KGW Health Blog

Recipe:

Spend, ohhh, I dunno.. maybe 40 or so days in China. Add an 18 hour travel day.. a dash of morning arrival in PDX.. and one ugly transition back to my early morning shift and poof: you've got a recipe for tired. Not just any tired, but the kind of tired that actually makes it a little uncomfortable to fall asleep (does that make any sense, or is it just me?).

It's day two of my 'normal' routine which, by the way, is about to change come Monday.

I'm leaving mornings.

Here's the full breakdown: starting sometime in November I'm anchoring a new 7pm show on KGW. Yup. Goodbye early morning shift. Goodbye 4:30am newscast. Goodbye split sleep schedule. Hello normalcy.

I'm a little bummed (okay, a lot bummed) about leaving the people I work with on this shift. I won't see a few of them at all, save for occasional weekend get togethers and that sort of thing. We have a great time in the mornings and I will miss the producers who work on this shift and Tamara on the desk! We're a little newsroom posse from 5 to 7am and I enjoy it immensely. And Russ is a wonderful co-anchor at 4:30 and someone I count as a good friend. I'll miss that.

But, I'm also thrilled about this new show. It is not a traditional newscast, but it should offer something for almost everyone. I know, I know.. I'm short on details, but my boss will kill me if I spill the beans before it airs.

The producer for it is Aaron W., a man I have tremendous respect for. He is flat out one of the most intelligent people I have ever met, and (on an aside) he puts my moderate techie skills to shame. I joke that I'm a proud geek at heart.. I follow Gizmodo and Engadget, I HAD to have an iPhone, I spent way too much time reading about proton accelerators/colliders/micro-black holes this morning.. you get the idea. And Aaron likes that stuff, too. We'll make a great team.

So, come Monday I'm back to a day shift. I'll work on some special reports, make regular appearances in the 5pm newscast, and continue the work on the new 7pm show, which, again, kicks off in November.

In the meantime, have you checked out the political newscast that KGW is currently running at 7pm weekdays? You'd probably expect me to sing KGW's praises, but I mean it when I say the station deserves kudos for giving this election, and all the issues, the coverage they deserve.

Mmmmm. It's 6:17 this morning and City Bean doesn't open for another 40 minutes. I'm dying for a latte, and not that decaf business I usually get, either. Leaded all the way for me today!

Here are two of the most awesome traveling partners ever: Ciara and Siobhan.

We went huge in Beijing and I had a blast vacationing with them.

TTYS, Steph!

I'm officially on vacation through the first week in September!

I landed in Shanghai less than 24 hours ago and am overwhelmed at the size of this city. It's hard to make Beijing look small, but Shanghai does. I came on the heels of that terrible rainstorm here that flooded the streets and killed a woman who drowned in a tunnel. The rain is gone and you wouldn't know what happened here if you didn't read about it in the local papers.

The city has dried out and carries on at a pace that you only see in cities like New York and LA, etc.

To update you on my previous blog posting, after a day of wrangling I finally did get to catch up with Elsie Windes (GO ELSIE!!) and we got her on the air for you. What a great gal! She was so excited to wear that silver medal-- even if the loss of the gold in that water polo match was painful in the moments when it happened.

I swear, I'm the luckiest person I know.. getting to cover the Olympic stories that are uniquely Oregon and SW Washington.. getting to spend this time in China and seeing two of the larger cities in the world. I want to say thank you to each and every one of you who emailed me. I'm thrilled you enjoyed what you saw!

And, to the parents, businesses, athletes, and everyone who took the time to let me come interview you, showcase your story, and deliver it to everyone back home in the states.. THANKS!! These stories would not have happened without you.

And finally, to my best friend and husband.. I MISS YOU SO MUCH I CAN NOT WAIT TO SEE YOU!!! I know, I know.. I call you every night to tell you that, and text you, and email you when I get access (like now)... but I can't help it. I'm so excited to hang out, go camping, and just be together again.
I love you. :)

Hey there!!

This health blog is likely going completely dormant for the next, oh, two months.

In the short-term.. wontcha consider visiting me here?

http://beloblog.com/KGW_Blogs/olympics/

Yeah, yeah.. wontcha isn't a word. Neither is "gonna". And that wasn't a sentence. I know, I know. :-)

Hey there!!

This health blog is likely going completely dormant for the next, oh, two months.

In the short-term.. wontcha consider visiting me here?

http://beloblog.com/KGW_Blogs/olympics/

Yeah, yeah.. wontcha isn't a word. Neither is "gonna". And that wasn't a sentence. I know, I know. :-)

Did you see me at 4:30 this morning talk about the watermelon story? I broke into a wide smile-- knowing this was perfect blog fodder. I think I even said as much. And then when the story made a reappearance at 5:50am... I knew it had to go in today.

It's very easy to over-simplify and say that eating watermelon will give you.. ahem.. a boost in the bedroom. But, it's not that simple. Let's start with a link that will break it down for you.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080630165707.htm

This blog-style entry cracked me up.. poor guy can't eat a whole watermelon-- but dang it he's trying: http://lifeandhealth.guardian.co.uk/health/story/0,,2288681,00.html

Here's a McGorge Scott lightening pic.

This lightening got me out of bed at 2:30am to soothe a stressed out senior citizen mutt who no longer tolerates storms (or fireworks) like he used to.

Email sstricklen@kgw.com

Just got the word about an hour and a half ago that I will need to double up on my visa's for China-- so that I can extend my stay. This after the consulate in San Francisco assured me there was no problem using my NBC provided credential for travel (it was supposed to serve as a three month visa-- which it does, but NBC news is now recommending people double up to play it extra safe. It would suck for me to get there only to get denied my play-time at the end over a misunderstanding.)

That's alright. NBC gave us a couple of options for last minute visa applications and I should have my packet out Monday. Cross your fingers. :-)

PS. Really liked this Olympics related story on the wires today:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601080&sid=ayHeBiwhJX_M&refer=asia

C U tomorrow..
sstricklen@kgw.com

I am knee deep... no, waist deep... in preparations for the Olympic Games in Beijing! Have I mentioned this here, yet?? I know we've talked about it on the air during the morning show, but I can't remember if I've laid it out here.

Anyway, I leave July 31st for about 6 weeks. WOW!!

Right now, I'm making calls.. trying to line up stories, find local folks/businesses/students who are going over there.. contacting athletes.. setting up shoots-- all the good stuff.

So, that's where I've been and why the blog isn't updated as often as it should be.

Hey.. lookit who got himself a new-fangled blue tooth headset thingie. :-)

It's Rich K... who is coordinating our Beijing coverage on this end. I probably shouldn't tease him or else I'll be working 20 hour days.

sstricklen@kgw.com

http://www.kgw.com/lifestyle/stories/kgw_062708_entertainment_shockwave_truck.44d5af9e.html

I'm still smiling. :-D

sstricklen@kgw.com

I'm back from vacation and slowly getting back into the swing of things. I've got some very fun stuff to share with you about my vacation-- which I hope to post later today. I also have some McGorge Scott photos to share and some of your emails. BUT FIRST:

Here is that link that helps clarify exactly how much sun we should all get...
http://health.usnews.com/articles/health/living-well-usn/2008/06/23/time-in-the-sun-how-much-is-needed-for-vitamin-d.html

Hey.. here is a fast link for you on that heel scan story:
http://www.irishhealth.com/?level=4&id=13802

Here's a hint about my vacation:

This is not Europe.. even if this church reminds me of ones I saw in France. More to come!!
sstricklen@kgw.com

No health stuff today! I'm anchoring the full am and noon news, so I've been busy with that. And I'm out of town for the next few days.. so I'll be back blogging mid next week. In the meantime.. let me solve the puzzle of what was wrong with that picture I showed you.

Yeah, that's one of our engineers Dave bending down to fix a printer after he just got done crawling under the newsdesk WHILE WE WERE ANCHORING!! There's no two ways about it... we must have a working printer and a working computer on the desk at that hour because so much changes at that time in the morning. I mean, it's not uncommon for the entire a-block (the first part of the newscast before the commercial) to get completely reshuffled while we're in the show (because of many reasons.. maybe neither of our live trucks can get a signal up in time.. or maybe we are forced to use a backup weather option because there are issues there.. or some video didn't get cut because there wasn't enough time). That 4:30 show is unique simply because of the time it starts.

So, Dave got caught on live TV trying to make sure we had our tools in proper working order. Thanks, Dave! And now you know that when you watch at 4:30 it's possible someone is crawling around under the anchor desk trying to make sure we're ready to go.

:-)

Ps. To the sweet older woman who keeps calling and not leaving her name (or anyone who might know who she is)... I will not be going back to my old librarian hairstyle (the pinned up one). Respectfully I must tell you that I don't care if it's "more sensible" and more "old-fashioned" and you preferred it. For now, I like this style. And in two years I will probably like something dramatically different. And two years after that.. same thing. That's how I roll. Which I know is neither a sensible, nor old-fashioned way of putting it. But, true. Very true.

See you next week!!!
sstricklen@kgw.com

For those of you whe weren't up at 4:30am with me this morning.. I have to share something that happened-- after I get some business taken care of first.

Let me link you to more on that story about middle class Americans taking the brunt of the current explosion in the numbers of the under-insured.
http://health.usnews.com/articles/health/healthday/2008/06/10/25-million-americans-are-underinsured.html

That's not to say it isn't a problem for folks who make less money than that-- it's just where the Commonwealth folks noticed the growth.

And for parents who might be looking for more on that teeth grinding story-- let me send you here: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080610072101.htm

Alrighty then.. so.. tell me what is wrong with this picture? It's from this morning's 4:30am newscast..

sstricklen@kgw.com

The headline to this blog will make sense in a little bit.. but first I have some business to get to.

So, at noon and at 5 the "lush lashes" story was on deck. That's the one where folks on the glaucoma eyedrops noticed all of sudden they had movie star lashes; thick, dark, long (only minus all that glue and obvious fakeness that comes with most false eyelashes).

I talked about the race to bring a cosmetic product to market and the lawsuits in the race to be number one. Here's more on that:
http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=82949

I really liked this write-up on 'celebrity sickness' and the Kylie Minogue breast cancer screening effect:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601081&sid=ajw4yJTzzK1w&refer=australia

Here's the State Of Oregon page on flouride in water:
http://www.oregon.gov/DHS/ph/oralhealth/care/fluoride.shtml
This link was prompted by Haggen stores now offering free prenatal vitamins and flouride tablets if you have a prescription.

And finally.. look who came for a visit this morning:

That's Max sitting in Kate's lap. She's our 4:30am producer. Max turned up in the halls.. I dunno.. about 5:30 this morning or so. He is the cutest little guy. None of us in the newsroom could get enough of his friendly, happy antics. He totally kept us entertained. But where exactly did he come from?

I called the KINK studio (which is upstairs in this building) and asked them, "Um, any of you misssing a white dog?"

Sure enough.. that's Sheila Hamilton's little guy. She's tall, slender, and blond.. just like Kate-- so maybe that's why Max took to Kate so quickly. It was pretty cute. He kept pawing at her to get her to play.

PS. Sheila had him here because he was off to the groomer's after her shift ended. I told her to let us babysit anytime.

sstricklen@kgw.com

Hello!!

So, here is the link to the company that developed and is testing that brain cancer vaccine: http://celldextherapeutics.com/wt/page/trials_cancer

It's interesting that the study results I reported on came from Duke specifically-- where Ted Kennedy got treatment. I found this on Bloomberg which broadens the issue a bit:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601124&sid=aG.HN3aJfliw&refer=home

And on the subject of smart clothes.. the idea isn't new, but the applications are getting more sophisticated. I mean, a heart monitor?? Decibel-detecting fabrics?? Sweet. This link is more than a year old-- but still pretty cool ((and it includes a few nods to Beaverton based Nike)).
http://www.forbes.com/2007/03/19/hightech-function-clothing-forbeslife-cx_hp_0320smartclothes.html

Another cool McGorge Scott photo! I got an email from a gal who lives in a woodland wonderland kind of place, too, and really likes to see them!!

sstricklen@kgw.com

Yet another study touting the benefits of moderate alcohol consumption... check it out here:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/23/AR2008052302065.html

But (and I've said this before).. most of us have skewed ideas of what makes up one drink.. be it beer or a mixed drink or wine. I mean, most of my wineglasses at home are pretty big. I once measured out of curiosity and the glasses comfortably hold 12 ounces-- when a typical serving is 5 ounces. So, one "Steph" glass is more than 2 servings of alcohol. That's just not gonna work!! I now use this little tiny glass I have from a wine tasting trip.. and it looks really small by comparison, but sticks to the proper serving size.

I found an insiders blog talking about this very issue of serving size here:
http://www.winespiritsdaily.com/2007/08/snapshot-of-what-serving-panel-means-to.html

((Light bedtime reading, anyone? I made it to page 4 and them zoomed to the conclusion pages. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0CXH/is_1_23/ai_57050104))

Heaven forbid McGorge Scott take a vacation or go to a track meet ((both things he does)) because email me looking for his photos!!

He's back and sent along these two gems of his favorite big buck. What a difference a few weeks make in those antlers!!

sstricklen@kgw.com

Mornin'!

Here's the story that's making some waves today on the medical front. I wanted to share it with you in case you hadn't heard.

We're talking about placebo pills-- and if it's ethically responsible to use them to treat a fake illness ((I can almost hear blog reader Sean emailing as we speak-- this story is right up his expertise alley!)).

Now, you know I love my NPR so here is a link to the report it did:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90864884

And here is a link to the NY Times article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/27/health/27plac.html?_r=1&ref=science&oref=slogin

The entrepeneur mom who came up with the idea.. and her husband.. were on the Today show. The general consensus in the newsroom was that they had a hard time defending the use of the sugar pills.

What do you think about all this?

Email me by clicking here.

Hey, speaking of Sean.. he had these comments about that prescription drug book author I included recently.. the gal who felt big pharmaceuticals were causing so much societal harm...

I've been involved in drug trials as a patient (three different medications). There is a lot of testing done and after all of the testing is complete, the results are sent to the FDA and if the review board determines that the medication doesn't work, the risks outweigh the benefits, or there's not enough evidence one way or the other, then approval is denied. And even then, it doesn't mean that problems won't appear later. I was on a drug trial that had promise, however after the drug received approval, cases of the life threatening condition, aplastic anemia started appearing in some patients. Since then the drug has received a "black box warning" and is rarely used.

The key isn't to believe everything the drug companies or someone who's biased against them tells you. Instead people should be doing their own homework by reading drug reference books and besides asking their doctor, also ask pharmacist (ask pharmacists at different pharmacies to see if you get the same information). And ask a pharmacist for a "package insert". It's information about the drug that comes with each bottle of that the pharmacy receives. Much of the information is written in medical language so you'll probably need to ask a doctor or pharmacist to explain what it means. Basically, people just need to use some common sense.

And McGorge Scott saw something on his property he has never seen before... elk! He always gets the deer, but for some reason the elk found their way onto his property.

See you tomorrow!

Then check this out.. a thanks to Bob for sending it along. I just clicked on the transcript and read through it. The video portion is 20 minutes long.

http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/05162008/watch2.html

sstricklen@kgw.com

A newsroom can be a very noisy place. I've had the good fortune to be relatively quiet and just listen today as everyone bustles about with all our election coverage. It's really pretty incredible how everyone comes together and pulls off so much... content. It's a feat!

But because we have so much Decision 2008 ground to cover, I'm not working on health stuff today. So, let me take a quick moment to share a few emails with you.

About the Stretching Your Dollar segment we've been running during the morning show.. Mike writes:

The heart of the matter comes from our collective American mentality of "keeping up with the Joneses," and now it has caught up with those who played that game. If it's shiny and new, get it! If my neighbor want one, get it, before he does! Charge it! It goes on and on.

Those of us that are, and have been secure in our choices (self confidence), we have not been greatly affected by higher gas prices, etc...

We have used rabbit ears for TV reception since 1993. It's just nuts to pay $50-$100/month for cable/satellite ($600- $1200 a year!!! in 10 years, that moeny could have gone into savings!) We have not chosen gas-hog type vehicles. We don't participate in conspicous consumption, or buying every freakin new gadget, or $250 jeans, or Venti sized coffee everyday, get manicures every week, or beauty or massage salon trips every week. We pre-cyle, recycle, reuse.

We don't miss out on the many good things life has to offer. We take vacations, we eat good healthy foods, we have 2 of our 3 children in college. and we keep a nice and comfortable home. We also make contributions to charities every year.

People just need to say, "No," sometimes, resist advertisers allure, not be selfish, etc...

My wife gets 54 miles per gallon in her 2006 Prius. I drive a 2005 GMC Canyon (4 cylinder mini truck), the kids share a 2003 Kia van and 1988 Volvo 240 DL (4 cylinder with 248,000 miles on it!)

Our family is not just different, we are making a difference too. It's not hard to do.

Can I just say that I hope my car sticks with me for 248,000 miles!!! It's SO nice not having a car payment. Mike-- thanks for the email!! I promise, I'll try to wean myself off the coffee ((and I'm mostly a decaf girl.. I just crave the taste!)).

Laural has this tip for falling asleep/relaxing: My formula for getting to sleep: Work puzzles until the brain gets tired. Logic puzzles, sudoku and its variants. At half an hour before bedtime, I can generally get through about 1 or 2 sudoku grids and my eyes get heavy while my mind starts fading off. Turn off light, and happy dreaming.

(One nice thing about sudoku is that the last thing in your mind is numbers, not usually something to generate nightmares or really strange dreams).

Now, this may not work for everyone. It may be too stimulating. But it's working great for her and so I wanted to pass it along in case you find it helps you!

Shawn writes: It usually takes me about 45 minutes to fall asleep and I tend to wake up after about 2 to 3 hours if i'm lucky. Then it takes me awhile to fall back asleep.
I've come to think that its conditioning. I am a former Marine and sleep in the field never came easy.
Though I served during Dessert Shield some 20 years ago when this war started, some of that training never leaves.
I'm I missing something here, believe me you I would love to sleep a whole night through. Instead I go days where I get broken sleep all night. After about 4+ days later I finally sleep a good 6 to 7hours sleep.

Shawn says he does not have sleep apnea, doesn't snore, or have other medically related sleep issues. And if his situation sounds familiar (in terms of the whole waking up bit)-- I mentioned this in the story and I think it's a smart next step: get to your health care provider and ask about Cognitive Behavoral Therapy. A sleep doctor will know all about this. And while the ideas of visualizations, and counting may not seem like the kind of thing you'd go see a doctor for, or maybe they're too "out there"... studies show if you do it right it can work better and faster than sleeping pills. What do you have to lose??

Have a great Wednesday!!
OHH.. wait. Here's a pic of two little ones who leave me THE cutest voicemails EVER (with mom's clever coaching in the background). If only I could post the voicemails on this blog. This is Tristan and Kiernan and I count their mom Kris as one of my dearest friends-- you know, the kind of friend you know you'll have for life.

sstricklen@kgw.com