Health Concerns

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is warning not to give over-the-counter cold and cough medicines to children 2 years of age or under without consulting with one's doctor.

This warning is the result of research that was conducted in response to the deaths of three infants in 2005; all of them were found to have dangerous levels of pseudoephedrine, a nasal decongestant, in their systems. Read more

I recently heard about a program on the Animal Planet channel that featured the 50 most amazing facts about animals that few people know about.

I thought that some of our readers would find some of the facts that I learned from this program to be as fascinating as I do. What follows is a summary of the facts that surprised me the most. Read more

During the second half of my wife's first pregnancy, our mothers and aunts told us that we were definitely going to have a baby boy.

How did they know with such certainty?

Because Margaret gained the bulk of her pregnancy weight at the front of her abdomen.

According to widely accepted folklore, if weight gain during pregnancy occurs mainly at the front of the abdomen, one can expect a baby boy. If weight gain occurs more evenly throughout a woman's body and face, it's most likely a girl. Read more

A study published in a recent edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association indicates that taking heartburn drugs like Nexium, Prilosec, or Prevacid for one year or longer can significantly increase the risk of experiencing a hip fracture in people over 50 years of age.

According to IMS Health, a corporation that tracks drug sales all over the world, Nexium is one of the most popular drugs in the world, second only to the cholesterol drug Lipitor. Sales of Nexium totaled $4.6 billion in 2005. Read more