Heard of swine flu? Chances are you have – media coverage of the H1N1 virus, also known as the swine flu virus, is virtually nonstop. While the disease does not appear to be exceptionally widespread or virulent at this time, recognizing the symptoms is an important part of protecting yourself.

If you live in an area where swine flu has been confirmed, be aware of early symptoms including fever, aches, sore throat, nausea, vomiting or diarrhea, and contact your health care provider – he or she will determine whether testing for swine flu is needed. If the illness progresses to the symptoms listed below, seek emergency medical care.

For adults:

• Pain or pressure in the chest or abdomen
• Sudden dizziness
• Confusion
• Severe or persistent vomiting

For children:

• Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath
• Pain or pressure in the chest or abdomen
• Sudden dizziness
• Confusion
• Severe or persistent vomiting

From Dr. Weil.com

Worried About Flu?
In addition to practicing common-sense safety precautions such as washing your hands, covering your mouth and nose when you sneeze, and avoiding those who are sick, consider taking Watkins Rezist Plus that contains ImmunEnhancer™ with arabinogalactan (AG), found to be twice as effective as echinacea in boosting the immune system.

By Nicole McEwen, Lifescript Staff Writer
Published September 15, 2009

Patrick Swayze’s battle with pancreatic cancer ended yesterday when the beloved actor, best known for his roles in Dirty Dancing and Ghost, passed away at age 57. However, the disease doesn’t just strike men – women are at risk too.

How common is pancreatic cancer?
Pancreatic cancer is rare, striking 5 out of every 100,000 annually or about 42,000 Americans, according to the American Cancer Society. It occurs nearly twice as often in men as women, but pancreatic cancer is still the fifth leading cause of death for women in the U.S. It’s the fourth leading cause of death for men.

Because pancreatic cancer is hard to diagnose and treat, the mortality rate is high. About 35,000 Americans die from the disease every year.

Research shows the average person has a 1% chance of getting pancreatic cancer, says Robert McWilliams, M.D., an oncologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. That risk doubles to 2% if someone in the family has the condition. As the baby boomer generation nears retirement age, the number of people afflicted with pancreatic cancer is expected to rise. Overall though, pancreatic cancer tends to strike the elderly. Most are just over 70 years of age when diagnosed. Only 20% are under 60.

What causes pancreatic cancer?
Like other forms of cancer, pancreatic cancer is caused by mutations in DNA. Genetics, a poor diet and/or smoking may play a role in triggering the mutations. It typically starts in the tissues of the pancreas but may spread to the liver, lymph nodes and other surrounding areas.

As many as 20 different tumors have been found to grow on and around the pancreas. Each is different and may require different treatment.

Where is the pancreas and what does it do?
Your pancreas is the large organ behind the lower part of the stomach. It secretes enzymes that aid digestion and hormones that help regulate sugar metabolism.

“The pancreas is the geographic center of your body,” says Scott Kern, Ph.D., an associate professor of oncology and pathology and pancreatic cancer researcher at the Sol Goldman Pancreatic Cancer Research at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, Md. “You can’t see it, you can’t feel it, and normal secretions can’t be seen without special equipment.”

What are the symptoms of pancreatic cancer?
Unfortunately, symptoms usually don’t appear until the disease is advanced, McWilliams says. That’s mainly due to the pancreas’ hidden location and behind-the-scenes role in bodily functions. When symptoms do surface, they include:

Upper abdominal pain
Yellowing of the skin and whites of the eyes (jaundice)
Loss of appetite
Weight loss
Depression

What are the risk factors?
Researchers know this much: Men and women are at equal risk for pancreatic cancer. But certain factors could put you at increased risk:

Smoking
Obesity
Family history of multiple pancreatic cancers
Diet high in animal fat
History of chronic inflammation of the pancreas (pancreatitis)

Smoking accounts for 25%-30% of pancreatic cancers. Cigarettes – or any burning tobacco product – release a chemical that can cause healthy cells to turn cancerous, says an International Journal of Cancer study.

Several studies show that obesity can raise the risk of pancreatic cancer by as much as 60%. A study conducted by the Women’s Health Initiative reported that obese people – those with a body-mass index over 30 – have increased levels of insulin, which may cause the disease.

In particular, abdominal fat can raise your risk, says Rachel Stolzenberg-Solomon, M.D., a researcher at the National Cancer Institute’s Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics in Bethesda. A British Journal of Cancer study reported that obese women who carry most of their weight around their belly are 70% more likely to develop the disease than those whose weight is more evenly distributed.

August 10, 2009 Associated Press/AP Online.

ATLANTA — Get ready to roll up your sleeve three times for flu shots this fall. That’s right, three times. This year’s flu season is shaping up to be a very different one. Most people will need one shot for the regular seasonal flu and probably two others to protect against the new swine flu.

Experts suggest you get that first shot as early as this month — if you can find it.

“We’d like to get to Job 1 and get most of it done,” said Dr. William Schaffner, a Vanderbilt University flu expert, referring to seasonal flu vaccinations.

“Get it done before we start to tackle Job 2,” the more complex task of swine flu vaccinations, he added.

The five vaccine manufacturers that supply the United States are finishing up production of seasonal flu vaccine earlier than usual. Health officials say they expect about half of the more than 120 million doses of seasonal vaccine to be available by the end of this month. Most of the rest are due out by the end of September. Some manufacturers report that distributors are quickly buying up supplies.

Those five companies — including one that makes a nasal spray version of flu vaccine — are the same ones making the new swine flu vaccine. They are on track to start delivering the first batches of that in September, but the bulk of it isn’t expected until late October or November, health officials say.

That’s sparked questions about how all this is going to work.

Officials want to get as many people as possible vaccinated against both forms of flu, but a lot of that depends on consumers and how many trips they’ll be willing to make to get shots.

Why can’t you get one shot for all — or maybe just two?

The reasons have to do with logistics and caution.

Scientists believe the swine flu vaccine will be most effective if given in two doses, about three weeks apart, although testing is still under way to check that.

Combining swine flu and seasonal flu in one shot is theoretically possible, but it was too late to try it this year. Decisions were made last winter about what flu strains to use in this year’s seasonal vaccine, and production was too far along by the time swine flu hit in April to alter the formula.

So seasonal flu and swine flu will have to be given as separate doses, even if it’s during the same appointment.

But it’s not a matter of just giving both to whoever comes in. Supplies are expected to be limited, so the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has two different lists for who should be first to get the seasonal flu shot and who should be first to get the swine flu shot.

For the regular flu vaccine, elderly people, health care workers and pregnant women are among the priority groups. For the swine flu vaccine, health care workers and pregnant women are on the list but not older people, who seem to have some immunity to swine flu.

If all the flu shots were given at about the same time, it could mean a mash of people, some of whom should be among the first to get one shot and not the other.

“I think it’s safe to say we expect some confusion,” said Kristine Sheedy, a CDC communications specialist.

Then, there are safety questions.

Health officials are haunted by the swine flu vaccine campaign in 1976, which was stopped after unexpectedly high numbers of patients suffered a paralyzing condition called Guillain-Barre Syndrome. While it’s not clear the vaccine was to blame, health officials want to carefully monitor people who get the new swine flu vaccine for any problems.

Scientists are just beginning to test the safety and effectiveness of the new swine flu vaccine, work that is expected to take months. If the seasonal flu and swine flu vaccines were given at the same sitting and some people developed health problems, it would be hard to single out which vaccine caused the problem, or whether it was the combination of them.

“How you’re going to separate that out — that’s a doozer,” said Dr. Samuel Katz, a Duke University vaccines expert, who was a developer of the measles vaccine.

So the government is looking at three shots, preferably over three visits.

That’s daunting. Over the years, the public hasn’t been great about getting even one flu shot: Just one in three U.S. adults got flu shots last year, CDC data indicate.

“To come two or three times? That’s expecting a lot, of public response,” said Katz.

Health officials traditionally kick off an autumn vaccine campaign against seasonal flu in late September or October with a news conference in Washington D.C. But this year, the news conference — which features the CDC director — has been moved up to Sept. 10.

Unofficially, the push for seasonal vaccinations begins even sooner, some health officials said.

“As soon as it becomes available, we’ll be encouraging people to get it,” said Carol Schriber, a spokeswoman for the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services

ThirdAge.com

By Nicholas Diakopoulos

A dozen or so older adults at California’s Folsom Senior Center erupt in cheers and clapping as Elsie Offner, a 91-year-old resident of Folsom, bowls a strike.

The senior center doesn’t have lanes, but it does have a new bit of gaming technology, a Nintendo Wii. And with it comes Wii bowling, by far the most popular video game with the seniors who frequent the community center.

“It gets you out of your rocking chair,” said Offner, when asked what she liked best about the game.

And these types of video games bring with them substantial social benefits.

“It allows them to gather socially and feel social without leaving the comfort of the senior lounge,” said Sandy Hilton, the senior center’s community services manager.

While playing video games promotes social connectedness and friendships, other benefits — such as the improvement and sharpening of the minds’ abilities — are still being uncovered.

Cognitive or mental decline is a hallmark of aging. Most of us, at some point or other, will begin to see our memory, attention or reasoning capabilities falter. Recent research from the University of Virginia suggests that such declines can begin as early as our late 20s to early 30s.

Video games are emerging as a powerful new stimulant for helping to buttress and buffer the mind against the march of time.

Research over the past decade has repeatedly shown that games and other brain exercises can be effective aliments to declines in cognitive functioning, including memory, attention, processing speed, problem solving and mental flexibility.

The ACTIVE study published by the American Medical Association in 2006 showed that benefits for older adults can be seen five years after cognitive training — including positive effects on daily functioning.

Researchers at North Carolina State University and the Georgia Institute of Technology are teaming up to take the next step in understanding games’ benefits to cognitive functioning.

Anne McLaughlin, a North Carolina State assistant professor, has been awarded a $1.2 million grant from the National Science Foundation to uncover the aspects of games that have the most potential to improve cognitive functioning in older adults.

“We want to produce guidelines for people making games,” McLaughlin said. “The goal is to predict beforehand whether they’re working or not.” Once the guidelines are understood, collaborators at Georgia Tech will incorporate them into real working games.

This is important because a majority of commercial software marketed as enhancing cognition or brain function, such as Nintendo “Brain Age,” lack experimental evidence. The Food and Drug Administration does not evaluate or regulate claims about how such software could have beneficial health effects.

Companies such as Lumos Labs in San Francisco are not only developing cognitive training games, but also evaluating them.

“We are taking exercises and specific ways of doing cognitive development and converting them into games so that they are enjoyable enough for people to do,” said Mike Scanlon, head of scientific operations at Lumos Labs.

The games on Lumos’ site, Lumosity.com, aren’t explicitly developed for older adults because training on games can provide benefits for a wide range of age groups.

Games are organized into training programs consisting of 20 to 40 sessions of 15 minutes each. Each session in turn can involve playing up to five different mini-games for a few minutes each.

Adults are not the only ones who benefit from nutritious and regular breakfasts. Research has shown that children who eat breakfast perform better on tests, spend less time in the nurse’s office, and get better grades. Why is breakfast so important? 

Eat the Good Fat First
Choosing healthy-fat appetizers may help you eat less, lose weight

If you’re trying to watch your weight, you don’t have to forgo appetizers altogether. In fact, choosing the right starter before your meal may actually help you eat less overall. So don’t deprive yourself of that fresh whole-grain bread and olive oil the next time a waiter brings it to your table. It may be your diet’s best friend.

Eating a small amount of healthy unsaturated fat – think olive oil, nuts, avocado, and fish – before a meal triggers a chain reaction in your digestive system that slows the rate at which your stomach empties, which means you feel fuller faster. It also helps keep your blood sugar levels from spiking after your meal and makes it easier for your body to absorb fat-soluble nutrients, such as vitamins A, D, E, and K, as well as lycopene and lutein.

It doesn’t take much: Just 70 calories worth will do the trick. That’s about 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil, 6 walnuts, 10 almonds, 1/4 of a medium avocado, or 2 ounces of smoked salmon.

So ditch the chips and instead try some of these delicious healthy-fat appetizers.

Spicy Almonds
Makes 2 cups
Serving size: 12 almonds
Calories per serving: 89

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups dry-roasted, unsalted almonds
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 teaspoons Watkins Chili Powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon Watkins Cayenne Pepper

1. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet until hot but not smoking, then add the almonds and stir to combine.
2. Add the Worcestershire sauce, sugar, chili powder, and salt and stir until the almonds are evenly coated.
3. Remove from heat and spread the almonds in an even layer on a baking sheet.
4. Sprinkle them evenly with cayenne pepper and allow to cool.

Savory Olive Tapenade
Makes 10 servings
Serving size: 2 tablespoons
Calories per serving: 74

1 teaspoon capers
3/4 cup green olives, pitted
3/4 cup black olives, pitted
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
Watkins Granulated Black Pepper or freshly ground Watkins Peppercorns, to taste

1. Combine all the ingredients in a food processor and pulse until the olives are finely chopped.
2. Serve with baked whole-wheat pita chips or thinly sliced and toasted whole-wheat bread.

Zesty Pesto Spread
Makes 14 servings
Serving size: 2 tablespoons
Calories per serving: 70

1 1/2 cups fresh spinach leaves
1/2 cup fresh basil
2 cloves garlic
1/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup walnuts
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
Watkins Granulated Black Pepper or freshly ground Watkins Peppercorns, to taste

1. Combine all the ingredients, except the olive oil, in a food processor until the mixture is finely chopped.
2. Then, with the food processor running, slowly pour in the olive oil until it’s all incorporated.
3. Spread onto whole-wheat crackers.

From RealAge.com

Eleisia
http://www.watkinsonline.com/eleisiawhitney

Most everyone has experienced hiccups at some point in their life. This normal reflex occurs when the diaphragm muscles in the lower part of the chest go into spasm. The resulting rapid movement of the chest is harmless but can be annoying, and can last anywhere from a few minutes to as much as an hour.

If you suffer from recurring or chronic hiccups, try monitoring your food and beverage intake: Eating too quickly (or too much) and drinking carbonated or alcoholic beverages can cause hiccups. Stress, smoking and swallowing large amounts of air can also be factors. If your hiccups last more than a few days, or recur frequently, see your physician to rule out an underlying medical condition.

From www.drweil.com

Question
Is there a difference between whole grain and whole wheat bread? Is nine-grain bread better than seven-grain?

Answer
You probably already know it’s best to eat whole wheat or whole grain bread. But when you walk down the bread aisle in the grocery store, you’re hit with multi-grain, seven-grain, nine-grain, and stone ground, too. What to buy?

First, read the label. A bread is considered whole grain if the front of the package says “whole wheat” or “whole grain” or if the first ingredient contains the word “whole” (for example, “whole rye” or “whole cornmeal”). If the front of the label says “made with whole grain,” “made with whole wheat,” “multi-grain,” “seven-grain,” “nine-grain,” etc., it’s mostly a refined grain — not a whole grain. If the package says it contains wheat flour or unbleached flour, that doesn’t mean it’s whole grain either. Bottom line: Whole wheat and whole grain breads are the real deal; the others may not be. Aim for those that contain 3 grams or more of fiber and fewer than 100 calories per slice.

Whole Grain
Whole grain breads add more texture and fiber to your diet. They also retain vitamins, minerals, fiber, phytoestrogens, lignans, and antioxidants. Bread loses those properties when grains are refined. A whole grain means that the entire bran, germ, and endosperm are intact, no matter what grain the bread is made with. The bran is a good source of fiber and B-complex vitamins, the endosperm provides protein and carbohydrates, and the germ is the only part that contains fat and is rich in thiamin. Look for varieties that say 100% whole grain.

Whole Wheat
Whole wheat bread also contains the entire bran, germ, and endosperm of the grain. The only difference? The grain used is always wheat. Stone ground wheat bread indicates the grains were ground with a stone mill rather than by steel blades. This doesn’t mean the grains are necessarily better, but the technique may produce softer bread, so they’re sometimes more expensive. For a bread to be 100% whole wheat, make sure the first ingredient is whole wheat flour.

Multigrain
This term can be deceiving. Many multigrain breads are made with the same flour as white breads, while each of the grains listed on the front of the package may make up just 2% of the bread. Look at the ingredients list: If the first grain is “enriched white flour,” it is not a whole grain bread! It may be made with many grains, but it’s mostly white flour.

Brown Bread
Brown bread does not mean whole grain, nor does it mean it’s necessarily better for you than white bread. Some companies add food coloring to their bread to make it brown. Pumpernickel, a common brown bread, is made with rye and wheat flour. It can be a whole grain, but isn’t always, so read the ingredients list, looking for the word “whole” high up.

White Bread
This is a refined grain. During processing, the bran and endosperm are removed from the wheat flour, depleting the white bread of zinc, fiber, thiamin, niacin, and trace elements. If you grew up on white bread and like the texture better, transition to wheat bread. Start with your favorite White Bread Made with Whole Grains or a Multi-Grain Bread before heading to straight-up whole wheat.

By Harvard Medical School

Swine Flu: Questions and Answers from Harvard Medical School

An epidemic of swine flu has recently developed in Mexico and the United States, says the CDC. Swine flu has killed many people, and the outbreak has features that suggest it could become a global pandemic. A pandemic is an epidemic that spreads around the whole world. Pandemics also often cause more severe disease than epidemics.

As of Sunday, April 26, the United States has declared a public health emergency, and suspect or confirmed cases are being reported from many parts of the world. If a pandemic happens, it could be very serious for human health and the global economy (which definitely does not need any more bad news right now).

Q: What are “swine flu” and “bird flu”?

A: Flu is a disease caused by the influenza virus. Humans, pigs, birds, and other animals all can be infected by influenza viruses. Typically, influenza viruses can infect only one species, so the influenza viruses of humans are different from those of pigs and birds. However, sometimes a virus can infect more than one species. For example, pigs sometimes can be infected not only with pig influenza viruses, but also with human and bird influenza viruses. Then these viruses can sidle up to one another and swap genes, creating new viruses that have a mix of genes—from human, pig, and bird viruses. That is what has happened with this new swine flu virus.

Sometimes this swapping of genes allows a virus that was originally able to infect only pigs or only birds to also infect humans. When that happens, we refer to the illness as “swine flu” or “bird flu.” This current virus could actually be called “swine/bird flu,” since it has some genes from pig flu viruses and other genes from bird flu viruses. However, for simplicity sake, it is just being referred to as “swine flu.”

Q: Are swine flu or bird flu viruses dangerous?

A: Most viruses that cause swine flu or bird flu are very hard to pass from one human to another: they don’t cause epidemics. Sometimes, however, further changes in genes create a virus that can spread rapidly among humans, and can produce a more severe illness. One reason this illness is more severe is that the virus is so new. The regular flu that comes each year is caused by a regular human influenza virus that often has similarities to the viruses that have caused the flu in years past, so people have some degree of immunity to the latest virus. The unusual swine flu or bird flu viruses that develop the ability for person-to-person spread are so different that people have little or no immunity to them. That is what some experts worry may be happening with swine flu.

Q: How bad can a global pandemic be?

A: The worst global pandemic in modern times was the influenza pandemic of 1918 to 1919. It affected about a third of the human race, and killed at least 40 million people in less than a year—more than have been killed by AIDS in three decades. The world economy went into a deep recession. The average length of life dropped for 10 years. In other words, global pandemics can be a really big deal. On the other hand, other pandemics have been considerably less serious than the 1918 to1919 influenza pandemic.

Q: Can this new swine flu virus be easily transmitted from person to person?

A: Unfortunately, the new swine flu virus can be transmitted between humans. It is not clear yet how easily it is transmitted, nor how it is transmitted. Almost surely it is transmitted by sneezing and coughing, and by skin-to-skin contact (like shaking hands or kissing) with an infected person.

Q: How sick do people get from this virus?

A: Most people infected with the virus have recovered from the illness. In fact, all of the people in the U.S. have recovered.

However, in Mexico, some people have kept getting sicker, and eventually died. The regular flu viruses that come each winter can occasionally cause severe illness and death. Most often, this happens in very young children or frail elderly people. What worries some experts is that many of the deaths in Mexico have been in young, healthy adults. In past pandemics, like the influenza pandemic of 1918 to 1919, it was also young, healthy people who were most likely to die. Experts are puzzled as to why the infection currently appears to be worse in Mexico than in the U.S.

Q: Are there treatments?

A: As of now, the new virus is killed by two antiviral medicines—oseltamivir and zanamivir. Based on experience with other flu viruses, treatment would be most effective if given within 2 days of the onset of symptoms. As long as this current swine flu virus is infecting people, it is likely that health authorities will recommend that people with more severe illness take these medicines.

On the other hand, there is no proven benefit from using the medicines before symptoms develop, and there is proven harm: unnecessary widespread use of these drugs could produce drug-resistant viruses.

There is no vaccine yet for the new virus, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has expressed doubt that this year’s regular flu vaccine will offer protection.

Q: How do I know if I’ve caught swine flu?

A: The initial symptoms of this flu virus are like those of the regular, annual flu viruses: fever, muscle aches, runny nose, and sore throat. Nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea may be more common with this swine flu than with the regular flu. If this epidemic hits your community and you develop flu-like symptoms, it is likely your doctor will take samples from your throat or material you cough up and send them to the state public health laboratory for testing.

Q: How do I protect myself?

A: To protect yourself from catching swine flu, take the same steps you would to prevent getting any cold or flu:

Wash your hands or use alcohol-based hand cleaners frequently.

When you greet people, don’t shake hands or exchange kisses.

Avoid contact with people with flu symptoms.

And to protect others, if you develop sneezing and coughing, be sure to use tissues to wipe your nose and cover your mouth, and to throw the tissues in the trash or toilet bowl.

Q: How long are people contagious?

A: Adults should be considered contagious until at least 7 days after the start of symptoms; with children, it may be 10 to 14 days.

Q: Can you get swine flu from eating pork?

A: Absolutely not. But, as you probably know, you need to cook pork thoroughly to avoid getting other illnesses that can be spread by undercooked meat.

Q: Will there be unusual restrictions on our lives if there is a global pandemic?

A: If there is a global pandemic, for some period of time, governments may well restrict travel (indeed, some governments already have). Governments also may close schools and public places, require as many people as possible to work from home, tell any people who develop symptoms to isolate themselves at home, and tell people to seek medical attention immediately if more serious symptoms develop. What are those symptoms?

For adults, teens, and kids age 3 to 12, the most worrisome symptoms are:

Shortness of breath

Persistent vomiting

Confusion

Dizziness

For children younger than 2, the most worrisome symptoms are:

Very rapid breathing

Not interacting normally, not eating or drinking normally, being unusually irritable, or appearing unusually sleepy

High fever and rash

A bluish color of the lips and skin

Are you worried about swine flu? See where cases have been spotted by clicking here.

2008 American Heart Association

The American Heart Association is committed to fightling heart disease and stroke. To learn more, visit online at www.americanheart.org or call 1-800-242-8721.