Picture of Bed Bugs In Hotel Bedding

This is turning out to be the summer of bed bugs. There have been numerous issues on the news of bed bug invasions throughout the US.

In researching bed bugs I found this website Bed Bug Reports. They give many good examples of how to check for bed bugs in hotels prior to going to sleep.

These little blood suckers get you when you are asleep and can live years between meals. They also can readily crawl in to your luggage over night. You then bring them home.

The list on www.bedbugreports.com, gives a list of complaints from users of the website along with a list of hotels, some very fancy where people have been bitten. They also have some pictures of bed bug bites which are pretty disgusting.

Omega 3 supplements

According to a newly published study, fish-oil supplements may lower your risk of breast cancer.

Researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center surveyed more than 35,000 postmenopausal women and discovered that those who took omega-3 fish-oil supplements had a 32 percent lower incidence of breast cancer.

In general people who take supplements tend to live a healthier lifestyle anyway so it is difficult to isolate the omega-3-fish oil supplements as the cause of the lowered incidence.  Other studies, namely a recent one from Harvard, also discovered health benefits of omega-3 fish oil so taking them is probably a good idea anyway.

The study  has evolutionary implications and comes at the heals of another study showing that older men are now more likely to contract sexually transmitted diseases as drugs to combat erectile dysfunction become more popular.

Conclusion: Old people will f#@k themselves into extinction.

What happened to Tom Platz? Remember the old Muscle & Fitness Magazines with his legs?

For those of you who do not know Tom, I have added his picture below.

I just read Wikipedia on Tom and it said that he now lives in Scottsdale Arizona and supplements his income as a salesperson at Airpark Chrysler Jeep.

I cannot believe it. The famous Tom Platz is a car salesman. Poor Tom. Goes from the famous story of showing up in Southern California with $50 in his pocket and being an Olympia contender to being a car salesman. Thanks Joe Weider. I guess you got all the money.

Now I’ll recommend “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” the HBO series created by the mastermind behind Seinfeld, Larry David, beyond my circle of friends and acquaintances. Knowing that this great series can help schizophrenics, I have a couple of people in mind for who I should to promote the show.

According to The New Yorker, David Roberts, a clinical-psychology student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (and most probably a fan of David), noticed that normally uncommunicative patients would laugh at shows on television. Apparently, David’s character makes the same kind of social errors schizos make, allowing therapists to use him as an the anti-role model.

No wonder, researchers are already putting “Curb” to the schizo test.

Below is a list from the Mediterranean Food Pyramid.
1. An abundance of food from plant sources, including fruits and vegetables, potatoes, breads and grains, beans, nuts, and seeds;
2. Emphasis on a variety of minimally processed and, wherever possible, seasonally fresh and locally grown foods (which often maximizes the health-promoting micronutrient and antioxidant content of these foods);
3. Olive oil as the principal fat, replacing other fats and oils (including butter and margarine);
4. Total fat ranging from less than 25 percent to over 35 percent of energy, with saturated fat no more than 7 to 8 percent of energy (calories);
5. Daily consumption of low to moderate amounts of cheese and yogurt (low-fat and non fat versions may be preferable);
6. Weekly consumption of low to moderate amounts of fish and poultry (recent research suggests that fish be somewhat favored over poultry); from zero to four eggs per week (including those used in cooking and baking);
7. Fresh fruit as the typical daily dessert; sweets with a significant amount of sugar (often as honey) and saturated fat consumed not more than a few times per week;
8. Red meat a few times per month (recent research suggests that if red meat is eaten, its consumption should be limited to a maximum of 12 to 16 ounces {340 to 450 grams} per month; where the flavor is acceptable, lean versions may be preferable);
9. Regular physical activity at a level which promotes a healthy weight, fitness and well-being; and
10. Moderate consumption of wine, normally with meals; about one to two glasses per day for men and one glass per day for women (from a contemporary public health perspective, wine should be considered optional and avoided when consumption would put the individual or others at risk.)

cite: K. Dun Gifford
Oldways Preservation & Exchange Trust

At least five women, in the US alone, have died after taking the pill since it began selling in 2000, although the Food and Drug Administration admits there may be more contributing factors to blame.

Four deaths were caused by bloodstream infections, or sepsis, all occurring in women who took the pill.

The FDA issued a public health advisory forewarning doctors of the probable link and urging them to be on the lookout for infections in women who have used the Mifeprex abortion pill.

Some women may not have usual symptoms of sepsis, such as a fever.

Tuesday’s action comes just eight months after the FDA warned about two sepsis cases associated with Mifeprex, also called RU-486 or mifepristone. Additional sepsis cases were reported to the agency in April and June.

The drug, sold by Danco Laboratories, is designed to destroy the fetus up to 49 days after the beginning of the last menstrual cycle by blocking a hormone vital to the pregnancy. When followed by another medicine, misoprostol, the pregnancy is terminated.

In two of the infections, doctors discovered the bacterium Clostridium sordelli, a common germ not usually linked with infection.

Two other deaths associated with Mifeprex were cases of a ruptured ectopic, or tubal, pregnancy in October 2001. The drug is not to be used by women with suspected or confirmed ectopic pregnancies, a life-threatening condition in which the fertilized egg has implanted outside the uterus.

Other risks of Mifeprex and Misoprostol include incomplete abortion (with birth defects), sever hemorrhage, uterine rupture, and ulcers.

There was a parvo shot (a viral disease that mainly affects puppies), kennel cough, rabies, etc, etc. They bundle these shots together to provide a purported price break. But when you break down some of the shots, you often realize that your pet doesn’t even need half of them.

After paying my bill, I went on the internet with my list of shots and came to the determination that I did not need a laundry list of what was provided.

The overall recommendation is; before you subject your pet and your wallet to the vet for their yearly shots, get a list of what they will give them. Then, research it online from reputable websites.

Also, shop around.

There are also online companies such as PetMeds.com. The problem is that they are good for products such as heartworm medication. Customers can order heartworm pills online only if you have previously had your dog tested at the vets office (within the past year) and he doesn’t mind providing you with a prescription for the medication. More and more, veterinarians are charging aggregious sums for prescriptions due to the loss of business from these online pet meds suppliers.

Beware and do not be afraid to question what they are providing. This is not only good medicine for your pet, but also your pocketbook.

Women may benefit from the freedom to make love as much as they like without fear of getting pregnant after taking contraceptive pills but it could also switch off their desire.

The pill has been linked with many side effects including blood clots, migraines and weight gain but perhaps the least discussed is its propensity to dampen libido by decreasing testosterone levels.

Contraceptive drugs curb the hormone’s production in the ovaries and also increase levels of sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) – a substance that effectively takes it out of play because testosterone-bound SHBG is considered biologically inactive.

But it is uncertain how regular problems are in pill users and until now any sexual dysfunction – including loss of libido, subdued or non-existent orgasms or painful intercourse – was believed to be reversible when women stopped taking the drug.

Boston University’s Dr Irwin Goldstein and colleagues studied 125 young women who attended a sexual dysfunction clinic. Sixty-two of them were taking oral contraceptives, 40 had previously taken them and 23 had never taken them, reports New Scientist.

The team measured levels of SHBG in the women every three months for a year and found in pill users they were seven times as high as in women who had never taken them.

Levels fell in women who had stopped taking the oral contraceptive – but remained three to four times as high as in those who had never taken it, the researchers told a meeting of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists in Washington DC last week.

Dr Goldstein said: “There’s the possibility it’s imprinting a woman for the rest of her life.”

He says the most common problem for women is lack of libido – or sexual desire – which he believes is a result of sex steroid hormone levels gone haywire.

He said: “Women who are on the birth control pill have huge problems with sex steroid hormone levels.”

But Dr Goldstein believes there’s room for drugs in sex therapy. He says those who reject the medical approach to women’s sexual troubles aren’t seeing the bigger picture.

He said: “It took us 20 years to understand the physiology of men’s erections. We have to do the basics before we can get to the therapeutics that have efficacy.”

Patients are able to coordinate steps better and suffer from less fatigue after regular exercise.