The recent study at Boston university, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, has shown that 1 in 5 Indian herbal medicines sold on the internet could be harmful. Toxic metals have been found in ayurvedic medicines from both in India and the US. The research group analysed 193 products and found that 20% of them contained lead, mercury or arsenic, all of which can lead to serious health problems if taken in excess. Indian herbal medicine (aka Ayurveda / Ayervedic medicine) has been used in India for thousands of years, and is starting to become more popular in the West.
Head of research, Dr Robert Saper, reported that although there was evidence that ayurvedic medicine, in the form of herbal medicine, could help treat diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. However, due to lack of regulation and thorough medical trails, there is also a lot of medicine which is likely to have adverse effects.
“But the key thing is we need to separate out what’s helpful and…. what needs to be looked at and perhaps set aside. Our first priority must be the safety of the public. Herbs and supplements with high levels of lead, mercury, and arsenic should not be available for sale on the internet or elsewhere.” Dr Robert Saper, 2008.
The levels of toxic materials in some of the medicines tested were up to 10,000 times higher than acceptable safe levels. According to the study, there are two types of ayurvedic medicines, of which one involves mixing herbs with metals, minerals and gems. Supportors of Indian herbal medicine say that this is perfectly safe when done correctly. However, Dr Saper reports that there had been over 80 reported cases of lead poisoning in the world, directly resulting from Ayuervedic remedies, in the past 30 years. The actual figure could be much higher.
The UK Department of Health has began working to build a new registration system for herbal medicines. Also a change in the law in three years will mean that is will be illegal to sell unlicensed herbal remedies. However, this will not apply to producers of herbal medicines outside the UK.
The side effects of toxic materials in herbal medicines include:
Severe nausea
Vomiting
Abdominal pain
Kidney damage
Convulsions
Coma
Although this research only looked at Indian herbal medicines, there have been similar health warnings concerning other herbal medicines, such as Chinese herbal medicine, in the past. One of the main problems is that people can order herbal medicines online without recieving adequate instruction on their use. This can easily lead to an overdose when not administered correctly - there have been cases of kidney failure amongst people taking Chinese herbal medicines. However, that being said, the presence of such toxic metals in medicine is unacceptable. This once again raises the question, do we need herbal medicines at all?.
Bruce Lee was interviewed on the Pierre Berton Show in 1971. The interview starts with the the question of Bruce Lee making films in Mandarin, when he can only speak Cantonese. Surprising, in the early Bruce Lee films the voices are dubbed, as the early Bruce Lee films were first shot without sound.
“To me, a motion picture is motion. You gotta keep the dialogue down to a minimum” Bruce Lee, 1971.
Then they discuss the secret of the success of the Big Boss, namely that it broke the mould because the fighting was real. Bruce talks about how martial arts has deep meaning to his life - and that martial arts have shaped all parts of his life.
Bruce Lee Interview Part 1:
(The interview continues below)
“Martial Arts include all the combative arts like karate, Judo, Chinese kung-fu, Aikido .. some have become sport, but some not, such as kicking to the groin, jabbing fingers to eyes.” Bruce Lee, 1971.
On being asked if he could break five or six pieces of wood with his hand or foot, Bruce Lee replies,”I’ll probably break my foot.”
Bruce then talks about his theory of the “art of expressing the human body”. Combining instinct and control to have harmony, to prevent either becoming mechanical or wild - unnatural naturalness, or natural unnaturalness.
At the end of the video he talks about how style is meaningless, and that he does not teach style. Everyone has two arms and two legs, so for fighting, style is only restrictive.
Bruce Lee Interview Part 2: In the end of this part Bruce Lee talks about The Warrior, and how martial arts is relevant in Westerns, but not the modern world, as now people carry guns.
Bruce Lee Interview Part 3:
“Under the sky, under the heaven, there is but one family. It just so happens that people are different” Bruce Lee, 1971.
Steroid induced acne has resulted in permanent scarring for a 21 year old bodybuilder. This is a stark warning to all those that take steroids, or are considering taking steroids, to try to build muscle faster. Steroid use is still a major problem, and it is often the young and impressionable that opt for steroids, without even considering the potential dangers.
In the recent case, a young German bodybuilder developed acne after taking steroids. However, rather than stopping the steroid abuse, or seeing his doctor, he continued as he was concerned that his mucles would stop growing if he stopped taking the steroids. The bodybuilder did eventually stop taking the steroids, but only after they had caused his testicals to shrink to the size of peanuts, and his sperm count to plummet to the point that his was practically infertile.
The doctors in Germany that examined the man were horrified at the extent of the massive, deep ulcerating sores on the chest and back. The bodybuilder has been left scarred for life as a result of his foolish actions.
Dr Peter Arne Gerber, from the Department of Dermatology at Heinrich-Heine-University in Düsseldorf, Germany, said moderate amounts of the drug could cause big problems, as is now evidenced in the above photo of bodybuilding scarring.
“There is probably a dose-effect with the steroids but it’s also dependent on how the individual reacts,” Dr Peter Arne Gerber, 2008.
The British Crime Survey estimate that there are 42,000 steroid users in the UK, but some experts believe the true figure could be twice as high. Anabolic steroids are usually synthesised from the male reproduction hormone testosterone. They have been banned by many sporting bodies, including the International Olympic Committee, because of their danger to health and the potential for competitive advantage.
It is difficult to determine what percent of the population in general have actually used anabolic steroids, but the number seems to be fairly low. Studies in the United States have shown anabolic steroid users tend to be mostly middle-class heterosexual men with a median age of about 25 who are noncompetitive bodybuilders and non-athletes and use the drugs for cosmetic purposes. Another study found that non-medical use of AAS among college students was at or less than 1%. According to a recent survey, 78.4% of steroid users were non-competitive bodybuilders and non-athletes while about 13% reported unsafe injection practices such as reusing needles, sharing needles, and sharing multidose vials. Source: Wikipedia - Steroids
Jim McVeigh from Liverpool John Moores University, who heads up the substance use and abuse department, says;
“It’s well documented that some individuals can experience severe acne. Often this is just a transient problem - most people wouldn’t consider it a significant barrier to using anabolic steroids. There is a lack of studies examining the side effects of steroid abuse. Robust scientific research is required to establish exactly what effects anabolic steroids have on heavy users.” Jim McVeig, 2008
Really to stop youngsters from starting steroid abuse, more education is required teaching the dangers while still at school, as by the time people start suggesting young bodybuilders take steroids in gyms and weight lifting clubs, they have no information on which to make a decision.
The traditional English breakfast, the fry up, has yet more bad press. In addition to the problems of its high salt, high fat, high cholesterol and it generally being very bad for you - it is commonly refered to as being a “heart attack on a plate”, researchers have discovered that eating too much processed meat, which includes sausages and bacon, causes a 63 per cent higher risk of developing bowel cancer. Bowel cancer is on of the biggest cancer killers in the UK and USA, but it is often overlooked, with lung cancer and breast cancer receiving most attention.
The evidence is so strong the World Cancer Research Fund suggests that we should pretty much give up processed meats completely. The WCRF warned that eating 150g of processed meat a day - equivalent to about two sausages and three rashers of bacon - increases bowel cancer risk by 63 per cent.
Medical and scientific expert for the World Cancer Research Fund, Professor Martin Wiseman, said:
“For some people, having a fry-up with bacon and sausages might seem like a good way to start the day. But if you are doing this regularly, then you are significantly increasing your risk of bowel cancer, which is one of the most common cancers in the UK. Only a third of people are aware of the link between processed meat and cancer. This means two-thirds are not in a position to make an informed choice about how much of it they eat.” Professor Martin Wiseman, 2008
This research only confirms what has been suggested by studies for many years. Colonic cancer is a real problem, and empirical evidence has for a long time shown the relationship between the over consumption of red meat and processed meat with the development of bowel cancer.
However, as we know, eating a full English breakfast everyday also leads to weight gain in a majority of cases. Professor Wiseman is quick to point out that:
As well as the processed meat increasing the risk of bowel cancer, fry-ups also tend to be high in calories. We recommend people limit consumption of high- calorie, or energy- dense, foods because eating them regularly makes you more likely to gain weight. This is important because there is convincing evidence that excess body fat increases the risk of six types of cancer.
The actual reason for the increased risk of bowel cancer is not clear, but studies have made it clear that healthy diet alone can reduce the the likelihood of all forms of cancer occurring by approximately 30%. This means that 1 in 3 cancer sufferers may have been able to prevent their illness simply by eating a healthy diet. When you combine this with the fact that smoking causes a majority of lung cancers, a good diet and healthy lifestyle has the potential to reduce cancer by about 70%. All that is needed is to change the eating habits of a nation.
Recently discovered letters from Charles Darwin to his doctor have revealed that he was well aware of the benefits of a high protein diet to help digestive problems, long before Dr. Arkins made such a diet popular. Not only did Charles Darwin follow an Atkins style diet, he could also have given some diet tips to Beyonce. In one letter Darwin sent to Dr. Henry Jones in 1866, he says:
“A little game or fowl twice a day and eggs, omelet or macaroni or cheese at other meals, and these I think suit me best” - Charles Darwin, 1866.
Charles Darwin suffered stomach complaints throughout his life, and like people today, had to resort to a method of trail and error to determine what he could, and could not, stomach. Like many people that suffer from IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) high-GI foods and refined carbs, where often a problem.
Darwin lived from 1809 to 1882, and during this time also increased his coffee intake to two cups a day. He would add ten drops of muriatic (hydrochloric) acid with cayenne pepper and ginger to help his upset stomach (funny tummy) but flatulence remained a problem. This potion is similar to the Beyonoce’s maple syrup with cayenne and lemon juice that helped her to lose weight before filming Dreamgirls.
Dr Jones also advised Darwin to ride ‘rough pony‘ so he could be “shaken once daily to make the chemistry go on better”. The naturalist wrote that this made him feel ‘much more vigorous and active’. One simple cure for consipation is to go for a long run or jog. Simply getting the body moving is sometimes enough to help things along.
Dr. Alison Pearn, of the Darwin Correspondence Project, points out that ‘He was prey to passing fads and preoccupied by health. His wife kept records of his weight and diet and he’d try anything he thought would help. On the advice of another doctor, he lay down with ice packs on his spine.’
The project, based at Cambridge University, was set up in 1974 and aims to find all the letters written by
and to Darwin. It can be found at www.darwinproject.ac.uk.
The Beijing Games have now closed. The final medals were awarded to the men’s marathon competitors at the start of the closing ceremony. This games has been one of the most exciting games for a long time. Some of the longest standing records were broken in swimming and running. Also an emergence of new nations as great Olympians, and the revival of older nations, such as Great Britain, who are hosting the next games.
Steroid induced acne has resulted in permanent scarring for a 21 year old bodybuilder. This is a stark warning to all those that take steroids, or are considering taking steroids, to try to build muscle faster. Steroid use is still a major problem, and it is often the young and impressionable that opt for steroids, without even considering the potential dangers.