You are likely eating an FDA approved livestock drug known as Paylean or Ractopamine, banned in 160 nations and responsible for hyperactivity, muscle breakdown and 10 percent mortality in pigs, according to angry farmers who phoned the manufacturer, Elanco Animal Health.Though banned in Europe, Taiwan and China--more than 1,700 people were "poisoned" from eating Paylean-fed pigs since 1998 says the Sichuan Pork Trade Chamber of Commerce.

As much as twenty percent of Paylean, given to pigs for their last 28 days, Optaflexx, given to cattle their last 28 to 42 days and Tomax, given to turkeys their last 7 to 14 days, remains in consumer meat says author and well known veterinarian Michael W. Fox.

Ractopamine Hydrochloride or Paylean, a repartitioning agent that increases protein synthesis, was recruited for livestock use when researchers found the drug made mice more muscular says Beef magazine. You are also eating Paylean in pork, Tomax in turkeys, and Optaflexx in beef. These drugs are fed to animals about 2-4 weeks before slaughter to increase mass. This is in addition to hormones and antibiotics which are continued right up until slaughter.

These repartitioning agents are marked "Not for use in humans. Individuals with cardiovascular disease should exercise special caution to avoid exposure. Use protective clothing, impervious gloves, protective eye wear, and a NIOSH-approved dust mask"

So why are these dangerous chemicals approved to be in our meat? The same way Elanco's other two blockbusters, Stilbosol (diethylstilbestrol or DES), now withdrawn, and Posilac or bovine growth hormone (rBST), bought from Monsanto in 2008, became part of the nation's food supply: shameless corporate lobbying.

Where was mention of the farmer phone calls to Elanco reporting, "hyperactivity," "dying animals," "downer pigs" and "tying up" and "stress" syndromes? Where was the log of phone calls that included farmers saying, "animals are down and shaking," and "pigs vomiting after eating feed with Paylean"?

But, not to worry. Despite ractopamine's dangers and the falsified approval documents, the FDA approved ractopamine the following year for cattle--and last year for turkeys.

Chock up another victory for the Agri-business lobbyists.

Maybe I will become a vegetarian after all....

 

North American DCs are poised to make their mark at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games.

Doctors of Chiropractic have been on the Team USA medical staff since George Goodheart was selected to treat the athletes at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York. Four Chiropractors were sent to China for the Beijing Summer Olympics in 2008.

Elite Athletes now ask for Chiropractic Care. Sports oriented Chiropractors, by virtue of their specialized training are the natural choice. With a unique blend of spinal adjustments, taping, icing and stretching they can treat athletes in a drug-free way that is well aligned with the athlete's philosophy.

Five Chiropractors were chosen by the USOC to work the 2010 Winter Olympic Games.

Doctors of Chiropractic have been on the Team USA medical staff since George Goodheart was selected to treat the athletes at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York. Four Chiropractors were sent to China for the Beijing Summer Olympics in 2008.

Elite Athletes now ask for Chiropractic Care. Sports oriented Chiropractors, by virtue of their specialized training are the natural choice. With a unique blend of spinal adjustments, taping, icing and stretching they can treat athletes in a drug-free way that is well aligned with the athlete's philosophy. Blase Toto, DC, DACBSP, will be working at the medical clinic in the Olympic Village in Vancouver.Richard Robinson, DC, CSCS, who practices in Calgary, Canada, will attend the Olympics with the Canadian team and work with the freestyle skiing, speed skating, women’s ice hockey and alpine ski teams.Greg Uchacz, DC, FCCSS(C), CSCS, who practices in Calgary, Canada, will also be a part of the Canadian medical staff. He will focus on the bobsled and skeleton teams and was chosen because of athlete requests. He, too, will prepare the athletes, rather than just treat their injuries. Tetsuya Hasegawa, DC, MS, ATC, CSCS, will work with the bobsled and skeleton teams onsite at the sliding center and also out of the Olympic Village in Whistler.Eric St. Pierre, DC, DACBSP, CCSP, CSCS, who is employed by U.S. Speed Skating, will focus his attention on that team from the Olympic Village in Vancouver.

“Chiropractors have really come a long way in terms of the Olympic Games,” says Michael Reed, DC, MS, DACBSP, medical director for the USOC. “And the demands of athletes are one of the main reasons why.”

 

Avandia Still on the Market Despite Cardiac Deaths

The FDA will allow Avandia to stay on the market despite 304 deaths in the last quarter of 2009 alone.

This announcement follows major news stories of this past weekend, which brought to light a confidential report on rosiglitazone by a U.S. Senate investigatory committee.

In that report, according to ABC News, Glaxo Smith Kline, the manufacturer of rosiglitazone did not warn patients that Avandia was potentially deadly, when cardiovascular events and deaths were first brought to light.

You really have to wonder who the FDA is looking out for here....It probably isn't you or me...

 

Avandia (rosiglitazone): Ongoing Review of Cardiovascular Safety

Audience: Endocrinology, cardiology healthcare professionals, patients

[Posted 02/22/2010] FDA notified healthcare professional and patients that it is reviewing the primary data from a large, long-term clinical study, RECORD, on possible cardiovascular risks with the diabetes drug, Avandia (rosiglitazone). In addition to the clinical trial, a number of observational studies of the cardiovascular safety of rosiglitazone have been published and FDA has been reviewing these on an ongoing basis. 

These reviews are ongoing and no new conclusions or recommendations about the use of rosiglitazone in the treatment of type 2 diabetes have been made at this time. Once FDA completes its review of the data from the RECORD study, the agency will present the totality of new and existing cardiovascular safety data on rosiglitazone at a public meeting in July 2010. The Agency will provide an updated assessment of the risks and benefits of rosiglitazone in the treatment of type 2 diabetes.

FDA recommends that healthcare professionals follow the recommendations in the drug label when prescribing rosiglitazone. This includes a Boxed Warning. Patients should continue taking rosiglitazone unless told by their healthcare professional to stop. Patients who are concerned about the possible risks associated with using rosiglitazone should talk to their healthcare professional.

Aches and pains are signs that your body isn’t working right.
Your brain, spinal cord and all your nerves control how your body works.
Physical, chemical or emotional stresses produce a defensive posture.
Muscles contract, locking spinal joints that pinch or irritate nearby nerves.
Lack of nervous system integrity sets the stage for disease and ill health.
A thorough examination helps chiropractors find these vertebral subluxation complexes.
Applying a precise force to stuck spinal joints helps the body right itself.
Health usually returns as repeated visits restore nervous system integrity.
That’s why chiropractic care has helped millions get well and stay well.

A Canadian study indicates there is no increased risk related to chiropractic treatment in the heated debate about whether neck adjustments can trigger a rare type of stroke.

Researchers say patients are no more likely to suffer a stroke following a visit to a chiropractor than they would after stepping into their family doctor's office.

The findings, published today in the journal Spine, help shed light on earlier studies that had cast a cloud on the chiropractic profession and suggested that their actions resulted in some patients suffering a stroke after treatment.

“We didn't see any increased association between chiropractic care and usual family physician care, and the stroke,” said Frank Silver, one of the researchers and also a professor of medicine at the University of Toronto and director of the University Health Network stroke program.

“The association occurs because patients tend to seek care when they're having neck pain or headache, and sometimes they go to a chiropractor, sometimes they go to a physician. But we didn't see an increased likelihood of them having this type of stroke after seeing a chiropractor.”

Critics charge that the twisting and pulling of the neck frequently done by chiropractors can damage arteries, leading occasionally to stroke.

However, a research paper published in 2001 in the Canadian Medical Association Journal found there is only a one-in-5.85-million risk that a chiropractic neck adjustment will cause a stroke.

In this study, the Canadian team looked at nine years of data in Ontario, and found only 818 patients with this kind of stroke. Unlike the previous study in 2001 that investigated the relationship between chiropractic visits and vertebral artery stroke, researchers in this study also studied visits to family doctors that preceded this kind of stroke.

Dr. Silver said researchers were looking for an increased association between chiropractic care and stroke. Although they found this association, they also discovered it to be the same as when patients visited a family doctor.