Salmonella and E. coli account for more than half of all food recalls in the United States; salmonella contributes to an estimated 28 percent of more than 3,000 U.S. deaths related to foodborne illness each year; researchers have discovered and received a patent for a naturally occurring lantibiotic -- a peptide produced by a harmless bacteria -- that could be added to food to kill harmful bacteria like salmonella, E. coli, and listeria.  Researchers at the University of Minnesota have discovered and received a patent for a naturally occurring lantibiotic — a peptide produced by a harmless bacteria — that could be added to food to kill harmful bacteria like salmonella, E. coli, and listeria.  The U of M lantibiotic is the first natural preservative found to kill gram-negative bacteria, typically the harmful kind. “It’s aimed at protecting foods from a broad range of bugs that cause disease,” said Dan O’Sullivan, a professor of food science and nutrition in the university’s College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences. “Of the natural preservatives, it has a broader umbrella of bugs that it can protect against.”  A University of Minnesota release reports that the lantibiotic could be used to prevent harmful bacteria in meats, processed cheeses, egg and dairy products, canned foods, seafood, salad dressing, fermented beverages, and many other foods.  Source

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Researchers at MIT’s Lincoln Lab have developed technology that may someday cure the common cold, influenza, and other ailments; the researchers tested their drug against fifteen viruses, and found it was effective against all of them — including rhinoviruses that cause the common cold, H1N1 influenza, a stomach virus, a polio virus, dengue fever, and several other types of hemorrhagic fever. Most bacterial infections can be treated with antibiotics such as penicillin, discovered decades ago. Such drugs, however, are useless against viral infections, including influenza, the common cold and deadly hemorrhagic fevers such as Ebola. The drug works by targeting a type of RNA produced only in cells that have been infected by viruses. “In theory, it should work against all viruses,” says Todd Rider, a senior staff scientist in Lincoln Laboratory’s Chemical, Biological, and Nanoscale Technologies Group who invented the new technology. Because the technology is so broad-spectrum, it could potentially also be used to combat outbreaks of new viruses, such as the 2003 SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) outbreak, Rider said.  Source

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Recently received back my ACTH stimulation test results and wanted to share (below).  Ideally, I would have done a repeat of the Adrenal saliva panel I had done 8 months ago, but that is not an option right now due to my financial situation.  Doctor says everything looks good (within the ranges), and suggested that maybe the symptoms of fatigue, low stress tolerance, etc. are not hormonal, but possibly some type of ongoing infection; he has referred me to an infectious disease doctor.

Not sure if others have seen similar results, or been able to correlate their ACTH stimulation results to their saliva results, or have ever seen the test show results for adrenal insufficiency vs. failure.

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Like many folks on the site, I am healing exclusively with the aid of OTC vitamins and supplements.  Although the healing response is often much slower than with prescription drugs, and there is more experimentation necessary, I consider it a much safer alternative that I feel I have much more control over.  The big downside of course,  is that one can end up with a laundry list of supplements to research, purchase, take correct dosages of, and track responses to.  This can become very overwhelming, especially if you are unsure whether a particular supplement is really providing any benefit, or if it is just burning a big hole in your pocket.  

Wanted to share with folks here a reminder to do your best to track your supplements and the progress you make on them.  Recently, I have done I poorer job than usual at this, and it has led to some reemergence of my symptoms and frustration.  Hoping to recount some tips and details below.

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Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) is estimated to affect up to 15% of the population in the US and other industrialised nations (1), yet research into why people develop this hypersensitivity to chemicals is sorely lacking. Currently we have mainly animal testing and studies involving small numbers of participants diagnosed with MCS to go on.

One leading theory suggests the development of a hypersensitivity to chemical stimuli in an area of the brain known as the limbic system which controls a variety of functions including emotion, behaviour, long term memory, and olfaction (our sense of smell). Animals studies have shown that both large acute exposures and low-level chronic exposures to certain organic chemicals can result in hypersensitivity of the limbic system to subsequent minute exposures to the same, or similar chemicals (2). Perhaps the most complete theory of the pathophysiology of MCS thus far has been proposed by Martin Pall, Professor Emeritus of Biochemistry and Basic Medical Sciences at Washington State University. Pall believes the symptoms are the result of a trigger (primarily chemical exposures) that results in the body getting locked into a cycle involving elevated levels of nitric oxide, increased free radical production (oxidative stress), chronic inflammation, and again, excessive sensitivity of the brain and central nervous system to "normal" stimuli (mediated by the NMDA receptor) (3).

What all current biomedical research points to is that excessive exposures to chemicals that exceed the the body's detoxification capacity, may result in the development of MCS in susceptible individuals. This is true whether the exposure is acute and obvious or is more insidious, occuring at a low-level over a prolonged period of time.

For some who develop MCS it is obvious what initially caused their illness. Acute exposure to such things as organophosphate/organochlorine pesticides, formaldehyde, or various powerful industrial solvents are obvious examples.

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