If someone tells you they are having a handful of prunes for dessert, you might think they’re having trouble with “irregularity”. But the truth is, although prunes are usually associated with their laxative effect and the elderly, prunes are highly nutritious.

Prunes are rich in Vitamin A and potassium. They are high in beta-carotene which is a powerful antioxidant. They are also rich in fiber, of course, and promote regularity while their insoluble fiber provides fuel for the healthy bacteria in the large intestine and so aid in maintaining a healthy colon.

Florida State University Professor Bahram H. Arjmandi believes that prunes may also reverse bone loss in post-menopausal women. He is conducting a clinical trial in which postmenopausal women will eat either 9 to 10 prunes or the same amount of dried apples daily. Previous studies showed that prunes restored bone loss in animal models and he intends to find out if prunes are beneficial in preventing osteoporosis in postmenopausal women.

And prunes are getting a makeover too. Because most people associate them with their laxative effect and the elderly, producers of prunes are officially changing the name of the fruit to “dried plums”.

FSU study: Can prunes reverse bone loss after menopause?

What’s In a Name: How California Prunes Became Dried Plums

It’s not easy to panic a boomer.

Boomers grew up in the uncertainty of the Cold War. In 1949, The Soviet Union exploded its first nuclear device and the US was no longer the only country with “the bomb”. The government worked very hard at two things: raising public concern about being ready for nuclear attack, and trying to allay public concern by producing civil defense plans. The fact that these civil defense plans advised “Duck and Cover” - the advice to hide under your desk in case of nuclear attack - make them seem laughable today.

But the nuclear attack didn’t happen and as weapons proliferated, the concern was MAD, Mutually Assured Destruction. So far, that hasn’t happened either.

Then we moved on to the population explosion. Overpopulation has been a concern since Thomas Malthus proposed that human populations would grow until they exceeded the ability of the earth to produce enough food for all of them. Of course he predicted this in 1798 and it was supposed to have happened by the mid-19th century. Boomers had their own Malthus in the person of Paul Ehrlich, author of The Population Bomb, published in 1968. Ehrlich is known for his many accurate predictions such as: hundreds of millions of people worldwide would starve to death between 1970 and 1985; that life expectancy in the US wuold drop to 42 years due to the use of pesticides; and by 1999, there would only be 22.6 million of us left. In fact, the US has recently zipped past the 300 million mark for population and is still growing.

Fast forward to December 31, 1999 as the entire world held its breath waiting for the computer meltdown that would cause widespread power outages, water shortages, possible nuclear warhead launches and financial catastrophe. As the clock ticked over in each and every time zone, those cowering in their bunkers - surrounded by their cans of food, bottles of water and Y2K compliant flashlights - were left feeling mighty foolish.

The popular threat of today is global warming. It appears the earth is going through such a rapid increase in temperature (all our fault, by the way) that scientists have been able to find something to attribute to global warming on a nearly daily basis. Even the fact that the plains states are in the grip of their third blizzard of the season is a sign of global warming. I read a headline on ABC News that read “Unseasonable weather jolts Northeast”. I live in the Northeast and I can tell you that when you walk out of your house in January and are greeted by single digit temperatures and minus zero wind chill factors, you can feel a bit jolted. But walking out today into the sunshine and the balmy 74 degrees farenheit didn’t bother me in the least.

Ah, but you say that these record high temperatures are proof positive of global warming. Consider then, this bit of information available on the Drudge Report:

NYC had record high of 68F on Jan 13, 1932. 70F on Jan 14, 1932 and 67F on Jan 15, 1932…

1932 it was equally as warm during this same month and yet in the early 1970s, an imminent ice age was being predicted.

CNN has a story on their website entitled “Ancient ice shelf breaks free”. It has been up for several days now. Apparently nothing else was happening in the field of science. The truth is, they just want to make sure you see it. In case you missed it, they will leave it there so at some point, curiosity will get the better of you and you will read about this ancient ice shelf breaking free and …

Within days, the floating ice shelf had drifted a few miles (kilometers) offshore. It traveled west for 50 kilometers (31 miles) until it finally froze into the sea ice in the early winter.

It froze again somewhere nearby. Bet you didn’t expect that. Because by now global warming should have taken it out into the ocean where it would melt away, raising sea levels, drowning millions and proving them right. But never fear, the fact that it didn’t do that doesn’t mean global warming isn’t happening overnight.

The doomsayers have been around forever. The fact that things keep getting better doesn’t seem to dissuade them in any way from their dire predictions.

But never fear, the government is putting out a new video about global warming. It seems that if the polar ice caps do melt, you should duck and cover.

Feeling stressed and overscheduled? The holidays are over but the stress you experienced while rushing about trying to meet obligations, deadlines and the expectations of others could linger in the form of illness, fatigue and increased symptoms of health issues you may already have.

It is estimated that 60 to 90 percent of all medical office visits in the US are for stress-related disorders. In response, many clinics and hospitals around the country now integrate relaxation techniques into their healthcare programs.

Studies show that with consistent practice, relaxation techniques can potentially reduce symptoms or improve outcomes in the following conditions:

* premenstrual syndrome
* pain
* irritable bowel syndrome
* anxiety
* infertility
* high blood pressure
* high cholesterol
* diabetes
* panic disorders
* chronic tension headaches
* fibromyalgia
* insomnia
* psoriasis
* arthritis
* hyperactivity in children, as in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)

The three major types of relaxation techniques are:
*Autogenic training
*Progressive muscle relaxation
*Meditation

For more information on learning relaxation techniques and a list of healthcare facilities in the US that incorporate them into their healthcare programs visit The University of Maryland Medical Center website.

A team of Portuguese scientists have published a study that elucidates the role of the hormone progesterone in breast cancer. According to their findings, progesterone has a role in angiogenisis, the formation of blood vessels, adjacent to the tumor. The supply of nutrients to cancer cells is crucial to their progession, without a nutrient supply the cancer cells will die.

70% to 80% of breast cancer tumors show estrogen and/or progesterone receptors in their cells. Anti-hormonal therapy is used with good results, often with greater effectiveness than chemotherapy.

The study is being published in the “Journal of Cellular Biochemistry”.

New Light Over The Role Of The Hormone Progesterone In Breast Cancer

Link to the abstract