Sex For Charity

This is straight from Reuters…I think Jerry Lewis should consider the following.

SANTIAGO – A Chilean prostitute has auctioned 27 hours of sex to raise money for the country’s largest charity during an annual fund-raising campaign.

Speaking about Maria Carolina’s unusual donation, campaign organizer Mario Kreutzberger said he would not encourage “immoral” activities, but said he would accept her pledge.

South Dakota and Depression

Researchers believe that the activity levels and the amount of time spent outdoors contribute to the lower rates of depression in South Dakota. Interestingly South Dakota’s suicide rates are not congruent with the rates of depression.

A report released today ranks South Dakota as the healthiest state in
America when it comes to depression levels – a finding that flattered
officials here still view with some skepticism.

HIV/Aids Surveillance in Europe

These are alarming statistics…

The number of new HIV cases recorded in European Union countries has nearly doubled from 28.8 cases per one million residents in 1999 to 57.5 cases per one million residents in 2006, according to a reportb released on Friday by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, BBC News reports. More than 50% of cases are through heterosexual transmission,although men who have sex with men are at higher risk of infection, ECDC said (BBC News, 11/23).

The EuroHIV data, published in ECDC’s journal Eurosurveillance, found that in 2006, a total of 86,912 new HIV cases were reported across 50 of the 53 countries of the World Health Organization European Region. A total of 26,220 cases, or 30%, reported in E.U. countries, according to the data. The average rate of new HIV diagnosis across Europe is about 111 cases per one million residents, and the rate among countries in the European Union is 67 cases per one million residents (ECDC release, 11/23).

Schizophrenia Related to Winter Births??

Over the past several decades, a steady stream of studies has documented that people born in winter and spring have an increased risk for schizophrenia, a serious mental illness characterized by disordered thinking, hallucinations and other psychotic symptoms.

Explanations for the increased risk have ranged from the astrological — different signs of the zodiac have been associated with various mental problems — to accounts that suggested the risk came from seasonal variations in sunlight.

Children With Bipolar Respond To Facial Expressions Differently

“This study suggests a neural basis for mania in children, which typically involves unusually irritable or excessively happy moods, and raises questions about whether treatments, therapy or medication could address these brain changes,” Dickstein said.

It is good to see that hard science and money are being put into psychiatric research.

Wash Your Hands!!

We all have been told by parents, grandparents and teachers, since the day we were born, to wash our hands. Now mounting evidence suggests that that hand washing better prevents the flu and SARS compared to vaccines and other anti-viral therapies.

Physical barriers, such as regular handwashing and wearing masks, gloves and gowns, may be more effective than drugs to prevent the spread of respiratory viruses such as influenza and SARS, a study has found.

The findings, published in the British Medical Journal, came as Britain announced it was doubling its stockpile of antiviral medicines in preparation for any future flu pandemic.

Interestingly after reading about hand washing, I see that the FDA is recommending that Tamiflu carry stronger warning labels.  This is due to “psychiatric problems” observed in a hand full of people who have taken the drug.

The drug’s label already mentions reports of delirium and self-injury, primarily among children in Japan, but some experts suggested that the language should mention that several patients died as a result of those abnormal behaviors.

Children’s Flu Vaccination Day

Tuesday, November 27, the CDC is sponsoring Children’s Flu Vaccination Day. This is coinciding with National Influenza Vaccination Week.  Follow this link to find influenza activity across the United States for the week of November 11 through November 17, 2007.

The 2007-2008 influenza season is just beginning, and nationwide,
influenza activity is currently very low. So far, only two states are
reporting local influenza activity. In the United States, influenza
activity can begin as early as October and continues through May. Each
year, on average, from five to 20 percent of the U.S. population is
infected with influenza, with influenza estimated to result in 36,000
deaths and more than 200,000 hospitalizations from flu-related
complications in a typical year.

Dirty Ambulance Rides

Ambulances are not being cleaned properly in The United Kingdom. An investigation by Unison found that ambos are typically given a quick mop out before they are returned to service.

Ambulance crews questioned by the union said targets, time and money were all to blame for different cleaning practices between trusts. In the worst example, ambulance crews in the North West have no dedicated cleaning staff or cleaning time. Paramedics report that they do not get time to even check the vehicles, which are never deep cleaned.

OOOOPS!

A Rhode Island hospital was recently fined for performing a brain operation on the wrong side of the patients head. Not that this is scary enough, but, this is the third time this mistake has been made this year. Remind me not to go to Rhode Island for brain surgery.

“We are extremely concerned about this continuing pattern,” Director of Health David R. Gifford said in a written statement. “While the hospital has made improvements in the operating room, they have not extended these changes to the rest of the hospital.”

Cannabis Relieves Pain

Moderate amounts of marijuana relieves pain according to a new study. Interestingly high amounts of THC actually increases pain.

“Previous studies have suggested that smoked cannabis increases pain,” lead investigator Dr. Mark Wallace of the University of California, San Diego told Reuters Health. “This is the first study using a dose-response method that suggests smoked cannabis has a therapeutic window with moderate doses decreasing pain and high doses increasing pain.”