Gleeman's Daily News--02/09/10

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Robert Gleeman Posted: 02-09-2010 2:58 AM

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Study shows older parents more likely to have child with autism

A study has found that mothers older than 40 are about 50 percent more likely to have a child with autism than those in their 20s; the risk for fathers older than 40 is 36 percent higher than for men in their 20s.  (Getty Images)

A woman's chance of having a child with autism increase substantially as she ages, but the risk may be less for older dads than previously suggested, a new study analyzing more than 5 million births found.

"Although fathers' age can contribute risk, the risk is overwhelmed by maternal age," said University of California at Davis researcher Janie Shelton, the study's lead author.

Quite a detailed article about a study that links the risks of having an autistic child to the age of the parents, and in particular, the age of the mother. No mention here about vaccine additives.

Is it Obama’s fault that Anthem Blue Cross raises premiums?

Private insurance businesses are doing exactly what they have always done. When the sun shines they provide the best umbrella your money can buy and as soon as it rains they fold it up.

“Due to rising medical costs”

This is part of the famous line you get when the letter arrives from Anthem Blue Cross, or any insurance company, stating you will have to pay 39 per cent more on your monthly premiums. And if your outgoing is more then your incoming, it can ruin you.

Anthem Blue Cross has no qualms hiking rates for customers. Someone has to pay the highly compensated CEOs, such as Angela Braly, whose gets $10 million per year and off-the-books benefits with stock options.

If you wonder what corporate forces Obama is opposing, here’s a nice sample of health insurance companies “making hay while the sun shines” and taking every advantage of this time of change.

Sebelius asks Anthem Blue Cross to justify their premium hikes

FILE - In this Feb. 4, 2010 file photo, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington. In a letter to the president of Anthem Blue Cross, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Monday, Feb. 8, 2010, she was very disturbed to learn of the planned increases, calling them "extraordinary." She said they were hard to understand in light of the profitability of Anthem's parent company, WellPoint Inc.(AP Photo/Manuel Balce Cenetafile)

The Obama administration on Monday asked California's largest for-profit health insurer to justify plans to hike customers' premiums by as much as 39 percent, a move that could affect some 800,000 people.

In a letter to the president of Anthem Blue Cross, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said she was disturbed to learn of the planned increases, calling them "extraordinary."

"I believe Anthem Blue Cross has a responsibility to provide a detailed justification for these rate increases to the public," Sebelius wrote. She said the company should also make public what percentage of customers' premiums go to medical care versus administrative costs.

I didn’t think the insurance industry would go down without a fight, but I never expected such blatant greed to come out at this sensitive time in history. See what we are up against?

First Lady leads fight against childhood obesity

First lady Michelle Obama walks through the White House east colonnade with Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, left, Education Secretary Arne Duncan, second from right, and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, as they meet regarding the childhood obesity initiative. Photo by Jack Gruber, USA TODAY

(By Mark Wilson, Getty Images) First lady Michelle Obama and local students from Bancroft Elementary School and Kimball Elementary School harvest vegetables in the garden on the South Lawn of the White House Oct. 29.

WASHINGTON — Her daughters were 6 and 9, and Michelle Obama was like any other working mom — struggling to juggle office hours, school pick-ups and mealtimes. By the end of the day, she was often too tired to make dinner, so she did what was easy: She ordered takeout or went to the drive-through.

She thought the girls were eating reasonably well — until her pediatrician in Chicago told her he didn't like the weight fluctuations he was seeing.

EXCERPTS: First lady talks eating, exercise

U.S. MAPS: How environment impacts childhood obesity

"I was shocked because my kids looked perfectly fine to me," Obama says. "But I had a wake-up call." Like many parents, however, "I didn't know what to do."

I think this is a great cause for Mrs. Obama to take up, because it greatly affects the lifelong health of a person. The Obama family seems very trim and in shape, they serve as a good example of how to avoid obesity.

Children who sit down with the family for meals reduce by 40% their risk of obesity

Healthier: Children who sit down regularly with the family for a meal

Traditional family routines could stop children becoming obese, a study has claimed.

It found that ditching modern lifestyles for the way many lived decades ago could cut the risk by 40 per cent for four-year-olds.

And it revealed that while each rule - eating dinner with the family, getting lots of sleep and watching less TV - cuts the risk on its own, the effect was greater when all three were combined.

Study leader Dr Sarah Anderson said: 'The routines were protective even among groups that typically have a high risk for obesity.

'This is important because it suggests there's a potential for these routines to be targets for obesity prevention in all children.'

Is the idea of the “family meal” going away? I hope not, because it is a good time to talk and laugh. Rather, it is probably the lack of a family connection that fuels eating disorders. Don’t eat alone.

Third-hand smoke: still harmful to your health

Opening a window to air out a room while a cigarette burns does not eliminate the hazard of third-hand smoke

WASHINGTON — You know smoking is bad for you. You know inhaling someone else's smoke is bad for you. Now a US study says third-hand smoke -- tobacco residue clinging to surfaces -- is also bad for you.

When a cigarette burns, nicotine is released in the form of a vapor that collects and condenses on indoor surfaces such as walls, carpeting, drapes and furniture, where it can linger for months, said the study, which was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

"Our study shows that when this residual nicotine reacts with ambient nitrous acid it forms carcinogenic tobacco-specific nitrosamines, or TSNAs," said Hugo Destaillats, a corresponding author of the study.

"TSNAs are among the most broadly acting and potent carcinogens present in unburned tobacco and tobacco smoke," he said.

Smoking is just too dangerous, not only for the smoker, but for everyone else. I hope if you needed one more good reason to quit smoking, this one does the trick for you.