Bedbugs and Lice Make Comeback.

Image via WikipediaIt's interesting  how certain news stories can just freak you out a bit.  For some its blood, for others it could be molds.  Well for me its bugs...in particular very small bugs.  Like bedbugs and lice just really gets me itching.  So when a story like the one in Newsday discussed the current bedbug and louse issue, it was all I could do to prevent myself from scratching like crazy.  Recent news stories have bedbugs present at the Waldorf Astoria (where else would you stay if you visited New York City), at  Lincoln Center (I guess they like ballet) and the Central Islip Library (they also like to read..or maybe they are really bookworms?).  This shows that bedbugs have evolved, additional proof of this is that these bedbugs are
resistant to DDT and malathion, products used in the past to kill them.  The article makes interesting reading and other articles have discussed how to avoid bedbugs while traveling or specifically discussed about bedbugs not being a public health emergency.  The primary reason being that bedbugs are not known to spread disease.  They just want to feed on us (ok, just writing that creeped me out...itch, itch, scratch, scratch).  

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• A Simple, Cheap, Safe, Non-Toxic Cure & Prevention For Bed Bugs, Fleas & Lice (projectworldawareness.com)
• Nit picking on a budget: the price of lice (walletpop.com)
• To freak out or not to freak out? (ask.metafilter.com)
• http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/bedbugs/DS00663
• Waldorf Astoria Sued Over Bedbugs (huffingtonpost.com)
• Terri Bennett Appears on WBTV to Talk About Natural Solutions for Bedbugs (doyourpart.com)
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Future Environment Designs discussion "The Pollution Within"

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In 2006 we discussed in our blog Future Environment Designs: "The Pollution Within" from Plattsburgh, NY about an article we read in National Geographic about all the different chemicals we have inside our body.  Its interesting that on November 7, 2009 that the New York Times Op-Ed Columnist by Nicolas Kristof (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/08/opinion/08kristof.html) wrote "Chemicals in our Foods and Bodies".  Specifically discussing the issues with bisphenol A (BPA), its a synthetic estrogen used in plastics.  Some of you might even know that Suffolk County, New York has banned it.  BPA has been linked to a number of illnesses from breast cancer to obesity, from attention deficit disorder to genital abnormalities in boys and girls alike (not conclusively).  So all of this still begs the question when are we going to do complete research on the chemicals we use to determine whether by themselves or multiple chemicals together cause or can cause illnesses or cancers.

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CDC Reports on Insufficient Rest or Sleep Among Adults

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The information below was recently published by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC):

"An estimated 50-70 million Americans suffer from chronic sleep and wakefulness disorders. Sleep disorders and sleep loss have been associated with mental distress, depression, anxiety, obesity, hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol and certain risk behaviors including cigarette smoking, physical inactivity and heavy drinking. A new report from the CDC found that data collected from adults in all 50 United States, DC, and 3 U.S. territories found that 1 in 3 adults (30.7 percent) in 2008, reported no days of not getting enough rest or sleep in the past 30-days. However, 1 in 10 adults (11.1 percent) reported not getting enough rest or sleep everyday during the past month. Females (12.4 percent) were more likely than males (9.9 percent) and non-Hispanic blacks (13.3 percent) were more likely than other racial/ethnic groups to report not getting enough rest or sleep. State estimates of 30 days of insufficient rest or sleep ranged from 7.4 percent in North Dakota to 19.3 percent in West Virginia."

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