but while many pediatric experts say that cow ' s milk should not be given to infants, they strongly disagree with some of the committee ' s recommendations. iron has long been considered safe and a promoter of good health. but a new study from finland raises the possibility that high levels of iron may increase the risk of heart attacks. the study of more than 1, 900 men from 42 to 60 years old found that the risk of heart attacks was greater among men with high levels of iron than those with lower amounts. surprising new findings from a large study in finland show that high levels of iron are a strong risk factor for heart attacks. the study, which is being reported today in a leading scientific journal, provides the first empirical evidence for a theory advanced 11 years ago that high amounts of iron promote heart attacks and low levels protect against them. the young children of employed women fare as well nutritionally as the children of full - time homemakers, a new study has found. but the bad news is that many children in both groups eat too much fat and too little calcium, iron, zinc and vitamin e. iron supplements, which some children mistake for candy, are the biggest cause of accidental poisoning deaths of children under 6 years old, a new study reports. the study, which looked at poisoning deaths over an eight - year period, also found pesticides, kerosene and lighter fluid to be leading killers of small children. fifteen years ago reducing regimes like the grapefruit diet, the stillman diet, and " five pounds in five days of chicken " were detailed in the pages of women ' s magazines, promising a quick fix for everything from thunder thighs to those embarrassingly protruding tummies. today, such high - protein diets - - grapefruit and beef, or hard - boiled eggs and beef, or chicken - - have been shunted from the quick - weight - loss spotlight and back to the wings where starchy foods and the occasional dessert once lurked. while nutritionists say that most americans consume nearly twice as much animal protein as necessary, they warn that protein deficiency can lead to anemia in women of child - bearing age and to growth deficiency in young children. lead : ten years ago almost every cookbook remotely connected with nutrition was for a reducing diet. today, the nutrition - related cookbooks are more concerned with overall health than with weight reduction. lead : could it be that such fashionable ingredients as broccoli di rape, chilies, morels, carambola, passion fruit and cherimoyas add not


nutrition - related cookbooks are more concerned with overall health than with weight reduction. lead : could it be that such fashionable ingredients as broccoli di rape, chilies, morels, carambola, passion fruit and cherimoyas add not only variety to the modern diet but also a generous dose of good health? lead : can infants grow and develop normally on a diet devoid of all animal products except mother ' s milk? can teen - agers and young adults mature properly and meet the physical, intellectual and emotional demands of their lives if they eat no meat, chicken or fish? can you tell if your children are getting enough of the needed nutrients from a vegetarian diet, and what the risks are if they don ' t? most popular - health - well : can statins cut the benefits of exercise? - well : what ' s in your green tea? - well : the scientific 7 - minute workout - well : no easy choices on breast reconstruction - ‘ semi - invisible ’ sources of strength - well : a benefit of aging : flu protection - well : punched and poked by their pride and joy - well : many fronts in fighting obesity - recipes for health : bulking up smoothies with chia seeds - the new old age : dnr by another name


figuring out the right amount, and types, of fish to eat during pregnancy can feel like yet another tricky decision meant to test a conscientious mom - to - be. much ado has been made of the omega - 3 fatty acids in fish that appear to promote healthy development of the fetal brain. research that gets a lot of attention in certain corners of the web suggests that kids born to mothers who had more fish - derived omega - 3s during pregnancy fare better than the kids whose moms didn ' t. the reported benefits associated with omega - 3s include fewer behavior problems, better verbal skills, and even higher iqs. so it ' s hardly a shock that the meticulous mommy set has taken an interest in seafood. at the same time, many expectant mothers are perplexed by the toxins conundrum. mercury, which can harm the fetus ' s developing nervous system, is found in at least trace amounts in nearly all seafood and at far greater levels in certain fish. so which fish should a pregnant woman eat? u. s. news discussed the dilemma with two experts : gideon koren, physician in the department of clinical pharmacology and toxicology and director of the motherisk program ( dedicated to counseling pregnant women about risks related to drugs, chemicals, disease, nutrition, and environmental agents ) at the hospital for sick children in toronto ; and emily oken, a physician and assistant professor in the department of ambulatory care and prevention at harvard medical school who has researched the risks and benefits of fish consumption during pregnancy and its effects on child development. here ' s what we learned : pick the right fish. not all are the same. big fish that are high on the food chain tend to have greater mercury levels than smaller fish, so size does matter. and not all seafood is equally plentiful in the coveted omega - 3s. for example, shrimp and pollack are low in mercury but don ' t offer a lot of omega - 3 compared with other seafood, says oken. other fish are high in both omega - 3s and mercury. generally speaking, salmon ( whether wild or farm raised ) tends to be low in mercury and rich in omega - 3s, as do herring, trout, and sardines. canned tuna, oken notes, usually has moderate levels of mercury. the fish found to have the highest mercury levels, says koren, are fresh or frozen tuna, shark, swordfish, escolar, marlin, and orange rough


. canned tuna, oken notes, usually has moderate levels of mercury. the fish found to have the highest mercury levels, says koren, are fresh or frozen tuna, shark, swordfish, escolar, marlin, and orange roughy. pregnant women are advised to limit these to twice per month, he says. the food and drug administration and the environmental protection agency also warn against king mackerel and tilefish. balancing omega - 3s and mercury is complicated. the fda and the epa recommend that pregnant women eat up to 12 ounces, or about two servings, of low - mercury fish and shellfish per week. following that recommendation can be a good way to get omega - 3s without getting too much mercury — but it ' s no guarantee. on some measures of behavior and brain development, oken says, the children of " women who have two to three servings of supermarket fish [ per week ] tend to do better " than those who eat less fish. but limiting fish intake by number of servings is a crude way to restrict mercury intake, oken says, because most people aren ' t aware of which types of fish are high in mercury. " even different types of fish caught in the same lake can have different levels of mercury, " says koren. if you eat locally caught fish, you may need to inquire with the health department to determine the levels of mercury in a given type of fish or shellfish and to learn about special seafood advisories the department may have issued. in fish and fish oil supplements, dha and epa are, generally speaking, the types of omega - 3s thought to yield the greatest benefits, and protection of cardiovascular health is the most thoroughly researched of their benefits. in fetal brain development, though, most research points to dha as the prime actor. epa, however, may offer fetuses other benefits, such as protection against asthma, says oken. nevertheless, experts caution that the research supporting the recommended level of fish consumption is not definitive. " at the present time, " koren says, " the hard evidence that we demand — to say what to do — is not there. " he notes that a randomized study designed to confirm a link between maternal omega - 3 intake and higher offspring iq found no significant effect.


chicago ( reuters ) - a baby girl in mississippi who was born with hiv has been cured after very early treatment with standard hiv drugs, u. s. researchers reported on sunday, in a potentially ground - breaking case that could offer insights on how to eradicate hiv infection in its youngest victims. the child ' s story is the first account of an infant achieving a so - called functional cure, a rare event in which a person achieves remission without the need for drugs and standard blood tests show no signs that the virus is making copies of itself. more testing needs to be done to see if the treatment would have the same effect on other children, but the results could change the way high - risk babies are treated and possibly lead to a cure for children with hiv, the virus that causes aids. " this is a proof of concept that hiv can be potentially curable in infants, " said dr. deborah persaud, a virologist at johns hopkins university in baltimore, who presented the findings at the conference on retroviruses and opportunistic infections in atlanta. the child ' s story is different from the now famous case of timothy ray brown, the so - called " berlin patient, " whose hiv infection was completely eradicated through an elaborate treatment for leukemia in 2007 that involved the destruction of his immune system and a stem cell transplant from a donor with a rare genetic mutation that resists hiv infection. " we believe this is our timothy brown case to spur research interest toward a cure for hiv infection in children, " persaud said at a news conference. instead of brown ' s costly treatment, however, the case of the mississippi baby, who was not identified, involved the use of a cocktail of widely available drugs already used to treat hiv infection in infants. when the baby girl was born in a rural hospital in july 2010, her mother had just tested positive for hiv infection. because her mother had not received any prenatal hiv treatment, doctors knew the child was at high risk of infection. they transferred her to the university of mississippi medical center in jackson, where she came under the care of dr. hannah gay, a pediatric hiv specialist. because of her risk, dr. gay put the infant on a cocktail of three hiv - fighting drugs - zidovudine ( also known as azt ), lamivudine, and nevirapine - when she was just 30 hours old. two blood tests done within the first 48 hours of the child ' s life confirmed her infection and she was kept on the


( also known as azt ), lamivudine, and nevirapine - when she was just 30 hours old. two blood tests done within the first 48 hours of the child ' s life confirmed her infection and she was kept on the full treatment regimen, persaud told reporters at the conference. in more typical pregnancies, when an hiv - infected mother has been given drugs to reduce the risk of transmission to her child, the baby would only have been given a single drug, nevirapine. researchers believe use of the more aggressive antiretroviral treatment when the child was just days old likely resulted in her cure by keeping the virus from forming hard - to - treat pools of cells known as viral reservoirs, which lie dormant and out of the reach of standard medications. these reservoirs rekindle hiv infection in patients who stop therapy, and they are the reason most hiv - infected individuals need lifelong treatment to keep the infection at bay. after starting on treatment, the baby ' s immune system responded and tests showed diminishing levels of the virus until it was undetectable 29 days after birth. the baby received regular treatment for 18 months, but then stopped coming to appointments for a period of about 10 months, when her mother said she was not given any treatment. the doctors did not say why the mother stopped coming. when the child came back under the care of dr. gay, she ordered standard blood tests to see how the child was faring before resuming antiviral therapy. what she found was surprising. the first blood test did not turn up any detectible levels of hiv. neither did the second. and tests for hiv - specific antibodies, the standard clinical indicator of hiv infection, also remained negative. " at that point, i knew i was dealing with a very unusual case, " dr. gay said. baffled, dr. gay turned to her friend and longtime colleague, dr. katherine luzuriaga of the university of massachusetts, and she and persaud did a series of sophisticated lab tests on the child ' s blood. the first looked for silent reservoirs of the virus where it remains dormant but can replicate if activated. that is detected in a type of immune cell known as a cd4 t - cell. after culturing the child ' s cells, they found no sign of the virus. then, the team looked for hiv dna, which indicates that the virus has integrated itself into the genetic material of the infected person. this test turned up such low levels that it was just above


' s cells, they found no sign of the virus. then, the team looked for hiv dna, which indicates that the virus has integrated itself into the genetic material of the infected person. this test turned up such low levels that it was just above the limit of the test ' s ability to detect it. the third test looked for bits of genetic material known as viral rna. they only found a single copy of viral rna in one of the two tests they ran. because there is no detectible virus in the child ' s blood, the team has advised that she not be given antiretroviral therapy, whose goal is to block the virus from replicating in the blood. instead, she will be monitored closely. there are no samples that can be used by other researchers to confirm the findings, which may lead skeptics to challenge how the doctors know for sure that the child was infected. persaud said the team is trying to use the tiny scraps of viral genetic material they have been able to gather from the child to compare with the mother ' s infection, to confirm that the child ' s infection came from her mother. but, she stressed, the baby had tested positive in two separate blood tests, and there had been evidence of the virus replicating in her blood, which are standard methods of confirming hiv infection. dr. anthony fauci, director of the national institutes of allergy and infectious diseases, said although tools to prevent transmission of hiv to infants are available, many children are born infected. " with this case, it appears we may have not only a positive outcome for the particular child, but also a promising lead for additional research toward curing other children, " he said. dr. rowena johnston, vice president and director of research for amfar, the foundation for aids research, which helped fund the study, said the fact that the cure was achieved by antiretroviral therapy alone makes it " imperative that we learn more about a newborn ' s immune system, how it differs from an adult ' s and what factors made it possible for the child to be cured. " because the child ' s treatment was stopped, the doctors were able to determine that this child had been cured, raising questions about whether other children who received early treatment and have undetectable viral loads may also be cured without their doctors knowing it. but the doctors warned parents not to be tempted to take their children off treatment to see if the virus comes back. normally, when patients stop taking their medications, the virus comes


scientists at the georgia institute of technology have attained very promising results on their initial investigations of a new test for ovarian cancer. using a new technique involving mass spectrometry of a single drop of blood serum, the test correctly identified women with ovarian cancer in 100 percent of the 94 patients tested. because of the extremely low prevalence of ovarian cancer in the general population (. 04 % ), extensive prospective testing will be required to evaluate the test ’ s potential utility in general screening applications. scientists at the georgia institute of technology have attained very promising results on their initial investigations of a new test for ovarian cancer. using a new technique involving mass spectrometry of a single drop of blood serum, the test correctly identified women with ovarian cancer in 100 percent of the 94 patients tested. the results can be found online in the journal cancer epidemiology, biomarkers, & prevention research. “ because ovarian cancer is a disease of relatively low prevalence, it ’ s essential that tests for it be extremely accurate. we believe we may have developed such a test, ” said john mcdonald, chief research scientist at the ovarian cancer institute ( atlanta ) and professor of biology at georgia tech. the measurement step in the test, developed by the research group of facundo fernandez, associate professor in the school of chemistry and biochemistry at tech, uses a single drop of blood serum, which is vaporized by hot helium plasma. as the molecules from the serum become electrically charged, a mass spectrometer is used to measure their relative abundance. the test looks at the small molecules involved in metabolism that are in the serum, known as metabolites. machine learning techniques developed by alex gray, assistant professor in the college of computing and the center for the study of systems biology, were then used to sort the sets of metabolites that were found in cancerous plasma from the ones found in healthy samples. then, mcdonald ’ s lab mapped the results between the metabolites found in both sets of tissue to discover the biological meaning of these metabolic changes. the assay did extremely well in initial tests involving 94 subjects. in addition to being able to generate results using only a drop of blood serum, the test proved to be 100 percent accurate in distinguishing sera from women with ovarian cancer from normal controls. in addition it registered neither a single false positive nor a false negative the group is currently in the midst of conducting the next set of assays, this time with 500 patients. “


in distinguishing sera from women with ovarian cancer from normal controls. in addition it registered neither a single false positive nor a false negative the group is currently in the midst of conducting the next set of assays, this time with 500 patients. “ the caveat is we don ’ t currently have 500 patients with the same type of ovarian cancer, so we ’ re going to look at other types of ovarian cancer, ” said fernandez. “ it ’ s possible that there are also signatures for other cancers, not just ovarian, so we ’ re also going to be using the same approach to look at other types of cancers. we ’ ll be working with collaborators in atlanta and elsewhere. ” in addition to having a relatively low prevalence, ovarian cancer is also asymptomatic in the early stages. therefore, if further testing confirms the ability to accurately detect ovarian cancer by analyzing metabolites in the serum of women, doctors will be able detect the disease early and save many lives. libby ’ s h * o * p * e * ™ comment : this study involved testing the metabolite levels in blood sera from 44 women diagnosed with serous papillary ovarian cancer ( stages i - iv ) and 50 healthy women or women with benign conditions. the assay distinguished between the cancer and control groups with an unprecedented 99 % to 100 % accuracy. the method possesses significant clinical potential as a cancer diagnostic tool. because of the extremely low prevalence of ovarian cancer in the general population (. 04 % ), extensive prospective testing will be required to evaluate the test ’ s potential utility in general screening applications. initial trials on new ovarain cancer tests exhibit extremely high accuracy, news release, georgia institute of technology, august 11, 2010. zhou m, guan w, walker ld, et. al. rapid mass spectrometric metabolic profiling of blood sera detects ovarian cancer with high accuracy. cancer epidemiol biomarkers prev 1055 - 9965. epi - 10 - 0126 ; published onlinefirst august 10, 2010 ; doi : 10. 1158 / 1055 - 9965. epi - 10 - 0126


the annual report to the nation on the status of cancer shows the u. s. is making progress in controlling some tumors, but rates of human papillomavirus – related cancers remain stubbornly high. overall, the report shows lower cancer rates in the u. s. among all genders and racial and ethnic groups for the most common cancers, including lung, colon, anal, breast and prostate. but rates of hpv - related cancers, like cervical cancer, are elevated despite the fact that a vaccine exists to prevent the viral infection that can trigger the disease. “ it ’ s hard not to be happy that the death rates of these major cancers are going down, but i think the hpv issue is pressing. “ if you can ’ t get individuals to get vaccinated — because getting cancer is horrible, then there has to be an economic side to this because treating people with these cancers is expensive, ” says dr. joanne mortimer, director of the women ’ s cancer program at the city of hope cancer center in los angeles. ” i think the biggest challenge we face is figuring out a way to vaccinate individuals to prevent this. ” the food and drug administration approved the first vaccine against a cancer, gardasil, which protects against the hpv strains that can trigger cervical cancer and genital warts, in 2006. shortly after approval, the centers for disease control and prevention ( cdc ), which sets immunization guidelines, added the hpv vaccine to its lineup of recommended childhood vaccinations, proposing that girls ages 11 to 12 be immunized against the sexually transmitted hpv before they became sexually active. state health departments, which follow cdc guidelines, began mandating the shot for school entry, but parents balked. the so - called promiscuity vaccine, as they saw it, would only promote sexual activity and many refused to vaccinate their preteen children for a sexually transmitted disease. ( research shows that ’ s not case. ) in 2010, only 48. 7 % of girls ages 13 through 17 received at least one dose of the three - dose hpv vaccine ( cervarix joined gardasil as the second hpv vaccine in 2009 ), and only 32 % received all three recommended doses. considering the u. s. government ’ s healthy people 2020 target is 80 % vaccination among girls ages 13 to 15 for all three doses, those immunization rates are lagging. comparatively, vaccination rates are much higher in canada, the u


. s. government ’ s healthy people 2020 target is 80 % vaccination among girls ages 13 to 15 for all three doses, those immunization rates are lagging. comparatively, vaccination rates are much higher in canada, the u. k. and australia. the shots are effective at controlling the most common strains responsible for cervical cancer, and public - health officials still see the vaccine as a powerful weapon in keeping rates of this cancer down. between 2000 and ’ 09, rates of hpv - associated cancers declined in all women except american indians and alaska natives, among whom vaccination rates are lower. and the benefits of the anticancer vaccine aren ’ t limited to girls. the same virus that contributes to cervical cancer can also lead to anal and oral cancers, which is why the cdc also recommends the shot for boys ages 11 to 12 years as well. “ it ’ s not unique to certain populations, and hpv infections are now across all demographics, and that is one reason we are seeing more anal cancers, ” says dr. julian sanchez, a colorectal - cancer surgeon at city of hope. “ it ’ s not a topic that ’ s in the media very often. ” that frustrates cancer experts and public - health officials since the hpv - related cancers are among the most preventable, with proper vaccination. but misconceptions about the vaccine and its potential side effects — former presidential hopeful michele bachmann erroneously linked hpv vaccination to mental retardation — and parental resistance to inoculating young children against a sexually transmitted virus make hpv vaccination a “ taboo ” topic for many doctors. but that ’ s a hurdle that health providers have to overcome, say cancer experts, if they want to see the encouraging declines in cancer continue. “ just as it is hard for some patients to talk about anal disease or their kids having sex, it ’ s equally hard for some providers to talk about it, ” says sanchez. “ i talk about it everyday, and sometimes it is still difficult for me to approach some patients who i know have a degree of opposition to this type of conversation. ” the annual report is a collaboration between researchers at the cdc, the american cancer society, the national cancer institute, and the north american association of central cancer registries. since 1998, it has provided a robust picture of the state of cancer in the u. s. unlike the case with hpv - related cancers, the report shows that from 2000 to ’ 09, cancer


north american association of central cancer registries. since 1998, it has provided a robust picture of the state of cancer in the u. s. unlike the case with hpv - related cancers, the report shows that from 2000 to ’ 09, cancer - death rates overall have been declining, dropping by 1. 8 % per year among men, 1. 4 % among women and 1. 8 % among kids up to the age of 14. for both men and women, the declines occurred among some of the most common cancers : lung, prostate, breast, colon and rectum, leukemia, and non - hodgkin lymphoma. the cancers with rising death rates included skin, pancreatic and liver cancers for men, while women showed an elevated risk of dying from pancreatic, liver cancer and uterine cancers. the rates of new cancers in the same time period showed a more varied pattern. while men enjoyed an overall 0. 6 % decrease per year on average of new diagnoses, the rates for women remained stable, while children showed a 0. 6 % increase per year of new cancer cases. the decline for men was driven by fewer cases of prostate, lung, rectum, stomach and larynx cancers ; women showed some of the same drops, but these were offset by increases in thyroid, melanoma, kidney, pancreas, leukemia, liver and uterine cancers. “ every time we get these reports we argue about whether the death rate decreases because we find so many of these cancers early and we overtreat certain cancers like breast cancer and prostate cancer, ” says mortimer. overscreening and overtreating cancers have recently become a controversial public - health topic as new analyses question the extensive and repeated screening for certain cancers, like breast and prostate, in light of their potential complications and costs. in 2009, the u. s. preventive services task force changed its recommendations for mammograms, advising women to wait until they are 50 years old, not 40, to begin regular testing. in 2012, the task force also advised men to skip routine screening for prostate cancer with the prostate - specific - antigen test altogether unless they have a history of the disease. experts hope that the good and bad news in the report will motivate americans to remain vigilant about cancer ’ s risk factors, including smoking and too much sun exposure, while taking advantage of ways to protect themselves from tumors, like getting vaccinated against hpv. “ the report does a great job


fenugreek diabetes can control both glucose & cholesterol levels in blood, additionally nourishes digestive system, liver and promotes respiratory health. what is fenugreek ( trigonella foenum - graecum )? trigonella foenum - graecum is a plant of the family fabaceae ; leaves are useful as herb and their yellow colored seeds as a spice. fenugreek is cultivated in nepal, india, pakistan, bangladesh, china, egypt, france, spain, turkey, and morocco. fenugreek has been in use for centuries for various female conditions, brain and nervous system problems, skin, liver and metabolic disorders. it is also beneficial for respiratory and gastrointestinal problems. how does fenugreek lower your sugar level? fennugreek slows down the absorption of glucose, and other simple carbohydrates. it is due to its mucilaginous fiber content and high viscosity formation in the gut. additionally, fenugreek shows improvement in hdl - cholesterol levels ( 31 % increase ). how does fenugreek lower your risk for heart diseases and strokes? fenugreek possesses antioxidant property in the presence of glutathione and beta - carotene in their seeds. this prevents the oxidation of ldl cholesterol, thus stops inflammation of arteries, and no plaque formation. therefore, fenugreek reduces the risk of atherosclerosis and heart diseases. medicinal benefits of fenugreek trigonella foenum - graecum ( fenugreek ) has traditionally in use for the treatment of diabetes. - fenugreek traditionally used to promote digestion, improve appetite and to support respiratory health. the high - fiber seeds also provide support for healthy bowel function, and its lecithin content promotes fat metabolism. provide relief from digestion - related conditions such as pain, cramps, intestinal gas, stomach bloating, diarrhea, and restore digestion. - relief chronic cough, sore throat, treats skin irritations, anemia, bad breath, respiratory infections, and mouth ulcers. - fenugreek helps menopausal symptoms, induces childbirth, increases milk supply in lactating women, fenugreek tea made of fenugreek leaves can relieve arthritis pain. - traditional chinese medicine ( names as hu lu ba ) use fenugreek seeds, they consider


induces childbirth, increases milk supply in lactating women, fenugreek tea made of fenugreek leaves can relieve arthritis pain. - traditional chinese medicine ( names as hu lu ba ) use fenugreek seeds, they consider fenugreek could warm and tonify kidneys. swallowing 2 to 3 grams of fenugreek seeds early in the morning in an empty stomach, before brushing the teeth and having morning tea or coffee can help heal joint pains without any side effects. fenugreek recommended daily dosage fenugreek to help reduces high blood sugar levels, your daily dosage may be between10 to 30 g defatted seed powder each day. if you are taking fenugreek as a tincture, take three to four ml dose, three times each day. fenugreek available in different forms fenugreek is commercially available in different forms as raw fenugreek seeds, defatted fenugreek seed powder, tablets, capsules, and tincture. how do you take fenugreek? take one - teaspoon fenugreek seed and add it into one cup of water, boil and steep it for 5 to 10 minutes. remove from heat and drink with or without sweetener ( stevia ). you can take fenugreek tea as a hot or cold drink. bioactive constituents of fenugreek fenugreek seeds contain alkaloid trigonelline and protein high in lysine and l - tryptophan. fenugreek has steroidal saponins ; diosgenin, yamogenin, tigogenin, and neotigogenin. mucilaginous fiber has beneficial effects on lowering blood - sugar - levels. scientific evidence for fenugreek as sugar natural herb effects of fenugreek seeds on blood glucose and serum lipids in type i diabetes by sharma rd, raghuram tc, rao ns published in eur j clin nutr. 1990 apr ; 44 ( 4 ) : 301 - 6. the study shows fenugreek diet significantly reduced fasting blood sugar and improved the glucose tolerance test. there was a 54 per cent reduction in 24 - h urinary glucose excretion. it significantly reduces in serum total cholesterol, ldl and vldl cholesterol and triglycerides. these results indicate the usefulness of fenugreek seeds in the management of diabetes.


in the news research indicates that sports participation and active commuting to school would significantly decrease obesity prevalence in adolescents. as reported in the july 2012 issue of pediatrics, we surveyed 1718 high school students and asked them about their team sports participation, active commuting to school, recreational physical activity, height, weight, diet quality, and other individual characteristics. we found 4 key points : - adolescents playing on 2 sports teams were 22 % less likely to be overweight / obese and 39 % less likely to be obese compared with adolescents not playing on any sports teams. - the prevalence of overweight / obesity and obesity would decrease by 11 % and 26 %, respectively, if all adolescents played on 2 sports teams per year. - adolescents who walked / biked to school at least 4 days per week were 33 % less likely to be obese compared with those who never walked / biked to school. - the prevalence of obesity would decrease by 22 % if all adolescents walked / biked to school at least 4 days per week. sports participation typically involves consistent moderate to vigorous physical activity, which may account for its robust inverse relationship with high - risk weight status. active commuting to school may also be a fruitful strategy for decreasing childhood obesity. to combat dwindling active commuting rates in youths in recent decades, federally - funded safe route to school programs are providing the necessary infrastructure to support active commuting to school. based on our results, interventions that facilitate sport participation in adolescents of all ability levels should be prioritized for obesity prevention. authors : keith m. drake, ph. d., michael l. beach, m. d., ph. d., meghan r. longacre, ph. d., todd mackenzie, ph. d., linda j. titus, ph. d., andrew g. rundle, dr. p. h., madeline a. dalton, ph. d. study examines links between movie smoking, team sport participation and youth smoking. as reported in the july 2009 issue of archives of pediatric & adolescent medicine, we examined the joint effects of movie smoking exposure and team sports participation on established smoking. we analyzed data from school and telephone - based surveys that assessed movie smoking exposure and team sports participation in 2, 048 youths aged 16 - 21 years. we found two key points : team sports participation lowers the risk of youth smoking. however, the more movie smoking that team sports players see, the greater the likelihood that they will be smokers


bookmark or cite this page as < http : / / www. sym454. org / hebrew / shela. htm > note that this web page has nothing to do with the hebrew calendar, it only concerns specific jewish ritual events that are considered to have some astronomical relevance. for reviews of the traditional rabbinic sources for the jewish laws pertaining to the request for rain, please see the following references : none of the above sources dealt adequately with the relevant astronomy, so my intention here is to focus specifically on the astronomical aspects. as a canadian living in a cool climate with rain ( or snow ) all year round, the timing of all prayers with regard to rain and dew seemed meaningless to me until i spent a year living in israel in 1977, during which i realized that those prayers perfectly suit the climate in israel. when israel prays for rain, the rains come to israel. when israel prays for dew, the rains stop in israel, or so it seemed at the time. in the present era during the summer in israel rain essentially never falls. therefore one might expect that it would be appropriate or at least permissible for those in the diaspora to say the prayer for rain starting on the same date as those living in israel, specifically having the land of israel in mind, but the traditional sources have soundly rejected that idea ( see the references cited above ). one might expect that sh ' ela in israel should begin in the first regular weekday service after the official prayer for rain during the musaf service on shemini atzeret. however, the ancient sages delayed sh ' ela for 11 days until the 3rd of cheshvan, to allow time for pilgrims to return home after sukkot. subsequently rabban gamaliel extended the delay to the 7th of cheshvan, to allow 15 days " for even the tardiest israelite to reach the euphrates ". their concern was that rain would turn the roads to mud before the pilgrims could reach their homes. that traditional delay continues today in israel, even though the temple was destroyed and there are no pilgrims anymore. when the temple is re - built there will be no risk of roads turning to mud because today almost all roads are paved, and anyhow probably all pilgrims will return home safely and rapidly in some sort of vehicle. later, for those living in lands outside israel in mesopotamia, syria, egypt, and " nearby or similar places ", the delay was extended to 60 days after tekufat tishrei, a term


safely and rapidly in some sort of vehicle. later, for those living in lands outside israel in mesopotamia, syria, egypt, and " nearby or similar places ", the delay was extended to 60 days after tekufat tishrei, a term that is loosely translated as the southward equinox. the talmud bavli tractate eruvin page 56a, in the context of surveying a city to determine its orientation with respect to the 4 cardinal directions prior to setting up an eruv, very briefly mentions that on tekufat nisan ( northward or spring equinox, near the beginning of the hebrew month of nisan ) and on tekufat tishrei ( southward or autumn equinox, in the hebrew month of tishrei, near yom kippur ), sun rises at the middle of the range of sunrise points during the year and sets at the middle of the range of sunset points. this definition is astronomically quite valid for tropical and mid latitudes on planet earth, within plus or minus a day or so of the actual equinox, but it ' s an observational method that doesn ' t yield a way to compute the moment of any equinox. this method is also rather inconvenient because it requires a very long period of observation ( at least from one solstice to the opposite solstice ). it isn ' t mentioned in calendrical contexts in tractate rosh hashanah nor in tractate sanhedrin, which suggests that it may never have been directly used to support the sanhedrin calendar committee ' s decision to declare a leap year. the insertion of the leap month had to be announced well in advance of the spring equinox, so that pilgrims would know when to begin their journey to arrive in jerusalem before passover. the talmud didn ' t specify whether the observer is to note the direction to the upper limb, center, or bottom limb of the solar disk. atmospheric refraction near both horizons severely limits the accuracy of this observational method, especially on a cold morning with high humidity pressure inversion over the eastern horizon, which can make sun appear to rise several minutes prematurely ( 4 minutes earlier per degree of refraction, and as much as + 2° of refraction is possible ). observation from an elevated point also introduces errors, making the apparent sunrise earlier and the apparent sunset later. to minimize the error due to atmospheric refraction, the recorded direction should be that of the center of the solar disk at the


, at the equator when it is local apparent noon on the day of an equinox, sunlight will shine straight down any vertical shaft, and no object will cast a shadow, especially when the equinox moment is close to noon. requiring that observations be made at the equator, however, is not very convenient for inhabitants of the holy land! the direction or azimuth of sunrise or sunset must be distinguished from the angle made by the path of the rising or setting sun with respect to the horizon, known as the solar parallactic angle. although sun rises at the true east direction and sets at the true west direction on the day of an equinox, on that day the solar parallactic angle would be 90° only at the equator. at non - equatorial latitudes, due to atmospheric refraction near the horizon and the solar semi - diameter, especially at elevations above sea level, the upper solar limb is seen to rise before it reaches the direction observed at the equator ( jean meeus, mathematical astronomy morsels v, chapter 63, " where does the sun rise at the equinoxes? ", pages 343 - 4 ), and for the same reasons the upper solar limb remains visible as sun sets until after it passes the direction observed at the equator. the range of variation of sunrise and sunset directions are least at the equator, where they are equal to the earth equatorial obliquity ( axial tilt relative to the plane of earth ' s orbit around sun ). at higher latitudes the variations are progressively greater, as shown in the following charts : at sunrise or sunset only, the solar parallactic angle is given by : solar parallactic angle at sunrise or sunset = arccosine [ sine ( geographic latitude ) / cosine ( solar declination ) ] where all angles are in degrees ( jean meeus, astronomical algorithms, second edition, chapter 14, " the parallactic angle ", on page 99 ). the parallactic angle can only be 90° on days when the solar declination equals the observer ' s geographic latitude, which occurs twice per year for locales between the tropic of cancer and tropic of capricorn, but never occurs at latitudes further north or south of the tropics. locales that are on the tropic of cancer see a 90° parallactic angle only when sunset or sunrise occurs near the moment of the north solstice, and locales that are on the tropic of cap


equinoxes. for example, in toronto the equal day and night occurs 4 to 5 days after the southward equinox and about 5 days before the northward equinox. click here to see charts of the variation of daytime length with latitude throughout the year 133kb. this chart shows that in both the north and south hemisphere the dates of equal length daytime and nightime ( where the daytime lengths cross the 12 - hour line ) are several days prior to the spring equinox and several days after the autumn equinox. the gaps separating the 12 - hour days from the equinoxes are unequal and differ between hemispheres, because of differences in earth ' s orbital velocity, and are shorter at higher latitudes ( further away from the equator ), because the length of day changes more rapidly near the equinoxes at latitudes further away from the equator, as shown in the chart. the calculation of the date to start sh ' ela is based on amora shmuel, who took the year as exactly 365 + 1 / 4 = 365. 25 days or 365 days 6 hours long, which is the same as the mean length of the julian calendar year. according to astronomical calculations, however, such a long year length was last appropriate more than 100, 000 years ago, when earth was rotating slightly faster. shmuel who assumed that the intervals between the four tekufot ( equinoxes and solstices ) are equal in length, each 1 / 4 of 365 + 1 / 4 days = 91 + 5 / 16 days = 91 days 7 + 1 / 2 hours. for more information about tekufat shmuel, see " method # 1 " on my " rambam and the seasons " web page. astronomically, the actual intervals between the equinoxes and solstices are not equal, and they vary over the centuries, as shown on my web page " the lengths of the seasons " at < http : / / www. sym454. org / seasons / >. the actual southward equinoctial year length is considerably shorter than 365. 25 days, currently around 365. 242 days ( 365 days 5 hours 48 minutes 30 seconds ), which is 42 seconds shorter than the mean gregorian calendar year length of 365 + 97 / 400 = 365. 2425 days ( 365 days 5 hours 49 minutes 12 seconds ), and it is continuing to get progressively shorter as aphelion slowly advances towards the southward equinox, as


mean gregorian calendar year length of 365 + 97 / 400 = 365. 2425 days ( 365 days 5 hours 49 minutes 12 seconds ), and it is continuing to get progressively shorter as aphelion slowly advances towards the southward equinox, as explained on the " lengths of the seasons " web page at < http : / / www. sym454. org / seasons / >. the tekufat tishrei according to the calculation of shmuel drifts about 3 days later on the gregorian calendar for each elapsed 400 years. today it is about 13 days later than its original proleptic gregorian date, for essentially the same reason that the julian calendar is 13 days behind the gregorian calendar. the gregorian calendar itself, however, has drifted almost 3 / 2 days later with respect to the autumnal equinox, so today tekufat tishrei is almost 14 + 1 / 2 days late with respect to the actual astronomical southward equinox, and during the 21st century it will continue to be fall behind at a fairly steady rate averaging 11 minutes and 30 seconds later per year, as shown in the chart below ( click here or on the chart to open a higher - resolution pdf version 18kb ). the drift of the seasons according to tekufat shmuel is contrasted with the more accurate method of rav adda bar ahavah and the solar longitude method of rambam on my web page entitled " rambam and the seasons ". my freeware windows program, kalendis, has the built - in ability to generate a tekufot report for any hebrew year. click here to see an example of such a report for hebrew year 5769, showing astronomical clock times calculated for israel civil time, along with the traditional tekufot moments reckoned according to the methods of amorah shmuel, rav adda bar ahavah, and rambam. relative to the actual solar cycle, the traditional hebrew calendar periodically varies over a range of more than 30 days, as shown in the following chart depicting the actual timing of the southward equinox relative to certain events in the month of tishrei 192 kb : in the era of hillel ben yehudah ( hebrew year 4116, near the left edge of the chart ) the southward equinox could land as late as the 27th of tishrei, but in the present era the latest equinox lands on the 19th of tishrei. the day below the


20, 2009 at about 2pm, based on a clock showing the mean solar time at the midpoint between the nile river and the end of the euphrates river ( about 16 minutes ahead of jerusalem mean solar time ), so the spring equinox according to tekufat shmuel will be about 18 days and 10 hours too late. the year according to shmuel is 365 days and 6 hours = 365. 25 days in length, whereas the mean year of the traditional hebrew calendar = molad interval × 235 months / 19 years = 365 + 24311 / 98496 days = 365 days 5 hours 55 minutes and ( 25 + 25 / 57 seconds or 7 + 12 / 19 chalakim ) ≈ 365. 2468222 days. in other words, the year of tekufat shmuel is exactly 4 minutes 34 + 32 / 57 seconds = 313 / 98496 of a day longer than the hebrew calendar mean year, so its long - term drift rate to dates that average progressively later in the hebrew calendar year is the inverse of that fraction = 98496 / 313 = 314 + 214 / 313 ≈ 314. 6837 years per day of drift. tekufat shmuel will eventually drift all the way through the hebrew calendar and start the drift cycle over again, always > 1 year late. to calculate how long that will take, divide the hebrew calendar mean year by the tekufat shmuel yearly drift rate : = ( 365 + 24311 / 98496 days ) / ( 313 / 98496 of a day ) = 114937 + 70 / 313 years. the following chart depicts a long - term view of tekufat shmuel spring equinox moments, with the birchat hachamah moments highlighted, for traditional hebrew calendar years 2000 through 6000 ( click here or on the chart to open up a higher - resolution pdf version 133kb ) : as expected, the spring equinox according to tekufat shmuel falls progressively later in nisan as the years pass, with the average at the start of nisan in hebrew year 2000 and at the 13th of nisan in the present era. the total drift of tekufat nisan according to shmuel from creation to the present era was 5768 × 313 / 98496 days ≈ 18 + 1 / 3 days later in the calendar year ( if you are checking my arithmetic, keep in mind that there is no day zero at the start of hebrew months ).


present era was 5768 × 313 / 98496 days ≈ 18 + 1 / 3 days later in the calendar year ( if you are checking my arithmetic, keep in mind that there is no day zero at the start of hebrew months ). as a consequence, it is becoming progressively less likely for tekufat nisan to land in the month prior to nisan ( which can only be adar sheini in the present era ). birchat hachamah will fall in adar sheini only one more time, in hebrew year 5993, and the last time that tekufat nisan will fall in adar sheini will be in hebrew year 6563. in the traditional hebrew calendar birchat hachamah never lands on day 1, 3, 6, 8, 10, 13, 15, 17, 20, 22, 24, 27, or 29 in nisan, because those days can never be wednesday. for the same reason, birchat hachamah never falls on day 2, 4, 9, 11, 16, 18, 21, 23, or 25 in the month before nisan. the zig - zag pattern in the chart above is due to the rosh hashanah postponement rules and makes it hard for the eye to discern the underlying pattern. we can remove that effect to reveal the birchat hachamah pattern by plotting the difference between shmuel tekufat nisan and the traditional molad of nisan, connecting every 19th year of the tekufah and every 28th year for birchat hachamah ( click here or on the chart to open up a higher - resolution pdf version 65kb ) : relative to the molad of nisan, each birchat hachamah moment is 28 years 9 days 9 hours 56 minutes and 14 parts later except that after every 3rd birchat hachamah the pattern jumps earlier by one molad interval ( 29 days 12 hours 44 minutes and 1 part ), and after 5 such cycles the birchat hachamah moment lands in the 8th year of the 19 - year cycle ( top diagonal line on the chart ) and from there takes 4 steps later before the next time that it jumps one molad interval earlier. thus there is an 84 - year cycle of 3 × 28 years, which repeats 5 times and is completed by a group extended to 4 × 28 years, so the pattern repeat interval is 19 × 28 = 532 years. the birchat hachamah moment for 576


- year cycle of 3 × 28 years, which repeats 5 times and is completed by a group extended to 4 × 28 years, so the pattern repeat interval is 19 × 28 = 532 years. the birchat hachamah moment for 5769 falls exactly at the average, as it does every 532 years. the last time that birchat hachamah falls before the molad of nisan will be in hebrew year 5993. the following chart compares the equinox and solstice moments calculated by solex version 9. 1 ( a " postcard - ware " computer program based on numerical integration, the " gold standard " in celestial mechanics, written by professor aldo vitagliano of the chemistry department at the university of naples, italy ) with tekufat shmuel ( thick dashed lines ) and with tekufat adda ( thick solid lines ) and the solar longitude method of rambam ( thin solid lines ), from the traditional year of creation for the first 10 millennia of the hebrew calendar. click here or on the chart to open up a full - page higher - resolution pdf version 43kb ( due to limitations of the image generator, the low resolution version has jagged lines for tekufat shmuel instead of the intended dashed lines ) : my freeware windows program, kalendis, has the built - in ability to generate a tekufot report for any hebrew year : click here to see an example of such a report for hebrew year 5769, showing astronomical clock times calculated for israel civil time, along with the traditional tekufot moments reckoned according to the methods of amorah shmuel, rav adda bar ahavah, and rambam. although the seasons of tekufat shmuel pass at fixed intervals, it is impossible to quote a constant error rate with respect to the actual mean astronomy, beause the astronomical changes are non - linear, for reasons that are explained on my " lengths of the seasons " web page at < http : / / www. sym454. org / seasons / >. the tekufat shmuel calculation was probably established near the era when the shmuel minus solex spring equinox difference was closest to zero. that was around hebrew year 3400, which was well before the era of shmuel. the back - calculated traditional equinox of creation according to tekufat shmuel was astronomically more than 26 days too early. today teku


that was around hebrew year 3400, which was well before the era of shmuel. the back - calculated traditional equinox of creation according to tekufat shmuel was astronomically more than 26 days too early. today tekufat nisan of shmuel is astronomically about 18 days too late. if the original timing at creation was correct then today we reckon the tekufah more than 26 + 18 = 44 days too late! the polynomials posted at the nasa eclipses web site at < http : / / eclipse. gsfc. nasa. gov / secat5 / deltatpoly. html > estimate that for the start of tishrei at the epoch of the hebrew calendar the approximate delta t was 1 day 3 hours and nearly 40 minutes, so if the uncertainty is better than 25 % then the solex astronomical start of season moments ought to be accurate to within less than 7 hours at the calendar epoch. should jews employ a more accurate method for reckoning the seasons? for the purposes of the request for rain, this is not a calendrical question, it is a ritual matter. the more pressing needs are the reform of the traditional fixed arithmetic hebrew calendar and molad. please see " the seasonal drift of the traditional ( fixed arithmetic ) hebrew calendar " at < http : / / www. sym454. org / hebrew / drift. htm > and " moon and the molad of the hebrew calendar " at < http : / / www. sym454. org / hebrew / molad. htm >. could it be that the calculation for birchat hachamah was not intended to arrive at the same ecliptic solar longitude as existed at creation but rather to arrive at the same sidereal solar longitude, when sun will be at the same position against the background of stars in the zodiac? ( or alternatively that the zodiac will be in the same position as existed at creation. ) the so - called first point of aries was established around 600 bc, but that is not where sun was at creation in 3760 bc ( no year zero ). at the the northward equinox in 3760 bc, sun was actually about 10 + 1 / 2° west of the eastern border of the astronomical constellation taurus, or about 44° east of the " true " first point of aries. relative to the mean sidereal solar year the mean year of tekufat shmuel = 365 + 1 / 4 days = 365 days 6


astronomical constellation taurus, or about 44° east of the " true " first point of aries. relative to the mean sidereal solar year the mean year of tekufat shmuel = 365 + 1 / 4 days = 365 days 6 hours has a deficiency of more than 9 minutes. when averaged over the past 6 millennia using astronomical algorithms the mean sidereal year was about 365 days 6 hours 9 minutes 17 seconds, which would have accumulated a sidereal solar longitude deficiency of about 6 degrees 15 + 1 / 2 arcminutes per millennium and in the present era when we say birchat hachamah sun would be more than 35 + 3 / 4 degrees west of its original position at creation ( sun moves slightly less than one degree per 24 hours eastward along its path through the middle of the zodiac constellations ). this error is almost as inaccurate as the 11 minute excess that 365 days 6 hours has with respect to the present era mean northward equinoctial year of 365 days 5 hours 49 minutes and 0 seconds. today the mean sidereal year is usually quoted as about 365 days 6 hours 9 minutes 9 + 1 / 2 seconds. it is worth noting, however, that a mean year of 365 + 10 / 39 days = 365 days 6 hours 9 minutes 13 + 11 / 13 seconds would have accumulated until today a deficiency of less than 12 arcminutes of sidereal solar longitude error since creation, and is an attractively short cycle. the birchat hachamah blessing itself is very short : baruch attah hashem, elokeinu melech ha - olam, o ' seh ma ' aseh b ' reishit. blessed are you, hashem our god, king of the universe, who makes the work of creation. although this blessing is known as birchat hachamah, blessing the sun, it doesn ' t actually mention the sun. however, there are a variety of traditions that embellish this with various psalms before and after the blessing, making quite a ceremony out of the occasion. although one might expect that the evening service would be the appropriate time to recite the blessing, because the calculated moment of the tekufah ( ignoring any time zone differences ) corresponds to sunset at the start of a yom rivii, nevertheless the practise is to carry out the ceremony in the morning, preferably when sun is visible, with the earliest time being the moment when the entire solar disk is above the horizon after sunrise and the latest time being


version, 19 kb ) : to have the original tekufat adda minus molad of nisan difference recur on the original weekday one " only " needs to wait 7 × 19 = 133 years, but even this would be an inconveniently long interval for the purposes of reciting the birchat hachamah blessing. astronomically there does exist a solar activity / sunspot cycle that lasts approximately 22 years, having two alternating solar magnetic half - cycles of approximately 11 years duration. the length of each cycle is currently unpredictable, in fact each half - cycle is only recognized retrospectively upon review of records of sunspot counts and radiation flux measurements, because as each cycle declines there are frequent resurgences of solar activity, see < http : / / en. wikipedia. org / wiki / solar _ cycle >. as of february 2008, it was thought that sun had just passed the cycle minimum and had begun a new cycle, and the web page at < http : / / antwrp. gsfc. nasa. gov / apod / ap080206. html > shows one of the last sunspots of the old solar cycle. compared to other stars we see in the heavens, however, sun is exceptionally stable, an attribute that is of critical importance to life on earth. in conclusion, although we have plenty of reasons to be infinitely grateful to hashem for creating a wonderful and stable sun to keep our home planet bright, warm. and cozy, the traditional celebration of a 28 - year solar anniversary has nothing to do with any physical solar cycle, nor any other astronomical cycle, nor any events purported to have occurred at the time of creation. it ' s just arithmetic. because of doubt, therefore, it might be appropriate for those who insist on saying the birchat hachamah blessing to immediately also say baruch shem kvod malchuto l ' olam va ' ed, " blessed be the name of his glorious kingdom for all eternity ". many authorities have offered opinions as to when the optimal, earliest and latest time to recite the blessing, ranging from sunset at the beginning of yom rivii all the way to any time of day on yom rivii. a commonly held and usually unexplained opinion is that the optimal time is during the third hour of the morning. according to the traditional reckoning of tekufat nisan, when it falls at the beginning of yom rivii that first hour starting at sunset was in ancient times


opinion is that the optimal time is during the third hour of the morning. according to the traditional reckoning of tekufat nisan, when it falls at the beginning of yom rivii that first hour starting at sunset was in ancient times known as the hour of shabbtai ( saturn ). this is just the ancient hebrew name for that hour, it has nothing to do with the astronomical planet that we call saturn. the hour of shabbtai recurs every 7 hours throughout each week. those who hold that sun must be fully visible when the blessing is recited often also hold that the blessing should be recited during the first hour of the daytime that is an hour of shabbtai, which is the third hour of the morning, where each hour is 1 / 12th of the inteval from sunrise to sunset on that day. click here to learn about the ancient hebrew hourly mazalot and weekday names 14kb. should jews employ a more accurate method for reckoning the seasons? for the purposes of the birchat hachamah blessing, this is not a calendrical question, it is a ritual matter. the more pressing needs are the reform of the traditional fixed arithmetic hebrew calendar and molad. please see " the seasonal drift of the traditional ( fixed arithmetic ) hebrew calendar " at < http : / / www. sym454. org / hebrew / drift. htm > and " moon and the molad of the hebrew calendar " at < http : / / www. sym454. org / hebrew / molad. htm >. this page updated 14 tevet 5772 ( traditional ) = 14 tevet 5772 ( rectified ) = jan 7, 2012 ( symmetry454 ) = jan 7, 2012 ( symmetry010 ) = jan 8, 2012 ( gregorian )


revolutionary movements invariably produce great leaders. the name hugo chavez stands among these. judging the role individuals play in historic processes is a precarious affair. but having some estimation is important to understanding the challenges that may await. the us marxist, george novack, observed that the “ leadership, collective and individual, embodies the conscious element in history ”. in other words, revolutionaries all make some difference. as for the influence of an individual, novack suggested, it can “ range from negligibility to totality ”. chavez certainly played an important and often times critical role. he helped form a movement which managed to maintain and revive revolutionary traditions, under the banner of bolivarianism, which were otherwise in retreat. in december 1982 chavez, along with 3 other military officers, formed the mbr - 200. they took an oath that set them on a course to revolution. like all revolutionaries whose names are written in history, chavez was made in the course of struggle. stubbornly loyal to a revolutionary morality influenced by liberation theology ; fiercely combative in the mould of the guerreros who fought spanish colonialism and american imperialism ; and increasingly embracive of the intellectual traditions of marxism in latin america. this was hugo chavez. chavez made his mark because he stood firm when many were buckling at the knees. the year the berlin wall fell, after the defeat of the nicaraguan revolution and the end of a cycle of anti - dictatorship and revolutionary struggle throughout latin america, many revolutionaries looked bleakly toward the future. the mbr - 200 took a different view, participating in el caracazo and making preparations for a revolutionary offensive. while many consider the zapatista uprising of 1994 as the landmark beginnings of the global rebellion against neoliberalism, the mbr - 200 should be credited. in 1992, chavez and the mbr, in command of several army units and with the support of significant numbers of rank and file soldiers and of a growing social movement, attempted a coup. their aim was not to establish a military regime but to wrest power from the elites and open a process of democratisation based on the idea of establishing a new anti - neoliberal constitutional foundation. the mbr planned the coup for may 1992 to coincide with a general strike. but due to fears that the mbr - 200 plan had been discovered, the coup had to be brought forward. the organisation of the strike proved weak. the defeat alerted chavez to the weaknesses of a strategy that did not include the proper party and civic political organisation


to fears that the mbr - 200 plan had been discovered, the coup had to be brought forward. the organisation of the strike proved weak. the defeat alerted chavez to the weaknesses of a strategy that did not include the proper party and civic political organisation of workers and peasants. in a 1996 interview for the australian solidarity magazine, venceremos, chavez noted this lesson : our revolt of february 4 1992, in which over 300 young officers and 10, 000 soldiers rose up, was unsuccessful because, despite our close links with the street, the people weren ’ t sufficiently prepared to be able to back us up. nevertheless, we have continued to build a growing movement in strategic alliance with the residents of the poor suburbs and the universities. chavez was becoming a revolutionary representative of the embryonic anti - capitalist movement, both at home and throughout the continent. chavez ’ s calls for “ a people ’ s revolutionary constituent assembly ”, for “ economic democracy ” and popular “ control over the productive apparatus of society ”, helped fuel the beginnings of the anti - neoliberal movement that is still unfolding in latin america. as is the fate of almost all revolutionaries, chavez was not destined to witness the more beautiful expressions of what we fight for. several years ago he reflected on the long road ahead for the venezuelan revolution : i ’ m going to resort to the thought, to some of the ideas of this great italian revolutionary thinker, antonio gramsci, to make an observation about the moment that we are living. a truly historic crisis occurs when something is dying … but has not finished dying, and at the same time there is something that is being born but which also hasn ’ t finished being born. in the time and space where this occurs, an authentic organic crisis unfolds, an historic crisis, a total crisis. here, in venezuela, let ’ s not forget that for several years we have been right in the middle of a true organic crisis, a true gramscian crisis, a historic crisis. that what is dying refuses to die and doesn ’ t finish dying and that what is being born has not yet been completely born either. we are in the epicentre of the crisis ; a good number of the years to come are part of this historic crisis … there is nothing finished ; nothing that will stand still in the bolivarian revolution. the ruling class of venezuela will take confidence from chavez ’ s death. the revolutionary left will be challenged to find the discourse and strategic and tactical clarity that so often fell to chavez. the revolutionary officers and soldiers


children in some 3. 9 million households suffered from food insecurity last year, with their families unable to provide them with adequate, nutritious food at times. nearly 17 million americans suffered from “ very low food security, ” meaning they had to reduce the amount they ate, saying the food they bought did not last and they didn ’ t have the funds to buy more. they typically found themselves in this situation a few days a month for seven months of the year. - more than 50 million americans can ’ t buy food ( investmentwatchblog. com ) - nearly 15 % of u. s. households were hungry in 2011 ( 247wallst. com ) - more than 50 million americans couldn ’ t afford to buy food at some point in 2011 ( 12160. info ) - report : nearly 15 % of us households ‘ food insecure ’ ( commondreams. org ) - 17. 9m u. s. families struggle to buy food ( upi. com ) - does usda measure hunger? ( rcsfoodbank. wordpress. com ) - nearly 17 million americans experience low food security ( sott. net ) - nearly 18 million u. s. households had trouble getting food last year ( wnyc. org ) - more than 50 million americans are short of food ( wibw. com ) - more than 50 million americans short of food ( wtvr. com )


thu january 12, 2012 mine ' s smaller! claim about tiny frog is challenged sure, it ' s tiny. but is it the tiniest? there ' s a frog in papua new guinea that researchers announced this week is " the smallest known vertebrate species " ( that is, a creature with a spine ). it ' s so small, in fact, that the picture posted by the journal plos one with the scientists ' report shows the little paedophryne amauensis sitting on a dime with plenty of room to spare. the discoverers say the frog ' s average body length is 7. 7 mm ( about three - tenths of an inch ). and now comes the challenge. according to the associated press : " the males of a species of deep - sea anglerfish are about 2 mm smaller, said university of washington ichthyologist theodore pietsch, who described them in 2006. the males don ' t have stomachs and live as parasites on 1. 8 - inch ( 4. 57 - centimeter ) - long females. " [ we ' ll say it before someone else does : guys would do that, wouldn ' t they? ] louisiana state university herpetologist and environmental biologist christopher austinm, who discovered the little frogs, tells the ap " he knew about the anglerfish but felt that average species size [ including males and females ] made more sense for comparison. " as for the frogs, the bbc says finding them " was not an easy assignment. they are well camouflaged among leaves on the forest floor, and have evolved calls resembling those of insects, making them hard to spot. " if you ' d like to hear the short clicking sound the frogs make, check this interactive webpage from the ap. ( h / t to npr. org ' s scott neuman. )


violence and people with mental illness there are studies that show people with mental illness are more violent than the general population and people with mental illness are not more violent. there are several reasons for the discrepancy first paper : edited by dr. e. fuller torrey summary : it is well known that the two major demographic predictors of violent behavior are male sex and younger age. it is also known that the two major clinical predictors of violent behavior are past history of violence and substance abuse ( alcohol and / or drug ). recent studies have established that being severely mentally ill and not taking medication is a third major clinical predictor of violent behavior. severely mentally ill individuals who are taking their medication are not more dangerous than the general population. - all studies of mental illness and violence done to date suggest that individuals with severe psychiatric disorders who are taking their medication are not more dangerous than the general population. among all individuals, being a male and being a substance abuser ( alcohol and / or drugs ) are the largest predictors of who will become violent. severely mentally ill individuals who are not taking their medication are more dangerous than the general population. several early studies in the 1970s suggested this fact but were not well controlled. for example, a six - year follow - up of 301 patients discharged between 1972 and 1975 from a california state hospital reported that their arrest rate for " violent crimes " was 10 times the rate for the general population. sosowsky l. explaining the increased arrest rate among mental patients : a cautionary note. american journal of psychiatry 1980 ; 137 : 1602 – 1605. a new york state study compared homicides committed by mentally ill persons in the years prior to widespread deinstitutionalization ( 1963 – 1969 ) with the years during widespread desinstitutionalization ( 1970 – 1975 ). there was a significant increase in homicides in the latter period. the authors conclude that “ closer follow - ups of psychotic patients, especially schizophrenics, could do a lot to improve the welfare of the patient and community. ” grunberg f, klinger bi, grumet br. homicide and community - based psychiatry. journal of nervous and mental disease 1978 ; 166 : 868 – 874. in reviewing these earlier studies on discharged psychiatric patients, dr. judith rabkin concluded : " arrest and conviction rates for the subcategory of violent crimes were found to exceed general population rates in every study in which they were measured. " rabkin j. criminal behavior of


psychiatric patients, dr. judith rabkin concluded : " arrest and conviction rates for the subcategory of violent crimes were found to exceed general population rates in every study in which they were measured. " rabkin j. criminal behavior of discharged mental patients : a critical appraisal of the research. psychological bulletin 1979 ; 86 : 1 – - 27. the epidemiological catchment area ( eca ) surveys carried out 1980 – 1983 reported much higher rates of violent behavior among individuals with severe mental illness living in the community compared to other community residents. for example, individuals with schizophrenia were 21 times more likely to have used a weapon in a fight. swanson jw, hozer cd, ganju vk et. al. violence and psychiatric disorder in the community : evidence from the epidemiologic catchment area surveys. hospital and community psychiatry 1990 ; 41 : 761 – 770. in an analysis of data from the eca study, the authors noted that " mentally ill individuals with no treatment contact in the past six months had significantly higher odds of violence in the long term ” and that “ moderate levels of agitation and psychoticism increase the risk of violence. " they then conclude : " this would seem to provide a strong argument for providing more interventions targeted specifically to persons with combined mental illness and addictive disorders who are likely not to comply voluntarily with conventional outpatient therapies. " swanson j, estroff s, swartz m et. al. violence and severe mental disorder in clinical and community populations : the effects of psychotic symptoms, comorbidity, and lack of treatment. psychiatry 1997 ; 60 : 1 – 22. a study of inpatients diagnosed with schizophrenia reported an inverse correlation between their propensity to violence and their blood level of antipsychotic medication. yesavage ja. inpatient violence and the schizophrenic patient : an inverse correlation between danger - related events and neuroleptic levels. biological psychiatry 1982 ; 17 : 1331 – - 1337. a study of severely mentally ill patients in a state forensic hospital found a highly significant correlation ( p 0. 001 ) between failure to take medication and a history of violent acts in the community. smith ld. medication refusal and the rehospitalized mentally ill inmate. hospital and community psychiatry 1989 40 : 491 – 496. a study in a forensic hospital in england reported an association between violent behavior and untreated psychotic symptoms. according to the authors, " over 80 percent


. 3 times greater risk for conviction for assault and serious violence compared to a control group with other psychiatric diagnoses. wesseley sc, castle d, douglas aj et. al. the criminal careers of incident cases of schizophrenia. psychological medicine 1994 ; 24 : 483 - 502. a study of 348 inpatients in a virginia state psychiatric hospital found that patients who refused to take medication " were more likely to be assaultive, were more likely to require seclusion and restraint, and had longer hospitalizations. " kasper ja, hoge sk, feucht - haviar t et. al. prospective study of patients ’ refusal of antipsychotic medication under a physician discretion review procedure. american journal of psychiatry 1997 ; 154 : 483 – 489. a study in switzerland compared 282 men with schizophrenia with a matched control group in the general population. the patients were five times more likely to have been convicted of violent crimes, mostly " assaults resulting in bodily harm. " the more acutely ill the patient was, the more likely he was to have been violent. modestin j, ammann r. mental disorder and criminality : male schizophrenia. schizophrenia bulletin 1996 ; 22 : 69 – 82. a study of homicides in finland reported that " the risk of committing a homicide was about 10 times greater for schizophrenia patients of both genders than it was for the general population. " for men " schizophrenia without alcoholism increased the odds ratio more than 7 times ; schizophrenia with coexisting alcoholism more than 17 times. " eronen m, tiihonen j, hakola p. schizophrenia and homicidal behavior. schizophrenia bulletin 1996 ; 22 : 83 – 89. in another study in finland, an unselected birth cohort of 11, 017 individuals was followed for 26 years. men with schizophrenia without alcoholism were 3. 6 times more likely to commit a violent crime than men without a psychiatric diagnosis. men with both schizophrenia and alcoholism were 25. 2 times more likely to commit a violent crime. rasanen p, tiihonen j, isohanni m et. al. schizophrenia, alcohol abuse, and violent behavior : a 26 - year follow - up study of an unselected birth cohort. 1998 ; schizophrenia bulletin 24 : 437 – 441. in the three - site macarthur foundation study of violence and mental illness, 17. 4 percent of the patients were violent in the 10 - week period prior to hospitalization, during which time they were


1998 ; schizophrenia bulletin 24 : 437 – 441. in the three - site macarthur foundation study of violence and mental illness, 17. 4 percent of the patients were violent in the 10 - week period prior to hospitalization, during which time they were not being treated, compared to an average of 8. 9 percent for the five 10 - week periods after hospitalization during which most of them were being treated. steadman hj, mulvey ep, monahan j et. al. violence by people discharged from acute psychiatric inpatient facilities and by others in the same neighborhoods. archives of general psychiatry 1998 ; 55 : 393 – 401. an english study of 1, 015 forensic patients with severe mental illness ( " functional psychosis " ) reported that the diagnosis of " schizophrenia was most strongly associated with personal violence " and that " more than 75 percent of those with a psychosis were recorded as being driven to offend by their delusions. " the authors concluded that " treatment appears as important for public safety as for personal health. " taylor pj, leese m, williams d et. al. mental disorder and violence. british journal of psychiatry 172 : 218 – 226, 1998. a 10 - year follow - up of 1, 056 severely mentally ill patients discharged from mental hospitals in sweden in 1986 reported that " of those who were 40 years old or younger at the time of discharge, nearly 40 percent had a criminal record as compared to less than 10 percent of the general public. " furthermore, " the most frequently occurring crimes are violent crimes. " belfrage h. a ten - year follow - up of criminality in stockholm mental patients. british journal of criminology 1998 ; 38 : 145 – 155. a study of 331 individuals with severe mental illness reported that 17. 8 percent " had engaged in serious violent acts that involved weapons or caused injury. " it also found that " substance abuse problems, medication noncompliance, and low insight into illness operate together to increase violence risk. " swartz ms, swanson jw, hiday va et. al. violence and severe mental illness : the effects of substance abuse and nonadherence to medication. american journal of psychiatry 1998 ; 155 : 226 – 231. a study of 63 inpatients with schizophrenia in spain reported that the best predictors of violent behavior were being sicker ( i. e., higher scores on symptom measures ) and less insight into their illness. " the single variable that best predicted violence was


inpatients with schizophrenia in spain reported that the best predictors of violent behavior were being sicker ( i. e., higher scores on symptom measures ) and less insight into their illness. " the single variable that best predicted violence was insight into psychotic symptoms. " arango c, barba ac, gonzalez - salvador t et. al. violence in schizophrenic inpatients : a prospective study. schizophrenia bulletin 1999 ; 25 : 493 – 503. a study of 961 young adults in new zealand reported that individuals with schizophrenia and associated disorders were two - and - one - half times more likely than controls to have been violent in the past year. if the person was also a substance abuser, the incidence of violent behavior was even higher. arseneault l, moffitt te, caspi a et. al. mental disorders and violence in a total birth cohort. archives of general psychiatry 2000 ; 57 : 979 – 986. a four - state ( new hampshire, connecticut, maryland, and north carolina ) study of 802 adults with severe mental illness ( 64 percent schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder, 17 percent bipolar disorder ) reported that 13. 6 percent had been violent within the previous year. “ violent ” was defined as “ any physical fighting or assaultive actions causing bodily injury to another person, any use of lethal weapon to harm or threaten someone, or any sexual assault during that period. ” those who had been violent were more likely to have been homeless, to be substance abusers, and to be living in a violent environment. those who had been violent were also 1. 7 times more likely to have been noncompliant with medications. as has been found in other such studies, the women with severe psychiatric disorders were almost as likely to have been violent ( 11 percent ) as were the men ( 15 percent ). because the data on violent behavior were collected by self - report, the authors suggested “ that our findings are probably conservative estimates of the true prevalence of violent behavior for persons with smi. ” they concluded “ that risk of violence among persons with smi is a significant problem ” and “ is substantially higher than estimates of the violence rate for the general population. ” swanson jw, swartz ms, essock smet al. the social - environmental context of violent behavior in persons treated for severe mental illness. american journal of public health 2002 ; 92 : 1523 – 1531. a study in ohio compared 122


, swartz ms, essock smet al. the social - environmental context of violent behavior in persons treated for severe mental illness. american journal of public health 2002 ; 92 : 1523 – 1531. a study in ohio compared 122 patients with schizophrenia who had committed violent acts with 111 patients with schizophrenia who had not committed such acts. the violent patients had significantly more prominent symptoms and significantly less awareness of their illness. friedman l, hrouda d, noffsinger s et. al. psychometric relationships of insight in patients with schizophrenia who commit violent acts. schizophrenia research 2003 ; 60 : 81. a study of 1, 011 outpatients with severe psychiatric disorders in five states reported that “ community violence was inversely related to treatment adherence, ” i. e., the less medication individuals took, the more likely they were to become violent. ” elbogen eb, van dorn ra, swanson jw et al. treatment engagement and violence risk in mental disorders. british journal of psychiatry 2006 ; 189 : 354 – 360. in singapore, 110 individuals were charged with murder between 1997 and 2001. among these, 7 had schizophrenia, 1 had bipolar disorder, and 2 had delusional disorders. thus, 10 out of 110 ( 9 percent ) had psychotic disorders. koh kgww, gwee kp, chan yh. psychiatric aspects of homicide in singapore : a five - year review ( 1997 – a study in new york assessed 60 severely mentally ill men who had been charged with violent crimes. the author reported that medication noncompliance and lack of awareness of illness both played significant roles in causing the men ’ s violent behavior. alia - klein n, o ’ rourke tm, goldstein rz et al. insight into illness and adherence to psychotropic medications are separately associated with violence severity in a forensic sample. aggressive behavior 2007 ; 33 : 86 – 96. a study of 907 individuals with severe mental illness reported that those who were violent were “ more likely to deny needing psychiatric treatment. ” the authors concluded that “ clinical interventions that address a patient ’ s perceived need for psychiatric treatment, such as compliance therapy and motivational interviewing, appear to hold promise as risk management strategies ”. elbogen eb, mustillo s, van dorn r et al. the impact of perceived need for treatment on risk of arrest and violence among people with severe mental illness. criminal justice and behavior 2007 ; 34 : 197 – 210. a review of 10 studies of homicides committed


s, van dorn r et al. the impact of perceived need for treatment on risk of arrest and violence among people with severe mental illness. criminal justice and behavior 2007 ; 34 : 197 – 210. a review of 10 studies of homicides committed by individuals with psychoses reported that such homicides are much more likely to occur during the person ’ s initial episode of psychosis, before he / she has been treated. according to the authors : “ the rate ratio of homicide in the first episode of psychosis in these studies was 15. 5 times the annual rate of homicide after treatment for psychosis. ” nielssen o, large m. rates of homicide during the first episode of psychosis and after treatment : a systematic review and meta - analysis. schizophrenia bulletin advance access, published november 5, 2008. in reviewing many of these studies in 1992, prof. john monahan concluded : " the data that have recently become available, fairly read, suggest the one conclusion i did not want to reach : whether the measure is the prevalence of violence among the disordered or the prevalence of disorder among the violent, whether the sample is people who are selected for treatment as inmates or patients in institutions or people randomly chosen from the open community, and no matter how many social and demographic factors are statistically taken into account, there appears to be a relationship between mental disorder and violent behavior. " monahan j. mental disorder and violent behavior. american psychologist 1992 ; 47 : 511 – 521. in a 1996 editorial reviewing such studies, dr. peter marzuk added : " in the last decade, however, the evidence showing a link between violence, crime, and mental illness has mounted. it cannot be dismissed ; it should not be ignored. " marzuk pm. violence, crime, and mental illness. archives of general psychiatry 1996 ; 53 : 481 – 486. a 2001 review article on violence and schizophrenia, authored by researchers at the institute of psychiatry in london, concluded : " it is now generally accepted that people with schizophrenia, albeit by virtue of the activity of a small subgroup, are significantly more likely to be violent than members of the general population, but the proportion of societal violence attributable to this group is small. " the authors also noted that " comorbid substance abuse considerably increases the risk. " they emphasized that the proportion of total violence in society attributable to schizophrenia is small, specifically " below 10 percent. " walsh e, buchanan a, fahy t. violence and schizophrenia : examining


the crime, leading the authors to conclude that “ closer follow - ups of psychotic patients, especially schizophrenics, could do a lot to improve the welfare of the patient and community. ” grunberg f, klinger bi, grumet b. homicide and deinstitutionalization of the mentally ill. american journal of psychiatry 1977 ; 134 : 685 – 687. grunberg f, klinger bi, grumet br. homicide and community - based psychiatry. journal of nervous and mental disease. 1978 ; 166 : 868 – 874. a 1985 study reported that 10 percent ( 7 out of 71 ) of all homicides 1978 – 1980 in contra costa county in california were carried out by individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia. all had been evaluated psychiatrically prior to the crime and had refused medication. wilcox de. the relationship of mental illness to homicide. american journal of forensic psychiatry 1985 ; 6 : 3 – 15. in indiana, researchers examined the records of 518 individuals in prison who had been convicted of homicide between 1990 and 2002. among the 518, 53 ( or 10. 2 percent ) had been diagnosed with schizophrenia ( n = 27 ), bipolar disorder ( n = 12 ), or other psychotic disorders not associated with drug abuse ( n = 14 ). an additional 42 individuals had been diagnosed with mania or major depressive disorder. it should be emphasized that the study included only those who had been sentenced to prison and did not include those individuals who had committed homicides and were subsequently found to be incompetent to stand trial or not guilty by reason of insanity and therefore sent to a psychiatric facility instead of prison. thus, the 10. 2 percent is an undercount. the authors also noted that 80 percent of the mentally ill individuals who committed homicides had received past psychiatric treatment but that “ many of the offenders were not receiving treatment ” at the time of the homicide. matejkowski jc, cullen sw, solomon pl. characteristics of persons with severe mental illness who have been incarcerated for murder. journal of the american academy of psychiatry and the law 2008 ; 36 : 74 – 86. in 2007, there were 16, 929 homicides in the united states. if individuals with severe psychiatric disorders were responsible for only 10 percent of these, that would be approximately 1, 690 homicides. u. s. crime rates ( http : / / www. disastercenter. com / crime / uscrime. htm ). at least 10 percent of males with severe


of these, that would be approximately 1, 690 homicides. u. s. crime rates ( http : / / www. disastercenter. com / crime / uscrime. htm ). at least 10 percent of males with severe mental illnesses become violent, and a lesser percentage of females do. in the united states, this would total approximately 200, 000 – 250, 000 individuals. there are very few data that can be used to estimate the percentage of severely mentally ill individuals who become violent. the best study used the danish psychiatric case register, covering the whole country, and convictions for criminal offenses. between1978 and 1990, 6. 7 percent of males and 0. 9 percent of females with " major mental disorders " ( psychoses ) were convicted of a violent crime ( " all offenses involving interpersonal aggression or a threat thereof " ) compared with 1. 5 percent males and 0. 1 percent females among individuals with no psychiatric diagnosis. since these are only convictions, it can be assumed that another unknown percentage committed a violent act for which they were not charged or convicted. hodgins s, mednick sa, brennan pa, et. al. mental disorder and crime. archives of general psychiatry 1996 ; 53 : 489 – 496. the incidence of violent behavior among severely mentally ill individuals in the studies discussed under ii above includes : 11 percent in the survey of nami families 13 percent among outpatients with schizophrenia 8. 9 percent in treatment and 17. 4 percent not in treatment in the macarthur foundation study 17. 8 percent among inpatients with severe mental illness in light of the above, it seems reasonable to estimate that at least 10 percent of males with a severe mental illness exhibit violent behavior at some time during their illness and a lesser percentage of females do so. since there are at least 4 million individuals in the united states with schizophrenia and manic - depressive disorder, then approximately 200, 000 – 250, 000 severely mentally ill individuals are or have been violent. publicized episodes of violence by individuals with severe mental illnesses are a major cause of discrimination and stigma against this group. following highly publicized attacks on prominent german officials by individuals with severe mental illnesses, there was a measurable " marked increase in desired social distance from mentally ill people immediately following [ the ] violent attacks. " the increased social distance and consequent stigma slowly decreased over time but had not returned to baseline two years later. angermeyer mc, matschinger h. the effect of violent attacks by schizophrenic persons


] violent attacks. " the increased social distance and consequent stigma slowly decreased over time but had not returned to baseline two years later. angermeyer mc, matschinger h. the effect of violent attacks by schizophrenic persons on the attitude of the public towards the mentally ill. social science and medicine 1996 ; 43 : 12 : 1721 – 1728. a study using university volunteers demonstrated that reading a newspaper article reporting a violent crime committed by a mental patient led to increased " negative attitudes toward people with mental illnesses. " thorton ja, wahl of. impact of a newspaper article on attitudes toward mental illness. journal of community psychology 1996 ; 24 : 17 – 25. such studies suggest that it is futile to try to decrease stigma against individuals with mental illness until the problem of violence is addressed. this was noted as early as 1981 by dr. henry steadman who observed : " recent research data on contemporary populations of ex - mental patients supports these public fears [ of dangerousness ] to an extent rarely acknowledged by mental health professionals.... it is [ therefore ] futile and inappropriate to badger the news and entertainment media with appeals to help destigmatize the mentally ill. " steadman, hj. critically reassessing the accuracy of public perceptions of the dangerousness of the mentally ill. journal of health and social behavior 1981 ; 22 : 310 – 316, 1981. in 1992 dr. john monahan added : " the data suggest that public education programs by advocates for the mentally disordered along the lines of ‘ people with mental illness are no more violent than the rest of us ’ may be doomed to failure.... and they should : the claim, it turns out, may well be untrue. " monahan j. mental disorder and violent behavior. american psychologist 1992 ; 47 : 511 – 521. the 1999 surgeon general ' s report on mental health noted that " the perception of people with psychosis as being dangerous is stronger today than in the past.... people with mental illness, especially those with psychosis, are perceived to be more violent than in the past " ( surgeon general ' s report, p. 7 ). u. s. department of health and human services. mental health : a report of the surgeon general. ( rockville, md. : u. s. department of health and human services, substance abuse and mental health services administration, center for mental health services, national institutes of health, national institute of mental health, 1999 ).


the surgeon general. ( rockville, md. : u. s. department of health and human services, substance abuse and mental health services administration, center for mental health services, national institutes of health, national institute of mental health, 1999 ). see the briefing paper " stigma and violence " for a more complete discussion of this issue. violence and schizophrenia the violence issue among individuals with schizophrenia is a treatment issue, nothing more nor less. by dr. e. fuller torrey schizophrenia research 88 ( 2006 ) 3 – 4 the recent killing of wayne fenton by a patient with untreated schizophrenia reminds us of a fact that we too often ignore. a subset of people with schizophrenia and other psychoses are dangerous if their paranoid delusions and other symptoms are not treated, especially if they are also abusing alcohol or street drugs. eight major studies of violence among seriously mentally ill individuals have been reported in the united states since 1990. together they show that 5 to 10 % of such individuals commit acts of serious violence each year. the studies also show the importance of treatment in reducing this violence. for example in the catie study the incidence of violence was very low because all participants were receiving antipsychotic medications. similarly in the macarthur violence risk assessment study the incidence of violence among treated patients was much lower than among those not taking medications. homicides are the best documented and supreme expression of violence. in the united states only one small study of homicides committed by mentally ill individuals has been carried out ; in contra costa county in california from 1978 to 1980 there were 7 individuals with schizophrenia and 1 other with a drug - induced psychosis among 71 total homicides. in european and commonwealth nations in recent years, 13 such studies have been done. individuals with schizophrenia and other psychoses were found to be responsible for an average of 9. 4 % ( range : 5. 3 to 17. 9 ) of all homicides. the united states has a higher total homicide rate than most other countries so the percentage of homicides attributable to individuals with severe psychiatric disorders will be somewhat lower. thus it seems apparent that individuals with psychoses are responsible for at least 5 % of homicides in america. the massive discharge of patients from state psychiatric hospitals, followed by the failure to treat many of them, was well underway by 1966. during the intervening 40 years in the u. s. there have been 742, 691 total homicides, of which a minimum of 37, 134 ( 5 % ) were attributable to individuals with severe psychiatric


well underway by 1966. during the intervening 40 years in the u. s. there have been 742, 691 total homicides, of which a minimum of 37, 134 ( 5 % ) were attributable to individuals with severe psychiatric disorders, almost all of whom were not being treated. as such, almost all of these were preventable homicides. the most common victims of such homicides are family members, especially mothers. mental health professionals are not uncommon but not rare victims. for example, in oregon two psychiatrists were killed by patients in a single year. the violence issue among individuals with schizophrenia is a treatment issue, nothing more nor less. in virtually every case it has been found that the individuals responsible for such homicides, like the young man who killed dr. fenton, were not taking medication. the problem is that approximately half of all individuals afflicted with schizophrenia have moderate or severe anosognosia ; they are neurologically impaired and thus unable to perceive their own illness or need for medication. laws governing the treatment of mentally ill individuals in the united states ignore this fact and make involuntary treatment exceedingly difficult to carry out. several studies have shown a correlation between anosognosia and noncompliance with medication and with violent behavior. the solution is assisted treatment for individuals with schizophrenia who have anosognosia and are thought to be dangerous. this can be accomplished by conservatorships, conditional release, or by outpatient commitment. maryland, where dr. fenton was killed, is one of only eight states with no provision for outpatient commitment. in most states the laws are written in such a way that the family of the mentally ill person and mental health professionals can do nothing until the person demonstrates dangerousness. dr. fenton paid the ultimate price for maryland ' s inadequate laws. studies have shown that the use of conditional release and outpatient commitment reduce violence dramatically. in north carolina outpatient commitment reduced the incidence of violence from 42 to 27 % when the commitment was continued for at least 6 months. in new york, where the outpatient commitment statute is called kendra ' s law, a recent study reported that its use reduced the incidence of those who physically harmed others from 15 to 8 %. however it is considered politically incorrect to promote outpatient commitment or other forms of involuntary treatment. as a consequence organizations like the two apas and nami are largely silent on this issue. others, like the mental health association and the bazelon center even deny the link between untreated schizophrenia and violence