Tamiflu for kids

The national stockpile of Tamiflu was released Friday.
I didn't know that there was a national stockpile of Tamiflu but I'm glad its out there for people now.
The article I read about this in said the reason for releasing more medicine was to help protect the increasing number of children who are becoming infect with the flu this time of year. The hope was to beat the winter flu season to the punch.
The flu has now killed 114 children and teenagers in the United States since April.
The article also said that since the C.D.C. began tracking children’s flu deaths five years ago, the highest toll was 88, in the winter of 2007-08.
Hopefully by getting the medicine out their sooner this year the number of cases will drop.

Do labels make a difference?

Just read an article about how food labels on restaurant menus are helping people make better food choices when they eat out.
While I appreciate that labels can help people make good choices, all they do is make me feel guilty. This is especially true about fast food restaurants.
This is a good thing though. Anytime people have more information at their disposal is a good thing. The survey used in the article said that findings revealed a significant reduction in calorie intake at four chains including McDonald's, Au Bon Pain, KFC, and Starbucks. I've never heard of Au Bon Pain but I do enjoy a meal at the other three from time to time.
Just wondering if any of you out there use the nutrition facts on menus when you eat out at places like this?

Medical Marijuana in Arizona

It seems Arizona has gotten the green light on the use of Medical Marijuana. The target demographic for something like this is usually very sick Patience's with painful disease like cancer. Science has shown that it can be a safe and effective treatment when used in the right circumstances. When used properly, medical marijuana can be an important tool for doctors looking to improve their patients quality of life. I know that this can often be a controversial issue, but this is something that I approve of. Marijuana is probably a lot better for the body than all kids of crazy prescription drugs. If it's going to make a sick person feel better, than its OK with me.

Playground equipment helps keep kids fit

The students at Oak Grove Lower Elementary in Mississippi are celebrating a new playground.
Oak Grove Lower is one of 60 schools in Mississippi to receive a Project Fit America grant this year. The grant is valued at $26,000 and funded by the Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi Foundation. It's goal is to promote health and wellness in public schools through providing new playground equipment.
This is a pretty cool thing they have going on in Mississippi. The kids get new playground equipment to have fun with and parents and teachers get to know their kids are outside having fun and staying fit. I wish more school or states would try and add programs like this one.

Fitness Kits

Men's Health has recently developed what they call a fitness kit. The kits are designed by the editors and staff at Men's Health and Women's Health. They included workout programs like "Ultimate Total-Body Workout" and "Lean Body Workout". The kits say they combine carefully selected fitness equipment with cutting-edge exercise programs that strengthen,sculpt and tone the entire body over the course of six weeks. They are also apparently have separate kits that are tailored to the male and female body respectively.
Sounds like a pretty good idea to me. Men's Health seems like they are always coming out with cool stuff like this. I don't know if I'll be picking one up, but it looks pretty cool.

You can buy them here: http://www.gnc.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3877526

Eat Cookies and Lose wight?

Finally, something I can get excited about. A story in the New York Times says all I have to do to lose weight is eat cookies!
It's Dr. Siegal’s Cookie Diet, which involves eating six prepackaged cookies a day, plus one "real" meal.
The diet has been around since 1975 but was only available to patients in his Miami clinic until recently. Celebrities like Kim Kardashian, Jennifer Hudson and Kelly Clarkson are apparently big fans.
This seems like a pretty big scam to me though. You eat a bunch of stuff with little to no nutritional vale (or calories) and then you end up losing weight. No real surprise here I guess. It just sounds better when you tell people they get to eat cookies. This doesn't sound like my cup of tea but check it out for yourself: http://www.cookiediet.com/

A Real Caveman

So I came across something really interesting. Some guy named Daniel Suelo has been living in the woods without any kind of money or modern convenience since 2000. He lives in a cave in Moab, Utah. He does however use the public library to update the blog that he writes about his experiences.

"I've been totally without cents since Autumn of 2000 (except for 1 month in 2001). I don't use or accept money or conscious barter - don't take food stamps or other government dole. I don't see money as evil or good: how can illusion be evil or good? But I don't see heroin or meth as evil or good, either. Which is more addictive & debilitating, money or meth? Attachment to illusion makes you illusion, makes you not real. Attachment to illusion is called idolatry, called addiction. I simply got tired of acknowledging as real this most common world-wide belief called money! I simply got tired of being unreal. Money is one of those intriguing things that seems real & functional because 2 or more people believe it is real & functional," Suelo writes on his blog.

This seems a little crazy to me but apparently the guy is happy. I do wonder about the health risks of living in the woods like that though. He hunts for his own food. That can't be safe, can it?


Here is an interview that the BBC did on him: http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/programmes/2009/09/090929_outlook_caveman.shtml

How Fast Can the Human Body Go?

I found an interesting piece about sprinter Usain Bolt over on the London Times site. It talks about how humans might just be approaching the limit of what we are physically able to do. The Olympic 100-meeter champion lowered his record-setting time by taking 0.11 seconds from the mark that got him the gold in Beijing in 2008 with a new world-record time of 9.58 seconds this year.
“I think it will stop at 9.4 but you never know,” Bolt told the Times.
To give a little perspective about how far we've come, the world record in 1912 was 10.6 seconds.
Greg Whyte a Professor of Applied Sport and Exercise Science at Liverpool John Moores University was quoted in the story as saying that he believes humans will reach their athletic potential in 2060. Can that be?
With the wide spread use of supplements, and even illegal drugs, are there really any limits to what the human body can achieve? At some point, there has to be a line that the human body just won't be able to cross. When that will actually come, who knows.

Check out Bolt setting the record:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nbjhpcZ9_g