Learn about the fellowship named in his honor.

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Eric Von

Publisher/Editor

Often, only one person in the household is responsible for maintaining the family budget and managing the household's finances - and if you're reading this, that person is probably you. But what if you died or became incapacitated and could no longer manage the budget? Or what if you're just tired of managing everything yourself, or your partner wants to become more involved in your household's finances? How do you teach your partner everything you know?

I kid you not, there is something called, “sitting disease”. It’s real, so no matter how much you may be inclined to giggle a bit at the name, know that there is someone out there who fits the profile of this new medical phenomenon.

It’s brought on mostly it seems, because of the world we live in today. Sitting at our desks at work, sitting on the couch at home watching television or checking our email or playing video games, whatever our activity, we may be sitting too much. We used to get up and do our banking; now we do it online from the comfort of our sofas or home offices.

There are certain foods we eat that contribute heavily to our stress level. Knowing what those foods or snacks are is important if we are experiencing high levels of anxiety in our day. Cutting back or even cutting out these foods from our diets can lead to better health.

Sounds simple, but to do this, for many is extremely difficult.

From eliminating energy drinks to spicy foods from our diets, reducing your stress level can be as easy as watching what we eat and drink.

Today’s epidemic of overweight and obesity threatens the historic progress we have made in increasing American’s quality and years of healthy life. The hard facts:

• Two-thirds of adults and nearly one in three children are overweight or obese.
• The prevalence of obesity in the U.S. more than doubled (from 15% to 34%) among adults and more than tripled (from 5% to 17%) among children and adolescents from 1980 to 2008.
• An obese teenager has over a 70% greater risk of becoming an obese adult.
• Obesity is more common among non-Hispanic black teenagers (29%) than Hispanic teenagers (17.5%) or non-Hispanic white teenagers (14.5%).

Meaningful Reward

To stop the obesity epidemic in this country, we must remember that Americans will be more likely to change their behavior if they have a meaningful reward - something more than just reaching a certain weight or dress size. The real reward has to be something that people can feel and enjoy and celebrate. That reward is invigorating, energizing, joyous health. It is a level of health that allows people to embrace each day and live their lives to the fullest – without disease, disability, or lost productivity. To be a nation that is Healthy and Fit.

Short and sweet, it is healthy and important to laugh every day. It makes you happy. It releases stress. It helps you focus on what’s important. Remember not to sweat the small stuff and then remind yourself that it’s all small stuff. Finally, laughter helps you live longer.

Find opportunities to laugh and you will feel better and strengthen bonds with those around you.

To provide you with an opportunity to laugh, we introduce a new comic strip, Murphy & The Baking Lady.

Follow along on Murphy’s journey as he and The Baking Lady address health in a lighthearted way.

May it change your health, and may it make you laugh!

Read the first strip.

Report says it topped $245 billion in 2012; increase reflects growing number of people with the disease

Wednesday, March 6, 2013 - The total cost of diabetes in the United States jumped from $174 billion in 2007 to $245 billion in 2012, a new report shows.

Last year's total cost included $176 billion in direct medical costs -- such as hospital and emergency care, medications and office visits -- and $69 billion in indirect costs, including work absenteeism, reduced productivity, unemployment caused by diabetes-related disability and lost productivity due to early death. The 2012 cost represents a 41 percent increase from 2007.

Nearly 26 million adults and children in the United States have diabetes and another 79 million have prediabetes, which places them at increased risk for developing the disease.

                    Robert Preidt, HealthDay News

In August of 2011, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a report that detailed the rise and rapid rate of escalation of HIV among young, African American males. Young men between the ages of 13 and 29 are fast becoming the most infected class in the nation. Contributing greatly to the rise, according to the CDC, is young men having sex with other men. Their mates are most often older men…significantly older men who are the most likely group to already be infected with HIV.