Although the study was conducted in Denmark, experts believe that it applies to other parts of the First World, including Europe and the United States. This earlier age of maturation is even more striking when compared with the 19th century, when girls reached puberty at an average age of 15, and boys reached it at 17. Since then, the age of puberty has moved back steadily, until age 14 for boys and age 12 for girls were formally declared "normal" in the 1960s. These numbers were based on the average age of first period for girls and of voices breaking for boys.
It's not just scientific studies suggesting these figures are now obsolete; anecdotal reports of boys dropping out of choir schools when their voices break at age 12 or 13 are now widespread. According to Richard Stanhope, an expert in childhood hormonal disorders, specialists are now convinced that early puberty is a real phenomenon.
Health Glance
When a King Country dairy farmer came down with a serious case of swine flu, intensive care specialists said there was no hope. They were set to pull him off of life support, but his family refused to give up.
Here's what the scientists at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute found (and here's why this matters in a huge way to people interested in healthy living):
There's more bad news for those hoping for new drugs to help fight the obesity epidemic: The Food and Drug Administration has refused to approve yet another new diet pill. The agency sent a letter to the drugmaker raising a variety of concerns about Qnexa, according to Vivus Inc., of Mountain View, Calif., which had sought the drug's approval. The letter does not bode well for the drug winning approval.
According to Californians for Green Dentistry, “The mercury implanted into the teeth of unsuspecting patients ultimately ends up back in our environment: (1) in our water via dental clinic releases and household toilets; (2) in our air via cremation, sludge incineration, dental clinic emissions, and human respiration; and (3) in our land via landfills, burials, and fertilizer.”
The Food and Drug Administration has been eying the safety of caffeinated alcoholic drinks like Four Loko, which reportedly sent nine students at Central Washington University to the hospital. The FDA warned manufacturers last November about the safety and legality of the drinks.
Federal prosecutors in Massachusetts say British drug maker GlaxoSmithKline PLC will pay $750 million to settle allegations that its subsidiary manufactured and sold adulterated drugs, including the popular antidepressant Paxil.





























