In The Center for Public Integritys iWatch News, Sasha Chavkin and Ronnie Greene write that, Little noticed by the rest of the world, chronic kidney disease is cutting a swath through one of the world’s poorest populations, along a stretch of Central America’s Pacific Coast that spans six countries and nearly 700 miles. Its victims are manual laborers, mostly sugarcane workers.
Each year from 2005 to 2009, kidney failure killed more than 2,800 men in Central America, according to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists‘ analysis of the latest World Health Organization data. In El Salvador and Nicaragua alone over the last two decades, the number of men dying from kidney disease has risen fivefold. Now m
Read full post…
Tags: Disease, Kidney Disease
updated 7:40 AM EST, Tue January 10, 2012 
Many people travel while sick, spreading germs wherever they go. STORY HIGHLIGHTS
(CNN) — Pat Conroy is a road warrior, rarely getting sick as he travels three to five days per week for his job as head of Deloitte’s consumer products division. He works out regularly when on the road and tries to eat right.
It doesn’t always work. Six months ago, Conroy got the flu before a six-day business trip that saw him fly from Indianapolis to New York City to Orlando to Denver and back to Indianapolis.
Read full post…
Tags: Sick, While Sick
Jan. 3, 2012 — Physical activity may help children exercise their brains as well as their bodies.
A new review suggests that children who are active in sports or physical activity perform better at school.
Researchers say physical activity may enhance children’s brain function and thinking skills by increasing blood and oxygen flow to the brain, as well as triggering the release of feel-good hormones like endorphins.
“Besides these suggested physiological effects, regular participation in sports activities may improve children’s behavior in the classroom, increasing the odds of better concentration on the academic content of these lessons,” researcher Amika Singh, PhD, of the Vrije Universiteit University Medical Center in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and colleagues write in the .
In the review, researchers looked at 14 studies on physical activity and academic performance in children between the ages of 6 and 18 years.
Read full post…
Tags: Exercise, Exercise Boosts
I cant believe its 2012 already! Before I had children, the years seemed to lumber along. Now? Whoosh! It seems like I close my eyes on New Years Day and when I open them, my kids are screaming that Santa came.
Its important that as the days fly by, we make a point of stopping to smell the roses with our children from time to time. I know, I know. It sounds great on paper, but when the daily grind keeps grinding away, its a little more challenging. Okay. A lot more challenging. But that doesnt make it any less necessary, for your children or you.
Think about it.
Read full post…
Tags: Children, Children Won’t
In 2010, President Dmitry Medvedev said heroin was a threat to Russia’s national security. This year, Russia pledged to finance programs to reduce the harm done by drug use, including an HIV crisis that is one of the most severe in the world.
But even though the number of new HIV infections in Russia jumped 10 percent over 2011, health workers and global HIV authorities say Moscow has not honored that promise.
This is not due to a lack of cash – Russia is doubling its budget for HIV in 2012 from 2010 levels. At issue is how it will use the funds. From next year, no money will go to such internationally recognized efforts as needle exchanges. Read full post…
Tags: Hiv, Way Hiv