Friday, February 18, 2011

America's 50 Most Powerful People in Food!

(The Daily Meal) Power is the ability to make things happen. It's authority, strength, muscle, swack, juice.

In the food world, the people with power are the ones who affect what and how and where and why we eat — or who can, if they want to. They're the agribusiness moguls who decide what gets grown and how it gets harvested and sold; the representatives of major food processing, distribution concerns, and retail food outlets who create new products and service the demand for edibles old and new. They're the scolds and nannies — and admirable consumer advocates — who tell us what we should and shouldn't eat, sometimes upending whole industries in the process
Some wield a traditional form of power, like the key figures in the governmental agencies concerned with the economics and the safety of our food supply; some have more ephemeral might, like the media stars and public figures who sway our food opinions and stimulate our appetites today but might well be gone tomorrow. The food-powerful include the chefs and restaurateurs who ignite food trends, introduce us to unfamiliar products and culinary notions, and establish the standards we come to expect for the preparation and the serving of food; they also include the journalists who report on all of the above…

We've thrown in a few men and women whose connection with food is less than obvious, too (and explained why they're there). And #1 on our list doesn't fit neatly into any one slot — though it's somebody the reader is apt to know very well.

Any catalogue of powerful people — and certainly any ranking of them in order of clout — is bound to be highly subjective, of course. That doesn't mean that it has to be arbitrary. The Daily Meal editors collaborated to assemble our initial list, then added and subtracted, fine-tuned and developed. We did extensive research and had endless discussions and occasionally strenuous debates. One thing that was clear from the beginning was that the most influential figures in the field weren't always the best-known, and that CEOs could wield more might than celebrities.

We certainly included some high-profile individuals — TV personality Rachael Ray (#14), chef Mario Batali (#31), and The New York Times restaurant critic Sam Sifton (#9), to name three — but they are interleafed with people you may never have heard of, like Gregory R. Page, CEO of Cargill, Inc. (#18), whose company sells about a quarter of all the grain and meat eaten in the U.S. annually; or Irene Rosenfeld,
Chairman and CEO of Kraft Foods (#29), named most powerful woman in American business by Forbes.

One unelected but highly visible player in American politics ranks highly on our list, but not for the same reasons that earned a slot for Michael R. Taylor, Deputy Commissioner for Foods at the U.S. Food and

Drug Administration (#11), who is charged with carrying out sweeping new federal food safety laws. And then there are names you might not expect to see on a list of food folk at all: What's New York City mayor

Michael Bloomberg (#27) doing there? And what about Mr. Apple, Steve Jobs (#5)? All will be revealed.
Our ultimate criterion was simply this: Can this person, whether by dint of corporate position, media access, moral authority, or sheer personality, substantially change, improve, and/or degrade the quality and variety of the American diet or the way we think about it? 

We're confident that we've come up with a pretty good list. What do you think? Did we leave off anybody obvious, or give undue prominence to some food folk or not enough to others? Here's the list!

 16. Guy Fieri
1. You

*When it comes to food, many of you are already experts. Many people know a great deal about food nutrition and how to make it work for them. However, it's the influence on the other side and behind closed doors that truly tell the story. From corporations, celebrities, first ladies, chefs, and talk show host; those are the people getting the credit for being the powehouses in food.
Now for us here at "Diva's Nation" it's about the influence, but are you changing the way Americans deal with food and approach food. You can speak, develop food plans, write books, and mentor, and have a food show; but if your not changing minds then your not getting anywhere. What we have to do, is look at food (healthy) in a different way and develop a multitude of approaches in the teachings. We also have to educate parents, community members, teachers, and others about the joys of food! When taking the time to talk to people in communites (in their own enviroment) then you have to find what may work best for them.

The bottom line is, we have struggling communities, families and individuals who cannot afford to eat healthy like they should. That is an issue and people have to address that in order to help them figure out how to make what they have, work best for them, and at the same time bennefit in a healthy way.
At the end of the day, it's about stepping from behind the corporate doors and the desk and reach out to people who you want to truly influence.*
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FDA's Lap-Band decision is a boon for Allergan!

(LATimes) Pharmaceutical giant Allergan Inc. stands to win big from the federal government's decision to make Lap-Band weight-loss surgery available to more overweight Americans.

The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday cleared the way for marketing the procedure to patients who are significantly less obese than those who qualify now — a decision that would make an estimated 26.4 million more Americans eligible to consider the Irvine company's device. The approval also means that, according to company officials, 45.6 million Americans meet the criteria for Lap-Band surgery. That's more than 1 in 7.
But some in the medical community worry that it could encourage overweight people to abandon traditional diet and exercise for a surgery that carries some serious risks.

"I'm very concerned," said Dr. Ted Khalili, former director of bariatric surgery at Cedars-Sinai hospital and founder of the Khalili Center for Bariatric Care in Beverly Hills. "You can't be driving down a street and have a flashbulb go off and think that this will be an easy fix."

Allergan spokeswoman Cathy Taylor said Thursday that although the Lap-Band is now available to a broader base of patients, it "is not intended for everyone." Instead, she said, it is designed for a particular subset of people "with a health condition, who have failed conservative weight-loss therapies like diet and exercise and pharmacotherapy."

The approval allows Allergan to market the device to patients with a body mass index, or BMI, as low as 30 if they have at least one weight-related medical condition, such as diabetes or high blood pressure, the company said. For a 5-foot-9 patient, that translates to a weight of about 203 pounds.

The Lap-Band is an inflatable ring that is surgically implanted around the upper portion of the stomach. Once the surgical wounds have healed, saline solution is injected into the ring to expand it, limiting the amount of food that can be consumed during a meal.

Over the last two years, four Southern California patients have died shortly after undergoing Lap-Band weight-loss surgery at two clinics connected to a television, radio and billboard marketing campaign touting the toll-free number 1-800-GET-THIN, according to lawsuits, family interviews and coroners reports.

Allergan does not pay for the ads, which were created by a marketing company that directs prospective patients to clinics that perform the procedure using Allergan's device. Robert Silverman, the lawyer who represents 1-800-GET-THIN and the two clinics named in the lawsuits, said the advertisements include warnings about the risks of Lap-Band surgery. He said the lawsuits were without merit.

Allergan's chief executive, David E.I. Pyott, told The Times this month that he didn't support the ads.

Allergan said it requires all surgeons who want to order and perform a surgery with the Lap-Band device to first complete a comprehensive proctorship and training program; have advanced laparoscopic skill; and "have the staff and resources needed to comply with the long-term follow-up requirements of obesity procedures."

FDA spokeswoman Karen Riley said the agency can't control how doctors use the procedure because it has no authority over the practice of medicine. But she pointed out that the FDA did not give Allergan all it asked for.

Allergan wanted approval of the device for use in patients with a BMI of at least 35 and no other diseases and in patients with a BMI of at least 30 with one or more diseases. FDA gave approval only for use in patients with a BMI of 30 and one or more diseases, with the additional stipulation that those diseases be obesity-related, Riley said.

Obesity, as well as vanity, have transformed Allergan. Allergan markets Natrelle breast implants, Latisse eyelash lengthener and Botox, a toxin that temporarily paralyzes facial muscles.

On Thursday, after news of the FDA decision was released, Allergan's shares reached a 52-week high and closed at $75.58, up 81 cents.

Analysts said they had expected Wednesday's news after an FDA panel in December voted 8 to 2 in favor of expanding the device's potential pool of patients; such votes typically foreshadow final approval by the agency. The FDA decision recognizes that obesity is a disease that proceeds along a continuum as measured by BMI, said Dr. John Kral, a surgeon who supported expanded use of the Lap-Band procedure as a member of the FDA advisory committee reviewing Allergan's request last year.

Dr. Robert Kushner, an obesity specialist at Chicago's Northwestern Memorial Hospital, said expanded access to the technology was a welcome development, but that other treatments are needed.

Kushner noted that the FDA was willing to accept the inherent hazards of surgery but recently rejected three diet drugs — Lorcaserin, Qnexa and Contrave — because it judged that the drugs' risks outweighed benefits.
*There is never a quick fix to weightloss. Either your in it or not! There is no magic pill or precedure that can fix a person's weight issues, if the individual doesn't fix what got them to obesity in the first place. If most people realize, that it's their mental issues (past and current) that they let plague them; then maybe they their lives wouldn't be all about "mind-hoarding" addictions. They would attack the issue and move on. When you look at the state of our nation being taken over by by obesity, and other things; you have to wonderful, they can't all be that way can they? Well, many people have real issues and some are just plain LAZY! At this point with so much information and many ways to fix obesity; you have to wonder-why haven't more obese people "decided" to fix their weight issues*

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111 charged in Medicare scams worth $225 million!

Federal authorities charged more than 100 doctors, nurses and physical therapists in nine cities with Medicare fraud Thursday, part of a massive nationwide bust that snared more suspects than any other in history.

More than 700 law enforcement agents fanned out to arrest dozens of people accused of illegally billing Medicare more than $225 million. The arrests are the latest in a string of major busts in the past two years as authorities have struggled to pare the fraud that's believed to cost the government between $60 billion and $90 billion each year. Stopping Medicare's budget from hemorrhaging that money will be key to paying for President Barack Obama's health care overhaul.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Attorney General Eric Holder partnered in 2009 to allocate more money and manpower in fraud hot spots. Thursday's indictments were for suspects in Miami, Los Angeles, Dallas, Houston, Detroit, Chicago, Brooklyn, Tampa, Fla., and Baton Rouge, La.

They show that "health care fraud is not easy money," Holder said at a press conference in Washington.

A podiatrist performing partial toenail removals was among 21 indicted in Detroit. Dr. Errol Sherman is accused of billing Medicare about $700,000 for the costly and unnecessary procedures, which authorities said amounted to little more than toenail clippings. The podiatrist billed Medicare for 20 nail removals on three toes of one patient, according to the indictment. He charged Medicare about $110 for each procedure.

A message could not be left at Sherman's office Thursday.

A Brooklyn, N.Y., proctologist was charged with billing $6.5 million for hemorrhoid removals, most of which he never performed. Dr. Boris Sachakov claimed he performed 10 hemorrhoid removals on one patient, which authorities said is not possible. An employee who answered at Sachakov's office declined comment Thursday.

Sachakov had been arrested last year on charges related to a separate scam. Sachokov denied the charges.

Authorities also busted three physical therapy clinics in Brooklyn, run by an organized network of Russian immigrants accused of paying recruiters to find elderly patients so they could bill for nearly $57 million in physical therapy that amounted to little more than back rubs, according to the indictment.

In Miami, two doctors and several nurses from ABC Home Health Care Inc. were charged with swindling $25 million by writing fake prescriptions recommending nurses and other expensive aids to treat homebound patients, authorities said. The services were never provided. A message left Thursday was not immediately returned.

In total, nearly three dozen defendants were charged in Miami in various scams that topped about $56 million.

Thursday's totals exclude busts two days earlier in Miami that netted 21 suspects accused of bilking $200 million from Medicare.

"These unprecedented operations send a clear message. We will not tolerate criminals lining their pockets at the expense of Medicare patients and taxpayers," HHS Inspector General Daniel R. Levinson said.

For decades, Medicare has operated under a pay-and-chase system, paying providers first and investigating suspicious claims later. The system worked when the agency was paying hospitals and institutions that couldn't close up shop and flee the country if they'd been overpaid. But as Medicare has expanded to one of the largest payer systems in the world, he agency has struggled to weed out crooks. There are about 1.3 million licensed suppliers nationwide with 18,000 new applications coming in every month.

"We can arrest and charge people every day and it still won't make a dent until changes are made to Medicare," said FBI special agent in charge John Gillies.

He called for criminal background checks and fingerprints of providers. He also suggested Medicare use unique, secure numbers for patients instead of Social Security numbers, making it easier to cancel Medicare cards in fraud cases.

Sebelius has promised more decisive action on the front end, by vigorously screening providers and stopping payment to suspicious ones, under greater authority granted by the Affordable Care Act.

Authorities also announced Thursday they were adding strike forces in Chicago and Dallas.

*I say it's about time! When it comes to rising medical cost in America; the medical schemes and scams are responsible for the a great amount of it. It's a shame that it took this long, however, maybe now progress can be made in keeping track of criminals that set out to do this sort of thing. Hopefully this will send a clear message to people who are thinking about getting into this line of hotmess work. All in all, we know that this administration isn't playing around and twiddling they're thumbs*

By: Diva's Nation
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Thursday, February 17, 2011

GET YOUR COPY OF "REFLECTIONS66 BY AUTHOR ELEANOR "COOKIE" BURKE!"

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Why Do They Hate Social Security?

Creators Syndicate – Among the mysteries of modern politics in America is why so many of our leading pundits and politicians persistently seek to undermine Social Security, that enduring and successful emblem of active government. In the current atmosphere of budgetary panic, self-proclaimed "centrists" are joining with ideologues of the right in yet another campaign against the program — and yet again they are misinforming the public about its purposes, costs and prospects.

Among the puzzling aspects of the crusade against Social Security is the zeal that animates its enemies, as if the present and future recipients of those monthly checks were somehow fattening themselves at the expense of future generations. Whatever drives these well-fed but poorly informed commentators, it isn't the facts.

First, let's remember that Social Security actually provides support at a very modest level. Last year, the average retirement benefit was $1,170 a month, or about $14,000 a year, with the average disabled worker or widow receiving slightly less. (It would be wonderfully educational for the cable talkers and newspaper editorialists to live on that amount for a few months — they would not only lose weight but gain empathy.)

Remember, too, that despite our status as the largest and most productive economy in the world, Social Security is among the least generous retirement programs among all the developed nations. As a percentage of the average worker's pre-retirement wages, the benefit has been declining for years and will continue to fall without any further cutbacks.

The check that used to replace 39 percent of worklife income will replace only 31 percent by 2031. Compare that with the average wage replacement in the nations belonging to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) — which was roughly 61 percent last year.

More important than those comparative statistics is the fact that the great majority of Social Security beneficiaries have no other cushion for their retirement — not because they were lazy or improvident, but because their wages were simply too low to permit much savings, let alone investment.

The foes of Social Security insist that they have no desire to force the elderly to eat cat food or go homeless — as they did in the years before the program existed. But we must cut drastically, they cry, because we can simply no longer afford the "entitlements" that we have bestowed so lavishly upon the old and the poor.

Whenever someone starts to talk about "entitlements," keep in mind that they are either trying to bamboozle or they've been bamboozled themselves. Under that category, most commentators mix up Medicaid and Medicare — two programs that are indeed endangered by rising health care costs — with Social Security, which will be solvent until at least 2037 and can easily be made solvent for decades to come with minor changes. This is a rhetorical deception perpetrated countless times every day in nearly every media outlet.

The actuarial experts whose job is to monitor Social Security's fortunes have long assured us that small and gradual rises in the tax revenues that support Social Security, accompanied by small and gradual shifts in benefits over the coming years, will solve whatever fiscal challenges the program may eventually confront. There is no reason to panic, and there is certainly no reason to consider wholesale changes in benefits.

Well, there is a reason, but only if your real aim is to destroy the system and replace it with something less useful but more profitable. Wall Street and its servants on Capitol Hill have lusted after Social Security's revenues for many years. And they regard the current uproar over the budget as a fresh opportunity to get their hands on a trillion-dollar bonanza. Given their record in recent years, it is all too easy to imagine how badly that would work out for everybody — except them, of course.

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*Pundits, the media and others always want to sway from the facts. Instead they use they're time to play up the dramatics and scaring people into thinking that a program like this is sucking America dry. It's time to wake up and be aware of the truth instead of belieiving the hype.  Again, when you look at whose trying to get they're hands on social security's profits then enough is said*

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Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Pa. teacher strikes nerve with 'lazy whiners' blog!

FEASTERVILLE, Pa. – A high school English teacher in suburban Philadelphia who was suspended for a profanity-laced blog in which she called her young charges "disengaged, lazy whiners" is driving a debate by daring to ask: Why are today's students unmotivated — and what's wrong with calling them out?

As she fights to keep her job at Central Bucks East High School, 30-year-old Natalie Munroe says she had no interest in becoming any sort of educational icon. The blog has been taken down, but its contents can still be found easily online.

Her comments and her suspension by the middle-class school district have clearly touched a nerve, with scores of online commenters applauding her for taking a tough love approach or excoriating her for verbal abuse. Media attention has rained down, and backers have started a Facebook group.

"My students are out of control," Munroe, who has taught 10th, 11th and 12th grades, wrote in one post. "They are rude, disengaged, lazy whiners. They curse, discuss drugs, talk back, argue for grades, complain about everything, fancy themselves entitled to whatever they desire, and are just generally annoying."

And in another post, Munroe — who is more than eight months pregnant — quotes from the musical "Bye Bye Birdie": "Kids! They are disobedient, disrespectful oafs. Noisy, crazy, sloppy, lazy LOAFERS."

She also listed some comments she wished she could post on student evaluations, including: "I hear the trash company is hiring"; "I called out sick a couple of days just to avoid your son"; and "Just as bad as his sibling. Don't you know how to raise kids?"

Munroe did not use her full name or identify her students or school in the blog, which she started in August 2009 for friends and family. Last week, she said, students brought it to the attention of the school, which suspended her with pay.

"They get angry when you ask them to think or be creative," Munroe said of her students in an interview with

The Associated Press on Tuesday. "The students are not being held accountable."
Munroe pointed out that she also said positive things, but she acknowledges that she did write some things out of frustration — and of a feeling that many kids today are being given a free pass at school and at home.

"Parents are more trying to be their kids' friends and less trying to be their parent," Munroe said, also noting students' lack of patience. "They want everything right now. They want it yesterday."

One of Munroe's former students, who now attends McDaniel College in Westminster, Md., said he was torn by his former teacher's comments. Jeff Shoolbraid said that he thought much of what Munroe said was true and that she had a right to voice her opinion, but felt her comments were out of line for a teacher.

"Whatever influenced her to say what she did is evidence as to why she simply should not teach," Shoolbraid wrote in an e-mail to the AP. "I just thought it was completely inappropriate."

He continued: "As far as motivated high school students, she's completely correct. High school kids don't want to do anything. ... It's a teacher's job, however, to give students the motivation to learn."

A spokesman for the Pennsylvania State Education Association declined to comment Tuesday because he said the group may represent Munroe. Messages left for the Central Bucks School District superintendent were not returned.

Sandi Jacobs, vice president of the National Council on Teacher Quality, said school districts are navigating uncharted territory when it comes to teachers' online behavior. Often, districts want teachers to have more contact with students and their families, yet give little guidance on how teachers should behave online even as students are more plugged in than they've ever been.

"This is really murky stuff," she said. "When you have a teacher using their blog to berate their students, maybe that's a little less murky. But the larger issue is, I think, districts are totally unprepared to deal with this."

Munroe has hired an attorney, who said that she had the right to post her thoughts on the blog and that it's a free speech issue. The attorney, Steven Rovner, said the district has led Munroe to believe that she will eventually lose her job.
 
"She could have been any person, any teacher in America writing about their lives," he said, pointing out that
 
Munroe blogged about 85 times and that only about 15 to 20 of the posts involved her being a teacher. "It's honest and raw and a little edgy depending on your taste. ... She has a deep frustration for the educational system in America."
 
Rovner said that he would consider legal action if indeed Munroe loses her job.

"She did it as carefully as she could," he said about her blog. "It's so general that it applies to the problems in school districts and schools across the country."

*This is a HOT "EDUCATIONAL" MESS by today's society. So what if the teacher blogs about her day and releases stress by commenting on how lazy her students just so happen to be. If anything, she was probably telling the truth, given students attitudes in today's modern society. People need to look at the big picture and keep it real instead of trying not to see the issues that teachers are facing. It's seems very clear the school has an issue with disciplining their students and probably losing good teachers.*

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Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Monique Lhuillier's Seductive Success!

 Few famous critics attend the runway shows of Monique Lhuillier and even fewer senior magazine editors show up, yet the front-row of her show Monday, Feb. 14, in New York was packed with members of a frequently far more useful profession for a designer - retailers.

And there's a very good reason for that. Lhuillier manages to distill modern high fashion trends into plausible and flattering collections, clothes that department stores know they can sell with confidence.

In a very tangible sense if one really wants to understand what stylish American women will be wearing this autumn, then a visit to an Lhuillier runway show is highly informative. She cuts with class and assurance, self-edits splendidly and knows how to create dramatic silhouettes that compliment rather than overpower ladies. No wonder heavy league buyers from Saks, Harrods and Bergdorf Goodman all showed up, and with their business antenna on full alert.




















That was very much the case with this femininely seductive fall 2011 collection where the designer riffed on ideas seen in Europe, though with sufficient zest and personal input to make each look very much her own.

A silver encrusted halter neck black crepe column may well have echoed Yves Saint Laurent and several ostrich feather looks - either an A-Line cocktail or a deep scarlet coat - recalled Giambattista Valli. Yet throughout this collection there was still a signature Lhuillier style - flirty, lacey, focused femininity.

"This woman knows how to gets what she wants," trumpeted the designer in her program notes. And, leaving this show in the custom-made Lincoln Center show tent complex, one could only think that wearing these clothes, women will achieve precisely that.

*Beautiful as always! High fashion and always a cut above the rest* 

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Billy Ray Cyrus: 'Hannah Montana' destroyed family!

Billy Ray Cyrus says the Disney TV show "Hannah Montana" destroyed his family, causing his divorce and sending daughter Miley Cyrus spinning out of control.



















In a December interview published in the Feb. 22 issue of GQ Magazine, Cyrus said he wished the show that launched his daughter to pop stardom had never happened.

"I hate to say it, but yes, I do. Yeah. I'd take it back in a second," Cyrus said. "For my family to be here and just be everybody OK, safe and sound and happy and normal, would have been fantastic. Heck, yeah. I'd erase it all in a second if I could."

Cyrus and his wife, Tish, filed for divorce in October. They have three kids together — Miley is the oldest — and two from Tish's previous marriage.

Billy Ray Cyrus said when he asked about the rumored video footage of his daughter smoking from a bong at her 18th birthday party in December, he was told it was none of his business. He refused to attend the party, saying it was wrong to have it in a bar.

Cyrus, a native of Flatwoods, Ky., had his own success as a country singer beginning in the early 1990s with his huge hit "Achy Breaky Heart."

Cyrus says in the interview that he tried too hard to be a friend instead of a parent to his daughter. He said he is scared for Miley and compared her current path to those of other stars whose lives ended tragically, including Kurt Cobain, Anna Nicole Smith and Michael Jackson.

"I should have been a better parent," Cyrus said. "I should have said, 'Enough is enough — it's getting dangerous and somebody's going to get hurt.' I should have, but I didn't. Honestly, I didn't know the ball was out of bounds until it was way up in the stands somewhere."

He said his entire family was baptized before leaving Tennessee for Los Angeles to protect themselves from evil, and he believes Satan is attacking his family.

"It's the way it is," Cyrus said. "There has always been a battle between good and evil. Always will be. You think, 'This is a chance to make family entertainment, bring families together ...' and look what it's turned into."


*This is a classic case of pure "stupidity." Parents whose kids are famous are always trying to be a friend instead being the parent. Everyone saw Miley Cyrus getting out of control and doing outrageous things. However, when it came time for her parents to truly step in and stop the outlandish behavior they were concerned about themselves and Miley making more money to continue their life style.  Everyone knows that "real" parenting is priceless and money and celebrity is just that...money and celebrity*


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Sunday, February 13, 2011

14 Things Your Eyes Say About Your Health!

Looking people straight in the eye may or may not reveal their honesty -- but the eyes *can* tell you about cholesterol, liver disease, or diabetes, if you know what to look for.

"The eye is a unique window into health," says ophthalmologist Andrew Iwach, spokesperson for the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) and executive director of the Glaucoma Center of San Francisco. "It's the only place in the body where, without surgery, we can look in and see veins, arteries, and a nerve (the optic nerve)."

The eyes' transparency explains why common eye diseases such as glaucoma, cataracts, and macular degeneration can be detected early with regular eye exams.

"Unfortunately, people get busy and delay not only eye exams but regular physicals. That's why eye doctors sometimes discover other issues, like diabetes or high blood pressure," Iwach says. Especially vulnerable, he says: People like caregivers, who worry about others around them while neglecting care for themselves.

Keep your eye out for these 14 problems.

1. Red flag: Disappearing eyebrows
What it means: Shaved eyebrows are a fad (or fashion, if you will) in some circles. But when the outer third of the brow (the part closest to the ears) starts to disappear on its own, this is a common sign of thyroid disease -- either hyperthyroidism (overactive thyroid gland) or hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid gland). The thyroid is a small but critical gland that helps regulate metabolism, and thyroid hormones are among those critical to hair production.

More clues: Brows tend to thin with age naturally. But with thyroid disease, the brow-hair loss isn't evenly distributed; it's a selective dropout on the ends. There's usually a loss of hair elsewhere on the body, too, but the brows are so prominent, it's often noticed here first. Early graying is a related sign of a thyroid problem. Women are more often affected than men, and hyperthyroidism especially strikes women in their 20s and 30s.

What to do: Mention this symptom to a dermatologist or your regular doctor. Most other symptoms of both hyper- and hypothyroidism are notoriously broad and general. Before you see a doctor, make note of any other changes you've noticed, possibly concerning weight, energy levels, bowel or menstrual regularity, mood, or skin changes.

2. Red flag: A stye that won't go away
What it means: The vast majority of the time, a small, raised, often reddish bump along the inner or outer eyelid margin is just an unsightly but innocuous stye (also called a "chalazion"). But if the spot doesn't clear up in three months, or seems to keep recurring in the same location, it can also be a rare cancer (sebaceous gland carcinoma).

More clues: Actual styes are plugged-up oil glands at the eyelash follicle. Fairly common, they tend to clear up within a month. A cancerous cyst that mimics a stye, on the other hand, doesn't go away. (Or it may seem to go away but return in the same spot.) Another eyelid cancer warning sign: Loss of some of the eyelashes around the stye.

What to do: Point out a persistent stye to an ophthalmologist (a medical doctor who specializes in the eye). A biopsy can confirm the diagnosis. The stye is usually removed surgically.

3. Red flag: Bumpy yellowish patches on the eyelid
What it means: Xanthelasma palpebra, the medical name for these tiny yellow bumps, are usually a warning that you may have high cholesterol. They're also called "cholesterol bumps" -- they're basically fatty deposits.

More clues: Sometimes people mistake these bumps for a stye, but with xanthelasma, there tends to be more than one bump and they're quite small.

What to do: See your doctor or a skin or eye specialist. A diagnosis can usually be made by sight. An ophthalmologist can also examine the eye and see deposits; for this reason, in fact, sometimes high cholesterol is first diagnosed during a routine eye exam. The problem usually isn't serious and doesn't cause pain or vision problems. A physician will also evaluate you for other signs of coronary artery disease.

4. Red flag: Burning eyes, blurry vision while using a computer
What it means: You might be a workaholic, and you definitely have "computer vision syndrome" (CVS). The eyestrain is partly caused by the lack of contrast on a computer screen (compared with ink on paper) and the extra work involved in focusing on pixels of light. What's more, by midlife the eyes lose some of their ability to produce lubricating tears. Irritation sets in, adding to blurriness and discomfort.

More clues: Does the problem worsen in the afternoon (when the eyes tend to become drier)? Is it worse when you're reading fine print (more eyestrain)? People who wear glasses or contacts tend to be bothered more by CVS. "Sometimes the problem is made worse by a fan positioned so it blows right in the face," the AAO's Iwach adds, noting that the air further dries tired eyes.

What to do: Reduce glare by closing window shades, investing in a computer hood, or checking out antireflective coating for your glasses (if you wear them). Simply tinkering with the contrast of your screen can help, too. White areas should neither glow brightly like a light source nor appear gray. Flat-panel LCD display screens (like those on laptops) cause less eyestrain than older models. Keep reference material close to the same height as your monitor, giving your eyes a break from having to refocus so much.

5. Red flag: Increasing gunk in the eye
What it means: Blepharitis -- inflammation of the eyelids, especially at the edges -- can have several causes. Two of them, surprisingly, are conditions better associated with other body parts: scalp dandruff and acne rosacea (which causes flushed red skin, usually in the faces of fair-skinned women at midlife).

More clues: The eyes may also feel irritated, as if specks have gotten in them. They may burn, tear, or feel dry. The crusty debris tends to gather in the lashes or the inner corners of the eyes, or even on the lids.

What to do: With clean hands, apply a warm, damp washcloth to the eyes for about five minutes at a time to loosen debris and soothe the skin. See a doctor, who may prescribe an antibiotic ointment or oral antibiotics, as well as artificial tears.

6. Red flag: A small blind spot in your vision, with shimmering lights or a wavy line
What it means: An ocular migraine (also called an "ophthalmic migraine," "optical migraine," or "migraine aura") produces this disturbed vision, with or without an accompanying headache. Changes in blood flow to the brain are thought to be the cause.

More clues: The visual distortion starts in the center of the field of vision. It might appear as a bright dot, dots, or a line that can seem to move and disrupt your ability to see properly, as if you were looking through a pocked or cracked window. It's painless and causes no lasting damage. Individuals seem to have different triggers (ranging from chocolate, caffeine, and alcohol to stress). A headache, possibly severe enough to cause nausea, sometimes follows.

What to do: If you're driving, pull over until the phenomenon passes (usually within an hour). Do have an eye specialist check it out if vision impairment lasts more than an hour or so, to rule out serious problems such as a retinal tear; or if you also experience other symptoms elsewhere that could indicate stroke or seizure (such as fever, loss of muscle strength, or speech impairment).

7. Red flag: Red, itchy eyes
What it means: Many things can irritate eyes, but itchiness accompanied by sneezing, coughing, sinus congestion, and/or a runny nose, usually screams "I'm allergic!" When the eyes are involved, the trigger is usually airborne, like pollen, dust, or animal dander.

More clues: An eye allergy can also be caused by certain cosmetics or ointments. Some people, for example, are allergic to the preservative in eye drops used to treat dry eyes.

What to do: Staying away from the allergic trigger is the usual treatment. Antihistamines can treat the itchiness; those in eye-drop or gel form deliver relief to the eyes faster. If the problem turns out to be an allergy to eye drops, look for a preservative-free brand.

8. Red flag: Whites of the eye turned yellowish
What it means: Two groups of people most often show this symptom, known as jaundice: Newborns with immature liver function and adults with problems of the liver, gallbladder, or bile ducts, including hepatitis and cirrhosis. The yellow in the white part of the eye (the sclera) is caused by a buildup of bilirubin, the by-product of old red blood cells the liver can't process.

More clues: "Other tissues of the body would have the same look, but we can't see it as clearly as in the whites of the eye," says ophthalmologist Iwach. (Skin can also turn yellowish when a person consumes too much beta carotene -- found in carrots -- but in those cases the whites of the eyes remain white.)

What to do: Mention the symptom to a doctor if the person isn't already under care for a liver-related disease, so the jaundice can be evaluated and the underlying cause treated.

9. Red flag: A bump or brown spot on the eyelid
What it means: Even people who are vigilant about checking their skin may overlook the eyelid as a spot where skin cancer can strike. Most malignant eyelid tumors are basal cell carcinoma. When such a tumor appears as a brown spot, then -- as with any other form of skin cancer -- it's more likely to be malignant melanoma.

More clues: Elderly, fair-skinned people are at highest risk. Look especially at the lower eyelid. The bump may look pearly, with tiny blood vessels. If the bump is in the eyelash area, some eyelashes may be missing.

What to do: Always have any suspicious skin spots or sores checked out by a dermatologist, family physician, or eye doctor. Early detection is critical, before the problem spreads to nearby lymph nodes.

10. Red flag: Eyes that seem to bulge
What it means: The most common cause of protruding eyes is hyperthyroidism (overactivity of the thyroid gland), especially the form known as Graves' disease. (First Lady Barbara Bush had it.)

More clues: One way to tell if an eye is bulging is to see whether there's any visible white part between the top of the iris and the upper eyelid, because normally there shouldn't be. (Some people inherit a tendency toward eyes that bulge, so if the appearance seems to run in a family, it probably isn't hyperthyroidism.) The person may not blink often and may seem to be staring at you. Because the condition develops slowly, it's sometimes first noticed in photos or by the occasional visitor rather than by someone who lives with the person every day.

What to do: Mention the symptom to a doctor, especially if it's present in tandem with other signs of Graves' disease, including blurry vision, restlessness, fatigue, increase in appetite, weight loss, tremors, and palpitations. A blood test can measure thyroid levels. Treatment includes medication and surgery.

11. Red flag: Sudden double vision, dim vision, or loss of vision
What it means: These are the visual warning signs of stroke.

More clues: The other signs of stroke include sudden numbness or weakness of the arm or leg or face, typically on just one side of the body; trouble walking because of dizziness or loss of balance or coordination; slurred speech; or bad headache. In a large stroke (caused by a blood clot or bleeding in the brain), these symptoms happen all at once. In a smaller stroke caused by narrowed arteries, they can occur across a longer period of minutes or hours.

What to do: Seek immediate medical help by calling 911.

12. Red flag: Dry eyes that are sensitive to light
What it means: Sjogren's (pronounced "show-grins") syndrome is an immune system disorder. It impairs the glands in the eyes and mouth that keep them moist.

More clues: Sjogren's usually affects women over age 40 with autoimmune disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis or lupus. Usually the eyes and mouth are affected together. The person may also have vaginal dryness, dry sinuses, and dry skin. Because of a lack of saliva, it can be difficult to chew and swallow.

What to do: A doctor can diagnose Sjogren's through testing. Artificial lubricants (such as artificial tears) are usually necessary to protect the eyes, as well as to improve eating. Drinking plenty of water also helps.

13. Red flag: Sudden difficulty closing one eye, inability to control tears in it
What it means: Bell's palsy is an impairment of the nerve that controls facial muscles (the seventh cranial nerve), causing temporary paralysis in half the face. It sometimes follows a viral infection (such as shingles, mono, or HIV) or a bacterial infection (such as Lyme disease). Diabetics and pregnant women are also at higher risk.

More clues: Half of the entire face, not just the eye, is affected. Effects vary from person to person, but the overall effect is for the face to appear droopy and be weak. The eyelid may droop and be difficult or impossible to close, and there will be either excessive tearing or an inability to produce tears. The effects tend to come on suddenly.

What to do: See a doctor. Most cases are temporary and the person recovers completely within weeks. Rarely, the condition can recur. Physical therapy helps restore speaking, smiling, and other tasks that require the facial muscles working in unison, and it also helps avoid an asymmetrical appearance. Professional eye care can keep the affected eye lubricated and undamaged.

14. Red flag: Blurred vision in a diabetic
What it means: Diabetics are at increased risk for several eye problems, including glaucoma and cataracts. But the most common threat to vision is diabetic retinopathy, in which the diabetes affects the circulatory system of the eye. It's the leading cause of blindness in American adults.

More clues: The changes linked to diabetic retinopathy tend to show up in people who have had the disease for a long time, not those recently diagnosed. The person may also see "floaters," tiny dark specks in the field of vision. Sometimes diabetes causes small hemorrhages (bleeding) that are visible in the eye. There's no pain. People with poorly controlled blood sugar may have worse symptoms.

What to do: Someone with diabetes should have a dilated eye exam annually to catch and control the earliest stages of retinopathy, glaucoma, cataracts, or other changes -- before they manifest as changes you're aware of. 


For more information visit: http://www.caring.com/

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