ABC News Wants Your Input

ABC contacted me today because they want your input  If you are interested in participating here's what you have to do.  What follows is from their email.

We would like you to weigh in!! Here are the 3 questions we'd like
to hear from you about:

1. Barack Obama says he'll bring change to Washington, while Hillary
   Clinton says only her experience will bring change to the country--
   which of the two do you think would make the best Democratic
   presidential candidate, and why?
2. What do you think should be done to fix the nation's healthcare
   system?
3. What do you think should be the best plan of action moving forward in
   Iraq?
   
   

Sex Starved Wives

   In 2003, Michele Weiner Davis' book,The Sex-Starved Marriage described the problems that occur when one spouse is vastly more interested in sex than the other.  After that book came out she was very surprised at what happened next.

She was flooded with e-mails, letters, and phone calls from women, not with "headaches" and other predictable excuses for avoiding sex, but from women who were desperately unhappy because their husbands weren't the least bit interested in sex.

Nothing these women said or did got their men to understand the pain and isolation that comes from a sexual void, and despite heartfelt pleas, they were unable to convince their husbands to seek professional help.

Crohn's Disease - New Treatment Without Steroids

An international research study, published in The Lancet, has thrown into question the current method of treating Crohn's disease - opening the door to a safer and more effective treatment option for sufferers. 

"Our study clearly demonstrated that this alternative treatment method was more effective at inducing disease remission than the conventional method," said Dr. Brian Feagan, Director of Robarts Clinical Trials at Robarts Research Institute at The University of Western Ontario. Dr. Feagan coordinated the research trial and is an author on the study. "Not only were patients more likely to get their disease under control, but they were also spared exposure to steroids - the extended use of which is linked with metabolic disease and even increased mortality. It's simply a safer, more effective treatment method."

Sex and the G Spot - This You Won't Believe

According to an article in the New York Times Style Magazine women are packing the offices of plastic surgeon Dr. David Matlock to get a shot.  No, it's not a shot of Botox or Restalyn they're coming for - it's a shot of human collagen in their G-spot.  OUCH!!!  And, if just picturing that procedure isn't enough to have you squirming in your chair how about paying $1,850 every four months to get another one?

Why are women doing this?  Apparently it's because they are trying to enlarge their G spot so it's easier to find. That seems a little crazy to me since there is still a debate going on to determine if that highly coveted bastion of pleasure even exists. 

Obama & Clinton Duke It Out Over Health Care - Is a Universal Plan The Answer?

Health care in this country is far from perfect.  It's expensive and leaves too many people without the care they need. In the States it's believed  that a universal program would be the answer to all our health insurance problems.  Unfortunately, it's not that easy. What has to be understood is there's no such thing as free.  With socialized medicine personal tax rates go through the roof and the standards for your medical care are severely compromised.

For the past three years I have experienced the Canadian health care system up close and personal. If that's a model we're hoping to follow it scares me.

 

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Avastin - Breast Cancer Drug Receives FDA Approval

Genetech's DNA cancer drug Avastin just received FDA approval as a treatment for advanced breast cancer.

The decision was a surprise after the FDA Panel voted 5 to 4 to reject the drug in December.  Here's what they said.  "We felt this therapy did have activity in breast cancer and it should be available for women to use."

Avastin is designed to inhibit tumors by interfering with a protein that forms blood vessels in the tumors.  The data showed that Avastin plus the chemotherapy drug Taxol doubled the progression-free survival of breast cancer patients compared to Taxol alone.

For more information click here.

Ct Scans: How to Protect Your Kidneys

Today more and more of us are undergoing CT scans and other medical imaging scans involving intense X-rays.  A new study suggests that we should be taking a pre-scan drug that could protect our kidneys from potential damage.

The inexpensive drug recommended is called N-acetylcysteine.  It can prevent serious kidney damage caused by iodine-containing "dyes" that doctors are using to enhance the quality of the scans.

Midlife Suicides Rise 20% - What's Going On?

Earlier this month I wrote a blog on how midlife is the toughest time for most of us.  Yesterday in the New York Times there was a front page article on how 40 to 64 year olds are deciding to end the pain by taking their own lives.  The lack of research as to the why this is happening is giving way to a myriad of theories. 

One of the more popular theories was a drop in hormone replacement therapy after the Women's Health Initiative scared both women and doctors back in 2002.  Personally, I believe this more than a theory.  When your hormones are not in balance it affects everything about you.  They control how your body functions. 

Ovarian Cancer - A Major Breakthrough

There is reason to cheer!  Researchers at Yale School of Medicine have developed a blood test with enough sensitivity and specificity to detect early stage ovarian cancer with 99 percent accuracy. A simple blood test that could save our lives.

Results of this new study are published in the February 15 issue of the journal Clinical Cancer Research. The ability to recognize almost 100 percent of new tumors will have a major impact on the high death rates of this cancer.  It is hoped it will become the standard of care for women having routine examinations."

Barbara Walters Asks The Ladies of The VIew "What Is a Cougar?"

Barbara Walters was asking the ladies on "The View" what is a cougar?  Unfortunately, they gave her an answer that doesn't even come close to describing what it means.  Look at what they said.

Women over 40 are getting such a bad rap.  Forty and beyond is hard enough for us to deal with without some clueless men attaching a negative identity to who we are. And, more importantly it's about time women started supporting other women.  Stop making fun of some ridiculous term that is so degrading to all of us.