| A shot in the arm for flu season
It's that time of year again: flu season. (Minnesota confirmed its first case last week.) Here are some things to keep in mind about what you can do to protect yourself.Q Who should get a flu shot?A Anyone who wants to reduce the chances of getting the flu. The government recommends flu shots for all adults older than 50; children ages 6 months to 5 years; anyone in between with underlying conditions, such as pregnancy or chronic illness, that make them more vulnerable to complications, and others such as caregivers. Q When is the best time to get a flu shot?A According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. flu season peaks between December and March. It's recommended that you get your shot during October and November, so now is the time. Even if you delay, you're likely to benefit if you get the shot any time during the season.Q There are drugs that are effective against the flu.
Letters to the Editor
Phallic inspiration or not, I often admire the esthetics of well-designed tall buildings and even understand some of the benefits of denser land use. However, I seem to have missed one obvious question in these several years of passionate debate about downtown Berkeley height limits: How are persons rescued from “16-story point towers" in case of earthquake or fire? Gerta Farber • NATURE OF DEATH Editors, Daily Planet: In his thoughtful “Sonata on Important Things" (Nov. 2) Marvin Chachere offers a formulation, for himself and for the rest of us, on the nature of death. It invites contemplation and, perhaps, some further assessment. He first relates an assertion by Professor George Wald that “death does not exist in the non-human world and must therefore have meaning only among humans." While this seems generally true, there is convincing evidence that elephants and the gorilla Koko have shown clear awareness of death as well as empathy for the dead, if not actual mourning.
Temporomandibular Joint Disorders
Temporomandibular joint disorders are common in adults; as many as one third of adults report having one or more symptoms, which include jaw or neck pain, headache, and clicking or grating within the joint. Most symptoms improve without treatment, but various noninvasive therapies may reduce pain for patients who have not experienced relief from self-care therapies. Physical therapy modalities (e.g., iontophoresis, phonophoresis), psychological therapies (e.g., cognitive behavior therapy), relaxation techniques, and complementary therapies (e.g., acupuncture, hypnosis) are all used for the treatment of temporomandibular joint disorders; however, no therapies have been shown to be uniformly superior for the treatment of pain or oral dysfunction. Noninvasive therapies should be attempted before pursuing invasive, permanent, or semi-permanent treatments that have the potential to cause irreparable harm.
Parents, officials struggle over right to refuse vaccines
Marie Hansen of Spanish Fork says something changed the day she took her son Dylan to his 1-year-old doctor's appointment. Until then, Dylan had been successfully overcoming developmental problems caused by his low birth weight. But when he got his MMR and chicken pox immunization shots, he started crying uncontrollably and stopped breathing regularly. Doctors and nurses were eventually able to stabilize him, but Hansen says she never learned exactly what happened. She assumes it was a seizure, but all she really knows is that she soon realized something was wrong. "He just seemed really off the next week," Hansen said. "He didn't really run a fever or anything, he was just off. The best way I can describe it is that he kind of lost the spark in his eye. I can show you pictures and it's just night and day." Hansen is among a small but growing number of parents who choose not to vaccinate their children, and according to the medical community, consequently increase the population's risk of disease.
St. Amant firefighters receive FEMA grant
ST. AMANT — The Federal Emergency Management Agency awarded a $110,960 grant to the St. Amant Volunteer Fire Department, Fire Chief James LeBlanc said Tuesday. "It’s the third year in a row we have received a FEMA grant," LeBlanc said. "That’s about $300,000 the parish didn’t have to pay," he said of the three grants. Other fire departments on the east bank of the parish also have received grants, bringing the total received in the past three years to more than $500,000, LeBlanc said. The grant announced Tuesday will be used to buy firefighting protective gear, a thermal imagining camera that locates fires inside walls, complete training lesson plans with laptop computers, a PowerPoint system and training manuals, LeBlanc said.
Medical facilities snuff out smoking
The road signs, bright and conspicuous, will be posted Thursday at all driveway entrances to Providence Alaska Medical Center. Outside its doors will be more signs with the polite but firm message: "This is a no smoking campus." And, in places where smokers used to huddle, near entrance-way trash cans, reminder stickers will be placed where cigarette butts were once crushed. .
Keeping cat burglars out of the bird feeder
Dear Dr. Fox: I would like to offer a suggestion to C.B.S. of Salisbury, Md., who had the problem of neighborhood cats hanging around the birdhouses and feeders.Try laying down chicken wire on the ground under them in whatever diameter needed. It's said that cats don't like the feel on their paws; and the birds can still feed off the ground.My birds have learned to be somewhat aware of my cats -- I have eight. Luckily, the cats have outgrown stalking the birds, but I still try not to encourage ground feeders.I used the chicken wire a few years ago when a Carolina wren insisted on nesting on my kitchen window ledge. All seven babies flew off safely, so it must have at least helped.It's worth giving the chicken wire a try; but, truthfully, controlling outside cats is next to impossible.-- S.R.C, Great Falls, Va.Dear S.R.C.: Thanks for the good advice.
New lawsuit filed to stop moth plan
SAN JOSE -- In a last-ditch effort to stop aerial spraying aimed at eliminating the light brown apple moth, three Santa Cruz County women are suing the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the state Department of Food and Agriculture, saying their civil rights have been violated and that they have not received due process. .
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