Ohio researchers have published results of a study suggesting that lightning can trigger migraines and other headaches. The scientists hope their findings will help chronic sufferers anticipate an event and start treatment right away to prevent it.
University of Cincinnati (UC) health professor and headache expert Vincent Martin, M.D., and his son, Geoffrey Martin, a UC medical student, led the study and published the results in the online journal Cephalalgia, according to Medical News Today. Cephalalgia says the study included 90 subjects, 91 percent of whom were women. The mean age of participants was 44.
Conclusions from many studies about how weather factors like humidity and barometric pressure affect the start of headaches have contradicted each other. The UC study is the first to actually link lightning to headaches.
The researchers recruited subjects from locales in Missouri and Ohio. They determined that on days when lightning struck within 25 miles of a subject's home, the individual had a 31 percent increased risk of developing a headache. For migraines, the increased risk was 28 percent.
MedlinePlus reports that around 12 percent of U.S. residents get migraines. These headaches come with severe, throbbing pain and are three times more common in females than in males. Visual disturbances, nausea, auras, and sensitivity to sound are common.
The International Headache Society considers a headache a migraine according to established criteria such as pain, number of attacks, and common visual and auditory symptoms, according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. Around a third of patients can predict the approach of a migraine by the appearance of an aura.
Migraine patients tend to suffer from recurring attacks linked to various triggers like food, lights, hormonal changes, and stress. However, since the pathophysiology of these headaches isn't fully understood, there is no accepted cure for migraines.
Subjects in the UC study met the International Headache Society migraine criteria. They recorded all headache activity each day for three to six months. Mathematical modeling to account for any influence of other weather factors suggested that lightning has a unique affect on headaches.
The researchers hope in future studies to investigate the precise mechanisms by which lightning or associated factors trigger headaches. However, they speculate that potential triggers include electromagnetic waves lightning emits. Lightning also causes jumps in ozone and other air pollutant levels and can cause the release of fungal spores that could trigger migraines.
I have experienced three headaches diagnosed as atypical migraines. Doctors were unable to find a trigger for any of them but suspected mold or fungus in an old building and an anesthesia reaction. While reading the UC study findings, I recalled that when I left my room for surgery, I could see lightning and hear thunder outside the hospital window. A coincidence? Maybe not, if lightning can trigger migraines and other headaches.
Vonda J. Sines has published thousands of print and online health and medical articles. She specializes in diseases and other conditions that affect the quality of life.
Virginia Tech expands sports concussion-risk studies to include hockey and baseballPublic release date: 29-Jan-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Steven Mackay 540-231-4787 Virginia Tech
The Virginia Tech Wake Forest University School of Biomedical Engineering and Sciences (http://www.sbes.vt.edu/) is expanding its ground-breaking research of testing football helmets to reduce the number of concussions to now include hockey, baseball, softball, and lacrosse.
The five-year plan will see the Virginia Tech research center, headed by Stefan Duma (http://www.sbes.vt.edu/duma.php), rate helmets worn by hockey, baseball, softball, and lacrosse athletes in their ability to lessen the likelihood of a concussion resulting from a violent head impact.
Ratings on hockey helmets are expected in fall 2013, followed by youth football in 2015, and then baseball, softball, and lacrosse in 2016. During that time, all ratings for adult and youth football helmets will continually be updated and released to the public.
The expansion into helmeted sports other than football comes on the heels of new research that allows for better prediction of sports-related concussions resulting from linear and rotational head accelerations. These accelerations result from head impacts that cause the head to translate and twist about the neck. The new research is published this month in the Annals of Biomedical Engineering (http://www.editorialmanager.com/abme/).
The new research is being funded by Virginia Tech, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the National Institutes of Health, and the Institute for Critical Technology and Applied Science (http://www.ictas.vt.edu/) at Virginia Tech.
New ratings for football helmets will include data for linear and rotational accelerations starting in 2015, said Duma, professor of biomedical engineering and department head of the Virginia Tech Wake Forest University School of Biomedical Engineering and Sciences. Serving as lead author on the research paper is Steven Rowson (http://www.cib.vt.edu/people/bios/faculty_bios/bio_rowson.html), assistant professor of biomedical engineering at Virginia Tech.
All head impacts result in both linear and rotational accelerations, and this publication provides the foundation for our research to address both accelerations relative to reducing the risk of concussion, said Duma. Our goal with the five-year plan is to provide manufacturers with a schedule detailing when we will release helmet ratings for each sport.
The helmet rating system is based on more than a decade of data collection by Duma and his research staff, and utilizes the STAR, or Summation of Tests for the Analysis of Risk, formula that assesses the ability of football helmets to reduce concussion risk. Sport-specific testing methodologies will be added to the website that lists the rated helmets prior to the initial release of each sports helmets ratings.
Using data collected from more than 63,000 head impacts during a period of 10 years, Duma and Rowson related linear and rotational head acceleration to the probability of sustaining a concussion in the form of an injury risk function.
This new analysis utilizes data measured from 62 concussions sustained by high school, college, and professional football players, said Rowson. We use these data to determine the best method to predict concussions when we test helmets in our laboratory.
In their research paper, the researchers write, With as many as 3.8 million sports-related concussions occurring annually in the United States and research suggesting possible long term neurodegenerative processes resulting from repetitive concussions, reducing the incidence of concussion in sports has become a public health priority.
Indeed, long-term, repetitive injuries that can cripple or eventually kill years after play have prompted dozens of headlines in major media outlets and several national studies, and even President Obama to recently weigh in on the subject. Dozens of former NFL players are suing the league over injuries sustained during years of play, and headlines were made this summer when former football great Alex Karras died at age 77 from various ailments, several allegedly said to be caused by years of hard hits.
In studying football-related injuries during the past decade, Duma and his research team have used on-field real-time sensors installed in the helmets of hundreds of adult and youth football players to study injuries, as well as a mechanical lab-tested 5-star rating system to track and grade commercially sold helmets.
The former can help indicate head injuries that require immediate attention while on the field of play. The latter has provided the only independent biomechanical data for consumers to make helmet purchasing decisions, Duma said.
Dumas goal is not to end the sport of football, but make it safer while still keep the same expected adrenaline rush and action for players, and viewers.
It is important to note that no helmet can prevent all concussions. The most effective strategies to reduce concussions in sports involve modifying league rules and player technique to limit exposure to head impacts, Duma said.
Beyond this, head impacts are a given in sport. Our research focuses on identifying helmets that reduce concussion risk so that athletes can make informed decisions based on independent data when purchasing equipment, which in turn, incentivizes helmet manufacturers to design helmets that better reduce head acceleration.
###
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Virginia Tech expands sports concussion-risk studies to include hockey and baseballPublic release date: 29-Jan-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Steven Mackay 540-231-4787 Virginia Tech
The Virginia Tech Wake Forest University School of Biomedical Engineering and Sciences (http://www.sbes.vt.edu/) is expanding its ground-breaking research of testing football helmets to reduce the number of concussions to now include hockey, baseball, softball, and lacrosse.
The five-year plan will see the Virginia Tech research center, headed by Stefan Duma (http://www.sbes.vt.edu/duma.php), rate helmets worn by hockey, baseball, softball, and lacrosse athletes in their ability to lessen the likelihood of a concussion resulting from a violent head impact.
Ratings on hockey helmets are expected in fall 2013, followed by youth football in 2015, and then baseball, softball, and lacrosse in 2016. During that time, all ratings for adult and youth football helmets will continually be updated and released to the public.
The expansion into helmeted sports other than football comes on the heels of new research that allows for better prediction of sports-related concussions resulting from linear and rotational head accelerations. These accelerations result from head impacts that cause the head to translate and twist about the neck. The new research is published this month in the Annals of Biomedical Engineering (http://www.editorialmanager.com/abme/).
The new research is being funded by Virginia Tech, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the National Institutes of Health, and the Institute for Critical Technology and Applied Science (http://www.ictas.vt.edu/) at Virginia Tech.
New ratings for football helmets will include data for linear and rotational accelerations starting in 2015, said Duma, professor of biomedical engineering and department head of the Virginia Tech Wake Forest University School of Biomedical Engineering and Sciences. Serving as lead author on the research paper is Steven Rowson (http://www.cib.vt.edu/people/bios/faculty_bios/bio_rowson.html), assistant professor of biomedical engineering at Virginia Tech.
All head impacts result in both linear and rotational accelerations, and this publication provides the foundation for our research to address both accelerations relative to reducing the risk of concussion, said Duma. Our goal with the five-year plan is to provide manufacturers with a schedule detailing when we will release helmet ratings for each sport.
The helmet rating system is based on more than a decade of data collection by Duma and his research staff, and utilizes the STAR, or Summation of Tests for the Analysis of Risk, formula that assesses the ability of football helmets to reduce concussion risk. Sport-specific testing methodologies will be added to the website that lists the rated helmets prior to the initial release of each sports helmets ratings.
Using data collected from more than 63,000 head impacts during a period of 10 years, Duma and Rowson related linear and rotational head acceleration to the probability of sustaining a concussion in the form of an injury risk function.
This new analysis utilizes data measured from 62 concussions sustained by high school, college, and professional football players, said Rowson. We use these data to determine the best method to predict concussions when we test helmets in our laboratory.
In their research paper, the researchers write, With as many as 3.8 million sports-related concussions occurring annually in the United States and research suggesting possible long term neurodegenerative processes resulting from repetitive concussions, reducing the incidence of concussion in sports has become a public health priority.
Indeed, long-term, repetitive injuries that can cripple or eventually kill years after play have prompted dozens of headlines in major media outlets and several national studies, and even President Obama to recently weigh in on the subject. Dozens of former NFL players are suing the league over injuries sustained during years of play, and headlines were made this summer when former football great Alex Karras died at age 77 from various ailments, several allegedly said to be caused by years of hard hits.
In studying football-related injuries during the past decade, Duma and his research team have used on-field real-time sensors installed in the helmets of hundreds of adult and youth football players to study injuries, as well as a mechanical lab-tested 5-star rating system to track and grade commercially sold helmets.
The former can help indicate head injuries that require immediate attention while on the field of play. The latter has provided the only independent biomechanical data for consumers to make helmet purchasing decisions, Duma said.
Dumas goal is not to end the sport of football, but make it safer while still keep the same expected adrenaline rush and action for players, and viewers.
It is important to note that no helmet can prevent all concussions. The most effective strategies to reduce concussions in sports involve modifying league rules and player technique to limit exposure to head impacts, Duma said.
Beyond this, head impacts are a given in sport. Our research focuses on identifying helmets that reduce concussion risk so that athletes can make informed decisions based on independent data when purchasing equipment, which in turn, incentivizes helmet manufacturers to design helmets that better reduce head acceleration.
###
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?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
European Pressphoto AgencyBears await food on a farm in Fujian Province in China that is run by the pharmaceuticals maker Guizhentang. The companylegally makes tonics from bear bile.
The six bears that arrived this month at Animals Asia, an animal rescue center in China, had the grisly symptoms of inhumane ?bile milking.? Greenish bile dripped from open fistulas used to drain gall bladders; teeth were broken and rotted from gnawing on the bars of tiny cages.
Four of the bears have since had surgery to remove gall bladders damaged by years of unhygenic procedures to extract their bile, which is coveted for its purported medicinal properties. One bear?s swollen gall bladder was the size of a watermelon.
The latest batch of bears was rescued from an illegal farm by the Sichuan Forestry Department and joins 279 other bears at the center, near Chengdu in southwestern China. With luck, these bears will recover at the sanctuary. But thousands on farms, both legal and illegal, continue to suffer in wretched conditions, and countless others living in the wild across Asia are threatened by poaching and their illegal capture.
Bear bile contains a chemical called ursedeoxycholic acid, long used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat gallstones, liver problems and other ailments. There are an estimated 10,000 farmed bears in China, 3,000 in Vietnam, at least 1,000 in South Korea and others in Laos and Myanmar.
Tigers, rhinos and elephants are notoriously poached to satisfy high demand in Asia for their parts, which are falsely assumed to have medicinal properties. Experts warn that sun bears and Asiatic black bears, known colloquially as ?moon bears,? are on a similar route to endangerment, although their plight draws less media attention. ?No bears are extinct, but all Asian ones are threatened,? said Chris Shepherd, a conservation biologist and deputy regional director of the wildlife trade group Traffic who is based in Malaysia.
To address the threat, the demand for bear bile must be sharply reduced, Dr. Shepherd, a conservation biologist told hundreds of researchers at the International Conference on Bear Research and Management, an annual event held recently in New Delhi.
Reducing demand would require a multi-pronged effort, experts say. That would mean enforcing existing laws, arresting and prosecuting violators, promoting synthetic and herbal alternatives, and closing illegal farms.
Chinese celebrities like the actor Jackie Chan and the athlete Yao Ming have both spoken out against the bear bile industry to raise public awareness about poaching and the inhumane conditions typically found on farms. Bears often live for years in coffin-like cages in which they are unable to stand or turn around.
The bile is extracted through catheters inserted into the abdomen, with needles or by bringing the gall bladder to the skin?s surface, where it will leak bile if prodded.
Legal farming was conceived as a way of increasing the supply of bile to reduce the motivation for poaching wild bears, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature. But there is no evidence that it has done so, it noted in a resolution passed last September, and there is concern among conservationists that it ?may be detrimental.?
The resolution also called on countries with legal bear farms to close down the illegal ones, to ensure that no wild bears are added to farms; to conduct research into bear bile substitutes (there are dozens of synthetic and herbal alternatives) and to conduct an independent peer-reviewed scientific analysis on whether farming protects wild bears.
Some groups argue that the increased supply of farmed bile has only exacerbated demand. ?Because a surplus of bear bile is being produced, bile is used in many non-medical products, like bear bile wine, shampoo, toothpaste and face masks,? Animals Asia says. Since bear farming began in China in the early 1980?s, bear bile has been aggressively promoted as a cure-all remedy for problems like hangovers, the group added.
In mainland China and Japan, domestic sales of bear bile are legal and theoretically under strict regulation as prescription products. But such sales are illegal in Cambodia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, and the international trade is illegal as well.
Yet a 2011 report from Traffic indicated that bear bile products were on sale in traditional medicine outlets in 12 Asian countries and territories.
Nonprescription bear bile products like shampoo or toothpaste are illegal in China yet are readily available for purchase, conservationists say. Tourists from South Korea, a country that has decimated its own wild bear population, are major buyers in China and Vietnam even though taking bear bile products across borders is illegal under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna.
?Farms have drawn in bile consumers by creating a huge market ? bile is cheap,? said David Garshelis, a research scientist at the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources who is co-chairman of the I.U.C.N.?s bear specialist group.
In Vietnam, a milliliter of bile might sell for $3 to $6; about 100 milliliters can be extracted from a bear each day, according to Annemarie Weegenaar, bear and director of the veterinarian team at Animals Asia?s Vietnam center.
In four years, the I.U.C.N. is to issue a report on whether bear farms threaten wild populations. Meanwhile, demand appears to be spreading further afield in Asia and is now growing in Indonesia, largely as a result of demand from the Chinese and Korean communities there, said Gabriella Fredriksson, a conservation biologist based in Sumatra. A low-level poacher can sell a gall bladder from a bear caught in a simple snare and then killed for about $10.
So far the biggest threat to bears in Indonesia is loss of habitat from forest fires and the conversion of land to palm oil plantations. But in the last few years, poaching has increased, said Dr. Fredriksson, who has been there 15 years.
She cautioned that bears in Indonesia could also become highly threatened. ?Fifty years ago, bears were doing well in Cambodia and Laos,? she said. ?Now there?s hardly any left.?
BetaBait, a service that connects startups with people to try and test early "beta" versions of web and mobile apps, is shutting down effective February 1st, 2013. The company, which first launched a year ago in December 2011, announced the closure in an email sent to users.
By Ken Y-N ( January 27, 2013 at 23:39)
? Filed under Polls, Rankings
goo Ranking took a look at as it says in the title, what self-centredness from one?s partner ruins the mood, for both men?s views on their partner and women?s views on theirs.
Demographics
Over the 7th and 8th of December 2012 1,059 members of the goo Research monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 61.4% of the sample were female, 10.8% in their teens, 14.4% in their twenties, 24.9% in their thirties, 28.8% in their forties, 11.5% in their fifties, and 9.6% aged sixty or older. Note that the score in the results refers to the relative number of votes for each option, not a percentage of the total sample.
I think most of the answers apply to people at the girlfriend/boyfriend stage, not married couples. I hope I don?t do any of the male acts, although numbers 14 and 18 hit a bit close to home! On the other hand, ? my wife might be reading!
Ranking results
Q1: What self-centredness behaviour by your partner ruins the mood? (Sample size=409, male)
Rank
?
Score
1
She hates my unfaithfulness, but is indifferent about her own unfaithfulness
100
2
When we argue, even if she is in the wrong she won?t apologise
96.5
3
She gets angry if presents are not expensive
83.2
4
Without considering my own situation she asks me to come round soon
77.9
5
She insists I touch base every day
70.8
6=
She gets angry if we do something different from what she thinks we should do
68.1
6=
She cancels dates at the last minute with ?I?m not in the mood
68.1
8
If I?m busy at work and slow to get in touch she asks ?Which is more important, work or me??
62.8
9
She has severe impulse shopping urges and always pleads ?Buy it for me!?
60.2
10
She always asks ?How much do you love me??
58.4
11
She tells me not to speak to other women
58.4
12
She is in the habit of being slow to reply to email, etc, but gets angry if I?m not prompt
54.0
13
If I?m not dressed up she says it?s embarrassing to be seen together
49.6
14
She is fussy about the grade of restaurant we go to on dates
46.9
15
She asks me to align my days off with hers
43.4
16
She always asks ?Am i cute??
41.6
17
She requests I phone every night and keep talking until she feels sleepy
40.7
18
She is particular about our memorial dates (eg, one month anniversary, 100 day anniversary)
39.8
19
She always requests dates every day off
37.2
20
She puts a higher priority on her girlfriends
31.0
21
She won?t settle unless we can meet on Christmas Day, Valentines Day, other big days
30.1
22
She comes out with quiz questions that I don?t really understand, like ?Do you remember what today is??
26.5
23
She insists that I see her all the way home every time
25.7
24
She gets angry if I don?t reply, Like, etc her SNS posts
23.0
25
She dumps all the food she dislikes on my plate
17.7
Q2: What self-centredness behaviour by your partner ruins the mood? (Sample size=650, female)
Rank
?
Score
1
He hates my unfaithfulness, but is indifferent about his own unfaithfulness
100
2
When we argue, even if he is in the wrong he won?t apologise
94.1
3
He is always asking for a loan
90.5
4
He tells me not to speak to other men
83.7
5
Without telling me he goes off out with another woman
76.9
6
He cancels dates at the last minute with ?I?m not in the mood
70.6
7
He insists I touch base every day
69.7
8
He always asks ?How much do you love me??
67.9
9
If I?m busy at work and slow to get in touch he asks ?Which is more important, work or me??
67.9
10
He gets angry if we do something different from what he thinks we should do
65.2
11=
Without considering my own situation he asks me to come round soon
62.4
11=
Even when I come round to visit he spends all his time playing computer games by himself
62.4
11=
He is in the habit of being slow to reply to email, etc, but gets angry if I?m not prompt
62.4
14
He leaves all the bothersome details up to me to take care of
61.1
15
He gets angry if presents are not expensive
60.6
16
He requests I phone every night and keep talking until he feels sleepy
58.8
17
He only gets in touch when he feels like it
58.4
18
He leaves planning dates up to me
57.0
19=
If I?m not dressed up he says it?s embarrassing to be seen together
50.2
19=
He insists that I praise him
50.2
21
He asks me to align my days off with his
49.3
22
He gets angry if I don?t reply, Like, etc his SNS posts
A Cub Scout pack in Maryland has decided to jettison its gay-friendly membership guidelines under threat of losing its Boy Scouts of America charter, according to a statement on the pack?s website.
Pack 442 of Cloverly, Md., had adopted a non-discrimination policy that read: ?Pack 442 WILL NOT discriminate against any individual or family based on race, religion, national origin, ability, or sexual orientation.?
But over the weekend, the pack posted a notice on its website reading: ?Due to pressure from the National Capital Area Council of BSA, Pack 442 was forced to remove its Non-Discrimination statement in order to keep our Charter (set to expire Jan 31st). This Non-Discrimination statement, previously posted here, welcomed ALL families.?
The pack?s position ran counter to the Boy Scouts? membership guidelines, which ban openly gay members or leaders.?
Activist groups stepped up their campaign to end the longstanding ban last year after California teen Ryan Andresen was denied the Eagle rank because he is gay, and following the dismissal of Jennifer Tyrrell as den leader of her son?s Tiger Cub pack in Ohio because she is a lesbian.
Theresa Phillips, committee chair of Pack 442, said her group had the same motivations.
?I think we need to start at this level,? she told NBC News on Saturday. ?We need to teach the boys ? respect for other people and their lifestyles.?
A call placed to Phillips on Monday seeking comment on the removal of the policy was not immediately returned. It was not clear if the pack would continue to accept all families under a ?don?t ask, don?t tell? approach similar to the one used by the military until it was rescinded last year.
Cub Scout pack may lose charter if it keeps gay-friendly policy
The pack?s member families approved the non-discrimination policy last August, and it was discussed in detail with district leaders and the regional council, to which the pack belongs, from August through October.
The issue appeared to be settled, but when the council ?contacted us a few weeks ago pressuring us to remove our statement, we attempted to negotiate a rewording of the statement that would represent a compromise on the matter, but ultimately NCAC leadership felt only removal of the statement would be acceptable,? the pack said on its website.
?It's clear to us that they chose this time to bring that up because they knew that we needed to recharter at the end of January,? Phillips said.
Scout Executive Les Baron, a council leader, confirmed to NBC News on Friday that the pack could lose its charter if it maintained the policy: The ?policy of the Boy Scouts are what they are and my job is to not bring into (it) my own personal feelings.?
The pack committee had been split on a way forward, which prompted a poll on whether they would keep the policy and possibly not be rechartered, or if they would remove it and return to a ?don?t ask, don?t tell? policy welcoming all families.
The poll, which ended Friday night and was conducted on the pack website, came out 53 percent in favor of reverting to ?don?t ask, don?t tell? and 47 percent backing the new policy, said Phillips, who voted in favor of explicitly including gays and lesbians. The poll had called for a two-thirds majority, she said.
The Boy Scouts reaffirmed its ban on gays and lesbians in 2012 following a two-year confidential review.
A national BSA spokesman, Deron Smith, said in an email on Friday that the private organization "has policies that all councils and local units agree to follow."
Related:? Gay teen denied Eagle Scout: 'Change is happening' over Boy Scouts anti-gay policy Eagle Scouts return badges to protest policy banning gays Boy Scouts: We're keeping policy banning gays
West Seattle resident Kristen Corning Bedford, pictured here with husband Slade and their children, will participate in Puget Sound Energy's Re-Energized by Design home makeover competition.
Information from Puget Sound Energy
Six PSE customers sharpen their competitive design skills to rumble in an energy-efficient room makeover competition
On Jan. 24 Puget Sound Energy introduced the six contestants for Re-Energized by Design, a design competition in which PSE customers will compete weekly in a series of energy efficiency room makeover challenges. Prizes include light emitting diode (LED) and compact fluorescent light (CFL) lighting from GE, and a full laundry and kitchen appliance suite by Frigidaire. The last contestant standing will win $5,000.
?The stakes are high so we know the competition will be intense,? said Dennis Rominger energy efficiency expert at PSE. ?These six contestants are ready to compete head to head. Sweat will be shed, winners will be crowned and most importantly, we will see creative ways to bring great design and energy efficiency together.?
The six contestants who will compete in Re-Energized by Design rose to the top during an intense selection process, including submitting videos or photo entries, a public vote to select 10 finalists, and final interviews. During the process, each entrant was evaluated on a variety of factors, including the originality and creativity of their entry, their understanding and enthusiasm for design and energy efficiency, and the energy savings potential of their home.
Each Re-Energized by Design contestant brings unique skills to the competition, including West Seattle resident Kristen Corning Bedford.
No challenge is too big for Kristen. She and her husband, Slade, purchased their home from hoarders, moving in with a two-year-old with another child on the way. They have spent the last two years working to make it their dream home.
Slade and Kristen grew up in the Northwest and are proud to call West Seattle home. Together they like to dream of creating things, including how to constantly fix up their home.
?A home should tell a story about the people who live there," Corning Bedford said. "I have a good eye for design and have been creating a vision for the spaces in this home for nearly two years. The work for this contest is the work I've been looking forward to since the day we moved in: bringing better light and color to the space.?
Each contestant?s efforts will be supported by a dedicated design coach who will provide style guidance and encouragement.
Re-Energized by Design contestants will participate in five room makeover projects. After each makeover challenge, local society and events photographer Duell Fisher, 425 and South Sound Magazine editor Lisa Patterson and radio personality Marty Riemer will review and score each contestant?s effort. The lowest-scoring contestant in each round will be eliminated.
Online ?webisodes? that get up close and personal with each contestant as they make their homes more beautiful and energy efficient will begin airing weekly in March, at www.ReEnergizedbyDesign.com. Until then customers can follow Re-Energize on Facebook at Facebook.com/Re-Energize for energy efficient design tips, special product promotions, and to learn more about contestants.
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Public release date: 29-Jan-2013
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