In the first half, Director of the Institute for Responsible Technology and a leading spokesperson on the health dangers of genetically modified foods, Jeffrey Smith talked about the current Monsanto trial, as well as the risks of GMO foods. Monsanto faces some 5,000 lawsuits that allege that their glyphosate-containing weed killer, Roundup, causes cancer, and a US District judge decided the cases can proceed to trial. The first case involves Dewayne Johnson, a 46-year-old former school groundskeeper, who got drenched by Roundup during an accident, and within nine months his body was covered with lesions that turned into cancer-- non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Monsanto never responded to Johnson's inquiry about whether his initial rashes were related to the chemical exposure, Smith recounted.
Johnson is so ill that he may not even survive the trial. "If he had been told by anyone at Monsanto [about the dangers of glyphosate], he would have stopped using it," Smith added. Regarding the consumption of GMO foods, Smith believes many gastrointestinal problems are caused by them, as well as gluten sensitivity. While major food companies banned GMOs in Europe, they remain in many food products in the US, though companies like Unilever and Nestle are starting to remove them here by popular demand, he cited. Next week, Smith is kicking off an online conference about healing from GMOs and Roundup, which people can sign-up for at no cost.
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In the latter half, holistic doctor & Board-certified plastic surgeon Tony Youn discussed the good, bad, and ugly of plastic surgery. He shared some of the most dangerous operations in plastic surgery, as well as the latest technological advances in cosmetic procedures that are achieving good results without going under the knife. An advisory was just issued over a high death rate (1 in 3,000) associated with "Brazilian butt lift" procedures where fat is taken from one part of the body and injected into the buttocks. The operation is dangerous, he explained, because the fat can enter veins and cause an embolism.
Another new concern is over "textured surface" breast implants that can develop into a slow-growing cancer around the scar tissue near the implants, he reported. Dr. Youn also reviewed various non-invasive fat reducing procedures. A product that a patient swallows called a gastric balloon has led to some major complications in some cases, he said, with the stomach eroding from the balloon. Safer options include CoolSculpting, where fat is frozen during an office procedure (though around 1% of cases backfire), Zerona-- a cold laser that kills fat cells, and Silk'n Lipo, a low-light laser therapy now FDA-approved for use at home. There has been some enthusiasm around a new technology just coming onto the market called Emsculpt, said to build muscle as it reduces fat, he added.
News segment guests: Andre Eggelletion, Tim Ball