Blunt Swing Through Southwest Missouri.

Southwest Missouri Congressman Roy Blunt, the newly elected Majority Whip, will visit eight communities in the Seventh Congressional District during the second week of December.

Blunt's itinerary includes stops in Bolivar to discuss homeland security preparedness in rural areas like Polk County and delivering an export achievement certificate to the Springfield Small Business Center. Blunt will deliver a grant to a women's shelter in Taney County. The Congressman will cut the ribbon on a new federally-qualified dental clinic in Anderson and a federally-supported medical clinic that will expand services in Cassville.

In promoting his annual end of the year voting report, Blunt will visit with a Spanish class at Springfield Central High School to discuss the first publication of Blunt Facts in Spanish. Blunt will meet with Spanish language proofreaders on the project at Missouri Southern State College in Joplin later on Wednesday.

The Latino population in Southwest Missouri increased by 400% during the last decade, becoming the largest minority population in the Ozarks. "Our Hispanic population is growing, and with it, interest in the Spanish language and Hispanic culture," Blunt said. "Spanish classes in Southwest Missouri high schools attract the largest following for a second language. Spanish fluency is a critical skill in establishing business and cultural ties abroad."

I suppose ever’one has a Christmas or two that particularly sticks out in their mind. One I seem to always recall is when my brother and I got matchin’ used bicycles. We were told Santa was havin’ trouble comin’ up with new bikes that year.

‘Course we had ta get out and try ‘em out. The sun was shinin’ but a recent snow had left the gravel roads in our rural town more than a little wet and before long we were spendin’ most of our first day cleanin’ mud from between the fender and the tire. Ride again ‘till the mud caked so tight the wheel wouldn’t turn, and stop and clean.

A couple a brothers down the block got new bikes that year, but they couldn’t ride that day for fear of gettin’ their machines dirty. I wonder if they have a Christmas they remember.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

by

McCune- Brooks Hospital

TO YOUR GOOD HEALTH

By Paul G. Donohue, M.D.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I dread coming down with osteoporosis. I dread the thought of taking female hormones. I don’t want to take any chances when it comes to breast cancer. What can I do to keep my bones strong? — R.T.

ANSWER: Start by taking a route that does not entail any medicine. Weight-bearing exercise is a cheap and effective way to prevent osteoporosis. "Weight-bearing" means the body’s bones must support body weight during the exercise. Walking is a weight-bearing exercise. Lifting barbells and dumbbells is weight-bearing exercise.

Be sure to get your share of calcium (1,200 mg to 1,500 mg) daily along with 400 to 800 IU of vitamin D.

There’s no shortage of medicines that can replace estrogen, the female hormone whose diminished production after menopause weakens bones. Evista, for example, is an imitation estrogen. It has estrogen’s bone-strengthening benefit but does not foster breast changes that could become cancer.

There is a family of drugs called bisphosphonates that slow down bone-eating body cells. They are effective in osteoporosis prevention and treatment. Names of two such drugs are Fosamax and Actonel. A new form of Fosamax requires taking the tablet only once a week.