respublica

Food issues

So which is it?

The New York Times has a story promoting the idea that getting Americans to eat healthier will result in health care savings.  Reporter Melanie Warner interviewed someone promoting this idea and that someone just happens to be the chief executive of a food company called Full Yield.  Full Yield will be selling food "intended to take the guesswork out of what constitutes a healthy diet."

Then, the UK Telegraph reports that doctors should offer climate change advice to patients.  Seems there's a direct link between climate change and better health.

Sheesh.  Didn't these UK people get the memo?  The climate scientists over there in the UK were cooking the books.

Want something else to worry about?

Here comes another study on cell phone use and brain tumors, this time from Great Britain.

Massive senate health bill

The senate bill is now online.   Or, at least the bill coming from the senate finance committee.  1502 pages. No word on how much this stack of stuff weighs.

The explanation of the purpose of the bill is stated as:  "To provide affordable, quality health care for all Americans and reduce the growth in health care spending, and for other purposes."

What are these "other purposes"?

Already there is one area of concern by five members of the senate:

"...five democratic senators expressed concerns about one of its main provisions, a 40 percent tax on high-end insurance plans.

The tax is designed to pay for reform and lower costs by making the so-called Cadillac plans less attractive for insurers to offer. Under the bill, a plan that costs an individual more than $8,000 and a family more than $21,000 annually would be subject to the tax.

But Democratic Sens. John Kerry, Chuck Schumer, Robert Menendez, Debbie Stabenow and Jay Rockefeller are concerned that the threshold that defines a Cadillac plan is too low and will whack middle-class people."

"An excise tax on health insurance benefits is middle class regressive."  FDL

Not that this bill will remain in its present form, but it is the bill which generated all the publicity last week when the finance committee voted to approve.  The senate will now try to find a way to combine this bill with the bill coming from the senate health committee.  It will then be merged somehow with a bill from the House.

Anyone plan on reading the bill?  Anyone in congress?  Any lay people?

How to wash your hands

There's a difference of opinion on whether to use warm/hot or cold water when washing hands.  Which kills those germs better.

Seems hot water is no better than cold for killing germs. 

And, those anti-bacterial soaps may be increasing the germy bacteria.  Regular soap is better at killing germs whether it is in the liquid pump form or bar soap.  Regular soap is made with fat which causes the bacteria to cling and are then rinsed off. 

But, those hand sanitizers do work against germs.  Keep a small bottle of sanitizer in the car for use after shopping.

The riskiest foods

A couple of days ago it was ground beef which could cripple or kill us, thanks to meat packing plants.  Now another study warns us of what foods are the riskiest and the hamburger is not among them.

The list is made up of foods which most of us would think of as the healthiest.  Except ice cream, that would be on the "tastiest" list.

1.  Leafy greens

2.  Eggs

3.  Tuna

4.  Oysters

5.  Potatoes

6.  Cheese

7.  Ice cream

8.  Tomatoes

9.  Sprouts

10. Berries.

What are sprouts?  Brussel Sprouts?  Or some other thing?

Eating ground beef is still a gamble

A very unappetizing story in the New York Times.

No matter how hard food safety people try to make our hamburgers safe to eat, the fact is E. Coli still sickening tens of thousands each year and this summer, contamination led to the recall of beef from nearly 3,000 grocers in 41 states.

This report has echoes of Upton Sinclair's The Jungle novel written in 1906. 

And to think I'd been thinking about a trip to Steak and Shake tonight.  Off the menu for tonight.  Maybe a bowl of pasta with vegetables.

Football and forgetting

The results of a study done by the National Football League found that former NFL players between the ages of 30 and 49 have 19 times the rate of Alzheimer's and other memory related diseases than men in the normal population.

When you see video replays of University of Florida quarterback, Tim Tebow's recent collision and concussion, the results of this survey are very believable. 

And, if you've had occasion to have an elderly family member with Dementia or Alzheimer's you know how sad and horrible it can be.

Football people at all levels have worked to find equipment which protects players, but when it comes to head injuries, nothing is working well.  This is scary stuff.

If you have hypochondriac tendencies don't read this

The New York Times Science Times section today is filled with stories guaranteed to depress.  Except for one.

The Pancreas-a wholly ignored organ which can be at the root of many serious illnesses.  It is also a slippery, hidden away, very devil of an organ to work with.

Needless suffering after tonsil surgery.

Early warning for a deadly kidney disease.

Breast cancer drugs bear health cautions.

My favorite:  Inhaling 10,000 bacteria while showering.

Obsessing over hand washing.

But the story which gives us all hope:

A heart benefit for chocolate.  A study found those who eat chocolate have an increased rate of survival after a heart attack.  The best part- The more chocolate the better.

Move well

50 helpful sections on how to avoid injury.  Live Well Avoid Injury.

Easy to understand lessons on how each moving part of the body works, why injury occurs and how to move correctly to avoid injury. 

August health scare

Yes, it's August, a time when we're all wee-wee'd up.  With the president away on vacation and hopefully out of camera shot of reporters, what can the news people come up with to freshen up their reports?

This week they've decided to scare the heck out of us over the Swine Flu, or, as it's now being called, H1N1.

Seems someone has predicted there may be over 90,000 deaths from H1N1 this coming year and infect over half the American population.

Will there be a vaccine?  Possibly if current clinical trials present data showing safety and effectiveness, but results won't be in until sometime in October.

Who was it who thought calling this flu H1N1 is less scary than the Swine Flu?  H1N1 has a science fiction creepiness that worries me more than catching the Swine Flu.

Keep washing those hands.