For over a year now, on and off, I've experienced neck pain when
swallowing. The pain is on the left side of my neck, about 3 inches
above my collar bone. It's not a stabbing pain, but it is
uncomfortable, and I really expected it to have waned by now.

World Health Organization results: Passive Smoking in Childhood
Prevents Lung Cancer
http://members.iinet.net.au/~ray/WHO.html
ray@iinet.com.au

There's these tv ads that run in the middle of the day for Vaginal
Rejuvenation.  What the heck is that???

If I were an athlete scheduled to compete in China for the 2008
Olympics, I would refuse to go out of principles.
That dirty air and air pollution and global warming which China is not
doing anything to solve, is more important

My mother, who is 86 yrs old, has renal failure probably caused by her
multiple myeloma. Her doctors have said that because of her poor
health, an attempt at haemo- or peritoneal dialysis would most likely
kill her. Her high blood urea level is also contributing to heart

First, let me say that I am not a medical expert.  I'm not even in the
medical profession, but I have a better than average of biology and
keep up to date with health news.
The condition of diarrhea really brought this up.  I ended up in the

You hear stories everyday about someone living as one sex, but feeling
like they belong to the other.
From what I understand, which is little, a chimera potentially
contains the recipe for both sexes.  It can also cause someone to have

Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2007 Apr 9; [Epub ahead of print]
Iron deficiency influences the course of malaria in Plasmodium berghei
infected mice.
Koka S, Foller M, Lamprecht G, Boini KM, Lang C, Huber SM, Lang F.

Does anyone know whether it may be possible to use the skin itself as
a dialysis membrane?  Could urea and other blood toxins be somehow
coaxed out from the skin capillaries by osmosis, perhaps by soaking
the patient in a hot bath?

IMAGINE a country where hundreds of millions of small-time "farmers"
lacking running water and modern plumbing, earning less than $200 a
year, and wearing trousers made with a slit up the rear crotch to
permit them to crap where they tend their crops.  Crops, food that

I am a first time poster to this group so please tell me if this topic
would be better suited for a different group.
I have a couple of questions but first let me give some background on
me.

I am scheduled to have my gallbladder removed on next Thursday at
2:30PM by laporoscopy.  I am wodering if anyone who has had this
surgery can tell me if they were able to travel in a car for a trip
the next day.  My wife and I plan to drive from Knoxville to Louisiana

How does the whole blood donation thing work.  how does the market
work?  Why do they give so little when donating for blood, but charge
so much for it at the hospital?  Is there something unethical going
on?  Is there a web page or something that explains this?

Prison fact of the day
           Percentage of American adults held in
           either prison or mental institutions in
           1953 and today, respectively: 0.67, 0.68

Nearly a month ago I came into the Urgent Care clinic with an asthma
attack. I was given two breathing treatments, a shot of corticosteroid
and a prescription for a short course of prednisone (or
methylprednisone) as well as a prescription for a rescue inhaler. A