• Listening to music found to lower blood pressure - US study
• Sunshine vitamin may lower breast cancer risk - Canadian study
• India: Barbers turn health educators in eastern Indian schools

• New Maharishi Ayur-Veda shops opening in Germany
• Ireland: A design for life that can help us all find balance - The Maharishi Vedic Approach to Health
• Maharishi's Vedic Approach to Health programmes expanding in Canada

• More Americans are taking prescription medications
• Air pollution linked to blood clots in veins
• US: Marijuana may increase heart attack, stroke risk, study says

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Positive Trends
10 Short Summaries of Top Stories

Listening to music found to lower blood pressure - US study
17 May 2008 - Listening to half an hour of music each day may significantly lower your blood pressure. A study recently presented at the American Society of Hypertension meeting, revealed that people with mild hypertension (high blood pressure) who listened to classical, Celtic, or Indian (raga) music for just 30 minutes a day for one month had significant reductions in their blood pressure. (more)

Sunshine vitamin may lower breast cancer risk - Canadian study
17 May 2008 - A Canadian study adds to a growing body of evidence that an adequate amount of vitamin D, made when sunlight hits the skin and used to fortify many foods including milk, is important for preventing chronic diseases. It is key to maintaining strong bones. Lack of vitamin D may also be associated with prostate, colon cancer, and heart disease. (more)

India: Barbers turn health educators in eastern Indian schools
14 May 2008 - An eastern Indian state is recruiting around 4,000 barbers to give free haircuts to poor children to improve hygiene and appearance. The barbers, paid a monthly wage of 1,500 rupees (around $37), will work in some 45,000 primary and middle schools in Jharkhand. (more)

American Medical Association President says make health care greener
13 May 2008 - Ronald M. Davis, MD, President of the American Medical Association (AMA) calls for a 'greener' health care system and asks hospitals to serve fresh, local, or organic foods, create more eco-friendly hospital settings, eliminate the use of PVC plastics, and for medical schools to offer courses on the connection between a healthy individual and the environment. (more)

Swedish study: Breastfeeding halves rheumatoid arthritis risk
13 May 2008 - Women who breastfeed their babies longer are less likely to get rheumatoid arthritis, Swedish researchers said on Tuesday. Mothers who breastfed for 13 months or more were half as likely to get the painful joint condition as women who never breastfed, said Mitra Pikwer and colleagues at the Malmo University Hospital in Sweden, who led the study. Breastfeeding is known to provide multiple benefits for the baby and studies have shown the practice may also protect mothers from breast and ovarian cancers. (more)

India: Chandigarh remains green model with motto 'My Garden, My City'
11 May 2008 - The green, pollution-free city of Chandigarh, which borders both the states of Punjab and Haryana, India, with its flowering trees, parks, gardens, and 'vast green expanses', is a model city for the rest of India to emulate. (more)

Russia: President Dmitri Medvedev practices yoga
11 May 2008 - Russian President Dmitri Medvedev, who was inaugurated on 7 May, is studying yoga in order to stay healthy in his new high-pressure job. His interest in the practice is expected to cause a boom throughout the country in the practice of the ancient health and spiritual technique. (more)

United States research: Tree-lined streets may cut city children's asthma risk
10 May 2008 - City blocks boasting plenty of trees aren't only more pleasing to the eye; they may be healthier for children's lungs, according to research conducted in New York City. Four- and five-year-olds living along the city's greenest streets were less likely to have asthma than young children living in sparsely planted neighbourhoods, Dr Gina S. Lovasi and colleagues from Columbia University found. (more)

United States study: Being breast-fed may lower breast cancer risk
10 May 2008 - Most adult women who were breast-fed as infants may have a lower risk of developing breast cancer than those who were not breast-fed, a study findings suggest. As a general group, women who reported they had been breast-fed in infancy had a 17 per cent decrease in breast cancer risk. (more)

United Kingdom: Study suggests popular peers can help young people avoid smoking
9 May 2008 - Getting the popular children to talk to their peers about the dangers of smoking cut the number of young people who started using cigarettes in one study by nearly 25 per cent, researchers said. The study published in the journal Lancet took a different approach than most tobacco cessation programmes aimed at youths by asking students to nominate others they viewed as influential or leaders to spread the anti-smoking message. (more)

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

New Maharishi Ayur-Veda shops opening in Germany
14 May 2008 - On a recent Maharishi Global Family Chat, Dr Eckhart Stein, Director of Education for the Global Country of World Peace in Germany, spoke about new shops in Germany offering Maharishi Ayur-Veda products and holding lectures on Maharishi Ayur-Veda for health and longevity. (more)

Ireland: A design for life that can help us all find balance - The Maharishi Vedic Approach to Health
29 April 2008 - Maharishi's Vedic Approach to Health can prevent illness, promote general well-being, and help with chronic illnesses, including but not limited to, rheumatoid arthritis, hypertension, and non-insulin-dependent diabetes. (more)

Maharishi's Vedic Approach to Health programmes expanding in Canada
29 April 2008 - Speaking recently on Maharishi Global Family Chat, Raja Paul Potter, Raja of Invincible Canada for the Global Country of World Peace, reported developments in the expansion of Maharishi's Vedic Approach to Health throughout his domain. (more)

India: Dr Robert Schneider reports increasing demand for Maharishi Vedic Medicine - Part III
27 April 2008 - Speaking recently on the Maharishi Global Family Chat, Dr Robert Schneider, National Director of Health for Invincible America, reported developing interest at Indian medical universities in Maharishi's Vedic Approach to Health. (more)

Transcendental Meditation helps control blood pressure
27 April 2008 - University of Kentucky researchers have found that Transcendental Meditation can control high blood pressure and is 'less troublsome' than taking anti-hypertension drugs, which may cause negative side-effects. (more)

India: Dr Robert Schneider reports increasing demand for Maharishi Vedic Medicine - Part II
26 April 2008 - Speaking recently on Maharishi Global Family Chat, Dr Robert Schneider, National Director of Health for Invincible America, reported developing interest at Indian hospitals and medical universities in Maharishi Ayur-Veda. On a recent trip to India, Dr Schneider offered assistance to a new hospital in launching a clinical research project on Ayur-Veda and heart health. (more)

Maharaja Adhiraj Raja Raam's historic address on the presentation of his new book Ramayana in Human Physiology - Part V, Conclusion
26 April 2008 - During the recent global celebration of Raam Navami, Maharaja Adhiraj Raja Raam gave an historic address after being presented with the first copy of his new book, Ramayana in Human Physiology. This presentation, on the Maharishi Global Family Chat, marked the beginning of a special three-day celebration at the International Capital of the Global Country of World Peace in MERU, Holland, in honour of the completion of this highly significant work. (more)

The Scotsman reports: One breath at a time
26 April 2008 - Maharishi Mahesh Yogi is credited with bringing Transcendental Meditation to the West, and promoting its scientific investigation. Currently, interest in meditation is increasing worldwide as more people report their meditation practice brings clarity of thought, increased creativity, and contentedness, while scientists suggest that meditation may boost regular practitioners' immune systems, reduce stress levels, calm the mind, and slow the heart rate. (more)

India: Dr Robert Schneider reports increasing demand for Maharishi Vedic Medicine - Part I
24 April 2008 - Speaking recently on Maharishi Global Family Chat, Dr Robert Schneider, National Director of Health for Invincible America, reported developing interest at Indian hospitals and medical universities in launching studies on Maharishi Ayur-Veda. The first hospital he visited on his Indian tour has begun preparations for a study on Maharishi's Rasayanas, or herbal preparations, for the reversal of ageing. (more)

Maharishi's Vedic Approach to Health headlined in Irish press
23 April 2008 - Republic of Ireland's biggest selling Sunday newspaper has featured an article on Maharishi Ayur-Veda and Maharishi's Transcendental Meditation Programme. (more)

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Flops
10 Short Summaries of Top Stories

More Americans are taking prescription medications
15 May 2008 - For the first time, it appears that more than half of all insured Americans are taking prescription medicines regularly for chronic health problems, a study shows. The most widely used drugs are those to lower high blood pressure and cholesterol, problems often linked to heart disease, obesity, and diabetes. (more)

Air pollution linked to blood clots in veins
13 May 2008 - Air pollution heavy in small particles may cause blood clots in the legs, the same condition air travellers call 'economy class syndrome' from immobility during flight, researchers said. Air pollution from automobiles and industry can contain tiny particles of carbon, nitrates, metals, and other materials that have been linked over the years to a variety of health problems. The findings introduce a new and common risk for deep vein thrombosis, the researchers said and 'give further substance to the call for tighter standards and continued efforts aimed at reducing the impact of urban air pollutants on human health.' (more)

US: Marijuana may increase heart attack, stroke risk, study says
13 May 2008 - Heavy marijuana use can boost blood levels of a particular protein, perhaps raising a person's risk of a heart attack or stroke, researchers said. The findings point to another example of long-term harm from marijuana. Levels of a protein called apolipoprotein C-III were found to be 30 percent higher in the marijuana users. Higher levels cause increased levels of triglycerides, which can contribute to hardening of the arteries or thickening of the artery walls, raising the risk of stroke, heart attack and heart disease. (more)

Antarctica: Pesticide DDT shows up in penguins
10 May 2008 - The pesticide DDT, banned decades ago in much of the world, still shows up in penguins in Antarctica, probably due to the chemical's accumulation in melting glaciers, a sea bird expert said. Adelie penguins, known for their waddling gait and a habit of nesting on stones, have long shown evidence of DDT in their fatty tissues. Researchers were surprised to see that the level of the pesticide in Adelies' fat had not declined, even after DDT was banned for exterior use in the 1970's in the United States and elsewhere. (more)

Ten million children worldwide die from lack of health care
7 May 2008 - More than 200 million children worldwide under age 5 do not get basic health care, leading to nearly 10 million deaths annually from treatable ailments, a US-based charity said. Nearly all of the deaths occur in the developing world, with poor children facing twice the risk of dying compared to richer children. Eight out of 10 bottom-ranked countries are in sub-Saharan Africa, where four out of five mothers are likely to lose a child in their lifetime. (more)

US: Gender gap in alcohol drinking, dependence shrinks
6 May 2008 - There have been marked increases in alcohol consumption and alcohol dependence among US women, particularly among white and Hispanic women born in the US after World War II, new research shows. 'This is particularly disturbing because women with alcohol problems face more severe health-related consequences and possibly more years of life lost than their male counterparts,' researchers write. (more)

Anti-psychotic drug use soars in children in US and UK
5 May 2008 - American children take anti-psychotic medicines at about six times the rate of children in the United Kingdom, according to a comparison based on a new UK study. Use is rising on both sides of the Atlantic. And with scant long-term safety data, it's likely the drugs are being over-prescribed for both US and UK children, research suggests. (more)

Commonly used drugs cause health risks
4 May 2008 - Two studies provide new evidence of risks associated with drugs commonly used to treat diabetes and osteoporosis, researchers said on Monday. In one study, US researchers found women who took Merck and Co Inc's osteoporosis drug Fosamax, or alendronate sodium, were nearly twice as likely to have a type of abnormal heartbeat known as atrial fibrillation. In another, Swiss researchers found the diabetes drugs Avandia, or rosiglitazone, from GlaxoSmithKline Plc and Actos, or pioglitazone, from Takeda Pharmaceutical Co Ltd can more than double the risk of bone fractures. (more)

World's biggest drug maker to build experimental medicines plant in Ireland
3 May 2008 - Pfizer Inc, the world's biggest drug maker, is to invest 190 million euros ($297 million) establishing a new biotech plant in Ireland for the production of experimental medicines. It is the first time that Pfizer has placed such internal biopharmaceutical clinical development outside the United States. The investment reflected the US group's determination to become a leader in biotech medicine, which is a growing focus for many drug companies worldwide. (more)

US: Veterans with brain injury still not getting proper care
2 May 2008 - Many Iraq war veterans with traumatic brain injury are not getting adequate health care and job assistance for their long-term recovery despite years of government pledges to do so, Veterans Affairs Department investigators say. The VA pledged to coordinate the necessary follow-up care with the Pentagon, but the latest audit concludes that efforts are still falling short for roughly one in four patients. Earlier this year, the Government Accountability Office found that thousands of Iraq war veterans who could have suffered traumatic brain injury may be getting unnecessary or inadequate health care because VA officials have yet to determine whether their initial screening tests are reliable. (more)