Cholesterol Level For U.S. Adults Hits Ideal Range

Here's good news about average Americans' cholesterol level. It's in a report from the senior epidemiologist at the National Center for Health Statistics, Dr. Susan Schober says, "The average cholesterol levels in adults has declined to 199, which meets a goal for the nation - which is to reduce average cholesterol levels to less than 200."

But, and you knew there'd be a "but." It comes from CBS News Medical Correspondent Dr. Jon LaPook. He says, "Cholesterol levels are down because people are taking statins and other powerful medications. But at the same time, as the country's cholesterol level is the lowest in 50 years, we're fatter than we've ever been. And the reason is, I think, we're being lulled into a false sense of security."

Lipitor and the other statin drugs aren't the only reason our cholesterol levels are down, says Dr. Susan Schober who wrote the statistical report. She adds, "Medication use is a big story. But the first line of treatment for high cholesterol often is lifestyle changes - reducing dietary intake of cholesterol and saturated fats, and increased exercise."

Dr. Richard Stein of New York University School of Medicine agrees. He says, "The fact that we've been better at making people aware of the role of saturated fats and trans-fats in their diet, and the value of keeping your weight down in a normal range and exercising, and the very effective use of the cholesterol-lowering drugs --- notably the statins."

Dr. LaPook says, "Just look at us, we're fatter than we've ever been as a nation. And one of the reasons is that we can just dial your cholesterol down to whatever level that we want with a pill. And people should not be lulled into a false sense of security, thinking: 'I can sit around being 50 pounds overweight, eating french fries and potato chips, and not doing exercise, and be perfectly fine.'" 

What Lawmakers Heard About Veteran Suicides

It was Armen Keteyian of CBS News who called the nation's attention to suicide rates among veterans returned from Iraq in his recent investigative report.

The Chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, Representative Bob Filner of Californi, acknowledged that at yesterday's hearing on the subject. The Democrat from California adds, "The CBS Network opened up again to millions of Americans the issue of suicides amongst our veterans."

Dr. Ira Katz, the VA's head of mental health, didn't like the report or it's findings. He says, "Their number is not in fact an accurate reflection of the rates." 

Chairman Filner told Dr. Katz he was in no position to argue about the suicide rates. He said, "You don't track this stuff. You simply don't track it. You don't want to know about it." 

Penny Coleman, whose husband committed suicide after returning from Vietnam 38 years ago, says of course the VA doesn't want to know.

Coleman says, "No data, no proof. No proof, no problem." 

Our CBS News colleague Armen Keteyian - whose investigative report called the public's and the committee's attention to the veterans' post-traumatic stress and suicide rates of returning soldiers from Iraq - also covered yesterday's hearing.
 
At the hearing, Armen Keteyian, CBS News Chief Investigative Correspondent, said, "The day's emotional tone was set right from the start. Mike and Kim Bowman's 23-year-old son, Tim, had survived a year-long tour in Iraq, only to shoot himself at home. 

Mike Bowman said, "Our veterans should and must not be left behind in the ravished, horrific battlefields of their broken spirits and minds. Our veterans deserve better Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

When Mike Bowman had finished speaking, the room was on its feet.

Keteyian says committee members were impressed. He said, "Moved by what they had heard, many pledged to force the VA to fix a system under siege. and keep other families from suffering the same fates, as those who testified." 

Armen Keteyian, thank you. 

Watch Out For Those Wacky Warning Labels

Have you noticed how wacky some of today's warning labels are? Our American society being the most litigious in history, people who do truly stupid things with anything imaginable will sue the maker of whatever the thing was for not having warned against it.

And since stupidity will enable you to hurt yourself with anything under the sun, lawyers now warn their clients to put warning labels on just about everything.

Michigan Lawsuit Abuse Watch runs a wacky warning label contest every year. Yesterday, Kevin Soave of Farmington Hills, a suburb of Detroit, won 500 dollars --- this year's first prize --- for a warning label he found on a small tractor, which reads as follows:

"Warning: Avoid Death"

Some other wacky label winners after this.

Second prize in the annual wacky warning label contest Bob Dorigo Jones organizes was 250 dollars, which went yesterday to Carrianne, Jacsn and Robby Turin of Greensburg, Pennsylvania - for a label they found on an iron on T-shirt transfer. The label says, "Do not iron while wearing shirt."

Gee, I wonder why not?

And the 100-dollar third prize went to Richard Goodnow of Lancaster, Massacusetts, for a warning label on a baby stroller: "Do not put child in bag." In last year's competition, one of the winners had also been for a label on a folding baby stroller which read: "Remove child before folding."

The things these labels warn against are obvious to anybody except maybe an idiot. But idiots have rights, too - one of which is the right to sue. Many lawyers feel there is no downside to suing somebody, because most judges ignone any existing laws that require penalties for frivolous lawsuits.
 
So whoever you are and whatever you do, remember you're never too stupid to sue. Whatever happens, be it never forgot that it never is your fault, my friend, no matter what. When common sense fails you, stupid or not, if there's no warning label, you've hit the jackpot. 

Saturn's Rings May Be Older Than We Thought

For the last 20 years or so, astronomers believed that the rings of Saturn were a hundred million years old. Now we know that's not true.

Recent observations show that the seven major rings and and thousands of ringlets that surround the planet are probably 4.5 billion years old - as old as the solar system itself. And we've also recently learned recently what causes the solar wind and the northern lights.

How did we suddenly figure these things out? Have we for some reason become smarter? No, we're no smarter than we ever were, but astronomers have different tools to work with now. The breakthroughs in knowledge that were presented at the recent meeting of the American Geophysical Union were all made possible by satellites.

Saturn's rings have intrigued astronomers since the days of Galileo. But in the 1970s, NASA's Voyager spacecraft provided some information that astronomers thought was evidence the rings were formed by a meteoric collision collision with a moon some 100 million years ago.

But now, the orbiting international Cassini spacecraft has provided new data proving otherwise: that the rings were there since the time the sun and planets were formed, four and a half billion years ago. Cassini carries an ultraviolet spectrograph instrument, which viewed the light reflected from the rings and watched stars passing behind them.

And it was the Japanese satellite Hinode, which carries the largest optical telescope to observe the sun from space away frwom the Earth's magnetic field, that taught about solar wind being unleashed by powerful magnetic waves in electrically charged gas around the Sun.

And it was NASA Themis mission - five satellites lauched less than a year ago - that shows the Northern Lights are energy comes from charged particles from the sun through megnetic fields connecting the sun to earth's upper atmosphere.

Astronomers were very good this year because Santa brought them some wonderful new toys.