Steven J. Gould was a philosopher/scientist who was capable of original ideas. One such was this: The biomass of bacteria on planet earth is greater than the biomass of all other living entities, plant, animal, fungal, viral and prions put together. Therefore, if you were a visitor from outer space looking at earth you would logically assume that it was a planet inhabited by bacteria that happened to live in and on other structures which had slightly different characteristics.

There's a lot of flu around, isn't there?

I spoke to a subscriber the other day who told me that, following a heart attack, he has been using the Forecasts to govern whether he takes his daily walks outside or indoors. That comment reminded me of the subscriber who, during a CBS T.V. news report about Mediclim, said she uses our asthma Forecasts to remind her to take her rescue inhaler with her when she goes out. You can link to the interview from our website or from mediclimpress on You Tube. Such simple but telling changes in behaviour help these people who have a difficult chronic disease to deal with on a daily basis.

Our Forecasts reflect the effect of the weather on health. Superstorm Sandy, an almost unprecedented disaster, caused us to issue the highest daily number of Forecasts in our four year history. This speaks to the sensitivity and accuracy of what we do but is a mirror of the misery the storm caused. We extend our sympathies to those who have lost loved ones and hope that despite what the meteorologists say, there is to be no repeat. John Bart

There are new ideas about the cause of migraine attacks. Inflammation in the human body is mediated (in part) by mast cells. These may be found around blood vessels in the head and neck. Stimulation of the trigeminal (fifth cranial nerve) may activate these cells around cephalic blood vessels,and, it is proposed, bring about an inflammatory reaction by secreting proinflammatory and vasodilatory markers that can exacerbate migraine.

Some time ago we asked you to pay a small yearly fee for our Health Forecasts. We always appreciate and listen to feedback from our members and, in response to your comments, we have revamped our system. Our alerts are now more accurate and better timed( many of you have emailed and told us so, thanks!)since we calculate every 12 hrs as soon as the weather data is made available to us (instead of every 24hrs as it did before.) We are still in the process of updating our website so please follow our progress and, please, if you have problems or comments, contact us.

But if you've signe up to get a mediclim Health Forecast you will know for sure which days you SHOULD take them. John Bart

You need about 4,600mgm per day. Too much or too little in heart attack patients in hospitals cause big trouble. Here are some K+ levels in food: Banana=450mgm, Brussel sprouts=535mgm (1 cup), Spinach (1 cup, boiled)=885mgm, Lima Beans (2 cups, boiled)=510 mgm, Baked potato=800mgm, Sweet potato (1 cup) 635mgm, Bran Flakes (2 cups)=400mgm, dried Apricots, 2 cups,=475mgm, Cantaloupe=825mgm, O.J. 8oz=500mgm, Tomato J.=570mgm, Tomato,1cup, stewed=645mgm, seedless raisins,2 cups,=650mgm...1.5Bananas=2 Slow K pills. Anyone with decent recipes for the above, please post on message board...John Bart.

As some of you have commented not all Mediclim Health Forecasts have gone out as smoothly as they did over the previous three and a half years. The reason behind this is both the continued growth in popularity of the service and the upgrades we are undertaking to accommodate this expansion. We are pleased to say we are now to be found on Dossia.org and Dossialivli(livli.com) two large U.S. based health-related internet projects which are well worth a look. The upgrade work is being implemented by DotLabel.co.uk, a well-respected and experienced company.

When I started in practice, in 1968, there were asthmatic children and adult migraine sufferers but, I have the clear impression, not as many as now. My take is that the increase in numbers of these two groups of patients is a reflection of our current environment, which is changing.