A recent study warned that there was a moderate increase in the risk of hypertension (high blood pressure) in people who used painkillers on a regular basis (at least 6 days a week, that’s almost everyday). The study was on non-narcotic painkillers (i.e. not morphine or a similar drug). The users of acetaminophen (that’s the equivalent of paracetamol in the US), aspirin and other NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) all were found to have an increased risk of new diagnosis of hypertension.

The study, Frequency of Analgesic Use and Risk of Hypertension Among Men, by researchers from Harvard, was published in the February 26th issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.

Don’t panic. I would like to point out that it was for patients who used the drugs on a regular basis almost every day.

Sorry about posting this late. I was looking in my collection for a photo that would reflect the theme “soft” but all I could find were soft tissue injuries or tumours or something like that. So I had to take a new photograph for that.

Here’s something that people use to make their skin soft:

The cream is soft too.

I came across this movement to call upon providers of adult content on the web to password-protect their sites to reduce traffic from children from the thinking blog and eastcoastlife. It’s a cause worth supporting and I’m lending my support to this cause. To quote from the Blogger Power site:

Let’s take a look at the statistics (according to Jerry Ropelato, CEO of Top10 Reviews):

• 4.2 million pornography sites – 12% of all sites on the worldwide web
• 2.5 billion pornographic emails sent daily – 8% of all email
• Pornography is a $57 billion industry worldwide
• Men admitting to accessing pornography at work – 20%
• US adults who visit Internet pornography websites regularly – 40 million (!)
• Adults admitting Internet sexual addiction – 10%
• Breakdown of male/female visitors to pornography sites – 72% male, 28% female

So pornography is indeed pervasive in our adult culture. But the real tragedy is that porn is increasingly pervasive in children’s lives:

• Average age of first Internet exposure to pornography: 11 years old
• Largest consumer group for Internet pornography: 12-17 year olds
• 15-17 year olds having multiple hard-core exposures: 80%
• 8-16 year olds having viewed porn online – 90% (most while doing homework)

The idea of this call is for webmasters to:

Please require a password-protected login before allowing even free access to explicit adult content. We understand that selling porn is your business and we respect your right to make a legal living. But understand our legitimate concerns and work with us. You already have the “warning adult content” on your websites. Yet kids, who are not legal customers of your product, ignore the warning. So to prevent them from having direct access to explicit images, texts and sounds, the simplest way is to have a password-protected login. No more “free tours” before a visitor supplies basic information.

I have a 6-year-old child who is starting to use the internet. Right now, he will use it under supervision but sooner or later he will start using it himself. For young, impressionable minds, control is still necessary to prevent exposure to pornography. Stumbling across adult sites is quite easy, as anyone using the net will know. Also, there are spam mail that invite users to go to adult sites. Requiring a password to enter adult sites should not deter adults who want access to the sites but will be helpful to prevent children who are exploring the web.

If you share the same sentiments, please go to the Power Blogger site to support this cause. You can find the link on the sidebar as well from now on.

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Update : Happysurfer is supporting the effort, here.

This is the process of healing of an open wound after saucerization of a carbuncle:

The pink, lumpy tissue is granulation tissue. That’s growing tissue that bridges the gap of open wounds.

You might also see some pink-ish tissue at the edge of the wound. It’s new skin growing to cover the granulation tissue.