Thanks to NY Daily News!

Are you too promiscuous to be an organ donor?

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention might think so.

Newly proposed guidelines take donors’ sexual activity into account. Organs coming from anyone who had sex with two or more people in the past year would be deemed “high-risk.”

The proposal is designed to protect recipients from sexually transmitted diseases. But some fear it will do more harm than good.

Some are arguing that the rule will limit the amount of organs donated by certain groups; especially from young people.

With the new guidelines, every college student in America will be high risk. Right now, it’s probably a prostitute or a guy with a needle in his arm. Next time, it will be just a young guy.”

What is more important, quality of quantity?

Thanks to the LA Times!

The list of problems for America’s schools just got a little heavier.

School systems across the country have implemented bans or restrictions on access to soda and other sweetened drinks in recent years. All in an effort to combat childhood obesity.

It’s not working.

State laws that ban soda in schools — but not other sweetened beverages — have virtually no impact on the amount of sugary drinks middle school students buy and consume at school…”

Research published this week shows students across the country are drinking the same amount of sugary drinks, no matter the limitations.

Further complicating the issue is some schools’ reluctance to get rid of vending machines, which have become a source of funds when budgets are tight.

Any other ideas?

President Obama has beaten one of his biggest challengers…

Smoking!

The president had been public about his bad habit in the past and has tried to quit since taking office. Now, having received his official check-up, his physician certified him as “tobacco free.”

The president is in excellent health and ‘fit for duty.’ All clinical data indicate he will remain so for the duration of his presidency.”

The report also noted healthy eating and exercise for the commander-in-chief.

Now how will he deal with the stress of this economy?!

Thanks to Rolling Stone.

Victims memorialized after it all comes tumbling down in Indiana.

Fat…and healthy? Check out what this new study could mean for you.

Fierce debates take place in the Eurozone. Is the Euro going under?

Somali refugees aren’t getting their food aid. Find out why.

Ever wonder what happens when you hurl your girlfriend’s Hamster out the window? We finally have your answer!

Image Thanks to the Mirror!

A quiet weekend in Britain?  Increased police presence prevents weekend riots.

Mandate or can’t-date?  An appellate court strikes down individual healthcare mandate and a prediction of what comes next.

Losing a good one: trailblazing women’s health advocate Bernadine Healy passes away.

Super PAC strikes!  Stephen Colbert’s political action committee puts out its first campaign ad.

Ernie and Bert – should they or shouldn’t they?  Get married, that is!

Stop the Photoshop! The American Medical Association says it may be hazardous to your health.

The American Medical Association (AMA), the premiere organization of physicians in America, adopted a new policy discouraging advertisers from using photo alterations

in a manner that could promote unrealistic expectations of appropriate body image.

What are some examples of such “unrealistic expectations”? Let’s take a look at a few examples…

Heads aren’t usually supposed to be wider than one’s waist, regardless of what this altered Ralph Lauren ad suggests.

Generally hip and leg bones are aligned and attached – unless you’re modeling a Victoria’s Secret halter dress.

And finally, what already slim model doesn’t need a few additional inches photoshopped off of her waist?

These are just a few examples of the type of Photoshopping the AMA policy is seeking to target. The organization cites

a large body of literature [that] links exposure to media-propagated images of unrealistic body image to eating disorders and other child and adolescent health problems.

The organization’s newly-adopted policy encourages advertisers to work with child health groups to develop guidelines for ads in youth-oriented media that discourages photo editing.

Is this AMA policy a step in the right direction or too little too late?

Should policies only focus on the health impact of photo-altering in teen magazines – or should the AMA and other public health advocates be considering broader issues and audiences in the modeling and advertising industry?  Tell us what you think!

All images are property of the author, ForeverPlaid.

Ahhh, Switzerland. Home to cheese, alps, and chocolate. Life must be good there, right? USDemocrazy dispatched a foreign correspondent to find out for sure. Read on for part one of two on Swiss life…

As a part of my schooling at UMBC, I spent some time in different parts of Switzerland this summer to understand what makes Switzerland a healthy country, culturally and physically. You know what? Those dang Swiss walk A LOT. Why? Let me explain…

The Swiss have blessed themselves with a fantastic system of public transportation, between buses in every city, town, and village, and trains that connect villages of only a few hundred people to cities of hundreds of thousands. Imagine all the exercise the Swiss get just by walking to and from the bus stop or train station rather than cursing at one another while jockeying for the closest parking spot to the Wal-Mart entrance…

You might have heard of a little mountain range called “the Alps.” Ring a bell? The Swiss are able to learn from a young age the value of being outside through awesome mountain activities in all seasons, most particularly hiking, Nordic walking, and skiing. Because the trains help them get around the country so easily, a day trip from the city for an alpine hike is just not a big deal (aside from dealing with the big mountains, of course).

My hiking group of spry young folk was passed on our walk by a group of hikers who were exclusively over 60 years old, who told us that they started hiking as small children and continue to go on a hike at least once a week. It’s all in preparation for a week-long excursion they take to the Alps every year. There’s nothing like being beat by some senior citizens up a mountain to help you pick up the pace.

That’ll be all for part one of my exploration of Swiss life… Part two is soon to follow, and it has something to do with these cows!

How do you think you’d like the physical activity aspect of this culture? Walking to the train station, hiking up some mountains, walking to pick up some groceries at the corner store, for instance? Leave a comment and let us know if you like the way we do it in the US, or if you don’t!

Courtesy USA Today

If you have just had a hamburger and are now feeling a little qweezy… GOOD NEWS!!!!  You are not alone!!! Bad beef has a few other folks feeling funky too!!

According to an USA Today article, meat-packing giant Cargill has announced a second recall on 22,723 pounds of tainted ground beef from a Beef Packers Inc. facility in Arizona.

We at USDemocrazy breathed a sigh of relief at the recall news…until…

We learned that recalling meat is, well, a beefy problem.

It appears that once meat leaves the meat-packing facilities, it gets widely dispersed, renamed, repackaged and radically relocated. In other words, hard to track down.

Safeway stores in Arizona and New Mexico are assuring customers that their anti-beef brigade has been beefed up. The stores claim potentially-tainted meat (contaminated with a drug-resistant strain of salmonella) has been removed from store shelves.

Still, people should check the “sell by” dates of meat in their freezers; any meat with dates between September 28 and October 11 should be disposed of. (We found meat in the back of our fridge that dated from October 1996)

This is not the first time Beef Packers Inc. has been in hot pot.

Back in August, Beef Packers Inc had another recall, this time 86,000 pounds of beef for similar issues.

Recently the company stopped producing beef designated for schools, following a repeated suspensions from school lunch programs for tainted meat.

Of course, food poisoning is no laughing matter.

It can cause extreme sickness and is especially dangerous for young children or the elderly.

When you look at the rate of food-borne illness in the United States, there is clearly a nationwide problem.

All this raises some meaty questions:

Is our current system of raising, butchering and distributing beef safe and smart? Should we be more concerned about human health than economic efficiency?

More importantly… should we all be feeling a little qweezy about the problems in our food supply?

Thanks to Google Images!

Now that winter is beginning and everyone is going to be coming down with colds and illnesses, how can we be sure to stay healthy?

To answer this question we at USDemocrazy set out on a desperate Web search for heal-all remedies.

We came out empty handed… but not empty headed. We stumbled across a surprising and important scientific discovery in another area of health!

First, make sure you have plenty of the ABCA13 gene around…

Wait, what? ABCA? gene?

Doctors have discovered that individuals who have partially inactive ABCA13 genes are more likely to suffer from mental illnesses, including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and depression.

Professor Douglas Blackwood says,

This is an exciting step forward in our understanding of the underlying causes of some common mental illnesses. These risk genes could signpost new directions for treatments.

This is very important information for mental health in the United States.  Recent studies have shown that, despite marginal increases in mental health facilities across the country, these facilities are usually only admitting people for under 24 hours.

So treatments for me, myself, and I are soon to come?

Maybe.  Older, but competing studies, show that environmental factors may have more of an impact than any one gene ever could.

A small number of recent population-based studies provide more robust evidence of an association, and there are now plausible mechanisms linking childhood trauma and psychosis.

These studies have argued that childhood trauma has more of an effect than any gene could on mental illnesses like schizophrenia.

Nobody is sure if a cure will ever be found, but we can all hope that those suffering from this major mental problem can find better treatment to help them live happy and healthy lives.

Can you tell me how to get to Sesame Street? Courtesy of The Muppet NewFlash

Who doesn’t love a furry puppet who is smart and can tell you how to count and say the alphabet??? ( kinda sounds like our editor at USDemocrazy without the “smart” bit…)

Our favorite gang of Muppets, who are lovable puppets that live on Sesame Street, are celebrating their 40th Anniversary! (Can you count to 40?… let’s do it together…!)

Don’t bother asking how to get there- no one will answer your question even if you sing it to the world EVERY DAY! Although there are many shows that may currently surpass Sesame Street in popularity- its longevity is unmatched.

The Children’s Television Workshop, a non profit production company, gave the world its first glimpse of Sesame Street in 1969. Some of us from the newer generations may be surprised to know that the aims of this iconic show weren’t just to entertain but instead

to present enjoyable and beguiling preschool education to poor children who did not have access to decent preschools while bringing diversity to children’s programming.”

Fighting cultural norms of racism and problems of inequality ? Not what you first think of when you imagine  a cuddly puppet named Big Bird or Elmo!

Still times have changed, and television as a learning tool isn’t looked on so kindly these days. Some think youngsters like two-year old toddlers should not be in front of the tv in the first place. Experts agree that both physically and developmentally, television (even Sesame Street) is harmful at young ages.

Despite this, we at USDemocrazy must applaud Sesame Street- and NOT because President Obama gave his seal of approval in his introduction of Sesame Street’s 40th season. Instead we cheer because under the fur and fabric efforts toward social change remain at the Street’s core.

Cookie Monster Eating Some Fruits and Veggies with those Cookies

This show has presented an integrated neighborhood during a time of racial turmoil.

It made a certain monster who is fond of cookies and sweets, add some veggies to his diet in a time where obesity runs rampant in America.

Sesame Street has made strides globally by introducing the first HIV positive muppet to Sesame Street South Africa.

So next time you are flipping through the channels and pass that familiar green and white sign, pause and take a closer look.