Health Care

Sticks and stones may break your bones….

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And those words will hurt as well:

Writing in the journal Science, Lieberman and Eisenberger said the brains of the volunteers lit up when they were rejected in virtually the same way as a person experiencing physical pain.
“It would be odd if social pain looked like the exact same thing as someone-breaking-your-arm pain,” Lieberman said in a telephone interview. “What it does look like is visceral pain.”
In other words — like being punched in the stomach.

Go check it out.

Pets Reflect their Keepers

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The keepers:

The 2000 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, prepared by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, found that nearly two-thirds of Americans over the age of 20 are overweight, and more than 30 percent are obese.

The pets:

The report, from the National Research Council, finds that one-quarter of the dogs and cats in the western world are obese.

Come on folks, lets take those pets with you on those long walks.
And you cat owners should pay particular attention to this:

The report notes that in the wild, cats will catch and eat eight to 12 small animals or birds every day.
Feeding of cats should reflect this — with 12 to 20 very small meals being offered through the day, the report says.

So much for filling the bowl and leaving kitty home alone all day.

Lead Poisoning

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The aptly named Mercury News reports this bad news about lead poisoning:

Now, however, findings published in April in the New England Journal of Medicine strongly suggest not only that any amount of lead is harmful to a child’s brain but also that greater damage seems to occur at levels below 10 micrograms than above that.
In other words, there is no threshold for lead’s effects on the brain, and just small amounts seem to have relatively large effects.

Lead based paint is still an issue:

One-quarter of American homes with children younger than 6 contain lead-based paint.

This 1999 report suggests that blood lead levels are declining but also notes that mean blood levels are 1.7-2.3 micrograms for 1-5 years olds which makes the new study even more ominous.
Eliminating lead poisoning would probably do more to improve eductional performance in our schools than all the batteries of tests being engendeer by the all children left behind act. (and, no, I don’t know the marginal cost of eliminating the last vestiges of lead poisoning).
A cursory search did not turn up any studies on lead poisoning as a factor in political party selection.