Saturday, November 29, 2014

Big Pharma Plays Hide-the-Ball With Data

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The problem with data in all science is that negative results are rarely disclosed for any number of good reasons.  My argument though is that all data needs to be disclosed as a matter of course.  I will; go further than that.  All data needs to now be saved electronically and delivered to a records depository with a cover submission letter.  That at least establishes a working protocol that preserves data at low cost.
 
 
The data can be withheld for sensible time periods before it is released.  The first huge benefit is that all new researchers to an area of work will have the raw data to review in order to make their own judgement. That matters as experimental weaknesses can bias an interpretation unnecessarily.
 
 
 
This applies to all science.  The more serious problem is medical research were weak or deliberately biased interpretation can lead to serious harm.  Worse, we cannot trust the often partly naive or the simply greedy to get it right.
 
 
 
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Big Pharma Plays Hide-the-Ball With Data


By Ben Wolford / November 13, 2014 6:54 AM EST

http://www.newsweek.com/2014/11/21/medical-science-has-data-problem-284066.html


On the morning of March 2, 2005, a 14-year-old Japanese girl woke up scared. At first she thought someone was outside the house watching her, but then she decided the stranger must be inside. She wandered restlessly and, despite the cold weather, threw open all the windows. Later, over a meal, she declared, “The salad is poisoned.” Two days later, she said she wanted to kill herself.


This teenager with no history of mental illness was diagnosed with delirium. The night before the hallucinations started, she began taking an anti-influenza drug called Tamiflu (generic name: oseltamivir), which governments around the world have spent billions stockpiling for the next major flu outbreak.


But evidence released earlier this year by Cochrane Collaboration, a London-based nonprofit, shows that a significant amount of negative data from the drug’s clinical trials were hidden from the public. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) knew about it, but the medical community did not; the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which doesn’t have the same access to unpublished data as regulators, had recommended the drug without being able to see the full picture. When results from those unpublished trials finally did emerge, they cast doubt over whether Tamiflu is as effective as the manufacturer says.


The revelation of hidden data bolstered a growing movement against what’s referred to within the research community as “publication bias,” in which scientists squirrel away mostly negative or inconclusive findings and broadcast only their positive ones. Concealing trial data—for which patients accept the risks of untested treatments for the greater good—is routine. As many as half of all clinical trials are never published, PLOS Medicine reported last year.



That Japanese girl, whose case was detailed in an FDA report, did not kill herself. But at least 70 people have died, many of them by suicide, after Tamiflu-induced episodes. The deaths were almost surreal: A 14-year-old who took Tamiflu jumped off a balcony, and a 17-year-old on the drug ran in front of a truck. Scientists documented other cases of “psychopathic events,” including a South Korean girl who temporarily developed bipolar disorder and an 8-year-old Japanese boy who wouldn’t answer to his name and began to growl.


Tens of millions of people have taken Tamiflu without incident, and you are far more likely to die from the flu than you are to have a dangerous reaction to the drug. And it’s true that with many medicines a minuscule chance of death is usually tolerated—as long as the benefits far outweigh that risk.


But if Tamiflu does nothing, and there’s even a slight chance of life-threatening side effects, why was it approved? And why continue to prescribe it? That’s what the Cochrane Collaboration argued in a report it published in April. Cochrane is widely considered one of the most rigorous reviewers of health science data. It takes results of multiple trials, looks for faults and draws conclusions. It doesn’t accept funding from businesses with a stake in its findings. And in April, Cochrane took Tamiflu’s maker, Roche, to task about many of its claims.


Gavin Morrow, Principal Scientist of Immunobiology, shows data to Karl Mullen, Research Assistant, at the AIDS Vaccine Design and Development Laboratory at the laboratory's campus in the former Brooklyn Army Terminal, Dec. 1, 2008 in New York City.



Questionable Findings



The influenza virus infects by hijacking healthy cells in the respiratory tract, taking over the nucleus—the cell’s brain—and ordering up copies of itself. Then these new viruses burst out of the cell membrane like an enemy horde to infect more cells. The drug oseltamivir is thought to work mainly by trapping those virus copies inside the cell. With a lower “viral load,” the symptoms won’t last as long, and there’s a lesser chance of developing complications, like pneumonia, and infecting other people.




That was the theory. Roche paid for dozens of clinical trials to prove oseltamivir worked in practice. Afterward, the scientists produced lengthy “clinical study reports” and turned them over to the FDA, which approved the drug in 1999. Some of those reports were condensed into short articles published in medical journals. Most of us have access only to these published findings.



But the full clinical study reports from those trials were locked away. There wasn’t even a list of what trials were conducted; Cochrane initially figured there were about 36 and sought to read them all. It began negotiating with the drugmaker, filing freedom of information requests to the FDA and the European Medicines Agency (EMA), Europe’s FDA equivalent, and backing pressure campaigns in the media. At one point early on, Roche offered to give Cochrane 10 reports, but only if it signed a confidentiality agreement keeping everything secret—including the existence of the agreement. Cochrane refused to sign.


After five years, Roche and the EMA opened up (the FDA has not, and did not respond to requests, both from Cochrane and Newsweek, to explain why). What Cochrane uncovered was more than 70 Tamiflu trials and well over 100,000 pages of unpublished reports. Among them were many trials where the results were negative or inconclusive. With this more complete picture of the testing, Cochrane concluded the trials don’t prove that Tamiflu prevents hospitalizations, contagiousness or complications. The only thing it definitely does do, Cochrane said, is shorten the duration of symptoms, by about a day.


Many agencies, including the CDC, did not change their positions after the report. In response to questions from Newsweek, a CDC spokeswoman referred to an article from April in which the agency says it still believes Tamiflu is “an important adjunct to influenza vaccine.” It cites, for example, a large study published in May in The Lancet, which found that the odds of dying from the flu rose each day without Tamiflu.


As the Cochrane Collaboration was conducting its investigation, the BMJ was conducting its own. It found that neither the FDA nor the EMA “logged any specific psychiatric harms when they licensed oseltamivir.” No one could have predicted the bizarre suicides, but Cochrane’s disclosures revealed indications in the unpublished study reports of the potential for psychiatric side effects. Roche and the regulatory agencies have said there was no proof that the delirium and hallucinations were caused by the drug. As the number of deaths mounted, that position became increasingly difficult to hold.

Since the Cochrane report, many groups have urged companies and regulators to open up trial data, particularly if public money is being used. The U.S. government spent $1.3 billion to develop and stockpile antiviral medication, including Tamiflu. “All trials should be published or at least have their results available somewhere,” says Agnes Dechartres of Paris Descartes University, who led the PLOS Medicine stud

The Bizzare Electromagnetic After Effects of Near-Death Experiences

 

What this indicates is that the spirit or light body which you may recall is physical and information dense as well has been powerfully charged up and is much more under the control of our consciousness. The recovery of the body certainty demands as much as it must overcome the shock of death or near death.


I have heard the phrase ' change of polarity' whatever that may mean.  Yet it does take note.


The take home is that you will be changed, but generally it is for the better.  The physical side effects are clearly a nuisense and may be corrected.


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The Bizzare Electromagnetic After Effects of Near-Death Experiences

Buck Rogers, Staff Writer
Waking Times
The conversation about near-death experiences (NDE’s) is typically centered around questions about the afterlife and what happens to consciousness should you follow the iconic tunnel of light. Skeptics, of course, look at the various scientific angles, debating whether or not the patient was truly dead, or the research was legitimate, and so on.
Less frequently discussed, however, is what happens to people after a near-death experience, and what changes occur in their psychological and physiological makeup. There are thousands of recorded examples of NDE’s that offer testimony to the possibility of life after death, but what about life after near-death?
“Around eighty percent of the people who experienced near-death states claimed that their lives were forever changed by what happened to them. On closer examination, though, a pattern of surprising dimensions emerged. Experiencers were not returning with just a renewed zest for life and a more spiritual outlook. They were evidencing specific psychological and physiological differences on a scale never before faced by them.” – P. M. H. Atwater, L.H.D.

Researcher P.M.H. Atwater, L.H.D is the author of Dying To Know You: Proof of God in the Near-Death Experience, one of the world’s leading researchers on near-death experiences, and a survivor of 3 NDE’s.
After having interviewed thousands of NDE experiencers for her work, she has moved beyond the curiosity of what lies beyond, and has researched the after effects of NDE’s in ordinary people finding some curious patterns. Common among the after-effects are:
  • Changes in personality, often including becoming more loving, calm, and non-judgmental, or leading to major life changes, like divorce, estrangement from family and friends or increased magnetism around others
  • Noticeable increase in intuitive and psychic capabilities, including communication with spirits, plants and animals
  • A shift in a sense of life priorities
  • A sense of timelessness and non-duality
  • Sensitivity to light and sound
  • Changes in attitudes about health, wellness and spirituality 
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In addition to these notable after effects, the research of P.M.H. Atwater revealed another, more bizarre pattern, indicating that many people undergo rather remarkable changes to their body’s electromagnetic field. Called ‘electro-sensitivity’ this can bring on puzzling, frightening, and even dangerous situations for some of the most sensitive of NDE survivors.
“Since beginning my research of near-death states in 1978, I have consistently noticed that a large majority of experiencers (both as part of my study and in general conversation with them) reported becoming more sensitive to electrical and magnetic fields – disturbances, equipment, devices, wrist watches – after their episode.” – P.M.H. Atwater
This strange and lasting physiological change is seen by the majority of those who experience NDE’s. Most commonly, those who experience electro-sensitivity after a NDE report ‘interference’ with potentially anything electronic in the external environment. Some examples are:
  • Lights flickering on and off when entering room, and especially so when there is a high intensity situation occuring
  • Computers and other electronics malfunctioning when near
  • Light bulbs exploding
  • Disruptions in recording equipment leading to unusual or distorted photos and videos
  • Wrist watch batteries die quickly, or watches stop for no reason at all
  • Feeling ‘drained’ when near anything electronic
  • Receiving television or radio channels that shouldn’t be picked up in that location
  • Feeling more ‘connected’ to electronics and being able to use them better than before the NDE
  • Extreme sensitivity to earth changes such as thunder storms, earthquakes, lightening, and tornados
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For those who experience this phenomenon, the physiological interference with their environment becomes a part of every day life, and they learn to do things in different ways in order to mitigate any harm they may cause to any electronics or people near-by.
“I have no business wearing watches – neither does my husband. We cannot keep a watch ticking on our wrists, not even if our lives depended on it. Not only are watches involved, in our acquired electrical freak-outs (AEF’s), but we each have our own, peculiar affect on other electrical objects.
Computers – this is a rough one. If too much pent-up energy isn’t dissipated before I touch a keyboard, my computer frequently cuts off, and won’t recover until I remove my hands, and any other part of me that’s touching the computer. Once I stop touching the computer, it flickers back on, and lets me know it stopped responding… If I am emotionally intense, while typing away on my computer, the computer cut-off occurs.  Once I settle my emotions down, it comes back without any errors.
Transfer all this weirdness over to cell phones, actually any phone. And, it doesn’t have to be my phone. I’ve caused my son’s phone to stop responding more than once. He’ll say to me, “Mom!  Stop it!”, and then I will settle my thoughts down, and the darn thing starts working.” – Cathy L. Jones - Near-Death Experiencer

 In his book, The Body Electric: Electromagnetism and The Foundation of Lifepublished in 1985, surgeon Robert O. Becker brought new light on the electromagnetic dimension of the human being, presenting his discoveries that demonstrated the conductive nature of the brain, the skin, tissue cells, and the entire body. A decade later, more pioneering work in the study of the human electromagnetic body was published by Albert Roy Davis and Walter C. Rawls in the book, Magnetism and Its Effects on the Living Systemwhich revealed the polar nature of the human body.



Russian scientist Semyon Kirlian took this study a step further and produced a now-famous high-voltage technique for photographing human electromagnetic fields, now called Kirlian photography. Later, K. Korotkov, also of Russia developed a way to measure Qi, the life force energy of all things, as explained by Chinese medicine.
Many are raising awareness of the dangers in electromagnetic industrialization of our world, noting that interference with the body’s natural electromagnetic patterns can seriously effect health, while skeptics claim there is little harm in the amount of electromagnetic radiation introduced by cell towers, wi-fi, smart meters, and so on. The phenomena of electro-sensitivity, if more closely examined, may give more insight into just how pliable the human electromagnetic body really is, and the connection between the energy body and the spiritual dimensions of human existence.
The human subtle energy body is a tangible reality for many who practice meditation, yoga, or theinternal martial arts. It is remarkable that there is such a connection between near-death experiences, which which commonly involve bright, radiant, white light, and changes in electro-sensitivity. A near-death experience is considered by many to be a ‘spiritual’ experience, so, could resulting electro-sensitivity be validation of the experiences of many of the world’s sages and mystics who believe life and spirit to be comprised of ‘energy.’ Could this also indicate that our universe is predicated on the physics of electricity after all?
“From the smallest particle to the largest galactic formation, a web of electrical circuitry connects and unifies all of nature, organizing galaxies, energizing stars, giving birth to planets and, on our own world, controlling weather and animating biological organisms. There are no isolated islands in an electric universe.” ~David Talbott and Wallace ThornhillThunderbolts of the Gods


About the Author
Buck Rogers is the earth bound incarnation of that familiar part of our timeless cosmic selves, the rebel within. He is a surfer of ideals and meditates often on the promise of happiness in a world battered by the angry seas of human thoughtlessness. He is a staff writer for WakingTimes.com.
Sources:
http://us2.campaign-archive2.com/?u=e1987e10867e1be15381585f0&id=2514b1a821
http://pmhatwater.hypermart.net/About/About/wikibio.html
http://iands.org/aftereffects-of-near-death-states.html
http://pmhatwater.com/resources/PDFs/Articles/Electrical-Sensitivity-Update.pdf
This article is offered under Creative Commons license. It’s okay to republish it anywhere as long as attribution bio is included and all links remain intact.

Reverse Insulin Resistance With These 8 Foods

 

 Unfortunately the fundamental cause of diabetes happens to be a lifetime of bad eating choices.  The good news here is that after correcting that problem there is in addition several food protocols that can reverse and/or stabilize the problem.  That is very good news.

 

Some is as easy as a concoction of tumeric, ginger and cinnamon likely blended into honey.   Fresh and raw is nice of course, but i do not think the dry product is less effective.  Regardless there is plenty of suggestions to work with and the dosage is laid out here.


Please do not wait to develop the disease before you deal with the problem.  Sugar is a stealth addiction which encourages excess. fight that if you do nothing else.

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Reverse Insulin Resistance With These 8 Foods