In 1900 on l8% of women worked in the job market. Today that figure is 48% in America. Russ Stolzenburg of the University of Chicago compiled 3 years worth of data on 2,867 couples. He found that when a woman works more than 40 hours a week, her husband's health declines about 25% over a 3 year time period. Men tend to not pay attention to their health like women do. When women work out of the home, they have less time for attending to their husband's needs. They tend to their own health needs, but neglect to remind their husbands to take care of theirs.

The same researcher found that if a man is laid off work, it is more stressful for both husband and wife. The health of husband and wife improves if the husband works at least 16 hours a week.
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If you're a Canadian, and you visited France for more than six months between 1980 and 1996, they won't let you give blood. The reason: Mad Cow disease, which has now been found in France. This ban is in addition to the one already in place for those who spent six or more months in Britain during the same time period. So if you spend at least half a year across the pond some time during that 16 year time span, don't plan on donating blood. Canada doesn't want it.
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The FDA in the USA has been drawing fire for its refusal to require genetically altered foods to be labled as such. Half the corn and soybeans grown in the USA are from genetically altered seed. Trouble is, you don't know which half. Now scientists in Scotland and Japan say that they have discovered a gene that is necessary for tea and coffee plants to produce caffeine. They claim to have cloned the gene. The next step, of course, will be to modify the gene so that it does not synthesize caffeine. Naturally decaffeinated tea and coffee.
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Older Americans are popping vitamins, pills and powders in an effort to prevent cancer rather than change their eating habits. Only 39% of Americans have changed their diets, compared to 43% who take multivitimins to prevent cancer. Another 21% take herbs or single supplements for the same purpose. Other studies have found that the bioflavinoids found in fruits and vegetables help prevent cancer, but when they are reduced to a powder and pressed into a pill, they do not work. So eat your fruits and veges.

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Even so come, Lord Jesus
Linda

From The Food and Nutrition Science Alliance (FANSA):

The FANSA Statement on Diet and Cancer Prevention in the United States specifically urges Americans to take the following steps to reduce their cancer risk:

• Eat plenty of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes in accordance with the USDA Food Guide Pyramid.
• Avoid empty calories from highly processed foods that are high in fat or sugar.
• Choose activities that involve moderate or vigorous exercise.
• Limit or abstain from alcohol.

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Best Foods have introduced a new line of soy milks to the market. Called NutraBlend, the line includes Original, Vanilla, Orange and Apple varieties. Like all good soy milks, it is cholesterol free and low in fat.

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Mad Cow Disease can be spread in humans through blood transfusions. In experiments in sheep, one of the first animals given tainted blood eventually developed the variant form of the disease present in England known as vCJD. It took 610 days, nearly two years. Canada at present doesn't allow anyone who has spent six months or more in England or France between 1980 and 1996 to give blood because of this possibility.

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According to a study done in Milan, Italy, people who are mechanics, painters, printers, or work with petroleum, rubber, or plastics are at increased risk of developing Parkinson's disease. These people work with hydrocarbon solvents and develope the disease about 3 years before other people do. Parkinson's disease occurs when cells which produce dopamine no longer work and the body's movements are affected often characterized by uncontrolled shaking.

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In the Netherlands a study has suggested that people who work with pesticides including the chemicals, suffer from mild brain damage seen in speech and cognitive functions. The problem is five times greater than in the general population.

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The Maastricht Ageing Study examined the health of 830 people. Of these, 629 had been exposed to pesticides in the course of their work.

It found that many had mild cognitive dysfunction (MCD), which meant they had problems identifying words, colours or numbers and were unable to speak fluently.

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Even so come, Lord Jesus
Linda

[This message has been edited by Linda Sutton (edited September 18, 2000).]

Ethicists at Purdue University are raising questions about genetically engineered foods. Professor Paul Thomson brings up some thoughtful points.

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reason that people might consider genetically modified foods to be unnatural has to do with an idea that all living things, including crops, have some kind of natural essence. This natural essence gives each living thing a level of moral standing that varies.

Although scientists and others may denigrate the idea that foods contain life forces, Thompson challenges them to think about how they would respond if they were served a dish made from the meat of a dog or cat.

"There is nothing scientifically wrong with eating dog or cat meat," Thompson says. "It is eaten routinely in some parts of the world, but few Americans would want to eat it. Now why is that?"

Dogs and cats have a special place in society as companion animals, and because of that they have a moral status that food animals do not have.

"This belief that living things have a natural essence or life force—call it what you will, it is a character that makes them distinctively what they are—is deeply embedded in our outlook on the world," Thompson says. "But it is a belief that is becoming less and less easy to interpret in scientific terms."

Just as companion animals have a different essence or moral standing than food animals, some people seem to attribute a higher moral standing to crops that have been selectively bred using conventional means than to those that have had a gene inserted in a laboratory. There is a general belief by some people that these conventional crops have been provided by nature or a Supreme Being to ensure the health of our bodies (scientists who have spent their careers cross breeding crops might dispute that), and that because genetically modified crops were not provided by nature, they have a lower moral standing. Thompson says such an outlook has deep cultural and moral roots.

"It drives me crazy when someone stands up and says that our food decisions have to be based on science," Thompson says. "It sounds like they're saying that our culture and values are somehow irrelevant or illegitimate."

Because beliefs about food are so entrenched, some people will always be opposed to genetically modified foods.

"There's one segment of people—they're not nuts or crackpots—that is committed to a holistic way of understanding the world. They are not going to be easily persuaded by any scientifically reductive account that talks about molecules and building blocks of nature," Thompson says. "These people aren't going to revise their beliefs just because science has a better theory."

Thompson adds that society has a moral and ethical responsibility to make sure that these people aren't forced by the marketplace to eat foods that they are opposed to.

"One of the mistakes people in the food systems have made is to think that everyone would accept genetically modified foods," Thompson says. "Let me be clear: I have no objection to them myself, but a minority out there won't accept them under any circumstances. Does their right to hold that viewpoint have to be respected and protected? I think it does."

Because the U.S. Department of Agriculture has issued guidelines that say that genetically modified foods cannot be labeled organic—despite protests from some in the scientific community who argue that there is nothing inorganic about genetically modifying the crops—an inadvertent system has been set up to allow people to avoid eating genetically modified foods.

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Even so come, Lord Jesus
Linda