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Young people pick wine over beer

Diet & Weight Loss

Surveys say 21-to 35-year-olds prefer wine to beer. They just don't know much about the wine they prefer and have no strong loyalties to any specific brands. A good thing for advertisers who can tempt just about any palate.

Enter viral advertising, a technique that uses existing social networks to create brand awareness and sales. Forget billboards, TV, and print ads. This approach uses video clips, video games, e-mail blasts, and advertising at music events and other gatherings.

Sacre Bleu, a 45,000-bottle-a-year elite operation, is jumping at the chance to win over young drinkers with this method. Websites, podcasts, and MySpace pages will hopefully hook this population. Another selling point: Sacre Bleu wine is as natural as it can be -- with no added sugar or acids.

So wine isn't all that bad. It's healthy in fact if consumed moderately. But I tend to think advertisers wish for more than moderate sales. What do you think? A healthy endeavor or not?

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10 ways to never get sick again

Diet & Weight Loss

That time of year is creeping around again...cold and flu season! The key to staying as healthy as possible is in what you do now to prepare and prevent illness. Making healthy choices is about living a healthy lifestyle everyday, and although I don't agree personally with absolutely everything on this list, here's one take on 10 things you can do to never get sick again:
  • See a chiropractor
  • Laugh hard
  • Mix up your workout routine
  • Get enough sleep
  • See an acupuncturist
  • Meditate
  • Do cardio at least 4 days a week
  • Stretch
  • Eat organic
  • Be cautious of medications
Anything you would add? I think drinking enough water and eating a balanced diet (deep-fried onion rings won't do a thing for you even if they are organic!) are important too.

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39 new diseases discovered in the last generation, and counting

Diet & Weight Loss

New diseases are popping up all the time, and although most remain somewhat obscure and unknown others spread rapidly and quickly become widely known -- AIDS for example is the most commonly known of 39 new diseases that have just popped up within the last generation.

The U.N. Health Agency puts the blame on ballooning populations in countries around the world, intensive farming practices, and changing sexual behaviors. The majority of new health threats have come from animals, such as SARS, the bird flu, and Ebola, and not surprisingly eyes have also recently turned over towards China with all the scares from their direction lately.

I think we'll always have new diseases, viral strains, and other health threats popping up, what we need to do is work on how we plan to deal with them when they do.

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Deadly disease lab? We want it! We want it!

Diet & Weight Loss, Reviews & Products

12 states are fighting to have a deadly disease lab facility built on their land. The research center would house killers like anthrax, avian flu, and foot and mouth disease, plus (I'm guessing) a whole bunch of dangerously fun "experiments." This new project is intended to replace a smaller lab at Plum Island, N.Y., where some questionable security practices back in 2001 required investigation.

Although the states themselves seem eager to "win" and get the lab, not all the residents in the proposed areas are that excited. And who can blame them? A lab test gone wrong, or even something as simple as an experiment with unpredicted results, could potentially infect the entire surrounding area. No, I'm not thinking I want a deadly disease lab in my area. Thanks, but no thanks.

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Alternative treatments for pleurisy

Natural Products, Reviews & Products, Alternative & Green Health

Although pleurisy is most commonly caused by viral infections, other underlying diseases can cause it such as pneumonia and tuberculosis, and other diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus (lupus), rheumatoid arthritis, cancer, liver and kidney disease, heart failure and pulmonary embolism. Other causes include chest injuries and drug reactions.

Pleurisy, also called pleuritis, is an inflammation of the pleura, which is the moist, double layered membrane that surrounds the lungs and lines the rib cage. The condition can make breathing extremely painful, and sometimes it is associated with another condition called pleural effusion where excess fluid fills the area between the membrane's layers.

The pain of pleurisy is usually treated with analgesic and anti-inflammatory drugs, such as acetaminophen, ibuprofen, and indomethacin. Pleurisy from a bacterial infection can be successfully treated with antibiotics, while no treatment is given for viral infections that must run their course. Alternative treatments can be used to help heal pleurisy. Acupuncture and botanical medicines are alternative approaches for relieving pain and breathing problems. An herbal remedy commonly recommended is Asclepias tuberosa otherwise known as pleurisy root. It got that name by early American settlers who learned of this medicinal plant from Native Americans. Pleurisy root helps to ease pain, inflammation, and breathing difficulties brought on by pleurisy.

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