Toy Safety

Make sure your kids toys are safe by visiting SaferToys

Posted Aug 20th 2007 10:00AM by Chris Gilmer
Filed under: Fun, Internet, Blogging, Web services, web 2.0

With all the news recently about the giant fiasco concerning toys being created using lead contents, there is no better time to ensure your child's safety. Many parties can have fingers pointed at them in this matter, but let's forget about who is to blame for a second and just make sure that the toys our children are playing with are safe.

SaferToys is a digg like social news site that lists out all stories relating to the safety, recalls, and news on the latest unsafe toys. It's an easy place for concerned parents to check in with and track the latest unsafe toys. Stories can be submitted and voted on so they rise to the top of the news list. Users can also share their insights via comments on each story submitted.

SaferToys uses the Pligg platform, an open source social content management system that lets users submit, vote and comment on stories.

http://tinyurl.com/yqoegt

Useful Health Monitoring Hack

pervasive health monitor (got granny?)

posted aug 22nd 2007 11:05pm by will o'brien
filed under: misc hacks

Children and lead

Lead in Chinese products more widespread than just toys.   In continuing coverage from yesterday's briefing, the AP (8/16) reports, "China's problems with lead in consumer products go far beyond tainted toys. From playthings to paint to gasoline, Chinese companies use lead in a wide range of products and experts say China's children are suffering the health consequences." While the CDC estimates that only "about 310,000 U.S. children ages 1 to 5 have blood lead levels that require treatment or other measures," research say "up to one-fifth of Chinese children tested had unsafe levels in their blood."

      In a separate article, the AP (8/16) adds, "Some vinyl baby bibs made in China and sold at Toys 'R' Us stores contain lead levels well above federal safety limits for lead in paint," a California environmental group said Wednesday. "A bib with 'Winnie the Pooh' characters and store-brand bibs sold under the Koala Baby and Especially for Baby labels all tested positive for lead in concentrations three to four times what the Environmental Protection Agency allows in paint," according to the Center for Environmental Health in Oakland. The AP notes that the group "bought the four bibs at San Francisco Bay-area Toys 'R' Us and Babies 'R' Stores and contracted with a private lab that specializes in product safety to perform the tests." When notified of these results, "A Toys 'R' Us spokeswoman said tests performed in May by a lab contracted by the company found that the bibs met not just federal standards but California's more stringent limits on lead content. But more bibs were being pulled from the shelves Wednesday for further testing."

Remove tonsils, improve sleep, get better grades (For Beth)

Tonsil Removal May Cure ADHD Behavior in Kids

from the Dallas Morning News

TUCSON, Ariz. - Little T.J. was a monster. There's no other way to
say it.
Extremely hyperactive, the toddler ran around in circles, destroying
everything in his path. He got kicked out of day care and banned from
friends' homes...Friends told his family that T.J. - short for Terence
Johnson — was destined to be "the next serial killer."

...That was then. Today, as T.J. gets ready to turn 3, he is a
changed boy.
Lively, to be sure, but affectionate instead of mean. "It's a total
turnaround - this is a different child," Ms. Norton said. "Everybody
notices the difference."

A frontal lobotomy? Electroshock therapy? Powerful drugs? No, T.J.
had his
tonsils out. The removal of a child's tonsils can, in some cases,
significantly improve, even cure, severe hyperactivity often
diagnosed as
attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

To read more:
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/healthscience/

stories/081207dnnattonsils.26239902.html

Or: http://tinyurl.com/2zs23h

fixing a hole in the heart: for Debbie

Hole-in-the-Heart Self Repair Kit

from BBC News Online

Experts have found a way to employ the body's natural healing power to
treat a common heart defect linked with stroke and migraine.

One in four people has a valve-like hole in the heart, known as a patent
foramen ovale (PFO). The defect can be closed surgically using a
graft, but
this can cause damage to surrounding tissue.

A team at London's Royal Brompton Hospital has used a "bioabsorbable"
patch
to solve the problem. The patch acts as a temporary plug until the body
replaces it with healthy normal tissue, usually within 30 days. PFO, an
opening in the wall between the two upper chambers of the heart, usually
produces no symptoms, but in some people it significantly increases the
risk of stroke and migraine.

To read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6940085.stm

Or:

http://tinyurl.com/yrloch

I love coffee

Coffee May Protect Women's Memory, Study Says

Caffeine May Boost Memory for Older Women, Study Suggests

http://tinyurl.com/36rpoh