| MRSA case confirmed; doctors say risk being overblown
Remain calm.That is the message from doctors and school officials following confirmed reports of a local case of drug-resistant staph infection."I think this is being blown all out of proportion," said Dr. Louis Schenfeld, a Johnstown-based infectious disease specialist.MRSA, or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, has been around since 1963, Schenfeld said. It usually is confined to a boil that should be lanced by a doctor and then usually goes away on its own."Staph is the most common form of skin infection," he said. "MRSA is the most common type of staph infection."For years, MRSA was confined to hospitals. But it began appearing in the general population during the late 1990s and is being seen more outside hospitals and nursing homes.News of a confirmed infection in a Conemaugh Township High School student brought a deluge of phone calls to the district, Superintendent Joseph DiBartola said."We kind of fielded those (calls) to let parents know what had occurred and what we were doing," DiBartola said.
Report: Jose Guillen, Matt Williams bought performance-enhancing drugs
Williams was a five-time All-Star during his 17-year major league career with San Francisco, Cleveland and Arizona. He was playing for the Diamondbacks in 2002 when records indicate he purchased $11,600 worth of growth hormone, steroids and other drugs, the Chronicle reported.
Williams' final season in the majors was 2003.
The Chronicle reported that Williams, in an interview Monday, said a doctor advised him to try growth hormone to heal a severe ankle injury he sustained during spring training in 2002.
Williams is now a broadcaster for the Diamondbacks.
"We obviously just learned of this," team president Derrick Hall said in a statement Tuesday. "Matt informed us that a doctor recommended its use to help heal his ankle injury. It was a substance that he was not familiar with at the time, and according to him, did not like its effects after sampling.
Lipoic Acid Could Reduce Atherosclerosis, Weight Gain
ScienceDaily (Jan. 17, 2008) A new study done with mice has discovered that supplements of lipoic acid can inhibit formation of arterial lesions, lower triglycerides, and reduce blood vessel inflammation and weight gain -- all key issues for addressing cardiovascular disease. .
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION 2008
Here is my Creators Syndicate column on the political landscape after Iowa and New Hampshire. I try to suggest in the first two sentences that things are very unsettled. "Five elections. Five winners." In both parties, we seem to have pretty firm factions operating. Usually there's a clear-cut difference between primaries and general elections. In seriously contested general elections, about 80 percent of the voters will vote the same way they did last time—about half of them Republican, half of them Democratic, with the proportions varying by constituency. With primaries, in contrast, voters are often all over the lot. They are not weighted down by party identification. They are ready to move anywhere. Yet sometimes they don't. There is a very high correlation in voting behavior between the Clinton/Obama race in 2008 and the Gore/Bradley race in 2000 in New Hampshire.
Review: 'Torture and Democracy' is definitive
A"dunk" in water, said Vice President Dick Cheney in October 2006, referring to waterboarding, is "a no-brainer for me" if it can save lives. The statement set off a media uproar and soon was hedged with Orwellian qualifiers and obfuscations: America doesn't torture, full stop. But we use tough, "enhanced" interrogation techniques, and we won't tell you what they are. Apparently, that means that waterboarding is not torture. Watch the trick in slow motion, but with a flashier example: (1) we saw off fingers; but (2) we do not torture; ergo (3) sawing off fingers isn't torture. But waterboarding is torture. The technique includes strapping a prisoner to a tilted board that elevates his feet and lowers his head and stuffing cloth into his mouth while water is poured over his (usually bagged) face.
Cheryl Cole stands by her man
Cheryl insisted reports were innaccurate and insisted the story will not destroy their marriage. Reports claim the couple have argued over the story. Cheryl and Ashley got married in July 2006. Soon after the wedding, Ashley left Arsenal to join Chelsea. .
Despite collaborative research environment, local biotechs face ...
Research advancements in cancer therapy are beautiful music to the ears of lung cancer patients everywhere. One-time La Jolla Symphony violinist Ruth Gjerset is striking an important chord, recently receiving an award of $100,000 from the Joan Scarangello Foundation to Conquer Lung Cancer. Gjerset's work using gene therapy as a way of suppressing the growth of tumors is currently under way at the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center. .
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