FukDatShhh.CoM

NEWARK, N.J. (UPI) – U.S. scientists have found a widely held theory concerning the brain and perception is incorrect and that the brain blocks some information from awareness.

Rutgers University researchers have discovered visual input obtained during eye movements is processed by the brain, but blocked from our awareness.

“The process of seeing requires the eyes to move so light can hit the photoreceptors at the center of each retina, which then pass that information to the brain,” the scientists said. “If we were cognizant of the stimulus that passes before the eyes during the two to three times they move every second, however, vision would consist of a series of sensations of rapid motion rather than a stable perception of the world.

“To achieve perceptual stability, current theory has held that visual information gained during an eye movement is eliminated, as if cut off by a camera’s shutter, and removed from processing,” they said.

But the new study led by Assistant Professor Bart Krekelberg and researcher Tamara Watson shows that theory is incorrect and what the brain is actually doing is processing information gained during eye movement, but blocking it from being reported.

The findings, among other things, show a new approach is needed to gain additional understanding into cognitive and neural functions involved in visual processing and perceptual stability, the researchers said.

The study appears in the journal Current Biology.

Copyright 2009 by United Press International

1. Chocolate and Fried Foods Give You Acne
   Some speculate that this myth dates back to the baby-boom generation, who had worse acne than their parents and also more access to chocolate and fried foods. Wherever this idea came from, it’s wrong. Pimples form when oil glands under the skin produce too much of a waxy oil called sebum, which the body uses to keep skin lubricated. But when excess sebum and dead skin cells block pores, that area of the skin gets irritated, swollen, and turns red — the telltale signs of a pimple. It is unknown why sebaceous glands produce excess sebum, but hormones are the prime suspects, which explains why teenagers are affected more than others. Stress and heredity may also be factors, but chocolate bars and onion rings are off the hook.
2. Coffee Will Sober You Up
   If you’ve had too much to drink, no amount of coffee, soda, water or anything else is going to sober you up. The only thing that will do the trick is time. The liver can metabolize only about one standard drink (12 ounces of beer, 6 ounces of wine, or 1.5 ounces of hard liquor) per hour, so if you’re drinking more than that every 60 minutes, you’ll have alcohol in your system for some time. The idea of coffee’s sobering effect may have started because caffeine acts as a stimulant, counteracting the sedative effect of alcohol to a small degree. However, it has no effect on the amount of alcohol in the blood. So if you’ve been drinking, spend your money on a cab rather than a cappuccino.
3. Cold Weather Can Give You a Cold
   “Put your jacket on or you’ll catch a cold!” How times have you heard that? You may not want to tell her this, but dear old Mom was wrong. Viruses (more than 200 different kinds) cause colds, not cold weather. In order for you to catch a cold, the virus must travel from a sick person’s body to yours. This usually happens via airborne droplets you inhale when an infected person coughs or sneezes. You can also get a cold virus by shaking hands with an infected person or by using something where the virus has found a temporary home, such as a phone or door handle. Colds are more prevalent during the colder months because people tend to spend more time inside, making it much easier for viruses to jump from person to person.
4. Cracking Your Knuckles Causes Arthritis
   The knuckles are the joints between the fingers and hand, and these joints contain a lubricant called synovial fluid. When you crack your knuckles, you are pulling apart two bones at the joint, which means the synovial fluid has to fill more space. This decreases the pressure of the fluid, and dissolved gases that are present, such as nitrogen, float out of the area in tiny bubbles. The bursting of these bubbles is the familiar sound we hear when someone “cracks” his or her knuckles. This bubble-bursting is not the same as arthritis, which is when the body’s immune system attacks joints. However, constant knuckle-cracking can injure joints and weaken fingers.
5. Too Much Sugar Makes Kids Hyperactive
   Many parents limit sugary foods, thinking they cause hyperactivity. It’s right to restrict these treats, but the reasoning is wrong. These high-calorie foods offer little nutrition and can lead to obesity and other problems, but no scientific evidence says sugar causes hyperactivity. Sugar can provide a short-term energy boost, but that isn’t the same as hyperactivity. The children at a birthday party acting like little tornadoes probably has more to do with the excitement of being around other kids, rather than the cake. And that unruly child in the grocery store throwing a fit with a sucker in his mouth and candy clutched in each fist? His parents probably haven’t set appropriate behavior limits, and they most likely give him what he wants — which is more candy.
6. Don’t Swallow Gum — It Takes Seven Years to Digest
   Some misconceptions are hard to swallow, but people have been chewing on this one for years. This myth has probably been around since chewing gum became popular in the late 19th century and most likely originated thanks to a single word: indigestible. Gum is comprised of flavor, sweeteners, softeners and gum base. The body is able to break down the first three ingredients, but gum base is indigestible. That simply means your body can’t dissolve it and extract nutrients. In the end, gum base works its way through your digestive system much like fiber — in two or three days it goes out in basically the same shape it went in.
7. Feed a Cold and Starve a Fever
   This bit of folk wisdom has been bouncing around for centuries. This advice may have evolved from the idea that illnesses could be classified as either low temperature (those that give chills, such as a cold) or high temperature (those with fever). With chills, it sounds reasonable to feed a person’s internal fireplace with food. The logic follows that when an illness raises the body’s temperature, cutting back on the “fuel” should help. However, scientific evidence doesn’t endorse this advice — many illnesses must simply run their course.  

   Nevertheless, if you’re stuck in bed with a cold and a loved one brings over your favorite healthful foods, it’s still OK to chow down. Alternatively, you may lose your appetite while fighting a fever-based sickness. When you’re sick, it’s okay to miss a meal or two as long as you are keeping up with fluid intake.

8. Wait 30 Minutes After Eating Before Swimming
   For a kid, nothing ruins the fun of a carefree summer day like a worried parent banning swimming right after the big cookout, fearing that the child will get cramps and drown. There is a slight chance of minor abdominal cramping, but for the vast majority of people, this isn’t dangerous. The body does divert blood flow from the muscles to the gastrointestinal system to spur digestion, but not in amounts that diminish muscle function. Listen to your body and swim when you’re comfortable — just like you probably don’t run a marathon right after Thanksgiving dinner, you don’t want to start swimming laps right after a seven-course picnic. It’s perfectly safe, though, to eat a light meal and then get wet. After all, athletes commonly eat right before competing.
9. You Can Get the Flu from a Flu Shot
   Vaccinations are misunderstood because they’re created from the offending viruses themselves. But when you get a flu shot, you’re not being injected with a whole virus — you’re receiving an inactivated, or dead, virus. That means the part of the virus that can infect you and make you sick is turned off, but the part of the virus that stimulates your body to create antibodies is still on. The body’s antibodies will kill the flu virus should you come into contact with it later. Even pregnant women are advised to get flu vaccinations, so you know they’re safe. The only people who should avoid them are those who have severe allergies to eggs, because eggs are used to create the vaccines. No vaccine is 100-percent effective, so there is still a chance you can get the flu after receiving the shot, but that doesn’t mean the vaccination gave it to you. 

Source: HowStuffWorks.com

It’s the first full week of National Stroke Awareness Month — what better time to learn more about how to STOP stroke through improved management of stroke risk factors?

Whether you’ve suffered a stroke or not, stroke prevention is an important part of everyone’s stroke education. There are a number of “controllable” risk factors for stroke. Further, up to eighty percent of strokes can be prevented! Don’t you want to know more about how to make prevention a part of your daily life?*

Honor National Stroke Awareness Month by reading more about these six educational tips for reducing stroke risk (don’t forget to tell your friends and family, too!):

• High blood pressure is the primary cause of stroke. Know the role that managing your blood pressure plays in lowering your stroke risk. Click here for more information about high blood pressure.
• Cholesterol or plaque build-up in the arteries can block normal blood flow to the brain and cause a stroke. All adults age 20 and older should have their cholesterol checked at least once every five years. For more information about how to manage cholesterol, visit www.stroke.org/cholesterol.
• Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a type of irregular or “racing” heartbeat that can cause blood to collect in the heart and potentially form a clot, which can travel to a person’s brain and cause a stroke or brain attack. This condition increases a person’s risk for stroke by 500 percent. Unfortunately, many Americans who have AF don’t know it. Learn more about AF here and ask your doctor now about AF risk for you and your loved ones.
• Diabetes can double or quadruple your risk for stroke. Talk to your doctor and learn how to manage your diabetes and stroke risk at the same time!  
• A transient ischemic attack (TIA) is a mini-stroke with stroke symptoms that last less than 24 hours before disappearing. More than one-third of all people who have a TIA will have a stroke. Learn more about TIA and how your risk level for stroke can be better managed.
• Tobacco use, smoking and alcohol use increase your risk for stroke—consider quitting smoking or tobacco use and drinking alcohol moderately. Remember that alcohol can interact with some drugs. Check with your doctor or pharmacist about any medications you are currently taking.

For more information about stroke education or ways to spread awareness this May, visit www.stroke.org/SAM.

• Cover your mouth and nose when you cough or sneeze, WITH YOUR ARM remind your peers to do the same.
• Use tissues. Dispose of the tissues in the trash after use and wash your hands with soap and water.
  Wash you hands with soap and water frequently, especially after sneezing or coughing, and before eating. If you see someone not doing the same, remind them of their responsibility to themselves and to you.
• Do not touch your eyes, nose, or mouth.
• Try to avoid close contact with sick people. ( If anyone you come in contact with has flu like symptoms: a temperature greater than 100, cough and sore throat, give them a mask to wear. )
• Use Cavacide wipes to wipe the phone, computer key board, doorknobs, and flat surfaces. ( use gloves to avoid skin irritation )
• Get plenty of sleep
• Drink plenty of liquids.

• THANK YOU

Yuck! I just watched a little news bit about Minnesota on Fox News. They were featuring the state as it is hosting the Republican Convention in St. Paul. (That title is meant to be read with an adorable accent.)

Apparently all the folks in Minnesota aren’t in “the know” about health. On display in this feature was an obnoxious amount of fried food being carried around on sticks. Mmmmm. Heart disease. Corn dogs, fried chips, fried meat and to top it off, chocolate covered bacon!

Would you ever even consider eating this? It looked pretty fowl to me, though I am fairly particular about what I put in my mouth. I can only imagine some guy sitting in a diner one day thinking, “how could I improve on this strip of pig fat? I know! Let’s dip it in chocolate!”

Sometimes I think I’ve seen it all, but then I learn about chocolate covered bacon. Looks like I’m going to have to launch a full speaking tour in Minnesota. The state looks lovely. I’d hate to see even one resident pay the price for that horrific concoction. Just say no!

Thousands of motorists risk their lives every year trying to outrun trains at highway-rail grade crossings. There are more than 145 million miles of rail track and over 153,000 public grade crossings in the United States, leaving too many opportunities for risky behavior.

Now that kids are out of school for summer and younger, less-experienced drivers are spending more time behind the wheel, it is an ideal time to share safety tips from the Association of American Railroads:

1. Never drive around lowered gates or race a train to a crossing.
2. Always expect a train.
3. Cross tracks only at designated crossings.
4. If you suspect a signal is malfunctioning, call the 800-number posted near the crossing signal.
5. If your vehicle stalls on a crossing, immediately vacate everyone and quickly move away from the track in the direction the train is coming from.

My dad is in the hospital for the fourth time in a year. Yesterday, a specialist finally admitted that Dad’s chief problem has likely been inappropriate drugs prescribed by his family physician.

Ten years ago, Dad was in good health and took no medications. Then he started seeing “Dr. Jones.” Dad’s cholesterol and blood pressure were slightly elevated, so Jones put him on a statin and a blood-pressure drug. Over the years, Dad’s cholesterol and pressure continued to go up and he began having other unexplained health problems. Every time, Dr. Jones denied any connection to the drugs and instead increased the dosages and prescribed more.

Several times I begged Dad to get a second opinion, but he trusted and liked Jones. He told me I worried too much, and that he was simply getting older. Two years ago, Dad began having serious problems and was put on a blood thinner and diuretics. When he collapsed, the ER doctor told him to stop taking his cholesterol meds. Dr. Jones said the ER doctor was an idiot and instead diagnosed Dad with an unrelated muscle inflammation, for which he prescribed a high-dose steroid. When Dad began showing severe side effects, Jones claimed they were unconnected.

The upshot is that Dad lies in a hospital, too weak to move and not knowing what day it is. His kidneys are barely functioning and he refuses to eat. The doctors and staff (bless them!) are genuinely concerned, but his system is such a pharmaceutical cesspool that they are having a difficult time figuring it out.

Dr. Jones’ haste in reaching for a prescription pad seems to be standard medical practice. But I’m just as angry with myself for not being more forceful. Maybe then, Dad would be out tending his tomatoes today, not dying on me.
——–

It is always wise to get a second opinion. Please stop blaming yourself. No matter how hard you kicked and screamed, your father would most likely have continued with the regimen he was taking from a doctor he trusted. And not all doctors are willing to admit they have misjudged their treatment protocol. If you think Dr. Jones is guilty of malpractice, he should be reported to his state medical board.

WASHINGTON (UPI) – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration warns consumers not to eat tomalley in American lobster (Maine Lobster), no matter where the lobster was harvested.

FDA officials said tomalley — the green substance found in a lobster’s body that functions as the animal’s liver and pancreas — might be contaminated with dangerous levels of the toxins that cause paralytic shellfish poisoning, or PSP.

The federal agency said American lobsters, also known as Maine lobsters, are harvested from the Atlantic Ocean from Northeastern Canada to South Carolina.

The FDA said its advisory applies only to tomalley, since cooking doesn’t eliminate PSP toxins.

“However, studies have shown that, even when high levels of PSP toxins are present in lobster tomalley, lobster meat itself is typically unaffected,” the FDA said.

“Lobster tomalley normally does not contain dangerous levels of PSP toxins,” the agency said in a statement. “The current high levels of PSP toxins likely are associated with an ongoing red tide episode in northern New England and eastern Canada. Authorities in Maine, Massachusetts and New Hampshire, as well as in Canada, have issued advisories cautioning against eating tomalley.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International

HOUSTON (UPI) – HIV researchers at the University of Texas Medical School in Houston said they think they’ve found the chink in armor of the virus linked to AIDS.

The vulnerable spot is hidden in a protein essential for the Human Immunodeficiency Virus, the virus that causes Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, to attach to host cells, the university said in a release.

An HIV vaccine doesn’t exist because HIV is a mutating virus.

The scientists said they are focusing on a stretch of amino acids on HIV’s envelope protein gp120.

“Unlike the changeable regions of its envelope, HIV needs at least one region that must remain constant to attach to cells. If this region changes, HIV cannot infect cells,” said Sudhir Paul, a pathology professor at the UT Medical School.

Paul’s group engineered antibodies with enzymatic activity, called abzymes, that can attack the virus’s weakness.

“The abzymes recognize essentially all of the diverse HIV forms found across the world. This solves the problem of HIV changeability,” Paul said. “The next step is to confirm our theory in human clinical trials.”

The theory was in a recent issue of Autoimmunity Reviews and will be presented during the International AIDS Conference Aug. 3-8 in Mexico City.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International