COLD REMEDIES
My wife Lisa uses this--and guess what, studies show it really does help ease the symptoms of a cold:
"Nothing but time can cure the common cold, but a simple cup of saltwater might ease the misery this winter.
A sore, itchy throat and respiratory congestion are some of the more common symptoms of a cold, and gargling with saltwater seems to help for several reasons. A saline solution can draw excess fluid from inflamed tissues in the throat, making them hurt less, said Dr. Philip T. Hagen, editor in chief of the “Mayo Clinic Book of Home Remedies,” which is due out in October. Dr. Hagen pointed out that gargling also loosens thick mucus, which can remove irritants like allergens, bacteria and fungi from the throat"

Read the whole thing.  Remember that remedies look this ease cold symptoms--but of course nothing can "cure" the common cold.  It goes away in its own sweet time.  But it's nice to ease the effects a cold has on you, and we're entering cold and flu season again...

MOEBIUS SYNDROME IN THE NEWS
A big story on Moebius and on other facial-difference issues in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette over the weekend, and the stories include our friends Kathleetn Bogart and Tim McCaughan, among others--great stuff:
"

Kathleen Bogart has a musical voice, with warm inflections and a ready laugh.
It's not just a reflection of her personality. It's a tool she uses to convey the emotions that her face cannot.
Like others with the rare condition known as Moebius syndrome, her face is almost completely paralyzed. She must use her tone of voice, her gestures and other adaptations to let people know what she is feeling.
Ms. Bogart is unusual because she not only has Moebius syndrome, but she does research on it as a doctoral student in psychology at Tufts University outside Boston.  In one study, she and her mentor, David Matsumoto of San Francisco State University, found that people with Moebius have a normal ability to detect emotions in others.  That might seem only logical, but some had speculated that people with facial paralysis might struggle with sensing emotions because of a concept called the "facial feedback hypothesis."
Championed by psychology pioneer William James in the late 1800s, the facial feedback hypothesis says that our emotions are actually shaped by our facial expressions.  That ought to mean that people with Moebius should have a blunted ability to feel or identify emotions, but Ms. Bogart and Dr. Matsumoto found just the opposite.  If anything, she said in a recent interview, "I think an interesting benefit of Moebius is that it may make you more attuned to other people's emotional cues so you can translate them into other ways to express those emotions back to people."

Right on.  Read the whole thing...

And note that actually the Post-Gazette did a whole series on facial expression and facial difference---including this piece.  I like what Tim McCaughan had to say at the end of it:

"[McCaughan]  sometimes wonders if Moebius syndrome has held him back in his profession or other parts of his life. But he also sees the silver lining.   "I can't change what I was born with," Mr. McCaughan said, "and in fact I think I'm a stronger person because I have this. It's made me much more sensitive to other people's emotions and how they're feeling in situations, because I'm more aware of my own emotions."

Amen...

 

MOEBIUS IS SPOOFED AGAIN

This time on the Huffington Post.  Man--first last week spooftimes.com, now this.  Can't you guys come up with something more original???  This time Moebius gets mentioned in a spoof of the comic strip "Cathy":

"SHOCKING REVELATIONS FOR LAST WEEK OF 'CATHY' COMIC STRIPS:  

- Cathy admits brief affair she had with Uncle Duke in 1970s while substituting as his interpreter in China
- Best friend Andrea leaves husband, joins biker gang, becomes property of Peppermint Patty
- Due to a printing error, newspapers ran the same exact strip from 1985 through 1999; no one noticed
- Cathy visits Rex Morgan, M.D., is diagnosed with Moebius syndrome"

Wow.  Hilarious.