Health: Sharon Osbourne Speaks Out About Double Mastectomy ...

By Stephanie Stahl

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) ? Sharon Osbourne, one of the co-hosts of CBS?s ?The Talk,? announced Monday that she had a double mastectomy ? even though she never had breast cancer. The 60-year-old is now fully recovered, and she spoke about her decision to undergo a double mastectomy on ?The Talk.?

Osbourne said she had the surgery in January but waited until now to reveal it. She also explained that she made the dramatic decision in order to prevent breast cancer.

Osbourne said her decision was made after genetic testing confirmed she had a gene that dramatically increased her risk of developing breast cancer.

?It was a decision that I made myself. I wasn?t diagnosed with breast cancer, but I had the gene,? said Osbourne.

?With surgery, it?s a tremendous risk reducer, plus the added benefit of not having to do future mammograms, MRI. It?s a tremendous peace of mind women get with that,? said Dr. Kristin Brill, the Director of Breast Surgery at Cooper Cancer Institute. She also said women with the gene who undergo the surgery before developing cancer cut their risk by about 97 percent.

?It takes some time to come to that decision. It?s not a simple one. It involves thinking about loss of breast, reconstructive options, self image, personal relationships,? said Dr. Brill.

Forty-two-year-old Honey Schwartz, of Plymouth Meeting, went through with the procedure, including reconstruction with implants, after her mom died suddenly of uterine cancer. They both tested positive for the BRCA gene.
Honey is happy Osbourne is sharing her story.

?I think it?s great that somebody in the limelight can talk about it so people that don?t know about it have an opportunity to learn, and then make their own decisions from there,? said Honey.

Genetic testing is done with a simple blood test or cheek swab. Doctors say it?s very reliable, and is often suggested to women who have a long family history of breast or ovarian cancer.

Links:

Breast Cancer Genetic Testing Information: www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/BRCA

Preventive Mastectomy Information: www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Therapy/preventive-mastectomy

FORCE Nonprofit Organization Information: www.facingourrisk.org/

Source: http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2012/11/05/health-sharon-osbourne-speaks-out-about-double-mastectomy-without-breast-cancer/

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Forever, For Always, No Matter What : Catholic Adoption & Home ...

When we were first discerning adoption some 13 years ago, there was a particular incident that occurred while we were growing up that immediately came to mind. ?Bob and I grew up in the same small town. ?We both remember the "baby Jessica" case. ?The family that had to return their toddler to the biological father lived in the town next to ours. ?The lawyer that represented the biological father? ?Before she became his lawyer we lived on the same street. ?It was a case that left a big imprint. ?So, even though in our heads we knew how extreme and rare that case was, in our hearts we knew domestic adoption was not a path we wanted to pursue.?

International adoption has just always been the logical choice for us. ?In fact, way back when I first brought up the word "adoption" it was after seeing an advertisement in the newspaper for an International Adoption seminar. ?We went to the seminar and our fate was sealed, we never looked back. ?We have always felt strongly that International Adoption was the route God was calling us to following.

The thought of travel can sometimes be a turn off for some. ?I don't consider myself an adventurous person and I don't particularly love to travel, but being able to see the countries in which my children were born has been life changing. ?Going to Russia or Korea were never on my "to do" list, but I'm so grateful that I have had the opportunity to visit those countries. ?

I will never forget the seeing the Russian orphanages that either of the boys were in. ?The way they looked, the smells, the sounds {or lack there of}, the people. ?I have a hard time listening to people complain about how awful our country is when I have seen first hand the way other people live and struggle in other countries.

Every once in a while someone would make a comment about taking care of the children in our "own country". ?To which I respond, doesn't every child, no matter where they were born, deserve to have a family? ?I think so too.

For some people, like us, it has been a clear cut decision for each adoption. ?God is calling us all down different paths and each family is different with a unique set of circumstances. ?If God is calling you to adopt, He will make the way clear.

Please be sure to visit Gardenia, Patty, and Grace in My Heart to read their thoughts on the subject.

Gardenia @ My Little Flower

Patty @ Reasons for Chocolate

Source: http://www.foreverforalwaysnomatterwhat.com/2012/11/domestic-vs-international-adoption.html

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Food allergies can make kids targets for bullies - 8 News NOW

By Jenifer Goodwin
HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, Nov. 2 (HealthDay News) -- As the mother of a child with a severe peanut allergy, Nicole Smith was vigilant about reading labels and making sure teachers and school administrators understood that ingesting even a trace amount of peanuts could kill her son.

Dealing with the allergy was challenging -- and got more so when she heard an alarming story. When her son, Morgan, was in first grade, another student chased him around the playground with a peanut butter cracker, shouting, "I'm going to kill you!"

"We were shocked," recalled Nicole, whose son is now a 16-year-old high school junior in Colorado Springs, Colo. "We really weren't prepared that anyone would bully him for his food allergies."

Yet research shows that many kids with food allergies report being bullied or teased about the condition.

About 8 percent of U.S. children are allergic to at least one food, and many of them have multiple food allergies, studies show. The foods most likely to cause reactions in kids include peanuts, tree nuts (such as cashews and walnuts), milk, shellfish and eggs.

A 2010 survey of more than 350 parents of food-allergic kids found that 35 percent of children aged 5 and older were bullied, teased or harassed because of the food allergy, and 86 percent of those reported it happening more than once.

Most of the bullying occurred at school. Although nearly 80 percent of the bullying was done by classmates, more than 20 percent reported that adults, including teachers and school staff, were the perpetrators.

Chillingly, some of the bullying went beyond taunts and teasing, according to the survey. More than half -- 57 percent -- described physical events, such as being touched by an allergen, having an allergen thrown or waved at them, and even intentional contamination of their food with allergen, according to the survey, which was published in the Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology.

"The one thing that makes food allergy different from bullying because of, say, obesity, is that in addition to the emotional and psychological distress, you run the risk of a physical harm if the allergen is indeed placed in food," said lead study author Dr. Jay Lieberman, assistant professor of allergy and immunology at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center and Le Bonheur Children's Hospital in Memphis.

Lieberman noted that the survey respondents did not report any allergic reaction due to intentionally contaminated food, presumably because the food-allergic kids saw it being done and didn't eat the food.

To what extent the teasing or bullying was malicious versus reflecting a lack of understanding about the severity of food allergies isn't known. But food-allergy experts say they've heard plenty of stories -- a child with a peanut allergy having peanut butter smeared on his backpack, or a child with a dairy allergy having milk sprayed at his face through a straw.

"A lot of kids and a lot of parents don't really get that this is life threatening," said Maria Acebal, CEO of the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network. "But we also see the most pernicious kind -- 'I know that this will harm you and I'm going to harm you.'"

There are several explanations for why having food allergies may make kids a target for teasing, experts say. Any time a child is "different" -- whether it's wearing glasses or not being able to eat the same foods as other kids -- other children can seize on that, Acebal said.

But societal attitudes also play a role, including a lack of awareness that something as seemingly innocuous as eating a cookie that has a trace of peanut in it can trigger a fatal reaction in some people, she added.

And food allergies are the butt of jokes on TV and in movies, she said.

"I think our society knows better than to say, 'Ha, ha, there goes the kid in the wheelchair.' People are sensitive to that. But we haven't gotten there yet with food allergies," she said.

To prevent bullying at school, teachers and principals need to make it clear that food allergies are no joke.

"Teachers and administrators would be horrified if they heard someone making fun of a child for diabetes or some other disability," Acebal said. "The same needs to happen for food allergies."

The incident involving Morgan Smith, who is also allergic to tree nuts, sesame, fish and shellfish, was taken seriously at his school. The boy who chased Morgan was suspended for the day. He never bullied Morgan again, and the two even later became friends.

"We were really lucky that it stopped when it did, and really lucky we had a principal that made that occur," Nicole Smith said.

According to the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, warning signs that a child is being bullied can include depression or withdrawal; not wanting to go to school; changes in eating habits, sleep habits or weight loss; or bringing home a full lunchbox or not eating lunch at school.

Morgan urged other kids with food allergies to be assertive, and to speak up and tell parents and teachers if they're being teased or threatened.

"We already have a lot on our mind. I'm trying to deal with foods that could possibly kill me or make me really sick," Morgan said. "So when someone picked on me for trying to deal with that, it was really saddening. It makes it that much harder."

More information

The Food Allergy Initiative has more on food allergies.

Copyright ? 2012 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Source: http://www.8newsnow.com/story/19985058/food-allergies-can-make-kids-targets-for-bullies

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Big Sugar's Sweet Little Lies

Mother Jones:

A growing body of research suggests that sugar and its nearly chemically identical cousin, HFCS, may very well cause diseases that kill hundreds of thousands of Americans every year, and that these chronic conditions would be far less prevalent if we significantly dialed back our consumption of added sugars.

Read the whole story at Mother Jones

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/01/big-sugars-sweet-little-l_n_2056731.html

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NY Marathon canceled, Bloomberg says

The 26.2-mile race that would have wound its way through each borough in the city on Sunday has been canceled, Mayor Bloomberg said, because it has become "the source of controversy and division." NBC's Stephanie Gosk reports.

By Andrew Mach and Elizabeth Chuck, NBC News

NEW YORK ? The New York Marathon will not be held Sunday,?Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Friday, backtracking just a few hours after he defended the decision to hold it despite heavy criticism as the city struggles back from Superstorm Sandy.

"While holding the race would not require diverting resources from the recovery effort, it is clear that it has become the source of controversy and division,"?he said in a statement Friday evening shortly after NBC 4 New York and a few other media outlets reported the cancellation.

"We would not want a cloud to hang over the race or its participants, and so we have decided to cancel it," Bloomberg added. "We cannot allow a controversy over an athletic event -- even one as meaningful as this -- to distract attention away from all the critically important work that is being done to recover from the storm and get our city back on track."

Related: NBCNewYork.com coverage of Marathon's cancellation

A few hours earlier, Bloomberg told a press conference that holding the marathon would be a morale and money boost for the city.

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?If you think back to 9/11, I think Rudy [Giuliani] made the right decision to run the marathon,? Bloomberg said of his predecessor after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. ?It pulled people together and we have to find some ways to express ourselves and show solidarity to each other.??

Mayor Michael Bloomberg defends his decision to keep the New York Marathon on schedule in the wake of Sandy, recalling how the marathon "pulled people together after 911."

The New York City marathon is the world largest, with tens of thousands of participants. In a typical year, New Yorkers line the route?s 26 miles, turning the city into a giant party.

The race winds through all five boroughs, but it starts in hard-hit Staten Island, parts of which look like a disaster zone.

New York City Councilman James Oddo, who represents sections of Staten Island and Brooklyn, had been leading the charge against the marathon.

?If they take one first responder from Staten Island to cover this marathon, I will scream. We have people with no homes and no hope right now,? he posted on Twitter earlier in the week.

At least 19 of New York's 41 deaths occurred in the oft-forgotten borough, home to 500,000. Officials are still searching homes for survivors.?

Jonathan Sanger / NBC News

Runners and workers prepare for the New York City Marathon near Central Park in New York, N.Y. where generators were set up on Friday, November 2, 2012 to power a media tent.

The death toll in the U.S. from Superstorm Sandy neared 100 victims on Friday, as New York City reported one more death and Bloomberg warned: "There could be more fatalities."

?The prudent course of action here???postpone the marathon, come back a different day,? Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer?told TODAY?s Savannah Guthrie. ?Our first priority, let?s help people who lost their homes, who are missing loved ones."

Stringer said downtown Manhattan, the city?s financial hub, "looks like a wasteland" and is not close to being ready for the race, which goes through each of New York?s five boroughs.

Bloomberg had vowed the marathon would not divert any resources from victims, and expected power to be restored to downtown Manhattan by race day.

In defending his decision to go forward, the mayor cited the thousands of out-of-town visitors who come for the marathon.?

Richard Drew / AP

Workers assemble the finish line for the New York City Marathon in New York's Central Park, Thursday, Nov. 1, 2012. The crane atop a high rise that collapsed during Superstorm Sandy is visible at background left.

Those visitors need hotel rooms, but many of them already are occupied by New Yorkers displaced from their homes.?Richard Nicotra, who owns the Hilton Garden Inn in Staten Island, has refused to throw out evacuees to honor reservations for marathon runners, according to NY1.

With power scarce, the three generators set up Friday to provide electricity to the marathon?s media tent in Central Park along the Upper West Side drew some attention.

The two active generators crank out 800 kilowatts of electricity, which would be enough to power 400 homes, the New York Post reported. The third unit, a backup, sits idle, in case one of others fails, the paper said.?

Paul McCarthy, 43, who lives nearby, was walking his dog down Central Park West on Friday as marathon workers and runners whizzed by him.

?I woke up this morning and a lot of people on my Facebook page were saying they should shut it down, but my neighbor just reminded me that a third of the runners come from overseas. So logistically,?they wouldn?t be able to reschedule it, I don?t think,? he said. ?Maybe it would be a good thing for the city just to get something positive going.?

Vote: Do you think the New York City Marathon should be cancelled?

Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer tells TODAY's Savannah Guthrie he believes Mayor Bloomberg should postpone the New York City marathon as congressman Michael Grimm from Staten Island says he's "angry" over plans to continue with the race

His overall assessment of holding the marathon on Sunday: ?Slightly net positive.?

Alberto Eguiguren, 48, a runner from Chile, arrived Thursday night with his two brothers, also marathon runners.

"It shows how the American people are always fighting to have a better country. Even though there was a disaster over the weekend, the people are ready -- not only for the local people but the international, too. We?re here because we really like the States, we really like New York. We really feel it?s one of the best places to run a marathon.... There are a lot of people with damages, but the stores are open, the streets are working. It?s amazing.?

But others are less approving of Bloomberg?s decision.

A?Facebook page?called ?Cancel the 2012 NYC Marathon? had more than 27,000 likes and growing on Friday morning. Claiming to be?started by a New York City resident, the page says, ?The last thing NYC needs at this time is an extra 100,000 people or so flooding our already devastated streets. Things are not back to normal. Our city is working hard enough to recover please do not complicate things with a race.?

David Friedman / NBC News

Superstorm Sandy made landfall Monday evening on a destructive and deadly path across the Northeast.

One commenter suggested Bloomberg should ?postpone [the race] for a month or so and then use the race as a perfect platform to showcase how ALL 5 BOROUGHS have recovered. That shows resilience, and RESPECT for the citizens who have suffered, without foregoing the economic benefits of the race.?

Another commenter asked, "Who would ever want to go to a war zone to run a marathon?"

The New York Road Runners, which organizes the marathon, said the event will bring $340 million to the city. The club also announced on Thursday that it would donate at least $1 million, or $26.20 for each of the more than 40,000 runners expected to participate, to aid New Yorkers affected by Sandy.?

The Rudin Family, one of the founding members of the marathon, said it would donate $1.1 million and the ING Foundation said it would give $500,000.?

Reuters contributed to this report.

Nineteen bodies have been found in Staten Island following Hurricane Sandy and many fear the number will rise. A growing number of Staten Islanders are outraged by what they describe as the slow response from relief organizations. NBC News' Ann Curry reports.

More content from NBCNews.com:

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Source: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/11/02/14880084-new-york-marathon-canceled-bloomberg-says?lite

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New study shows effects of prehistoric nocturnal life on mammalian vision

ScienceDaily (Oct. 31, 2012) ? Since the age of dinosaurs, most species of day-active mammals have retained the imprint of nocturnal life in their eye structures. Humans and other anthropoid primates, such as monkeys and apes, are the only groups that deviate from this pattern, according to a new study from The University of Texas at Austin and Midwestern University.

The findings, published in a forthcoming issue of Proceedings of the Royal Society B, are the first to provide a large-scale body of evidence for the "nocturnal bottleneck theory," which suggests that mammalian sensory traits have been profoundly influenced by an extended period of adaptation to nocturnality during the Mesozoic Era. This period lasted from 250 million years ago to 65 million years ago.

To survive in the night, mammals had a host of visual capabilities, such as good color vision and high acuity, which were lost as they passed through the nocturnal "bottleneck."

"The fact that nearly all living mammals have eye shapes that appear 'nocturnal' by comparison with other amniotes [mammals, reptiles and birds] is a testament to the strong influence that evolutionary history can have on modern anatomy," says Chris Kirk, associate professor of anthropology at The University of Texas at Austin.

According to Kirk, early mammals were predominantly nocturnal during the Mesozoic partly as a strategy for avoiding predation by day-active dinosaurs.

"It's a bit surprising to still see the effects of this long period of nocturnality on living mammals more than 65 million years after non-avian dinosaurs went extinct, but that's exactly what we found," Kirk says.

The research team, led by Margaret Hall, an evolutionary biologist at Midwestern University's Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine, analyzed one of the largest datasets on eye morphology ever assembled. Using a sample of eyeballs from 266 mammal species, the researchers used a multivariate statistical method to show that mammals active by day or night show only minor differences in eye morphology.

The researchers then compared the eyes of mammals, birds and lizards using the ratio of cornea size and eye length -- two functionally important measures of the eye's ability to admit light and form sharp images. These analyses showed that diurnal (only active by day) and cathemeral (active by both day and night) mammals don't differ in their eye shapes. At the same time, both groups have eye shapes that are very similar to those of nocturnal birds and lizards. These results reveal that most day-active mammals have eye shapes that appear "nocturnal" when compared with other vertebrates.

One likely reason for these findings, Kirk says, is that after the extinction of non-avian dinosaurs, some nocturnal mammals became day-active and there was less pressure to evolve eye shapes for acute diurnal vision like those of other day-active vertebrates.

Anthropoid primates are the only mammalian group that re-evolved eye shape for fine detailed daytime vision. Like diurnal birds and lizards, most anthropoids have small corneas relative to eye length as an adaptation for enhanced visual acuity.

Kirk says the study provides a deeper understanding of human sensory systems and our intrinsic connection with our closest living primate relatives: the monkeys and apes.

"Humans and other anthropoid primates are so dependent on vision for everything that they do," Kirk says. "In this case, we are radically different from other mammals. We found that the distinctive eye shapes that set humans apart from most other mammals evolved a long time ago -- way back with the origin of anthropoid primates."

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Texas at Austin.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. M. I. Hall, J. M. Kamilar, E. C. Kirk. Eye shape and the nocturnal bottleneck of mammals. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 2012; DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2012.2258

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/fE_e_kKR-fg/121031161025.htm

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Jewel: I Have Five Halloween Costumes for Kase

"He's going to be about five different things, he's going to have more costume changes than a Cher concert," Jewel, 38, tells PEOPLE exclusively.

Source: http://feeds.celebritybabies.com/~r/celebrity-babies/~3/wUaM89tStps/

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