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Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) generally occurs in early in childhood. It is characterized by the inability to sit still, focus on a specific task and uncontrollable impulses. As well the child may not be able to multi task even two commands or requests and be able to comprehend and complete such as picking up shoes and placing them where they belong. A child with ADD may require single commands. Children with these behaviors show them more frequently or severely more than other children. A child with ADD may also experience social dysfunction such as school work, friendships or family life. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder has also been referred to as, hyper- kinesis, minimal brain dysfunction and minimal brain damage.

ADD is the most common mental disorder of childhood, affecting 3-5 percent of school age children. The disorder occurs more often in boys than in girls. The majority of children, who have ADD, usually outgrow it with age. However it has been proven that ADD can continue to follow them through adolescence and even into adulthood. Some estimates show that approximately 2 percent of adults have an Attention Deficit Disorder.

Children and adults with ADD consistently show various degrees of inattention, hyperactivity and impulsiveness. Inattention means that people with ADD have difficulty keeping their minds on one thing. They may get bored with homework or other tasks after a few minutes, make careless mistakes, have trouble listening and seem to daydream. However, children with ADD sometimes can concentrate on and complete new or unusually interesting tasks. Hyperactivity involves almost constant motion, as if driven by a motor. Children may squirm and fidget at their desks in school, get up often to roam and around the room, constantly touch things, disturb other people, tap pencils and talk constantly. ADD also makes children unusually impulsive, so that they act before thinking. They may run into the street without looking, blurt out inappropriate comments in class, interrupt conversations and be unusually accident prone.

Children with ADD often have learning difficulties because of their inability to pay attention, follow directions and complete tasks. As well, their disruptive, demanding behavior makes them unpopular with peers. Children with ADD often receive constant criticism and correction from teachers and parents, who believe the behavior, is intentional. The combination of negative feedback, poor academic achievement and social problems may contribute to low self-esteem and other emotional problems.

As of today, scientists still do not know what causes Attention Deficit Disorder. There are many claims that have now been discredited with continuing research. One such theory was that ADD was caused by refined sugar and food additives. Scientists questioned this theory when studies showed that few children with ADD benefited from diets restricting sugar and food colorings. Another theory that has been dismissed was that children with Attention Deficit Disorder come from families that are dysfunctional or from poor parenting. But one major misconception of ADD was that the disorder was developed from minor head injuries or undetectable brain damage due to complications at birth.

Today however research and science regard ADD as a biological disorder caused by abnormalities in the brain. Research has shown that areas of the brain that control attention span limit impulsive behavior are less active in people with ADD. In addition, ADD seems to run in families, suggesting that genetic factors may play an important role. One study showed that about one-third of fathers who had ADD in childhood have ADHD.

As of today there is no actual cure for ADD. However there are several methods of treatment. Treatment ranges anywhere from medication, counseling, or social training skills. However treatment is depended upon the individual and support. But whatever type of treatment is chosen by the parents and physicians the ultimate key is to remain consistent and follow through with what ever goals are set.

Prescription medication is the most common treatment for ADD. Medication can help reduce symptoms of the disorder. Physicians usually prescribe one of three drugs: Ritalin, Dexedrine or DextroStat and Cylert. These drugs generally are stimulants, but yet they ease the hyperactivity and other symptoms in 90 percent of children with Attention Deficit Disorder. These drugs work by altering levels of brain chemicals that transmit nerve signals. A newer stimulant used to treat ADD is Adderall. Adderall is a combination of Dexedrine and amphetamine.

Most children with Attention Deficit Disorder need more than medication. Drugs only relieve symptoms of ADD, which usually return when medication is discontinued. Although drugs help a child to concentrate and complete schoolwork, they cannot increase a child’s knowledge, teach academic skills, or directly alter underlying disorders or other problems. Experts cite the need for more information on whether medication improves a child’s chances for a successful career.

Children may benefit from several different kinds of therapy. Psychological counseling, for instance, can help them recognize and deal with negative feelings that result from their symptoms. Social skills training can help them recognize how their behaviors effects other people and help them develop more appropriate behavior. Children with Attention Deficit Disorder also may benefit from special academic tutors who show them how to break school assignments down into small parts that can be completed at one time.

Because children with ADD often cause family turmoil, parents and other family members may benefit from therapy or support groups in which other parents share their experiences. Parental skills training can teach parents to manage a child’s behavior with praise and other rewards and with penalties such as “time-out” in which a child must sit alone to calm down.

Many children with Attention Deficit Disorder continue to have problems as adolescents and adults. Adults with ADD may be unusually impatient and restless and may become bored before finishing a task. They may constantly arrive late for appointments, lose things, change jobs frequently and fail to organize their time or set priorities. Adults with ADD may also have difficulty maintaining friendships and other relationships. Studies suggest they are more likely than others to develop other mental illnesses such as anxiety and depression, as well as substance abuse problems such as alcoholism and drug dependence.

Michael Russell Your Independent guide to ADD

A look into the system of healthcare abroad

Medical tourism is a fascinating concept, gaining quick recognition in the United States. Although the practice of traveling abroad to receive medical procedures is decades old in Europe, and has been practiced for hundreds of years in Asia, it is still quite new to Americans. So, in an effort to help explain the benefits and pitfalls of this relatively new industry, please allow me to share some of my first hand experiences with you, a potential medical tourist.

There are four basic groups of North Americans who are most interested in medical tourism and the cost savings it provides:

45 Million Uninsured Americans

250 Million Insured Americans with restricted coverage due to pre-existing conditions, resulting in out-of-pocket expenses

32 Million Canadians receiving socialized medicine and enduring long wait lists for many popular surgeries

Potentially, 332 Million North Americans seeking elective cosmetic and/or dental surgery

As you can see, the market potential is huge, but, unless a well organized, comprehensive, individualized program facilitating the healthcare needs and travel desires of North American consumers has been structured, medical tourism will only remain a vision and not a reality.

Quality and Safety of Healthcare Abroad

There is much to consider before experiencing a successful medical retreat. One of the first issues to investigate would be the quality and safety of healthcare abroad. You can perform a quick search on the internet and find a host of foreign hospitals, doctors, even government organizations marketing directly the worldwide consumer with hopes of attracting them to their country. CONSUMER BEWARE! Marketing rhetoric and posh photos can be very deceiving. I can personally vouch for this type of misperception. In my travels to 11 destinations within 7 countries around the world, I have seen these misrepresentations more often than not. This presents a very interesting question; how do you know who is telling the truth and who is fabricating information? The truth is, you don’t until you have either experienced it first hand or know of a trusting source that has had the experience.

In reality, it’s impossible for most people to know first hand, because they haven’t traveled to a foreign country to inspect the quality of healthcare. So, what’s the next step? Find someone you can trust who has had the experience and is willing provide an objective point of view. Good luck in your search! This may not be an easy task to accomplish. Hence the need for a bona fide, professional, medical tourism service agency in the U.S. to help consumers make these difficult choices. By utilizing the knowledge and expertise of an unbiased medical tourism specialist, you will better guarantee your safety and comfort while traveling abroad for your surgery.

To date, there is only one American owned company that offers a complete and thorough service to guide patients through the intricacies of this complex course of action. The organization is called MedRetreat, an American company facilitating the healthcare needs and travel desires of North Americans. You can visit http://www.medretreat.com for a very comprehensive education about the entire process. MedRetreat has inspected and verified the efficacy of their hospital affiliates. Most healthcare providers in the network are either JCI accredited, or, are in the process of accreditation. And, many of the doctors are board certified by the U.S, U.K. or Australia.

My personal advice - don’t go through the process alone. Utilize the experience of a company like MedRetreat who has performed their due-diligence on your behalf. It’s like trying to bake a cake for the very first time. Without the help of an experienced baker, like good old grandma, you’re sure to make some mistakes. Traveling abroad for surgery, without the necessary knowledge, is much too important to take the chance of making any mistakes.

Cost Savings

Once you feel comfortable about the quality of healthcare overseas, then it’s time to research another important factor in considering medical tourism as an option for your surgical procedure…the cost savings. Due to two main factors, the cost is as low as 1/10th of the price in the U.S. Here are two main reasons as sited by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger:

1. “Many workers in the health care industry are basically getting paid to shuffle paper around. The health insurance companies are paid to deny health claims and the government workers at Medicare and Medicaid offices are paid to find new ways to deny payments to doctors and hospitals for services rendered. Thus, doctors’ offices and hospitals have to employ entire armies of people to sit around and reclassify procedures in ways that can get paid by insurance companies, Medicare and Medicaid. It’s a massive waste of time, money and effort.”

“As a medical tourist in another country, you eliminate these paperwork shufflers. And right there, you can save as much as 80% right off the bat. Because now, your dollars are actually going to the surgeons, anesthesiologists and other hospital workers who are attending to you during your surgical procedure. Whereas in the United States, your money is going to the insurance company and then the insurance company money is being used to pay paper shufflers.”

2. “Another reason these surgical procedures are so much more affordable in Asia or other regions of the world is because of the liability issue. In the United States, doctors and hospitals must carry extremely expensive medical malpractice insurance policies. And patients seem to love to sue in the United States. In contrast, when you undergo a surgical procedure as a medical tourist in an offshore hospital, you sign paperwork that says you agree not to sue under certain conditions. Thus, you save a fortune by essentially not funding the legal fees, settlements and malpractice insurance costs normally found in a U.S.-based healthcare practice.”

Mr. Adams goes on to say; “when you combine these two savings - the paperwork shuffling reduction and the medical malpractice lawsuits - you get an incredible deal for your dollar.”

The Medical Tourism Experience

Now that we’ve covered the two most important aspects of medical tourism, quality and price, let’s briefly touch upon on the experience of traveling abroad.

Although choosing your destination is not the most important feature of your medical care objective, you should ultimately be pleased with your selection. After all, you’ll be spending anywhere between 2-4 weeks overseas and should be able to enjoy your recuperation process. There are many alternatives, but, you should definitely choose a destination that specializes in your required procedure. Of the many locations available, I’ve found that Malaysia, Thailand and Brazil are the most popular. Make sure your service agent representative educates you about the country and culture before you go. This will prove to be a valuable investment of your time. Education is the key to a successful medical tour.

Researching and planning your recuperation period can be an exciting and adventurous process. It helps to relieve your thoughts about your surgical procedure and focus on the enjoyment segment of your medical retreat. Please be advised, depending on your surgery, you may not be able to enjoy certain activities, so, my best advice would be to look into physically inactive forms of enjoyment.

Destination Program Management

With the exception of Penang, Malaysia, which is an English speaking destination, and very easy to navigate on your own, all other destinations should offer the assistance of a Destination Program Manager (DPM) to help navigate the terrain and explain the nuances of the culture. A DPM will be your friend away from home. They will take care of all your personal needs while visiting. Remember, you will be recuperating from surgery and in most cases, not in the best physical and emotional condition to take care of the necessary details of a new environment. Here are some of the services a DPM will offer to guaranty your comfort and enjoyment:

Meet and greet arriving customer at the airport

Private transportation to the hotel

Pre-arrange hotel check-in

Private transportation to-and-from doctor consultation

Private transportation to-and-from medical procedure

Interpretation assistance at hospital or clinic if needed

Provide communication assistance, such as cell phone or 24 hour contact number

Check on recuperating patient daily once procedure is performed

Provide emotional support if necessary during visit

Assist with local tour and excursion arrangements

Provide information about local dining, shopping, and pampering facilities

Provide information about local culture and customs of destination

Assure that customer is comfortable and content at all times

Deliver customer to airport for departure

Assist customer with baggage check-in upon departure

Arrange for Airport medical assistance upon departure if necessary

So much to do…so little time

Because a successful medical retreat requires between 35-40 hours of planning, all facets of medical tourism cannot be discussed in one article such as this.

There is much to learn. The question is; how much is your time worth? Don’t waste time trying to reinvent the wheel. It would be very time consuming and cumbersome to piece together all the available information about medical tourism on the internet. It can also be very confusing and overwhelming.

There are companies perfectly capable of helping you through the process. And, some will not even charge you for their services. They receive compensation from their overseas partners for their role in the process. In fact, in many cases, you will spend less by using a professional medical tourism service agency. If you find the right organization, they will have negotiated more favorable pricing on your behalf and pass along some of the savings to you. So, in essence, you will not be able to receive a better price - even by going direct to the hospital yourself. The choice is yours. Choose well.

So, the question remains; is medical tourism for you?

Mesothelioma is a kind of permanent cancer disease. Mesothelioma cancer occurs when tissues of our lungs or abdominal components get affected. In more cases asbestos exposure was identified as the reason for mesothelioma disease. Symptoms of mesothelioma may not appear immediately after it’s exposure, it takes time between twenty to thirty years. This enables the disease identification process a critical one.

Treatments for mesothelioma depends on the stage of the cancer, the specific part being affected, the total amount of space being affected, how long one have the problem, the look of the cancer cells under microscope and the age factor of the patient. These are the factors that are being considered before choosing the treatment option.

Treatments for mesothelioma include Surgery, Chemotherapy and Radiation Therapy.

Surgery: There are two types of surgeries available one is aggressive surgery and another one is called palliative procedures.

Aggressive surgery is done through a procedure named extra pleural pneumonectomy, by which the pleura, the lung, the diaphragm and the pericardium are removed. The aggressive surgery’s motive is to remove as much mesothelioma tumor as possible.

Palliative procedures will be done when the mesothelioma disease is at the matured stage. The motive of this procedure is to give relief to the patient from the symptoms.

Chemotherapy: In chemotherapy drugs are being used to treat mesothelioma cancer. The drugs may be in the form of pills or injections. To improve the results of chemotherapy some drugs may be used as mix in some proportion and this has given a good improvement in the treatment results.

Radiation therapy: Radiation therapy uses radiations to kill mesothelioma tumor. This procedure is complex to undergo as the tumors are surrounded by sensitive parts of our body. There are possibilities that the heart and lungs being damaged by the radiation. Lower dose radiation is one solution to slightly overcome from this critical issue.

Though mesothelioma is a permanent cancer disease and the survival rate is very low, timely identification and perfect treatment at the right time could able to help us survive some long time.

Chris Jack is the CEO of Mesothelioma Infobase. To have more information about mesothelioma and mesothelioma treatments visit Mesothelioma Infobase.

I recently read the case study conducted by Pheedo, an advertising company on the use of RSS Feeds advertising versus email advertising.

The difference in results were staggering.

Pheedo ran the campaign for 6 weeks and from their results, RSS feeds outperformed the best click through rate in email by over 26% as compared to the industry average of 8.7%.

Surprised? Let’s investigate the benefits of RSS advertising versus email ads.

RSS advertising has a number of ’superior’ advantages compared to email ads:

1. RSS feeds does not face a delivery issue in an anti-SPAM environment that is being filled with filters, anti-virus software or whatever program that is put in place by the user to block SPAM and unwanted emails.

2. RSS feeds cost ZERO to track. With a burned feed, you can easily track how many people are subscribing to your feed.

With email, if you want to track how many of your mails were delivered, you would have to pay for the additional services.

A simple mathematical illustration can prove this:

Let’s say Cost per 1,000 impressions = $50
And you want to do 10,000 impressions per week.

So the cost would be = $50 x 10 = $500 per week.

With Email Advertising, you would need to include email monitoring delivery charges.

So your total cost would be $500 + X per week

where X is the additonal costs for email monitoring delivery

So your advertising costs go up. Mutiply the above figure with 48 weeks (1 year) and you can see how costly it is to run email advertising campaigns.

With RSS Advertising, there is ZERO monitory delivery charges.

You maximise every penny from your advertising dollar, and the costs go down!

3. RSS feeds is 100% Opt-in. We’re talking about readers who know what they want and educated enough to know how to subscribe to feeds, either with desktop readers or through the use of some online newsreader such as Bloglines, MyYahoo and so on.

Yes, there is also ‘opt-in’ email. But then again, opt-in email is getting less effective because of:

a) constant bombardment of emails from other marketers and advertisers, making the subscribers ‘numb’ to advertising message

b) keywords that trigger off SPAM filter, causing failed delivery message

RSS feeds do not face these two problems. RSS feeds has a 100% delivery rate and has no SPAM issue as it is a feed, not email.

It will be interesting to see the continued developments in the use of RSS feeds for advertising.

Brandon
http://www.marketing-rampage-with-blogs-and-rss.com

Author of Multimedia E-book, “Marketing Rampage With Blogs And RSS”. Unleash the power of blogs and rss. Get more free targeted traffic, leads and subscribers with RSS Feeds. List in Google and Yahoo for FREE and save $299. Dominate niche markets with RSS Feeds.

French women seem to enjoy breads, desserts, and wine, but then don’t gain the weight. American women, on the other hand, just think about snacking and magically put on ten pounds. In her bestselling book, French Women Don’t Get Fat : The Secret of Eating For Pleasure, Mirelle Guiliano reveals the secrets that French women have at staying healthy and trim.

French Women Don’t Get Fat begins with the account of the author, Mirelle Guiliano, growing up in France. By a stroke of luck she was sent to America in her teenage years as an exchange student. In America, she was introduced to brownies and cookies - which quickly became favorites. In no time at all, Mirelle put on twenty pounds. When it was time to return home she was a little nervous about what her family and friends would think of the "new" Mirelle. The story of seeing her family for the first time after being away is funny and heart wrenching at the same time. I can’t do justice to this story, so I would recommend buying the book and reading it on your own. Later, her mother set up a secret meeting with their family physician, "Dr. Miracle", who helped her to shed the extra pounds, and more importantly, taught her how to live like a French Woman.

This book is not a miracle diet. In fact, French Women Don’t Get Fat isn’t a "diet" book at all. What it does is suggest ways to help you live a balanced, healthier lifestyle. The first thing the book suggests is to take an inventory of what you eat for a couple of weeks. By looking at your food journal, you should be able to see what your "offenders" are - meaning what foods you are overeating. For example, Mirelle’s offenders were sweets. Once you recognize what foods you are eating out of balance, your next step is to identify why you overeat in this category. For example, if your "offender" is bread, you might notice that you are eating a lot of bread when you go to restaurants. You could then decide to only have one slice before your meal comes. The book also discusses changing the way you think. You aren’t skimping on the bread because you are depriving yourself something you love, you are merely saving room for other things. The pleasure of most foods is in the first few bites, as French Women Don’t Get Fat points out. After that we are just eating on autopilot. If you can avoid eating without thinking, you can avoid eating excess food. French women eat with their heads and do not leave the table feeling stuffed or guilty.

Another secret of the French this book points to is drinking more water. We all know that water is good for us, but how many of us really drink as much as we should? The secret is to add water to your daily routine. Drink a glass of water before you eat your breakfast. Once you have established this as part of your routine, then add another glass before going to bed. French Women Don’t Get Fat reminds us that sleeping is a very dehydrating process. When both of these are routine, make it a habit to drink water each time you pass a water fountain. French women drink water all throughout the day.

Once you are drinking more water, you will probably feel healthier than ever. Since water has no calories, no preservatives, and nothing extra added, you might find that you are interested in the ingredients of the other foods you are consuming. Have you ever read the list of ingredients in a frozen dinner? What is all of that stuff? Why are we consuming things we can’t even pronounce? Another key to eating like the French is what the author of this book calls "Ritual Preparation." While she lived at home, Mireille’s mother prepared almost all of the food that she consumed. None of it was filled with preservatives, and most everything was fresh. French Women Don’t Get Fat recommends going to the market several times a week, and selecting the freshest ingredients. By market the book is referring to a farmers market, and not the supermarket. Quality ingredients equal quality food. When you are eating quality, you won’t need the quantity to make up for the lack of taste. Also, set the table like you would find at a restaurant - real napkins even. The extra attention to details will help you remember to savor your food. Also, sit down as a family, and turn off the television. Make meal time a ritual.

According to this book, you also need to move like a French woman. We aren’t talking about hours of grueling exercise at the gym. What we are talking about is adding more movement to your daily routine. Walk to work, or if you work too far, then get off the train one stop early and walk the rest of the way to work. Or, add in a daily walk before eating breakfast. Take the stairs instead of the elevator when possible. French Women Don’t Get Fat advised to not avoid precious steps: think of ways to add in more movement to your daily routine.

This book also includes recipes for foods such as Grilled Spring Lamb Shops, Asparagus Flan, Cauliflower Gratin, Grilled Chicken with Rosemary, Egg Omelet with Mixed Herbs and Ricotta Cheese, among many others. Since the French enjoy bread so much, recipes for Baguettes and Croissants are included too. The book has menu ideas as well.

If you need a good book to inspire you to lose a little weight so that you feel good about yourself, then French Women Don’t Get Fat is where you should turn. Because the focus of this book is not about depriving yourself of good things, but about making focused choices to help you accomplish something even better, you will be motivated to change a few of your bad habits into good habits - and therefore live a more fulfilled and slimmer life.

Nicole Beck is a homemaker and loving mother of three. With her free time (which with three is hard to come by), she enjoys reading steamy novels. She buys all her books from the Book Price Comparison website CompareBook.com.

Visit CompareBook.com to read reviews, find similar titles, and search for the lowest possible price for French Women Don’t Get Fat: The Secret of Eating For Pleasure and other great books.

Have you heard about the South Beach Diet delivery? Or, are you familiar with the South Beach Diet delivery? If so, then great for you!

The South Beach Diet is one of the popular diet sin the world today. Having received great compliments from the people and having reached a good reputation, the South Beach Diet continues to prosper through its new developments in the diet field. However, when dealing about the South Beach Diet delivery service, as what most of the other diets like the zone diet catered to, the South Beach Diet delivery service is not well-known to everyone.

So does a South Beach Diet delivery service exist?

With the information given by most of the notable resources on the web, there is no such thing as South Beach Diet delivery service. In fact, several resources have noted that the South Beach Diet as a leader in the packaged diet food sector does not offer fresh food South Beach Diet delivery services. But is this explanation an exact basis to conclude that there is no such thing as South Beach Diet delivery services? Well, I don’t think so. Perhaps, wholly yes, but partly no.

For much information, many resources have considered that unlike the Zone diet which made an availability for a Zone diet delivery services fro areas in the United States and Canada, the South Beach Diet does not open up to a South Beach Diet delivery services. Along with that, the prices noted for delivery meals range from about $35 to $45 a day. It may be a little pricey, but some people still feel that it is an investment for their health and lifestyle.

So just recently, to attack those claims that there is no South Beach Diet delivery services, here is the noted company, the NutriFit, which is considered to have open up for a South Beach Diet delivery service in Los Angeles. Fortunately, with their South Beach Diet delivery service, the South Beach Diet can then be delivered to you door in Los Angeles.

It is noted that their South Beach Diet delivery service is actually a South Beach Diet personal catering which is a comprehensive meal service that is designed to accommodate the dieters’ health and lifestyle needs. Due to the intense needs of the people to have received a South Beach Diet delivery service, the company has been opening their South Beach Diet delivery services which are basically maintained by their effort to deliver personalized meals since the year 1987. As such, they customized the dieters’ meal plan to level the preferred taste, nutrition and fitness objectives, and including particular health concerns. So it is noted that whether the aim is weight loss or gain, disease management or health enhancement, the company can help. So for you to receive a South Beach Diet delivery service from them, they match the number of meals you need to your schedule and by telling them what fits into your lifestyle, they can definitely give you a South Beach Diet delivery service.

Check out our low carb recipes site. Feel free to redistribute this article as long as there is an active hyperlink pointing to our site. Enjoy.

When my third child came along it was decided I would go to Dr. Choppemoff’s clinic for a scalpel-less vasectomy. Thus began an ordeal I call the Enlarged Scrotum Syndrome.

As I imagined it would be, the whole process was demeaning. When I first met the dick doc, he rolled his chair over to me, and without looking up said, “Drop your pants.”

While he examined my goods I summoned the courage to look down. Yikes, something was missing. No not missing, my goalie decided to play Mr. Turtle and hide himself away.

I tried to relax, and was determined to make this doctor laugh. So I said, “I bet you do this to all the boys?” This guy was as cold as his hands, and didn’t even smile.

The next appointment was the actual surgery itself, performed in a room in the doctor’s office. Beforehand, I was to shave the scrotum and apply topical Novocain to freeze the skin. The doctor would freeze it further with a needle, make a 1/4 inch puncture, pull the vas deferens out, snip, cauterize, and done. It should take 15 minutes.

As I lay on the table wearing just my shirt and socks, he draped a green blanket with a two-inch square hole over my groin. Although nervous, I was resolute to at least make this guy smile. When he came toward me with a hypodermic needle I put up one hand and said, “Uh doctor? You might feel a slight prick.” Nothing — not even a smirk — what a stiff.

The surgery took about 25 minutes. Afterward, Dr. Choppemoff reluctantly admitted he encountered a little difficulty, but assured me that the smoke from my groin was a normal part of cauterizing. He told me to put on my pants, and help myself to a cookie and some juice. (While, I’m sure he slipped out for a cigarette.)

Everything went fine for two years, until last month when I felt some irritation with the family jewels. That, together with a swollen scrotum the size of a grapefruit, compelled me to see my family physician. He recommended a specialist.

While waiting in an examination room at the urologist’s office, a big man well over six feet tall walked in, looked down at me, and I gulped hard.

“Okay my friend,” he said. “I have big hands and love my job. You know the drill.”

I dropped my britches and gritted my teeth. Dr. Big-Hands put on gloves, but not the latex kind. He put on flimsy plastic gloves, like they wear at the sandwich shop. He checked out my testicles looking for raisin size lumps. None were found and he said, “Turn your head and cough.” All the while, the sandwich gloves sounded like squirrels romping through fall leaves. My teeth were not the only things clenched. He slapped my bum and told me to relax. (yeah sure.)

He explained to me about Bacterial Prostatitus, and how it would be treated with expensive antibiotics for six weeks. He assured me not to worry; only one in a thousand patients react to the drugs with diarrhea, nausea and headaches.

So, after two days of headaches and nausea, I returned to work.

I am now at the end of the antibiotic regimen, and my gonads have returned their normal spunky self. My Sphincter has once again returned to normal duty. The doctor said I am at no greater risk for prostate cancer than he is.

I had to ask, “Are you at risk for prostate cancer?” He answered ‘no’, and I’m so happy for both of us.

Harry Ehrentraut has been speech writer and public speaker for many years.

Teeth health begins with proper eating habits and not necessarily with the avoidance of sweets, including chocolate candy, candy cane, candy bar or hard candy, but the clue is getting the balance right. When it comes to choosing the food for your kids, consider sweet candy as part of their diet, teaching them to keep healthy teeth.

Caring for teeth requires your children brush their teeth twice a day, no matter if they eat chocolate candy or just other types of foods during the day. A Candy cane is not a tool to clean their teeth, as many kids believe playing with it in their mouth. Anyone who eats foods high in sugar is required to brush daily.

Sweet candy plays a part in tooth decay. The best way to keep smiling is using fluoride toothpastes. Help children develop a teeth brushing routine, limiting candy bars and hard candy intake during the day, and never after brushing their teeth at bedtime to avoid microorganisms working on their mouth by night.

The American Dental Association has animations and games online aimed to teach children how to brush and other fundamentals of oral health care. They teach kids to be aware of the damage that chocolate candy, candy cane, candy bar, hard candy and other sweet candy may cause in the long run if cleaning regularly is practiced.

The best way to encourage kids’ dental hygiene is by providing them with flavored fluoride toothpaste to make brushing a more enjoyable experience. In fact, many dentists recommend changing the taste and appearance of toothpaste on a regular basis for better results.

Research has found children who like to brush twice each day, do it for longer periods of time when the toothpaste is flavored because they associate the taste with sweet candy. Appropriate brushing prevents gum disease, cavities and other dental health issues caused by the consumption of a candy bar or chewable hard candy.

Kid’s age 6 or less should brush using no more than a pea-sized dab of toothpaste to remove plaque. This simple action is enough to provide the necessary fluoride protection against chocolate candy, candy cane and regular food that is stuck to teeth during the day.

Healthy eating habits contribute to healthy teeth, because the snacks that kids eat are basically made of sweet candy, the more they eat the more risk of leading to formation of cavities. Limit your children’s snacks is not a good idea because they need food for energy, but substituting candies for nutritious foods such as vegetables sticks are best.

Natalie Aranda writes on family, health and child education. Sweet candy plays a part in tooth decay. The best way to keep smiling is using fluoride toothpastes. Help children develop a teeth brushing routine, limiting candy bars and hard candy intake during the day, and never after brushing their teeth at bedtime to avoid microorganisms working on their mouth by night.

Blogs have many advantages over normal WebPages when it comes to internet marketing. Blogs are indexed much faster, blogs can “ping” hundreds of blog and news directories, and blogs can be listed in places normal websites are not. Here are some Power Tips to get your blog rolling!

1.) If your blog is new, create at least three to five posts per day. People who visit will want something to read. Also, focus on keywords in your niche topic for “natural” search engine optimization.

2.) Add your blog to your My Yahoo! page. If you haven’t setup a My Yahoo yet, just go to yahoo.com and click on the My Yahoo! icon near the top right. After your setup, go to your My Yahoo page and click on the “add content” button found near the upper right. You will be presented with a form to enter your RSS link. You will enter something like this “http://yourdomain.com/blog/?feed=rss2″. When you submit your own RSS to My Yahoo it is indexed by Yahoo.

3.) Add your blog to your Google’s Reader. When you submit your own blog RSS to Google’s Reader the Google Blog Search will index your site. To do this, goto google.com, click on the “personalize home” or “my account” button in the upper left. After you account is setup, sign in and click on the “add content” button in the upper left of your page.

4.) Add a link directory to your blog and trade links with sites that share a similar niche. At this point, you want to trade links mainly to get direct traffic. In the long term, this will help with your rankings in the search engines as well. Do a search like “add url” or “add link” in your favorit search engine to find potential link partners.

5.) Use ping sites like http://pingomatic.com Ping your site every time you add a new post. Check to see if your blog software is already doing this. Wordpress and B2Evolution do this automatically and is a real time saver.

6.) Submit your blog to traditional search engines such as Google, AltaVista, and MSN.

7.) Submit your blog to traditional directories such as DMOZ.com Directories (particularly DMOZ) increase relevance with Google. DMOZ is very picky and can sometimes take months to get listed.

8.) Submit to as many RSS Directories as possible. There are over 150 listed at http://www.masternewmedia.org/rss/top55/. This is a simple but repetitive process that can be done automatically with RSS submission software.

9.) Comment on other blogs and forums. Do not just leave short, lazy comments like “I agree.” Try to really answer questions or give opinions on subjects you know. How long your post will be depends on you. Generally, five to ten sentences is enough to explain yourself on someone else’s blog or forum. Most forums require you to register, so include a link to your blog in your profile and/or in your signature file. But be tactful about it; some forums get annoyed with those who selfishly drop a few links to their own site and leave. Find a relevant group on Google groups, Yahoo groups, MSN groups or any of the thousands of other FREE group services and find like minded people and talk with them. Make sure your use your blog URL like it is your name.

10.) Use track backs. If there is a blog that you refer to or quote and it is highly relevant to your subject, leave a track back. It increases your link popularity and may even score a few interested readers from the linked site. A TrackBack is a mechanism used in a blog to show, around an entry, a list of other blogs that refer to it.

Although these are some of the most popular ways to drive traffic to your blog, do not limit your self to tips and lists. Use your imagination and you will come up with thousands of ways to drive traffic to your blog!

Robert Rogers is a writer in the Washington DC area. For more tips on internet marketing and bloggin, visit his blog at http://affiliatepowertools.com/inside/

That’s the question lots of people are asking - and the answers are as varied as all the blogs out there in cyberspace.
Oh, and in case you don’t know what blogs are, they’re web logs that are updated regularly, sometimes daily, kind of like an online diary. Even if you’re aware of blogs, you may have thought they were reserved for your teenage daughter…but think again!

Millions and millions

Blogs are growing like … well … blogs. Literally hundreds of corporations now have their own blogs. If you’re thinking names like Microsoft, Cisco, Sun Microsystems and IBM, you’re right. But add to that some surprising bloggers, including Boeing, P.R. firms Hill & Knowlton and Burson-Marsteller, Stone Creek Coffee Roasters and even a Savile Row Tailor, Thomas Mahon, and you’ll get an idea of just how big the idea of creating on-line logs has become.

In fact, there are more than 9 million blogs out there, with 40,000 new ones popping up each day. Admittedly, some are just plain silly (and not just those teenage girls). But even assuming that 99.9% aren’t worth reading, that leaves at least 40 new ones - every single day - that could be talking to your customers or engaging your employees.

So, what does it all mean for business?

Blogs have evolved into the latest approach to web content. Whether blogging is a here-today, gone-tomorrow fad or proves to be a new way to communicate with customers - either existing or potential - remains to be seen, but it deserves at least a closer examination.

Many companies under pressure to keep website content fresh and attractive think blogs are the answer. Innovative content is becoming a must for online businesses, both to be found by search engines and to give visitors a reason to return (and to buy).

Business blogs let companies give customers industry news and tell them how their products can be beneficial. And the fact that copy is updated daily increases the chances that search engines will find your site.

Ready to jump on the bandwagon?

If you decide to use a blog for your business, you must set a schedule and stick to it. Tell your readers what to expect and when to expect it. Blogs can direct attention to areas of your business that you want to showcase. You manage the content, but let your readers and customers guide you.

Blogs may or may not be for you, but you can’t afford to ignore them, because they’re changing how businesses communicate. Deciding to blog or not to blog is undoubtedly your decision, but keep in mind that ideas circulate at warp speed and customers are always out there, sniffing around for deals. And thousands of companies are looking at ways to collect ideas from blogs, dust ads into them, and even determine what their competitors are up to.

Whatever you do, have fun and good luck!

Allison Nazarian is president and chief copywriter of Get It In Writing, a Florida-based company that helps businesses nationwide harness the power of words to sell, inform and publicize. Allison can be reached at 561.487.3917 or anazarian@getitinwriting.biz.

Copyright© Get It In Writing, Inc. May be reprinted without permission of Get It In Writing, Inc and Allison Nazarian if in full, unchanged format and with complete attribution to author.