Many skin cancer screenings are held during May, which is Melanoma/Skin Cancer Detection and Prevention month. To find a free skin cancer screening in your area, you can click on the link below. You should note that skin cancer screenings tend to be rapid and are not a substitute for a full skin examination by your own dermatologist or physician.

This makes May a good time to spread the word that, despite the persistent myth, healthy UVB exposure is not the cause of melanoma. This is why an epidemic of melanoma has broken out among indoor workers. In fact, indoor workers get three to nine times LESS solar UV exposure than outdoor workers get, yet only indoor workers have increasing rates of melanoma -- and the rates have been increasing since before 1940.

In fact, UVB light, which causes your skin to produce vitamin D, is protective against cancer.

The number of food-borne illnesses in the United States has for the most part remained stagnant over the past three years, but in some cases it has been on the upswing. This gives new urgency to efforts to reform the nation's food safety system, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

"We need greater effort at all stages of movement of food in the food chain from farm to table," said Robert Tauxe, deputy director of the CDC's Division of Food-borne, Bacterial and Mycotic Diseases.

Preliminary 2008 data show that infection rates for five food-borne illnesses exceeded national goals set by the CDC. In the case of salmonella, the national goal in 2008 was seven illnesses for every 100,000 people, but the actual number was 16 -- more than twice as much. The data did not even include the ongoing national outbreak of salmonella illness linked to peanut products that began in late 2008.

From 2001 to 2004, Washington, D.C. experienced what may have been the worst lead contamination of city water on record. Tens of thousands of homes had leaded water coming out of their taps -- in the worst cases, the tap water contained enough lead to be classified as hazardous waste.

But a 2004 CDC report claimed to find that the water contamination "might have contributed a small increase in blood lead levels." The study has been influential. Officials in New York and Seattle have used the CDC report as justification for not aggressively responding to high levels of lead in their water, and other cities have cited the report to dispel concerns about lead in tap water.

But the results of thousands of blood tests that measured lead contamination in children were missing from the report. What’s more, the CDC discovered in 2007 that many young children living in D.C. homes with lead pipes were poisoned by drinking water and suffered ill effects, such as speech and balance problems, difficulty with learning, and hyperactivity. Yet the health agency did not publicize the new findings or alert public health authorities.

CDC scientists and press representatives did not respond to requests for an explanation about why the results were not widely publicized.

If you want to know what a goal is, it can be defined in just 5 words:  “A dream with a deadline.” Goal setting is the single most important life skill that over 97 percent of people never learn how to do properly.

In Brian Tracy’s book Goals -- How to Get Everything You Want Faster Than You Ever Thought Possible, he claims that “Less than 3 percent of adults have clear written goals with plans on how to achieve them.” The key word is written. Those who earn most of the money, who are the best athletes and who are the top producers in any type of business have written goals.

Go to Google and you’ll find hundreds of resources on the goal-setting and goal-achievement.  Here are 3 that come highly recommended:

1) Book: Double Your Income Doing What You Love by Raymond Aaron

2) Pictures: Goals achievement images on Google

3)  Website: Setting Goals 101 has lots of free resources

If you’ve read this far and you still are resisting writing down your goals or “dreams with deadlines,” then think about making your 101 Goals List. Jack Canfield writes about this on page 56 of The Success Principles. 

What To Do Now: Click here to get the 101 Goals Generator which helps your mind start thinking of twelve different categories goal-setting and goal-achievement to focus on.

Categories include:  Places to Visit, Skills to Learn, Things to Own, Financial Milestones and Risks to Take, just to name a few.  What’s most important is not to list your 101 as fast as possible, but to get started as fast as possible.

British babies could be routinely vaccinated against Hepatitis B, a move that could anger parents concerned about the side-effects of the injections.

Government health experts are considering whether to add the vaccine to the immunizations already given to children at eight weeks. This would create a six-in-one vaccine designed to immunize against diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, polio and Hib disease.

But the move will likely cause corned among parents already worried that children are given too many vaccines, many of which have been linked to potentially harmful side-effects. Children in the UK are already given 32 vaccines before they even reach school age. The addition of the Hepatitis B immunization would bring the total of vaccines to 33.

A study has found those vaccinated against Hepatitis B are at increased risk of multiple sclerosis.

When Dr. Bruce Psaty published an article the use of beta-blockers to treat high blood pressure, he and his family were invited to a first-class resort, where he presented the results at a sponsored conference. He agreed to help develop a set of slides on beta-blockers, and soon found himself suggesting that the drug company's studies be featured, in part because he felt "a kind of social duty to reciprocate both the kindness and the investment made by the sponsor in the slide set."

Psaty’s story illustrates the problem of conflicts of interest in the medical world. Subtle conflicts of interest often color decision making, even though most people -- especially doctors -- think they are immune.

Several states including Massachusetts, Minnesota and Vermont are tightening restrictions on gifts to doctors in the hopes of preventing such conflicts. But while such laws may curb some financial conflicts, a bigger challenge will be addressing the influence drugmakers have over company-funded research geared towards supporting the safety and effectiveness of the drugs they make.

According to a poll, most patients never talk about price when getting a drug prescription from their doctor. This means that very few confront the actual price of their drugs before it's time to pay at the pharmacy.

Consumers Union is urging doctors and patients to factor in the price of drugs when deciding on treatments. The group notes that generics are in many cases just as effective and safe, for the fraction of the price.

The poll of roughly 2,000 adults showed that just 4 percent discussed price when getting a drug prescription from their doctor.

Folks, that’s a whopping 96 percent of prescription recipients who have not discussed the cost of the prescribed drug with their doctor. It’s rare to find a health market statistic so overwhelmingly one-sided.

An article by J.B. Williams in the Canadian Free Press paints a stark portrait of the actions of the current U.S. government -- actions that have been met with silence by the bulk of the U.S. populace.

According to Williams, “After trillions in taxpayer debt has been foolishly poured into the bottomless black hole ... Geithner asks Congress for even broader power to seize private firms as the average American stumbles through their daily routine as if nothing is happening.”

He notes that the new administration has taken the nation from a trillion in debt to over $4 trillion in debt in the first sixty days, with even more federal spending promised.

“I don’t know what it will take to wake up the average American,” writes Williams, “but whatever it is, it hasn’t happened yet.”

Patrick Ritchie is the author of The Credit Road Map, an in-depth look into how the credit world works. In the interview linked below, he discusses credit ratings, identity theft, and productivity.

According to Ritchie, the main reasons to have a good credit rating are to borrow money or to seek employment. Employers, more and more, are looking at credit reports as a judge of character in the hiring process. In a tight job market, it literally can pay to have a better credit report than the next applicant.

To improve your credit, the single most important aspect is to understand what is going on in the credit report. There are five factors that go into calculating your credit score:

1. Payment History: 35 percent
2. Balances 30 percent
3. Inquiries and New Debt: 10 percent
4. Types of Credit: 10 percent
5. Length of History: 15 percent

With these set of factors the ideal account would be a major credit card (Types of Credit) always paid on-time (Payment), with a balance under 50 percent of the available limit (Balances) that you’ve had open for over seven years (Length of History).

For more insights, a giant helping of useful advice, you can click on the link below.

For some allergy sufferers, the neti pot, a nasal irrigator that resembles a small teapot, has become an alternative remedy. Several recent studies have found that nasal irrigation can reduce symptoms of allergies and other nasal problems.

One benefit is that irrigation can clear nasal passages without dryness or “rebound” congestion, which occurs when overuse of decongestants leads to dependence and irritated tissue.

In one study, researchers examined a group of children with severe allergies. They found that regular nasal irrigation with a mild saline solution significantly eased symptoms and helped reduce the need for steroid nasal sprays. Another study looked at adults with chronic nasal and sinus problems. Over two months, the scientists found that those treated with nasal irrigation reported greater improvements than those treated with a spray.

Failure to control type 2 diabetes may have a long-term impact on your brain.

Severe hypoglycemic episodes occur when blood sugar levels drop dangerously low. A research team found that they may lead to poorer memory and diminished brain power.

More than 1,000 volunteers with type 2 diabetes completed seven tests assessing mental abilities such as memory, logic and concentration. The 113 people who had previously experienced severe hypoglycemic episodes scored lower than the rest of the group.

They performed poorly in tests of their general mental ability and vocabulary.

People who take aspirin, or similar medications that prevent blood clotting by inhibiting the accumulation of platelets, appear more likely to have tiny, asymptomatic areas of bleeding in the brain.

These cerebral microbleeds can be a sign of cerebral small-vessel disease. This condition occurs when the walls of blood vessels in the brain become weakened. When microbleeds occur in certain brain areas, they can indicate a type of small vessel disease known as cerebral amyloid angiopathy, in which the accumulation of amyloid -- a protein often associated with Alzheimer's disease -- causes degeneration of smooth muscle cells and increases the susceptibility of blood vessels to ruptures and hemorrhages.

Scientists investigated the relationship between cerebral microbleeds and the use of anti-clotting medications in more than 1,000 individuals. Participants underwent magnetic resonance imaging examinations, and pharmacy records were used to assess whether any of the individuals took anti-clotting drugs. Those who took aspirin or carbasalate calcium were more likely to have cerebral microbleeds visible on MRI.

The new science of epigenetics explains how genes can be modified by the environment. A prime result of epigenetic inquiry has just been revealed -- a research report shows that rat fetuses receiving poor nutrition in the womb become genetically primed to be born into a nutrition-poor environment.

As a result of this genetic adaptation, the rats were likely to grow to smaller sizes, and they were also at higher risk for a host of health problems throughout their lives, such as diabetes, growth retardation, cardiovascular disease, obesity, and neurodevelopmental delays.

Although the study involved rats, the genes and cellular mechanisms involved are the same as those in humans.

Scientists have shown scratching helps relieve an itch by blocking activity in spinal cord nerve cells that transmit the sensation to the brain. However, the effect only seems to occur when an itch is actually present -- scratching at other times makes no difference.

A new study on primates shows that scratching the skin blocks activity of nerve cells in the spinothalamic tract during itchiness, preventing the spinal cord from transmitting signals from the scratched area of skin to the brain.

This information could eventually lead to ways to relieve chronic itch effectively for the first time. However, more information is likely still needed about the chemistry underpinning the effect.

An inflammatory factor already linked to several diseases, including pulmonary disease, lung cancer, and arthritis, may also be responsible for the insulin resistance that comes with obesity, according to a new study.

Researchers have found that the inflammatory chemokine known as CXCL5 rises and falls along with obesity and weight loss in humans. They also found evidence tying the inflammatory factor, which is secreted at high levels by fat tissue, to insulin resistance in mice.

Treatments designed to block CXCL5 were found to improve the animals' sensitivity to insulin.

CXCR5 affect a variety of cells including muscle cells, cells that line blood vessel walls and cells in the lung and intestine. This means that increased CXCL5 circulating levels, as observed in obesity, could also lead to other problems such as atherosclerosis and other inflammatory diseases.

A piece in the New England Journal of Medicine by Kelly Brownell, director of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, and Thomas Frieden, the health commissioner for the city of New York, support the concept of a penny-per-ounce excise tax on sugar-sweetened soft drinks.

They argue that such a tax could cut of these beverages consumption by 10 percent. The proceeds, the article says, could be used to promote or even subsidize more healthful foods whose boosters lack the marketing resources of Coca-Cola and Pepsi.

According to the authors, "a sales tax on sugared drinks would generate considerable revenue, and as with the tax on tobacco, it could become a key tool in efforts to improve health."

The average American consumes 400 calories a day from beverages, and evidence suggests that your body doesn't compensate for liquid calories by consuming fewer calories later, as it does with calories in solid form.

From the award-winning documentary, "Playing For Change: Peace Through Music," comes the first of many "songs around the world" being released independently. This amazing version of “Stand by Me” brought a smile to our faces, and we hope it will do the same for you.

Use our Email to a Friend feature (in the upper right corner of this page) to email this "smile-a-gram" to all of your friends and loved ones who appreciate creative arts and especially music!

Steps have been taken to start legal action against the Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA) and the Lorain County Health Department for violating the constitutional rights of John and Jacqueline Stowers of LaGrange, Ohio.

The Stowers operate an organic food cooperative called Manna Storehouse. ODA and Lorain County Health Department agents forcefully raided their home and seized the family's personal food supply, cell phones and personal computers.

On the morning of December 1, 2008, law enforcement officers forcefully entered the Stowers' residence without first announcing they were police or stating the purpose of the visit. With guns drawn, they swiftly and immediately moved to the upstairs of the home, where ten children were in the middle of a home-schooling lesson. Officers then moved Jacqueline Stowers and her children to their living room, where they were held for more than six hours.

There has never been a complaint filed against Manna Storehouse or the Stowers related to the quality or healthfulness of the food distributed through the co-op.

Supplements of the Lactobacillus casei strain Shirota may ease symptoms of anxiety in people with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), according to new research.

Two months of supplementation with the bacterial strain was associated with a decrease in anxiety symptoms. The research is still preliminary, and raises many questions regarding the mechanism of action.

Researchers recruited 39 CFS patients and randomly assigned them to receive daily supplements of either Lactobacillus casei strain Shirota (24 billion colony forming units) or a placebo for two months. At the end of the study, a significant reduction in the symptoms of anxiety was recorded in the Lactobacillus group.

Many skin cancer screenings are held during May, which is Melanoma/Skin Cancer Detection and Prevention month. To find a free skin cancer screening in your area, you can click on the link below. You should note that skin cancer screenings tend to be rapid and are not a substitute for a full skin examination by your own dermatologist or physician.

This makes May a good time to spread the word that, despite the persistent myth, healthy UVB exposure is not the cause of melanoma. This is why an epidemic of melanoma has broken out among indoor workers. In fact, indoor workers get three to nine times LESS solar UV exposure than outdoor workers get, yet only indoor workers have increasing rates of melanoma -- and the rates have been increasing since before 1940.

In fact, UVB light, which causes your skin to produce vitamin D, is protective against cancer.

The number of food-borne illnesses in the United States has for the most part remained stagnant over the past three years, but in some cases it has been on the upswing. This gives new urgency to efforts to reform the nation's food safety system, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

"We need greater effort at all stages of movement of food in the food chain from farm to table," said Robert Tauxe, deputy director of the CDC's Division of Food-borne, Bacterial and Mycotic Diseases.

Preliminary 2008 data show that infection rates for five food-borne illnesses exceeded national goals set by the CDC. In the case of salmonella, the national goal in 2008 was seven illnesses for every 100,000 people, but the actual number was 16 -- more than twice as much. The data did not even include the ongoing national outbreak of salmonella illness linked to peanut products that began in late 2008.

From 2001 to 2004, Washington, D.C. experienced what may have been the worst lead contamination of city water on record. Tens of thousands of homes had leaded water coming out of their taps -- in the worst cases, the tap water contained enough lead to be classified as hazardous waste.

But a 2004 CDC report claimed to find that the water contamination "might have contributed a small increase in blood lead levels." The study has been influential. Officials in New York and Seattle have used the CDC report as justification for not aggressively responding to high levels of lead in their water, and other cities have cited the report to dispel concerns about lead in tap water.

But the results of thousands of blood tests that measured lead contamination in children were missing from the report. What’s more, the CDC discovered in 2007 that many young children living in D.C. homes with lead pipes were poisoned by drinking water and suffered ill effects, such as speech and balance problems, difficulty with learning, and hyperactivity. Yet the health agency did not publicize the new findings or alert public health authorities.

CDC scientists and press representatives did not respond to requests for an explanation about why the results were not widely publicized.

If you want to know what a goal is, it can be defined in just 5 words:  “A dream with a deadline.” Goal setting is the single most important life skill that over 97 percent of people never learn how to do properly.

In Brian Tracy’s book Goals -- How to Get Everything You Want Faster Than You Ever Thought Possible, he claims that “Less than 3 percent of adults have clear written goals with plans on how to achieve them.” The key word is written. Those who earn most of the money, who are the best athletes and who are the top producers in any type of business have written goals.

Go to Google and you’ll find hundreds of resources on the goal-setting and goal-achievement.  Here are 3 that come highly recommended:

1) Book: Double Your Income Doing What You Love by Raymond Aaron

2) Pictures: Goals achievement images on Google

3)  Website: Setting Goals 101 has lots of free resources

If you’ve read this far and you still are resisting writing down your goals or “dreams with deadlines,” then think about making your 101 Goals List. Jack Canfield writes about this on page 56 of The Success Principles. 

What To Do Now: Click here to get the 101 Goals Generator which helps your mind start thinking of twelve different categories goal-setting and goal-achievement to focus on.

Categories include:  Places to Visit, Skills to Learn, Things to Own, Financial Milestones and Risks to Take, just to name a few.  What’s most important is not to list your 101 as fast as possible, but to get started as fast as possible.

British babies could be routinely vaccinated against Hepatitis B, a move that could anger parents concerned about the side-effects of the injections.

Government health experts are considering whether to add the vaccine to the immunizations already given to children at eight weeks. This would create a six-in-one vaccine designed to immunize against diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, polio and Hib disease.

But the move will likely cause corned among parents already worried that children are given too many vaccines, many of which have been linked to potentially harmful side-effects. Children in the UK are already given 32 vaccines before they even reach school age. The addition of the Hepatitis B immunization would bring the total of vaccines to 33.

A study has found those vaccinated against Hepatitis B are at increased risk of multiple sclerosis.

When Dr. Bruce Psaty published an article the use of beta-blockers to treat high blood pressure, he and his family were invited to a first-class resort, where he presented the results at a sponsored conference. He agreed to help develop a set of slides on beta-blockers, and soon found himself suggesting that the drug company's studies be featured, in part because he felt "a kind of social duty to reciprocate both the kindness and the investment made by the sponsor in the slide set."

Psaty’s story illustrates the problem of conflicts of interest in the medical world. Subtle conflicts of interest often color decision making, even though most people -- especially doctors -- think they are immune.

Several states including Massachusetts, Minnesota and Vermont are tightening restrictions on gifts to doctors in the hopes of preventing such conflicts. But while such laws may curb some financial conflicts, a bigger challenge will be addressing the influence drugmakers have over company-funded research geared towards supporting the safety and effectiveness of the drugs they make.

According to a poll, most patients never talk about price when getting a drug prescription from their doctor. This means that very few confront the actual price of their drugs before it's time to pay at the pharmacy.

Consumers Union is urging doctors and patients to factor in the price of drugs when deciding on treatments. The group notes that generics are in many cases just as effective and safe, for the fraction of the price.

The poll of roughly 2,000 adults showed that just 4 percent discussed price when getting a drug prescription from their doctor.

Folks, that’s a whopping 96 percent of prescription recipients who have not discussed the cost of the prescribed drug with their doctor. It’s rare to find a health market statistic so overwhelmingly one-sided.