September Wellness

Two things this month:

#1. September is America On the Move’s national month long celebration highlighting the benefits of active living and healthy eating. While obesity rates are on the rise making these two small simple changes can help prevent the annual one to two pounds of yearly weight gain in adults:1. Move More – take 2,000 additional steps each day2. Eat Healthfully – Reduce your daily calorie intake by just 100 calories each day.
The following link (http://steptember.americaonthemove.org/) has a six-week STEPtember challenge (start date between August 17 - September 30). Sign up and you will receive daily tips on nutrition and physical activity, have the ability to track your progress, etc.

#2. September is National Cholesterol Education Month, a good time to get your blood cholesterol checked and take steps to lower it if it is high. National Cholesterol Education Month is also a good time to learn about lipid profiles and about food and lifestyle choices that help you reach personal cholesterol goals.
High blood cholesterol affects over 65 million Americans. It is a serious condition that increases your risk for heart disease. The higher your cholesterol level, the greater the risk. You can have high cholesterol and not know it. Lowering cholesterol levels that are too high lessens your risk for developing heart disease and reduces the chance of having a heart attack or dying of heart disease. The American Heart Association has information about cholesterol levels at the following link: http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=1516

Did You Know.....

The longest word in the English language is pneumonoultramiscroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis - an inflammatory lung disease caused by the inhalation of fine silica dust. How would you like to get that word in a spelling bee???

Did You Know....

Drugstore Museum Show Globes
In the past, apothecary Show Globes were the symbol for pharmacy much like the barber pole was for the barber. From the early 1880's until the 1950's most pharmacies would hang or display a show globe to identify their drugstore.

Inside the show globe the pharmacist would add colored water by mixing chemicals together to give the globe great beauty. Back then, every pharmacist had his own special coloration formula to color the water inside the show globe. They took great pride in creating and showing off their ability to mix the perfect color.

Show Globe Mythology
It has been told on the web that pharmacists would color the show globe water red to warn if there was an epidemic and green if there wasn’t. Red color in the show globe was intended to warn people to stay away from the town. This story has been told over and over. It makes a great story but it is false.

The only reason pharmacists used show globes was to display their chemical prowess. Often the globe contained layered colors so it looked striped. The druggist would use various liquids of differing densities to cause the layered effect. When show globes were in use drugs were extracted from plants more often than they were triturated with a mortar and pestle.

Most pharmacists would take the crude drug, like digitalis, and add cold, warm or hot water to the plants and let them steep. Often he would use alcohol for the extraction process. Once the extraction was done he would place the tincture or extract into bottles waiting to be mixed into a concoction of some type.

The Real Show Globe Meaning
The ability to properly extract and mix was the sign of a competent druggist. Therefore, coloring the water of a show globe would display this ability. Remember that prior to the early 1900’s most states didn’t even require a college degree to be licensed as a pharmacist. That being said, prior to 1900 most states didn’t even require pharmacists to be licensed to practice medicine.

Many articles appear even into the 1930’s speaking of “two by four” drugstores being opened by unscrupulous practitioners. A man could come to town and basically go into the drugstore business without much inventory, knowledge or skill. The show globe was a way an educated and skilled druggist could be recognized by his community.







© 2004 Soderlund Village Drug, All Rights Reserved

Did You Know....

The Walking Machine

In 1817 Baron von Drais invented a walking machine that would help him get around the royal gardens faster: two same-size in-line wheels, the front one steerable, mounted in a frame which you straddled. The device was propelled by pushing your feet against the ground, thus rolling yourself and the device forward in a sort of gliding walk. The machine became known as the Draisienne or hobby horse. It was made entirely of wood. This enjoyed a short lived popularity as a fad, not being practical for transportation in any other place than a well maintained pathway such as in a park or garden.

The Velocipede or Boneshaker
The next appearance of a two-wheeled riding machine was in 1865, when pedals were applied directly to the front wheel. This machine was known as the velocipede ("fast foot"), but was popularly known as the bone shaker, since it was also made entirely of wood, then later with metal tires, and the combination of these with the cobblestone roads of the day made for an extremely uncomfortable ride. They also became a fad, and indoor riding academies, similar to roller rinks, could be found in large cities.

The High Wheel Bicycle
In 1870 the first all metal machine appeared. (Previous to this metallurgy was not advanced enough to provide metal which was strong enough to make small, light parts out of.) The pedals were still atttached directly to the front wheel with no freewheeling mechanism. Solid rubber tires and the long spokes of the large front wheel provided a much smoother ride than its predecessor. The front wheels became larger and larger as makers realized that the larger the wheel, the farther you could travel with one rotation of the pedals. You would purchase a wheel as large as your leg length would allow. This machine was the first one to be called a bicycle ("two wheel"). These bicycles enjoyed a great popularity among young men of means (they cost an average worker six month's pay), with the hey-day being the decade of the 1880s.

Because the rider sat so high above the center of gravity, if the front wheel was stopped by a stone or rut in the road, or the sudden emergence of a dog, the entire apparatus rotated forward on its front axle, and the rider, with his legs trapped under the handlebars, was dropped unceremoniously on his head. Thus the term "taking a header" came into being.

This information copied from the Pedaling History Bicycle Museum webpage. To continue the timeline of cycling hisory visit www.pedalinghistory.com. Learn what Susan B. Anthony thought about cycling!!!

Hand Hygiene to Maintain Good Health

It's that time of the year, again..new clothes, new backpack, new crayons.....Back to School!!!

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), keeping hands clean is key to avoiding getting sick and spreading germs to others. With the common cold accounting for nearly 22 million school days lost annually, the back-to-school season is a critical time to review proper hand hygiene. Effective hand hygiene practices include washing hands frequently with soap and water, and when soap and water are not available, using an alcohol-based instant hand sanitizer containing at least 60 percent alcohol.

Proper handwashing procedure, according toCDC instructions:

Wet hands with clean,warm water and apply soap.

Rub hands together to create lather and scrub all surfaces (including between fingers and under nails).

Continue rubbing hands for 20 seconds (about the time it takes to sing Happy Birthday).

Rinse hands under running water.

Dry hands thoroughly.

Proper use of hand sanitizers:
Apply alcohol-based hand sanitizer to the palm of one hand.

Rub hands together—so that product covers all surfaces of hands and fingers—until hands are dry.

Then: remind, remind, remind. Encourage your children to wash their hands frequently
throughout the day, particularly before eating, and after using the bathroom and playing outside.

Good Luck to all of you who have little ones going to school for the first time or are returning to school this week!!

PS: Football season is finally here!!! Friday night, Saturday afternoon, Sunday afternoon, Monday night!!!! Whew, what's a girl to do???

September Event

Got Guts 5K Run and Walk

Sunday, September 14, 2008, 8:00 am
Walter E Long Metropolitan Park
6614 Blue Bluff Rd
Austin TX 78724
$26 registration fee

This is a 5K trail run, walk and gluten-free food fair to raise awareness of Celiac Disease and gluten intolerance. Proceeds benefit the local and national Gluten Intolerance Group. Free screening for Celiac Disease will be available for up to 300 individuals.

For more information and registration information check out the website at www.gotguts5k.com

August Wellness

August is Immunization Awareness Month. With school starting very soon and the flu season just around the corner, the Wellness Committee is providing information to you on immunizations. Additional information is also available on the "Wellness Credenza."

Information for Adult Immunizations: http://www.medicinenet.com/immunizations/article.htm

Immunization Schedule for Children: http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/immunize/docs/6-105.pdf

Immunization Calculator: http://www2a.cdc.gov/nip/kidstuff/newscheduler_le/schedule.asp

Vaccine Quiz: http://www2.cdc.gov/nip/adultImmSched/

Immunizations given by the City of Austin Clinics: http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/health/downloads/SFTBS_July-Dec_2008.pdf

Last Full Week of Bingo

Good luck to all bingo players out there!!