Health

Telegraph | The so-called sunshine vitamin, which can be obtained from food or manufactured by human skin exposed to the sun, plays a key role in boosting the immune system, researchers believe. In particular it triggers and arms the body's T cells, the cells in the body that seek out and destroy any invading bacteria and viruses.

AP | The World Health Organization says more than 85 million children under 5 in west and central Africa will be vaccinated against polio.

Telegraph | Drinking sugar-sweetened soft drinks has been linked to an increase in new cases of diabetes and heart disease. More people now drink soft, sport and fruit drinks daily, and the increase has led to thousands more diabetes and heart disease cases over the past decade, according to research presented to the American Heart Association's annual conference.

Natural News | Women who take strategic serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressants during pregnancy are twice as likely to give birth prematurely as women who do not take the drugs, according to a study published in the Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine and funded by the Danish Medical Research Council.

Newsweek | You have breast cancer." Many of us either know someone who has received that diagnosis or have heard those scary words ourselves. Although breast cancer is still the second most common cancer among American women (behind skin cancer), rates have been declining by about 2 percent a year since 1999, after having increased for the previous 20 years. That's good news—but it's also a puzzle that researchers have been trying to solve. If we can find out why fewer women are being diagnosed with this terrible disease, maybe we can find ways to make it even less common and perhaps apply those lessons to other forms of cancer as well.

NaturalNews.com | The American Academy of Environmental Medicine has warned that the public should avoid genetically modified (GM) foods, stating, "There is more than a casual association between GM foods and adverse health effects. There is causation."

Rawstory.com | With the results of a medical study summarized by a new report delivered to the California state legislature, the California Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research (CMCR) claims it has established scientific proof that inhaled cannabis holds medical value at or above the level of conventional prescription medicines used for a variety of ailments.

The Australia | Children with ADHD who use prescription drugs to manage their condition were 10 times more likely to perform poorly at school than ADHD kids who avoided medication, a new report revealed.

TheMoneyTimes.com | According to new estimates by the U.S. heath authorities, the dreaded H1N1 pandemic, which has shown sustained human-to-human transmission since its outbreak in April may have killed close to 17,120 people.

Natural News | As many as 50 percent of all prostate cancer diagnoses may be cases of over-diagnosis, according to a study published in the British Medical Journal. Over-diagnosis refers to the detection of a cancer that, if left untreated, would never have any negative effects on a person's life. This happens with cancers that grow slowly and do not spread to other organs, so that a patient dies of other causes before ever experiencing any symptoms.

Natural News | To hear the vaccine pushers say it, all the recent outbreaks of mumps and measles are caused by too few people seeking out vaccinations. It's all those "non-vaccinated people" who are a danger to society, they say, because they can spread disease.

WellnessResources.com | In the 2010 growing season Monsanto plans to unleash its latest Frankenfood experiment on the American and Canadian public, a new version of genetically mutated corn with eight abnormal gene traits called Genuity SmartStax corn.

National Post | Makers of natural-health products say they are bracing for widespread layoffs and millions of dollars in losses after Canada's pharmacy regulators issued a surprise directive recently urging druggists to stop selling unlicensed natural remedies.

Bloomberg | Air passengers should be made aware of the health risks of airport body screenings and governments must explain any decision to expose the public to higher levels of cancer-causing radiation, an inter-agency report said.

Reuters | People who drink two or more sweetened soft drinks a week have a much higher risk of pancreatic cancer, an unusual but deadly cancer, researchers reported on Monday.