Happy Birthday to Edna Parker who turned 115 in Shelbyville, IN, on April 20!

She was declared the oldest person in the world this past August by the Guinness Book of World Records. Edna is one of only 75 people alive in the world today who have made it past their 110th birthday.

Edna marked her birthday at the Heritage House Convalescent Center with cake, some roses and a few balloons for an outdoor party on a beautiful spring Midwest day.

Researchers in Boston are studying Edna to determine why she has lived so long. According to the birthday girl herself, a low stress life leads to longevity!

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For thirty dollars you don’t have to haul yourself to New York to appear on the Maury Povich Show to get the DNA-related answers you require.

A home testing kit for DNA, mirroring the drug testing kits popular with parents, is now available on the market. Containing a swab, a consent form (which of course, legally must be there), and a Netflix-like package ready for return mailing. The product will find the DNA answers coming your way in three to five days.

The DNA test arrived Wednesday on select stores’ shelves, but consumers may want to call around to ensure the local drug store carries it. And do not count on this product answering questions for court issues - legally - the home kit does not qualify as sufficient.

By the time all is said and done with lab fees - add in another $119 to receive results. The company behind many a DNA test, Identigene, reported their demand for the product was so high that it called for a home version.

“Store sales are brisk and Identigene has been inundated with questions regarding the product’s availability,” the company said in a statement.

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Stephanie Kuleba was an 18-year-old with a bright future. With a perfect grade-point-average in school, she was a cheerleader and now she is dearly missed.

What was supposed to be routine cosmetic surgery on Saturday, Kuleba instead had a fatal reaction to the anesthesia. The death is sparking a debate about how young is too young to have cosmetic surgery.

She was going under the knife to correct irregularly sized breasts and an inverted nipple. Kuleba was thought to recover quickly as the millions who have gone before her who have experienced the same surgery.

Doctors are digging to discover what was missed that would have led the teenager having a fatal reaction to anesthesia.

Mourners gathered in a Florida church Wednesday to say goodbye to the girl many described as “perfect” and someone who well-wishers will “miss so much.”

After the mother of Kanye West passed recently from cosmetic surgery, the debate is raging in medical circles as to the public reaction to tragic results from surgery that should be routine.

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Yes, it’s true and this is not an Arnold Schwarzenegger film. An Oregon transgendered man has come out of the shadows to show the world his new…baby bump!

Thomas Beatie is facing numerous health problems should his pregnancy continue through a birth. But scientists are split as to how the pregnancy will play out. Born a woman, Beatie should be able to carry through to term.

But the question central to the entire issue is whether the chemicals a transgender person goes through will endanger a fetus? As this is not science fiction and not true science, the answers to these questions will be answered as Beatie progresses through the next three months.

Six months pregnant, thus far, issues have not arisen. Doctors are concerned of the biological fact that because women are born with all the eggs they will need for life. Beatie has chemically-altered eggs and leave researchers wondering what will be created inside what is essentially a male human body. It remains to be seen.

Beatie was born female and went through sexual reassignment surgery 10 years ago, but kept reproductive organs intact.

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As the businesses that hawk salvia divinorum hail, the herb is a miracle cure for all that ails. According to Florida legislators, that may not be such a good thing.

Aware of that, businesses have added “hurry, time is running out” to their advertisements. So what’s the fuss?

The government is considering a ban on salvia divinorum because of its ability to alter the senses. Many have compared the drug’s affect to that of marijuana. Once authorities heard that, the law circled ready to abolish.

Eight states have already put legal limitations on the easy-to-obtain plant and Florida seeks to be the ninth. Lawmakers would have anyone arrested with the plant or its usable street form to serve up to five years in prison.

Salvia divinorum is a native plant of Mexico and is still solely grown in that country. Users describe the drug as more of a hallucinogen like LSD. Because of the mind-altering nature of the substance, the legal establishment would like to get it out of circulation.

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According to an AP report released today, a pharmacy full of drugs can be found in our drinking water.

In Washington, DC for example, traces of two different anti-inflammatory medications, seizure medications, disinfectant and two types of antibiotics.

The AP report surveyed a total of 28 US cities and went through extensive scientific testings before publishing the results. Although all the water in question is regularly tested, the above meds manage to get through.

The study also found traces of caffeine in a number of city’s drinking water as well as pain medications.

It is stressed that none of the drugs found in the nation’s drinking water are hazardous. But it certain does raise questions in terms of national security and future health ailments spawn by water-borne contaminants.

Don’t throw away unused medications by flushing them down the toilet — which was the old advice. Instead, ask your pharmacy if they will dispose of your extra meds, or follow the disposal advice outlined here.

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In a world always reaching for the next great cold cure, news arrived Thursday that cold “curer” Airborne is no better than a placebo, it has no proven medical benefits.

Airborne has settled a class action suit over false advertising that disputed the manufacturer’s claim that it was a “miracle cold buster.” Apparently the court felt the same thing, slapping them with the massive $23.3 million fine.

Look in any pharmacy and products such as Airborne are everywhere. Classified as dietary supplements, the medication is not governed by the FDA.

People with claims for product’s purchased between May 2001 and November 2007 are invited to participate in the class action suit. Of course, you have to still have a receipts for a full refund for every package purchased. But, customers without receipts - most of us - will still get a refund, one limited to up to six packages per person.

To participate in the Airborne class action suit, click here.

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In 2006, Robert McNichol, 57, went to work in Ireland never realizing that his son’s tooth two years later, would help restore his vision.

McNichol arrived at his waste recycling business that day and experienced an accident that left him completely blind. All of his doctors told him the same thing: ‘you will never see again.’

McNichol refused to believe that in this day and age, there was no technology out there to restore vision. McNichol percevered and found the science he was seeking.

A procedure entitled OOKP, is what the blind man found to aid in his effort to see once again. The only thing he needed was a tooth.

The surgical procedure places a man-made lens within the eye that has returned sight to those who cannot see, with a catch. The only material scientists have found that hold the lens in place is that carved from a human tooth.

Enter Robert Jnr, 23, who volunteered one of his for his father, McNichol. The surgery at Sussex Eye Hospital in Brighton took several months to complete and although McNichol won’t completely regain his sight, doctors and confident some vision will return.

Many of us would give our left arm for a parent, a tooth…no brainer!

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After video emerged of slaughterhouse workers abusing handicapped cattle, a California meatpacking company has issued what has become America’s largest meat recall in history.

Over 143 million pounds of beef is on its way back to its maker for destruction. Video has emerged from various sources showing workers in the plant mistreating animals and violating the government’s ban on putting disabled (”downer”) cows into food consumption.

The animals are seen visibly trying their best to move away from the kicking workers in the film, but because of their handicaps, they are unable to do anything other than wail.

Joining in the full frontal assault on the company, the USDA said Sunday that all meat products distributed by Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Company over the last two years was to be removed from shelves. Interesting note: The last two years? Hasn’t much of that product been consumed already?

We’ll keep you posted as this story unfolds. At the moment, included in the recall is meat that has been sent to schools for lunch programs across the country. The recall is a “Class II,” which is defined by a lesser element of emergency, most likely a recall in precaution only.

Yet, the treatment of those animals surely raises questions about the U.S. food supply.

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Another tainted product out of China, and this time the scare involves prescription drugs. A state-owned pharmaceutical company is being accused of having a hand in the paralysis and other serious ailments.

Shanghai Hualian, a Chinese company that exports products to the United States, including medication for leukemia and the so-called Abortion Pill, RU-486, is feeling the heat as patients in China are becoming seriously ill that are taking the leukemia pill.

The RU-486 pill is made in a different factory than the leukemia medication in question, yet concerns across the world are raised as another realm of product from China has become dangerous for world consumption.

Back in December, the Chinese government began an investigation into the business practices of the heads of the company

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