The Common Pesticide That Causes Brain Damage

…and other items from this week’s health news:

Kills insects and isn’t great for humans either

In few words: exposure to the insecticide chlorpyrifos (CPF) causes lasting structural and metabolic abnormalities in the brain, leading to poorer motor skills.

In particular, researchers (Dr. Virginia Rauh et al.) found that higher prenatal CPF exposure was directly linked to:

• widespread disruptions in brain metabolism and tissue integrity
• greater structural and functional brain differences on imaging
• reduced motor speed and coordination

In the study cohort, most exposure came from indoor pesticide use in the US before the 2001 residential ban. However, CPF remains widely used in agriculture, most dangerously exposing farmworkers, pregnant people, and nearby communities via contaminated air and dust.

Read in full: Common pesticide linked to hidden brain damage, scientists warn

Related: Healthy Living in a Contaminated World – by Dr. Donald Hoernschemeyer

Let’s make this clear

Water is essential for human life, and the quality of that water matters a lot.

Researchers (Dr. Hamid Noghanibehambari & Dr. Jason Fletcher) used data from the Death Master Files (DMF) of Social Security Administration death records, looking at deaths that occurred between 1975 and 2005, and tallied those people’s year and city of birth and childhood with the water filtration data on file for that place and time, to see what effect one thing had on the other.

Now, as with any observational study, especially retrospective analysis, this cannot outright prove cause and effect, but the numbers were strong not just for healthy longevity being associated with water filtration, but also increased height and cognitive health:

Read in full: New study shows drinking water filtration systems may add months to lifespan

Related: New Way To Remove 98% Of PFAS “Forever Chemicals” From Water!

Exercise vs Multiple Sclerosis

We’ve written before about how multiple sclerosis (MS) can be put into remission with lifestyle management, allowing such a person to then enjoy greater athletic ability (amongst the more obvious benefits), but new research shows that irisin, an exercise hormone, itself reduces MS symptoms.

Importantly, it directly protects neurons in a way that medications have as yet been able to adequately (let alone safely) do.

Now, bearing in mind that MS is an autoimmune disorder, many medications that target it are immunosuppressants. In the case of the exercise hormone irisin, however, it not only has powerful neuroprotective effects (thus shielding the central nervous system from much of the adverse effects of MS), but also, it does it without directly suppressing peripheral immunity, which is quite a bonus too.

In the words of Dr. Christiane Wrann, corresponding author for this study, neuroscientist, and leader of the “Program in Neuroprotection in Exercise”,

❝We are optimistic that our study will open up further developments of irisin as a therapeutic for, in particular, progressive MS. Our findings strengthen the argument that irisin can help protect neurons in the context of multiple types of neurodegenerative diseases.❞

Read in full: New study shows how exercise hormone reduces multiple sclerosis symptoms

Related: Lifestyle vs Multiple Sclerosis & More

Take care!