You may remember recent news regarding the chemicals within plastic water bottles.  One in particular that was associated with hard water bottles was bisphenol A or BPA.  There was especially a concern in the use of these types of bottles by pregnant women and children.  If you look in stores you’ll see water bottles and baby bottles with “BPA Free” printed on the sides.  Now researchers are looking into the effects on children whose mothers drank from BPA bottles while they were pregnant.  It turns out that their children, particularly the girls tend to be more aggressive and hyperactive. Then again, my wife didn’t drink from BPA bottles when she was pregnant and our daughter is pretty active so far.  Of course, she’s also related to me.

Posted: October 6th, 2009 under Health News, Show Notes.
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Johnson & Johnson™ has issued a recall on a variety of Infant and Children’s liquid Tylenol products.  Apparently, there is a risk of bacterial contamination in many of them.  The bacteria was discovered in product that was unused, but the company wants to play it safe.

All the affected bottles have been pulled from shelves by stores, but some you’ve purchased previously (manufactured between April and June) could be affected.  To find out if you are, you’ll need to locate the lot number on the bottom of the product’s box and on the sticker that surrounds the product’s bottle.  Then check that number against the list posted here at Tylenol’s website.

Posted: September 25th, 2009 under Health News, Recalls, Show Notes.
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Imagine living in a country where a mosquito bite might not just cause itching but give you a dangerous disease.  Unfortunately, you don’t have to imagine anymore as that could be a possibility in Black Hawk County.  Some chickens were discovered to have West Nile disease and encephalitis and that could mean that mosquitoes are carrying it around right now.  You’ll want to do what you can to protect yourself and your family.  Here are a couple of things that public health officials suggest, courtesy of the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier:

•Use insect repellent with DEET, picaridin or oil of lemon eucalyptus.

•Avoid outdoor activities at dusk and dawn when mosquitoes are most active.

•Wear long-sleeved shirts, pants, shoes and socks whenever possible.

•Eliminate standing water around the home, which is a common mosquito breeding ground.

Posted: August 26th, 2009 under Health News, Local News, Show Notes.
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There’s some recent health news that may apply to your kids.  The latest research shows that millions of children do not have enough Vitamin D in their systems. There are a few different ways to intake Vitamin D, but the most common is sunlight.  Certain foods, including milk, also contain Vitamin D.  Some researchers blame TV and video games for the decrease in Vitamin D in our kids, but I think we should take the blame.  We just haven’t kicked them out of the house during the summer often enough and taught them the outdoor games we loved growing up.  Which brings up a good question: what were some of your favorite ways to get some Vitamin D (outdoor games) when you were growing up?

Posted: August 3rd, 2009 under Health News, Show Notes.
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Growing up, I used to give my Dad a hard time for eating a bowl cereal as a late night snack.  “You’re supposed to eat cereal in the morning Dad!” I used to say.  But it turns out that my Dad was just ahead of the curve.  It turns out that some foods that you eat can make you hungrier later on, and cereal is one example. When you have eggs for breakfast, you end up less hungry later in the day then if you had a bowl of cereal.  The same thing can happen from artificial sweeteners and fruit juices.  I guess what this means if that if you’re trying to watch what you eat, you now have to do a better job of watching what you eat.  Yeah, that’s not confusing at all.

Posted: July 2nd, 2009 under Crazy Stuff, Health News, Show Notes.
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