From the Los Angeles Times:

More than a quarter-century after scientists discovered the virus that causes AIDS, researchers have finally shown that an experimental vaccine can block at least some infections, marking the first small but significant step toward eventual control of this lethal pandemic.

Are you a little nervous about getting a flu shot? Or maybe you're worried that taking the time to get inoculated will interfere with your social life?

If so, Dr. Scott Hanlon can help. The board-certified family practice physician hopes to ease needle anxieties with the unlikely pairing of flu shots and wine tasting.

The event runs from 7 to 9 p.m. Sept. 17 at the South Loop Wine Cellar, 1442 S. Michigan Ave.

Click here for more info.

For the first time, the FDA could have the power to regulate the production and marketing of tobacco products which kill more than 400-thousand Americans each year.
President Obama indicates he's willing to sign.
Is the FDA up to the task?

If the bill becomes law, the agency will set up a new tobacco regulatory office. Funding for this office will come from fees charged to the tobacco industry. Some wonder if the FDA can handle more with regulating food and medicines already on its plate? SHOULD the FDA be doing this? We don't expect it to regulate cheeseburgers, hot dogs, and other junk food which also lead to diseases that can kill us.

Any thoughts?

A University of Michigan study confirms what we ladies have long known-- dishing with your girlfriends is good for our health.

Researchers say feeling emotionally close to a friend raises progesterone levels. The hormone helps reduce anxiety and stress. When a woman vents, she eventually gets it out of her system and feels better. A girlfriend knows to just sit there and listen. When you're venting to a GUY, he wants to just cut through all of our babbling and fix the problem. This is why we girls can yak on the phone for hours. This is why we go to the bathroom together-- GIRL TALK!

It's kind of like our obsession with shoes and purses.

What a Friday this has been for one Hanover Park family. Their home was devastated by a fast-moving fire earlier today, but the family of four managed to escape unharmed.

As I walked up to the burned out shell in the 2100 block of Laurel Avenue I could see what looked like a kitchen chair but not much else in the charred rubble.

I was quickly taken back to October of 2001.

President Obama promised to overhaul our health care system.
Congress is working on it.

Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa says wellness programs should be the centerpiece of health care reform. He and other lawmakers are drafting legislation that would allow employers to reward workers for healthy behavior like eating better, exercising more, and quitting smoking. Businesses that do this would get tax credits, lower their health care costs, and boost productivity because employees would get sick less often.

On one hand, it sounds good. The obesity problem is costing our country too much.
On the other hand, you could say.. my unhealthy habits are none of my employer's business! Is this a form of lifestyle discrimmination?

We in the news like to think we're doing a public service by updating you on the latest (very latest... absolute very latest) on any variety of news story.

That includes living and breathing the latest on the spead of the Swine Flu Strain.

Today, we reported that the World Health Organization raised its Pandemic Alert level to Phase 5. Read below to understand what each phase means.

This is from the WHO:

In nature, influenza viruses circulate continuously among animals, especially birds. Even though such viruses might theoretically develop into pandemic viruses, in Phase 1 no viruses circulating among animals have been reported to cause infections in humans.

Swine flu fears have some people anxious, on alert and possibly overreacting.

More than 150 deaths in Mexico are blamed on the virus so far which is thought to be the epicenter of the illness. Health officials say the number of confirmed swine flu cases in the United States has jumped to 68 though none of the cases have been fatal.

There also reported cases in the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region. Americans are being urged not to travel to Mexico if they don't have to.

"This isn't going to be the next pandemic."

That is what I heard from a physician I talked with over the weekend about swine flu. The virus that has everyone abuzz because it's a new strain of the influenza bug which kills thousands every year.

Now, Google Maps has come up with a searchable map mashup of the current confirmed and suspected cases of swine flu. It's actually pretty cool and can give you a world view of what's going on with this virus.

Click around this map and find out more on the locations seeing activity.

View H1N1 Swine Flu in a larger map

If you're obese and fly on United Airlines, get ready to pay for second seat.

Starting today - the Chicago-based air carrier says it may bump severely overweight passengers from sold-out flights.

How far is too far to go to get people to stop smoking?

The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene has a new PSA (public service announcement) encouraging people to quit. It features a lost 3-year old boy crying because his mother has left him. Then a voice says, “If this is how your child feels after losing you for a minute, just imagine if they lost you for life.”

It’s been reported that some people like the spot, saying it’s a powerful message for an important issue. But others say it’s manipulative. One person called it “atrocious, offensive and irresponsible.” There are even those that are concerned that the boy in the spot was mistreated to make him cry.

NYC health officials argue the end justifies the means, saying “In order to motivate someone to quit, you have to provoke a strong emotional response.”

But is this ad provoking the intended response?

Panic.

It may be the first reaction to losing your job.

However, it's how well you've prepared for it that can make that panic crippling or temporary.

The Chicago Tribune has set up a Recession Survivial Guide with many articles to help all of us avoid the pitfalls of job loss and financial mistakes that we could easily make.

Here are some tips that top the list:

A new health study of Italians shows that a small square of dark chocolate daily protects the heart from inflammation and subsequent heart disease.

Those researchers even have the amount you should eat down to 1/10th of a gram.

It’s a situation we see more often than we would like to in this country.
And once again, the issue of teen pregnancy is back in the national spotlight.
Unless you have been living under a rock, you must have heard the news that presumptive Vice Presidential Nominee Governor Sarah Palin’s 17-year-old daughter –Bristol - is 5 months pregnant.

Greta Garbo and Monroe, Dietrich and DiMaggio.

Years ago, these icons of pop culture held influence over what did, said and thought. So much so that they're in Madonna's "Vogue".

Take a close look at the pictures above. Notice something?

They're all smoking.

Thing is, everyone who was anyone smoked in the first half of the 20th Century. It was a status symbol. Right?

photo courtesy NY Daily News

Oprah Winfrey called it a “new definition of what diversity means for everybody.”
In an interview on her show Thursday, a transgender man who is pregnant told the nation he always wanted a child and considers it a miracle. People Magazine first picked up Beatie’s story and has a full spread on him on newsstands Friday, April 4th.

Here’s the background;
34-year old Thomas Beatie, a one time pageant queen, says he decided to become a man 10 years ago, taking testosterone treatments and having breast surgery to remove glands and flatten his chest. He says he kept his reproductive organs knowing he wanted a child one day. That one-day happened 6 months ago when his wife Nancy inseminated him using a syringe of sperm from a donor bank. Beatie says he stopped taking testosterone 2 years ago, and his hormone levels are normal. The happy couple also says their roles in raising the child won’t change. Nancy will be mommy Thomas will be daddy.

What his doctor says;
First, Beatie says he was turned down by several other doctors before Dr. Kimberly James, a doctor in the couple’s Oregon town, decided to pick Thomas up. Dr. James says the baby is totally healthy, and it is a normal pregnancy.

Arguments of course have erupted over this story.
Some are wondering if they are bringing the child into a healthy environment or will their be confusion because daddy gave birth. Others are wondering why the couple are parading themselves before the media and seeking out attention. To that, the couple has said they wanted to release the news on their own terms, instead of having it spread after the baby is born. By the way.. it’s a girl.

Whether good or bad, I want to hear your thoughts on this story.

Spring training is over.. Home openers are starting.

For the last three months the cavern to which many people have hid themselves amongst the harsh Chicago winter... is melting away and people are peeking their heads out just as the flowers begin to.
It's arguably the best time of year in Chicago. While yes, we are still dealing with a nasty winter hangover and some snowy days (I’m looking out the window at snow right now), the occasional warmer one tends to put people in a jolly mood for the more habitually warm days to come.
We are now beginning to see the neighbors you forgot you had (whether good or bad) on a regular basis, more people are converging on Chicago neighborhoods for outdoor dining, shopping or simply spending time with friends.
You start to see announcements for outdoor events, markets and such.. and.. as mentioned Baseball is about to start.
For me.. It’s Shuffle time.. Chicago's Shamrock Shuffle on Sunday marks the start of the outdoor running season in Chicago. It's my favorite time of the year. I like to think of the Shuffle as a pseudo ground hog day. Every year the weather is different. Last year it was warm, years past it's been really really cold, and this year seems just about right.. (high 30’s, maybe low 40’s – hopefully the rain holds off because cloud cover is great) which if you look at races past, means we're going to have a relatively mild summer. (I know I'm no meteorologist, just hopeful!)
I love race morning when you see the die hards in their singlet’s, running shorts and gloves. The rest of us casual racers bundled up thinking their crazy, but hoping one day we could be so bold.
There's an excitement and energy in the air. (Maybe it's from 30,000 people trying to keep warm!) And it's like Chicagoans are saying *** winter.. we're here to play outside.. no matter what you throw at us next.

Hope to see some of you out there. For everyone else.. as Cubs fans always say, “there's always next year”!

I come from an incredibly happy family. Holidays, Birthday parties, BBQ's.. all our family gatherings are loud and very social events. So I was interested to see this new study by British and Australian researchers that shows it appears you can inherit your happiness. A researcher at the University of Edinburgh studied nearly 1,000 pairs of identical and non identical twins and found genes control half the personality traits that make people happy. Factors like relationships, health and careers are responsible for the other half.
Researchers say, "It appears people with positive inherited personality traits may, in effect, also have a reserve of happiness to draw on in stressful times."

Especially in a career like this one, I've often noticed in times of higher stress people metabolize their anxiety very differently. While some are able to plow forward and work harder, others allow their stress to bubble up and over.

Take a look at how you handle stressful situations and how happy you are. Are your family members behind it, or do you think every person writes their own path to happiness?

This is one of those stories you hear and hope as the days go forward conclusions being reached by some of the entertainment programs don't prove to be true. I was admittedly shocked to hear actor Heath Ledger died on Tuesday. In recent years he made the spotlight with the controversial film Brokeback Mountain and through all the press he seemed to remain a low profile celebrity. Not extremely involved in the 'happening' scene, Ledger and then girlfriend/fiancé Michelle Williams seem to care more about career and family than landing on the front pages of magazines.
In his death, that is squarely where Heath Ledger is landing.
On Tuesday authorities revealed 6 different types of prescription drugs were found in his apartment, including anti-anxiety medications, sleeping pills and an antihistamine. The autopsy results are so far inconclusive, and the medical examiner is waiting further testing before releasing a cause of death, likely in several days. Police also said Wednesday a rolled up $20 bill was found near Ledger's body. Lab tests show no traces of drugs on the bill and police say no illegal drugs were found in the apartment.
Was it an accident or a suicide?
Relatives are adamantly calling the death "tragic, untimely and accidental." Close friends have come forward saying Ledger was recently going out more, and very upset about his break up with Williams and spending less time with their daughter 2 year old Matilda.
In a recent interview Ledger told the New York Times he had been exhausted and was taking Ambien to get to sleep. Today fellow actors are describing him as a perfect gentleman, who touched many lives. While I realized he may not have changed the world, solved our hunger problems, or made any major life altering discoveries, he was a man with many young fans... fans who will hopefully be able to continue to look up to him and his work and not simply look at another actor who lost their life too early, to drugs.

As we ring in the 1st day of 2008 some are already making and breaking resolutions,
I have never been a fan of resolutions. I don't trust myself to keep one for an entire year so instead of setting myself up for failures, I like to set up "guidelines" at the beginning of every year. They are simply little mini-goals I would like to catch in the days ahead; things like getting more involved in the community, finishing a half marathon in an hour 50 minutes, maybe dropping a few pounds. I admit even my mini-goals sometimes fall a bit short. So I am tasking you readers to come up with real solutions to help people reach the difficult resolutions many often fail to meet. Resolutions including things like weight loss, smoking.. you know the toughies, and often most crucial.
The good news for all of you who have already broken, or have yet to make your New Year's Resolution, the New Year doesn't begin on January 1st everywhere only in cultures which use the 365-day solar calendar. So if you've already fallen off the horse.. another will gallop into another culture soon!

Piggybacking on my colleague Tonya's blog on the Jennifer Love Hewitt pictures, I agree too much emphasis is placed on young girls these days based on appearances in Hollywood.
However, with that said, I did cock my head this morning in question as I watched the Today show discussion on the topic. Natalie Morales was talking to Jessica Weiner, author of “Do I look fat in this?”. The discussion centered around women accepting their bodies and appearances and not allowing Hollywood to dictate how their size makes them feel. The topic is one I first must say I completely agree with and one, which is crucial for young women to grab a hold of early. But I was a little surprised to see a large woman; I would say obese, telling women to love their bodies.
The obesity rate in the US is astonishing and we all know the health problems associated with obesity. So is it okay to love your body if you’re obese? Or instead of loving your body people should be taught to love their LIVES, and take responsibility to make them healthier?
Which is more important; living with an unhealthy goal of perfection or loving an obese body with potential health concerns.
Both are big problems, the question is which problem is bigger?

How much is too much? A recent poll conducted by Prince Market Research shows Chicagoans are the most caffeinated urbanites of any other city dwellers in the U.S. We eat more chocolate and drink more cola than anyone else and rank among the top consumers of energy drinks and coffee. Adding foam to the latte, according to the poll, we're also the most likely to say caffeine is good for you.

Frankly until this survey came out I didn't think I was a culprit in that number 1 status. But how much is too much? I'm one of those people who get up every morning with my cup of coffee.. but I usually stop at one. Okay if I have extra time, occasionally it's two. After that it's off to my workout. Which usually, but not always, is accompanied by an energy drink, depending on how late I get to bed. At least 3 or 4 hours pass before I get to work and then.. gulp.. have another cup of coffee or a soda.

I'd like to blame it on the fast paced life we lead, living in a major metropolis. But the problems is according to the survey.. residents in San Francisco, Philadelphia, New York, Detroit, and Baltimore consumed the least caffeine.

In terms of chocolate, I don't eat a ton of chocolate on a daily basis. But I will defend Chicagoans in that arena by citing a Chicago Tribune Article by Mark Jacob from Halloween..

"The Chicago area has been at the center of the U.S. candy industry, producing such treats as Tootsie Rolls, Atomic Fireballs, Lemonheads, Baby Ruths, Butterfingers, Milk Duds, Milky Ways, 3 Musketeers, Snickers, Oh Henry! bars, Frango Mints, Cracker Jacks, Turtles, Doves, Jelly Bellies and Pixies. Candy historian Tim Richardson credits Chicago candy makers with popularizing the tradition of giving sweets to Halloween trick-or-treaters, calling it "a simple marketing ploy that emanated from the city's confectioners."

So it's in our historical makeup to consume chocolate. It's pumping through the city's heart! And speaking of your heart, according to the American Heart Association the jury is still out on whether high caffeine intake increases the risk of coronary heart disease. But it can raise your blood pressure and heart rate.
Food or drink for thought.. the next time you reach for your coffee or your energy drink. I know I will continue to reach for them.. but I'll try to pay more attention to how often.

While the pretend ghosts and goblins walked the streets of Chicagoland Wednesday night.. recent news stories may have area residents really scared. In just a matter of about 72 hours, two women went missing, a local family marked 6 months since THEIR loved one went suspiciously missing, and an Aurora mom was stabbed to death in front of her two babies. While we in the News business usually hear about crime and disappearances more than the average person, the days events left all of us wondering "what is going on"?

That is a question left up to police. But it does make you wonder if we, as individuals, do enough to keep ourselves safe on daily basis. One of the cases under investigation this week is Alma Mendez. The Chicago Heights woman was found beaten and stabbed to death in a Cook Co. Forest Preserve Tuesday night. She was reported missing while out on her normal daily jog on Sunday. She was on the same route she took almost every day, in broad daylight.

As a runner it makes me think.. what do I do to stay safe during my daily jogs? Pretty much nothing. I do have a 'dog-tag' like attachment for my shoe, with my name and contact information on it, but I doubt that's going to do me much good if I meet up with someone intending harm. When I was a kid my dad always taught me if I came upon a stray dog while running, I should pull a 3 Stooges and poke it in the eyes to scare it off. Unfortunately that means it has to get close enough to me. So I did a little digging.. and here are a few helpful tips you may want to think about next time you head out, courtesy of Running4women.com.

1. Don't run the same route all the time at the same time vary it up.
2. Road running? Try to face oncoming traffic, it allows traffic to see you and you to react to the traffic.
3. Train with a friend. Or stick to areas with a lot of people.
4. Wear light clothing.
5. Lose the headphones, not being able to hear what's going on around you can be dangerous from a traffic standpoint as well as personal safety.
6. Avoid poorly lit areas.
7. Tell at least one other person when and where your route will take you.
8. Leave your watch or jewelry at home, this makes you less of a target for muggers.
9. Keep a cell phone handy in case of emergencies.
10. Carry a noisemaker, like a whistle, to alert others around you if you're in danger.

I admit, doing all of these all the time for me, likely won't happen. But they are definitely good tips to keep in mind to help take control of our own personal safety. Of course there is one I didn't put on that list which some of my colleagues believe would work better.
Stay home on the couch.
Maybe next week.

Just because it’s expensive, doesn’t mean it’s better. Case in point, there's a warning out about lead in lipstick. The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics tested 33 brands of red lipsticks and found 61% had detectable levels of lead. The levels were apparently higher than the limit set for lead in candy, which is meant to protect kids from lead’s harmful effects.

Cost doesn’t seem to be a factor, but it’s interesting to point out that some of the less expensive brands like Revlon ($7.49) had no detectable levels of lead, but the more expensive Dior Addict brand ($24.50) had higher levels than others. Click here to see the full report.

Unfortunately, the FDA doesn’t regulate the cosmetic industry. And this group only tested a small number of lipsticks. So it’s really buyer beware. But my point in writing all of this is, just because you pay more, doesn’t always mean you’ll get a higher quality. In some cases, you may just get more than you wanted.

A new study was just released showing restaurants, which bill themselves as healthy, might actually make you fatter. The study was conducted by New York's Cornell University. It found people who opted for the 'healthier' restaurant (like a Subway).. over fast food (think McDonald's & Wendy's).. often treated themselves to higher calorie side dishes, drinks, or desserts.
Guilty.. I've done it a thousands times.. and will likely continue to do so, because in my mind, I'm still eating healthier. But what surprised me.. is researchers in the study found when people chose those additional side items.. they contained up to 131% more calories compared to the persons meal at a fast food chain. Ouch.. that smarts. But it begs the question.. Should you just go for the fatty fast food burger? Or get the fast food salad, cookies, and extra calories?
In making your decision consider this.. Researchers say people under estimated their caloric consumption in the study by about 159 calories. They say an extra 3500 calories equals a pound of fat. By that calculation researchers say the 159 extra calories equal about five pounds a year. So I'll stick with my salad's (they are better for you) and maybe have to ration my cookie intake. Or up my running..

All year, I’ve been reading articles and even reporting on companies that are finding creative ways of tweaking employee health benefits to cut costs. Now it’s hit home. The other day I opened a letter from my company, Tribune about changes to our health plans. One stuck out like a sore thumb. Starting next year, employees who smoke (or use tobacco products) or who want to cover dependents that smoke will have to pay $100 a month on top of the medical premium. As Harry Caray would say, “Holy Cow!” That’s an extra $1200 a year, on top of the already high price of cigarettes. Fortunately I don’t smoke, but if I did, that’s enough to make me quit.

An Indianapolis company is even going so far as to charge their employees $5 a pay period if they use tobacco or their cholesterol or blood pressure gets too high. They could end up paying as much as $30 a paycheck.

These moves are not without precedent. The Chicago Tribune recently wrote about Henry Ford’s so-called Sociological Department. It was made up of 150 investigators who visited employees’ home and asked them about drinking, gambling, diet, savings and other personal things. Those who didn’t meet Ford’s standards within six months were fired. That was a century ago.

Today, it’s no secret; businesses have been trying to cut rising health-care costs by passing the expenses onto employees and encouraging them to be healthy. Pretty soon, not only will you have no excuse for not being healthy, you won’t be able to afford being unhealthy.

This by far, has to be my favorite story of the day. There appears to be a scientific explanation for why older people say whatever is on their mind. At first, I thought it was because they had lived long enough to earn the privilege or they just didn't give a damn anymore. But this Australian researcher seems to think it's because a part of their brain is shrinking. Apparently, as people age, their frontal lobes atrophy and people begin to lose social skills. The researcher even went so far as to suggest that's why older people seem to have fewer qualms about making racist remarks than younger people do. So now I know why my grandmother has no problem telling me when I've gained or lost weight. Or why my uncle once told an ex-boyfriend of mine that he had "a mouth like a gator" (he had a lot of teeth and a wide smile). But before you try to use this as a license to say whatever you want, keep in mind, the researcher didn't identify at what age this begins. So watch out, someone may not take too kindly to your crass comments, just because you're older than them.