Health | Ain't Complicated

In America, a Black Disease

Black U.S. AIDS rates rival some African nations

The AIDS epidemic among African-Americans in some parts of the United States is as severe as in parts of Africa, according to a report out Tuesday.

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“AIDS in America today is a black disease,” says Phill Wilson, founder and CEO of the institute and himself HIV-positive for 20 years.

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Although black people represent only about one in eight Americans, one in every two people living with HIV in the United States is black, the report notes.

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AIDS remains the leading cause of death among black women between ages 25 and 34. It’s the second-leading cause of death in black men 35-44.

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“Five percent of the entire population (in DC) is infected… that’s comparable to countries like Uganda or South Africa,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told CNN for the recent “Black in America” documentary.

According to this report, if black Americans made up their own country, it would rank above Ethiopia (420,000 to 1,300,000) and below Ivory Coast (750,000) in HIV population.

This is amazing!

Why has this segment of the population become so infected?

Hero of the Senate

I suspect must of his fellow-Senators don’t think so, but I think Mr. Coburn is a hero in this regard:

Senate’s ‘Dr. No’ Spurs Showdown Over Spending

Instead of a keepsake photo of a political hero or his family, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) has a large framed picture next to his desk that serves as a constant reminder of his political ideology. Inside the black frame and matting is a single word, in large white letters: "No."

Coburn has become best known as the lawmaker who says no — no to increased funding for unsolved civil rights crimes, no to creation of a national registry for victims of the disease ALS, no to more money for child pornography prosecutions.

Using every parliamentary tactic at his disposal, Coburn has tied the Senate in so many knots that Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) has decided on an extraordinary tactic: He will devote most of the Senate's time this week to breaking the one-man stranglehold.

Rolling 35 bills into one omnibus package, Reid will try to leap all of Coburn's parliamentary hurdles at once and win approval for dozens of programs worth more than $10 billion.

"For those of you who may not know this," Reid told reporters recently, "you cannot negotiate with Coburn. It's just something that you learn over the years . . . is a waste of time."

Most of the bills, including a child pornography law that passed the House 409 to 0 in November, are so noncontroversial that they would normally sail through on voice votes, with no roll call taken.

But not while "Dr. No" is in the Senate.

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Coburn said his colleagues have lost appreciation for the broad national interest and instead hope to pass legislation in their names so they can win reelection. "When you take that oath, it doesn't say anything about your state," he said. "The parochialism needs to die."

Why does the whole article kind tickle me? 😀

Cheers for Senator Coburn!

Cancer chief sees cell phone risks

Look, I know I keep bringing up this subject. If you get tired of it, just skip over it this time.

Cancer chief sees cell phone risks

The director of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute and UPMC Cancer Centers plans to issue an advisory to about 3,000 faculty and staff today about the possible health risks associated with cellular phone use.

"Recently I have become aware of the growing body of literature linking long-term cell phone use to possible adverse health effects including cancer," Dr. Ronald Herberman said in the memorandum. "Although the evidence is still controversial, I am convinced that there are sufficient data to warrant issuing an advisory to share some precautionary advice on cell phone use."

The advisory suggests certain measures to limit exposure to electromagnetic radiation emitted by the devices, such as shortening the length of conversations or keeping the phones away from the head by text messaging or using headsets or speaker phone options. It also recommends that children not use cell phones except in emergencies.

A child's developing organs "are the most likely to be sensitive to any possible effects of exposure," according to the document.

CFL Broke?

If you’ve had the misfortune of breaking a compact fluorescent light bulb, please accept my regrets (if you’re going to take care of the mess “properly”, anyway).

Here’s how the EPA wants you to clean it up:

Before Clean-up: Air Out the Room

Have people and pets leave the room, and don’t let anyone walk through the breakage area on their way out.
Open a window and leave the room for 15 minutes or more.
Shut off the central forced-air heating/air conditioning system, if you have one.

Clean-Up Steps for Hard Surfaces

Carefully scoop up glass pieces and powder using stiff paper or cardboard and place them in a glass jar with metal lid (such as a canning jar) or in a sealed plastic bag.
Use sticky tape, such as duct tape, to pick up any remaining small glass fragments and powder.
Wipe the area clean with damp paper towels or disposable wet wipes. Place towels in the glass jar or plastic bag.
Do not use a vacuum or broom to clean up the broken bulb on hard surfaces.

Disposal of Clean-up Materials

Immediately place all clean-up materials outdoors in a trash container or protected area for the next normal trash pickup.
Wash your hands after disposing of the jars or plastic bags containing clean-up materials.
Check with your local or state government about disposal requirements in your specific area. Some states do not allow such trash disposal. Instead, they require that broken and unbroken mercury-containing bulbs be taken to a local recycling center.

Did you actually think all you had to do was sweep up the mess and dump it in the nearest garbage can?

Ha!

PS: It’s worse for carpet, rugs, clothing, bedding, and such like. If you really want to know, click the link above.

Sunscreen Alert

Generally, I do not apply sunscreen to me, so this doesn’t apply to me directly. 🙄

But I still find this interesting (thought I didn’t read much more than what you see here):

Four Out of Five Sunscreens May Be Hazardous to Your Health

A consumer advocacy group has a warning for parents who think they’re protecting their family with sunscreen: You may be getting burned.

The Environmental Working Group, a Washington-based nonprofit, has released an investigation of nearly 1,000 brand-name sunscreens that says four out of five don’t adequately protect consumers and may contain harmful chemicals.

The group says that some of the products of the nation’s leading brands — including Coppertone, Neutrogena and Banana Boat — are the poorest performers.

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Few health recommendations have had as damaging an effect as the advice that you should never leave your house without sunscreen. Wearing sunscreen effectively blocks your body’s production of vitamin D, which happens naturally when your skin is exposed to sunlight. In fact, sunscreens reduce vitamin D production by as much as 97.5 to 99.9 percent.

“So there you are,” as Hank the Cowdog would say.

It Was Hot That Day!

Update way down below

This was at Margaret Miller’s place (a mission “compound” of Hope Mennonite Missions) in Guaymas Valley, Mexico:

It was hot that day! (And it got at least two-tenths of a degree hotter than what it shows above.)

Thankfully, it was also very dry.

The wind that blew most of the day, as I recall, was also hot and dry.

On days like that, to stay healthy stay in the shade and drink liquids.

Do lots of both, in fact.

Anyway, I’m left wondering what the thermometer would have recorded if we’d had it out in the sun.

Yesterday, I did an experiment here at home (near Yoder, Oregon). Here are the results:

Thermometer in the sun

That must be why temperatures are measured “in the shade” rather than “in the sun.”

😉

Originally posted: July 10, 2008 at 1:54 pm

Updated: July 12, 2008 at 2:03 pm

At 10:20 this morning, the temperature in the sun was 107, but in the shade it was merely 76.

Living Water vs Cholera

Clean water saves lives

This year, Living Water International is rehabilitating more than 100 wells in Sierra Leone, where many open wells are contaminated by surface water during the rainy season.

Sierra Leone’s sanitation is poor, and its water table is high. So surface water transports all kinds of filth and debris into the wells. As a result, many people contract diarrhea and cholera – often fatally. Water-related disease is the single largest killer of infants in developing countries. Sierra Leone, according to UNICEF, is one of the worst places on earth to be a child.

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LWI has been addressing the global water crisis for 17 years and has directly implemented more than 5,000 water projects. It plans to repair at least 1,000 more wells in the year 2008.

For $2000, you can help restore clean water for a village in Sierra Leone.

I’m thankful for good water to drink.

And filters to buy when it’s not.

(Is that all?)