Doctors hopeful Obama will eradicate GM foods.

[Guest guest]

Health Care Reform: Scrap GMOsI Report, 7 June 2009http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-267750 In

his latest weekly address, President Obama says health care reform must

no longer mean "reform that throws good money after bad habits". An

usually wide array of interest groups that have lined up against

Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) hope President Obama's commitment

to eradicating health care reform bad habits extends to the nation's de

facto investment in genetically modified crops which have been linked

to 65 health risks and long-term health care costs. With a

growing body of new scientific evidence behind them, experts say that

any acceptance of the safety of GMOs flies in the face of modern

scientific methods. They point out the handful of original safety

studies on file primarily come from GMO patent holders. "Multiple

animal studies have shown that GM Foods cause damage to various organ

systems in the body," said Dr. Amy Dean, a Board Member of AAEM. "With

this mounting evidence, it is imperative to have a moratorium on GM

Foods for the safety of our patients' and the public's health." The

American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM) is reaching out to

the medical community, their members and independent scientists in an

effort to collect case studies to assess health effects that can be

ascribed to the consumption of Genetically Modified (GM) foods. The

organization plans to begin epidemiological research as well to examine

how GM foods impact human health. AAEM's President, Dr.

Jennifer Armstrong says, "Physicians are probably seeing the effects

[of eating foods with GMOs] in their patients, but need to know how to

ask the right questions." The White House staff now grows

organic vegetables in a much-publicized garden for the First Family. A

lesser-known fact is the former president and Mrs. Bush insisted on an

organic diet at the same time the administration pushed international

trade in biotech foods. Germany recently announced that it

will become the sixth EU country to ban the cultivation of Monsanto's

genetically engineered (GE) maize MON810 while the Food and Drug

Administration (FDA) and United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)

approvals of GM products and GM seeds continues unabated. The

German Minister for Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection, Ilse

Aigner, said, "I have come to the conclusion that there are legitimate

grounds to accept that genetically modified corn from the MON810 strain

constitutes a danger to the environment." GMOs are the result

of laboratory processes, which artificially insert foreign genes into

the DNA of food crops or animals. Those genes may come from bacteria,

viruses, insects, animals or even humans. Physicians say GM Milk does not do the body good The

respected Nobel prize winning nonprofit, Physicians for Social

Responsibility, is working hard to stop the use of the GMO dairy

hormone rBGH. They have concluded, based on overwhelming scientific

evidence, that there are health dangers linked to use of rBGH for

humans and cows. Among them are: *Milk from rBGH-treated cows

has much higher levels of IGF-1, a hormone considered to be a high risk

factor for breast, prostate, colon, lung, and other cancers. IGF-1

levels in milk from treated cows with rBGH can be up to 10 times

higher. Studies suggest that pre-menopausal women below 50 years old

with high levels of IGF-1 are seven times more likely to develop breast

cancer. Men are four times more likely to develop prostate cancer.

IGF-1 is implicated in lung and colon cancer. *Milk from cows

injected with rBGH also has lowered nutritional value, increased

antibiotics and more pus from infected udders. Cows given rBGH

experience higher rates of mastitis, a painful udder infection. When

treated with antibiotics that are also used for people, these

antibiotics that end up in the milk, air, soil and water, resulting in

increased antibiotic resistance in humans, a major health problem. GM animals for food The

expected approval of patented GM salmon that mature at double the rate

of any of the 137 natural salmon species on earth, poses unwanted

environmental challenges to multiple eco-systems fish and game experts

say. They say if approved, GM salmon crossbreeding is inevitable. Brian

Fransen, a Weyerhaeuser fish biologist, found that young salmon feed on

salmon eggs from salmon carcasses, especially in winter when other

nutrients are scarce. This cycle means that any GM Salmon released, by

intention or mistake, pose a threat to natural salmon species. Many

forest animals including bear, deer and elk feed directly on salmon or

salmon carcasses, and thus can bring GM salmon DNA further into the

natural landscape. As the law stands now, consumers who purchase GM salmon will have not the benefit of labeling. America's right to know While

polls show that 9 out of 10 Americans want GM Foods labeled, the FDA

unlike food safety regulators in most industrialized countries around

the world requires no labeling of GM Foods. The Natural Food

Industry is serious about halting contamination from genetically

engineered crops and plans to have a new third party verified Non-GMO

Seal on Non-GMO products before the end of the year. The

experiments [on GM Foods] simply haven't been done and we now have

become the guinea pigs," said Canadian geneticist David Suzuki. "Anyone

that says, 'Oh, we know that this is perfectly safe,' I say is either

unbelievably stupid or deliberately lying." Over 40 of the

top 100 dairies have dropped some or all of their GM products due to

consumer rejection, retailers like Dannon and Yoplait that have spurned

rBGH in yogurt; and Whole Foods and Trader Joes house brands have

eliminated the use of GMOs. Failure to Yield A widely acclaimed long-term study by the Union of Concerned Scientists, Failure to Yield [http://www.ucsusa.org/food_and_agriculture/science_and_impacts/science/failure-to-yield.html],

reveals that the biotech's promise of "feeding the world" by replacing

naturally bred crops with patented GM Crops is false. An independent

review of all the facts shows GM Crops have not produced higher yields.

"If we are going to make headway in combating hunger due to

overpopulation and climate change, we will need to increase crop

yields," said UCS expert Doug Gurian-Sherman. "Traditional breeding

outperforms genetic engineering hands down." Consumer spending power can force change The No GMO Challenge [http://www.realfoodmedia.com/]

co-sponsored by the Institute for Responsible Technology and

RealFoodMedia.com is a consumer-led movement to end consumer demand for

genetically modified organisms. Organizers of the No GMO

Challenge hope U.S. shoppers will flex their considerable spending

power to buy Non-GMO products. They offer a free non-GMO shopping guide

for consumers to download. Similar to the successful Eat Local

Challenge, the No GMO Challenge is a way to organize, educate and build

awareness around the issue of genetically modified food. The

Challenge is a rolling challenge so consumers may continue to organize,

educate and build awareness about the dangers of GMOs in the food

supply throughout the year. Links http://www.whitehouse.govhttp://www.aaemonline.orghttp://www.psr.orghttp://www.responsibletechnology.orghttp://www.centerforfoodsafety.orghttp://www.ucsusa.orghttp://www.realfoodmedia.com Studies Different RoundUp Formulations Lead to Embryonic, Umbilical cord and Placental Cell Death and Are Poorly Assessed (France)http://www.responsibletechnology.org/utility/showArticle/?objectID=2554 Government Study Confirms Genetically Modified (GM) Crops Threaten Human Fertility and Health Safety (Austria)http://www.responsibletechnology.org/utility/showArticle/?objectID=2469 Is Bt cotton: causing human allergies and reproductive problems and deaths of animals (India)http://www.responsibletechnology.org/utility/showArticle/?objectID=2468 GM Corns Disturbs Immune System in Young and Old Mice (Italy)http://www.responsibletechnology.org/utility/showArticle/?objectID=2470 These (scientific) studies indicate serious health risks associated with GM food consumption including infertility, immune dysregulation, accelerated aging, dysregulation of genes associated with cholesterol synthesis,insulin regulation, cell signaling, and protein formation, and changes in the liver, kidney, spleen and gastrointestinal system. Because GM foods pose a serious health risk, the AAEM believes that it is imperative to adopt the precautionary principle. - American Academy of Environmental Medicine.

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