Polio was the disease that President Franklin Roosevelt had that the media kept secret from the public, for fear of making him look weak. It was the scourge of children who grew up in the 40s and early 50s, before the polio vaccine was invented in 1955. While polio still affects some African countries, the CDC has declared that polio is a disease of the past in the US, except now four Amish children in Minnesota have contracted it, probably because their religious philosophy precludes vaccinations.

Epidemiologist Harry Hull says these cases aren’t a threat to the general public because most people have been vaccinated against polio, but he expects to find more infections within the Amish community because some of its members continue to refuse vaccinations.
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Anne’s diet book, What I Learned From the Fat Years, is being serialized on this website, one chapter at a time. Chapter 3, “Fear of Food,” has just been posted. You can still read chapters one and two as well. Can dieting actually be fun? With Anne to guide you with her courage and humor, the answer is YES.

NOTE: This news story, previously published on our old site, will have any links removed.read more

The National Hurricane Center declared Tropical Storm Wilma this morning, the 21st named storm of the Atlantic Hurricane season. This ties the record for a hurricane season, and after the warmest September on record, there remains the possiblity that the season could extend into November.

Wilma appears poised to enter the Gulf of Mexico, where waters remain warmer than normal. It could develop there into a major hurricane that might again threaten the region. Onshore waters immediately south of the US Gulf Coast are about a degree cooler than they were last month, however, so it is possible that a slow moving storm might weaken somewhat as it comes ashore.
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Star anise, a common spice used in Chinese cooking that can be found on in the Asian section of many grocery stores, is the main ingredient in Tamiflu, which so far is the only antidote to the symptoms of bird flu.
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