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Backyard Chickens Eat Harmful Ticks, But Are Giving People Salmonella

CALVERTON, N.Y. (CBS Local) – As disease-carrying ticks continue to spread across the country, many Americans are turning to an inventive and all-natural approach to removing ticks: chickens. “Within a couple of weeks, we realized, ‘hey, it’s funny, we’re not seeing any ticks.’ Our dog wasn’t gnawing on his paws trying to get the ticks off. We’re like, ‘wow,’ and then we realized they’re eating the ticks,” Christopher Paparo told CBS New York . The Long Island resident is one of many people who have added a backyard chicken pen to their home. According to multiple reports , chickens, guinea fowl, and quail can all help reduce tick populations. “If anything moves, a chicken will attack it,” farmer Erin Hull said, via the Wall Street Journal in 2017. The boom in backyard chicken sales comes at a point where government health officials say dangerous ticks are moving into areas not usually known for sightings. “Ticks are spreading. Tick populations have exploded ,” Wendy Adams of the Bay Area Lyme Foundation told CBS News . A new study has reportedly found disease-carrying ticks in 83 counties where they’d never been found before across 24 states. “This is good data to show the extent of that. It’s a message to people that even if you think ticks aren’t a problem, they could be.” In New Jersey, a 14-year-old girl is believed to be the first person in the U.S. found carrying the exotic Longhorned tick in over five years. The rare tick was on the girl in early July but had not bitten her. The pest, which originates in Asia, is believed to have invaded the U.S. in 2013 and can infect humans with Japanese spotted fever or Lyme disease. Although backyard chickens seem like the perfect predators to rid the Earth of these slow-moving insects, the CDC says there’s a major problem with keeping live poultry around: salmonella. The agency reports that a massive salmonella outbreak linked to live chickens has swept across 44 states. 212 people have reportedly been infected and 34 have been hospitalized. “People can get sick with salmonella infections from touching live poultry or their environment. These birds can be carrying salmonella bacteria but appear healthy and clean and show no signs of illness,” the CDC explained in a July 23 warning . People infected with the outbreak strains of Salmonella, by state of residence, as of July 13, 2018 (n=212) CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION Health officials urge people keeping chickens to wash their hands after touching anything in the coop and never let chickens into the house. Salmonella can cause diarrhea, vomiting, fever and abdominal cramps. Some chicken owners say they’d rather put up with some of the inconvenient things chickens do rather than risk contracting diseases from the ticks they eat. Sarah Siegel of Maine says her family was constantly attacked by harmful ticks until they bought a flock of chickens to roam their property. “That’s the thing that drives me nuts,” Siegel told the Sun Journal about the waste her new guardians leave behind. “But I hose it off and I just figure chicken poop on the porch or Lyme… I’d take the chicken poop on the porch many times over.”

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Backyard Chickens Eat Harmful Ticks, But Are Giving People Salmonella

July 27, 2018 0 comment

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Study: Children Of Working Moms Better Off Later In Life

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NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – New research shows children of working mothers are just as happy later in life as children of stay-at-home moms. But as CBS2’s Cindy Hsu reports, the study found it affects boys and girls differently. The Harvard study involved more than 100,000 men and women from 29 countries. For daughters of working mothers, results found they’re more likely to be employed, hold supervisor roles, and in the U.S. earn nearly $2,000 more per year and spend an hour less on housework than stay-at-home moms. When it comes to sons of working mothers, the study found they spend an extra 50 minutes a week caring for their own family, tend to choose employed spouses and view workplace gender equality more favorably. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 71 percent of women in the workplace have children who are 18 years old or younger. Meredith Bodgas is one of those moms. She has two young boys who go to day care while she works as editor in chief of Working Mother. “I have a 5-month-old. He’s in day care right now. I’ve heard lots of criticism – How can you put him in day care? What are you doing to him?” she said. She feels her children are flourishing and hopes the study will help with the guilt many working mothers feel. “Working moms should be proud to be working moms,” she said. “They are role modeling that you can be successful on the professional front and still be very close to your children when you’re not there and when you are there.” Bodgas said the bottom line is that happy moms lead to happy grown-ups, whether you work or stay home, as long as you’re engaged and fulfilled. Xochitl Balacios, who works as a housekeeper, was thrilled to hear the results. “I think it’s awesome,” she said. “My mom, she loves me,” said her 6-year-old son. That’s what really counts. The study appeared in the journal Work, Employment and Society.

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Study: Children Of Working Moms Better Off Later In Life

July 19, 2018 0 comment

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Parents Getting Teens To Diet Doing More Harm Than Good, Study Says

written by ErwinCastanon

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – Billboards boasting the effectiveness of quick weight loss supplements may not be the only thing creating a problem for teens. Parents trying to help their overweight teenager lose weight may also be doing more harm than good. A new study finds that parents putting their children on a diet could lead to struggles with their weight as adults. The study, in the journal Pediatrics, of more than 500 teens who had been encouraged to diet, found that approach led to problems with food later. “They followed teenagers who had been encouraged to diet, 15 years later and found that they were more likely to be overweight, to be dieting, binge-eating, and have lower body satisfaction,” Dr. Susan Albers from the Cleveland Clinic said. Those teens were later also more likely to encourage their own children to diet. According to Dr. Albers, dieting among teens can encourage a negative relationship with food. She says it’s more beneficial to practice mindful eating – where the focus is on how you eat, rather than what you eat. “It’s so important to give teens these skills at this juncture in their life and I talk to parents about tools, not rules,” Dr. Albers added.

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Parents Getting Teens To Diet Doing More Harm Than Good, Study Says

July 16, 2018 0 comment

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Babies Sleep Better When They Begin Solid Food Early, Study Says

written by PhoebeFrencham

(CNN) — Both the UK National Health Service and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend that mothers exclusively breastfeed until about 6 months of age and then begin to introduce solid foods. Yet, an alternative feeding plan is also safe for babies, new research suggests. Introducing a child to solid baby foods after just 3 months was associated with a small but significant improvement in nighttime sleep and slightly fewer wakings throughout the week compared with babies who began eating solids later, according to a study published Monday in the journal JAMA Pediatrics . For Dr. Gideon Lack , senior author of the study and a professor and head of the Department of Paediatric Allergy at King’s College London, the study’s single most important finding was the “more than 50% reduction in the number of families reporting severe sleep disturbances in their babies.” “Lack of sleep can be pretty devastating for babies and their families,” he said. Nighttime sleep Many parents assume that a belly filled with solid food and not just liquids will help their infants sleep throughout the night, but previous scientific studies have not proved it. So, while planning a study that examined how allergies develop in babies — the Enquiring About Tolerance or EAT study — Lack and his co-authors decided they might also design the study to explore the connection between infant diets and sleep habits. “Right from the start,” said Lack, “we embedded into the structure of the study very detailed, validated questionnaires that assess sleep.” The research team began by recruiting more than 1,300 babies in England and Wales between 2009 and 2012. All the babies were 3 months old, healthy, full-term infants whose mothers exclusively breastfed them. Next, the researchers sorted the mothers into two groups. One group was asked to exclusively breastfeed the infants till six months, while the second group was asked to continue breastfeeding yet also introduce solid foods for the first week of the study — the babies were 3 months old — and in the second week begin to include six items that are typically linked to allergies in children: cow’s milk, peanut, hen’s egg, sesame, white fish and wheat. Then, the team collected data on the infants every month up to one year and then every three months up to 3 years old. The mothers in the first group, on average, introduced solid foods to their babies at 23 weeks of age, whereas the mothers in the second group did so on average at age 16 weeks, the researchers found. Soon after 6 months, then, no real differences existed between the babies with respect to solid foods. However, the two groups showed differences in sleep, the results indicated. The babies who ate solid foods earlier slept longer from age 5 months past 1 year: about 7 minutes longer on average each night, with no differences in daytime sleeping. Lack said that once adjustments were made for factors associated with sleep duration “the sleep difference is more on the order of 16 or 17 minutes a night which correlates to about 2 hours extra sleep a week.” The babies whose diets included solid food earlier also woke less frequently during the night: They averaged about two fewer middle-of-the-night wakings each week than the others. The parents of babies in the early solid foods group also reported fewer very serious sleep problems than parents in the other group. The definition of a “serious sleep problem” was left to parents, who often perceived difficulties when their babies woke frequently or did not sleep long at night. These improvements in sleep seen in the early solids group did not end after seven or eight months as the researchers expected but continued throughout the first year of infancy and beyond. “We were all — me and my co- investigators — we were very surprised by this finding,” said Lack, who added this sustained difference between groups suggests “that sleep patterns and sleep activities are imprinted or rather developed very early on in life.” Lack also said the analysis didn’t “find specific foods associated with better sleep.” The mothers in the early solids group fed their children a variety of foods, including vegetables, fruits and rice in addition to the suggested allergenic foods. Though the large number of families participating in the study may strengthen the findings, one pediatrician has concerns about the study’s findings. ‘Other ways’ to improve sleep “Parenting lore suggests that feeding babies solids can help them sleep better. This study may support that theory, although past studies have not necessarily shown it,” said Atlanta pediatrician Dr. Jennifer Shu. “It’s possible that feeding more breast milk or formula may have the same effect.” Shu, who was not involved in the research, noted that there are “numerous known benefits of breast milk.” “My concern would be that the recommendation of early introduction of solids (especially when increased very quickly) could result in a corresponding decrease in valuable breast milk consumption,” Shu wrote in an email. She added the decision to start solids at a certain time is best decided by the parents and pediatrician based on a baby’s growth and general health. Overall, Shu felt the improvements in infant sleep seen in the study were “small.” “Parental quality of life is important but it remains to be seen if introducing solids before 6 months and/or getting small improvements of sleep is the solution,” said Shu. “There are other ways to improve an infant’s sleep that are not related to feeding, including having consistent sleep routines and avoiding over-stimulation (such as from artificial light or not giving babies the opportunity to sleep when they need it),” said Shu. Lack said that, going forward, more research is needed to examine “not only quantity of sleep but also quality of sleep in babies.” “Prolonged breast feeding is extremely important,” said Lack. “The study highlights the fact that it is safe and potentially beneficial to introduce solid foods, including allergenic foods, into a baby’s diet after 3 months of age.” The-CNN-Wire & © 2018 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.

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Babies Sleep Better When They Begin Solid Food Early, Study Says

July 13, 2018 0 comment

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Babies Sleep Better When They Begin Solid Food Early, Study Says

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July 13, 2018 0 comment

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African-Americans At Greater Risk For High Blood Pressure, New Research Shows

written by Jennife70C

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — New research shows who’s most at risk for high blood pressure, and when. The findings show African-Americans are at much higher risk at an earlier age than other groups. High blood pressure is often called a silent killer because it usually has no symptoms until it leads to a heart attack, stroke, or kidney damage. The longer you have it, the more likely it is to cause those deadly problems. Five years ago, Tracy Johnson was at work when she suddenly felt extremely warm. “The nurse on the site checked my blood pressure and it was 220 over 120,” she said. “They sent me straight to the emergency room.” The 46-year-old learned she had high blood pressure, which runs in her family. New research in the Journal of the American Heart Association shows that 75 percent of African-American men and women are likely to develop high blood pressure by age 55, compared to just 55 percent of white men and 40 percent of white women. Experts say blood pressure is a complex health issue. “A part of it relates to the genetic makeup, a part of it relates to diet, lifestyle,” Dr. Gautam Visveswaran from Newark Beth Israel Medical Center said. Research also found that following a diet designed to stop hypertension lowered a person’s risk. Dr. Visveswaran says high blood pressure is preventable. “Incorporate a healthy diet which is low salt, high in fruits and vegetables, get to an exercise program,” he said. “Go to your healthcare provider.” Johnson says she doesn’t eat fried foods, ice cream, or cheese anymore. Even so, she needed surgery three months ago for two blockages in her cardiac arteries, a known consequence of high blood pressure. “When you’re young you think you’re invincible, so I wasn’t worried about that then but I am now,” she said, adding she’s more diligent now about taking her medications, has lost some weight, and is exercising to stay healthy. In the study, having a higher body weight was linked with an increased risk or high blood pressure regardless of race of gender. Most blood pressure can be lowered with medication, but the key is getting it treated once you know you have it.

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African-Americans At Greater Risk For High Blood Pressure, New Research Shows

July 11, 2018 0 comment

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‘Offensive’: French Actress, Wife Of Roman Polanski Blasts Academy Invite

written by SheltonYFQQ

HOLLYWOOD (CBSLA) — French actress Emmanuelle Seigner blasted an invitation to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences as “offensive” and criticized the body for the way it has treated her husband, film director Roman Polanski. The group behind the Academy Awards recently touted its largest and most diverse class of invitees from all aspects of filmmaking. The 2018 class, 49 percent female and 38 percent people of color, is the academy’s latest move to diversify its white male-dominant voting membership. Seigner is best known in the U.S. for her work in Julian Schnabel’s “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.” She responded to the academy’s invitation with a letter to the French newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche, blasting “the insufferable hypocrisy” in their dealings with Polanski, according to the Los Angeles Times. The celebrated director, known for films like “Rosemary’s Baby,” and winner of the 2003 Oscar for best director for “The Pianist,” was expelled from the academy, along with Bill Cosby, “in accordance with the organization’s Standards of Conduct.” The expulsion comes decades after Polanski fled the U.S. in 1978, before he could be sentenced for unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor, a charge to which he pleaded guilty. In her letter, Seigner criticized the way the Academy treated Polanski – expelling him after awarding him an Oscar for “The Pianist,” a move she called “a curious case of amnesia!” Citing Polanski’s work directing “unforgettable female characters,” Seigner argued that artists aren’t exempt from justice, “but it should be the same justice that exists for all, not a justice that goes back on its word and violates its own principles. That was the case in Los Angeles in 1977, when his first confinement in prison was supposed to be his punishment. Today, Roman has served more than the maximum sentence for the offence committed.” Seigner and Polanski have been married since 1989. (© Copyright 2018 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. City News Service contributed to this report.)

July 9, 2018 0 comment