Polling Place

Sphere: Related Content

A Lullaby Before You Die

I heard 2 rats die the night before last, killed by the owls in the creek behind my house who hunt for their dinner around 1 or 2 in the AM. Before the owl finishes off the rat, he always sings a little hooting song. Maybe, like the American Indians, he’s singing a song of thanksgiving to the rat’s spirit before he eats it. I’m sad for the rat but glad for the owl. The creature most likely to kill man, other than man, is the mosquito. In the world, an estimated 700 to 800 million people are infected with a mosquito-borne disease annually and over 1.2 million of them die from malaria alone. One of the mosquito’s favorite germ factory blood sources is the rat. Bill and Melinda Gates should be happy to know the owl is working towards their same goal of eradicating malaria, without the use of pesticides!

http://www.gatesfoundation.org/Pages/home.aspx

Sphere: Related Content

Can you be Scared to Death?

YES, although it's rare.

Sudden cardiac death (SCD) occurs when the heart develops an abnormal rhythm that causes it to stop beating - which is different from a heart attack where the blood flow to the heart is blocked. When SCD occurs in children or adolescents, it's more often due to a heart condition that was present at birth and is likely a genetic disorder called “hypertrophic cardiomyopathy” which is the most common cause of sudden cardiac arrest in young athletes, triggered perhaps by vigorous exertion, or a shock to the system. In 2004, 139 deaths or 10% of a total of 1,282 deaths from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy occurred to those under age 25.

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/OnCall/Story?id=2614635&page=1

Sphere: Related Content

Deadly Vampire Bats!

It’s not just a Halloween story. Vampire bats do kill! 38 Warao Indians died recently in Venezuela from rabies spread by vampire bats. An estimated 55,000 people die annually in the world from rabies (most from dog bites). The highest number of reported rabies deaths are in Thailand, with 346 deaths per the World Health Organization (WHO) between 1994 to 2002 (most dog related). But in South America, news stories abound about breathing sound-tracking, blood sucking, death causing, vampire bats, with the highest number of rabies deaths being reported to the WHO from Brazil (119 deaths from 1996 through 2004).

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs099/en/

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,868420-1,00.html

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/06/060619-vampire-bats.html

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/08/08/world/main4334964.shtml?source=RSSattr=World_4334964

Sphere: Related Content

Can Cavities Kill?

Yes, especially if the cavity in question is the oral cavity commonly known as your mouth. The Center for Disease Controls (CDC) and other government agencies estimate total annual U.S. deaths from tobacco (inhaled through the mouth) at 438,000, obesity (food taken in by the mouth) at 300,000 and drug & alcohol abuse (commonly ingested in pill and liquid form though the mouth) at 55,200 for total deaths of over 793 thousand or approx. 1/3 of all 2.4 million annual U.S. deaths in 2005. Dental caries (commonly known as tooth decay or cavities), on the other hand, accounted for 4 deaths in 2004 (3 in 2001).

Sphere: Related Content

Can Negativity Kill?

Yes, if you’re a pregnant woman with RH negative blood. Five U.S. babies died in 2004 specifically from RH isoimmunization (4 in 2001, 6 in 2002, 1 in 2003 and 7 in 2005). That’s 5 deaths out of 14,213 babies who died in 2004 from birth-related conditions other than birth defects (which claimed another 10,498). Those 5 deaths were likely preventable if the RH-negative mom had gotten a simple shot. If only it were that easy to eliminate other types of negativity.

For more on what causes babies to die see the chapter on Bad Birth. For more on RH incompatibility see the entry in MedlinePlus's medical encyclopedia (I know about it because I've had the shot).
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001600.htm

Sphere: Related Content

Busy Hands Are Happy Hands

0.8 Percentage of all U.S. suicides taking place at work (page 264 Cause of Death book). U.S. suicide rates increased 6% between 2000 and 2005 from a suicide death rate of 10.4 per 100,000 (17.1 for men and 4.0 for women) to 11.0 (17.7 for men and 4.5 for women). During the same period, according to the OECD, U.S. total employment rates went down 3.5% from 74.1 to 71.5. Let’s hope we’re not going back to 1975 when suicide rates were 12.6 per 100,000 (18.7 for men and 6.7 for women) and the employment rate was a low 63.1. http://www.oecd.org/statsportal/0,3352,en_2825_293564_1_1_1_1_1,00.html Sphere: Related Content