After Infant Gripe Water Recall Scare, Homeopathic Medicine Offers Safe Alternative

LONG BEACH, Calif., Sept. 29, 2007 -- TJ Enterprises, LLC announced that its product, ColicCalm Homeopathic Medicine, offers a safe alternative in the treatment of baby digestive discomfort including gas, colic and acid reflux. This comes after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) confirmed through laboratory analysis that unopened retail samples of a non-homeopathic gripe water, Apple Flavored Baby's Bliss, were contaminated with Cryptosporidium, a parasite that can cause intestinal infections. Testing was conducted after investigating a confirmed illness in a 6-week-old infant who had ingested the product. The infection could be serious or life-threatening, especially for infants with weakened immune systems.

The recent recall of Baby's Bliss Apple Flavored Gripe Water due to contamination has many parents rightfully concerned about the safety of dietary supplement gripe waters. ColicCalm and all other homeopathic medicines must meet strict FDA guidelines and standards for efficacy, quality, purity and labeling. Homeopathic medicines are manufactured in accordance with the HPUS (Homeopathic Pharmacopeia of the United States) and are safe. ColicCalm is manufactured in an FDA-registered facility in the United States. The individual ingredients used in ColicCalm are listed in the HPUS and follow all applicable drug GMPs (Good Manufacturing Practices).

"I know that that TJ Enterprises, LLC goes to great lengths to provide the best and safest remedy on the market. This is very reassuring to me as a new mom. I don't mind spending a few extra dollars to ensure my son's health and wellbeing. After the recent dietary supplement gripe water recall, I am even more grateful that I did my homework in comparing options. I would never take any risks with my baby," says customer Christina Van Vooren.

ColicCalm has been primarily available nationwide via the Internet, though retail locations are multiplying in response to parents' demands for readily available, safe alternatives. "We want parents to know that they are not without recourse in helping their suffering infants. ColicCalm offers a tried and true, safe remedy. Our product combines the highest-quality natural ingredients, following the strictest standards for preparation. We spare no expense in providing the absolute best for infants. Parents appreciate that now more than ever," says product developer and company CEO, Jacqueline Lawrence. (ERN)

A complete description of causes and treatment for infant colic and gas, as well as more about homeopathic medicine, can be found on the web at: http://www.coliccalm.com

If You want to quit Smoking?

Help is Available for Smokers Who Want to Quit as Minnesota's Smoke-Free Law Takes Effect Oct. 1


Statement from Mark W. Banks, M.D., CEO of Blue Cross

EAGAN, Minn., Sept. 29 - "As the state implements the new
smoke-free law on October 1, Minnesotans should know FREE support is
available for anyone who wants to quit smoking and that Blue Cross and Blue
Shield of Minnesota stands ready to help its members with the BluePrint for
Health(R) stop-smoking program," said Mark W. Banks, M.D., CEO of Blue
Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota (Blue Cross).
"Historically, when other states have gone smoke-free, requests for
help to quit smoking have increased. We expect the same thing to happen
here in Minnesota. Quitting is hard, but with medication and phone
coaching, a smoker's odds of quitting can be greatly improved."
Since the BluePrint for Health(R) program's inception in May of 2000,
Blue Cross has enrolled nearly 35,000 members with an average quit rate of
29 percent. Nationally, only around 5 percent of smokers are successful in
their quit attempts.
"The negative health effects of secondhand smoke are staggering," Banks
continued. "More than $215 million is spent each year in Minnesota to treat
health conditions caused by exposure to secondhand smoke and another 580
deaths are caused by secondhand smoke exposure. Knowing what's at risk,
we're pleased that Minnesota has become the 20th state to protect all
workers from the harms of secondhand smoke," Banks concluded.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, with headquarters in the St.
Paul suburb of Eagan, was chartered in 1933 as Minnesota's first health
plan and continues to carry out its charter mission today: to promote a
wider, more economical and timely availability of health services for the
people of Minnesota. A nonprofit, taxable organization, Blue Cross is the
largest health plan based in Minnesota, covering 2.9 million members in
Minnesota and nationally through its health plans or plans administered by
its affiliated companies. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota is an
independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association,
headquartered in Chicago. Go to http://www.bluecrossmn.com to learn more
about Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota. (PRN)

Golden Corral's Good Health Recipe for the Flu Season

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Sept. 29 - Golden Corral restaurants are serving up flu shots for a third year in a row to Jacksonville seniors, aged 65 and older. Six area restaurants, in partnership with five community and health care organizations, are offering a cast iron recipe for good health: getting the flu shot, not the flu.
According to Dr. Terry D. Hashey, medical director of First Coast
Family Medicine and clinical spokesperson for Jacksonville's third annual
Golden Corral Flu Campaign, "Influenza kills an average of 36,000 people
each year and hospitalizes more than 200,000. You don't need to be one of
them." In addition to a flu shot, seniors will receive a gift bag filled
with health care information, a variety of goodies, Golden Bucks and
Buy-One, Get-One-Free "Early Bird" coupons.
"Flu shots are safe and cannot cause the flu," says Dr. Hashey. "A
simple preventive measure like getting a flu shot can save your life."
Nurses from the Duval County Health Department and Maxim Health will
administer flu shots while supplies last. Partners from FMQAI, Florida's
Medicare Quality Improvement Organization, and the Department of Elder
Affairs will be on hand to assist and provide health care educational
materials at the following Golden Corral Restaurants:
Monday, October 22: 7043 Normandy Boulevard, 32205 9:00 am - 1:00 pm
Tuesday, October 23: 9070 Merrill Road, 32225 9:00 am - 1:00 pm
Wednesday, October 24: 4250 Southside Boulevard, 32216 9:00 am - 1:00 pm
Wednesday, October 24: 582 Blanding Blvd, Orange Park 9:00 am - 1:00 pm
Thursday, October 25: 14035 Beach Boulevard, 32250 9:00 am - 1:00 pm
Friday, October 26: 11470 San Jose Boulevard, 32223 9:00 am - 1:00 pm
This material was prepared by FMQAI, the Medicare Quality Improvement
Organization for Florida, under contract with the Centers for Medicare &
Medicaid Services, an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services. (PRN)

Excessive Multivitamin is Harmfull

Excessive Multivitamin Use May Raise Risk for Prostate Cancer, from Harvard Men's Health Watch

BOSTON, Sept. 28 - About a third of American adults take some type of multivitamin on a regular basis. In nearly every case, the goal is better health, even though there is no firm evidence to support this hope. The absence of benefit is one thing, but the presence of harm is another: A 2007 report in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute concluded that there was an increased prostate cancer risk among men using multivitamins, reports the October 2007 issue of Harvard Men's Health Watch.


When scientists further explored this finding, they found no link between multivitamin use and the risk of developing localized prostate cancer. But they did find that men who take multivitamins more than once a day were 32% are more likely to develop advanced prostate cancer and 98% more likely to die from the disease.


However, the study had its limitations. For example, it was not designed to determine whether multivitamins actually caused cancer; it did not ascertain which multivitamins were taken; and the results failed to establish a relationship between dose and response. Moreover, other studies have shown no connection between prostate cancer and multivitamins. Faced with this contradictory information, scientists know they need more studies, and several are already under way.


Meanwhile, what should you do? Harvard Men's Health Watch suggests that a good diet and other lifestyle changes may help lower your prostate cancer risk. As for vitamins, the new study cautions against excessive multivitamin use, but it does not show harm from a daily supplement that sticks to the recommended daily amounts of the standard vitamins. Above all, the new study adds to the growing body of evidence that tells us not to count on supplements. (prn)

Eating AGE-Rich Foods Causes Dysfunction Linked to Heart Disease

A study in Diabetes Care finds that ingesting food or drink rich in advanced glycation end products (AGEs) causes immediate, short-lived but significant
endothelial dysfunction, shedding light on the mechanism by which dietary
AGE content can be linked to cardiovascular disease.

AGEs are a group of compounds produced within the body as a result of
hyperglycemia or formed in foods rich in protein and fat when cooked at
high and dry heat (e.g. by broiling, grilling, frying or roasting). They
may also form spontaneously in foods during storage at room temperature,
though they are produced at an accelerated pace as temperatures increase
during cooking. Fast foods, such as hamburgers and fries, as well as any
fat-rich foods cooked at high temperatures, tend to be highest in AGE
content. Foods that are stewed or steam-cooked tend to have lower AGE
concentrations.

AGEs have previously been associated with many of the chronic
complications of diabetes, such as heart disease. This study found that
drinking a single concentrated amount of an AGE-rich beverage induced
significant endothelial dysfunction in both people who had diabetes and in
those who did not. Endothelial dysfunction is an early indicator of
atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries, which leads to
cardiovascular disease.

"Although the effect was temporary, it suggests that AGEs could, over
time, pose a significant risk to the vascular integrity of both diabetic
and healthy persons," said lead researcher Dr. Jaime Uribarri, of the Mount
Sinai School of Medicine.

Since AGEs occur at higher levels in foods that are broiled, fried or
braised, the study also suggests that it's not only what you eat but how it
is prepared that may affect your risk for cardiovascular disease. An
editorial accompanying this study concluded that such lines of research
would ultimately "impact our eating and cooking habits and the choice of
foods that we eat."

Diabetes Care, published by the American Diabetes Association, is the
leading peer-reviewed journal of clinical research into the nation's fifth
leading cause of death by disease. Diabetes also is a leading cause of
heart disease and stroke, as well as the leading cause of adult blindness,
kidney failure, and non-traumatic amputations. For more information about
diabetes, visit the American Diabetes Association Web site http://www.diabetes.org
or call 1-800-DIABETES (1-800-342-2383).

Red wine, white wine, beer and hard liquor present same risk

Kaiser Permanente Study Shows Alcohol Consumption - No Matter Beverage Type - Linked to Breast Cancer Risk


OAKLAND, Calif., Sept. 27 - One of the largest individual
studies of the effects of alcohol on the risk of breast cancer shows that
it makes no difference whether a woman drinks wine, beer or spirits
(liquor). It is the alcohol itself (ethyl alcohol) and the quantity
consumed that increases breast cancer risk. In fact, the increased breast
cancer risk from drinking three or more alcoholic drinks a day is similar
to the increased breast cancer risk from smoking a packet of cigarettes or
more a day, according to Kaiser Permanente researchers Yan Li, MD, PhD and
Arthur Klatsky, MD.
"Population studies have consistently linked drinking alcohol to an
increased risk of female breast cancer, but until now there has been little
data, most of it conflicting, about an independent role played by the
choice of beverage type," said Klatsky, who is presenting these findings on
September 27th at the European Cancer Conference (ECCO 14) in Barcelona,
Spain.
Li, a Kaiser Permanente oncologist, Klatsky, an investigator with the
Kaiser Permanente Division of Research in Oakland, CA and their Kaiser
Permanente colleagues studied the drinking habits of 70,033 multi-ethnic
women who had supplied information during health examinations between
1978-1985. By 2004, 2,829 of these women were diagnosed with breast cancer.
In one analysis, researchers compared the role of total alcohol intake
among women who favored one type of drink over another with women who had
no clear preference. In another analysis, researchers looked at the
possible independent role of frequency of drinking each beverage type.
Finally, they examined the role of total alcohol intake, comparing it with
women who drank less than one alcoholic drink a day.
The study found there was no difference between wine, beer or spirits
in the risk of developing breast cancer. Even when wine was divided into
red and white, there was no difference. However, when researchers looked at
the relationship between breast cancer risk and total alcohol intake, they
found that women who drank between one and two alcoholic drinks per day
increased their risk of breast cancer by 10 percent compared with light
drinkers who drank less than one drink a day. The risk of breast cancer
increased by 30 percent in women who drank more than three drinks a day.
Results were similar when researchers looked at groups stratified by
age and ethnicity. "Statistical analyses limited to strata of wine
preferrers, beer preferrers, spirits preferrers or non-preferrers each
showed that heavier drinking -- compared to light drinking -- was related
to breast cancer risk in each group. This strongly confirms the relation of
ethyl alcohol to increased risk," said Klatsky.
"A 30 percent increased risk is not trivial. To put it into context, it
is not much different from the increased risk associated with women taking
estrogenic hormones. Incidentally, in previous research completed at Kaiser
Permanente, we have found that smoking a pack of cigarettes or more per day
is related to a similar (30 percent) increased risk of breast cancer,"
Klatsky said.
Although breast cancer incidence varies between populations and only a
small proportion of women are heavy drinkers, Dr Klatsky said that a 30
percent increase in the relative risk of breast cancer from heavy drinking
might translate into approximately an extra 5 percent of all women
developing breast cancer as a result of their habit.
Other studies, including research from the same authors, have shown
light-moderate alcohol drinking can protect against heart attacks, but
Klatsky said that different mechanisms were probably at work.
"We think that the heart protection benefit from alcohol is real, and
is probably derived largely from alcohol-induced higher HDL ('good')
cholesterol, reduced blood clotting and reduced diabetes. None of these
mechanisms are known to have anything to do with breast cancer. The
possible but unproven additional coronary benefit from drinking wine (red
or white) may be related to favorable drinking patterns common among wine
drinkers or to the favorable traits of wine drinkers, as evidenced by other
United States and Danish studies," Klatsky said.
Klatsky said that all medical advice needed to be personalized to the
individual. "Our findings provide more evidence for why heavy drinkers
should quit or cut down."
The Kaiser Permanente research group has been involved in studies of
alcohol drinking and health for more than three decades, including in the
area of heart disease. Kaiser Permanente is uniquely positioned to conduct
such research because investigators have access to data about a large,
multi-ethnic population with a variety of drinking habits.
About Kaiser Permanente
The Kaiser Permanente Division of Research conducts, publishes, and
disseminates epidemiologic and health services research to improve the
health and medical care of Kaiser Permanente members and the society at
large. It seeks to understand the determinants of illness and well-being
and to improve the quality and cost-effectiveness of health care.
Currently, DOR's 400-plus staff is working on more than 250 epidemiological
and health services research projects.
Kaiser Permanente is America's leading integrated health plan. Founded
in 1945, it is a not-for-profit; group practice prepayment program
headquartered in Oakland, Calif. Kaiser Permanente serves the health care
needs of more than 8.7 million members in nine states and the District of
Columbia. Today it encompasses the not-for-profit Kaiser Foundation Health
Plan, Inc., Kaiser Foundation Hospitals and their subsidiaries, and the
for-profit Permanente Medical Groups. Nationwide, Kaiser Permanente
includes approximately 156,000 technical, administrative and clerical
employees and caregivers, and more than 13, 000 physicians representing all
specialties. (PRN)