April 15 – 21, 2007, is National Volunteer Week. The theme for this year’s National Volunteer Week is “Inspire by Example”.

In his proclamation of National Volunteer Week, President Bush states “During National Volunteer Week we celebrate the spirit of service in America and honor those who demonstrate the great character of our country through acts of kindness, generosity, and compassion”.

Visit the USA Freedom Corps website where you can learn more about National Volunteer Week, download the 2007 Volunteer Toolkit, or search for a volunteer opportunity in your area.

Read the President’s proclamation

270 Medicare recipients in Tennessee will soon have someone to help remind them when to take their medications. As part of a Medicare program to reduce hospitalizations, a new device called the Med-eMonitor will alert patients when it is time to take a pill.

These “smart pillboxes” will also monitor whether a patient has missed a dose or taken the wrong medication and send an alert over a standard phone line to a secure Internet site which will prompt a follow-up call from a health professional.

The Med-eMonitor is programmed with each patient’s individual schedule and alerts the patient with a sound – usually a song – when it is time to take medication.

Web-linked pillbox reminds patients to take meds

There’s more good news about berries, dark-colored berries especially. Berries contain antioxidants and vitamins that have been shown to inhibit the development of cancer of the esophagus, colon and oral cavity in animals. Now researchers want to see if they have the same effect in humans.

Berries contain phenolic compounds with high-antioxidant potential. Phenols called anthocyanins give berries their color. Dark berries, such as black raspberries and blackberries have a higher content of these anthocyanins.

Scientists at Ohio State University are conducting the research. This food-based approach to cancer prevention has many advantages, including the absence of toxicity of berries to humans.

Participants in the study are patients with early stage colon cancer will consume the equivalent of 2½ cups of black raspberries per day for 2 to 4 weeks. The patients have all undergone colonscopy prior to the study and tissue samples of their tumors taken. Following the study, physicians will again remove tumor tissue for study to see if the berry treatment had any effect on cell growth and tumor development.

OSU Studies Berries in Colon Cancer Prevention

Julian “Buddy” Singleton, 73, is deaf. He knows the daily frustrations of living in a hearing world and how isolating it can be. That’s why Singleton decided to plan a retirement home specifically for deaf seniors. The retirement home has 50 rooms, all of which are equipped with flashing doorbell, strobe-lights instead of fire alarms that ring, and special telephones.

But when organizers of the complex accepted federal funds, something came attached to the money: nondiscrimination rules that prevented them from accepting only deaf residents. As a result, the majority of the residents can hear.

It’s a result of our politically correct society that even in a retirement home built to improve quality of life and create society and community amongst hearing-impaired individuals, the government intrudes and creates obstacles in the name of anti-discrimination.