| Starting the New Year after a loss NEW YORK (UPI) -- New Year's can pose difficulty for those who have lost a loved one in the past year, a U.S. author says.
Joni Aldrich, author of "The Losing of Gordon: A Beacon Through the Storm Called Grief," tells the story of her own rebuilding through the grief process after losing her husband in 2006.
"Nothing is the same after losing a loved one, and as 2010 begins, it's safe to say that you're probably not feeling the 'auld lang syne' spirit," Aldrich said in a statement. "Even if you're not feeling the holiday cheer, though, it is still possible to face the New Year with the anticipation of hope."
As the New Year begins, try to focus on all of the good years you've had in the past, and not on the bad year that just went by, Aldrich advises.
"Life is always a combination of good and bad. We should all appreciate the good, and know that when bad things happen in our lives we still need to move forward," Aldrich said.
"You have two choices -- face the New Year with hope, or dwell on difficult life experiences that you cannot change."
But if you need help to get through the next few weeks, it's OK to ask for help and support, Aldrich adds.
Copyright 2010 by United Press International |
| CDC: H1N1 widespread in only four states ATLANTA (UPI) -- Delaware, Maine, New Jersey and Virginia reported widespread influenza activity, down from seven states a week ago, U.S. health officials reported.
The weekly flu surveillance report, completed during flu season by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, shows for the week ending Dec. 26, all influenza cases reported to CDC were influenza A, and all subtyped influenza A viruses were influenza A H1N1.
Four influenza-associated pediatric deaths were reported. Two of these deaths were associated with influenza A H1N1 virus infection and two were associated with an influenza A virus for which the subtype was undetermined.
Regional influenza activity was reported in Alabama, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana, Kentucky, Nevada, New Mexico, New York and Tennessee.
Local influenza activity was reported by the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Alaska, Colorado, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Vermont and Washington.
Sporadic influenza activity was reported in Arkansas, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming. Nebraska reported no influenza activity for the second week.
Copyright 2010 by United Press International |
| British develop artificial bypass artery LONDON (UPI) -- British doctors say they will begin human trials in 2010 of a revolutionary spaghetti-like artificial artery in heart bypass surgery.
The artificial blood vessel will negate the need to surgically graft a bypass patient's own vein. Professor Alexander Seifalian, of University College London, who created the new vessel, said almost 30 percent of heart bypass patients do not have a vein usable for bypass, Britain's Daily Mail reported Friday.
"In these cases, there's not much doctors can do and patients often die," he said. "So we have developed an artificial artery using nanotechnology. Once the stem cells are attracted to it, they cover the whole inside of it and turn into endothelial cells," Seifalian said.
The vessel has a coating inside made up of a million tiny spikes less than one-thousandth the width of a human hair, Seifalian explained. They grow inside the man-made artery and join together to make a smooth, healthy lining found in living blood vessels, which makes the artery elastic and prevents clots from forming, the Mail reported.
Aside from holding back clots, using an artificial artery means heart patients would not have to undergo a second operation for doctors to obtain a vein to use for the bypass.
The British Wellcome Trust has given researchers a grant of more than $800,000 to start human trials this year, the newspaper reported.
"We welcome this interesting development, which could potentially be of enormous benefits to patients who need a bypass operation to treat their coronary heart disease," said Judy O'Sullivan of the British Heart Foundation.
Copyright 2010 by United Press International |
| Feds get high marks for pandemic handling NEW YORK (UPI) -- The U.S. government did many things right in responding to the 2009 swine flu pandemic, medical experts said.
The government deserves "at least a B-plus" for its handling of the first pandemic in 40 years, Dr. William Schaffner, head of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University's medical school, told The New York Times.
While luck played a role, quick but conservative decisions contained the pandemic with minimal disruption to the U.S. economy, medical experts told the newspaper in a story published Saturday.
Misinformation was kept to a minimum due to frequent updates from numerous officials ranging from the Public Health Service to President Barack Obama.
The pandemic also highlighted weaknesses in the federal response system, including outdated vaccine technology, a reliance on foreign vaccine companies and a need for more hospital beds in some areas.
Overall, however, the government's response was "excellent," said Dr. Peter Palese, a leading virologist at Mount Sinai Medical School.
Copyright 2010 by United Press International |
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