Yellowstone Saves Some Of Its Richest Wildlife Watching For The Colder Months

Simond Raymond of Switzerland braved snow-packed and icy roads, but he considered his winter visit to Yellowstone National Park a success. He saw wolves every day.

“Sometimes the weather is very bad — but we saw the wolves,” he smiled.

Raymond fits into a category of Yellowstone visitor that did not exist 15 years ago: the wolf watcher.

After being wiped out in the park early in the 20th century, 31 gray wolves were re-introduced in 1995 and 1996. They flourished. Today, more than 350 of their descendants roam the park and surrounding area, preying on the abundant elk, deer and bison.

Summer visitors to Yellowstone expect to see wildlife, but most don’t realize that the winter season — which officially begins Dec. 18 — can be prime time for wildlife viewing. Deep snow in the high country drives elk, deer and bison down into the open valleys, where the weather is milder and they can more easily paw or push snow aside to get to the dried grass beneath.

And where the grazing animals gather, predators follow.

My wife and I live only three hours away from Yellowstone and we visit more often in the winter than the summer. We like to tell others about being serenaded by wolf and coyote howls echoing off the mountains, of watching a coyote stalk and pounce on a mouse by listening to it scurrying under the snow, of inadvertently skiing so close to a bison that we could see his bloodshot eyes.

But there’s more than wildlife in Yellowstone in winter. The frigid air enhances the steam spouting from its famous geysers, making them even more spectacular. Its plateaus and broad valleys are made for cross-country skiing and snowshoeing; some scenic drives in summer are designated cross-country ski trails in winter.

Most of Yellowstone is closed to auto traffic in winter, but the part that is open to cars offers some of the richest wildlife viewing opportunities in the park. It runs from Roosevelt Arch, the century-old ceremonial north entrance to Yellowstone at Gardiner, Mont., to the snowbound community of Cooke City, Mont., at the northeast entrance (the road beyond Cooke City is usually closed in winter).

En route, it passes through the Lamar Valley, which some have called America’s Serengeti. This is where most of the park’s wolf watchers hang out.

But even areas closed to auto traffic remain open to visitors, via snowmobile or snowcoach. Visitors can travel by snowcoach to Old Faithful and ski the circuit around the Upper Geyser Basin, the largest geyser concentration in the world. After skiing, visit the Old Faithful Snow Lodge, a modern hotel that invites visitors to curl up in comfy lounging chairs in front of lobby fireplaces.

Those staying in gateway communities can also take snowcoaches into the park on day trips. Cross-country skiers can access scheduled ski drops and pickups for specific trails from in-park hotels.

And for those staying near the north entrance, winter is the best time to try that special Yellowstone experience called hot-potting.

As you drive the five miles from Gardiner to Mammoth Hot Springs, you will cross the Gardner River. You may notice a big parking lot to your left — seemingly serving nothing. It’s not marked, but this is the best opportunity in Yellowstone to take a dip in a wild hot springs without having to hike for 20 miles. By William Kronholm,The Miami Herald

Honda Ranked Most Gas Friendly Automaker In U.S.

The Environmental Protection Agency has ranked the nine automakers that sell full lineups in the U.S. according to fuel-efficiency.

Honda averaging 23.6 miles per gallon across its 2009 vehicles, closely trailed by Hyundai (23.4 mpg) and Toyota (23.2 mpg). The 2009 average across all vehicles sold is 21.1 mpg.

For the model year that’s just started, Honda launched the 2010 Honda Insight dedicated hybrid in February, which will be followed by the 2011 Honda CR-Z hybrid two-seat sports coupe and then by a future Honda Fit Hybrid as well.

Honda had a fleetwide 23.6 mpg fuel economy average in the 2009 model year. Hyundai had 23.4 mpg. Toyota Motor Corp., which was tied for first in 2007, slipped to third with 23.2 mpg.

Volkswagen AG was fourth at 22.3 mpg; while Nissan Motor Co. and BMW AG were tied for fifth at 21.6 mpg.

Detroit’s Big Three finished in the last three spots. Ford Motor Co. was in seventh with a 20.5 mpg; General Motors Co. was in eighth at 19.9 mpg; and Chrysler was last at 18.7 mpg. By José Moreno, Newsday

Diabetes Spending To Double By 2034: U.S. Study

The number of Americans with diabetes will double in the next 25 years, leading to health spending of $336 billion US, a new study suggests.

The number of people with the disease is projected to grow to 44 million in 2034 from 23.7 million in 2009. And while the population with diabetes doubles, the costs to treat the disease will triple, costing Medicare $171 billion, up from $5 billion currently. These figures do not factor in a rise in obesity among Americans.

In Canada, approximately 1.8 million, or about one in 18 people, had diagnosed diabetes according to the Public Health Agency of Canada in 2004-05. The prevalence of the disease increased by 24 per cent between 2000-01 and 2004-05, and the Canadian Diabetes Association predicts there will be three million Canadians living with the disease by 2010.

Researchers at the University of Chicago created a model to determine the cost burden of diabetes on society, which factored in trends in risk factors for the disease, its history and the effects of treatments.

Those studied were between 24 and 85. The findings are published in the December issue of the journal, Diabetes Care.

“Without significant changes in public or private strategies, this population and cost growth are expected to add a significant strain to an overburdened health-care system, write the authors. “We will find ourselves in a lot of trouble as a population.”

The authors say their dire projections are based on the fact that earlier studies failed to represent the scope of the problem, projecting numbers that have already been surpassed.

For example, they cite one study from 1991 that predicted that the number of diabetics would double between 1987 and 2030 — from 6.5 million to 11.6 million. The projected 2030 figure is less than half the cases reported in 2009.

The researchers add that their prediction may be too conservative.

On a more positive note, the authors believe that obesity may level out in the next 10 years and then begin to decline, from 30 per cent in 2009 to 27 per cent by 2033.

“We anticipate that the population will reach an equilibrium in obesity levels, since we cannot all become obese,” write the authors. CBC News

Herbal Medicine And HIV/AIDS Related Skin Diseases

It is evident that the campaign about the dreadful disease HIV/AIDS has reduced drastically, as it is rarely aired on the radios, televisions and published in newspapers. Maybe its immense former campaign which has brought about a decline in its prevalence rate in the country, according to statistics, has brought about the decline in its campaign presently. Previous campaigns have brought about a great impact in the sex lives of Ghanaians, and reduced the daily rate of infection, which was about 200 people per day.

It is true people are very vigilant about their sex life, but the lack of frequent campaigns and education about the disease’s existence, will make people forget about it, hence living reckless lives. The sustenance of the lives affected people through antiretroviral treatment has gone a long way to give people the assurance that acquiring the virus is definitely not the end of one’s life as it was earlier on assumed. The introduction of the antiretroviral treatment is a good thing, but the question is, how many people living with the virus are able to afford going through the antiretroviral treatment, since it is very expensive.

It is very sad that those who are not able afford the treatment, do not only go through the travails of losing weight, but as well go through the trauma of being exposed to various kinds of skin diseases. According to medical experts, HIV weakens the immune system, and as a result people with the infection suffer health problems, which include various kinds of skin diseases. In Ghana, and in many parts of the world, the use of herbal medicines to cure diseases is something that has been trusted for ages, and its use to treat HIV skin diseases is one thing that cannot be over emphasised. According to studies, about 90% of people living with HIV develop skin changes which are mostly as a result of the virus. Their weakened immune system makes them venerable to all kinds of skin diseases. Herbal medicine experts have thought it wise that the involvement herbal medicine in the treatment of HIV/AIDS related skin diseases will be of help to people living with the virus.

HIV/AIDS in Africa

According to statistics, people living with HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa are about 22,000,000, and out of this figure, 12,000,000 are women and 1,800,000 children. In Ghana, about 260,000 are living with HIV/AIDS, 150,000 are women and 17,000. According to the statistics, Sub-Saharan Africa is more heavily affected by HIV and AIDS than any other region of the world. In 2007, around 1.5 million people died from AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa, and 1.9 million people became infected with HIV. Since the beginning of the epidemic, more than eleven million children have been orphaned by AIDS. In the absence of massively expanded prevention, treatment and care efforts, it is expected that the AIDS death toll in Sub-Saharan Africa will continue to rise. This means the impact of the AIDS epidemic on societies will be felt most strongly in the course of the next ten years and beyond. The AIDS epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa threatens to devastate whole communities, rolling back decades of development progress.

Skin Conditions Linked to AIDS

According to webMD, psoriasis is one of the skin conditions associated with AIDS. It is a common skin disorder that produces thick, pink-to-red, itchy patches of skin, covered with silvery scales. The rash usually occurs on the scalp, elbows, knees and lower back, and in the same place on both sides of the body. It can also occur in fingernails. Psoriasis cannot be cured, but treatment greatly reduces the signs, even in severe cases. Common treatments include steroid creams, vitamin D derivatives, and topical retinoids. These may also be used with ultraviolet light therapy for severe cases. For severe diseases, there are a number of effective therapies taken in pill form or by injection.

Shingles is another infection caused by the chicken pox virus. This virus remains dormant in the nerve cells of people who have had chicken pox, and can reactivate in the body later on, resulting in illness. Although shingles, like all other viral diseases, cannot be cured, it usually will go away on its own, and may not require any treatment, except to control te symptoms. Doctors can prescribe antiviral medications to control the infection, and reduce the severity and duration of the disease.

Kaposi’s sarcoma (KS) is a form of cancer that occurs on the skin, and in mucous membranes. It occurs among people who have HIV/AIDS. KS appears as purplish lesions on the skin. Because of the weakened immune system caused by AIDS, KS can spread quickly to other parts of the body, including organs. KS can be treated with surgery. Chemotherapy is a treatment that kills the cancerous cells using the body’s own resources to boost the immune system.

Herbal medicine and HIV/AIDS

HIV/AIDS, which is considered an incurable disease, has compelled many herbal medicine healers to try their possible best to come out with a treatment/cure for the disease. The frequent claim by people of having a herbal cure for the disease resulted in an assessment of herbal remedies from chosen healers on some individuals with HIV/AIDS in 1999 by the Ministry of Health (MOH) the Center for Scientific Research into Plant Medicine (CSRPM) Noguchi Memorial Research Institute, the Komfo Anokye Hospital and the St. Dominic Hospital, which in the end proved some herbal curatives to be of good quality, which have helped people with the virus to improve their health conditions.

Challenges of herbal medicine healers

According to Mr. Kojo Odum Eduful, First Vice President of the Ghana Federation of Traditional Medicine Practitioners Association (GHAFRAM), herbal medicine healers/practitioners are willing to help people living with the virus, which has resulted in all kinds of skin diseases. So far healers are knowledgeable about the fact that herbs such as aloe vera, phyllanthus officinalis, allium sativum,garcinia kola, xylopia aethipica, cryptolepis sanguinolenta, azdiracta indica, cola nitida, cassia alata, fruits and vegetable of high nutritional value are some of the useful medicinal plants in the management of HIV/AIDS. These plants according, to him, have anti-viral and anti-microbial activities which help in fighting HIV skin diseases.

He said these healers were knowledgeable about herbal medicines that can help treat skin diseases of people with the virus, but the present situation at hand does not allow them to progress in the introduction of these herbal medicines to the public. The challenges they are facing, in terms of finance, prevent them from doing research work to go the extra mile to produce results. The initiative of these herbal healers/practitioners to help people with the virus, will come to a reality, if they are given financial support, either from philanthropists, non-governmental organisations (NGO), or even the government, then the financial crises they are facing will be resolved.

Moreover, healers find it very heartbreaking that people with the virus who have benefited from their herbal medicine in the treatment of their skin diseases, fail to report back to the traditional medicine clinics/centers for follow-ups. Most people living with the virus will even find it difficult to talk about the experience with the treatment of the herbs, as they don’t want people to know their status, due to stigmatisation by society. If the education of the public on how to treat people with HIV/AIDS will be intensified, then people living with it will not hesitate to talk publicly about their lives

The African continent and many parts of the world have relied on the use of herbs to cure their diseases, however modernisation has brought about people shifting their attention to the scientific way of curing diseases, hence brushing aside herbal medicines. This situation has resulted into people losing trust in the efficiency, quality, and the hygienic manner of herbal medicines.

The Way forward

It has come to the realisation that in order to make people living with the virus, especially those who cannot afford the antiretroviral treatment for skin diseases, be go in for traditional herbal treatment. In this case, the President of the GHAFRAM has indicated those herbal medicine healers/practitioners are currently receiving training from NGOs and government institutions to build their capabilities. This will expose them to all kinds of herbs and broaden their horizons in their field of research, in order to intensify the quality and efficiency of their medicines. Additionally, trained healers/practitioners are engaged in the fight against sexually transmitted diseases (STDs)/HIV/AIDS in their communities. As two heads are better than one, healers are on the verge of collaborating with scientists and orthodox medical practitioners, as they both sometimes need each other’s service.

Conclusion The initiative of giving herbal medicine the chance to help in the treatment of HIV/AIDS skin diseases, is a good step towards the eradication of the virus, and will not only be of benefit to people living with the virus in Ghana, but the world as a whole. It is about time the public as well, give herbal medicine a chance to prove itself. Society must support these initiatives of these herbal medicine healers and practitioners, so as to boost their moral for more research.

This would encourage people with the diseases not to lose hope, and that their dreams and aspirations in life are still on the verge of accomplishment. There is therefore the need for increased education to create more awareness, for the people to become cautious about sexual practices, which would help minimise the spread of the pandemic. Modern Ghana

Exercise Shows Opposing Effects On Appetite

Exercise seems to simultaneously make people hungrier, yet more readily satisfied by a meal — and differences in these responses from person to person may help explain why some exercisers shed pounds more easily than others, researchers say.

In a study of 58 overweight and obese adults who started an exercise regimen, researchers found that exercise tended to boost participants’ hunger before a meal, compared with their sedentary days.

On the other hand, they were also more easily satisfied by their morning meal than they had been before becoming active.

But while both effects were generally at work across the study group, there were subtler differences between participants who were more successful in their weight loss and those whose extra pounds stubbornly hung on.

In general, exercisers who did not meet their expected weight loss were both hungrier after fasting — that is, right before breakfast — and throughout the day, compared with their hunger ratings at the study’s start.

In contrast, those who were more successful in shedding pounds generally saw their pre-breakfast appetites increase after becoming active. But they were not hungrier throughout the day.

“The reason that some people are more successful (at weight loss) could be due to a lesser increase in appetite and the prevention of an increase in food intake,” lead researcher Dr. Neil King, an associate professor at Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia, told Reuters Health in an email.

But the bottom line for new exercisers, he said, is that they should not throw in the towel if they start feeling more hungry than normal — or fail to shed as many pounds as they’d been hoping.

Other research shows that exercise has health benefits — like improved cardiovascular fitness, and lower blood pressure and cholesterol — even if weight loss is modest.

For the current study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, King’s team had 58 overweight men and women go through a 12-week supervised exercise regimen designed to burn 500 calories per session.

At the beginning and end of the study, participants were given a breakfast of cereal and toast, and were asked to rate their hunger before the meal, immediately after and throughout the rest of the day.

After 12 weeks, 32 participants had lost the expected amount of weight based on the calories they burned during exercise; 26 had not. On average, both groups showed a revved up appetite before breakfast on week 12, but daily hunger was greater in those who had not lost a substantial amount of weight.

Both groups of exercisers, though, seemed to be more readily satisfied by their breakfast than they had been before becoming active.

It’s not clear why these two different appetite effects arise from exercise. But physical activity, while spurring hunger, may also boost the sensitivity of the body’s fullness-signaling system, according to King’s team.

“The key messages,” King said, “are exercise is good for you, don’t expect unrealistic weight loss and don’t give up exercising just because of lower-than-expected weight loss.” China Daily

Next Page »