Recent Longevity News for the seven days ending 5/4/11.  You should consult your doctor if you are taking any medications.

Study evaluates relationship of urinary sodium with health outcomes - Science Daily, 5/3/11 - "The assumption that lower salt intake would in the long run lower blood pressure, to our knowledge, has not yet been confirmed in longitudinal population-based studies ... among 3,681 participants followed up for a median (midpoint) 7.9 years, cardiovascular deaths decreased across increasing tertiles (one of three groups) of 24-hour urinary sodium: from 50 deaths in the low (death rate, 4.1 percent), 24 deaths in the medium, (death rate, 1.9 percent) and 10 deaths in the high tertile (death rate, 0.8 percent). Analysis indicated that the risk of cardiovascular mortality was significantly elevated in the low tertile with a significant inverse association between cardiovascular mortality and tertile of sodium excretion. Baseline sodium excretion predicted neither total mortality nor fatal combined with nonfatal CVD events. ... The associations between systolic pressure and sodium excretion did not translate into less morbidity or improved survival. On the contrary, low sodium excretion predicted higher cardiovascular mortality. Taken together, our current findings refute the estimates of computer models of lives saved and health care costs reduced with lower salt intake. They do also not support the current recommendations of a generalized and indiscriminate reduction of salt intake at the population level. However, they do not negate the blood pressure-lowering effects of a dietary salt reduction in hypertensive patients"

Mouse study turns fat-loss/longevity link on its head - Science Daily, 5/3/11 - "studied the effect of food restriction on fat and weight loss in 41 genetically different strains of mice. The scientists then correlated the amount of fat reduction to life span ... The answer: Mice that maintained their fat actually lived longer. Those that lost fat died earlier ... People are best advised to adopt a moderate approach, not losing all fat but definitely not keeping unhealthy amounts of fat, either ... None of the mice in this study were what we would consider to be obese"

Study Finds Low-Salt Diet Ineffective but Draws Criticism From C.D.C. - NYTimes.com - NY Times, 5/3/11 - "At the moment, this study might need to be taken with a grain of salt ... The investigators found that the less salt people ate, the more likely they were to die of heart disease – 50 people in the lowest third of salt consumption (2.5 grams of sodium per day) died during the study as compared with 24 in the medium group (3.9 grams of sodium per day) and 10 in the highest salt consumption group (6.0 grams of sodium per day). And while those eating the most salt had, on average, a slight increase in systolic blood pressure — a 1.71-millimeter increase in pressure for each 2.5-gram increase in sodium per day — they were no more likely to develop hypertension ... One of the problems with the salt debates, Dr. Alderman said, is that all the studies are inadequate" - Note:  Some studies do support this study but see my sodium page.  Most studies are the other way:

• Cardiovascular Risk: Low Sodium Diets Might Be Worse Than High Salt Diets - Science Daily, 5/15/08 - "Contrary to long-held assumptions, high-salt diets may not increase the risk of death ... The Einstein researchers actually observed a significantly increased risk of death from cardiovascular disease (CVD) associated with lower sodium diets"
• Low-salt diet increases insulin resistance in healthy subjects - Metabolism. 2010 Oct 29 - "Low-salt (LS) diet activates the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone and sympathetic nervous systems, both of which can increase insulin resistance (IR) ... Low-salt diet was significantly associated with higher homeostasis model assessment index independent of age, sex, blood pressure, body mass index, serum sodium and potassium, serum angiotensin II, plasma renin activity, serum and urine aldosterone, and urine epinephrine and norepinephrine. Low-salt diet is associated with an increase in IR. The impact of our findings on the pathogenesis of diabetes and cardiovascular disease needs further investigation"

A Study Shows Connections Between Maternal Exposure to BPA and Childhood Asthma - Time Magazine, 5/2/11 - "At 6 months old, infants whose mothers had high levels of BPA were twice as likely to show wheezing as babies whose mothers who had low levels"

Aspirin reduces the risk of cancer recurrence in prostate cancer patients, study suggests - Science Daily, 5/2/11 - "After 10-years from completion of treatment, 31% of the men who took aspirin developed recurrence compared with 39% of non-aspirin users (p=0.0005). There was also a 2% improvement in 10-year prostate cancer related survival associated with aspirin use with a trend toward statistical significance"

Dual medications for depression increases costs, side effects with no benefit to patients, study suggests - Science Daily, 5/2/11 - "One group received escitalopram (a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, or SSRI) and a placebo; the second group received the same SSRI paired with bupropion (a non-tricyclic antidepressant); and a third group took different antidepressants: venlafaxine (a tetracyclic antidepressant) and mirtazapine (a serotonin norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor) ... After 12 weeks of treatment, remission and response rates were similar across the three groups: 39 percent, 39 percent and 38 percent, respectively, for remission, and about 52 percent in all three groups for response. After seven months of treatment, remission and response rates across the three groups remained similar, but side effects were more frequent in the third group ... Only about 33 percent of depressed patients go into remission in the first 12 weeks of treatment with antidepressant medication" - Note:  Considering that most know that they are getting the real drug because of the side effects, it makes you wonder how much of the 33% are from the placebo effect.

Before you start bone-building meds, try dietary calcium and supplements, experts urge - Science Daily, 5/2/11 - "For many people, prescription bone-building medicines should be a last resort ... adults who increase their intake of calcium and vitamin D usually increase bone mineral density and reduce the risk for hip fracture significantly ... I suspect that many doctors reach for their prescription pads because they believe it's unlikely that people will change their diets ... prescription bone-building medications are expensive, and many have side effects, including ironically an increase in hip fractures and jaw necrosis. They should be used only if diet and supplements don't do the trick ... For bone health, the researchers also encourage consuming adequate protein, less sodium, and more magnesium and potassium"

Insomnia linked to high insulin resistance in diabetics - Science Daily, 5/2/11 - "Among the diabetics, poor sleepers had 23% higher blood glucose levels in the morning, and 48% higher blood insulin levels. Using these numbers to estimate a person's insulin resistance, the researchers found that poor sleepers with diabetes had 82% higher insulin resistance than normal sleepers with diabetes"

Packing on the pounds in middle age linked to dementia - Science Daily, 5/2/11 - "people who were overweight or obese at midlife had an 80 percent higher risk of developing dementia, Alzheimer's disease or vascular dementia in late life compared to people with normal BMI"

Washing with contaminated soap increases bacteria on hands, research finds - Science Daily, 5/2/11 - "Bulk-soap-refillable dispensers, in which new soap is poured into a dispenser, are the predominant soap dispenser type in community settings, such as public restrooms. In contrast to sealed-soap dispensers, which are refilled by inserting a new bag or cartridge of soap, they are prone to bacterial contamination and several outbreaks linked to the use of contaminated soap have already been reported in healthcare settings ... Gram-negative bacteria on the hands of students and staff increased 26-fold after washing with the contaminated soap"

New method to measure cortisol could lead to better understanding of development of common diseases - Science Daily, 5/2/11 - "Currently the standard method to measure cortisol levels is to take a blood or saliva sample. However, since cortisol is released in a circadian rhythm and with pulses throughout the day, levels can fluctuate considerably, meaning it is difficult to estimate an individual's long-term exposure to cortisol through blood and saliva tests alone ... hair cortisol levels correlated positively with waist to hip ratio (r=0.425, p=0.003) and waist circumference (r=0.392, p=0.007), meaning people with higher exposure to cortisol showed higher abdominal obesity ... measuring the amount of cortisol in hair can potentially be used to monitor a person's long-term exposure to cortisol"

Low vitamin D in kids may play a role in anemia - Science Daily, 5/1/11 - "vitamin D deficiency may play an important role in anemia ... looked at data from the blood samples of more than 9,400 children, 2 to 18 years of age. The lower the vitamin D levels, the lower the hemoglobin and the higher the risk for anemia, the researchers found. Children with levels below 20 nanograms per milliliter (ng/ml) of blood had a 50 percent higher risk for anemia than children with levels 20 ng/ml and above. For each 1 ng/ml increase in vitamin D, anemia risk dropped by 3 percent" - See vitamin D products at iHerb.

Too much or too little sleep may accelerate cognitive aging, study shows - Science Daily, 5/1/11 - "women and men who begin sleeping more or less than 6 to 8 hours per night are subject to an accelerated cognitive decline that is equivalent to four to seven years of aging ... The researchers also found that, in women, sleep duration of 7 hours of sleep per night was associated with the highest score for every cognitive measure, followed closely by 6 hours of nightly sleep. Among men, cognitive function was similar for those who reported sleeping 6, 7 or 8 hours; only short and long sleep durations of less than 6 hours or more than 8 hours appeared to be associated with lower scores"

System in brain -- target of class of diabetes drugs -- linked to weight gain - Science Daily. 5/1/11 - "PPAR-γ is the target of a class of diabetes drugs called TZDs (thiazolidinediones). This class of drugs reduces blood glucose levels but also causes considerable weight gain ... Seeley and his team set out to determine whether or not the brain's PPAR-γ system was responsible for the weight gain associated with TZDs ... by giving TZD drugs in the same manner that people take them, rats gained weight. This was because the drugs activated PPAR-γ in the brain. Thus, weight gain associated with this class of drugs may not be a result of action of PPAR-γ in fat as had been previously thought, but rather a result of a change in activity in parts of the brain known to regulate appetite ... If you artificially turn on PPAR-γ, you can increase food intake in rats ... If you block these receptors in animals on high-fat diets that make animals obese, animals gain less weight ... In the past, says Seeley, people thought that the production of more fat cells in response to TZD drugs was the cause of the resulting weight gain, but he adds, "Just having more fat cells is not enough to make animals or people fatter. Rather you have to eat more calories than you burn and that is exactly what happens when you turn on the brain PPAR-γ system"

Low Vitamin D Linked to Aggressive Breast Cancer - WebMD, 4/29/11 - "Women in the study with triple-negative tumors, which do not respond to hormone treatments, were almost three times more likely to have suboptimal vitamin D levels as women with other breast cancers"

Melatonin might help in controlling weight gain and preventing heart diseases associated to obesity - Science Daily, 4/28/11 - "melatonin -a natural hormone produced by the body- helps in controlling weight gain -even without reducing the intake of food-, improves blood lipid profile -as it reduces triglicerids-, increases HDL cholesterol and reduces LDL cholesterol ... analyzed in young Zucker diabetic obese rats the effects of melatonin on obesity, dyslipidemia and high blood pressure associated to obesity. Melatonin was found to be beneficial for young rats that had not still developed any methabolic or heart disease" - See Source Naturals, Melatonin, Peppermint Flavored Sublingual, 1 mg, 300 Tablets at iHerb.

Obese adolescents lacking vitamin D, study suggests - Science Daily, 4/28/11 - "For this retrospective study, Harel and his co-authors explored the prevalence of low vitamin D status among 68 obese adolescents, and examined the impact of treatment of low vitamin D status in these patient ... low vitamin D status was present in all of the girls (72 percent deficient and 28 percent insufficient) and in 91 percent of the boys (69 percent deficient and 22 percent insufficient). Of those with vitamin D deficiency or insufficiency, 43 patients had a repeat measurement of vitamin D level after treatment. While there was a significant increase in vitamin D levels following treatment, serum vitamin D levels normalized in only 28percent of these patients. Repeat multiple courses of vitamin D treatment in the patients who did not normalize their vitamin D levels after initial course, failed to normalize their low vitamin D status ... The researchers question whether a higher daily vitamin D intake than the one recently recommended by the Institute of Medicine (600 international units of vitamin D/day) may be required as part of treatment in obese adolescents, in an attempt to increase their vitamin D status" - See vitamin D products at iHerb.

Vitamin E helps diminish a type of fatty liver disease in children, study suggests - Science Daily, 4/27/11 - "Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most common chronic liver disease among U.S. children. NAFLD ranges in severity from steatosis (fat in the liver without injury) to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis or NASH (fat, inflammation, and liver damage). Fatty liver increases a child's risk of developing heart disease and liver cirrhosis ... after 96 weeks of treatment, 58 percent of the children on vitamin E no longer had NASH, compared to 41 percent of the children on metformin (a diabetes drug), and 28 percent on placebo. Vitamin E was better than placebo because it significantly reduced enlargement and death of liver cells ... These results suggest that vitamin E improves or resolves NASH in at least half of children, which we previously showed to be true in adults" - See Jarrow FamilE (contains all eight members of the vitamin E family, includes Tocomin) at iHerb.

Increased metabolic rate may lead to accelerated aging - Science Daily, 4/27/11 - "higher endogenous metabolic rate, that is how much energy the body uses for normal body functions, is a risk factor for earlier mortality .... This increased metabolic rate may lead to earlier organ damage (in effect accelerated aging) possibly by accumulation of toxic substances produced with the increase in energy turnover ... these data do not apply to exercise-related energy expenditure"

Abstracts from this week's Doctor's Guide Nutrition/Dietetics plus abstracts from my RSS feeds (Click here for the journals, the PubMed ones at the top):

Combined Effect of High-Normal Blood Pressure and Low HDL Cholesterol on Mortality in an Elderly Korean Population: The South-West Seoul (SWS) Study - Am J Hypertens. 2011 Apr 28 - "high-normal blood pressure (HNBP) ... Study, a prospective cohort study of 2,376 elderly Koreans, aged >60 years. Results During the median follow-up of 7.6 years, 353 deaths occurred from all causes, and 113 of these were attributed to CVD. Prehypertension was nonsignificantly associated with an increased risk of mortality (hazard ratio (HR): 1.06, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.68-1.64). Subjects with HNBP exhibited a nonsignificantly higher risk of mortality compared with those with optimal blood pressure by the ESH/ESC guideline (HR: 1.35, 95% CI: 0.84-2.18). However, the combination of low high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and HNBP showed a twofold higher risk of all-cause mortality (HR: 2.01, 95% CI: 1.11-3.64) independent of other risk factors. Conclusions Although prehypertension was not associated with increased risk of mortality, individuals in the elderly Korean population with HNBP, especially when combined with low HDL cholesterol, showed a significantly increased risk of all-cause mortality"

Prophylactic Application of Bovine Colostrum Ameliorates Murine Colitis via Induction of Immunoregulatory Cells - J Nutr. 2011 Apr 27 - "Herein, we addressed the question whether bovine colostrum, the first milk produced by mammals, is able to prevent dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis in mice ... Following 2 wk of observation, the colons were removed for histologic and immunohistochemical evaluation of inflammation. Flow cytometric phenotyping of leukocyte subsets was performed from peripheral blood, mesenteric lymph nodes, and spleens. Administration of bovine colostrum improved the clinical and histologic severity of colorectal inflammation. Compared with BSA-fed and water-fed controls, BV-20 pretreated mice had significantly less severe weight loss and decreased colon shortening. Beneficial effects were accompanied by redistribution of immunoregulatory, peripheral and splenic γδ TCR(+) cells, and CD11b(+)Gr1(+) cells. Higher colostrum doses did not affect disease activity. In summary, prophylactic administration of colostrum improved clinical symptoms of colorectal inflammation in a well-established mouse model of DSS-induced colitis" - See colostrum products at iHerb.

Prenatal DHA Status and Neurological Outcome in Children at Age 5.5 Years Are Positively Associated - J Nutr. 2011 Apr 27 - "Healthy pregnant women from Spain, Germany, and Hungary were randomly assigned to a dietary supplement consisting of either fish oil (FO) (500 mg/d DHA + 150 mg/d EPA), 400 μg/d 5-methyltetrahydrofolate, both, or placebo from wk 20 of gestation until delivery ... We conclude that higher DHA levels in cord blood may be related to a better neurological outcome at 5.5 y of age" - See Jarrow Max DHA at iHerb.

Green Tea Polyphenols Provide Photoprotection, Increase Microcirculation, and Modulate Skin Properties of Women - J Nutr. 2011 Apr 27 - "Dietary constituents including polyphenols and carotenoids contribute to endogenous photoprotection and modulate skin characteristics related to structure and function of the tissue. Animal and in-vitro studies indicate that green tea polyphenols affect skin properties. In a 12-wk, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, 60 female volunteers were randomized to an intervention or control group. Participants consumed either a beverage with green tea polyphenols providing 1402 mg total catechins/d or a control beverage. Skin photoprotection, structure, and function were measured at baseline (wk 0), wk 6, and wk 12. Following exposure of the skin areas to 1.25 minimal erythemal dose of radiation from a solar simulator, UV-induced erythema decreased significantly in the intervention group by 16 and 25% after 6 and 12 wk, respectively. Skin structural characteristics that were positively affected included elasticity, roughness, scaling, density, and water homeostasis. Intake of the green tea polyphenol beverage for 12 wk increased blood flow and oxygen delivery to the skin. Likewise, in a separate, randomized, double-blind, single-dose (0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 g) study of green tea polyphenols, blood flow was maximized at 30 min after ingestion. In summary, green tea polyphenols delivered in a beverage were shown to protect skin against harmful UV radiation and helped to improve overall skin quality of women" - See Jarrow Green Tea extract at iHerb.

Dietary Epicatechin Promotes Survival of Obese Diabetic Mice and Drosophila melanogaster - J Nutr. 2011 Apr 27 - "The lifespan of diabetic patients is 7-8 y shorter than that of the general population because of hyperglycemia-induced vascular complications and damage to other organs such as the liver and skeletal muscle. Here, we investigated the effects of epicatechin, one of the major flavonoids in cocoa, on health-promoting effects in obese diabetic (db/db) mice (0.25% in drinking water for 15 wk) and Drosophila melanogaster (0.01-8 mmol/L in diet). Dietary intake of epicatechin promoted survival in the diabetic mice (50% mortality in diabetic control group vs. 8.4% in epicatechin group after 15 wk of treatment), whereas blood pressure, blood glucose, food intake, and body weight gain were not significantly altered. Pathological analysis showed that epicatechin administration reduced the degeneration of aortic vessels and blunted fat deposition and hydropic degeneration in the liver caused by diabetes. Epicatechin treatment caused changes in diabetic mice that are associated with a healthier and longer lifespan, including improved skeletal muscle stress output, reduced systematic inflammation markers and serum LDL cholesterol, increased hepatic antioxidant glutathione concentration and total superoxide dismutase activity, decreased circulating insulin-like growth factor-1 (from 303 ± 21 mg/L in the diabetic control group to 189 ± 21 mg/L in the epicatechin-treated group), and improved AMP-activated protein kinase-α activity in the liver and skeletal muscle. Consistently, epicatechin (0.1-8 mmol/L) also promoted survival and increased mean lifespan of Drosophila. Therefore, epicatechin may be a novel food-derived, antiaging compound"

Low fish oil intake improves insulin sensitivity, lipid profile and muscle metabolism on insulin resistant MSG-obese rats - Lipids Health Dis. 2011 Apr 28;10(1):66 - "The purpose of this study was to determinate the effect of a lower dose of fish oil supplementation on insulin sensitivity, lipid profile, and muscle metabolism in obese rats ... Low dose of fish oil supplementation (1g/kg/day) was able to reduce TC and TG levels, in addition to improved systemic and muscle insulin sensitivity. These results lend credence to the benefits of n-3 fatty acids upon the deleterious effects of insulin resistance mechanisms" - See Mega Twin EPA at iHerb and Jarrow Max DHA at iHerb.

Consumption of a DHA-containing functional food during pregnancy is associated with lower infant ponderal index and cord plasma insulin concentration - Br J Nutr. 2011 Apr 27:1-5 - "DHA consumption during pregnancy may be advantageous with respect to infant body composition at birth and insulin sensitivity" - See Jarrow Max DHA at iHerb.

Glycated Hemoglobin Predicts All-Cause, Cardiovascular, and Cancer Mortality in People Without a History of Diabetes Undergoing Coronary Angiography - Diabetes Care. 2011 Apr 22 - "The multivariable-adjusted hazard ratios (HR) (95% CI) for glycated hemoglobin values of <5.0, 5.0-5.4, 5.5-5.9, 6.0-6.4, 6.5-7.4, and ≥7.5% for all-cause mortality were 1.36 (0.85-2.18), 1.00 (0.76-1.32), 1.00 (reference), 1.11 (0.88-1.41), 1.39 (1.07-1.82), and 2.15 (1.32-3.53), respectively. Similar J-shaped relationships were found between glycated hemoglobin and cardiovascular and cancer mortality. The associations of glycated hemoglobin with all-cause and cardiovascular mortality remained significant after inclusion of fasting glucose as a covariate. However, fasting glucose was not significantly related to mortality when adjusting for glycated hemoglobin"

The effects of combination therapy with dutasteride plus tamsulosin on clinical outcomes in men with symptomatic BPH: 4-year post hoc analysis of European men in the CombAT study - Prostate Cancer Prostatic Dis. 2011 Apr 19 - "Patients were randomised to daily tamsulosin 0.4 mg, dutasteride 0.5 mg or both for 4 years ... Combination therapy significantly reduced the relative risk of AUR or BPH-related surgery compared with either monotherapy at 4 years, and also significantly reduced the risk of BPH clinical progression. Combination therapy also provided significantly greater symptom improvement than either monotherapy at 4 years. Safety and tolerability of dutasteride plus tamsulosin was consistent with previous experience of this combination and with the monotherapies. These data provide further evidence to support the use of long-term combination therapy (dutasteride plus tamsulosin) in men with moderate-to-severe lower urinary tract symptoms because of BPH and prostatic enlargement"

Aortic stiffness is reduced beyond blood pressure lowering by short-term and long-term antihypertensive treatment: a meta-analysis of individual data in 294 patients - J Hypertens. 2011 Apr 23 - "meta-analysis of individual data from 15 randomized, controlled, double-blind, parallel group trials ... In the short-term and long-term trials, PWV decreased significantly by -0.75 and -1.3 m/s in the active treatment group compared with by +0.17 and -0.44 m/s in the placebo group, respectively. Active treatment was independently related to the changes in PWV and explained 5 and 4% of the variance in the short-term and long-term trials, respectively. In the short-term trials, ACEIs were more effective than calcium antagonists and placebo on improving arterial stiffness. In the long-term trials, ACEI, calcium antagonists, beta-blocker, and diuretic reduced significantly PWV compared to placebo ... Our study shows that antihypertensive treatments improve the arterial stiffness beyond their effect on blood pressure"

Epigallocatechin-3-O-gallate (EGCG) attenuates FFAs-induced peripheral insulin resistance through AMPK pathway and insulin signaling pathway in vivo - Diabetes Res Clin Pract. 2011 Apr 21 - "free fatty acids (FFAs) ... This study suggests the therapeutic value of EGCG in protecting from insulin resistance caused by elevated FFAs" - See green tea products at iHerb.

More info on homemade mayonnaise:

I mentioned a couple weeks ago about homemade olive oil mayonnaise as a way to include omega-9 into your diet.  I researched it some more and below is what I found.  safeeggs.com shows store locations that sell pasteurized eggs but it appears that they are hard to find.  I ended up pasteurizing the eggs myself.  Click here for the video and making the mayonnaise in a Cuisinart.

As for pasteurizing, I used a roasting pan with a rack and filled the pan with water and put it on top of a burner.  For the temperature, I used a Weber Thermometer.  I had the burner on "warm".  When the temperature reached 130 degrees I put the eggs in and put the timer on 40 min.  At about 12 minutes remaining the water was at 140 and I turned off the burner.  At 4 minutes remaining the temperature was down to 132 so I put the burner back to "warm".  At the end of the 40 minutes the temperature of the water was 133 and I removed the eggs.

For the mayonnaise, ensure everything is at room temperature.  If you over whip or add the oil too quickly you end up with something that looks like pea soup. This method might be tedious but it works every time.  I  put 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice, 1/2 tablespoon white vinegar and one extra large egg yoke (or two egg yokes if you're using smaller eggs) into the Cuisinart and hit the pulse button once.  Then I added one cup of extra light olive oil but only one tablespoon at a time and after each tablespoon I hit the "pulse" quickly four times.  When that's done, I add a third teaspoon of Lite Salt and hit the "pulse" one more time and it's done.

• Homemade Mayo Using Home Pasteurized Eggs Recipe - Food.com - "First off, set your eggs out until they become room temperature, about 2-3 hours, then in a pot use enough water to completely cover your eggs. Using a candy thermometer, bring your water to 160-165 degrees farenheit, place your eggs in the water for 3 minutes, then remove and allow to cool back to room temperature (all the other eggs you just pasteurized you can put in the frg), once your eggs are room temperature, continue on to make your homemade Mayonnaise ... Do not keep longer than 1 week if you did not pasteurize your eggs, 4-6 weeks if using pasteurized eggs"
• Safest Choice™ Pasteurized Shell Eggs - safeeggs.com - "The Safest Choice™ patented, all natural, award-winning egg pasteurization process eliminates Salmonella in shell eggs before the eggs even enter your kitchen. You can rest assured Safest Choice™ pasteurized shell eggs are Salmonella free. In fact, Safest Choice™ eggs stay fresh longer because our warm-water egg pasteurization process eliminates the bacteria that cause spoilage"
• Homemade Mayonnaise, How To Make Mayonnaise, Julia Child Mayonnaise, Homemade Mayonnaise Recipe, Making Mayonnaise, Easy Mayonnaise Recipe - whatscookingamerica.net - "All the ingredients must be at room temperature. If necessary, eggs may be immersed in warm water for 10 minutes to bring them up to temperature before breaking them into the blender jar"
• Mayonnaise - lwicker.myweb.uga.edu - "Since homemade mayonnaise is uncooked, be sure to use the freshest eggs possible, and ones that you are reasonably sure are free from salmonella. Homemade mayonnaise will last three to four days in the refrigerator"
• Mayonnaise - two easy recipes for homemade mayonnaise plus a number of variations - helpwithcooking.com - "Commercially produced mayonnaise uses pasteurised eggs, which is why it can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 6 months. Homemade mayonnaise can only be stored for 3 - 4 days, after which it should be discarded to prevent any infection. Small children, pregnant women and pensioners are particularly at risk with regards to infection with salmonella"
• Food in the News: What's the Deal with Pasteurized Eggs? | Apartment Therapy The Kitchn - thekitchn.com - "Since eggs will start to cook around 145°, pasteurization has to happen below this temperature. Most eggs are pasteurized by holding them in a warm water bath between 130° and 140° for 5 - 45 minutes"
• Homemade Mayonnaise - Recipe File - Cooking For Engineers - cookingforengineers.com - "It should hold for half a week to a week"

Neat Tech Stuff / "How To's":

• Pine Top 511-0007 Four-Light LED Plastic Solar Fence Post Cap, White

Health Focus (Colds/Flu):

Alternative News:

• Zinc reduces the burden of the common cold - Science Daily, 2/15/11 - "In total, data from 15 trials, involving 1,360 people, were included. According to the results, zinc syrup, lozenges or tablets taken within a day of the onset of cold symptoms reduce the severity and length of illness. At seven days, more of the patients who took zinc had cleared their symptoms compared to those who took placebos. Children who took zinc syrup or lozenges for five months or longer caught fewer colds and took less time off school. Zinc also reduced antibiotic use in children, which is important because overuse has implications for antibiotic resistance" - See Jarrow Zinc Balance at iHerb (taking zinc alone may cause a copper deficiency).
• Biothera's beta-glucan ingredient may reduce cold/flu incidence - Nutra USA, 10/8/10 - "Only 10 percent of women receiving supplements of Biothera’s Wellmune WGP branded ingredient reported upper respiratory tract infection symptoms, such as sore throat, stuffy or runny nose, and cough, compared with 29 percent of women in the control group" - See beta-glucan products at iHerb.
• Probiotics show potential against common cold: Study - Nutra USA 9/21/10 - "daily consumption of Lactobacillus plantarum HEAL 9 (DSM 15312) and Lactobacillus paracasei 8700:2 (DSM 13434) reduced the incidence of one or more episodes of the common cold from 67 percent in the placebo group to 55 percent, according to findings published in the European Journal of Nutrition ... Furthermore, the number of days of symptoms for the cold was significantly reduced in people taking the probiotic supplements, from an average of 8.6 to 6.2, compared with placebo ... the total symptom score was reduced during the study period from a mean of 44.4 for the control group to 33.6 for the probiotic group" - [Abstract] - See probiotic products at iHerb.
• Randomised, double-blind and placebo-controlled study using new probiotic lactobacilli for strengthening the body immune defence against viral infections - Eur J Nutr. 2010 Aug 28 - "The incidence of acquiring one or more common cold episode was reduced from 67% in the control group to 55% in the probiotic group (p < 0.05). Also, the number of days with common cold symptoms were significantly (p < 0.05) reduced from 8.6 days in the control group to 6.2 days, in the probiotic group, during the 12-week period. The total symptom score was reduced during the study period from a mean of 44.4 for the control group to 33.6 for the probiotic group. The reduction in pharyngeal symptoms was significant (p < 0.05). In addition, the proliferation of B lymphocytes was significantly counteracted in the probiotic group (p < 0.05) in comparison with the control group" - See probiotic products at iHerb.
• Vitamin D May Cut Risk of Flu - WebMD, 6/16/10 - "people who maintain vitamin D blood levels of 38 nanograms per milliliter or more are less likely to get viral infections such as flu than people with less in their blood ... Of 18 people who maintained that level during the study period, only three developed viral infect ... But of the 180 other participants with less vitamin D in their blood, 81(45%), did get sick with viral infections ... And those with higher levels of vitamin D also experienced a marked reduction in the number of days they were ill" - See vitamin D products at iHerb.
• Reducing the risk of infection in the elderly by dietary intake of yoghurt fermented with Lactobacillus delbrueckii ssp. bulgaricus OLL1073R-1 - Br J Nutr. 2010 May 21:1-9 - "90 g yoghurt or drink 100 ml milk once per d over an 8- or 12-week period. A meta-analysis of the results of these two independent studies showed the risk of catching the common cold was about 2.6 times lower (OR 0.39; P = 0.019) in the yoghurt group than in the milk group and the increase of natural killer cell activity was significantly higher in the yoghurt group than in the milk group" - See Yogourmet Electric Yogurt Maker at Amazon.com.
• Vitamin D shows promise against seasonal ‘flu: Study - Nutra USA, 4/1/10 - "daily supplements of vitamin D3 reduced the influence of seasonal ‘flu (influenza A) by over 40 per cent ... The benefits of vitamin D supplementation were even more noticeable in children who had low levels of vitamin D at the start of the study, with a 74 per cent reduction in the incidence of ‘flu observed" - [Abstract] - See vitamin D products at iHerb.
• Randomized trial of vitamin D supplementation to prevent seasonal influenza A in schoolchildren - Am J Clin Nutr. 2010 Mar 10 - "Influenza A occurred in 18 of 167 (10.8%) children in the vitamin D(3) group compared with 31 of 167 (18.6%) children in the placebo group [relative risk (RR), 0.58; 95% CI: 0.34, 0.99; P = 0.04]. The reduction in influenza A was more prominent in children who had not been taking other vitamin D supplements (RR: 0.36; 95% CI: 0.17, 0.79; P = 0.006) and who started nursery school after age 3 y (RR: 0.36; 95% CI: 0.17, 0.78; P = 0.005). In children with a previous diagnosis of asthma, asthma attacks as a secondary outcome occurred in 2 children receiving vitamin D(3) compared with 12 children receiving placebo (RR: 0.17; 95% CI: 0.04, 0.73; P = 0.006)" - See vitamin D products at iHerb.
• Are hand sanitizers better than handwashing against the common cold? - Science Daily, 3/24/10 - "Results showed that the ethanol hand sanitizer removed approximately 80% of detectable rhinovirus from hands and was much more effective than no treatment, water alone, or soap and water. Soap and water removed rhinovirus from 31% of hands"
• Hand sanitizer: How it protects you - CNN, 11/27/09 - "up to 80 percent of all infections get spread by hands ... Hand sanitizers are effective against both bacteria and viruses ... The sanitizer works on contact, meaning it's only effective on the parts of your hands that it touches. That means if you miss a spot between your fingers, there could still be viruses or bacteria in that place" - Click here for Purell dispensers.
• Previous seasonal flu infections may provide some level of H1N1 immunity - Science Daily, 11/16/09 - "What we have found is that the swine flu has similarities to the seasonal flu, which appear to provide some level of pre-existing immunity. This suggests that it could make the disease less severe in the general population than originally feared ... "We found that the immune system's T cells can recognize a significant percent of the markers in swine flu." T cells are infection-fighting white blood cells in the body's immune system. "Nobody knows what level of immunity is sufficient for protection. We do know that a T cell response is not enough to prevent being infected by the virus. But, if infected, our data suggests that T cells in those who have previously been exposed to influenza may make the infection less severe," ... In a normal flu season, influenza infects as much as 20 percent of the U.S. population, causes more than 200,000 hospitalizations and kills about 36,000 people"
• Scientists Discover Influenza's Achilles Heel: Antioxidants - Science Daily, 10/29/09 - "antioxidants -- the same substances found in plant-based foods -- might hold the key in preventing the flu virus from wreaking havoc on our lungs"
• Probiotics may reduce cold and 'flu symptoms for children - Nutra USA, 7/30/09 - "A daily supplement of Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium strains may reduce the incidence of cold and 'flu-like symptoms in children by 50 per cent ... A combination of the two strains was linked to reductions in fever incidence by 73 per cent, a reduction in the occurrence of runny noses by 59 per cent, and drop in the incidence of coughing by 62 per cent" - [Abstract] - See probiotic products at iHerb.
• Probiotic Effects on Cold and Influenza-Like Symptom Incidence and Duration in Children - PEDIATRICS Vol. 124 No. 2 August 2009, pp. e172-e179 - "Relative to the placebo group, single and combination probiotics reduced fever incidence by 53.0% (P = .0085) and 72.7% (P = .0009), coughing incidence by 41.4% (P = .027) and 62.1% (P = .005), and rhinorrhea incidence by 28.2% (P = .68) and 58.8% (P = .03), respectively. Fever, coughing, and rhinorrhea duration was decreased significantly, relative to placebo, by 32%" - See probiotic products at iHerb.
• Certain Zinc-based Cold Remedies Linked To Loss Of Sense Of Smell, FDA Says - Science Daily, 6/18/09 - "The FDA has received more than 130 reports of loss of sense of smell associated with the use of these three Zicam products" - Seems like Zicam has been around over ten years and at least 20 million people must have used it by now.  130/20,000,000 = 0.0000065 or one chance in 154,000.  Seems like it could have been due to chance.  People worried about those odds might not want to drive to work.  36,000 people in the U.S. die from the flu each year (360,000 in ten years).  Maybe the reduction in flu severity provided by the Zicam would have been enough to save 130 of them.  Sometimes I think the FDA gets carried away.  We've probably had more problems with peanut allergies so maybe peanuts should be outlawed.
• Low Vitamin D Levels Linked to Colds - WebMD, 2/23/09 - "those with the lowest vitamin D levels (less than 10 nanograms per milliliter of blood) were 36% more likely to report having a recent upper respiratory tract infection than those with higher levels (30 ng/mL or higher) ... people with asthma with the lowest vitamin D levels were five times more likely to have had a recent respiratory infection. Among those with COPD, recent respiratory infections were twice as common among those with lowest vitamin D levels" - See vitamin D products at iHerb.
• Good Night’s Sleep Puts Colds to Bed - WebMD, 1/12/09
• Substance Found In Fruits And Vegetables Reduces Likelihood Of The Flu - Science Daily, 0/3/08 - "Mice that exercised and took quercetin had nearly the same rate of illness as those that did not exercise. In other words, quercetin canceled out the negative effect of stressful exercise ... Although this study was done with mice, a recent human study found that people who took quercetin suffered fewer illnesses following three days of exhaustive exercise compared to those who did not" - See quercetin products at iHerb.
• Does Honey Relieve Cough in Children? - Medscape, 5/8/08 - "On a 6-point scale, subjects who received honey reported an average improvement of 1.89 points in cough frequency, compared with 1.39 points for DM subjects and 0.92 points for "no treatment" subjects. Parental assessment of the child's sleep improved by 2.49 points for honey patients, by 1.79 points for DM patients, and by 1.57 points for no treatment patients"
• Zinc Reduces Common Cold Symptoms - Medscape, 4/17/08 - "The participants took one zinc acetate lozenge containing 13.3 mg of zinc or placebo every 2-3 hours while awake ... The average duration of cold symptoms (including cough, nasal discharge, and muscle ache) was significantly shorter in the zinc group (4.0 days) than in the placebo group (7.1 days) ... By day 4, 56% of the zinc group had complete resolution of their colds, whereas none of the placebo group was free of cold symptoms on day 4"
• Probiotic Cuts Respiratory Illness Rates In Endurance Athletes, Study Suggests - Science Daily, 2/18/08 - "The probiotic Lactobacillus substantially cuts the rate and length of respiratory illness in professional long distance runners ... athletes taking the probiotic had less than half the number of days of symptoms of their colleagues taking the placebo ... Respiratory symptoms while taking Lactobacillus lasted 30 days compared with 72 days while taking the placebo" - [Nutra USA] - See my favorite Garden of Life Primal Defense HSO Probiotic Formula at iHerb.
• Honey May Soothe Kids' Coughs - WebMD, 12/3/07 - "Honey ranked highest, followed by dextromethorphan, and the placebo was in last place in terms of cough relief ... honey's slim lead over dextromethorphan may have been due to chance"
• Study: Echinacea Cuts Colds by Half - WebMD, 6/26/07
• Lancet: Echinacea does fight colds - USA Today, 6/25/07 - "the popular herbal supplement echinacea cuts the chance of catching a cold by 58% and can reduce the duration of colds by about a day and a half" - See Echinacea products at iHerb.
• Moderate Exercise May Lower Cold Risk - WebMD, 10/26/06
• The prophylactic and therapeutic effectiveness of zinc sulphate on common cold in children - Acta Paediatr. 2006 Oct;95(10):1175-81 - "Compared to the placebo group, the zinc group had shorter mean duration of cold symptoms and decreased total severity scores for cold symptoms"
• Working out may help prevent colds, flu - MSNBC, 1/17/06 - "moderate amounts of aerobic exercise such as jogging, brisk walking and cycling during the cold and flu season boost the body’s defenses against viruses and bacteria"
• Immune-Enhancing Role of Vitamin C and Zinc and Effect on Clinical Conditions - Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism 2006;50:85-94 - "These trials document that adequate intakes of vitamin C and zinc ameliorate symptoms and shorten the duration of respiratory tract infections including the common cold"
• 'Good' Bacteria: Good for Colds? - WebMD, 11/7/05
• Workers On Daily Probiotics Less Likely To Take Time Off Sick - Science Daily, 11/7/05 - "workers who took a daily dose of the probiotic bacteria Lactobacillus reuteri were 2.5 times less likely to take sick leave than workers who took a placebo"
• Anti-cold, Anti-flu Product Cuts Recurrent Colds By More Than Half, Study Shows - Science Daily, 10/25/05
• Ginseng for Gesundheit? Latest Study on Colds - WebMD, 10/24/05 - "one in 10 people in the ginseng group reported having two or more colds that winter, compared with about 23% of those taking the placebo ... Colds lasted about 11 days for the ginseng group and 16.5 days for the placebo group"
• Effect of a dietary supplement containing probiotic bacteria plus vitamins and minerals on common cold infections and cellular immune parameters - Int J Clin Pharmacol Ther. 2005 Jul;43(7):318-26 - "These data indicate that the intake of a dietary supplement containing probiotic bacteria plus vitamins and minerals during a period of at least three months in winter/spring may reduce the incidence and the severity of symptoms in common cold infections in otherwise healthy adults. This may be due to stimulated cellular immunity"
• Vitamin C May Not Fight the Common Cold - WebMD, 6/28/05
• Resveratrol could prevent ‘flu epidemics - Nutra USA, 5/24/05
• Boost In Immune Response Fights Common Cold - Science Daily, 4/24/05 - "Nursing facility residents who consumed 200 International Units (IUs) of vitamin E daily for one year were less likely to get the sniffles than those who took a placebo ... those who took the moderate supplements were 20 percent less likely to contract upper respiratory infections, such as colds"
• Efficacy of Zinc Against the Common Cold Virus - Medscape, 11/23/04 - "Clinical trial data support the value of zinc in reducing the duration and severity of symptoms of the common cold when administered within 24 hours of the onset of common cold symptoms"
• Vitamin E May Prevent Common Cold - WebMD, 8/17/04 - "Participants in the vitamin E group who completed the study had significantly fewer common colds and a 20% lower risk of acquiring a cold than those in the placebo group"
• Bugged by a Bad Cold? - Dr. Weil, 5/24/04
• The Herbal Way To Keep Flu at Bay - WebMD, 12/12/03 - ""Astragalus is an immune-enhancing herb to ward off flu," Weil says ... I also use a mushroom product called Host Defense, an extract of seven mushrooms ... I think it is useful to be on a good multivitamin, multimineral supplement" - See iHerb Host Defense products.
• Positive Attitude Fights the Common Cold - WebMD, 7/22/03
• New Weapon Against Colds? - Dr. Weil, 7/8/03
• Vitamin C May Fight Colds After All - WebMD, 3/12/03 - "12 healthy subjects who took one gram of vitamin C a day for two weeks showed a boosted immune system response during that time ... in two of them, the response to vitamin C took place within five hours ... this might mean that taking a vitamin C tablet at the first sign of a cold could achieve an effect quickly enough to ward off that cold"
• Zinc Spray Shortens Colds - Physician's Weekly, 1/27/03 - "Zicam, an over-the-counter nasal spray, cuts the length of a cold by anywhere between 1.5 to 3 days, according to a new study from The Cleveland Clinic Foundation" - See See drugstore.com Zicam products.
• Zinc Spray Shortens Colds - WebMD, 1/7/03 - "patients using Zicam, an over-the-counter nasal spray, cut the length of their colds an average of 1.5 days compared with those treated with a placebo. However, some patients slashed their cold duration in half -- from six days to only three" - See Zicam at drugstore.com .
• Soothing Sore Throat? - Dr. Weil, 12/6/02
• Zinc Gluconate Reduces Cold Duration And Frequency In Children - Doctor's Guide, 11/14/02 - "Subjects taking the zinc gluconate glycine lozenges [Cold-Eeze] showed shorter cold duration than non-users: 7.5 and 9.0 days respectively. Further, 4.1 percent of those taking the lozenge needed concomitant antibiotics compared to 36.2 percent of non-users. Prophylaxis with the lozenge reduced the median annual number of colds from 1.3 in non-users to 0.0 among the lozenge users" - I've got that via my drugstore.com affiliate.  See Cold-Eeze.  Now might be a good time to stock up on Zicam so that you can use it at the first symptoms of a cold.
• Exercise, Supplements Boost Flu Shots - WebMD, 10/3/02
• Exercise May Reduce Risk Of Colds - Intelihealth, 8/26/02
• Alternative Remedies for Fighting a Cold - WebMD, 2/27/02 - "chicken soup not only helps break up nasal congestion, but many recipes include garlic, which has antibiotic properties ... Drink plenty of water ... help to clear the sinuses ... most cough syrup was extracted from the bark of the wild cherry tree ... garlic, ginger, and goldenseal. These herbs and spices have antiviral, antiseptic, or antibiotic properties ..."
• Natural cures for the common cold? - CNN, 2/13/01 - "a zinc nasal spray called Zicam, showed very promising results in a study of 213 patients published in ENT, the Ear, Nose and Throat journal. Symptoms were reduced by as much as 75 percent." - see Zicam
• Zinc Halts Colds - Nutrition Science News, 11/00
• Science Finally Shows What Grandma Knew All Along - WebMD, 10/17/00
• Immunity-Building Supplements May Be Crucial For This Year’s Cold And Flu Season - Vitacost, 10/11/00
• Zinc Lozenges Cut Cold Duration in Half, Study Shows - WebMD, 8/14/00
• Natural Substance Fights the Flu in Mice - WebMD, 4/17/00
• Supplementing your cold defenses - CNN, 11/4/99
• A Shield of Immunity - Nutrition Science News, 9/99
• Echinacea vs. the Common Cold - Nutrition Science News, 8/99
• Zinc Lozenges Ineffective In Treating Cold Symptoms In Children - Doctor's Guide, 6/23/98
• Winning the Cold War: The Latest Scientific Findings on Fighting the Sniffles and Sneezes - Think Muscle Newsletter

Other News:

• Antibiotics May Make Fighting Flu Harder - Science News, 3/14/11 - "Iwasaki and her colleagues treated mice for a month with four antibiotics commonly given to people with bacterial infections, then infected the rodents with the flu. Antibiotic treatment impaired the mice’s ability to make an important flu-fighting molecule called interleukin-1 beta or IL-1 beta, the researchers found. IL-1 beta is necessary to combat influenza and other viruses ... Gut bacteria are constantly priming the immune system to make IL-1 beta, keeping the immune system vigilant against the flu and other viruses ... Some Lactobacillus bacteria, on the other hand, are known as “friendly” gut bacteria and may play a role in virus defense. Mice treated with an antibiotic called neomycin, which wipes out most types of Lactobacillus bacteria while leaving Sphingomonas bacteria alone, have a hard time fighting the flu" - Note:  It seems to be a common misconception of nearly everyone I know that if you've got a bad case of the flu you need to go to a doctor and get antibiotics when in reality, it probably slows recovery.
• H1N1 Swine Flu Deadly to the Young - WebMD, 10/20/09 - "In a normal flu season, 90% of deaths are in elderly people. Since September, 90% of deaths have been in people under age 65 -- with almost a quarter of the deaths in young people under age 25"
• Live Attenuated Flu Vaccine May Be Less Effective Than Inactivated Flu Vaccine - Medscape, 9/24/09 - "the inactivated influenza vaccine (injection) was more effective than the live attenuated vaccine (intranasal spray) in preventing laboratory-confirmed symptomatic influenza A (mostly H3N2) in healthy adults"
• Shots beat back the flu much better than spray - msnbc.com, 9/23/09 - "In a study of nearly 2,000 healthy adults during a recent flu season, standard shots were twice as effective against regular winter flu as the newer nasal spray" - Note:  For what it's worth, I read or viewed somewhere that the shot contains dead viruses and the spray contains weakened viruses.
• 2 Easiest Ways to Catch Swine Flu - WebMD, 9/18/09 - "Having a sick person cough directly into your face ... That gives you more than a 50% chance of getting sick ... Touching something contaminated with flu virus and then touching your nose, mouth, or eyes with your unwashed hand gives you a 31% chance at getting sick"
• Seniors may have immunity to swine flu - msnbc.com, 9/17/09 - "Researchers believe seniors have a partial immunity to swine flu because of exposure to similar viruses in their lifetimes. It is a rare bit of good news before the start of the regular flu season, which generally kills 36,000 people a year, most of them elderly"
• Swine Flu: How Long Are You Infectious? - WebMD, 9/15/09 - "On the eighth day after symptoms struck, 8% to 19% were still shedding live H1N1 virus ... The second study ... showed that 80% were still shedding virus after five days of illness, 40% at seven days, and 10% at 10 days"
• Vaccination Of 70 Percent Of US Population Could Control Swine Flu Pandemic - Science Daily, 9/10/09 - "An aggressive vaccination program that first targets children and ultimately reaches 70 percent of the U.S. population would mitigate pandemic influenza H1N1 that is expected this fall"
• Effect of Influenza Vaccination of Nursing Home Staff on Mortality of Residents: A Cluster-Randomized Trial - J Am Geriatr Soc. 2009 Aug 4 - "Influenza vaccine was administered to volunteer staff after a face-to-face interview ... Staff influenza vaccination rates were 69.9% in the vaccination arm versus 31.8% in the control arm. Primary unadjusted analysis did not show significantly lower mortality in residents in the vaccination arm (odds ratio=0.86, P=.08), although multivariate-adjusted analysis showed 20% lower mortality (P=.02), and a strong correlation was observed between staff vaccination coverage and all-cause mortality in residents (correlation coefficient=-0.42, P=.007). In the vaccination arm, significantly lower resident hospitalization rates were not observed, but ILI in residents was 31% lower (P=.007), and sick leave from work in staff was 42% lower" - Note:  I keep hearing people say it's not worth it to get the flu shot.  The way I look at it, the most likely cause of dying from the flu would be being exposed to a virus that is very different than what you've been exposed to in the past.  I feel that the more flu shots you've had in the past, the lower the chances of that happening.  I mentioned before about a virus that I got in Australia that I though would kill me but it's a good  example.  It's got nothing to do with flu shots but it was probably a virus that nearly killed me from neck cancer that may have been prevented by the HPV vaccine.  Something to think about for people foreign things like the flu shot.
• Breakthrough Flu Drug Stops Pandemic, Seasonal Flu - WebMD, 2/23/09
• Mask-wearing Significantly Boosts Flu Protection - Science Daily, 1/26/09
• Doorknobs and TV Remotes Are Germ Hotbeds - InteliHealth, 10/28/08 - "Someone in your house have the sniffles? Watch out for the refrigerator door handle. The TV remote, too. A new study finds that cold sufferers often leave their germs there, where they can live for two days or longer"
• Flu Vaccines Can Reduce Respiratory Problems By Up To 3/4 - Science Daily, 4/15/08
• Why The Flu Virus Is More Infectious In Cold Winter Temperatures - Science Daily, 3/30/08 - "At winter temperatures, the virus’s outer covering, or envelope, hardens to a rubbery gel that could shield the virus as it passes from person to person ... At warmer temperatures, however, the protective gel melts to a liquid phase. But this liquid phase apparently isn’t tough enough to protect the virus against the elements, and so the virus loses its ability to spread from person to person"
• Antibiotics No Help for Sinus Cold - WebMD, 3/13/08
• Learn self-care home remedies to ease your cold symptoms - WebMD, 12/20/07
• FDA Panel Says Cold Drug Is Effective - WebMD, 12/14/07
• Why Flu Spreads in Winter - WebMD, 10/19/07
• FDA Approves a Second Drug for the Prevention of Influenza A and B in Adults and Children - Doctor's Guide, 3/29/06
• How do you fight off colds? - USA Today, 1/22/06
• Doctors discourage use of cough medicine - MSNBC, 1/9/06 - "Over-the-counter cough syrups generally contain drugs in too low a dose to be effective, or contain combinations of drugs that have never been proven to treat coughs"
• Health Tip: Preventing The Flu - CBS Chicago, 12/9/04
• Flu Vaccine Helps Despite Mismatched Strains - WebMD, 8/12/04
• Do Cough Medicines Work in Kids? - WebMD, 7/6/04
• Cough Medicines Appear No Better than Non-Medicated Placebo Syrup for Children's Coughs - Doctor's Guide, 7/6/04
• Beating the flu: A spray or a shot? - MSNBC, 9/23/03
• Flu Vaccination Cuts Coronary Deaths - Doctor's Guide, 9/5/03
• FluMist (Influenza Virus Vaccine Live, Intranasal) Now Available in US - Doctor's Guide, 9/2/03
• FDA Approves FluMist Nasal Mist Influenza Vaccine - Doctor's Guide, 6/18/03
• New Drug [pleconaril] May Prevent the Common Cold - WebMD, 5/1/03
• Study: Flu Shots Prevent Heart Disease - Intelihealth, 4/3/03
• Flu Shots Cut Hospitalization in Elderly - WebMD, 4/2/03
• FDA Approves Avelox (Moxifloxacin HCl) For Community Acquired Pneumonia Due To Penicillin-Resistant Streptococcus Pneumoniae - Doctor's Guide, 3/4/03
• Amoxicillin/Sulbactam Effective, Well Tolerated In Treatment Of Community Acquired Pneumonia - WebMD, 3/3/03
• Many Parents Don't Know Cold Facts - WebMD, 2/3/03
• Death by Flu Too Common Among Elderly - WebMD, 1/7/03
• Carpets and Sleeping Arrangements Affect Flu Incidence in Dorms - Doctor's Guide, 10/22/02
• Acetylsalicylic Acid (ASA) Effective for Pain Associated with Common Cold - Doctor's Guide, 8/21/02
• Flu Vaccine Good For All Adults, Not Just Elderly Or Ill - Intelihealth, 8/20/02
• Air Pollution Adds To Illness - Intelihealth, 7/24/02
• Prophylaxis with Oseltamivir Helps Stop Home Outbreaks of Influenza - Doctor's Guide, 3/6/02
• Good News in Flu Fight [Relenza, Tamiflu] - WebMD, 2/27/02
• Flu Shots May Be Healthy for the Economy, Too - WebMD, 2/27/02
• Cough Medicine Effective - WebMD, 2/8/02
• New Intranasal Flu Vaccine, Nasalflu, Safe and Effective in Children - Doctor's Guide, 12/18/01
• Tamiflu (Oseltamivir) Prophylaxis Reduces The Transmission Of Influenza In Families - Doctor's Guide, 12/18/01
• New Drug [pleconaril] Shortens Cold Symptoms - WebMD, 12/18/01
• Pneumococcal Vaccine Reduces Carriage Of Streptococcus Pneumoniae, Is Well Tolerated by Young Children - Doctor's Guide, 12/17/01
• Pneumococcal Vaccine Together With Haemophilus Influenzae Vaccine Safe and Effective in Infants - Doctor's Guide, 12/17/01
• Picovir (Pleconaril) Relieves Symptoms of Viral Colds up to One Day Faster than Placebo - Doctor's Guide, 12/17/01
• Inflexal Vaccine Appears to Reduce Transmission of Influenza in Families - Doctor's Guide, 12/17/01
• Influenza Antiviral Tamiflu (oseltamivir phosphate) Reduces Spread of Flu in Families - Doctor's Guide, 12/17/01
• Remedy for common cold [pleconaril] could arrive next fall - USA Today, 12/17/01
• FDA Approves Biaxin XL (Clarithromycin) For Community-Acquired Pneumonia - Doctor's Guide, 8/6/01
• Telithromycin Effective For Treating Atypical Community Acquired Pneumonia - Doctor's Guide, 7/3/01
• Telithromycin Effective For Treating Pneumococcal Pneumonia - Doctor's Guide, 7/3/01
• Sitafloxacin Well Tolerated In Treatment For Pneumonia, May Show Similar Efficacy To Imipenem - Doctor's Guide, 4/10/01
• One Shot Keeps Bacterial Pneumonia at Bay, Ask Your Doctor About the Pneumococcal Vaccine - WebMD, 4/3/01 - "We know pneumonia is the No. 1 cause of death from infectious disease in the U.S. ... The vaccine isn't perfect; it can't prevent every single case. However, right now it is being grossly underutilized"
• Study Suggests Antibiotics Little Help For Children's Sinus Infections - Intelihealth, 4/2/01
• New Flu Drug Warning -- Watch Out for Breathing Problems, Relenza Linked to Patient Deaths in Some Cases, Says Maker - WebMD, 7/10/00
• Study Shows Tamiflu (Oseltamvir) Helps Children Get Better Faster - Doctor's Guide, 2/19/01
• FDA Approves Antiviral Tamiflu (Oseltamivir) For Children - Doctor's Guide, 12/15/00
• The Flu: Is It More Dangerous Than We Thought? - WebMD, 11/22/00
• FDA: Daily pill can prevent, not just treat, flu - CNN, 11/21/00
• FDA OKs Daily Pill for Prevention of the Flu - WebMD, 11/20/00
• FDA Approves Tamiflu (Oseltamivir) To Help Prevent Influenza - Doctor's Guide, 11/20/00
• Flu Treatment Also May Prevent the Illness - WebMD, 11/1/00
• 'Ouchless' Flu Prevention? Drugs Already on Shelves May Work - WebMD, 10/18/00
• Cold or Flu? New Test Helps Doctors Make the Call - WebMD, 10/18/00
• Early Treatment With Tamiflu (Oseltamivir) Reduces Total Duration Of The Flu - Doctor's Guide, 9/18/00
• Tamiflu (Oseltamivir) Successfully Fights Respiratory Infection in Immunocompromised Patients - Doctor's Guide, 5/9/00
• Oseltamivir Reduces Flu Severity and Duration In Adults - Doctor's Guide, 2/22/00
• Expert Evaluates New Drugs - Doctor's Guide, 2/21/00
• FDA Tells Physicians: Remember Therapeutic Considerations Before Prescribing New Flu Drugs - Doctor's Guide, 1/13/00
• Steering clear of air cabin cold viruses - CNN, 12/16/99
• Tamiflu Reduces Duration Of Flu By One-Third - Doctor's Guide, 11/9/99
• Tamiflu Safe, Effective In Preventing Flu In Elderly, High-Risk Patients - Doctor's Guide, 9/27/99
• Common Cold Caused By Multiple Viruses - Doctor's Guide, 2/2/98
• Evidence Shows That Social Relationships Build Resistance To Colds - Doctor's Guide, 6/25/97

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