Cripes, 1 in 6? Really?! Frightening indeed. And to top it off, 80 percent of those infected don’t even know they have it.

So, think of the last six people you’ve slept with and begin to wonder, people. Daaaaamn!

Of course, Alexis gives us the upside, too:

True. Herpes is quite common. Despite potentially making people with the virus more susceptible to HIV (though this has not 100 percent been proven), herpes is innocuous. So why do we treat it like leprosy? New medications like Valtrex and Zovirax make breakouts manageable and far less frequent.

Somehow that just doesn’t put my mind at rest. Nay, not at all.

Hands up if you’ve got Herpes. (hands down)

According to a new survey by the Minnesota School Nutrition Association (MSNA) and the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP), the number of Minnesota school districts purchasing food directly from local farms has more than doubled in the last 15 months.

The survey of Minnesota districts, which includes more than 550,000 K-12 kids, found that 69 districts reported purchasing Minnesota-grown products in 2009, more than double the figure from late 2008. And 77 percent of the districts now involved with farm to school initiatives expect to expand their activities in the upcoming school year, the survey found.

While this is all good news, we still have to question what it is we’re feeding our kids. How healthy is it? How good?

A couple weeks ago, Lee Zukor, founder of local-foods-focused website Simple Good and Tasty, went to his kid’s school to eat lunch, and subsequently wrote an open letter of apology to kids for the food they are served every day.

Many of you have noticed that the food you’re being served in your school cafeterias leaves much to be desired. You’ve told us that there are bugs in your food, and that nobody cares when you tell them. You’ve told us that the staff doesn’t give you time to eat. You’ve told us that school cafeteria food makes you feel sick at times, and that it doesn’t cure your hunger. You’ve told us that the food tastes like the plastic it’s been wrapped in, and that it’s just plain “rude,” bordering on inedible. It pains me to tell you this, but we know. We’ve known for a long time.

…

Your peers asked me if our nation loves our children. The answer is yes, we love you very much. But things have gotten away from us, again. The situation is complicated, there’s a lot of work to do, and we don’t have much money to do it. To affect change, we will need all of the great work being done by people like Michelle Obama, Chef Ann Cooper, by the person who writes Fed Up with School Lunch, and by organizations like The Lunchbox and the Healthy Schools Campaign. We will need to tell our government that you kids are our future, that you need to be fed good, nourishing, healthy, fresh food, and that our tax money should support it. And then we need to tell them again.

Yes, black bears hibernate all winter — and their hearts stop and rest 12 to 15 seconds between beats — and yet, somehow, they don’t atrophy, faint, or die.

It’s amazing considering that the animals will spend five to seven months without eating, drinking, urinating or defecating. Yet, despite that total lack of nutrition and movement they’ll lose just a fraction of their muscle mass.

Exactly “how” that is medically possible is what these University, Medtronic and DNR scientists are hoping to discover.

Researchers are trying to unveil the unique properties in the bear’s blood plasma that protects the animal’s organs and muscle tissue from that lack of oxygen that leads to heart and muscle damage.

If similar “plasma fractions” or synthetic compounds can be applied for medical use in humans, it would mean quicker recoveries from surgery and a greatly expanded number of heart transplants.

According to Workday Minnesota, “more than 500 people, armed with banners, signs, and stories of health insurance industry abuse rallied at the Minneapolis Labor Center Sunday afternoon to demand Congress to deliver on health care reform.”

[President of the Minneapolis Regional Labor Federation Bill] McCarthy said “workers across the country are at the mercy of insurance companies’ soaring premiums, denied claims and inflated profits. It’s time Washington listened to those that elected them, not corporate insurers.”

Franken took the stage to thunderous applause midway through the rally. Citing insurance industry profits which continue to rise despite a weak economy, Franken told the packed hall “I think you know why they’re fighting us.”

And the fight continues as conservatives scream for a new bill altogether — or none at all. “The American people have rejected the bill,” claims True North.

The American people know that the Democrats’ bill:

• is loaded with tax increases (except if you’re in a union);
• doesn’t bring down health insurance premium costs;
• doesn’t reduce health care costs;
• gives government the final say in whether a patient gets the treatment he needs.

How many times do we need to hear both sides? Where are we leaning now? I just spoke with man yesterday who lost his home and family due to illness. Surely this isn’t the answer.

Health outcomes include the length and quality of life. The report’s authors measured quality of life by “self-reported fair or poor health, poor physical health days, poor mental health days, and the percent of births with low birth weight.”

Jackson County earned the top ranking for health outcomes, followed by Scott and Steele Counties.

Amplatz made the commitment to honor her father, Kurt Amplatz, a retired professor of radiology who taught at the University of Minnesota for 42 years. Dr. Amplatz invented numerous medical devices and procedures, including the Amplatzer, a device used to repair congenital heart defects, which provided another option to open-heart surgery for some patients.

The study found a nearly two-fold increase in the risk of pancreatic cancer among people who consumed at least two carbonated, sugar-sweetened beverages per week compared to those who did not consume soft drinks.

According to U of M Researcher Mark Pereira, “people who drink soda release a jolt of insulin into their pancreas, which may overwhelm the organ.”

But the study is based on “the dietary habits of more than 60,000 Chinese people who were observed for 14 years.” Uh.. what does this mean? That pop causes pancreatic cancer in Chinese people? Do other dietary habits come into play? And where the heck did they find 60,000 Chinese people in Minnesota? (Actually, our Asian population is twice that, but still… clearly the study was not conducted in Minnesota.)

Regardless, stop drinking that soda!

The product, called Medica Encore, is targeted at the pre-retirement boomer generation ages 50 to 64 who lack traditional health coverage through employers or other group sponsors, the company says.

But don’t worry if you’re not the target.

Coverage is offered to any one or two adults, any one or two children (with a guarantor adult signature) or an adult and a child on one plan. This enables an individual to include coverage for an uninsured adult child, an adult sibling or an unrelated person, coverage that has traditionally not been available in individual health insurance plans.

Wow! Where do I sign up? Anybody want to buddy up?

Oh, and how much is it? What’s the catch? The catch? Oh, the catch is that the lowest deductible is $4000. Ugh.

Why the increase? Well, we’re certainly putting a lot less funding into AIDS prevention and education these days compared to the late ’80s and early ’90s. When was the last time we even heard about HIV/AIDS? According to Darin Rowles, who teaches the HIV 101 class for the Minnesota AIDS Project (MAP), “kids will say things like ‘HIV can be cured.’” Ooo, bad!

So we have more ignorance, less safe sex, and on top of that we have the Internet. That’s right, social networking and dating sites are also getting their share of the blame. Boooya!

Peter Carr, manager of HIV and Sexually Transmitted Diseases for the Health Department, said the causes are complex. But they appear to include a growing complacency and ignorance about the disease among teenagers and young adults, combined with the efficiency of the Internet and social networking sites as a means for connecting gay men who are seeking casual sex. He said the increase was not the result of increased testing.