Get Your Kids Dirty

I have always heard you shouldn't be excessive about avoiding germs with kids. They need to build up their immune systems. It makes sense considering younger kids seem to always have a runny nose. As they get older and build up their immunity to some viruses, they have fewer runny noses. I certainly don't expose my kids to anything "dangerous" on purpose. However, once in awhile we do go to what I call"germ fests" like McDonald's playland and Chuck E. Cheeses. How about you?

FROM CNN: Antibacterial gels and disinfectant wipes can help curb the spread of germs. But in today's Health Minute, Susan Hendricks has the details on a study that finds children who grow up in super-clean, sanitized environments may be at higher risk for heart disease as adults.

Kids getting dirty on the playground -- it's a time-honored tradition, but do you ever worry what kind of germs your child might pick up or put in their mouth? A new study suggests you shouldn't necessarily be concerned. What we're finding has to do with the everyday pathogens you come in contact to-- germs in the environment, germs that you might encounter in dirt and in your household that might actually have some beneficial effects long-term.

Researcher Chris Kuzawa and his colleagues started following a group of Filipino children 26 years ago, and found that exposure to dirty environments early in life lowered production of c-reactive protein -- a substance that is known to increase heart attack risk later in life.

Why? There is a need for the immune system to have some kind of challenge and to experience low-level pathogens within the environment. This is actually an important part of how the immune system develops. Encouraging findings, but Kuzawa says, we're a long way from encouraging people to go out and pick up germs. I think it would be very preliminary to ask parents to do anything differently with their kids based on what we found.

-NewsAnchorMom Jen

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Thomas and Friends Lawsuit

I remember vividly the day James got recalled. My oldest son was so upset. For the next two weeks, he kept bringing me choo choos and asking if they were recalled too. Personally, I think it's great the company was prosecuted for this. The problem is that we as parents still can't be sure the toys we are giving our kids don't contain lead. A lot of the companies who sell kid's toys do their own testing. It is up to them to spend the money to make sure the toys are safe. They may get recalled later if they do contain lead, but they will always be on store shelved for a time period until they get caught.

FROM ABC: The maker of the popular Thomas & Friends children's toys has agreed to pay AT LEAST $1.25 million settlement for importing and selling toys that contained lead levels above legal limits. The Consumer Product Safety Commission had charged RC2 Corp. of Illinois and subsidiary Learning Curb Brands Inc., knowingly imported and sold Thomas & Friends Wooden Railway toys that had "paints or other surface coatings" containing lead levels above .06 percent by weight from China. The company denies it intentionally violated federal law.

UPDATED: FROM USA TODAY: The maker of Thomas & Friends Wooden Railway toys has agreed to a $30 million class-action settlement stemming from last year’s recalls, the first in what’s expected to be a wave of settlements related to millions of toys recalled because of lead paint.

-NewsAnchorMom Jen

Not sure what to get your loved ones? Give a Skin Dimensions gift card! Surprise your loved ones with the choice of massages, facials, bareMinerals makeup, manicures, pedicures or let them choose products from a selection of over 25 national and international brands of skincare. Gift cards available in any denomination. Purchase at Skin Dimensions Day Spa, Skin Dimensions Boutique or online.

Dax Locke passes away

The two-year-old little boy that started Christmas early in Central Illinois has passed away. According to his mom's blog, Dax Locke of Washington, IL died at 2:15 this morning. Hundreds of people from around the world put on their Christmas lights early this year in honor of the child who was suffering from leukemia. His mom wrote:

"He has had two bone marrow transplants, but his leukemia remains. We are cherishing every moment we have with him, and celebrate every day with him like it is Christmas."

Once people starting hearing about this little guy, they started turning on their Christmas lights and sending Dax the pictures. Doctors weren't sure if Dax would make it to Christmas. We ran a story last night on the news saying he was barely moving. That was hard to report. I don't know how I am going to be able to read this story on the news tonight. Our story last night also said more than $35,000 has been raised in Dax's name for St. Jude. The Peoria Journal Star is reporting $44,000 as of this morning. You can donate here. Friends say "his mom is trying to raise $1.6 million for St. Jude--the amount that it takes to run St. Jude for one day." I think that's amazing! So many people will remember his story and so many lives will be saved. What a cute little guy he was. God Bless his family!

Here's Dax's website.

-NewsAnchorMomJen

Not sure what to get your loved ones? Give a Skin Dimensions gift card! Surprise your loved ones with the choice of massages, facials, bareMinerals makeup, manicures, pedicures or let them choose products from a selection of over 25 national and international brands of skincare. Gift cards available in any denomination. Purchase at Skin Dimensions Day Spa, Skin Dimensions Boutique or online.

Holiday Illnesses

My husband's grandma has been in the hospital and is still recovering from a serious infection she got a couple weeks before Christmas. She had just gotten back from a wedding 8 hours away. I am sure she was exposed to a lot of germs, but we have no way of knowing exactly how it happened.

One of my grandmothers has emphysema. When the kids see her, we do make sure they wash their hands frequently and they don't have runny noses. I would hate to be the reason she ends up in the hospital again. We went to see her in St. Louis about a month ago so she could meet the baby. She ended up getting a cold and couldn't be around the kids. She was so disappointed! Does anyone else have this dilemma with their kids and grandparents?

FROM NBC: Grandparents have a new vaccine to thank for their health this holiday season! Experts at the CDC say bacterial infections among the elderly typically spike around Christmas and New Year's -- possibly because of the germs they're exposed to at family gatherings with young children. However, since the vaccine Prevnar was introduced in 2000, infections among the elderly have dropped significantly. Prevnar fights against seven of the most common strains of strep. There was a spike in bacterial infections in 2004-2005, researchers don't know why. Women are more likely to experience infections over the holidays.

-NewsAnchorMom Jen

Not sure what to get your loved ones? Give a Skin Dimensions gift card! Surprise your loved ones with the choice of massages, facials, bareMinerals makeup, manicures, pedicures or let them choose products from a selection of over 25 national and international brands of skincare. Gift cards available in any denomination. Purchase at Skin Dimensions Day Spa, Skin Dimensions Boutique or online.

Swine Flu Parties

I thought this was interesting. I have heard of chicken pox parties. Although, according the the CDC the swine flu is more deadly than the chicken pox. So I guess I shouldn't compare. What do you think about swine flu parties?

FROM NBC: IMAGINE TAKING YOUR FAMILY TO A PARTY WHERE THE SOLE REASON FOR THE GET TOGETHER IS TO SPREAD THE SWINE FLU VIRUS.

IT'S SOMETHING THAT HEALTH EXPERTS SAY IS ACTUALLY HAPPENING, BUT DOCTORS HAVE A WARNING.

AS PARENTS ACROSS AMERICA SCRAMBLE FOR THE H1N1 VACCINE, OTHERS ARE TAKING A DIFFERENT APPROACH.

GATHERING WITHOUT MASKS AND NOT WASHING THEIR HANDS - THEY'RE COMING TOGETHER TO SPREAD THE GERMS.

(SOT: Dr. Mark Sawyer, Infectious Disease Specialist)
"We first heard about parties like this back in the chicken pox era."

DR. MARK SAWYER, AN INFECTIOUS DISEASE SPECIALIST AT CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL SAYS THERE IS SIMPLY NO LOGIC BEHIND THE GATHERINGS NOW KNOWN AS SWINE FLU PARTIES.

(Dr. Mark Sawyer, Infectious Disease Specialist)
"To me it's one of the craziest things I've ever heard of actually."

THE REASON FOR THESE PARTIES, DESCRIBED PLAINLY ON THE CDC WEBSITE - IS TO BECOME INFECTED WITH WHAT FOR MANY PEOPLE HAS BEEN A MILD DISEASE, IN THE HOPE OF HAVING NATURAL IMMUNITY TO A VIRUS THAT MIGHT CIRCULATE LATER AND CAUSE MORE SEVERE DISEASE.

(Dr. Mark Sawyer, Infectious Disease Specialist)
"The trouble with influenza is your natural immunity really isn't that good, that's why we continue to immunize people every year because the influenza virus changes over time."

MEANING SOME PEOPLE WHO GETS SWINE FLU THIS YEAR, COULD ALSO GET A RELATED VIRUS NEXT YEAR. SAWYER ALSO SAYS JUST BECAUSE YOUR NEIGHBOR HAS A MILD CASE - DOESN'T MEAN YOU WILL.
(Dr. Mark Sawyer, Infectious Disease Specialist)
The reason one person gets very sick and another doesn't isn't a function of the virus, that's a function of the person's immune system and any underlying conditions they may have."

SAWYER SAYS GOOD HANDWASHING, GETTING THE VACCINE, AND STAYING AWAY FROM PEOPLE WHO ARE SICK IS STILL HIS BEST RECOMMENDATION FOR BATTLING SWINE FLU.

-NewsAnchorMom Jen

Not sure what to get your loved ones? Give a Skin Dimensions gift card! Surprise your loved ones with the choice of massages, facials, bareMinerals makeup, manicures, pedicures or let them choose products from a selection of over 25 national and international brands of skincare. Gift cards available in any denomination. Purchase at Skin Dimensions Day Spa, Skin Dimensions Boutique or online.

Divorce= Health Insurance

This is really sad. This isn't the first time I have heard a story like this-unfortunately. I don't have the answer, but I think hard working people like this family should have another option. I wish health care wasn't such a big stress in so many people's lives.

FROM CNN: As the debate over healthcare continues, imagine this - being told you should divorce your spouse so that your ill child can have adequate health insurance. Sounds unrealistic? Apparently not, according to a Nevada mother, who found herself in that exact situation.

TERRI KING'S SON MATTHEW WAS BORN WITH A HEART DEFECT, THAT STRETCHED THE FAMILY'S HEALTH INSURANCE TO THE LIMIT."I would never have thought in a million years that in this country that families that do all the right things can be completely ruined."

MATTHEW WILL NEED SPECIAL CARE FOR THE REST OF HIS LIFE."There needs to be something available for the middle class people because health care is so unaffordable. There needs to be something for those of us that fall thru the cracks. because we fell through every single crack."

WHEN KING AND HER HUSBAND MICHAEL SOUGHT HELP TO COVER MATTHEW'S CARE, THE ADVICE THEY GOT WAS SHOCKING."That we should get a divorce. That I should turn over all my joint assets to Mike, get a divorce so that i could be a poor single mother then I could be on medicaid along with Matthew and then Matthew would get full medical coverage on medicaid."

THE KINGS SAY ANOTHER COUNSELOR SUGGESTED THEY GIVE UP MATTHEW FOR ADOPTION TO A RELATIVE, WHO COULD THEN COLLECT FULL BENEFITS FOR HIM THROUGH MEDICAID. EVENTUALLY, THEY CONVINCED THE LAS VEGAS POLICE DEPARTMENT, WHERE MICHAEL IS A DETECTIVE, TO INCREASE THEIR INSURANCE COVERAGE.

LAST SPRING, THEY ASKED THE NEVADA STATE LEGISLATURE TO HELP OTHERS IN THE SAME BOAT. A BILL TO LET THESE FAMILIES BUY MEDICAID COVERAGE WAS INTRODUCED. BUT THEN VOTED DOWN, LEAVING TERRI FURIOUS. "I would like to know how they'd feel if they were told to divorce their wife or give their child up for adoption. I just think that if they were in our shoes they would be doing something about it. But right now they never have to worry about it so it's easy to sit back and pass it back and forth and just do nothing."

-NewsAnchorMom Jen

Not sure what to get your loved ones? Give a Skin Dimensions gift card! Surprise your loved ones with the choice of massages, facials, bareMinerals makeup, manicures, pedicures or let them choose products from a selection of over 25 national and international brands of skincare. Gift cards available in any denomination. Purchase at Skin Dimensions Day Spa, Skin Dimensions Boutique or online.