Get Ready For ‘Walk To School Day’
Families from Hermosa View School in Hermosa Beach, CA, celebrate Walk To School Day in 2008.
How do your kids get to school? One of the best ways – for them and the environment – is to walk. Sadly, less than have of the students who live within a mile of their school walk or bike even once a week. Seeking to get kids back on their feet is Walk to School Day, this year Oct. 7. Schools across the country will hold events (more than 2,800 did last year) to promote the benefits of walking and biking to school and to highlight any neighborhood safety concerns that might get in kids’ way. Registration is now open at www.walktoschoolorg/register, and it’s free. Groups that register have their events displayed on an interactive map on the Walk to School site, and get access to printable certificates, stickers, and other goodies. There’s also tons of information on activities to try and other ways to make your school’s event a strolling success.
For Labor Pain, Consider TENS
A device that emits low-voltage electrical pulses through electrodes attached to the body could offer women an extra measure of relief during labor – or it least it seems worth a try. That’s the conclusion of a review of 19 studies from across the globe on the subject, conducted by the Cochrane Collaboration, an organization that evaluates medical research. Called TENS (transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation) units, the devices are widely used in other areas of medicine and thought to block pain transmission by stimulating nerve pathways in the spinal chord. The devices offered only modest pain relief to women in the study, but did improve their feelings of control over the situation. Researchers concluded that the units, which are inexpensive to rent, should be made available to women in labor. Learn more about TENS …
Prostate Debate: Controversy Over PSA Test Continues
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men, and kills 30,000 in the U.S. every year according to the Men’s Health Network. A test used to help detect it, the PSA (prostate specific antigen) test, has long been the source of controversy. On the plus side, proponents of screening say it helps detect prostate cancers in early stages, when they’re treatable. On the down side, those opposed to widespread screening say it leads to too much unnecessary treatment, as many prostate cancers are slow growing and won’t be fatal (men tend to die with prostate cancer rather than from it). A decision by the American Urological Association to recommend that men get a baseline PSA test at age 40, rather than age 50, added fuel to the fire. Learn more …
