Don't you just love peeking into your Christmas stocking?  Can't you just imagine what might be waiting for you in there? 

Okay...The economy is taking a downward turn.  People will be thrifty in their Christmas purchases.  They will be more thoughtful.  You may have been warned about Gift Cards...be careful of where you purchase them.  A business may go "out of business."  If you want to get someone a Gift Certificate for that stocking, perhaps you want it to be useful, something very practical. 

Indiana is a down-to-earth thinking kind of state; wouldn't you say?  Planned Parenthood in Indiana has come up with the perfect solution for that hard to buy for person on your list.  How about a Gift Certificate?  Oh, they say it can be used for any service, and by males or females.  That's comforting to know.  But just so Indiana residents know, yes, it will be able to be used on abortions, too. 

The gift that does not keep on giving. 

From Indiana Planned Parenthood.

"Some Hoosiers 24-Hour News 8 talked to asked if the gift certificates could be used toward abortions. The answer is yes. But, Planned Parenthood said that's not the purpose of the gift certificates.

Struben-Hall said, "They really are intended for preventative healthcare. We decided not to put restrictions on the gift certificates so it's for whatever people feel they need the services for most."


Read the entire article HERE

H/T  Pensamientos

Stressed-out by your boss?   Beware….

If you are prone to heart disease, your workplace and the managerial style of your supervisor could be impacting your health.

"Burdened by an overbearing boss? Your heart may pay the price, according to new research.

The Swedish study found that workers' risks for angina, heart attack and death rose along with the reported incompetence of their bosses.

 

"This study is the first to provide evidence of a prospective, dose-response relationship between concrete managerial behaviors and objectively assessed heart disease among employees," said lead researcher Anna Nyberg, from the department of public health sciences at the Karolinska Institute, and Stress Research Institute at Stockholm University."

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Some families spend more time dealing with hospitals than others do…that’s just an unfortunate fact.  And some hospitals lead patients to have better experiences at them than others do.

Last week my husband happened to have some “work” done on his heart.  He’s had some major surgery done before and has been to many hospitals.  I’ve been to several, too, for various reasons.   We’ve got our opinions regarding them, but when it comes right down to it, you can’t beat the care from doctors, and especially from nurses.

This time he had his care a the four year old Wisconsin Heart Hospital.  I’ve got to tell you, if you ever have to have heart care and have a choice of where to go, this is the place to choose.  It’s modern, clean and efficient.  Everything was right at the fingertips of the medical staff, even in the patient rooms.  Wow.  I was really impressed.

In Canada, that is.  But it will spread as quickly as a big behind to the U.S., most likely.

The morbidly obese are considered disabled..and rightly so if they have medical conditions such as "Polycystic Ovary Syndrome," or hormonal and other disorders. 

There are the disabled who require "in-flight" attendants to travel with them. 

Canada's two major airlines will now require free seats for for these cases.

The trouble is, the airlines fear there will be abuse.

"The agency said the airlines must develop a process to assess eligibility. The free seats need not be provided to obese people who are just uncomfortable in their seats or are not disabled by their size, said the ruling.

The airlines also do not have to make allowances for disabled people who prefer to travel with a companion for personal reasons or those who require care on the ground, but not in the air.

"The agency is leaving it up to Air Canada and WestJet to develop their own screening policies," said agency spokes-man Marc Comeau.

A possible sticking point is how to decide when obesity is a disability. The agency has recommended the airlines adopt a policy used by Dallas-based Southwest Airlines, which gives a free seat to people who are too big to lower their armrest. "


Read the complete article HERE

"Doctors are wondering what the effect of the credit crunch will be on new year queues at genito-urinary clinics. Specialists in this area have noticed that some City workers, the first to feel the effects of recession, have suffered physically as well as financially. The pattern of graphs showing the decline in share prices could be mirrored by another showing the increase in sexually transmitted infections. Will more anxiety - induced by fear of unemployment, forced house sales, unpaid school fees and rocketing fuel bills - drive the depressed and insecure to escape grim reality with an exciting if transient affair and a visit to the clinic? "



HPV: An Unwanted Gift At Christmas

This is a British story…but there’s no denying that we have an STD problem here in the US.

 

How cool is that?

“Flu shots may reduce the risk of blood clots forming in veins by 26 percent, according to research presented at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2008.  “Our study suggests for the first time that vaccination against influenza may reduce the risk of venous thrombotic embolism (VTE)”. 

Read the article  HERE

Honey Crisp                                                           Courtesy of WA Apple Comm

I confess..I liked being a country girl growing up.   I wasn’t a “farm girl,” but I lived out in the country on several acres of land in the boonies, surrounded by farm land, fields, woods and cows.  Life was a dream, for a kid back in the 60s anyway.

From the “Bye!” in the morning until I decided to stroll back home sometime later in the day, I guess around dinner time, the day was pretty much an adventure, with the fields, woods and streams being  my playground for me, my sister and my friends…oh, and our dogs, Smokey and Beauty.

Thirsty?  Drink straight out of the brook (I’m still alive).  Hungry?  There was always some sort of wild fruit growing out there…and it didn’t seem to matter if it was ripe or not…we ate it anyway.   We always knew where to find the wild strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, elderberries, black walnuts, pears, grapes, rhubarb, and apples.   And if that apple was especially green and sour, well, a little salt would help that out…right off the salt block for the cows.  (I’m still alive).  Nothing better than a sour green apple with salt on it.  My brothers must have taught me those things.  Oh, the fun kids miss nowadays.



Pink Lady                                                                Courtesy of WA Apple Comm




Apples… you sure won’t find me eating a plain apple much lately.  They just aren’t one of my favorite fruits.  I love them dehydrated and I have my own dehydrator.  The trouble is, when I eat them that way, it’s hard to remember that eight little chips are like eating a whole apple.  You can easily eat four apples in a matter of minutes and not even know it.  But I love homemade applesauce, a baked apple, apple pie… and fresh apple cider. But apples are so good for us…

Sprinkle with peanuts and drizzle with caramel topping.  Cut and serve.


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Apple and Celery Salad with Peanuts 

The photo you see here is of White Rabbit Candy.  It’s made in China and has been found to contain melamine.  Packages have been found in the U.S. in California and Connecticut so far.

We know Cadbury has some confections that are made in China and has recalled their products.  But it doesn’t hurt to be aware of where your food items are actually being manufactured.  You may want to look at packaged soups and other powdered items too. 

The linked article regarding Cadbury may say samples were within “legal limits,” but if you are pregnant or suffering from an illness, and consume an industrial chemical, being within legal limits isn’t something you want to hear.  That’s not acceptable when you are dealing with a chemical that has hundreds of thousands of children sick, and several dead, in China.

"Candy lovers beware. Melamine-tainted candy — imported from China — is now showing up on store shelves in the United States.

Sometimes we’ll take just about any drug to feel better…just because the doctor says it’s the right drug, right now.  Drugs go through years of studies now before they are put on the market, but still, we don’t know all the consequences…

Doctors may prescribe certain drugs to their patients depending on which Pharmaceuticals Rep they have…

Back in 1957 a drug, Thalidomide, was put on the market.  It was promoted for morning sickness…

It was a horrific disaster.

Read about it at Wired   HERE

I admit it.  I am not physically fit. I haven’t been for quite some time. 

But I do try.  Tae Bo  is my favorite “thing.”  (Thanks, Billy Blanks).

My dad, who this past year was critically ill, lifts heavy weights and rides a bike and snow shoes. 

He’s 84.  Until he was recently ill, he was inverting himself on some contraption as part of his weight lifting routine. 

My father-in-law, also 84, hops on a bike on a whim and will ride 40 miles.  He does 85 push-ups. 

I am hoping to be walking when I am 84.

Well, how about you?

If you are brave, check out the test. 

Or, if you are wise, check out the test.

You can do it here by clicking on the image:

Long nights alone at the office?  Grab the hot coffee…it’s not just for the caffeine.

Friday night home alone?  Some hot chicken soup may do the trick.  You don’t have to wait for a cold.

Getting the cold shoulder from co-workers because you got that promotion? 

How about a big bowl of comforting, piping hot mac and cheese?

Social isolation makes people feel physically cold, find University of Toronto psychologists Chen-Bo Zhong, PhD, and Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, PhD.

Moreover, they find that making people feel left out makes them more likely to choose hot soup or coffee over warm or room-temperature foods and beverages."It's striking that people preferred hot coffee and soup more when socially excluded," Leonardelli says in a news release.

"Our research suggests that warm chicken soup may be a literal coping mechanism for social isolation." 

[..]


Pointing to the Chicken Soup for the Soul book series, they suggest that "eating warm soup may be a literal coping mechanism for social exclusion."

Read the entire article HERE


Come on...you know you want a big bowl of ice cream...

Saleswomen check the returned Sanlu brand milk powders in a supermarket in Yinchuan,
capital of northwest China's Ningxia *** Autonomous Region Sept. 17, 2008. (Xinhua/Liu Quanlong)

"Hebei Province, the center of the contaminated baby formula scandal, on Wednesday said it hard received reports of 638 sick infants in one day.

Gao Chunqiu, deputy chief of the provincial health department, told a press conference that 12,510 people consulted medical facilities in the province between midday on Monday and midday on Tuesday, and 638 babies were diagnosed with urinary calculus (stones)."

 

Continued HERE

  "China seizes 22 companies with contaminated baby milk powder "

"Chinese inspectors have found the chemical melamine in 69 batches of baby milk powder produced by 22 companies nationwide, the country's quality watchdog said late on Tuesday.

The authorities ordered a halt to the sale of the tainted products which included such well-known brands as Sanlu, Mengniu, Yili and Yashili, among others.

The State Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) said test samples came from 491 batches of products sold by all the 109 companies that produced the baby milk powder in the country."

Continued HERE

 

"Melamine in pet food may not be accidental"

"A nitrogen-rich chemical used to make plastic and sometimes as a fertilizer may have been deliberately added to an ingredient in pet food that has sickened and killed cats and dogs across the country, public and private officials say. A leading theory is that it was added to fake higher protein levels.

Melamine has been found in wheat gluten, rice protein concentrate and, in South Africa, corn gluten, all imported from China, and all meant for use in pet food, the Food and Drug Administration confirmed Thursday.

"It adds to the theory when you see other products that are labeled as protein supplements, in this case rice protein, and in South Africa corn gluten and in the previous case wheat gluten," said Stephen Sundlof, FDA chief veterinarian. "That melamine was found in all three of those, it would certainly lend credibility to the theory that this was intentional."

How the melamine got there is "not something we're going to be able to determine until we actually investigate the plants in China," he said."

"ChemNutra, which imported the wheat gluten linked to last month's massive pet-food recall, says it is concerned its Chinese supplier spiked the product.In a letter on ChemNutra's website, Chief Executive Steve Miller said, "We are concerned that we may have been the victim of deliberate and mercenary contamination for the purpose of making the wheat gluten we purchased appear to have a higher protein content than it did." Melamine is "simply not a chemical even on the radar screen for food ingredient suppliers," he wrote. "

Continued HERE

Now...where will it end?

"In another NEJM commentary, Robert Veatch, Ph.D., a biomedical ethicist at Georgetown University in Washington, opposed definitions of death that hinge on the impossibility of autoresuscitation.

"Anyone who had had a cardiac arrest lasting beyond the time at which autoresuscitation was possible would be legally deceased, even if the heart had been successfully restarted through external stimulation," he argued.

The third commentary, by two other medical ethicists, countered that the dead-donor rule should be reconsidered.

Robert D. Truog, M.D., of Children's Hospital Boston, and Franklin G. Miller, Ph.D., of the National Institutes of Health, contended that death definitions based on brain function were also flawed.

"There have been persistent questions about whether patients with massive brain injury, apnea, and loss of brain-stem reflexes are really dead," they said.

Drs. Truog and Miller suggested replacing the dead-donor rule with a system that would allow some donations of hearts and other vital organs prior to a declaration of death, subject to clear criteria including informed consent.

"Whether death occurs as a result of ventilator withdrawal or organ procurement, the ethically relevant precondition is valid consent by the patient or surrogate," they wrote. "With such consent, there is no harm or wrong done in retrieving vital organs before death."

In an editorial, Dr. Drazen acknowledged the criticisms of the Denver transplant protocol and said the journal was publishing the paper "to foster discussion of donation after cardiocirculatory death in general and its application to infant heart transplantation in particular."

But they also appeared to side with Dr. Boucek and colleagues. "As a result of their investigational protocol, three babies are now alive; had the procedures not been performed, it is virtually certain that all six babies would be dead," Dr. Drazen and colleagues wrote.

Dr. Boucek and colleagues said they had not undertaken their protocol lightly.