Category: Body & Mind

Caffeine Helps Infants Inhale

It seems that caffeine is proven to harm something, then another study proclaims that caffeine is actually good. Well chalk another mark for caffeine the good: caffeine helps babies breath.

“Caffeine therapy helps protect the lungs of premature infants from damage.

That’s an early finding from an international, multi-center trial designed to assess the safety of caffeine therapy for the treatment of apnea of prematurity.

Apnea of prematurity is very common in preterm infants, because their lungs are underdeveloped and the central nervous system, which automatically directs the body to breathe, is immature and often not functioning properly. It’s not known exactly how caffeine therapy helps these tiny babies breathe better, but its major benefits are believed to come from its stimulant effect on the respiratory system”

Government Learns from the People

Sites like Freecycle have been around for awhile now, and that of course is good. What’s better is that now a governmental body in Ontario, Canada has started their own version: York Region’s Reuseful!

From the site:

“This area provides:
opportunities for residents to give away gently used items;
a spot for people and organizations seeking free items to make their requests;
community recycling and hazardous waste information throughout York Region communities.”

The site is still in development.

Naomi Watts Encourages AIDS Awareness

Actress Naomi Watts has recently joined the UN in their UNAIDS campaign to raise awareness about HIV and AIDS. Over 40 million people suffer from the AIDS virus Worldwide and only 1 in 5 people with the disease recieve any form of treatment.

“Given these stark realities, I could no longer stand on the sidelines,” Naomi said in a UN press conference. When asked about the Bush administrations focus on abstinence rather than contraceptives she added “While it (abstinence) is probably the safest way to avoid it, it is impossible for certain people to practice it……So I am a big believer in the use of contraception.”

Though Naomi is a very busy career actress she has vowed to take as much of her free time as is possible to help the cause. As ‘ UNAIDS Special Representative’ she’ll be emphasising the ‘4 for everyone camapaign’ which highlights prevention, treatment, care and support for all individuals affected by the disease.

Spontaneous Rebellion Against Starbucks

A Canadian blogger was taking some pictures of a Starbucks and an employee ran out and told her that she can’t take pictures of Starbucks! An argument ensued.

A large group of tourists overheard this exchange and decided to rebel against Starbucks by taking a whole lot of photos!

Kate writes:

“However, the large tour group standing outside had heard all this and started collectively grumbling “you can’t take a picture of a starbucks? it’s public property!” and they all whipped out their cameras and started snapping shots, while the manager looked at us from inside the store, quite clearly in a huff.”

A fun story!