| Early addictions: Former meth user recalls drug's first days in Carlsbad
Editor's note: This is part of an occasional series on methamphetamine's hold on North County.The teenage boys sat at the late-night Carlsbad coffee shop, twitching and anxious, laughing and loud, out of their minds on methamphetamine and oblivious to the police officers sitting in the next booth. The police, apparently unaware that they were witnessing the effects of a deadly drug that was quickly gaining a foothold in their city, were likewise oblivious to the boys' ruckus. It was the early 1980s, and Robert Church, 39, was one of those boys."In the early days, police were not even hip to meth at all," Church said in a recent interview.The fast-spreading drug seemed one step ahead of the law back then. Penalties for possession were light, users were not as easily recognized and the drug itself was plentiful.A commercial laboratory on Palomar Airport Road openly sold what could only be called do-it-yourself meth kits, with precursor chemicals, heating elements, flasks and cooling devices packaged together for their customers, Church said.The lab eventually was shut down, but by then meth had become the drug of choice for many in the community.Old and the newChurch said the emergence of meth in Carlsbad was quick and a seemingly natural outgrowth of the small beach town's permissiveness and laid-back character."Carlsbad then was nothing like Carlsbad today," he said about his childhood city of the 1970s.
100 pounds down and counting
Obesity is an epidemic. Losing weight is the cure. But that can be such a challenge, whether you have 5 pounds to lose or 50. Still, it can be done. Meet three people who prove it. Two have lost more than 100 pounds each. The third is more than halfway to her goal of doing the same. Let them be your inspiration. Sharice Miller Sharice Miller grew up eating right, "for the most part. I was a healthy child. I wasn't an overweight child, but I wasn't thin." But with her first pregnancy, with twins, she gained weight that she never entirely got rid of. With her second pregnancy, she gained more and developed chronic hypertension and postpartum cardiomyopathy --"My heart is enlarged." Two more babies pushed her weight even higher. Then, she happened to see herself reflected in a building's window on her way to vote.
Corzine's a turkey to state workers used to Friday off
Governor Corzine, you are the blackguard who ruined Black Friday. You are a political Scrooge who ordered thousands of us underappreciated (and slightly hung over) Bob Cratchits back to work tomorrow just to score some points with voters. It's anti-family. It's anti-shopping. It's anti-American. These sentiments seethe through a sampling of the 2,500 e-mails from New Jersey government state workers sent to the governor, protesting his refusal to declare the Friday after Thanksgiving a paid day off. Corzine's decision bucks a decades-old tradition that has morphed into a de facto entitlement. The excerpts, provided by Corzine's office at the request of The Record, reverberate with shock, disbelief and a sense of betrayal that a pro-labor, liberal Democrat -- their guy, for goodness' sake -- would stoop so low.
Nutrition: Fighting cholesterol through diet
It's possible. Studies show that you can lower your cholesterol through diet. It often takes a little bit of a lifestyle change, but chances are, with a little hard work, you'll feel better. Diet therapy should really be the first line of treatment with elevated cholesterol, and if medication is involved, diet should also be included. A change in diet, if on cholesterol lowering medications or not, will help decrease the overall risk of heart disease. A low-cholesterol diet is classified as a daily intake of less than 300 mg of cholesterol, less than 7 percent calories from saturated fat, and less than 30 percent of calories from fat, and an increase of complex carbohydrates in place of the refined, processed carbohydrates. Sound familiar? It's a standard healthy diet. But the reduction in cholesterol and total fat as well as refined carbohydrates will benefit health in a variety of ways.
Meridian Bioscience Receives FDA Clearance For Two New Rapid Tests For The Detection Of Influenza And Respiratory ...
Meridian Bioscience, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIVO) announced that it has received clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to market two new upper respiratory tests: TRU FLU® and TRU RSV®. These tests are based upon a new rapid test technology that features improved safety and space savings. TRU FLU® detects both influenza A and influenza B while TRU RSV® detects for respiratory syncytial virus. These companion tests are ideal for the diagnosis of common upper respiratory diseases.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), up to 60 million people in the United States will contract influenza this year. More that 200,000 people are likely to be hospitalized due to the disease and approximately 36,000 people die each year from influenza.
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