A friend of mine is a school psychologist, and she passed this on to me, and I would like to pass to on to you:

National Depression Screening Day is today, Friday, October 10th.  As part of Mental Health Awareness Week, Wisconsin School Psychology Association (WSPA) is proud to join with Lt. Governor Lawton and Mental Health America of Wisconsin to promote a free, anonymous online depression screening on National Depression Screening Day.  

 Depression is a common, real, and treatable illness. Nearly one million individuals in Wisconsin struggle with depression - about one in six.

Unfortunately, thousands of these individuals battle depression alone and remain untreated. Indeed, untreated depression has far-reaching implications for all of us.  Medical costs of those afflicted by depression average twice those who are non-depressed, and those suffering from depression (an estimated 16% of all Americans) are seven times more likely to be unemployed or underemployed.  A recent National Institute of Health study found that depression costs the U.S. tens of billions of dollars annually, primarily from increased health care costs and from lost work productivity.  

Together we can change those statistics. The good news: with early screening, depression is easily diagnosed and treated, minimizing its devastating effects.  

Just follow this link 

and then click on the link leading to the simple, anonymous depression screening.

  

H/T Kelley

 

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.

Officials in California and Connecticut confirm they have found White Rabbit Creamy Candy contaminated with melamine in their states.The Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection said the tainted candy was primarily found in Asian markets. But officials warn the contaminated candy could be on store shelves nationwide.

Melamine is the chemical at the heart of the Chinese-milk scandal, which is blamed for the deaths of four babies and the illnesses of more than 53,000 other children in that country."

Continued in Consumer Affairs  HERE

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

Do you fit?

In your chair?

Okay, I should be asking, “Are you fit?”

Did you know there is a President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports?

Recently launched was its Adult Fitness Test.

Personally, I don’t want to go there.

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...

Two babies with kidney stones receive medical treatment at a military hospital in Lanzhou, capital of northwest China’s Gansu Province, Sept. 11, 2008. China will set up a multi-level treatment system for tainted milk-affected infant patients, with all the grass-root medical agencies well prepared for the "possibly rising cases," the Ministry of Health said on Tuesday. (Xinhua Photo)



…and the world is suffering at the hands of this evil.

So much illness has been caused.

Death has been caused.

It's horrific enough that humans have suffered.

It's horrible enough that parents worry what to feed their babies.

Back in 2007 this evil began the experiment on pets.

That’s how evil killers often begin..with animals.

Maybe because they are animals themselves.

This animal may be a chemist.  This animal is using melamine and was putting it first in pet food back in 2007.

Now it is being found in baby food and other dairy products such as yogurt in China.

The pet food that sickened and killed pets in 2007 in the United States originated in China.  The hundreds of babies suffering now are also in China.

At first China was apologizing, taking blame…and then the melamine was found.  You can’t take blame for an evil killer.  This thing is huge...you'll read below that it has infiltrated 22 milk companies in China..22!  So where does it begin?

"China Milk Scandal Widens as Melamine Found in Yogurt"

"China's tainted milk scandal widened as melamine was found in products of a second dairy company, after infant formula contaminated by the chemical was linked to 1,253 cases of infant kidney stones, killing two. Wellcome, a supermarket chain owned by Dairy Farm International Holdings Ltd., said it will stop selling ice cream made by Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group after the chemical was found in a sample, according to a statement sent by e-mail late today. The discovery in Hong Kong of the industrial chemical in a second company's products boosts concerns that contamination may be widespread after the Ministry of Health said melamine-tainted milk made by Sanlu Group Co. sickened children. Milk powder produced by 22 Chinese dairy producers, including Sanlu and Yili, were found to have melamine, China Central Television reported late today. " 

Continued HERE

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

 

From 2007:

"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?

 

I know some things they may say.

Things like “The baby would have died eventually.” 

Or, “Think about how many babies are being saved.”

Or, “This puts the parents through fewer traumas.”

Here is the question…

A heart stops beating in one baby.  It is transplanted and restarted in another baby.  But was the baby that the heart was taken from really dead? 

It’s a harsh question.  It shouldn’t have to be asked.   But doctors are in a hurry.  Medical technology and all…and someone has a baby waiting.


“Dead Donor Rule”…that comes in to play here…an ethical guideline stating that an organ donor must be declared dead before vital organs are prepared for transplantation.  In past research, a heart has not restarted on its own more that 65 seconds after a person was taken off of a ventilator.  Coroners are asked to wait between two and five minutes after the pulse stops to declare death.  That is the general practice protocol of the dead donor rule.

A team of doctors at Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital in Hollywood, Fla. preformed three heart transplants on babies.  In the first transplant, the donor baby’s heart stopped 11.5 minutes after the baby was taken off of life support, with death being declared three minutes later and the transplant immediately following.

The next two transplants began 75 seconds after the donor’s pulse ceased.    Each of the babies hearts stopped 27.5 and 16 minutes after each was taken off of life support.  Because the team began the transplants after the shorter time period, and less time than the dead donor rule, it raised the question of whether the babies were in fact dead.  Why did they do this?  Because, as more time elapses between when circulation and the heart stop, and when transplantation begins, there can be more damage to the organ that is going to be donated. 

I guess death is the vision of the physician...or should I say life....

"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.

"Before the trial was begun, an extensive period of education, discussion, and preparation was undertaken within our hospital and in programs already using donors who died from cardiocirculatory causes," they wrote. "After each transplantation involving these donors, there was extensive institutional debriefing and review by the ethics committee and the data and safety monitoring board."

Read the entire article HERE

“Slow food;”  it’s a movement, if you will.

Basically, it’s about eating more healthy…a change in lifestyle.

I know there are people here in Wisconsin who eat this way…fresh foods, organics.  But look around in Wisconsin and what you’ll still see is mostly fast foods…

Out west it’s a different story:





"TOURISTS who took a wrong turn on their way to San Francisco’s cable car recently were in for a shock. There, between City Hall and other government buildings, a temporary organic garden had sprung up. Around it bustled a farmers’ market. Healthy-looking people were sampling local hams, heirloom tomatoes and raw-milk cheeses. And thus the Slow Food movement, founded two decades ago in Italy, officially arrived in America, the home of fast food. For several days there were taste pavilions here and slow hikes, slow picnics and slow dinners there. Chefs demonstrated their craft and put the footage up on You Tube.  The world’s food celebrities weighed in on everything from the global food crisis to the role of food in the presidential election. "


Continued HERE

 
Acupuncture chart from Hua Shou (fl. 1340s, Ming Dynasty).
This image from Shi si jing fa *** (Expression of the Fourteen Meridians).
(Tokyo : Suharaya Heisuke kanko, Kyoho gan 1716).


I want acupuncture. Insurance doesn’t’ cover it.

I can get it and pay part of the cost.

But I don’t.

If I was to have acupuncture treatments, and they worked…it would be more cost effective than insurance paying for the medication that I’m taking.

Sometimes insurance companies (or the people pulling the strings) don’t think things through.

So, I’ll continue taking the very expensive medication for now.  Insurance makes me jump through enough hoops.  Like when I get an RX..which is written by the doctor…but they say it needs to be” authorized”  Authorized?  That ends up meaning the doctor needs to call and just say yes, I need to take the medication, “because.”  In other words, they want to make sure he really meant to write that prescription when we discussed it.  You know, I wasn’t sitting there twisting his arm, saying he couldn’t leave the exam room until he wrote out that prescription for that non-generic RX.  It’s the “system.” 

So, I found this article regarding acupuncture today…


“Whoever wins in November's going to have to do some pretty serious thinking about health care. Surveys consistently show it right near the top of the list of things voters say they're worried about -- the availability of care, as well as the cost. On that latter point, one possible solution might be coming from an unlikely source. An alternative form of treatment that involves lying completely still while they stick needles in you.”

You can read the brief interview, and even listen to it in audio 


HERE

Now, it’s true, it’s about time alternative forms of healthcare were considered more thoroughly. 

Acupuncture may be coming to us as a regular form of healthcare before we know it.  I say that because of a case that just happened in New York.  Usually when one state mandates that drugs or procedures are approved, that will spread to other states, too.

The part of this story i found interesting was that drug addicts were already being covered for acupuncture.  Ah, the privileged few.

"New York Medicaid authorities were ordered by a New York State judge last week to pay the cost of acupuncture treatment for poor people, even when it is not performed by a physician. New York Medicaid authorities were ordered by a New York State judge last week to pay the cost of acupuncture treatment for poor people, even when it is not performed by a physician. The judge, Acting Justice Phyllis Gangel-Jacob of State Supreme Court in Manhattan, ruled that since medical authorities have found acupuncture to be a valid therapeutic treatment, Federal Medicaid regulations required that state Medicaid programs pay for it under appropriate circumstances. To deny payment would be irrational and inhumane, she said. "

[...]


"Under its current policy, Medicaid, a state program that pays the cost of health care for the poor, has reimbused New York City hospitals and doctors for the acupuncture treatment of more than 3,000 drug addicts. Acupuncture has been found to reduce the addicts' craving for drugs. The treatment is also receiving growing medical acceptance as a way to alleviate chronic pain. In China, where the first textbook on acupuncture was written more than 2,000 years ago, the therapy, which involves inserting needles into specific areas of the body, is widely accepted for treating a variety of ailments and diseases."


From the New York Times

HERE

Cow plop!




Dr Rajendra Pachauri, chair of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, says we should stop eating meat one day a week.  After that, we should even eat it less than that.  If he has his way, I suppose we should be come vegetarians. 

Anything for the sake of preventing further global warming.

I’m in…how about you?

Rewind…I’m not in. 

Sorry…I don’t care how much gas those cows or beef steer are “burping,” or how much people are burping after they eat a huge plate of beef for that matter.  I’m going to eat all the red meat I want.

I think Dr. Pachauri is forgetting to tell us to eliminate some other items from our diet…maybe because there would be a huge uproar in the medical world.  You see, physicians aren’t going to argue with him about telling us to eliminate red meat…they want us eating turkey or pork or fish anyway (I know, Pachauri says to eliminate "meat").  But there’s something else those belching cows eating grass are producing …it’s called milk. 

Got Milk?

If you‘ve got that, then you’ve got strong bones.  You don’t want to see a bunch of menopausal women with an increase in broken hips, do you?  We don ‘t want to tell people to reduce the amount of yogurt and cottage cheese they re eating, now do we?   And it’s been proven that increasing dairy in your diet helps to lose weight, too. I wonder if Dr. Pachauri works for any pharmaceutical companies.  Just a thought.

"People should have one meat-free day a week if they want to make a personal and effective sacrifice that would help tackle climate change, the world's leading authority on global warming has told The Observer.

Dr Rajendra Pachauri, chair of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which last year earned a joint share of the Nobel Peace Prize, said that people should then go on to reduce their meat consumption even further.

His comments are the most controversial advice yet provided by the panel on how individuals can help tackle global warning.

Pachauri, who was re-elected the panel's chairman for a second six-year term last week, said diet change was important because of the huge greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental problems - including habitat destruction - associated with rearing cattle and other animals. It was relatively easy to change eating habits compared to changing means of transport, he said. " 

Enlighten yourself with the entire article HERE


Burpless grass cuts methane gas from cattle

Prairie Vole

While Edwards is a rat, and a vole is a rodent, we have to delve deeper.  What do they have in common?  Well, John Edwards is prone to infidelity….he is prone to being promiscuous.    And guess what…so are voles.  Actually, voles are highly promiscuous.  Maybe Edwards is too. 

Yes, this is another study.

“A man's tendency to be unfaithful may be influenced by his genes, research suggests. Men who inherit a genetic variant that affects an important attachment hormone are more likely than usual to have weaker relationships and marital problems, and less likely to be married, according to the research. Their wives and girlfriends are also more likely to be less satisfied with them as partners. While the study did not look directly at infidelity, the findings suggest that male monogamy might also be influenced by variations in a single gene. The study's authors cautioned that any effect would apply only on average, and that it was impossible to predict whether any individual would be unfaithful or a bad partner on the basis of his genes.

The gene in question affects the receptor for a hormone called vasopressin, which plays an important role in social behaviour, pair-bonding and sexual attachment. Its effects were first characterised by studies of different species of voles. Although the meadow and prairie voles are close cousins, their sexual behaviour is dramatically different.

Like most mammals, male meadow voles are highly promiscuous, but male prairie voles are monogamous. When boy prairie vole meets girl, the two indulge in 24 to 36 hours of nearly continuous mating, which cements a bond that invariably lasts for life. When one partner dies, the survivor usually opts to remain celibate rather than find another mate. Male prairie vole brains contain much higher levels of vasopressin than those of meadow voles. There also genetic differences in the receptor for vasopressin in the two species. “ 

You've got to read the whole article...it's really interesting.  Seriously.

Who knew?

You can find the complete article from Times Online HERE 

 

Do you take a lot of medication?

If it could change you life, would you consider taking three, four, five pills?

Many of you love to exercise...it’s a way of life. 

It’s for your body, mind and soul.

But many of you detest it.

What if you could just take a pill so you don’t have to exercise?

One so you could get some of the same benefits from exercising.

Did you know there is one being created?

Along with other pills that could change your life….


Exercise Pill


photo by the U.S. Federal government




"Why spend the time and money on a gym membership when you can just pop a pill? An obvious future bestseller (and possibly the final fulfillment of the American dream), the pill that mimics exercise has been under development for some time. Developed at the Salk Institute in California, the pill caused sedentary mice to burn fat no matter how lazy they were. This pill would be for more than vanity, though, as obesity has grown into one of America’s biggest public health problems. A pill like this could both help the healthcare system and get you the six pack abs you want without having to step foot in a gym."


In the not-so-distant future, these six drugs--already in the works--will change how we live, and even how we die "

See the other five pills in Pop-Sci's photo article

HERE  

Albacore Tuna

Allow me to put down my fried cheese curd…because it’s time for another study.

Oh, it’s a serious study, mind you.  I have no problem with the study itself.

There’s just one part of it that bothers me.

You see that picture of that Albacore tuna up there

Yes, that one.

That nice, white, high quality Albacore tuna, along with swordfish…that’s the problem.

Well, sort of.

Actually, mercury is the problem.

See…the study I’m speaking of is about mercury and women, and the dangers to them. 

We all know about the dangers of mercury poisoning.  And there are some groups who are at especially high risk…children and pregnant women.  You don’t want to be eating too much high risk food when you are pregnant.  That includes fish, such as tuna and swordfish.

Well the “study” says that women in the Northeast (where I am originally from) have higher levels of mercury poisoning) than those in the Midwest.  We should be very happy about that.

I know…I should just let it go there. 

You know, when I was growing up in the Northeast, I, as a child, happened to eat quite a bit of swordfish.  I actually liked it.  We ate whole Maine lobsters too.  Unfortunately, dumb kid that I was, I turned my nose up at lobster, without even wanting to try it when I was very young.  It was cheap enough then…I don’t know why my parents didn’t push it on me.  They did other foods.  But I eventually learned.

Back to my “study.”

Here’s a graph

So, the study has this to say:

"The nation's first region-by-region analysis of mercury in women's blood shows vast differences based on where they live, with the highest levels found in the Northeast.

There, nearly one in five women of child-bearing age have eaten so much contaminated fish that the toxic metal in their blood would pose a risk to their fetuses, compared with one in 10 nationally, the federally financed study found.

Women in the Midwest generally had much less mercury in their bodies; less than 3 percent exceeded a safety level intended to protect the developing brain before birth."


Okay…The next part is what I find interesting…they now include money in their findings:


"The study also found that women who make more money tend to have higher mercury levels. That may be because they are better able to afford expensive seafood, such as swordfish or high-grade tuna, that often is more contaminated."

Now ladies…I don’t know about you…but I don’t think we women in the Midwest aren't necessarily going out and buying the dark meat tuna, are we? 

Or maybe we’re bypassing that and heading straight for the cat food isle and picking up the can made with this:

Atlantic Bonito


Yes…the Bonito…typically used in cat food.  Related to the tuna but smaller in size.  Much more oily.  I know a little about bonito.  I’ve actually eaten Bonito…my brother used to catch them in Martha’s Vineyard.  Do I like it?  Not so much.

You know, maybe women who make more money aren't eating balanced meals.  Maybe they are eating out more.  Maybe women who make less money aren't eating fish...I don't know.  Maybe Midwest women eat more cheese and ice cream. 

I don't care how much  money I make...when I buy tuna I buy the best type and yes, I'll eat lots of seafood.


You can read the study HERE

Those wisdom teeth….nothing but trouble for most people.

You wonder why they are there in the first place?

For most they end up being extracted.

Actually not everyone has them removed…I still have mine.

Maybe more people will decide to hang on to them if they have room for them in their mouths, but if not, that's okay too, since they can be frozen …

Frozen? 

Why would we want to do that?


"Japanese scientists said Friday they had derived stem cells from wisdom teeth opening another way to study deadly diseases without the ethical controversy of using embryos.

Researchers at the government-backed National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology said they created stem cells of the type found in human embryos using the removed wisdom teeth of a 10-year-old girl.

"This is significant in two ways," team leader Hajime Ogushi told AFP. "One is that we can avoid the ethical issues of stem cells because wisdom teeth are destined to be thrown away anyway.

"Also, we used teeth that had been extracted three years ago and had been preserved in a freezer. That means that it's easy for us to stock this source of stem cells."

The announcement follows the groundbreaking discovery by US and Japanese scientists last year that they could produce stem cells from skin, a finding that was hailed by the Vatican and US President George W. Bush"


We hear about many different studies going on in the world, and some seem so useless.  Every once in a while we get fantastic breakthroughs.

Read the article

HERE



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


According to the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons, approximately 50 million Americans will need to have their wisdom teeth removed before the age of 25.    

The average mouth has thirty-two teeth, sixteen on top and sixteen on the bottom. 

	The four 1st molars come in around age six and are called "six year molars".
	The four 2nd molars come in around the age 12 and are called the "12 year molars".
	The four 3rd molars come in around the age of 17 (age range of 15-25) when most individuals become adults thus they are called "wiser or wisdom teeth".

 

Another health study.

This one regarding genes and smoking.

So, how did you feel when you took that first puff of a cigarette (if you’ve ever taken one)?

Did you feel sick, nauseated, turned off? 

You may be in Group A. 

That’s a good thing.

"For most people, the first experimental drags on a cigarette bring on nausea, coughing and other signals from the brain that say, "Turn back. This is a bad idea." But for some, they bring a wave of pleasure.

Those in the second group likely bear a gene type that not only increases their addiction risk, but has been implicated in the development of lung cancer, researchers said on Friday.

"If you have this variant, you are going to like your earliest experiences with smoking," said Ovide Pomerleau of the University of Michigan Medical School, whose research appears in the journal Addiction.

Pomerleau said the finding suggests that for some, smoking even one cigarette is a bad idea. "It's a trap," he said in a telephone interview.

"What they don't realize is if they have this kind of genetic make-up, they are on their way to dependency," he said, and that raises their risk for lung cancer.

The research is part of a growing understanding of genetic factors involved in nicotine addiction and lung cancer."

Read the entire article from Reuters  HERE

Photo by Mark Cunningham/Getty Images



Hip-Joint Degeneration

Modern Comeback: Jason Isringhausen
Hip resurfacing before the 2007 season allowed the St. Louis Cardinals’ relief pitcher go from “couldn’t stand” to “elite closer” in six months.

Future Fix: In nearly every sport, a hip injury has been the kiss of death for an athlete. Stem cells offer the best (if distant) hope for fixing hobbled hips, but advances in minimally invasive surgery have made the once-complex hip replacement almost routine. Stronger materials and improvements to MRI scanners and 3-D computer modeling have also led to better-fitting, stronger prosthetics. The biggest advance for quicker recoveries is a patch-job procedure called resurfacing, in which doctors use tiny tools to smooth rough spots in the joint and coat it with a low-friction ceramic substance. In the lab, researchers are developing and testing motor-oil-like lubricants that doctors will inject into the hip post-surgery to reduce pain from friction and further speed recovery.


Visit POP SCI for Beyond Repair

How new medical tech gets injured stars off the disabled list and onto the field

and eleven more athletes stories....

HERE



Also check out POP SCI Field for info on cutting edge stadiums of tommorow

POP SCI Field - HERE

Okay, so we’re really supposed to believe the U.S. government on this one?  Lead…even small amounts of it are “safe” for small children?  It’s dust that’s being emitted from the artificial turf.  That means it is being breathed in by the kids  - who are closer to the ground.

"Back in April, the New Jersey Department of Health put in a request that the agency [The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission] take a closer look at artificial turf fields.

This came after they found that many of the older fields began to emit levels of lead which they believed could have posed a health risk.

The commission followed up by studying the artificial fields and the amount of lead."


No…no, thank you.  If I am the parent of small children, I will not let them play on artificial turf.  Let the guinea pigs they use for testing purposes be the real thing.  After all, we all know how the results of these so-called studies end up flip-flopping down the road.  And I’m sure you would rather have a healthy child who doesn’t have any disabilities due to lead poisoning rather than a law suit, right?

I thought so.


Lead In Artifical Turf Posed No Health Risk




 moneytimes

Seriously, I’m wondering what’s up with the reports of ticks.  Now there are two.  One on an airplane in the U.S. and one on a ferry in Italy.  I find it strange.  I also find it strange to hear operators of airlines or other forms of travel say they check for these types of things.  That's ridiculous and I don’t buy it.



Flight from Denver Delayed By Ticks


Italian Ferry Cabin Infested With Ticks


Ticks are very small and if you have ever seen the time they take between flights to clean a plane (if you want to even call that cleaning) there is no way they are checking a plane for insects.  Maybe they do that at some other time. But if someone or someone’s carry on luggage or belongings has an infestation, checking a plane at some other time isn’t going to do any good.


I’m just wondering why there are more ticks this year in the first place.  I don’t believe either story has reported whether the ticks were wood ticks or deer ticks.  Deer ticks are the ones that carry Lyme disease. If you are going hiking, check yourself for ticks. 

And here