Have you ever had one of those delicious little Babybel cheeses in the red wax? When I was in college, I practically lived off of them. I never really knew what kind of cheese it was, but I knew I liked it. Mild and slightly salty, those Babybel cheeses are Edam cheese. HistoryFrom the 14th until the 18th century, Edam cheese was the most popular cheese in the world especially…
Twitter is a microblogging service where people answer the question “What are you doing?” via 140-character messages from their cellphone, laptop or desktop. You can select the messages (called “tweets”) that you find interesting, useful, amusing, or disagreeable. Here is the 71st edition of My Twitter Favorites.
bgaustin Forget the past. No one becomes successful in the past. 2:16 PM Jun 22nd from Tweetie
DrGSHenderson Admiring the geometric sunburn pattern on my feet and using the Pythagorean theorum 2 calculate my insole http://twitpic.com/845hc12:51 PM Jun 22nd from Tweetie
scanman If the moustache goes, you go! ☜ Direct quote from my wife, @dermdoc9:44 PM Jun 21st from Power Twitter
loic this coffee is so strong I am jumping all around the place but still happy I have found it 1:16 AM Jun 21st from Seesmic_
Pogue Love the new Shredded Wheat TV ad, pointing out no recipe changes in 100 years: “We put the NO in innovation!” 11:44 AM Jun 20th from TweetDeck
NaseemMiller Working on a story about aging pop. To control cost, one doc says a 99 y.o. shouldn’t have cataract surgery. What if the patient wants it? 10:39 AM Jun 20th from web
pierre Today learned benefit of wearing a tie: dribbled coffee all over myself, tie caught it all, and dried itself in minutes. 5:56 PM Jun 19th from Twitterrific
bencasnocha“In retrospect, all revolutions seem inevitable. Beforehand, all revolutions seem impossible.” - Michael McFaul, democracy expert on the NSC 3:03 PM Jun 19th from web
Pogue TONIGHT’S MEDITATION: I used to work in a blanket factory, but it folded. 1:27 PM Jun 19th from TweetDeck
pkedrosky I am convinced the prolific @pogue ’s #1 productivity tip is always overlooked: “I work from home. That’s 2-3 hours more time each day …” 12:40 AM Jun 19th from twhirl
AllergyNotes I believe we had the first ever Journal Club on Twitter on Dec 11, 2008 http://bit.ly/ZkDn0 - please reply @JRBtrip to expand the idea 6:07 PM Jun 18th from TweetDeck
The inclusion of a Twitter update (tweet) in Selection of My Twitter Favorites does not represent endorsement or agreement of any kind.
If you are included in this post but you would like to have your tweet removed for any reason, please email me and will comply with your request the same day.
Micro-blogging on Twitter is easy, fun and can be useful and educational if you follow/subscribe to interesting people. You can read more here: A Doctor’s Opinion: Why I Started Microblogging on Twitter and visit my account at Twitter/AllergyNotes.
This is perfect for right about now in the UK. As temperatures ’soar’ to almost 30 degrees and the country comes to a grinding halt (sorry this still makes me laugh after years of living in 30+ for months on end in Oz), this is a cooling, refreshing, alkalising and energising soup that takes minutes to make.
Serves Two
Ingredients
1 bunch of spring onions, chopped
1 large cucumber, deseeded and chopped
2 bunches of watercress (or as much as you like, to taste, keep adding more and more if you like!)
1¾ pint water yeast free vegetable stock (cooled)
(Himalayan) Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
Chop, slice and dice all of the ingredients and place in a blender. Make the stock by putting a small amount of hot water onto the stock cube or bouillon and once melted, top up with cold water. Add this to the blender too and then blend it all up! Serve chilled with an ice cube per bowl.
Despite all the smoking bans in place, there are still some places, such as casinos, where workers are still consistently exposed to second hand smoke.
A new study, funded by the Flight Attendent Medical Institute, finds that casino workers face higher risks of heart disease and lung disease because a smoke filled work environment.
In the study, the air quality in three Pennsylvania casinos was tested for levels of two indicators of tobacco smoke - cancer-causing chemicals and particles small enough to inhale.
At the same time, eight volunteers, each of whom spent four hours in the casinos, provided urine samples which were measured for levels of a tobacco smoke byproduct.
Measuring the air quality revealed that the tobacco smoke indicators inside the casino was four to six times higher than outside.
And testing the volunteer’s urine samples showed a 10 fold increase in tobacco smoke byproduct levels in the urine.
All in all, a fairly clear indication that the air that you breathe in casinos is full of smoke.
Seems to me it might be time for casinos to follow the lead of restaurants and bars and ban smoking altogether.
It works pretty good here in New Zealand. And there doesn’t seem to be any evidence it’s reduced the number of people visiting the casino. If anything, it might have actually increased the number of visitors.
Post from: Healthbolt
The move has gotten the best of me and my healthy habits. My eating has been out of control all week. I started off ok, making healthy choices, trying my best to prepare food with what I had on hand and then inevitably the husband would want to go out for fast food, or there’d be Combos on the counter or my favorite… the bag of chocolate chips I found when packing up the kitchen. I polished that off on by day 2. That’s right. The WHOLE bag. *sigh*
Right now I’m feeling quite overstuffed after a trip to Bertucci’s. Let’s leave it at the bread bowl because I probably consumed enough calories right there for the entire meal. Did that slow me down? nope. I also most of my entrée, 2 slices of the toddlers pepperoni pizza AND chocolate cake. MAN! I can consume some calories, can’t I?
I’m not beating myself up. Nope. Not going to do it. I moved.. I stressed.. I ate… enough said. Am I a little disappointed in myself for reverting to old habits? Sure. Could I have made some better choices? Yup. But you know what… It’s over. I can either start the yo-yo diet cycle of hell all over again OR I can swing the momentum the other way. I need to remember that one good choice leads to another the same way the "bad" ones have been building up.
All is not lost. I haven’t regained 65 pounds. I didn’t lose all the progress I’ve made running. I’m still fitter then I’ve every been in my life.
OK…. not devoting any more time to this. Let’s move on. We have officially closed on our house!! It’s gone. I can’t believe it. We lived in that house for 8 years. It was our first and I didn’t think I’d get chocked up about it until I signed the papers. But all is good. I love the new house we are building. Which, by the way, is REALLY shaping up…
I can’t believe how much progress they’ve made. It’s so much fun driving by with the toddler and checking it out. Oooops! Did I just say toddler? I keep forgetting my little boy is getting so big. He’s adjusting to the move pretty well. For a day or two he was a bit whiny but I think that was to be expected. Overall he was our little helper and very involved in the whole process. He’s in heaven here at the apartment as there are 2-3 4 year olds in our building, a playground in the back AND a pool down the street!
Right now the husband and I are about to relax as we finally have a living space not cluttered with boxes. We are going to throw in a movie, have a beer and just CHILL! Tomorrow I’m planning on going for a run. I need to get back on track with my marathon training or I’ll never be ready! I’m losing a little of the desire right now but I know once I start running again I’ll get that feeling back.
I hope to be blogging nighty again. I miss it. I am also committing to my food journal. First I used busyness as an excuse, then I used my lack on internet connection. Well I’m fesh out of excuses. Food journal.. run… getting my hair done! Tomorrow is totally going to be a ME day and I can’t wait! 
Talk to you then!
Every day we are surrounded by silent killers. In our lounge, in our kitchen and in our bedroom. In our pocket and on our lap.
Every single electrical appliance in our lives is exposing our body to harmful electromagnetic radiation. And even those that we don’t have control over such as power lines, wiring in buildings, and a whole heap of other technologies such as wireless internet that are so prevalent in our modern lives are all potentially harmful to our health.
Potentially harmful electical appliances are everywhere, and more and more research is beginning to show that when we continually expose ourselves to these frequencies we are seriously putting ourselves at risk!
Some frequencies are stronger than other (the frequency of a laptop and mobile phone is the same as a microwave when it cooks your food - yes, that’s right, the thing you put up to your ear and the thing you put on top of your sexual organs is slowly cooking you) and some are more in our control than others, but researching this article and the things I have been told lately have really started to make me think about the way I live my life and the way my home and office are set up!
During the 1990’s the scientist, research director, and consultant was hired by the US Cell Phone Industry to investigate the safety of using mobile phones with the hope of finding that using mobiles was safe and not dangerous to the health of the public. They could not have ever predicted what he would find and the impact it could have.
After six years of continual research, Carlos’ research could not find any evidence to support the safety of mobile phones and in fact found a direct link between mobile phone use and cancer. He summarised:
The big picture is disturbingly clear. There is a definite risk that the radiation plume that emanates from a cell phone antenna can cause cancer and other health problems. It is a risk that affects hundreds of millions of people around the world. It is a risk that must be seen and understood by all who use cell phones so they can take all the appropriate and available steps to protect themselves and especially to protect young children whose skulls are still growing and who are the most vulnerable to the risks of radiation .” -Dr. George Carlo
He has most recently stated that epidemiological studies prove that every year there are between 30-50k new cases of brain and eye cancer atrributable to mobile phone use. Just mobile phone use. By the year 2010 that number is going to have risen to nearly 500k cases.
This is scary stuff.
And it is proven. Studies by Danish scientists have shown that 20 - 80% of the electromagnetic radiation generated by mobile phones (depending on the make) is absorbed directly into the brain of the user. A few minutes exposure to cell phone type radiation can transform a 5% active cancer into a 95% active cancer.
And that is not all
Other dangers include wireless internet, microwave use, hairdryers, hair straighteners, wireless home phones, alarm clocks by our bed, electric blankets and any big number of plugs that are near where we spend a lot of our time (for instance under the computer desk, behind the tv etc.).
To put it in technical terms, 2.5mG is the generally accepted limit of ELF magnetic field (EMF) exposure, but the average hair dryer, vacuum cleaner or electric can opener that we use, EMITS AN AMAZING 300mG or more. This is the type of level of EMF we are being continuously exposed to. Some hairdryers even go as high as 700mG and there has been continual proven links between hair dryer use and leukemia. In fact, this link was reported in the US Government report, NIH98-3981 (pages 180 & 182) for the National Institute for Health (NIH), in August of 1998. This report was prepared under a $65 million dollar allocation by the U.S. Congress under the EMF RAPID Program. This is also proven in studies by the University of Southern California and the National Cancer Institute who have also linked children’s leukemia to hair dryers.
Wireless internet is something else that has made me think. I’ve been slightly concerned about it lately and wondering if it was potentially harmful and my research has led to to believe that, yes it is!
The magazine Eco-Test (the eco equivalent of the UK “Which?” magazine] tested workstations in the juristic library in Göttingen, Germany and found a peak value of 23,000 µWatt/m2. The current official guideline in Germany [and in the UK] is 10 µWatt/m2. And while it would be possible to argue that official guidelines say wireless is safe - the legal basis for this, the Electromagnetic Fields Ordinance, was last updated in 1996! Before wireless was publicly available!
The ECOLOG Institute in Hanover has also produced a science review of more than 220 peer reviewed and published studies of the various health effects of electromagnetic fields and confirmed, on a scientific basis, that proximity to wireless networks caused, at least, headaches, high blood pressure, lack of concentration, effects on brain function, the onset of allergies (!) and more.
The alarm clock that sits next to your head all night, every night also emits higher than safe levels of EMF.
I am not saying all of this to scare you into living in a mud hut in a field in Scotland. But what I am saying is that the majority of us have been living unaware of the dangers we are putting ourselves under.
Like all of you, I live in (and love) the modern world. I work on computers all day, I am often on wireless in my many random cafes (offices) around Australia and England. I love to watch the football and Location, Location, Location (why is it so addictive?!). I use a juicer, a blender and an ionizer. I do have a mobile phone and I regularly fly.
But I have taken a few dramatic steps to minimise my risk and put me in the safe zone as much as possible. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not perfect (I never am), but I think I’ve done a lot to improve my chances and reduce my time in what I lovingly call ‘the cooking zone’.
Here are the top ten things I have done or changed in my life that I think each and every one of you can do too:
My Top Ten Ways to Reduce EMF
More Reading?
Start here - Silent Fields by Donna Fisher. This is a truly eye-opening book on the dangers of high EMF.
Next watch this:
And now read this from equilibra.uk.com: THE DANGERS OF EMF RADIATION AND WHAT WE CAN DO TO IMPROVE OUR HEALTH IN TODAY’S POLLUTED WORLD
Be safe and keep smiling
Ross
I had my first fill a week ago. A fill is when they put saline solution in the band. It’s more annoying than anything, certainly not painful and probably easier next time. The PA put a needle in, dug around a bit until she found the right place, and injected lidocaine. I was on full liquids for two days, then “mushies”, and then back to regular food. I definitely have…
There’s been a lot of talk around here lately about managing diabetes and going to parties. Here in the U.S.A., we’re celebrating the Fourth of July this weekend, and there’s sure to be a ton of parties. Below are some menu ideas that you can make to ensure that your blood sugars will stay in range while you watch the fireworks!Grilled Stuffed Jalapeno PeppersBarbecued Chicken GazpachoCorn on the cob with…
The CommonCraft team has a new video explaining how to use Twitter as a search tool.
It’s not all textbooks and anatomy labs for medical students these days. Advances in computer technology has opened up many new ways to help these future doctors.
Take for example this pilot study by the University of Florida, the Medical School of Georgia, and a couple of other universities.
They are using a ‘mixed reality human’ consisting of a life size computer avatar on a flat screen TV and a mannequin with a prosthetic breast.
Her name is Amanda Jones and her job is to help teach students how to perform breast exams, an intimate procedure that once could only be learned ‘on the job’. But now, thanks to Amanda, students can not only learn the correct examination procedure in a laboratory setting. But it’s not all about the physical.
Amanda talks - via a voice simulation system - and will maintain a conversation with the examiner, providing students with an opportunity to develop good doctor-patient communication skills.
The conversation is all unscripted. The student must draw Amanda’s medical history from her, asking questions and listening to her responses and concerns. And just like a real exam, this conversation takes place while the physical examination is being done.
And Amanda will know if the breast examination is not being done correctly. Sensors within the prosthetic breast provide pressure information depicted by colors on the virtual computer breast. The colors will change depending on whether or not the correct position is being palpated or not.
Amanda is also programmed to exhibit abnormal breast changes which the student should be able to discover through correct palpating and question asking techniques.
Definitely a win-win learning model for both medical students and their future patients.
Post from: Healthbolt
Ask anyone with diabetes about how they were diagnosed, or something that’s happened because of diabetes and you’ll hear a story. Even though we’re living with a serious illness, our stories generally aren’t depressing. Along with the bumps and bruises because of diabetes, we’ve learned important life lessons, including how to spin a good yarn.For a little while longer you’ve a chance to share your story online and get in…
We love curry in our house, and this recipe has done us very well over the years. Curry is like stir-fry- anything can go in it and it will taste wonderful. So feel free to improvise with this recipe, adding what you like and making it yours!1 Tbs. olive oil1 medium onion, sliced1/3 cup golden raisins (optional)1/4 cup toasted, slivered almondsSalt and freshly ground pepper1 1/2 teaspoons yellow curry powder,…
I love a refreshing glass of lemonade or limeade when it gets hot out. But ever since I developed Type 1 diabetes, I can’t drink the stuff you buy in the store. Usually loaded with corn-syrup and high in carbohydrates, it’s not the healthiest option for those without diabetes either. Real is BetterA glass of sweetened lemonade (typically 8 ounces) that comes from a mix or carton has about 120…
From KETV.com:
“On an 80-degree day this month, a Children’s Hospital and Medical Center expert placed a gauge inside a car to show how fast the environment becomes deadly.
The gauge read 91.4 degrees when first placed inside the parked car. With the windows up, the Greenhouse Effect kicked up the heat at a critical rate. Not even five minutes later, the temperature was climbing past 99 degrees.
At 10 minutes in the car, the temperature was up to 106.2 degrees — hot enough to kill a person.”
References:
Heat In Parked Car Turns Deadly In Minutes. KETV.com.
Image source: OpenClipArt.org, public domain.
