W.E.E.P. News
Wireless Electrical and Electromagnetic Pollution News
14 May 2010
Strokes on the rise in youths
Obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure are among the reasons
March 02, 2010
http://www.thespec.com/go/healthfitness/article/730927
Blythe Bernhard
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services
ST. LOUIS (Mar 2, 2010)
Of all the things parents worry about happening to their children, strokes usually aren't one of them.
That's why Christina Lovett of Mattoon, Ill., and the family pediatrician thought her 10-year-old son, Josh, had the flu when he was vomiting and complaining of a severe headache in late January.
Five days later, Josh was having trouble walking. Brain scans revealed a series of strokes.
"I'm thinking all this time 'it's a virus,'" Lovett said last week in the therapy gym at St. Louis Children's Hospital, where Josh is recovering. "I thought (strokes) were just in adults."
Advanced age is still the most common risk factor for stroke, which occurs when the brain doesn't get enough oxygen because a blood vessel is blocked or ruptured. But doctors here and elsewhere report seeing younger stroke patients.
The average age of stroke patients -- 68 -- declined by three years between 1995 and 2005.
More than 7 per cent of all first-time stroke patients are now younger than 45, according to data presented last week at the International Stroke Conference in San Antonio, Texas.
The rate of strokes among people in their 20s, 30s and 40s has nearly doubled in recent years. The exact cause of the increase is unknown, but doctors speculate that rises in obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure could be to blame.
"This is just the beginning of this alarming trend," said Dr. Jin Moo Lee, director of the stroke section of neurology at Washington University.
"Normally it takes on the order of decades for diabetes to wreak havoc on the blood vessels."
There isn't any evidence of a similar increase in pediatric strokes, which are rare and usually have different causes, such as congenital heart defects or drug reactions.
About 9,000 children have strokes each year, according to the pediatric stroke program at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.
"Strokes in the pediatric population are as common as pediatric brain tumours," said Dr. Michael Noetzel, chief neurologist at St. Louis Children's Hospital.
Warning signs of a stroke can include loss of balance, severe headache, difficulty with speech, vision problems, dizziness and sudden weakness or numbness in the face, arms or legs, usually on one side of the body.
Because strokes have not commonly been considered a pediatric issue, and the symptoms can mimic other disorders such as seizures, there are often delays in diagnosis and treatment.
Children also have a more difficult time describing their symptoms, which can be subtle.
Kids like Josh Lovett bounce back from strokes more quickly and fully than adults, said Noetzel.
On the other hand, it's difficult to tell in a 10-year-old the skills such as problem-solving and organization that may be compromised in adulthood.
Children "are in some ways more vulnerable to long-term issues," said Noetzel.
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Row brewing over mobile base station in Brownstown
http://www.leinsterleader.ie/news/Row-brewing-over-mobile-base.6139107.jp
Published Date: 10 March 2010
By Paula Campbell
A CANCER patient who barricaded a mobile phone company from entering an alleyway behind his house held out for four days until a hospital appointment made him leave his post.
Brendan McConville, from 1 Duff Tce in Brownstown on the Curragh, began his protest last Monday against the installation of a new base station near his home. The station is to improve Meteor coverage in the Brownstown area.
Brendan, who is fighting non-hodgkin lymphoma, went directly from his appointment with Naas General Hospital last Thursday straight to Kildare County Council to deliver a petiton with 140 signatures in support of his protest.
"I blocked off the entrance last Monday," explained Brendan. "I put a sign up nearby saying 'dispute on here against the erection of a telephone/radio mast'. We began the barricade at the weekend when my sister, Dorothy Brennan, stopped the workmen by putting a van to block the alleyway. The workmen told her that they were putting up a telephone mast and the foundations look like it will take something big."
According to Brendan he lives three doors down from the location of the foundations for the new base station behind number 4 Duff Tce.
"I have no choice," he said. "I live three doors down and I had planned to stay put and guard the place. I have non-hodgkin lymphoma and I don't want this near my back yard. I wouldn't be doing this for no reason but I have to take a stand."
Brendan gathered a number of fellow protestors to march last Saturday to help raise the profile of his protest, which was attended by Jack Wall TD. Work had begun on the site but, according to Kildare County Council spokesman Charlie Talbot, work has since stopped on KCC's request pending an investigation of the development.
"I might be fighting a losing battle," Brendan added. "But we were not informed of this change and there was no planning notice put up. When I came back from hospital after handing in my petition to Kildare County Council, the Meteor workers got in, but they did not stay long."
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Meteor, Rebekah O'Neill, confirmed that the mobile phone company is currently installing a new site/base station to improve Meteor coverage in the Brownstown area on land owned by Kevin Cooke, who is also the proprietor of the Rising Sun public house.
"There are no existing mobile masts in the area," she explained. "Therefore we are swapping out the existing roof-mounted mast on the Rising Sun pub and replacing the mast with a new structure carrying Meteor equipment."
According to Meteor as this development is "exempted development" it does not require planning permission.
"The height of the new structure will not exceed the height of the replaced structure and shall not be more than twice the width of the replaced structure," she added. "Our equipment will operate within international exposure limits developed by the International Commission on Non-Ionising Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) and the European Commission. Meteor's mobile network operates at the lowest power level in order to provide a sufficient service to customers. Public exposure to outputs from antennas is thousands of times below the ICNIRP recommendations. All base stations are built to limit public access to the equipment. Meteor also carries out emissions tests on their sites on a continual basis to confirm compliance with ICNIRP standards. If reasonably requested Meteor representatives will meet with members of local communities to discuss the citing of base stations and any concerns they may have. Meteor's site acquisition representative has advised Mr Cooke of this."
Mr Cooke was unavailale for comment at the time of going to press.
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VALHALLA COMMITTEE
For Environmental Health
Cell Phone Transmission Towers and Ill Health Effects
Compilation of medical and scientific studies – media reports
http://www.vws.org/CellPhoneTowerEffects.html
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Manassas Environmental News Examiner
This week, Dominion Virginia Power dropped a request to the Virginia State Corporation Commission (SCC) to install "smart meters" at all of its customers' homes in Northern Virginia by 2013.
The utility originally filed its Integrated Resource Plan with the SCC last July. After allowing time for public comments, the SCC had planned to hold a hearing February 16, 2010, on whether to allow Dominion to proceed with the plan. However, last Friday, Dominion filed an amended plan that did not include the smart meter project.
In the original plan, Dominion had requested rate increases that would cover the cost of installing the meters. A major part of the plan, called the Voltage Conservation Program, would have used advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) technology, commonly known as smart meter technology.
Smart meters would save energy
This program would have required installing the two-way digital meters in the homes of all of its approximately 2.4 million customers. The meters would allow the company to lower voltage on its distribution circuits by 5 percent during non-peak hours, saving energy for the company, while at the same time saving money for consumers without affecting electric service.
Other parts of the plan that will go forward include a residential air conditioner cycling program, a residential low-income program, a residential lighting program, residential Energy Star® new homes program, residential heat pump tune-up program, residential refrigerator turn-in program, and a residential heat pump upgrade program
According to the plan, the voltage conservation program using smart meters would have accounted for approximately 75 percent of the energy savings of the plan. The voltage reduction program would have been implemented automatically by the company as the smart meters were installed.
Smart meters are small computers that replace standard electricity meters. Because they can transmit information from the utility to the home and back, smart meters avoid the need to be read by utility personnel or radio-based broadcasting to nearby trucks. They would also allow the utility to remotely switch appliances and air conditioners off for short periods, in order to prevent overloads
Utilities across the country are testing and installing smart meters, which they hope will help them meet stricter energy efficiency guidelines required by new laws. For instance, the Energy Plan, set in September 2007, includes a goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions statewide back to 2000 levels by 2025. In general, these regulations are a response to the threat of catastrophic climate change, although the science behind the theory is increasingly coming under question
Questioning smart meters
According to a report in the Intelligent Utility Daily, the attorney general's office and the SCC staff "both supported the withdrawal of the 'advanced metering infrastructure' aspect of Dominion's conservation plan, having previously questioned the effectiveness of the technology and its high cost
In addition to the cost, one problem is customer acceptance of the meters, which some see as intruding on their privacy, or as leaving their home energy systems open to attacks from hackers.
An even bigger concern is that smart meters would allow utilities to charge more for electricity during high-demand hours, generally in the afternoons. The result could be devastatingly high energy bills for those who stay home during the day, including the elderly, the ill, the unemployed, the self-employed, and families with young children
More field testing before full rollout
According to David Botkins, Dominion's media relations director, the company has recognized and is responding to concerns about smart meter technology. "The bottom line is we are not backing off our commitment and belief in smart grid technology, but we are…slowing down and doing more [field testing of]… the various attributes of the technology," he said in an email on Friday
The utility said that instead of the full rollout, it will expand its smart meter testing in Northern Virginia by another 30,000 customers
Dominion just ended a pilot critical peak pricing program in Dec. 2009, in which a group of customers were charged higher rates for electricity used during critical peak demand hours, and which allowed the utility to remotely adjust or reduce the consumer's use during that time. The company is also carrying out large-scale smart meter projects in Midlothian, Virginia.
Dominion's Botkins said that the additional test in Northern Virginia would allow the company to add "an urban setting to go with the mountainous setting of Charlottesville, and the suburban setting of Midlothian." The smart meter programs in Charlottesville and Midlothian will not be affected by the announcement.
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Those of you in Virginia may want to contact your attorney general with information about the health risk posed by the rollout so that appropriate studies are implemented in the study areas. The article does not suggest that health was a factor in this decision, now would be a good time to raise that issue. If you wait until installation is happening state-wide, it will be much harder to stop.
Please see www.electricalpollution.com for more information about the risks of transmitting utility meters. General information on the health risks posed by radiofrequency radiation can be found there.
Please pass this on to those you know in Virginia.
Catherine
The Virginia Attorney General is: Kenneth T. Cuccinelli, II The attorney general's website is:
They can be contacted at:
Office of the Attorney General
900 East Main Street
Richmond, VA 23219
(804) 786-2071
He may be contacted electronically through an email page at the website
Dominion's smart meter rollout delayed in Northern Virginia
February 20, 10:31 AM
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Henry's veto of ban on technology stands firm [Tulsa World, Okla.]
(Tulsa World (OK) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) May 12--OKLAHOMA CITY -- The Oklahoma House of Representatives failed Tuesday to override Gov. Brad Henry's veto of a measure that would have banned the use of radio frequency identification tags in driver's licenses.
http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2010/05/12/4784905.htm
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Peanut Allergy Cases Triple in 10 Years
http://news.yahoo.com:80/s/livescience/20100513/sc_livescience/peanutallergycasestriplein10years
Why allergies are on the rise
No one is certain what's behind the spike in food allergies.
In general, those with food allergies have extra-sensitive immune systems that react to harmless substances
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(Note - We know that electro magnetic radiation is affecting the immune system - could this be the cause of this allergy and many others?)
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