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The easy test you should do before diving into a public pool
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The CDC is warning that public pools and water parks can be teeming with bacteria that can make your family sick. But there's an easy test you can perform before everyone dives in to help determine if the water is safe. - photo by Jennifer Graham
For many families, summer means water in pools, water parks and maybe even a hotel hot tub. But before you dive in, consider the many ways H2O in public places can make you sick.

According to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more people than ever are getting ill after swimming in public pools and water parks. Jeff Rossen, an investigative correspondent for NBC News and the "Today" show, collected water samples and had them analyzed to see if theyre right.

A sample Rossen drew from one public pool contained enterococci the scientific euphemism for fecal matter.

And one collected from a water park contained enterococci, plus E. coli and total coliform. Although naturally occurring in the human intestinal tract, the stuff is nasty enough that if its found in your water supply, youre supposed to boil the water.

All three comprise to form the perfect cocktail to make you sick, Rossen reported on "Today."

Rossen interviewed Dr. Robert Glatter, an ER physician at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, who explained how water that looks so clean can be so contaminated.

It means that someone basically went to the bathroom and didnt clean themselves properly, or actually went to the bathroom in the pool, Glatter said.

And what about the chlorine thats supposed to sanitize the water?

It cleans some of it, but not all of it. Actually, the heat in the pool allows the bacteria to thrive, Glatter told the "Today" audience.

Too much chlorine carries risks. At one pool Rossen had tested, the chlorine content was sky high." On a scale of 1-10, it measured 10. Three, Rossen said, is ideal.

Excess chlorine can cause breathing problems and even chemical burns for children with sensitive skin, he said.

The reason for that is equally gross, the CDC says. Chlorine binds to the body waste of swimmers (not just urine, but sweat), and forms chemicals called chloramines. Chloramines can irritate our skin, eyes and respiratory tract, and were not even safe from them sitting in a lounge chair poolside. They build up not only in water, but also in the air if the pool area is not properly vented, the CDC says.

All that said, the CDC doesnt want us to stay out of the water. It notes that swimming is the fourth most popular sports activity in the U.S., and that swimmers have half the risk of death of sedentary people.

But health officials suggest that we buy chlorine test strips and test the water before plunging in at a public place. You can buy a box of 50 for less than $15 online.

The pH should be 7.2-7.8 in pools and hot tubs; the chlorine concentration at least 3 parts per million in hot tubs and 1 ppm in pools; and the bromine concentration at least 4 ppm in hot tubs and at least 3 ppm in pools.

Also, parents should check the pools inspection report, which should be publicly posted.

Never enter a pool or hot tub, or allow your child to, with an open wound not covered with a waterproof bandage. Shower before you get in, and be careful not to swallow any water.

And when you get out, gently towel-dry your ears, and tilt your head to let any remaining water drain out, or use a hair dryer on its lowest setting to help get the water out. Painful swimmers ear can occur when contaminated water lingers.
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From the book 'Outliers' comes proof that good health is more than just genetics
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Friends Jim Young, left, Mike Natale, Jeff Natale and Ryan Kiernan were on Greenwich High School football team together and Jim and Mike were captains. Jim, who was the youngest in Sherry Young's family, was welcome in the homes of the other three boys who still had siblings around and grandparents near. - photo by Sherry Young
As I look back on my life and the lives of others, both personally and in the reading I have done, I am convinced of the necessity of positive human contact in our lives. We are doubly blessed when we are able to make good friends or are a part of a family where we are accepted and loved.

Malcolm Gladwell in his book Outliers tells of a time in the 1950s when Dr. Stewart Wolf met a physician who practiced in the area of Roseto, Pennsylvania. Roseto was settled by a group of Italian families from Roseto, Italy, who re-created their life again in America.

This was in the 1950s before drugs and measures to prevent heart disease became important. In their conversation the physician said, You know, Ive been practicing for 17 years. I get patients from all over, and I rarely find anyone from Roseto under the age of 65 with heart disease.

Wolf was surprised by these words as, It was impossible to be a doctor, common sense said, and not see heart disease.

Wolf enlisted the aid of a sociologist and friend John Bruhn to help him. They found, There was no suicide, no alcoholism, no drug addiction, and very little crime. They didnt have anyone on welfare. Then we looked at peptic ulcers. They didnt have any of those either. These people were dying of old age. Thats it.

They checked into diet, genetics and possibilities of something in the foothills of eastern Pennsylvania but nothing made sense.

What they found was that Rosetans visited one another, stopping to chat in Italian on the street, say, or cooking for one another in their backyards. (Researchers) learned about the extended family clans that underlay the towns social structure. They saw how many homes had three generations living under one roof and how much respect grandparents commanded. They went to Mass at Our Lady of Mount Carmel and saw the unifying and calming effect of the church. They counted 22 separate civic organizations in a town of just under 2,000 people. They picked up on the particular egalitarian ethos of the community, which discouraged the wealthy from flaunting their success and helped the unsuccessful obscure their failures.

What they found eventually convinced the medical establishment to look beyond the individual and understand the culture people are part of their friends, families and town they came from. They determined that the people we surround ourselves with and the values of the world we inhabit have a profound effect on who we are.

Likely, this study could have been done with other ethnicities. However, my family's experiences with the Italian families in Connecticut ring true to the study. Our hungry and growing sons, especially our youngest son, Jim, who was left home alone with two beady-eyed parents, all had some memorable experiences being fed and loved in the Cos Cob multigenerational families. Proof of the African proverb, It takes a village to raise a child.

We live in an age when the contact we have with people often is on the internet, and many of us live among strangers. Unless we make the effort to reach out, we will become isolated, especially as we age. The Rosetan study is proof that reaching out and communicating may be good for our health.
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