I find this article extremely interesting considering that multiple times this year, I have gone through different tests and such, and I possibly have a food allergy to MSG. Reading this article almost made me laugh from how accurate it is and how opening/informative it was. I knew that telling if someone had a food allergy was difficult, but I never realized it was this difficult. From reading this article, it sounds pretty much like a guessing game. I don't know if it's possible to find a better, more certain way to test a person for food allergies, but I sure wish there was. The article says, "It's a limiting diagnosis; it's difficult socially, it's difficult nutritionally..." this quote is so true. I'm not 100% sure that I have a food allergy, but this year has been extra difficult for me because I've been dealing with the possibility. I got a rash/hives from whatever it is that I'm allergic to, and it really does limit you socially... a lot! Even if other people don't really notice, it makes everything more difficult. With the added stress, and frustration... things would definitely be much easier if there was a clear test that could say 'yes, you are allergic to this allergen,' but, no such luck. I think that the new guidelines they are working on are definitely needed, and hopefully they are successful and show improvement. However, I have a feeling that food allergies will always be a big guessing game, or if they do come up with some way to tell, the test will be so expensive that the average person will not be able to afford it. Doctors and medicine and tests are discovered and are made to help people, so I don't understand why they are all so expensive that so many people can not take the help they need and are offered... I guess life wasn't made to be easy, we all have to have some major challenges. For all of the people suffering from food allergies out there; I feel for you, and, in the future, I wish us all success!
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
"Food Allergy Diagnosis 'an Inexact Science'"
A food allergy does not have a universally accepted definition, and it does not have accepted criteria for diagnosis. Some people who have severe food allergies may not respond to the common tests, and others may be avoiding certain foods, but they may not even have a food allergy. There is no cure for food allergies, and it is uncertain why people develop food allergies. There are three main tests to see if one has a food allergy, the skin prick test- a small amount of certain foods are put in below the surface of the skin,- blood tests- test blood for the allergy related antibody Immunoglobulin E,- and the patch test- one wears a patch of a possible allergen on their skin for a few days. However, these tests are not positive, or 100% correct all of the time. They do not include how severely one will react to a certain allergen or how they will react if they ingest that substance. Other methods should be considered, because if one relies just on the test alone, many may be over-diagnosed. New guidelines are being worked on and are intended on being out the fall of 2010. The guidelines include physicians to go through the patient's history and exclude other possibilities, then use a skin or blood test, and then (if the test is positive) follow up with giving the patient the allergen in a controlled setting. Regardless of the new guidelines, diagnosing food allergies will continue to be a challenge, but figuring out if one really has an allergy is important, because allergies limiting, socially and nutritionally.
Sunday, May 9, 2010
"BP: Crews Dealt Setback in Placing Containment Dome at Oil Spill Site"
The oil spill, which is increasing by 210,000 gallons: equal to 5,000 barrels a day, was set to be potentially 'fixed' aka 'under control' by placing a containment dome over the broken wellhead. However, BP was dealt a setback because many hydrates (crystals which form when gas combines with water) accumulated inside of the dome. The hydrates make the dome float and they blocked the tope of the dome so BP would not be able to funnel the oil up into a ship. Now the crews must work hard to get rid of the hydrates. Workers did know that hydrates would be a problem, just not this big of a problem. The dome is not guaranteed to work, it has never been tested at the conditions it will be in in the ocean. There is another possible solution be considered, which includes "tak[ing] ground up material of various types and try[ing] to inject it into the blowout preventer at the bottom of it and it will flow up and plug it up." This method also has it's risks. Some success can be said about the oil spill though. Thousands of volunteers worked to skim the water's surface and collected 17,500 barrels of an oily-water mix and there were five successful controlled burns.
I'm glad to hear that some success and progress is being made on fixing this oil spill. However, I must say that I'm disappointed in the actions or lack of actions that people are taking. To me it seems that BP has not reacted quickly enough. The oil spill began shortly after April 20. That is ten days short of a full month now. I would think that they would have done something by now to try and halt the growing spill issue. I know that they were working on making this dome, but now to find that they have to do more work on it to make it successful... I would think that with almost a month in preparation, they would have worked out all of the kinks. This spill is a disaster, a man made disaster that is going to harmfully impact the environment in a way that will last for decades! And still, almost a month now, 5,000 barrels of oil are spilling into the ocean every day! I just can't really grasp on the idea that it has been a month and nothing has been done or attempted... well I guess one thing has, but still, I feel that this attempt is long overdue and should have been done a matter of days after the spill began. People should have been working major overtime, and more workers, more ideas, more care, more action should have been present. Maybe I'm just thinking idealistically and none of this is actually possible, but then again, maybe I'm not. All I can do is pray that things get fixed soon and that actions are made and something turns out to be successful. My prayers go out to all of the volunteers, to the people living on the coastline, to the environment and to all of the attempts and work going into trying to fix this disaster.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
"Consequences of spills can last for decades"
The oil spill (which has now began reaching the coastline) started on April 20 when the BP drilling platform in the Gulf of Mexico exploded. Two days later it sank and left oil gushing into the ocean. With multiple conflicts surrounding the issue of stopping the ever-growing spill and getting rid of as much of it as possible before it reaches the coast, people and scientists have felt a growing stress on how they can save the coastline. Since the spill is so large and is growing everyday, we're are facing a "long-term poisoning of the area. Ultimately, this will have a multi-decade impact." The oil spill in Alaska in 1989 consisted of 11 million gallons of oil, and still today one can find oil lying under rocks on beaches. The ultimate damage of the oil spill we are dealing with today can not be officially determined, it all depends on how much reaches the coast. The coast could face much more damage than Alaska's coast did because it is made up of mostly marshland and has calm waters making the oil much more difficult to clean up. One of the big issues with this oil spill is that from the Gulf of Mexico we get 40% of the U.S.'s seafood supply. Some say the damage will last from two- five years, but as we know from the Alaskan beaches, the damage can last much longer than that!Sometimes I just have to wonder how people come up with ideas... who just randomly thought to drill for oil in the ocean? First, I have to say that I'm glad this spill happened before President Obama's oil drilling plan started, and I hope that this puts a huge gap and prevents or at least puts more restrictions on this drilling. I have seen some footage of the oil spill in Alaska and people trying to clean up from it... I know that it was a lot of hard work with long hours and that many animals and plants suffered greatly, not to mention how it affected the whole ecosystem. I honestly don't really care about the oil spill today will affect the seafood, how the spill, once it reaches the shore, will destroy a large amount of the seafood the U.S. consumes. I don't like and therefore don't eat seafood, but I know that with this loss, many people will not be happy and it could be possible that some businesses will have to suffer a lot and pay more to import seafood which people won't like as much, lose business, and some may go bankrupt. What I'm more concerned about is the coastline and how it will affect the ecosystems and habitats in those areas. Especially with much of the coast being marshland, the oil will affect it that much more with the calm waters and such. Just think of all of the poor animals that will not be able to escape and the plants that will have a slow death, like you being wrapped in plastic with no air holes, just left sitting there to die. I really hope that people will learn a lesson from this and move forward- in a positive direction. There obviously needs to be greater restrictions for oil companies: more check-ups or replacing more often or routine checks to make sure things are working properly... something needs to be done. Or, I have an idea, let's not drill in the ocean anymore and use that money instead to find ways where we can be non-dependent on oil! People need to focus on helping the environment and earth and not be so selfish. Resources will not be there forever, so let's preserve them so the future can live just as great lives as we have.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
"Ohio Mom, Mystery Man Found in Miami Beach"
Over the weekend (April 17-18) a 31 year old southwestern Ohio mother and her one year old daughter went missing. The mother, Tiffany Tehan, had taken her daughter with her to go to a shopping trip for the day. The mother was found in Miami Beach, Florida today (April 22). She is safe and has been in contact with her family. The day after her disappearance, her vehicle was found abandoned near a skate park with a flat tire. In a surveillance video from a local convenience store she was seen with a man during the months of March and April. The man had also been missing for a few days, he was also found in Miami Beach. The man was not someone that the rest of Tehan's (the missing woman's) family knew. However, the video shows that the missing woman and man appeared to have known each other and they had been seen at that location multiple other times.
This is an interesting story. I am slightly confused though. At the beginning of the article they say that the woman had taken her one year old daughter with her when she left to go on the shopping trip, but later on they do not mention anything about the daughter being missing, they only say that the woman was missing. Also, when I say a segment on the news about this story, they mentioned nothing about a missing child. They did show Tehan's family and her husband was holding a little girl, obviously their daughter, but I did not catch the age. My guess is that the article is mistaken when saying that the woman brought her daughter with her on the shopping trip. I am very glad that the police were able to find her. I know they were showing pictures taken from the surveillance video showing her with the man. The man to me seems to be a suspicious character in this story. So since roughly a month ago, the two were seen more than once at a convenience store, then, when the woman was reported missing, the police found her vehicle with a flat tire (meaning she was possibly taken or set up, etc.) and finally, the man had also been missing for a couple of days but was found in Miami Beach- the exact place Tehan was found. I would call that very suspicious. I hope they figure out all of the missing clues to this story and a follow up is released. It will be interesting to find out what happened in this story. I guess time will tell...
Thursday, April 8, 2010
"China Rescues 115 from Flooded Mine"
On March 28, 2010, the Wangjialing mine in Shanxi province China flooded by underground water. More than a week after this flood, 115 miners were pulled out of the mine alive. They were taken out wrapped in blankets on stretchers and taken to waiting ambulances, they were said to have been in stable condition. There were a total of 261 workers in the mine when it flooded, 108 men were able to be reach immediately, after the 115 were pulled out, there were another 38 believed to be in the mine. Two days before the major rescue, tapping was heard from inside the mine and the night before the rescue swaying lamp lights were said to have been seen. Some of the miners thought smartly and attached their belts to the shaft walls when the water first began to rush in. After three days of suspending there, a mining cart floated by and they jumped inside. There was a total of 50 rescue groups including 200 people. This is not a first for China, in 2009 there were 2,631 people who died in mining accidents.
I think it's a miracle that so many of the miners were able to be rescued after such a long time in the mine. More than a week is an extremely long time to be anywhere where you have no food, safe drinkable water and the conditions are unsafe. So for the men to be safe is a miracle. I'm guessing that the mine must not have been completely full with water- obviously for the men to have survived they would have needed to breath oxygen- but I'm also guessing that the water must have been higher then the mens' hight considering that when the article described the way some of them attached their belts then later jumped into the mining cart, it said that the men "remained suspended for three days." I also wish to know if the other 38 men who were believed to still be in the mine after the initial 108 and then the 115 featured in this article, were rescued or not. Aside from those who were being rescued, an honor goes out to those who were doing the rescuing. For more than 200 people to be working to help the men inside is awesome. Finally, going to the last part of the article, it's hard to believe that, with 2,631 people having died last year in mining accidents and that being a lower number than other years, that they don't have stricter guidelines, regulations and procedures for the mines in China. The article mentioned that they are setting a campaign to inspect the safety regulations, but this has been going on for years. I don't understand why they haven't made changes before now.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
"Man fatally stabs 8 schoolchildren in China"
In Nanping City in Fujian province, about nine hundred miles from Beijing, a forty-one year old man attacked. The man "stabbed eight children to death and wounded five others." The kids were students as the Experimental School. The man attacked shortly after seven a.m. on Tuesday, March 23, 2010. The school has more than two thousand students and is "considered one of the best in the city of three million people." The man who committed the crime used to work at a community clinic, he was a doctor. There are mixed opinions and rumors on if he resigned from his job or if he was fired. There is not a lot of information on this story, but it is still tragic. The poor poor families of these children, I feel for them so much and they will be in my prayers. It is really hard to hear about people killing other people, especially when there doesn't appear to be a reason or if there is a reason it is really petty and insignificant. It is 80 times worse to hear of people killing kids. I can only ask the typical questions, what did the kids ever do to him? Why did they stick out of all other people? Why did he feel the need to kill them? - What's wrong with him? I just don't understand the logic of some people on this planet. I really don't. How people get the feelings inside of them to kill other human beings- other human beings that they don't even know- other human beings who are one hundred percent innocent... I can't comprehend these questions, or the answers to them that people come up with. I really hope that they release more information on this incident. It will be really interesting to find out if the kids who were injured are ok, and how the man is punished (I'm not even sure if they caught him), how he explains his actions, etc. This world seems to need an attitude or action or some kind of adjustment. Let's keep the peace and happiness and goodness and let them run us.
"Cold case: Mom, tot disappear during custody dispute"
Mike Kibalo and his wife Ann Yermak were scheduled to have a divorce hearing on February 5, 2001. They had a daughter together, and three weeks after her birth Ann Yermak filed for divorce. The two had agreed on a shared custody agreement for the time until the hearing for their daughter Samantha. Mike Kibalo brought his daughter to the police department in order to follow with the scheduled visitation exchange the day before the court hearing was supposed to take place. It was rumor that Kibalo would receive custody of Samantha during the hearing. However, the hearing did not take place because Yermak and Samantha disappeared. Yermak had shown signs of Munchausen syndrome by proxy which is "a condition where a person attributes sickness to someone else, often a child for whom they are caring, even though the child is not sick." According to Kibalo, after he would drop his daughter off, Yermak would bring her to the hospital saying that he had abused their daughter, there was never any evidence of abuse. Yermak thrived off of the attention she received for taking care of a "sick" child. Samantha was two years old when she and her mother disappeared, now she would be eleven years old. (The picture shows what she looked like at the time of disappearance and a computer generated picture of what she might look like now). There is no evidence saying where the two might have gone. They are most likely using new identities and getting help from someone- possibly from Yermak's family. Kibalo is not giving up, he wants to see his daughter again. Every time I hear of these types of stories, it just reminds me of how many weirdos and sick people are on this planet. It also puzzles me how it seems that people can simply appear to "disappear" meaning that they are still living somewhere, but no one can find them. It's hard for me to fully understand how that works. With this particular story, I find a few issues. First, if the mother (Yermak) had shown signs of the condition Munchausen syndrome by proxy, I don't understand why the visits she had with her daughter were not supervised, especially because in the article they mention that a psychiatrist had suggested that "Samantha's future visits with her mother should be supervised." So why weren't they? Also, I'm not quite sure why this is just coming out now. The two have been gone since February 4, 2001. This story came out on March 20, 2010... Why have they not mentioned this before? It is a possibility that it has been shared before, but there is no mention of that in the article. I know that bringing these stories out into the public often helps a lot with finding these people and solving cases, that's why it's important. I think that, considering that the mother had shown signs of a condition where she constantly brought her daughter to doctors/hospitals, that pictures of Samantha and her mom should be in every doctor office and hospital. Doing this could possibly bring about some answers. Also, Yermak had been living with her mother according to the article. She has been questioned but "has provided little help," I think that she, along with the rest of Yermak's family should be thoroughly questioned. I hope that soon they find some answers, it appears that the dad (Kibalo) really loves his daughter and will do whatever he can to find her.
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