Saliva

Switchfoot -- Rams Head Live / Since the release of its 2003 double-platinum hit The Beautiful Letdown, Switchfoot has been steadily proving itself. Drawing inspiration from talents such as U2, Michael Jackson, the Beatles and Miles Davis, the band prides itself on diversity and instrumental experimentation. The group performs with the Florida band Copeland at 7 p.m. Sunday at Rams Head Live, 20 Market Place, Baltimore. Tickets are $22.50 -$25. Call 410-244-1131 or go to ramsheadlive.com.

Travis Blake, a senior at Chesapeake High School, was in critical condition last night at North Arundel Hospital in Glen Burnie with bacterial meningitis, hospital officials said.His illness comes two weeks after an Annapolis High School junior died of the disease, but county health department officials say that there is no connection between the two cases."We're dealing with a different strain of the organism," said Frances Phillips, the county's chief health officer.Cara Margaret Petrini, 16, died of the disease April 10.Blake is a center on the school's basketball team.

Call it the curious case of the suspicious saliva. A day after Miami Dolphins linebacker Channing Crowder accused Ravens running back Le'Ron McClain of spitting in his face, the two players -- as well as their coaches and teammates -- continued to trade barbs debating both the size and the intent of the alleged expectorate. Video of the incident was studied and analyzed by players, coaches, fans and media alike, with a frame-by-frame analysis once reserved for more serious matters like the Zapruder film.

College is by all accounts a perfect place to acquire knowledge, an ideal setting to fall in love, and, health experts say, one of the best spots imaginable to contract a contagious disease like meningitis."

Dr. Michael Ain stands 4 feet 3. It's the first thing you notice. There's no way around it. He rolls his green surgical pants around the ankles. He climbs a step-stool to reach the operating table. Even then, his colleagues stand a foot or so above him.He's an orthopedic surgeon, a specialty usually reserved for the jocks of medicine. Ain doesn't exactly fit the stereotype, but he did wrestle in high school, and now he golfs on weekends and fixes bones with big power tools that could tear down walls.

Hand, foot and mouth disease is a common ailment often picked up by children in day care. While it may make for a cranky child, Dr. Benjamin N. Lockshin, a Silver Spring dermatologist who also teaches at Georgetown University and the Johns Hopkins University, said the disease is easily treated. What is hand, foot and mouth disease? Hand, foot and mouth disease is a common, self-limited viral infection typically affecting children ages 2 to 10 years old. What are the symptoms?

No one likes to get stuck with a needle. But it's the only way doctors can get blood to test for diabetes, anemia and numerous other health problems. Scientists at the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing say there is a much less invasive and painless means of detecting illnesses in patients — spit. Like blood, spit contains proteins, hormones, enzymes and DNA that can be used to test for and combat disease. It is easy and inexpensive to collect and analyze, making it ideal for research.

Marc Miller survived a motorcycle crash in October near his Baltimore County home, but his foot had been dragged along the pavement and badly damaged. That injury would require both the most advanced medicine and an ancient therapy — leeches. Trauma doctors at Johns Hopkins, the University of Maryland and other U.S. hospitals routinely use leeches as a temporary measure to keep blood flowing as new vessels grow in a damaged area. The animals kept blood moving in and out of a new skin flap sewn onto Miller's foot.

I reuse my water bottles to save money and plastic. How long is too long to keep an old bottle around? This is one case where refills aren't necessarily good. Your saliva can leave behind protein that bacteria thrive on. Bacteria will breed around the rim of your used plastic water bottle, and inside it, particularly in the heat. Washing out a bottle with hot, soapy water will extend its life, as will keeping it out of bacteria-friendly environs like a hot car. Still, you shouldn't refill it more than a few times.

Patty Zeitz's father nicknamed her "buffalo breath." Her brother warned visitors: "Don't go into Patty's room. There's a green cloud over her bed."Along with an estimated 25 million Americans, Ms. Zeitz was the victim of chronic halitosis, or bad breath. "It was hell," says the 24-year-old Philadelphia resident. "The first time my date kissed me was usually the last time."These days, Ms. Zeitz breathes easily. The nation's first halitosis clinic, opened in Philadelphia in 1993, cured her bad breath, she says.