Erin Brockovich and several other environmentalist have launched an investigation into a mysterious illness that has been afflicting a growing number of girls at a New York high school. More than a dozen girls have been diagnosed with conversion disorder and Brockovich believes it may have something to do with a chemical spill that occurred in the area more than 40-years ago.

The NY Daily News reports that last fall 12 girls were diagnosed with conversion disorder, a psychological condition that causes physical symptoms like jerky tics. Three more girls have complained of similar symptoms since then.

The New York Health Department said that the there was “no evidence of environmental or infection as the cause of the girls’ illness” and that “the school is served by a public water system. … and environmental exposure would affect many people.”

But Brockovich isn’t convinced.

Brockovich says that a train spilled cyanide and trichloroethene about three miles from Le Roy High School in the 1970s and that may be the cause of the girl’s mysterious symptoms.

Brockovich told ABC:

“When I read reports like this that the New York Department of Health and state agencies were well-aware of the spill and you don’t do water testing or vapor extraction tests, you don’t have an all-clear.”

Don Miller, whose daughter has been diagnosed with conversion disorder, said:

“We’re just trying to eliminate everything, and (Brockovich) wants to eliminate that it’s the environment. It’s a possibility and she wants to either prove it is or it isn’t something in the environment… We don’t really agree with (the diagnosis). Down the road, who knows. But for them to give that diagnosis, they have to rule everything else out. And they haven’t done that.”

Brockovich, a former beauty queen turned environmentalist, gained international fame when her case involving contaminated drinking water in California was turned into a movie starring Julia Roberts.

Do you think Brokovich will be able to help the girls in New York?

Here’s a report from ABC.

The Inquisitr » News

Trenton, MI- Out of all the strange, wacky and depraved stories that the internet has made viral, certain standouts are the type of tale that you remember every so often down the road due to their sheer implausibility and impact.

One such story is the bizarre and unspeakably cruel bullying of a terminally ill child in Trenton, Michigan by an adult neighbor following a family dispute. It’s difficult to imagine a more vulnerable victim than a child with a life-threatening illness, but as details unraveled about the harassment of Kathleen Edward, the situation was revealed to be even worse. And sadly, Edward succumbed  last night to Huntington’s Disease at the age of nine.

Edward’s neighbor Jennifer Petkov emerged as an uber-villain in the scenario, and it emerged that the woman- who was 33 at the time of the bullying- had posted images of the dying girl with a skull and crossbones to Facebook to anger her neighbors. Petkov had also taunted the family over the death of Edward’s mother, who also succumbed to Huntington’s at the age of 24. But what did Edward’s family do to so anger Petkov? Apparently they’d hosted a party with a bounce house in the front yard, and when Petkov texted to ask if her children could attend, Edward’s family did not reply quickly enough. (In the clip below, Petkov brags to a news anchor about the harassment and says she did it for “personal satisfaction.”)

Eventually, social services intervened due to Petkov’s harassment, and children living in the home were removed to the custody of their father. Family friend Michelle Yerigan confirmed Kathleen’s passing last night to CBS, and said that the girl would be reunited in heaven with the mother she lost at the age of six. Yerigan said that the story had gained traction worldwide:

“This little girl touched a lot of people’s lives and not just in Michigan, but across the world. She has friends from Australia, Indonesia, Pakistan, people all over the world have reached out to this little girl and the world is now a sadder place without her in it. But, I think she taught us a very strong lesson in that faith, hope and love can just do amazing things.”

Edward’s family is planning funeral services for the little girl.

The Inquisitr » News

Please subscribe. During filming, if a powerpoint slide is just a reiteration of what the speaker is saying, without any new information, I do not cut to it. If you are screaming, “What the fuck is on the projector!”… This is the answer. All Skepticon videos will be monetized this year with ads. 100% of the proceeds with be used to purchase micro-loans through Kiva.org. I know the ads are annoying, but there is no reason to not use the money for a good cause.
Video Rating: 4 / 5

Cosmetic surgical treatment is becoming actually more well-liked globally as technologies and approach improves.

And whilst it’s significantly less invasive and far more typical than it utilized to be, need to obtain it still oftentimes presents as a symptom of an insidious form of mental illness known as Physique Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD.) BDD is marked by social impairment and anxiety due to a perception in the affected that their body or experience is in some way flawed.

Past scientific tests have pegged the population of Entire body Dysmorphic Problem sufferers at one-2% of the population, and maybe a 10th of individuals who find plastic medical procedures. But new studies indicate that the amount of patients obtaining processes might suffer from BDD at a price far increased than formerly considered:

“It’s higher than we assumed,” [Peter W. Hellings, MD, PhD, associate professor of otorhinolaryngology at University Hospitals Leuven in Belgium] tells WebMD. “We found forty% had some BDD symptoms, but 33% had at least moderate signs of BDD.”

“They have indicators, but not the full prognosis,” he says. “I would say fifty percent of them have the complete problem.”

About 3% of men and women in the common population endure from Physique Dysmorphic Disorder, and the risk in operating on these patients is that detrimental emotions about their look may possibly not be alleviated and could even be amplified by this sort of processes provided the nature of the mental illness.

The findings had been printed in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgical procedure, a healthcare journal.

The Inquisitr » Science

A horrifying incident previous week in which a incorrect-way driver plowed down a crowd of individuals resulted in the death of 48-year-old Ana Luz Barajas of Santa Cruz.

Police say 28-year-old Eric Rsel Weers of Soquel deliberately drove into the crowd, and he faces expenses including murder. But Weers’ public defender say the man has a historical past of psychological sickness- and although the defendant has no criminal historical past, his background of mental illness is extensive and well-documented:

Bill Weigel, Weers’ public defender, said Weers had a “major psychological illness” and had been in a locked mental wellbeing institution outdoors Santa Cruz County in the previous calendar year. Weers has no criminal document exterior of site visitors violations, according to court records.

“Eric has been institutionalized quite a amount of instances because of to mental sickness and his family members has struggled with it,” Weigel said.

Because the crash very last week, Weers has been reportedly catatonic in his jail cell, exactly where he is being held in lieu of $ 1 million bail. Weigel commented on the arrest:

“I know that the (Weers) family members is grieving for the Barajas loved ones and also for their son,” Weigel explained. “It’s quite unhappy, it is an absolute tragedy. Not each tragedy is a crime however.”

If convicted, Weers faces fifteen a long time to life in prison.

The Inquisitr » Information

Read more on The Tuscaloosa News

Read more on International Herald Tribune

Read more on SB Nation

The only known transporter of Lyme bacteria — the deer tick — goes through the most infectious stage of its life cycle in the summer. Read More… More on chronic conditions

Read more here….

Tennis star Serena Williams is over in the UK to play in Eastbourne’s Aegon International and revealed the mystery illness she suffered earlier this year almost killed her.

“I’m so excited to be back,” she told the BBC. “I was on my death bed at … Read more

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments