Last week my wife and son got the flu and after all family flu shots over the last few years the flu really shook my confidence in the flu shot. Well in researching I found that there is one very recent study showing that although the flu shot is not a cure all the flu shot reduced the incidence of the flu by 30%. Definitely with it don’t you think?

In a four-season observational study, having a flu shot was also associated with fewer doctor visits for influenza-like illness and better school performance, according to Kristin Nichol, M.D., and colleagues at the University of Minnesota.

The findings suggest college students can expect “substantial benefits” from getting vaccinated, Dr. Nichol and colleagues said in the December issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. Read the rest of this entry »

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Tags: Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, influenza, Kristin Nichol, Minnesota, Northfield, St. Olaf College, state health department, University of Minnesota, upper respiratory infections, vaccination

I have been a bit slow but finally am now getting around to blogging the first episode of the Biggest Loser. I watched this two hour premiere with my wife and 6 year old daughter and it is funny how we each saw things differently. When they went through all of the people’s attitudes at the beginning I was bored but my wife was crying from all of the stories, my daughter just wanted to know who we were going to cheer for.

First of all both my wife and I noticed Kim Lyons chest, are those for real or an enhancement for her fitness competitions? This also leads to a question of Kim Lyons past…Did she ever have a weight problem? We know from last season that Jillian Michaels was overweight when she was young and it is something that really drives her to help other people.

Bob Harper as always is a real character and has a really funny haircut, some kind of Mohawk hairstyle from the early eighties. Bob is great to watch because he is such a good motivator and is really excited for everyone.

Kim Lyons – Red Team
Heather, Jennifer, Kai, Ken, Nelson, Pam, and Wylie. Of all of the people on the Red team we certainly liked Ken and Jennifer best

Bob Harper – Blue Team
Amy, Bobby, Brian, Erik, Marty, Melinda, and Tiffany. No one on this team really stood out for us but Bobby, who missed his kids came across as a bit of a whiner.

The challenge this week was for all of the people split into teams to go over progressively larger barriers as a team and the team that won would get to choose a player from each team to swap for the weigh in, this could make a real difference if one team had a big losing member and one team had a small losing member. Everyone seemed to struggle somewhat in this challenge but there were definitely some people that were barely able to make it over the last 6 foot high or so barrier. On this show it seems that everyone near the end is in amazing shape and that is one of the really great things to watch as the season of Biggest Loser goes on. The red team won the contest and the blue team was fading fast by the end.
Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: bob harper, Jennifer, jillian michaels, Kai, Ken, kim lyons, Kim Lyons past�Did, losing member, Minnesota, model, Mohawk, Nelson, Pam, player, small losing member, the Biggest Loser, Tiffany, Wylie