Health and Wellness Blog » Health News

Will the world end on December 21, 2012?

Raj — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 09:39:27 +0000

What makes you think that the world will end on 12/21/2012? I can’t think of any reasons that could really end the world on the said date. Although, I can’t claim to have any ability to predict the future, I am of firm belief that the world possibly can’t end on the given day and you should not worry about it.

Alright! Let’s consider the possibility of world ending on December 21, 2012 and think of reasons that could actually make it happen. Mentioned below are some of the causes that having the potential to end the world or at least wipe out a majority of human population.

Global warming – The rate at which the global climate has been changing over last few years could have a major impact on the world but not to the extent that it will end the world on December 21, 2012. The impact is not going to end the world on December 21, 2012 only but will create problems for man kind to be able to lead a healthy life in near future.
Natural disasters – Earthquakes, volcanoes, Tsunamis, floods – all of these have the potential to create large disasters but none of them have what it takes to end the world.
Wars and Nuclear Bombs – This is a remote possibility and I am confident that even if any country decides to bomb all reachable destinations with its entire inventory of nuclear bombs, the world will still survive and man kind will not end.
Global financial crisis – We are yet to fully recover from the current financial crisis but a much worse crisis in 2012 would still not end the day on December 21, 2012. Financial crisis could make it difficult for us to survive but for sure will not end the world in a single day.

Ok, we had enough of the reasons that could possible occur in 2012 and the chances of all of them occurring in 2012 is likely but the world will not end in a single day. While I say that, I am thinking about those things that could really end our world on December 21, 2012. Mentioned below are some of the factors that could potentially end the world in a single day, although the probability of them happening in 2012 is less than 0.0001% or 0%.

Space invasion – Do you think earth could be invaded by aliens? Possibly a war with them in 2012 and they dropping a bomb on December 21, 2012 on our planet and our planet getting destroyed in no time. I can’t imagine that happening. Do you?
Deterioration of Earth’s magnetic field – Recently read about it somewhere and scientists all over the world are confident that it is not going to happen in near future at least. But if something were to go wrong with earth’s magnetic field, I am not sure if scientists would know what to do. Imagine all sea water floating in air if it really happens.
Asteroid – Otherwise also known as planetoids could possibly hit our planet and result in ending the world. We might be able to know about any asteroid coming towards earth much in advance and will be able to handle that.
Sun will switch off – We know a lot of how Sun works but there are things beyond our knowledge. If something happens to Sun, it could trigger end of mankind and life on planet earth. Something I can’t think will happen in next hundreds of years.

Conclusion: Earth will not end on December 21, 2012 but possibly it could be the starting day or perhaps the year when life threatening problems with begin. What’s your say?

Newly approved Fibromyalgia drug offers pain relief

Raj — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 04:19:19 +0000

FDA recently approved a new drug called Savella that will offer pain relief to the patients suffering from Fibromyalgia disorder. There is no cure to Fibromyalgia, but those suffering from Fibromyalgia experience intense pain that prevents them from functioning properly. Savella is similar to some drugs that are used for the treatment of depression and other psychiatric disorders. Savella is a dual-reuptake inhibitor that preferentially blocks the reuptake of norepinephrine with higher potency than serotonin (in-vitro), two neurotransmitters thought to a play a central role in the symptoms of fibromyalgia. Savella is the only product approved for the management of fibromyalgia that used this complete responder analysis as its primary endpoint.

via press release

New drug promotes the growth of eyelashes

Raj — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 17:34:10 +0000

For those who are suffering from eyelash hypotrichosis, there is a new light of hope in the form of a new drug called Latisse. Though the drug was accidently discovered, it helps promote the growth of eyelashes and will help people avoid using false eyelashes. And like any other drug, there are side effects to this drug as well. Users of this drug may experience eye irritation, promote hair growth where not needed and may cause increased brown pigmentations of the colored part of the eye, that may become permanent. It is not known as of now if the drug should be applied everyday or if discontinued will lead to loss of those hair that were grown because of the drug.

Latisse is expected to available in the market by the end of the first quarter of 2009.

source

FDA releases drugs list causing health risk

Prasanna — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 06:42:00 +0000

In its recent key decisions, FDA revealed the list of drugs which are harful to the individuals. FDA was criticised earlier for delaying the list. It has recently decided to release the list on a quarterly basis.

The list includes 20 medications. However, if a drug is on the list it means that the analysis on the drug has begun. The outcome of the analysis will shared on a regular basis.

Four drugs have been already announced:

Heparin for allergic reactions
Definity for cardiopulmonary reactions
Cymbalta for urniary retention
Tumor necrosis for cancer in young adults and children

FDA suggests continuing to take the drugs if your doctor has prescribed it. You can stop it when your doctor suggests doing so.

The list will provide as a communication tool for both general public and healthcare providers. Any adverse events must be reported back to FDA.

First drug for Huntington’s disease gets FDA approval

Prasanna — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 16:24:51 +0000

Hungtington is a rare brain disease. It was first described 136 years ago. This disease affects 30,000 people in the USA and is treated as an orphan disease.

The brain cells affected by Hungtington’s disease degenerate because of a genetic miscue. It results in jerky involunary movements known as chorea.

The drug tetrabenazine treats chorea. Tetrabenazine is produced by Prestwick Pharmaceuticals in Washington, D.C. High doses of tetrabenazine can lead to depression and suicidal thoughts and exacerbate chorea.

[source]

Obesity and cancer: Obesity is not a disorder, It is a disease

Prasanna — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 06:09:42 +0000

Obesity is not just a disorder. It is cause for many diseases. It increases the risk of diabetes, hypertension, heart disease and cancer. A recent study reveals that 20 per cent of cancer deaths are due to obesity.

Obesity increases the risk of colon cancer by 55% and 50% risk of breast cancer. Obese and overweight people increase the risk of oesophagus, kidney, gall bladder and pancreas. Obesity further increases the risk of leukemia and lymphomas.

Obesity and cancer

Fatty deposits are a big source of oestrogen. Excess oestrogen results in endometrial and breast cancer. Fat cells in result in high-insulin growth, which multiply the cells. Fat cells release chemicals that cause inflammation. This in turn results in cancer. Fatty tissues further affect the immune system which control cell multiplication, cell differentiation and cell death.

Salmonella free tomatoes: It is official finally

Prasanna — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 03:14:53 +0000

You are free to eat tomatoes now! FDA released the ban on tomatoes. They are yet to find out the source of this dreaded bacteria. But, the research FDA conducted on 1700 samples revealed that the bacterium is not present.

Salmonella is a gram-negative bacterium that causes typhoid fever, paratyphoid fever and food borne illnesses. The USA saw a recent outbreak of Salmonella bacteria when hundreds of people fell sick after eating contaminated food.

The FDA suspected that the contaminated food product is an ingredient in fresh salsa such as raw tomatoes and fresh pepper.

In its recent news, the FDA declared that tomatoes are free of Salmonella.

[Source]