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Salmon. You put it on the bbq in the summer, you treat yourself to it at your local sushi joint in the winter, and if you're lucky enough you keep a stash of it on hand for Sunday morning bagels and cream cheese. But salmon is a whole lot more than food; it's an iconic species that is a key link in the chain between environment, recreation, jobs and the economy.

For the last 15 years, federal agencies have continued to put politics before science, circumventing the Endangered Species Act and pushing Columbia-Snake River salmon to the brink of extinction and hurting salmon communities across the Pacific Coast.

The plan in question is called a Biological Opinion (BiOp) and it was originally submitted to the court by the Bush Administration. Rather than toss it out, the Obama team made some additions, known as an Adaptive Management Implementation Plan. The State of Oregon, salmon advocates and the Nez Perce tribe of Idaho are suing the agencies, saying the plan doesn't do enough to protect endangered salmon from the harmful impact of dams in the region, and that removal of the four lower Snake River dams in Eastern Washington must be on the table to recover imperiled fish.

Independent scientists agree. Last week the Western Division of the American Fisheries Society (WDAFS) released a scientific review of the Obama administration's proposed additions to the federal salmon plan for the Columbia-Snake River Basin.

The society's assessment concludes that the addendum, issued by NOAA Fisheries last September and known as the Adaptive Management Implementation Plan (AMIP), is not aggressive, rigorous, or specific enough to help bolster imperiled runs of wild salmon and steelhead.

“With this review, the independent scientists of the American Fisheries Society have shed some much-needed light on a topic that has already generated quite a bit of heat,” said Jim Martin, former chief of fisheries for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. “These experts looked at the AMIP and asked two all-important questions: does it do enough to help struggling salmon, and does it utilize the best science? Unfortunately, the answer to both questions appears to be no.”

The American Fisheries Society is the world's largest and oldest organization of fisheries professionals; its 3,500-member Western Division covers the 13 Western states and British Columbia, including the entire Columbia Basin.

From the Public News Service:

Leanne Roulson, WDAFS president, says if fish numbers continue to decline, her group has determined the plan isn't aggressive enough to save them.

“We're all about preserving and conserving the fisheries resource, while the political aspects of it are not really relevant to the stances we take or the opinions we put out there.”

Ed Bowles, chief of fisheries for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, agrees:

“The State of Oregon's concern is that, just including the Adaptive Management Implementation Plan into the BiOp does not even come close to fixing the fatal flaws of the BiOp.”

Bowles says recent predictions of the biggest salmon runs in years are mostly hatchery fish, and the wild fish remain on the endangered list.

The Obama administration announced last week that it will, in fact, revise its plan for recovering Columbia River salmon, accepting U.S. District Judge James A. Redden's offer of a voluntary three-month remand, in which he specified that NOAA is obligated by the Endangered Species act to use the best available science.

From Judge Redden's letter:

I will not sign an order of voluntary remand that effectively relieves federal defendants of their obligation to use the best available science and consider all important aspects of the problem. This court will not dictate the scope or substance of federal defendants' remand, but federal defendants must comply with the [Endangered Species Act] in preparing any amended/supplemental biological opinion.

A coalition of conservation and fishing groups agrees. “The first order of business with the Endangered Species Act is to use the best science,” said Nicole Cordan, policy and legal director for the Save Our Wild Salmon Coalition.

Between WDAFS's review and last week's court decision, the Obama Administration now has one last chance to hit the reset button on salmon; we hope they'll take this opportunity to truly fix their plan, and do so in a transparent, open way, using sound science that incorporates the work of WDAFS and other federal salmon biologists such as the experts at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

With true recovery of wild salmon and steelhead in question, fishing and river communities have been left to bear the brunt with unprecedented closures and restrictions from Southeast Alaska to Monterey Bay, California.

“We've said it before and we'll say it again: following the science is the only path to a successful, legal salmon plan, and it's also the best way to restore our struggling fishing communities,” said Liz Hamilton, executive director of the Northwest Sportfishing Industry Association.

A thoughtful, science-based plan will allow for the rebuilding of recreational and commercial fishing jobs, while also protecting other stakeholders throughout the Basin. It's science, but it's not rocket science; we can do this, provided we put salmon biology in the driver's seat where it belongs.

With yet another for the Obama administration to revamp its plan, the question is: will the revised version be enough to save these fish from extinction?

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People gets sick once in a while. It's waited. That's why they have sick time at work. Therefore there are doctors and insurance companies. However here are a lot of general stuff to be sure you stay in general perfect health. You should wash your hands. In general, not enough they do this. When using the restroom. Investigations have been done and a shockingly low %% of men and women wash their hands after using the restroom or before meals.

I always say: Consume water. Liquid cures all sickness. Dehydration is the culprit of many common ailments such as headaches and even bloating. 8 cups of liquid is the minimum so make sure you're getting at least that much. Keep in mind that fruits and vegetable juices count towards your daily scoop of hydrating drink. Sport. Sport does not have to mean hours on the treadmill sweating away to exhaustion. Physical activity can be as easy as walking across the parking lot to the grocery store or doing housework. That's right! Vacuuming burns calories intake! The more active in basic you are the more do sport you're doing. Consider getting a passometer. Pedometer's have shown that men and women who wear pedometer's are more effective than those who don't.

It's summer, and time for those tank tops and shorts, not to mention bathing suits, to come out of mothballs and into your clothing rotation. If you've decided that it's time to drop a few pounds, you will discover that there are some excellent online tools available that will make it easier to reach your weight goals. Most doctors recommend losing weight slowly, and it is considered healthiest to lose usually no more than one-half to one pound of weight per week. Losing the correct amount of weight each week, over a particular length of time, requires some careful monitoring of your food intake as well as exercise routine. Many who have been successful at losing weight have found that best weight loss often requires the use of a calorie counter as well as an exercise log.

Most of us are busy and might not have time to keep an accurate written diary of our food that we consume daily. Keeping track of this, however, is essential so that you get enough needed nutrients without overeating. An online calorie calculator takes most of the work out of this vital task. A good online food diary will have you enter the type of food and the amount that you ate at each meal. That is the end of the work on your part, because the online calculator takes over at that point. What you get in return is tremendously helpful. Your calculator will tell you the number of calories consumed, along with the number of grams of protein, carbohydrate, and fat, both for each meal as well as daily totals. Along with carefully recording your food, you can also keep track of how much water you are actually drinking each day. Water consumption keeps you hydrated, especially when you are exercising, and it has the additional benefit of adding no extra calories yet helping you feel full.

Along with calorie counting, people who have lost weight successfully also utilize exercise journals. An exercise journal can have several parts. One component is determining a weekly plan that helps you start out slowly and gradually improve your fitness. You will want to devote a portion of your time to cardiovascular endurance, strength training, and increasing your flexibility. An online exercise log allows you to select the exercises you like, and sets up a program that is customized to your particular fitness needs. Another aspect of an exercise journal that is useful for healthy weight loss is recording the amount of exercise you do and how that counts as calories burned. Exercise allows you to eat a bit more food than you might otherwise be able to on a weight loss program, and yet still lose weight. This helps many people stick with a program, and achieve results. It also provides a great motivation, because you can see for yourself that your program is working, and that you are assuredly reaching your goal of your ideal weight.

First we obsess over stars’ “baby bumps,” then we shame the new moms into squeezing back into skinny jeans as quickly as possible. Katie Gentile on the double standard that hurts women.

Sarah Michelle Gellar is back in her “skinny jeans” just four weeks after giving birth to her daughter, reports Us Weekly. Ditto Ellen Pompeo, I read in People. Twice, Heidi Klum walked the Victoria Secret runway just six weeks after having a baby. Natalia Vodianova topped them all, taking to the catwalk a mere two weeks after giving birth.

In 2010, God help the celebrity who fails to shed the baby weight immediately, as she may end up on the wrong side of one of those ubiquitous “best and worst post-baby bodies” pictorials. It is chilling to watch the culture become more and more obsessed with babies, while the evidence of how these babies are created is removed from public view. The supermarket tabloids obsessively scope out “baby bumps,” cooing each time a C- or even D-lister conceives. But the second the bumps become bouncing bundles of joy, the pressure is on for the new mom to squeeze back into her skinny jeans. The post-baby body must banish the bump, or risk ridicule.

It’s as if we should actually believe the baby dropped from the stork, from the sky, from anywhere but that toned, buff body.

It used to be that People magazine confined news about pregnancy and babies to its “Milestones” section. Now baby obsession has changed the very structure of the magazine, giving us features such as “Mommy and Me Fashion,” “Celebrity Family Albums,” and the ever-popular rush to publish the first photos of celebrity spawn. Similarly, celebrity gossip magazines and blogs now devote entire sections to bump patrols, moms and babies (only occasionally dads), and a parade of post-baby body photos. In this “new” culture that seems to mix domestic ideals of the 1950s with the expanded opportunities of the 21st century, baby bumps—expanding breasts and bellies—are celebrated, photographed, tracked, and made an endless source of speculation. But we ignore the less attractive, yet all-too-real aspects of pregnancy: There are no swollen ankles, plump thighs, or puffy faces allowed on the red carpet.

Of course, intense scrutiny of women’s bodies is not new, and celebrity antics have long made for profitable media fodder, but the obsession with postpartum weight control is something new. These days, we rarely see a picture of a pregnant celebrity without the requisite estimation of weight gain, called “baby weight,” as if it is somehow separate from the mother’s body. The best way to get rid of it is breast-feeding, the tabloids tell us, claiming that lactation magically and effortlessly melts away pounds.

Yet as The New York Times recently noted, research is conflicting as to whether breast-feeding actually promotes weight loss. Breast-feeding may burn calories, but it also stimulates appetite, leading many women to eat more. The Mayo Clinic advises normal-weight, healthy women to exercise moderately and eat about 300 more calories per day while pregnant, gaining between 25 and 35 pounds over the course of the nine months. And Mayo advises women to lose only 1 postpartum pound per week in order to maintain solid nutrition. La Leche League advises that women not diet for the first 2 months after delivery to help their bodies recover and establish good milk flow.

Contrast this information with Us Weekly celebrating Ashlee Simpson-Wentz for sticking to her 1,500-calorie-a-day post-pregnancy diet, People discussing Liv Tyler’s postpartum fasting and colonics, or Ok magazine’s “Baby Weight Secrets,” which advise women to stick to fat- and carb-free diets and spend hours exercising daily.

It would be easy to see this obsession with post-baby weight control as just part and parcel of the usual misogynistic obsession with women’s weight. Female celebrities are under constant pressure to stay thin. But look at it another way: When women shed the baby weight, they are not merely getting back their pre-baby body, they are obliterating all the evidence of ever having had a baby in the first place. This means the one thing that only women’s bodies can do is expected to be immediately erased. The post-baby body is wrung of its recent life-giving feat. Sagging milk-filled breasts must appear perky; the once-swollen abdomen is made concave. It’s as if we should actually believe the baby dropped from the stork, from the sky, from anywhere but that toned, buff body.

You can lose weight without changing what you eat or doing one minute of exercise! It's a bold claim. And don't get me wrong: Nutrition and exercise are important! But there's another key to weight loss — and most people don't even know about it. It's sleep.

In fact, besides eating whole foods and moving your body, getting enough sleep is the most important thing you can do for your health. On the flip side, sleep deprivation makes you fat — AND leads to depression, pain, heart disease, diabetes, and much more.

That's why in today's blog I want to talk about the impact sleep has on your health and give you 19 tips you can use to get a good night's rest and enjoy all the health benefits sleep has to offer. Let's start by talking about a rather serious sleep condition called sleep apnea.

The Dangers of Sleep Apnea

Sleep apnea is a condition where your sleep is interrupted all night because your airway closes and your body startles you awake so you don't suffocate. This is a very common and extremely under-diagnosed problem. It affects 18 million Americans and most are NOT treated for it.

Let me tell you about one of my patients who was in that same predicament. He was so tired that he had to stand up at his computer to work during the day so he wouldn't fall asleep! His wife reported hearing his horrible snoring and gasping episodes at night. He would fall right asleep as soon as he sat down to watch TV at night.

Most frightening, he had fallen asleep at the wheel when driving. Then he came to see me. When we got his sleep apnea diagnosed (with a sleep study in a sleep lab) and got him treated with a device to keep his airway open at night, he lost 50 pounds, his blood pressure turned to normal — and he got his life back.

But people with sleep apnea are not the only ones in trouble. It is estimated that 70 percent of Americans are sleep deprived. The era of Starbucks has been surpassed by an era of prescription stimulants to keep people awake and functioning, like dexadrine and Ritalin — otherwise known as “speed” or amphetamines.

Surprisingly, I see an increasing number of patients prescribed these “uppers” by their psychiatrist because coffee is not enough to keep them energetic. It seems we believe that if you can't do ten things at once, something must be wrong with you. But this is preposterous.

Your biological rhythms keep you healthy and produce cyclic pulses of healing and repair hormones, including melatonin and growth hormone. When those rhythms are disturbed by inadequate or insufficient sleep, disease and breakdown get the upper hand.

We evolved along with the rhythms of day and night. They signal a whole cascade of hormonal and neurochemical reactions that keep us healthy by repairing our DNA, building tissues and muscle, and regulating weight and mood chemicals. The advent of the light bulb changed all that.

When you are sleep deprived, your cortisol rises — and so do all its harmful effects, including brain damage and dementia, weight gain, diabetes, heart attacks, high blood pressure, depression, osteoporosis, depressed immunity, and more.

The reality is that most of us need at least eight hours of restful sleep a night. But meeting this goal has become more and more difficult. Partially because good sleep is not something that just happens (unless you are a baby or teenager). There are clearly defined things that interfere with or support healthy sleep. Here is what you need to do:

19 Tips to Improve Sleep

First, you have to prioritize sleep! I used to think that “MD” stood for “medical deity” and meant I didn't have to follow the same sleep rules as every other human being. I stayed up late working long shifts in the emergency room, ignoring the demands of my body to rest. It wasn't until I learned that shift work (like I did in when I worked in the emergency room) leads to a shortened life expectancy that I quit.

Unfortunately, our lives are infiltrated with stimuli — and we keep stimulated until the moment we get into bed. This is not the way to get restful sleep. Frankly, it's no wonder we can't sleep well when we eat late dinners, answer emails, surf the Internet, or do work, and then get right into bed and watch the evening news about all the disaster, pain, and suffering in the world.

Instead we must take a little “holiday” in the two hours before bed. Creating a sleep ritual — a special set of little things you do before bed to help ready your system physically and psychologically for sleep — can guide your body into a deep, healing sleep.

We all live with a little bit of post-traumatic stress syndrome (or, I should say, traumatic stress syndrome, because for many of us there is nothing “post” about it). Much research has been done on the effects of stress and traumatic experiences and images on sleep. If you follow my guidelines for restoring normal sleep below, your posttraumatic stress may become a thing of the past.

Here's how restore your natural sleep rhythm. It may take weeks or months, but using these tools in a coordinated way will eventually reset your biological rhythms:

• Practice the regular rhythms of sleep – go to bed and wake up at the same time each day

• Use your bed for sleep and romance only – not reading or television

• Create an aesthetic environment that encourages sleep – use serene and restful colors and eliminate clutter and distraction

• Create total darkness and quiet – consider using eyeshades and earplugs

• Avoid caffeine – it may seem to help you stay awake but actually makes your sleep worse

• Avoid alcohol – it helps you get to sleep but causes interruptions in sleep and poor-quality sleep

• Get regular exposure to daylight for at least 20 minutes daily – the light from the sun enters your eyes and triggers your brain to release specific chemicals and hormones like melatonin that are vital to healthy sleep, mood, and aging

• Eat no later than three hours before bed – eating a heavy meal prior to bed will lead to a bad night's sleep

• Don't exercise vigorously after dinner – it excites the body and makes it more difficult to get to sleep

• Write your worries down – one hour before bed, write down the things that are causing you anxiety and make plans for what you might have to do the next day to reduce your worry. It will free up your mind and energy to move into deep and restful sleep

• Take a hot salt/soda aromatherapy bath – raising your body temperature before bed helps to induce sleep. A hot bath also relaxes your muscles and reduces tension physically and psychically. By adding one-and-a-half to one cup of Epsom salt (magnesium sulfate) and one-and-a-half to one cup of baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) to your bath, you will gain the benefits of magnesium absorbed through your skin and the alkaline-balancing effects of the baking soda, both of which help with sleep

• Get a massage or stretch before bed – this helps relax the body making it easier to fall asleep

• Warm your middle – this raises your core temperature and helps trigger the proper chemistry for sleep. Either a hot water bottle, heating pad, or warm body can do the trick

• Avoid medications that interfere with sleep – these include sedatives (these are used to treat insomnia, but ultimately lead to dependence and disruption of normal sleep rhythms and architecture), antihistamines, stimulants, cold medication, steroids, and headache medication that contains caffeine (such as Fioricet)

• Use herbal therapies – try passionflower, or 320 mg to 480 mg of valerian (valeriana officinalis) root extract standardized to 0.2 percent valerenic acid one hour before bed

• Take 200 to 400 mg of magnesium citrate or glycinate before bed – this relaxes the nervous system and muscles.

• Other supplements and herbs can be helpful in getting some shuteye – try calcium, theanine (an amino acid from green tea), GABA, 5-HTP, melatonin, and magnolia.

• Try one to three mg of melatonin at night – melatonin helps stabilize your sleep rhythms.

• Get a relaxation, meditation or guided imagery CD – any of these may help you get to sleep.

If you are still having trouble sleeping, you should be evaluated by your doctor for other problems that can interfere with sleep, including food sensitivities, thyroid problems, menopause, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, heavy metal toxicity, and, of course, stress and depression. Also, consider getting tested for a sleep disorder.

Sleep Testing: What You Need to Know

There are many medical sleep disorders, the most common (and most under-diagnosed) is sleep apnea. If you experience excessive daytime sleepiness, fatigue, snoring, and have been seen to stop breathing in the middle of the night by your spouse or partner, then you could be one of the many people with undiagnosed sleep apnea.

People with sleep apnea have a higher risk of high blood pressure, heart disease, and sudden death, so diagnosing and treating it is imperative. High blood pressure is a clue, because half of all people with high blood pressure have undiagnosed sleep apnea.

Get an overnight sleep study done in a sleep lab. It may the best thing you ever do for yourself. It might just save your life!

And remember — don't skimp on sleep! It is one of the most powerful healing treatments available if you want to achieve lifelong vibrant health.

For more on sleep, I recommend The Promise of Sleep by William C. Dement MD, PhD (Random House, 1999).

Now I'd like to hear from you…

How much sleep do you typically get each night? Do you think it's enough?

If you are not getting enough sleep, what do you think is the cause?

What healthy sleep habits to you plan to start?

Have you noticed a connection between your weight or health and how much sleep you get?

Please leave your thoughts by adding a comment below.

To your good health

Mark Hyman, M.D.

Mark Hyman, M.D. practicing physician and founder of The UltraWellness Center is a pioneer in functional medicine. Dr. Hyman is now sharing the 7 ways to tap into your body's natural ability to heal itself. You can follow him on Twitter, connect with him on LinkedIn, watch his videos on Youtube and become a fan on Facebook.

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As the New Year's Resolution crowd looks to lose weight once again, many people are combining it with another recession-inspired resolution: managing money better.

WalletPOP's Geoff Williams has been chronicling his efforts to lose weight while saving money, and I recently looked at how exercise videos can offer an affordable alternative to the gym for fitness newcomers. Today, The Wall Street Journal reports on (subscription required) a few other possibilities: walking around the mall in groups, participating in free or ultra low-cost yoga classes, and bike paths.

Time Magazine covered the rise of mall-walking way back in 1985, and About.com recommends checking with the information desk at your local mall to find out about mall walking programs. Alternatively, you could just go to the mall and walk around on your own without the structure and motivation of companions there to talk you out of ducking into the Godiva store for refreshments.

You could also go vintage and buy this Suzanne Somers Thighmaster on eBay — complete with the instructional VHS! Or you could go really vintage — as in practically antique — and work out with Jack Lalanne, who has uploaded some of his vintage exercise programs onto his website so you can watch them on your laptop while you work out. He's 95 years old, and he's in better shape than most 20-year-olds. So clearly he knows of what he speaks.

The bottom line is that lack of money is never an excuse for not getting in shape. There are tons of alternatives to gym memberships that cost little or nothing.

The Mayo Clinic Diet: Eat Well, Enjoy Life, Lose Weight. 254 Pages. Good Books. $25.99.
The Daily Beast’s William Boot reviews bestsellers to see which, if any, are readable. This week: The Mayo Clinic Diet.

Book: The Mayo Clinic Diet
Authors: The weight-loss experts at the Mayo Clinic
Pages: 254
Readable pages: 254
Sample line: “Carbohydrates, fats, protein…oh my!”

Listen up, fatso: The Mayo Clinic Diet is the best-selling diet book in America. It’s not because of the weight-loss prescriptions, which are rather obvious (“eat a healthy breakfast”). It’s because of the book’s writing, the happiness-enriched prose that can make even the girthiest among us feel like a swimsuit model. It’s the feel-good book of the year.

“This diet is not a fad,” writes the Mayo Clinic’s Dr. Donald Hensrud, a handsome, Charlie Crist-looking figure. What Hensrud and his team want is to make your diet as unobtrusive as possible. There will be no humiliations as in NBC’s The Biggest Loser. The Mayoites urge you to “find your eating place”—the part of house you’d like to diet in. “The cool thing about burning calories,” they write, “is that the possibilities are almost endless.”

In an introductory lesson, the Mayoites suggest that you, the dieter, try to estimate half a cup of dry cereal—the point being that you’re probably eating more food than you think. Now, I know of no one, outside of a Kellogg’s executive, who would feel threatened by the outcome of this exercise. But the authors feel moved to add, “If you overestimated, don’t feel discouraged.”

Every diet promises comfort—no calculators, no food scales, etc. But The Mayo Clinic Diet is beatific in the extreme. The authors may work for one of the most cutting-edge medical facilities in the world, but they address the reader as if he or she had never before been in a supermarket. “Common opinions hold that vegetables and fruit don’t have much flavor or that they all taste the same,” they write. Held where, in kindergarten? Elsewhere: “Lettuce or fresh spinach is generally the foundation of a healthy salad.” Still elsewhere: “Keep in mind that you don’t need to like all varieties of vegetables and fruits, just some of them.”

The first section—called “Lose It!”—told me I could lose six to 10 pounds in two weeks. The advice is hearteningly intuitive. I should eat whole grains, fruits, vegetables (not all of them, just some of them). I should exercise 30 minutes a day. I should cut out sugar and snacks, and I shouldn’t eat while I watch TV. Flipping the pages, I kept waiting for the provocative angle, the hook that made The South Beach Diet or Atkins’ New Diet Revolution so memorable. But it never came, nor did any command I couldn’t perform while sitting in the business class section of Virgin Atlantic. The authors later say that this part of the book is “kind of like a boot camp.”

As the book moves from “Lose It!” to “Live It!”—aka, Week 3—a few hard numbers begin to appear. I should lose one to two pounds per week; I should eat 500 to 1,000 fewer calories a day; I should eat one-quarter of the Snickers Bar I find lying around Beast headquarters instead of the whole thing. There is plenty of smart advice: My daily serving of protein, for instance, should be no bigger than the size of a deck of cards.

The author of a diet book must be a gentle psychologist. Anyone who has picked up the thing has done so because they feel bad about themselves, because their vow to run a mile every morning has become a brisk walk to the pastry shop. The Mayo Clinic Diet tries the gentle approach. It’ll cite a “negative attitude” (“Exercise is painful and boring”) and contrast it with a “new attitude” (“I’ll call a friend to go walking and enjoy the beautiful day”). I’m guessing that most of us fall somewhere between clinical depression and unbearable happiness—and even that makes us feel better.

The Mayoites have performed a kind of provocative stunt here: they’ve done nothing provocative. They’ve put some brightly colored jogging shorts on some age-old wisdom. And one more thing: The Mayo Clinic Diet makes a bid to be the official diet of the Obama administration. The book is chock full of helpful hints called “Yes, I Can!” This is a diet for an optimistic age, for those who still believe in the audacity of hope.

Read it? Yes.

Previously reviewed William Boot:

U is for Undertow by Sue Grafton
I, Alex Cross by James Patterson
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
Noah’s Compass by Anne Tyler
Committed by Elizabeth Gilbert

Plus: Check out Book Beast, for more news on hot titles and authors and excerpts from the latest books.

William Boot covered the war in Ishmaelia and wrote the Lush Places column for The Daily Beast. He now reviews commercial fiction.

For more of The Daily Beast, become a fan on Facebook and for more books coverage follow Book Beast on Twitter.

For inquiries, please contact The Daily Beast at editorial@thedailybeast.com.

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Millions of people are focusing on fast weight loss every day. It is the number one New Year's resolution for many people who go on different diets regularly, only to realize after a while that they gained all the weight back. With most people, the problem is that they do not focus on the long-term weight loss plan, but instead look for a quick magical solution to lose weight fast. In addition, people have to be realistic when setting their goals about weight loss.

Goal setting is critical to accomplishing any task, especially weight loss. Of course, you can sometimes reach your goal without having a strategy. However, scientist have found that chances of reaching the weight loss objective would be improved significantly, if the effective goal setting is utilized.

The weight loss goals must incorporate 3 points – they have to be precise, inspiring, and rewarding. For a goal to be precise, decide how much weight you want to lose and the timeframe. An inspiring goal is the goal, which motivates you to lose weight (to feel better, lower your cholesterol level, increase your energy level, decrease heart disease risk, etc.). Also, imagine the rewards after you reach your goals (better physical appearance, more active life, etc.). Connect you rewards with the accomplishments and if you hold off on rewards until you met your goal the reward will seem a lot more valuable. Commitment, dedication and time are a must for achieving your goals. Moreover, no rewarding yourself with food!

The goals can be divided into short-term (one to six months) and long-term goals (6 months to five years). When setting the goals for fast weight loss, it is important to remember the type of goals you are trying to achieve versus the timeframe as you might not be able to reach your long-term goals within a few months and might get discouraged.

The short-term goals will relate to quick weight loss, exercise, food, and other personal improvements. You have to set small achievable goals at this stage to see the progress and to reward yourself. For example, excercising a certain number of days a week, eating certain number of calories per day, eliminate certain unhealthy fatty foods from your diet, etc. Small but consistent accomplishments are more beneficial than losing 10 lbs fast and then gaining it back in a month.

If you are trying to lose over 10 lbs, it is beneficial to have a bigger picture in mind. If you generally struggle with weight loss, you know that you should have long-term goals. Decide what they should be. Drop a few sizes? Being able to run a mile or two? Being able to walk for an hour? Change your lifestyle more dramatically? Determine your final goals and what you want to achieve – in 6 months, one, two and five years. You will have to focus on the items related to the weight loss issues you generally find challenging. Do you always gain a lot of weight over the New Year's and then have to spend a month or so on a diet? Do you always gain weight on vacations or after you go out with friends? Be aware of your patterns. Know your patterns and figure out how you can maintain more stable weight over a long period of time. Plan bigger rewards for your weight loss accomplishments – a new wardrobe in a smaller size, new haircut, a vacation, etc.

Weight loss, especially fast weight loss, has to be taken seriously, as it involves a variety of issues including physical, psychological, and physiological as well as sometimes tough food choices. Therefore, setting weight loss goals is not something you can just jump into without putting much thought into it or doing prior research. Setting effective weight loss goals is a challenging task, but which will provide rewarding benefits, improving your health and increasing your life expectancy in the long run and making you feel and look better in the shorter run if you do it right.

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There are many different classes of antibiotics each exerting a different type of inhibitory effect that specifically impacts bacteria. Bacterial cells are prokaryotic; primitive cells that differ significantly from humans' eukaryotic cells.

Quinolones exert their bacteriocidal effect by interfering with a bacterium's ability to make DNA (replication). Many quinolones antibiotics belong to a subgroup called fluoroquinolones, which have a fluoro functional group associated with the molecule. Both terms are therefore used to describe antibiotics in this class.

Each article in this series covers a specific class of antibiotic and includes the following information:

• a list of the specific antibiotics that fall in the class (generic and brand names)
• mode of action
• type of infection the antibiotic class to against
• type of bacteria inhibited or killed
• pros and cons of using the class of antibiotics

Main Classes of Antibiotics

• Aminoglycosides
• Cephalosporins (a Beta-lactam)
• Macrolides
• Penicillin (a Beta-lactam)
• Quinolones (Fluoroquinolones)
• Sulfonamides
• Tetracyclines

Quinolones

The quinolones are classified into generations based on their antibacterial spectrum, with earlier generation quinolones more effective against Gram- bacteria and the spectrum of activity expanding to include more Gram+ bacteria with the later generations. Some representative quinolones include:

1st generation

• cinoxacin
• nalidixic acid (NegGam, Wintomylon)
• pipemidic acid (Dolcol)

2nd generation

• ciprofloxacin (Ciprobay, Cipro, Ciproxin)
• norfloxacin (Lexinor, Noroxin, Quinabic, Janacin)
• ofloxacin (Floxin, Oxaldin, Tarivid)

3rd generation

• levofloxacin (Cravit, Levaquin)
• sparfloxacin (Zagam)
• tosufloxacin

4th generation

• clinafloxacin
• gemifloxacin (Factive)
• moxifloxacin (Avelox,Vigamox)
• gatifloxacin (Zymar)

Mode of Action of Quinolones

Quinolones are bacteriocidal drugs, meaning that they kill bacteria. These antibiotic drugs inhibit the bacterial DNA gyrase enzyme which is necessary for DNA replication. Since a copy of DNA must be made each time a cell divides, interfering with replication makes it difficult for bacteria to multiply.

How DNA is packaged is very different in bacteria as opposed to eukaryotes. Bacteria supercoil DNA using DNA gyrase, whereas eukaryotes coil DNA around histone proteins. Because quinolones specifically target DNA gyrase, they do not interfere with human DNA.

Antimicrobial Spectrum of Quinolones

Quinolones are known as broad-spectrum antibiotics, effective against many different types of bacteria, both Gram-positive (Gram +) and Gram-negative (Gram -).

Type of Infections Quinolones are Used For

Clinical applications of quinolones include the treatment of common urinary tract infections, and certain gastrointestinal infections, gynecological infections / STDs, skin infections, and upper and lower respiratory infections (such as sinusitis, pneumonia, bronchitis).

Pros & Cons of Quinolones

Adverse Effects

Quinolones typically have few side effects, most commonly including nausea, headache, dizziness, and confusion. Rare but serious adverse events have been reported, such as prolongation of the corrected QT interval, phototoxicity, liver enzyme abnormalities, arthropathy (joint problems), as well as cartilage and tendon abnormalities.

Resistance

Resistance to quinolones can develop very quickly, even during a course of treatment. The newer quinolones are rarely used as first-line agents, since over and inappropriate use of this class of antibiotic is likely to worsen current problems with antibiotic resistance. A variety of pathogens, including Staphylococcus aureus (pathogenic Staph), Enterococci, and Streptococcus pyogenes (the causative agent of strep throat) now exhibit resistance.

More Antibiotic Resources

The information in this article was obtained from a variety of sources, including the text book Foundations in Microbiology by Kathleen Park Talero (2008) and Oliphant & Green's article Quinolones: A Comprehensive Review, published in 2002 in the journal American Family Physician. To learn more about bacteria and prokaryotes in general, see the microbiology information on the science website Science Prof Online.

* The information in this article is not meant to be used for self-diagnosis or treatment of illness. If you are sick, seek help from a trained medical professional, not a computer.

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US President gave a speech to the American Medical Association in an attempt to get the organization's fellows on board with his idea for healthcare rethought. Incidentally, the issue of healthcare reform is a difficult theme in Chamber, and the road to legislation is of course to be not short and filled with much debate. So, to help Washington in the process, or after all to keep the politicians sane with a little amusement, we've come up with a little healthcare download full movies listing .

The ten films chosen are admittedly more left-leaning in their potential influence, but that's not necessarily a political films on our part. We simply selected titles we like, and perhaps it just so happens that we like movies to download that show charity as good, greed as evil and healthcare as a right that all humans should be afforded.

Young Doctors in Love free downloads movies (1982)

The Hospital download movie for free (1971) Arthur Hiller's hospital-set black film is much funnier.

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Like Father Like Son download movie for free (1987) The only reason this body swap comedy is included in the marathon is that it also contains a subplot involving a hospital's stance on uninsured.

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Dr. Kildare Goes Home download movies online free (1940)

The Death of Mr. Lazarescu download full movies (2005) Though not set in the U.S., this Romanian film will show Congress how bad our country's healthcare industry could be.

The Rainmaker movie to download (1997)

John Q movie to download (2002)

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Back in the 1970s, a typical family day out was a trip to the local leisure centre. Every town had one and they were basically all the same, with a large rectangular swimming pool (shallow at one end, deep at the other), a separate deep-water area with several diving boards, and a kiddie-pool for babies or those who couldn't swim. If you were lucky, there was a short, straight slide that had to be kept wet with a bucket of water. And after your leisure centre experience, there was a drinks machine selling hot chocolate for mum and cans of fizzy drinks for the kids. And that was it.

How things change! Now-thankfully – we have the water park, based on the notion that swimming on its own is not the most interesting activity in the world. People get bored easily, and demand a lot more entertainment for their money.

In Britain, most water parks are a combination of pools in an enclosed area and in the open air. In Mediterranean countries, because of the warmer and drier climate, they are more often than not completely outdoors. Some are dedicated water parks, and others are part of a larger leisure or holiday complex. All, however, provide much more than the chance to swim a few lengths.

Unlike the leisure centre, there's little point just turning up for an hour or two. This is partly because there's so much to do, and partly because there's usually an entrance fee which, although quite reasonable if you make the most of what's on offer, is not cheap.

So what is there to do? All water parks have a number of slides. These are not the old-fashioned straight slides of the 1970s, though. They come in all shapes and sizes – some are open, some are totally enclosed tunnels, some are steep, some are bumpy, some twist sharply, some you can go down in pairs or on rubber rings. All of them have water flowing down them. You can often choose how you want to go down -head first, feet first, on your front or back, sitting up, lying down. Your position affects your speed – and how much water will splash into your face!

Other attractions often include the rapids – in which you make your way through a man-made river, surviving the obstacles such as backwards flowing currents, waterfalls and rapids. It's exhilarating and – at times – a little scary, and for some reason kids are much better at getting round than adults. The baby-brother of the rapids is the lazy pool, where the current gently takes you round a circular channel of water. It's relaxing more than exciting, and some lazy pools even have a Jacuzzi half way round.

Some larger water parks have a wave machine in the main pool which makes waves up to a meter high. That makes the whole swimming experience rather more thrilling than in the old leisure centre days. Some have a 'death slide', where you hold onto a bar which slides down a cable over the pool. When it hits the end, you drop into the water! There's also a lot more on offer than a drinks machine. Many water parks boast shops, cafes, bars 1.88 and restaurants, and a bar actually in the middle of the pool is not uncommon in many Mediterranean water parks. Just remember to keep your money dry!

January 3, 2010 |

AP

Burj Dubai, the world's tallest building, seen at background centre, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Sunday, Jan. 3, 2010. Burj Dubai is over 800 metres (2,625 ft) tall and has more than 160 stores, the most of any building in the world. Besides an observation deck on its 124th floor affording 360-degree views of the entire city, Burj Dubai is home to the world's first Armani Hotel, luxury offices and residences, and a variety of other sophisticated leisure and entertainment facilities. Burj Dubai will ultimately be the place of residence, work and leisure for a community of up to 12,000 people. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)

A further attempt by Liberal Democrats on Walsall Council to keep Willenhall Leisure Centre open was voted down at last night’s Regeneration Scrutiny Panel, but there does appear to be some light at the end of the tunnel reports Liberal Democrat councillor Ian Shires.

Ian’s claim came after his recommendation to the scrutiny panel to reschedule a number of growth items within the draft budget for 2010/11 in order to keep the leisure centre open. the suggestion was voted down with all five Tories voting against and Labour surprisingly sitting on the fence by abstaining.

Ian had pointed out to the scrutiny panel members that a review of Leisure provision across across the borough was due to go before the council’s Tory controlled cabinet in April this year and it made no sense to close Willenhall Leisure Centre ahead of this review.

“We know that Willenhall’s Leisure Centre operating costs are higher than others in the Borough” said Ian “all I am asking is to allow Scrutiny to look in depth at how it might be possible to dramatically reduce costs in much the same way as was done with Bryntysillio last year.

“By doing this the future of leisure provision in Willenhall would stand on an equal footing” said Ian. “This is the only closure contained within the Tory budget proposals and smacks of discrimination against an area which has more than its fair share of deprivation.”

Although Ian’s proposal was defeated, senior Tories said that it deserved further consideration, they would be looking at ways of perhaps including them in the final budget due to go before the cabinet in February. Could it be that as far as Willenhall’s Leisure Centre is concerned, there is some light at the end of the tunnel?

There are actually a lot of health benefits of almonds that most people are not aware of. Almonds are actually a great source of Vitamin E which is an important vitamin for staying healthy. One serving of almonds actually has twenty five grams of Vitamin E which is seventy five percent of the quantity of Vitamin E that a person needs in a day.

Almonds also have an excellent source of other vitamins such as potassium, zinc, magnesium, fiber, and monosaturated fat. Almonds also contain more calcium than any other nut in the world which makes them an astounding source of calcium for vegetarians that choose not to eat dairy products. They are also a great alternative for people that want to get more calcium in their diet, but are getting sick of drinking milk.

Another one of the health benefits of almonds is the fact that the nut contains amygdalin which is also known as Vitamin B17. Many people believe that amygdalin can prevent cancer from developing in individuals. However, there is not enough scientific proof to confirm that amygdalin has this effect.

Another one of the great health benefits of almonds is that they contain several chemicals that contribute to the overall health of a person's heart. Some of these chemicals include phytochemicals, beta-sisterol stigmasterol and campesterol which lower LDL levels. If you can have one handful of almonds a day then you can significantly decrease your chances for having heart disease by as much as ten percent.

Health benefits of almonds also include the fact that they help with losing weight. The Nurses Healthy Study showed that people who ate nuts generally had a lower body fat index. It is true that almonds are high in fat and calories, but if you eat them in moderation then you might begin to lose weight.

This is backed by a scientific study that looked at people that got 500 of their daily calories from almonds. The people that got 500 of their daily calories from almonds lost more weight than those who did not. One theory that scientists have is that the cell walls of almonds limit the amount of fat that is available for absorption. Almonds are also great because they are made up of almost entirely carbohydrates with a high amount of protein.

Either way, there are several different health benefits of almonds that go along with eating the special nut. If you want to slim down while enjoying this tasty nut then you might want to include some of your daily calories as almonds! You could even try making an almond milkshake! The source for the information in this article was OrganicFacts.com.

Amen…Amen…Amen, Amen Amen! I guess that's how the old hymn goes. I want to bring up a subject that may ruffle a few feathers, but its time to dust anyway! As many know—I was diagnosed as being bi-polar early in the new year. Now in the midst of all this, I talked my feelings over with my pastor. I was very upset with his responses to my anger, frustration and sudden onset of depression; from the bad news I received. We talked in great detail and we both argued the pros and cons of medicating.

THERE WAS NO ARGUMENT! I went home and thought that what my doctor stated was right! I wanted to take control of my health. THERE IS NO CURE FOR BI-POLAR DISORDER! So until one is found…I am going to continue taking the medicine prescribed. I don't want to place a whole lot of emphasis on the religion part, but here goes. Why would one not trust a individual that went through years of medical training and education to service the ill? I mean truth be told…GOD placed doctor's here on earth to help heal the masses. So here is my deal—I don't believe in prayer alone! I did not say that I don't believe in the BIG MAN, but you have to do more to help sustain your physical/mental health.

In the midst of you awaiting your 'faith healing' you take the medications that the physician has prescribed you. Take your medications daily, pray, exercise your mind, body and soul, and try to eliminate the stressors out of your life. It's very important that you listen to the doctor versus friends and families. Be encouraged and motivated byy family, not counseled; that's the doctors job. Don't be ashamed of what people have to say. You know what you have to do in order to preserve your mental/physical health, so do it!

I am a true witness, there was a time in my life to where my behavior was reckless and my moods were unpredictable. From one extreme to the next, my behaviorism changed for the worse. I tried (alone no doctor, no medicine) prayer. Then from there I went to trying to write all my jobs and duties down and seeking help from family. Well hell, all my symptoms took control and it was hard to sustain a normal life. I did the exercising and diet change and no progression. Here ARE MY guidelines to making sure you head in the right direction to sustaining your mental health.

Don't listen to family and friends- Many people run to their comfort zones, which is family. Family will be just afraid as you are and will try to deny (like you will) the fact that you have a severe issue. You just came from the doctor, so reference to the information sheet and pamphlets he/she gave to you. When people don't understand something, they shy away from it.

READ all you can about your illness- When you do this, it help you to understand why you do/did the things you are always on trial for it seems. This will give you comfort as well as hope in how to change your lifestyle.

Talk to people- Talk and gather in the comforts of others that share your illness. Visit the NAMI (National Alliance of Mental Illness) support groups; in person or on-line chat rooms. EVERY state has several NAMI branches.There, at those meetings you will hear stories of individuals and their family members talk about how their loved one -as well as themselves- cope with a mental illness. This can also help you and your loved ones. Sometimes you learn about yourself from others.

Make sure you keep your spiritual connection- Nothing is wrong with church or having a relationship with a higher power. This is good for mental stimulation. Once you're spirit is revived, you will be charged to care for yourself in a ultimate manner as well asbe able to vision hope in a bright light!

Exercise and diet- Don't let people tell you any different. Certain foods provide extra protein as well as energy. Once you become fully engaged in what is good for you (with consideration to your medication) you will not what foods are good and bad for you. Exercise and diet alone wihout medication however, is not the avenue you need to jog down though.

Stay in the loop- Subscribe to a mental health community magazine. It does not matter which one, but this will help you stay current on drugs, therapy, procedures and medication re-calls. there are thousands of on-line communities where blogs are constant and medical professionals are at the head of some of the best mental health care blogs.

In the end…your mental/physical health is up to you. No one will be able to save you BUT you! Go with your heart as well as the facts.