What do we look for when we go buy a new car? Price is certainly an important consideration and, of course, utility; will it fit everyone it has to fit? We look at color, interior material, and, currently, the crucial “miles per gallon city” rating.

Do we look at the design of the vehicle; the rollover potential; crash worthiness; or safety rating? We try to consider the information that will most affect our safety and the safety of our family, but the advertising issued by vehicle manufacturers can sometimes get in the way. They tell us to buy the fastest, the classiest, the most affordable, or the best gas mileage. Safety is sometimes not synonymous with fast, classy, or affordable.

Vehicle crashes kill more than one million people a year, injuring another thirty-eight million (5 million of them seriously).  The death toll on the world’s roadways makes driving the number one cause of death and injury for young people ages 15 to 44. 

There has been significant research done and crash ratings assigned that rate the safety of various vehicles in different types of collisions and rollover accidents. For example, one of the most important factors in protecting occupants in roll-overs is whether or not the roof of the vehicle will resist collapsing into the passenger compartment. There have been many crashes in which drivers and passengers have been seriously injured or killed when the vehicle they were driving or riding as passengers was not crashworthy. If all the automobile manufacturers would adopt and adhere to strict safety guidelines for all automobiles on the road today, a lot of these tragedies could be avoided. Safety should be the key issue when buying a motor vehicle. In fact, if automobile manufacturers would simply comply with their own studies, the safety of vehicles on our highways would be greatly improved.

Where can we go to help us determine the best and safest vehicle to buy? Try Consumer Reports; the National Highway Transportation & Safety Administration; the Insurance Institute for highway safety; and the Highway safety Group.

The FDA final rule “establishing current good manufacturing practice requirements (CGMPs) ” in June 2008 was just the beginning of the lid being blown off the dietary supplements industry. It has become more than apparent that the impact of Dietary Health and Supplement Education Act (DSHEA) has surfaced and it is just the beginning of startling headlines of illness and death associated with OTC supplements. (more…)

This is Part V of a series on herbal supplements. For those who are suffering from and/or diagnosed with an illness herbal supplements may present an even greater risk.

According to the Hepatitis Foundation International” Doctors are very concerned that many herbal-related liver injuries go unrecognized because patients are often not asked about the use of herbs and diet supplements. Herbal remedies contain multiple ingredients, and the labeled and actual contents of a product may differ. This makes it impossible to identify liver injury rates for specific herbs.” (more…)

Tai Chi or Tai Chi Chuan is a form of Chinese martial arts. It is termed “soft or internal because it does not provoke an aggression type of style. In fact some refer to Tai Chi as being closer to a form of meditation than to martial arts.

 Regardless, it seems clear that Tai Chi can provide a low impact, effective exrcise for older Americans who desire to improve their overall health. Tai Chi relieves stress, helps to maintain a physical and mental balance, and promotes overall flexibility.

Tai Chi involves standard, very deliberate, and slow movements through a natural range of movements over the body’s center of gravity.

The Oregon Research Institute has recently reported that Tai Chi can help with the prevention of falls in the elderly population. The rsearch institutes lead rseaercher reported:

“Our results are very important from a public health perspective,” says Li. “The U.S. population is aging rapidly and falls are a leading cause of mortality and morbidity among adults age 65 and older. Falls are associated with an enormous burden to individuals, society, and to the health care system. Tai Chi, as a proven fall intervention, may have much to offer in terms of reducing the public health burden of falls and the benefits accrued for prevention.”

Most of us have seen and heard news about prescription errors that have caused over 7,000 deaths, annually. However on April 25, 2008 Actavis Totowa, LLC, subsidiary of Iceland’s Actavis Group finally identified a very unusual problem. Actavis initiated a class I US Nationwide recall of its digoxin based cardiac drug,  Digitek®, a prescription drug that had a built-in error in all sizes of its digoxin pills. (more…)