Stock Market Darlings?!

Stock market crisis? What crisis? Atleast that's the case for Drug companies as more investors are turning attention to them.

Follow on to the article here.

Shelf Life Of Donated Blood

Add another reason to abstain from donating and using donated blood.

Recent studies question the shelf life of donated blood.
"Blood banks store freshly donated blood for up to six weeks before it is considered outdated and thrown away."
That begs the question - what percentage of donated blood is actually thrown away? Are the efforts of the donors in vain?

The article goes on to say: "But some recent studies suggest that people who receive transfusions of blood older than two or three weeks may suffer adverse effects.
Patients who received "older" blood were three times as likely to have suffered infections of the bloodstream, respiratory system, heart valves and other organs."

Then, is the whole system of donated blood and transfusions really helping people or is it just feeding the healthcare system with patients requiring longer term care?

This quote says it all: ""We were disturbed, but not surprised by the findings," says Dr. David Gerber, who led the study."

Note: the studies were done on blood used for transfusions

Read more in the article here.

I need a shot of testosterone!

Hey Doc! I need a shot of testosterone!

The NYTimes reports that Naglene, a brand that popularized water bottles made from hard, clear and near-unbreakable polycarbonate is to stop using the plastic because of growing concern over the ingredients used to make it.

Read more here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/18/business/18plastic.html?ref=business
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thecheckout/2008/04/update_toys_r_us_to_pull_bottl.html?nav=rss_blog

Is Lying to Others a Form of Lying to Yourself?

A study published in the journal Emotion says that embellishing stories to friends is not really an attempt to deceive others, but rather, an attempt to express your true hopes and goals.
According to the article, "these self serving exaggerations are not lies, but future truths" as they are your goals that you intend to achieve.

My Take
A lie, is a lie. Whether you are pushing this untruth to others or yourself.
Webster dictionary puts it this way: 1: to make an untrue statement with intent to deceive, 2: to create a false or misleading impression.

At one point or another, we may have done this with ourself and others - present company included ;-)
We may want to ask ourself:

• Am I really lying to myself and others by making these exaggerations?
• How will the person feel upon uncovering the untruth(s)?
• Could the untruth(s) cause the person to change their view of you?
  

It's a constant struggle, but maintaining our integrity will provide more satisfaction than an lie/untruth to make ourselves look better in other peoples eyes. This of the satisfaction as the same as what you get from accomplishing a goal you set out to achieve or finally finishing that building project.
We have to be happy with ourselves before we can make ourselves look better in other people's eyes!

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Eat Locally or Eat Differently?

Would you consider changing your eating habits if doing so will help the environment?
This article speaks about what is better, to eat locally or to eat differently and it's effect on the environment.

From the article: "'Eating local' has become an important concept among environmentally conscious communities in recent years. The impact on greenhouse gas emissions of becoming a "locavore," however, may not be as great as proponents had thought."

Read more here.

Should you stop wearing shoes?

Apart from evolution theories*, this article is an interesting read - especially for women. Even though I love the footwear my wife dons, some times I find my self asking her: "Is that really comfortable?" Usually the answer is "No, not for long!" Obviously she does it for the look.

Why should we look in to our shoes and walking habits? Well, the shoes that we wear may be forcing us in to bad habits that may lead to physical health issues.

From the article: "It took 4 million years of evolution* to perfect the foot, and humans have been wrecking that perfection with every step since they first donned shoes..."

Read more here.

*yes, it's a theory and not a fact. The missing link is still missing, remember? BTW- it's amazing how people put together a bunch of old bones and conjecturing that we evolved from chimps. FYI: Conjecture = which appears likely to be true, but has not been formally proven to be true

Women's Life Expectancy Dropping

According to a new study, a women's life expectancy is less than it was in the 1980's, in some parts of the U.S.
The study also reports that this happening more in the poorer areas of the country and blames smoking and obesity related diseases.

What should you watch for?

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