October 30 Chp 139 v 16 TWELVE STEPPING WITH STRENGTH FROM THE PSALM

You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book.

Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed .

STEP 3 - Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood God.

What if the insanity and pain of your life was a part of your story. A diamond is not created overnight ,it is hard pressed from every angle until it becomes the beautiful stone we see. I look back on my life and I see stepping stones and painful lessons not designed too destroy me but to develop me into the man of God I was destined by his plan to become. Fourteen years ago homeless and strung out blaming the world for the mess of my life .If you told me back then that I would be sitting here writing a morning devotional to help others find there way ,I would have cussed you out and told you were nuts. Even though you don't understand your life , one day you will and you will be amazed that what was meant for evil God meant for your good. 

James Chp 1 v 2 Dear brothers and sisters,[a] when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. 3 For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 4 So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.

By Joseph Dickerson

Up to 5 Percent of Children May Have Problems Related to Alcohol Exposure Before Birth

/BY JOIN TOGETHER STAFF

October 29th, 2014/

As many as 5 percent of children may have some type of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD), caused by alcohol exposure before birth, a new study suggests.

Researchers at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, found between 2.4 percent and 4.8 percent of children have FASD, HealthDay reports. “Knowing not to drink during pregnancy and not doing so are two different things,” particularly before a woman finds out she is pregnant, said lead researcher Philip May.

The study appears in the journal Pediatrics.

According to the National Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, FASD is an umbrella term describing the range of effects that can occur in a person whose mother drank alcohol during pregnancy. These effects may include physical, mental, behavioral, and/or learning disabilities with possible lifelong implications.

Fetal alcohol syndrome is the most severe type of FASD. It is characterized by growth retardation, structural brain abnormalities and specific facial characteristics. The researchers note children on the less severe end of the spectrum may have behavioral issues or difficulty completing tasks required to do well in school.

To estimate the prevalence of FASD, the researchers looked at data from a nationally representative town in the Midwest. The researchers identified first graders who had a developmental problem or who were below the 25th percentile for height, weight or head circumference. These children were given behavior and memory tests, and their results were compared with those of a group of typically developing peers. Children were also assessed for physical signs of FASD.

The researchers concluded between six and nine of every 1,000 children had fetal alcohol syndrome and between 11 and 17 per 1,000 children had partial fetal alcohol syndrome. These estimates are higher than those found in previous research, the article notes.

Levittown Lanes

8815 New Falls Rd. - Levittown

Events

Date/Time

Date(s) - Saturday - November 15, 2014

7:00 pm-10:00 pm

Location

Levittown Lanes

Lauren Daigle - How Can It Be (Lyric Video)

Two-Thirds of ER Visits for Opioid Overdoses Involve Prescription Drugs

/BY JOIN TOGETHER STAFF

October 28th, 2014/

More than two-thirds of emergency department visits for opioid overdoses involve prescription drugs, a new study finds.

Researchers from Stanford University analyzed tens of thousands of reports of opioid overdoses nationwide from 2010, HealthDay reports. Approximately 68 percent involved prescription drugs, the researchers write in JAMA Internal Medicine. The number may be even higher, since 13 percent of cases did not specify the drugs involved. In 3 percent of cases, multiple narcotics were involved. Heroin alone was involved in 16 percent of overdose cases.

“Opioid overdose exacts a significant financial and health care utilization burden on the U.S. health care system,” the researchers wrote. “Most patients in our sample overdosed on prescription opioids, suggesting that further efforts to stem the prescription opioid overdose epidemic are urgently needed.”

The study found 84 percent of prescription opioid overdoses occurred in urban areas, and 40 percent took place in the South. Women accounted for 53 percent of prescription opioid overdoses.

Many patients who came to the hospital for overdoses had other illnesses, such as chronic mental health problems, or circulatory or respiratory diseases. About half of the patients who were rushed to the ER for opioid overdoses were admitted to the hospital.

Internet Administrator Criticized for Not Cracking Down on Illegal Online Pharmacies

/BY JOIN TOGETHER STAFF

October 28th, 2014/

Critics charge the Internet’s central administrator is not doing enough to crack down on illegal online pharmacies, The Wall Street Journal reports. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) says its powers are limited.

This summer, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) worked with Interpol and many other countries to try to close down more than 1,300 websites suspected of selling drugs without a prescription. Officials sent a list of the websites to the Chinese company that registered them, the article notes. The company said it could not take action against the sites.

The officials then asked ICANN to act. The organization is continuing to investigate the matter, ICANN said earlier this month. Since February, 4,700 suspicious drug-selling websites have been reported to the group, and about 4,000 are still online, according to LegitScript, which tracks online pharmacies.

ICANN could help crack down on illicit Internet operators, according to regulators and law-enforcement agencies. The organization manages technical functions and oversees registrars that sell Web addresses.

ICANN’s Chief Executive, Fadi Chehadé, says critics do not understand the group’s role and what it can do. He compared ICANN to a motor-vehicle department. “We authorize a group of license plates to registrars to do business,” he told the newspaper. “I’m not responsible for what happens in the car.”

According to an investigation by The Wall Street Journal, thousands of complaints about online pharmacies and other sites piled up for months because ICANN stopped maintaining one of its computer systems in 2012.

Axelle Lemaire, France’s Secretary of State for Digital Affairs, says the organization’s “lack of transparency is very worrying. When it comes to selling illegal drugs online, it’s the health of world-wide citizens at stake.”

Daniel Burke, a special agent in the FDA’s cybercrime investigations unit, said ICANN “closes complaints, and they don’t say why, and the websites are still operating. It’s really quite frustrating.”