http://hellomagazine.com/royalty/2007/12/21/diana-richard-kay/
12/21/07
12/19/07
A killer cold? Even the healthy may be vulnerable
By Amy Burkholder
CNN (CNN) A high school varsity athlete, a sturdy guy with a health history blissfully free of blips, 18-year-old Joseph Spencer had little reason to think anything was seriously wrong when he got sick last April. The vomiting, chills, fever -- "It must be the flu," he thought.
CNN (CNN) A high school varsity athlete, a sturdy guy with a health history blissfully free of blips, 18-year-old Joseph Spencer had little reason to think anything was seriously wrong when he got sick last April. The vomiting, chills, fever -- "It must be the flu," he thought.
Within hours, Spencer's fever was 104 degrees. Within days, he was in the intensive care unit at Providence Portland Medical Center in Oregon with full-blown pneumonia. Spencer's doctor was afraid this sturdy teenage boy was going to die.
"His lungs had filled up with water, it was hard to get oxygen into him," explains Dr. David Gilbert, an infectious disease expert and Spencer's physician at Providence. "Things got so bad, I thought we were at risk of losing him."
But as perplexing as what would make a hardy young man so sick -- so quickly -- was his diagnosis: adenovirus, the virus that usually causes nothing worse than a nasty cold.
"In the past, we considered adenovirus a 98-pound weakling," says Dr. Dean Erdman, leader of the respiratory diagnostic program at the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta. "But adenovirus is causing severe disease and, in some cases, death in normal, healthy people."
At least 1,035 people in Oregon and a handful of other states have been infected by adenovirus so far this year. One of the largest outbreaks was at an Air Force base in Texas. 
Watch Dr. Sanjay Gupta explain the killer cold virus »
But by far the deadliest outbreak is in Oregon, where seven patients have died.
"Fortunately, Joe survived," says Gilbert. "Twenty percent of our patients did not survive this severe infection."
The bug causing the serious disease is called "adenovirus 14," one of the 51-odd strains of adenovirus that typically cause anything from colds to conjunctivitis and gastroenteritis. While adenovirus isn't a new bug on the block -- it was first identified in 1955 -- researchers believe it has mutated into a more virulent form, first identified in 2005.
"We were very surprised when we ran into this much more aggressive form of adenovirus, which took otherwise healthy people and put them into our intensive care unit with life-threatening pneumonia," says Gilbert.
It is important for doctors to think of adenovirus when confronted with an ill patient -- recognizing early symptoms before they become life-threatening. Infectious disease experts say shortness of breath, cough and fever are all symptoms you should not ignore.
But how big a threat is adenovirus 14 really?
Adenoviruses are ubiquitous, scrappy bugs -- they exist on everything from pens to countertops to inside our noses. They are spread through contact with a surface, or through the air we breathe. Most people won't suffer life-threatening illness if exposed to adenovirus 14, and that strain of the virus is still pretty rare, but since few people have antibodies to it, there's opportunity for a new virus to spread rapidly throughout the population.
"Adenoviruses kill people," says Gilbert, adding that when these infectious viruses do spread, they spread fast.
"We are asking physicians is to be alert, not to panic -- but be alert," says the CDC's Erdman, who stresses that influenza remains a much larger public health concern, killing and causing far more serious illness annually than adenovirus.
Experts stress that one of the most important things for doctors to recognize is whether a patient has an acute respiratory illness. It could be adenovirus, something they may not connect to severely ill patients.
As far as treatments for adenovirus 14, there aren't any -- doctors focus on managing symptoms -- but researchers are trying to determine if any antiviral drugs could be effective.
The CDC stresses that while a flu shot is a good idea and you should get one, it won't protect you against adenovirus 14. But common sense will: keeping household surfaces clean with a good virus-buster like bleach, avoiding and covering up coughs and sneezes, and of course, hand washing.
Spencer is taking life a little slower these days. He still has gaps in his memory, probably due to oxygen loss. He's made lifestyle changes, including popping vitamins as religiously as he now washes his hands: He keeps bottles of hand sanitizer in his car and on his nightstand.
Most of all, he wants people to know that adenovirus is out there, and what it can do.
"I never thought this would happen to me. You'd think it only happens to unhealthy people," he says, pausing to find the words to finish his sentence. "I always thought of myself as a healthy guy until this happened."People need to be aware there's a killer out there."
12/17/07
China's economic muscle 'shrinks'
China's economy, the world's second largest, is not as big as was thought, a report by the World Bank has claimed.
According to the bank, previous calculations have overestimated the size of China's economy by about 40%.
The revelation came after the bank updated the way it calculated the country's gross domestic product (GDP).
The bank said the findings meant China would not become the world's biggest economy in 2012 as forecast. It also meant China was poorer than estimated.
This in turn would influence future aid and investment plans, the World Bank said.
China gains extra aid from international institutions and has asked for help in climate change talks because of its status as a developing country.
Read more...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7148695.stm
12/13/07
The Truth About Steak--From Meat to Muscle
Blog Name: Basil & Spice Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Jeff Volek, Ph.D., R.D. is an exercise and nutrition researcher at the University of Connecticut. A regular contributor to Men's Health and coauthor with Adam Campbell of The Testosterone Advantage Plan and The TNT Diet, says, "You are what your body does with what you eat." My husband like most men, enjoys grilling a steak, but has cut back on it recently because his cholesterol is a little high. In the TNT Diet, Volek tells the truth about the sirloin steak. Beef like other animal meats has a similar composition. Think of the dark meat and skin of the turkey or the ham and bacon from pork.
Fatty Acid Content of Sirloin Steak:
Monounsaturated Fat: 49%: Oleci Acid: 45% {+}; Palmitic Acid: 4% {+}
Saturated Fat: 47%; Palmitic Acid: 27% {+}; Stearic Acid: 16% {0}; Myristic Acid: 3% {-}; Lauric Acid: 1% {+}
Polyunsaturated Fat: 4%; Linoleic Acid: 4% {+}
Key + = positive effect on cholesterol
- = negative effect on cholesterol
0 = no effect on cholesterol
Steak first enters the digestive system at the mouth, over the lips and through the gums...Our types of teeth are made to chew it well. Saliva aids the process. From the mouth it slides down the esophagus and lands in the stomach. Enzymes break the steak into amino acid strands, liquidizes, and becomes chyme. Passing into the small intestines, more enzymes continue to break the amino acid strands into single and double amino acids. Absorption of the smaller amino acids occurs when they have been transported to the cells that line the wall of the intestines, reaching the bloodstream. From there, they are delivered directly to the muscles through capillaries, aiding damaged muscle tissue.
Volek believes it is important to eat some protein before exercising.
Volek elaborates that fat shows up on the body not just through dietary intake, but also through the manufacturing process within the body. Insulin levels within rise after eating carbohydrates, sending signals to the body to quit burning and begin storing fat. Another function of insulin is to activate the liver in its production of saturated fat. More carbs then equal more saturated fat production.
Other key facts regarding fat from Jeff Volek:
Triglyceride levels are lowered and HDL (good cholesterol) increases after replacing carbs with any type of fat.
Dairy products, containing the saturated fat from palmitic and stearic acids, have higher saturated fat content than beef, pork, or poultry.
Lower-carb type diets allow for lower insulin levels, a decreased production of saturated fatty acids, and encourage the body to burn more fat for energy. Follow a healthy diet, exercise, and go ahead and eat that sirloin steak!
Source:
Fox News
12/11/07
12/6/07
There's nothing to apologize for, eh!
McCARTNEY APOLOGISES FOR SONG ABOUT 'JAPANESE LUNATIC'
| SIR Paul McCartney has revealed that the mysterious final track on Abbey Road was actually a cryptic reference to Yoko Ono.
 Make peace not underpants McCartney said: "I wanna apologise to Yoko. I admit I was angry at the time, but I think what I was really trying to say with that song was 'he's my best friend and you're ruining the greatest thing in the history of music you spoilt, pretentious bag of piss'." McCartney's admission finally sheds light on the enigmatic lyrics including: "Japanese psycho, shits in her hat in the church where a wedding has been. Looks like a bream." And Beatles fans can now find new meaning in the song's closing refrain: "We're all sick of the yellow psychopath, the yellow psychopath, the yellow psychopath..." The McCartney masterpiece is just the latest pop classic to give up its coded personal message. Last year the George Harrison archives re-released the song he mysteriously dedicated to Eric Clapton, giving the late Beatle a posthumous top-ten hit with For Christ's Sake Would You Please Stop Fucking My Wife. Immoral Freaks! |
12/5/07
Bring Our Troops Back Home! War's Over...
A time to gain, a time to lose
A time to rend, a time to sew
A time to love, a time to hate
A time for peace, I swear it's not too late
Source:
A time to rend, a time to sew
A time to love, a time to hate
A time for peace, I swear it's not too late
Source:
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