Non-Stick Pans and Thyroid Disease

Association Between Serum Perfluoroctanoic Acid (PFOA) and Thyroid Disease in the NHANES Study

http://ehp03.niehs.nih.gov/article/fetchArticle.action?articleURI=info%3Adoi%2F10.1289%2Fehp.0901584

Higher concentrations of serum PFOA and PFOS (perfluoroctane sulphonate) are associated with current thyroid disease in the US general adult population.

Other interesting points from the publication (click "Download: PDF"):

Individuals with more education had higher PFOA levels...Similar differences were
found in PFOS concentrations.

people reporting having Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) may be less likely to be in the highest PFOA concentration quartile

Production of PFOS was halted in 2002 in the USA by its principal producer, due largely to concerns over bioaccumulation and toxicity. Since then, voluntary industry reductions in production and usage of other perfluorinated compounds, such as the US EPA initiated PFOA Stewardship Programme (US EPA 2006) have contributed to a decreasing trend in human exposure for all perfluorinated compounds (with the notable exception of perfluorononanoic acid, PFNA)

Modest associations between PFOA and thyroid hormones (negative for free T4 and positive for T3) were reported in 506 PFOA production workers across three production facilities (Olsen and Zobel 2007). There were no associations between TSH or T4 and PFOA and the free hormone levels were within the normal reference range.

The Younger You Look, the Longer You'll Live

http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/WBL02174/Womens-Heart-Attacks-Just-Like-Mens.html#2

"The only biological explanation ... was that the individuals who looked younger also tended to have longer telomeres (repeating DNA sequences at the ends of chromosomes) that are linked to aging." Telomeres are the main research subject for the 2009 Nobel Medical Science medalists.

The Dec 14 2009 article in BMJ is at
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/339/dec11_2/b5262
which concludes "Perceived age—which is widely used by clinicians as a general indication of a patient’s health—is a robust biomarker of ageing that predicts survival among those aged ≥70 and correlates with important functional and molecular ageing phenotypes."

Are Plastic Containers Unhealthy?

Dr. Weil's Q&A at
http://www.drweil.com/drw/ecs/forums/thread.html?docid=THR52089&page=1
advised that "polycarbonate plastic containers may not be safe for storage and transport of food and beverages. Better choices are polypropylene (#5 pp), high-density polyethylene (#2 hdpe), and low-density polyethylene (#4 LDPE)." The answer particularly highlights the risk of insulin resistance i.e. risk of type-2 diabetes associated with using the unsafe plastic bottles. It prompted me to check a government site for more info. And here it is:
http://www.ct.gov/dph/lib/dph/environmental_health/eoha/pdf/plastics_primer0714.pdf
Indeed, only the bottles labeled with #2, #4, or #5 recycling number seem to be relatively safe, if you have to use plastic instead of glass or ceramic containers.

More Chocolate, Less Stress

http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/WBL02167/Pollution-and-Migraine.html#1

"The researchers reported that eating the chocolate appeared to reduce levels of stress hormones in these volunteers. "

Original article at
http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/pr900607v
Journal of Proteome Research, October 7, 2009
"The study provides strong evidence that a daily consumption of 40 g of dark chocolate during a period of 2 weeks is sufficient to modify the metabolism of free living and healthy human subjects, as per variation of both host and gut microbial metabolism."

阿胶 to Cure Arrhythmia and Bradycardia

Not all arrhythmia is created equal. But my 80-year-old father had it cured, at least for a month now, by 阿胶 (E1 jiao1), Donkey-Hide Gelatin. He had arrhythmia and bradycardia (very low heart beat, 40 per minute in his case) about a year ago after he practiced Taichi sword for too long with other old men and women in the morning, as they would do every day. Since then, the doctor told him to exercise for a shorter time each day, in addition to advising him to stay in hospital with a possible price tag of a few thousand RMB. There just happened to be another old man living in the same community that had exactly the same symptoms, and was successfully treated with 阿胶, taken with 西洋参 (Xi1 Yang2 Shen1) American Ginseng. So my mother did exactly the same for my father. It's been a month now. The result is amazing!

阿胶 is to bu3 xue3 (replenish blood, literally), and 西洋参 to bu3 qi4 (replenish qi). But the concept of xue3 in TCM is not to be confused with just blood; it includes all kinds of fluid plus nutrient. 阿胶 is also often used with 当归, (Dang1 Gui1, Chinese Angelica Root), another strong agent to bu3 xue3, particularly for women. But keep in mind that 阿胶 is warm in nature. My mother also took the "concoction" she made and got ichy, so she had to stop.

西洋参 is a strong bu3 qi4 medicine, like 人参 (Ren2 Shen1, Chinese ginseng), except that 西洋参 is cool in nature whereas 人参 is warm.

Standard Boring Disclaimer: In case you're not used to reading about alternative medicine, let me warn that always consult your doctor before you try anything.