With the current worldwide vaccination program against the H1N1 flu virus, you may be wondering just what a vaccine is and how it works.

In essence, it’s a substance, usually a protein or carbohydrate, that induces immunity to a disease or infection. You can get immunity to a disease in two different ways.

One is to have the infection and thereafter you have a level of immunity.

The other way is to receive a part of the virus or bacteria that won’t cause an infection, but will allow you to develop antibodies so that when you later get the infection, you will be able to handle it.

The H1N1 flu vaccine falls into the latter category, exposing recipients to a small amount of a purified version of virus, grown in a laboratory, in order to boost the body’s level of resistance to that specific illness.

What is a vaccination and how does it work?
Vaccinations protect you from specific diseases that can make you very sick, disable or even kill you. They boost your body’s own defence system, which is also called the immune system.
Vaccines create immunity that protects you from an infection without causing the suffering of the disease itself.  Sometimes vaccines are called immunizations, needles or shots.

How vaccines work
- Most vaccines contain a little bit of a disease germ that is weak or dead. Vaccines do NOT contain the type of germ that makes you sick. Some vaccines do not contain any germs.
- Having this little bit of the germ inside your body makes your body’s defence system build antibodies to fight off this kind of germ. Antibodies help trap and kill germs that could lead to disease.
- Your body can make antibodies in two ways: by getting the disease or by getting the vaccine. Getting the vaccine is a much safer way to make antibodies without having the suffering of the disease itself and the risk of becoming disabled or even dying.
- Antibodies stay with you for a long time. They remember how to fight off the germ. If the real germ that causes this disease (not the vaccine) enters your body in the future, your defence system knows how to fight it off.
- Often, your defence system will remember how to fight a germ for the rest of your life. Sometimes, your defence system needs a booster shot to remind it how to fight off this germ.
- Sometimes vaccines prevent one disease. Sometimes they are combined to protect you from several diseases with one shot. For example, the MMR vaccine fights Measles, Mumps and Rubella (German measles).

Scientists are looking at new ways to give vaccines, such as by mouth or with nose spray.

General Electric (GE) on Tuesday unveiled an ultrasound device about the size of an iPhone, saying the gadget could become “the stethoscope of the 21st century”

“We are going to put this in the clinicians’ hands,” GE chief executive Jeffrey Immelt said after pulling a Vscan from a suit jacket pocket during an on-stage talk at a Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco.

“This really could be the stethoscope of the 21st Century.”

Vscan has the potential to improve the ability of doctors to diagnose patients by allowing them to quickly view images of internal organs, according to General Electric.

The devices are geared for doctors who would be able to easily carry them about and use them for non-invasive views of what is going on in the bodies of patients.

Vscan flips open to show a video screen and has a sensor attached to a wand. GE did not disclose the proposed price for the device, which will be tested with the help of US doctors.

Posture at work varies according the the kind of job people do: some people spend most of their time sitting at a desk, others standing up and some sat in a vehicle driving around most of the day.

However, posture problems associated with the workplace are relatively common and with a little thought it’s quite simple to improve posture at work and reduce the risk of neck pain and back pain.

If you sit at a desk:
People who spend all – or most – of their day sitting at a desk need to look at two main things.

Firstly the height of their computer screen and secondly the height and position of their chair.

Getting the height of the monitor right helps ensure that you don’t hunch forward too much, as does ensuring it’s not too far from the eyes as, again, you will probably find yourself hunching forward to read what’s on the screen.

According to world-renowned surgeon and physiologist, Adalbert Kapandji, “For every inch of forward head posture, it can increase the weight of the head on the spine by an additional 10 pounds.” (Kapandji, Physiology of Joints, Vol.3). This helps to understand why poor head posture can strain the neck and back muscles.

Many people have a tendency to sit forward on the edge of their chair when working at a desk.  Expert opinion says it’s better to sit right back in the chair so that the in-built lumbar support will help push the spine into a corrected lumbar position – reducing strain on the spine and muscles.

Pulling the chair as close to the desk as possible will obviously be beneficial, so too will ensuring the angle of the legs drops slightly so that the knees are lower than the buttocks. This can be achieved fairly easily by raising the height of the chair and/or tilting the seat forward slightly. Keeping feet flat on the floor is also highly recommended.

Remember, it’s important to take a break periodically – get up and walk around for a short while to flex the muscles and undo muscular tensions.

If you stand all day:
Commonly, people who stand for most of the day at work tend to adopt a posture where they put more weight on one side of the body than the other – drop a shoulder and lean slightly to one side.

If it was possible to see through the body to the spine you would see the poor shape being adopted and understand how much stress was being put on muscles to compensate.

When standing at work try to ensure you stand with the spine straight rather than slouched to one side. Keep the chin up so it’s centred over the shoulders and try to keep the feet apart slightly less than shoulder-width.

If possible, try not to stand for prolonged periods – sit down whenever possible, even if only for a short period of time.

Finally, think about footwear – comfort and practicality wins out over fashion and discomfort every time…..avoid heels if at all possible!

Heartburn is a painful and burning sensation in the esophagus, just behind the breastbone usually associated with regurgitation of gastric acid.

The pain often rises in the chest and may radiate to the neck, throat, or angle of the jaw. Heartburn is a major symptom of gastroesophageal reflux disease(GERD); acid reflux is also identified as one of the causes of chronic cough, and may even mimic asthma.

Despite its name, heartburn actually has nothing to do with the heart; it is so called because of a burning sensation near to where the heart is located – although some heart problems may give rise to a similar burning sensation.

Over-the-counter antacids and prescription medications are the most common treatments for GERD) In the most severe cases, surgery may even be required. But regardless of how bad your GERD symptoms are, successfully fighting heartburn and acid reflux also requires some changes in lifestyle, ranging from the food you eat to the clothes you wear.

Here is a list to help minimize GERD symptoms.

1.Eat small but frequent meals

Meals are often a trigger for GERD symptoms. In fact, all-you-can-eat buffets are almost always a recipe for heartburn.

A very full stomach can cause the valve between your stomach and esophagus (known as the lower esophageal sphincter, or LES) to relax, pushing stomach acids back up into the esophagus.

Eat several small meals throughout the day rather than the standard breakfast, lunch, and dinner. (Don’t make that last meal too late, though: Eating close to bedtime can trigger GERD symptoms as well.)

2. Ban the cake

Be it chocolate or caffeine, certain foods and drinks are notorious for exacerbating GERD symptoms.

The list includes spicy foods, fatty red meat, french fries (as well as other fried foods), citrus fruit, raw onion, tomatoes, butter, oil, peppermint, chocolate, and caffeine.

You don’t have to resign yourself to a diet of bananas and boiled chicken, however. There are many recipes around the web to enjoy.

3.Don’t drink alcohol

Alcohol is a bad idea for most people with GERD, especially if you drink too much, or on a regular basis.

Alcohol relaxes the LES, which lets stomach acid creep into the esophagus. The LES is the valve that is responsible for keeping acid in your stomach digesting food where it belongs and out of your airway. When the LES is relaxed it allows acid to come up causing the burning sensation known as acid reflux. Avoiding foods that relax the LES will limit your chances of acid reflux.

A 1999 study in the American Journal of Medicine found that the percentage of people reporting reflux symptoms increased with the number of drinks consumed weekly. Those who had more than seven drinks per week were the most likely to have heartburn.

4.Another reason to shed pounds

Excess weight can contribute to heartburn and acid reflux. A 2003 study of more than 10,000 people in the International Journal of Epidemiology found a strong link between GERD symptoms and body mass index (BMI). Obese people are nearly three times more likely than people of normal weight to have heartburn and acid reflux.

Experts aren’t sure why. Excess abdominal fat may place pressure on the stomach, but it may also cause chemical or hormonal changes that make the body more susceptible to acid reflux.

6.Don’t wear tight clothing

Much like excess belly fat, clothing that’s a tight fit around the midsection can push against your stomach and force acid into the esophagus.

Sure, those pants look cute, but are they worth it? If you have heartburn, skip too-tight belts, waistbands, hosiery, and undergarments.

7.Head up, sleep better

What does sleep have to do with heartburn? More than you might think. Avoid eating before bedtime, and elevate your head 6 to 8 inches once in bed.

This position doesn’t necessarily reduce the frequency of acid reflux, but research shows that it helps stomach acid drain from the esophagus more quickly. One study reported a 67% increase in acid clearance time.

Don’t own a Craftmatic Adjustable Bed? Prop up your bed on specially designed blocks or use a foam wedge, both of which you can find at most home stores. (Piling up the pillows isn’t as effective.)

8. Quit smoking

Everyone knows that smoking damages your heart and lungs. But what about your digestive system? Yep, it harms that too.

Nicotine, like alcohol, may worsen GERD symptoms by relaxing the LES, which causes stomach acid to flow back into the esophagus.

Smoking also causes bile salts to migrate from the small intestine into the stomach and reduces the amount of saliva you produce. (Saliva helps flush stomach acid out of the esophagus and contains a natural acid-fighter, bicarbonate.)