I have been working at CNN for six years, and I am delighted that this international network has let me report on HIV/AIDS every single year. From our documentary "RU+," to the special "House Call" airing this weekend, I have tried my level best to ensure the news about this infectious disease stays on the radar screen of Americans and everyone around the world.

It has not always been easy. I was told that because of the denial surrounding HIV, people were more likely to turn the channel. Even more reason, I said, to do these important stories. And, so I have been able to travel to Bangkok and Barcelona to cover international AIDS conferences. I traveled around the United States marveling at the development of new drug cocktails but also reporting on how expensive and inaccessible they sometimes were. I was in Kenya to bring the story of a prostitute who was mysteriously immune to HIV. Scientist probed and prodded looking for the cure deep in her body. In that case, they walked away empty-handed.

Another more nuanced point is that, in some ways, we have become the victims of our own success. Therapies have improved to the point where a person infected with the virus can live a normal life span. That good news led to a resurgence of high-risk behavior a few years ago, especially among young people so confident they could rely on pills if they ever became infected. There is even a test now that can pretty reliably tell you if you are infected within 60 seconds.

Again, these have been some very positive developments, but I wonder if as a result, people don't care about HIV/AIDS as much as they used to. I used to hear about charity runs and fund raisers along with a smattering of public service announcements, but they seem to have all but vanished. The thing I found most interesting was a recent accounting of the number of AIDS cases worldwide. If you glossed over the headlines recently, you may have heard that the number of HIV/AIDS cases dropped by more than 6 million during the past year alone. If you look a little more closely, you will find most of that drop was on paper alone. It was simply due to revised numbers showing that while the worldwide cases reached 39.5 million last year, there are 33.2 million this year. Keep in mind that although that decline is due mainly to number re-jiggering, it is safe to say the AIDS pandemic is starting to lose steam. Finally.

I have had a few long talks with Bono about this very issue. He always reminds me to "also tell people the good stories about HIV," and to show people how they are making a difference. So, on World AIDS Day, we should feel better about where we are with respect to this fight. But, still, we have a lot of work to do.

Simply keeping people interested and compassionate about this issue is a good start and I am eager to hear if you have any thoughts on how to do that.

Programming note: World AIDS Day is Saturday. Watch for special coverage this weekend on "House Call" with Dr. Sanjay Gupta at 8:30 a.m. ET

Brandy Cruthird started Fit Kidz to help make up for lost PE classes

Brandy Cruthird is an infectious person to be around. Whether she's doing the "Slide," pumping iron or practicing a few boxing moves, she makes you want to get up and get going. And that's her goal. A former college basketball player, Cruthird is now a fitness expert who runs her own gym, Body by Brandy, in the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston. Geared for family fitness, the gym is open to all age groups. But Cruthird realized early on that a lot of kids who needed physical activity weren't getting it because their families couldn't afford a gym and PE classes in many schools were non-existent. That's why she started her Fit Kidz program

Along with Children's Hospital Boston and Blue Cross/Blue Shield, she set up a program where kids (mostly from the inner city) are sent to the gym with a doctor's prescription. They're usually children who are overweight or are on the verge of becoming obese. The youngsters visit the gym free of charge and they participate in all kinds of activities, such as dancing, rock climbing and weight training. The purpose is to get kids active and set them up for healthier lives as adults.

According to the CDC, approximately 17 percent of children in this country are obese. And more than a third of those kids are living in the inner cities. Since many urban schools don't have the money to afford PE classes, city kids are left with dilapidated sandlots and basketball courts for their exercise. And most of the times, these facilities are located in dangerous neighborhoods. Many of these children end up at home, sitting in front of a TV set or a video game. That's unfortunate, because most kids need at least 30 minutes of exercise each day to stay fit.

Cruthird wants that to change and hopes she can expand her Fit Kidz program to other gyms across Massachusetts. She's psyched about the results, saying she's seen kids "lose weight...BMIs go down...When you see a child walk in and his head is down...now (his) head is up, shoulders are back and he's feeling good about himself...we can't buy that feel-good feeling."
Sounds like a positive start for a fit and productive future.

Do you know of inner city programs in your area that are helping kids? Tell us about them.

Programming note: For more on Brandy Cruthird and her Fit Kidz campaign, watch Dr. Sanjay Gupta's Fit Nation report on American Morning Friday 6a to 9a ET

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, overall obesity levels among adults have not increased in the past few years. They're quick to say that the numbers are still very high -- about 34 percent of us, or close to 72 million people! (Full Story)

Could it be that in the last two years, CNN's Fit Nation campaign contributed to the stalling out of these numbers? Maybe it was the Fit Nation Challenge? Or maybe it was our Fit Nation Summit with former President Clinton two weeks ago? Yeah, that's it! Sure!

OK, those were just shameless plugs, but the truth is, it's not so far-fetched to think that programs such as Fit Nation have contributed to obesity awareness and maybe even helped reduce the problem.

It's true that there's still a long way to go. For example, more than half of black and Hispanic women ages 40-59 are obese, compared with 39 percent of non-Hispanic white women, the CDC noted. We have to figure out how to close that gap.

As we've worked on Fit Nation over the past two years, I have seen a few recurring themes as we crossed the country.

1) Education -- Did you know that a tablespoon of ketchup has more sugar than an ounce of soda? You may not eat 12 tablespoons of ketchup in one sitting, but the calories, and the sugar will add up. Educating people on how to eat well and exercise, on what tests their doctors should be doing to check for high cholesterol and high blood pressure, and on what they should be teaching their children is essential in the fight against obesity.

2) Awareness -- Did you know that obesity-related disease is the second-highest preventable cause of death in Americans? Second only to smoking? As President Clinton has said over and over again in his public campaign to reduce childhood obesity: "Overweight and obesity threaten to make this generation of children the first to live shorter lifespans than their parents." Did you catch that?? Despite all of the medical advances we've made over the last 20 years, obesity may cause our children's life spans to DECREASE.

3) Responsibility/Accountability -- It is a fact that high-fructose corn syrup and partially hydrogenated vegetable oils are in many of the foods we eat. Parents and schools must take responsibility for ensuring that children are eating healthier foods. Political leaders must take responsibility for holding food manufacturers accountable for what they put into foods; and food manufacturers and providers must take responsibility for serving their customers healthy foods.

4) Innovation -- Despite the progress, there are still close to 200 million American adults who are overweight or obese, and we must find innovative ways to help get American moving and eating right. We've seen some incredible programs around the country:

Marathon Kids is a great example. By encouraging kids to run a marathon over the course of six months and log their progress, Kay Morris is making change.

LaDonna Redmond is building urban farmsites in some of the most dangerous areas of Chicago, where guns and drugs are more available than fruits and vegetables. She is making change.

Todd Sisneros, our Fit Nation Contest winner from 2006, is a PE teacher who saw that his students were too sedentary. With just a home video camera, he made an exercise DVD for every one of his students. Todd is making change.

Kaboom, an organization we plan to work with in 2008 and beyond is building playgrounds in underserved areas across the country. By building safe playspaces "within walking distance of every child in America," Kaboom is making change.

President Clinton, the American Heart Association and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation came together and formed The Alliance for a Healthier Generation. They are working on several projects including plans to get healthier food in schools. They are making change.

And our friends at Cartoon Network with their "Get Animated" program are helping to bring recess back into schools across the country, and to get kids more active, more of the time. They are making change.

You may think I'm overstating it, but the truth is, all of these solutions, along with countless others I have not mentioned, are helping to stop obesity in its tracks. I can only hope Fit Nation has had a small part in that.

What are your thoughts? My colleague Val Willingham and I have been blogging extensively on this topic. Has that helped you make any change?

My daughter didn't come home for Thanksgiving this year. A junior at Syracuse, this was the first time she was away from our house on a major holiday. She decided to spend it with a boy she's known a few months and took off for Boston. She had turkey, cranberries and pumpkin pie with a family I don't even know. To say I was upset is an understatement. Since she's my only child, the blow was pretty tough.

Psychologists will tell me however, that actions like this are age appropriate, and that I shouldn't take it so hard. Teenagers and kids of college age often don't think before they do. You can have a straight "A" student one minute, who's loving and kind and thoughtful and in the next instant, a child who seems not to care at all about others' feelings.

The experts say it has to do with brain development. Seems that after the age of 13, the brain in a young adult outwardly looks just like a brain of someone in his or her late 20s, but it doesn't process information as well. The part of the brain that helps us make logical and rational decisions is just developing in a teen and usually it's not fully functional until the early to mid-20s. Since that part of the brain is still not mature, it can't handle stress and decision-making as well as a full-grown adult brain. It overloads. That can lead to judgments that an adult brain might not make.

Have you ever wondered about your teens and why they do the things they do? How one moment they can recite the Gettysburg Address backwards and the next minute they can't even put on clean clothes? Scientists say the brain is to blame.

I have a friend whose daughter is a freshman at Emory University, one of the finest educational institutions in the country. She's bright, talented and a great student. Last month, she needed to fax a document to her father for him to sign. Her dad gave her his number at work and waited for her to send the fax. After an hour, he called and asked why he had not received it. She said she was in the media room in her dorm and she couldn't get the fax to work, even though the light was working. After talking to her for a few minutes, it became apparent that his daughter wasn't using the fax machine, she was making copies.

That's a funny story, and after my Thanksgiving, I can relate.

But many times teens make choices that have long-term and far-reaching consequences: heavy drinking, smoking, taking drugs, having unprotected sex and even thinking of suicide. The teenage brain, although underdeveloped, is also a complex mish-mash of anxiety and confusion. Because of its complexity, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh are now to trying to map how the teen brain functions. They hope by pinpointing some of the irregularities in the young brain, they can prevent some of these potentially damaging behaviors from ever taking place.

As for my daughter, I assume she's back at Syracuse. I am still hurt by her choice to spend Thanksgiving away from her family. But I won't stay angry long. I understand this is a time for her to grow. I love her.

But next year, she better be eating green bean casserole at our house.

How do you cope when your children's actions don't match your parental expectations?

You've read the news about stem cells and the experts' comments. "It's the beginning of the end of the controversy," is how Dr. James Thomson put it. He ought to know because he created the first human embryonic stem cell line nearly 10 years ago and led one of the two research teams that developed new stem cells from mature skin cells.

I've covered stem cells for about seven years now. In that time, I have received hundreds of news releases from researchers and companies touting their discovery of "adult stem cells that work just as well as embryonic stem cells, but without all the controversy." Some extremely legit - like Dr. Helen Blau's research at Stanford that turned nerve cells into different nerve cells. And some less proved. Remember "stem cells from fat"?

Until now adult stem cells - cells taken from skin or bone marrow or the heart - were able to be coaxed into only a few other types of cells. Embryonic stem cells, taken from four or five day old existing embryos, have the ability to turn into any cell in the body. But that destroys the embryo and brings on controversy. Creating brand new, personalized embryonic stem cells still hasn't been done in humans. The process to create them is cloning, and that leads to another huge controversy altogether.

Legitimate researchers on the adult and embryonic stem cell side have agreed on two points for a long time: Politics are interfering with good research and research on both types of cells must continue. Tuesday's breakthrough with adult stem cells did not change that. We might find that those created in the new way work better for certain diseases and embryonic cells for others.

But the politics and limited funding have severely slowed progress in the field. Six years ago, President Bush decided to allow very limited federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. People who were sick then and are still waiting for a cure know how slow progress has been.

The speed of progress with stem cells should now change dramatically. For more than a year many labs have been working on creating these types of new cells, ever since Dr. Shinya Yamanaka published a paper last year showing what these cells can do in mice. Now that research by the teams of Yamanaka and Thomson shows that human cells can be reprogrammed too, many more labs will want to work on this. Federal funding for adult stem cell research is easier to come by.

"This opens this up to a huge field," according to Dr. John Gearhart, a long-time stem cell researcher at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. He says now researchers "don't have to learn how to work with embryonic stem cells" because it's a simple process to create these new stem cells. "This is going to become a very common technology."

What Thomson and Yamanaka still need to figure out is how closely these new stem cells resemble those taken from embryos. Thomson expects that will take another year or two.

Are these new cells safe to be transplanted into humans? That still has to be determined. So it's unlikely we'll see humans treated with these cells any time soon.

According to Dr. George Dalay, director of the International Society for Stem Cell Research, "No one knows when, if ever, human stem cells will be placed into patients," but this breakthrough makes "stem cells as tools for research immediately valuable." Scientists will use these stem cells to study diseases in a petri dish. Drug research is another area where these new stem cells will have immediate application.

Both types of research will continue - controversial and non-controversial. Without the knowledge gained from the last decade of embryonic stem cell research, these new stem cells couldn't have been created Thomson told reporters.

And as Gearhart told me, "I think there was a small group of us (stem cell researchers) years ago, who thought the information we would get from stem cells would be more important than the embryonic stem cells themselves."

It may still take a few years to get actual results in people from these tiny cells. But progess should be made a little faster now.

Do you know an autistic adult?

Since first meeting 27-year-old Amanda Baggs at her home in Vermont, I've asked just about everyone I know this very question. Surprisingly few people have met adults with autism, but an overwhelming majority knows a child living with the disorder.

That's no surprise, given that the latest CDC statistics say 1 in 150 children has autism. Boys alone have a 1 out of 94 chance of developing it. The rise may be due, at least in part, to a broader awareness and diagnostic criteria under autism spectrum disorder. But without a doubt, the numbers mean a whole new generation of children will be growing up with autism.

CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta and our team have done many stories on autism over the years. Much of our reporting focuses on one approach - detect and treat as early as possible. Everything from behavioral therapy to autism's possible relation to vaccines to alternative therapies including surfing, auditory processing or even swimming with dolphins. That's because much of the research on autism is focused solely on identifying it and intervening while a child is still young. For most parents and doctors, helping an autistic child is about reducing their autistic symptoms and behaving more like a typical, non-autistic child.

But we wanted to find out what happens to those people who don't change, those who go on to live with their autism with all of its challenges and all of its joys. That's when we met Amanda Baggs. She's a young woman living without a guardian. She may not be able to speak or form words in the traditional sense, but she has a loud message for the world when it comes to autism and disabled people. From her small town in Vermont, she has made a name for herself on the Internet. We first profiled her in February. For hundreds of thousands of viewers, she redefined what it means to be autistic. Click here to watch Amanda Baggs, "In My Language" and here to read her responses to viewers.

Amanda Baggs has a strong message for parents of autistic children. She types as a computer voice reads her words: "Listen to other autistic people. In fact, expose autistic children to a wide variety of autistic adults. It may be the autistic adults who do have either typing or speech who are far more equipped to be able to communicate with other autistic people."

It's such a basic concept - introducing young autistic boys and girls to autistic men and women. But finding older autistic individuals is often the last thing on parents' minds when their son or daughter's autism is diagnosed. Jenny McCarthy, actress and bestselling author of "Louder than Words: A Mother's Journey in Healing Autism," was one of them. She recently appeared on CNN's Larry King Live.

Jenny McCarthy and Larry King aren't the only ones who are trying to learn more about the process of raising a child with autism. As I reported from the "Autism National Committee" annual meeting last month, parents told me that there is an acceptance process with autism. Louisa Smith, mother of a 5-year-old, told me that she was still in the sad phase of her son's diagnosis. "I just want him to live a happy life. There are actually happy adults here living with autism. I didn't think that was possible when they first told me he was autistic."

Scientifically, so little is known about autism. We don't know the precise cause. There is no cure or proven prevention. On a human level, there is so much knowledge to be learned. Tonight, you'll meet Amanda Baggs and people like her in Dr. Sanjay Gupta's special report "Finding Amanda." She will be your guide into the world of living an autistic life to the fullest.

by Ben Leach
CNN Medical Intern

I was barely 16, in biology class - and had to run. Literally. Imagine getting your hand on the hall pass - desperate to go - only to find the boy's room locked, to keep out smokers. You have no idea what that means to a guy with Crohn's disease. Another time, I had to be taken out of class in a wheelchair.

I'm just one out of 25 million Americans living with a chronic disease. The CDC says seven out of every 10 people Americans die a year from them. I was just 16 years old when I was told I had Crohn's disease, an inflammatory bowel disease usually diagnosed in patients between the ages of 18 and 35. About half a million Americans suffer from the same thing - another half a million suffer from its GI cousin, colitis. Symptoms include abdominal and rectal pain and diarrhea. It's a disease you can manage, but not cure. For me, a high school sophomore, I lost weight and felt weak and experienced a laundry list of humiliating symptoms from abscesses in my posterior to constant trips to the bathroom. I went from perfect attendance in school to missing weeks of class at a time. I had no clear idea what was happening to my body, and I wondered - and feared - about my future.

But as confusing for a kid as the diagnosis was, the treatment course also was difficult. I was prescribed a corticosteroid to reduce inflammation, which on faith - and, doctor's orders - I took every day. Bad call. Not only did it not manage the progression of my disease or make me feel better, it caused bone loss - and I ended up with osteoporosis as a teenager. Later, I was given an infusion that worked wonders for a time, but eventually my body developed antibodies to it.

So there I was - sick - with treatments that didn't help me - they hurt me. But I learned something very valuable. I learned to speak up. I sought out a doctor who knew something about Crohn's disease. I found treatments that worked, and by late in my junior year in college, I had my disease under control.

I was determined not to let others make the same mistakes I made. I started training in a local pharmacy to become a pharmacy technician because I wanted to learn more about medicine. I learned about an array of drugs - not just the ones I was taking. I realized I wasn't alone, and had plenty of firsthand knowledge to share both as a patient and behind the counter.

I also found I had a passion for medical reporting, which brought me to CNN's medical unit. I have learned that it's ultimately all about asking questions. When my disease was diagnosed, I wasn't asking nearly enough questions. Now, working alongside journalists and researching stories, I've found answers: My personal agony as a patient has made me realize I want to be asking the questions that help others with chronic diseases find their own solutions as I continue my path to medical reporting.

Living with a chronic illness forces you to find your own definition of "normal." I spend a good deal of time looking at statistics - I knew I didn't want to be one of them - and on education and sharing information. It's my way of not being just a number, but living my life - and living well - with Crohn's disease.

Do you live with a chronic disease? What's worked for you? We'd love to hear from you.

In my entire life, I have never taken a sick day. Now, I know that is not necessarily anything to be proud about - but I really just never get sick. Through hundred hour-plus work weeks as a neurosurgical resident and even two small children, I have been remarkably immune. So, as I lay around the last several days nursing a broken hand, I started to go a little stir crazy. I don't like simply sitting around or being pushed into some sort of forced relaxation. Still, there I was. Feeling sorry for myself and driving my wife crazy.

For me, it started while covering the wildfires in San Diego. Getting by on just a couple of hours of sleep several days in a row finally caught up with me. I was walking toward my live shot location, when I suddenly found myself at the bottom of a flight of stairs. I was so tired that I never even saw them, until I was lying flat on my back at the bottom of them. Of course, as I heard people scurrying toward me to see if I was OK, I immediately sprang to my feet - mainly out of embarrassment. "I'm alright," I shouted for all to hear. At the same time, I took my wildly distorted left ring finger and twisted it back into place. That hurt. Badly. It was the sort of core pain that nearly drops you to your knees. Even then, I thought it was just a bad sprain.

So, I continued on to my colleague Kiran Chetry. She took one look at me and asked, "What's wrong?" "What?" I replied. "Nothing." She's one of those women who just knows when something is off --- or maybe I was grimacing like a crazy man. Who knows? I still did a couple of segments about my investigations the day before, all the time watching my hand balloon up to the size of a boxing glove. Chris Gajilan, my producer, had enough and off to the ER we went.

At Scripps hospital in San Diego, they could not have been nicer. While telling me how badly messed up my hand was, they still smiled. The ER doctor walked in, chuckled in an amused way and said the hand surgeon was already on his way in. It was 4 a.m. Turns out, I had a spiral fracture of my fourth metacarpal on my left hand. That's a pretty nasty fracture where the bone not only breaks, but also rotates. "Could I wait to go home for the operation?" I asked. After all, I wanted to follow up with my own doctors in Atlanta. Reluctantly, they agreed.

Two days later I lay in the holding room at Emory Clinic, while Dr. Gary McGillivary sharpened his knives in the next room. He quickly placed two pins in my hand to hold me in place, and then a cast to hold the pins in place. Honestly, I barely remember anything. They gave me 2 mg of Versed, which is an antegrade amnesiac, and I slept through the whole thing. Lightweight.

Well, I wanted to blog today (it took me two hours to do this as I am typing with one finger) to simply say thank you to all the nice people who have e-mailed and sent their well wishes. By all reports, I will be fine. Within another few weeks, I hope to be back to operating myself. My hand surgeon is confident that won't be a problem. In fact, just yesterday, my physical therapist told me I was the best patient she had ever worked with. My wife wasn't buying it.

Tap. Tap. Tap. Typing has never been my strong suit. Trained monkeys type faster than I do. But these days, it's even worse. And it's painful. If I type for more than a few minutes, my elbow and wrist hurt like the dickens. Since writing (and subsequently typing) is the way I make my lunch money, I decided to seek professional help before it got really bad. After a few X-rays and a little poking and twisting, the doctor gave me the bad news. Turns out I have carpal tunnel syndrome. Now, I am wearing a VERY attractive black brace and I am popping ibuprofen ever few hours. Oh, the hazards of an office job!

Curious, I decided to do some checking on work related injuries. Just last week, the U.S. Department of Labor released new statistics on work injuries that require time off. Overall, the news is good: The number of injuries was down 6 percent in 2006. Among the other interesting findings:

* Nursing aides, orderlies and attendants had the most days away from work -- four times the total for all other occupations.

* Sprains and strains were the top cause of injury.

* Men were more likely to be injured than women.

* And interestingly enough, the overall cases of carpal tunnel syndrome decreased by 21 percent. (Apparently my wrist and elbow didn't get the memo.)

But here's the statistic that really jumped out at me: Assaults and violent acts increased by 10 percent. Against women, they were up 21 percent. Health care and social assistance workers took the brunt of the abuse -- 60 percent of incidents happened to them and were committed by people they were trying to help.

Hearing that puts my little inconvenience in perspective. I am curious: Do you have any interesting work injury stories? Do you think your employer does enough to keep you safe? Any advice?

I will end it here. My arm needs a break.

Pump and blow. These are the basic tenets of CPR. Sounds simple, and it is, yet millions of Americans are not trained.

Why does this matter? Because only 1 in 10 people who suffer cardiac arrest outside of a hospital setting will survive. That statistic is worth repeating: 1 in 10 survive, meaning 9 of 10 will DIE.

This is an abysmal number, and the only way to improve upon it is for Americans to learn CPR.

In response to that urgent need, the small, student-run EMS service at Emory University here in Atlanta, Georgia, recently held the largest CPR training event in history.

"We trained over 600 people in 3 days," said Josh Rozell, chief of Emory EMS. "If we had only trained one person in CPR and that person had saved a life, we would be successful."

They're using a new technique called CPR Anytime -- a kit that's available to anyone for about $30 from the American Heart Association -- that employs a pay-it-forward-like idea.

In a one-hour session, you learn how to perform CPR using this kit. You then take the kit home and use it to teach five of your friends. Each of them can borrow your kit or buy one of his or her own, and share it with five friends, and so on. The number of trained life savers increases exponentially.

In fact, in Atlanta, a city with one of the worst cardiac arrest survival rates, Mayor Shirley Franklin employed this technique to get more than 30,000 city employees trained in CPR in about six months.

I can't save you the $30 it costs to get this kit, but, as an EMT myself, I can at least share the basics of CPR with you here, with the help of the American Heart Association's Heartsaver CPR instructions. Who knows? It could help you save a life, but it does not replace a CPR course!

Remember, you should not attempt to do CPR if the victim is conscious or breathing or if doing CPR puts your life in danger (for example, on the side of busy a highway).

Step 1: Shake and shout

If you see someone collapse or lying on the ground motionless, make sure they're not just asleep. Sounds silly, but they won't be too happy with you if they are just asleep, and you start pumping on their chest, so just shake them and shout "Hey! Can you hear me? Are you OK?"


Step 2: Call 911

If the victim does not respond, call 911. This should go without saying, but you'd be surprised how easy it is to forget this step in the heat of the moment.


Step 3: Open the airway

Oftentimes, when unconscious, a person's tongue can obstruct the airway. The easiest way to remedy this is to simply tilt the head back. So, place one palm on the person's forehead, and 2 fingers from the other hand under their chin, and tilt backwards gently.


Step 4: Check for breathing

Spend about 10 seconds looking at the victim's chest, listening to hear whether he or she is breathing, and attempting to feel the person breathing on your cheek.


Step 5: Rescue breaths

With the victim's head tilted slightly, pinch the nose and give 2 breaths (1 second each) into the victim's mouth.


Step 6: Begin chest compressions

Quickly move or remove clothes from the front of the chest that will get in the way of doing compressions. Place the heel and palm of one hand on the center of the victim's chest, directly between the nipples. Put the heel of your other hand on top of the first hand and push straight down on the chest 1.5 to 2 inches with each compression. Push hard and fast, at a rate of 100 compressions a minute.


Step 7: 30:2 ratio

Do 30 chest compressions, followed by two more breaths. Continue to do cycles of 30 compressions and two breaths until the victim regains consciousness, someone arrives with an automated external defibrillator, or AED (you may have seen these in airports, shopping malls and other public spaces) or professional help arrives.

These are the basic steps, and they can help you save lives. These instructions by no means replace a CPR course, and I would encourage you to find a course in your area by clicking here, or purchase a CPR Anytime kit for you and your family by clicking here.

I'm curious... Would you be more likely to learn CPR if you could do it in the comfort of your own home for only a few bucks?

Imagine not being able to smell a rose or the pungent aroma of a cup of coffee? As we age, our ability to smell diminishes. In some cases, as much as 60 percent as we reach our so-called golden years. Our smell peaks in our late 20s or early 30s, and gradually declines after that.

Some people are more vulnerable to infections or viruses that cause them to lose their sense of smell altogether. The condition is called anosmia. The viruses seem to attack the nerve cells, which are located in the upper part of the nasal cavity, causing the loss of smell.

What's it like to lose your sense of smell completely? Try this: Take three jellybeans, with strong flavors such as licorice, banana, and coffee. Put them all in a baggie, close your eyes and pick one. Then hold your nose tightly and place the jellybean in your mouth. You can tell it's sweet, but I bet you can't figure out the flavor. Now let go of your nose and smell the aroma? See? If you can't smell, you can't enjoy the pleasure of food.

It's not just food. Think of what it would be like if you couldn't smell smoke or natural gas -- it could be dangerous.

Women usually develop anosmia in their 40s or 50s after suffering from a serious sinus infection, usually brought on by a common cold. Although some men contract it, middle-age women are more susceptible, because, doctors think, their immune systems are more fragile as they go through menopause.

Physicians say the condition can be treated with medication, but the medicine does have side effects. Many people take vitamins loaded with antioxidants to regain their smell, but it takes time and in most cases the smell never comes back 100 percent.

So when you smell cauliflower cooking on the stove this Thanksgiving, don't think, "Ewwwww"; appreciate the fact you can smell it at all.

The fit buddies "after" picture

It's been four months since you've heard from the Fit Buddies - Ed Lavandera, Stacia Deshishku and me -- so here's an update on how everyone's doing. I also wanted to give you a chance to make your voices heard about obesity and Fit Nation.

Stacia says

The premise of the Fit Buddies experiment was that if you do something for 12 weeks, it becomes a habit, but unfortunately habits are too easily broken!

I wish I could say that I'm working out as hard and watching my diet as closely as I did when I was on the Fit Buddy program - but that wouldn't be true. I'm a journalist, and the facts do matter.

So here goes the confessional.

I'm still going to the gym, though not as regularly. I took off a few weeks - unintentionally – because of vacation and an illness. Going "off course" allowed me to slip back into my bad habits. Getting back in the gym has been harder and harder each time I'm away. It always feels as if I'm starting over from scratch. Depressing.

But don't fear. I'm NOT giving up. This is a commitment by me -- to me - not to or for anyone else. I'm only cheating myself by staying out of the gym and eating all that Halloween candy! I'm committed to changing my lifestyle for the better.

Though I haven't been in the gym as consistently as before, I have spent more time walking/hiking - and reconnecting with friends. What a great way to get my heartbeat going. I'm also realizing that exercise isn't one size fits all. Some is better than none, and I get bored easily. So my new mantra is: Mix it up. Spend time outdoors. Combine catch-up time with friends - which is good for my mental health, with time exercising, which is good for my physical health.


Ed's take

In the four months since we ended the formal Fit Buddies program, I've kept off all the weight I lost between April and July. That's a great feeling and a big accomplishment.

But I want to keep going and I definitely miss not having someone like Robert working on my exercise routine.

I have found that when I work out regularly I want to eat better.

My travel schedule has been incredibly intense the last few months so my routine is out of whack. I'll work out well for a week and then miss the gym for a week. That's frustrating. I'm not giving up and I look forward to losing more weight.


And finally, Matt

I'm doing pretty well too! I've managed to keep all of the weight off, but I've gotten busy again at work and have let that derail my exercise plan. (I know, more excuses). My fiancee and I have started running, but admittedly, we don't do it often enough. The thing that's really stuck with me are my eating habits. We're cooking dinner more, eating out much less. Eating is now more a chore than a treat! (I never thought I'd say that!)

Speaking of work getting busier, we're gearing up for the First Annual Fit Nation Solution Summit next Wednesday in New York City. CNN’s chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, will be joined by former President Bill Clinton, New York City Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Frieden and many of our other Fit Nation friends to discuss solutions. We'd love to hear from you!

If you have a question for President Clinton, Dr. Gupta or any of our obesity experts, submit them on tape by clicking here for our I-Report page, or even leave your question on the blog. I'll make sure to take them to New York with me next week.

Thanks for all of your support throughout Fit Buddies! Make sure to stop by CNN.com/Fitnation in the coming weeks to check out our plans for 2008 and to take the Fit Nation Challenge!

I love seasonal things: the leaves turning in Central Park, black tights and especially skiing - so why is it I much prefer to "spring forward," and feel a little off when it's time to "fall back?"
Biologically - I may have it backwards.

Nights get longer, days get shorter - but as counterintuitive as it sounds, new research suggests we should actually feel a little better when we move back from daylight saving time to standard time, at 2 a.m. Sunday, than we do come spring.

It has to do with your circadian clock, which - even more than your BlackBerry alarm- is your brain's master timekeeper. It governs sleep and wake cycles and body functions. Circadian rhythms naturally follow the sun in terms of sleep patterns, providing synchronicity as the seasons change. It's not just we humans who are affected by circadian cycles - they govern rhythmic changes in the behavior and physiology of most species.

When you feel alert - sleepy - want to eat, even the urge to urinate (less frequently at night) - all circadian.

Now, a large German study looks at what happens when man fools with Mother Nature's clock. Analyzing subjects who kept sleep records, researchers found sleeping patterns work clockwise, and the end of daylight savings time is how the body naturally wants to work - and our sleep and peak activity levels readily adjust.

But the study found when daylight-saving time kicks in come March and we lose that hour of sleep, it goes against our natural circadian rhythm - and we feel out of whack.

This should fuel the argument that daylight saving time - practiced by one-fourth of the world - messes with human physiology more than it should. Keep in mind, daylight saving time didn't evolve to get us in sync with the universe - it's a man-made thing designed to save energy.

So what if you're NOT feeling so energetic as you fall back, as we theoretically should?

We are in for shorter days, and that may burden folks who suffer from seasonal affective disorder. You may feel tired, blue or crave carbs - all telltale symptoms of SAD. Experts say the best way to deal with that is to maximize your exposure to light (natural light is best,) plus, exercise in the morning and regulate your sleep schedule.

Does changing the clock affect how you feel? We'd like to hear from you.