**** HEALTH NEWS ****

 Asthma Drugs May Boost Cataract Risk for Elderly  

MONDAY, -- Elderly patients taking anti-asthmatic medica-  
tions to treat their asthma or lung disease may be more  
likely to develop cataracts, a new study finds.  

A Canadian research team studied data compiled over 14  
years from more than 100,000 patients with either asthma  
or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The data  
came from a provincial health database and included  
diagnosis and prescription information for each patient.  

"We found that people over the age of 65 who take a  
cortisone-like medication called inhaled corticosteroids  
to lower their risk of asthma or COPD attacks are actually  
raising their risk of developing cataracts," study author  
Dr. Samy Suissa, an epidemiologist at McGill University  
Health Centre in Montreal, said in a prepared statement.  
"This important information to physicians and patients  
will help in the management of patients using these drugs."  

For patients who took an inhaled corticosteroid each day,  
researchers found that their risk of developing cataracts  
was 24 percent higher than patients who did not use the  
drugs. Researchers also noted an increase in patients who  
took half the typical daily dose of a prescribed inhaled  
corticosteroid. Of all the patients studied, over 10,000  
of them developed severe cataracts.  

"We recommend that elderly asthma sufferers keep using  
these very effective medications, but make efforts to  
reduce the dose of inhaled corticosteroids as much as  
possible," Suissa said.  

If patients are prescribed an inhaled corticosteroid,  
Suissa recommends a long-acting bronchodilator or anti-  
leukotriene combination therapy to reduce the risk of  
cataracts.   

Defibrillator Recipients Face Increased Heart-Failure Risk  

MONDAY, -- People who've had a heart attack and receive an  
implanted defibrillator may be at increased risk of heart  
failure that often ends in death, a new study found.  

"What we do is increase the quantity of life, but maybe  
the quality of life is not so good," said study lead  
author Dr. Ilan Goldenberg, a research assistant professor  
at the University of Rochester Medical Center, in New York.  

Heart failure is the progressive loss of the heart's  
ability to pump blood. The study included 1,232 people who  
had had heart attacks and were given either the usual  
medical care, or that care plus an implanted defibrillator,  
which delivers a shock when needed to keep the heart beat-  
ing regularly.  

Two different kinds of defibrillators were used in the  
study -- one that delivered the shock to one chamber of  
the heart, and one that shocked both chambers. Overall,  
the survival benefit compared to people who got standard  
care was 42 percent for the single-chamber defibrillator  
recipients, and 51 percent for those with a double-chamber  
device.  

But defibrillator recipients were 39 percent more likely  
to have a first hospitalization for heart failure and 58  
percent more likely to have several such hospitalizations  
during an average follow-up period of 20 months, compared  
to patients who did not receive a defibrillator.  

The lesson for physicians from the study is that "they  
should pay more attention to preventing heart failure" in  
heart attack patients, Goldenberg said.   

Family cat unlikely to give baby Johnny asthma  
  

NEW YORK - Exposure during infancy to pets or airborne  
"allergens," such as house dust mites and Timothy weed,  
does not seem to increase the likelihood a child will  
develop airway hyperresponsiveness -- a hallmark of  
asthma in which the lungs overreact to pollen, dust or  
other airborne particles by closing up tiny airways.  

Dr. Elizabeth C. TePas and colleagues from the Channing  
Laboratory, Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston report  
their findings in the current issue of the medical journal  
CHEST.  

The investigators looked for ties between early life  
factors and airway hyperresponsiveness in a group of 131  
children who had at least one parent with a history of  
asthma or allergies, placing the children at heightened  
risk for asthma and allergies.  

The investigators followed the children's health and early  
life exposures to allergens until they were an average of  
7 years old, when they underwent allergy and lung testing.  

According to TePas and colleagues, more than half of the  
children (67 of 131 or 51 percent) had at least one  
positive skin-prick test response and 37 (28 percent) had  
airway hyperresponsiveness determined by standard testing.  

Overall, hyperresponsive airways were strongly associated  
with early sensitization to cat, dust mite, cockroach, and  
ragweed allergens, the team reports.  

However, there was no association between airway hyper-  
responsiveness and early life exposure to a pet in the  
home or to tobacco smoke.  

These findings, coupled with other findings, suggest that  
ongoing exposure to allergens, not just early-life  
exposure, is important in determining hyperresponsiveness  
of the airways in children.  

**** Reader's Submissions ****

 Erma Bombeck



**** ON THIS DAY ****

 

6 lg Eggs
1/4 ts Black pepper
1/3 cup water
1/2 tsp. salt
1 sm Onion
1 md Sized green bell pepper
1 pk (4 oz) sliced ham
8 oz Mushrooms
2 lg Tomatoes
4 tbsp oil, divided
Parsley sprigs for garnish

In a bowl,with a wire whisk or fork, beat eggs, black pepper,

water and salt until blended.

Dice onion, green pepper and ham.

Cut each mushroom in half. Cut tomatoes into wedges.

Put 1 Tbsp. oil in a 12" skillet and over medium-high heat,

cook onion, green pepper and salt until tender.

Add ham and heat through.

Remove to small bowl; keep warm. 

In same skillet, in 1 Tbsp. oil,

cook mushrooms until golden in colour.

Remove to another bowl; keep warm. 

In the same skillet over medium heat, heat 2 Tbsp. salad oil.

Pour egg mixture into skillet; cook until set around edges. 

With metal spatula, gently lift edge as it sets,

tilting to allow uncooked portion to run under the omelet.

Shake skillet occasionally to keep omelet moving freely in the pan. 

When omelet is set but still moist,

spoon ham mixture over half the omelet.

Tilt skillet and, with spatula, fold omelet in half;

slide onto heated platter. 

Top with mushrooms.

Garnish platter with parsley sprigs and tomato wedges.

Makes 4 servings. 


"Fajita Grilled Steak"

1 small white onion, chopped coarsely
1 garlic clove, peeled and roughly chopped
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
? teaspoon cumin
? teaspoon cayenne
? teaspoon salt

1 pound beef skirt steak or flank steak, trimmed of surface fat
In a food processor or blender, combine one-quarter of the onion,

the garlic, lime juice, cumin and salt. 

Process to a smooth paste. 

Place the skirt steak in a non-aluminum baking dish.

Using a spoon, smear the marinade over both sides of the skirt steak.

Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 8 hours. 

(not more than 8 hours!) 

Remove the steak from the marinade.

Oil the steak well on both sides and lay it over the hottest part of the grill.

Grill, turning once, until richly browned and done to your liking,

about 1? to 2 minutes per side for medium-rare. 
  

 

**** TODAY'S USELESS FACT ****

Why are there no seasons on Mercury?

First, it's important to understand why most planets - e.g. Earth - have seasons . Unfortunately, most people don't understand why this is. It is a common misconception that it is because of the elliptical nature of Earth's orbit that causes the season. This is not the case. The difference in distance from the Sun over the course of a year is not sufficient to cause the seasons. Additionally, this would not explain why the souther hemisphere's seasons are opposite of the northern hemisphere's.

What causes the seasons is the fact that Earth's axis is tilted 23.5 degrees from perpendicular to Earth's plain of revolution. Earth's axis points toward the same point in the sky all year round. This means that its orientation to the Sun changes as Earth orbits the Sun. So, at some times of the year, the North Pole is tilted toward the Sun and at other times of the year, it is pointed away. At those times that the north pole is pointed toward the sun, the northern hemisphere gets more direct sunlight and longer days. The more direct sunlight more strongly heats Earth's surface. The longer days mean more time to heat the surface. These two factors combine to cause warmer temperatures. When the north pole is tilted away from the Sun, then the northern hemisphere gets less direct sunlight and shorter days. This leads to cooler weather.

This also explains why the southern hemisphere has it season opposite of the northern hemisphere. When the north pole is tilted toward the Sun, then the southern hemisphere is tilted away from the sun and vice versa.

Now, why doesn't Mercury have seasons? It's because Mercury's axis is only tilted 0.1 degrees off perpendicular, to the plane of it's orbit. In other words, there is no significant till to its axis. So, other than rising and setting as a result of its rotation, there is no significant change the way the light comes into Mercury's surface. Therefore, there are no seasons.


TOON TIME

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Shes Driving
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Fly Fishing
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Keeping Up Appearances...
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Buildings
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Cat Got Your Tongue
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Copter (Addictive little game)...
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How Many Hits
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Lovers Lane
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Love Shop
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Happy Paw
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LAST CALL Y'ALL

A man was driving along a rural Alabama road in his
beat up old Dodge, when suddenly it broke down. He
was parked on the side of the road trying fix it, when a
Jaguar pulled up in front of him and offered to help.
After a few minutes the two men obviously weren't
going to get the old car going again, so the Jaguar
driver offered to tow the Dodge to the nearest garage.

A few minutes later the two had hitched up the old Dodge
to the Jaguar, and they agreed that if the Jaguar driver
was going too fast, the man should blow his horn and
flash his lights to get him to slow down. With that the two
men got into their cars and the Jaguar driver started to
pull away with the Dodge behind it.

At the first traffic light, a Ferrari pulled up beside the Jaguar and
started to rev his engine provocatively. As soon as the light turned
green the Ferrari and the Jaguar hit their accelerators and took off.

Before long the cars were racing at over 120 mph. As
the cars speed along, they passed through a police
speed trap. The officer couldn't believe his eyes when
he saw the three cars go by, and he decided that he
couldn't catch them all by himself, so he decided to
radio for help: "You won't believe what I just saw! I
saw a Ferrari and a Jaguar doing 120 mph side by
side, and a beat up old Dodge behind them flashing
his lights and blowing his horn trying to get by...!"

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY
PARTY HEARTY
BUT PLEASE DON'T DRINK AND DRIVE
SEE Y'ALL MONDAY


HEY, DON'T BE A STRANGER NOW,YA HEAR!
*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+
Hey, Let's be careful out there
*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+
PLEASE
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