Both times he was listless, wheezing and having trouble breathing. He was found to be allergic to cats when he was six months old. The doctors have not tested him for any other allergies yet. His eosinophils are 2,500 and his IgE is 800.

Gail

A.It sounds as if your grandson has some serious allergy problems. Briefly, the most serious type of allergy is called immediate hypersensitivity.

In this reaction, the person experiences hives and, possibly, low blood pressure and breathing problems within minutes to an hour after exposure to the allergen (substance that provokes an allergic reaction). This is the type of reaction that, in sensitive individuals, can cause death after a bee sting or a dose of penicillin.

Oolong green tea was somewhat safer than other green teas or black tea, Doctor, of the University of Massachusetts Cancer Center in Worcester, and colleagues report in the November issue of the journal Urology.

They interviewed 40 Taiwanese patients undergoing surgery for bladder cancer, as well as 160 patients undergoing surgery who did not have cancer or bladder disease.

Compared with non-tea drinkers, people who usually drank oolong green tea were three times more likely to develop bladder cancer, Lu’s team found. People who usually drank other green teas or black tea were at 15 times greater risk.

The chance of developing bladder cancer was 9 times greater among people who began to drink tea before age 40 than among non-tea drinkers, according to the report. The risk was nearly 18 times greater among those who had been drinking tea for more than 30 years.

When all tea drinkers together were compared with all non-tea drinkers, the risk of bladder cancer was 3.29 times higher in the tea-drinking group.

Consumption of soy beverages and rice juice was associated with a slightly reduced risk of bladder cancer, the researchers observed. Consumption of coffee, tap water, and alcohol was associated with slightly increased risk of the disease.

Lu’s group cautions that because of the small number of study subjects, the results do not prove that tea drinking causes bladder cancer.

The authors say that other scientists have advanced two explanations for why drinking certain beverages may increase the risk of bladder cancer: a high volume of total fluid may cause the bladder to work too hard, or cancer-causing particles in certain fluids may increase the risk of developing cancer.

The study from Advanced Cell Technology Inc., published Sunday in an obscure online medical journal, doesn’t break any new scientific ground and only rekindles national debate on the controversial topic, bioethicists suggest.

“It really isn’t a great scientific move forward,” says Doctor, a faculty member of the Bioethics Institute at Johns Hopkins University. “They didn’t even really come close to cloning anything.”

Another expert echoes the observation.

“Technically speaking, it’s not significant. Politically speaking, it is. There’s no new technology, no groundbreaking science. They’re just using human materials. They’ve yet to really have a success,” says R. Alta Charo, a professor of law and medical ethics at the University of Wisconsin. “It’s just triggered a fresh round of the debate we were actively having in August: How are we going to regard these early forms of human life?”

Other cloning experiments have been much more significant, Charo notes.

“Dolly [the cloned sheep] was groundbreaking. This is incremental. When the first patient is ready to receive graft tissue from his own cloned cells, that’ll be the day when people’s opinions will crystallize,” she says. “Many people have the sense that embryos are somewhat special and shouldn’t be damaged or destroyed in the name of research.”

“It’s this vaguely unsettling feeling,” she explains. “I think every time we find a compelling and sympathetic use for embryos in research, public opinion will shift. Then people [will] begin to clarify what they’re willing to sacrifice in the name of that unsettled feeling.”

“Unsettled” is exactly what conservative political and religious leaders say they felt following the news that Advanced Cell Technology had used human adult DNA to coax human eggs into becoming early-stage embryos.

Company officials claim they are trying to get the embryos to develop to the point where they produce valuable stem cells, immature “master” cells that can develop into any tissue or organ in the body. In the case of this experiment — the first to use human DNA and eggs — the embryos died long before they reached the stage where they would have produced stem cells.

In fact, many scientists say that at the stage in which they died, they shouldn’t even be called embryos, but rather a tiny collection of cleaved cells.

Although company officials stress they only plan to use the technology to treat a host of diseases by providing replacement cells for damaged ones, critics say it’s a dangerous step toward human cloning. Even President Bush stepped into the fray yesterday, calling the research “morally wrong.”

That kind of public frenzy hurts stem cell research, says Glenn McGee, who was chairman of Advanced Cell Technology’s bioethics committee before resigning a year ago over a lack of communication between the company and the committee.

“There’s universal agreement that it’s premature. That’s troublesome. I’m in favor of stem cell research. This group is making stem cell research more difficult,” McGee says. “This group is claiming more than it’s done, at a time when the country is terrified of stem cell research and its implications.”

That fear has already led to a federal law that prohibits the use of taxpayer money to clone human beings. And several states, including California, have banned human cloning. Congress considered such a ban last summer, but Senate leaders stressed today they’re in no hurry to revisit the issue. Advanced Cell Technology can do as it chooses with cloning because it is a private company.

Despite repeated phone calls and e-mails, company officials couldn’t be reached for comment, but they have said in published reports that the company felt pressure to publicize what it was doing because the field was so controversial and competitive.

But McGee says the competitive edge is exactly what the United States is losing when it comes to stem cell research. With no clear national policy in place, respected researchers in the field started leaving the country last year, he notes. And when Bush limited federal funding for stem cell research this year, most of the research shifted to the private sector.

That’s a troubling trend when you look at how this latest discovery was handled, McGee adds.

“It’s now a venture capital phenomenon. It’s no longer basic science. It’s intellectual property,” he says. “Whoever has the money is in charge of the research. Somebody’s got to say this is not the way to do this.”

Williams adds that stem cell research that isn’t federally funded doesn’t receive the same scrutiny, either.

“Some of the protections and transparencies that you need get lost when there’s a limitation of federal funding,” he says. “Perhaps nobody really considered that as much as we should have.”

I want to put some of your fears to rest — there are lots of schools actively seeking older students. In fact, according to the College Board, about 43% of college students taking classes for credit are at least 25 years old. With the number of high-school students declining, colleges are luring back the older student with a myriad of things — many schools, for instance, have flexible schedules with evening and Saturday classes; others have baby-sitting services (often with undergrads doing the sitting) and some even have on-campus housing that includes child care. So…

1. Call colleges in your area and ask about programs designed specifically for older students. If you can’t find one, call your State Department of Education for information. Any school’s financial aid office will have the most up-to-date information about grants, fellowships and loans. Be sure to ask about stretching tuition payments over time so you don’t have to pay a whopping lump sum at the beginning of the semester.

2. Most states have loan programs for those pursuing careers as teachers as well as programs designed to increase the number of professionals in fields in which there are shortages — medicine, nursing, special education and bilingual education, for example. Your State Department of Higher Education will have info on your area’s needs.

3. The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services offers full tuition scholarships plus a monthly stipend to medical, midwife, physician assistant and nurse practitioner students. But then you must work two to four years in a National Health Service-designated Manpower Shortage Area.

4. A couple of federal government programs have loan money for older students. Get free info on Sallie Mae Loans by calling the Student Loan Marketing Association.

5. Look into Stafford Loans, also called Federal Guaranteed Student Loans. Applications are available from your school’s financial aid officer and at your bank or credit union.
6. Perkins Loans, distributed by schools, are available to applicants who meet eligibility requirements.

7. Check sources that have grants and scholarships for women:

The American Association of University Women.

The Business & Professional Women’s Foundation.

Orville Redenbacher’s Second Start Scholarship Program.

Soroptimist International of the Americas — check your local club or the national organization at 210 Center Plaza,

8. And finally, ask at work. Many corporations lend a hand to employees getting more education or training, particularly if it’s related to your work experience.

We subject ourselves to toxins on a daily basis. Something that many people do not consider is the toxins that are accumulating in our bodies. But on a daily basis, they eat foods laden with toxins to enable them to stay fresh. Each time these chemicals are consumed, they enter our body. You can also find toxins from secondhand smoke, car exhaust fumes, water purification chemicals, and a wide range of additional environmental factors.

The body does not rid itself of all of the chemicals. Quite a few of the toxins remain in the body, mainly in the colon area. Not only do the chemicals hinder the work of the digestive system, but they wreak havoc on other bodily systems as well. The human body can filter chemicals naturally. While the liver is nature’s means to keep our bodies free from toxins, the liver might not be able to rid the body of all the preservatives being consumed. Should too many toxins end up in the liver, this organ might get backed up. Should the liver get “congested”, our entire system can get clogged with toxic compounds. Eventually our health is impacted as the toxins begin to accumulate. One thing that can happen is that the body will gradually lose its ability to absorb nutrients.

Chemicals do much more than just hinder our digestive system or block our arteries. These toxins also allow bacteria to grow in our body. Preservatives can affect the colon. The colon may begin to lose the ability to rid itself of all the body’s waste.

When toxins that are harmful are lowered, our bodies can work more efficiently. When our body does not have to spend so much energy fighting the harmful toxins, the digestive system will function better. Extra energy enables the rest of the body to perform better. Your sharper mind makes it easier to concentrate, and the rest of your body works more efficiently. In just a short time, you will enjoy the advantages of detoxification.

Detoxification means lowering the body’s level of chemical toxins. Skin problems, and even allergy effects are lowered. Conditions you have been accustomed to, such as upper respiratory infections, gastrointestinal disturbances, and generalized pain, will be greatly alleviated. The Suresafe Foot Detox Patch is a natural detoxification system which eliminates toxins from the body, thus promoting a healthier immune system. Numerous ingredients, including wood vinegar, bamboo vinegar, chitosan, dokudami, loquat leaf, vitamin c, vegetable fiber, tourmaline, and dextrin are found in combination in detox pads. Prior to going to bed, you will just apply the detox patches on the bottoms of your feet and take them off upon rising the next day. Upon awakening you will experience a feeling of being fresh, revitalized, and detoxified. You will experience the benefits each time.