robert.whitakerfamily.org

Link to article: Same blue dye in M&Ms linked to reducing spine injury

Researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center found that when they injected the compound Brilliant Blue G (BBG) into rats suffering spinal cord injuries, the rodents were able to walk again, albeit with a limp.

The only side effect was that the treated mice temporarily turned blue.

Exercise could save diabetics – Science Alert

Recommendations include:

• To improve cardiovascular risk, type 2 diabetes patients should get at least 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity exercise or 90 min/week of vigorous-intensity exercise, or some combination of the two.
• Patients should exercise on at least three non-consecutive days each week to maximize benefits. Individual sessions should be at least 10 minutes each or longer.
• Resistance training should be encouraged, and should be moderate- to high-intensity — 2 sets of 8 repetitions at a weight that can’t be lifted more than 8 times, with 1-minute rest periods between sets.
• Exercise counselling is needed to assess and adjust levels of physical activity and provide motivation and support. Telephone counselling is economical, practical and effective.

It could be as simple as putting down the snack food…

The amount of food Americans eat has been increasing since the 1970s, and that alone is the cause of the obesity epidemic in the US today [1]. Physical activity—or the lack thereof—has played virtually no role in the rising number of expanding American waistlines, according to research presented at the 2009 European Congress on Obesity in Amsterdam last week.

…

The main cause of the obesity epidemic in this country is the wide availability of high-caloric foods and the fact that we are eating way too many calories in the course of a day. Exercise has much less impact.”

Sorrentino said that about 90% of weight loss is achieved by cutting calories; only about 10% of weight loss is achieved by significantly increasing physical activity.

Read the full article here

http://www.theheart.org/article/970183.do

I got a position with St Luke’s for their summer Nurse Apprentice Externship program. The program, which starts tomorrow, is 10 weeks long and includes time for shadowing other medical professionals and patients, as well as time for NCLEX review classes. It is a full time temporary position. If all works out, I will pursue a part time permanent position when I return to school in the fall.

Ninety percent of my assigned shifts are night shifts. I will work two 8-hour shifts and two 12-hour shifts per week. The shifts are 7pm-7:30am or 11pm-7:30am. I have a few evening shifts also which start at either 3pm or 7pm and get over at 11:30pm. I am really looking forward the experience.

I won’t be answering my phone during the day when I am sleeping. If you need to reach me please call between 4pm and 7pm, or call Brandi’s cell if it is an emergency and she will wake me up.

I have all weekends in June off (except this first one) and most in July. If anyone is planning on going camping let me know! I definitely need to get some camping and fishing in this summer.

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Now playing: Sixx: A.M. – Girl With Golden Eyes
via FoxyTunes

I learned that if you squirted Afrin nasal spray in your eye (at half strength) it would be called Visine L.R. Long-Lasting Redness Relief eye drops.

Very interesting. They both act as blood vessel constrictors, Afrin in the nose and sinuses thus creating less mucous production, and Visine in the eye which acts to “get the red out.”

FYI, don’t use Afrin for more than three days or it will cause congestion, the very thing it is meant to relieve.

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Now playing: Pink Floyd – On the Turning Away
via FoxyTunes