Healthbeat by Deirdre Cox Baker

In detail, the Ad Watch division cautions that Latisse costs about $100 a month, can make hair grow in places that you don’t want it, may turn blue eyes brown ( how is that possible?), or cause the darkening of lower lashes to mimic the look of a raccoon.

Also, Latisse can lead to itchy red eyes. And — like products designed to grow men’s hair — you have to keep using it or your eyelashes will eventually return to the way they looked in the first place.

So what happened to false eyelashes, used for special occasions?

The Food and Drug Administration is now looking into Latisse and in September warned Allergan, its maker, that promotional materials on the drug’s Web site omitted or minimized some of the risks.

The Latisse commercial, Consumer Reports said on its blog, embodies pretty much everything that’s wrong with direct-to-consumer advertising.

“The Healthcare Survival Guide” is now available and has a Web site. It’s priced at $6.95.

I’ve seen some of the tips before, and included those in an Oct. 9 Quad-City Times article. The tips I used in the news article came from the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn.

Here are some of the money-saving tips stated in the book:

1. You can get COBRA for just one family member, such as one who is pregnant or who has a pre-existing condition.

2. Ask the doctor for a discount. Most (61 percent) will get one if they only ask.

3. Look on pharmaceutical Web sites for free trial offers for medications.

4. Check out a university dental clinic. There’s one in Iowa City, run by the University of Iowa School of Dental Medicine.

5. When comparison-shopping for health insurance, look for delays when coverage starts. It’s a red flag when reading the fine print.

6. Review the hospital bills closely. Charging for the wrong number of days is a common error.

The Iowa State University victory over Nebraska on Saturday was bigger state news than the exciting victory of Iowa over Michigan State.

One happens once every generation. One happens periodically.

I’m a season football ticket holder at the University of Iowa, and also an Iowa State University graduate. I follow both grid programs, one in person, and one, mainly, on the radio. (I also blog about health topics, but I’m taking a sidestep today.)

I was 19 years old and a sophomore at Iowa State the last time the Cyclones beat Nebraska in Lincoln. This year, my only child is 19 years old, and the Cyclones did it again. There’s a certain symmetry in this, but I hope it doesn’t take another 19 years for the next victory in Lincoln.

The gods of Cyclone athletes apparently agreed, somewhere over the Nebraska football stadium, that the good guys from central Iowa would prevail over the mighty Cornhuskers. This was accomplished with Iowa State’s back-up quarterback and back-up running back and a very alert defensive squad which took full advantage of the Huskers’ eight turnovers. Almost everything that happened in Saturday’s game went in ISU’s favor.

The difference this year is a new coach, Paul Rhoads, and the “want-to” attitude on the part of the Iowa State kids, who were perhaps underestimated by Nebraska.

One great highlight was provided by Mike Brandtner, former Davenport Assumption gridder and Iowa State’s punter. He pulled off a fake punt in a 4th-and-5 situation, gained 20 yards on a run, and set up Iowa State’s only touchdown.

Of course, it was also very exciting to see the Hawks’ Ricky Stanzi engineer a last-second victory in East Lansing. I just think that this is somewhat of a lesser achievement … Iowa would still be in the top 20, no matter what happened. It’s good, however, to have the Hawks as a contender on the national stage. Fourth place nationally should prompt pride across the state.

The better the Cyclones do this season, the better it is for the Hawks, according to the BCS competitive points system. It would be in Iowans’ mutual interest to pull for them both.

Less pleasant is news about food safety concerns. Leafy greens, eggs and tuna top the list of the 10 riskiest foods now being regulated by the federal Food and Drug Administration. These three, as well as oysters, potatoes, cheese, ice cream, tomatoes, sprouts and berries, account for nearly 40 percent of all foodborne outbreaks linked to regulated food.

Most foodborne illness are not reported, but they can blow up into public health emergencies, such as what happened with the hepatitis A outbreak last summer in Rock Island County.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Food Safety Enhancement Act, which would increase the FDA’s authority and  update the country’s food safety laws. It is to be sponsored in the Senate by Richard Durbin, the Democrat from Illinois. To read about the bill passed by the house, check this out. To contact Durbin with your thoughts on food safety legislation, try his Web site.

It’s possible to follow his story on the Care Pages site, available here. Care Pages is a networking site set up to help interested persons follow families during a stressful or critical situation. I used it myself once and will recommend it to anyone.

Readers may recall Quad-City Times stories about Sergio and his fight against acute myeloid leukemia. He endured months of treatment and appeared to be cured until the cancer recently returned. If you’d like to see the story I wrote about Sergio, which was published last year during the Thanksgiving weekend, click here. There was also a story on Sergio and his family at Christmas, written by Alma Gaul.

He’s a good guy and deserves our thoughts and prayers.

This information came to me this week via e-mail, and I believe folks thinking about influenza might find it helpful. Basically, it’s some common-sense advice about how to avoid viruses such as those posed by the H1N1 flu.

The source is Dr. Vinay Goyal, who practices in places such as Bombay Hospital and Hinduja Hospital, both in India. His original column was published here, the Web site for the Huntington (W. Va.) Arcade newspaper .

Goyal says viruses enter the body through the mouth and nose. Instead of using face masks or other devices, some very simple steps could be the best way to protect yourself. These include:

1. Frequent hand-washing (well-highlighted in all public communications).

2. “Hands-off-the-face” approach. Resist all temptations to touch any part of face (unless you want to eat, bathe or slap).

3. Gargle twice a day with warm salt water (use Listerine  if you don’t trust salt). H1N1 takes 2-3 days after initial infection in the throat/ nasal cavity to proliferate and show characteristic symptoms. Simple gargling prevents proliferation.

In a way, gargling with salt water has the same effect on a healthy individual that Tamiflu has on an infected person. Don’t underestimate this simple, inexpensive and powerful preventive method.

4. Similar to No. 3 above, clean your nostrils at least once every day with warm salt water. Not everybody may be good with Neti pots (used to clean nasal cavities), but blowing the nose hard once a day and swabbing both nostrils with cotton buds dipped in warm salt water is very effective at bringing down a viral population.

5. Boost your natural immunity with foods that are rich in Vitamin C. If you have to supplement with Vitamin C, make sure to also take zinc to boost absorption.

6. Drink as many warm liquids as you can. Drinking warm liquids has the same effect as gargling, but in the reverse direction. They wash proliferating viruses off the throat and into the stomach, where they cannot survive, proliferate or do any harm.

I smiled when I saw the e-mail from a medical expert at the University of Wisconsin. Dr. Kurt Rongstad says folks who wind up with a cast on their right foot should not drive.

What, I thought , if you had a torn Achilles tendon and your foot just hurt? What if you sprained your ankle?

No word on those conditions. But yes, I’m the one with the now pretty-much-healed Achilles tendon. That injury happened about four years ago and I haven’t done a great job of following expert advice to solve the injury. For example, I continued to drive, and just did it through the pain.

That is not recommended, of course. Casts, orthopedic boots or “cam walkers” slow braking time enough that driving with them is unsafe. The doctor said he knows this is an unpopular opinion. “It’s one of the biggest concerns people have,” he said. “They want to know how long they’ll need a chauffeur.”

The doctor couldn’t find published data to support his position, so he ran a field test. He timed 42 subjects on how quickly they could lift their right food off the gas pedal after a light flashed. It took about 25 percent longer for them while wearing a cast, compared to regular shoes. They did better if they wore a wedge-type orthopedic shoe, common for patients after bunion surgery.

Colds, he said, gesturing in wide circles to his head, are felt mostly up here. The flu, he added, grandly gesturing to below-the-neck part of the body, is more likely to painfully affect this area.

The Iowa Department of Public Health recently released a check list of the differences between the two types of virus. Here you go:

1. Influenza has an abrupt, significant onset.

A. Colds may come on slowly, with mild symptoms.

2. Influenza infections involve a fever of 100 F or greater and a cough and/or sore throat.

A. Colds may result in a low-grade fever.

3. In addition to respiratory symptoms, persons with influenza often have body aches, chills, and extreme malaise. Influenza duration in adults is a few days to two weeks.

A. Colds often linger longer than influenza, but symptoms overall are more mild

4. Influenza may result in serious complications like pneumonia, which lead to hospitalization.

A. Colds generally do not.