An FDA press release warns consumers that certain Zicam cold remedies are linked to loss of smell.
"The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today advised consumers to stop using three products marketed over-the-counter as cold remedies because they are associated with the loss of sense of smell (anosmia). Anosmia may be long-lasting or permanent.
The products are:
--Zicam Cold Remedy Nasal Gel
--Zicam Cold Remedy Nasal Swabs
--Zicam Cold Remedy Swabs, Kids Size (a discontinued product)
The FDA has received more than 130 reports of loss of sense of smell associated with the use of these three Zicam products. In these reports, many people who experienced a loss of smell said the condition occurred with the first dose; others reported a loss of the sense of smell after multiple uses of the products.
“Loss of sense of smell is a serious risk for people who use these products for relief from cold symptoms,” said Janet Woodcock, M.D., director of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER). “We are concerned that consumers may unknowingly use a product that could cause serious harm, and therefore we are advising them not to use these products for any reason.”
Bumpy Books are books that have a tactile input to teach children letters and how to read using a multi-sensory approach. It is based on the Orton-Gillingham multi-sensory approach. A video on their site (not the one below) gives some other methods of providing tactile input in the teching of letters. It also explains some of the different approaches to teaching letters, language and reading.
Bumpy Books website provides some a link to "Listen to the Sounds". It sounds like its the audio of someone using the book with a student, not audio integrated into the book, though this isn't made clear. I think I'd actually prefer the latter, as many kids enjoy pushing the buttons and hearing the feedback, and it would allow the child to use the book independently (though would likely increase the cost substantially). It appears that there is only one book available at the moment and it's unclear whether more are planned. I like the concept, though it looks like an instruction manual from what I can see in their demo. Also, the price for Bumpy Books is $25.00 which is fairly prohibitive for families. The video below gives a nice demonstration of the books.
I stumbled across the book "Touch the Top of the World" by Erik Weihenmayer at my local library. Eric is an adventurer who is blind, and this book covers his early life, when he had some vision, coping with the loss of his vision and his interest in trekking and mountain climbing.
I especially liked his discussion of adjusting to his vision loss, and about using a cane, and a guide dog. He has a nice ability to describe his experience without jargon or making it more than it is, such as when he was losing his vision and how he first learned to use echolocation.There is also great discussion about how he and his climbing partners have developed strategies to accommodate him on hikes, and climbs. In one amazing part, he is scaling the 3000 ft El Cap in Yosemite and has to run across the face, swinging on his rope to reach a hand hold. He is guided by his partners, and is able to make the catch.
I have never been especially interested in mountain or rock climbing, and he made it an engaging subject, never mind that he's doing this without the use of his sight.
The video below is his ascent of Everest. In it you you see his use of bells on his climbing parter's poles to keep track of the trail. Great book and video.
Erik Weihenmayer's Site offers more information on his speaking engagements, books, videos and even a free curriculum on Touch the Top of the World for teachers.
A constant frustration of mine is people who park in handicapped parking spaces (and fire lanes). It's all too often that I see someone parked in the space and doesn't have a placard, or they're parked in the hash marks which are designed to give space for a ramp or lift to get a wheel chair in and out of a van or car. No, those spaces are not for motorcycles.
As as solution to this, I've thought that incorporating a curb around this area would prevent cars from parking in these spaces. The yellow line in the picture below represents where a curb should go. This would require that a ramp or curb cut at the other end of the space be provided (down where the signs are placed). The major drawback to this would potentially be that it makes it more attractive to motorcycle owners as a protected space, and could make it difficult to clear of snow in the winter as it couldn't be plowed.
Ultimately, as our population ages, and more baby boomers are losing their mobility, it seems like there's greater awareness of accessibility and universal design. Perhaps this will filter over to better urban design as well.
Thanks to Listener42 for letting me use and modify the picture
Because I come across far more information than I'm able to write about or provide commentary on, I'm going to start an occasional link dump. Basically, a list of interesting links with a brief description about it, but not much explanation or commentary. The hope is to continue to give you good posts while also giving you some of the other interesting things I find, and have to frequently pass over.
For a bit, you may see a repetition of the same sources as I clean out my RSS feed reader of all of the links I've saved, but this will improve as I work through them.
Rare Share: "RareShare is a unique social hub building communities for patients, families, and healthcare professionals affected by rare disorders." (via TechCrunch)
Interesting video of a woman removing and replacing her prosthetic eye.
You Tube video description:
I show a video of myself removing and replacing my prosthetic eye. After giving birth to my daughter I realized I could not see, (I had a detatched retina, in March and may of 2006 I had surgeries to reattatch the retina which both failed. So I was just left blind in my eye for life.....but January of 2007 I was having horrific pain in my eye and doctors made the decision for me to have my eye removed. After the removal of my eye they found out that I had had cancer in it. I am cancer free, and no telling what actually caused the detatched retina in the first place but I'm fine now, Just wanted to show people what a prosthetic eye looks like :) Enjoy or NOT, but keep your rude and nasty comments to yourself!!! visit my Myspace for pictures of the surgeries... http://myspace.com/natemoni Also now up a full blog of my entire story :) "
Though the video itself is interesting, the comments are quite interesting as well, ranging from questions, ideas to freak people out, and those that found it difficult to look at, to people who find her brave, inspiring, beautiful and want to take her out. (see below the video)
"oh myyy gosh, sorry but that was scary wasnt expectingg itt."
"You should get some badass eyes like an 8 ball or a red LED or something."
"i always thought prosthetic eyes were round "
"Hm, that was surprising. The prosthetic eye looks quite real though. "
"thank u for posting:)
does it make a big difference to see with only one eye? i'm asking with all my respect. "
"Have you ever placed a prosthetic eye of a different color and freaked people out?"
"hey i only have one eye too i had a birth defect called phpv so they took it out and put in a prothstesis... its fun seeing peoples first reactions isnt it.. lol well nice to know somone else enjoys showing people that they can take their eye out...."
"Thanks for posting, I always wondered how that worked! I thought that prosthetic eyes were round, like a marble or something, but I guess not. It looks like putting that in and taking it out might scratch a bit; does it hurt?"
"I appreciate your willingness to share your experience - very educational; very helpful. Thank you. "
"very disgusting "
"what the hell "
The hole where your eye would be is not as gory as my imagination of what it was going to look like. Is there muscle tissue there? I was expecting a deep bony socket. You are very brave for what you've been through. Thank you for sharing. "
"Well, All this time I thought there would be a fairly large bloody hole where someones eye would be "
"wow...that is terrifying. No offence but it's not everyday you see someone remove their eye. Now don't get me wrong here! I'm NOT trying to be mean, I'll actually make it clear that you are very gifted in appearance and I would also like to point out that your prosthetic eye is very well made. At the start of the video I could not tell the difference."
