HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BELIZE

I am dedicating this day to Belize and all Belizeans.

It is Independence Day in Belize and all Belize must look at today with pride and joy that we have gotten this far and that we are moving on. Belize has still a lomng way to go but we will get there and we will have a great life and a great country.

God Bless Belize and all Belizeans

To my Belizean brothers and sisters, I send my love and my wish for a better Belize. God Bless and keep you all safe and free.

BELIZE UNITED.

QUE VIVA BELICE!!!

Love always,

brenda A. Ysaguirre

SELF EXAM NOT A PLUS

Breast self exams don't reduce deaths
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (UPI) -- A review of studies found no evidence that breast self-exams reduce breast cancer deaths and may result in more negative biopsies, Danish researchers said. Jan Peter Kosters and Peter Gotzsche of the Nordic Cochrane Centre in Copenhagen said that the practice may be doing more harm than good, since it led to almost twice as many biopsies that turned up no cancer in women who performed the self-exams, compared to women who didn't do the exams. The review, published in The Cochrane Library, said two large studies of 388,535 women in Russia and China included in the review, women who used self-breast exams had 3,406 biopsies, compared with 1,856 biopsies in the group that didn't do the exams -- while there was no significant difference in breast cancer deaths between the two groups. The review is an updated version of a 2003 review of studies, which came to a similar conclusion. The study authors recognize that some women will want to continue with breast self-exams and women should always "seek medical advice if they detect any change in their breasts that might be breast cancer," Kosters said.

MAS ERRORES FATALES

More Fatal Domestic Medication Errors
SAN DIEGO (UPI) -- Asking patients to monitor their own medications can be fatal, as exemplified by the death of "The Dark Knight" actor Heath Ledger, U.S. researchers said. Sociologists at the University of California, San Diego, examined nearly 50 million U.S. death certificates from 1983 to 2004, focusing on a subset of 200,000 deaths from medication errors. The study, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, found a 3,196 percent increase in fatal domestic medication errors involving alcohol and/or street drugs. "The decades-long shift in the location of medication consumption from clinical to domestic settings is linked to a dramatic increase in fatal medication errors," principal author David P. Phillips said in a statement. "Increasingly, people take their medications at home, away from hospitals and clinics. But most studies of fatal medication errors have focused on those clinical settings." The study found non-domestic fatal errors not involving alcohol or street drugs showed the smallest increase, 5 percent, while domestic medication fatalities not involving alcohol or street drugs increased by 564 percent and non-domestic medication fatalities involving alcohol and/or street drugs increased by 555 percent.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International

LOS CATARACTOS SON LA MAJOR CAUSA DE LA CEGUERA

Cataracts leading cause of blindness
CHICAGO (UPI) -- More than 22 million U.S. adults age 40 and older have a cataract -- the most common age-related eye disease, researchers say. A study by Prevent Blindness America and the National Eye Institute reveals that eye disease diagnoses, including cataract, continue to rise. More than half of all Americans have cataracts by the time they are 80 years old and it is the leading cause of blindness. "Cataract is something that most of us will develop at some point in our lives," Hugh R. Parry, president and chief executive officer of Prevent Blindness America, said in a statement. Cataract is a clouding of the eye's lens. Generally, a cataract does not cause pain, redness or tears. Symptoms may include blurred or double vision, lights seeming to be too dim or sensitivity to strong light. A milky or yellow spot may also be noticeable in the eye, Parry said. Surgery to remove cataracts has a 95 percent success rate resulting with patients having 20/20 to 20/40 vision, Parry said. Every year, on average, 3 million Americans undergo cataract surgery -- the most frequently performed surgery in the United States.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International