Super Bowl 2010 Ads Please and Annoy

Over 106 million people watched Super Bowl on Sunday, February 7, 2010. More than the final episode of M.A.S.H. It was a record breaker! And today, millions more are voting for their favorite commercials. Betty White in the Snickers ad is topping the chart. What a bonus when Abe Vigoda also appeared at the end of that commercial!

There were other age-related ads, including one with Brett Favre, the oldest QB still playing in the NFL. Looking older with gray hair, he is accepting the MVP award at Super Bowl 2021. “Maybe I should retire,” he says with a touch of irony at the end of this Hyundai commercial. The Who performed at half-time. Pete Townsend has a blog. Oh, and did you see Kiss, the 36-year old band, shilling for Dr. Pepper? Read more about these “aging is funny” ads.

Meanwhile, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid released its latest figures on health care spending in the U.S. Health care costs represented 17.3% of GDP in the U.S. last year. Within a few years this percentage will grow to 20%. In other words $1 of every $5 spent in the U.S. will be on health care. Many countries have nationalized health care. The UK has a national system for health care which represents about 7% of the economy. Some argue that the U.S. has no system, no organized way of controlling costs. As a political commentator said tonight, “Having a health care system of some sort seems fiscally responsible, or at least fiscally insane not to.”

Don't Get Too Stressed Watching the Super Bowl

Are you ready for this? Experts say that getting too riled up can wreak havoc. In fact, some say it can kill you. While on the face of it, this news seems a bit crazy, the research is rather convincing. We know high stress plays a role in elevated levels of all things bad for you. Add to this all the eating of wings, chips and other artery thickening products, not to mention the beer and other libations. If you are already at risk (especially if you don't know it), the formula can be disastrous as you scream, jump and otherwise feel large amounts of anger about the emerging results on Super Bowl Sunday.

"Spectator risk," Dr. Stephen Siegel, a cardiologist at New York University Langone Medical Center, calls it. The study took place at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles.

The big advice from those who published this study that looked not only at Super Bowl results in the 1980s, but at 2006 World Soccer cup results (and if you think we get excited about our sports here in the U.S., you don't know from excitement and emotion that the rest of the world experiences about soccer) is to relax and enjoy the game. "Don't spend your life savings on betting on it!" The incidences of heart attacks, and fatal ones at that, increased in the hours and days immediately following those events.

As for the science of it all, researchers say that the body releases large amounts of catecholamines (also called epinephrine and norepinephrine) into the bloodsteam at times of stress. "These chemicals can trigger atherosclerotic plaques to rupture, resulting in an acute heart attack or can trigger life-threatening arrhythmias resulting in sudden cardiac death," he said. "Individuals with preexisting heart conditions and those with risk factors for heart disease are at increased risk for such events," says Dr. Gregg Fonarow, a professor of cardiology at the University of California, Los Angeles.

So, as you gather round the TV this Sunday, do some deep breathing first and remember that it is just a game, at least for most of us. Peyton Manning and Drew Brees have a bit more skin in the game, so they can be forgiven for having high levels of stress at kickoff time (4:25 MT).

Tell us about how invested you get in Super Bowl. Are you feeling palpitations? Or are you among the millions who don't care one bit.

Boomers and ski helmets

Findings of a survey conducted by members of the National Ski Areas Association (NSAA) last season, showed that the use of ski helmets is up in most age categories, especially among children and people over 65. The most resistant group is the so-called “middle-aged” skiers and riders. Is it vanity? Is it that peculiar sense of immortality we humans cultivate? Is it that until you have a ‘close call” you just don’t feel a helmet is necessary? Does it interfere with the thrill of skiing or snowboarding? Please leave a comment if you have some thoughts on this or if you are one of the “resistant” ones.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission estimates that nearly 8,000 head injuries a year could be prevented with helmet use. The NSAA findings suggest, however, that helmet use does increase with skill level. Over half of advanced skiers and riders wear helmets regularly. This season Vail Resorts has made helmet use compulsory for ski-area employees. Most resorts require helmet use for children taking ski lessons. And internationally, Austria leads the way with a mandatory helmet requirement for children under the age of 15.

Millions of people suffer closed head injuries every day. Many of these injuries are mild, resulting in minor and temporary symptoms, such as headache or dizziness. In these cases, the symptoms pass and there are seemingly no lasting effects. Concussion is the most common form of traumatic brain injury (TBI), where the brain is “shaken.” Some concussions create long-term injury. Knowing signs for severe brain trauma is critical to stop further brain damage. Signs of serious injury include, but are not limited to, confusion, drowsiness, changes in size of pupils, lack of coordination, slurred speech, changes to vision or other senses, and sometimes convulsions. Immediate treatment is recommended when any of these symptoms are present.

Head injuries account for ten to twenty percent of all snow sports related injuries according to some sources. Statistics vary widely internationally and cause some to make the case that the numbers of head injuries and deaths related to snow sports are small enough to challenge mandatory helmet use.

The National Football League has come under scrutiny recently regarding its previous policies regarding head injuries and its penchant for keeping mum on concussions and their effects on players over the years. The much-publicized new guidelines are keeping some players on the sidelines now.

If you have suffered a TBI, however, you know it can have lasting effects, memory loss and confusion among them. Read more about brain fitness strategies for combating the effects of mild TBI and do not miss this post about algae as brain food.

Check out my articles on adaptive skiing and snowboarding at Examiner.com.