ProfNet Wire: Health & Living: New Year's Resolutions

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LEADS

1. Behavior: Let's Get Rid of New Year's Resolutions
2. Cooking: Crock-Pot Meals Fit the Bill on Cold Nights
3. Health: Probiotics Help Protect Intestinal Health
4. Living: Volunteering as a Holiday Gift
5. Living: Digital Scrapbooking: Less Time, Less Mess
6. Medicine: New Molecular Screening Test Detects HPV
7. Medicine: Effective Treatments for Tennis Elbow

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LEADS

**1. BEHAVIOR: LET'S GET RID OF NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS. ROBERT R. BUTTERWORTH, Ph.D., a Los Angeles-based psychologist: "New Year's resolutions
unnecessarily raise our expectations, put many under extreme pressure and turn
the New Year sour when they go bust. Most people make the same New Year's
resolutions year after year, with no discernible results. It's stressful
problem solving with everyone watching. New Year's resolutions are a
traditional event, yet 80 percent of those who make New Year resolutions have
failed by Jan. 20. The reality of how difficult it is to keep our new
resolutions has set in." For the last eight years, Butterworth has been
talking about the problems and pitfalls people make when they create their New
Year's resolutions and they fail. Butterworth: robert@drbutterworth.net Phone:
+1-213-487-7339 (12/22/06)

**2. COOKING: CROCK-POT MEALS FIT THE BILL ON COLD NIGHTS. ODETTE SMITH
RANSOME, chef of THE ART INSTITUTE OF PITTSBURGH: "Winter is right around the
corner, and nothing says comfort like coming in your front door and smelling a
delicious and nutritious dinner just a few moments away. Crock pots, the
wonderful invention of the late 1970s, make all that possible. They are a busy
family's lifeline. Many professional chefs are big fans of crock pots. Pretty
much whatever grandma did can be done in a crock pot. Try some of her recipes
and see for yourself." Smith Ransome can offer crock-pot advice and cooking
tips. News Contact: Barbara Vilanova, Bvilanova@aol.com Phone: +1-412-242-0796
(12/22/06)

**3. HEALTH: PROBIOTICS HELP PROTECT INTESTINAL HEALTH. PATRICIA RAYMOND,
M.D., board-certified gastroenterologist, assistant professor at EASTERN
VIRGINIA MEDICAL SCHOOL and medical consultant for FLORASTOR: "Is feeling
better making you sick? Antibiotics can have debilitating intestinal side
effects, but certain probiotics can help. As antibiotics work to destroy an
infection, they also destroy the bowel's 'good' microorganisms. Without enough
good microorganisms to control them, 'bad' bacteria and viruses can thrive and
overtake the intestines, resulting in serious intestinal disorders, including
antibiotic-associated diarrhea (AAD), a profuse, severe and sometimes
debilitating diarrhea that affects one in five people; and the new
'superstrains' of antibiotic-associated intestinal disease, such as that
brought on by the Clostridium difficile pathogen (C.diff). Probiotics help
control AAD and C.diff by keeping the intestines populated with protective
microorganisms, stopping harmful bacteria from taking over." Raymond can also
discuss the new awareness of probiotics, and how to select one for your
specific needs for a variety of intestinal issues. News Contact: Rachel
Colley, rcolley@robinleedyassociates.com Phone: +1-914-241-0086, ext. 11
(12/22/06)

**4. LIVING: VOLUNTEERING AS A HOLIDAY GIFT. ROBERT GOODWIN, president and
CEO of the POINTS OF LIGHT FOUNDATION & VOLUNTEER CENTER NATIONAL NETWORK
since 1995, is available to speak about the benefits of volunteering during
this holiday season: "This is an opportunity to reflect on our blessings and
to act on the ageless idea of bringing joy to loved ones. But it's also a time
to remind the less fortunate among us that they live in a community of caring
individuals -- their fate hasn't escaped our notice. Volunteering your time
and talents to help those in need is not only a great source of personal
satisfaction; it's also a way to burnish the fires of hope that are
fundamental to a healthy society. Volunteering is a holiday present that
doesn't have to be purchased or gift wrapped, doesn't require that you wait in
line, and is a gift that will reward the giver many times over." Goodwin can
offer three specific suggestions for volunteering during the holiday season
and throughout the year. He received the 2001 Award for Excellence in National
Executive Leadership from the National Assembly of Health and Human Service
Organizations. In 2006, The Non-Profit Times selected Goodwin for the ninth
year in a row as one of the 50 most influential people in the non-profit
sector. News Contact: Fred Whiting, fwhiting@pointsoflight.org Phone: +1-202-
729-8177 (12/22/06)

**5. LIVING: DIGITAL SCRAPBOOKING: LESS TIME, LESS MESS. HEATHER WARD,
graphic design instructor at THE ART INSTITUTE OF INDIANAPOLIS: "In 2005,
scrapbooking hobbyists spent an estimated $3 billion on fancy paper, ribbons,
stamps, fabrics, and other supplies to make family mementos, photos and other
ephemera into hulking scrapbooks, according to a recent article in the New
York Times. Scrapbooking supplies and no place to put them all is just one
reason traditional scrap-bookers are going digital. Less expensive, invasive
and more options for creating, storing and sharing, digital scrapbooking may
just be the wave of the future." Ward can offer handy tips for getting started
on digital scrapbooking. News Contact: Barbara Vilanova, Bvilanova@aol.com
Phone: +1-412-242-0796 (12/22/06)

**6. MEDICINE: NEW MOLECULAR SCREENING TEST DETECTS HPV. DR. GEORGE
HOLLENBERG, leading New York-area pathologist and founder of ACUPATH
LABORATORIES: "Like mammograms and well visits, an annual Pap test to screen
for cervical cancer is a part of most American women's routine health
examinations. However, a new type of molecular screening test can now confirm
the presence of the virus known to cause cervical cancer -- the human
papillomavirus, or HPV -- even when cancer has not yet developed. Molecular
testing for HPV is a big step forward in early diagnosis, early treatment, and
possibly even prevention of cervical cancer in America. Unlike a traditional
Pap test, the molecular HPV test works by identifying the 'DNA footprint' of
the virus itself. This test can tell us whether or not HPV is present and, if
it is, it also can tell us if the HPV strain is one of the 13 high-risk types
we know can cause cervical cancer -- out of more than 100 known strains of the
virus." News Contact: Melissa Chefec, mchefec@optonline.net Phone: +1-203-968-
6625 (12/22/06)

**7. MEDICINE: EFFECTIVE TREATMENTS FOR TENNIS ELBOW. KEVIN PLANCHER, M.D.,
leading New York-area orthopaedist and founder of the ORTHOPAEDIC FOUNDATION
FOR ACTIVE LIFESTYLES: "The most common upper extremity complaint among
recreational tennis players is tennis elbow, accounting for 75 to 85 percent
of elbow injuries. Tennis elbow should not be overlooked just because it's so
common. If there is regular pain, it is important to see a doctor to start
treatment before the situation gets worse. The most effective treatment for 95
percent of the cases is non-operative and involves rest, ice, compression and
elevation (RICE). Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and
corticosteroid injections are sometimes prescribed, as well. For severe cases,
where tennis elbow does not respond to the conventional treatments, there is a
safe, minimally invasive arthroscopic surgical procedure to repair the
tendon." News Contact: Melissa Chefec, mchefec@optonline.net Phone: +1-203-
968-6625 (12/22/06)