Sudden deaths of 3 young people attributed to Lyme disease, CDC says 

Bad News…

The sudden deaths of three young people in the Northeast have been attributed to complications of Lyme disease, Boston.com reported.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), each of the fatalities resulted from undetected heart inflammation – also known as carditis –  caused by the tick-borne illness. About 1 percent of Lyme disease sufferers develop carditis, which is typically treatable with antibiotics or, in some cases, a pacemaker.

Conflicting info…

Medical professionals say these deaths should bring new urgency to the search for a Lyme disease vaccine.

“I think it is unconscionable and a discredit to all parties—public health, manufacturers, Lyme activists—that no Lyme vaccine is available to humans while there is one for dogs,” Stanley Plotkin, emeritus professor of pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania and a vaccine expert

That statement conflicts with another published report that a Lyme vaccine was developed and sold (briefly) and withdrawn after protests by anti-vaccine kooks (and the lawyers).  But perhaps he is calling for another vaccine for Lyme to replace the one that was forced off the market.

Energy efficient light bulbs could pose UV-risk to skin, trigger migraines

…Broader use of CFLs may actually come with some unwanted health risks – most notably in regards to people’s skin.The danger lies in the CFL design.  Current fluorescent bulbs house a small tube of liquid mercury, and when the light is turned on, the incoming electricity changes some of that mercury into gas.  This excited vapor emits invisible ultraviolet (UV) light, which is then absorbed by the bulb’s phosphor coating.

A problem with CLF’s is that they can “leak” UV light and prolonged exposure has an increased risk of skin cancer and premature skin aging.

Also…

Another concern surrounding CFL light bulbs has to do with their potential to trigger migraine headaches.  According to Dr. Mark Green, director of the Center for Headache and Pain Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, current fluorescent lights are reviled by many migraine suffers, who claim certain forms of lighting can prompt painful attacks.

Even if you don’t get migraine headaches, many people, myself included have noticed a irritating effect when our days were spent in offices lit exclusively with fluorescent lighting. Feelings of irritability accompanied by eye strain only relieved by returning home and flicking on the good old incandescent bulbs.

Green said that most migraine sufferers enjoy incandescent lighting, since it doesn’t produce any flickering sensations and has a nice warm feel.  But with this change, it’s going to be harder for individuals to avoid fluorescent lights, and for the 1 or 2 percent of people who experience migraines, CFLs may exacerbate their symptoms.

“We’re all going to be living in a world of fluorescent light,” Green said.

Why is it that 1% of the population may have a problem with gluten, so “Gluten-Free” products are everywhere, but migraine sufferers can’t get a break from this stupidity.

Yup! The democratic party, home of ideas so good that they have to be made mandatory.

Well, screw them. Early on I decided NOT to fall for the CLF hoax, I don’t have ONE CLF bulb in the house. But I’m now 95% converted to LED.  None of which come from China.