Monsanto pledge on sterile seeds Modified food group vows not to exploit "terminator technology"
Monsanto, the US group at the forefront of controversy over genetically modified food, yesterday made a commitment not to commercialise so-called "terminator" technology, which ensures crops produce sterile seeds. The technology, one of the most inflammatory elements in the agricultural biotechnology debate, is potentially valuable to big seed suppliers because it means farmers cannot hold over seed produced in one growing season for use in the next - a widespread practice, especially by poorer farmers worldwide. In June, Gordon Conway, president of the Rockefeller Foundation, the New York-based charitable organisation with a particular interest in development issues, urged the Monsanto board of directors to forswear any use of terminator technology.

Use of Supplements for Psychiatric Disorders Common
Americans spent $90 million on ginkgo biloba to prevent or treat dementia, $48 million on St. John's wort to alleviate depression and $86 million on ginseng to increase energy levels in 1997 and the list does not stop there. Consumers are continuing to spend more and more money on herbs and dietary supplements to treat chronic conditions. A study in the September/October issue of Psychosomatic Medicine(www.psychosomatic.org) reported that psychiatric disorders are the most common conditions treated with complementary or alternative medicine therapies.

NIH awards multicenter study on ginkgo biloba for dementia
A multicenter study to test the efficacy of "ginkgo biloba" (botanical product) on older individuals who are at risk for dementia (cognitive decline in memory) has been awarded by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) in collaboration with the National Institute on Aging (NIA), two components of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Dr. Galland's Integrated Medicine
The rate of cancer among American children has been rising for decades according to a story in the New York Times, September 29, 1997. "Although the reasons remain unclear, many experts suspect the increase may be partly the result of growing exposure to chemicals in the environment." According to the National Cancer Institute the rise in childhood cancers has been nearly 1% per year, meaning double digit increases over the last few decades. What can we do to reduce our children's exposure to toxic chemicals? There are several types of pollutants may cause Sick Home Syndrome. How can you protect your home and your children? In Living Safely in a Polluted World: Your Home Should be a Haven, Leo Galland, M.D. explains how your exposure--and your family's--can be readily controlled by a number of simple, inexpensive and potentially life-saving steps.

Ask Annie: Solutions for Less Toxic Living
In this month's Ask Annie column, "Some Tips for the Home", Annie Berthold-Bond covers three indoor air quality concerns: candle soot, moth ball odors, and the pesticide chlordane. Candle soot can contain many toxic chemicals, including lead, and the soot can severely damage homes! Anybody who has tried to rid the smell of moth balls knows how tenacious it can be; here is an unexpected technique to try. Chlordane, taken off the market in 1988, can contaminate homes for ever, and Annie provides a source for testing.

Understanding Homeopathy
The conventional medical treatment for chronic sinusitis primarily is antibiotics and surgery, the big guns of the medical arsenal. Expectorants, decongestants, analgesics, antitussives, irrigation, and cortisone nasal sprays can also be used. The fact that about one in seven Americans suffer from chronic sinusitis suggests that these conventional treatments are not very effective. They are at best palliative, except in a small number of cases of obstructive chronic sinusitis which modern surgery can now correct. Homeopathic medicines are often effective in treating the acute symptoms of sinusitis, although professional "constitutional care" is usually necessary to cure chronic sinusitis, according to homeopathic expert Dana Ullman latest column, "Homeopathy and Sinusitis: Safer Remedies." Constitutional care refers to individualized treatment of a person's entire health, physical and psychological, past and present. This professional homeopathic treatment can lead to a significant reduction in the frequency and intensity of acute sinusitis attacks and can often even lead to a total elimination of their occurance.

The Healer Within
Every original culture on the planet earth has a system of "hands on" healing. In western cultures this is generally called massage. As the movement toward alternatives to drugs and surgery progresses massage will emerge as one of our primary new, while actually ancient, therapeutic modalities. Hospitals, and even corporations, are hiring massage therapists to help with healing and to prevent the negative impacts of stress. In this column, "Self-Applied Massage of the Feet," Dr. Roger Jahnke explains how to effectively perform self-applied massage to the feet.

"Paradigm Wars: Research at the Frontiers of Consciousness" with Marilyn Schlitz, Ph.D.
Marilyn Schlitz, Ph.D. is Director of Research at the Institute of Noetic Sciences and senior scientist at the Geraldine Brush Cancer Research Institute at the California Pacific Medical Center. In this interview with Dr. Daniel Redwood, Dr. Schlitz discusses well-controlled research studies including pioneer work that demonstrates the power of the human mind to contact other minds at a distance, and its power to influence nervous system function at a distance. As a cutting-edge researcher and thinker, Schlitz' comments on the influence of experimenters upon their results, and the consequent need to rethink the possibility of pure objectivity, raise important questions, the answers to which will shape the science of the future.

Healthy Travel - Third World Congress on Qigong
Reserve your calendar for this cutting edge event, the Third World Congress on Qigong and The Second American Qigong Association Conference, Nov. 19-21, 1999 in San Francisco, CA., Everybody's favorite city by the Bay! An unparalleled subtle energy and spiritual healing experience.

Medical Cybrarian Research Service
Need help in researching a difficult health issue? Want to be able to effectively search Medline and other medical databases? Need to have a professional who can do this fast and efficiently? Let an experienced medical librarian do it for you. HealthWorld Online's innovative Medical Cybrarian Service searches the Internet and and other databases, provideing you with information on diseases, treatments (alternative and/or mainstream), drugs, statistics, and patient information that is summarized for your research needs. This "Cybrarian" carefully gathers and selects bibliographic citations, points you to useful Web sites, and annotates or summarizes pages or documents that would be useful to you for reasonable fees.

Complementary and Alternative Medicine: Practical Applications and Evaluations.
First Annual Conference.
October 15-17, 1999. San Francisco, CA USA
Contact: Stanford Center for Research in Disease Prevention & Center for Alternative Medicine Research (781) 279-9887

Body & Soul - Boston
October 22-24, 1999. Boston, MA USA
Contact: New Age Publishing and Omega Institute (800) 944-1001

Natural Products Expo East: New Life Choices For The 21st Century
October 22-24, 1999. Baltimore, MD USA
Contact: New Hope Natural Media (303) 939-8440

Bioneers Conference
Visionary & Practical Solutions for Restoring the Earth
Oct 29-31, 1999 - Marin Center
San Rafael, CA
Contact: Bioneers/Collective Heritage Institute: 1-877-BIONEER
Email: [email protected]

SupplySide West '99:
The Natural Product Industry's Premier Executive-Level Trade Show and Conference
November 11-13, 1999. Las Vegas, NV USA
Contact: Virgo Publishing, Natural Products Division (602) 990-1101

Third World Congress on Qigong and Second American Qigong Association Conference:
Qigong, Ancient Chinese Healing for the 3rd Millennium
November 19-21, 1999. San Francisco, CA USA.
Contact: East West Academy of Healing Arts (415) 788-2227