Dead Sea Herbs

Plant pathologist and retired Purdue University professor Don Huber has written a letter to U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack warning that a newly discovered and widespread “electron microscopic pathogen” appears to significantly impact the health of plants, animals, and probably human beings.” He said the pathogen appears to be connected to use of glyphosate, the key ingredient in Roundup.

President’s Cancer panel which bluntly blames chemicals for the staggering prevalence of cancers – raises profoundly challenging questions about the chemical and  genetic-engineering practices of industrial agriculture. The challenge, if it holds up, has implications not just for agricultural institutions, but also for the primary food chain serving the Earth’s population.

Huber spoke about a range of key factors involved in plant growth, including sunlight, water, temperature, genetics, and nutrients taken up from the soil. “Any change in any of these factors impacts all the factors,” he said. “No one element acts alone, but all are part of a system…When you change one thing,” he said, “everything else in the web of life changes in relationship.”

That brought him to the subject of glyphosate, the most widely used herbicide, most commonly recognized in the product named Roundup®. Because it is so widely used, Huber said, it is having a profound impact upon mega millions of farm acres around the world. More than 155 million acres of cropland were treated with glyphosate during the 2008 growing season, and even more by now. Subsequently, Huber said, this chemical is having a sweeping impact on the food chain.

He asserted that glyphosate compromises plant defense mechanisms and thereby increases their susceptibility to disease. He said that it reduces the availability and uptake of essential nutrients, and that it increases the virulence of pathogens that attack plants. Ultimately, Huber said, all of these factors reduce crop vigor and yield (Yield Drag).

While the pathogen is not new to the environment, Huber said, it is new to science. This pathogen apparently increases in soil treated with glyphosate, he said, and is then taken up by plants, later transmitted to animals via their feed, and onward to human beings by the plants and meat they consume.

The USDA was being asked to approve unrestricted use of genetically engineered alfalfa seeds, which could result in as many as 20 million more acres of land being sprayed with up to 23 million more pounds of toxic herbicides each year.

Because alfalfa is pollinated by bees that fly and cross-pollinate between fields many miles apart, the biotech crop will inevitably contaminate natural and organic alfalfa varieties.

Huber said laboratory tests have confirmed the presence of the organism in pigs, cattle and other livestock fed these crops, and that they have experienced sterility, spontaneous abortions, and infertility.

His message of urgent concern and the need for delay until more research was completed was unwelcome in many corporate and university citadels, and was deemed heresy by some vested in the multi-billion dollar industry of GMO crop

The extensive use of glyphosate is leading, Huber argues, to weaker and more disease-prone plants, animals, and people. In his presentation, he offered a list of about 40 diseases that, he says, tend to increase in farm fields where glyphosate is used.

Those plant diseases include Sun Scald, Leaf Chlorosis, Tomato Wilt, Apple

Canker, Barley Root Rot, Bean Root Rot, Wheat Take All, Wheat Head Scab, Wheat Glume, and Grape Black Goo.

Subsequently, he hypothesized, the decrease in nutrients and the increase in the new pathogen in food lead to empty calories, which likely explains increases in allergies, and chronic diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.

The list of diseases that Huber suspects may be affected by glyphosate and the new pathogen is, he said, increasing as growers and pathologists recognize the cause-effect relationship:

Increase in cancers of the liver, thyroid, kidneys, tests, and skin melanomas.

Increase in allergic reactions in general, and an increase of up to 50% in soybean allergies in the USA in the last three years.

Increase on an epidemic-scale in the incidence of Alzheimer’s disease, perhaps as much as 9,000% over the last 30 years. Specialists say they expect the incidence of Alzhiemer’s to spike far higher over the next four years.

Increase in the incidence of Parkinson’s disease, which researchers say, is being provoked in part by the factor of chemical pesticides.

Some crops have been genetically engineered to be resistant to Roundup. Such crops allow farmers to use glyphosate as a post-emergence herbicide against both broadleaf and cereal weeds, but the development of similar resistance in some weed species is emerging as a costly problem.

“Slow down,” Huber said. “It takes time to restore soil biota if a field has been treated with glyphosate. We have 30 years of accumulated damage, so it may take some time to remediate all of this.”

“Before we jump off the cliff,”  Huber said, “we need to have more research done. It takes a lot to reverse the problems.” Many observers would argue,

convincingly, that we have already jumped off the cliff.

Take control. Don’t trust Monsanto.

And the latest news: Monsanto has revealed that a common insect pest has developed resistance to its flagship genetically modified (GM) product in India. The agricultural biotechnology leader says it “detected unusual survival” of pink bollworms that fed on G M cotton.

Cut out the evil culprit, eradicate the symptoms, reduce pain with drugs. Who needs an appendix when the road without it shines gloriously.

But a thing to remember is, that an appendix comes in handy in times of need.

So are there extra, unneeded organs in human body?

To survive, you need your heart, lungs, and liver. But what about your appendix, tonsils, wisdom teeth, and other parts that you normally hear about only when they’re being removed. Are they just troublemakers?

the appendix and tonsils are part of the immune system.

the tailbone has a part in bladder control and allows us to sit upright without falling over.

Vestigial organs were long cited by scientists as evidence of evolution until they discovered the real purpose and function of those 180 organs in the human body. There are no human organs thought today to have functioned for the purpose of the evolutionary process.

In the fifties, tonsillectomies (removals of tonsils) were standard procedure. The tonsils happen to be one of the first line of defenses against disease and they are your only defense against the poliomyelitis virus. In the nineties the

medical community began to admit, though not too loudly, that the polio epidemic of the fifties was iatrogenic (caused by physician intervention).

Another medical procedure responsible for suppressing the immune system is the appendectomy (removal of the appendix). Did you know that the appendix is part of your immune system? Did you know there are natural ways of reversing an appendicitis attack? Did you know that an appendicitis attack is actually a warning of something even bigger amiss?

In fact, the appendix may still help store good bacteria, but only in places where bad bacteria runs rampant, like the developing world. Humans without access to clean water supplies need the bacteria stored by the appendix to fight off illnesses like cholera.

But give the appendix nothing to do, and it can get into trouble. Researchers say the appendix only becomes inflamed when modern sewage systems and improved sanitation have left the immune system, including the appendix, bored.

“We’re so clean, and that causes us to get appendicitis,” says immunologist William Parker, assistant professor of surgical sciences at Duke University and the senior author of the study. “Your entire immune system is hanging out, doing very little.” As a result, the appendix gets swollen and bacteria inside it can start leaking out. “What medical science needs to do is figure out how to get our immune systems busy,” says Parker. “An idle immune system is a devil’s workshop.”

Removing inflamed tonsils or an inflamed appendix is equivalent to tossing out your smoke detector because it’s making too much noise. Immunologists tell us that the tonsils are not to be removed under any circumstance, yet

every year over a million tonsillectomies are performed in America, and in some states, removing the appendix is required by law if the lower abdomen is opened. Fortunately our bodies know more than doctors and 20% of the time we actually grow back tonsils and appendices (the plural of appendix) after they’ve been removed.

While it has no digestive function, the appendix contains lymph tissue that is a part of the body’s immune system for making antibodies. Also, the appendix produces secretions that are designed to neutralize excessive putrefaction and toxins in the large intestine.

Three decades ago, 90 percent of tonsillectomies in children were performed because of recurrent infection. Today only 20 percent are for infection and 80 percent are for obstructive sleep problems, according to the American Academy of Otolaryngology. Between 1996 and 2006, the number of Americans getting tonsillectomies jumped from 418,000 to 757,000, according to the National Center for Health Statistics

Feb. 1, 2011 — Children who have their tonsils removed tend to gain weight after the surgery, according to an analysis of studies conducted over the past four decades.

Take supplements that would keep the body resistance strong against infection. Beta Carotene, vitamin C, and zinc can enhance the body immunity while co enzyme A aids the body’s process for detoxification.

There is a high correlation between appendicitis and a low fiber diet. A high fiber diet can be gentle with the digestive

system. A soluble fiber diet consists of fruits and vegetables whole grains, wheat bread, carrots, cucumber, zucchini,

and celery constitute a non-soluble fiber diet. Maintaining a proper and well-balanced diet can also help prevent

appendicitis. Fluid intake is also essential to keep the body sufficiently hydrated.

THURSDAY, Feb. 3 (HealthDay News) — About 340,000 cancer cases in the

United States could be prevented each year if more Americans ate a healthy diet, got regular exercise and limited their alcohol intake, according to the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF).

These types of lifestyle changes could lead to significant reductions in particularly common cancers such as breast (38 percent fewer cases per year), stomach (47 percent fewer) and colon (45 percent fewer).

The research about how a healthy lifestyle can reduce cancer risk was released Feb. 3 to mark World Cancer Day. The WCRF said its findings are supported by the World Health Organization’s new Global Recommendations on Physical Activity for Health, a report that says that regular physical activity can prevent many diseases, including breast and colon cancer, cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

“Physical activity is recommended for people of all ages as a means to reduce risks for certain types of cancers and other non-communicable diseases,” Dr. Tim Armstrong, of WHO’s Department of Chronic Diseases and Health Promotion, said in a WCRF news release.

“In order to improve their health and prevent several diseases, adults should do at least 150 minutes of moderate physical activity throughout the week. This can be achieved by simply walking 30 minutes five times per week or by cycling to work daily,” he advised.

Other healthy lifestyle habits that reduce the risk of cancer include quitting smoking, avoiding secondhand smoke, avoiding excessive sun exposure, and preventing cancer-causing infections, the WCRF said.

Cancer is the leading cause of death worldwide. Each year, 12.7 million people are diagnosed with cancer and 7.6 million die from the disease. But 30 percent to 40 percent of cancers can be prevented and one-third can be cured through early diagnosis and treatment, according to the WCRF.

The Underlying Causes of Cancer

Cancerous cells are always being created in the body. It’s an ongoing process that has gone on for eons. Consequently, there are parts of your immune system are designed to seek out and destroy cancer cells.

Cancer has been around as long as mankind, but only in the second half of the 20th century did the number of cancer cases explode. Contributing to this explosion are the excessive amounts of toxins and pollutants we are exposed to, high stress lifestyles that zap the immune system, poor quality junk food that’s full of pesticides, irradiated and now genetically modified, pathogens, electromagnetic stress, lights, and just about everything that wasn’t here 200 years ago.

All these weaken the immune system, and alter the internal environment in the body to an environment that promotes the growth of cancer.

Cancer tumors begin when more cancerous cells are being created than an overworked, depleted immune system can destroy.

Constant exposure to tens of thousands of manmade chemicals from birth onward, chlorinated and fluoridated water, electromagnetic radiation, pesticides and other toxins, leads to the creation of too many free radicals and excessive numbers of cancerous cells.

Alone this would be enough to raise cancer levels, but combined with an immune system weakened by a diet of refined and over processed food, mineral depleted soils, and too much exposure to artificial light at night, the immune system at some point no longer is able to keep cancer in check, and it starts to grow in your body.

So again let’s start with basics. Please learn about food, chemicals around you and please exercize.

Research has shown that OTC cough and cold medicines have led to poisoning or death in kids under age 2.  As a result, the FDA said in 2008 that OTC cough and cold products should not be given to children in this age group.

Matthew Davis, MD, associate professor in the Child Health Evaluation and Research Unit at the University of Michigan Medical School, and colleagues wanted to see how well parents and doctors were heeding recommendations to avoid the use of OTC cough/cold medicines in children under age 2. In January 2011, they polled randomly selected parents in the U.S. with children 6 months to 2 years old.

“Unfortunately, this latest poll indicates that the FDA warnings have gone unheeded by the majority of parents, and surprisingly, many physicians.

“Physicians are a valuable source of information for parents about this issue, but it appears that physicians are not heeding FDA warnings about OTC cough and cold medicines either. Kids will be safer when parents and doctors are all on the same page in limiting these medicines to older children.”

http://findarticles.com

On January 12, 2007, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC) and the National Association of Medical Examiners (NAME) released a report of a study where they investigated infant deaths due to cough and cold medicines. In 2004-2005, more than 1,500 children under age two were treated in U.S. emergency rooms for problems caused by cough and cold medications, and in 2005 three infants ages one month, three months and six months died as a result of being given too much cough and cold medicine.

In all three cases, the infants had abnormally high levels of pseudoephedrine, a nasal decongestant, in their blood samples. The pseudoephedrine concentrations of the three infants who died ranged from 4,743 ng/mL-7,100 ng/mL, more than ten times the recommended amount for children ages 2-12 (180 ng/mL-500 ng/mL). The six-month-old infant had been given prescription and over-the-counter cough/cold medications, both of which contained pseudoephedrine. And, two of the infants also had detectable levels of dextromethorphan, a cough suppressant, and acetaminophen in their blood samples. None of the children had a heart condition that might have attributed to their premature deaths, though two of the children were found to have had respiratory infection.

The bad news for parents: No home remedies or cold medicines will make a cold go away faster; they usually run their course in seven to 10 days. At best, some medicines will relieve symptoms. But even that is in question, says Sheela R. Geraghty, MD, an assistant professor of pediatrics at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center in Ohio. She recommends fluids, reducing fever to make a child comfortable, and keeping noses suctioned so babies can eat comfortably.

“To be honest with you, that’s about it,” Geraghty says. “Time is what helps with colds.”

Prevention: breast feed as long as possible.

New research published in the September issue of the journal Birth Defects

Research Part B found that pregnant women who take NSAIDs — non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs — in the first trimester run an increased risk of having a child with congenital birth defects,  particularly heart anomalies.

Canadian researchers conducted a population-based study of more than 36,000 pregnant women in Quebec, and found that women who filled prescriptions for NSAIDs early in pregnancy were twice as likely to give birth to babies with any birth defect, and more than three times as likely to have infants with heart defects — mainly anomalies related to cardiac septal closure.

The most common NSAID prescriptions filled in the study were for Aleve (naproxen), Advil (ibuprofen), Vioxx (rofecoxib), Celebrex (celecoxib) and Cataflam or Arthrotec (declofenac).

And here is another study: NSAIDs in pregnancy ups male infertility Sun Nov 14, 2010 2:24PM

Expectant mothers taking common over-the-counter painkillers, particularly in the second trimester of pregnancy, are at an increased risk of giving birth to infertile babies.

While physicians commonly urge women to avoid taking medicines while pregnant, painkillers such as paracetamol, ibuprofen and aspirin are often considered safe in this population. A new study, however, voices doubt on this general belief.

According to the study published in Human Reproduction, women who take more than one kind of mild painkiller at any time while pregnant, usually for headaches , are more than seven times more likely to have a boy with undescended testicles.

The risk was reported to be highest when the painkillers were used between the fourth and sixth months of pregnancy. The risk of having cryptorchidism was also increased by 2.3-fold among boys born to these mothers, the study found.

Similar to phthalates, prolonged use of Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as acetaminophen, ibuprofen and aspirin acts as a hormonal disruptor and interferes with the normal development of male sexual organs.

Even taking acetaminophen (Tylenol) during pregnancy affects the reproductive health in male fetuses, placing them at an increased risk of becoming infertile in the long run.

“A single [acetaminophen] tablet (500 milligrams) contains more endocrine disruptor potency than the combined exposure to the ten most prevalent of the currently known environmental endocrine disruptors during the whole pregnancy,” said lead researcher Henrik Leffers.

Scientists concluded that the increased use of painkillers may be behind the increase in male reproductive disorders in recent decades, stressing that more studies were needed to confirm the results of this study.

“This research just goes to demonstrate yet again the dangers of taking pharmaceuticals — even over-the-counter drugs — while pregnant,” said Mike Adams, a consumer health advocate. “The FDA is utterly failing to protect the public from these health risks or to even enhance awareness of such risks through announcements or press conferences.”

“Can you imagine the national outcry if an herb or vitamin was found to cause congenital birth defects?” Adams asked.

Experiencing headaches during pregnancy is one of the most common discomforts and complaints. Headaches may occur at any time during your pregnancy, but they tend to be most common during the first and third trimesters.

An increase in headaches during the first trimester is believed to be caused by the surge of hormones along with an increase in the blood volume circulating throughout your body. These headaches may be further aggravated by stress, poor posture or changes in your vision.

Most commonly occurring types of headaches are tension headaches.

Tension headaches generally occur due to causes like neck pain, stress, anxiety, depression and also because of muscle tightness or tension in the shoulders, jaws and scalp.

What can you do to treat headaches during pregnancy?

The best way to deal with headaches is to avoid them altogether. Avoiding tension headaches is easiest when you follow these tips:

Practice good posture (especially during the third trimester)

Get plenty of rest and relaxation

Exercise

Eat well-balanced meals

Drink plenty of fluids

Meditate

Use herbal therapy such as Herbal packs

Use natural relaxants

Relaxing baths with Levona or other oils

Lavender eye cover will help you sleep

January 15, 2011|By Michael Hawthorne, Tribune reporter

In a study released by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) on Dec. 1 and published in the journal Science of the Total Environment, researchers have identified a new source of pollution. This time, the pollution is being caused by something closer to home — the runoff from a sealant commonly painted on asphalt to extend its useful life, researchers say.

Playgrounds, parking lots and driveways in many communities are coated every spring and summer with coal tar, a toxic byproduct of steelmaking that contains high levels of chemicals linked to cancer and other health problems.

Nearly two decades after industry pressured the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to exempt coal tar-based pavement sealants from anti-pollution laws, a growing number of government and academic studies are questioning the safety of the widely used products. Research shows that the tar steadily wears off and crumbles into contaminated dust that is tracked into houses and washed into lakes.

Researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey found that driveway dust was contaminated with extremely high levels of benzo(a)pyrene, one of the most toxic chemicals in coal tar. The amount was 5,300 times higher than the level that triggers an EPA Superfund cleanup at polluted industrial sites.

About 85 million gallons of coal tar-based sealants are sold in the United States each year, according to industry estimates. There are no comprehensive figures on where it is applied, but in Lake in the Hills,IL researchers determined that 89 percent of the driveways are covered in coal tar.

Coal tar-based sealant contains a high level of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Property owners now must use asphalt emulsion-based sealant, which have much smaller concentrations of PAHs.

In the 1990s, scientists noticed that levels of PAHs were rising in urban lakes, but spent years trying to discover where they were coming from.

In 2005, scientists working in Austin, Texas found stunningly high levels of PAHs in sediment from drainage ditches. That discovery led them to scrutinize parking lots nearby.

That Texas-based survey found that small particles of the seal coat are worn off of the asphalt surface relatively rapidly, especially in areas of high traffic, and are transported from parking lots and driveways to streams and lakes by storm runoff.

“The coating is brittle,” Van Metre said. “As cars drive on it, it breaks up into little pieces.”

Toxins

A new study from the University of California, San Francisco reveals that 100 percent of expectant mothers (sample size = 268) are contaminated with highly toxic synthetic chemicals. The study, published in Environmental Health Perspectives, concluded, “Certain PCBs, organochlorine pesticides, PFCs, phenols, PBDEs, phthalates, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and perchlorate were detected in 99 to 100% of pregnant women.”

These chemicals are known to exhibit various harmful effects on human biology, covering everything from neurological and infertility problems to cancer and hormonal disorders. Many of the chemicals found in these women have been banned for not just years, but decades.

If you want to protect yourself from these toxic chemicals, here’s how to do it:

From Natural News site

#1) Don’t put anything on your skin you wouldn’t eat! Avoid all mainstream consumer skin care, cosmetics and personal care products, period! Need soap? Try natural, organic brands.

#2) Don’t eat foods made with chemicals you can’t pronounce. Read the ingredients labels. If the list of ingredients is too long and complex to figure out, it’s probably made more with chemicals than actual food.

#3) Don’t poison your body with over-the-counter drugs or prescription pharmaceuticals. If you do need to use medication for short-term emergency use, be sure to detoxify your liver afterwards.

#4) Detox your liver, kidneys and colon at least once a year. You can do this with a juice fast combined with detox supplements.

#5) Drink more water. Most people simply don’t consume enough water to effectively remove toxins from their bodies.

#6) Don’t fill your home or apartment with products that off-gas toxic chemicals: Air fresheners, perfumed candles, particle board furniture, carpets(install hardwood floors), glues, etc.

#7) Don’t cook on non-stick cookware. These are the worst! Invest in quality copper-clad stainless steel pans and use those. They’ll last a lifetime and they don’t contaminate your body with chemicals.

#8) Buy certified organic products if you can. In the USA, the USDA Organic Seal is a trusted seal that genuinely indicates organic quality (both in foods and personal care products). Don’t be fooled by brand names that use the word “organics” in their name but aren’t really organic. For example, “Bob’s Organics” may or may not actually be organic. The Organic Consumers Association (www.OrganicConsumers.org) can keep you posted on what’s what.

Federal health regulators are limiting a key ingredient found in Vicodin, Percocet and other prescription painkillers that have been linked to thousands of cases of liver damage each year.

Narcotic painkillers Vicodin, Lortab and Percocet contain a potentially dangerous ingredient that most people rarely think about: Acetaminophen.

The Food and Drug Administration said Thursday it will cap the amount of acetaminophen in the drugs at 325 milligrams per capsule. Current products on the market contain doses of up to 700 milligrams.

Acetaminophen is a ubiquitous pain reliever found in Tylenol, Nyquil and thousands of other medicines used to treat headaches, fever and sore throats. The ingredient is also used at larger doses in prescription combination drugs that mix it with narcotic drugs like oxycodone and vicodine.

Those products are not dangerous by themselves but can cause toxic overdoses when patients combine them with a second acetaminophen-containing drug like Tylenol.

That’s right, the same medicine sold separately as Tylenol is often combined with narcotics to make even more potent pain pills. But, as the Food and Drug Administration noted today, too much acetaminophen can ruin a person’s liver.

Background

Acetaminophen is the most widely used pharmaceutical analgesic and antipyretic agent in the United States and the world; it is contained in more than 100 products. As such, acetaminophen is one of the most common pharmaceuticals associated with both intentional and unintentional poisoning.

United States

Acetaminophen is one of the most common pharmaceutical agents involved in overdose, as reported to the American Association of Poison Control Centers. APAP toxicity is the most common cause of hepatic failure requiring liver transplantation in Great Britain. In the United States, acetaminophen toxicity has replaced viral hepatitis as the most common cause of acute hepatic failure, and it is the second most common cause of liver failure requiring transplantation in the United States.

FDAcites a study from a few years back that found acetaminophen overdoses (about half of which were unintentional) were to blame for more than 40 percent of cases of acute liver failure examined over six years.

People can get into trouble taking too much of the painkillers or inadvertently taking the medicines along with other acetaminophen-containing remedies. The FDA’s announcement includes a rundown of common medicines affected.

It’s worth noting that Vicodin and generic versions (hydrocodone plus acetaminophen) are the most prescribed medicines in the United States, according to data from IMS Health. Pharmacists dispensed more than 128 million prescriptions for the stuff in 2009.

But if you need to take painkillers NutriClean® HepatoCleanse

(Liver Support Formula) can help

The researchers say that the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryologyis markedly higher than that seen for known endocrine disrupters such as phthalates, and that, as most Western women are inevitably exposed to low levels of endocrine disrupters, these together with analgesic use, could be contributing to the increased incidence of cryptorchidism and later life reproductive problems.

Dr Leffers said: “A single paracetamol tablet (500 mg) contains more endocrine disruptor potency than the combined exposure to the ten most prevalent of the currently known environmental endocrine disruptors during the whole pregnancy. In fact, a single tablet will, for most women, be at least a doubling of the exposure to the known endocrine disruptors during the pregnancy and that dose comes on a single day, not spread out over nine months as with the environmental endocrine disruptors. Thus, for women using mild analgesics during the pregnancy, the mild analgesics will be by far the largest exposure to endocrine disruptors.” Here is a good product to use!

It’s back-to-school season—the time of year when, for many families, the ABCs meet ADHD. It’s never easy for kids with attention-

deficit/hyperactivity disorder, especially when confronted with new routines and new academic challenges.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, 4.5 million children have been diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, but experts still don’t know for sure what causes it. New research points to exposure to common pesticides, particularly organophosphate—a man-made toxin originally developed for chemical warfare and now used extensively in agriculture.

Scientists in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives write that children exposed to organophosphate while still in the womb have a higher chance of developing attention problems by age 5. The children in the study were all residents of the heavily farmed Salinas Valley in California, but a recent report in Pediatrics showed a link to ADHD even in areas where pesticide levels in the environment are not especially high.

Still another study has raised the possibility that many kids diagnosed as having ADHD do not, in fact, have it. Writing in the Journal of Health Economics, Michigan State University economist Todd Elder suggests that nearly one million children may be misdiagnosed. The real challenge for them, he argues, is not how their brains work—it’s their birthdays. “If a child is behaving poorly, if he’s inattentive, if he can’t sit still,” Elder says, “it may simply be because he’s 5 and the other kids are 6.”

Experts continue to debate the diagnosis and treatment of ADHD, so what are parents to do? While the studies show only an association and don’t prove that exposure to pesticides actually causes ADHD, always wash fruits and vegetables before eating. And take your child’s age into consideration when deciding whether to seek an evaluation. His hyperactivity may simply be the result of his being younger and more immature than his classmates.