Health@Heart
Prozac, Green Tea, Red Meat
Does Prozac increase suicides among children?
No, but apparently some other prescription antidepressant drugs do, because suicide among children has been linked to this type of medication. The only exception to this is Prozac, the only one approved by the US FDA for depression in children. It was reported that there were 11 million antidepressant prescriptions written for children in the United States in 2002 alone. About 2 out of 100 of these kids develop suicidal behavior because of the pills, according to the FDA. This new data caused a 25% drop in the prescription for some of these drugs. The best person to answer questions on this issue is the attending Pediatrician or Psychiatrist treating the child.
What is maggot therapy?
Maggot therapy is a form of treatment for debridement (cleaning the infected wound) with the use of maggots (live fly larvae). These tiny crawling worm-like creatures eat up necrotic (rotting or dead) flesh in the infected wound (as in infected ulcers in the legs due to diabetes, etc.) This form of treatment is very effective in cleaning and disinfecting by eating the bacteria, and promoting healing. There are topical medications today that have the same action but maggot therapy is effective and efficient. In the USA, there are no longer any producers of medicinal maggots because they are so expensive and perishable. In the UK, they do, sold under the brand name LarvE.
Does green tea prevent Alzheimers?
Researchers at the University of South Florida that injecting laboratory mice daily for several months with high doses of an antioxidant component of green tea developed 54% fewer beta-amyloid protein in the nerve cells compared to non-treated mice. This implies that a concentrated component of green tea can protect the brain by decreasing beta-amyloid plaque formation in it, the pathology that causes Alzheimer’s. Only one of the anti-oxidants (flavanoids) in green tea has that beneficial effect; the other flavanoids in it even has the opposite negative effect. If the findings in this Alzheimer’s mouse model is representative of the disease pathology in humans, special dietary supplementation with this specific flavanoid may help in the prevention and treatment of Alzheimer’s. Clinical studies are needed to replicate and confirm its efficacy in human patients. This research was published in the September 21, 2005 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience.
How about green tea as a cancer-fighter?
There are claims that green tea is effective in preventing cancer in humans. The US Food and Drug Administration officially rejected these claims, in the absence of scientifically convincing evidence that the claims are true and legitimate. Available data do not support these claims. However, manufacturers and dealers of “special green teas” on the market today continue to deceive and defraud the public with these unsubstantiated claims. Since some animal studies suggested green tea as a heart disease and cancer-fighter, clinical studies will continue to find out if, indeed, green tea, or any of its anti-oxidant flavanoids (phenols) are really effective in preventing heart disease and cancer in humans. But till then, without a doubt, green tea remains to be a healthy beverage, unlike colas and the other carbonated pop drinks, which are actually unhealthy for the body in more ways than one.
Does a diet high in red meat increase cancer risk?
A major new study showed that regularly eating a diet high in pork, beef, and other red meats could increase the risk of pancreatic cancer by 70%, and those who frequently ate processed red meat (sausages, luncheon meats, etc.) were found to have 68% higher, compared to those who never or seldom ate pork, red meat and processed red meat. Fats and cholesterol were less of the culprit than the nitrite-based preservative in processed meats or the technique of cooking the pork and red meat, like charcoal grilling, broiling. In 2004, almost 32,000 Americans were found to have pancreatic cancer and more than 95% of them died, because this malignancy is often diagnosed late. Less than 5% of pancreatic cancer patients survive more than 5 years after detection. Other risk factors are smoking, diabetes, a family history of cancer of the pancreas. Old age, being a male, and ethnicity are also risk factors. This report was published in the Journal of the National Caner Institute, USA, October 5, 2005. It is very clear that eating red meat is linked to cardiovascular illnesses and cancers, and that the healthy diet is one that consists of fish, vegetables, fruits, nuts and grains.
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