Blog Posts by genConnect.com

woman-eating-fish-photoRecent stories about radioactive Japanese tuna from last year's Fukushima meltdown showing up 6,000 miles away on California's shores has put my family off sushi for a while. But if you're pregnant, this is a story you should follow.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says the radiation is nothing to worry about in the United States, since you'd have to eat pounds of the stuff before being affected. But according to a 2011 Government Accountability Study, the FDA only inspects 1 percent of the fish we import for consumption-meaning the FDA might not know if the other 99 percent is radioactive or not.

And according to Consumer Reports, 80 percent of the fish we eat comes from other countries where, "about half of that is farmed fish, which may contain disease-causing bacteria, residues of antibiotics and other drugs and chemicals."

Regardless of where they come from, if you're pregnant, you need to know that most big fish - including yellow fin tuna, which is more

While navigating the ups and downs of marriage is difficult for almost anyone, there are additional pressures put on couples in the media spotlight.

Most couples have the same issues that need to be worked through whether they are rich or poor, famous or not famous. The feeling of "failure" can be intense but perhaps more so for celebrities. Not only have you failed, you have failed publicly.

On the other hand, a celebrity may have the support of fans and the public that a non-celebrity person may not get. Most non-celebs don't have the luxury of getting supportive fan mail when they're having a difficult time. Some feel very isolated and celebrities might have an easier time with that.

But sometimes, being the "bad guy" in a celebrity divorce can haunt you for years and can be a public relations nightmare in an industry that can punish you for being "out of line." It is probably easier for non-celebs to recover from being the badly behaved partner in a bad breakup.

Just as our interpersonal relationships can differ in terms of intensity, so can our "relationship" with drinking. Moreover, these differences aren't separated by sharp lines; rather, they tend to blend into one another. Helping friends and family identify their relationship is an important part of creating a healthy interaction with alcohol. Let's look at these different relationships.


1. Casual Relationship

People whose relationship with alcohol falls into this stage drink primarily in social settings. This is what we mean by "normal social drinking." It's a glass or two of wine at a wine-and-cheese get-together among friends, a couple of beers at the Sunday afternoon football party with friends, or an occasional happy hour cocktail with people from work. If we do drink alone at this stage of use, it is not typically on a daily basis, and it involves only a drink or two in one sitting. Social users never binge, and they are neither psychologically nor physically

What is so funny about upcoming parenting film "What to Expect When You're Expecting?" "Bridesmaids" star and comedienne Wendi McLendon-Covey tells genConnect:

Everybody has, at one point in their lives, been through on. A breakup hurts. Although most of the time this experience is painful, it often serves up several lessons, for men and women.
Renowned relationship expert Susan J. Elliott and author of Getting Past Your Breakup: How to Turn a Devastating Loss into the Best Thing That Ever Happened to You, offers several tips for trying to move on after a devastating split.
Learn to self-soothe: It's really a combination of relaxation (some meditation), affirmations, positive self-talk and telling yourself that what you're perceiving is not necessarily how it is and, even if it is, you can survive it. Believe me, you will believe it after a while. Because the bottom line is: if you want to be okay, you will be.


Relax: Download a meditation or relaxation song when you're feeling very negative and upset. Light some candles or an aromatherapy diffuser and play the relaxation/meditation audio and just learn to relax. Take yourself out of the

Get connected with Samsung's Olympic Genome ProjectSamsung, a global sponsor for the London Olympics 2012, and the official wireless telecommunications equipment partner of the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC), launched a social media campaign on Tuesday through Facebook Connect designed to personalize the Olympics 2012 experience for viewers and get them engaged with the Olympic Games. The Olympic Genome Project is a Facebook app that shows how you're connected with US Olympian and Paralympian athletes. Think six degrees of separation meets Team USA!

The Project allows Facebook users to create webs of connections with athletes and produces an Olympic-studded family tree of sorts.

Here's how it works:

Step 1: Join the Olympic Genome Community via Samsung's Facebook page.

Step 2: Connect your Facebook profile with the Genome App to see what you have in common with your favorite US Team Olympic and Paralympic athletes.

Step 3: Earn points for prizes. The more friends you get to participate and the more you engage with the app, the better

Breastfeeding_featuredI remember the first time I saw someone breastfeed. I was 27 and had just gotten married; one of my best friends had her baby the same year. We all sat around marveling at this amazing little being she had created and when he started to fuss, she fed him. It was miraculous.

A year later, I had my own baby to feed and I remembered what she told me: Put your baby on your breast the minute he is born. Even if there's nothing coming out, keep doing it until there is.

I was lucky to have that advice, and to be able to successfully feed my son until he was a year old, and my daughters until they were each six months. I breastfed everywhere-at the market, in the park, sitting on a mall bench, even at Disneyland-without incident. Which is why it's surprising to me how much fuss is being raised over breastfeeding today.

After Beyoncé discretely fed seven-week-old Blue Ivy in a New York restaurant, she was enthusiastically supported by breastfeeding activists, who noted that the

April is Autism Awareness Month. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and autism are both general terms for a number of disorders of brain development and are characterized, in varying degrees, by difficulties in social interaction, verbal and nonverbal communication and repetitive behaviors.

According to the latest estimate by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Autism affects one out of 88 children in the U.S. The CDC previously put that average at about 1 in 110 kids in this country, but the boost of 25 percent more means that more than 1 million children and teens are affected; some attribute the spike to better autism screenings.

"One thing the data tells us with certainty - there are many children and families who need help," said CDC Director Dr. Thomas Frieden. "We must continue to track autism spectrum disorders because this is the information communities need to guide improvements in services to help children."

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