All - Leep Calendar

Hemochromatosis Awareness Month in Canada addresses the issue of too much iron in the body. The disease most often appears in men and women over the age of 40 and can be instigated through heredity, diet, vitamin pills with iron, and alcohol consumption. This awareness month urges Canadians to get tested and provides resources for those affected by the disease.

Africa

May

Hepatitis Awareness Month, Ntl.: May

06:20 AM | -

National Hepatitis Awareness Month highlights the silent epidemic suffered by more than 5 million Americans, chronic hepatitis B and hepatitis C infections. Most infected Americans remain unaware that they have this serious liver infection. It is essential to improve screening and testing rates to reduce the burden of illness and death from these diseases. National Hepatitis Testing Day is an educational initiative of the Center for Disease Control (CDC) Division of Viral Hepatitis and the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, to boost screening rates in the U.S. Hep B United – A national hepatitis B campaign to support and leverage local coalitions around the country addressing hepatitis B and liver cancer. See the Hp B United site for links to Hepatitis B Testing events in your area. http://www.hepbunited.org

Africa

May

Hereditary Hemochromatosis Genetic Screening and Awareness Month, Ntl.: May

06:20 AM | -

National Hereditary Hemochromatosis Genetic Screening and Awareness Month is sponsored by the American Hemochromatosis Society (AHS) and previously ran in July. It now occurs in May along with a similar campaign in Canada. National Hereditary Hemochromatosis Genetic Screening and Awareness Month was founded in 1998 by Josephine Bogie Thomas, who succumbed to complications from the disease in 1999, AHS seeks to raise awareness and encourage people to get tested for Hereditary Hemochromatosis (HH), commonly referred to as iron overload disease, iron storage disease, or genetic iron poisoning. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention lists Hereditary Hemochromatosis as the most common genetic disease in American. One in 8 people, or 33 million Americans are carriers of the disease and most don’t know it. Mutations of the disease can manifest as full blown Hereditary Hemochromatosis and it can affect anyone, men, women and children at any stage of life affect men, women and children at any age. According to the CDC, common symptoms and risk factors (either for yourself or family history) include: • Arthritis • Joint pain/Replacement • Diagnosis of Fibromyalgia/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) • Anemia (low hematocrit/low hemoglobin) • Hypothyroidism (low thyroid function) • Impotence/ED/Early menopause / Irregular periods • Infertility /hysterectomy/have never had children • Diabetes mellitus /High blood sugar • Darkening, greying, or ""tanning"" of the skin without exposure to the sun • Heart Disease/Heart Attack • Stroke • Irregular heartbeat • Bypass surgery • Hair loss/Hair thinning • Unexplained Weight loss • Set off airport metal detectors for no apparent reason • Ancestry of Celtic (Irish/Scottish/Welsh) • Ancestry of British/Scandinavian/Northern European origin • Liver disease/hepatitis/cirrhosis/primary liver cancer/ elevated liver enzymes • Enlarged liver/yellow skin & yellow eyes (jaundice) • Dark urine/pale or white stool • Red palms of the hands/Abdominal pain • Liver and/or heart transplant or need for liver or heart transplant/On transplant waiting list Find out if you’re at risk by requesting the following Hereditary Hemochromatosis blood tests at your next medical check-up: a) Serum Iron b) Total Iron Binding Capacity (TIBC) c) Serum Ferritin If discovered early, the treatment is simple: bloodletting identical to a blood donation.

Africa

May

High Blood Pressure Education Month, Ntl.: May

06:20 AM | -

May is High Blood Pressure Education Month. Being physically active is one of the most important steps you can take to prevent or control high blood pressure, but it doesn't have to mean sweating, puffing, and panting. Finding time to "exercise" may be easier than you thought. The National High Blood Pressure Education Program (NHBPEP), established in 1972, is a cooperative effort among professional and voluntary health agencies, State health departments, and many community groups. The NHBPEP is administered and coordinated by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI). The goal of the NHBPEP is to reduce death and disability related to high blood pressure through programs of professional, patient, and public education. Activities you already do such as gardening, spring cleaning and painting, mowing the lawn, raking leaves, playing with young children, and walking, can improve your heart health. All you need are 30 minutes at most, preferably daily. You even can divide it up – as long as you do at least 10 minutes at any one time. For more information on high blood pressure and moderate activities to help you control it, visit the NHLBI's high blood pressure education program Web site: http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/hbp/index.html

Africa

May

Home Owner's Day, New: May 1

06:20 AM | -

Home ownership is intrinsic to the American dream. It's a goal and a freedom many aspire to. National New Home Owner's Day celebrates the first time buyers basking in the accomplishment of this major life decision and goal.

Africa

May

Hug Holiday Week, Ntl.: May 1-7

06:20 AM | -

National Hug Holiday Week honors during Older Americans Month seeks to increase awareness of the need for hugs, fellowship and volunteer support for the elderly and individuals living in senior and long-term care facilities. Senior and long-term care facilities are invited to host community Hug Centers to provide a safe place for huggers to gather and fill their Hug Prescription. In addition, sites are encouraged to celebrate HUG DAY every month as a facet of the overall care plan to enhance the quality of life through the simple, compassionate gesture of a hug. Operation: HUG DAY, is also a great way to include the community. Huggers of all ages are invited to join the Hug Squad and go on Hug Patrol Project to share hugs and fellowship with the elderly at participating Operation: HUG DAY and Community Hug Center sites.

Africa

May

Hug Your Cat Day: May 1*

06:20 AM | -

Cats have been prized pets for more than 7000 years. Each year on this day you have an excuse to hug those delightful fur babies that make life funny. Hug Your Cat Day is the special day where cat owners are encouraged to hug their cats and show their love, then post the images on social media. Created by author Maris D’Vari for her character Apricat, Hug Your Cat Day always falls May 1st.

Africa

May

Huntington's Disease Awareness Month (CA): May

06:20 AM | -

May is National Huntington Disease Awareness Month in Canada. Huntington disease (HD) is a genetic brain disorder that destroys life. It has been described as having Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Schizophrenia all at once. HD causes cells in specific parts of the brain to die. As the disease progresses, a person with Huntington’s become less able to manage movements, recall events, make decisions and control emotions. The disease leads to incapacitation and, eventually, death. HD is hereditary. A child born to a parent with HD has a 50% chance of sharing the same fate and all family members. One in every 7,000 Canadians has Huntington disease. Males and females have the same risk of inheriting the disease and HD occurs in all races. A middle-age disease, its symptoms usually appear between the ages of 30 and 45, but in rare instances it has shown up in children as young as 5 and with people in their 70s. Currently, it is incurable with no effective treatments. In 2006, Canadian researchers were able to stop the progression of HD in mice. Dr. Sipione, from the University of Alberta, showed that injecting ganglioside GM1 into the brains of HD mice can reverse the motor symptoms of the disease. Her experiments provide evidence that it might be possible to develop drugs to reverse at least some of the effects of HD in humans. In May of 2012, Dr. Ray Truant, of McMaster University, revealed a link between this fatal neurodegenerative disease and Alzheimer’s disease, a link that may point to potential drug targets for both diseases. National Huntington Disease Awareness Month is a time for Canadians to learn about the disease, support those with it and raise funds and awareness toward a cure. This event occurs in the United States with a different sponsor.

Africa

May

Huntington's Disease Awareness Month: May

06:20 AM | -

May is National Huntington Disease Awareness Month in the United States. Huntington disease (HD) is a genetic brain disorder that destroys life. It has been described as having Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Schizophrenia all at once. HD causes cells in specific parts of the brain to die. As the disease progresses, a person with Huntington’s become less able to manage movements, recall events, make decisions and control emotions. The disease leads to incapacitation and, eventually, death. HD is hereditary. A child born to a parent with HD has a 50% chance of sharing the same fate and all family members. Males and females have the same risk of inheriting the disease and HD occurs in all races. A middle-age disease, its symptoms usually appear between the ages of 30 and 45, but in rare instances it has shown up in children as young as 5 and with people in their 70s. Currently, it is incurable with no effective treatments. National Huntington Disease Awareness Month is a time for Americans to learn about the disease, support those with it and raise funds and awareness toward a cure. This event is also occurring in the Canada with a different sponsor.

Africa

May

Hurricane Preparedness Week, Ntl.: May 1-7

06:20 AM | -

It only takes one storm to change your life and community. Hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones are among nature’s most powerful and destructive phenomena. They’re actually the same thing with location determining which word is used to describe it. Hurricane is the word used for these storms in the Atlantic and Northeast Pacific oceans near Japan and SE Asia. If it occurs in the Northwest Pacific Ocean, we call it a typhoon, and if it occurs in the South Pacific and Indian Ocean, it is called a cyclone. If you live in an area prone to these destructive storms, you need to be prepared. Even areas well away from the coastline can be threatened by dangerous flooding, destructive winds and tornadoes from these storms. The National Hurricane Center and the Central Pacific Hurricane Center issue watches, warnings, forecasts, and analyses of hazardous tropical weather. Hurricane Preparedness Week is your time to prepare for a potential land-falling tropical storm or hurricane. Learn how with the daily tips below and related links. Share these with your friends and family to ensure that they're prepared.

Africa

May

Infertility Survival Day, Ntl.: May 1

06:20 AM | -

Mother’s Day is a difficult day for women and families that want to have children, but cannot. Therefore, the Sunday prior to Mother’s Day is National Infertility Survival Day, set aside for those struggling with infertility. A variety of tools are made available through fundraising, friendships and outreach.

Africa

May

Inventors Month, Ntl.: May

06:20 AM | -

Inventors Digest Magazine, United Inventors Association and the Academy of Applied Science designate this month as National Inventors Month. May was chosen as it aligns National Inventors Hall of Fame induction ceremonies and with the academic calendar. It is a month to explore inventions and celebrate the people who invent.

Africa

May

Jewish-American Heritage Month: May

06:20 AM | -

Jewish Americans have been part of the American experience almost since the beginning. The first arrived from Holland in the early 1600s. Up through the revolution, the majority were of Sephardic (Arab) descent. Several fought in the Revolutionary War and many were instrumental in securing financing for the colonies. In the 1800s, as revolution swept through Europe, the first major wave of Ashkenazi (European) Jews began arriving in the United States. By the 1880s, over 200,000 had arrived. Wars, famine, growing racism against Jews and other ethnic groups, the promise of work via the industrial revolution, and the ability to live freely, increased the number of Jews from both Eastern Europe and the Middle East. By 1910, 50% of those arriving in the United States were of the Jewish faith. By 1921, new US immigration laws culled the flow of all immigrant groups, despite the increasing dangers in Europe. In the beginning, Jewish immigrants settled in North Carolina. With the Industrial Revolution and the promise of jobs, New England became the preferred location with New York, Philadelphia and Boston boasting the largest populations. Jewish Americans have been instrumental in the civil rights movement, establishing the entertainment industry and contributing to higher education, the arts, law and medicine. It was Jewish Americans whom first protested the downgrading of US public schools in New York in the 1920s. As a group, Jewish Americans continued to be more active in politics and causes than any other single demographic. Today, nearly 6 million persons identifying with the Jewish faith live in the United States, one third of the global Jewish population. The United States boasts the second largest population of those of the Jewish in the world. The state of Israel has slightly more. This is a month to appreciate the history and contributions of Jewish Americans in building and creating the United States as we know it today.

Africa

May

Keep Kids Alive Drive 25, Ntl.: May 1

06:20 AM | -

Keep Kids Alive, Drive 25mph Day is a day of action designed to make roadways safer for drivers, pedestrians, passengers, cyclists, and kids at play. To participate, make a commitment to practice safe driving practices for the next 24-hours. Hopefully, these will translate to safer driving in the year ahead.

Africa

May

Labor Day/Worker's Day International (CN): May 1

06:20 AM | -

May 1st is International Labor Day, an official holiday in over 80 countries including China and Mexico. International Labor Day remembers the Haymarket Martyrs in Chicago in 1886. It was 1886 when the workers at the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company in Chicago went on strike. The farm equipment manufacturing factory had begun mechanizing, putting the highly skilled metal workers out of work. Those remaining when on strike to demand an eight-hour workday. In the 1880s, workers typically worked 60-hours a week. In response, the company locked out the workers and hired scabs. On May 1, 1886, a large May Day parade was held in Chicago. On May 3, a riot at the factory saw two men killed by the police. This lead to a mass rally in Haymarket Square the following night. For most of the rally it was a peaceful event, with over 1500 people in attendance. After the last speaker, the police tried to break up the crowd. The crowd resisted and someone set off a bomb. The violence escalated. Police began firing into the crowd. Seven policemen and four protesters were killed and over 100 injured. The riot was blamed on the labor movement and its leaders referred to as anarchists. In June 1886 the leaders were brought to trial and seven were sentenced to death, despite it never being proved who threw the bomb. 2 would later have their sentences commuted to life. The aftermath of Haymarket put unions in a negative light but it lead to the formation of the American Federation of Labor, (AFL) which would take the drive to unionize into the 20th Century. Today May 1st is internationally recognized as Labor Day or Workers Day in over 80 countries. Some like the United States have a separate holiday set aside. For China this is a major state holiday that may move dates if May first falls on a Tuesday-Thursday. This is so people can enjoy a three-day weekend. in order to take a 3-day weekend.

Africa