Boardash: Avoiding risks when temperatures drop

Friday, January 8, 2010

Avoiding risks when temperatures drop

Having trouble seeing this email? View the most recent issue or stories from previous issues.

	Today's Healthy Life Daily Video
	The Dos And Don'ts Of Adult Acne Play Now!

Avoiding risks when temperatures drop

ATLANTA (UPI) -- Frigid temperatures put young children, the elderly and chronically ill most at risk, U.S. health officials warn.

Officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta urge people to take steps to stay safe and warm. This includes wearing layers of warm clothes, socks, shoes and even hats, indoors and using blankets for additional warmth.

For those who must go outside in cold weather, the CDC recommends:

-- Wearing appropriate layers of light, warm outdoor clothing as well as mittens, hats, scarves and waterproof boots.

-- Sprinkling cat litter or sand on icy patches.

-- Being aware of the wind chill factor.

-- Working slowly when doing outside chores.

-- Taking a buddy and an emergency kit if participating in outdoor recreation.

-- Avoiding travel when the weather service has issued advisories.

-- If travel is necessary, letting a friend or relative of your proposed route and expected time of arrival.

-- Carrying a cellphone.

Comment on this Story | Printer Friendly | | Send Story to a Friend | Top

Critical H1N1 in children unpredictable

BALTIMORE (UPI) -- A study of 13 children hospitalized with H1N1 found the patients survived but serious complications developed quickly and unpredictably, U.S. researchers say.

Lead investigator Justin Lockman, a pediatric critical-care specialist at Johns Hopkins Children's Center in Baltimore says although all of the 13 children survived, they required a serious need for vigilant monitoring and quick treatment adjustments.

The analysis, published in the journal Pediatric Critical Care Medicine, shows that 12 of the 13 very ill children had underlying medical conditions that made them more vulnerable, including sickle cell disease, asthma and human immunodeficiency virus. Complications varied from temporary kidney failure to acute respiratory distress syndrome, dangerously low oxygen levels and dangerously low blood pressure.

An important finding was that rapid screening tests were initially negative in eight of the children, underscoring the need for more sensitive tests, the researchers say.

All critically ill children with flu-like symptoms, regardless of test results, should be treated pre-emptively with antiviral medications, the researchers say.

"Our most surprising, and perhaps most important finding, is that the H1N1 virus behaves unpredictably and variably from one patient to the other and even within the same patient from day to day, so we must be on our toes and react fast by adjusting therapy," Lockman said in a statement.

Comment on this Story | Printer Friendly | | Send Story to a Friend | Top

Share Your Winter Travel Photos

When you come home from your holiday trip, upload your best pictures and submit them to the ArcaMax Travel Photo Gallery!

Encourage your friends and family to vote to make them the most popular for the month, and trade votes with your fellow readers.

Visit the Travel Photo Gallery.

Subscribe to ArcaMax Travel instantly for more reader photos, travel tips, safety advice, and more.

Find out more before subscribing.

-- From the ArcaMax editors

Today's Reader Submitted Photos

Click an image above to see full size and read caption.

To see more of our subscriber photos visit our full Photo Gallery.

Enter your Parents pictures so you can show them off to other readers right here in this ezine and on the ArcaMax.com Web site. Click here to submit your photo.

Sincerely,
ArcaMax Editors