Unless you are living in the back of beyond, with no internet, television, or newspaper access, you would have heard about the recent outbreak of swine flu in Mexico. This morning, when I collected the newspaper from the gate, I discovered it’s even made it’s way to New Zealand (via airline passengers).

So it’s best not to assume that because it seems to have originated in Mexico, it would stay only in Mexico. Everyone  needs to be aware of and prepared to deal with the possibility that it could arrive in their corner of the world.

Here’s the best way to keep up to date of what’s happening…

1. Learn key facts about Swine Flu and what to do to protect yourself can be found at the Center for Disease Control and Protection (CDC) website. Traveler’s should keep an eye on the CDC Travel Notices. Currently there is one Travel Health Precaution listed for Mexico.

2. Visit the WHO Disease Outbreak News Center and use the  WHO Global Disease Alert Map to see where Swine Flu has spread…

This HealthMap correlates information from numerous news feeds and uses it to map out disease outbreaks.

3.  Set up Google News Alerts with the keyword ’swine flu’ to get up-to-date information emailed to you. Of course, if you are only interested in your country or location, you can add keywords to narrow the alert.

Google Alerts via kwout

4. Keep up-to-date via twitter. Many people seem to think that twitter is just a fun and social network system but it can also be a useful and informative tool in finding out what’s happening.

Reliable resources who are twittering about Swine Flu…

• HealthMap
• SwineFlu 2009 and CDCemergency (CDC twitter)
• whonews (WHO twitter)
• DHSJournal (Homeland Security)

(virus image from CDC)

To mark Parkinson’s Awareness Week (April 20-26th) in the United Kingdom (England, Wales, and Scotland)  the Parkinson’s Disease Society has launched a nationwide appeal to get people to pledge to donate their brains for Parkinson’s research.

Wanted: A Few Good Brains

Seems that they are running a little low on this organ and without it, are unable to pursue necessary research to help advance Parkinson’s Disease treatments and maybe even find a cure.

But getting people to donate their brains isn’t as easy as getting them to donate other organs. A survey recently commissioned by the Parkinson’s Disease Society has shown that while over 60% are comfortable with donating a heart or a kidney, only 7% are comfortable with donating a brain.

It’s hoped that this brain donation appeal will change that, by bringing out into the open what happens to the donated brains.

Take a trip to the Parkinson’s Brain Bank facility with Jane Asher, actress and president of the London-based Parkinson’s Disease Society, and see what they do…

(image from sxc.hu)

Creative and inventive types need to get out their thinking caps and see if they can come up with an entry for the 2009 DiabetesMine™ Design Challenge, a yearly online competition aimed at developing creative new tools for improving life with diabetes.

Not only does the winning design win up to $10,000, it could also help transform the lives of millions of people living with diabetes.

You have until May 1st to enter. Full instructions can be found at the Enter the Contest page.

Check out last year’s winning entries, which include an online logbook and a Pez-candy-like dispenser for glucose test strips, to get into the creative groove.

April 2nd is World Autism Awareness Day.

I mentioned in the Healthbolt Holiday Gift Guide that it looked like the silly season was upon us - a time when everyone gets carried away buying presents for the nearest and dearest.

Well, Healthbolt is going to go one better and start giving away a present everyday for the month of December.

“Why?” you say.

“Why Not?” I reply.

Thanks to some very generous and kind people out in there in cyberspace, I have put together a collection of mainly fitness goodies – DVDs and books, sneakers and socks, gadgets and toys- to giveaway.

Here’s the plan…

- Every evening for the next 31 days, there will be a new giveaway announced.

- enter by leaving a comment and your email address. Entry will be disqualified without email.

- each giveaway will run for 7 days.

- winner will be contacted by email with subject line Healthbolt Giveaway Winner and also posted here at Healthbolt.

You can keep up to date with the daily giveaways and winners at this 31 Days of Healthbolt Giveaways page.

So spread the word and come join in the fun…

Start spreading the news…

Breast Cancer Awareness month is coming up soon (beginning October 1) and to celebrate, our fabulous sister blog, Pink Ribbon Review, is giving away a prize a day! There are some amazing things donated by some amazing companies, who will also support the cause with a percentage of sales donated to Breast Cancer Awareness. Outstanding.

Be sure to subscribe to Pink Ribbon Review so you don’t miss a single day of give-aways.

Tell your friends. Spread the word, spread the awareness.

For a current list of items to be given away, check here.

Illusionist David Blaine has been hanging around, upside down for the past couple of days. You can find him at the swinging in the breeze above the Wollmann ice rink in Central Park, New York.

Its a stunt that requires a great deal of endurance, focus, and might I add, stupidity.

Medical, hanging up side down for long periods of time is simply not a good idea. It can mess with the heart and cause the blood pressure to rise. There’s increased risk of brain haemorrhage, seizures, and blindness because of all the blood pooling in the brain and skull. It can also cause breathing problems - with the diaphragm upside down, the intestines will be exerting pressure on the lungs, making breathing more difficult. And of course, there’s less blood, and therefore oxygen, going to the legs, which could possibly cause muscle tissue to die off.

All in all, doesn’t seem like a smart move. Even Blaine’s own physican, when told about the stunt, said ‘”It scared the crap out of me.”

So, really, I really have to ask ‘why would someone put themselves through this?’

Can anyone tell me…

(source)

Theme Day once again guys, and this time the focus across the Health & Wellness channel is Back to School.

We’ve got posts on everything from getting boys through puberty to nursing your baby at PTA meetings to dealing with juvenile diabetes at school and more. There’s something for everyone, so be sure to visit Grace at Kids Health Notes. Grace was good enough to host this month’s round-up (and she has a pretty sweet contest going on over there as well), so check it out.

Of course, be sure to see the post below to check out our contribution - new research on antibacterial hand soaps.

Hope your Back to School season is kicking off right!

What a phenomenal run America had in the Olympics this year, and what an amazing go-round athletes from around the world had overall. Lots of records broken (something about some Phelps guy, I dunno) and lots of reason to celebrate.

So, we want to know…did you watch the Beijing Olympics, or did you skip them? If you watched, what was your favorite event? If you could, would you love the opportunity to compete in the Olympics yourself? In what event? Let us know…

You’ve heard of the Tour de France but I bet you haven’t heard of the Tour de Donut.

Yes, really. It’s a bike race that combines cycling with donut eating and it’s been held for the last 20 years in Stanton, Illinois. This year a thousand cyclists participated, cycling from donut stop to donut stop, until they either reached the finish line or became too weighed down by donuts to continue.

Personally, I’d rather have my donut with coffee…

(source)