Friday, January 31, 2014

Secondhand Smoke May Cause Kids' Cavities

New research suggests secondhand smoke could play a causal role in kids' cavities.



The review, published in the Journal of the American Dental Association, included 15 studies published between 1990 and 2010, and showed a "possible causal relationship between SHS [secondhand smoke] and caries in the primary dentition." (Caries is the term for cavities or tooth decay, and primary detention is another term for baby teeth.) The findings held true even after taking into account other potential factors, such as the children's socioeconomic status.



However, the evidence was "insufficient" to demonstrate a similar causal relationship between secondhand smoke and cavities in permanent teeth.



But how could secondhand smoke affect risk for cavities? A commentary published within the study explored some potential avenues:



Proposed mechanisms linking exposure to SHS with caries risk include influencing oral microbiota; influencing the mineralization of developing dentition; increasing environmental cadmium levels; decreasing vitamin C levels; decreasing immune function; decreasing the production and effectiveness of saliva by affecting the development and function of salivary glands; and by causing nasal congestion, which could increase mouth breathing.





Smoking is already known to lead to or increase risk of certain dental problems in actual smokers, including increased tooth plaque and tartar, tooth discoloration, gum disease, bone loss, delayed healing, and even oral cancer.



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Children Of Teen Parents And Older Dads May Face Higher Psychiatric Risks

The age of the parents at the time of a child's birth could be associated with the child's risk for developing psychiatric disorders, including mood disorders and schizophrenia, according to a new study.



The findings showed that risks are higher especially for the offspring of teen parents and older fathers.



Parental age may be tied to psychiatric disorders because of "de novo (or new) mutation in the developing sperm cell," study researcher John McGrath, a professor at the University of Queensland Brain Institute, said in a statement.



The JAMA Psychiatry study, which involved following 2,894,688 people from Danish health registers from 1955 to 2007, shows that children born to very young mothers (between ages 12 and 19) have a 51 percent increased risk for a psychiatric disorder, compared with children born to mothers between ages 25 and 29. However, there was no association between being born to an older mother (age 30 and older) and risk of a psychiatric disorder. However, the researchers did find an association between being born to a mother age 40 to 44 or a teenaged mother, and an increased risk of the offspring having intellectual disability.



As for dads, children born to teenage fathers had a 28 percent higher psychiatric disorder risk, and children born to older fathers (ages 45 and older) had a 34 percent increased psychiatric disorder risk, compared with fathers between ages 25 and 29.



"Teenaged parenthood has been associated with a broad range of adverse health, educational, social, and crime-related outcomes in the mothers and their offspring. However, ascribing these outcomes directly to the ages of the parents vs a wide range of confounding factors is difficult," the researchers wrote in the study. "As with many behaviors, young parenthood as a trait can be identified across several generations, further highlighting the complex and socially patterned web of causation that may link the variables of interest."



While researchers generally found that all psychiatric disorders seemed tied to parental age at the children's birth (with the exception of bipolar disorder, eating disorders and schizoaffective disorder), there were some disorders that seemed especially tied to parental age.



For instance, kids born to teen parents had a higher risk of disorders tied to substance abuse, as well as behavioral and emotional disorders and hyperkinetic disorder. Kids born to teen parents, as well as older fathers, also had a small, but significant, increase in risk for mood disorders.



Kids born to fathers age 45 and older had a higher risk of schizophrenia, personality disorders, and stress-related disorders.



The findings suggest that maternal age is not just a factor in childbirth -- paternal age may matter, too, researchers said.



"Our new studies suggest that age-related mutations from the father may impact on the mental health of the offspring," McGrath said in the statement.



In 2008, an Archives of General Psychiatry study showed that older fathers may have an increased risk of having a child with bipolar disorder. That study was based on data from 13,428 patients in Swedish health registers.



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Respecting the Past and Embracing the Future: Lessons From Downton Abbey

As a therapist in D.C., I have worked with many clients struggling to adapt to the Internet revolution and its transformation of the print industry. D.C. is obviously a career-driven town, with many journalists, writers and researchers who must figure out how to make their professional way in this almost paperless new world. Change is never easy and often causes symptoms of anxiety or depression. Without realizing it, people often go to great lengths to deny or resist change. Some people are able to embrace change and use it as a catalyst to grow and evolve. Others are easily discouraged and eventually defeated. There is no easy formula for how to make the most of a changing economy, especially for those in fields that are changing more rapidly than expected.



With clients, we explore what the changes in their profession mean to them, and we strategize to locate opportunities to embrace change and flourish in this new economy. Lately, I have also encouraged clients to watch Downton Abbey. As art imitates life, worthwhile lessons are offered along the way.



This week's episode of Downton Abbey highlights the tension between respecting the traditions of the past and embracing the technological and financial realities of the future. Downton's residents may not provide answers regarding how to gracefully bridge the gap between the past and the future, but they pose some thoughtful and compelling questions that are as relevant today as they were in 1922.



Mrs. Patmore, the head cook, is terrified of the new sewing machine that Lady Cora Grantham's maid has brought to the Abbey, stating, "I don't think it has any business in the servants' hall... Take it to the laundry or, better still, chuck it out altogether!"



A few weeks ago, she was equally disturbed by the electric mixer that her young assistant, Daisy, has mastered. Much to Mrs. Patmore's dismay, when Daisy does the baking, Downton's upstairs dwellers comment on the new and exciting consistency. To make matters even more technologically terrifying, Lady Cora is requesting that they purchase a refrigerator! This will mean no more ice deliveries and a longer shelf life for their food. The concept of tossing the ice box and canceling the daily ice deliveries is deeply disturbing to Mrs. Patmore. (She sounds a lot like parents today who go back and forth with their kids about whether to cancel the daily newspaper delivery.) In frustration, she explains to the staff that Lady Cora wants "more gadgets to waste their money and my time, but nothing can stop her from dragging us into the new age."



Similarly, Lord Grantham is in disagreement with his daughter, Lady Mary, and his son-in-law, Tom, about whether to allow the son of a recently deceased tenant whose family has farmed the land for over a century to continue this tradition in spite of his father's accumulated debts. Mary and Tom insist that the survival of the Abbey means prioritizing the bottom line and that they would be better off financially if they farmed the land themselves. Lord Grantham feels otherwise and is so adamant that this relationship be respected that he secretly sends the tenant a check so that he can repay his father's debt in full and keep farming the land. When arguing his case over dinner Lord Grantham explains, "If we don't respect the past, we'll find it harder to build our future."



Mrs. Patmore may not be happy about the mixer, but she breaks bowls and dirties the floor trying to use it. She allows the new maid to sew her apron with the dreaded machine. Lady Cora presses her on her opposition to the refrigerator, asking, "Mrs. Patmore, is there any aspect of the present day that you can accept without resistance?" And Mrs. Patmore replies, hilariously, "Well, my Lady, I wouldn't mind getting rid of my corset!"



Her humorous perspective implies that she may be able to evolve with the times after all. Likewise, Lord Grantham may not embrace his daughter's and son-in-law's new ideas, but he is willing to engage in the conversation. He is also willing to hand over some degree of control and sends Lady Mary and Tom to talk with the tenant in order to expose them to the human aspects of the bottom line. It seems possible that Lord Grantham wants the next generation to discover that he is secretly paying the tenant so that the tenant can pay Downton. When the tenant mistakenly thanks Lady Mary for the loan, Mary pretends that she knows all about it. After the meeting, Tom asks Mary if she will confront her father. "If Papa believed enough in Drew to lend him the money and hide it from us, it tells me something... You and I are in partnership with a very decent man."



With no easy answers to the question of how to adapt and evolve to change, the most important factors for success may be a willingness to have difficult conversations and an openness to trying new things. As one of my favorite teachers once said, "Sometimes you have to look bad to look good!"



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The Terrible Silence Between Breaths

"Wow, you can actually breathe on your own!" exclaimed a doctor friend of the family upon seeing me for the first time since my stroke. I was immediately taken aback and kind of offended by the seemingly strange comment. If this statement was made five years ago, soon after my stroke, this line would have made total sense. But now? I've made so many bigger accomplishments since then -- sitting, standing, walking, talking, etc. Those are definitely bigger deals, right?



Well, I was right about one thing. I learned to breathe on my own about a month after my stroke. But, actually learning to breathe on my own was the single most significant and terrifying experience of my life. I just so badly wanted to be past that experience, never wanting to think about that time again, happily keeping that memory safely tucked away in my past. But life-changing memories, or in my case, life-saving memories, however horrifying, can't stay silent forever. This memory, though painful, has power. It has the power to show me that life sometimes demands big risks to reap big rewards, power to prove to myself that I have this wild, obsessive determination that can move mountains, and power to remind me that no matter how far I still have to go in my recovery, my continued existence started with, quite simply, a miracle.



Breathing is supposed to be a simple process. A tiny area in the brain controls the whole process, so breaths happen sufficiently and automatically without one ever having to think about it. The brain works with various muscles in the neck, chest, and stomach to coordinate these breaths. Well, you know that tiny area of the brain? Yea, well it kind of, sort of died during my stroke, along with all those breathing muscles. I was immediately intubated and put on a ventilator before any craziness could happen. But the idea of me lying on a table -- unconscious, unmoving and not breathing is so unbelievably chilling, it feels just that, unbelievable.



This post has been so difficult to write because I'm just relying on my own choppy, sedative-blurred memories, which feel completely surreal. I saw these kinds of things on shows like "ER" or "Grey's Anatomy," but this time, there were no actors, no set, and no script. I still can't believe that in this new show, I was the main character, and I was struggling to breathe. I just hoped that like in the other shows, it would have a happy ending. Spoiler alert: It did, but I'll get to that.



I was then slowly weaned off the ventilator, but it was far from an easy process. Apparently, when your body gets used to an exterior device breathing for you, your body gets addicted to that feeling and never wants to let go of that easy breath. To help in my breathing, a tracheotomy was performed where a "trach tube" was inserted into a hole pierced at the base of my neck, through my trachea, to create a more direct route for air to travel to the lungs. But every breath was still a struggle. Every breath felt so deliberate, so forced and so effortful, like I could just stop breathing at any point.



I could instantly and easily end this whole nightmare if I just stopped breathing. But out of fear of the unknown, and out of love for my family and my world, I pushed on. But waiting for me were only horrifying silences. I was perpetually trapped in the empty, lonely, excruciating silence between breaths -- the previous breath was never enough, always leaving me craving more, but I never knew when, or even if, the next breath would come, or if it would be enough, for once. So, I just had to close my eyes and pray my way through each terrible silence.



Despite my constant discomfort, the worst was yet to come. With my stubbornness to push on, my pulmonologist finally removed my trach. Breathing completely on my own was challenging, but so liberating. I met the challenge head on, during the day, but that night, the hands down worst night of my life, the challenge definitely overpowered me. I didn't sleep at all and I'm sure my brother, Anand, who was staying with me that night, didn't sleep either. My body was still getting used to breathing on my own, so I couldn't breathe when the bed was reclined at all. But I couldn't sleep sitting straight up, and I knew sleep was the only thing that would relax my haphazard breathing pattern. Each of my shallow breaths left only a short silence in its wake, and left me gasping for more air. But my mouth was paralyzed shut, forcing me to gasp for air solely through my nose, since I didn't have the extra hole in my neck to help. I really don't know how that is even possible. A healthy person can pull air in through the nose by contracting the various muscles involved in breathing, but those muscles were ALL paralyzed. I'm not even sure how I got my brother's attention hundreds of times that night and communicated what I needed, since I couldn't talk or move at all. Then again, if you met me and my brother, you would totally understand. He has some magical, empathetic ESP when it comes to me. But regardless, there is absolutely no explanation for getting through each of those obstacles that hellish night. I'm so thankful my brother doesn't remember this night at all. The image of your little sister struggling for breath is not one I ever want him to think about again.



It's s a truly terrifying feeling to never feel like you have enough air, to always be flailing around for more, and to somehow permanently exist on the brink of disaster. I was too scared to call the nurse because the last thing I wanted was to have another hole in my neck, and the trach put back in. I was probably playing with fire, but I didn't care. I was reckless, because I so badly wanted to succeed at something. It killed me that, with every ounce of my will, energy and hope, I couldn't get any of my muscles to move even a micrometer. But, I could DO something about this. I could keep myself from calling the nurse, and show the world I wasn't going to let it beat me, even if I had to almost kill myself to do it. I kept saying to myself, just keep breathing, just keep breathing, just keep breathing, and thankfully, finally, we made it to the morning, and every morning after that. Now, all I have left from this experience are a few awful memories and a sweet scar on my neck. The silences are still there, but now they are long, relaxed, and without a doubt, interrupted by big, reliable, beautiful breaths. When life is too hard for me, when everyday is a struggle, when the world seems too overwhelming, I have to just keep pushing on, just keep believing, just keep breathing... and the morning will come.



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Changing My Body to Stay Alive

My spouse Mark and I begin a new journey this month. The second half of last year kicked my ass and left me in a severely-weakened state. I lost 30 pounds in six months. It was weight that I could not afford to lose. I am so thin that I can no longer wear my wedding ring.



Throughout the holidays we wondered what was next. We decided that Mark would take family medical leave from his job. Together, we would focus on trying to help me regain my weight and strength. I am still not ready to give in to this horrible disease that is ALS.



I have been fighting ALS for nine years, give or take, and I've been doing okay, relatively speaking. But for the last year or so, Mark, doctors, family, friends and other people with ALS (pALS) all have been strongly urging me to get a "feeding tube." A feeding tube, or percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) tube, is essentially to help a person who is having ongoing and serious trouble swallowing and can't get enough food or liquids by mouth. It's placed directly into the stomach through the abdominal skin. The tube allows feeding directly through the gastrointestinal tract and bypasses the mouth and esophagus. Most pALS get them or have them, but they are used for people with all sorts of diseases or medical conditions. The tube literally sticks out from your belly.



So, why have I been fighting a PEG tube for so long? Bottom line: Even with ALS, I have been trying to keep my life as "normal" as possible for as long as possible. I need Mark to feed me, and it takes about an hour, but I can still eat regular meals. For the longest time I have looked at the PEG as sort of a symbol of giving up one of the most basic human functions I can still manage -- eating.



This all changed within the last few weeks as I realized that if I didn't get the PEG tube, I would die a hell of lot sooner than if I chose to do it. Therefore, I am scheduled for surgery this week and should be rocking and rolling with the PEG very soon.



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Photo courtesy of Randy Pipkin





My plan is this. I will work as hard as possible to eat as many conventional meals as I can during the day, and I'll use the PEG tube to supplement my weight. From what I understand, Mark will be pouring a special mixture into the tube several times a day. And that's about it. That will be my "new normal."



What will hopefully change is that I will gain weight and strength and ideally be around to continue to fight.



I share this since I think it may benefit people who are sick and may be going through a similar process. I hope others are not as hard-headed as I am and do not wait until the last minute to do something that will help to continue their life.



Although I'm still uneasy about the PEG tube, I know I am making a good decision. I'll report back once it's over and I'm using the tube. Wish me luck!



Randy Pipkin is a consummate ALS fighter and recently was the national campaign chair of Breakthrough ALS for the ALS Therapy Alliance.



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5 Must-Reads To Get You Through February

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2014-01-29-kidd.jpg The Invention of Wings

By Sue Monk Kidd

384 pages; Viking



This powerful story about the relationship between Sarah Grimké and her household slave, Hetty—known around the Grimké estate as Handful for her rebellious disposition—explores the rigid social order of early-19th-century Charleston, South Carolina, and the two girls' search for freedom. "It is impossible to read this book and not come away thinking differently about our status as women and about all the unsung heroines who play a role in getting us to where we are," Oprah said after picking the novel as the third selection for Oprah's Book Club 2.0.

— Leigh Newman



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Little Failure

By Gary Shteyngart

368 pages; Random House



"Survival," writes Absurdistan novelist Gary Shteyngart in his new memoir, Little Failure, requires "replacing the love of the beautiful with the love of what is funny, humor being the last resort of the besieged Jew." In this richly anecdotal memoir of his family's move from the Soviet Union to Queens, New York, in 1979, and their subsequent (mis-)adventures, Shteyngart makes ample use of his gifts as a humorist. Young Gary, whose name was changed from the Russian Igor at a family council—"Igor is Frankenstein's assistant, and I have enough problems already"—puzzles over his grandma's antiquated television set, which "catches either picture or sound"; yearns in vain at McDonald's for the "sixty-nine-cent hamburger" while his parents and their friends unabashedly spread out their "ethnic meal" of soft-boiled eggs and beet salad; and shares his parents' wild excitement over Publishers Clearing House's promise of millions. But the comedy is bittersweet: Beneath the surface flow the dark undercurrents of a legacy of Nazi invasions, of displacement, of Russia's brutal past. Shteyngart adroitly juxtaposes chilling recollections of a terrifying folk remedy for his childhood asthma and a painful circumcision at age 8 with hilarious riffs on losing his Russian accent and the time his father accidentally took him to see the X-rated movie Emmanuelle, thinking that because it was French, "it must be very cultured." Still, long after the laughter fades, there lingers the image of a lonely, sickly child who learns to write to express a message "both desperate and common": "Please love me."

— Olga Grushin



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Radiance of Tomorrow

By Ishmael Beah

256 pages; Sarah Crichton Books



The American dream was born of Europeans immigrating to a new home, one free from oppression and ripe with opportunity. The characters in Ishmael Beah's affecting debut novel, Radiance of Tomorrow, also dream of a home—though for them the dream means reclaiming Imperi, Sierra Leone, the tiny village that sustained them for generations, now in the grip of inexorable change. And therein lies the conflict that will make you care about what happens to them.



Imperi is a dusty West African outpost much like the ones the author wrote about in his best-selling book, A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier. There, war's survivors regroup to rebuild and resuscitate their families, their homes, their futures.



Among the appealing characters who populate the tale, which reads like an allegory of the fits and starts of "progress," is Bockarie, a teacher who, with his wife, Kula, has managed to keep his family alive despite occasional separations and stays in refugee camps. There's also Bockarie's friend Benjamin, who abandons teaching to work for the new mining company that is simultaneously reviving and ruining Imperi and posing a moral dilemma for those who yearn to re-create the past but must accept change in order to survive.



There are people who give in to corruption without resistance, and others who hold out for as long as they can. A school principal named Mr. Fofanah belongs in the first category. He funnels the government money he receives into extravagant purchases, while students go without textbooks and teachers get paid only a small portion of the wages they're entitled to. He explains his actions by observing: "Where a cow is tied is where it grazes." But there is hope for the next generation, as the children and grandchildren of the elders "find a way to repair their broken hearts by relighting the fire that is now dull within them," as "old wisdom and new wisdom merge, and find room in the young."

— Mitchell S. Jackson



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For the Benefit of Those Who See

By Rosemary Mahoney

304 pages; Little, Brown



Perceived throughout history as ominous soothsayers, helpless idiots, or louche vagrants and beggars, blind people, as Rosemary Mahoney dryly notes in her sparkling exploration, For the Benefit of Those Who See: Dispatches from the World of the Blind, "have not come off very well." Mahoney, a gifted writer whose previous work includes the highly praised Down the Nile: Alone in a Fisherman's Skiff, sets out to turn the tables on these stereotypes, and the lack of understanding that prompts them in the first place, using herself as case in point.



She finds, for example, that the blind students she encounters often form more detailed and accurate impressions of her than she does of them. The sighted base their assessments of people largely on appearance, according to Sabriye Tenberken, the remarkable woman who first brought literacy to the blind in Tibet and is one of the subjects of the book. The sighted can be distracted by beauty, or its absence, Tenberken says, whereas the blind "have to focus on the personality, which is the real essence of the person. It can be an advantage for us."



Before meeting Tenberken, Mahoney had spent time with only one blind person and was convinced that she'd prefer death to losing her sight. However, by the end of her journey, which takes her from Tibet to Liberia and through the history of blindness, she begins to experience the world in all its "beautiful darkness": the lowing of cows, the rattling of the wind in palm fronds, cool lake water against her skin.



"Sight is a slick and overbearing autocrat," Mahoney concludes, "trumpeting its prodigal knowledge and perceptions so forcefully that it drowns out the other, subtler senses." When you finish the book, walk outside and close your eyes. You just might meet the world again, startling, mysterious, new.

— Lynn Darling





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My Age of Anxiety

By Scott Stossel

416 pages; Knopf



By some estimates, more than 25 percent of Americans can expect to suffer from clinically diagnosed anxiety, which is why My Age of Anxiety: Fear, Hope, Dread, and the Search for Peace of Mind, Scott Stossel's erudite, heartfelt and occasionally darkly funny meld of memoir, cultural history and science, feels excruciatingly relevant. Stossel aims to better understand his own stressed-out state of mind while also tracing the condition's history from Hippocrates (who saw it primarily as medical in nature) to Freud (who viewed it as psychological, with its roots in sexual inhibition) to modern times.



Whether in its most severe form, as in the author's crippling version that is "woven into my soul and hardwired into my body and...makes my life a misery," or in the less debilitating manifestation many of us have known from time to time, anxiety is now an omnipresent, extensively medicated syndrome that may be a result of a brain malfunction or a product of our environment—no one knows for sure. But Stossel's harrowing account of his own experience with phobias—among them claustrophobia, acrophobia (fear of heights), asthenophobia (fear of fainting), bacillophobia (fear of germs) and aerophobia (fear of flying)—strongly suggests that this is a disease without a cure.



Stossel, the editor of The Atlantic, is a wry, if distressed, chronicler of his own history and that of psychopharmacology. It's been a long and in many ways frightening journey for him. Still, near the end of the book, in a chapter titled "Redemption," Stossel attempts to see the upside of anxiety—the links between it and creativity, productivity, morality. His therapist advises him to give himself more credit for being resilient, and it seems he does. He concludes with the hope that "admitting my shame and fear to the world" will ultimately be "empowering and anxiety reducing."



We hope so, too.

— Amy Bloom



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What This Baby Lamb Can Teach Us All About Life (VIDEO)

She may be little, but this lamb is already leaps and bounds ahead in the game of life. John Chester, a documentary filmmaker and the manager at Apricot Lane Farms in California, created the above Super Soul Short video to show how the biggest lessons can come in the smallest packages.



Barely 30 seconds old, a newborn lamb already knows how to survive, Chester says. "How is it they know how to stand? How does she know where she needs to go? How does she know not to give up?" he asks. "What they call instinct, we call gut."



A lamb, he says, is "born without a cluttered mind." She doesn't go against her instinct; she's not waiting to act. "It makes you wonder: why do we?" Chester says.



The adventurous spirit of this newborn lamb reminds him of a quote by the poet Mary Oliver: "Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?"



Super Soul Sunday airs Sundays at 11 a.m. ET on OWN.



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Shortcuts for Entrepreneurs: Advice From Chalene Johnson

Interview With New York Times Bestselling Author Chalene Johnson (Part 2)



2014-01-27-chaleneheadshot.jpg We're busier than ever. Yet what keeps us so busy is rarely the same as what contributes to our success. Mostly, it distracts from it.



We need to simplify -- to cut away the unnecessary so we can hone in on the strategies and actions that create happier, healthier, smarter success.



In this two-part interview, New York Times bestselling author and personal development expert Chalene Johnson gives us her top strategies for simplifying life and business -- what she calls "smart success."



Shortcuts Require Trust



Q. Do you really believe in shortcuts? In other words, can success come without putting in the allegedly necessary 40,000 hours?



Yes, it absolutely can.



The greatest shortcut of all is outsourcing and delegating -- learning from other experts who have already been there, done that, and have had success.



This kind of shortcut requires an investment in and a belief that someone else can help you. But the thing is, most people don't have the courage to let others help them.



You must trust enough to let others help you.



Without this trust, there are no shortcuts. It is just you and a 90-hour work week. And you may eventually get there, but many things will be sacrificed along the way.



Now, you may get burned a couple of times. The important thing is to trust in the process.



If you are dating, for instance, your heart may be broken, but that is just part of the reward of finding true love. Just because you went on one bad date does not mean you should live your life by yourself. Trust your personal radar. It will get better and better.



Same with hiring. Know you are going to be burned. You are going to make some wrong decisions. You are going to have to teach people how to do it a couple of times.



Then you are going to find this amazing person for whatever it is you are outsourcing and wonder how you ever did without.



Get 'Em Tagging!



Q: You have a strong online community. What's your top advice for building an online platform?



First, at every turn I encourage people to invite their friends. I almost guilt-trip them into it!



With Smart Success I would say, "You know someone who needs this information, and it is just not fair that you are not sharing it with them. So tag them. Tell them about it."



Plus -- and this builds on my earlier advice on habits -- I remind people that these other people need this and you need them. Having others on board keeps you accountable. You are more likely to complete something when doing it with a partner. Plus, you are giving them a gift.



And see, you are telling your friend as opposed to me telling your friend, and that is far more powerful. Plus, your friend is already my target market because you are.



Be Real and Give



Q: So you have friends inviting friends. What do you share with them?



You have to be real and think. Give, give, give!



It's all about reciprocity.



You have to give a lot of great content. And most importantly, you have to be transparent. You have to be vulnerable. You have to be real.



That is what helps people trust you.



There are so many people out there worrying about everything looking professional and perfect that they forget that what we really connect with is "real" people.



Be Vulnerable: Share Your Story



Q. What do you mean by "be real"?



People often discredit their own story: "Really, people would want to know this?"



People think that they need some earth-shattering content to build their list, and you do not.



If you've figured out anything, there's somebody else who's trying to figure that out.



It's what you know so well that you do not even think it is noteworthy -- that is what people need.



If you want to build your list, spend less time on perfecting the copy or the photos in the website and spend more time thinking about who you are, what you have been through and your challenges.



It's your challenges and the problems that you solved through those challenges that attract people to you.



It is hard sometimes to tell people the things that you are ashamed of and the things that cause you pain. But if you've conquered them and learned something, the only shame is not sharing that lesson.



You have to be vulnerable, and you have to be comfortable with your own story. Use your challenges to help others.



Outsource! Outsource! Outsource!



Q. What is the biggest mistake new entrepreneurs make?



They think they cannot afford to outsource until they are profitable.



You can't afford not to. You are paying a lot more by doing it all yourself.



I have worked with thousands of entrepreneurs, and this single mental shift creates more income than any other.



Hire the expert instead of trying to figure everything out on your own. This allows you to be doing what you should be doing -- to focus on what you are uniquely called to do.



And this all comes back to trust. Trust others and trust the process of hiring.



Reverse-Engineer Before You Fall in Love



Q. What is the first step in starting a new business?



Reverse-engineer the process.



You need to know what life looks like if you're in that business. What does your day-to-day look like? Who are you working with? Where are you going? What are you doing?



It's not enough to just follow your dream. You need to listen to people and understand exactly what it will take before pursuing the goal.



I know people who love going to the gym, for example, and decide they want to open one. If they knew about all the unglamorous sides of owning a gym, they might reconsider and choose a different side of the fitness business. Instead, they waste loads of time and money because they lack focus.



So before you get all gung-ho and decide no one is going to dissuade you: do the research.



See Part 1 of this interview with Chalene here on The Huffington Post.



See other interviews from this series with top business and life leaders:

Dean Karnazes - How to Run Over Fear & Take Action

Patrik Frisk - What Does Simplicate Mean Exactly?

Nadine Hack - The Art of the Master Bridge Builder

Roger Love - More Glee: Set your Voice Free



About Chalene: Chalene is a New York Times bestselling author, entrepreneur and self-made millionaire, business and marketing expert, motivational speaker, life balance coach, celebrity fitness personality, designer and happily married wife and mother of two. For more smart success tips, check out her New York Times bestseller Push: 30 Days to Turbocharged Habits, a Bangin' Body, and the Life You Deserve.



Edited by Suzanne Pinckney



Photo courtesy of Chalene Johnson



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Some Babies Mistakenly Injected With Oral Vaccine, CDC Says

By: By Rachael Rettner, Senior Writer

Published: 01/30/2014 01:02 PM EST on LiveScience



Some health care providers make a mistake when giving the rotavirus vaccine to babies, injecting the vaccine as a shot instead of placing drops in the infant's mouth as is required, a new report finds.


Between 2006 and 2013, there were 39 reports of the rotavirus vaccine being administered as a shot, according to the publication, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.


In six cases, a nurse who did not receive proper training administered the shots, the report said. In about 50 percent of cases, the child experienced a side effect from the vaccination error, including redness at the injection site. [5 Dangerous Vaccination Myths]


The reasons people made the error included inadequate training, misinterpreting or failing to read vaccine instructions, and confusing the vaccine vial with one used for an injectable vaccine, the report said.


The rotavirus vaccine, which was introduced in the United States in 2006, protects against a stomach bug that can cause severe diarrhea. Before the vaccine, 20 to 60 children younger than age 5 died yearly from the infection, and 55,000 to 70,000 were hospitalized every year, according to the CDC.


The vaccine is one of the few infant vaccines designed to be delivered by mouth (orally). An injected dose is not considered a valid dose, the report said.


"Vaccination providers should follow instructions in package inserts regarding proper administration," the report said. "Administration errors are largely preventable with proper education and training."


Since such mistakes can go unreported, the study likely underestimates the number of rotavirus vaccination errors, the researchers said. Still, with about 55 million doses of the vaccine delivered so far, "these incidents appear to be rare," the report said.


The report also notes the potential danger of getting the vaccine in the child's or someone else's eyes. In 27 cases, the report states, the provider attempted to deliver the vaccine orally as directed, but the vaccine splashed in someone's eye. In 18 of these cases, the infants coughed, sneezed, or spit the vaccine into the eyes of either the provider or the child's parents, and in three cases, infants splashed the vaccine into their own eyes, the report said.


"Vaccination providers should be aware of the potential for eye splashes. Vaccine should be administered gently inside the cheek to minimize coughing, sneezing and spitting," the report said. But when an infant spits out the vaccine, the child does not need a replacement dose, the researchers said.


The report is published this week in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.


Follow Rachael Rettner @RachaelRettner . Follow LiveScience @livescience , Facebook & Google+ . Original article on LiveScience.



Copyright 2014 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. ]]>



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How to Use Personal 'Airbags' to Create Space in Daily Life

Who doesn't know the experience: Work days are filled with tasks, phone calls, appointments and meetings. One thing follows another, and once a problem has barely been solved, the next one is just around the corner. Everybody seems to want something from us.



But that's not enough: After work is done, the race continues with after-work networking, going to the gym, picking up the children from school, etc. Our days are packed to the limits, stringing together into weeks that are separated by packed weekends, making the months pass by in warp time. And just like that, once again, another new year has just begun. And so, we remain mostly externally driven and in constant reactive mode. Feelings of tightness, inner restlessness, tension, stress -- burnout in the worst case -- are the consequences.



What to do?



Well, this seems like the wrong question. It's not about doing anything in addition and thus increasing the density of tasks. Instead, it's about moving our attention to something that is mostly ignored nowadays and to progressively expand it: space.



Creating space



A while ago, I had the opportunity to witness the demonstration of an avalanche airbag. This life-saving device does not only look like a backpack but is also carried like one. When threatened to be buried by an avalanche, pulling the release cord will immediately inflate an airbag around the head and shoulders with a loud bang. This space created by the airbag can save lives in a situation that would otherwise bear the imminent risk of suffocation.



I was immediately aware of the symbolism: Metaphorically speaking, our packed days and weeks are like avalanches, rolling over our heads and burying us underneath them. As in a real avalanche, the key lays in creating space. Space between the things, between the events. Space to breathe and to respond to the events instead of just reacting to them. Or in other words, creating space between a stimulus and our reaction to it, as the Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist Viktor E. Frankl described: "Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response."



To put it simply, it's not the conditions and situations that are responsible for our state of being, but our inner and outer reactions to them. The faster we believe we must react to an event, the higher our perceived level of stress. By creating space, we create the possibility for us to respond to the requirements of a situation in a calm way instead of just reacting to it with our conditioned patterns of behavior.



How to do it?



Let's take a practical example: Next time when your phone rings, tell yourself "STOP!" and create some space by not answering the call immediately. Maybe you use this space to consciously breathe in and out a few times. Maybe you create even more space by letting the caller leave a voicemail, giving yourself the opportunity to listen to it first and then call back when you're mentally ready for it. Besides creating space by doing so, there's another helpful effect occuring: An externally driven reaction becomes a self-driven response, moving you ahead of the wave, instead of being run over by it.



Moreover, a simple pause to reflect and recharge the batteries on a hectic day creates space and can make you recall and process ideas much better or make you feel less overwhelmed by your full inbox. No need to meditate about the vastness of the universe for an hour. Sitting in your car and closing your eyes for five minutes can be a very effective "airbag" during daily "avalanches." Just make sure your car is safely parked while doing so -- or else you might be surprised by the loud bang of a real airbag.



Make releasing your mental "airbag" a new habit and create valuable space in your daily life. They may only be small moments at the beginning, but they will gradually increase as time goes by.



What are your personal "airbags"?



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FDA To Investigate Heart Attack-Testosterone Link



Jan 31 (Reuters) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Friday it is investigating the risk of stroke, heart attack and death in men taking FDA-approved testosterone products.



The move is based on the recent publication of two separate studies that suggested an increased risk of heart attacks in men taking testosterone, a hormone essential to male growth.



The agency said it has not concluded that testosterone increases the risk of cardiac events, but said it is issuing an alert "while we continue to evaluate the information from these studies and other available data."





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From Physician Burnout to Mindful M.D.

I didn't know that the symptoms I was suffering had a diagnosis of physician burnout. I just internalized the symptoms of emotional exhaustion and a low sense of personal accomplishment. I was depersonalizing patient relationships without realizing it, and I thought my problem was that I was a physician failure. I pushed myself to exceed RVU (relative value unit) expectations in the increasingly profit-driven world of medicine. I could never find the time in my 80- to 100-hour work week to catch up on research, medical records, or tend to my personal health. I started to gain weight and get anxious. I only realized that I needed to slow down when I started to suffer from debilitating chest pain and other physical symptoms that took years to get correctly diagnosed as achalasia.



The only rare times I experienced a sense of hope, calm and reduced pain was when I was practicing yoga or trying meditation. I initially thought it was all in my head and a lifestyle that I had to practice in my rare free time as a hobby. I once again looked to external circumstances to find happiness. I thought the answer was to leave the rigorous world of academic medicine and work part-time in a community hospital. I used my free time to tend to my health and undergo surgery for the achalasia.



My passion as a neurologist to help patients with epilepsy had long extinguished, and now I was fighting for survival. When I couldn't take the stress or had difficulty focusing, I would turn to yoga. I would close my office door and practice pranayama breathing exercises, hoping that no one would see me. Thinking that I was just stressed and in need of a vacation, I took leave for four weeks to pursue yoga teacher training to further my knowledge of the ancient mindfulness-based practice. The yoga community embraced me, and they have always encouraged me to help bring the two communities together.



I started to research why I felt less anxious and reduced pain with my yoga and meditation practice. This was my first introduction into the world of mind-body medicine. I traveled the country and the world learning various meditation techniques. I also discovered that there is a wealth of research on the scientific evidence behind the benefits of meditation, yoga and mindfulness-based stress reduction. The majority of physicians never learn about this research in medical school or residency training. Our first introduction to the research is either through headlines in mainstream media or in our own personal journeys of healing.



Current headlines in the press highlight mindful living, meditation and yoga daily. Earlier this month, I was at a global marketing firm speaking as an expert on mindful living as a top trend for 2014 and beyond. Mindfulness-based practices are not just a hobby for our free time or just a marketing trend. It is a way of living that can prevent or even heal career burnout. What if I had realized this earlier in my career as a physician? When I started on my journey of mindful living, I was either labeled crazy or a visionary physician.



In a highly-publicized study from the Annals of Family Medicine, researchers at Meriter Medical Group in Madison, Wisc. taught physicians simple mindful meditation techniques. These mindful breathing techniques were used to help physicians feel centered and more present with each patient interaction. Results showed decreased symptoms of burnout, stress, depression and anxiety.



I would love to start a mindful discussion together.
What can we do together as a community to bridge medicine and mindfulness to prevent career burnout? We can start by taking a moment to close our eyes, take a deep inhale, and take a deep exhale. Just breathe and come into the present moment. This is mindfulness.



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What Happened When My Doctor Found a Lump

It's the moment every woman dreads. You're lying flat on your back, your feet in stirrups and your Ob-Gyn, with cold fingers, kneads your breasts like they're dough for Challah bread.



She pretends she hasn't just looked at your cervix and isn't man-handling your mammaries by asking you awkward questions she doesn't really want the answers to.



"So, did you enjoy your holiday break? Where did you go? How's your dog, Petula? Oh, you have cats. Sorry. Oh. Shannon. I feel something here..."



She starts to pull my breasts like they're so much taffy at an amusement park concessions stand.



"You have a lump in your left breast," she says.



The next hour, while waiting for an ultra-sound to determine if I have cancer or not, my mind does this:



"It's probably not cancer, because there's no history of cancer in my family, but I do live close to a freeway and I did use tanning beds twice in college and I stood in front of the microwave when I was pregnant. I definitely have cancer. Look, Lainy and Shelley both had mastectomies and had their breasts reconstructed. Maybe they'll let me look at their nipples? Unless they don't have nipples. I don't really need my nipples. I just have to live long enough to get my kids out of school. And married. And to find a good wife for my husband, Henry. He'll need one because who will yell at him when he eats bread so he won't die of diabetes?"



Then there's a deep, sad lull. No more frenetic Ellen Degeneres stand-up routine in my head, just silence. Sobriety. The obvious, yet profound awareness that tomorrow isn't promised. That this small lump could be a turning point to a long, or short goodbye.



Suddenly, I see with a fresh clarity that all of the things running me on a daily basis don't really matter. It doesn't matter what I do for a living, where I live, what car I drive, whether I'm beautiful or invisible.



What matters is the sensation of my 9-year-old's sweet, satiny soft cheek beneath my lips, the feel of my 11-year-old's heavy, thick hair like rope in my hands as I braid it, the pleasure of my husband's intuitive hands kneading the cares of the day out of my shoulders.



This body. Oh how I loved you when I learned to run, jump and play.



How you awed and frightened me when hair began to grow in secret places and that startling red appeared on the clear white cotton of my underwear, precipitating womanhood and the terrifying privilege of bearing my girls.



How I disapproved when you wouldn't stay as thin and pliable as a reed, when you couldn't run, jump and play as fast and hard as you used to.



But the lump has changed that last bit. In this moment, waiting on a cold table in a pink medical robe opened in the front, I love my body with a ferocity one can only feel when something familiar and dependable could suddenly be ripped away.



The technician appears to perform my ultrasound. The last time I had an ultrasound was when I was pregnant with my youngest nine years ago. I'd seen the bottoms of both of her feet, like footprints on the wall of my womb and the black, aqueous emptiness which represented the amniotic fluid surrounding her.



Now, on my back, I see again a black, empty pocket which indicates fluid. There's nothing solid there. No tumor. The technician informs me I have a cyst, the doctor can drain it. And it's benign.



Tears prick my eyes as my body comes back to me. Still familiar and dependable. But I know in a concrete way that my body isn't mine to keep. It's the vessel carrying me through this one life. I will, in the end, have to relinquish it, which makes it all the more dear.



Soon I'll be annoyed when my jeans don't zip properly, or when my tendonitis flares up or when I have to dig around trying to find one of the ten pairs of reading glasses I have scattered around the house like so much hidden treasure. But right now all I feel such a deep, protective gratitude for the temple that is my body.



What I would say to this self-conscious 26-year old me: "Just run around naked all the time." Note to the self-critical 26-year old me: You're more strong, smart and beautiful than you realize. Love your body now, then get on with the business of living. (The faux flower tattoo is for modesty's sake.)



If you don't want to miss any of my lumps and bumps sign up for my newsletter HERE!)



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I Didn't Know That

A funny thing happened to us on the way to writing our recently-published book featuring couples with long-term exemplary marriages: we got to be wrong about some of the beliefs that we had regarding the factors that we thought couples needed to experience in order to create great relationships. In other words, we discovered that we had unwittingly taken on some of the cultural myths that many people, including psychotherapists and marriage counselors have bought into regarding relationships.



In speaking with more than 50 couples, which admittedly doesn't constitute a huge sample, but nonetheless is a pretty significant number, we found a number of consistent themes running through their marriages. That didn't surprise us, since we expected to see most of these couples doing the "right thing" in their relationships, such as settling differences with skill and respect, being good listeners, speaking to each other without blame and judgment, and frequently expressing gratitude and appreciation towards each other. While we expected to see these qualities and practices liberally embodied in their marriages, there were others that showed up that revealed and challenged some of our own expectations of what great marriages require.



For example: Like many people, we have both believed for many years that in order to create an optimal marriage, it is necessary to make the relationship the highest priority in your life and that both partners need to share this commitment. We believed that if other priorities superceded this one that the marriage could easily get pushed aside and neglected. To our surprise, we found that nearly every person in our book did NOT hold their marriage as their highest priority, but rather viewed it as an essential aspect of their well-being that made it possible for them to more fully honor an intention that was central to their life purpose.



Consequently their relationship served as both an end in itself as well a means towards the fulfillment of that goal. That is, they were together not simply in order to more effectively accomplish something that was a core aspect of their individual or shared life purpose, but because they genuinely enjoyed and took great pleasure in each other's company and felt personally enriched by their connection. The purpose that their marriage supported often included some form of service or contribution to society. Some also included some form of creative or artistic expression, and sometimes they took the form of fulfilling a promise that they had made to a person, tradition or belief. Some of the couples experienced a shared purpose, while others supported each other in the fulfillment of their individual intentions.



Another one of the surprises that we encountered challenged our belief that people who had experienced growing up in extreme adversity or family dysfunction were severely handicapped when it came to creating a healthy marriage and family for themselves. Quite a few of the people with whom we spoke revealed details about their pasts that were heart-wrenchingly painful to hear, circumstances that involved extreme abuse, neglect or horrific and catastrophic war trauma.



We found that it was not the degree of suffering that each of them experienced in the original situation that determined their future, but rather how they responded to it and whether or not they committed themselves to healing their old wounds that were the biggest factors in their future. While there is no doubt that someone who has grown up in a secure, loving and supportive family gets off to a better start than someone who doesn't, it's also clear to us that our early experiences may be less influential in determining our future life trajectory than what we do with the remainder of our lives.



A third and most delightful myth that we got to confront and explode was our belief that all relationships require hard work. As a way of neutralizing the "happily ever after" myth that so many people seem to be so fond of, over the years we have emphasized, perhaps excessively, the hard work required to create and maintain a great relationship. We were delighted to find that some of the couples with whom we spoke did not have the experience of having to do a lot of hard work on their relationship, and one had such a high level of compatibility that they decided to stage a "fight" in front of their two daughters in order to give them a more "realistic" picture of what married couples occasionally have to go through. (Their kids saw through the charade and attributed the act to parental "weirdness".) Lest you jump to conclusions or get your hopes up unrealistically high, this example is, even in our very selective study, the exception, rather than the rule. We have modified our position on hard work and marriages, but not radically.



Like any other organism or system, a marriage is constantly undergoing both internal as well as external stresses and change. Consequently a certain degree of stress management and ongoing maintenance is necessary in order to keep it humming and growing. What we have discovered in our studies as well as in our own marriage of 38 years is that that "work" over time becomes increasingly effortless and even playful. The couples who do not experience themselves as having to work hard to take care of their marriage are taking very good care of it, but it doesn't feel like, and in a few rare cases, never has felt like, work. It is, in the truest sense of the phrase, a labor of love.



The bottom line here is that it might be a good idea when you notice yourself feeling certain about something, to check it out closely enough to see whether it is factually true or merely an opinion that "feels" right. Great relationships are generally co-created by people who are willing to be wrong, or at the very least recognize the difference between their opinion and what is factually true. And by the way, that's not necessarily the truth, it's my opinion.



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Trust

2014-01-25-chiptrust.jpg While driving three friends, four counting Chip, I listened and recognized a beautifully shared teaching for me and an invitation to humanity.



Chip is a five-year-old dog. He was found in a shelter and taken home to an environment of love, appreciation, openness, and tenderness. Where he came from, nobody knew. He showed up one afternoon in a rainstorm, wet, scared, cold and hungry. He trusted the man who picked him up in a truck. He trusted the people who took him in and cleaned him up. He trusted them when they placed him in a cage and trusted the food they placed in front of him. As he waited, for what, he didn't know but as he was present in this place, he interacted, played and shared with the others around him.



Within two weeks, he was adopted by a woman and trusted her as he rode home in her car. When he arrived to his new home, he smelled every corner. He continually checked in with the woman as she watched his exploration. They trusted each other, in these moments and the next four years as they learned about each other's fears, favorites and an array of personality traits and habits.



They trusted each other. They moved into each other as they would give and take in each moment, each situation, each day and thereafter.



As I drove, we made a stop at the bank. After leaving the bank, which gave us two doggie treats, the woman who adopted Chip shared one of the treats with him. Chip enjoyed each morsel as he crunched and chewed through the treat. I could hear the sounds of someone thoroughly enjoying their meal as I drove. I anticipated the devouring of the next treat as we drove towards home. Within a few minutes, I asked if Chip had had his second treat. The woman began to speak rather... teach, "No, he doesn't need the next one yet." "Really I said, Aren't they his favorite?" She said, "Oh yes!" After a few quiet moments she went on, "That's the real beauty of this relationship between us. He trusts that when he wants the next treat, it is here. He trusts that what he needs is available to him. He never worries if there will be enough. He trusts that I will be here for him and share what he needs or wants. He trusts me and with that, he doesn't need to consume everything up all at once. He doesn't consume more than he needs in the moment." As I looked in my rear view mirror, I saw Relationship sitting in my back seat: Relationship looking at each other as if they were in perfect agreement of what the woman had just shared. Chip looking at her, trusting in her every word and looking at me wondering if I heard the teaching. I drove and felt the Love filling the car, trust filling all our hearts.



As I drove, I wondered if I had trusted with such abandonment, with such certainty, with such ... trust. As I looked over my life and the world I've helped create, I wondered how much I had consumed beyond what was really needed -- out of fear, lack, sacrifice, anger, power and because I could. From nature, to kids, to family, had I trusted to know when "enough" was? Had I ever trusted enough to live in each moment knowing that there is always enough and there is something/someone always with me ready and prepared to "feed me".



As I neared home, I looked again in my rear view mirror. There they sat, looking at me, smiling (yes, Chip was smiling), and their thought permeated mine to bring me into the present. I knew in that moment, they didn't care if I had trusted. Their thought asked mine, "Can you trust now and from now on?"



At that moment, and now as I share this, I remember that trust, the relationship, the Love from Home I long, long ago thought I had gotten lost from. I remember being taken in, by my parents, as they gave birth to me. I remember them taking me into their home, hearts, and lives. That became my shelter for many years. And in this teaching, I remembered I never left Home. I have never been alone and my uncertainties, fears, guilt, sacrifice, understandings, growth, talents, passions were all available to feed me. They were all held out to me to consume all at once or over time. It was all up to me how quickly I was fed, how fast I ate from Creation's hand and the wisdom to know when enough is enough, when I was full and to trust there is always more.



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Heidi Klum Covers Women's Health, Rarely Gets In A Traditional Workout

Heidi looks gorgeous, as usual, in a short gray skirt and midriff–bearing shirt on the March cover of Women's Health. The 40–year–old model reveals just enough of her toned body to remind you that she's the same fit woman she's always been, and she's proud of her body.



For those of you who've been easing your troubled minds with the notion that Heidi Klum looks as amazing as she does because she has spent 40 years working out for six hours a day, you may want to stop reading.



Klum confesses to Women's Health that she rarely has time for traditional workouts. "I have a treadmill that’s really great, but it just sits there unused,” she admits. Instead, she finds ways to exercise on–the–go, like encouraging her family to spend time together being active outside.



The model explained that she maintains her figure by keeping her energy up and her food intake healthy: "I'll eat everything but the pasta and bread. Do I want the pasta? I do. But I choose not to eat it."



Even for one of the world's most successful (and beautiful) super models, metabolism has not been working in Klum's favor as she's gotten older. She now has to do a better job of watching what she eats and creating a healthy balance of food an exercise, she says. "The metabolism definitely changes when you turn 40. I always thought, That's not going to happen to me, but it is happening to me," she explains. "If I indulge more, I have to exercise more. I figured out what works for me."



It seems as though whatever balance she's found is definitely working in her favor.



Of course, Klum makes it seem as though she puts in less effort than she does. The famous mother has celebrity trainers and efficient workout routines designed to keep her in tip–top shape. After all, she once gave birth and famously walked the Victoria's Secret fashion show just eight weeks later wearing undergarments and angel wings.



Through all of her effort figure, Heidi Klum has always been well-aware of how good she looks. She recalled to Women's Health, "I've always felt great about my body. I've always been very confident, and I still am."



We certainly see why …



heidi



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What Do You Believe?

2014-01-31-f83e8c8da77617464e0e49574bae13911.jpg



Photo credit: Pinterest Media Cache









I believe happiness is not an end destination, but instead the ability to see the ordinary through eyes of wonder.



I believe our beauty and our hidden strengths are found within our imperfections.



I believe love takes time and attention, but isn't supposed to be hard.



I believe happy people don't take themselves too seriously.



I believe a good partner makes you feel like you're a rock star whether you really are or not.



I believe money doesn't buy us happiness, but it sure as hell makes doing good in the world a whole lot easier. (Money isn't evil.)



I believe a solid relationship helps you feel like you can conquer the world.



I believe judgement ages us faster than time itself.



I believe competition will one day be gone and instead replaced with cooperation.



I believe a good friend/lover is there to catch you when you fall, urge you forward and celebrate your victories.



I believe there will come a day when we no longer see one another's flaws and instead witness one another's beauty.



I believe confident people laugh often and forgive easily.



What do you believe?



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CDC Confirms Norovirus Caused Nearly 700 To Fall Ill On Royal Caribbean Cruise

Norovirus was in fact the cause of the gastrointestinal illness that sickened nearly 700 people on a Royal Caribbean cruise, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Friday, Jan. 31.



Fifty-four crew members and 630 passengers were sickened on the ship, called the Explorer of the Seas. The CDC reported that the source of the norovirus outbreak has still not been pinpointed, and "it's quite possible a source won't be identified."



The outbreak of norovirus is one of the largest in the last 20 years, the CDC said.



The Explorer of the Seas will be sanitized, with no one allowed on board for 24 hours or more, the Associated Press reported.



Norovirus is a virus that causes stomach flu symptoms; it's especially common on cruise ships and other areas where people are kept in close quarters. It's extremely contagious, and can spread by consuming food or drink contaminated with the virus, or touching contaminated surfaces or infected people.



Just today, the Associated Press reported that a more than 170 people aboard a Princess Cruises ship were sickened with norovirus; the ship had returned early to a port in the Houston area due to fog.



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Nazi Scientists May Have Tried To Use Mosquitoes As Weapons

Mosquitoes as weapons? It was nearly a real-life threat during World War II, new research suggests.



Researchers now say that Nazi scientists were plotting to weaponize mosquitoes. The plan, which appears never to have been implemented, called for airplanes to release mosquitoes infected with malaria over enemy forces. Scary.



The plan was uncovered by Dr. Klaus Reinhardt, a biologist at the University of Tübingen, who pored over records involving the notorious Dachau concentration camp. His findings were published in the December edition of the quarterly magazine Endeavour.



The mosquito plan dates back to January 1942. That's when Heinrich Himmler, head of the Schutzstaffel (SS) and police in Nazi Germany, reportedly ordered the creation of an entomological institute to study the physiology and control of harmful insects, Reinhardt noted in the article's abstract. The institute was headed by insect researcher Eduard May.



Although the use of chemical and biological weapons was outlawed by the Geneva Protocol of 1925, the question of whether Hitler abided by this edict has long been a topic of debate, the BBC reported. Nazi gas chambers prove the Third Reich's willingness to use poison on civilians, but some historians have argued Hitler did not approve such tactics for the battlefield.



In the article, Reinhardt acknowledges that the evidence for using mosquitoes for biological warfare is far from conclusive.



"The idea to grow malaria-laden mosquitoes and drop them on people is not very well documented other than by the words 'growing station' and 'airdropping site,'" Reinhardt told National Geographic in an email. "The equipment May had at hand was actually rather pathetic."



This is not the first time researchers have offered evidence of Nazi experiments involving "mosquito warfare."



In 2006, Yale history professor Frank Snowden published a book called The Conquest of Malaria in Italy, in which he maintained that the Nazis released malaria-infected mosquitoes to try to stop advancing Allied troops in Italy.



Using American archives and the diaries of Italian soldiers, Snowden's book details how a Nazi entomologist named Erich Martinia allegedly directed the Germans to flood marshes near Rome and fill them with the larvae of malaria-carrying mosquitoes, the Telegraph reported.



Because they were inoculated against malaria, British and American troops wouldn't have been affected by the alleged attack, according to Snowden. But malaria cases did soar among civilians in the area.



Still, not everyone is convinced.



Dr. Eric Toner, an expert in medical responses to bioterrorism at the University of Pittsburgh, told National Geographic that while Reinhardt "makes a good case" regarding possible Nazi offensive biowarfare experimentation, he does not see a "smoking gun."



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FDA Approves Hetlioz Drug That Helps Regulate Internal Clocks Of People Who Are Blind





By Toni Clarke



Jan 31 (Reuters) - Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc said on Friday that U.S. health regulators have approved its drug Hetlioz to regulate the internal body clocks of blind patients and help normalize sleep patterns.



The drug, also known as tasimelteon, is designed to treat Non-24-Hour Sleep-Wake Disorder, or Non-24, a condition that is common among the totally blind. It can cause disrupted nighttime sleep patterns and excessive daytime sleepiness.



Vanda's shares rose 8 percent to $14.10 in afternoon trading after initially rising as high as $15.59 on the news.



Non-24 is a rare disorder that affects between 65,000 and 95,000 people, according to Vanda. It occurs almost exclusively in people who are deprived of light, which is needed to synchronize the body's internal clock.



Sales of the drug are expected to rise to about $295 million by 2018 according to two analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.



Hetlioz affects melatonin, a hormone produced by the body's pineal gland that plays a key role in regulating the body's master circadian clock. When taken before bed it resets that clock by replacing the normal resetting triggered by light.



Vanda's only marketed product is its schizophrenia drug Fanapt, which is commercialized in the United States and Canada by the Swiss drugmaker Novartis AG under a licensing agreement.





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How The Cedars-Sinai Art Collection Shines A Healing Light On Patients And Staff Alike

Art is many things: beautiful, controversial, funny, expensive. But no matter what it looks like, art has the power to heal us.



Since the 1970s, the staff at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles has curated a growing art collection that adds some character to the sterile hospital environment. Curator John T. Lange told HuffPost Live he sees the artwork's powerful effects on patients and staff alike, and it's become an integral part of Cedars-Sinai.



Check out the clip above to hear more about the Cedars-Sinai art collection, and see the full HuffPost Live conversation about the healing power of art below.







Arianna Huffington and Mika Brzezinski are taking The Third Metric on a three-city tour: NY, DC & LA. Tickets are on sale now at thirdmetric.com.



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Introducing The Third Metric

When was the last time you worked through your lunch break? Complained about how stressed you were feeling? Or answered emails on your BlackBerry in bed? At a guess, if you are anything like millions of other HuffPost readers around the world, I reckon "yesterday" would be a pretty common response.



From London to Lisbon, São Paulo to Singapore, people from all walks of life are suffering from burnout as we struggle to cope with a hyper-connected world that values success at any cost.



But, here's a thought: Maybe it doesn't need to be like this?



One thing is crystal clear: The centuries-old measures of success -- namely money and power -- aren't working any longer. Women and men across the world are waking up to the reality that there are more important things in life than a fancy job title and a bank account full of money. Those are nice to have, sure, but not at the expense of everything else.



Worse still is that in the relentless drive to move up the corporate ladder, burnout and sleep deprivation are no longer just a by-product of the working world. They have become a badge of honour.



With all this in mind, last year HuffPost President and Editor-in-Chief Arianna Huffington coined the phrase "The Third Metric" to redefine what success could and should be all about. A new movement was born that celebrates wellbeing, wisdom, our ability to wonder and how we make a difference in the world.



Think of it this way: If success is a stool with money and power as its two legs, that's a pretty wobbly foundation. By celebrating a third metric, or leg, of success, that stool suddenly feels a whole lot more solid and appealing to boot.



Since launching The Third Metric, we've noticed not just how many people are writing and talking about the struggles and stresses of their busy lives, but also positively about the steps they are taking to deal with it. Words like "mindfulness" are popping up again and again. Yoga and meditation are enjoying popular revivals, and this time it's not just because pop stars and Hollywood actresses are raving about them (although there are a fair few of them practising the arts, too).



It seems we're finally waking up to the fact that things need to change. In a hyper-connected world, where we juggle multiple phones and devices at any one time, taking time out from our screens is increasingly important. Learning to "switch off" these days means literally switching off your mobile(s!), your computer, your TV and everything else that needs electricity to function.



From across the globe we've gathered stories about businesses harnessing these values to improve their work places, politicians practising mindfulness and bankers being encouraged to -- shock, horror! -- nap at work. The French might not need any lessons in enjoying long lunches, even during the work week, but the rest of us could certainly do with some encouragement. It's certainly new in the U.K. to hear about companies offering yoga classes in an effort to keep their employees' bodies as flexible as their minds.



The way people switch off differs from country to country, and this week, as The Brasil Post joins The Huffington Post group, we're looking forward to hearing from readers and bloggers about how you define success. We're also excited to hear how you unplug and recharge. As I type this from HuffPost's London office, with rain pouring down outside, I'm relying on you to divulge the secret beaches where Wi-Fi hasn't yet made its mark and meditation before breakfast is the norm.



Come join The Third Metric revolution. We'd love to hear your stories.



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Natural Gas Development Linked To Birth Defects In Colorado: Study

A new study has found that children born near greater densities of natural gas development sites in Colorado may have an increased risk of some birth defects.



For the study, researchers from the Colorado School of Public Health and Brown University examined more than 124,000 births from 1996-2009 in rural areas in the state.



They found that children born to mothers living in areas that had more than 125 natural gas wells per mile had a 30 percent greater prevalence of congenital heart defects. The kids were also twice as likely to have had a neural tube defect than children born to mothers who lived with no wells within 10 miles of their homes.



The study, published Jan. 28, notes that pollutants -- like toluene, xylenes and benzene -- released by some natural gas drilling operations "are suspected teratogens or mutagens and are known to cross the placenta, raising the possibility of fetal exposure to these and other pollutants resulting from NGD [natural gas development]."



It should be noted, however, that the study doesn't definitively prove that natural gas development causes anything, Lisa McKenzie, lead author and Colorado School of Public Health research associate, told The Huffington Post.



More research is needed to discover whether natural gas projects pose a threat to unborn children, McKenzie said.



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Employees Put On Leave After School Lunches Taken

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A Utah school cafeteria manager and a district supervisor have been placed on paid leave while officials investigate why lunches were taken from students who owed money on food accounts, a district spokesman said Friday.



Salt Lake City School District spokesman Jason Olsen said he could not identify or offer further details on the workers because of personnel privacy issues. About 32 elementary school students had their lunches seized and thrown away on Tuesday after a district official arrived at Uintah (Yoo-IN-tah) Elementary to investigate a large number of overdue lunch accounts, Olsen has said.



The district has apologized to outraged parents and said it was working to ensure a similar incident didn't happen again.



Olsen has said students whose $2 meals were thrown out were given milk and fruit, a standard practice when students don't have lunch money.



"This was a mistake," Olsen said. "There shouldn't have been food taken away from these students once they went through that line."



The school is located in a middle-class neighborhood, and the district qualifies for federal reimbursement on lunches when students select certain offerings that are within nutritional guidelines.



Olsen said officials started notifying parents on Monday that many children were behind on the lunch payments.



The district was still investigating which workers decided to seize lunches the next day and how many were taking the meals from students.



A district policy requires that parents be given time to respond to account shortfalls.



Parent Erica Lukes said it was "humiliating and demoralizing" when deep dish pizzas and other items were taken away from her daughter and other children.



"People are upset, obviously, by the way this has been handled because it's really needless and quite mean," she said. "Regardless if it's $2, $5, you don't go about rectifying a situation with a balance by having a child go through that."



Her daughter reported children were upset and confused and some shared food with each other.



Olsen said school employees were upset by the situation and the district was getting angry messages from around the country.



He said the school principal has set up an account to cover lunch for students without money in their accounts, and other principals are taking steps to ensure that no more lunches are seized.



Two Utah lawmakers have said they were outraged and wanted to call attention to the policy.



If the district does not address the problem, lawmakers will look at whether state policies need to change, the senators said.



"To me, this rises to the level of bullying," State Sen. Todd Weiler, R-Woods Cross said. "These children were humiliated in their own school, in front of their classmates."



Weiler was joined at a news conference by Sen. Jim Dabakis, D-Salt Lake City.



The seizure of the lunches was first reported by The Salt Lake Tribune on Wednesday.



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Eric Ferguson Charged More Than $89,000 By Hospital For Snake Bite Anti-Venom Treatment

Eric Ferguson got bitten by a snake. Then health care costs sank their teeth into him.



A North Carolina hospital charged a stunned Ferguson $89,227 for anti-venom medicine and an 18-hour stay, the Charlotte Observer reported.



Ferguson, 54, of Mooresville, was taking out the garbage when a snake attacked his foot. He was treated with four vials of anti-venom that accounted for $81,000 of the tab, according to the Observer. He said he found the medication for $750 online.



Lake Norman Regional Medical Center explained in the article that it has to charge higher prices to compensate for discounts it gives insurance companies. In a deal with Ferguson's insurer, the hospital cut the bill to $20,227, with Ferguson paying $5,400 out of pocket. Ferguson emphasized he received great treatment after the August 2013 incident, but "it was just the sticker shock," he said to the newspaper.



In another case of scary emergency care prices, a 22-year-old man from Sacramento, Calif., recently posted a $55,000 hospital bill for his appendectomy on social media, CBS reported. "I never truly understood how much healthcare in the US costs until I got Appendicitis in October," Nick Gonzales wrote on Reddit. "I'm a 20 year old guy. Thought other people should see this to get a real idea of how much an unpreventable illness costs in the US."



A government report from 2013 shows just how out-of-hand pricing can be. For the same procedure, hospital costs can vary by more than $200,000, another CBS report pointed out.



h/t Time



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Go the Extra Mile: Run for Yourself, Run for a Cause

Running. You either love it or you hate it. You love feeling the wind on your face, the pounding of your feet against the pavement, the rush of blood through your veins and the way your post-workout endorphins make you feel. You hate feeling out of breath, getting out of bed in the morning when it's still dark out, the fatigue that builds in your legs and the soreness the day after a run. I used to be one of the haters -- until I gave running a chance.



I'm not what you typically imagine when you envision a runner. I'm not tall and slender with long legs, and you were more likely to see me running late to a dinner reservation than to see me running in the park near my apartment. But in a quest to become healthier and lose some weight a few years ago, I joined New York Road Runners, an organization that coordinates dozens of races a year in and around New York City.



My first race was a four-mile loop of Central Park, known for its intimidating hills. I ran/walked around the park at a slug-like pace. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to go from couch to four miles, but the sense of accomplishment I felt once I completed the race, coupled with the fact I had run four miles before most people my age rolled out of bed, was enough to keep me going. I had to run more races.



I signed up for a handful of New York Road Runners races on Saturday and Sunday mornings and I began running a few times a week after work. I started slowly and my endurance improved. After a few weeks, I noticed I had more energy. I was losing weight and feeling great. Throughout my training, I learned that the health benefits of running far exceeded weight loss. Not only is running one of the most efficient ways to burn calories, lose weight, trim body fat and increase lean muscle, but it also helps reduce the risk of stroke and heart attack and has been found to lower blood pressure and reduce stress, emotional strain and even mild depression.



For me, the benefits didn't end there. What started as a solo journey to improved health had a reach far beyond my personal goals. Almost every race I ran was sponsored by a charitable organization to raise money and bring awareness to a specific cause. Breast Cancer. Lung cancer. Heart Disease. Anti-Gun Violence. The Parks. Every race promoted a valuable cause, and every race was put into perspective. Magically, I wasn't just running for one anymore. I was running for something greater than myself. I was running to raise money for charity. I was running to raise awareness for those whom we've lost, for survivors, for our environment and for those who celebrate equality. These races became more than just races: they became causes and incentives to do my best for others.



After participating in shorter organized races, my running goals and mileage increased. I began taking part in 10ks, half marathons and after only one year, I ran the New York City Marathon for New York Road Runner's charity, Team for Kids. The feeling of accomplishment was immeasurable. Not only did I feel great both physically and mentally, but I raised money for a great cause.



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With Spring right around the corner, now is the perfect time to hop on the treadmill or bundle up and run outside to train for a race. Websites like Active.com and local running clubs like New York Road Runners provide comprehensive lists of upcoming races of all distances. You can also reach out to your favorite charity to see if they are participating in any upcoming events. To prepare, just lace up your running shoes and go. It doesn't matter how fast at first... Your pace, your race.



So, whether you're setting a goal for a new year, a goal for a new you or a goal to be a part of something bigger than yourself, RUN. Whether it's a 5k or a marathon, setting a goal to train and participating in a race is a wonderful way to begin a fitness journey in a meaningful way. Not only will you achieve your fitness goals and earn a great sense of empowerment and accomplishment, but you will also be giving back and helping others in the process.



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