"It has always been hard to sustain success as a small-market team and the new CBA does not impact that very much," the Rays vice president said.
"There are some interesting ideas within the new system but the overarching structure still tips the scales heavily in favor of the large markets
(especially with growing revenue disparity). The key to changing that will be
moving to a system that doesn't penalize small-market clubs -- in the draft
order, in the competitive balance lottery, in the international arena -- for
being successful."
?? Should you get an annual flu shot?
The final decision is yours, and should be made with your doctor.
My purpose is to give you the behind the story facts.
I'm not vehemently pro or anti vaccines. For the record, I've never gotten an annual flu shot and don't intend to. However, in recent
years I have been vaccinated against both Hepatitis B and Hepatitis
A.
The most important misconception that's all too prevalent -- and the pro-vaccine media barrage promotes it -- is that vaccines "protect"
you.
Too many people falsely believe that the flu shot acts as a "pre" antibiotic that someone kills the flu virus before they're even infected with
it.
That'd be wrong even if flu viruses could be killed by antibiotics. Which they can't.
Vaccines are teachers.
Think of your immune system as an army protecting your body from invasions. Your army contains
hundreds of millions of weapons (called antibodies). Every possible invader can
be killed by one particular antibody.
When you're invaded, though, it takes up to a week for your immune to learn which antibody works against that
particular virus, bacteria or parasite. After that, however, your immune system
works as hard as possible to manufacture much more of that antibody and use it
against the invading infection.
After the invasion is defeated, your army stores the information about the invader and the antibody into a special
biological database (called memory B cells). So if that particular germ infects
you again, your immune system can begin effectively fighting back right
away.
Vaccines are dead or weakened germs that the flu shot dumps upon the shores of your body for your immune system to find. Your immune system
reacts to the threat by trying out antibodies just as though it were a
full-scale invasion. After a time, it learns which antibodies to manufacture to
defeat that particular strain of virus, and stores that information in the
memory B cells.
Therefore Wholesale Jerseys China , if you're exposed to a live version of that virus during the coming flu season, your immune system can immediately meet the threat by
rolling out the big gun antibodies.
That's what vaccines do -- they train your immune system to defeat a particular virus by giving them a safe, trial-run
invasion. They don't do the actual fighting . . . that's up to your immune
system.
And that's an important point. Because the stronger your immune system is, the better it defends you, vaccine or no vaccine.
A strong, well-equipped army (that is, a healthy immune system) is better able to fight
off an infection than a weak, poorly-equipped army (an unhealthy immune
system).
Flu shots are most recommended for people who have weak immune systems: the very young, the very old, the very sick, HIV+, organ transplant
recipients, cancer treatment patients and everyone who's otherwise
immuno-compromised.
The medical establishment believes that a weak army has more need for the training provided by the flu vaccine than a strong army,
and this makes sense.
No matter your age or health, you should also understand that a strong immune system is better than a weak one, and do all you
can to boost your immune system through:
Getting plenty of sleep
Getting regular moderate exercise
Eating healthy foods
Taking immune system boosting nutritional supplements such as Vitamin C Wholesale Nike NFL Jerseys , beta carotene, Vitamin E, zinc and selenium.
The various strains of influenza viruses are monitored around the world by the World
Health Organization (WHO) through the U.S. Center for Disease Control (CDC) and
other participating laboratories. Many hospitals and clinics send in samples
from flu patients.
Every year around February, influenza experts meet and use this information to make their best, informed guess about which three
strains of influenza are most likely to circulate during the coming
winter.
They're experts, so they make scientific guesses, but they don't have a crystal ball. They can and have been wrong.
Vaccine manufacturers then take six to eight months to manufacture vaccines against those three
strains of influenza.
For the upcoming 2007 flu season, the shot contains antigens (inactivated and live, attenuated viruses) for these three influenza
strains: ANew Caledonia201999 (H1N1)-like, AWisconsin672005 (H3N2)-like and
BMalaysia25062004.
What if the strain of influenza that actually circulates this winter is not one of the above?
You are still vulnerable to infection. So even if you get a flu shot, you should not stop practicing good
hygiene. Don't get close to people sneezing or coughing. Wash your hands
often.
Viruses for these vaccines are grown in hen's eggs, so you should not take the flu vaccine if you have a history of severe hypersensitivity to
eggs, such as anaphylaxis.
According to the Center for Dise. Wholesale Jerseys China Cheap Wholesale Jerseys Online Wholesale Jerseys USA ?
