Odds and Ends

Heart Attacks and Sex: This week many news anchors and print reporters noted that the AHA  released guidelines on when persons who had had a heart attack could resume sexual relations.  The part that got the most attention was in evaluating your sex readiness based on your ability to walk up two flights of stairs without complications (shortness of breath, chest pain).  If you are having trouble with this now, and you have NOT had a heart attack - I suggest you think about that. My first thought when the guidelines made headlines was that it was man centered.  But what I found in the AHA's own publication was more important.  1) they want physicians to talk to their patients about sex and 2) having sex is a "miniscule" risk factor for heart attacks, as said here.

Environment and Paper: My natural gas bill came this week and as usual it had a note that thanked me for doing something good for the environment, i.e using natural gas.  Ironically, the company does not offer paperless billing.  I am sure that countless trees are killed every year in order for customers to get a 2-3 page bill, and a return envelope (not used because I pay online), delivered in another envelope.  I suppose the post office is thankful for their business.

Grading Obesity: I had time to read the full report from the NCHS obesity trends brief that I referenced on Friday.  A few interesting extras there.  Did you know that there is a grade 2 and 3 of obesity based on BMI?  Obesity has been defined as a Body Mass Index (BMI) greater than or equal to 30 for as long as I can remember.  But these grades.... I wonder when it became necessary to add  categories of 35 or greater (grade 2) and 40 or greater (grade 3).  Actually, I do recall references to morbid obesity.  This must me a different way of expressing that.  In regards to these grades, for women specifically, in nearly all adult age groups, there are twice as many black women in  grade two and in some age categories, there are three times as many black women in grade 3.  However, here is a caveat that deserves some thought.  Man or Woman - whites have higher body fat percents at any given BMI than blacks.  (Flegal, K., Carroll, M., Kit, B., Ogden, C. 2012 JAMA)

It is called TESTOSTERONE: Okay well - I, for one am tired of hearing the commercial for a drug that is supposed to increase testosterone levels.  First - I hate direct to consumer advertising for drugs and Second - hello - it is called testosterone - not T.  "you may have low T."  Seriously, can't men say or hear the word testosterone?  It is their primary hormone for goodness sakes.

Mexico:  Kudos to President Calderon for taking steps to address fraudulent advertising and for pointing out that his people have very high obesity rates and the health conditions that are associated with being overweight.  He contends that the issue is too serious to let people be misguided by false claims on weight loss.  Read more from ABC news 

Eye Trick:. It is possible that my mother told me one or both of the following statements, but I also heard it from friends  while growing up - especially as a teenager and young adult.  
1) Don't go out with out make up on (what a drag), and
2) your make up is not complete without lipstick. 
Well- when I was between 15 and 30 years old, that was pretty much the way of things.  However,  I realize now that make up is not a necessary part of being a woman nor is it exclusively for women.  Funny how we change with age, education and experiences.  What has not changed however, is that I have a certain amount of vanity and I don't want to look unattractive and I cringe at the thought of looking old.  This has led me to be hyper critical of my face, and especially my eyes.  Mediterranean skin, eye swelling and living in a colder climate has not really helped.  However, I have found something that absolutely improves the appearance of my eyes - Lipstick.  No - not on my eyelids - But only Lipstick.  Lipstick and NOTHING else... funny that - but it works :) It takes everyone's direct attention away from my eyes, including mine - but also softens the look of my eyes - hard to explain - but try it!