Keeping Little Ones Safe
You hold your seven pound miracle for the first time and fall completely in love. You bring that bundle home determined to shield her from all that might harm her. At some point you give your bundle of joy her first official at home bath. You may even commemorate the occasion on video. You reach for the bottle of shampoo to lather those downy locks and then massage in a liberal amount of lotion on her skin. It is what nuturing parents do. Now there is a study that suggests what was a bonding moment might really be unintentionally causing harm.
The University of Washington study found that baby lotions, shampoos and powders are strongly associated with higher levels of chemical compounds, known as phthalates in the urine of babies. These phthalates are involved in the fragrances one associates with products. Since companies are not required to list components of fragrances the consumer does not have a way of knowing the amount of phthalates we are putting on our children. The reality is newborns do not need to bathe everyday. Nor do they need bubbles in their bath, plain water will work just fine. It is not like they are going to find the nearest mud hole and take a dip.
Limiting the number of fragrant products used on your little one is not that big a sacrifice, after all wouldn’t you do anything to keep them safe? You can always put the savings in unpurchased products into the little darling’s college fund until the experts sort this out.
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With Americans getting larger each year one would think the idea of making it convenient for folks to find out the number of calories a dish a restuarant offers would be a no-brainer. After all, if the idea is for customers to keep coming back so they need stay health and well… alive. Ideally when on some cold afternoon a customer heads over to Starbucks for that grande-size white hot chocolate with whole milk and a dollop of whipped cream, he or she will know it uses up 520 calories (granted it is some of the best tasting calories) of their daily allotment. Would knowing the calorie amount stop me from getting the white hot chocolate once I was in the Starbucks? Probably not, but what it would do was cause me to look at other areas in my day where I can make room for the hot chocolate. 
Screening Test for Flu and Other Viruses
With so many drugs being found inappropriate for children 2-11 years old, on study took a look at the effectiveness of a salt-water wash in helping cure colds. The study by researchers in the Czech Republic for that 6-10 year olds in the test group had “noses that were less stuffy and runny the second time they were checked, the study said. And eight weeks after the study began, those in the saline group had significantly fewer severe sore throats, coughs, nasal obstructions and secretions than those given standard treatments.” Also in the kids in the saline group “had to use fever-reducing drugs, nasal decongestants and mucus-dissolving medications or antibiotics, the researchers said. In addition children who used the salt spray were sick less often and missed fewer school days.”
A study on the relationship between caffeine and miscarriage suggests women who ingest 200 milligrams (about a 10 ounce cup of coffee or 25 ounces of tea) or more of caffeine a day may double there chances of miscarriage. The study appeared in Monday’s American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology.