Health and Medicine

His dad was "an airy optimist with nimble skills." His mom was a crackerjack card player. Both came from old Europe with the great wave of Jewish immigrants in the early part of the 20th century, and both were jim-dandy storytellers.

Sid helped his parents at their neighborhood store in San Diego, California. This was during the Great Depression when no one had much money, but he found that for just a dime he could hang out all day at the traveling vaudeville show. There he met his first magician, a lady sharpshooter, and other amazing performers whose memories would one day be conjured for the Wild West boy-and-his-dog story, Jim Ugly.

Just when you thought it was safe to get back in the social scene, the bad news hits. That shot in your arm wasn't such a shot in the arm. In recent years, the doctors who designed the vaccine had to make a decision as to which strain to fight, Panama flu or Fujian flu. From their data, it looked like Panama would continue to grow strong and the beginnings of the Fujian strain would peter out.

That wascally wabbit was a smart guy. Carrots, along with other orange and green fruits and vegetables, are good for the eyes! They're packed with vitamin A. People who don't get enough of this vitamin can develop severe vision problems, but a rabbit or a person who gets plenty of vitamin A will know that she's doing all she can to make her vision healthy.

Good health, enough wealth, long life, happy families—the stuff that dreams are made of. But most Americans' lives fall short in one or more of these areas, and often it's the midlife years (40s to 50s) where things start to go haywire. If you're one of the many, many people who feel that just when they got the hang of the game, the rules completely changed, read on.

Work, Retirement, and Financial Planning

What's different about money management at midlife?

By Lydia O'Neil

Spina bifida is a neural tube birth defect that occurs in the developing embryo at such an early stage of development that the mother usually does not realize she is pregnant yet. Spina bifida happens when the spinal column does not develop correctly and the covering of the spinal cord and often the spinal cord itself protrudes into a membranous sac on the back.

Nutrition and weight loss, two hot topics you can't avoid. Pick up any magazine or newspaper, listen to any news show, talk to any doctor, friend, or co-worker and the topic is bound to come up. Oddly, for all our interest in nutrition and weight loss, Americans have never been heavier. Fad diets abound but don't seem to work. How about a new diet—a new diet that's been around for centuries? A diet that lets you eat normal food, is tasty, filling and can help lower cholesterol and blood pressure? Sound too good to be true? Well, the Mediterranean Diet is all of these things.

"A volksmarch is a non-competitive 6 mile (10 kilometer) walk. It's not a pledge walk, it's not a race, it is a fun activity you do with a club, with your family, with your pet, or all by yourself. "
--American Volkssport Association

Autism is a neurological disorder that strikes an estimated one in 150 children every year, usually within the first three years of life. These children's contact with the world differs radically from what is considered normal. They may be unable to communicate or form meaningful relationships with others. Depending on the degree of affectedness and the path their education takes, they may be able to function independently in society in later life, or they may always require a strong support system.