Everybody is talking about it. It’s shaping up to be one of the worst flu seasons in years. And, with all the commotion It never fails, we hear it every year - “Nah man, I don’t mess with the flu shot! The last time I got it, it gave me the flu!” Or, the always classic “Why would I get that shot again? Last year I got it, and still got the flu!”. With that being said, we decided to sit down and put together a short article on why getting the flu shot won’t give you the flu, but also why it can’t guarantee you won’t get it either.
THE BASICS: Without getting too “sciency” on you, lets talk about the flu shot itself. When you get a flu shot, what you’re actually getting is what’s known as a “dead virus”, which means the virus in the shot is, well, dead. “There is simply no way that the flu vaccine can give you the flu,” says Christine Hay, MD, assistant professor at the University of Rochester Medical Center. “It’s impossible” (we’ll explain why it’s impossible later).
[ Hurt-Locker #002 ] : From Ear To There (Part 1 of 2)
Dana White, the President of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), is a man best known for making Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) news headlines for what comes out of his mouth, but more recently has been in the news for what’s going on in his ear.
White recently shared with the MMA world that he suffers from an inner ear problem known as Ménière’s disease (pronounced min-yairs). And, in true transparent Dana White fashion, he’s opened up about his battle with the condition, the treatment he’s receiving and his beef with doctor’s who wont give him the surgery he thinks he needs. In part one ofthis edition of The Hurt-Locker we’ll help make sense of what Ménière’s disease is, what causes it and how it’s treated.
The Basics - The Ear, What It Is, What It Does And How It’s Supposed To Work:
The general ear anatomy can be broken down into three major parts: The outer ear, which is basically the stuff you can see on the side of your head (i.e. earlobe, some of the ear canal etc, etc). The middle ear, this area starts behind the eardrum; when most people talk about having an “ear infection” this is the space they’re most often talking about. Last we have the inner ear, there is a lot going on here and this will be the area we focus on the most when talking about Ménière’s disease.
Hip Hop Health Heroes (HHHH): KRS-One
“Health has a lot to do with controlling the five senses. If you do not control your five senses, it’s almost impossible to stay healthy.” – KRS-ONE (Knowledge Reigns Supreme Over Nearly Everyone)
Hip Hop has the potential to make people healthier. And when we say that, we are not referencing corny fitness dudes like Shaun T of “Hip Hop abs.” The potential is referring to the healthy ideals of cultural icons in the game. For example, one can easily learn a healthy lifestyle from observing the spiritual focus of a Russell Simmons, the physical dedication of an LL Cool J, or the nutritional practices of a KRS-ONE. In a generation where social media has allowed fans to connect to celebrities like never before, there is a tremendous potential for artists to spread the gospel of healthy living (that is if they choose to be role models). With premature health-related deaths of some of the game’s most respected figures last year (i.e. Heavy D, Nate Dogg), the Hip Hop community has recognized the importance of healthy living more than ever before. In one interview, KRS-ONE offers some scholarly wisdom about the roots of Hip Hop as he says, “Hip Hop is a strategy. If you can just remember this one point. The one point that a lot of people forget is that in the 70’s, Hip Hop started as a strategy. It was a strategy to help you have better health, better wealth, and a better awareness of yourself or your environment. It was a strategy.”
Let’s resurrect the strategy.
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Bruised, Battered And Broken.
[ Injury-Duty Hurt Locker ] : There is a thin line between bravery and stupidity, and at UFC #140 Antonio Nogueira proved that telling one from the other can be damn near impossible. After having Frank Mir within his clutches, Nogueira decided to pass up what was as close to a certain knockout victory as one will ever see, and instead went for a submission. The result, well… a reflective Nogueira had this to say about his decision:
“It was stupid. The fight was won, but I made up my mind to go for a submission. Two more shots and I knocked out Mir for sure. But I wanted to finish the fight beautifully. I wanted to finish with a submission. For a long time I had not finished a fight with a submission, so for a moment I wanted to submit him (laughs). But it was stupid, I should have gotten the knock out. The fight was mine and I missed the opportunity. I felt very well. I was fast with good movement and very confident. I tried to submit when I was in a position where he could counter attack and he ended up taking my arm. I made a mistake, it was stupid …”
For his efforts, Mir recovered and slapped a kimura (arm lock; see figure 1) on Nogueira’s right arm, fracturing (breaking) it at the humerus (the upper arm; see figure 2). Original reports were that no surgery would be needed, and the MMA community breathed a collective sigh or relief. The PrideFC legend and former UFC Heavyweight champ would be back in no time. (click here if you haven’t seen the end of the fight yet)
…Not so fast.
For those of you that weren’t able to catch the Rams football game yesterday, there wasn’t a whole lot worth watching. However, you did miss one thing that was entertaining and those were the antics offensive-lineman Harvey Dahl. He was being, well, offensive. In a poetic display that only a 300+ lbs lineman could pull off, Dahl decided to reach in his bag off cuss-words and share his definition of holding with the referee… only problem was, the ref’s mic was still on.
Santa, Uncle Goodell and the FCC all agree, Harvey will be getting a bar of soap, lump of coal and a fine in his stocking this Christmas. Ah, but it was worth it.
Chicago Bears Wide-Receiver Sam Hurd Is About To Catch Prison Time For “Massive Drug Charges”.
Chicago Bears Wide-Receiver Sam Hurd was arrested on Wednesday on federal drug charges. Seems that Hurd had been under surveillance for months by the FEDs going back to when he was playing for the Dallas Cowboys.
Reports say Hurd (a ripe 26 years old), was knocked for trying to hash out a deal with an undercover agent in a Chicago suburb for a mere 10 kilos of that white (cocaine, come on keep up) and 1,000 lbs of marijuana… wait for it, A WEEK. Hey, at least he was confident in his potential consumer base- especially in this economy.
In July, Hurd was picked up by the Bears as a free agent, signing a three-year deal worth $5.15 million. Hurd, who was apparently working his second job even as the NFL season was in full swing (cue up Curtis Mayfield’s “Pusherman”), reportedly earlier this month was in contact with an informant attempting to purchase some more product. And as recently as this past Wednesday, Hurd asked to place an order for 5-10 kilos of coke at $25,000 per kilo (is that a good deal? Where’s Michael Irvin when you need’em?), and 1,000 pounds of marijuana at $450 a pound (Ricky Williams, anybody got his number?). He was also allegedly bragging that he’d been already moving about four kilos a week in the Chi, but that his current supplier just couldn’t keep up with his demand. The rat, I mean undercover agent, hooked Hurd up with a kilo of coke, which he took, and said he’d set up arrangements to get’em the cash later. As he left the restaurant, he was popped in the parking lot.
As much as Hurd hated facing defenses on the field, he’d better start to love playing D and assemble himself an O.J.-esque dream team (we miss you, Johnnie Cochran) because he’s facing cocaine conspiracy charges which could land him in the bing for up to 40 years and a $2 million fine, if found guilty. He’s currently out on $100,000 cash bond. Man… cocaine. It’s a hell of a drug.
Source: http
With so much medical scrutiny about concussions in football and ice hockey, what is being done to oversee these injuries in seemingly the most violent sport out there?…Mixed Martial Arts. Although measures are taken to make the sport as safe as possible, concussion science would claim that these fighters ARE undeniably sustaining concussions (especially with the sports’ use of smaller gloves than in boxing). The mysterious nature of these injuries is that they unveil their effects later in life. What may seem trivial in the short term may come back with a vengeance in the long-term. As a relatively young sport in the mainstream, studying the long-term effects of these hits on fighters will be important before true comparisons with “older” sports can be made. What are your thoughts?
For more MMA injury news, follow us @ID_MMA on Twitter.
Knee Deep
With Brandon Roy’s retirement announcement last week, the only thing the city of Portland is blazing (besides chronic…ba-dum-tsh) is a trail of disappointment and unfulfilled potential. You would think the team that gave up Michael Jordan for Sam Bowie would catch a big break in the karmic cycle of professional basketball. Think again. Between Roy’s degenerative knees and multiple knee surgeries for their former 1st round draft pick, Greg Oden, the Blazers have new meaning for the term “Contract Killers.”
No stranger to injury, Roy was plagued by knee troubles since his college days at the University of Washington. A meniscus tear in his right knee forced the college star to the bench during his junior year. Although B-Roy contemplated entering the NBA draft after a strong recovery from knee surgery, he decided to finish his education and play UW basketball for one more season (good decision in hindsight). After a historic senior year, the first team All-American and PAC-10 player of the year was drafted by the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2006 (only to be traded shortly after to the Portland Trailblazers). Even after dealing with a left heel injury that sidelined “The Natural” for 20 games, Roy came back with a vengeance and was awarded the NBA rookie of the Year award.
“Hurt-Locker” Installment: Do You See What I See?
Perhaps the most exciting part about the anticipation leading up to big boxing fight is the infamous pre-fight stare down between fighters. Everybody hoping to catch a rare glimpse into the soul of each man… Is he scared? Did he look cool, calm and collected? Who cracked first? The truth is, the stare down rarely reveals anything of value. Instead, most of us make what we want of it by exaggerating even the slightest of looks, the simplest of gestures.
Leading up to Antonio Margarito’s rematch with Miguel Cotto however, the significance of this stare down was different. After sustaining what many considered to be career ending eye injuries at the hands of Manny Pacquiao in November of 2011, all eyes would be on Margarito’s, well, eye. The word was out, he’d undergone surgery to repair an orbital fracture (broken eye-socket) and needed surgery to remove a cataract from his eye, which also involved placement of an artificial lens (to read more about it click here: “Hurt Locker”). Margarito’s camp insisted the eye was fine and ready for battle, but details were sketchy about the specifics of his operations.
Celebrity Health: “In Vitro Kardashianization”
Is the world ready for another Kardashian? Word on the street is that Khloe Kardashian, the youngest of the Kardashian sisters trio is turning to in vitro fertilization (IVF) to help her get her own bun in the oven. While already step-mom to hubby, Lamar Odom’s two kids from a previous marriage, it’s no secret that Khloe’s been dying to have a baby of her own. And now that big sister, Kourtney has baby #2 on the way, we suspect that Khloe’s got a bit of a fire lit under her.
The driving force for evolution has long been conception, one of the most natural things that can occur between a man and a woman. Sperm meets egg and you’re off to the races. One cell becomes two, two becomes four, and so on until 9 months later, little Junior pops out. However, this act of nature isn’t as easy as it seems. Infertility, defined as a couple’s inability to conceive after a year of unprotected intercourse, is becoming a more ubiquitous problem these days for roughly 10-15% of American couples. Infertility can occur due to several reasons- structural abnormalities in the female reproductive tract, irregular ovulation, and hormonal imbalances to name a few. Furthermore, in a society that occasionally has the tendency to prioritize professional career development and family planning over actually starting a family, women who wait longer to get pregnant often find themselves having a hard time doing so. At 27, Khloe’s biological clock is beginning to tick, and given her well-documented struggles with conceiving, turning to other options to have a child seems like the next logical step.
