There was an unexpected battle over a resolution supporting the use of breast milk at the World Health Organization in may. The New York Times reported that the resolution to encourage breastfeeding was expected to be approved quickly by hundreds of government delegates but the United States delegates opposed the language.

The World Health Organization (WHO) of the United Nations is an agency headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland that is concerned with international public health. A proposed resolution asked countries to restrict the misleading marketing of breast milk substitutes. In multiple studies spanning decades of research, breastmilk has been proven beyond a doubt to be the healthiest option for children. The New York Times reported that the resolution was expected to pass easily but U.S. delegates took issue with the language that encouraged countries to “protect, promote and support breastfeeding.” The U.S. did not want to impede the sale of baby formulas.

The U.S. Delegates reportedly told Ecuador, who planned to introduce the resolution, that if the proposal wasn’t dropped that the U.S. would implement trade measures and withdraw military support from northern Ecuador (violence from boarding Colombia causes ongoing issues here). The Ecuadorian delegates caved and then health advocates found another sponsor for the resolution. The Russian delegation introduced the measure, and unlike with Ecuadorian, Russia received no resistance from the U.S.

The Trump administration’s aggressive attempts to water down an international resolution supporting breast-feeding go against decades of advice by most medical organizations and public health experts.” – NY Times

Global health experts believe that the president’s stance on baby formula was due to a lack of knowledge regarding breastfeeding and the history of how baby formulas are marketed in developing countries. In these poor countries when powdered formula is mixed with unclean, unsafe water, it can lead to death.

What happened was tantamount to blackmail, with the U.S. holding the world hostage and trying to overturn nearly 40 years of consensus on best way to protect infant and young child health,” Patti Rundall, policy director of Baby Milk Action

Despite the United States’ best efforts, the final resolution retained most of the original language, but the portion calling on WHO to provide support to countries seeking to halt “inappropriate promotion of foods for infants and young children,” was removed.

A 2016 study published by The Lancet stated that breastfeeding could save 843,000 lives and $300 billion in reduced health care costs a year. The New York Times reported that the baby food market is a $70 billion industry.

This kind of support for corporations over health isn’t new. We could thank Trump’s administration for being so blatantly corrupt and unsubtle that the issues like this are brought out into the open. We could, but we won’t.

Recommended Reading:

• Galactagogues Foods, Herbs, and other Ways to Increase Breast
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• Common Bad Parenting Advice You Should Ignore
• Detoxify and Heal From Vaccinations – For Adults and Children
• New Study Suggests Women Could, and Maybe Should, Eat While In Labor

Glyphosate is the active ingredient in RoundUp. It’s been deemed a “probable carcinogen” by the World Health Organization (WHO), but the EPA decided the product can be used on our food at “safe levels.” The EPA banned glyphosate 30 years ago but then reversed its decision based on studies conducted by the chemical industry. Scientists wanted to determine if these “safe” levels of glyphosate are, in fact, actually safe. The Global Glyphosate Study found that glyphosate poses health risks even at very low levels.

Conducted by Italy’s Ramazzini Institute in partnership with the University of Bologna, the Genoa Hospital San Martino, the Italian National Institue of Health, Mount Sinai in New York, and George Washington University, the study is scheduled for publication in the scientific journal Environmental Health.

Related: Monsanto’s Name To Be Retired – Bayer Aims To Erase Sordid History

The study shows that children are at significantly greater risk of damage by these pesticides, which are heavily sprayed at school playgrounds, public parks, people’s laws, and other places where children often play.

Researchers have concluded that the supposedly “safe” levels of glyphosate cause microbiome imbalances and damage DNA (genotoxicity). Every animal on the planet has a unique microbiome. A healthy and diverse microbiome is essential for good health. Damage to this ecosystem occurred very quickly with pesticide consumption.

Related: How to Avoid GMOs in 2018 – And Everything Else You Should Know About Genetic Engineering

Related: Sugar Leads to Depression – World’s First Trial Proves Gut and Brain are Linked (Protocol Included)

The Ramazzini Institute in Italy announced they’re launching a crowdfunding campaign for the first-ever comprehensive global study on glyphosate-based herbicides.

This is our chance to take scientific control away from the chemical industry – we can, at last, make a real difference – Please Donate to the Study Here.” – Sustainable Pulse

How prevalent is glyphosate in food? The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) tested 3188 foods and determine that glyphosate was found in nearly one-third of all foods tested. Some foods contain alarmingly high levels of the chemical.

Georgia took custody of a 15-year-old child named David in April when he tested positive for marijuana. The parents, Matthew and Suzeanna Brill, say they gave their son marijuana to treat his seizures. They are fighting to regain custody of David while they are charged with reckless conduct and facing jail time.

The Brills say David had up to ten seizures a day but was completely free from seizures when their son began smoking marijuana. The couple said he had not gone that long without a seizure before.

Nine states and Washington D.C. allow recreational marijuana, and Medical marijuana is legal in 29 states. But Georgia has very strict marijuana laws. The state does allow those with a state-issued medical card to possess “low THC oil” but physicians are not allowed to prescribe marijuana for medical use and it’s illegal to sell or possess marijuana.

The only way he could get a medical card would be a six-year waiting list,” Suzeanna said.

So the Brills, frustrated with traditional prescription medication, took matters into their own hands. Matthew said he smoked the illegally-purchased marijuana first to make sure it was okay before giving it to his stepson.

Someone alerted the Georgia Division of Family and Children Services to the marijuana that David was using. The couple was in jail for six days. On April 20, David was taken away and remanded to state custody. On that very day, he had a seizure and had to be rushed to a hospital.

When I talked to him tonight… the 10-minute phone call I was allowed to have with him, he is on the verge of going into a seizure,” Suzeanna said.

David is currently living in a group home 60 miles from his parents.

They’re facing real criminal charges. I think even if they beat the criminal case…They still are definitely in hot water with regard to Child Protective Services.” – Criminal defense attorney Rachel Kugel

Recommended:

• Marijuana Laws by State
• How Raw Milk Can Be Dangerous & Where It Is Legal
• Co-Sleeping is Not the Reason for High Infant Mortality Rates in the U.S.
• Common Bad Parenting Advice You Should Ignore

The instances of kidney stones have risen dramatically in new demographics like children, women, and African Americans and a newly released study from the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia has found that taking commonly prescribed antibiotics is a factor in that rise. Researchers examined the health records of 25,981 people 3 to 12 months before their first incidence of kidney stones and a control group consisting of 259,797 people without kidney stones. They discovered that the risk of kidney stones increased after patients were given any of 5 different categories of often used antibiotics; sulfas, cephalosporins, fluoroquinolones, nitrofurantoin/methenamine, and broad-spectrum penicillins. The risk increase was anywhere from 27 percent higher for penicillins to twice that number for sulfonamides. Gregory E. Tasian, MD, MSc, MSCE, a pediatric urologist and epidemiologist at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) led the study. Based on his experience,

The emergence of kidney stones in children is particularly worrisome, because there is limited evidence on how to best treat children for this condition…The fact that stones were once rare and are now increasingly common could contribute to the inappropriate use of diagnostic tests such as CT scans for children with kidney stones, since healthcare providers historically have not been accustomed to evaluating and treating children with kidney stones. These trends of increased frequency of kidney stones among adolescents, particularly females, are also concerning when you consider that kidney stones are associated with a higher risk of chronic kidney disease, cardiovascular and bone disease, particularly among young women.”

Related: Natural Remedies for Kidney Stones, Prevention, and What Really Causes Them

Kidney Stones And Other Disease

Long associated with older men, the rising risk of kidney stones among other parts of the population means other, connected health conditions will likely increase as well. Kidney stones have been linked to chronic kidney disease, heart disease, stroke, and bone disease. There has been a correlation between the increase in kidney stones and the increase of some of these conditions, and that’s becoming more difficult to ignore. For example, the lifetime risk for kidney stones for women between 1997 and 2012 rose from 10.5% to 15.2%. Meanwhile, the rate of hospitalization for women aged 35-44 due to acute ischemic strokes rose by 30%.

Related: How to Detoxify From Antibiotics and Other Chemical Antimicrobials

Kidney stones by no means guarantee someone will have a stroke, but both conditions are affecting increasingly younger and more diverse demographics. Kidney stones are likely to reoccur, increasing the risk for other diseases related to kidney stones. What does that look like for a twenty-year-old who has developed kidney stones?

Related: Inexpensive, Easy Detox – The One Gallon Challenge

The Key is Holistic

It’s so easy to look for or focus on a single reason that things have happened. We all want a definitive answer or an easy scapegoat. But the real answers are often messier. Our lives and our health are made up of minute ripples, that we don’t keep track of and forget about until all of a sudden it’s serious. If a recurring issue isn’t addressed at the root cause (likely diet), it will continue to accumulate damage in the body, until the body is no longer able to function properly. Kidney stones are not the only serious health condition becoming more prevalent in younger people. This will be the first generations of Americans with shorter, lower quality lifespans than the previous generation. The system is designed to keep us well enough to function, but that doesn’t always equate with a high quality of life.

Recommended Reading:

• Best Supplements To Kill Candida and Everything Else You Ever Wanted To Know About Fungal Infections
• Holistic Guide to Healing the Endocrine System and Balancing Our Hormones
• Detox Cheap and Easy Without Fasting – Recipes Included
• Start Eating Like That and Start Eating Like This – Your Guide to Homeostasis Through Diet

Sources:

• Oral antibiotics tied to increased risk of kidney stones – Reuters
• CHOP Study Linking Kidney Stones and Oral Antibiotics Receives National and Local Media Coverage – Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
• Kidney Stones on the Rise in the United States – Medscape
• Kidney stones may increase the risk of coronary heart disease and stroke: A PRISMA-Compliant meta-analysis – Medicine
• Prevalence of Cardiovascular Risk Factors and Strokes in Younger Adults – JAMA Network

Thirty-two cars of a Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) train derailed. Fourteen of those cars leaked crude oil into the Rock River in Doon, Iowa. The cause of the derailment is unknown, but Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds and other officials believe that the heavy rain Wednesday and Thursday which led to flooding is at least in part to blame. Flooding from the river has risen over the tracks.

The train has leaked 230,000 gallons of crude oil into the river.

Rock Valley felt prepared this time around, when the city faced its second flood in four years. Then, crude oil was added into the mix.” – The Des Moines Register

The river feeds Rock Valley’s water system. The city shut off its water wells within a few hours of the accident. Officials say they will drain and clean the wells and use a rural water system until tests show that the river water is safe again. The oil spill may also contaminate drinking water 150 miles downstream in Omaha and Nebraska. The Rock River merges with the Big Sioux River, which then feeds into the Missouri.

While none of the initial responses mentioned it, last week’s flooding and the resulting derailment could be related to climate change. A pre-Trump Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) assessment of climate change impacts in the Midwest found that precipitation and storms were projected to increase this century, and precipitation in some areas had already increased by 20 percent.” – EcoWatch

Recommended Reading:

• How to Avoid GMOs in 2018 – And Everything Else You Should Know About Genetic Engineering
• Best Supplements To Kill Candida and Everything Else You Ever Wanted To Know About Fungal Infections
• Holistic Guide to Healing the Endocrine System and Balancing Our Hormones

The US Food and Drug Administration announced the approval of the country’s first marijuana-based prescription medication June 25. The drug is called Epidiolex. This drug is a plant-derived oral solution of cannabidiol, commonly known as CBD. CBD is a chemical component of marijuana and it does not cause intoxication; it does not get you high.

The FDA has just approved it for use with patients aged two and older who suffer from epilepsies known as Lennox-Gastaut syndrome and Dravet syndrome. This is the first time FDA has approved a drug derived from cannabis and it is the first time the FDA has approved a drug to treat Dravet syndrome.

The next hurdle is getting the US Drug Enforcement Administration to reclassify CBD, which like all cannabis, is currently classified as a Schedule I drug. Schedule I drugs include heroin and LSD and marijuana because they are said to have high abuse potential, no medical use, and severe safety concerns. Schedule I drug use, including medical use, is against federal law. GW Pharmaceuticals, the creator of Epidiolex, won’t be able to market the drug unless the DEA reclassifies CBD.

GW expects that the DEA will reschedule CBD within 90 days. In a statement, GW CEO Justin Gover said:

Today’s approval of EPIDIOLEX is a historic milestone, offering patients and their families the first and only FDA-approved CBD medicine to treat two severe, childhood-onset epilepsies. This approval is the culmination of GW’s many years of partnership with patients, their families, and physicians in the epilepsy community to develop a much needed, novel medicine. These patients deserve and will soon have access to a cannabinoid medicine that has been thoroughly studied in clinical trials, manufactured to assure quality and consistency, and available by prescription under a physician’s care.”

Recommended Reading:

• How to Avoid GMOs in 2018 – And Everything Else You Should Know About Genetic Engineering
• Best Supplements To Kill Candida and Everything Else You Ever Wanted To Know About Fungal Infections
• Holistic Guide to Healing the Endocrine System and Balancing Our Hormones

When Trudeau’s Liberal Party was elected in 2015 he ran on a promise to legalize marijuana. Canada is about to realize that promise. The South American nation of Uruguay was the first and only to fully legalize cannabis. Uruguay legalized marijuana in 2013, and now Canada will be the second nation to do so, and the first wealthy nation to do it. The Senate approved Bill C-45, also known as the Cannabis Act, on June 18th.

We will legalize, regulate, and restrict access to marijuana. Canada’s current system of marijuana prohibition does not work. It does not prevent young people from using marijuana and too many Canadians end up with criminal records for possessing small amounts of the drug.” – Canada’s Liberal Party

The new law will go into effect on October 17, 2018. The bill legalizes marijuana possession, growing cannabis, and selling it to adults. The federal government will still enforce remaining criminal sanctions like selling to minors and the licensing of cannabis production, and provincial governments will oversee sales, distribution, and other related regulations. This means that provinces will be able to impose stricter rules, like raising the minimum age.

Nine states in the US so far have legalized marijuana for recreational use and 29 states allow cannabis for medicinal use.

The United Nations’ international drug treaties explicitly ban legalizing marijuana, so will be in violation of international law. The US is still considered to be in accordance with the treaties because federal law still prohibits cannabis.

Canada’s decision to end cannabis criminalization should come as no surprise. Canadian marijuana policy has been at odds with the United States’ policies for decades. Canadians allowed commercial cultivation of industrial hemp, species of marijuana that possesses zero psychoactivity, two decades ago. Canada also controls a federally licensed medical cannabis production and distribution program, a program that has been in place since 2001. In the U.S. federal law makes no legal distinction between marijuana and hemp.

Like in Canada, voters in the U.S. also endorse cannabis legalization. According to polling data reported last week, 68 percent of registered voters “support the legalization of marijuana.” That is the highest percentage ever recorded in a nationwide, scientific survey. The support is mostly non-partisan. The poll showed that 77 percent of Democrats, 62 percent of independents, and 57 percent of Republicans want federal legalization.

Recommended Reading:

• How to Avoid GMOs in 2018 – And Everything Else You Should Know About Genetic Engineering
• Best Supplements To Kill Candida and Everything Else You Ever Wanted To Know About Fungal Infections
• Holistic Guide to Healing the Endocrine System and Balancing Our Hormones