CORVALLIS, Ore. – If you’re completely new to vegetable gardening and want to enjoy your own homegrown tomatoes and summer squash this year, the Oregon State University Extension Service can provide the information you need to get started.  Gail Langellotto, an OSU horticulturist and statewide coordinator of the Master Gardener program, says there are several things novices can do to make their foray into gardening more successful. Also, “Growing Your Own,” a practical guide to gardening with more details, is on the OSU Extension Service Web site.

Among Langellotto’s tips:

* Choose raised beds, containers and mounds, Langellotto recommends, if you live in the Willamette Valley, where clay soils do not drain well and remain cold into the spring. If you use containers, which can be just about any size and as casual as old tires, you can garden in any location and move the containers for optimal conditions.

* Choose a site where your garden will get at least eight hours of light, preferably sunshine. “Air drainage can be a problem. If you live on a slope, be sure to avoid cold air drainage in low spots and wind,” Langellotto said.

* Get a soil test. Soil supplies 13 essential plant nutrients, primarily nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium. A soil test will tell you if your soil has deficiencies and if it is too acidic or alkaline. See OSU Extension publications EM 8677 for testing laboratories serving Oregon (cost is about $45).

* Build organic matter with compost to correct many deficiencies. Start a compost heap with two parts “brown” materials – leaves, straw, paper, sawdust – to one part “green” materials such as vegetable scraps, coffee grounds, grass clippings and fresh manure from cows, horses or poultry.

An easy way to start a new garden spot, while improving soil structure and fertility, is called sheet or “lasagna” mulching. Wet soil thoroughly and add a layer each of overlapping cardboard, compost and six to eight inches of mulch (leaves and grass clippings). In about seven months the soil will be ready for planting.

* Choose easy-to-grow vegetables that your family likes, adding others in following years as tastes mature, Langellotto said. She recommends five vegetables that like cool conditions: radishes, peas, leaf lettuce, carrots and spinach. Heat-loving veggies that should be planted in warm soil are bush beans, summer squash and tomatoes.

Other easy crops are kale and kohlrabi, beets, onions, garlic and annual herbs such as basil, fennel and parsley. Vegetables and fruits that do well in containers are bush beans, beets, carrots, cabbage, swiss chard, cucumbers, leaf lettuce, bell peppers, squash, tomatoes, dwarf apple trees, blueberries, strawberries, turnips, eggplant, kale and green onions.

* Choose high-quality seed for your vegetable garden. Germination rates on the package should be 65 to 80 percent. The package also will tell you when to plant seeds, how long it will take them to germinate, depth of planting and spacing. Although more expensive than growing food from seed, bedding plants already sprouted work best for tomatoes, basil, eggplant and peppers. Check that they are not root bound in the pot and are stocky and deep green, not spindly and light green.

“If you run into problems, your OSU county extension office is there to help,” Langellotto said. “Master Gardeners are on hand to answer questions.”

By: Judy Scott
Source: Gail Langellotto

You answer your front door to find a stranger staring back at you. You walk alone to your car in a parking garage, then fumble to find your keys. You place your purse in the top of the grocery cart, frequently turning your back to it as you shop.  These are but a few common behaviors that can put women at risk.

Thousands of women are victims of violent crimes each year. Not walking on a dark street alone at night may seem like common sense. Yet, when we grow comfortable with our daily routines, we tend to let our guards down. The following safety tips are good reminders for every woman¬ —every daughter, sister and friend.

•      Don’t walk or jog early in the morning or late at night when the streets are deserted.
•      Don’t be afraid to use your voice and yell for help if you need it.
•      If you are a walker or jogger, carry mace or pepper spray.
•      Remember, distractions like texting and listening to headphones can make you less aware of your surroundings.
•      When out at night, have a friend walk with you to your car. If your friend is also alone, drive your friend to her car, and wait until she is safely inside it.
•      Don’t display your cash or any other inviting targets such as pagers, cell phones, hand-held electronic games, or expensive jewelry and clothing.
•      If you think someone is following you, switch directions or cross the street. If the person continues to follow you, move quickly toward an open store or restaurant or a lighted house.
•      Try to park in well-lighted areas with good visibility and close to walkways, stores, and people.
•      Make sure you have your key out as you approach your car door or house/apartment door.
•      Always lock your car, even if it’s in your own driveway.

•      Lock your home, even when you are home during the day.
•      Use extreme caution when meeting with someone you don’t know well; arrange to meet him/her only in a location where other people will be present.
•      Above all, trust your instincts. If it feels unsafe, it probably is.
•      Consider taking a self defense class.

(Adapted from a list provided by the National Crime Prevention Council, www.ncpc.org)

### Erika Weisensee, a writer and native Oregonian, lives in Milwaukie and teaches journalism and communication courses at the University of Portland.

It felt like family night at the Oscars this week because many of the big winners thanked their moms and dads for their special role in their lives.  Below we highlight Sandra Bullock, Jeff Bridges and “UP” creator Pete Docter.

Sandra Bullock won Best Actress and gave a beautiful tear-choked tribute to her mom.  Here is part of her acceptance speech;

“Not enough time, so I would like to thank what this film is about for me which are the moms that take care of the babies and the children no matter where they come from. Those moms and parents never get thanked. I, in particular, failed to thank one. So… if I can take this moment to thank Helga B. for not letting me ride in cars with boys until I was 18 because she was right. I would’ve done what she said I was gonna do. For making me practice every day when I got home. Piano, ballet, whatever it is I wanted to be.”

Jeff Bridges won Best Actor for Crazy Heart and gave a poignant thansk to his parents.  Here is his speech;

“Thank you, mom and dad, for turning me on to such a groovy profession. Oh, my dad and my mom, they loved show biz so much. I remember my mom, getting all of us kids to entertain at her parties. You know, my dad sitting me on his bed and teaching me all of the basics of acting for a role in Sea Hunt. They loved show biz so much and I feel an extension of them. You know, this, this is honoring them as much as it is me. ”

Pete Docter won Best Animation for the Disney film UP.  Here is his speech;

“Boy, never did I dream that making a flip book out of my third grade math book would lead to this…It was an incredible, incredible adventure making this movie, but the heart of it came from home. And to our families, in my case, to my wonderful parents, they were so supportive.”

I was a grumpy mom this morning. I apologized to my kids before they left for school, and I even gave them all a kiss. They are so forgiving!  After feeling bad throughout the day, for being a part of helping them start their day off with a negative spin – I redeemed myself!

How did I redeem myself?

I made Cookie Brittle, an easy 5-ingredient recipe. I had it waiting for them when they walked through the door, after school.

Bad Mom = Cookie Brittle.

The kids eyes lit up when they saw what I had made!

Cookie Brittle
Mix together: 1 cup butter, 2 cups sugar, 1 tsp. vanilla, 2 cups flour. Add: 1 cup chocolate chips. Press into a 15×9 jelly roll pan (I used my Pampered Chef Bar Pan.)

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes, checking often so it doesn’t burn around the edges. It should be brown all over. Cool. Break into irregular pieces.

Food always helps when we get in a bind, doesn’t it?

I’m just a normal mom, not perfect by any means. And I bet you are, too!

I’m thankful for God’s grace, and I’m thankful that my kids understand it, too!

What do you make your family when you want to give them a treat?

A fascinating study shows the effect of light, or lack of light, on our ethics . This applies not to just our homes but our work and our schools.  Even a little dimming seems to give people a sense of anonymity — even when they can be clearly seen.  Check it out from Yahoo news.

Dim lights can make it seem as if no one is watching, triggering moral transgressions in many people, a new study suggests. Past research has shown that when people are concealed from view by others, say when they are wearing hoods, these individuals will be more likely to commit criminal acts and other bad behaviors. But what about times when we’re not actually anonymous - people can see us - yet we feel like we’re hidden? The researchers of the new study describe it as the adult version of hide-and-seek: Kids often believe no one can see them when they cover their eyes even though they are hiding in plain sight. Turns out, a dark room can have a similar psychological effect on adults.

The results could play out in real-life office behavior, the researchers say. “Imagine that a person who is alone in a closed room is deciding whether to lie to a total stranger in an e-mail. Clearly, whether the room is well lit would not affect the person’s actual level of anonymity,” Chen-Bo Zhong of the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management and colleagues write in a recent issue of the journal Psychological Science.  Read more here.

WEDNESDAY, March 3 (HealthDay News) — Wondering if you’d do better to cut carbs or fats to lose weight? A DNA test using a cheek swab may reveal which approach would work best for you, new research suggests. Researchers from Stanford University used data on a study from 2007 in which 138 overweight or obese women were assigned to one of four popular diets for a year. The diets included: the Atkins diet (very low carbohydrate), the Zone diet (low carbohydrate), the Ornish diet (very low fat) or a health professional’s diet (a low-fat diet that generally follows the U.S Agriculture Department’s Food Pyramid). The women also had the inside of their cheeks swabbed to collect a DNA sample.

Researchers used the genetic information to assign women to a “genotype-appropriate” diet, an eating plan that would seem to be the most effective for them given their particular genetic makeup.

Women assigned to the correct diet based on their genotype lost two to three times more weight at 12 months than those who were assigned to a diet that was inappropriate. When the researchers looked at only the most extreme diets (Atkins versus Ornish), the results were even more stark. Women assigned to their correct diet for their genotype lost five times as much weight as those on the incorrect diet, the study found.

The women on the correct diets also showed improvements in their “good” (HDL) cholesterol and decreases in harmful triglycerides.

“The weight loss differences between the various diets were not that dramatic, but the weight loss difference within a particular diet was,” said lead study author Mindy Dopler Nelson, a Stanford postdoctoral research fellow. “On each diet, there were a lot who lost weight, there were a lot who didn’t lose weight and there were even some that gained weight. By looking at the genetics we were able to see it was less the particular diet than the individual’s response to the diet.”

The study was to be presented Wednesday at the American Heart Association’s Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism Conference 2010, in San Francisco.

The DNA test, made by Interleukin Genetics in Waltham, Mass., sells for $149. It works by honing in on certain genes that play a role in the way people metabolize food, said Lew Bender, CEO of Interleukin Genetics.

From among hundreds of genes believed to be involved with obesity, researchers from Interleukin Genetics identified three genes that had been implicated in multiple clinical studies to play a role in weight management. The genes include fatty acid binding protein 2, peroxisome proliferator- activated receptor gamma, and beta 2 adrenergic receptor, Bender said.

“We went through a rigorous scientific process to find those that were the most validated and the most functional, and these were the three,” he said.

In those genes, a so-called single nucleotide polymorphism — or a variation of a DNA sequence within a gene fragment — causes the gene to produce a form of protein that changes the way it functions. In the case of fatty acid binding protein 2, for example, the polymorphism leads to the production of a protein that can cause a greater absorption of fat, Bender said.

“If you look at someone who has a polymorphism that causes them to absorb more fat, combined with another polymorphism that causes them to not burn fat well, they would be more prone to obesity from diets that are high in fat,” he said. “In those cases, we would recommend they go on a low-fat diet.”

Dr. Robert Eckel, past president of the American Heart Association and a professor of medicine at University of Colorado School of Medicine, said the study results were very preliminary and had to be confirmed by larger studies before he would recommend that anyone have their diet genotyped.

“The three genes they have identified are all genes that could affect energy balance, and the idea that polymorphisms in these genes could affect energy balance is of interest scientifically,” Eckel said. “This could explain small differences in the way people respond to diet. But right now the most important predictor of successful dieting is compliance.”

Stanford’s Nelson, a nutritional scientist, said she was encouraged by the findings but not surprised. During her career, she’s seen wide variations in weight loss among people assigned to identical diets. Some results could be explained by how well people adhered to the diet, but not all, she said.

“You do need to be on a reduced-calorie diet. You still need to eat healthy. But there is a difference in how people process calories,” Nelson said. “Knowing your genotype is just one more tool to help the weight-loss process.”

Interleukin Genetics has applied for a patent on the DNA test, Bender said.

When I was in my 20’s, I was always hanging out with friends—planning weekend trips, going out to eat, sitting in coffee houses and chatting for hours. Before that, my high school years revolved around a handful of close friendships; today, the friendships I made in my teens and 20’s are among the most significant relationships of my life.  However, as the mother of a young child with many friends in the same position, I have far less time for my friends. It is not that those relationships don’t matter to me. They matter perhaps now more than ever.

When I was eleven years old and depressed about my parents divorce, my best friend helped me emerge from that sadness. I’m still grateful to that friend for what she did for me, providing wisdom and guidance that was well beyond her years. Since then, friends have always been there for me through life’s challenges.

I hope I’ve been there for them, too. As much as my friends and I comfort each other, we also celebrate the happy, sweet moments—isn’t sharing in each other’s joy one of the many blessings of friendship?

Naturally, when people couple up and have kids, they have less time for friends. Yet, the parents of young children need camaraderie for enjoyment and support and healthy breaks away from family. Studies about this topic have shown that spending time with friends is an effective form of stress relief and that people with meaningful friendships even live longer.

Recently, I’ve made an extra effort to spend more time with friends–I guess I’ll call that my New Year’s resolution. I left these visits invigorated and grateful, and more aware than ever of the importance of friends in my life.

If you, like me, are longing to see more of your friends, here is my advice: Keep it simple. Don’t over-complicate it or that might just delay the reunion even longer. Pick up the phone or send an email and ask a friend to do something. Do it now, before another day goes by. You’ll be glad you did.

Erika Weisensee, a writer and native Oregonian, lives in Milwaukie and teaches journalism and communication courses at the University of Portland.

Question: I lay down at night to go to sleep and I can’t turn my mind off. It then takes me a long time to drift off and if I wake at night I struggle with going back to sleep. Why does this keep happening and what can I do to change it?

Answer: Many sleep problems are psychologically rooted. When the mind cannot be quieted, the body also has difficulty relaxing into a deep slumber. Before looking at the psychological reasons, we need to look at how to develop a sleep-inducing “bedtime” routine that adequately prepares your body for drifting off. So many of us “go, go, go” all day long, and then flop into bed, close our eyes, and expect to fall fast asleep. We are not physically or mentally designed that way. We need some transitional time and routines to prepare us for sleep.

As nighttime approaches, be aware of your activities. Wrap up the tasks that are taxing to you physically or mentally well before you are headed to bed. Avoid eating a huge meal too late, rather eat a dinner earlier and have a light snack before bed if needed. Drinking warm mild or decaffeinated tea can soothe your senses and warm your insides. Avoid alcohol; contrary to what some believe, it is not helpful to satisfying sleep. Certainly avoid caffeine in the evening hours. Exercising too closely to bedtime can rev you up too much, so make sure you do your exercise earlier in the day or afternoon.

Prepare your body by taking a warm bubble bath or hot shower. Let your fatigued muscles soak, close your eyes, and breathe in the scent of the bath. Dimming lights or lighting candles can be soothing to your tired eyes. Prepare your mind to quiet down by turning off the television, putting all “work” away, and reading something light that is enjoyable and simple. Some people find that praying or meditating can be relaxing as well. Put on cozy socks and jammies, and hunker down.

Doing this routine consistently is important. However, this may not be enough for some people. Are you anxious? Does your mind go over and over your worries or list of things to be done? Are you unsettled because of an unresolved issue or a conflicted relationship? A disruption in sleep can be a red flag to us that something within us needs to be resolved or attended to. The more we push it down or ignore it during the day, the more it rears its’ ugly head at night.

Keep a notepad and pen by your bed, and write down what pops in your head while you are trying to sleep that you don’t want to forget. Prior to bed, write down any issues or conflicts that you are perseverating on, fold them up, and place them in a shoe box. Then place the box on a shelf in your closet, and close the closet door. This is a symbolic way of “putting away” the issues, for the night, with the understanding that you will take a moment during waking hours to come back to those issues in the box. Nobody will come and take what is in the box; those things can wait for your attention until the next day when you are hopefully better rested and have had a mental and physical break. A break can allow us to gain a fresh perspective on the problem.

If sleep problems continue and interfere with your functioning, see a doctor. If anxiety and depression appear to be a root, seek counseling. As healing and solutions are uncovered, better sleep often will abound.

By,
Chantelle K. Dockter, MA Licensed Professional Counselor
Associate of CCCOW, cccow.org

First Lady Michelle Obama is right.  Our children are in trouble.  On February 9th, she launched her “Let’s Move” campaign to curb childhood obesity.  The sedentary lifestyles that affect adults also affect our children and for many of the same reasons—television, computers, video games and a growing assortment of other sit-down technologies—even backpacks won’t provide as much in the way of weight-bearing opportunities with the advent of Kindle!  Add to that the consumption of high calorie, low nutrient and constantly available fast foods and the energy equation is up-ended:  calories consumed far exceed calories expended.

“From 1980-2004, the prevalence of overweight and obesity in children has more than tripled.”1   We are seeing the onset of adult diseases in our youth, those diseases once thought of as diseases of aging:  type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease.  The two distinct types of diabetes were once referred to as juvenile onset and adult onset.  Juvenile diabetes is now called type 1 and adult onset is now called type 2 because our youth are now presenting with the adult onset version.  “There is now a generation of children who may not outlive their parents due to the diseases associated with obesity, unless we reverse this trend.”2

Exercise is the best medicine our children can take to help prevent the medicines that they may have to take later to treat obesity related diseases.  “Increased exercise improves cardiovascular health, and that helps the brain function more efficiently and enhances the ability to learn.”3   Exercise is also essential for developing strong bones.  “About 25% of peak bone mass (the genetically determined amount of bone mineral in the skeleton) is developed during puberty (ages 12-17).”4   This at a time when physical education and activity are often minimal or absent.  Children and adolescents should be physically active most days of the week for sixty minutes through physical education classes, running and jumping activities at recess, and by spending less time on video games and more time on physical games.

Presidents and first ladies are known for their causes.  In 1956, President Eisenhower formed the President’s Council on Youth Fitness with the objective that children should be healthy and active after he read a study that American youth were less fit than European children.  In 1963, President Kennedy changed the name to the President’s Council on Physical Fitness, a change that reflected the importance of physical fitness for all Americans.  I remember getting my 50-mile swimming award by swimming ¼ -mile per day and keeping track of it on a chart.  How about charting your child’s progress across a map of Oregon, the United States, or even a foreign country on foot or by bicycle?  What a great way to learn geography, too!

Our children are in trouble.  We as parents, teachers, school administrators, health and   fitness professionals, city, state and federal politicians, owe it to our children to encourage health and fitness.  It will serve them well for life.  The evolution of technology has led to the devolution of our health.  Yes, we need health care reform but we more urgently need lifestyle reform.  Obesity is a national epidemic in both children and adults. Can we reverse this trend?  We can but it will take a conscious effort to make wellness a national priority.

President Eisenhower began the President’s Council on Youth Fitness to encourage our children to be healthy and active.  First Lady, Michelle Obama, began the “Let’s Move” campaign to encourage our children to be active in order to be healthier.  It is up to each one of us to help make it our own priority, beginning at home, one step at a time. I heard a great line at the Men’s Biathalon on Sunday at the Olympics that inspired me.  They were in the last stretch of the cross-country skiing.  The target shooting was all behind them.  The announcer said of the lead skier:  “Now it’s all up to his legs, his lungs and his heart.” It’s the long run that counts.

Sources:
1 ,2 Childhood Obesity, ACSM Current Comment, Felicia D. Stoler, MS, RD,FACSM3
3    The Cooper Institute Announces FITNESSGRAM Correlation Data, 3/9/09
4     Women’s Health and Fitness Guide, Kettles, Cole, Wright, 2006

Yours in fitness,

Olivia C.  Rossi, RN, MSN
Certified Clinical Exercise Specialist, ACSM
Certified Personal Trainer, ACSM

In this study of 48 infants, phrases from an artificial language were repeatedly played to the 15-month-olds until they became familiar with them. Follow-up tests showed that infants who slept within four to eight hours after hearing the phrases showed evidence of abstract learning. This wasn’t the case for infants who didn’t have a nap within that timeframe.

“What we know is that infants have mostly REM sleep, given the type of sleep they have, given how their brains are developed at that point. And they have to get some of that sleep within a reasonable amount of time after inputting information in order to be able to do abstracting work on it. If they don’t sleep within four to eight hours, they probably just lose the entire thing,” lead researcher Lynn Nadel, a professor in the psychology department, said in a university news release.

The findings were presented Feb. 21 at the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting, in San Diego.

While it’s important to provide infants and young children with the kind of mental stimulation that comes from talking and reading to them, it’s also crucial to ensure this is done as part of a well-regulated daily cycle that includes adequate sleep, Nadel said.

More information

Zero to Three has more about brain development.

Canandian Olympic ice dancer Tanith Belbin purposely gained 10 pounds and is feeling great.  She didn’t win a medal, but she she feels like she is winning life.

Her coach suggested the weight change and iteh extra pounds had both physical and mential benefits.   Tanith said ““I thought I was out of control and that the weight gain must be my fault.  I was like, I’m eating nothing and I’m still not losing weight. I swear, I’m not eating anything and I’m exhausted and cranky and stressed and all of those things that make you gain weight even more.”
You read the story here.

And please pass it on to your daughters

It’s funny how when adults interact with babies, the first thing they want to do is to make them smile.  A laugh would be ideal!  Babies laughter is addictive, once they start giggling, we will do anything to re-create it.  It’s contagious too.  Often Lauren has started giggling and before I know it, mom, dad and baby are all in a giggling frenzy.  Sometimes when the three of us are playing, and my husband and I start to laugh the funniest thing happens, Lauren starts to giggle too. It’s as if she knows what we are laughing about!  Sometimes, she’ll throw in her two cents and contribute to the conversation adding, “ga-ga, ba-ba” and some other very important toddler things.  We respond with enthusiastic nods. 

When we’re not trying to get Lauren to giggle, she gives us a few things to giggle about.  On a recent trip to the grocery store, Lauren indicated that she wanted to examine the two avocados I had just picked out.  I decided that I didn’t really have a choice.  So I foolishly handed one to her.  She carefully studied it.  She called it, “baa” (or “ball” in Lauren’s lingo) and treated it accordingly by throwing it on the floor. I took a few photos to capture this moment. Seconds passed and it was then that I discovered what we had on our hands.  Literally. Also on our coat, shirt and pants.  There was avocado everywhere!  I had a smile on my face the whole way home.

I hope one evening, someday in the future, just as Lauren is getting ready to go to sleep she’ll say, “Mom, tell me a funny baby story.” I’ll look in her eyes and say, “I have just the perfect one.” I hope this story makes you smile too.

Domestic violence deaths continue in Oregon at an alarming rate. In December, Chiquita Rollins, the Multnomah County Domestic Violence Coordinator, wrote a message on her office’s website (www.multco.us/portal/site/dv/), reporting that within one month’s time Oregon had seventeen domestic violence related deaths.  The very latest domestic violence casualties happened in Gresham about a week ago. A sheriff’s sergeant shot and killed his estranged wife and her friend, and critically injured another woman, before turning the gun on himself. Tragedies like this cause many people to wonder, “What can I do about domestic violence?”

Here are some suggestions:

- If you know someone experiencing domestic violence, refer victims to the national confidential domestic violence hotline (1-800-799-SAFE). Also, you could help victims locate a service near them. For a list of Oregon domestic violence agencies, visit http://www.dhs.state.or.us/abuse/domestic/gethelp.htm. Be sure to caution victims about doing research from home computers or any devices (cell phones, etc.) that could be tracked by the abuser.

- Be supportive. When talking with victims of abuse, the Oregon Department of Human Services suggests saying three simple things: “You deserve to be safe. This is not your fault. There is help available.”

- Get involved with your local domestic violence program. Contact a program near you, find out about the work they are doing, and find out how you can help.

- Write to your Congressional representatives, asking for their support of domestic violence legislation. Earlier this month, the International Violence Against Women Act (I-VAWA) bill was introduced in the U.S. Senate and House with bi-partisan support. You can learn more about the bill at the websites of the Family Violence Prevention Fund (www.endabuse.org) or Amnesty International (www.amnesty.usa.org).

Erika Weisensee, a writer and native Oregonian, lives in Milwaukie and teaches journalism and communication courses at the University of Portland.

HealthDay News — Despite rising rates of obesity and diabetes, a new survey has found that a majority of Americans believe their health is just fine - it’s everyone else who has the problem.  More than 50 percent of respondents said that other people’s health “was going in the wrong direction.” In contrast, only 17 percent said their own health was going in the wrong direction. Commissioned by GE Healthcare, The Cleveland Clinic and Ochsner Health System, the survey looked at how Americans and their health-care professionals rate the country’s health. The findings, which were released Tuesday, show a big disconnect between how Americans rate their own personal health and how they rate the health of their fellow Americans. Furthermore, Americans seem to think they are in much better shape than their doctors believe they are.

“Either people are denying reality about themselves or they don’t have the correct knowledge and believe they are doing the right things,” said study author Dr. Michael Roizen, chairman of The Cleveland Clinic’s Wellness Institute. “Personally, I think there is a lot of misinformation [about healthy habits].”

On the other hand, Roizen added, many physicians may be overstating their concern about the health of the general population because they tend to see the sickest.

According to the study, which surveyed more than 2,000 people across the United States late last year:

* Nearly 30 percent of the respondents gave themselves an A for managing their personal health, while 92 percent of doctors gave them a C or lower.
* Nearly a third of the study respondents gave themselves an A for eating healthy. Once again, 92 percent of doctors gave them a C or lower.
* About a third gave themselves an A for getting regular exercise, while 91 percent of physicians gave them a C or lower.

One disconnect is that in a land where a majority of people are overweight or obese, people tend to compare themselves favorably with their more overweight neighbors, explained Eva To, a registered dietician in White Plains, N.Y.

“Everything is relative,” she said. “In America, everything is big. But if you put them in an Asian country, they will compare themselves to someone else.”

Another problem seems to be that many respondents didn’t know their basic health numbers - blood pressure, cholesterol, glucose level and other measures. Just 24 percent knew their body-mass index; 29 percent knew their blood glucose level; 33 percent knew their daily caloric intake; and only 36 percent knew their current cholesterol levels.

And yet a majority reported that keeping those numbers in a good range was key to good health. Ninety-five percent agreed that regular checkups with their physicians were important, even though 70 percent said they had taken actions to avoid their doctors, such as hoping their health problems would go away on their own or asking a friend for medical advice instead.

“It is important that patients communicate with their personal physicians to help manage their own health,” said Dr. Scott Hayworth, president and CEO of Mount Kisco Medical Group in New York. “With this comes an obligation to be aware of how well they are following guidelines for exercise, diet and weight management.”

It’s a task that may be easier said than done, according to To.

“Americans are just not into prevention,” she said. “If they are not sick, they think they are healthy. But most of the killers are silent diseases, such as diabetes, high blood pressure and hardening of the arteries. We don’t feel it, but they are killers all the same.”

People also tend to rationalize their bad behavior by believing that the good things they do cancel out the negative. An extra slice of pizza, for example, may be justified as OK after a workout.

“People may say they eat salad for lunch, but what about the salad dressing?” said To. “They look at one element and not look at the whole picture.”

Over 60% of Oregon women who took our online survey said they do not approve of airport full-body imaging scanners.  Travelers through Oregon’s largest airport, Portland, may have no choice as a new scanner si expected to arrive sometime this year.   After the Christmas Day bomber, new efforts to install as many scanners in as many airports as possible.

Below are some of the comments:

- I’m not sure that all of the TSA folks are as upstanding as we would wish.
- Keeping people safe is more important than inconveniences.
- I’m strongly opposed to full-body scanners. It’s wrong, and under American Constitutional law, I think it is an “unreasonable search.”
- Disapprove for everyone, Use profiling and approve for those, let’s use interogation, tougher immigration laws, more covert anti-terroism tactics, more profiling and quit treating evryone the same.
- Will they be able to find cancer with it too? I think they should also get a cancer sniffing dog, and tag team people. Early detection is key.
- Not on everyone!
- It seems like it would take forever to get on a plane
- As long as they are not afraid to profile those to be scanned as I’m assuming they’ll not be scanning everyone.

HealthDay News — Breast cancer rates are declining, especially among women over 50 who have estrogen receptor-positive tumors, and now a new study narrows down the reason why. After analyzing data on more than 350,000 women with breast cancer, Harvard researchers concluded that the decline may be linked with decreasing use of hormone replacement therapy — and that association, in turn, may explain why the decline is especially evident among white, affluent women.

Those are the very women most likely to have used hormone replacement therapy, experts said, and to have stopped using it following the July 2002 release of the results of the Women’s Health Initiative, a large national study that discovered an increased risk of breast cancer and heart disease with hormone replacement therapy.

The new study lends credence to the speculation about what’s behind the decline. “Our study provides evidence to support the idea that the observed declines are due to the changing use of hormone therapy, by showing that the declines in breast cancer rates were sharpest among those women most likely to have received hormone therapy — that is, affluent white women,” said study co-author Jarvis Chen, a research scientist at the Harvard School of Public Health.

The new study was released online Feb. 10 and will be published in the April supplement of the American Journal of Public Health.

“We further showed that declines in breast cancer rates vary within racial/ethnic groups by socioeconomic position, and that the declines primarily affect rates of estrogen receptor-positive cancers,” Chen said.

Lead study author Nancy Krieger, a professor in the department of society, human development and health at the Harvard School of Public Health, and her colleagues analyzed breast cancer data from the U.S. Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Result (SEER) database, stratified by race/ethnicity, county income level, age and estrogen receptor status of the tumor. The women had been diagnosed between 1992 and 2005.

The SEER database does not include individual socioeconomic information, Chen said. “To overcome this, we analyzed breast cancer rates in relation to the socioeconomic characteristics of the counties where the women lived,” she explained.

“The recent decline in U.S. breast cancer incidence was not equally beneficial to all women, but instead mirrored the social patterning of hormone therapy use,” the researchers concluded.

The silver lining? The fact that minorities and low-income women used hormone therapy less — because of expense and less access to health care — may have spared them from increases in breast cancer diagnoses, Chen said.

The new findings come as no surprise to Susan Brown, director of health education for Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

“We know there are ethnic differences in breast cancer incidence,” she said. “African-American women are more likely to get breast cancer at an earlier age, and they are more likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer tumors that have molecular markers associated with a poorer prognosis.”

ER-negative tumors, she said, are also more common in black women, and experts would not expect the rates of those tumors to be affected by discontinuing HRT use.

Brown brings up another factor that could be contributing to the trend: the declining rate of mammography screening. “We are hoping we aren’t seeing a decline in incidence due to mammography screening rates being down,” she said.

Recently, singer Adam Lambert was interrupted by a cell-phone call int he audience.  Teh video shows Adma mocking the woman kindly from the stage.  My response is bring it on!  Cell-phone calls interupt teh program for the whole audience.  People should be fined for causing problems for an event that others pay for.  Let us make it an even $100.00.

Another video, shown below, shows even the White House Press Conference being razzled by cell-phoen users.

Enough is enough!