In the News--"Older Workers have fewer senior moments"

I must say I found this research good news.  German researchers compared 200 young workers (age 20-31) against older workers (65 -80 years old) for a period of 100 days.  The researchers compared these two groups on mental skills such as how much they could learn, how their thinking skills varied from day-to-day and whether their memory functioned well.

The older group of workers did well; they were more consistent in their work and on a day-to-day basis they were highly motivated, and more stable in their moods.  The older group used strategies they had learned earlier to solve new tasks.  Interesting research.  http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/08/08/older-workers-have-fewer-senior-moments/

Travel health information

Pretend you are planning a vacation to Aruba (or wherever.  You pick the destination).  Do you know where to search for health information?  Do you need any vaccinations to keep you healthy?  You can begin to find this information at the CDC Travel Website, http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/  While planning your vacation to Aruba, mouse-click on Aruba and find out the health risks and recommended vaccinations at http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/destinations/traveler/none/aruba. This information is available for 239 different countries/destinations around the world. 

Travel notices can be found at http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/notices.  For example, there’s a travel notice that 35,000+ cases of rubella (German) measles have occurred in Poland this year (2013).  If you were planning a trip to Poland, you would be wise to talk to your family doctor about the rubella outbreak before your vacation.  Is your rubella vaccination up-to-date to protect you?    

In the News--Cold Cap Therapy for Chemotherapy

In the News—Cold Cap Therapy (or Scalp Cooling) for Chemotherapy

Having his/her hair fall out can be distressing for a person going through chemotherapy.  In fact, losing hair due to chemotherapy has caused some patients to postpone treatment.  This controversial treatment, used more in Europe, is gaining interest in the United States.  The theory behind these caps is that chilling the head temporarily shrinks the size of scalp blood vessels and the hair follicles aren’t damaged by the chemotherapy drugs.   Some doctors worry that their patients will develop cancer on their scalp because of the chilling of the scalp.  Other oncologists are supportive and working with their patient’s on the cold cap therapy for chemo. 

Later this year researchers around the country will begin a FDA-approved final clinical trial on the DigniCap cold cap therapy treatment.  http://www.medgadget.com/2013/06/dignicap-to-help-prevent-chemo-caused-hair-loss-cleared-for-fda-trial.html

This interesting news topic can be found at http://abcnews.go.com/Health/OnCallPlus/cold-cap-therapy-women-chemotherapy-hair/story?id=11985624&page=2  A website founded by two breast cancer survivors provides information about this new treatment at http://rapunzelproject.org/ColdCaps.aspx#TheCaps

Food safety--one more time

Do you want to know the minimum temperature you should cook your pork chops?  What about fish?  Or poultry?  The minimum temperature chart can be found at http://www.foodsafety.gov/keep/charts/mintemp.html

In the News--Food Safety and a Smartphone App?

A new technology being developed at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, may help us identifyfood safety issues.  If I read this correctly, the researchers are building a smartphone cradle and app which would turn a smartphone into a biosensor.  If this technology works as planned, we can use our smartphone (with the cradle and app) to detect toxins, bacteria, identify allergens in foods, and check for water contamination.  This information can be found at http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/08/01/smartphone-cradle-and-app-detect-toxins-bacteria-for-people-with-allergies/

Prevent food poisoning by chilling

Last weekend my husband planned to grill these boneless pork ribs.  He had added the rub and marinate.  Can you tell where he is marinating the meat?  You guessed it--in the refrigerator.  Why?  you might ask.  Read the rest of this post for the answer. 

Chill and refrigerate promptly

·        Your refrigerator should keep the temperature between 32 deg F and 40 deg F.  Don’t overstuff your refrigerator and freezer.  Your freezer should keep food at 0 deg F or below. 

·        Put your perishable food into the refrigerator within two hours (during summertime, one hour)

·        Thaw meat in your refrigerator—never on the kitchen counter.  According to food safety.gov, thawing or marinating raw foods unrefrigerated (on the counter) is “one of the riskiest things you can do when preparing food for your family.” 

·        How long do you keep leftovers?  Do you have a 7 day rule?  A 3 day rule? There’s a Safe Storage Time chart for us to check out at http://www.foodsafety.gov/keep/charts/storagetimes.html
         By the way, those pork ribs were really yummy.