I got this information from the guys at reference.com:
What are you eating?
My daughter tried to “pretty” our house and proclaim her dominance by writing her name on the front porch with permanent marker. She used the black marker to write a long version of her name. My porch is made from concrete and I tired everything I could think of it get the writing off. I used a toothbrush with bleach, Mr. Clean eraser, soap, tile scrub. Nothing worked. So I took the children (who were all using various markers for there projects) to the local grocery store and bought myself a two liter Coke Classic. This was their punishment. Nobody likes to go to the store with mad Dad because I made sure I walked right past the free cookies with out a chance to get one. When I got home, the writing was still there. I pored the soda on the words and scrubbed with a toothbrush. Within fifteen minutes the writing had faded considerably. I left what was left and by the next morning it was gone. Okay, I proved my point to the children. First don’t write on my porch. Second, Coke is a great cleaning agent. Why would you drink it? So that leads me to my next concern: Coke to develop drinks based on Chinese herbsBy Robert Daniel, MarketWatchLast Update:
The fact of the mater is, cutting down the rain forest will not help as much with out ozone as much as everyone thinks it will. But this is one HUGE reason I support stopping de-forestation of the rain forests.
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My response to the story that follows is simple; don’t give it to the children in the first place. It is not the parents fault. Sure, there will be some parents who do not follow instructions, but this is not about the parents. Drug dealers (like those who deal theses) are mostly to blame. They lead those who have not been educated to believe that all people, small and big, can benefit from these drugs. It is an interesting couple of quotes that show up at the end of the article. Why didn’t they put them first? Enjoy the article and, let’s stop poisoning our children.
20 minutes ago
WASHINGTON – Drug makers on Thursday voluntarily pulled children’s cold medicines off the market less than two weeks after the government warned of potential health risks to infants.
Over-the-counter medications aimed at children under the age of two are being removed from store shelves because of rare instances of parents accidentally overdosing young children, a trade group that represents over-the-counter drug makers said. The group said parents should not use any medicines they have at home.
The Consumer Healthcare Products Association said last month it agreed with government officials that use of the drugs should be restricted, but had previously stopped short of pulling the products from the market.
Cold medicines being withdrawn include: Johnson & Johnson Pediacare Infant Drops and Tylenol Concentrated Infants Drops, Wyeth’s Dimetapp Decongestant Infant Drops, Novartis’ Triaminic Infant & Toddler Thin Strips and Prestige Brands Holdings’ Little Colds Decongestant Plus Cough.
CVS Caremark Corp. said Thursday morning it would remove the affected products as well as CVS-brand equivalents from store shelves. The pharmacy chain said customers can return the products for a full refund.
Late last month the Food and Drug Administration tentatively recommended adding the words “do not use in children under two years” to products’ labeling. Current labeling directs parents to consult a doctor before administering the drugs to infants and toddlers.
The medicines come in tiny, droplet-size doses, but parents occassionally do not consult or follow directions from physicians, which can lead to accidental overdose.
FDA will formally consider revising labeling at a meeting scheduled for Oct. 18-19.
After reviewing reports of side effects over the last four decades, FDA found 54 child fatalities from over-the-counter decongestant medicines. The agency found 69 reports of children’s deaths connected with antihistamines, which are used to treat runny noses.
The Consumer Healthcare Products Association said it will conduct a multiyear campaign to educate parents and physicians on safe use of cold medicines. A spokeswoman for the group said it was too early to rule out a return of the products to the market.
“The manufacturers made this decision after a lot of consideration and with great care for the best interests of parents and children,” said CHPA spokeswoman Virginia Cox. “But we can’t speak to what the future holds.”
The trade group stressed in a statement that the “medicines are, and have always been, safe at recommended doses.”
However, industry critics challenged this statement.
“When it comes to children under age two there are no recommended doses on these products so it’s not reasonable to claim they are safe and effective when used as directed,” said Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, Baltimore’s health commissioner.
FDA is reviewing the safety of cold medicines at the request Sharfstein and other Baltimore city officials, who reported 900 Maryland children under four overdosed on the products in 2004.
Catherine Tom-Revzon, a pediatric pharmacist, said parents should use natural therapies, including salt-water drops and humidifiers, to treat young children’s colds before using drugs.
“These medications were never designed to cure colds but only to treat cold symptoms, and in children under two there was little evidence they were effective anyway,” said Tom-Revzon, who is pharmacy manager at the Children’s Hospital at Mentefiore in New York City.
Shares of Johnson and Johnson rose 28 cents to $66.012 while shares of Wyeth fell 12 cents to $46.02. Shares of Novartis AG rose 11 cents to $54.20 and Prestige Brands Holdings Inc. fell 7 cents to $11.09.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
I am reposting this news story. It is an exciting day for those up there.
Juneau says no to fluoride: Proposition fails 61 to 37 percent
Brian Wallace / Juneau Empire
Juneau’s voters delivered a resounding “no” to fluoridating the city’s water supplies on Tuesday, putting an end, for now, to one of the most hotly contested and expensive ballot initiatives in the city’s history.
BALLOT MEASURES
Water fluoridation
YES: 2,926
NO: 4,769
Vote totals are unofficial results as of press time.
“There’s a lot of smart people in Juneau and they understood the issue very well and it was reflected in the result at the polls,” said David Ottoson, owner of Rainbow Foods and member of the anti-fluoridation group Juneau Citizens for Safe Water.
Karen Lawfer, spokeswoman for the pro-fluoridation group Citizens Promoting Dental Health, said she was disappointed and that there was a “fear factor” at the polls Tuesday.
“A lot of people, oftentimes, they vote with fear, and I can understand that,” Lawfer said. “We won’t see the fallout of this for another couple of years when people see the decline in dental health.”
Ottoson said there are better ways to deliver fluoride to those who aren’t getting it.
“Everybody wants our kids to have healthy teeth, and there’s other ways to do that besides putting it in the water,” Ottoson said.
As for the American Dental Association, which funded most of the pro-fluoridation’s $151,000 campaign, Ottoson said he hopes the group will continue its involvement in this community past this election.
“We’d like to see them participating in some of these other solutions. That (money) could have bought a lot of fluoride varnishes, and fluoridated toothpaste for people who can’t afford it,” Ottoson said.
Dr. Emily Kane said she hopes the community “can work together to repair the rift” caused by this election.
“Our common interest in improved dental hygiene supersedes our differences in approach,” Kane said.
Kane practices naturopathic medicine and is starting a task force to reinstate a program that will provide fluoride varnishes for kids. She also said that SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium is now able to provide complete dental care to any child who does not qualify for Medicare because of a new grant.
Fluoride was taken out of the city’s water supply last year after the Juneau Assembly voted against it. They acted on the recommendations of a city commission that studied the issue for two years.
Mayor Bruce Botelho said he expects to see the issue of providing more dental care through the schools to come before the Juneau Assembly in the next few weeks.
I just got this from the Boulder Running Company newsletter. If you want to subscribe: click here:
| Pre- and Post-Race Massage |
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– Dr. Ken Sheridan A lot of athletes ask my opinion on pre and post race massage. I feel that, generally speaking, if you have the opportunity to lie on a table and have someone rub you down for an hour, TAKE IT! But seriously, if you’re wondering about the benefits or drawbacks of massage, here they are in a nutshell. Personally, I think it is beneficial enough to have several massage therapists in our clinic. Benefits:
Massage techniques range from light, relaxing massage (Swedish massage) to very deep (Neuromuscular/Transverse Friction) massage. Swedish massage is a lighter technique which is good for recovery following a prolonged effort like a marathon. It will increase lymphatic flow and circulation to help clear lactic acid buildup from the system. Cross friction massage lies at the other end of the spectrum and employs a deep rubbing across the muscle and tendon fibers. This actually creates localized intentional bleeding. Muscle fibers are well perfused with blood vessels, while tendons are not, and everything in the body heals according to its blood supply. A greater blood supply brings in more nutrients for quicker healing in the muscle and scar formation in the tendon. Bringing more blood to the tendon, while initially more painful, will yield a stronger, more flexible scar in a shorter period of time. Performing cross friction massage on an acute injury will create more inflammation and disrupt more muscle fibers, slowing overall healing time. The benefits of massage greatly outweigh the drawbacks, which are essentially related to the wrong touch. No, I didn’t mean that way, I meant a massage that is deeper than appropriate for the tissue status can do more harm than good. Acute tissues, such as ones that were recently injured or are simply trying to recover from several hard training sessions, will have microscopic tears within the muscle. Massaging these tissues too deeply can create more damage, delaying recovery, while a light massage technique can increase relaxation of the irritated tissues. An experienced massage therapist will base the appropriateness of the technique used and the depth to which it is used based upon the client’s history, reason for massage, and tissue feel. In general, my advice is that up to two weeks before a marathon, deep tissue massage can be used to reduce adhesions and lengthen scar tissue, provided it’s not immediately after your 20-21 mile benchmark runs. This is particularly effective for IT Band syndrome, plantar fascitis and shin splints. Within 10-14 days of your marathon, massage should be lighter and allow enough time for complete recovery before race day. Many people will schedule a massage for the day after their race to decrease their discomfort. I usually recommend a very light spin of 20-25 minutes on a stationary bike (low resistance, no hills) followed by stretching the day after race day or long benchmark run. This takes the joints through a full range of motion and gently works blood back into (and metabolic waste out of) the muscles. Scheduling a massage 4-7 days after your marathon will give some of the inflammation time to subside and allow the massage therapist to work deeper into the muscle for maximum benefit. Good luck out there! Dr. Ken Sheridan is a certified chiropractic sports physician, and specializes in strength and conditioning training. He has extensive experience working with athletes of all abilities, and is a runner himself. He practices at ActiveCare Chiropractic & Rehab in Golden. Visit the web site for more information, or call (303) 279-0320. To submit your questions to Dr. Ken to help determine upcoming article topics, click here. |
Does this article scare you? Should it? If you compaire louis Pasteur against Pierre Jaques Anotoine Béchamp, does it change your mind about the germ theory? Now are you scared about this?
U.S. Labs Mishandling Deadly Germs
5 hours agoUPDATED 4 HOURS 56 MINUTES AGO
ILC Dover technician William Ayrey is seen in …
WASHINGTON – American laboratories handling the world’s deadliest germs and toxins have experienced more than 100 accidents and missing shipments since 2003, and the number is increasing steadily as more labs across the country are approved to do the work.
No one died, and regulators said the public was never at risk during these incidents. But the documented cases reflect poorly on procedures and oversight at high-security labs, some of which work with organisms and poisons so dangerous that illnesses they cause have no cure. In some cases, labs have failed to report accidents as required by law.
The mishaps include workers bitten or scratched by infected animals, skin cuts, needle sticks and more, according to a review by The Associated Press of confidential reports submitted to federal regulators. They describe accidents involving anthrax, bird flu virus, monkeypox and plague-causing bacteria at 44 labs in 24 states. More than two-dozen incidents were still under investigation.
The number of accidents has risen steadily. Through August, the most recent period covered in the reports obtained by the AP, labs reported 36 accidents and lost shipments during 2007 _ nearly double the number reported during all of 2004.
Research labs have worked for years to find cures and treatments for diseases. However, the expansion of the lab network has been dramatic since President Bush announced an upgrade of the nation’s bio-warfare defense program five years ago. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which funds much of the lab research and construction, was spending spent about $41 million on bio-defense labs in 2001. By last year, the spending had risen to $1.6 billion.
The number of labs approved by the government to handle the deadliest substances has nearly doubled to 409 since 2004. Labs are routinely inspected by federal regulators just once every three years, but accidents trigger interim inspections.
“It may be only a matter of time before our nation has a public health incident with potentially catastrophic results,” said Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the House Energy and Commerce investigations subcommittee. Stupak’s panel has been investigating the lab incidents and will conduct a hearing Thursday.
Lab accidents have affected the outside world: Britain’s health and safety agency concluded there was a “strong probability” a leaking pipe at a British lab manufacturing vaccines for foot-and-mouth disease was the source of an outbreak of the illness in livestock earlier this year. Britain was forced to suspend exports of livestock, meat and milk products and destroy livestock. The disease does not infect humans.
Accidents aren’t the only concern. While medical experts consider it unlikely that a lab employee will become sick and infect others, these labs have strict rules to prevent anyone from stealing organisms or toxins and using them for bioterrorism.
The reports were so sensitive the Bush administration refused to release them under the Freedom of Information Act, citing an anti-bioterrorism law aimed at preventing terrorists from locating stockpiles of poisons and learning who handles them.
Among the previously undisclosed accidents:
_In Rockville, Md., ferret No. 992, inoculated with bird flu virus, bit a technician at Bioqual Inc. on the right thumb in July. The worker was placed on home quarantine for five days and directed to wear a mask to protect others.
_An Oklahoma State University lab in Stillwater in December could not account for a dead mouse inoculated with bacteria that causes joint pain, weakness, lymph node swelling and pneumonia. The rodent _ one of 30 to be incinerated _ was never found, but the lab said an employee “must have forgotten to remove the dead mouse from the cage” before the cage was sterilized.
_In Albuquerque, N.M., an employee at the Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute was bitten on the left hand by an infected monkey in September 2006. The animal was ill from an infection of bacteria that causes plague. “When the gloves were removed, the skin appeared to be broken in 2 or 3 places,” the report said. The worker was referred to a doctor, but nothing more was disclosed.
_In Fort Collins, Colo., a worker at a federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention facility found, in January 2004, three broken vials of Russian spring-summer encephalitis virus. Wearing only a laboratory coat and gloves, he used tweezers to remove broken glass and moved the materials to a special container. The virus, a potential bio-warfare agent, could cause brain inflammation and is supposed to be handled in a lab requiring pressure suits that resemble space suits. The report did not say whether the worker became ill.
Other reports describe leaks of contaminated waste, dropped containers with cultures of bacteria and viruses, and defective seals on airtight containers. Some recount missing or lost shipments, including plague bacteria that was supposed to be delivered to the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology in 2003. The wayward shipment was discovered eventually in Belgium and incinerated safely.
The reports must be submitted to regulators whenever a lab suffers a theft, loss or release of any of 72 substances known as “select agents” _ a government list of germs and toxins that represent the horror stories of the world’s worst medical tragedies for humans and animals.
A senior CDC official, Dr. Richard Besser, said his agency is committed to ensuring that U.S. labs are safe and that all such incidents are disclosed to the government. He said he was unaware of any risk to the public resulting from infections among workers at the high-security labs, but he acknowledged that regulators are worried about accidents that could go unreported.
“If you’re asking if it’s possible for someone to not report an infection, and have it missed, that clearly is a concern that we have,” Besser said.
Texas A&M’s laboratory failed to report, until this year, one case of a lab worker’s infection from Brucella bacteria last year and three others’ previous infection with Q fever _ missteps documented in news reports earlier this year. The illnesses are characterized by high fevers and flu-like symptoms that sometimes cause more serious complications.
“The major problems at Texas A&M went undetected and unreported, and we don’t think that it was an isolated event,” critic Edward Hammond said. He runs the Sunshine Project, which has tracked incidents at other labs for years and first revealed the Texas A&M illnesses that the school failed to report.
Rules for working in the labs are tough and are getting more restrictive as the bio-safety levels rise. The highest is Level 4, where labs study substances that pose a “high risk of life-threatening disease for which no vaccine or therapy is available.” Besides wearing wear full-body, air-supplied suits, workers undergo extensive background checks and carry special identification cards.
“The risk that a killer agent could be set loose in the general population is real,” Hammond said.
In other lab accidents recounted in the reports, the Public Health Research Institute in Newark, N.J., was investigated by the FBI in 2005 when it couldn’t account for three of 24 mice infected with plague bacteria. The lab and the CDC concluded the mice were cannibalized by other plague-infested mice or buried under bedding when the cage was sterilized with high temperatures.
The lab’s director, Dr. David Perlin, told the AP it would be impossible for mice to escape from the building and said a worker failed to record their deaths.
“I feel 99 percent comfortable that was the case,” Perlin said. “The animals become badly cannibalized. You only see bits and pieces. They’re in cages with shredded newspaper. You really have to search hard with gloves and masks.”
A worker at the Army’s biological facility in Fort Detrick, Md., was grazed by a needle in February 2004 and exposed to the deadly Ebola virus after a mouse kicked a syringe. She was placed in an isolation ward called “The Slammer,” but the Army said she did not become ill.
In other previously undisclosed accidents:
In Decatur, Ga., a worker at the Georgia Public Health Laboratory handled a Brucella culture in April 2004 without high-level precautions. She became feverish months later and tested positive for exposure at a hospital emergency room in July. She eventually returned to work. The lab’s confidential report defended her: “The technologist is a good laboratorian and has good technique.”
In April this year at the Loveless facility in Albuquerque, an African green monkey infected intentionally with plague-causing bacteria reached with its free hand and scratched at a Velcro restraining strap, cutting into the gloved hand of a lab worker. The injured worker at the Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute received medical treatment, including an antibiotic.
The National Animal Disease Center in Ames, Iowa, reported leaks of contaminated waste three times in November and December 2006. While one worker was preparing a pipe for repairs, he cut his middle finger, possibly exposing him to Brucella, according to the confidential reports.
A researcher at the CDC’s lab in Fort Collins, Colo., dropped two containers on the floor last November, including one with plague bacteria.
A worker at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research-Naval Medical Research Center in Silver Spring, Md., sliced through two pair of gloves while handling a rat carcass infected with plague bacteria. The May 2005 report said she was sent to an emergency room, which released her and asked her to return for a follow-up visit.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
