Vital Technologies, Inc.

As most of you are probably aware, pet dander is a huge problem when it comes to your allergies. The most effective way to rid your home of animal dander is to eliminate any animals from your home, this really seems like common sense. But as you may also know, getting rid of a pet is not as easy as it seems.

Many of you would rather sneeze your nose off before getting rid of your beloved pet. I know I would. I’ve had my cat for over 10 years, and I love her, I couldn’t imagine putting her out of the only home she’s ever known, and I’m sure a lot of you have mutual feelings. As adults, some of us are able to put our heart aside and say, I must do what’s best for my health! It gets trickier though, when children are involved.

Bringing home a kitten or a puppy is probably one of the most exciting things about being a child. We all remember how fun it was to play with our new pets. It taught us responsibility and it gave us a loyal friend. Personally, I don’t have kids, but I do have a much younger sibling, so I do understand how hard it would be for me, or my parents, to tell him that he couldn’t have a pet because of allergens.

If you, your children, or any other family members who share your home, suffer from allergies, there is a natural way to keep your pets around, and that way is environmental allergy control. Here’s how it works…

To start, environmental allergy control is exactly what it sounds like, and that’s controlling the allergens in your environment. Because we spend the most time in the bedroom (that’s where we sleep, relax, get ready for our day) I would say the best place to start your environmental control is there. So, Rule # 1: NO ANIMALS IN THE BEDROOM! It’s simple enough. You might enjoy your pet’s company while you’re watching your favorite TV show, but it’s a small compromise to make for your health.

Mold is one of the top three allergy triggers around, and unfortunately one of the hardest to eliminate. As we all know, mold grows in damp, dark, places, so it can be a little more difficult to get to when you are trying to use environmental allergy control as a remedy for your symptoms. It’s not impossible though.

First, you have to think of where in your home mold is most likely to be a problem, what are the areas of your home that hold the most moisture? For most people it’s going to be the bathroom, and the kitchen.

Start with the bathroom that you spend the most time in, the one that you use to get ready in the morning, take your showers in, etc. This is the area that affects your allergies the most when it comes to mold. Ask yourself the following questions:

Do you leave the shower wet after you are done using it?
Do you leave the sink wet when you done using it?
Do you procrastinate when it comes to cleaning your toilet?
Do you leave wet towels or rugs on the floor of the bathroom?
Do you allow the bathroom floor to stay wet after you are done using the shower?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you probably have mold in your bathroom. Don’t be ashamed. I can tell you that personally, I hate cleaning my bathroom, but I’ve learned that it must be done often in order to keep a healthy home.

So, first of all, you’re going to want to do one of two things to start, first you’re going to want to either give your shower curtain, and shower a heavy duty wash down with a mold eliminator, I recommend Vital Oxide, visit www.vitaltechnologies.com for more details. Or, you can throw away your shower curtain and get a new one. Depending on your taste, this option could get expensive.

Those of you who are reading this probably already have a solid notion about what triggers your allergies. What you’re probably looking for is how to control them in a way that doesn’t require you to subscribe to any more medication or lots of spending. Environmental allergy control really is one of the best ways to conquer your symptoms.

I hadn’t really known about environmental allergy control until I began working for an environmental company. Currently I blog for The Ecology Works. They focus on creating green products that help reduce allergy triggers without the involvement of any harsh chemicals.

The other day I was doing some research on environmental allergy control so that I may see what other products were being sold out there, and also, just so that I find out if there was a way to reduce allergy triggers without the use of any products at all. Personally, I’m a home remedy type of person. If I can do it myself, without purchasing something, I’m much happier.

So, you can imagine I was very pleased to find that there are ways to reduce triggers in the home without having to buy any products, unfortunately, they aren’t very practical. From what I found, the number one way to reduce dust mite allergens around the home was to wash pillow cases and sheets once a week in very hot water, at least 130 degrees Fahrenheit. At first I thought, hey that’s great! Washing your sheets is simple enough, you can just throw them in with the rest of the laundry. And while most of us really don’t enjoy doing laundry every week, it usually has to get done anyway, so this seemed like a pretty simple solution…And it would have been, if home washers got as hot as130 degrees Fahrenheit…but they don’t, and boiling water every week and having to hand wash all your sheets and pillow cases becomes somewhat of a dangerous hassle.

Staphylococcus aureus, often called “staph,” is a common type of bacteria that can be found in the nose and on the skin of about one in every three people. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, also called MRSA, is a resistant strain of this common bacteria that cannot be killed by many of the antibiotics that doctors normally prescribe to battle infections.

MRSA once mainly affected patients in hospitals. Now, new strains of community-associated MRSA (“the superbug”) have been invading public spaces such as schools, gyms, and community centers and attacking healthy individuals. Health clubs and gyms are especially attractive environments for MRSA because staph grows rapidly in warm, moist environments.

“Trips to the gym, meant to help keep people in shape, should never turn into events that could be harmful to your body,” says Dr. Ron Najafi, an expert in antibiotic resistant bacteria. Dr. Najafi believes that surveillance, hygiene, and the will to prevent transmission are the keys to curtailing the spread of MRSA.

“People need to educate themselves about MRSA and be familiar with where and how it spreads so they can actively avoid contracting this deadly staph infection,” says Dr. Najafi, CEO of NovaBay Pharmaceuticals. NovaBay is a biotech company that has developed a compound, NVC-422, which has shown promise in combating numerous pathogens including MRSA and is being developed to prevent infections in hospitals and to treat eye and skin infections.

Dr. Najafi offers the following suggestions concerning how to protect oneself from MRSA at the gym:

Make sure to wipe down your exercise equipment (e.g., elliptical machines, treadmill, etc.) before and after workouts with spray disinfectants. If your gym does not provide these products, speak with management to request they be made available.

The new school year is now upon us, and with it comes concerns over our kids health and safety. With the large number of cases of MRSA reported in schools last year, extra precautions are needed. Have you taught your kids the extra precautions about hygiene and contact with other children that they need to know?

Was the large number of reported cases of CA-MRSA in our schools last year a result of the news about MRSA being widely reported for the first time? While that is probably a large part of it, there is no doubt that the threat is growing. Many factors come into play, and only spell more reasons for concern in the future.

Schools provide the perfect conditions for the growth of MRSA staph infection. With large numbers of children grouped together in close quarters, any sort of virus or bacteria is going to be spread. Because kids are kids, they are going to get cuts and scrapes and share germs without thinking about the consequences. But with related diseases like MRSA coming to the forefront, our work is cut out for us.

Whatever you do, make sure your kids are eating a healthy diet and getting a good nights sleep. They should also carry a small container of hand sanitizer and use it frequently.

Tell your child's teacher teacher to use Vital Oxide on desks, counter tops, computer keyboards, and any other hard surfaces. Vital Oxide is proven to eliminate MRSA bacteria. Visit www.vitaltechnologies.com for more information on how to keep your child safe and healthy at school by using Vital Oxide

This information is from www.parentdish.com

The number of people (especially children) afflicted with asthma continues to skyrocket, so it's a bit unusual to have the researchers who may have uncovered a clue in asthma/allergy puzzle less than jubilant about their findings.

The reason behind the trepidation? The possible link for developing asthma was found in acetaminophen, the popular fever and pain-reducer recommended for children in lieu of aspirin which can cause the potentially deadly Reyes Syndrome. "We are saying there may be a(n acetaminophen) link. We don't yet know whether it is causative," said Richard Beasley who led the international study on acetaminophen involving more than 200,000 children in 31 countries.

In the study, parents of children ages 6-7 were asked to fill out a questionnaire regarding their children's history of acetaminophen usage and whether the child had developed asthma or other allergies. The results revealed that children who received acetaminophen for the treatment of fever in the first year of life were, on average, 46 per cent more likely to develop asthma by the age of 6 or 7, compared with infants not given the medication.

However, those involved with the research were quick to point out that the study was far from definitive proof that acetaminophen is behind the recent dearth of asthma cases. "I think there is potential for harm from our findings if we don't get the correct message to the public," Dr. Beasley said.

That message is: acetaminophen remains the safest way to treat children with fevers but parents should still consider it a serious medication

A recent study by the University of Arizona has discovered that computer keyboards house more germs than toilet seats harbouring deadly bacteria such MRSA. Microbiologists discovered there is an average of 3,300 microbes per square inch on our keyboards and 1,700 per square inch on a mouse, which is compared to just 49 microbes on a toilet seat!

With the increasing use of computers in the health profession there is a worry that an increase in hospital infections could be imminent as keyboards can act as as ’superhighways’ for bacteria and viruses, transferring them to our hands and vice-versa, possibly making us ill through infection and transferring the microbes to other people and surfaces.

Bacteria levels increase dramatically during break times, the researchers discovered, as food spills such as coffee and biscuit crumbs harbour entire microscopic eco systems.

And the deadly ’superbugs’ such as MRSA, which are untreatable with regular antibiotics and claim over 5,000 lives each year in the UK alone, are present on at least a quarter of all keyboards.

Of course regular cleaning of workstations would cut back possible infections and reduce the number of microbes present, however cleaning keyboards is not normally a priority in a busy working day and keyboards and mice can be difficult to clean, with plenty of nooks and crannies for germs to hide in such as the raised keys.

Computer keyboards are also pieces of electrical equipment and do not react kindly to fluids and any over enthusiastic cleaning could result in a broken keyboard, or even worse an entire computer.

Of course in hospitals, the problem of infections from keyboards is well known and with the increased reliance on computers to store patient’s records it is feared the risk of infections being transferred from keyboards to patients is going to rise dramatically over the next few years.

From WebMD:
Asthma Attack
What Is an Asthma Attack?
An asthma attack is a sudden worsening of asthma symptoms caused by the tightening of muscles around your airways (bronchospasm). During the asthma attack, the lining of the airways also becomes swollen or inflamed and thicker mucus -- more than normal -- is produced. All of these factors -- bronchospasm, inflammation, and mucus production -- cause symptoms of an asthma attack such as difficulty breathing, wheezing, coughing, shortness of breath, and difficulty performing normal daily activities. Other symptoms of an asthma attack include:

Severe wheezing when breathing both in and out
Coughing with asthma that won't stop
Very rapid breathing
Chest pain or pressure
Tightened neck and chest muscles, called retractions
Difficulty talking
Feelings of anxiety or panic
Pale, sweaty face
Blue lips or fingernails
Or worsening symptoms despite use of your medications
Some people with asthma may go for extended periods without having an asthma attack or other symptoms, interrupted by periodic worsening of their symptoms, due to exposure to asthma triggers or perhaps from overdoing it during exercise-induced asthma.

Mild asthma attacks are generally more common. Usually, the airways open up within a few minutes to a few hours after treatment. Severe asthma attacks are less common but last longer and require immediate medical help. It is important to recognize and treat even mild symptoms of an asthma attack to help you prevent severe episodes and keep asthma under control.

For in-depth information, see WebMD's Asthma Attack Symptoms.

What Happens If an Asthma Attack Goes Untreated?
Without immediate asthma medicine and asthma treatment, your breathing will become more labored, and wheezing may get louder. If you use a peak flow meter during an asthma attack, your personal best reading will probably be reduced.

From http://www.parentdish.com/
Asthma is the result of an overactive immune system. When a benign substance, such as pollen, is inhaled by an asthmatic, their body reacts defensively, which creates inflammation and wheezing. Researchers have long thought that this over-response is in part due to the fact that we are not exposed to as many germs in modern society as we were in the past. They call this the hygeine-hypothesis.

It's not a perfect theory, but a new study is giving it more weight. Infants who go to daycare between the ages of six and twelve months were 35% less likely to develop asthma by kindergarten. Researchers speculate that being exposed to more germs as babies gives the immune system more work to do, so that it doesn't "get bored" and turn on harmless invaders like allergens.

The hygiene-hypothesis is just one theory about asthma. There's also pollution, smoking, poor diet, obesity -- the list goes on and on. But if your family has a history of allergies and asthma and you've got your baby in daycare, this study shows that the extra exposure to other children might be doing your baby's body good.

The Prime Minister has hailed a victory in the fight against a deadly superbug as figures showed a 36% fall in MRSA cases in the past year.

The Health Protection Agency (HPA) figures for April to June showed a 14% decrease in hospital-acquired MRSA infections in England compared to the previous quarter, and a 36% reduction on the corresponding quarter of 2007.
They also showed that the Government's target of halving cases of MRSA in hospitals since 2004 has been exceeded, with a total reduction of 57%.

The figures follow an intensive effort by the Government to tackle hospital infections, including a hospital "deep clean" programme which was completed in March.

But the Tories denied the target had been met, accusing the Government of moving the goalposts.
The figures prompted Gordon Brown to write an open letter to NHS staff congratulating them on their "tremendous achievement".

Mr Brown wrote: "This tremendous achievement is down to you, the staff of the NHS, and I wanted to write to thank you on behalf of everyone who relies on the NHS for your efforts over the course of the last year.

"These improvements come on top of significant falls in waiting times and they show that when you, the staff, are supported in the right ways you can achieve great things for the people of this country."

Former Cabinet minister John Reid, who set the target to reduce MRSA infections by 50% when he was health secretary in 2004, said he was "absolutely delighted" with the news.

"I knew when I set this target just how challenging it would be to meet it and there were many who said that it could not be met. Now that it has been, it is a credit to everyone who has been involved in the NHS," he said.