• Maternal deaths continue to decline - UN report
• Norway's moms have it good
• US: Teen driving deaths have tumbled to historic lows

• Meditation brings peace to war veterans
• Breast cancer: Creating a foundation of strength and inner peace through Transcendental Meditation
• Dr. Oz Show features The Raj Maharishi Ayurveda health spa - Friday, 11 May

• Britain bedeviled by binge drinking
• Children at risk as 'button' battery use grows: US study
• Deadly lead poisoning continues in north Nigeria

---

Positive Trends
10 Short Summaries of Top Stories

Maternal deaths continue to decline - UN report
16 May 2012 - The number of women dying of pregnancy and childbirth related complications has almost halved in 20 years, according to new estimates released today [16 May] by the United Nations, which stressed that greater progress is still needed in significantly reducing maternal deaths. The Millennium Development Goal (MDG) is to reduce maternal deaths by 75 per cent from 1990 to 2015. Ten countries have already reached the MDG target: Belarus, Bhutan, Equatorial Guinea, Estonia, Iran, Lithuania, Maldives, Nepal, Romania, and Viet Nam. (more)

Norway's moms have it good
14 May 2012 - Norway is the best country in the world to be a mother, according to a new report from the international nonprofit Save the Children. The 13th annual State of the World's Mothers report ranked the well-being of mothers in 165 countries -- 43 developed nations and 122 in the developing world -- based on a variety of criteria including health, nutrition, education, and economic and political status. (more)

US: Teen driving deaths have tumbled to historic lows
10 May 2012 - US teenage driving deaths have registered a historic decrease, dropping 64 per cent since 1975, the first year that the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety kept such data. US traffic deaths for all age groups continue to plunge at a record-shattering pace. Last year, showed a 1.7 per cent year-over-year decline and a seven-year downward trend, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The number of road deaths is the lowest since record keeping began in 1949, well before the creation of the American highway system. (more)

South Africa drinking water among best in world
8 May 2012 - South Africa's drinking water is among the best in the world, and the country remains among a few in the world where water can still be consumed from the tap, the Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs Edna Molewa said on 7 May. Releasing the 2012 Blue Drop report during the Water Institute of Southern Africa Conference at the Cape Town International Convention Centre, Molewa said 98 municipalities were this year awarded Blue Status, up from 66 last year. (more)

Britain's Prince Harry draws attention to plight of wounded warriors
7 May 2012 - Prince Harry urged the United States and the United Kingdom on Monday not to forget the plight of wounded veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. The 27-year-old Prince was in Washington, DC to accept an award for humanitarian service from the Atlantic Council. The Prince shook hands with former US Secretary of State Colin Powell who presented him with the council's Distinguished Humanitarian Leadership award. Prince Harry and his elder brother, William, serve as cultural ambassadors for Britain and have worked with Walking with the Wounded, which raises funds to train and educate injured soldiers and help them return to work in civilian life. (more)

Britain's Prince Harry in Washington, DC to accept award for service
7 May 2012 - Britain's Prince Harry accepted an award for his charitable work with wounded soldiers during a formal event Monday in Washington, DC, his first visit to the city. Prince Harry, 27, was being recognized along with his older brother Prince William for their charitable foundation's work. Prince Harry has worked with a number of charities including Walking with the Wounded, a British charity that retrains and re-educates veterans, and Help for Heroes, which helps wounded servicemen and women. Prince Harry urged Americans and the British to work together to heal and support wounded veterans, pooling expertise and experience. (more)

Swiss-born chef wins top US chef award
7 May 2012 - Swiss-born Daniel Humm won the top US chef prize on Monday, with the group that hands out the most prestigious US culinary awards celebrating its 25th anniversary as interests in food and cooking scale fresh heights around the world. Dan Barber, who won the top chef prize in 2009, said the role of chefs has grown beyond the kitchen. They have become active participants in the discussion about healthful eating by connecting it with wholesome, flavourful food. (more)

US: Highway deaths per mile fall to record low
7 May 2012 - US highway deaths declined again last year, reaching their lowest rate when compared to miles driven since such record-keeping began in 1921, according preliminary government data released Monday. Overall, traffic fatalities have plummeted 26 per cent since 2005. (more)

UK study: Curry's ability to fight cancer put to the test
6 May 2012 - Curcumin, which is found in the spice turmeric, has been linked to a range of health benefits. Studies have already shown that it can beat cancer cells grown in a laboratory and benefits have been suggested in stroke and dementia patients as well. Now a trial at hospitals in Leicester will be investigating giving curcumin alongside chemotherapy drugs to reduce side effects. (more)

UK: Free food, caring, and sharing: new spirit of community in Yorkshire
5 May 2012 - There is an extraordinary sign on the outside of a well-tended West Yorkshire vegetable garden: 'Help yourself.' Call it a sharing revolution. 'Community empowerment, social enterprise, co-operative, it has various titles, but it's quietly getting huge,' said Mike Perry of the Plunkett Foundation, a thriving national organization supporting such sharing enterprises nationwide. (more)

---

Success of Maharishi's Programmes
10 Short Summaries of Top Stories

Meditation brings peace to war veterans
15 May 2012 - Those who practise Transcendental Meditation, or TM for short, daily 'claim they feel calmer, have more energy and feel healthier, both mentally and physically, than they used to. It's not a religion, they say, just a practice that reduces anxiety and improves well-being,' writes Kristin Tillotson in today's StarTribune. 'Now the U.S. military--not known for embracing the mystical--has taken note. The Department of Veterans Affairs has invested $5 million in a dozen trial programs studying TM's effects on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), including one at the Minneapolis Veterans Administration Health Care System.' (more)

Breast cancer: Creating a foundation of strength and inner peace through Transcendental Meditation
14 May 2012 - Emotional and psycho-social stress are known to contribute to the onset and progression of breast cancer and cancer mortality. Having a technique to experience inner silence and timelessness can reduce the sense of helplessness and fear that women often feel when facing a life-threatening disease. (more)

Dr. Oz Show features The Raj Maharishi Ayurveda health spa - Friday, 11 May
11 May 2012 - This Friday, 11 May, the renowned Dr. Oz Show features Candace Badgett, owner of The Raj Maharishi Ayurveda Health Spa in Fairfield, Iowa, USA. She will be discussing the new Ayurvedic weight-loss programme offered at The Raj. The Maharishi Ayurveda approach to weight loss includes specialized Ayurvedic purification treatments, which published research has shown to remove 50% of harmful fat-soluble environmental toxins from the body's tissues within 5 days. (more)

Transcendental Meditation studied at oldest private military college in the USA
11 May 2012 - The military allocates untold monies and resources to treating post-combat stress. Now, for the first time, research is being conducted at the USA's oldest private military college, Norwich University in Northfield, Vermont, to determine whether the Transcendental Meditation Technique may provide an important addition to the promoting of resilience among military men and women--to prevent the trauma in the first place. (more)

Maharishi Vedic Vibration Technology recommended by doctors
10 May 2012 - Nancy Lonsdorf, M.D., a practitioner of holistic, integrative medicine and author of The Ageless Woman, regularly recommends Maharishi Vedic Vibration Technology to her patients. 'MVVT works at a deep level of mind-body connection to relieve pain and correct the underlying imbalances that cause it. MVVT rebalances the body by strengthening its own healing ability in a natural way. In a sense it's erasing the memory of pain.' (more)

TM a 'highly effective coping strategy': Norwich University president highlights new research on military cadets
8 May 2012 - 'A 2011 Norwich University study, with funding from the David Lynch Foundation and the Educational Foundation of America, showed the positive effects that Transcendental Meditation can have on helping students cope with the stresses of leadership in being a member of the Norwich University Corps of Cadets,' writes the University's 23rd president, Richard W. Schneider, RADM USCGR (Ret.), in Politico. 'TM has proven to be a highly effective coping strategy and has set a high bar to further explorations and research.' (more)

Breast cancer: How Transcendental Meditation supports recovery
7 May 2012 - To manage stress and find the inner strength to deal with a serious illness, many women find that learning the Transcendental Meditation Technique is a key factor. Not only does the practice provide deep relaxation and calm, but also the energy, intuition, and clarity of mind to face the daily challenges. (more)

Research finds relief from chronic pain through Maharishi Vedic Vibration Technology
7 May 2012 - In preliminary research on Maharishi Vedic Vibration Technology, a double-blind randomized controlled study tested the effectiveness of a single session of MVVT in 176 individuals with peripheral arthritis, spinal disease, and rheumatoid arthritis. In the group receiving the MVVT technique, one-third of the patients experienced 100 per cent relief from pain, one-third had greater than 60 percent relief, and one-third reported less than 60 percent relief. These results were published in the journal Frontiers of Bioscience. (more)

Norwich University President honoured with 'Resilient Warrior Award' during National Veterans Summit - May 3, Washington, DC
3 May 2012 - Norwich University President Richard W. Schneider, RADM USCGR (Ret.) received the 'Resilient Warrior Award' during a National Veterans Summit, 3 May in Washington, DC. The award, given by Operation Warrior Wellness, a division of the David Lynch Foundation, cites Schneider for his leadership in exploring the use of Transcendental Meditation in building resilient warriors. 'Based on existing data and preliminary results of ongoing trials at Norwich, I believe the Transcendental Meditation technique represents an essential tool to promote resilience in cadets,' he said. (more)

Dr Oz brings Transcendental Meditation to his TV production team
2 May 2012 - Recommends TM Technique for everyone to reduce stress, improve health and creativity. Mehmet Oz, MD, renowned cardiac surgeon and host of the Emmy Award-winning Dr. Oz Show, is offering the Transcendental Meditation technique to his entire New York-based production team--and seeing substantive changes immediately. In a compelling new video, Dr. Oz describes the benefits of TM for mind and body, how the technique has impacted his own life, and why he offers it to his creative team. (more)

---

Flops
10 Short Summaries of Top Stories

Britain bedeviled by binge drinking
16 May 2012 - Binge drinking has reached crisis levels in Britain, health experts say, costing the cash-strapped National Health Service 2.7 billion pounds (US$4.4 billion) a year, including the cost of hospital admissions related to booze-fuelled violence and longer-term health problems. Unlike all other major health threats, liver disease is on the rise in Britain, increasing by 25 per cent in the last decade and causing a record level of deaths. Doctors believe rising obesity is combining with heavy drinking to fuel the spike in liver disease, which is hitting more young people than ever. The legal drinking age in Britain is 18, but many drinkers start younger. Social workers say lax control of retail sales and cheap alcohol -- commonly available for less than 70 pence ($1.10) a can in supermarkets and liquor stores -- makes it easy for young people to experiment with liquor. Cut-price booze has been blamed for the increasingly popular practice of 'pre-loading,' where drinkers indulge in shop-bought drink at home before they head out to bars and pubs, where the drinks are much more expensive. (more)

Children at risk as 'button' battery use grows: US study
15 May 2012 - Children face a growing risk from 'button' batteries, according to a US study showing a near doubling of emergency room visits in the past two decades as the objects can cause electrical or chemical burns if swallowed. Most of those emergency room trips are due to coin-shaped batteries that have become ubiquitous in toys, remote controls and hearing aids, and represent a shiny temptation to curious toddlers, according to a study in Pediatrics, the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics. 'Button' batteries carry extra risks, experts said, because they can send an electrical current through esophageal tissue, eventually even burning a hole in the trachea or the esophagus -- without children showing any signs of immediate injury. Using a nationally-representative sample of about 100 US hospitals with 24-hour emergency rooms, researchers calculated that more than 65,000 children under age 18 had a battery-related emergency visit between 1990 and 2009. (more)

Deadly lead poisoning continues in north Nigeria
10 May 2012 - A deadly lead poisoning outbreak that began two years ago in northern Nigeria continues to claim young victims even today. Doctors Without Borders also criticized the government of oil-rich Nigeria for not taking the threat seriously, despite 4,000 children already being sickened by the outbreak linked to gold mining. Foreign aid groups have done much of the work to clean the villages affected in rural Zamfara state and provide care to the children, who likely will suffer long-term brain damage from their exposure to the lead. It wasn't until 160 children died and others went blind and deaf that authorities in 2010 realized the region faced am unprecedented lead poisoning outbreak. Government ordered the halt of mining by local villages, but the practice will continues while the region remains desperately poor and without jobs for its teeming youth. A January 2011 report showed some villages already cleaned by foreign experts showed traces of lead and mercury again because residents had begun mining again without taking any precautions. (more)

Many kids exposed to smoke despite parents' claims
10 May 2012 - More than half of kids who were part of a new study from California tested positive for secondhand smoke exposure -- despite only a handful of their parents admitting to lighting up. Parents may think kids are only exposed if they're around someone actively smoking a cigarette, researchers said, or are unaware of where else their children might be breathing in smoke. Secondhand smoke exposure in kids has been tied to -- among other things -- sudden infant death syndrome, respiratory problems, ear infections, and asthma. Kids can still get the effects of secondhand smoke if they spend time in a room where someone recently smoked. (more)

Probe uncovers serious problems with India's drug regulator
9 May 2012 - India's main drug regulator has not been properly scrutinising some drugs before approving them, and some of its officials are colluding with drug firms and medical experts to circumvent procedure, according to a new parliamentary report. The report by parliament's health committee, the result of a more than year-long investigation, painted a chaotic picture of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), which oversees the licensing, marketing, and trials of drugs in India. The report, presented in parliament on Tuesday, found numerous shortcomings in an organisation where files of several controversial drugs had mysteriously disappeared and the recommendations of medical experts promoting certain drugs were identically worded, to the point of including the same misspellings. The report also said the body had for decades neglected the 'poor and hapless patient' in favour of the drugs industry. The parliamentary committee also found a deeply flawed drug-testing system. (more)

US: One in eight teens misuses prescription painkillers
7 May 2012 - One in eight older US teenagers has used powerful painkiller drugs without prescriptions, and many of them start misusing the pills at age 16 or 17, earlier than was previously assumed, according to new research released on Monday. Both medical and recreational use of such opioid drugs has increased across the United States over the last two decades, as have deaths due to painkiller overdoses. The new findings suggest that educational programs on the dangers of misusing painkillers should start earlier in high school, researchers said. The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that 14,800 Americans died of an opioid overdose in 2008 -- three times the number of such deaths 20 years earlier. 'The non-medical use of controlled medications in (teens) has surpassed almost all illicit drugs except for marijuana,' said pediatrician Dr. Robert Fortuna, from the University of Rochester Medical Center in New York. 'It's just an alarming trend.' (more)

15 million of world's babies are born prematurely
4 May 2012 - About 15 million premature babies are born every year -- more than 1 in 10 of the world's births and a bigger problem than previously believed, according to the first country-by-country estimates of this obstetric epidemic. The startling toll: 1.1 million of these fragile newborns die as a result, and even those who survive can suffer lifelong disabilities. Most of the world's preemies are born in Africa and Asia. The risk of death from prematurity is at least 12 times higher for an African newborn than for a European baby, the report found. Globally, prematurity is not only the leading killer of newborns but the second-leading cause of death in children under 5. (more)

US: More teens taking hits as pot use climbs
1 May 2012 - More teens are smoking dope, with nearly 1 in 10 lighting up at least 20 or more times a month, according to a new survey of young people. The report by The Partnership at Drugfree.org, being released Wednesday, also said abuse of prescription medicine may be easing a bit among young people in grades 9 through 12, but still remains high. But past-month usage of marijuana grew from 19 percent in 2008 to 27 per cent last year. Also alarming, is the percentage of teens smoking pot 20 or more times a month. That rate went from 5 per cent in 2008 to 9 per cent last year, or about 1.5 million teens toking up that frequently. The partnership study suggests a link between teens who smoke pot more regularly and the use of other drugs. Teens who smoked 20 times or more a month were almost twice as likely as kids who smoked pot less frequently to use ecstasy, cocaine, or crack. (more)

As America's waistline expands, costs soar
30 April 2012 - The nation's rising rate of obesity has been well-chronicled. But businesses, governments, and individuals are only now coming to grips with the costs of those extra pounds, many of which are even greater than believed only a few years ago: The additional medical spending due to obesity is double previous estimates and exceeds even those of smoking, a new study shows. The percentage of Americans who are obese (with a BMI of 30 or higher) has tripled since 1960, to 34 per cent, while the incidence of extreme or 'morbid' obesity (BMI above 40) has risen sixfold, to 6 per cent. The percentage of overweight Americans (BMI of 25 to 29.9) has held steady: It was 34 per cent in 2008 and 32 per cent in 1961. What seems to have happened is that for every healthy-weight person who 'graduated' into overweight, an overweight person graduated into obesity. Because obesity raises the risk of a host of medical conditions, from heart disease to chronic pain, the obese are absent from work more often than people of healthy weight. Obese men rack up an additional $1,152 a year in medical spending, nationally, that comes to $190 billion a year in additional medical spending as a result of obesity, or 20.6 per cent of US health care expenditures. (more)

Factbox: US Obesity's dollars and cents
30 April 2012 - The incidence of obesity in the United States has soared from 13 percent to 34 percent over the last 50 years, while the percentage of Americans who are extremely or 'morbidly' obese has rocketed from 0.9 per cent to 6 per cent. Although the epidemic of obesity is well-known, the costs are not -- and in many cases are significantly greater than estimated even a few years ago. (more)