| Energy or hype?
The market is flooded with soccer moms and yuppies purchasing an assortment of energy/nutrition bars -- originally designed for endurance athletes and available only in specialty stores. For people in the know, the word energy really has a double meaning. When most of us see the word "energy" on the label of a bar (also called sports or nutrition bars), we assume that after one bite, we'll be dancing on the ceiling (a la Lionel Richie). To dietitians, marketers and literal-minded regulators, it also means -- calories. Meaning, any food that contains calories will give you energy, a loophole that was too irresistible for high-priced ad agencies. .
Thermography offers an exam option
When accepted medical procedures seem to be lacking, some people search for another way. That is the case with nurse practitioner Carolyn Walker and pharmacist Sue Horton, who own Thermography of Iowa in Urbandale.
Thermography is a computerized infrared imaging they say is a tool for screening breast health. It can be used as a supplement to mammography and it can detect abnormalities in the breast even earlier than mammograms, Walker and Horton say.
The procedure measures heat from the surface of the breast and reveals areas where quickly dividing cells, typical of those that become cancer, might be at work. The rapidly multiplying cells need additional blood flow, and the increased blood vessel activity shows up as a hot spot on the digital infrared image.
Thermography works by measuring body heat, shown by various colors on the digital image.
Clinics far more than last resort
Griselda Ruiz is like thousands of seasonal cannery workers in Stanislaus County. She has employer-provided health insurance when she is sorting vegetables from late August to October, then hopes she doesn't get sick the rest of the year. The Modesto woman was stricken with diabetes when pregnant with one of her two children, and as often happens with gestational diabetes, the disease came back. As her diabetes escalated this past year, Ruiz bought medicine during two trips to Mexico. She sought help at the Golden Valley Health Center on Sixth Street in Modesto last summer after the pills ran out. At the clinic, a test showed her blood sugar was five times above normal and put her at risk of a stroke or going into a diabetic coma. Ruiz, 52, told Marlene Perez, the clinic's health educator, that she hadn't come in sooner because she was unaware of the nonprofit clinic's sliding fee scale.
Smoking bans spreading in North County - Encinitas, Carlsbad are latest to investigate ordinances
NORTH COUNTY - At its beaches and parks, North County is becoming a tough place to be a smoker.Municipal smoking bans are accumulating like butts in an ashtray and now exist in half a dozen cities in the region from Del Mar to Oceanside to Poway. On the vanguard of such bans was little Solana Beach, a town that made national headlines in 2003 as the first city in the country to outlaw smoking on its shoreline. City leaders cited the dangers of secondhand smoke and the number of butts left strewn across the sand as reasons for the ordinance.Last week, the Encinitas City Council moved toward enacting a similar beach ban, and the Carlsbad City Council told its staff to return with information about smoking policies in other cities.The spread of such no-smoking laws has encountered little opposition in North County, but groups have formed elsewhere to trumpet smokers' rights.A leader of one such group said Friday that municipal governments were taking their anti-smoking crusade too far."It's not the cities' or the state's job to legislate how we live our lives," said Robert Best, who lives in Ventura and is the California representative for a group called The Freedom Alliance."We're not banning food on parks and beaches because of a littering problem," he said.
Stressed students have somewhere to turn
Everyone knows that all-too-familiar feeling: deadlines are creeping up, work is piling up and students are cracking up.
Stress is one of the leading factors affecting the work of many Washington University students, according to Melissa Ruwitch, assistant director of Health Promotion Services.
Fortunately, the University offers plenty of resources on campus to help students cope.
For instance, Ginny Fendell, Mental Health Promotion associate, was hired to work specifically with students to improve their time- and stress-management skills.
Ruwitch urged students to take advantage of the resources available to them.
"It doesn't have to be that critical moment when everything falls apart," she explained. "Be proactive."
Fendell agreed with Rutwich.
Charles Brandes Buys Countrywide Financial Corp., Washington Mutual Inc., CIT Group Inc., Sells Fleetwood Enterprises ...
How did Charles Brandes become billionaire? By buying undervalued stocks in out of favor industries. As homebuilders and financials are trashed on Wall Street, Charles Brandes seems to love all of them, including Washington Mutual, Countrywide. These are the details. Charles Brandes buys Countrywide Financial Corp., Washington Mutual Inc., CIT Group Inc., Argonaut Group Inc., Braskem S.A., Pulte Homes Inc., CIBA Specialty Chemicals Holdi, Centex Corp., Lennar Corp., Brunswick Corp., The Timberland Company, D.R. Horton Inc., Toll Brothers Inc., SAIA, INC., Valassis Communications Inc., Cott Corp., Circuit City Stores Inc., KB Home, Meritage Homes Corp., Standard Pacific Corp., Molson Coors Brewing Company, Hovnanian Enterprises Inc., Beazer Homes USA Inc., Chesapeake Corp., The Ryland Group Inc., Tele Norte Celular Participaes S.A., Biovail Corp., sells Fleetwood Enterprises Inc., International Business Machines Corp, Stoneridge Inc., Telus Corp., Triad Hospitals Inc., El Paso Corp., Idearc Inc., Philippine Long Distance Telephone Compa, Tyco International Ltd., InterVoice Inc., Tenet Healthcare Corp., Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd., Dorel Industries, Inc.
Edison students required to return to school
HAMMONDSVILLE � Superintendent Lisa Carmichael stated it will take an �act of God,� a death in the family or a personal illness to excuse the absence of any student in the Edison Local School District beginning Monday.
The announcement came in the form of a letter written by Carmichael, who told parents that despite the ongoing strike by members of the Edison Local Education Association, �operations have returned to normal and we are now requiring, effective Monday, that all absences by students be for excused reasons only.�
Carmichael said today the reason the letter was sent out was because she has been �mandated by the state� to have the district�s students go back to school. She noted the Ohio Department of Education was made aware of the low attendance rate of the district since the 140 members of the ELEA, who have been working without a contract since June 14, began their 10-day strike on Nov.
Volunteers Needed
Hospice Volunteers Needed Hospice Care of America will have a training session for new volunteers 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Dec. 1, at the Technical College of the Low Country, Beaufort campus. Volunteers are needed for direct patient visits, family/community outreach, yard work and errands. Call 843-322-0063. Senior Citizens Inc. Is looking for volunteers for its Senior Angel Program. Pick a project and volunteer time to help a senior citizen. Opportunities include Meals on Wheels, yard work, administrative/clerical tasks, arts and craft projects, teaching a class for Club 55 and more. Call 236-0363 or e-mail volunteer@seniorcitizens-inc.org. Georgia Animal Rescue and Defence Is seeking donations for the shelter.
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