Many Scented Cleaning Products Contain Toxic Chemicals

Dr. Weil's report on a recent medical research:
http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/WBL02222/Many-Scented-Cleaning-Products-Contain-Toxic-Chemicals.html
"They detected 133 chemicals in 25 popular products they analyzed, including laundry detergents, fabric softeners, dryer sheets, soaps, hand sanitizers, lotions, deodorants, shampoos and air fresheners...All the products emitted at least one chemical classified as toxic or hazardous,... and 11 of them emitted at least one chemical considered a probable carcinogen"
Dr. Weil's "Natural Household Cleaning Products" at
http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/ART00580/natural-household-cleaning-products.html 
is useful.

The original research article is titled Fragranced consumer products: Chemicals emitted, ingredients unlisted, whose abstract says "For 'green' products, emissions of these compounds were not significantly different from the other products."

Moles linked with slower aging

The report Moles linked with slower aging prompted me to find the original article. It's in the July 2007 edition of Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention, "Nevus Size and Number Are Associated with Telomere Length and Represent Potential Markers of a Decreased Senescence In vivo". "Nevus" includes moles and other types of birthmarks. "Telomere" is the free-moving end of a chromosome; the longer the "telomere", the better, e.g. slower aging and possibly (not confirmed) lower risk of cancer. "Senescence" means aging. The study only includes white women. But we hope the link between more and bigger moles on your body and slower aging, also exists for people that are not white and female, and I wish the researchers had commented whether cosmetically removing the moles affects the mole count.

Is "枇杷花蜜" syrup or honey?

I bought a bottle of "枇杷花蜜" in China town. Back home I saw "syrup" under the big Chinese label. The following is my email to New York State Department of Health and an abstract of their reply (with written permission).

Dear Sir/Madame,

A New York-based food company, S & M (U.S.A) ENTERPRISE CORP.,

http://www.wangpage.com/nyc/ypage_merch_detail.php?merch=1982

makes Grow Notes brand syrup with a Chinese name "枇杷花蜜" (pronounced "pipa huami"). I believe there's a mismatch between the two names. The Chinese name is literally "loquat honey". If the product is indeed honey, they may be missing out on some customers who only know English. If the product is syrup, they're misleading customers to buying something that they thought would be more healthful and valuable. The label has a big bright title of "枇杷花蜜" with a small dark "Syrup" under it.

Could you tell me where I should address this email? Thank you.

Their reply:

In NYS, the term “honey” is reserved, by law, to mean “the nectar of flowers that has been transformed by, and is the natural product of the honey-bee, taken from the honeycomb and marketed in a liquid, candied or granulated condition.” (NYS Agriculture and Markets Law §205).

Unless the item meets this definition, they would not be able to label it, in the English translation, as honey. If it contains added sugars/ other ingredients, it would need to be labeled as syrup, in English ...

My email again:

Thanks very much to you both. I don't have the knowledge and obviously no scientific instrument to tell whether this particular product is syrup or honey. I'll personally avoid it for now.

Cancer: disease after industrialization

If you search on Google using these keywords

"nature reviews cancer" cancer industrialized

(quotation marks as is), you'll find many reports on the research by Dr. Michael Zimmerman et al. of Manchester University. According to their study of Egyptian mummies, cancer is mainly a disease after industrialization due to pollution and unhealthy diet. If that's true, it explains why Traditional Chinese Medicine never made allusion to a disease similar to what modern medical science calls cancer. And search for a cure of cancer in TCM is probably bound to be a futile effort. Nevertheless, TCM is remarkably successful in improving the patient's general health after cancer treatment, as well as in keeping you fit as a healthy person.

Optimal heart rate when you exercise

Too low, your exercise is not intensive enough to stimulate your heart or tone up other parts of your body. Too high, that's not good to your heart either. According to the study published in a July 2010 issue of Circulation, on average, women's peak heart rate in exercise is 206 - (0.88 x age). Dr. Weil's recount of the study is more readable to non-medical-professionals. He also noted that the formula "that works for men is 220 minus age".