Do Seed Companies Control GM Crop Research?: Scientific American

"For a decade their user agreements have explicitly forbidden the use of the seeds for any independent research. Under the threat of litigation, scientists cannot test a seed to explore the different conditions under which it thrives or fails. They cannot compare seeds from one company against those from another company. And perhaps most important, they cannot examine whether the genetically modified crops lead to unintended environmental side effects." Scientific American article by the editors, online, August 13, 2009

This is not a new article but it's news to me. As I was reading, corn popped into my head. Corn is regulated by the FDA as a pesticide - a pesticide - due to genetic modifications that cause the GMO corn blooms to disperse insect-killing chemicals into the air that were bred into the plant predecessors.

Has any research been done on the effects of this pestilential corn, just for example? Only research approved by the breeders of the seed is released.

Please read the article. If you have any interest in non-GMO foods, please consider contacting your Congresspersons about it.

Do Seed Companies Control GM Crop Research?: Scientific American

Parin Stormlaughter has shared: Migraine Research Foundation

This is an interesting article. Read between the lines.

The opening paragraphs are telling. It seems that the Migraine Research Foundation went into this ready to conclusively prove that morphine is bad for migraine treatment. The study results did not support that hypothesis.

Basically, the study did not prove its hypothesis but justified its existence through other interesting findings. The whole article is interesting if you're an egg-head like me.  Continue to scroll down for other research projects and results if you're interested.

There will come a point in time when guidelines will state that opioids should not be prescribed for migraine treatment unless a well-managed and effective prevention regimen is also present. 

What must happen before migraine treatment reaches that point:

1. Extensive and effective data-mining must be performed to clearly and unequivocally measure the effects of triptan usage.  The data-mining must include locating the number of stroke and other cardiovascular event patients who were treated with triptans within 72 of the discovery of the event.  If patients were not specifically asked about triptan usage prior to the event, that must be clearly noted as well.  It must include locating the history of triptan usage by people identified as having MRI/CT lesions of people who also have migraine.  
2. Well-designed data-mining studies must locate and clearly establish the effects of prevention regimens in patients who have opioids in their attack management plans.

These things must be kept in the forefront of the minds of everyone who has migraine, lives and works with migraineurs, studies migraine, or treats migraine:

• No one has ever fallen over dead from one proper opioid dosage for migraine; however, people have fallen dead from ONE dose of a triptan
• Until the effect of triptan administration on stroke and other cardiovascular patients has been thoroughly data-mined and further studied, nothing else is worth study
• Nothing can or will take the place of prevention of attacks.

Migraine Research Foundation Source: migraineresearchfoundation.org
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Sharethis: Op-Ed Contributor - Good Grief - NYTimes.com

"For the few bereaved who are severely impaired or at risk of suicide, doctors can already apply the diagnosis of major depression. But don’t change the rules for everyone else. Let us experience the grief we need to feel without being called sick."  Allen Frances, an emeritus professor and former chairman of psychiatry at Duke University

Hands down, the most lucidly-considered grief-healing article by an M. D. that I have ever read. 

Please read the article and take hope, all ye who despair at the state of Western Medicine.  But do note that this M. D. is a psychiatrist.  Would that all medical doctors had this outlook towards healing.

I've issued an Exploding Head Warning for today through Sunday, so I'm off to crawl underneath rocks.  Storms, heat, melatonin (I believe it's a stand-alone migraine trigger, just need to test it maybe once more), and a classic healing crisis have knocked me back a few steps.

Op-Ed Contributor - Good Grief - NYTimes.com Source: nytimes.com
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Sharethis: Why We Should Worry About Prescription Drug Abuse - Newsweek

This piece of idiocy is adequately refuted by the comments left by readers.

Which adolescents are being prescribed pain meds and then becoming heroin addicts?  Which baby boomers are out-of-control with pain medication?  What if the children had been properly supervised and the adults properly supported by their families and friends?

I feel a major rant coming on and I don't need it.  They make me sicker and set me back getting well.

The goofy article grabs attention by sensationalizing pain medicine use and ends up garbling something about Viagra.  The writer expects us to see OxyContin abuse in the same light as Viagra overuse??

I've got to stop or I'll be ill.  Please do read both the articles and the comments.  If you are under any impression that prescription pain medicine use is a problem, I'll link you to some solid research into the overuse effects of acetaminophen.  When this over-the-counter drug came out the television advertisements told us there was no way to ever use too much.

Acetaminophen by brand name is called Tylenol.

Why We Should Worry About Prescription Drug Abuse - Newsweek Source: newsweek.com
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Sharethis: Stare at boobs for longer life: Study | TheMedGuru

Ever on the look-out for ways to improve men's health, I saw this article and felt compelled to share it.

Men, you know what to do. LOOK AT YOUR WIVES. Sheesh.

It's been a long 19 years since I divorced my boob-starer. Sad times for me. :/

Wives, do you part to increase your husbands' longevity. Better he look at you than some other gal, eh?

I'm going to barricade myself against the solar storm set to hit the Earth tomorrow, 8/3/10. Check out spaceweather.com to read about the neat but odd solar eruption that occurred on 8/1. I'm feeling it now.

Stare at boobs for longer life: Study | TheMedGuru Source: themedguru.com
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Sharethis: Dear White House - The Personal Data Challenge

Now here's an idea I could get behind.

Please read the article, check out Alexandra Carmichael's CureTogether site, and ponder whether this might be a better use of taxpayer dollars than government-run EHRs.

Not doing well. July is just a bad month for me all around. Going to hide underneath some rocks and read about the monster of an alligator not too far from me in Mulga, Alabama.  I've only seen a picture of it but man, it was a beauty.  Must have been at least 7 feet long.

dear-white-house-our-personal.php from kk.org - StumbleUpon Source: stumbleupon.com
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Sharethis: Medication Overuse Headache Article: Education Through a Biased Lens? ~ Somebody Heal Me by Diana Lee

Diana Lee has a critically analytical mind. Her commentary on the article she links to is excellent. Everybody read both her article and the one she comments on. What she and the article say are both absolutely right, in addition to being true.  At IRS this would be called full, accurate, and complete.

Neither Diana's article nor the one she links to is about what to do in that Land of the Living Dead that exists between the end of pharmaceutical treatments and the end of the attack, but that little problem is a huge problem for me. 

As Sparkling readers know, I'm huge into complementary treatments for Migraine and Meniere's, and for all the stuff that bothers me. It appears to me that complementary treatments are a Migraineur's sole port in the storm when he or she reaches the acute reimbursed pharmaceutical treatment limit, limits which despite claims to the contrary are frequently set by insurance companies according to toxicity of the treatment rather than desire to preserve company profits. I am aggressively pursuing complementary treatments to go with preventative work all in close conjunction with all my doctors.  I'm all about prevention, myself.  The fewer attacks that I have to treat at all, the better for me from my point of view.

Today's Full Scorpio Moon matches my own progressed Full Scorpio Moon and I'm taking the day to doctor it. I did a few little complementary things to prepare for this one and so far, this occurrence of the twice-monthly Full Moon/New Moon attacks is less intense than usual. That's a good thing.

Medication Overuse Headache Article: Education Through a Biased Lens? - Diana Lee, Somebody Heal Me
Medication Overuse Headache Article: Education Through a Biased Lens? ~ Somebody Heal Me by Diana Lee Source: somebodyhealme.dianalee.net
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Sharethis: Healing Wise ... An Abundance of Greens by Susun Weed

Just a quick note before the Exploding Migraine Warning of a Significant Event goes into effect.

It hurts my heart that I have a substantial belief system difference with Susun Weed; therefore, I don't recommend her books. I do recommend the health information contained in them.

I'm improving daily from the herbal and "green" information in her menopause book. I have mourned my losses from my hysterectomy and ovary removal, integrating that I will never conceive another child, never hold another soul in my body along with my own.

Mourning has broken, and I'm whole again in that respect. You never really get over the death of a child and my four miscarriages will never go away. But now I am strong again with my conception and childbearing in the "experience" column.  It hit me quite forcefully that I never dealt with all the physical things that surround surgical menopause after the surgery six years ago this month.

Time to deal with MENOPAUSE. :P

Oh, my word what a blessing Vivelle_dot estrogen replacement created from yam has been! Never, never did I dream that things could be so...even. I see now that a good number of my other maturation issues revolve and repeat themselves because I haven't physically cared for my different self which has had no ovaries or womb since 2004.

Time passes slowly when you're getting well. It passes very slowly when you're anxious to get on with living! My own belief system is maturing as my age progresses and I want to get on with practicing it as well.

In this so-far quiet year, the Mother Earth again has proven herself to be the true mother that she is. Abundant, so abundant, freely giving me her green plants and air, water and sunshine, rain and wind, and the life that is borne of flora and fauna. Husbandry and right use of Earth's abundance will restore me, rebuild me from the inside out and outside inward. Does it cost so much to give time to share what "right use of the Earth" really means?

Well, right this minute, yes! My head is pounding from tax meltdown - my mother accidentally wrote a check to IRS for $5 million. It was a clerical error one would correctly say and we caught it before it got mailed, but all the problems that would have needed to be solved had it made it to IRS burst into my mind. Her reaction to the mistake didn't help either of us. This entire weekend has dealt me an assault on my energy body. A long talk with a friend has helped as has rose quartz along with mullein, yarrow, and mugwort infusion. Tomorrow, Easter Sunday, I plan to be outside as much as I possibly can in sunshine, in the breeze, and taking a walk through the backyard if I can. I need my Earthly mother after taking care of my earthly mother!

Please read the article. Find some abundance to feed.

And go outside: Your Mother's calling. :)

Healing Wise ... An Abundance of Greens by Susun Weed
http://www.susunweed.com/herbal_ezine/April10/healingwise.htm?utm_medium=email&utm_source=MyNewsletterBuilder&utm_campaign=Wise Woman Herbal Ezine - April 2010 1410249287&utm_term=Go to An Abundance of Greens Source: susunweed.com
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Sharethis: Furious backlash from Simon Singh libel case puts chiropractors on ropes | Martin Robbins | Science | guardian.co.uk

Three-day combo Meniere's/Migraine attack, but wanted to comment on this.

The sad aspect of this controversy is that there indeed may be an energetic aspect to many conditions. A person may have nothing that a doctor can identify as wrong, yet be in poor health. Chiropractics and energy medicine may be able to resolve the poor health and return a person to radiant vitality and well-being even though no medical condition were ever to be identified to have caused the decline in health.

Many complementary and some alternative treatments have millenia of flawless track records for restoring radiant vitality and well-being to the sick and the well alike. I'm working with rock medicine, energy medicine, and herbal medicine to restore mine. I believe it will be a step forward to be better between attacks.

Going to take more meds now. My prev med regimen, smokey quartz, and Maxwell House Lite have settled my stomach and given me a window to eat some soup. I'll make it. I always do.

Read the article. Please comment if you feel so inclined.

Furious backlash from Simon Singh libel case puts chiropractors on ropes
Furious backlash from Simon Singh libel case puts chiropractors on ropes | Martin Robbins | Science | guardian.co.uk Source: guardian.co.uk
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Sharethis: Victims of electrosensitivity syndrome say EMFs cause symptoms - latimes .com

Giving out from C-6 vertebra-exacerbated Migraine but can't let this one go without a comment. Please keep in mind that I'm at the beginning of a major attack.

Don't trust all the headlines you read.

First article: Commentary on the second article.

Vastly different headlines, different conclusions. Microwaves are so dangerous that microwave ovens are shielded with LEAD. What levels of microwaves were the study subjects exposed to? Are they at cancer risk now?

This resembles the campaign to convince the public that monosodium glutamate (MSG) isn't a neurological trigger because studies can't prove that anyone is allergic to it. What a straw man! Forget allergies. They were never the issue with neurologically sensitive people anyway. Study the MSG/neurological triggering problem if you want the answer to the MSG/neurological triggering phenomenon.

And keep in mind how few people there are other than Migraineurs who understand Migraine as a genetic brain dysfunction disease. Think of the blogs and bulletin boards out there working extremely hard to set the record straight. Migraineurs, how long has it taken many of us to find a doctor who takes us seriously? How many family members and friends tell us that there's really nothing wrong with us that "living right" won't fix? That our problems are all in our heads? Who all has been called hysterical by the medical community or, to use the medical slang, a "turkey"? Or a "little papers" patient?

Bottom line: if it triggers you, it triggers you. Anyone who tells you differently should be shunned.

Sheesh.

I'm going back to bed with ice on my C-6.

This should be discussed in greater detail. Please comment if you have a different view point. It may be a day or two before I can get back to you but this is important.

Victims of electrosensitivity syndrome say EMFs cause symptoms
Victims of electrosensitivity syndrome say EMFs cause symptoms - latimes.com Source: latimes.com
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Experts: 'Electrosensitivity Syndrome' a Mental--Not Physical--Problem
Experts: 'Electrosensitivity Syndrome' a Mental--Not Physical--Problem Source: healthcentral.com
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Sharethis: Migraine Increases Likelihood of Stroke - US News and World Report

Heeheehee! Oh heck yeah, I'm a spoil-sport! An article about STROKE RISK on Thanksgiving!

Yeeebuddy, you got that right. When you're a walking stroke waiting to happen like I am, you don't get time off for holidays from vigilance.

The study appears to have missed the two most crucial bits of information that could have been gleaned had anyone thought to look for them: whether the stroke sufferers had taken any triptan therapy in the preceding 48 hours, and whether any were on Migraine prevention medication (or medication with Migraine preventative effects). I believe triptans may contribute to Migraine progression (including contributing to strokes) but without tracking it or mining it out of previous studies we won't know. All we'll have are the prescribing information warnings and contraindications from the drug manufacturers.

Hmmm...that might be a good project: to put links to all the triptan prescribing information here on this blog.

Full disclosure: I have prescribed for me a triptan called Axert, but not for Migraine. Triptans do not provide any Migraine relief for me. I've been diagnosed with cluster headaches for which Axert is a miracle and they're what the doc prescribed Axert for. I've needed fewer than 12 doses in the last 18 months, one of which I took this week. One Axert and the cluster cycle is busted. That is utterly amazing. Cluster headaches are also called "suicide headaches" because that's an apt description of how they affect some of us. I have no other triptans and they are not in the Migraine portion of my doctor-and-me-drawn-up management plan.

I'm not totally opposed to triptan usage. I believe it should not be the first rescue medication a person reaches for in an attack and I believe it should not be written into Migraine management plans that way. The much-maligned health insurance industry frequently limits the number of doses of triptans that they'll pay for in a month's time. I can't help but wonder if that's because triptans are not harmless.

Anyhow...eat turkey, or tofurduken if you're Weird Al, rest after dessert, take a nice long walk in the fresh air, and know that the Sparkling One is thankful that you read her thoughts.

Wait...that doesn't sound exactly the way I mean it...some people do read thoughts...never mind, the dressing's getting cold. XD

[Article at least number 1,801 Editorial note] Migraine Increases Likelihood of Stroke
Migraine Increases Likelihood of Stroke - US News and World Report Source: health.usnews.com
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Sharethis: Justice Department "Ten Employment Myths" video

This should be excellent.

I thought about waiting until the video was up on the U. S. government's website www.ada.gov but I still don't see it. If it's available now please somebody holler.

If your employer needs educating about YOUR rights and responsibilities as an employee with a disabling condition, don't wait. Find out on your own like I did and pass along what you learn!

Justice Department Releases ADA Employment Video: Ten Employment Myths: Information about the Americans with Disabilities Act
Welcome to the United States Department of Justice Source: justice.gov
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11/4 Edit - Sharethis: Thimerosal Suspension for H1N1 (swine flu) Vaccine - Immunization Program - Washington State Department of Health

11/4 Edit: Here's a link to another good discussion of the thimerosal issue in the H1N1 vaccine.

10/13 Edit: Good discussion going in the Comments.

********************************************************************

This is troubling news. The U. S. Department of Health has suspended the allowable level of thimerosal for the H1N1 vaccine. Troubling because thimerosal is a mercury substance.

Generally, I'm in favor of vaccinations and inoculations. I'm in the age group with scars on our shoulders from smallpox inoculations. Down here in Alabama, tetanus is a problem. Inoculations and vaccinations are important for public health.

I am NOT in favor of unrestricted thimerosal levels in anything. Pregnant women are advised to avoid fish so they (and their babies) won't be exposed to mercury--yet pregnant women have been labeled as high-risk for H1N1 problems and should be amongst the first to get the unrestricted thimerosal vaccine? What's wrong with this picture??

I do not plan to get the H1N1 vaccine. There is simply no good reason to do so.

Please read the article listed on the U. S. Department of Health website. Read all you can from sources you trust so that you can make an informed decision.

Consider not getting the H1N1 vaccine. To suspend the restrictions on thimerosal levels is insane, in my opinion.

Thimerosal [mercury level] Suspension for H1N1 Vaccine
Thimerosal Suspension for H1N1 (swine flu) Vaccine - Immunization Program - Washington State Department of Health Source: doh.wa.gov
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Sharethis: Cancer Society, in Shift, Has Concerns on Screenings - NYTimes.com

It appears that a major, major shift in general public recommendations is ahead.

Cancer screenings "overpromised"
Cancer Society, in Shift, Has Concerns on Screenings - NYTimes.com Source: nytimes.com
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Sharethis: FTC: Bloggers must disclose payments for reviews - EarthLink - Technology News

And...there's another issue to consider: are remunerated bloggers correctly reporting this on their income tax returns? None of my business and I couldn't care less but it did cross my mind.

I do not and have never received any remuneration for either of my blogs--nope, not even an single penny or item. I have no financial interest in anything that's not in the Thrift Savings Plan (about whose investments I have no information nor could get any). Certainly nothing wrong with remuneration for blogging mentions, nothing at all. Sort of like personal testimonials and probably should be given the same weight.

I would be extremely interested in knowing whether doctors, therapists, advocates, bloggers--anyone from whom I receive information--have financial interests in anything they prescribe, mention, or recommend. My now-famously-former-not-to-be-mentioned Migraine speck told me, during an office visit, that he had not made enough money from his work on a med that he had shared with me in a prior office visit he had invented. He said this in the context of an attempt to persuade me to accept a prescription for it, as he was noting a contraindication for the med in my chart.

So no, he's not my doc anymore; however, the parting of ways wasn't until after I was "outed" to his staff. The parting letter was just as it should be, not a thing untoward about me or him either, nothing that would prejudice anyone who read it. No need for me to reproduce it here.

Other than my two most Excellent Assistant Offspring (who dealt with my disability issues and who still drive me and help me), only one person in the world knew his identity and my connection to him. I did not volunteer to tell this person his name. It was requested of me in an email. Very shortly thereafter, he and I were individually living happily ever after.

Be aware that NOTHING YOU PUT ON THE INTERNET IS PRIVATE, EVEN INFORMATION IN AN EMAIL. Nothing you tell anyone, no matter who you tell what to, will be kept private. Don't trust anyone asking for information who swears to have disinterest in anyone or anything: that person has his or her own best interest in mind, only and always. And perhaps a vested interest at that and man, wouldn't I like to know...

I have absolutely no concerns about sharing the boorish behaviour of this doctor. I will most assuredly never again share his identity with anyone.

You never know anyone that you don't know. And unless you travel with the unknown person, you won't truly know him or her as the old advice goes.

For another story of how the internet can work, check out this story. No joke, to me this doctor is yellow-bellied for not commenting on the post she didn't like. Of course, this is just from my point of view: I love a good argument even if I don't win.

FTC: Bloggers, disclose remuneration for reviews
FTC: Bloggers must disclose payments for reviews - EarthLink - Technology News Source: enews.earthlink.net
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Sharethis: Tool helps avoid seizure-inducing content on Web - EarthLink - Technology News

On Twitter, follow @namralkeeg to geek out with a true Migraineur.

And read this interesting article if you've got geekiness in you.

Tool for software developers that measures seizure-inducing flashing lights & color changes
Tool helps avoid seizure-inducing content on Web - EarthLink - Technology News Source: enews.earthlink.net
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Sharethis: Big decision? You may think best on sunny days - Behavior- msnbc.com

Interesting article about super weather-sensitive people like me. Migraineurs and Meniere's-y sorts are sensitive to quite a number of things.

Here's an unattributed quote from The Old Farmer's Almanac for Friday August 14, 2009:

When you shut out the sun from the window,
The doctor comes in at the door.

My mother always opens every blind and drape in the house every day. I go behind her and close them if the sunlight shines in because it's usually too bright for my eyes. She and I have been battling about open/closed drapes for many years, and I imagine we will for years to come. :)

Exquisitely weather-sensitive people more mentally "dull" on cloudy days - data mining
Big decision? You may think best on sunny days - Behavior- msnbc.com Source: msnbc.msn.com
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Horrifying Sharethis: What This Means For You - Physicians for Healthcare Reform

If you just must call me a roadblock to progress, go ahead. Give me the courtesy to do so straight-up so we can have at it.

No mistaking what's going on here. This woman was not denied life-extending treatment for cancer by her state-run health care system because of questionable effectiveness or unacceptable side effects or any medical reason. She was denied because it cost too much in the opinion of the officials that run the state agency, and she was offered hospice or physician-assisted suicide instead. I am not making this up.

Read the article. I invite comments if anyone is so inclined.

Anyone already enrolled in Medicare, Medicaid, or other collective systems is already aware of the problems with covered procedures, treatments, and medications. Anyone who isn't and isn't familiar would be mind-boggled by it, completely mind-boggled.

If anyone is of the belief that state- or federally-administered health care is the answer, please tell me so I may disabuse you of that incorrect assumption.

Absolutely horrifying.

Oregon state-run health care offers patient "assisted suicide" instead of care
What This Means For You - Physicians for Healthcare Reform Source: physiciansforreform.org
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Sharethis: 9 Unhealthy High Calorie, Fat and Salty Meals at Chili's, Applebee's, Uno, Olive Garden and Cheesecake Factory - ABC News

I'm just saying...

Bad restaurant ordering choices
9 Unhealthy High Calorie, Fat and Salty Meals at Chili's, Applebee's, Uno, Olive Garden and Cheesecake Factory - ABC News http://shar.es/b7gw
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Sharethis: Music may have a future role in heart and stroke patient rehab

Good start in beginning to understand how and why music is so influential to health. When I converted to Roman Catholicism, I learned that my sponsor's daughter had a degree in Music Therapy. I had never heard of such a magnificent route for healing.

The subject really, really needs much more research and the world deserves to understand it better. The article does mention this. With better understanding comes better utilization.

To add to the discussion from the transpersonal side, certain notes on the Western musical scale have been associated with human chakras. Chakras, whatever your belief system, do have measurable parallels in Western medicine: Endocrine glands, organs, and nerve plexus centers identified so far and a human body has many chakra spots. There's a whole field of alternative medicine that uses tuning forks, bowls constructed of of certain metals and crystals, and other sounding devices for therapeutic effects on chakra spots.

Here is a list of notes on the Western music scale associated with various chakras:

Root - C
Sexual - C#
Sacral - D
Solar Plexus - E
Heart - F
Thymus - F#
Throat - G
Zeal Point - G#
Third Eye - A
Pineal - A#
Crown - B
Above Crown - C

Music for cardiovascular therapy
Music may have a future role in heart and stroke patient rehab Source: americanheart.mediaroom.com
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