Friday Favorites
Happy Friday!
I don’t know where the week went! I didn’t get as much reading done around the blogosphere - so I think I probably missed some good posts. This is what I have to share though:
Warm weather and kids
For many of us, summer is here and many kids are going swimming to cool off. Its fun but can also be dangerous. Char gives us 10 Tips to Swimming Pool Safety in Summer Swim Safety Tips
Shannon Hutton shares some tips to effectively handle Sibling Rivalry
Relax and Look Around You
I’ve noticed that many people pass by in a hurry and don’t see the little things going on around them - butterflies laying eggs, birds flitting around - Judy reminded us this week about Finding Beauty in Strange Places. Look around, bring your camera and see what you can find.
Heart Health
Ruth had a couple good posts this week about fats and heart health: Meet the Fats and Protect Your Heart and Omega Fatty Acids Lower Levels of Oxidative and Nitrosative Stress
Work and Value
Crystal had a good post this week about “The Value of Value: Snippets On Pricing Our Services” - make sure you know what your work is worth!
A Resignation
The resignation of Susan Orr was written about quite a lot this week: (Why) Did Susan Orr Resign from Population Affairs Post? and Dr. Orr Resigns.
Interesting news bits
Intestinal bacteria promote — and prevent! — inflammatory bowel disease
Researchers from 5 countries to test hygiene hypothesis with EU funding
What’s Phoenix doing now?
Don’t forget to visit the NASA site to see what the Phoenix Mars Lander is doing. You can even follow it on Twitter: http://twitter.com/MarsPhoenix
Have a great weekend!
May 29, 2008
Overcoming Underearning: Book Review Part 4
This week I’ve read the second half of Chapter 3 of ‘Overcoming UnderEarning’ by Barbara Stanny.
This next section is titled: “The Most Important Financial Advice You’ll Ever Get”. And the answer is:
You’ve got to be willing to be uncomfortable.
Its making me nervous already … so basically, we have to change to increase our earnings - and that change will be discomforting. At first anyway.
Kind of an aside, but she mentions that she’s met women who didn’t start making lots of money until they were in their 50’s, 60’s and 70’s - that makes me feel hopeful!
Barbara ends this chapter with ‘Eight Rules for Achieving Remarkable Results’. I can’t list them all here in part because I’m too lazy and a slow typist to type it all in - also maybe she doesn’t want me giving away too much of her book for free.
But here’s the ones I thought were best - underearning can no longer be an option, keep your commitments, don’t let yourself get derailed, do what you dread.
She mentions that if you don’t do what you say you are going to, it chips away at your self-esteem. I think she has a point there. I’ve definitely let outside distractions keep me from doing some of the things I know I need to, to be successful and then I feel bad about it.
Anyone else experience this?
Time for my favorite quote from this section:
“The only thing money gives you is the freedom to not worry about money.”
– Johnny Carson
Next time - Chapter 4.
May 28, 2008
What do you think of only-children? Freak diseases or high achievers?
In a recent article in Newsweek, Kathleen Deveny discusses issues surrounding families with only one child - Why Only-Children Rule.
She says that back in 1896 psychologist G. Stanley Hall claimed that “being an only child is a disease in itself“. A disease?
But recent research by Douglas Downey (Ohio State University) shows that kids from smaller families do “better on standardized tests, earn higher grades and stay in school longer” and that “As the number of siblings increases you see a steady decline in performance for all the children in the family”.
Author and social psychologist Susan Newman wrote a book called “Parenting An Only Child: The Joys and Challenges of Raising Your One and Only“. She says that “the myths of the lonely, spoiled, bossy only child” are just that - myths.
Many people who have only one child feel guilty about it - whether it was by choice or not - and worry that their child won’t have other kids to play with, etc. or that other people will think their child is spoiled or lonely.
Of course people have many personal reasons for the number of children they have or don’t have. Regardless of the reasons - or even if the stereotypes had some truth to them - kids from all family sizes shouldn’t be assumed to be freaks or over achievers. They should be treated an individuals.
What do you think? Do you think the stereotypes of only-children are still out there? How do you think those stereotypes affect only-children?
May 27, 2008
What is the face of noma?
Mothers in Africa have one more thing to worry about in addition to all the usual things all moms are concerned with. Children between the ages 2 and 12, if malnourished, are susceptible to noma - a gangrenous disease leading to tissue destruction of the face, especially the mouth and cheek.
It starts as a sore or lesion in the mouth. If it is not treated within a few days it results in the necrosis of the tissue in the face and bone. The necrotic damage is irreversible. Only 20% of the children live though and are then left with large disfiguring holes in their faces and enough damage to prevent normal jaw movement, feeding and breathing.
If it is treated quickly with antibiotics, vitamins and disinfecting mouthwash victims of the horrible disease can be cured and live normal lives.
Like obstetric fistulas, noma was common around the world until improvements in hygiene and nutrition became possible. It is still found in poor countries in Africa and also in Asia and South America - in fact around 100,000 to 140,000 children get it each year.
Noma is yet another example of the huge disparities between the developed and developing world. On one hand we have wealthy societies with many people ingesting too much food and calories resulting in heart disease, diabetes, etc. - and then there’s the poorest of the poor who cannot get enough nutrition to save them from a disfiguring and often deadly disease like noma.
What is the face of noma? The face of noma is no more than a reflection of the disparities between the rich and the poor.
More information about noma can be found at the following web sites:
May 26, 2008
Women’s Health Weekly Review: May 18 - May 24
Fibroids
Fibroids common, but women have options: “Small fibroids located just beneath the lining of the uterus … but usually don’t cause major complications”.
Premature Ovarian Failure
Oocyte-specific gene mutations cause premature ovarian failure: “Mutations in a gene called FIGLA cause premature ovarian failure in at least a percentage of women who suffer from the disorder”. With this information and some other genes known to be involved in premature ovarian failure, it may be possible in the future to determine a woman’s risk of early infertility.
Breast Cancer
When to Start Routine Mammograms: Breast Cancer Organizations Discuss Safety and Concerns -”the debate over routine mammograms for premenopausal women in their 40s.”
Doctors can unmask deceptive high-risk breast tumors using genetic profile: “A unique genetic signature can alert physicians to high-risk breast tumors that are masquerading as low-risk tumors… Although these tumors are apparently estrogen-receptor positive … they don’t respond well to anti-estrogen therapy.”
Menopause
Global menopause summit concludes HRT is safe for healthy women entering menopause: “An international group of menopause experts has concluded that HRT in the early postmenopausal period is safe, and healthy women going through the first few years of menopause who need HRT to relieve symptoms should have no fears about its use”.
Allergies and Children
Mother’s prenatal stress predisposes their babies to asthma and allergy: “Women who are stressed during pregnancy may pass some of that frazzlement to their fetuses in the form of increased sensitivity to allergen exposure and possibly future asthma risk”.
Farm moms may help children beat allergies: “Mothers exposed to farms, particularly to barns and farm milk, while pregnant confer protection from allergies on their newborns, according to a group of German researchers”.
First-born babies’ higher asthma and allergy rates due to pregnancy conditions: “First-born children are at higher risk of developing asthma and allergy because of different conditions they experience in the uterus”.
May 23, 2008
Friday Favorites
Happy Friday!
I found lots of good stuff on the web this week - so I will try to be brief with them so I don’t overwhelm you!
What do you expect from your doctor?
JC at Brain Blogger asks “Patient Manifesto: What Do You Want, Expect and Deserve From Your Doctor?“. He/She is really asking too - “I encourage everyone to comment …”, things to consider: gender, personality, education, accessibility, management style, etc.
Liberty at Healthbolt also reminded us this week of 5 Things Women Do Wrong in the Doctor’s Office: Do You?
Creepy Stuff!
A lot of bloggers (including myself) were thoroughly creeped out by the Purity Ball covered in the New York Times Magazine:
Eeeewwwwww! Two Words that Should NEVER be in the Same Sentence: “Father” and “Virginity”
Work and Stress
JoLynn Braley tells us How To Stay Healthy & Fit While Working From Home
Still experiencing a lot of stress and tension? Tammy Lenski offers A simple meditation for tense and stressful moments
Food, food every where, but you can’t get them to eat a bite of it!
Yuck to Yum shows us how to turn vegetables and chicken into Green Martians on Flying Saucers - if that’s what it takes to get your kids to eat! More Kid friendly recipes including Swamp Monsters and Bugs in Rugs!
Health in the News
U of M study: New blood test reveals risk for metabolic syndrome
Blood test for lung cancer may be possible
Vaccine triggers immune response, prevents Alzheimer’s - just in mice so far!
Researchers find smallpox drug may also target adenovirus - 1 cause of the common cold, adenovirus also causes death in organ transplant recipients
More Health
Fact or Ficton: Obesity is Contributing to Global Warming? - Liz from Healthbolt looks at the facts.
Waking up
One day, you wake up to realize that a particularly vital assumption about the world is wrong. Everyone who buys into it is wrong. Which is almost everyone in the world. Now what?
Humor
Dr. Val tells us Why Men Don’t Write Advice Columns.
And yes, this might offend somebody - “back in the Middle Ages, sex was frowned upon. ‘Carnal relations’, even with one’s wife, were considered filthy.” There was even Penance for Sex.
Deep Stuff to think about
I haven’t had time to read these myself yet - but they are on my to do list:
“Backward Time” in Literature Finds Real-World Parallel
Does Time Run Backward in Other Universes?
My God, It’s Full Of Stars!
There’s a mountain under water near New Zealand covered with tens of millions of starfish: My God, It’s Full Of Stars!. BBC has a video!
Different Perspectives are Good
I’ll leave you for the weekend with a different perspective: an image from NASA of the Earth and Moon as seen from Mars
Have a great weekend!
May 22, 2008
Overcoming Underearning: Book Review Part 3
This week I’ve only had time to read half of Chapter 3 of ‘Overcoming UnderEarning’ by Barbara Stanny.
In the first paragraph Barbara writes “the key to upping your earnings is rarely working longer hours …” - yeah, that’s what I’m doing now. I’m working pretty much every waking hour, except on weekends.
She talks more then about how high earners ‘think’ differently which results in different choices and outcomes. And some of the inner voices that tend to hold us back like “you do not have what it takes”. (I hear that one sometimes myself. I think, I don’t know if I can do what someone like Wendy Piersall’s done.)
She goes on about how to be able to shift your thinking you need to do both Inner Work and Outer Work. Inner Work has a lot to do with self esteem and included in the book is a ‘Self-Esteem Inventory’. I can’t write all of it out here though, but I will say that some of them apply to me, and most likely to many women.
According to Barbara women tend to put others before ourselves and tend to feel like we are being selfish if we don’t. It is most likely the way we are raised. Many women, more so than men, tend to be raised to believe that we are supposed to take care of others and as a result we neglect ourselves.
One result of this is not recognizing or valuing our own worth - including how much money we deserve to make. Then many women feel guilty when they want to do more for themselves - whether it be for their careers, health or financial situation.
My favorite quote from this section:
“Don’t forget to love yourself.”
– Soren Kierkegaard
Next time - the rest of Chapter 2.
May 21, 2008
Aging 2008: the Disease, the Cure, the Implications
I’ve written here a few times about longevity and aging research in my Friday Favorites.
100,000 people die each day due to aging. So many people for so many years have accepted aging as an inevitable part of life that they fail to see it as a medical condition. If fact, many other species live longer than humans. There is no reason why we should accept our short lives as something we just have to live with and can’t change.
This June 27th at UCLA’s Royce Hall is the Aging 2008 conference - ‘Aging: The Disease, The Cure, The Implications’ which is hosted by the Methuselah Foundation. It is free with advance registration required.
The goal of the Methuselah Foundation is to dramatically extend healthy human life within the next few decades.
The agenda is as follows:
4:00 PM Welcome Reception & Registration Opens
5:00 PM Welcome and opening remarks
5:05 PM Speeches* William Haseltine, Haseltine Global Health
* Bruce Ames, Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute
* Michael West, Biotime Inc.
* Daniel Perry, Alliance for Aging Research
* Gregory Stock, UCLA and Signum Biosciences
* Steve Burrill, Burrill and Company
* Bernard Siegel, Genetics Policy Institute
* Aubrey de Grey, Methuselah Foundation
Aging 2008 also serves as the free opening session for the technically focused Understanding Aging Conference, which will run at UCLA on June 28th and 29th.
May 20, 2008
Obstetric Fistula - the Tragedy of a Nightmare Within a Nightmare
Imagine getting married as young as 12 - possibly by force - being in painful labor for a week, only to give birth to a baby that has already died. Then waking up to find yourself wet and laying in your own urine and feces and not being able to control it. Then your husband and family kicks you out and you are on your own.
This scenario is played out at least 50,000 to 100,000 times a year in the developing world. It is the horror of obstetric fistula.
A couple weeks ago I wrote about how many women in Afghanistan die while giving birth (1 every 27 minutes by the way). Today’s topic is obstetric fistulas. If you don’t know fistulas are holes that develop between either the rectum and vagina or between the bladder and vagina after severe or failed childbirth, when adequate medical care is not available.
Recently PBS had a documentary about it - I missed it, but heard about it when Rachel wrote a post about it recently: A Walk To Beautiful - Obstetric Fistula Documentary.
You can watch the whole show at the PBS web site: A Walk To Beautiful.
The documentary was focused around a fistula hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia run by Catherine Hamlin.
Many girls in Ethiopia are married between the ages of 9 and 15, whether or not they are willing. They are usually small for their age because of malnutrition and the hard physical labor that is required of them from the time they are still children. Since they are young and small their pelvises are not large enough for a baby to get though. It is not unusual for some of these girls to be in labor for a whole week - only to give birth to a baby that has died. Afterwards, if they developed a fistula they find urine and/or feces leaking uncontrollably from their bodies.
Most often their husband turns them out. Even their parents will often make them live in a shack outside of their family’s home because of the smell and mess from the leaking. Many live for many years in isolation - too ashamed and afraid to go out in public.
For those that find out that it is possible for them to be cured and can get the money to travel to a hospital such as that in Addis Ababa - there is hope.
In the documentary, one of the girls was forced to marry when she was 10 or 11. She ran away a few times but her father kept beating her. Eventually she stayed with the 4th husband because she was pregnant. Another was married at 15 when her husband abducted her.
Catherine Hamlin and her husband founded the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital to help girls and women like these. It is “the world’s only medical center dedicated exclusively to providing free fistula repair surgery” (source). She is also author of the book: ‘The Hospital by the River’.
Before modern obstetrical care was available many women around the world suffered through this nightmare, but now, it is nearly unheard of in the developed world. In developing countries it is estimated that there are still around 2 million women with fistulas that have not been treated.
To learn more you can go to the United Nations Campaign To End Fistula web site. If you are interested in donating click here for more information.
May 19, 2008
Women’s Health Weekly Review: May 11 - May 17
General Health and Well-Being
A new study gives more support that media images of women have an effect how we view ourselves. “If the image is appearance-focused and sends a clear message about a woman’s body as an object, then it’s going to affect women.” “I think we need to consider how we’re using media images as a culture to share the values we think are important, and the effect that has on our well-being”.
According to a paper published in Child Development “90% of girls reported experiencing sexual harassment at least once” and “cultural factors may control whether they perceive sexism as an environmental problem or as evidence of their own shortcoming“.
Are you curious about how that may affect women’s ability to be successful as adults? According to new research Psychological Science “being put in a low-power role may impair a person’s basic cognitive functioning and thus, their ability to get ahead“.
Pregnancy and Young Children
Preeclampsia is the biggest cause of maternal and new born deaths and affects around 5% of all pregnancies. The gene COMT (catechol-O-methyltransferase) has recently been found to be involved with the development of preeclampsia.
Women who breastfeed for more than a year halve their risk of rheumatoid arthritis.
Breast Cancer Research
More evidence backing up vitamin D levels and cancer prevention. In the upcoming issue of The Breast Journal research will be presented showing that “This is the first study, to our knowledge, to show that higher serum levels of vitamin D are associated with reduced incidence rates of breast cancer worldwide”.
Other breast cancer research news:
Physical activity more likely to prevent breast cancer in certain groups
Molecular ‘clock’ could predict risk for developing breast cancer
UT Southwestern researcher: Supplemental breast ultrasound boosts cancer detection
Study suggests blood test can help improve treatment outcomes for breast cancer patients
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