Life’s beat

Alcohol is a widely used substance for both science and in technology.  Its name

comes from an Arabic word al-kuhl meaning " a powder for painting the eyes".  The term

was later applied to all compounds that contain alcoholic spirits.  

      To most people alcohol is considerd a downer that reduces activity in the nervous

system.  Some of the things alcohol effects you is, the alcohol intoxicated person exhibits

lose muscle tone, loss of fine moter coordination,and often has a staggering "drunken"

gait.  The eyes may appear somewhat "glossy" and pupils may be slow to respond to

stimulus. At high doses pupils may become constricted.  At intoxing doses, alcohol can

decrease heart rate, lower blood pressure and respiration rate, and result in decreased

reflex and slower reaction times.  Skin may be cool to touch but to the user may feel

warm or normal, profuse sweating may accompany alcohol use.  Loose muscle tone, lose

of fine motor coordination,odor of alcohol on the breath,and a stagging "drunken"gait.

GENEVA (Reuters) - The number of confirmed cases of the new Influenza A (H1N1) flu has risen to 10,243 and the death toll has edged up to 80, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday.

Most of the new cases are in the United States, which has seen 5,469 outbreaks of the virus so far, the WHO said as it focuses on the H1N1 virus that has brought the world to the brink of a pandemic.

Another 51 cases have also been reported in Japan, bringing the total number of cases there to 210 and potentially making it more likely that the WHO will declare a full pandemic after it raised its pandemic alert last month to 5 on a 6-level scale.

Health ministers and experts at this week’s WHO annual assembly have been discussing how to fight the virus with vaccines and drugs as well as what criteria the WHO should consider when deciding whether to raise the alert level.

Under WHO rules, signs the disease is spreading in a sustained way in a second region of the world outside its North American epicenter would prompt a declaration that a full pandemic is under way.

Ministers have urged the WHO to consider other factors such as the severity of the virus before moving to the highest alert.

Forty countries have confirmed cases of the new strain and nearly all of those who have died were in Mexico, but most patients globally have had relatively mild symptoms.

(Reporting by Katie Reid; Editing by Jonathan Lynn)

HOUSTON – A 23-month-old toddler in Texas became the first confirmed swine flu death outside of Mexico as authorities around the world struggled to contain a growing global health menace that has also swept Germany onto the roster of afflicted nations. Officials say the death was in Houston.

is it true??? read more>>>

tsk3…

WASHINGTON – Two million dead. Hospitals overwhelmed. Schools closed. Swaths of empty seats at baseball stadiums and houses of worship. An economic recovery snuffed out. We’re nowhere close to what government planners say would be a worst-case scenario: a global flu pandemic. But government leaders at all levels, and major employers, have spent nearly four years planning for one in series of exercises.

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If there’s one thing that gets in the way of you being your healthiest, it’s stress. For anyone who’s found themselves standing in front of the freezer inhaling spoonfuls of Coffee Heath Bar Crunch ice cream (not my real name!) to avoid finishing a project, or waking up three times in the wee hours of the night in anticipation of a difficult conversation, here’s some not-so-shocking news: Research shows that anxiety can make you sleep fewer hours, get sick more often, remember less, become more prone to long-term disease and—as if you needed reminding—eat more. No wonder up to 90 percent of doctor visits are for stress-related complaints, a fact that I suspect too many of you know firsthand (though you experience it as GI distress, back pain, a headache or other physical symptom).

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BAY, Philippines, March 3, 2009 (AFP) - The gentle rustle of leaves and a bubbling spring provide a soothing backdrop as traditional Philippine healer Nonie del Mundo sends a world-weary couple into a deep sleep.

"They are now in a dreamless state which will help them reconnect with the higher being, or God if you will," said del Mundo, an amiable 58-year-old grandmother and one-time real estate broker who heads the Hilot Pinoy movement seeking to bring back indigenous healing to the mainstream.

Two assistants clad in white then place heated glasses with trapped smoke on acupressure points on her clients’ backs. Called "bentosa," the centuries-old method is meant to stimulate blood flow, heal colds and remove toxins from the body.

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CHICAGO - "Chemistry look what you’ve done to me," Donna Summer crooned in Science of Love, and so, it seems, she was right. Just in time for Valentine’s Day, a panel of scientists examined the mystery of what happens when hearts throb and lips lock. Kissing, it turns out, unleashes chemicals that ease stress hormones in both sexes and encourage bonding in men, though not so much in women.

Chemicals in the saliva may be a way to assess a mate, Wendy Hill, dean of the faculty and a professor of neuroscience at Lafayette College, told a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science on Friday.

In an experiment, Hill explained, pairs of heterosexual college students who kissed for 15 minutes while listening to music experienced significant changes in their levels of the chemicals oxytocin, which affects pair bonding, and cortisol, which is associated with stress. Their blood and saliva levels of the chemicals were compared before and after the kiss.

read more>>>> OH DI BAH.heheh 

An article in the February 9 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine reported that multivitamin use did not protect the 161,808 postmenopausal women enrolled in the Women’s Health Initiative Study from common forms of cancer, heart attacks, or strokes. And the numbers of deaths during the 8 years of the study were the same in vitamin users as in non-users. Still, it is important to recognize that this was an observational study, not a more meaningful clinical trial. Although these findings apply only to women, other studies have failed to show benefits of multivitamins in older men.

These results are not at all surprising for several reasons. No large study has shown that multivitamins significantly benefit healthy men and women. In addition, for some years physicians prescribed folic acid and vitamins B12 and B6 in the hopes of preventing heart attacks and strokes by lowering blood levels of homocysteine. (High blood levels of homocysteine are associated with an increased risk of coronary and other vascular diseases.) A number of recent studies, however, have shown that, while these vitamins do lower homocysteine levels, they do not prevent heart attacks or strokes.

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