Health Hereos

Hereos in a box.

“When life gives you lemons you make lemonade."

Got the news today
Doctor said I had to stay
A little bit longer
And I'll be fine
When I thought it'd all been done
When I thought it'd all been said
A little bit longer
And I'll be fine

But you don't know what you got
'Till it's gone
And you don't know what it's like
To feel so low
Every time you smile or laugh you glow
You don't even know
No no
You don't even know

All this time goes by
Still no reason why
A little bit longer
And I'll be fine
Waitin' on a cure
But none of them are sure
A little bit longer
And I'll be fine

But you don't know what you got
'Till it's gone
And you don't know what it's like
To feel so low
And every time you smile or laugh you glow
You don't even know
No no
You don't even know
No no

Two, three, four!

Yeah!
And you don't know what you got
'Till it's gone
And you don't know what it's like
To feel so low
And every time you smile or laugh you glow
You don't even know
No
Yeah
Woah!

Animas Corporation and Nicole Johnson Baker launch Diabetes Hero campaign; Distributes Diabetes Heroes Awareness Bracelets to Children Nationwide

WEST CHESTER, Pa. -- Animas Corporation (Nasdaq:PUMP), a leading manufacturer of insulin pumps, along with Nicole Johnson Baker, former Miss America, TV Host and Author, have launched the Diabetes Heroes campaign. Diabetes Heroes is a nationwide program created to identify and recognize individuals who have demonstrated exceptional resilience and/ or creativity in living with diabetes or who have provided exceptional assistance and motivation to one or more persons with diabetes. Heroes will be named in five categories including: patient, family member, friend, healthcare professional and other.

As part of the program, Animas will be distributing Diabetes Hero awareness bracelets through diabetes camps nationwide. Animas will make a donation to the non-profit organization, Children with Diabetes for every bracelet given to a child this summer.

Children with Diabetes is dedicated to promoting the importance of care and treatment of children with diabetes within the families, schools and daycare; to support families living with the disease; and to promote the importance of research and finding a cure.

"Since Animas was founded in 1996, we have met countless individuals who tirelessly work towards making a difference in the lives of those living with diabetes. Many of them have family members with the disease, while others are living with diabetes themselves and aspiring to making life better for those around them," explains Audrey Finkelstein, Executive Vice President, Sales, Clinical Affairs and Marketing. "We want to recognize these extraordinary people and their efforts, while at the same time, educating the public about this disease and the physical and emotional impact it has on the over 18 million it claims."

Health Hero: Diane Harper
She helped develop a vaccine that could save 250,000 women a year

By Alexis Jetter , Alexis Jetter writes about science and politics, and is the co-editor of The Politics of Motherhood.

Prevention's April Health Hero, Diane Harper, MD, MPH, helped develop Gardasil, the first vaccine against human papillomavirus, the main cause of cervical cancer. She's taken a leave from Dartmouth Medical School to educate doctors around the world about the vaccine, developed by Merck & Co., and a similar vaccine, Cervarix, developed by GlaxoSmithKline, which is expected to be approved by the FDA soon. Contributor Alexis Jetter recently spoke with Harper.

Your work is going to profoundly affect women's experience in terms of their gynecologic health--what was your first experience with a gynecologist?I joined the Navy in college, which wasn't a good fit, literally. I tried to wear the uniform but they didn't have one to fit me. But I joined because I was going to MIT, which cost $40,000 a year. I went to helicopter school, learned how to crash a helicopter underwater and swim out--very scary. In the end, the Navy and I parted0--it was not, as I said, a good fit.

My very first pelvic exam was done in a Navy hospital; I don't even remember where. A big naval base somewhere. We were all lined up in Johnny robes. The gynecologist was about 102 years old. I was 18. "Oh my God," I thought. "What's happening to me?" We had very little clothes on, and at 18, you're thinking: "This is my body and what's happening to it?"

He never said a word. No talking. He figured everyone had had one of these exams before. I was hundreds of miles from my home and from my mother. It was an important event, and shaped the way in which I approach medicine: How do you provide medical care? How do you listen?

What's most exciting to you about the new vaccine?One woman dies of cervical cancer every two minutes--it's the number one cancer-killer of women in the developing world. And these women are dying at a point in life when they're most productive and most needed by their families. This vaccine can prevent 70 percent of those deaths, and that's a huge number of lives that we can save--nearly 300,000 lives a year. That's incredible. We have never had a vaccine against anything that comes close.

You've been traveling a lot recently to help increase the chances that this vaccine will be used.I have. Just recently, I've been to Turkey, Thailand, Geneva, Poland, Greece, and the Philippines