Sickness

Did you know that "thinspiration" websites existed? I have to say that, until yesterday, I was blissfully unaware of them. Unaware that young girls were using the Internet to encourage one another in their pursuit of anorexia, or "ana" as they fondly call it. Here are a few, if you can stand to look:

http://ana-beauty.webs.com/best100thingstoknow.htm: read all of these if you really want to be ill.

http://www.prettythin.com/

http://thinspiration-pictures.blogspot.com/

http://pro-ana-angels.wetpaint.com/page/Real+Thinspiration

http://ana-beauty.webs.com/mustknows.htm: this last one has this bit of wisdom I'm sure we all need to know: "Use oil free moisturizers when you moisturize, oil is fat!"

Moms of girls, even if your daughter is the healthiest person both emotionally and physically, block these sites with a net nanny - do something! These sites are poisonous.

Official Diet Update: One Week

One week in and I have lost 1.5 pounds. I have 23.5 pounds to go.

From now on I'll update this every 2 weeks, since there's bound to be weeks where nothing moves, and that's too depressing to think about, much less write about.

The Best Sunscreen

The Environmental Working Group has put together a list of the best (and worst) sunscreens out there. Read, shop, and then enjoy the beach!

Grape Juice

As it turns out, grape juice may be almost as good for you as red wine. Which is pretty cool, at least for those of us who are forced to forego red wine.

HT Instapundit

Vaccines, Post 6,267,890,876

Here's a short article on the failure to find a link between the measles vaccine and autism:

http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2008/09/03/study-shows-no-connection-between-measles-vaccine-autism/?mod=googlenews_wsj

I don't want y'all to think I have no sympathy for parents digging around for the cause of their child's autism. Or sensory processing disorder, PDD, speech delay ADHD/ADD, you name it. Husband and I have been through some comparatively mild "issues" with Two and it is beyond a doubt very frustrating. We all want answers to our questions, and we want them times 10 when it comes to our children, because we generally take our "job" of parenting very seriously and want to get it right.

But there are 2 things I want to point out. First. we can't "get it right" as parents. Not all the time, not in spite of of our best efforts. We need to do the best we can and move on - and sometimes that involves living without all the right answers. Second, I learned fairly early as a parent (oh, day 3 or so) that as much as doctors want to tell us they have all the answers, they don't. They're guessing at their job just as much as you are guessing at yours. We all make decisions at work every day where we rely on the best facts on hand to give advice and move forward with projects - but we really don't know 100% if it's going to work. "Will this clause hold up in court?" I think so - I can't find case law that says it won't. "Will this marketing initiative really increase sales by 30%?" It's new, it tested well, I think it will help the business. But if we all waited for "for sure" our worlds would grind to a halt.

For me, vaccines are the best guess out there as to what's right for my boys. They have a long track record of success, both on an individual level and on a public health level. They have literally saved the lives of millions of children. That's the best evidence out there right now, and I'm relying on it.

Vaccination Frustration

I've written about this subject several times, but here's yet another article on the effects of free-loaders on the US vaccination program.

"Measles cases in the U.S. are at the highest level in more than a decade, with nearly half of those involving children whose parents rejected vaccination, health officials reported Thursday."

I don't get it. I just don't.

Re-Defining "Dead"?

As wonderful as organ donation is, this story about taking organs - specifically hearts - from infants less than 2 minutes after life support is turned off is certainly disturbing. Even more disturbing - this happened as part of a federally-funded study. James Burdick of the Department of Health and Human Services, which funded the study, has this to say: assertions that the babies were not dead [are] "fussy semantics" that do not "really make common sense." Hmmm.

"The whole area of organ donation relies on the public trusting physicians, in that they believe they won't murder them or commit homicide. They won't hasten their deaths," said Arthur L. Caplan, a University of Pennsylvania bioethicist. "We ought not underestimate public unease."

Exactly.

Love and Smells

This is so fascinating - I heard it on BBC News on the way to work and it's written up in The Times as well. As the headline says:

"The Pill may put you off smell of your man and ruin your relationship"

Read it. Seriously.

"Commenting on the latest study, the researchers said that it could indicate that the Pill disrupts women’s ability to judge the genetic compatibility of men by means of their smell.
They said that this might not only impact on fertility and miscarriage risk, but could even contribute to the end of relationships as women who stop or start taking the Pill no longer find their boyfriend or husband so attractive."

Definitely one to file under "whodathunkit?"

Vaccine Denial

A good article on vaccinations and the dangers caused by free-riding, by Glenn Reynolds:

http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/health_medicine/4273262.html

Iron Lung

I thought this was interesting, in a sick, scary kind of way. It's a picture of an Iron Lung ward from the 1940's - full of children suffering from polio. Kinda makes you glad for those IPV vaccinations, doesn't it?

BTW, the shields over each patient's head are mirrors: the only way an iron lung patient can make eye contact with another person.