Hospital Room Ruminations by The Big Kahuna

While I was sleeping Hubby posted Hospital Room Ruminations .

Brain eating amoeba kills 6

It sounds like science fiction but it's true: A killer amoeba living in lakes enters the body through the nose and attacks the brain where it feeds until you die.

Even though encounters with the microscopic bug are extraordinarily rare, it's killed six boys and young men this year. The spike in cases has health officials concerned, and they are predicting more cases in the future.

Read more in The Sun Herald

Government control wrong way to go

While the rest of the developed world is seeking privatization and competition, many U.S. leaders persist in pinning their hopes on more mandates and more government control of our medical care.

Read the rest in The Sun Herald.

News & Views

ATV's & Kids

Visit Letters to the Editor in the Sun Herald to read Robert F. Hayes of Ellisville's Few parents regulate their children's use of ATVs

Some of the problems he mentions are kids trespassing on private property and the damage they are inflicting on private property and state lands. Many kids also ride on public roads and are a danger both to themselves and motorist.

********************************************************************************

Are You Sleepy?

Just spit to find out.

A team of researchers at Washington University, led by Paul J. Shaw, has found an indicator of sleepiness in the saliva of fruit flies and humans. The indicator - a protein called amylase - and other markers could some day be used to detect people impaired by lack of sleep, much the way Breathalyzers identify drunk drivers. The researchers report their findings this week in the online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The Downside of Energy Drinks

Those of us with teens and tweens need to be aware of the dangers of energy drinks.

At an emergency room in Berkeley, Calif., Dr. Guy Shochat last year treated an 18 year-old who had arrived in an ambulance with sudden heart arrhythmia. The teenager had been drinking eight 16-ounce cans of Rockstar every evening to stay awake for his night job. “He was totally clueless that there might be something wrong with drinking so much of this stuff,” said Dr. Shochat, an assistant clinical professor of emergency medicine at the University of California, San Francisco.

The American College of Sports Medicine has warned high school athletes away from energy drinks because the caffeine in them may cause dehydration. High schools in Fairfax County, Va., this year removed energy drinks from its vending machines after student athletes complained of headaches and nausea after drinking them at practice.

The New York Times Learning Network has lesson plans.