Vital Technologies, Inc.

An ongoing multistate outbreak of salmonella has prompted the CDC to collaborate with other state and national agencies.

Throughout our daily lives each of us are exposed to a variety of environmental pollutants. Some of the risks we accept, however, are avoidable. Because we spend up to 90% of our lives indoors, doctors strongly recommend indoor air quality control. Good indoor air quality contributes to a healthier being. In fact, the American college of Allergists says that 50% of all illnesses are either caused by or aggravated by indoor air pollutants. It may be nearly impossible to eliminate all such sources but by being more aware many can be significantly reduced or eliminated.

Bleach, ammonia, chlorine and air fresheners are all chemicals that effectively clean your home. However, be warned! They are only a few of many common ingredients found in household cleaners that may cause serious harm to you and your family. We clean our homes to create a healthier environment for ourselves and our loved ones. Unfortunately, we may unknowingly be adversely affecting their health.

With increasing awareness of our environment and the importance of conservation being popular topics of today, the "Green" movement has evolved and flourished. Everyone from large corporations to small families are looking for ways to stay green, and for good reason. The world has only a fixed amount of natural resources, some of which are already depleted. It is important to do all that we can to try to preserve these resources and our environment. Everything we do has an impact on our environment, positive or negative. The good news it that you, as an individual, have the power to control the choices you make and the impact you create. According to the US Census, it is estimated that in the year 2050 the world population will swell to over 33% of what it was in 2000. Only by continuing to find ways to stay green and live efficiently will we leave our children and grandchildren with the quality of life and environment we have today. We must know that living green isn't just about saving the rain forests and preserving the ozone but about living healthier, saving money and improving the overall quality of life. Knowing this, why wouldn’t anyone want to go green?

A recent study found in the New England Journal of Medicine shows that second hand smoke increases the risk of early onset asthma, a condition that appears at age 4 years old or under. Researchers believe that this information supports the idea that asthma is not a “uniform” disease, and instead several problems that end up with the same type of symptoms. It also supports the fact that it's not just genes that cause asthma, and it's not just the environment, but the interaction between the two.

In the study experts state , “that those kids exposed to secondhand smoke had much more of a flowering of the disease process than those who weren't. That illustrates that while something can be genetically determined, it can be amplified by environmental factors."

Smoke is an asthma trigger, and so therefore, if you know that your child has asthma or if you yourself have asthma or related symptoms, the best solution would be to not smoke at all. If you do not have asthma but people in your family do, such as small children or even other adults, there are ways to control these asthma triggers to a certain extent without quitting.

Because we see that second hand smoke is an important factor in early onset asthma and in asthma in general, one solution would be smoke out doors, away from anyone who has the disease. In doing this we prevent the individual with asthma from being effected directly by the second hand smoke. However, we must remember that cigarette smoke seeps into our clothing. And so, even when we are not smoking, and are around those who have asthma, we may be effecting them.

A thrifty and effective solution for this problem is to use a detergent that eliminates allergens. One that I recommend is The Ecology Works Anti Allergen Laundry Detergent, this product specifically eliminates smoke allergens along with other allergens that trigger asthma attacks.

Recently I discovered that there has been a number of studies suggesting some sort of link between asthma and obesity. Experts have found that individuals with asthma have a greater chance of being overweight than someone who does not have asthma. The big question though, is what causes what? Does obesity lead to asthma? Or does asthma lead to obesity?

There are things we must consider when asking ourselves these questions. One thing we should think about is the fact that people with asthma are often likely to be less active than those who do not have asthma because of breathing problems. This alone would lead us to believe that perhaps asthma is what may lead to being overweight in certain individuals.

However, inflammation (a protective reaction of your body to what is perceived as a threat to your health.) is a common internal trait that occurs in both cases of asthma and obesity. Experts wonder if the inflammatory process can be linked somehow, and a study from the National Jewish Medical and Research center has led them to believe that obesity is a significant risk factor for asthma.

In the study physicians analyzed seven large studies that followed individuals who did not have asthma originally but who developed it later on. More than 300,000 people were involved in the seven studies reviewed. They found through the course of their analysis that people who are overweight were one-and-a-half times more likely to develop asthma as people whose weight is within a healthy range.

From this analysis we can see that obesity has severe effects on our breathing. You can determine whether or not you are overweight by calculating your BMI. A BMI that is 25 or over is a sign of being overweight. A BMI that is 30 or higher is a sign of obesity. There are various BMI calculators on the web. You can find them by typing in “BMI calculator” into the Google search engine.

A little bit on weight:

More than one week after Minnesota first reported the Salmonella outbreak, and more than one week after USDA issued its "Public Health Alert," the Wisconsin Department of Health Services is advising residents of the state "... to thoroughly cook raw chicken..."

According to a news release issued today, four Wisconsin residents are among the 32 people in 12 states who were infected by Salmonella Typhimurium after eating improperly cooked chicken entrées sold under the Milford Valley Farms brand name. The four victims, who live in three different counties, are described as two adult males, one adult female and one school-age male.

The outbreak was detected and first reported by the Minnesota Department of Health on October 3rd, after 14 residents of the state were all confirmed to have been infected by a single strain of Salmonella. The offending foods included several production lots of two different varieties of "... raw, frozen, breaded and pre-browned, stuffed chicken entrees."

This is the sixth Salmonella outbreak associated with "ready-to-cook" raw chicken entrées that the state of Minnesota has tracked down in the last 10 years. The October 2008 issue of Journal of Food Protection includes an article that reviews four of those outbreaks, which occurred between 1998 and 2006.

In the current outbreak, as well as in the older outbreaks described in the Journal article, most of the consumers who became ill reported cooking the entrées in a microwave. Many of the victims in the earliest outbreaks thought that the entrées were pre-cooked, and only required heating. As a result of the information obtained from those outbreak investigations, some companies modified their package labels to indicate more clearly that the entrées were raw. Also, instructions for microwave cooking were removed from the package labels of some entrées.

Preventing MRSA

Personally, I get very nervous when I think about MRSA because like most bacteria I feel like it can be hard to avoid. In big cities especially, it’s almost impossible not to bump in to someone, or touch a hand railing, or sit in a subway seat, or even use a public bathroom (even though most of us avoid that as much as possible). And because MRSA is usually spread through skin to skin contact, or by touching something that has already been contaminated by an infected individual, all of these scenarios that I have listed can become very scary.

When I first began hearing about MRSA years ago, I really became paranoid, I was literally washing my hands every 10 minutes and avoiding places where a lot of people would be. Fortunately, I have learned enough about MRSA now, where I feel comfortable enough to just follow some pretty simple procedures in order to keep myself and the people around me healthy. Here are some effective ways to prevent MRSA infections:

Wash your hands thoroughly. According to WebMD, experts suggest that you use an alcohol based hand sanitizer and wash long enough to where you can recite the entire alphabet.

Cover cuts and scrapes with clean bandages, meaning you should change your bandages frequently throughout the day (morning, night). This will help the wound to heal, and it will also prevent you from spreading any bacteria to the people around you.

Do NOT touch another individuals wound or bandage.

Do NOT share personal items like towels or razors. If you use a gym, wipe down the equipment with an alcohol based sanitizer before you use it. Dry towels and clothes in a dryer, rather than air drying them, this will help kill bacteria.

Recently I was doing some research on Salmonella poisoning and I came across a press release on Salmonella poisoning 32 people in 12 different states. What was the cause of all this sickness? Frozen chicken dinners. Here is the link to that story : (http://narmer.wordpress.com/2008/10/06/salmonella-sickens-people-in-12-s...)

From what I have read the government is urging consumers to thoroughly cook their frozen chicken dinners before eating. The health warning by the U.S. Department of Agriculture cited frozen dishes in which the chicken is raw, but breaded or pre-browned, giving the appearance of being cooked. They include “chicken cordon bleu,” “chicken Kiev,” or chicken breasts stuffed with cheese, vegetables or other items. The USDA stated that many of the people who had fallen ill used a microwave to cook their frozen chicken dinner, which did not heat the meals enough to kill the Salmonella.

Personally, I think the best solution to all of this is to not buy frozen chicken entrées. I know that they can be tasty, and I understand that many of you guys are busy with kids, and work, and a million other things that probably make this quick and easy meal seem very appealing, but really it’s not very healthy even if you minus the Salmonella. And, there are a number of other dishes you can prepare that are quick and easy, that don’t have Salmonella written all over them.

If you have animal allergies but you’re dying to get a pet anyway, you might want to consider which kind of pet would effect your symptoms the most. Usually when people consider getting a pet of their own, they are deciding between a cat and dog. These animals have very different allergens that may or may not effect your symptoms more severely.

It may surprise you to learn that when dealing with cats, it is not actually their hair that causes allergic reactions, but rather a protein present in their dander and saliva. These allergens become airborne as microscopic particles, which when inhaled into the nose or lungs can produce allergic symptoms. Because of the way cats clean themselves (licking their own fur) there is even more of this protein present than we might imagine, and when we pet or hold these animals, this sticky protein is transferred to our clothing, making it easier for our allergies to be effected. This is why it’s very important NOT to allow your pet cat into your bedroom. Cats are constantly keeping themselves clean, and they are great at finding new places to lounge. If you allow them to hang about your bedroom, the place where you spend the most time, then eventually this sticky protein will be all over everything, window sills, clothing, bed, pillows, etc, and you will be suffering severely from your allergies.