PrepForOne

Wednesday!  09.23.09

New census numbers show 76% of us who have walked down the aisle never plan on doing it again. We're only going down that road once, apparently. Unless, of course, you're one of the 20% of Americans who give it another shot, or maybe one of the daring (translation: crazy) few (5%) who marry three or more times. Data released earlier this year shows most of us will give the marriage-thing a shot. Over 80% of us marry by age 40. 


Now we know why more and more church's are empty on Sunday mornings. A new study found 15% of Americans don't identify with any religion - or what researchers are calling "American Nones." They think this number could grow, too, surpassing the nation's largest denominations, which includes Catholics at 24%. "American Nones" are mostly men and mostly younger. They haven't rejected God -- 51% say they believe in God or a higher power -- it's just that they're skeptical about organized religion. 


   Think what you want about this study. According to Reuters Health, people who suffer a traumatic brain injury from a car crash have a better chance of surviving if they had been drinking at the time of the injury. Drinking and driving contributes to 40% of traffic fatalities, and it seems that those that were doing the drinking have a better shot at surviving. Why? Researchers aren't exactly sure -- best guess is that alcohol may lessen the body's inflammatory response to the injury. Of course, this does raise interesting questions - like will giving alcohol to brain injured patients improve their chances? The research will continue...stay tuned. 


Interesting... HealthDay reports that men who recently lost their wives are more likely to have a sexually transmitted disease than guys that are still married. Within the first 6 months to a year after their wives died, men aged 67-99 were 16% more likely to be infected with an STD back in 1993. That rose to 83% in 1998 -- same year Viagra hit the market. Gonorrhea was the most common STD. Okay, then.