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Medical Corner

David
1 minute

image-thumb.pngWe have accepted the suggestion from a BU family member to facilitate discussion on medical matters which is a topic area that should interest us all. Based on exchanges with and between BU family members posted over time, many of you work in the medical field or possess information on various medical issues acquired based on personal circumstance or otherwise. Medical Corner seeks to encourage ANYONE to submit views on medical experiences, new developments in the industry or any related matter which readers feel can serve to educate the BU family.

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353 responses to “Medical Corner”

  1. David Avatar
    David

    We all know the QEH is clogged. The turnaround in private practice for PSA results is 48 hours and of course the rectal is immediate.

  2. David Avatar
    David

    Submitted by Dr. Georgie Porgie
    Click On Image To View Presentation (PDF Format)

  3. Vincent Haynes Avatar
    Vincent Haynes

    GP

    Yes I know what an individual can do who knows Gerry, my father had it and we paid Gerry for an op tout de suite…..that is not my point.

    My point is that the above scenario which is replicated many times at the QEH should not be so and my question is what is being done about it.

  4. Vincent Haynes Avatar
    Vincent Haynes

    David

    The NSRL 2% was supposedly for the QEH, its now 10% with the MoF bragging about $50M coming in which has been debunked already…….where are we going…..check the obits with youngsters in their 40s and 50s going through the eddoes……..its worse than gun deaths or vehicular deaths.

  5. David Avatar
    David

    Are you sure Vincent?

    Was it not stated that it would pay down debt owed to suppliers?

  6. Georgie Porgie Avatar
    Georgie Porgie

    Vincent
    re My point is that the above scenario which is replicated many times at the QEH should not be so and my question is what is being done about it.

    I agree with you
    It seems that we are back peddling
    it was nothing like this 40 year ago
    this is not about funding either– this is about poor management or/and greed/graft

  7. vincent haynesw Avatar
    vincent haynesw

    GP

    Sigh…..sad…..thanks your in put.

  8. vincent haynesw Avatar
    vincent haynesw

    David

    Immaterial….. As GP said we are going backwards at warp speed.

  9. Georgie Porgie Avatar
    Georgie Porgie

    Caribbean Medical Schools

    The Caribbean islands are also home to a number of for-profit medical schools that largely teach American and Canadian students. Some of those campuses have also sustained damage and evacuated their students.

    Ross University School of Medicine, which is located in storm-ravaged Dominica and owned by the U.S.-based for-profit education company Adtalem Global Education (formerly DeVry), reported Tuesday that it had completed evacuating all of its students who were on Dominica at the time Hurricane Maria hit. The university’s dean and chancellor, William F. Owen Jr., said in a message that Ross is working on a plan to resume its basic science program — which comprises the first two preclinical years of medical education — in an alternative location, to be determined (clinical training occurs at U.S. hospitals and has not been disrupted).

    Owen said in a message on Ross’s website Wednesday that “in considering new potential sites of instruction, we are focused on identifying a location that will be conducive to intensive medical study; meet the rigorous academic expectations of our accreditors; support continued access to federal student loans; and nicely balance study and recreation.”

    “We expect to communicate a decision soon from our list of options for a locale. There will be no classes for the next two weeks, so recuperate, refuel and bond with your loved ones,” Owen told students.

    Another Adtalem-owned medical school, the American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine, in St. Maarten, announced after Hurricane Irma hit the island that it would hold its fall semester classes at a location in the United Kingdom. The medical school initially announced plans to start classes at the U.K. location Sept. 29 — today — but in a statement Thursday Adtalem said the school is still “finalizing details” for the temporary relocation.

    “AUC is working to secure all regulatory approvals to do so, and working to finalize an agreement with University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) to utilize UCLan’s teaching facilities and student support services. We are so pleased to partner with UCLan in this effort and we greatly appreciate their hospitality and assistance. While these final arrangements and approvals are still pending, AUC students have begun arriving in Preston to prepare for the planned start of classes,” the statement said.

    Another Caribbean medical school, All Saints University, in Dominica, said in a message on its website that “evacuation of students is on course’ and that lectures for students from Dominica would resume Oct. 2 at the university’s other campus in in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

    –
    wHAT CRISIS WHAT?

    THESE GUYS WILL JUST FIND OTHER CASH STRAPPED ISLANDS LED BY GREEDY CORRUPT POLITICIANS WHO WILL SEE LONG TERM TOURISTS AND A SOURCE OF UNDER THE TABLE FEES AND FEE FOR WORK PERMITS

    I CAN JUST SEE THEM RUSHING TO BIMSHIRE NOW

  10. Vincent Haynes Avatar
    Vincent Haynes

    For years, she struggled to control her high cholesterol. Then she took a genetic test. She credits it with saving her life.
    Personal Genetic Testing Is Here. Do We Need It?
    People are using a growing stream of genetic data to help them make better health decisions. But some findings may be overblown or irrelevant.
    nytimes.com
    https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2017%2F10%2F03%2Fwell%2Flive%2Fpersonal-genetic-testing-is-here-do-we-need-it.html%3Fsmid%3Dfb-nytimes%26smtyp%3Dcur&h=ATN0GzVN90qKFmm2QFqPrb_DjJz3EQ03__FmIx3zW7OERzVY0dE6TFh1c6q31RvD9PJd4PkgINOebXbAsLieH8v_Njg2_J42FAmCL94-paMvztfiAz95dRDA9AW5dIVVeF0yTyWTm1zRnpdUC7-00GudEmsEEeTEea3Cq9q70mM1rm–bpM-wosl1kiHvQEp7COk1TZjm934z0Y-w8t-3TNV4IRJKyDcLLBrS1aDCz195YtXr7kFOw6XJMr73zfF0yGZIS9PhZYgj7IphO1gGHDjEc-RyA

  11. David Avatar
    David

    The idiocy of this world.

     

    Controversy over a cupcake? Google Maps pulls cupcake calorie counter after backlash

     

    Cupcakes are for sale at Creme Si Bon, a bakery that specializes in French macarons and other baked delights that is owned by Jenny and Sam Ng, in San Ramon, Calif. on Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2017. (Kristopher Skinner/Bay Area News Group)

    Cupcakes are for sale at Creme Si Bon, a bakery that specializes in French macarons and other baked delights that is owned by Jenny and Sam Ng, in San Ramon, Calif. on Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2017. (Kristopher Skinner/Bay Area News Group)

    By MARISA KENDALL | mkendall@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group

    PUBLISHED: October 17, 2017 at 1:32 pm | UPDATED: October 17, 2017 at 2:40 pm

    You can call it the Great Cupcake Controversy of 2017.

    In what is probably the only example ever of tiny, frosted cakes sparking mass outrage, strong negative feedback has prompted Google to remove a cupcake calorie counter from its iOS Maps app, the company confirmed Tuesday.

    Google recently added the cutesy — and possibly half-baked — feature as an experiment. With the new feature, users saw a pink cupcake icon that automatically showed them how many calories they would burn if they walked to their destination. The app also translated that calorie count into mini cupcakes, telling walkers how many of the tiny treats they would burn if they walked from point A to point B.

    But complaints soon started raining down like sprinkles.

    Critics accused the cartoon cupcake counter of being patronizing, promoting body-shaming, and possibly triggering unhealthy behavior in people who have struggled with eating disorders or over-exercise, BBC reports. There’s no way to turn the feature off, critics pointed out.

    “Do they realize how extremely triggering something like this is for ppl who have had eating disorders? Not to mention just generally shamey,” a user named Taylor Lorenz tweeted. She added: “Also it looks like there’s no way to turn this feature off what the hell.”

    16 Oct

    Taylor Lorenz

    ✔@TaylorLorenz

    Replying to @TaylorLorenz

    Also it looks like there’s no way to turn this feature off what the hell

    Follow

    Taylor Lorenz

    ✔@TaylorLorenz

    Do they realize how extremely triggering something like this is for ppl who have had eating disorders? Not to mention just generally shamey

    8:07 PM – Oct 16, 2017

    Twitter Ads info and privacy

    Users also pointed out that Google Maps doesn’t take a user’s personal health information into account, so its cupcake calorie counter likely isn’t accurate.

    Others slammed the cupcake counter as being just plain useless.

    “Okay, Google let me tell you something. No one who eats cupcakes ever eats almost 1 mini cupcake!” wrote a Twitter user who goes by Arch S.

    View image on Twitter

    View image on Twitter

    Follow

    Arch S @archanasn

    Okay, .@google let me tell you something.. No one who eats cupcakes ever eats almost 1 mini cupcake!

    11:23 AM – Oct 17, 2017

    Twitter Ads info and privacy

    And then there were those who didn’t see what the big deal was, even asking for help explaining cupcake-gate.

    “Can someone explain why googles Cupcake counter was offensive? Honestly I don’t understand,” wrote a Twitter user who goes by the name “Bring Your Own Demon.”

    Follow

    Bring Your Own Demon @infosecxual

    Can someone explain why googles Cupcake counter was offensive? Honestly I don’t understand

    10:22 AM – Oct 17, 2017

    Twitter Ads info and privacy

    Whatever the reason, Google confirmed to this news organization Tuesday that it is removing the calorie counter, citing “strong user feedback.” The cupcake counter should have been removed by Monday evening, the company confirmed. If users are still seeing the feature, they should restart the app.

    It’s spectacularly bad timing on Google’s part. It turns out that Wednesday is National Chocolate Cupcake Day (not to be confused with regular National Cupcake Day, which is Dec. 15) — which would have been a prime opportunity for gimmicks galore to show off Google’s cupcake calorie counter. But the Google cupcakes weren’t chocolate anyway. They were pink — whatever flavor that is.

  12. David Avatar
    David

    Submitted by Dr. GP

  13. Georgie Porgie Avatar
    Georgie Porgie

    if you look at your product packaging you will often find listed one or two of the intermediates pictured above………citrate, alpha ketoglutarate, succinate, fumarate, malate oxaloactate.

    these are used as preservatives presumably because they are Krebs cycle intermediates
    but in the Krebs cycle in the process of generating energy these compounds as you can see from the arrows are rapidly converted to each other

    in other slides you will see that some of these intermediates are used in making other compounds

    could it be possible that the body finds these intermediates when consumed in probable excess as toxic?

  14. Georgie Porgie Avatar
    Georgie Porgie

    in slide 2 you can see the importance of glucose pictured as the red ball
    all the lines departing from the red ball are important metabolic pathways.such as the PPP which is used to make ribose for RNA, OR DEOXYRIBOSE FOR DNA
    the big line is the glycolytic pathway found in all living organisms……….note that glycolysis is linked to the Krebs cycle– the major pathway for generating energy

  15. David Avatar
    David

    Dropping this here, no comment needed except to state we are not serious as the NCD capital of the world.

  16. David Avatar
    David

    The blogmaster added a WhatsApp video to the blog above as an example why due diligence is important.

  17. louis wiltshire Avatar
    louis wiltshire

    The Evolution of Undergraduate Medical Training at The University of the West Indies, 1948–2008 JM Branday, RA Carpenter
    https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/585f/17a7c0208c77e32f64c9625aaf0429d673f0.pdf

  18. GreenMonkey Avatar
    GreenMonkey

    Watch for free the 1hr 20min documentary ‘Secret Ingredients’ detailing case history’s of men, women and children whose debilitating chronic illness symptoms disappeared after switching to a diet in which GM foods and crops treated with glyphosate based herbicides like Roundup were removed from their diet. Free viewing lasts only until May 22nd at 2 pm. You are required to leave a name and email address to see the video.

    https://freeshowing.secretingredientsmovie.com/

  19. GreenMonkey Avatar
    GreenMonkey

    The 5G War – Technology Versus Humanity
    Dr. Mercola

    Exposure to electromagnetic field (EMF) and radiofrequency (RF) radiation is an ever-growing health risk in the modern world. The Cellular Phone Task Force website(1) has a long list of governments and organizations that have issued warnings or banned wireless technologies of various kinds and under various circumstances, starting in 1993.

    A long list of organizations representing doctors and scientists are also among them, including an appeal for protection from nonionizing EMF exposure by more than 230 international EMF scientists to the United Nations in 2015, which notes that:(2)
    “Numerous recent scientific publications have shown that EMF affects living organisms at levels well below most international and national guidelines.”

    SNIP

    While heart disease, dementia and infertility overshadow the risk of brain cancer, the possibility of cancer still remains, and may be a far more significant concern for young children who are growing up surrounded by wireless technologies than we realize.

    The fact is, we won’t know for sure whether in utero and early cellphone use will increase brain cancer rates until a decade or two from now when today’s youths have grown up. Mounting research suggests cellphone radiation certainly influences your risk, and there are a number of compelling anecdotal reports that are hard to ignore.
    In her article,(61) Davis mentions Robert C. Kane, a senior telecom engineer “had willingly served as a guinea pig for Motorola and other companies developing new wireless technologies in the 1980s.”

    He developed a type of malignant brain cancer the National Toxicology Program later confirmed was a side effect of cellphone radiation exposure (see video above). The NTPs results were published in 2018. Before his death in 2002, Kane published the book,“Cellphone Radiation — Russian Roulette”,(62) in which he stated that:(63)
    “Never in human history has there been such a practice as we now encounter with the marketing and distributing of products hostile to the human biological system by an industry with foreknowledge of those effects.”

    FCC Is a Captured Agency That Cannot Be Trusted

    Davis also highlights another crucial problem, namely the fact that the FCC has been captured by the telecom industry, which in turn has perfected the disinformation strategies employed by the tobacco industry before it. She writes:(64)

    “… [I]n 2015 a Harvard expose tracked the revolving door between the FCC and the telecom industry and concluded that the FCC is a captured agency and that ‘Consumer safety, health, and privacy, along with consumer wallets, have all been overlooked, sacrificed, or raided due to unchecked industry influence.’”

    https://www.wakingtimes.com/2019/06/05/the-5g-war-technology-versus-humanity/

  20. GreenMonkey Avatar
    GreenMonkey

    Cannabis Extract Fights ‘Incurable Form’ of Leukemia

    After undergoing a protracted series of unsuccessful conventional treatments over the course of 34 months – including a bone marrow transplant, aggressive chemotherapy and radiation therapy — the girl’s case was pronounced ‘incurable,’ with the patient’s hematologist/oncologist stating that she “suffers from terminal malignant disease,” expecting her condition to progress rapidly towards death.

    Because the family received no other suggestions for treatment beyond palliative care, they decided to do research on their own, stumbling on a paper published in Nature Reviews: Cancer in 2003 titled, “Cannibinoids: Potential Anti-Cancer Agents,” which encouraged them to administer oral cannabinoid extracts to the patient. According to the case report:

    The family found promise in a product, made by Rick Simpson who had treated several cancers with hemp oil, an extract from the cannabis plant. Rick worked with the family to help them prepare the extract.*

    With Rick Simpson’s assistance, the family used cannabis oil extract for the next 78 days, with regular monitoring of the blast cell count, the primary indicator of the malignant progression of the disease process.

    The figure below shows the successful suppression of the blast cells using cannabis extract.

    (Click on link below to see graph of blast cell suppression after administering cannabis extract)

    Clearly, the cannabis extract was effective at inhibiting the uncontrolled proliferation of the girl’s leukemia, without the highly toxic side effects of conventional treatment.

    Sadly, however, on day 78, the 14-year old passed away as a consequence of bleeding associated with bowel perforation, and ultimately the lasting adverse effects of the original 34 months of aggressive treatment she had underwent previous to cannabis.

    https://www.wakingtimes.com/2018/06/13/cannabis-extract-fights-incurable-form-of-leukemia/?utm_campaign=meetedgar&utm_medium=social&utm_source=meetedgar.com&fbclid=IwAR14LfcogAwqe2nSIs32KIvj055uOWrbhufI6RTl2f4Mr9L5XfWXzmhRYeM

  21. GreenMonkey Avatar
    GreenMonkey

    From the web site Activist Post:

    Telecom Construction Expert Offers Opinion on YouTube Video of Dead Bees Under 5G Cell Towers

    Earlier this week, Activist Post reported about the viral YouTube video that shows dead bees under what was reported to be 5G small cells installed in California.

    A Telecom Industry Construction Expert has weighed in and provided information that is equally if not more depressing:

    Tyler Vanover

Industry construction expert here. Those towers are not 5g they are 4g. All modern 4g sites are outfitted with 5g capabilities. Not specifically to operate at 5g frequencies, but at the lower band using 4g radios to communicate with the future 5g infrastructure which will be much smaller antennas, every several hundred meters in every direction on every public street. This bee killing phenomenon has been talked about for years inside the industry. All tower climbers can attest to bees getting “drunk” on rf signal coming from the towers, which act as a lure. Heavily concentrated 4g activity like the site featured in this video, can aggregate alot of frequency, and since its so low to the ground, it becomes quite dangerous for low flying insects. Blame California city regulations for these “hidden” low height cell structures. We build them up high and away from people for a reason.

    From ResearchGate:

    The exponential increase of mobile telephony has led to a pronounced increase in electromagnetic fields in the environment that may affect pollinator communities and threaten pollination as a key ecosystem service. Previous studies conducted on model species under laboratory conditions have shown negative effects of electromagnetic radiation (EMR) on reproductive success, development, and navigation of insects.</em>

    See embedded video of the dead bees collecting around the base of cell phone towers at the link below

    Continued at: https://www.activistpost.com/2019/08/telecom-construction-expert-offers-opinion-on-youtube-video-of-dead-bees-under-5g-cell-towers.html

  22. GreenMonkey Avatar
    GreenMonkey

    From Newsvoice(DOT)se

    To bee, or not to bee, that is the five “G” question – Olle Johansson

    The collective evidence we can draw from the current scientific status regarding adverse health and biological effects of artificial electromagnetic field exposures, such as from cell phones, antennas/base stations, TV and radio towers, babyalarms, smart meters, powerlines, and WiFi routers, points to that we may be jeopardizing more than our own health and behaviour. Bacteria, plants, birds, frogs, and pollinating insects, may all be targeted, and it is obvious we must proceed with the highest caution before immersing the citizens and our wildlife in more and more artificial electromagnetic fields. We may, as a matter of fact, already be gravely endangering our current as well as coming generations. To not act today, may prove a disaster tomorrow, and such lack of action may again result in the classical “late lessons from early warnings”, or – even worse – “too late lessons from early warnings”.

    By Olle Johansson, former head of The Experimental Dermatology Unit, Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden, and former adjunct professor of The Royal Institute of Technology, also Stockholm, Sweden, now retired and leading The Institute of Common Sense for Common Sense, Utö/Stockholm, Sweden.

    SNIP

    Besides the brain and heart cancer risks, cell phone and WiFi signals may also affect the blood-brain barrier to open and let toxic molecules into the brain, hurt and kill neurons in the hippocampus (one of the brain centres for memory), down- or up-regulate essential proteins in the brain engaged in the it’s metabolism, stress response and neuroprotection. Exposed sperms have been seen with more head defects, decreased sperm count, lowered motility, decreased viability, and other malfunctions as well as DNA damage, and severe effects on fertility have been found. Wireless signals can increase oxidative stress in cells and lead to increase of proinflammatory cytokines and lower capacity to repair genotoxic DNA single- and double-strand breaks. Cognitive impairments in learning and memory have also been shown. Results from the OECD’s PISA performance surveys in reading and mathematics show decreasing results in countries that have invested most in introducing computers, tablets and cell phones in school. Multitasking, too many hours in front of a screen, less time for social contacts and physical activities with risk for neck and back aches, overweight, sleep problems, and information technology (IT) addiction are some of the known risks and side-effects of IT. They stand in marked contrast to the often claimed, but largely unproven possible benefits (the OECD actually says frequent use of computers in schools is more likely to be associated with lower results!).

    And the implications of the most recent findings – by Taheri et al from 2017 – of bacteria exposed to mobile phone and WiFi radiation turning resistant to antibiotics are chilling, to say the least, and may easily explain the on-going huge and highly frightening development into more and more antibiotics-resistant microorganisms around the world. The latter has very recently summoned the G20 countries – in 2017 – to discuss the fact that each year more than 25,000 Europeans die prematurely due to antibiotic resistance. By the year 2050 it has been calculated to be about 10,000,000 humans world-wide, and neither of these two estimations have taken into account the Taheri et al findings, thus, the 10,000,000 can easily instead become 7,600,000,000…not then counting all livestock dying for the same reason.

    https://newsvoice.se/2019/05/5g-question-olle-johansson/?fbclid=IwAR0dZ8cEvCV4pax1jaFXavQvEig1QW51scm9wQJMIQHSr86joRWcmV3lrHs

    About the author:

    Olle Johansson PhD is a global authority in the field of EMF radiation and health effects. He originally coined the term ”screen dermatitis” which became recognized as the functional impairment known as electrohypersensitivity. Survey studies show that somewhere between 230,000-290,000 Swedish men and women—out of a population of 10,000,000—report a variety of symtoms when in contact with electromagnetic field sources. In 2000, the diagnosis of electrosensitivity was officially recognized by the Swedish government as a disability which may interfere with daily functioning and qualifies for both medical care and the provision of an electrosmog-free working environment.

    He is a past associate professor at the Karolinska Institute, Department of Neuroscience, and head of The Experimental Dermatology Unit as well as a guest and adjunct professor in basic and clinical neuroscience at the Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm. He has published more than 600 original articles, reviews, book chapters and conference reports within the fields of basic and applied neuroscience, dermatology, epidemiology, and biophysiology.

    A complete bio with a list of publications can be seen here:

    vetapedia(DOT)se/olle-johansson-associate-professor-ki/

  23. GreenMonkey Avatar
    GreenMonkey

    In this TED talk An American clinical psychiatrist, Dr. Daniel Amen, explains how many different psychiatric problems, including depression, ADHD, violent or criminal behaviour etc. can be traced to a physical injury which caused trauma to the brains of patients, perhaps many years previously. Usually the incident that caused the brain injury might have been caused by a head-jarring accident that was considered relatively minor at the time. However, brain scans of psychiatric patients do show years after the original incident areas where brain activity is abnormal or lacking entirely and this can be traced back to a physical head injury suffered many years previously.

    The idea of using brain scans to tailor rehabilitative treatments for psychiatric patients to restore injured brains is relatively new, but he says that in his experience it has proven much more effective in producing long term beneficial results at a lower cost compared to the more traditional approaches of psychiatric medicine which does not use brain imaging in day to day practice but tends to use medications (some with severe side effects) to treat symptoms rather than the underlying causes that produces the symptoms.

    The Most Important Lessons from 83,000 Scans

    https://youtu.be/esPRsT-lmw8

  24. GreenMonkey Avatar
    GreenMonkey

    Highwire – This Mom Broke Monsanto

    “These ugly emails reveal the utter contempt that Monsanto has for public health and for consumers, including mothers who only want to protect their kids’ health.”

  25. GreenMonkey Avatar
    GreenMonkey

    Former President Of Microsoft Canada Frank Clegg: On Safety & 5G/Wireless Technologies

    https://youtu.be/xSP2exnmJXg

  26. minhphat Avatar
    minhphat

    Đôi lúc cũng rất khó hiểu.

  27. GreenMonkey Avatar
    GreenMonkey

    GMO mosquito experiment goes horribly wrong: Insects adapt and overcome, transforming into super “mutant” mosquitoes that could cause mass death across South America

    (Natural News) Remember the two-year experiment to release genetically modified mosquitoes into the wild to eradicate all the mosquitoes? For years, we were all lectured by scientists and GMO pushers who insisted that genetically modifying male mosquitoes to be infertile would cause the termination of nearly all offspring as females mated with the GMO males. The result, we were told, would be a mass die-off of the mosquito population at large, saving human lives by avoiding the catastrophic effects of mosquito-borne disease.

    Science would save us, in other words. And if we didn’t believe the hype, we were labeled “anti-science.”

    At first, the experiment seemed to work. For the initial 18 months of the experiment carried out in Brazil — in which 450,000 genetically modified male mosquitoes were released into the wild — mosquito populations plummeted. But then something happened.

    As published in the journal Nature, in a study entitled, “Transgenic Aedes aegypti Mosquitoes Transfer Genes into a Natural Population,” the very same modified genes we were told would never be passed to “in the wild” mosquito populations has, in fact, done exactly that.

    Powered by these new genes (and combined with some behavioral adaptation explained below), the mosquito population surged back. Even worse, now the wild populations of mosquitoes in Brazil have these “mutant” genes which were combined from Cuba and Mexican mosquito populations, meaning these new gene-enhanced mosquitoes are now a kind of “super mutant” insect that may be resistant to all sorts of insecticides.

    SNIP

    In 2012, we published a warning about the risks associated with self-replicating science experiments that are released into the wild. In one article, we wrote, “The human race is gravely threatened by out-of-control science that has already begun to reveal alarming unintended consequences across our planet.” We also wrote:

    Humanity has reached a tipping point of developing technology so profound that it can destroy the human race; yet this rise of “science” has in no way been matched by a rise in consciousness or ethics. Today, science operates with total disregard for the future of life on Earth, and it scoffs at the idea of balancing scientific “progress” with caution, ethics or reasonable safeguards (my emphasis /GM). Unbridled experiments like GMOs have unleashed self-replicating genetic pollution that now threatens the integrity of food crops around the world, potentially threatening the global food supply.

    As the following S.O.S. graphic shows — originally published in 2012 — GMO mosquitoes are “self-replicating pollution.” The mad scientists have released weaponized genes into the wild, and now the genetic makeup of mosquitoes in South America can never be pulled back from the brink.

    https://www.naturalnews.com/2019-09-18-gmo-mosquito-experiment-goes-horribly-wrong.html

  28. SirSimpleSimonPresidentForLife Avatar
    SirSimpleSimonPresidentForLife

    Who or what is naturalnews.com?

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_News
    Natural News (formerly NewsTarget, which is now a separate sister site) is a conspiracy theory and fake news website.The website sells various dietary supplements, promotes alternative medicine, tendentious nutrition and health claims, fake news,and espouses various conspiracy theories.These conspiracy theories include chemophobic claims about the purported dangers of “chemtrails”,fluoridated drinking water,anti-perspirants, laundry detergent, monosodium glutamate, aspartame), and alleged health problems caused by allegedly “toxic” ingredients in vaccines,including the now-discredited link to autism.It has also spread conspiracy theories about the Zika virus allegedly being spread by genetically modified mosquitoes and purported adverse effects of genetically modified crops, as well as the farming practices associated with and foods derived from them.

  29. David Avatar
    David

    The following submitted by Dr. GP (click on images)

     

  30. David Avatar
    David

    Click on the images to see details of presentations on the subject matter – Dr. GP.

     

  31. David Avatar
    David

  32. GreenMonkey Avatar
    GreenMonkey

    Have you heard on air recently the (fairly obviously) scripted interview/advertisement on local radio from Barbados Light and Power extolling their efforts to make sure BL&P is 5G compatible and ready for the roll out of the much anticipated 5G “internet of things”? That is, the much anticipated (by tech heads and big business interests) internet upgrade whereby just about everything you own from your refrigerator down to your shoe laces (including, at some point, your own AI directed brain via an implanted chip) will eventually have its own IP address and be connected directly to the internet.

    For BL&P this means switching businesses and households onto WiFi enabled smart meters to help manage their diesel generators and the local electricity grid. These smart meters which will use WiFi for sending and receiving data to BL&P throughout the day will, they claim, provide for more efficient power generation and distribution as more “green” sources of variable power output come on stream, e.g. solar farms, housetop solar panels, windmills etc.

    It is noteworthy that insurance companies have already declined to provide liability coverage to manufacturers of even the present generation of WiFi enabled products in case lawsuits determine that their WiFi equipment has damaged the users’ health.

    See:
    Lloyd’s of London Insurance Won’t Cover Smartphones – WiFi – Smart Meters – Cell Phone Towers By Excluding ALL Wireless Radiation Hazards at:
    rfsafe(DOT)com/lloyds-of-london-insurance-wont-cover-smartphones-wifi-smart-meters-cell-phone-towers-by-excluding-all-wireless-radiation-hazards/

    Recently, Scientific American magazine has published an article explaining that there are even more inherent dangers to human health in this new 5G WiFi technology that are being overlooked by its promoters in their eagerness to make a profit by providing another supposed technological solution to our present list of societal and economic problems. Yes, you will be delighted with 5G when you find you can download an entire movie to your cell phone in 3 seconds flat – too bad the true costs and dangers will not be so readily apparent until it is too late to do anything about it.

    We Have No Reason to Believe 5G Is Safe
    The technology is coming, but contrary to what some people say, there could be health risks

    By Joel M. Moskowitz on October 17, 2019

    The telecommunications industry and their experts have accused many scientists who have researched the effects of cell phone radiation of “fear mongering” over the advent of wireless technology’s 5G. Since much of our research is publicly-funded, we believe it is our ethical responsibility to inform the public about what the peer-reviewed scientific literature tells us about the health risks from wireless radiation.

    The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) recently announced through a press release that the commission will soon reaffirm the radio frequency radiation (RFR) exposure limits that the FCC adopted in the late 1990s. These limits are based upon a behavioral change in rats exposed to microwave radiation and were designed to protect us from short-term heating risks due to RFR exposure.

    Yet, since the FCC adopted these limits based largely on research from the 1980s, the preponderance of peer-reviewed research, more than 500 studies, have found harmful biologic or health effects from exposure to RFR at intensities too low to cause significant heating.

    Citing this large body of research, more than 240 scientists who have published peer-reviewed research on the biologic and health effects of nonionizing electromagnetic fields (EMF) signed the International EMF Scientist Appeal, which calls for stronger exposure limits. The appeal makes the following assertions:

    “Numerous recent scientific publications have shown that EMF affects living organisms at levels well below most international and national guidelines. Effects include increased cancer risk, cellular stress, increase in harmful free radicals, genetic damages, structural and functional changes of the reproductive system, learning and memory deficits, neurological disorders, and negative impacts on general well-being in humans. Damage goes well beyond the human race, as there is growing evidence of harmful effects to both plant and animal life.”

    The scientists who signed this appeal arguably constitute the majority of experts on the effects of nonionizing radiation. They have published more than 2,000 papers and letters on EMF in professional journals.

    Continued here:
    https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/we-have-no-reason-to-believe-5g-is-safe/

  33. GreenMonkey Avatar
    GreenMonkey

    After reading the post directly above about BL&P’s drive to roll out “smart” electricity meters (i.e. WiFi enabled) to ensure sure Barbados is “ready for 5G”, some might find this documentary relevant to understanding why the spread of WiFi and cellular technology along with the supposed “upgrade” to 5G threatens human, animal and plant health and well being.

    Resonance: Beings of Frequency

    Resonance takes a deeper look at how humanity is reacting to the most profound environmental change the planet has ever seen. Two billion years ago life first appeared on earth, a planet bathed in a natural electromagnetic frequency. As life slowly evolved from simple to complex organisms, it did so surrounded by this frequency, forming a harmonic relationship with it, a relationship that science is just beginning to comprehend. New research is showing that exposure to this frequency is vital to human beings. It controls our mental and physical health, it synchronizes our circadian rhythms, it aids our immune system, and it improves our overall sense of well-being. Not only are we surrounded by natural frequencies, our bodies are suffused with them. Our cells communicate using electromagnetic frequencies. Our brain emits a constant stream of frequencies and our DNA delivers instructions using frequency waves. Without them, we could not exist.

    https://youtu.be/9mK93gHFWXs?t=12

  34. David Avatar
    David

    Click to view presentation in power point format:

  35. David Avatar
    David

    Microscopic Examination

    https://barbadosunderground.files.wordpress.com/2019/10/macroscopic-microscopic-views.pptx

  36. GreenMonkey Avatar
    GreenMonkey

    It has been in the news that in the very heart of modern day high-tech, i.e. Silicon Valley, California, many CEOs and execs in the high tech industries send their own children to schools where cell phones and tablet/computer screens are banned from the classrooms and the teachers are allowed to use only “old fashioned” teaching/learning tools like pencils, crayons and paper, physical books (my goodness, no ebooks downloaded onto a tablet?), and chalkboards instead of big screen TVs.

    Reportedly when hiring nannies to look after their children, the nannies are requested to sign contracts stipulating they agree not to use their own electronic devices in the presence of their young charges. Seems somewhat strange that we are in a computer revolution in most schools as we are told teaching children how to use cell phones, tablets and computers from an ever younger age is absolutely necessary to give them the skills to survive in the wonderful, interconnected 5G world of tomorrow, yet these silicon valley execs who earn a living flogging high tech to the world are holding their own children back and depriving them of this ever so necessary learning experience. One has to wonder what they know that our own educators don’t..

    Children are tech addicts – and schools are the pushers
    When Silicon Valley bosses send their children to screen-free schools, why do we believe the claims of the ‘ed tech’ industry?

    I’m wary of sounding sanctimonious, and corroding much-needed solidarity between busy parents with different views on screen use. But when I see an infant jabbing and swiping, I can’t help experiencing what the writer James Bridle calls in a disturbing recent essay a “Luddite twinge”; and the research suggests I should trust it.

    Earlier this month the children’s commissioner for England warned that children starting secondary school were facing a social media “cliff edge” as they entered an online world of cyber-bullying and pornography. According to Public Health England, extended screen use correlates to emotional distress, anxiety and depression in children. The American College of Paediatricians associates it with sleep problems, obesity, increased aggression and low self-esteem.

    And not only is screen technology harmful to children per se, there’s little evidence that it helps them to learn. A 2015 OECD report found that the impact of computers on pupil performance was “mixed, at best”, and in most cases computers were “hurting learning”. The journal Frontiers in Psychology identifies “an absence of research supporting the enthusiastic claims that iPads will ‘revolutionise education’”. Researchers at Durham University found that “technology-based interventions tend to produce just slightly lower levels of improvement” compared with other approaches. Even for the head of the e-Learning Foundation, proving technology improves results remains the “holy grail”.

    Education technology is often justified on the grounds that it boosts disadvantaged children, yet research shows it widens rather than bridges socioeconomic divides. The One Laptop per Child programme, which distributed 25m low-cost computers with learning software to children in the developing world, failed to improve language or maths results.

    More: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jan/26/children-tech-addicts-schools

  37. SirSimpleSimonPresidentForLife Avatar
    SirSimpleSimonPresidentForLife

    We learn language firstly by listening even from within the womb, then by speaking. Reading and writing comes much, much later, years later.

    But if parent’s and children are SILENTLY engrossed in swiping, what do fetuses and infants HEAR, what do toddlers HEAR, how can toddlers learn to SPEAK if they only infrequently HEAR human speech?

    It seems as though we humans are willing to give up speech. My question is:

    if we give up speech, which human societies have spent tens of thousands of years developing, what to we plan to replace it with?

    Even here on BU some are advocating that females be silent in the church.

    I think that we have forgotten that it is not for nothing that languages are referred to as “mother tongues”

    If women become silent, who will ensure that human speech survives?

    Is it important that human speech survives?

  38. GreenMonkey Avatar
    GreenMonkey

    Opposition To GMOs Is Neither Unscientific Nor Immoral
    by Charles Eisenstein
    May 10, 2018

    In a recent opinion piece – Avoiding GMOs Isn’t Just Anti-science, It’s Immoral – Purdue University president Mitch Daniels offers an impassioned plea that we embrace GMOs in agriculture. Daniels’ argument runs as follows: The health and ecological safety of GMOs is unquestionable “settled science.” Therefore, it is immoral to deny developing countries the agricultural technology they need to boost food production and feed their growing populations. It seems an open-and-shut case: the self-indulgent anti-GMO fad among rich consumers threatens the less fortunate with starvation. As Daniels says, it is immoral for them to “inflict their superstitions on the poor and hungry”.

    But let’s look at some of the assumptions that this argument takes for granted: (1) That GMOs are indeed safe, and (2) that GMOs and industrial agriculture in general allow higher yields than more traditional forms of agriculture.

    The ecological and health safety of GMOs is more controversial scientifically than Daniels’ piece asserts. The problem is that it is hard to know which science – and which scientists – to trust. In the United States, most university agronomy departments receive massive funding from agritech companies who, according to Scientific American, “have given themselves veto power over the work of independent researchers.” Since GMOs are proprietary, those companies can and do restrict who can perform research on their products. When a study does document harm, it and its authors are subjected to intense scrutiny, career-ending attacks, and even lawsuits. Imagine yourself as a graduate student at, say, Purdue University. How welcome do you think a research proposal on the health hazards of GMOs would be?

    Nonetheless, there is a large and growing body of research that casts serious doubt on GMO safety, mostly published in Europe and Russia where support for GMOs is weaker. For a methodical and comprehensive overview of the topic see GMO Myths and Truths, which with hundreds of citations of peer-reviewed articles cannot be easily dismissed as “superstition.”

    Continued with hyperlinks at: https://www.wakingtimes.com/2018/05/10/opposition-to-gmos-is-neither-unscientific-nor-immoral/?utm_campaign=meetedgar&utm_medium=social&utm_source=meetedgar.com&fbclid=IwAR2PhHuNQJoDi5qSUlNe_MRpaIXoxSH6G9YQvo7lfNmSVufk2dadUf4LUjI

  39. GreenMonkey Avatar
    GreenMonkey

    Uh oh, breaking news looks like it should add to the worries of the the psychopathic executives at Bayer (Monsanto’s new owner) and for Bayer’s shareholders. The company faces a growing mountain of lawsuits claiming serious human health damages have been caused by Monsanto’s glyphosate based Roundup herbicide. Already the first of these lawsuits have been settled in favour of the plaintiffs who have received large awards for damages. Now more evidence has surfaced from recent studies that glyphosate and Roundup will disrupt an animal’s gut biome. Imbalances in gut bacteria have been linked to various non communicable diseases including cancer.

    Glyphosate and Roundup Proven to Disrupt Gut Microbiome by Inhibiting Shikimate Pathway

    Humans and animals do not have the shikimate pathway, so industry and regulators have claimed that glyphosate is nontoxic to humans.[1] However, some strains of gut bacteria do have the shikimate pathway, leading to much debate about whether Roundup and glyphosate could affect the gut microbiome (bacterial populations). Imbalances in gut bacteria have been found to be linked with many diseases, including cancer, type 2 diabetes, obesity, and depression.

    As many species of gut bacteria do have the shikimate pathway, scientists have hypothesised that glyphosate herbicides could inhibit the EPSPS enzyme of the shikimate pathway in these organisms, leading to imbalance in the microbiome, with potentially negative health consequences. Some have proposed that if glyphosate herbicides do disrupt the gut microbiome, EPSPS inhibition will be the primary mechanism through which this occurs.

    However, proof that glyphosate herbicides can inhibit the EPSPS enzyme and the shikimate pathway in gut bacteria has been lacking. But a new study has proven beyond doubt that this does indeed happen.

    The study in rats by an international team of scientists based in London, France, Italy, and the Netherlands, led by Dr Michael Antoniou of King’s College London and posted on the pre-peer-review site BioRxiv, has found that Roundup herbicide and its active ingredient glyphosate cause a dramatic increase in the levels of two substances, shikimic acid and 3-dehydroshikimic acid, in the gut, which are a direct indication that the EPSPS enzyme of the shikimic acid pathway has been severely inhibited.

    In addition, the researchers found that both Roundup and glyphosate affected the microbiome at all dose levels tested, causing shifts in bacterial populations.

    Levels tested were previously assumed to have no adverse effect.

    https://www.gmwatch.org/en/news/latest-news/19261-glyphosate-and-roundup-proven-to-disrupt-gut-microbiome-by-inhibiting-shikimate-pathway

  40. David Avatar
    David

    Compliments of Dr. GP

  41. David Avatar
    David

    Compliments of Dr. Georgie Porgie

  42. David Avatar
    David

  43. David Avatar
    David

    QEH protecting ‘wider public’
    A CASE OF doing what is best for the majority under unprecedented circumstances.
    This is the position management of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) in the face of criticism over the state facility’s surgical provisions for COVID-19 patients.
    Speaking on behalf of 11 other surgeons on Monday, General Surgeon Dr Maurice Waldron, raised concerns that the QEH operating theatres were not retrofitted with negative room pressure, which would contain viruses within that confined space.
    Additionally, he expressed concern that the operating theatre at the Enmore Isolation Facility, though equipped with the requisite system, did not have the ancillary support structure on hand for speedy response in case of complications.
    Yesterday, on Starcom’s Down to Brass Tacks, Dr Corey Forde, head of the Infection Prevention and Control/ Infectious Diseases Programmes at QEH, made it clear that while better solutions were actively being sought for COVID-19 patients who may require surgery, conducting such procedures at the QEH could not be chanced at this moment.
    He explained that expediency and financial limitations were key watch words during the planning phase for the mitigation of the impact on the coronavirus on the health sector; therefore, tough decisions had to be made for the protection of the wider public.
    Assess risk
    “The decisions that are made, have to be made on a risk stratification profile. For the QEH hospital within the context of this profile, Barbados does not have this widespread infection of COVID-19. So the average Barbadian, unlike New York or Italy, walking off the street and into a hospital setting will not have COVID-19. So, when decisions are made, persons must assess the risk of bringing a known COVID-19 case into a facility to staff and patients. This comes down to the infrastructure of this hospital, which has been in existence for many years, to deal with a highly infectious disease,” said Forde, who was joined by Intern Coordinator for the QEH’s medical students, Dr Clyde Cave.
    Forde said the problem was not unique to Barbados, as he has been in touch with some of his counterparts in the region and in South America, and they have all complained of similar challenges.
    “We have seen internationally, the kind of catastrophe from the failure to take
    certain steps and we have to protect every single Barbadian. We have seen examples internationally of persons bringing one COVID-19 surgical patient in and it infected the entire facility . . . I don’t think we should ever say that if a person is COVID-19 positive that they should not be afforded care, but hard decisions have to be made and the decision is that we have to take this outside of the hospital,” he stressed.
    However, the infectious disease expert noted that should the country experience wider spread of the virus, there could be a rethink of the decision.
    However, Forde’s position was not satisfactory to Waldron, who was also a guest on the programme and insisted that the QEH should retrofit one of its nine operating theatres for COVID-19 patients. He argued that doctors who interchangeably work with COVID-19 patients at the isolation facility and then resume duties at the QEH, pose an equally high risk of causing an outbreak at the state’s premier health facility. (CLM)

    Source: Nation newspaper

  44. Dentistry Whisperer (M. Pharm. D) LinkedIN Avatar
    Dentistry Whisperer (M. Pharm. D) LinkedIN

    Testing, Testing, Testing. Are we getting the true picture about Corona virus from the de Santos lab? Rather than reporting the number of tests executed, should we not be counting people tested? In micro-biology, two test may be required for one person, furthermore false positive may require another test. Hence we see 4700 (tests) dwindling to about 2500.

  45. David Avatar
    David

    FDA Issues Recall Alert for Metformin ER Products

    June 01, 2020 02:21 pm News Staff – On May 28, the FDA announced(www.fda.gov) that it had asked five pharmaceutical firms to voluntarily recall products containing extended-release formulations of metformin hydrochloride, a drug frequently prescribed to patients with type 2 diabetes to manage blood glucose levels.

    [metformin bottle]

    The recall stems from a recent series of tests that revealed unacceptably high levels of N-nitrosodimethylamine, a probable human carcinogen, in several lots of metformin extended-release products.

    “Now that we have identified some metformin products that do not meet our standards, we’re taking action, “said Patrizia Cavazzoni, M.D., acting director of the agency’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, in a press release.(www.prnewswire.com)“As we have been doing since this impurity was first identified, we will communicate as new scientific information becomes available and will take further action, if appropriate.”

    Companies Notified

    FDA officials said in a May 29 conference call that the firms that have been contacted are

    • Actavis Pharma Inc.,
    • Amneal Pharmaceuticals, LLC,
    • Apotex Corp.,
    • Lupin Pharma and
    • Marksans Pharma Ltd.

    Of those five, the only recall notice listed on the FDA’s Recalls, Market Withdrawals & Safety Alerts page(www.fda.gov) at the time of the conference call was for all lots of metformin 500-mg tablets marketed by Apotex, a Canadian firm headquartered in Toronto. During the call, FDA officials said the agency would post additional recall notices as they are published.

    Apotex said in a company announcement(www1.apotex.com) that the FDA had found elevated NDMA levels in one lot of its metformin ER, USP 500-mg tablets, which prompted the voluntary recall. Apotex noted that the firm stopped selling that particular product in the United States in February 2019 and that it has not received any reports of adverse events related to the product to date.

    Amneal has since issued its own press release(investors.amneal.com) announcing voluntary withdrawal of all lots of its metformin ER 500- and 750-mg tablets. It also stated that no reports of adverse events had been received.

    Additional Direction

    The FDA is recommending that clinicians continue to prescribe metformin when clinically appropriate. In addition, the agency recommends that patients continue taking metformin products even after recalls occur until they can consult with their physician to receive a replacement prescription or different treatment option.

    All manufacturers of metformin-containing ER products are being asked to evaluate the risk of excessive NDMA in their products and to test each batch before releasing it into the U.S. market. If testing shows NDMA above the acceptable intake limit, the manufacturer should inform the agency and halt release of the batch.

    It should be noted that the recall does not apply to immediate-release metformin products.

    According to the FDA, several other firms that manufacture extended-release metformin formulations have not had their products recalled. The agency is currently evaluating whether the announced recalls will create shortages in metformin ER products and will work with manufacturers to prevent or reduce the impact of any shortages.

    Metformin is one of the most commonly prescribed drugs in the United States and is often the first oral medication prescribed for people newly diagnosed with diabetes.(familydoctor.org) According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, more than 78 million prescriptions for metformin(clincalc.com) were written in 2017, with extended-release versions of the drug accounting for about one-quarter of those prescriptions.(www.biospace.com)

    Related AAFP News Coverage
    Keep Type 2 Diabetes at Bay
    Evidence Shows Early Prediabetes Intervention Works
    (11/14/2018)

    More From AAFP
    Patient Care: Clinical Practice Guidelines: Diabetes

    Additional Resource
    MedlinePlus: Metformin(medlineplus.gov)

  46. TheOGazerts Avatar
    TheOGazerts

    An excellent update.

    @Sarge
    One reason a person might want the medications bought in the US is that some of the newer drugs may not be on the local ‘prescription formulary’. You either use what is available locally or reach out to other sources for the newer medications.

    As example Abilify (antipsychotic) and Anastrazole (a cancer medication) were not available in one of the islands and had to be bought here.

  47. Sargeant Avatar
    Sargeant

    @Theo G

    I understand the reasoning but I don’t understand how someone can prescribe medication for someone living in another country. Also, it’s not a cake walk to ship personal medication to other countries by courier. A few years ago, a relative flew to Bim and forgot some medication, I had to jump through hoops to get it sent via Fedex.

    Canada safety recall for metformin is attached

    https://healthycanadians.gc.ca/recall-alert-rappel-avis/hc-sc/2020/72281r-eng.php

  48. TheOGazerts Avatar
    TheOGazerts

    Hi Sarge.
    Two very good points, but the ‘game’ is different from what you are playing.

    The patient sees a local professional and a they give him/her prescription. The physician in the US rewrites the prescription given in the Caribbean,

    (2) The medication is transported by someone who is travelling by plane to the Caribbean.

  49. David Avatar
    David

    Bostic wants nursing school
    AN APPEAL IS being made for Barbados to establish a nursing school.
    Minister of Health Jeffrey Bostic made the call yesterday during the launch of the new auxiliary nursing programme at the Barbados Community College (BCC).
    “As we launch this nursing programme, I strongly believe that nursing is too important and too huge an undertaking for it to be just under some other department in this institution. I would love to see the day when there is a Barbados Community College Nursing School and then we could really do some good work in this country. [We] would also be able to facilitate some of our sister territories that do not have the capacity to train. I hope this is the direction the college goes.”
    His statement was followed by loud applause and cheers.
    Bostic added that health care was one of the most critical industries in Barbados and enough was not being done to address the challenges the sector was experiencing.
    “The task of providing health care in this country is an enormous one and the expanse of the systems and the facilities that are required to deliver this health care are very huge and demanding, in terms of being able to provide for those institutions.
    “The human resources component of this enormous task is perhaps the most critical and this is one of the areas that over the years we have not paid sufficient attention to. As a result, we find ourselves with shortages of human resources in nursing. Not only in terms of quantity but qualitatively, (in terms of) specialty areas, we find ourselves lagging behind. I feel it is important to us to be able to address this issue and ensure that we have a sustainable and an appropriately trained workforce to provide the comprehensive health care services.”
    The minister added there was a need for more auxiliary nurses as Barbados had an ageing population.
    “Barbados is an ageing society and this will continue for a long time to come. Do we have enough resources in place to adequately provide for what is our reality? Not yet, I don’t think so.
    “Nursing auxiliaries can play a very significant role in this country not only in elderly care but community care . . . . It is imperative that going forward, we try to build up some sort of capacity that would allow us to be able to look after our elderly in their own homes and communities.”
    Huge task
    He added that caring for the elderly was such a huge task that Government had to partner with private elderly care facilities to properly service the health care needs of that demographic, noting that in spite of this there was still a great demand for more elderly caregivers.
    Professor Velma Newton, chairman of the BCC, said it was her dream, along with others on the board of management, to see such an institution set up.
    “We do believe it is time there is a special facility for nursing,” she said. “That it would be moved from the department division it is currently a part of because there is a major shortage here in Barbados and other countries in the region as well. If we can get the resources together to set up a nursing school, I think it would be a good thing for Barbados and the region.”
    The new auxiliary programme, which started last week with its first cohort of 35 students, is a six-month certificate course that entails training in basic nursing procedures such as taking vital signs, administering medication at the advice of a doctor, and caring for incapacitated patients.
    The launch ceremony was held at the Howell’s Road, St Michael institution.
    The programme is a joint initiative between the college and Sagicor Life Inc. (SB)

    Source: Nation Newspaper

  50. David Avatar
    David

    Another test for prostate cancer detection
    BARBADIAN MEN have another route to early detection of prostate cancer through a new experimental test called Prostate Circulating Antigen (PCA).
    The Barbados Cancer Society, where the test is being conducted along with the familiar Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA), is targeting about 500 men with half of that number in the first instance.
    “Right now, we only have about 119 and they are coming in around about 20 to 25 twice a week. So it will take us a few weeks to get through the [process],” said president of the Barbados Cancer Society, Dr Dorothy Cooke-Johnson, during a press briefing yesterday at the Society’s headquarters at Henry’s Lane, Collymore Rock, St Michael.
    She said the PSA can be confirmed in about a few weeks from the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, but the PCA might take a month after they are sent to Yale University in the United States. The two results will be compared and evaluations made.
    Blood sample
    The PCA is based on the collection of a blood sample – similar to the PSA – where from this small amount it is possible to detect a “novel, and very specific circulating gene signature, composed of fragments of DNA associated with the presence of prostate cancer or ‘pre-cancer’ … referred to as a ‘biomarkers’ ”.
    It was explained that the biomarkers can lead to earlier and more specific diagnosis “even when the tumor is minute and can also indicate through the DNA fragment characteristics, the degree of aggressiveness of the future tumor”.
    Cooke-Johnson said Barbados is one of the few countries to offer the test and is free to Barbadian men.
    Participants in the programme gave a thumbs up to the procedure.
    “I am very positive about the whole programme. All men who deal with prostate know that is something we have to face. If somebody offers the opportunity for early diagnosis I think you should take part, especially if it is a research programme,” said one of the attendees.
    Another participant said he was very positive about the project and said it offered another option to the digital exam on which he was not keen.
    The Society was alerted to the procedure through its first vicepresident Professor R. David Rosen, who contacted Professor Irvin Modlin, of Yale University. He was invited to Barbados which has become one of the few handpicked organisations worldwide investigating the test. (JS)

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