Why Doctors Are Concerned About the Flu This Year!

Hi and welcome to this week’s look at headlines in natural health on iHealthTube.com…

Flu season is upon us and according to some accounts it started earlier than usual in some places…. that’s prompting health officials to urge people to get vaccinated.  But is that helping?  A recent article in the New England Journal of Medicine points out doctors’ concern over the record level of flu in Australia and just a 10 percent effectiveness for the flu shot.  

Why is this a concern?  The American flu vaccine uses the same vaccine which could lead to a similar vaccine effectiveness during a more severe flu season.  The best advice to stay healthy during flu season is to avoid close contact with those that might have the flu and to wash hands frequently.

Canola oil is one of the most widely consumed vegetable oils in the world and has been advertised as being healthy… but both might soon be changing…

A recent study published out of Pennsylvania is linking the consumption of canola oil with memory and learning ability issues as well as weight gain in mice.  One area of focus in the study was the formation of amyloid plaques common in Alzheimer’s Disease.  In previous study… mice with Alzheimer’s were fed a diet enriched with extra-virgin olive oil.  Those mice had reduced levels of amyloid plaques.

Researchers looked to see if canola oil would produce similar results… instead… after 12 months on supplemented canola oil… the mice weight significantly more than those fed a normal diet.  The mice that were fed canola oil showed impairments in working memory as well as an increase in amyloid plaques.

More and more is being known about the risk of kids drinking sugar-sweetened drinks… now a new study is looking at pregnant mothers doing the same and its effect on children.

A recently published study looked at mothers in their first and second trimester of pregnancy who recorded their food and beverage consumption.  They completed another questionnaire when their kids reached 3 years of age… which is considered early childhood.  When the kids reached mid-childhood… 19 percent had asthma.  the half of mothers who consumed the most sugar-sweetened beverages were more than 60 percent more likely to have a child with asthma at mid-childhood.

Similarly… kids who consumed the most fructose during early childhood were 64 precent more likely than those who consumed the least… to have asthma in mid-childhood.

That’s a look at what’s making headlines in natural health this week… make sure to go to iHealthTube.com and sign up for our free email newsletter to stay connected to the latest in natural health!