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H1N1-Don’t Have a Cow over Swine Flu
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There was a lot of hysteria over the H1N1 flu when it first hit; while it is a bad virus, it isn’t as bad as feared.
H1N1 tends to affect younger people more than older people, since many folks over 55 have been exposed to a cousin of the current H1N1 virus back in 1957. Also, this flu isn’t as lethal as many viruses of the recent past, like the bird flu that hit Asia or SARS that hit Canada and China earlier in the decade. That being said, people have died from this bug, including 4 people in Kentucky.
You don’t get swine flu from eating pork products. Pigs and humans have similar cardiovascular systems and thus are prone to the same diseases, but proper cooking will kill off the virus; lunch meats are already cooked, so any bugs they have aren’t generally from the animals providing the meat.
That’s ...
H1N1 and Public Health
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Public health officials have a tough dilemma in dealing with the H1N1 flu ; they want to make people aware of the problem and get people to do the common-sense precautions that will help slow the spread of not only H1N1 but a variety of garden-variety bugs without creating undue panic.
Schools will often close down if the flu hits ; even during a normal flu season, if a school hits a critical mass of absenteeism (10% is often enough), they will close the school for a week. That will be long enough to let everyone who has the flu get over it so it doesn’t spread any further.
For schools, sports can be an issue; sick players are going to be in close proximity to healthy teammates and foes alike. When the flu hit the University of Florida’s football team, ill players, including star quarterback Tim Tebow, flew to ...
Anxiety – Overview
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In todays economy, feeling anxiety is quite understandable. We see big companies fail, we don't know if the bank where we keep our money will be there tomorrow, we don't know how long will we be able to keep our job.... When does worry turn into anxiety?
Moderate anxiety helps you focus on the problems at hand, gather all your energy and motivation, but when the worry is so big that it is accompanied by feeling of helplessness, sleeplessness and confusion, that are not in proportion to the problems you deal with, then you are suffering from anxiety.
Anxiety can effect you physically as well as emotionally. The symptoms that usually accompany anxiety are divers. From trembling and shaking, through rapid heart rate and breathlessness. From feeling light headed and dizzy to cold sweat. The hands may be clammy, the muscles tense, ache or sore and a you have a ...
Allergy – Insect Bites and Stings
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No one likes to be bitten by an insect. Bees, yellow jackets, fire ants, spiders all cause a discomfort. But there are people among us that an insect bites might cause a life threatening situation.
A normal reaction to a bite will be redness in the bite area, some swelling of the affected area and pain.
The more sever reaction can be swelling that extends beyond the bite area. While it looks frightening it is usually not much worse than a normal reaction.
An allergy to sting and bites will manifest itself in a more serious way; difficulty in breathing, hives that appear on the skin, swelling of the throat and face, rapid pulse, dizziness and a sharp drop in blood pressure.
The bigger problem is that it can lead to a shock, unconsciousness and cardiac arrest. All that in the span of no more than 10 minutes. And the next time ...
