There are so many unknown causes and irritants behind asthma, the breathing condition that so many suffer in the US, and now acetominophen, the drug that is the main ingredient in Tylenol pain reliever, has been linked to childhood asthma rates.

But the good news is, not only are we getting closer to the causes of this uncomfortable and sometimes life threatening health condition, but we also have many herbal remedies for asthma at our disposal that many swear helps them to breathe much easier.

The key is to maintain healthy lung tissue and capacity, which is why good nutrition and good fitness routines are vital to maintaining a healthy life with minimal breathing issues and also minimal allergies, which are closely tied to asthma. Acetominophen has recently been linked to increased rates in asthma in children, as well as deficient levels of vitamin D – the apparent wonder vitamin that is now linked to so many diseases.

The study found that toddlers who took acetominophen products would express asthma symptoms like heavy breathing and wheezing, whereas they had not exhibited these symptoms of asthma before, which established a causal link between this common pain reliever and the development of asthma.

Though, one thing is not clear, and that is whether the drug just brought out tendencies that were already there, or irritated the symptoms, or whether these kids actually GOT asthma simply from taking this drug. More to come on this fascinating, if not disturbing finding.

Yeah, I said shorties!  And by the way, I’m a self proclaimed shorty (aka short person) myself, checking in at five foot four.  Apparently now, in addition to not being able to see over tall people in a crowd, or being consistently put in the front of group photos because of my shorty status, I also am now at a statistically higher rate for heart disease than my taller counterparts!  Sheesh, tall people get all the perks, don’t they?

The research, which was not really specifically commissioned because of a suspected link between height and heart disease, but some other factors in the likelihood of heart disease, actually showed that shorter people were one and a half times more likely than taller people to die of heart related ailments of heart attacks.  That’s fairly significant, so let’s talk about why they think this might be, if they even have any theories yet about this curious link.

They are looking at several factors, including socioeconomic.  Poor people may be shorter or more likely to be shorter, so maybe that status contributes to a lifestyle that is not conducive to heart health. Also, they think there may be some hormonally related reason for the link, like maybe the reason people don’t grow as tall is because they have a deficiency of some sort that is also related to heart health in some as yet undiscovered way.

There may be some relation to shortness and smaller arteries, which are more likely to be clogged with deposits which can lead to heart problems as well.

Recently, there has been discussion about how to treat seriously heroine addicted people, by prescribing them with a medical grade of heroine (hmm, are they talking about the prescription painkillers that we see people abuse every day?  sorry, had to go there).  The idea is that they would be taking people off of the street version of the drug and giving them a medical form of the drug in a controlled environment where they are safe and not likely to be drawn into the world of danger that addicts are often exposed to on a daily basis.

The hope is that they can get the ones who do not respond to methadone, the most commonly prescribed medication to heroine addicts, off of heroine with this new idea. However, one has to wonder, then won’t they have to take the prescription type forever as well, and what type of damage can that do to the body one wonders?

The new synthetic heroine actually is supposed to decrease the cravings for the real thing better than methadone does, and have less of a relapse rate, which is what researchers are really hoping for. They want serious heroine addicts to be able to get back into normal societal circulation, because so many times serious heroine addicts resort to crime and running with the dredges of society in order to pay for and be conducive to their heroine habit.

With the prescription heroine, they saw much less of a relapse rate, and exactly what they wanted to see in terms of people reconnecting with society, getting jobs and being productive members of communities.

Walgreens, one of the fastest growing, and my personally favorite drugstore chain, has decided to put plans on hold for selling a new DNA saliva swab kit that they were planning to sell in their stores, probably bringing them to the forefront as the only drugstore chain to sell such a unique product. Why would people want a test like this, you ask?

Well, DNA testing is becoming more and more popular as a way to detect whether you have damaged DNA and might be more likely to contract different diseases, or even be more prone to things like breast cancer and other inherited types of disease.

I must admit, when I first read about it, I thought maybe it’s primary use would be to confirm paternity of a child or something like that, but it looks like it’s being marketed as mostly a medical tool to see what your likelihood of deadly disease is. Walgreen’s plans to market this unique product, however, were snatched by the FDA and put on hold.

The FDA, who evaluates new drugs to be put on the market (I’m not sure why they concerned themselves with this one then), says that the kit has not been proven effective, and that they are concerned that people will base medical and treatment decisions on the outcome of these DNA tests, and not know if they are truly accurate or not.

I wonder if there is really another aspect at work here, as I’m naturally skeptical of most government agencies and their hidden agendas. Other genetic tests and evaluations have been sold for several years now, unencumbered by the FDA, however, since this new genetic test by Pathway, would be mass marketed and available in a retail, widely available market, they feel that crosses the line and warrants their review of the product.

The total evaluation of your genetic code from your saliva would cost about $275, which makes it cheaper than the other options out there. It’s hard to tell whether this would be a blockbuster item or not, as not many people are really aware they can do this kind of stuff yet anyways. I wonder, would I really want to know if I’m predisposed to certain diseases? I already try to live a healthy, preventive lifestyle, would it really change the way I live my life that much anyway?

This healthcare business is really a hotly contested issue lately. Some people literally think it will bring about the fall of the US economy and our first step toward socialized medicine and government. I tend to agree, although I have to see it in action before I rush to judgment.  The sounds of it just aren’t really reassuring if you ask me. It sounds like the lawmakers who passed it don’t even know for sure how the logistics of it are going to work, and that’s not a huge vote of confidence in my book.

I have a problem when just about everyone’s taxes are going to increase, and the standards of care may not even change all that much. The difference is that, sure people will be covered that weren’t before. But at what expense? Are they going to have to dish money they don’t have out of their pocket for something they didn’t deem a large enough priority in the first place to pay for it?

Also, we have to hope that a lot more money going forward, will be dumped into preventive healthcare, where it belongs.  Educational programs against obesity, vitamin and supplement and nutrition education, lifestyle education and things like that can save American’s billions on healthcare costs.  That alone can help us all pay for eachother’s healthcare, which is essentially what we will be doing for eachother, there is no way of sugarcoating that fact.