Today, I am taking a day off from tech writing and focusing on something much more important. Each year more than half a million babies are born premature and/or are very sick. We are fortunate to have such a great foundation called March of Dimes to help generate money for research. The mission of March of Dimes is to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth, and infant mortality.

If you are a parent who went through this experience or you know someone who has, you know how hard it is to go through this journey in hope that the newborn child will survive. It is up to us to chip in and help these newborn babies who one day will be the same babies taking care of us one day. Please support this great mission by donating any amount you can afford by visiting my March of Dimes page at http://www.marchforbabies.org/techjaws. Your support and care will make a difference!

You can also help by sharing the link above with your friends and family on Facebook or any other social network you are a member of.

Your gift will support March of Dimes research and programs that help moms have full-term pregnancies and babies begin healthy lives.

Thank you for caring and sharing!

Who would have figured that this tasty fruit can be used for sexual performance? In fact, if you read about what it does, it makes sense. Blueberries are high in soluble fiber, which helps remove excess cholesterol from the blood before it gets absorbed and deposited on artery walls.

Like Viagra, blueberries also relax the blood vessels to allow for better blood flow thus providing the libido the necessary blood to sustain an erection. I am not saying that you need to eat blueberries 30 minutes before having sex, but adding it to your diet 3 times per week can improve your sex life and put a smile on your partners face.

Viagra is expensive and cost on average $10 per pill. Blueberries cost around $6 per 12 ounces. Serving size is 1 cup or 2.5 servings per 12 ounces.

Blueberries are one of the easiest fruits to prepare and serve. There’s no peeling, pitting, coring or cutting.

Nutrition and miscellaneous facts

1 cup (143 grams) of blueberries is 84 calories (technically, kcal). Blueberries contain no cholesterol or fat and are also low in calories. Blueberries are high in dietary fiber, Vitamin A and niacin. They contain iron and other trace minerals and are a fair source of Vitamin C. Blueberries have a diverse range of micronutrients, with notably high levels (relative to respective Dietary Reference Intakes) of the essential dietary mineral manganese, vitamin B6, vitamin C, vitamin K and dietary fiber (table below). One serving provides a relatively low glycemic load score of 4 out of 100 per day.

Selection and Storing

Healthy, ripe blueberries are deep purple to dark blue, firm and plump. Unlike shiny raspberries, blueberries may have an almost chalky appearance to their blue skin. To store, refrigerate, unwashed, up to one week in a dry, covered container.

Healthy eating and better sex all from a blueberry!

There’s an old saying “If it’s too good to be true, it probably is not”. We tried a 15 day supply of the Acai Berry wonder pill that has been promoted by many websites, Hollywood stars and TV. We followed the directions on the label (2 pills daily, one before meals). Our goal was to shed 15 pounds each that we have gained over the winter.

Results:

We barely had the desired effects which include; weight loss, increased energy and toxin cleansing. In 14 days we lost a total of 2 pounds, a far cry from the claims that state “Lose 25 pounds in 3 weeks or lose up to 10 pounds in 4 days”. At this rate, it would have taken us 32 weeks to shed those 15 pounds.

Facts:

• We eat mostly chicken, low carb pastas, and fish
• We don’t eat fried foods or fast foods
• We don’t eat cookies, cakes or any other high sugar foods

There are more than 20 versions of the Acai diet pill, and most of them don’t work at all. These pills can cost up to $80 for a 30 day supply. We recommend that you save that money and by yourself walking shoes. If you want to lose weight, you will have to do it the old fashion way, reduce your caloric intake and exercise.

However, there are claims that certain Acai Berry pills do work. The top 3 performing products are;

• Acai Berry Edge
• Pure Acai Berry Pro
• Acai Berry Supreme

We just purchased a 30 day supply of Acai Berry Edge which claims that you could lose from 6 to 30 pounds in 14 days. We will report our findings in 2 weeks to see if this fad is just a scam or for real.

This is a major break through, but how often is AIDS transmitted from partners from the opposite sex? I believe in most studies that AIDS is transmitted from homosexual relationships and dirty needles from drug use. Regardless, this news is very encouraging and has already been approved by the FDA.

The new vaginal gel prevents sexual transmission of the AIDS virus in monkey studies.

The anti-HIV ingredient in the gel is glycerol monolaurate or GML. It’s already FDA approved as an ingredient in cosmetics and medicines.

“The results are very encouraging. They point to a novel avenue to prevent sexual transmission of HIV,” study researcher Ashley T. Haase, MD, head of the microbiology department at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, said at a telephone news conference.

The surprise finding that GML can block HIV comes from basic research showing that the AIDS virus gains a foothold in the vagina by taking advantage of the body’s immune system. Immune responses to the virus draw T cells — the white blood cells HIV loves to infect — to the site of infection. Without T-cell recruitment, HIV loses its grip.

That’s where GML comes in. The antimicrobial agent affects immune responses and breaks the chain of events that let HIV spread through the body.

“We thought if we could modulate the immune response at the portal of HIV entry, we could block sexual transmission,” Haase said. “[Colleague] Patrick Schlievert’s work with GML showed that it had many properties that might block HIV expansion and systematic spread.”

Haase, Schlievert, and colleagues gave five rhesus macaque monkeys daily GML treatments before putting 200 infectious doses of deadly SIV — the monkey version of HIV — into their vaginas. Another four animals got a gel without GML.

The four animals not given GML got AIDS. Those treated with GML showed no sign of infection during the short-term study, although one of the five animals showed signs of infection several months later. But just as HIV drugs with different modes of action are more effective when mixed into a drug “cocktail,” Haase says GML could be mixed with different kinds of anti-HIV agents.

“GML could be part of a combined strategy with another vaginal microbicide, such as PRO 2000, with a different mechanism of action,” he suggests.

Source: WebMD

Almost everyday we read about something that is bad for us, but why does it take so long for science to uncover? I am a 47 year old male and this story really caught my attention. If I knew about this risk, I would have been more careful when I was in my 20′s or early 30′s, but I probably would have ignored the risk anyway.

A new study finds men who are sexually active in their 20s and 30s are more likely to develop prostate cancer – especially if they masturbate frequently.

The study also found that frequent sexual activity in a man’s 40s appears to have little effect and even small levels of sexual activity in a man’s 50s could offer protection from the disease. Most of the differences were attributed to masturbation rather than sexual intercourse.

The study, led by the University of Nottingham, looked at the sexual practices of more than 431 men who had been diagnosed with prostate cancer before the age of 60, together with 409 controls who do not have prostate cancer.

Among men with prostate cancer, 34 percent had masturbated frequently in their 20s, compared to 24 percent among the control group. A similar spread was found for men in their 30s.

The results, based on questionnaires, are detailed in the journal BJU International (the British Journal of Urology).

I am sure will get a lot of comments on this one.

Apple has admitted that CEO Steve Jobs is skipping Tuesday’s Macworld keynote for health-related reasons, after initially pointing to other reasons for his absence. (Credit: James Martin/CNET).

Throughout 2008 Apple was plagued with rumors about Jobs’ health, but steadfastly refused to acknowledge that anything was behind concerns over what many believed was substantial weight loss suffered by the iconic Apple founder. Apple stunned onlookers in December with the news that Jobs would be skipping his much-anticipated Macworld keynote, but said the reason was that Apple had decided not to invest in a Macworld keynote because it would be the company’s last year at the show.

Apple’s board of directors put out a statement Monday acknowledging that Jobs would need some time to recuperate from what he called a “hormonal imbalance” in a letter to employees Monday. Jobs said he decided a few weeks ago that getting to the bottom of his mysterious weight loss was his biggest priority, and doctors had determined that the imbalance was “robbing” the ability of his body to be healthy.

You can read the letter here http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2009/01/05sjletter.html

Jobs will continue as CEO while he is regaining weight in what he called a “simple and straightforward” remedy, which is expected to last until late spring, he said in the letter. “I have given more than my all to Apple for the past 11 years now. I will be the first one to step up and tell our Board of Directors if I can no longer continue to fulfill my duties as Apple’s CEO.”

We hope that Steve has a speedy recovery!

A minimally invasive procedure successfully suppressed levels of the “hunger hormone” ghrelin in pigs and led to appetite reduction results similar to bariatric surgery, say Johns Hopkins researchers.

They chemically vaporized the main vessel carrying blood to the top section (fundus) of the stomach. About 90 percent of the body’s ghrelin originates in the fundus, which requires a good blood supply to make the hormone.

The study was published in the Sept. 16 issue of Radiology.

“With gastric artery chemical embolization, called GACE, there’s no major surgery. In our study in pigs, this procedure produced an effect similar to bariatric surgery by suppressing ghrelin levels and subsequently lowering appetite,” Dr. Aravind Arepally, clinical director of the Center for Bioengineering Innovation and Design, and associate professor of radiology and surgery at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, said in university news release.

Bariatric surgery involves removal, reconstruction or bypass of part of the stomach or bowel to suppress appetite and help people lose weight. However, there are potential major risks and complications associated with the procedure.

This is not going to be about a Pink Floyd story, but one about the Worlds worst air pollution.

The air at the Beijing Olympics has been hazy, heavy and humid. Athletes have voiced concerns over the potential impact to their health and performance. Beijing’s air pollution regularly reaches levels two or three times above what the World Health Organization considers safe.

Beijing officials on Friday continued to insist that the murky haze enveloping the city is not the result of pollution, but instead is fog created by moisture vapor in the air. Visibility, they say, is not necessarily an indicator of air quality.

Have you ever been to Hong Kong or Beijing? You can smell gas and sulfur in the air. It can be very harmful for visitors who are not exposed to such pollution levels all the time.

How will the Athletes over come this major issue? I recommend they stay indoors as much as possible and drink a lot of water.

In fact, the Olympic Committee has said that it may be postpone endurance events, including the marathon, if pollution levels are too high.

China has invested billions in “greening” the capital, and implemented drastic measures to ensure air quality for the Olympics. Last month, some 2 million cars were taken off roads, constructions sites were shut down and dozens of factories were closed across the capital. Similar measures were taken in surrounding provinces.

Adam Vitale, 27, was sentenced in federal court in Manhattan after pleading guilty more than a year ago to breaking anti-spam laws. He was also ordered to pay $180,000 to AOL in restitution.

Vitale was caught making a deal with a government informant to send junk e-mails — known as spam — that advertised a computer security program in return for 50 percent of the product’s profits, prosecutors said.

Vitale is considered a small time spammer compared to his counterparts. The biggest spammers are not in the United States, but in Russia, China and Turkey to name a few. I expect that this is a huge message and wake up call, but the spamming won’t stop anytime soon.

Spammers have the mind set that if they send a million emails, at least .01% will fall for the trap and that my friend equals dollars.

I am a fan of marketing and advertising, but with morals and honesty. It’s nice to hear about a spammer doing jail time than Microsoft going after Yahoo or the iPhone 3G craze.

Back in September of 2001, I weighed a hefty 255lbs, but with a healthy diet and exercise I lost over 100 pounds by July 30th 2002 and weighed 154lbs. I totally changed my life, and trust me it was a lot of work and dedication. I worked out 6 to 7 days per week, 1.5 hours per day, but I did it. Today, I weigh 167lbs, and I feel good, but my goal is to be 158lbs by August.

You may think that eating no fat, low carb foods will help in weight loss, but you’re wrong. You want to know why? Your body is a machine that will adjust to caloric intake. What this means is that empty calories will force your body to adjust accordingly.

If you’re eating fat free, low carbs foods and your calorie intake is 1000 per day, your body will adjust itself to burning only 1000 calories per day. It’s much smarter to get your body to burn at a higher rate, and lowering your fat and carb intake for greater weight loss.

Your body and muscles are machines that have memory, and both will adjust to your eating habits. It’s time that you eat that lean red meat instead of white meat to obtain greater protein absorption, and increased metabolism. Lean red meat is only 8 grams of fat per 4 ounces.

Avoid foods that are fat free as this will slow your calorie burn rate. It’s better to eat natural foods with natural ingredients and eat smaller portions. Your body doesn’t know how to handle certain chemicals.

It’s very important to eat at least 6 meals per day to keep your metabolism active. The best approach is to eat more at the beginning of your day and decrease your portions as the day progresses. I can tell you that breakfast is the key meal of the day for your metabolism to kick starts itself. Avoiding breakfast will slow down your metabolic rate and your body will begin to store more fat.

There’s no need to join a gym or starve to lose weight. It’s a lifestyle change that last forever and the results will come before you know it. Start off with walking 3 days per week for 1 mile per walk. After one month increase your walk to 2 miles per walk. Make sure you walk at least 50% faster than you normally do. This will speed up your heart rate and give you a good Cardio workout.