Wait!  I tell these tales – does that mean I’m an old wife?  Or a teller of urban myths? 

Tale #1 – A dog’s mouth is cleaner than a person’s.  No! Dog’s lick bacteria and garbage off the floor and lick their own and other dog’s privates.  

#2 Swimming after eating is dangerous.  No!  Swimming after drinking alcohol, lack of boating safety gear, and children around swimming pools cause drowning.  

#3 Mouthwash cures bad breath.  Used to be a No!  Mouthwashes with alcohol dry out your mouth and create a great environment for bacteria (more…)

Not really, it’s your scalp that tends to get drier.  As hormones drop, the hair droops, gets finer, doesn’t grow as fast, and loses melanin (color), as we know all too well.  Medications can also cause hair to thin and fall out, resulting in the familiar Granny Pouf. Eating well, drinking water, taking your multi, and increasing general circulation through exercise help the scalp stay young.  Color actually thickens the hair shaft, making the hair look fuller, and it doesn’t harm the scalp unless you overprocess.   75% of American women color their hair, but there are some Anti-Aging Rules.  The most-requested hair color at salons is currently (more…)

If you design video games or write comic books, you can wear anything to work and let your freak flag fly.  All others are directed to “dress professionally,” a phrase that seems so obvious and yet is interpreted by some to mean flip-flops and a sundress!   One savvy HR person I know tells incoming employees that “If you wonder if it’s appropriate, it probably isn’t!” and “We hope you agree that it’s more important to look professional than to express yourself with unbusinesslike clothing.”   While the best options for setting employees straight on business or casual business attire are (more…)

It has mystified me for years that the positive research about FDA-approved bioidentical hormones was ignored in the mainstream media.  Now, nearly five years after government scientists told women that taking estrogen replacement therapy increased their risk of heart attacks and strokes, researchers have concluded that the drugs are beneficial for many.  (the following adapted from The Boston Globe) – Continuing analysis of the original data indicates that the researchers raised a false alarm for most women and that, if women begin taking the hormones shortly after menopause, the drugs do not raise the risk of heart disease and, in fact, might lower it.  The latest piece of evidence, in today’s New England Journal of Medicine, shows that taking estrogen for seven years or more after menopause reduces calcification of the arteries — one of the key indicators fo atheroscclerosis — by as much as 60 percent.  (more…)

The yuck factor is HUGE with hotel room jacuzzis and public hot tubs, whether they are bubbling away at the Four Seasons, on the deck of a Celebrity Cruise, or next to the pool at the Y.  No one with a compromised immune system – the elderly, people on chemo or steroids, smokers, those with delicate urinary tracts or recovering from an illness, and certainly NOT babies – should use these public hot tubs.  As those relaxing bubbles burst around you, they may be releasing Legionnaire’s Disease, (more…)