Early puberty, a growing concern

Early puberty in girls is no longer a uniquely American problem. Now it seems that European girls are also physically maturing earlier than usual than ever before.

According to a study out of Denmark, the average age of breast development in young girls has decreased by a full year since 1990. This latest study focused specifically on breast development, and over the course of 15 years researchers found that that the average age of breast development is currently age 9.86 years of age. In the early 90s, the average age was 10.88.

The problem has become so widespread in the U.S. that some medical associations are trying to re-define the "normal" age for female development milestones.

You don't need to spend a ton on research to know this is true. The evidence is right in front of our eyes. What isn't so cut and dry to most people is what's causing the phenomenon to begin with.

Pediatricians have tried to link earlier development in girls to the childhood obesity epidemic. I'm certain that diet plays a significant role, though it has more to do with what young girls are eating rather than how much. I've long had my suspicions as to the source of our daughters' rapid advance into womanhood: too many soy products, and the incredible amounts of hormones in our meat supply.

Many of the staple foods that parents routinely encourage young kids to eat are loaded with growth-inducing hormones. The beef, poultry, and milk that we're plying our children with in hopes that they'll grow big and strong are also making them grow up too fast.

The rise in the popularity of soy in the last decade has surely taken its toll as well. Some children are pumped full of soy products just hours after leaving the womb, as soy-based infant formulas have become standard. But soy formulas contain levels of the hormone phytoestrogen that are a whopping 20 times higher than breast milk.

Imagine: a little girl is born, weaned on soy milk, then plied with hormone-packed meat and cow milk as the core of her diet for the better part of a decade. When you add all the factors together, it's a wonder that puberty isn't starting even sooner.

The author of the Danish study, Dr. Lise Aksglaede of Copenhagen University, called the change in the average age of breast development in such a short time span "worrying," adding, "We do not know why and what it might mean for the individual girl."

Early puberty is a not a problem that we can write off as part of the changing times. There are a myriad of potential health hazards that early puberty could cause. It has been linked with problems like depression, teen substance abuse, and unprotected sex. But more unnerving is the high incidence of breast cancer associated with the early onset of physical maturity.

I urge parents not to get caught up in the whys and wherefores, but instead to take any steps you can at home to slow premature maturity in your daughters or granddaughters. The best first step is to remove soy from a child's diet. I don't care what the media tells you - it's an empty, nutrition-less food. Do your best to steer clear of products with hormones. It's true that buying organic beef, poultry, and milk is a little more expensive, but isn't your daughter's health worth it?

Deadly form of pneumonia on the rise

Forget the swine flu - sorry, the "H1N1 Virus." The next epidemic on the horizon could well be pneumonia that's powered by the so-called "super bug" Methicillin-resistant Stphylococcus aureus (MRSA).

Usually, MRSA infections are contracted in hospitals and nursing homes, but more and more the infection is popping up in the general population. Doctors fear that the spread of MRSA infections will cause more cases of pneumonia, which could have mortality rates higher than 50 percent.

MRSA pneumonia could be especially dangerous because, like H1N1, its initial symptoms are similar to a standard flu, but it doesn't take long before they rapidly develop into low blood pressure and deadly septic shock.

MRSA is no joke. Standard antibiotics are useless against it, and it can only be treated with intravenous antibiotics… and even that doesn't always work.

The best way to deal with any form of MRSA is to never get it in the first place. And to do that, you've got to keep your body's immune system operating at full power. You can try supplements of immunity-boosting lactoferrin, elderberry extract, and even chamomile tea (even in summer).