• Last updated 3/15/13 by mamazee

  Brenda Strong Taking life just as it is may sound easy. Doing it? Now that’s hard, but also necessary and ultimately liberating. There are gifts embedded in the accidents of fate that give existence its shape, meaning and richness – as the old adage goes, make your mess your message. In my case, the mess was secondary infertility. The message became my ability to help others heal through Yoga, mindfulness and acceptance. Mothering and nurturing myself was part of my journey. I was a 26-year-old actress making it happen in Los Angeles.... read more

• Last updated 3/15/13 by mamazee

Our neighbor’s 14-year-old son has been battling leukemia for the past two years. My daughter’s classmate’s older sister died when she was eighteen of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. As parents we try so hard to keep our children safe and protected. The threat of cancer may seem amorphous: it’s not a contagious disease like the whooping cough that’s been going around our small town lately. But, according to a 240-page report by the President’s Cancer Panel, our babies are coming into the world “pre-polluted.” Exposure to harmful chemicals can be... read more

• Last updated 3/15/13 by mamazee

ROYGBIV: The Color of Health By Patty James Why is it important to eat lots of different colored fruits and vegetables? Because each colored vegetable and fruit has unique properties and there is strong evidence that there are interactions between the colors that are beneficial to your health. Eating by the Rainbow is vitally important to your well-being. Here are the colors: Red foods contain lycopene that helps rid the body of damaging free radicals, protects against prostate cancer, as well as heart and lung disease. The red foods are... read more

• Last updated 3/14/13 by mamazee

A solid, useful piece in today's New York Times: “I think parents feel like it’s their job to just make their children eat something. But it’s really their job to serve a variety of healthy foods and get their children exposed to foods.” read more

• Last updated 3/14/13 by mamazee

You may not have heard about a study published in September in the Journal of Neurotoxicology about what happens to newborn rhesus macaques after they are given a single dose of a thimerosal-containing Hepatitis B vaccine. Nine scientists co-authored the study. In the introduction, they explain that in 1991 Hepatitis B was recommended for all newborns, regardless of gestational age or birth weight, within twelve hours of life, even if their mothers test negative for Hepatitis B. “We were unable to identify pre-clinical or prospective... read more

• Last updated 3/14/13 by mamazee

I don’t usually wear make-up. If you don’t wear make-up you look washed out on TV. Last weekend a PBS film crew was in town shooting footage for a Frontline documentary about the vaccine debate. They have been talking to people around the country on both sides of the issue, including Paul Offit, Jenny McCarthy, Bob Sears, Barbara Loe Fisher, J. B. Handley, and more. They came to Ashland, Oregon because many parents here choose not to vaccinate at all, choose to selectively vaccinate, or choose to vaccinate fully but on a different schedule than... read more

• Last updated 3/14/13 by mamazee

  Athena, who just turned 9, has never taken an antibiotic When Athena was a baby she got an infection on her face. I ignored it for several days but finally took her to our favorite doctor in Massachusetts, whose office was in Hadley. “So, what’s wrong with the baby?” He asked me, as he scrubbed his hands in the sink in the examining room. “That’s what I came here to ask you,” I said. “Tell me what you think.” “Okay,” I took a deep breath and realized I was genuinely glad he was asking. “I think she has a bacterial infection. I... read more

• Last updated 3/14/13 by mamazee

Vaccine safety is back in the news today, because the FDA has asked doctors to temporarily suspend giving the newest incarnation of the vaccine against rotavirus, Rotarix. This vaccine is currently scheduled on CDC guidelines for infants in two doses between ages six weeks and 24 weeks. Independent researchers found the vaccine to be contaminated with fragments of a virus of pigs, porcine circovirus 1 (PCV1). There are several unfortunate things about today’s news: 1. Although the contamination was communicated to vaccine makers and the... read more

• Last updated 3/14/13 by mamazee

Hey, I’m in the thick of hideous clouds of juniper pollen here in Santa Fe. Cherilyn Swenson of Spabox dropped by and gave me some sweet relief in the form of Clear My Head 2 Go Roll On Inhalation. It helps. Benadryl did nothing, nor did Claritin (although they work for some). As I mentioned, doing the neti pot helped last night, but it’s not something I want to do in the work bathroom sink area. I roll the inhalation it over my sinuses, as the skin under my nose is currently too sensitive to go near. We had a great time talking about some other brands... read more

• Last updated 3/14/13 by mamazee

I waited two months to get my children an appointment with a new dentist. She is one of two who takes the Oregon Health Plan, a state-funded insurance program for kids who qualify. We’ve really been feeling the pinch of the recession and our family, unfortunately, more than qualifies. I was so glad that OHP includes dental coverage. It’s been a year since the kids have seen a dentist. The appointment was for 2:20 p.m and I called around 1:00 p.m. to confirm. We arrived early. The receptionist handed me some paperwork. Included in the paperwork... read more