Don't like your agent? Fire them!

Each month, the Coeur d'Alene Association of Realtors hosts "Finally Home', a class about all things to consider when preparing to buy a home. We have had over 150 people benefit from this class and often they are enlightened, having had the serious side of home buying exposed to them. Often, someone in the class will asks, "What if you don't feel like your real estate agent cares about you?"

When you see 'em, buy 'em

There are certain vintages that stand out in our minds as wine consumers. Those growing years that are so remarkably good that you recall them with fondness for a very long time, those that every time you have a bottle from that year you relish it. After all there will be no more! There are some that stick in your mind too as they were not so good but the good ones seem to linger longer thankfully.

Economic gaps widening in affluent Israel

JERUSALEM - First came a revolt over cheese that forced Israel's largest dairy companies to lower their prices.

Treating sinus inflammation

When sinus inflammation (sinusitis) strikes, most people probably think that the best thing to do is get a prescription for antibiotics from their doctors. However, antibiotics are ineffective in 90 percent to 98 percent of all sinusitis case because nearly all sinus infections are viral in nature, and antibiotics don't kill viruses.

On the record about off-label drugs

A medication is said to be used "off-label" when it is prescribed to treat a condition which has yet to be approved by the FDA. An example of off-label drug use may be an anti-depressant that is prescribed to treat insomnia or a pain condition. Anti-seizure drugs are also sometimes prescribed off-label to treat neuropathic pain.

Hacking away at pneumonia

Angiotensin-converting-enzyme (ACE) inhibitor drugs prescribed to treat hypertension are known to produce a dry, hacking cough as a side effect in some cases, which leads many to switch to another medication. As it turns out, however, this drug-induced, persistent cough may provide a benefit that may have some patients thinking twice about switching to other blood-pressure-lowering medications.

Cholesterol screening for children?

High cholesterol may be a problem largely associated with middle-age and beyond, but it may warrant attention much sooner. An expert panel has therefore recently issued a recommendation endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics that urges that all children undergo cholesterol screening at least once between the ages of 9 and 11, and again between 17 and 21, regardless of family history.

Calling attention to medical orphans

Aside from being associated with Mother's Day and Memorial Day, the month of May has also increasingly come to be known as Awareness of Medical Orphans Month.

At your disposal

If you have expired or unwanted medications lingering inside the medicine cabinet, do not automatically throw them down the toilet. Instead, get in touch with a local drug disposal program to keep drugs safely out of the environment. If there is no disposal program, you are urged to throw unwanted drugs in the trash after mixing them with coffee grounds and sealing them in a plastic bag. Doing so will render the medications unpalatable to anyone who may later somehow come into their possession. The FDA does recommend that powerful painkillers, controlled substances and other potentially dangerous drugs be flushed because they can be harmful to children, pets and others for whom they are not intended.

First-line diabetes medications

Those diagnosed with prediabetes or type 2 diabetes are likely to be prescribed at least one medication to get their blood glucose levels under control. Classes of drugs such as meglitinides and sulfonylureas stimulate the pancreas to produce more insulin (the hormone that moves glucose from the blood into the cells). Another class of drugs, biguanides, works to inhibit the production and release of glucose by the liver, thereby reducing the amount of glucose that enters the blood. Metformin (Glucophage, Riomet) is in this latter category and also works to make cells more sensitive to the effects of insulin, which encourages more glucose to leave the blood and enter the cells. Metformin is effective and inexpensive, and it poses few side effects.

Will a common drug lower Parkinson's risk?

Parkinson's disease is a progressive nervous system disorder that causes noticeable shaking and slowing of movement. While there is no cure, the condition may be managed with drugs such as levodopa, dopamine agonists, MAO B inhibitors, and others.

Cholesterol-lowering drugs are working

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), cholesterol levels among U.S. adults have been decreasing since the late 1980s. While some of the improvement can be attributed to dietary improvements such as switching from unhealthy trans fats to vegetable oils, cholesterol-lowering medications are also thought to play an important role.

How do you take your medication?

While most medications are taken in tablet or caplet (oblong tablet) form, both are composed of compressed powder that needs to dissolve in the stomach before the active ingredient is released. For faster relief, chewable tablets are absorbed as soon as they reach the stomach, and dissolvable tablets act like ground-up chewables once dissolved in the mouth. Liquid medications are absorbed as soon as they reach the digestive system. Gel caps contain liquid medication encased in a gelatin exterior. Once the stomach dissolves the outer coating, the medication is quickly absorbed. There are also tongue strips, which melt before they are absorbed in the stomach, which is just about as quick as dissolvable tablets.

Horsepower in, gas-sipping out

SUVs, muscle cars help auto industry maintain momentum

DETROIT (AP) - Americans again bought vehicles that sit up high and come loaded with features like backup cameras and smartphone capabilities in June. Horsepower was also in; gas-sipping not so much.

Your most important wine dollar

The 2014 Harlan Estate Cabernet will release this month for $1,500 per bottle. A bit later in the spring, Domaine de la Romanée-Conti will arrive. There is little doubt it will touch $2,000 per bottle for the current vintage. Are the wines delicious? You bet. I can say this with certainty for both of them even though I have only experienced one of them during my wine journey. Are they worth that price tag? I’ll leave that up to the collectors who pursue them each year.

ADVERTISING: Advertorial — Dysfunctional bubbles

This past week news broke of the much-documented struggling supply chain starting to ease.

Million dollar Rathdrum

Neighborhood of the Week: March 7

GAS: Get out and walk, people

I have an opinion on gas prices that I would like to announce.

No rate increase likely before 2014

WASHINGTON - It could be quite a while yet before the Federal Reserve starts raising the interest rates it has kept at record lows for three years.

Neighborhood of the week: RidgePointe

When you approach the private gated entrance to RidgePointe and see the tower perched on dramatic rock outcroppings high above Lake Coeur d'Alene, you realize that you are embarking upon an experience unlike any other here in the Northwest. And when a flock of wild turkeys crosses your path, that feeling is confirmed.