On this, the 10th anniversary of our Awareable eBornes, thoughts go out to all our friends and colleagues suffering from Mother Nature's wrath this year. Devastating tornados, tropical cyclones, severe European cold snap, avalanches, wildfires, ninos and ninas... it's getting to be time for Spring to sprung, and not a moment too soon.   May your personal Ides be safe and sound...the sound part starting with this, our first contagious missive of 2012.

We invite you to visit the IA Showroom: A very cool bird's eye view of the complete Awareables necktie and scarf collection, past and present. 

http://www.iawareables.com/shopping/neckties_showroom.htm  

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that overall life expectancy for U.S. was up to 78.7 years in 2010, improving .1% from 2009. Doesn't seem like much, but at least it's in the right direction! And here's some really good news: for the first time since 1965, you get to die less often from homicide, which has dropped out of the top 15 causes of the nation's mortalities.   Heart disease and cancer account for nearly half of all deaths, with lower respiratory diseases, stroke and related cerebrovascular diseases leading a long and challenging list of other causes.

For more info on your odds, refer to: www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/new_mortality.htm

Lemons and OJ. Say it isn't so!

Foodborne Necktie

Foodborne Scarf

E.coli Scarf

Ever think about that decorative lemon or orange peel that teeters on the edge of your iced tea or other umbrella'd beverage? Ever consider that your "fresh-squeezed" artisanal OJ might be just one microbe too artisanal? Not us. However. . .

. . .reporting in the 2007 Journal of Environment Health, when served an unrequested lemon garnish on her drink, microbiologist Anne LaGrange Loving was moved to investigate by swabbing 76 lemon slices at 21 restaurants (we assume this is considered recreation for microbiologists). She found that two-thirds of the slices had bacteria on the rind or the pulp - yes, the working stub in your herbal. The study was not done to determine causal sickness, but the bacteria isolated do include the usual suspects with potential.

If that's not enough, a recent study done in Spain ("arancia" is big there!) found that 43 % of orange juice freshly squeezed by machines and stored in metal containers was contaminated with enterobacteriae, staph and salmonella species. Is there no end to our disillusionment? This is Orange Juice, fGs!

What to do? We've never liked the lemon anyway, but for those who do, go ahead...you decide how close to live on the edge. As for the OJ, best to check that the juice is *really* freshly squeezed, poured directly into your glass, and not stored in an unprotected, possibly contaminated metal container.  

Gonorrhea Necktie

Add Gonorrhea to the growing list of worrisome bacterial strains that are pumped up enough to ward off all current antibiotic therapy. Along with resistant staph (MRSA) and total-drug-resistant TB, resistant infections are emerging faster than new antibiotics. CDC reported in the New England Journal of Medicine that nearly 2% of gonorrhea infections now show little response to the last available antibiotics - a frequency rate seventeen times greater than just six years ago! Over 600,000 Americans are diagnosed with gonorrhea annually, so the math is drawing some attention.

Public health is seriously threatened when we lose our potential to fight off ever-increasing mutant and emerging infections. The challenge is especially difficult because industry incentives for development of new antibiotics are weak; antibiotics are hard to develop, they are usually taken only for short term, and they typically return low profit margins for manufacturers.

Obvious conclusions are that a multi-pronged effort by industry, universities and government is going to be required in order to preempt the public health crisis which looms large in our immediate future. We'd like to hear more from leadership, but until that date to-be-named later, IA continues to do it's part, "starting the conversation" with its legendary non-resistant "gc" design.

Pioneer in process to remove contaminants from blood including HIV  

Dr. Edward Shanbrom, an incredibly creative hematologist, inventor and philanthropist who looked for "simple solutions to complex problems," passed away earlier this year. "I don't do sophisticated science." Shanbrom once said. "My work is quick and feasible" but "could be very important."

Dr Shanbrom was one of the developers of a breakthrough treatment for hemophiliacs, and devised a critical blood-cleaning process using detergents to remove viruses from blood plasma, doing much of his work in his primary work place, the family kitchen!

Before concentrating on research, Dr. Shanbrom specialized in hematology at City of Hope and what is now UC Irvine Medical Center in Orange County, California. In recognition of his research and philanthropy, UC Irvine named a medical school building after him in 2007.

An insight into his inventiveness: testing a new cranberry extract to protect against sunburn, he smeared it on his forehead and then exposed it to sun. The potion failed to protect his forehead, but did manage to turn his hair pink for a week! A temporary hair dye was born.

An accomplished gentleman and professional, to whom we all owe thanks and appreciation.