Food hangover??
Time to get back on track…. another wave is coming 🙂
Grab Bag Cyber Doc:
Finding sound medical (traditional, alternative or integrative) advice on the internet can sometimes feel like staking a claim in the wild west… can you really trust what you’re being told?
There seem to be a few reliable sites; WebMD comes to mind.
But the sheer volume of opinions, research, studies and advice out there is daunting to wade through.
So I was kind of intrigued to recently discover Medify.com. They seem to be using some data search programs to coalesce information into meaningful and useful results. In their own words:
Every day, thousands of leading researchers, physicians and medical institutions worldwide study patients with health conditions. They publish their findings – often with real patient data and detail on what worked for them – in research studies to promote the advancement of medicine.
Medify has developed powerful technology to mine millions of these studies every day in order to “extract” key information about the patients in each study. Similar patients across studies are combined and their experiences organized around the topics you care about: conditions, treatments, experts, and hot research issues.
The result is quite possibly the largest database of real patient experiences – literally hundreds of millions of them – free and available to search online, often down to the finest, and most relevant, detail.
Here’s a screen shot of what you might find when researching treatments for asthma:
Grab Bag What I’m Using Now Addition:
Grab Bag Movie Magic:
Magisto’s algorithms string together a video from what seem like the most important parts of each clip. Magisto claims that it can detect people, pets, toys and landscapes, and knows the differences between them. The auto-editing process also removes noise, adds transitions, stabilizes the footage and turns down the music when someone’s talking.
Grab Bag Fountain of Youth Buster:
Kids of abnormally short stature who are diagnosed with growth hormone deficiency can be treated with daily shots of synthetic HGH, which usually enables them to reach a normal adult height. HGH may also be recommended to adults who have developed pituitary deficiency due to various causes. Beyond that, I know of no legitimate use for HGH. I definitely do not recommend the anti-aging supplements being promoted on the Internet and elsewhere as HGH or HGH releasers. (Real HGH is a prescription drug costing about $20,000 per year. HGH “releasers” are in development, but none is currently available.) HGH does decline with age, but there is no evidence to suggest that injections of growth hormone in otherwise healthy adults will extend life or improve general health. Some studies show that supplemental HGH does increase muscle mass, but there’s a question of whether it significantly improves muscle strength or function. A Stanford University review of clinical studies concluded that the only benefit of taking HGH was a slight increase in muscle mass. The researchers found that risks included significantly more soft tissue swelling and joint pain and carpal tunnel syndrome among the approximately 500 people who participated in 31 studies the researchers analyzed. The data also suggested an increased risk of diabetes and prediabetes although the association didn’t reach statistical significance. The review was published in the January 16, 2007, Annals of Internal Medicine.
I discussed HGH with Randy Horwitz, M.D., Ph.D., medical director of the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine here at the University of Arizona. He noted that daily HGH injections are expensive and don’t mimic the normal secretion patterns of the hormone. Dr. Horwitz also warned that there are serious risks associated with using HGH as an anti-aging strategy – joint pain, high blood pressure and even diabetes have been associated with HGH administration and, possibly, an increased risk of prostate cancer. What’s more, no studies have looked at the long-term effects of HGH in older adults.
You also should know that claims for so-called HGH “releasers” said to prompt the body to trigger release of HGH by the pituitary are unsubstantiated. I know of no studies demonstrating that they work as advertised. The only way to get supplemental HGH into the body is with regular, sometimes daily, injections, available only by prescription. Unless you have a legitimate medical need for supplemental HGH, it could do you more harm than good. If your goal is healthy aging, focus on your diet and regular physical and mental exercise. There is no hormonal fountain of youth to replace positive effort.
Grab Bag Rainbow Wow Moment:
Grab Bag Brain Game:
Link the center colored square to its matching colored side with the colored building blocks offered to the right. Things change as you go along…
Grab Bag Funny Stuff:
The season is upon us. Let’s check in with Martha Stewart and see what she has planned for the days ahead. Should be inspiring….
Holiday Martha Stewart To-Do list for December:
December 1 – Blanch carcass from Thanksgiving turkey. Spray paint gold, turn upside down and use as a sleigh to hold Christmas Cards.
December 2 – Have Mormon Tabernacle Choir record outgoing Christmas message for answering machine.
December 3 – Using candlewick and hand gilded miniature pinecones, fashion cat-o-nine-tails. Flog Gardener.
December 4 – Repaint Sistine Chapel ceiling in ecru, with mocha trim.
December 5 – Get new eyeglasses. Grind lenses myself.
December 6 – Fax family Christmas newsletter to Pulitzer Committee for consideration.
December 7 – Debug Windows 2000
December 10 – Align carpets to adjust for curvature of Earth.
December 11 – Lay Faberge egg.
December 12 – Take Dog apart. Disinfect. Reassemble.
December 13 – Collect Dentures. They make excellent pastry cutters, particularly for decorative pie crusts.
December 14 – Install plumbing in gingerbread house.
December 15 – Replace air in mini-van tires with Glade “holiday scents” in case tires are shot out at mall.
December 17 – Child-proof the Christmas tree with garland of razor wire.
December 19 – Adjust legs of chairs so each Christmas dinner guest will be same height when sitting at his or her assigned seat.
December 20 – Dip sheep and cows in egg whites and roll in confectioner’s sugar to add a festive sparkle to the pasture.
December 21 – Drain city reservoir; refill with mulled cider, orange slices and cinnamon sticks.
December 22 – Float votive candles in toilet tank.
December 23 – Seed clouds for white Christmas.
December 24 – Do my annual good deed. Go to several stores. Be seen engaged in last minute Christmas shopping, thus making many people feel less inadequate than they really are.
December 25 – Bear son. Swaddle. Lay in color-coordinated manger scented with homemade potpourri.
December 26 – Organize spice racks by genus and phylum.
December 27 – Build snowman in exact likeness of Jesus.
December 31 – New Year’s Eve! Give staff their resolutions. Call a friend in each time zone of the world as the clock strikes midnight in that country.
LK's Grab Bag 
really all that information where do you find this stuff!!!
love it oxoxoxR
I agree with Roxie… great information! I feel like this frog… stuffed!!!
xoxoxoxoxo JP