Love your motorcycle? Want to die?

If you want to ride your motorcycle without a helmet - you must have a death wish. Sound harsh? Then explain to me how a state that repeals its helmet law now has a rise in motorcycle deaths due to head injury?

According to a press release issued by the University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences, "Pennsylvania motorcyclists suffered large increases in head injury deaths and hospitalizations in the two years following the repeal of its motorcycle helmet law, according to a University of Pittsburgh study to be published in the August issue of the American Journal of Public Health, available online June 12. Even after accounting for increases in motorcycle registrations that occurred during this period, study authors noted a 32 percent increase in head injury deaths and a 42 percent increase in head injury-related hospitalizations, raising concerns about motorcyclists' safety and the impact of this trend on health care costs."

There's a reason why unhelmeted motorcyclists are called "organ donors" by many who work in emergency departments.

Yeah, I do feel strongly about this. Can you tell?

Today at Help My Hurt:

Friday Funnies - June 13

Lupus more severe in patients with Southern European ancestry

UK ‘Challenging Pain’ program showing good results for managing arthritis pain

5 ways to help a child with a migraine

Today at Womb Within:

Video: Caesarian section

First-ever trial investigating if HIV prevention gels safe for pregnant women & their babies

What type of prenatal class is right for you?

Taking care of your skin while pregnant (and sample give-away)

Ultrasounds for prenatal photos? Think twice before going ahead

News for Today:

Almost half of Canadians wouldn't call 9-1-1 on signs of stroke: survey

Cutting salt intake saves lives and money: study

Whole body vibration may do muscles, bones good

Head injuries increase after motorcycle helmet law repeal

Do you watch celebrities and their health?

Over at b5Media, in the Health and Wellness channel, we're having a Celebrity Health week. The goal is for the bloggers of the various topics to find celebrities to write about. While some bloggers are having an easy time, others are having a more difficult time because of their topic. Some issues are not easily spoken of if you are a celebrity.

When Michael J. Fox announced that he had Parkinson's disease, it definitely raised the awareness of the disease and probably contributed to a rise in donations for research. And the same happens with other diseases. But what about the diseases that aren't mentioned, like mental illness and suicide?

When a celebrity commits suicide, it's all over the news for a while and then it dies down as if nothing had ever happened. I've addressed the topic of suicide here before. I strong, strongly believe that if the numbers of people who are dying from suicide were to be dying of a disease or accident by a particular consumer product, there would be research galore and public outcry.

But, with mental illness and suicide, there is no public outcry. There is no push for research. There is no money to help these people - who feel they have no way out - keep from ending their lives. Which, by the way, tends to repeat itself in families, especially among males. Because my brother committed suicide, his sons are at a higher risk of doing so as well. And yet, what is being done? Nothing. Nothing at all.

Sad, isn't it?

Today at Help My Hurt:

Most common outdoor recreational injuries

Pregnancy and migraines

Poetry to ease the pain? (and a poetry book give-away)

Mirapexin/Sifrol can reduce leg pain from restless legs syndrome

Children with migraines have higher risk of sleep apnea and other disorders

FDA Recall: Morphine Sulfate 60 mg Extended Release Tablets - Recall of a Single Lot

Press Release: FDA Broadens Indication for Once-Yearly Reclast for Prevention of Fractures After a Hip Fracture

Today at Womb Within:

Where moms are giving birth

MayoClinic.com answers question about migraines in pregnancy

H&W Celebrity Week: Pregnant Laila Ali speaks about couples staying connected

Drunk mother gives birth to drunk baby

H&W Celebrity week: Ashlee Simpson keeping fit during pregnancy

News for Today:

Number of Ontarians with diabetes projected to hit 1.2 million by 2010

Officials warn against raw milk trend

Working out may prevent drug, alcohol addiction

US life expectancy rises, Alzheimer's deaths mount

New CDC Study First to Present National Outdoor Recreational Injury Estimates

New Study of Episiotomy and Tearing in Future Births

Rural, unmarried women at higher risk for depression

do you know what a blog carnival is?

I didn't know what a blog carnival was and I was too shy to ask. I figured that it was something that everyone knew except me. Until I finally asked and then I thought, hey, that's a great idea.

For those who don't know what blog carnival is, it's an organized post on someone's blog that is about a certain topic and anyone is welcome to submit a post from their own blog, as long as it fits in the theme. You can have a blog carnival on movies, lung cancer, dogs, anything you want.

So, I thought - hey - I can do that. And I did. In May, I launched the Living with Pain blog carnival and yesterday we had June's edition. It was quite successful for only a second edition, I think. If you'd like to check it out, it's here: June: Living with Pain Blog Carnival

The next edition is in July, so if you have a blog about pain and think you'd like to have a link in the carnival, just give me a shout.

I also started one for pregnancy - just new now. I still have to put the widget in the side bar. I'll try to do that sometime today.

Today at Help My Hurt:

Children with migraines have higher risk of sleep apnea and other disorders

FDA Recall: Morphine Sulfate 60 mg Extended Release Tablets - Recall of a Single Lot

Press Release: FDA Broadens Indication for Once-Yearly Reclast for Prevention of Fractures After a Hip Fracture

Today at Womb Within:

IBD relapse during pregnancy raises risk of preterm delivery

A pregnancy "meme" or game of tag

Womb surgery ’saves baby’s leg’

Morning sickness may be worse if you’re thin

News for Today:

Smoking, high BMI may lead to hearing loss, study suggests

Toronto woman seeks bone marrow transplant from donor of Chinese descent

More people getting HIV than being treated for it, UN says

St. John's Wort of no help for ADHD symptoms

Naps Best Way to Fight Midday Nods

A Blood Substitute's Effectiveness and Safety Addressed in Large Clinical Trial

Accuracy of mammography varies by facility

End-of-life patients need big picture

Light therapy 'can slow dementia'

Keeping seniors cool in the heat

While we take time to enjoy the warmer weather, it's important to realize that this heat can deadly for those who are very young, sick, or old. Here is a press release issued by the AARP for helping seniors keep cool, but it provides good information for all ages when it comes to being smart during heat waves:

    NEW YORK, June 9 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Older people are especially
at risk from heat-related health problems such as heatstroke and heat
exhaustion. With the heat wave we are currently experiencing, now is not
the time to do chores, run errands or weed your garden.

  "Heat can be miserable for all ages, but potentially life threatening
for older persons," according to Lois Aronstein, State Director, AARP New
York.

  Here are 10 tips for dealing with a heat wave:

  1. Relax and put off chores and any strenuous activity.

  2. Stay indoors during the hottest times of the day.

  3. Close your shades to keep out the sunshine.

  4. If you do not have air conditioning, stay on the lower-level in your
home --heat rises.

  5. Check with your local agency for cool places you can go such as
libraries and public buildings, or a mall with air conditioning.

  6. Wear light-weight, loose fitting clothing and protect yourself from
the sun by wearing a hat, sunglasses or using an umbrella.

  7. Drink plenty of water even if you are not thirsty. This helps keep
your body cool.

  8. Avoid alcohol or caffeinated beverages.

  9. If you have a chronic medical condition, talk with your doctor about
additional precautions you should take to prevent heat related illness.
Some conditions and medications may place you at higher risk.

  10. Neighbors, friends or family should check in on older people in
their homes to make sure they are not suffering from the heat.

SOURCE AARP


Today at Help My Hurt:

June: Living with Pain Blog Carnival

Discovery channel show you may be interested in

Chest pain: is it a heart attack?

Help My Hurt continues to follow Olympic cyclist Kristin Armstrong

Today at Womb Within:

Eating disorders and pregnancy

Gas?

Do you like to watch Discovery Channel’s baby shows?

H&W Celebrity week: Jessica Alba has her baby

News for Today:

Low vitamin D levels linked to increased heart attack risk: study

One-third of bypass surgery deaths could be prevented, data indicates

Study suggests exercise might curb drug addictions

Relatives of breast cancer patients face increased risk of benign breast tumours

Why mobile phone addiction is bad for kids

Oily fish 'cuts eye disease risk'

One in 10 Girls Engages in Frequent Binge Eating or Purging

Students with a delayed school start time sleep longer, report less daytime sleepiness

Raptor Pharmaceuticals Corp. Receives FDA Orphan Drug Designation for Cysteamine in Huntington's Disease

Teens and young adults may wait longer for cancer diagnosis

Here's a frightening thought: if you're a teen or a young adult and you have the signs and symptoms of cancer, you may have to wait longer before being diagnosed than a younger child or an adult.

According to this press release, Teenagers and young adults with cancer can face long delays before finally being diagnosed, "out of 207 young people with cancer who took part in an interactive survey, four out five sought medical help very quickly and only seven per cent delayed for a matter of months. Approximately half of the patients with Hodgkin lymphoma, brain and bone cancers had to visit their general practitioner (GP) four or more times before they were referred to a specialist."

The release goes on to say: "It would appear that when we compare these data with studies of children with cancer, teenagers and young adults do face greater delays in diagnosis, particularly for bone and brain tumours and Hodgkin lymphoma. In our studies the professional interval has always been longer than patient symptom interval. There appears to be delay at primary, secondary and tertiary care levels. Interventions are being explored, both to educate the public, and young people in particular, to seek help for worrying symptoms and to empower them to push for referral to specialists. However, it would seem to be more important to raise awareness amongst professionals to recognise worrying signs and to trigger them to be more rapid in their response; in addition, they need to ensure simple and rapid referral pathways for investigation and subsequent treatment. Whether this will improve survival remains unclear but it will reduce anxiety, anger and distrust of doctors."

Is it because the teens and young adults aren't believed when they present with their complaints? Or is it because the medical community doesn't want to think of teens and young adults having a disease like cancer?

What do you think? Have you had any experience with this sort of thing?