| Rx: 2 lab-tested chicken soups
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Did you know... that bad nutrition can turn on viruses? Certain viruses can be activated to spread disease if you lack vitamin E and/or selenium, rich in whole grains, seafood, garlic and Brazil nuts, say U.S. Department of Agriculture researchers. Vitamin alert! A typical one-a-day vitamin-and-mineral pill boosted certain immune responses in older people by 64 percent, according to researchers at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. This should lower the risk of colds and other infections, they said.
Snow havoc decimating Chinese forests
BEIJING, Feb. 9 (UPI) -- Nearly 67,000 square miles of forest land in China have been decimated by the worst snow storms endured by the country in the last five decades. In a recent report from China's State Forestry Administration, officials detailed the mass devastation of forests in 18 provinces caused by the harsh winter endured by the Asian nation, China's state-run news agency, Xinhua, reported Saturday. An earlier report from the administration had put the financial cost of the severe weather at nearly $2.5 billion as of Jan. 31. To help limit the cost and effects of the forest devastation, administration officials had asked workers to clean up fallen tree branches and work on expanding the country's seedling supply. By working toward improving the country's seedling inventory, forestry officials hope to secure a timely spring reforestation to start replacing the trees lost this winter, Xinhua reported.
Home dialysis machine revitalizes patient's life
SAIA FASSISILA, pastor of the United Methodist Church in San Mateo, dreaded his options when his kidneys failed two years ago. Either he stayed hooked up three times a week, four hours a session to a large machine that cleaned his blood, or he'd die. Although he'd taken medication for years to control his high blood pressure, in his case that wasn't enough to stop the condition from damaging his kidneys. "I had no choice," Fassisila said. When doctors sent him from his bed at Stanford Hospital directly to a dialysis clinic to clear his blood of the accumulated metabolic byproducts, excess nutrients and water were close to killing him, since his kidneys could no longer eliminate them. "I was given a second chance in life with dialysis," said Fassisila, 48, who was born and raised in Tonga.
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