Blogs.

__**Traumatic Brain Injury**__
Robert Warren, who is a U.S Army, Heavy equipment operater that had a rocket gernade explode millimeters away from his head. It caused his left temperal lobe and part of his frontallobe to be affected. Some everyday things such as ability to speak, and his memory was hindered by the TBI. It's upsetting to see how he has a wife and a baby on the way and it is hard for him to remember. It is also hard for him to remember simple things such as flowers, or a watch. Eventually, a titanium mesh prosthetic was implanted inside his head. His recovery is slow but he's showing a great amount of progress. It amazes me how technology and medical procedures can help Robert and other U.S military personel recover from injuries at war.

[|Health Care thoughts: Leave the gun, take the cannolis]
On October 13th, 2010 the federal government arrested 73 people. These people allegedly created over 100 fake health care clinics. It was stated that the health care clinics were spread out in over 12 states. Not only were they creating the cliniccs and taking care of patients illegally but they billed insurance companys. Medicare and Medicaid were two of the insurance companies that were billed in over 160 million dollars. An Armenian man was in charge of the whole scheme and they stole identities of doctors and patients. In my opinion i find it weird that the insurance companies didn't catch that the health care clinics were not legit. It is also scary that the government and cops did not catch the phony clinics at an earlier date.

[|Thinking about Research]
-http://www.econ.yale.edu/seminars/labor/lap10/currie-101008.pdf

This blog talks about how research is done and refers to a study on how the use of EZpass and the less traffic congestion ultimately concluded to healthier infants. The blog itself did not interest me as much as the research paper. It provided the link and reading through it i found it very thorough and precise. Some of the findings that were made from the research is "E-ZPass reduced the incidence of prematurity and low birth weight among mothers within 2km of a toll plaza by 6.7-9.1% and 8.5-11.3% respectively, with larger effects for African-Americans, smokers, and those very close to toll plazas." I learned what is given off from cars is a lot of air pollution, which contributed to the poor health of premautre babies. It is incredible to read about how two totally different and unrelating things truly do relate.

[|CGI, Day 3 - Addressing Cancer in the Developing World: Health Equity and an Overlooked Public Health Crisis]
Third world countries have 56% of cancer cases in the world. Now that cancer is treatable and can be stopped it is unfortunate because the developing country can not afford the treatments needed. For example, Haiti only has ONE oncologist compared to Rwanda or Burundi who has none. One of the communicable diseases which is cervicle cancer is increasing in the developing world. A "cervicle cancer belt" is going around and only education and vaccinations can be provided to third world countries. Also, the American Cancer Society is going to try and get developing countries from the use of tobacco to reduce the amont of cancer. While cancer being the number one killer it is proven that with no intervention the next century it will kill 1,000,000,000 people.

A release my California Department of Public health was made and they stated that just 13.1 Californians reported smoking last year compared to 20.6 percent nationally. Now California proves to have the second lowest smoking rate in the country. Utah has the first lowest. This proves that California is now more health conscious and more conscous of the environment. This makes me very happy because not many people are smoking now and it may ultimately move towards the east coast and eventually the United States can stop smoking.
 * __ Second Quarter Blogs __**
 * __ 1. Californians are Smoking Less __**
 * By: Ian Lovett **

This article is about a family who wants to have a new years resolution of staying in shape and not spending too much money.One great alternative was the YMCA gym where families can join stay healthy without spending a lot of money. A great thing about the YMCA is that near by college students can join and only need to pay a small amount of 20 dollars. Another study shows that a group effort and working out with a group of people proves that you will commit better than working out alone. This article is good for people who want to lose weight for the new year but not spend their life savings at a fancy gym.
 * __ 2. Burning Calories but Not a Hole in your Wallet __**
 * By: Walecia Konrad **

The inventor of the Bair Hugger, Dr. Augustine has come out with important news that his invention which is supposed to keep patients warm during sugery may impose a problem. He now has a bettter idea and wants hospitals to stop using the device during certain operations because of danger to the patient. This anesthesiologist has invented this device to keep patients warm and studies showed that it produced benefits such as less bleeding and faster recovery. He now states that the invention poses danger to patients who are receiving implant devices such as artificial heart valves and joints. He says the forced air can spread bacteria associated with hospital acquired infections. This article really caught my eye because during one of my rotations i came across this specific device and learned about it. Now i am aware that it can impose problems to a patient when being used.
 * __ 3. Doctor Says a Device he Invented Imposes Risks __**
 * By Barry Meier **

=__4. The Case of the Missing o.b. Tampons__= Women these days have been noticing a dissapearence of their favorite O.B products. This is because of a serious health issue called Toxic Shock Syndrome. This product is very popular for its small applicator and not taking up too much room by they have been experiencing a temporary supply interruption. The company received complaints that customers are having health problems such as toxic shock syndrome, which causes fever, internal organ damage and even death. It is found that O.B tampons are having manufacturing issues and caused the TSS health problems. By: The Associated Press. In 2009 the teenage birthrate hit an all-time low. This resulted partly because of the bad economy. The rate was 39 births per 1000 girls from the ages 15-19. Their was a 6 percent decline from the previous year, and this is also the lowest since they started tracking teenage pregnancies in 1940. This is good because teenage pregnancies and teenage births are not safe. It is not safe for the mother or the baby because as a teenager you are not emotionally or physically ready to take care of another life other than your own. This is good news and hopefully teenage births will continue declining as the years go on.
 * By: Natasha Singer**
 * __5. Teenage Birthrate Falls 6 Percent__**

6. Childhood: A Caffeine Buzz From Soft Drinks

By NICHOLAS BAKALAR
A small study was preformed at a pediatric clinic. They suggested that children that are under the age of 12 years old are consuming daily too much caffeine that it may be interfering with their sleep. The source is caffeinated soft drinks such as Coca-Cola. 75 percent of 228 children in the study consumed caffeine. Children 5-7 swallowed about 52 milligrams a day. The study showed that consumption was also associated with bed-wetting. Maureen Storey states that "Caffeine is safe, even for children". A new study shows that they can not prove a direct link between caffeine and sleep problems.

=Third Quarter Blogs-= = =

By [|A. G. SULZBERGER]
This article is about a place in South Dakota where women go to keep their babies. In south dakota their is a new law that women who are seeking to get an abortion must talk to people in "pregnancy help centers". The state of south dakota is trying to reduce the amount of women who are having abortions. If they do plan on having one they must talk to someone who will explain the health effects and assist them into maintaining their pregnancy. This is such a good law because most women are getting abortions with out any thought put into it or advice. Now they can have advice whether an abortion is good or not.

Tokyo Issues Tap Water Warnings for Infants.

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By [|DAVID JOLLY] and [|KEVIN DREW]======

In tokyo infants are advised not to drink the tap water because of contamination. The water has been detected with radioactive iodine in the capital's water supply. The water was detected with 210 becquerels per liter and an infant is advised to only intake 100 becquerels per liter.The cheif cabinet secretary, Yukio Edano stated "It’s unfortunate, but the radiation is clearly being carried on the air from the Fukushima plant,”.