Viral pandemics are here to stay and could be a consequence of global climate change as the world gets warmer.

This new outbreak of the North American flu is a hybrid of avian, swine and human causes. Also, one wonders as more and more people move into urban settings from rural areas that the spread and deadly consequences of viral outbreaks become more deadly. Several years ago for the first time in human history, more people now live in urban areas than rural areas.

And these viral outbreaks can spread a lot faster than nowadays with the speed people can travel worldwide. This new viral outbreak may have originated in Mexico and spread into the U.S.

Margaret Harris, assistant professor-health for the University of Arkansas division of agriculture, said that taking simple precautions such as hand washing can go a long way in keeping swine flu at bay.

“The same precautions you would take during cold and flu season apply to this outbreak of swine flu,” Harris said.

The first line of defense is hand washing and be sure to wash with warm water and soap for 15 to 20 seconds. Using alcohol-based wipes are a good follow up if soap and water aren’t available.

Keeping hands away from the face is also an effective preventative.

“Your eyes, nose and mouth offer the flu virus and other germs direct access to your body,” she said. “Be aware of this if you are tempted to rub your eyes, bite your fingernails or scratch your nose.”

There are other basic health measures that can help prevent infection, including keeping the immune system in good shape through exercise, good nutrition, adequate sleep and stress control.

Plus there are two key steps in helping prevent infection: “If you’re sick, don’t come to work and see your doctor ASAP,” Harris said. “And of course, avoid close contact with people who are sick.”

According to the federal Centers for Disease Control, symptoms of swine flu are similar to seasonal flu. They include: fever, lethargy, lack of appetite and coughing. Some people with swine flu also have reported runny nose, sore throat, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.

Parents should seek medical help immediately if they notice the following in their children:

• Fast breathing or trouble breathing
• Bluish skin color
• Not drinking enough fluids
• Not waking up or not interacting
• Being so irritable that the child does not want to be held
• Flu-like symptoms improve but then return with fever and worse cough
• Fever with a rash

In adults, emergency warning signs that need urgent medical attention include:

• Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath
• Pain or pressure in the chest or abdomen
• Sudden dizziness
• Confusion
• Severe or persistent vomiting

Water conservation is an admirable goal whether it involves reducing your water bill at home, improving your bottom line on your irrigation use or providing necessary habitat to both native and migratory wildlife species.
But there’s somethings hard to control without an overall global consensus, such as global warming.
That’s why with all the good intention programs that’s part of the Platte River Recovery program, the effects of global warming and climate change could impact not only the program’s goals, but compromise the economic balance of Nebraska’s multi-billion dollar agricultural industry.
Here’s the reality — in 2007 state farmers harvested 5.73 million acres of corn producing 1.038 billion bushels off irrigated land.
If global warming takes away Platte River flows   and those flows have to be replaced to satisfy the program goals of the Platte River Recovery Program, irrigation agriculture suffers and in turn, Nebraska’s economy takes a hit.
Agriculture is the state’s main economic driver, especially in rural areas, including Grand Island.
The Platte River Recovery Program has some great goals in providing Platte River habitat essential to the recovery of the whooping crane, interior least tern, piping plover, and pallid sturgeon (all threatened or endangered species).
In 2006, the Governors of Wyoming, Colorado and Nebraska, along with the Secretary of the Interior, signed the Platte River Recovery Implementation Program Agreement (Agreement).
According to the agreement, it provides measures to help recover the four endangered or threatened species, thereby enabling existing water projects in the Platte River Basin to continue operations, as well as new water projects to be developed in compliance with the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
But if Platte River flows are being impacted by global warming, there will be greater demand to provide the necessary water to help those four endangered or threatened species. And that will come from groundwater resources.
The argument against global warming and climate change is weak whether its manmade or part of a natural cycle. It’s happening, it’s real and it’s already impacting Nebraska. And global warming and climate change is going to impact those four endangered or threatened species by effecting the migratory routine those species follow annually.
Here’s some research, led by scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colo., that shows that along with man’s altering water flow, as world warms, water levels dropping in major rivers, such as the Colorado, Yellow, Ganges, Niger.
While the Colorado flows on the other side of the continental divide, its waters come from the same place as the Platte River — the Rocky Mountains.
According to the researchers, rivers in some of the world’s most populous regions are losing water, according to a comprehensive study of global stream flows.
And their research suggests that the reduced flows in many cases are associated with climate change, and could potentially threaten future supplies of food and water.
And Nebraska, because of its blessing of groundwater resources, is one of the nation’s top agricultural producing states for both crops and livestock.
“The distribution of the world’s fresh water, already an important topic,” says Cliff Jacobs of NSF’s Division of Atmospheric Sciences, “will occupy front and center stage for years to come in developing adaptation strategies to a changing climate.”
According to the research, scientists, who examined stream flows from 1948 to 2004, found significant changes in about one-third of the world’s largest rivers. Of those, rivers with decreased flow outnumbered those with increased flow by a ratio of about 2.5 to 1.
Several of the rivers channeling less water serve large populations, including the Yellow River in northern China, the Ganges in India, the Niger in West Africa and the Colorado in the southwestern United States, according to the research.
In contrast, the scientists reported greater stream flows over sparsely populated areas near the Arctic Ocean, where snow and ice are rapidly melting.
“Reduced runoff is increasing the pressure on freshwater resources in much of the world, especially with more demand for water as population increases,” says NCAR scientist Aiguo Dai, the lead author of the journal paper. “Freshwater being a vital resource, the downward trends are a great concern.”
Many factors may affect river discharge, including dams and the diversion of water for agriculture and industry. Also, included in this mix are well-intended programs that means to return the life of a river before man’s alteration of it.
The researchers found, however, that the reduced flows in many cases appear to be related to global climate change, which is altering precipitation patterns and increasing the rate of evaporation.
According to the researchers, the study raises wider ecological and climate concerns.
The study found that discharge from the world’s great rivers results in deposits of dissolved nutrients and minerals into the oceans. The freshwater flow also affects global ocean circulation patterns, which are driven by changes in salinity and temperature, and which play a vital role in regulating the world’s climate.
Although the recent changes in freshwater discharge are relatively small and may only have impacts around major river mouths, Dai said the freshwater balance in the global oceans and over land needs to be monitored for long-term changes.
The scientists analyzed the flows of 925 of the planet’s largest rivers, combining actual measurements with computer-based stream flow models to fill in data gaps.
The rivers in the study drain water from every major landmass except Antarctica and Greenland and account for 73 percent of the world’s total stream flow.
Overall, the study found that, from 1948 to 2004, annual freshwater discharge into the Pacific Ocean fell by about 6 percent, or 526 cubic kilometers–approximately the same volume of water that flows out of the Mississippi River each year.
In the United States, the Columbia River’s flow declined by about 14 percent during the 1948-2004 study period, largely because of reduced precipitation and higher water usage in the West.
The Mississippi River, however, has increased by 22 percent over the same period because of greater precipitation across the Midwest since 1948.
“As climate change inevitably continues in coming decades, we are likely to see greater impacts on many rivers and the water resources that society has come to rely on,” says NCAR scientist Kevin Trenberth, a co-author of the paper.

New research linking bad habits such as smoking and the direct impact on a senior’s health will be presented during the American Geriatrics Society’s Annual Meeting April 29 – May 3 in Chicago, IL.

The study followed more than 2,000 seniors who were current smokers, past smokers and had never smoked. All three groups were compared to show a link between smoking and the speed at which participants walked. After five years, it was discovered that smokers showed a significantly slower pace in their gait than those who had previously smoked. These study results suggest that even at an older age, changing bad habits such as smoking can positively impact a senior’s health later in life.

Eliminating bad habits such as poor food choices and lack of exercise – which can lead to weight gain or poor muscle condition – has been an ongoing struggle for seniors. And, according to Alison Moore, M.D., member of the American Geriatrics Society (AGS), the most important part of successfully changing bad habits is to go into the transformation with a positive attitude.

Dr. Moore offers the following suggestions to help older adults conquer some of the more common bad habits:

Bad Food Choices: Excess weight can cause multiple health problems and complications, including diabetes, heart disease and stroke. Substituting good carbohydrates (sweet potatoes, wheat bread, brown rice) for bad carbohydrates (white potatoes, white bread, white rice) and adding lean proteins, while limiting foods with high fat and sugar contents, will help seniors maintain a healthy weight.

Smoking and Drinking: Smoking and excessive alcohol intake is proven to have negative health effects on a person at any age, but seniors who smoke and drink regularly increase their chances of more advanced medical problems. The effects of many medications are altered when mixed with alcohol, which can pose serious health risks, especially for seniors taking multiple medications.

“Couch Potato Syndrome”: As people age, they often slow down and feel like they can’t do as much as they did when they were young. While physical activity sometimes becomes restricted due to health ailments, that doesn’t mean the brain needs to slow down. There are a variety of activities seniors can do to keep their minds focused and sharp, including word puzzles, interactive games, joining a book club or participating in other social and volunteer activities.

Adjusting Medications: The majority of seniors are on multiple medications and sometimes find it difficult or too bothersome to remember when and which medications to take each day. As a result, some seniors “adjust” their daily medication routine without talking to their physicians. To help keep medications organized and alleviate frustration, seniors should use weekly or monthly pill boxes and have a family member or friend help them fill pill boxes on a regular basis or make a color coded chart to help keep track of their pills and the times they need to be taken.

Lack of Exercise: Keeping physically active is integral to keeping the heart, mind and bones healthy. For some seniors, physical restrictions make exercise a challenge, but there are still small ways to incorporate physical activity into a daily routine, such as parking further away from the store to get in a short walk. And, programs such as yoga, Pilates or Tai Chi can help with balance and weight loss and can be adapted to all levels of physical ability.

From the University of Illinois comes a  new study suggesting that moderate amounts of exercise alone can reduce the inflammation in visceral fat—belly fat, —that has been linked with metabolic syndrome, a group of risk factors that predict heart disease and Type 2 diabetes.

“In the study, the benefits of exercise were apparent, even without a change in diet. We saw improvements in insulin sensitivity, less fat in the liver, and less inflammation in belly fat,” said Jeffrey Woods, a U of I professor of kinesiology and community health and faculty member in the U of I Division of Nutritional Sciences and the Integrative Immunology and Behavior Program.

Belly fat is particularly dangerous because it produces inflammatory molecules that enter the bloodstream and increase the risk of heart disease and diabetes, he said.

“Scientists now know that obesity is associated with a low-grade systemic inflammation. Obese people have higher levels of circulating inflammatory markers, such as C-reactive protein (CRP), which are produced and secreted by fat tissue. This inflammation then triggers the systemic diseases linked with metabolic syndrome, such as Type 2 diabetes and heart disease,” he said.

In the study, Woods and his colleagues examined the effects of diet and exercise on the inflammation of visceral fat tissue in mice. A high-fat diet was first used to induce obesity in the animals. After 6 weeks, mice were assigned to either a sedentary group, an exercise group, a low-fat diet group, or a group that combined a low-fat diet with exercise for 6 or 12 weeks so the scientists could compare the effects in both the short and long term.

“The surprise was that the combination of diet and exercise didn’t yield dramatically different and better results than diet or exercise alone,” said Vicki Vieira, the lead author of the study.

“Unexpectedly, the only significant increase from 6 to 12 weeks in belly fat—the type of fat that triggers these inflammatory diseases–was in the mice who were sedentary, which suggests that exercise is an effective behavioral approach to reduce the accumulation of visceral fat even when fat in the diet is high,” she said.

Woods says that is a promising finding. “The benefits of exercise were apparent even if the animals were still eating a high-fat diet. That tells me that exercise could decrease or prevent these life-threatening diseases by reducing inflammation even when obesity is still present.”

“The good news is that this was a very modest exercise program. The mice ran on a treadmill only about one-fourth of a mile five days a week. For humans, that would probably translate into walking 30 to 45 minutes a day five days a week,” he noted.

“Even if you struggle with dieting, we believe you can still reduce the likelihood of developing obesity-related inflammatory diseases, such as Type 2 diabetes and heart disease, by adding a modest amount of exercise to your life,” said Woods.

These results were reinforced by the scientists’ study of sedentary older adults published in a recent issue of Brain, Behavior and Immunity (BBI).

In that 10-month study, one group of sedentary older adults participated in three 45- to 60-minute cardiovascular exercise sessions per week, while another group focused on exercises to improve non-cardiovascular flexibility and balance for 75 minutes twice a week.

“At the end of the study, the ‘cardio’ group had lower levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), less belly fat, and improved general fitness than the ‘flex’ group,” said Ph.D. candidate Vieira.

“The lower CRP levels were partially mediated by the reduction in trunk fat,” she explained.