Showing posts with label cell death. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cell death. Show all posts

Friday, November 2, 2012

Monsanto the devil’s Roundup (Glyphosate) Linked to Parkinson’s and Similar Diseases

Elizabeth Renter | Activist Post

We already know the links between herbicides and sterility in men, birth defects, mental illness, obesity and cancer—but now we have something new to add to the nasty effects of pesticides list — Parkinson’s disease and similar neurodegenerative conditions.

New research, published in the journal Neurotoxicology and Teratology, indicates a connection between a component in Monsanto the devil’s Roundup and Parkinson’s disease. Glyphosate is said to induce cell death, with frightening repercussions.

GreenMedInfo.com reports the study was investigating the links between herbicides (weed killers) and brain damage. These chemicals, the study’s authors say, “have been recognized as the main environmental factor associated with neurodegenerative disorders,” like Parkinson’s.

Parkinson’s disease is a degenerative nervous system disease. It slowly progresses as time goes on with common symptoms like tremors, rigidity, difficulty walking, poor posture, lack of movement, and slowness of movement, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center.

The CDC reports Parkinson’s as the 14th leading cause of death in the U.S. In 2010 (the last year for which data is available), there was 4.6% increase in the number of deaths attributed to this disease. One has to wonder if there is a connection between this jump and the ever-growing prevalence of herbicides like Roundup in our air, food, and water.

Studies indicate that glyphosate is toxic to human DNA “at concentrations diluted 450-fold lower than used in agricultural applications.” Worded differently—the levels considered safe by our government are 450 times the levels at which glyphosate has been found to damage and destroy human DNA. Yes, it’s that serious.

One case study found a woman who was exposed to glyphosate in the workplace for 3 years at a chemical factory. She wore gloves and a face mask. She was initially a healthy, middle-aged women. But, she developed “rigidity, slowness, and resting tremor in all four limbs.” She was also experiencing severe dizziness, weakness, and blurred vision. And hers isn’t the only such case.

What’s so scary about the growing body of research on Monsanto the devil’s Roundup, its components, and their presence in nearly everything around us, is that the federal government refuses to recognize the risk. Despite a growing concern on an international level, the powers-that-be are seemingly content to turn their eyes while the people demand accountability and safe food.

Until pesticides and herbicides are no longer used on a mass scale, the growth of these diseases will likely continue. Eat 100% organic produce whenever possible to bypass exposure to destructive pesticides and herbicides.

Additional Sources:

PubMed
GreenMedInfo
The Huffington Post

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Evidence of GMO toxin absorption and toxicity

By E. Hector Corsi - Digital Journal
May 9, 2012

Lab and clinical research shows that toxins from Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) are absorbed by humans. Pregnant women and their fetuses had detectable levels of the toxins in their blood. Lab research shows toxic effects on human kidney cells.

Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) is a natural insecticide that produces a toxin called Cry1Ab protein. This protein is produced by some corn crops that have undergone genetic modification to produce GMO products.

A new lab study has shown that the Cry1Ab toxin causes cell death in human embryonic kidney cells, and that combining Cry1Ab and Cry1Ac toxins with the effects of the pesticide Roundup, could delay apoptosis, which could promote cancer. Some corn crops are made resistant to pesticides such as glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, by genetic modification, and this study also showed that this pesticide on its own causes necrosis (tissue destruction) in doses lower than those used in agriculture. The study was conducted by Gilles-Eric Séralini of the University of Caen, France, and colleagues and published in the Journal of Applied Toxicology.

Recent research has also shown that Cry1Ab protein is detectable in the blood of pregnant women, their fetuses, and also in non pregnant women. Glyphosate was also detected in non pregnant women. This study was published in the journal Reproductive Toxicology.

 Further evidence of the toxic effects of genetically modified Bt plants, which produce Bt toxins, was recently shown by researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, and published in the journal Environmental Sciences Europe. This study showed that Cry1Ab toxin fed to A. bipunctata (ladybeetle)larvae increases their mortality. These research findings show that GMO products contain toxins that can be absorbed by humans, and that they may cause serious side effects.