It’s easy enough to purify clear water. The solar water disinfection method, or SODIS, calls for leaving a transparent plastic bottle of clear water out in the sun for six hours. That allows heat and ultraviolet radiation to wipe out most pathogens that cause diarrhea, a malady that kills 4,000 children a day in Africa.

It’s a different story if the water is murky, as it often is where people must fetch water from rivers, streams and boreholes. “In the developing world, many people don’t have access to clear water, and it’s very hard to get rid of the suspended clay particles,” says Joshua Pearce, an associate professor of materials science and engineering. “But if you don’t, SODIS doesn’t work. The microorganisms hide under the clay and avoid the UV.”

Thus, to purify your water, you first have to get the clay to settle out, a process called flocculation. Working with student Brittney Dawney of Queen’s University in Ontario, Pearce discovered that one of the most abundant minerals on Earth does this job very well: sodium chloride, or simple table salt.

Salt is inexpensive and available almost everywhere. And it doesn’t take very much to make muddy water clear again.

“The water has a lower sodium concentration than Gatorade,” Pearce says. This would still be too much salt to pass muster as American tap water, but American tap water is not the alternative.

“I’ve drunk this water myself. If I were somewhere with no clean water and had kids with diarrhea, and this could save their lives, I’d use this, no question,” he says.

Salt works best when the suspended particles are a type of clay called bentonite. The technique doesn’t work as well with other kinds of clay. However, by adding a little bentonite with the salt to water containing these different clays, most of the particles glom together and settle out, creating water clear enough for SODIS treatment.

Pearce and Dawney are running more tests on water containing various types of clays, and they are also investigating different soil types across Africa to see where their methods might work the best. PhysOrg

The survival rate was more than three times as high for married patients as for single patients three months after surgery, the researchers report in the March issue of the Journal of Health and Social Behavior.

Although the difference in survival was strongest in the first few months, the analysis of data from more than 500 male and female patients who had emergency or elective coronary bypass surgery also found that the strong protective effect of marriage continued for up to five years.

Overall, single patients were nearly twice as likely to die as married patients.

“The findings underscore the important role of spouses as caregivers during health crises,” lead author Ellen Idler, a sociologist at Emory University in Atlanta, said in a journal news release. “And husbands were apparently just as good at caregiving as wives.”

Interviews with the patients provided some possible clues to explain the difference in the survival rates between married and single patients.

“The married patients had a more positive outlook going into the surgery,” Idler said. “When asked whether they would be able to manage the pain and discomfort, or their worries about the surgery, those who had spouses were more likely to say yes.”

Among patients who survived more than three months, single patients were about 70 percent more likely to die during the next five years than those who were married, the researchers said. Smoking accounted for the higher risk of death among single patients, they concluded.

“The lower likelihood that married persons were smokers suggests that spousal control over smoking behavior produces long-term health benefits,” Idler said.

She noted that the low marriage rate in the United States is cause for concern. Barely half of U.S. adults are married, the lowest percentage ever, according to the Pew Research Center. US News

“The importance of social environmental influences on health-promoting behaviours such as physical activity and healthy eating has been increasingly recognized,” said Kylie Ball, from Deakin University, Australia.

Ball worked with a team of researchers to survey the 18-46 year old women and found that physical activity and healthy eating behaviour were both strongly affected by social norms.

The women who took part in the study were asked to rate how much they agreed with statements like “I often see other people walking in my neighbourhood” and “Lots of women I know eat fast food often” promoting increased engagement in physical activity and healthy eating is worthy of further investigation”. DNA India

But industry lobbying appears to have persuaded delegates to a global conference on tobacco regulation not to recommend tough new limits on adding aromas and flavours such as licorice and chocolate to cigarettes to make them more palatable to first-time smokers.

The additives question will likely be sent back to a working group for more development, said Nick Guroff, a spokesman for the watchdog group Corporate Accountability International.

“Big Tobacco has been very overt in subverting public health policy until they can’t get away with it anymore, at which time it exports all of the same tactics to countries that have less political will to combat the same tactics,” Mr Guroff complained.

He scoffed at the industry’s key argument – that small tobacco growers in developing countries would be devastated by a ban – and expressed frustration at seeing industry lobbyists working the conference rooms in Uruguay’s Punta del Este beach resort.

The conference, which ends today, was sponsored by the World Health Organisation and brought together 171 nations that have signed the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control treaty.

Signatory nations promise to apply laws and pursue public health policies to reduce smoking and protect citizens from second-hand smoke.

Among the nations which haven’t signed is the US, which has a lot at stake.

The International Tobacco Growers’ Association claims a ban on additives could threaten the makers of American burley tobacco, which is blended into nearly half of the cigarettes sold globally and tastes harsher than other varieties. About 80 per cent of US burley is exported.

Delegates did formally support Uruguay’s tough tobacco laws, which prohibit smoking in enclosed private and public spaces and require 80 per cent of each cigarette package to be covered with graphic images of smoking’s consequences.

The US Food and Drug Administration last week proposed similarly graphic warning labels showing corpses, cancer patients, diseased lungs and rotting teeth and gums over 50 per cent of each pack sold in the US, starting in 2012.

Since Canada introduced similar warning labels in 2000, its smoking rates have declined from about 26 per cent to about 20 per cent.

But Uruguay, as President Jose Mujica said, is a “little country” whose annual GDP of about $US44 billion ($44.56 billion) is dwarfed by the $US108 billion market capitalisation of Philip Morris International.

PMI has asked World Bank arbitrators to find Uruguay in violation of its trade agreement with Switzerland, where the company has a headquarters.

“The Uruguayan government has done something which no other government has done, doesn’t seem to make any sense to us from a public health perspective and has clearly damaged our investment there,” said PMI spokesman Peter Nixon.

The company is seeking the suspension of trade regulations and “substantial” monetary compensation, Mr Nixon said. He would not give a specific dollar amount, but losing could clearly cost Uruguay millions.

Mr Mujica – a former leftist guerrilla who became a determined pragmatist in prison during the country’s dictatorship – worried openly only weeks ago about having to hire $US1500-an-hour lawyers in foreign capitals.

But then Mr Mujica saw that many other governments want Uruguay to stand firm – and got promises of support from some deep pockets, including New York’s billionaire mayor, Michael Bloomberg, who called Mr Mujica to say his foundation would help foot the legal bills.

Mr Bloomberg, a former smoker and anti-tobacco evangelist, banned smoking in New York City’s bars and restaurants and has proposed outlawing smoking in city parks and plazas. Globally, he donated millions for tobacco control laws and public health training in 42 countries

“The tobacco industry is keenly focused on Uruguay because Uruguay’s leaders did the right thing around hard-hitting packaging laws,” Mr Bloomberg said in a statement, adding that five million people die each year from tobacco-related illnesses.

Mr Mujica acknowledged that he too has been a determined smoker. “This is an enemy that is never defeated,” he told the conference.

“I was imprisoned for many years, and to annoy me they would deny me tobacco,” he recalled. “One day I told the authorities: I won’t smoke again. And I was seven years without smoking. When I finally got out, I started to smoke again. I would have smoked a broomstick.

“This fight isn’t finished. There are many addictions that are menacing life, and they’re all multiplied by the great addiction of our time: the excessive love of money.”

Last year, global cigarette volumes fell by less than one per cent to 5.68 trillion sticks for the nearly 901 million people who smoke, according to Euromonitor International, while industry estimates show a nearly 9 per cent decline in US volumes in 2009.

Philip Morris International, second only to China National Tobacco Corp in size, now focuses on emerging markets where growing middle classes have more discretionary income for the first time.

In the third quarter, the company said cigarette shipments grew by 4.5 per cent from a year ago to 229.2 billion sticks. Especially key were large gains in Asia, including Indonesia, Korea and Pakistan. The Daily Telegraph Australia

World experts already recommend that infants are exclusively breastfed for at least the first six months of life.

For the study, the researchers tracked the health of 926 infants for a period of 12 months, recording any common infections these babies had during their first year of life.

All the newborns were routinely vaccinated and had access to a high standard of healthcare.

Overall, 91 of the infants were exclusively breastfed for a full six months.

Subsequently, these infants had significantly fewer common infections during their first year of life than their peers who were either partially breastfed or not breastfed at all.

These included respiratory and ear infections, as well as thrush.

Professor Emmanouil Galanakis and his team say it is the composition of breast milk that explains their findings, reports the BBC.

Breast milk contains antibodies passed from the mother, as well as other immunological and nutritional factors that help the baby fight off infections.

The study is published in Archives of Diseases in Childhood. Newstrack India

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is calling on health insurers to cease “misinformation and unjustified rate increases” that blame provisions of the Affordable Care Act for rising 2011 premiums.

In a Sept. 9 letter to Karen Ignagni, president and CEO of America’s Health Insurance Plans, Sebelius said she wanted “AHIP’s members to be put on notice: the Administration, in partnership with states, will not tolerate unjustified rate hikes in the name of consumer protections.”

“Later this fall, we will issue a regulation that will require state or federal review of all potentially unreasonable rate increases filed by health insurers, with the justification for increases posted publicly for consumers and employers,” Sebelius wrote. “We will also keep track of insurers with a record of unjustified rate increases: those plans may be excluded from health insurance exchanges in 2014. Simply stated, we will not stand idly by as insurers blame their premium hikes and increased profits on the requirement that they provide consumers with basic protections.”

Sebelius acknowledged in her letter that the law includes new benefits that will take effect Sept. 23. Among them are requirements that all plans must have no lifetime limits and no rescissions except in cases of fraud, while also requiring they offer coverage to adult children up to age 26. New plans also will be required to offer coverage of preventive services with no cost sharing, access to obstetric and gynecological services without referrals and access to out-of-network emergency room services. The plans must also have no annual limits on coverage, no pre-existing condition exclusions for children and a strengthened appeals process.

But Sebelius argued there should be only “minimal” impact from the new consumer protections, which HHS estimates would be no more than 1% to 2%. She cited analysis by the Urban Institute estimating 1% to 2% increases in premiums and from Marsh & McLennan Cos. Inc.’s Mercer Inc. estimating a 2.3% increase. A recent Wall Street Journal report cited rate hikes of between 1% and 9% requested by a number of insurers to pay for new benefits required under the law.

Aetna Inc. has reportedly requested increases on policies sold in the individual market of 5.4% to 7.4% in California and 5.5% to 6.8% in Nevada. Regence Group’s Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Oregon said the additional benefits required under the health care law accounted for 3.4 percentage points of the 17.1% increase it is seeking for a small group plan. Centene Corp.’s Celtic Insurance Co. unit blamed the mandates for about half of the 18% rate increases it is seeking in Wisconsin and North Carolina.

“Any premium increases will be moderated by out-of-pocket savings resulting from the law,” Sebelius wrote. “These savings include a reduction in the ‘hidden tax’ on insured Americans that subsidizes care for the uninsured. By making sure insurance covers people who are most at risk, there will be less uncompensated care, and, as a result, the amount of cost shifting to those who have coverage today will be reduced by up to $1 billion in 2013.” By R.J. Lehmann, Insurance Newsnet

The major markets are North America and Europe and South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia. Exports from developing countries, including the Philippines, are increasing.

The attraction is that organics are priced higher, up to 150 percent more expensive than conventional products in Europe and 20 percent to 50 percent higher over non-organic products in Philippine supermarkets.

The International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movement says that organic rice and vegetables are grown by nearly 35,000 Filipino farmers in 14,134 has. of land, with an average size of about half a hectare per farm.

While this was a significant increase over the 500 farms and 3,500 has. reported in 2004, it does not even represent 1 percent (0.12 percent) of total agricultural land.

The Philippines lags in hectares devoted to organic produce, behind China (2.3 million has.), India (528,171 has.) and Indonesia (41,431 has.).

The major issues include insufficient supply of quality organic inputs, says Dr. Fe L. Porciuncula, director of the Ramon Magsaysay Center for Agricultural Resources and Environment Studies (RM-CARES) at the Central Luzon State University (CLSU).

Technology know-how is also inadequate; farmers often do not know how to convert to organic mode; knowledge of the market is limited; and organic and conventional products mingle in the market, says Porciuncula, citing a study made by CLSU.

Organic farming is growing at 10 to 20 percent annually and is expected to hit 30 percent in a decade, according to the Organic Producers and Traders Association.

The products include rice, vegetables, herbs, muscovado sugar, banana, coconut, fruits, livestock and poultry, dairy products and fertilizers.

Growing in tandem with organic farming is the organic fertilizer industry which is expanding at 10 to 20 percent yearly, according to an estimate made by the US Department of Agriculture.

There are two types of organic fertilizers. Microbial fertilizers are made of organisms capable of increasing and fixing nutrients for plant use. Organic fertilizers are made of decomposed plants or animals with at least 20 percent organic matter.

According to the Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority, 4,884 tons of organic fertilizers were produced and 4,689 tons were sold in 2006 by over 120 companies, most of them in Metro Manila and Luzon.

Sales are slower than production, with a big surplus recorded in 2002, usually during extensive government subsidies to chemical fertilizers to boost rice production, according to Dr. Clarita P. Aganon, former director of RM-CARES.

For sales, manufacturers and traders depend on government demand, basically from the Department of Agriculture. But government subsidies are limited to rice and corn, the farming areas of which are not expected to expand soon.

While production increased when organic fertilizer was included in a production package for rice and corn, demand did not materialize and a surplus of 9,000 tons out of 40,000 tons produced was recorded in 2005.

This confirms a study by the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCARRD) that concludes farming communities are still inadequately informed of its proper application and use despite the rising popularity of organic fertilizers.

PCARRD also noted that the organic fertilizer industry is in its infancy. Major constraints are the low quality and the laborious preparation and application of compost.

Organic fertilizer remains attractive because the cost of chemical fertilizers has increased over 100 percent from 2003 to 2008, according to Aganon. A rice farmer, by using organic fertilizer and rapid composting technology, could save up to P8,000 from about P20,000 spent for chemical fertilizer per hectare per season.

Rice and vegetable farmers are the main buyers, combining organic with chemical fertilizers. Sales of organic fertilizer for rice production peak during the planting season from November to January and from May to August, with prices ranging from P140 to P280 per 50-kilogram bag.

Farmers shy away from organic fertilizer when the price is high and when they perceive a slow effect and laborious application. With low sales, many traders in turn shun the product.

Aganon also reported some cases of farmer complaints of the non-effective use of organic fertilizer. As such, it is recommended that a combination of application of microbial fertilizer and organic fertilizer is used.

“Standardization in quality and uniform pricing will benefit key players and make them more competitive,” says Aganon. “The reported cases of low quality and non-effectiveness of the use of organic fertilizer, even of reduced yield and income, needs to be addressed.” By Paul Icamina, Malaya

The randomized, double-blind study, conducted by researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), compared mothers who drank one glass of probiotic milk a day to women who were given a placebo. Use of the probiotic milk – which the mothers drank beginning at week 36 in their pregnancy up through to three months after birth — reduced the incidence of eczema by 40 percent in children up to age two, the researchers found. The study is a part of a larger research project at the university called the Prevention of Allergy Among Children in Trondheim, or PACT, an ongoing population-based intervention study in Norway focused on childhood allergy.

Random sample of pregnant women

Researchers followed 415 pregnant women and their children from pregnancy until the children were two years old. The participants were randomly selected among pregnant women in Trondheim – and then randomly divided into two groups, one of which was given milk with probiotics, and the other a placebo milk. Mothers in the study did not know whether they were given the probiotic milk or the placebo milk.

“The taste of both products was similar, and the milk was delivered in unmarked milk cartons. This means that neither the participants in the study or the researchers knew who had received probiotic milk or placebo milk,” says NTNU researcher Torbjørn Øien, one of the scientists involved in the study. “We can therefore say with great certainty that it was the probiotic bacteria alone that caused the difference in the incidence of eczema between the two groups.”

Eczema incidence lower, or less severe

The children were checked for eczema throughout the period, as well as for asthma and allergy at age two. Afterwards, the incidence of asthma, eczema and allergy was compared in the two groups.

“The results showed that probiotic bacteria reduced the incidence of eczema in children up to age two years by 40 percent. And the kids in ‘probiotics group’ who did have eczema, had less severe cases,” explains Christian Kvikne Dotterud, a student in the Medical Student Research Programme at the Department of Community Medicine at NTNU.

The study did not show any effect from the probiotic milk on asthma or allergies, however.

More research on allergic diseases

Dotterud and his research colleagues have started a follow-up study of the children to see if they find any preventive effect on allergic diseases, especially asthma, when children have reached six years old.

“Our study is the first to show that certain probiotic bacteria given to the mother during pregnancy and breast-feeding prevents eczema,” says Dotterud.

Previous studies have shown that ingestion of some probiotics by children may prevent eczema, but this is the first study to show a preventative effect when the mother alone consumed the probiotics.

Via breast milk

“In Norway, there has been some skepticism about giving infants probiotics. Therefore, it is preferable that mothers take probiotics, not children,” he said. Probiotics are generally considered safe for healthy people.

To participate in the study mothers had to have planned to breastfeed their children.

“We believe that probiotic bacteria affects breast milk composition in a positive way,” Dotterud said.

The study was sponsored by Tine SA, which produced and distributed the milk used in the study. Tine SA is s Norway’s largest producer, distributor and exporter of dairy products, and is a cooperative owned by 15,084 Norwegian dairy farmers. Tine SA had no role in the study designs, data collection or data analysis.

The results of the study have been published in the journal The British Journal of Dermatology. The article is entitled: Probiotics in pregnant women to prevent allergic disease: a randomised, double-blind trial [Epub ahead of print]

Why the increase in asthma and allergies in Norway?

PACT, the Prevention of Allergy Among Children in Trondheim study – was started in 2000 as a primary prevention, controlled study to look at measures that might reduce the increase in the incidence of asthma and allergies that has been recorded in Norway in recent decades.

It is an ongoing population-based intervention study in Norway focused on the impacts on childhood allergy of systematic and structure interventions to reduce tobacco exposure, increase the consumption of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, and reduce indoor dampness.

What are probiotics?

Probiotics are live lactic acid bacteria which can be added to food and drink. In contrast to common lactic acid bacteria used in the acidification of products such as milk and yogurt, probiotic bacteria have the ability to survive through the acidic stomach environment and settle temporarily in the intestine. The probiotic lactic acid bacteria have a natural place in the digestive system, where they strengthen normal intestinal flora and are good for the body.

What kind of probiotic milk did the scientists use?

Researchers used the Norwegian product Biola from Tine SA. There are wide variations in terms of how well the strains in the probiotic products on the market have been documented. Biola contains LGG ®, the probiotic bacteria that are currently the most extensively studied in the world. Biola product used in the study also contains Lactobacillus acidophilus (La-5) and Bifidobacterium lactis (Bb-12). These also have documented health effects, albeit less extensive than LGG ®. There is reason to believe that it is beneficial for your health to consume a variety of bacterial strains with documented efficacy, rather than unilateral influence of only one bacterial strain.

What is LGG ®?

LGG ® (Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG) is the probiotic bacteria strain that has been the most studied and researched in terms of human health effects. It has been shown that LGG ® contributes to good gut function and a stronger defense against unwanted bacteria and viruses in the stomach. At present there are more than 500 published articles on LGG ® in international journals and more than 30 doctoral theses have been completed on LGG’s ® effect on health. More than 40 countries in different parts of the world market products with LGG ®. redOrbit