For myself and those I love, I am the caretaker of my own health. 

     With daily effort, I will greatly improve my future life, and increase the pleasure of just being alive.   I will reduce the chance of disastrous illness. I can and will live with less pain.   I can and will enjoy a healthier life, with greater productivity.   I will sleep deeper, and wake refreshed.  I will extend and protect my lifespan.  

Today's Healthies

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Good Healthis not a Faustian bargain...

Ourdailyneed (required to maintain health, in simple basic ways every day), reminds me of Goethe's play "Faust".

You'll recall how the demon Mesphistopheles offers Faust long life and earthly power, in trade for his soul.

Faust asks, "Isn't there some other way besides trading my soul, to get long life?"

Mephistopheles slyly exaggerates when he answers, "Yes, you canslave in the field like the beasts, and eat of the simple food of the soil. Live a life of endless toil and you will live healthy and long."

Faust, a busy man of letters, an elite,hates this idea. Like many of us, he is so distracted and busy in modern life. Healthy habits are far too much trouble.

So Faust says, "That sounds boring and terrible. To get long life, I'd rather trade my soul!"

Faustmay sound foolish. But isn'the making the same mistake so many of us do today--- the same way so many of us ignore our health, unwilling to become one of the HEALTHIES?

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Canada admits new Mad Cow brain-wasting disease Case

Canada has confirmed another case of mad cow disease, found in a 13-year-old animal from an Alberta farm. It's the 11th case of the disease in the country since the first case was discovered in May 2003, the Canadian Press reported.

The cow in this latest case was born before Canada implemented new feed controls in 1997. No part of the cow's carcass entered the human or animal food chains, said a news release on the Canadian Food Inspection Agency Web site.

This new case of mad cow disease was identified by Canada's national monitoring program, which focuses on cattle most at risk. The program has tested about 190,000 cattle since 2003, the CP reported.

Canada's international standing as a country with a controlled risk for mad cow disease will not be affected by this new case, according to the food and inspection agency.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, mad cow disease (BSE, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy) is a fatal disease that causes progressive neurological degeneration in cattle. Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) is a rare disease that occurs in humans that's similar to mad cow.

While it's not certain how mad cow-like disease may spread to humans, evidence indicates that humans may acquire it after consuming BSE-contaminated cattle products.

BEWARE!

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Can VANITY

Blind You????????

The quest for thicker lashes and defined eyes should get safer in Minnesota on Jan. 1, when a state law banning mercury from mascara, eye liners and skin-lightening creams takes effect.

Minnesota apparently is the first state in the nation to ban intentionally added mercury in cosmetics, giving it a tougher standard than the federal government, reports MSN.

Retailers who knowingly sell mercury-containing cosmetics in Minnesota could face fines of as much as $700. Penalties could reach $10,000 for manufacturers who fail to disclose mercury on product labels, according to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.

"Mercury does cause neurological damage to people even in tiny quantities," said Sen. John Marty, the Democrat from Roseville who sponsored the ban. "Every source of mercury adds to it. We wanted to make sure it wasn't here."

Federal law allows eye products to contain up to 65 parts per million of mercury.

"Personal care products contain many problematic chemicals," Malkan said. "Many ingredients aren't listed on the labels."

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Dyslexia

a Healthy Asset?

It has long been known that dyslexics are drawn to running their own businesses, NYT reports, where they can get around their weaknesses in reading and writing and play on their strengths.

But a new study of entrepreneurs in the United States suggests that dyslexia is much more common among small-business owners than even the experts had thought.

The report, compiled by Julie Logan, a professor of entrepreneurship at the Cass Business School in London, found that more than a third of the entrepreneurs she had surveyed 35 percent identified themselves as dyslexic. The study also concluded that dyslexics were more likely than nondyslexics to delegate authority, to excel in oral communication and problem solving and were twice as likely to own two or more businesses.

We found that dyslexics who succeed had overcome an awful lot in their lives by developing compensatory skills, Professor Logan said in an interview.

If you tell your friends and acquaintances that you plan to start a business, youll hear over and over, It wont work. It cant be done. But dyslexics are extraordinarily creative about maneuvering their way around problems.

The study was based on a survey of 139 business owners in a wide range of fields across the United States.

Professor Logan called the number who said they were dyslexic staggering, and said it was significantly higher than the 20 percent of British entrepreneurs who said they were dyslexic in a poll she conducted in 2001.

The willingness to delegate authority gives them a significant advantage over nondyslexic entrepreneurs, who tend to view their business as their baby and like to be in total control, she said.

William J. Dennis Jr., senior research fellow at the Research Foundation of the National Federation of Independent Business, a trade group in Washington, said the studys results fit into the pattern of what we know about small-business owners.

Entrepreneurs are hands-on people who push a minimum of paper, do lots of stuff orally instead of reading and writing, and delegate authority, all of which suggests a high verbal facility, Mr. Dennis said. Compare that with corporate managers who read, read, read.

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How theFlu

Finds You!

As long as flu has been recognized, people have asked, Why winter? The very name, influenza, is an Italian word that some historians proposed, originated in the mid-18th century as influenza di freddo, or influence of the cold.

Researchers in New York announced a new study, NYT reports, that spreading flu in winter has to do less with crowds, than the nature of the virus itself.

Flu germs aremore stable and stays in the air longer when air is cold and dry, the exact conditions for much of the flu season.

Dr. Palese published details of his findings in the Oct. 19 issue of PLoS Pathogens. The crucial hint that allowed him to do his study came from a paper published in the aftermath of the 1918 flu pandemic, when doctors were puzzling over why and how the virus had spread so quickly and been so deadly.

Influenza virus is more likely to be transmitted during winter on the way to the subway than in a warm room, said Peter Palese, a flu researcher who is professor and chairman of the microbiology department at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York and the lead author of the flu study.

By varying air temperature and humidity, researchers discovered that transmission was excellent at 41 degrees.

Flu infectiondeclined as the temperature rose until, by 86 degrees, the virus was not transmitted at all.

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Healthy Eating Costs More? Really?

Thats what University of Washington researchers found when they compared the prices of 370 foods sold at supermarkets in the Seattle area.

Calorie for calorie, junk foods not only cost less than fruits and vegetables, but junk food prices also are less likely to rise as a result of inflation.

NYT said the findings, reported in the current issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, may help explain why the highest rates of obesity are seen among people in lower-income groups.

The scientists took an unusual approach, essentially comparing the price of a calorie in a junk food to one consumed in a healthier meal.

Although fruits and vegetables are rich in nutrients, they also contain relatively few calories.

Foods with high energy density, meaning they pack the most calories per gram, included candy, pastries, baked goods and snacks.

The survey found that higher-calorie, energy-dense foods are the better bargain for cash-strapped shoppers.

Energy-dense munchies cost on average $1.76 per 1,000 kcal, compared with $18.16 per 1,000 kcal for low-energy but nutritious foods.

The survey also showed that low-calorie foods were more likely to increase in price, surging 19.5 percent over the two-year study period.

High-calorie foods remained a relative bargain, dropping in price by 1.8 percent.

Although people dont knowingly shop for calories per se, the data show that its easier for low-income people to sustain themselves on junk food rather than fruits and vegetables, says the studys lead author Adam Drewnowski, director of the center for public health nutrition at the University of Washington.

Based on his findings, a 2,000-calorie diet would cost just $3.52 a day if it consisted of junk food, compared with $36.32 a day for a diet of low-energy dense foods.

However, most people eat a mix of foods. The average American spends about $7 a day on food, although low-income people spend about $4, says Dr. Drewnowski.

Bottom line--- compare the disastrous costs of disease and shorter lifespan from unhealthy food!

Now,how costly does healthy food seem?

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Youth Obesity Epidemic threatens Future!

The epidemic of obesity among US teenagers could lead to double digit increases in cases of heart disease and heart-disease related deaths by 2035, according to a new study.

In a paper published in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers said today's epidemic was setting the scene for tomorrow's public health crisis, one that doctors will not be able to head off with traditional blood pressure and cholesterol-lowering drugs.

"Today's adolescents are the young adults of tomorrow, young adults who would ordinarily be working, raising their families, and not worried about heart disease until they are much older," said Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, assistant professor in medicine, epidemiology and biostatistics at University of California at San Francisco.

"Our study suggests that more of these young adults will have heart disease when they are 30-35 years old, resulting in more hospitalizations, medical procedures, need for chronic medications, missed work days and shortened life expectancy."

Using computer modeling, the researchers projected that up to 37 percent of men and 44 percent of women who will be 35 in the year 2020 will be obese, based on the numbers of teenagers who were overweight in 2000.

These young adults are expected to have more heart attacks, more chronic chest pain and more premature deaths before they reach age 50 than previous generations.

The researchers said the lifestyle-driven disaster could increase the number of people with heart disease 16 percent over today's levels by 2035.

THIS IS PREVENTABLE!

HELP THOSE NEAR YOU AND HELP YOURSELF!

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IED--- Intermittent Explosive Disorder, threatens all of us!

Mindless explosive anger that can lead to physical assault is more common than had been thought, according to a new study in the Archives of General Psychiatry.

Behind the wheel, it's ROAD RAGE.

When it happens between partners, it's domestic violence.

Psychiatrists have a term for it: intermittent explosive disorder.

It's when someone attacks or threatens other people, or their cars or their houses or other things with little provocation and no other explanation.

Researchers analyzed a national survey of more than 9,000 people. Using a narrow definition -- three or more attacks within a year -- they found 5.4 percent of the population has intermittent explosive disorder, making it more common than two smaller studies had suggested.

Early treatment could prevent people with intermittent explosive disorder from going on to depression or substance abuse.

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Is E-Coliflavoring yourBurgers?

Late last month, the Agriculture Department announced its 20th recall of beef this year because of contamination with a toxic strain of the bacterium E. coli. That is only one recall shy of a record set in 2000 and matched in 2002.

No one knows for sure what is causing the jump in recalls, NYT reports, though theories abound, from the cyclical nature of pathogens to changes in cattle-feeding practices caused by the popularity of ethanol.

Fifteen years after an outbreak at Jack in the Box restaurants made people aware that hamburgers could kill them, the American beef industry is still searching for a practical method to prevent the toxic E. coli strain from contaminating ground beef.

If you gave me a million, zillion dollars and said give me a plant that doesnt have E. coli, I couldnt do it, said Michael T. Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. Its not about the will. Its about the ability.

What makes this years spate of recalls so surprising is that it comes after several years in which the number of recalls dropped sharply, to eight in 2006 and five in 2005.

And it includes not just small and midsize firms with less rigorous food-safety protocols like Topps Meat of New Jersey, which recalled 21.7 million pounds of frozen hamburger because of potential E. coli contamination but also large companies that have spent tens of millions of dollars to prevent E. coli contamination.

Topps closed its doors on Oct. 5, and declared bankruptcy late last month.

But department officials acknowledge that short of irradiating the meat, there is no magic bullet to prevent E. coli contamination.

The federal government says it believes that exposing meat to radiation is a safe and effective way to kill E. coli and other pathogens.

But meat companies have been hesitant to use irradiation because of fears that it would make meat more expensive, change the taste and color, and provoke consumer opposition.

Escherichia coli bacteria are commonly found in the lower digestive tract of humans and animals, and they are usually harmless.

But one strain, E. coli 0157:H7, produces a deadly toxin that can make people sick or kill them, typically after eating ground beef or produce that has been contaminated by cattle feces.

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MIDDLE-CLASS IN INDIA GET HEALTH CARE!!!

Amazing. Why can't this happen in the USA?

Medicine is changing around the world as incomes and expectations rise, reports NPR. And big-name American institutions are out there at the forefront of change.

Take the Cleveland Clinic, one of the top brand names in American medicine. All things considered reports it has partnered with the government of Abu Dhabi to build a deluxe new teaching hospital on the Persian Gulf at the Arabian government's expense.

"The Cleveland Clinic/Abu Dhabi will contain our cultural DNA," Cleveland Clinic chief executive Toby Cosgrove declared last year when he announced the venture. "It will bear our name, our imprimatur of medical excellence."

Practically all the big names in U.S. medicine are out there propagating their institutional DNA. In Dubai, Singapore, Thailand, Turkey and China, you'll see names like Johns Hopkins, Mayo, Duke and Cornell.

Drive down Bannerghatta Road in Bangalore the heart of India's Silicon Valley and you'll see the phenomenon writ large.

Among the glass towers bearing names such as Samsung, Motorola and Global Edge are new hospitals affiliated with Baltimore's Johns Hopkins and Tufts University Medical School in Boston.

Harvard in India

Down the street looms the new, granite-clad facade of the Wockhardt Hospital part of a fast-growing chain of for-profit hospitals.

Underneath the Wockhardt name, in letters just as big, it says "Harvard Medical International."

Vishal Bali, CEO of the Wockhardt Hospitals Group, says his company far from the largest Indian hospital chain, but with big ambitions formed an alliance with Harvard because "we felt what we needed was a partner who would hand-hold us into getting the best practices from the American heath care system."

The chief hand-holder is 8,000 miles away in Boston. Dr. Robert Crone, president and CEO of Harvard Medical International, says he wants to lift medical care around the world to Harvard's standards.

"We don't think twice about the fact that, no matter where a 747 made in the United States flies, anywhere in the world, the standards are the same," Crone says. "Why doesn't that happen in medicine? Well, it's beginning to happen. It's going to take another decade or more. But we have to stop thinking so provincially about health care."

Canada admits new Mad Cow brain-wasting disease Case

Canada has confirmed another case of mad cow disease, found in a 13-year-old animal from an Alberta farm. It's the 11th case of the disease in the country since the first case was discovered in May 2003, the Canadian Press reported.

The cow in this latest case was born before Canada implemented new feed controls in 1997. No part of the cow's carcass entered the human or animal food chains, said a news release on the Canadian Food Inspection Agency Web site.

This new case of mad cow disease was identified by Canada's national monitoring program, which focuses on cattle most at risk. The program has tested about 190,000 cattle since 2003, the CP reported.

Canada's international standing as a country with a controlled risk for mad cow disease will not be affected by this new case, according to the food and inspection agency.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, mad cow disease (BSE, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy) is a fatal disease that causes progressive neurological degeneration in cattle. Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) is a rare disease that occurs in humans that's similar to mad cow.

While it's not certain how mad cow-like disease may spread to humans, evidence indicates that humans may acquire it after consuming BSE-contaminated cattle products.

BEWARE!

Can VANITY

Blind You????????

Dyslexia

a Healthy Asset?

---

---

How theFlu

Finds You!

Influenza virus is more likely to be transmitted during winter on the way to the subway than in a warm room, said Peter Palese, a flu researcher who is professor and chairman of the microbiology department at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York and the lead author of the flu study.

By varying air temperature and humidity, researchers discovered that transmission was excellent at 41 degrees.

Flu infectiondeclined as the temperature rose until, by 86 degrees, the virus was not transmitted at all.

Healthy Eating Costs More? Really?

Thats what University of Washington researchers found when they compared the prices of 370 foods sold at supermarkets in the Seattle area.

Calorie for calorie, junk foods not only cost less than fruits and vegetables, but junk food prices also are less likely to rise as a result of inflation.

NYT said the findings, reported in the current issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, may help explain why the highest rates of obesity are seen among people in lower-income groups.

The scientists took an unusual approach, essentially comparing the price of a calorie in a junk food to one consumed in a healthier meal.

Although fruits and vegetables are rich in nutrients, they also contain relatively few calories.

Foods with high energy density, meaning they pack the most calories per gram, included candy, pastries, baked goods and snacks.

The survey found that higher-calorie, energy-dense foods are the better bargain for cash-strapped shoppers.

Energy-dense munchies cost on average $1.76 per 1,000 kcal, compared with $18.16 per 1,000 kcal for low-energy but nutritious foods.

The survey also showed that low-calorie foods were more likely to increase in price, surging 19.5 percent over the two-year study period.

High-calorie foods remained a relative bargain, dropping in price by 1.8 percent.

Although people dont knowingly shop for calories per se, the data show that its easier for low-income people to sustain themselves on junk food rather than fruits and vegetables, says the studys lead author Adam Drewnowski, director of the center for public health nutrition at the University of Washington.

Based on his findings, a 2,000-calorie diet would cost just $3.52 a day if it consisted of junk food, compared with $36.32 a day for a diet of low-energy dense foods.

However, most people eat a mix of foods. The average American spends about $7 a day on food, although low-income people spend about $4, says Dr. Drewnowski.

Bottom line--- compare the disastrous costs of disease and shorter lifespan from unhealthy food!

Now,how costly does healthy food seem?

Youth Obesity Epidemic threatens Future!

The epidemic of obesity among US teenagers could lead to double digit increases in cases of heart disease and heart-disease related deaths by 2035, according to a new study.

In a paper published in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers said today's epidemic was setting the scene for tomorrow's public health crisis, one that doctors will not be able to head off with traditional blood pressure and cholesterol-lowering drugs.

"Today's adolescents are the young adults of tomorrow, young adults who would ordinarily be working, raising their families, and not worried about heart disease until they are much older," said Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, assistant professor in medicine, epidemiology and biostatistics at University of California at San Francisco.

"Our study suggests that more of these young adults will have heart disease when they are 30-35 years old, resulting in more hospitalizations, medical procedures, need for chronic medications, missed work days and shortened life expectancy."

Using computer modeling, the researchers projected that up to 37 percent of men and 44 percent of women who will be 35 in the year 2020 will be obese, based on the numbers of teenagers who were overweight in 2000.

These young adults are expected to have more heart attacks, more chronic chest pain and more premature deaths before they reach age 50 than previous generations.

The researchers said the lifestyle-driven disaster could increase the number of people with heart disease 16 percent over today's levels by 2035.

THIS IS PREVENTABLE!

HELP THOSE NEAR YOU AND HELP YOURSELF!

IED--- Intermittent Explosive Disorder, threatens all of us!

Mindless explosive anger that can lead to physical assault is more common than had been thought, according to a new study in the Archives of General Psychiatry.

Behind the wheel, it's ROAD RAGE.

When it happens between partners, it's domestic violence.

Psychiatrists have a term for it: intermittent explosive disorder.

It's when someone attacks or threatens other people, or their cars or their houses or other things with little provocation and no other explanation.

Researchers analyzed a national survey of more than 9,000 people. Using a narrow definition -- three or more attacks within a year -- they found 5.4 percent of the population has intermittent explosive disorder, making it more common than two smaller studies had suggested.

Early treatment could prevent people with intermittent explosive disorder from going on to depression or substance abuse.

Is E-Coliflavoring yourBurgers?

Yesterday's Healthies...

Try a new start with a FITNESS VACATION!

Wherever you go, wherever you live, your vacation can be a health-inspired experience, leading to new health habits and a heightened sense of vitality.

In days to come we'll explore some of the ways--- to turn your holiday into the launch of a new healthy you!

Day One began with riding the volcanic Port Hills above Christchurch. From a set up on the summit road, we cycled towards Sumner nestled on the coast.

This ride provides spectacular views north to the Kaikoura ranges, and South to the Southern Alps. After a picnic lunch we cycled the plains of Canterbury into the foothills.

Edging onto the bushclad Lewis Pass and its mountain ranges is the thermal resort of Hanmer springs. At the end of this first day a soak in the hot pools were a welcome healing end of the amazing day.

This ride provides spectacular views north to the Kaikoura ranges, and South to the Southern Alps. After a picnic lunch we cycled the plains of Canterbury into the foothills.

Edging onto the bushclad Lewis Pass and its mountain ranges is the thermal resort of Hanmer springs. At the end of this first day a soak in the hot pools were a welcome healing end of the amazing day.

On Day Two the breathtaking climbs through the beech forest of the Lewis Pass are lung-busters, filling me with euphoria.

We climb over the lush rainforests of the Lewis and Rahu saddles. Each climb is rewarded by huge sweeping downhills, and the rush is just incredibly liberating.

Good roads sweep away toward the coast and then I can see the rugged beaiuty of the rocky coastline.

That night is spent with sore legs and a happy heart in the coasting mining town of Greymouth, which looks wonderfully like something out of a time machine, vintage 1900.

Eat at Ma's Diner, you earned it and you wont regret it!

Yoga reduces anxiety more than drugs! Researchers reported the amazing effectiveness of yogic techniques, in the management of anxiety, inthe Journal of Personality and Clinical Studies, #5. What more proof do you need? Try a Yoga class ASAP. Let your body heal your mind and restore your spirit! And on that note, with the SUPER BOWL almost here, is Sports-watching good for your anxiety? The New England Journal of Medicine has just released a stunning new study on the hazards of being a SPORTS fan. The study, conducted in Germany, found that soccer fans had an increased risk of heart attack, especiallyduring championship games. SO--- CHILL!
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	FDA Alerts--- Recalls, Withdrawals and Alerts in the Last 60 Days: FDA Warns Consumers Not to Eat Raw Oysters Harvested from the West Karako Bay Section of Growing Area 3 in Louisiana December 28, 2007 FDA Warns Consumers Not to Use Super Shangai, Strong Testis, Shangai Ultra, Shangai Ultra X, Lady Shangai, and Shangai Regular (also known as Shangai Chaojimengnan) December 21, 2007 Whole Foods Market Expands Allergy Alert on 365 Organic Everyday Value Slate Bars to All Varieties and Lots New Era Canning Company Recalls Canned GFS Fancy Blue Lake Cut Green Beans Because of Possible Health Risk Cardinal Health Statement on Alaris Pump Module Worldwide Voluntary Recall AM2 PAT, Inc. Issues Nationwide Recall of Pre-Filled Heparin Lock Flush Solution USP (5 mL in 12 mL Syringes) December 19, 2007 Royal Seafood Baza Inc. Recalls Dried Roach (Fish) Due to Possible Health Risk Top Line Specialty Produce Recalls "Green Paradise" Basil Because of Possible Health Risk

MIDDLE-CLASS IN INDIA GET HEALTH CARE!!!

Amazing. Why can't this happen in the USA?

Medicine is changing around the world as incomes and expectations rise, reports NPR. And big-name American institutions are out there at the forefront of change.

Take the Cleveland Clinic, one of the top brand names in American medicine. All things considered reports it has partnered with the government of Abu Dhabi to build a deluxe new teaching hospital on the Persian Gulf at the Arabian government's expense.

"The Cleveland Clinic/Abu Dhabi will contain our cultural DNA," Cleveland Clinic chief executive Toby Cosgrove declared last year when he announced the venture. "It will bear our name, our imprimatur of medical excellence."

Practically all the big names in U.S. medicine are out there propagating their institutional DNA. In Dubai, Singapore, Thailand, Turkey and China, you'll see names like Johns Hopkins, Mayo, Duke and Cornell.

Drive down Bannerghatta Road in Bangalore the heart of India's Silicon Valley and you'll see the phenomenon writ large.

Among the glass towers bearing names such as Samsung, Motorola and Global Edge are new hospitals affiliated with Baltimore's Johns Hopkins and Tufts University Medical School in Boston.

Harvard in India

Down the street looms the new, granite-clad facade of the Wockhardt Hospital part of a fast-growing chain of for-profit hospitals.

Underneath the Wockhardt name, in letters just as big, it says "Harvard Medical International."

Vishal Bali, CEO of the Wockhardt Hospitals Group, says his company far from the largest Indian hospital chain, but with big ambitions formed an alliance with Harvard because "we felt what we needed was a partner who would hand-hold us into getting the best practices from the American heath care system."

The chief hand-holder is 8,000 miles away in Boston. Dr. Robert Crone, president and CEO of Harvard Medical International, says he wants to lift medical care around the world to Harvard's standards.

"We don't think twice about the fact that, no matter where a 747 made in the United States flies, anywhere in the world, the standards are the same," Crone says. "Why doesn't that happen in medicine? Well, it's beginning to happen. It's going to take another decade or more. But we have to stop thinking so provincially about health care."

CHILD HEALTH CARE--- HOW CAN WE NOT AFFORD IT??

The Democratic-led Congress on Wednesday officially waved the white flag of surrender on its top domestic issue: the State Children's Health Insurance Program, or SCHIP.

Eleven months and two presidential vetoes after vowing to expand its reach, the House instead passed and sent to President Bush a bill that will essentially continue the program in its current form until 2009.

Democrats had little choice in the matter, reports NPR. With Christmas fast approaching, they were in a fix. They had two health funding emergencies. First, temporary funding for SCHIP whose authorization technically expired Oct. 1 was about to run out once again. Second, on Jan. 1, a 10 percent cut in pay to doctors under Medicare was set to take effect something Democrats, Republicans and the Bush administration agree shouldn't be allowed to happen.

But President Bush and Republicans had nixed most of the ways Democrats wanted to pay for either the Medicare changes or the SCHIP expansion. That basically gave Republicans the upper hand, and left the majority Democrats with little more to do than fume.

Waist Circumference as Health Index

According to the National Heart, Lung & Blood Institute, waist circumference is a good indicator of abdominal fat, which is another predictor of your risk for developing hypertension, cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes and other conditions.

Determine your waist circumference by placing a measuring tape snugly around your waist.

Disease risk increases with a waist measurement greater than 40 inches (102 centimeters) in men and greater than 35 inches (88 centimeters) in women.

The risk is considered high to extremely high for people with excessive waist circumference, particularly when their B.M.I. is in the overweight or obese range.

A new study on Vitamin D comes from researchers in sun-drenched California.

This landmark research sheds light on how Vitamin D may help promote brain health.

Once Vitamin D is converted in the body to its active form, calcitriol, it binds to receptors in the brain.

Study: Monthly fasting may help keep heart clean

"He doesn't have a full natural stride but, yeah, he's walking," a person close to the family told The Associated Press on Friday.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of Everett's status.

The person said Everett has been walking under his own power since his release from Memorial Hermann/TIRR three weeks ago and is now an outpatient there.

The person added Everett is picked up at his Houston-area home by car to attend daily rehab sessions and is able to walk to and from the facility.

"He's not driving or anything like that, but he is walking. He's not running. He is walking," the person said.

Doctors initially feared he'd never walk again after what was described as a life-threatening injury.

Hurt while making a tackle in the Sept. 9 season opener against Denver, Everett was paralyzed from the neck down.

At Buffalo's Millard Fillmore Gates Hospital, hespent the first few days on life support.

DidEverett recover because he was in such amazing physical condition as a pro player?

Let's never forget what possible benefits there are in maintaining our best possible health!

Music Sharpens our Intellect, while Enriching our Emotions...

Music engages the brain over a period of time, and the process of listening to music could be a way that the brain sharpens its ability--- to anticipate events and sustain attention.

According to researchers, their findings expand on previous functional brain imaging studies of anticipation, which is at the heart of the musical experience.

"The study suggests one possible adaptive evolutionary purpose of music," said Jonathan Berger, PhD, professor of music and a musician who is another co-author of the study.

Typically in music, when something will come next is known, because of the music's underlying pulse or rhythm, but what will occur next is less known, they said.

Having a mismatch between what listeners expect to hear vs. what they actually hear - for example, if an unrelated chord follows an ongoing harmony - triggers similar ventral regions of the brain.

Once activated, that region partitions the deviant chord as a different segment with distinct boundaries.

The results of the study "may put us closer to solving the cocktail party problem - how it is that we are able to follow one conversation in a crowded room of many conversations," said one of the co-authors.

Daniel Levitin, PhD, associate professor of psychology and music from McGill University, has written a popular book called This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession.

Even non-musicians are actively engaged, at least subconsciously, in tracking the ongoing development of a musical piece, and forming predictions about what will come next.

Medication Errors said to Harm 1.5 Million a Year!!!

An expert panel says many of the deadly mistakes are preventable.

When Congress added drug coverage to Medicare, it asked the National Institute of Medicine to look at medication errors, reports Knox of NPR.

Its report says such mistakes are common. Panel member Jim Conway, a patient safety expert at Harvard, says American hospital patients have a high risk of suffering a medication mishap.

"If you are hospitalized, you can expect to have at least one medication error a day," Conway says. "It could be the wrong drug. It could be the wrong dose. It could be the wrong time. It could be the wrong patient."

Many mistakes could be prevented by computerizing the prescribing process. The panel calls on hospitals to install such systems by 2010.

The report said errors cost at least 3.5 billion dollars a year. But did not estimate how many people die from medication errors!

Stunning new genetic strategy gives hope against future Plagues...

A new genetic "decoy" system could revolutionize development of antibiotics to fight drug-resistant superbugs like MRSA and speed their path to market, British scientists said on Monday.

A team from the John Innes Centre, which specializes in plant and microbial science, said they had proven that by taking a short stretch of DNA from a bacterium and delivering it with an existing antibiotic they could switch off drug resistance.

"The DNA sequence acts as a decoy, disrupting gene expression and blocking resistance," Michael McArthur of the Norwich-based institute said. "We are putting genetic information directly into drugs."

12-02-07

Global Warming

Emergency--- our greatest

Health Opportunity?

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is considering public promotion of the "co-benefits" of fighting global warming and obesity-related illnesses through everyday exercise, like walking to school or work, said Dr. Howard Frumkin, director of the CDC's National Center for Environmental Health.

"A simple intervention like walking to school is a climate change intervention, an obesity intervention, a diabetes intervention, a safety intervention," Frumkin told The Associated Press. "That's the sweet spot."

Climate change is a deadly and worsening public health issue, said Frumkin and other experts.

The World Health Organization estimated that 160,000 people died in 2000 from malaria, diarrhea, malnutrition and drownings from floods problems that public health and climate scientists contend were worsened by global warming.

Officials predict that in the future those numbers will be higher.

The American Public Health Association, which will highlight the health problems of global warming in April, is seeking to connect obesity and climate change solutions, said executive director Dr. Georges Benjamin.

"This may present the greatest public health opportunity that we've had in a century," said University of Wisconsin health sciences professor Dr. Jonathan Patz, president of the International Association for Ecology and Health.

Isa disaster like Global Warmingwhat it really takes--- to force us all to shed our bad habits and work together for good health?

See how GLOBAL WARMING in your local area is affecting YOUR LIFE---

cut/paste this link for Interactive Life Map---

http://www.npr.org/news/specials/climate/interactive

Cigarettes are Devastating the lives and health of Women!

Its the largest uncontrolled epidemic of disease in the United States today, said Dr. James Crapo, a professor at the National Jewish Medical and Research Center.

The New York Times describes Jean Rommes, how her crisis came five years ago--- on a Monday morning when she had planned to go to work but wound up in the hospital, barely able to breathe.

She was 59, the president of a small company in Iowa. Although she had quit smoking a decade earlier, 30 years of cigarettes had taken their toll. After several days in the hospital, she was sent home tethered to an oxygen tank, with a raft of medicines and a warning: If I didnt do something, life was going to continue to be a pretty scary experience.

Ms. Rommes has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or C.O.P.D., a progressive illness that permanently damages the lungs and is usually caused by smoking. Once thought of as an old mans disease, this disorder has become a major killer in women as well, the consequence of a smoking boom in the 1950s, 60s and 70s. The death rate in women nearly tripled from 1980 to 2000, and since 2000, more women than men have died or been hospitalized every year because of the disease.

Women started smoking in what I call the Virginia Slims era, when they started sponsoring sporting events, said Dr. Barry J. Make, a lung specialist at National Jewish Medical and Research Center in Denver. Its now just catching up to them.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease actually comprises two illnesses: one, emphysema, destroys air sacs deep in the lungs; the other, chronic bronchitis, causes inflammation, congestion and scarring in the airways. The disease kills 120,000 Americans a year, is the fourth leading cause of death and is expected to be third by 2020. About 12 million Americans are known to have it, including many who have long since quit smoking, and studies suggest that 12 million more cases have not been diagnosed. Half the patients are under 65.

The disease has left some 900,000 working-age people too sick to work and costs $42 billion a year in medical bills and lost productivity.

Andthe greatest irony of this collosal tragedy is that the death sentence of

Smoking is VOLUNTARY!