitalized overnight for observation.” [7]CDC’s summary of the first 76 VAERS reports suggests that CDC doesn’t regard the remaining reports as “serious.” CDC needs to clarify which of the reactions reported to VAERS constitute contraindications to further vaccination with GARDASIL and make this information available to the public and to prescribing physicians.

What were the short and longer-term outcomes for the individuals who experienced the reactions reported to VAERS? Is there information available that would help to predict the characteristics that predispose one to be at greatest risk of experiencing a serious reaction?

The CDC’s Vaccine Information Sheet indicates that allergy to yeast is a reason to avoid taking GARDASIL. Merck notes that contraindications to the vaccine include “hypersensitivity to the active substances or to any of the excipients of the vaccine. Individuals who develop symptoms indicative of hypersensitivity after receiving a dose of GARDASIL should not receive further doses of GARDASIL.” The prescribing information provided by Merck does not specifically note that yeast allergy is a contraindication to taking GARDASIL. Government regulators and the manufacturer need to address the discrepancy between these documents and clarify the issues related to yeast allergy and make this information readily available to the public and prescribing physicians.Additionally, Merck notes that vaccine ingredients include 225 mcg of aluminum (as amorphous aluminum hydroxyphosphate sulfate adjuvant), 0.78 mg of L-histidine, 50 mcg of polysorbate 80, and 35 mcg of sodium borate. These ingredients are not listed on the CDC’s VIS sheet. The public needs this information so that they can identify whether they have “hypersensitivities” to any of the ingredients and whether they are at risk of experiencing a serious allergic reaction. Hypersensitivities and known allergic reactions are critical pieces of information that need to be communicated to prescribing physicians in order to make the safest possible vaccination decisions…

Footnotes and entire article here

FDA BANS TOOTHPASTE FROM CHINA-WATCH BUYING TOOTHPASTE FROM DOLLAR STORES-

A lot of time the toothpaste you pick up at the local Dollar Stores are name-brand but if you read the label closer....you will see it is from MEXICO or CHINA.

FDA Bans Toothpaste From China
06.01.07, 12:00 AM ET FRIDAY, June 1 (HealthDay News) -- U.S. health officials warned consumers Friday not to use toothpaste made in China because it may be contaminated with a poisonous chemical used in antifreeze and as a solvent.

"The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has placed an import ban on all toothpaste from China," Deborah M. Autor, director of the FDA's Office of Compliance, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, told reporters at an afternoon briefing.

"The companies will have to prove that their products don't contain harmful levels of DEG (diethylene glycol) before it is allowed into the United States," she added.

There have been no reports of poisoning from DEG in toothpaste, Autor said. "However, the agency is concerned about chronic exposure to DEG and exposure in children and individuals with kidney or liver disease," she added.

The agency began its investigation after it discovered DEG-contaminated toothpaste from China had been sold in Panama. In addition, DEG in cold medicine reportedly killed at least 100 people in Panama last year.

"DEG is used in antifreeze and as a solvent and it is used as a low substitute for glycerin and as a thickener," Autor said. "It does not belong in toothpaste even in a small concentration."

Autor said consumers should throw out any toothpaste they have that is made in China. But, she added, "no major toothpaste brands are involved in this matter."

Chinese toothpaste makes up about $3.3 million of the $2 billion U.S. toothpaste market, she said.

The FDA identified the following brands of toothpaste from China that contain DEG and are included in the import alert: Cooldent Fluoride; Cooldent Spearmint; Cooldent ICE; Dr. Cool, Everfresh Toothpaste; Superdent Toothpaste; Clean Rite Toothpaste; Oralmax Extreme; Oral Bright Fresh Spearmint Flavor; Bright Max Peppermint Flavor; and ShiR Fresh Mint Fluoride Paste.

The manufacturers of these products are Goldcredit International Enterprises Limited; Goldcredit International Trading Company Limited; and Suzhou City Jinmao Daily Chemicals Company Limited, DentaPro, DentaKleen and DentaKleen Junior, Autor said.

These brands are usually sold in discount stores, Autor said.

The FDA has seized tainted toothpaste at a DollarPlus store in Miami, Fla., and from a Todo, a store in Puerto Rico.

"In addition, FDA inspectors identified and detained one shipment of toothpaste at the U.S. border that contained about 3 percent DEG and FDA inspectors also found product at a distribution center," Autor said.

"FDA continues to investigate this problem," Autor said. "If FDA identifies other brands of toothpaste products containing DEG, FDA will take appropriate actions, including adding products and their manufacturers to the import alert to prevent them from entering the United States."

More information

For more information on the toothpaste ban, visit the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Coffee....The New Health Food (I LOVE MINE!)

Coffee: The New Health Food?

Plenty of health benefits are brewing in America's beloved beverage.

By Sid Kirchheimer
WebMD Feature

Reviewed by Michael W. Smith, MD

Want a drug that could lower your risk of diabetes, Parkinson's disease, and colon cancer? That could lift your mood and treat headaches? That could lower your risk of cavities?

If it sounds too good to be true, think again.

Coffee, the much maligned but undoubtedly beloved beverage, just made headlines for possibly cutting the risk of the latest disease epidemic, type 2 diabetes. And the real news seems to be that the more you drink, the better.

Reducing Disease Risk

After analyzing data on 126,000 people for as long as 18 years, Harvard researchers calculate that compared with not partaking in America's favorite morning drink, downing one to three cups of caffeinated coffee daily can reduce diabetes risk by single digits. But having six cups or more each day slashed men's risk by 54% and women's by 30% over java avoiders.

Though the scientists give the customary "more research is needed" before they recommend you do overtime at Starbuck's to specifically prevent diabetes, their findings are very similar to those in a less-publicized Dutch study. And perhaps more importantly, it's the latest of hundreds of studies suggesting that coffee may be something of a health food -- especially in higher amounts.

In recent decades, some 19,000 studies have been done examining coffee's impact on health. And for the most part, their results are as pleasing as a gulp of freshly brewed Breakfast Blend for the 108 million Americans who routinely enjoy this traditionally morning -- and increasingly daylong -- ritual. In practical terms, regular coffee drinkers include the majority of U.S. adults and a growing number of children.

"Overall, the research shows that coffee is far more healthful than it is harmful," says Tomas DePaulis, PhD, research scientist at Vanderbilt University's Institute for Coffee Studies, which conducts its own medical research and tracks coffee studies from around the world. "For most people, very little bad comes from drinking it, but a lot of good."

Consider this: At least six studies indicate that people who drink coffee on a regular basis are up to 80% less likely to develop Parkinson's, with three showing the more they drink, the lower the risk. Other research shows that compared to not drinking coffee, at least two cups daily can translate to a 25% reduced risk of colon cancer, an 80% drop in liver cirrhosis risk, and nearly half the risk of gallstones.

Coffee even offsets some of the damage caused by other vices, some research indicates. "People who smoke and are heavy drinkers have less heart disease and liver damage when they regularly consume large amounts of coffee compared to those who don't," says DePaulis.

There's also some evidence that coffee may help manage asthma and even control attacks when medication is unavailable, stop a headache, boost mood, and even prevent cavities.

Is it the caffeine? The oodles of antioxidants in coffee beans, some of which become especially potent during the roasting process? Even other mysterious properties that warrant this intensive study?

Actually, yes.

Some of coffee's reported benefits are a direct result of its higher caffeine content: An eight ounce cup of drip-brewed coffee contains about 85 mg -- about three and a half times more than the same serving of tea or cola or one ounce of chocolate.

"The evidence is very strong that regular coffee consumption reduces risk of Parkinson's disease and for that, it's directly related to caffeine," DePaulis tells WebMD. "In fact, Parkinson's drugs are now being developed that contain a derivative of caffeine based on this evidence."

Caffeine is also what helps in treating asthma and headaches. Though not widely publicized, a single dose of pain reliever such as Anacin or Excedrin contains up to 120 milligrams -- what's in a hefty mug o' Joe.

Contact Lens Solution Linked to Eye Infection

Contact-lens solution is linked to eye infection
By Daniel Yi, Times Staff Writer
May 26, 2007

I wanted to pass this on to my sister which I already did in email because she had been having problems with her eyes and come to find out this was the SAME contact lens solution she was using. PLEASE......IF YOU ARE ALSO USING IT......STOP. ALSO....TELL YOUR EYE DOCTOR OR FAMILY DOCTOR AND BE TESTED FOR THIS BACTERIA SO THEY CAN TREAT YOU PROPERLY.....DO NOT THROW OUT YOUR SOLUTION......KEEP IT. IT COULD BE TESTED AS WELL IF NECESSARY!

A contact-lens solution made by Santa Ana-based Advanced Medical Optics Inc. has been linked to a serious eye infection that can lead to blindness, the Wall Street Journal reported on its website Friday.

Health investigators with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have linked bacterial infections to Advanced Medical Optics' Complete MoisturePlus solution, the website said.

Company and CDC officials could not be reached for comment.

In November, Advanced Medical Optics recalled 183,000 units of 12-ounce packs of Complete MoisturePlus after bacterial contamination was found in solutions sold in Japan. All had come from the same Chinese manufacturing plant, the company said at the time, adding that there were no reports of injuries from using the solution.

According to Friday's Wall Street Journal report, the eye infections linked by the CDC involved an amoeba called Acanthamoeba. Such infections are rare, but eye-care centers have tracked increasing numbers of them.

There were no exact numbers on how many consumers might have been infected.

The news came a day after Advanced Medical Optics, which had sales of nearly $1 billion last year, announced it was interested in bidding for larger rival Bausch & Lomb Inc.

Advanced Medical Optics' shares, which closed Friday at $40.20, down 90 cents, dropped $3.20, or 8%, to $37 in after-hours trading shortly after the news.