Epidemiologist Christine Parks, and lead investigator of the study, said that while not all correlations can be accounted for, i.e. it’s possible that the women in the study have something else in common that accounts for their higher risk of developing an autoimmune disorder, the findings still do raise a red flag.

Previous research has already linked agricultural pesticides to higher risk of rheumatoid arthritis and lupus, which is one reason why, in spite of arguments that say otherwise, you should eat organic food. The new research points to even smaller doses of insecticides having the same harmful effects as agricultural pesticides.

According to the research, “Women who reported applying insecticides or mixing them – (about half of the women studied) — had a higher risk of developing the two autoimmune disorders than women who reported no insecticide use. This was the case whether or not they had lived on a farm. Those who used or mixed the insecticides the most — judged by frequency or duration — had double the risk.”

The insecticides that the women reported using included insect killers, such as those designed to eradicate ants, wasps, termites, mosquitoes and roaches but did not include insect repellents.

The end result is that the researchers on the study recommend that people read the labels of the products they use and take precautions to minimize their personal exposure to insecticides. It’s also important to note that insecticides have also been shown to cause male sexual and fertility problems.

Luckily you don’t need toxic products. You can use natural bug fighting methods and keep yourself and your kids safe from insecticides.

*Source

[image via stock.xchng]

Post from: Blisstree

Insecticides Linked to Autoimmune Disorders

This week, which was also Children’s Mental Health Week, was fairly busy at Mental Health Notes. I talked about mental health situations in the news (some…bizarre, and some not so uncommon) as well as well as a few mental health studies such as increasing intelligence and how compliments affect the brain. I told you about NAMI and the DBSA participating in the online Women’s Health Expo, how my local NAMI’s cookout for Mental Health Month panned out, and even shared a few extreme ups and downs I experienced this week. Perhaps most noteworthy, however, is that Ken Jensen took over the This Is Why I ROCK! series slot for the next week!

My bookmarks are overflowing with mental health news-, research-, and government-related information. The Pentagon is working to reduce mental health counseling stigma (I wonder if this decision was made before or after VA mental health director Dr. Ira Katz sent around an internal email dealing with suicide data that had “Shh!” in the subject line?). Researchers in Canada believe celebrities are one reason the number of young people who visit mental health professionals has doubled in the last two years (well, that certainly adds to Tuesday’s conversation about celebrities and mental health), while researchers in Australia believe helping pregnant women cope with depression during pregnancy may lower the risk of being depressed after giving birth. And, sadly, another mental health care budget slash is in the works; this time, in California’s Santa Clara County.

And, as usual, the rest of the b5 Health & Wellness Channel has a slue of stuff going on. In addition to Mental Health Notes’s birthday giveaway, Grace at Kids Health Notes currently has five giveaways going on (some end tonight, so hurry on over!) while Gloria at Cancer Commentary is running an HPV Awareness contest. In addition to the upcoming Living with Pain blog carnival, Help My Hurt’s Marijke has interviewed the author of How-To Marijuana, A Step-by-Step Guide to Medical Marijuana and is hosting a contest to win a free copy of the book. And, for you poets out there, Angelique at Breaking the Mirror is hosting a contest for a free copy of For Keeps: Women Tell the Truth about Their Bodies, Growing Older, and Acceptance. Of course, just when you thought we b5 bloggers didn’t know how to do anything but give stuff away, Gabrielle at Fertility Notes gets serious with tips for coping with fertility problems while Elaine at Genetics & Health the connections between child abuse, genetic changes, and suicide.

That’s all the sanity I can stand this Saturday! Remember, if you have any Saturday Sanity-worthy stories, send ‘em my way for next week.

Top image courtesy of morgueFile.
Middle and bottom images courtesy of Newscom.

Post from: Blisstree

Saturday Sanity: Ain’t The A Kick In The Brain?