12/31/2012
Study Reveals Pain Following Car Wrecks May Be Based on Genetics
New research out of the University of North Carolina has found that each person experiences pain differently after a car accident and those differences may have a genetic basis. Not only the way we feel pain, but the amount of pain we are in can all be based on our genes.
The studies that researchers analyzed collected data from 948 victims of car accidents. The results revealed that those in the accidents had inherited certain genetic variations that affected how they responded to pain. The genetic differences not only affected the degree of pain felt at the moment, but also the extent of pain felt six weeks after the accident.
Though many people have heard about the political and cultural differences that exist between those in red states and blue states, according to a recent article in the Los Angeles Times, there may also be traffic safety differences. According to a 
According to a recent article in the New York Times, Clara Marshall, an older woman suffering from dementia, moved into a nursing home after her family was no longer able to provide the care she needed. Tragically, after only five months in the facility, Clara was found dead in her room, strangled after getting her neck caught in side rails meant to protect her from rolling out of bed.
It was only after her death, once her daughter had begun writing to the Consumer Product Safety Commission and the Food and Drug Administration that she discovered that both agencies had known for more than a decade about deaths associated with bed rails. She was shocked that two agencies devoted to ensuring consumer safety had failed to act despite years of warnings regarding the danger of such bed rails. 
A terrible head-on collision between two vehicles happened over the weekend on a road in Hazel Green. The nighttime wreck took the lives of three people and sent two others to Huntsville Hospital.
The wreck involved two cars and was so bad that one of the vehicles burst into flame. What exactly happened that led to the disaster is still under investigation by Alabama State Troopers.
Three people died in the car that caught on fire and another passenger in that car was taken to Huntsville Hospital with only minor injuries. The other car had only one person inside who was airlifted to Huntsville Hospital. Police officials have only said that the other person was suffering from serious injuries.
According to a recent Wall Street Journal article, a push in the medical community has directed attention at concussion care for young athletes, specifically children and teens who are more vulnerable than adults to the problems associated with traumatic brain injuries. Estimates say that as many 3.8 million sport-related concussions occur in the U.S. each year. Among children and teens, the CDC says that emergency room visits for sports-related brain injuries increased by 60% over the past 10 years.
Now that the election is over and the holidays have begun, taxes and the impending fiscal cliff are on everyone’s mind. While you may not be able to do anything to force Congress into action, you can take steps to fix your own will or trust and capitalize on existing gift tax exemptions before they expire.
It can’t be said enough how important it is to act now to take advantage of current estate and gift tax laws that are set to expire at the end of the year. Though delay is common when it comes to estate planning, there’s only a very limited window left to act before the fiscal cliff leads to unimagined changes to the tax code.