Nowadays, there are a lot of seals on products. Everyone from the American Academy of Dermatology to the American Cancer Society seems to offer some sort of seal for products you buy every day. Obviously, the manufacturers love it because they hope it leads to increased sales. Did you know, however, that many of the approving organizations are paid for their seals? In many cases, there are no independent tests performed and the consumers are sort of left wondering what it all means.

Today, we learned that Wrigley paid the American Dental Association to review some of the studies the company performed on its own products. After a review of that data and accepting $36,000, the ADA has offered its seal of approval on Wrigley sugar-free chewing gum products. That's right. These products now get the same seal of approval seen on some toothbrushes and on mouthwash. The ADA stands by its seal and told us any company can apply for the seal, as long as the company pays for it.

The ADA is not alone. The American Cancer Society has an ongoing relationship with Neutrogena. It offers the ACS seal, not as an endorsement, it says - but rather as recognition of Neutrogena's cancer-prevention programs. In case you're curious, Neutrogena pays $300,000 a year to get that seal of recognition.

Do you think that these organizations should be held to a higher standard when it comes to dispensing seals of recognition, approval or whatever? Or, is it acceptable for these seals to be purchased as long as the money is put to good use? And, should companies that make products be allowed to submit their own data, or should all data come from independent sources? What do you think?

Last year, when doing some investigations on the incidence of HIV/AIDS around the world, I heard a fact that stuck with me. I was moderating a discussion with former President Bill Clinton and Pfizer CEO Hank McKinnell. I had asked the CEO why Pfizer and other pharmaceutical companies didn't offer life-prolonging AIDS medications to certain countries at a lower cost. He told me even if the cure for AIDS came free in the form of a glass of clean water, we still wouldn't rid the world of AIDS. I thought about that for a while and it made sense. The point was that the pharmaceutical companies certainly needed to do their part, but that people on the ground also needed to systematically guarantee access and the funding needed to be available to make it all happen. Lots of moving parts.

As I have covered the Clinton Global Initiative for the past three years, I have come to better understand the value of putting people in the same room who control these various parts. There are plenty of famous faces including Desmond Tutu, Al Gore, Angelina Jolie, Lance Armstrong and Ted Turner to name a few. But there are also people like Paul Farmer. A physician from Boston, Paul lived with his family in a modified school bus for a chunk of his childhood. Now, he is a Harvard M.D. who has made it his life's work to provide access to health care in some of the most remote and dangerous places on earth. Haiti, Rwanda, and many other places.

Paul is the kind of guy that will sit in the room with the CEO of large pharmaceutical companies, Clinton and lots of concerned citizens. He will lay out exactly what he has seen around the world and what will be needed to provide the crucial access that has proven a stumbling block for so long. If history is a good measure, CGI will raise billions of dollars again this year as it has in years past, but with the help of the more than 1,000 leaders from around the world, including Paul Farmer, it will make strides toward getting that "free clean glass of water" to those who need it most.

The Clinton Global Initiative, along with other forums such as Davos, Switzerland, are typically a yearly gathering of people who define global problems and potential solutions. Do you think these sort of non-governmental organizations make a difference? Would you get involved?

Five years ago, I marched into a meeting and declared, "We need to do a big story on the looming blood shortage crisis." My conviction was met with unmoved facial expressions. My young producer self was very confused. After all, this story was important. An executive producer said, "Chris, there is always a blood shortage in this country." I was humbled, but determined to find out more and to get a story on the air.

Truth is, there is always a shortage of blood in this country. It's no surprise given that 4.5 million Americans need lifesaving blood transfusions every year according to America's Blood Centers. They also say that 3 gallons of blood supports the nation's blood needs for just 1 minute. Blood bank experts say there often is a surge in giving blood after an emergency such as the September 11 attacks or Hurricane Katrina. The problem is that much of the oxygen-carrying red blood cells have a shelf life of just 42 days. Cancer-treating platelets can be kept for only seven days. Blood-clotting plasma can be kept frozen for up to a year. Bottom line is that people need to donate blood often and regularly in order to meet the need for fresh blood.

A new study out this summer in the journal Transfusion finds that the pool of donors is shrinking. It's actually 60 percent smaller than experts had previously thought. There are a whole host of reasons why fewer people can potentially donate. Dr. Jay Menitove of the American Association of Blood Banks says Generation Xers and younger people seem less into blood donation than baby boomers, who are getting older, and in some cases too sick to donate. There also are tight restrictions on people who've spent significant amounts of time in Europe, especially in the 1980s and early to mid 1990s.

But youth can provide the greatest boost for the pool of donors. The American Red Cross has sweetened the deal by raffling off Apple iPod Nanos and $1,000 scholarships to teenagers who donate. Potential blood donors have been recruited on popular networking sites including myspace.com and facebook.com. Many states that had higher age limits than the minimum, including Washington, Kansas and Georgia, have now dropped the donor age to 16. Also, many states are now allowing people who have recently been tattooed to donate blood as long as they were inked in a state-licensed and approved tattoo parlor. Previously, freshly tattooed people would have been deferred from donating blood.

It's an effort to get people hooked early. Don Doddridge of America's Blood Centers says that if you get someone to donate three times then you get a lifetime donor.

Do you donate blood? Why do you do it? How can you get more people to donate blood?

OK. I'll admit it. I don't know my cholesterol numbers. That's right. A seasoned medical producer and I'm clueless when it comes to my levels. My eyes glaze over at the mention of HDL and LDL, the same way they do when my husband talks about the NBA. And the sad thing about it is, I'm not alone.

You would think by now that most Americans would know their numbers. But a new study by a group called the Society for Women's Health Research in Washington, D.C., found that older adult American women are better informed about cholesterol and more likely to monitor it than younger adult women. The study also found that more than half the women surveyed under the age of 45 did not know their numbers at all and didn't feel the need to know. Doctors say that's not good, because people of all ages, even children, can have high cholesterol, which can result in such problems as high blood pressure, atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), heart disease, stroke, and even early death.

Physicians say knowing your numbers is key. LDL is the "bad" cholesterol because when there is too much of it, it circulates in the blood, and can slowly build up in the walls of the arteries that feed the heart and brain. HDL is the "good" cholesterol because it helps remove "bad" cholesterol from arteries and prevent blockage. And then there are triglycerides, which are forms of fat. They're made in our bodies and also come from food. People with high triglycerides often have high total cholesterol, high LDL cholesterol and a low HDL cholesterol level. It's good to keep the HDL up and the LDL and triglycerides down. Ask your doctor what numbers are the healthiest for you.

So how can you keep all those numbers at the right levels? Some folks have to take medication. In fact recent studies have shown that Americans spend billions, not millions, but billions of dollars on cholesterol medicines each year. But doctors say many people could avoid medication if they just changed a few things in their lives.

According to the American Heart Association, the best ways to keep your cholesterol down are to eat foods low in cholesterol and saturated fats, maintain a healthy weight, exercise on a regular basis and see a doctor every year. And if you smoke, quit. If your levels don't even out after making those changes, then it may be time to think about going on medication.

September is National Cholesterol Awareness month. Hey, what's the old saying? "Do as I say, not as I do"? Forget it. I think it's time that I got my cholesterol checked. What about you? Let's do it together. It can make the difference in our health and in our futures, no matter what age we may be.

Are you fighting cholesterol problems? What do you do to keep your cholesterol at a healthy level? We'd like to know.

There's so much wrong with America's diet that it's hard to narrow it down - but one area that especially worries me is school lunch. More than 30 million children get their lunch at school. About half of them qualify for free lunches, and for those children, school food is often the only solid meal they get all day. Recognizing this, many cities have implemented free breakfasts, too, and cities including New York, Boston, Massachusetts, and Louisville, Kentucky, have extended meal programs to the summer, even when classes aren't in session.

Now, I'm heartened to see a movement growing to put healthier food on those cafeteria trays. Just a few examples I ran across in the past few months:

- Some schools in Fairfax County, Virginia, read nutrition labels in class and study nutrition as part of computer class.

- The Miami-Dade County school district in Florida offers health and nutrition classes for parents.

- Seattle, Washington, public schools solicit recipes for menu items from district parents. Each spring the district makes sure the food meets nutritional guideline and reformulates the recipes if they don't. If kids like new foods, they go on the menu in the fall. Some examples: Vietnamese sandwich (turkey ham on Vietnamese roll with carrot-radish slaw and served with tropical fruit salad), Somali spaghetti (spaghetti with carrots and potatoes), Louisiana gumbo (traditional Southern style) and phat prik gai (Thai green beans and chicken).

- We also ran across schools, all over the country where kids grow some of their own food, to drive home the message that food doesn't grown in a plastic wrapping or a freezer package.

So improving school lunches is an issue that's on the table. What's eating you when it comes to food and diet?

Watch Dr. Sanjay Gupta's latest Special Investigations Unit program "Fed Up: America's Killer Diet" Saturday and Sunday at 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. ET

Knowledge is power. It sounds trite, but it is true. Think about it. If you keep an eye on the stock market and read up on investing, you are more likely to make money. If you know something about cars, then you are less likely to get bad advice from your mechanic.

The same thing is true with health care. If you know the right questions to ask your doctor and what to look for, then you are more likely to get the treatment you need. A few months ago, CNN Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen began writing a column called Empowered Patient on CNN.com. Each week, we talk with experts and advocates about real life medical issues. It is practical advice, information you can use NOW - no Petri dish science.

We have been excited by the response and know there are many stories out there to be told. We want to hear from you. What are the topics you'd like us to tackle? Do you have any stories about becoming a more 'empowered patient'?

Elizabeth Cohen's Empowered Patient reports can also be seen on "House Call with Dr. Sanjay Gupta" at 830 a.m. Saturday and Sunday ET.

Obesity is the second leading cause of preventable death in America -- Do you know why?

Could America's diet be structured in such a way that we're set up to fail?

Make sure to tune in Saturday and Sunday, September 22nd and 23rd at 8pm, 11pm and 2am to catch "Special Investigations Unit - Fed Up: America's Killer Diet."

In the meantime, get an exclusive look at the trailer on the Paging Dr. Gupta podcast.

Imagine feeling profoundly lousy for months, even years at a stretch. On many days, you can't even get out of bed. Sleep doesn't help. You go to the doctor, get tests, but a diagnosis remains elusive - and treatments incomplete. That's what life can be like for people with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS).

More than one million Americans have CFS, a debilitating illness researchers have been studying for some 20 years. There are few clues to what causes it (infectious agents? toxins?). And many questions (how do you treat CFS? Isn't it really just a 'fake' illness?).

Now, researchers in California say chronic fatigue syndrome may be linked to the presence of enteroviruses -- viral microorganisms that reside in your gut. Using endoscopies, researchers analyzed stomach tissue biopsy samples from patients with CFS - and found more than 80% of them had high levels of viruses in their digestive system. (All 165 patients had gastrointestinal complaints as part of their CFS litany of symptoms.)

Does this mean you should run to the doctor and demand a test? Not yet.

"Anybody who has chronic fatigue doesn't need to run out to their doctor and get an upper endoscopy, explains Dr. James King, president-elect of the American Academy of Family Physicians. "Even though this is very helpful and promising, it's not to the point that the treatment for chronic fatigue will change soon."

Do you think you might have chronic fatigue syndrome? If you have 4 or more of the following symptoms you may want to get checked:

* severe fatigue 6+ months or longer
*memory impairment
*sore throat
*swollen lymph nodes
*muscle & joint pain
*poor quality sleep
(Source: CDC)

While there is no cure for chronic fatigue syndrome in sight, researchers see this as an important jumping-off point: They can now study how these viruses behave, how to detect them, and how to kill them with anti-viral medications. The study is published in the Journal of Clinical Pathology.

Have you lived with chronic fatigue syndrome? For how long? What were your best days and worst days like?

Health insurance and the lack of it are being talked about quite a bit in this already very active presidential election campaign. The war in Iraq and the economy may be bigger issues, but the health care does occasionally make headlines. It will today.

Sen. Hillary Clinton will announce her plan for universal health care today in Iowa. Campaign sources say her plan would require all Americans to have health insurance and would cost the federal government around $110 billion.

Not to be upstaged by the former First Lady, former Vice Presidential candidate Sen. John Edwards, who was the first Democratic presidential candidate to announce his plan for health insurance for all Americans, is expected to make the following proposal later today: He wants to cut off taxpayer supported health care for the president, Congress and all political appointees in mid 2009, if a universal health care plan for all Americans has not been passed by then (according to campaign sources).

Today, the American Cancer Society is launching an ad campaign to increase awareness of the health care insurance situation in this country. Instead of telling us to get a colonoscopy because it saves lives... or to stop smoking because it can kill you and those around you, ACS hopes to raise awareness about the un-insured and underinsured. (more info at http://www.cancer.org/).

I've been very fortunate. As a child, I grew up in Germany, where everyone had access to basic health insurance. I grew up knowing, if I got sick, I could go to the doctor without cost concerns (heck, I can still remember the doctor coming to see me... I guess that makes me "old"!). In college I was covered by my dad's insurance and then I landed a job at CNN, which, as part of a large corporation, has always offered a generous health insurance package. But I'm not unfamiliar with what it's like to be uninsured. I have relatives who are among the millions of uninsured Americans who don't go to the doctor when they were sick, for fear of being saddled with huge bills.

The latest Census Bureau data puts the number of uninsured at 47 million. The most recent numbers for the underinsured, those with insurance but not the kind that covers all or most of their expenses, is estimated to be another 16 million.. but that figure is 4 years old.

Last week I met a young woman named Lisa, she lives in Chicago and is one of those "underinsured" Americans. She tells me she's always worked hard - has been supporting herself since she was 18, and thought her health insurance would be cover her should she ever get sick. Four years ago, she was diagnosed with tongue and neck cancer. Her doctors told her it was most likely from being exposed to second-hand smoke. She told me that despite having health insurance, a lot of her treatments were not covered.

Lisa says her medical bills "lead to $65,000 for medical bills and credit card bills." She told me she had to cash out her 401K (which meant she had to pay penalties) and had collections agencies hounding her. She paid what she could but she says she was forced into bankruptcy. "Not only was I fighting for my life, but I was also financially devastated."

Lisa's doing better now... so far she's cancer free. But she still has to go for regular check-ups to make sure it hasn't come back. That means more medical bills. So even though she declared bankruptcy, she's still in a financial dead end. She doesn't know what the solution is, but she hopes the politicians will come up with a way to fix the problem with health insurance.

Lisa's story is just one... but there are probably many more people with stories like hers. Have you suffered financially because of a lack of insurance or because your insurance didn't cover enough? Would a presidential candidate's position on this issue influence your vote in November 2008?

I never need an alarm clock. That's because I have a Jack Russell named Nipsey. Every morning at 5 a.m. he's up, ready for his morning walk. And because he likes to relax on weekends as much as my husband and I do, he lets us sleep in until 7 a.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.

There are very few people, let alone animals, I would get up for that early in the morning... but I do. Every day, rain or shine, sleet or hail, my hubby or I throw on his harness and leash and trudge up the street. Then we walk again in the afternoon and twice in the evening. Sometimes we stroll for a while, other times it's just for a quick jaunt, but he is the reason I get out and hit the pavement.

It's no secret that dogs can motivate us to get off the couch. In a recent study by the Bassett Research Institute in Cooperstown, New York, scientists investigated whether overweight people who have overweight dogs might be able to partner with their pets in a healthy program of diet and exercise in order to lose weight. The study followed volunteers both with and without canine companions. They all were provided with nutrition counseling and instruction on a regular walking program. The dogs were even given low-fat dog food. Researchers found, to no surprise, that both groups lost weight, but it was the walking group with pooch partners that kept the weight off after the diet was over. And even the four legged participants lost pounds.

So can Fido be a secret weapon to fight obesity? Many doctors say yes, because pets give owners, especially children, the opportunity to participate in some exercise they normally wouldn't get. A study from Wales looked at walkers both with and without furry friends and found that almost 41 percent of dog owners walk, on average, 18 minutes per week longer than people without dogs. Physicians have also found that walking with your pup can improve your overall health. When doctors from the University of Missouri Columbia gave dogs to inner city families who lead sedentary lifestyles, they found the new walkers bonded with their animals, improved their flexibility, balance, lost weight and felt better about themselves.

I know a dog can be a major commitment. In order to keep them healthy, they take time, a lot of care and especially love. But that's what makes it work....I walk with Nipsey, because I love him and that's why it's easier to exercise with my little guy, then it is to get on my treadmill in the basement.

Do you have a dog walking routine that works...or a passion that keeps you motivated to exercise? Let us know. We'd like to hear about it.

For more information on healthful living and the latest medical news, watch House Call with Dr. Sanjay Gupta Saturday and Sunday at 8:30 a.m. ET

On a stiflingly hot day late last month, a group of mourners celebrated a life well lived. "Martha was a fine woman," said the preacher. And she was. Miss Martha, as we are fond of saying in the South, was just good people. Never married, Martha dedicated her life to helping others. She helped set up one of the first homeless shelters in Atlanta. Martha made people feel special.

Even though Martha was 75, she seemed younger -- younger than some 30 year olds I know. As the preacher reminded us, Martha had taught classes on "positive aging" at a local retirement home. Driving home, I started thinking about attitude and aging. I did a little research and decided to call some experts. "Those who are under the most stress have higher mortality," says Dr. Brian Carpenter, who studies aging at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. "A positive attitude has been shown to lead to reduced stress hormones, hypertension and blood pressure. It's also beneficial to the immune system." Another study found that seniors with positive emotions are less likely to become frail.

But as my grandma is fond of saying, "Growing old is not for sissies." As our bodies break down, it can be hard to keep a positive attitude and look towards the future. "You need to be circumspect about things that can be changed and can't be changed," says Carpenter. "You want to have some control... but don't beat your head against the wall over the things you can't change."

While we can't control growing old, we can choose how we are going to live. One of the things I always admired about Martha was her passion for learning. She had the curiosity of a child. Martha also invested in the people around her. Keeping friendship networks strong as we age is extremely important, says Dr. Carpenter. Looking out at the congregation, I was struck by the diversity of friends Martha had made over the years. Some she had known since she was a schoolteacher in the 1950s; others were young women she met through her volunteer work.

I am grateful for the lessons of Martha's life. I will miss the twinkle in her eye. Martha indeed was a good woman. Do you have a "Martha" in your life? What do you think is the secret to staying happy as we grow older?

Today, on this sixth anniversary of 9/11, the country will mourn together. For most of the country, it will be a reminder, an anniversary, but for thousands of others it could be psychologically devastating. It could cause something known as PTSD or post traumatic stress disorder. The symptoms can be awful and the research shows us the reminders don't help.

We know on average 4 percent of the general American public suffers from PTSD, but one in eight 9/11 rescue and recovery workers had PTSD, even years after the attack, according to the World Trade Center Health Registry. We know firefighters developed PTSD at 2 times the rate of police officers, but both groups continue to suffer today. We also know that PTSD is an anxiety disorder that is marked by sudden and intense fear, along with feelings of desperation, hopelessness and outright horror. We know it can be difficult to treat.

During the last six years, there has been a growing body of research on PTSD, looking at the survivors of 9/11 and veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. For example, researchers are looking at propranolol, a blood pressure medication, as a possible treatment for PTSD. The idea is that this medication will block the adrenaline surge associated with a traumatic event. If you can block that release of adrenaline, the terrible memories may not be seared into the brain, and that might reduce the risk of future PTSD. There are some emergency rooms that now give the medication immediately after a traumatic event. There also is video game technology used for returning veterans. I tried it out myself and understood the premise that by exposing someone to previously traumatic events in a controlled setting with psychologists standing by, you could learn what is specifically traumatic, and deal with it. (Watch Video)

The triggers for PTSD aren't necessarily the images you will watch on television. They could be a sound, like bells ringing, or a certain smell. The best advice is to try and recognize if you are suffering and get help. Below is a list of resources that can provide some assistance. Take care of yourself, especially on this day.

If you have ever suffered from PTSD, or know someone who did, how did you deal with it? What worked best for you and what didn't work?

9/11 NYC health website


National Center for PTSD

I knew a lot of angry people when Apple decided to drop the price of the 8GB iPhone by $200 last Wednesday. Wouldn't you have been angry if you had paid $600 or a full 1/3 more than everybody else just for the privilege of owning an iPhone 3 months earlier?

This has got some people talking about a condition called the early adopter syndrome. "It's a lack of impulse control in the presence of new technologies," according to Tom Creeds of St. John's University.

So, who is an early adopter? I knew I had heard the term before. Were early adopters really just suckers who bought the latest gadgets at premium prices?

The term stems back to diffusion theory. It's a domino effect theory based on psychology and it beats in the heart of today’s marketing campaigns. Everett Rogers's "Diffusion of Innovations," published in 1995, is the textbook for diffusion theory. The idea is that early adopters set trends. Imagine a hill or a bell curve graph. Early adopters would be on the left, the big bulge in the middle is the majority in the middle or the mainstream and the laggards are all the way on the right.

Early adopters are the target audience for all marketers. They don't shy away from newness and uncertainty and they are happy to incorporate cutting edge innovations. They are the people who will bring a cool new product to the mainstream. They make up just 13.5% of the population. Here's the breakdown:

(1) Innovators - 2.5%
(2) Early adopters - 13.5%
(3) Early majority - 34%
(4) Late majority - 34%
(5) Laggards - 16%

Basically, early adopters shape opinions and influence their friends. We all know somebody who is always on the early edge of trends. The person who knows about a great band months before anybody else. The person who waited on line for the Nintendo Wii long before everyone else had one. Dr. Donald Berwick calls them "self-conscious experimenters," in a 2003 Journal of the American Medical Association article.

Many tech writers refer to what they call early adopter syndrome, or confess to being a technoholic, but all joking aside, you can get burned. Such as in the case with the iPhones. By the way, Apple is offering credits to appease iPhone's early adopters.

Buying new technology often means it's unproven and needs testing, but early adopters often forego the risk for the possible benefits.

Are you an early adopter? Do you know any early adopters? Do you think this theory of trend-setting makes sense?

The "Blow" press kit comes in a faux cocaine brick with several vials, a credit card and a mirror. It caused quite a stir in our mailroom.

"Coke", "snow", "the white lady" -- I'm not old enough to remember cocaine's heyday, but I've seen enough movies to get a good idea.

Fast forward to 2007 and another sort of heyday -- energy drinks. One of the newest ones on the market is seeking to re-create that Studio 54/"Boogie Nights" cocaine glory, and it has the name to go along with it -- "Blow."

"We're the first powdered energy drink in a resealable vial," says Logan Gola, "Blow's" creator. "It's powerfully effective and convenient to consume." [Editors note: Since this story originally ran, CNN was contacted by the founder of "Zipfizz" who told us that in fact his product was the first powdered energy drink in a resealable vial.]

The similarities don't end with the drink's name. "Blow" also comes in a small vial in white powder form. You simply pour this mixture of caffeine, taurine and other stimulants into any drink to soup it up.

But my concern when I first saw the stuff, apart from the obvious play on the illegal drug -- what if somebody poured this powder into another energy drink, creating a lethal high-caf' cocktail? Or if people took the cocaine allusion a little bit further and actually snorted Blow?

Not to worry says Dr. Eric Lavonas, a North Carolina ER doctor and spokesman for the American College of Emergency Physicians. Although he wouldn't recommend snorting it, he says "Blow" has a little less caffeine than a grande coffee from Starbucks. People who drink those will tell you they pack barely enough punch to get you to the next Starbucks for your second cup of the day.

While caffeine overdose can be serious business, Lavonas says it's not very easy to accomplish. "You most certainly can overdose enough on [caffeine] to die. You just have to really work at it."

So what are the risks associated with caffeine? For starters, too much caffeine when you're not used to it can cause serious problems. "Much as a 15-year-old has three mixed (alcoholic) drinks, he's going to be sick as heck, but that same 15-year-old when he's in college he'll be much less affected." says Lavonas. "If you come out of the blocks with this much caffeine, you're going to feel awful."

Other possible complications can include irritability, the jitters, and potentially serious heart arrhythmias. The bottom line, Lavonas says, "If somebody takes one or two of these things, they're going to feel awful, but it's not going to cause them serious harm."

Do you consume energy drinks? Have you had any bad experiences with them, or do they just give you a much-needed energy boost?

Are you one of those people who ignore the signs in hospitals telling you to turn off your cell phone? You're not alone. As I walk through my hospital, I see lots of people - patients and doctors alike talking on their phones, seemingly oblivious to any dangers they might be causing. In fact, if you asked most of these people, they would probably say their personal phone is unlikely to cause any sort of problem with patient care. Turns out they are wrong and the consequences could be serious.

A new Dutch study, published in the journal Critical Care, concluded that we should keep all cell phones, Blackberries and anything that transmits data back and forth off, and at a minimum of three feet away from any medical equipment. That's right. It doesn't matter if you are talking on it or not, simply having it on could cause a problem. The culprit is electromagnetic interference which, when simulated in the study, caused some pretty bizarre and life threatening problems.

The researchers found interference with a variety of machines, including one, a mechanical ventilator or breathing machine, which switched off and on. In other situations, a pacemaker didn't detect an EKG signal and an infusion pump stopped. Of course, in the study, no patients were being treated, but the implications were clear.

The worst offenders seem to be devices that are GPRS based or use WiFi and get on the internet. Previous studies, such as one from the Mayo Clinic, found no interference with normal phones and normal usage. As things stand right now, there are no national guidelines on cell phone usage in hospitals. My hospital, for example, allows no usage, whereas other places may be more liberal. A good rule of thumb, though, is to probably turn off your phone entirely when in intensive care units, emergency rooms and near operating room suites.

I think most people will hear this story and be more diligent about obeying the signs in hospitals. I am curious, though, about a couple of other related issues. What do you think about the use of cell phones on airplanes? Real problem or hype? And, also do any of you worry about a relationship between cell phone usage and brain tumors?

Doctors might not be listening to their patients as much as they should. A new study indicates that the issue is most problematic when it comes to patients reporting side effects to their doctors. The example the study authors used were statin medications - medications used to lower cholesterol. A lot of patients may not know this, but these medications can cause muscle pain, kidney failure and liver problems. These side effects are not common, but they do happen, so the study authors decided statins would provide a good test subject.

In a survey, published in Drug Safety, many of the 650 patients who were taking statin medications and having side effects said their physician either denied or didn't commit one way or another to the relationship between the drug and the side effect. Again, these were side effects that are well known among doctors, but around a third said there was no connection. 39 percent said a connection was possible and 29 percent "neither endorsed not dismissed" the possibility of a link.

Some of the strategies to deal with this problem include keeping a diary of side effects to better illustrate the relationship between medications and reactions. Of course, as difficult as it may be, read the package inserts and ask your pharmacist, nurse and doctor about possible side effects. If your health care team still dismisses your concerns, it might be time to find a new team.

While the point of this study wasn't to determine why doctors aren't listening as much as they should, the authors did draw some conclusions. They think, for example, the pharmaceutical industry, which helps doctors with drug education, is more interested in discussing the benefits of a drug while adverse effects are less likely to be represented. Another theory is that doctors are simply inundated with side effect information on a rapidly expanding medication list, and are unable to keep up with all of them. It was also suggested some doctors are simply too arrogant to listen to their patients and too pressed for time to pay attention. What do you think the problem might be and how do you get your doctor to listen?