You can receive Featurettes by e-mail daily, weekly or monthly by request. We can e-mail by your choice of topic or all stories as you may prefer. To make it even more convenient for editors to use our stories, NAPS has added an RSS syndication feed to our Web site. Simply hit the RSS button on our site for automated updates on available content. Please contact us to arrange to receive Featurettes in the format that works best for you at (800) 222-5551 or e-mail your request to us at printmedia@napsnet.com. We can provide Featurettes on CD-ROM or you can download it online at www.napsnet.com. Gary Lipton Media Relations Manager Phone: 1-(800)-222-5551 Fax: 1-(800)-990-4329 Web site: www. napsnet .com e-mail: printmedia@napsnet.com #2697 North American Precis Syndicate, Inc., 415 Madison Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10017 Understanding Depression Protect Your Family Three Ways (NAPSA)—A few simple steps can help reduce the risk that your loved ones will be injured in your house. 1. Be sure your home is adequately protected by smoke alarms. Smoke alarms should be installed in every bedroom, outside each sleeping area and on every level of the home. For the best protection, smoke alarms should be interconnected, so that they all sound if one sounds. You can now interconnect battery-operated alarms by wireless technology. Combination devices that include both ionization and photoelectric alarms offer the most comprehensive protection. An ionization alarm is more responsive to flames, while a photoelectric alarm is more responsive to a smoldering fire. Once the alarms are installed properly, be sure to test them monthly and replace the batteries once a year or anytime an alarm “chirps” or “beeps” to indicate low batteries. In any case, smoke alarms should be replaced every 10 years. 2. Childproof. If children live in or visit your house, you should know that every day, nearly seven youngsters are treated in hospital emergency rooms for electrical shock or burn injuries caused by tampering with a wall outlet. Fortunately, tamper-resistant receptacles (TRRs) can replace standard outlets to protect children from injury. They include a builtin shutter system that keeps for- Consider replacing outlets with tamper-resistant receptacles (TRRs) to protect children from trying to stick some foreign object into the outlet. eign objects out. When equal pressure is applied simultaneously to both sides, the receptacle cover plates open, so a standard plug can make contact with the receptacle contact points. Without this synchronized pressure, the cover plates remain closed. 3. Give your home a checkup. To reduce your risk, your outlets, extension cords, appliances and lightbulbs all need to be safely inspected, installed, utilized and maintained. Learn How To help you identify and remedy any electrical hazards in your home, the Electrical Safety Foundation International has a variety of resources that can show you how to protect your home and loved ones. Visit www.esfi.org to view and download these materials free of charge. Note to Editors: May is National Electrical Safety Month. (NAPSA)—Pondering six important points can help you answer the question “Are you depressed” about yourself or someone you care about. According to Healthline.com, one in 10 Americans experience depression at some point in their lives yet only about 20 percent seek professional medical help— even though the malady is completely treatable. “May is National Mental Health Month,” says Dr. Paul Corona, author of the book series “Healing the Mind & Body: The Trilogy.” “Why not take this month to reflect on your own mental health by answering a few simple questions? Dr. Corona Your answers may surprise you.” •Have you lost interest in doing things you used to enjoy? •Are you more sad or crying more than usual? •Do you have low energy, motivation and drive? •Are you sleeping more or less than usual? •Do you feel hopeless, helpless and worthless? •Do you have suicidal thoughts or recurring thoughts of death? “If you answered ‘yes’ to any of the above questions, you may be suffering from depression,” says Dr. Corona. While, he points out, depression is not your fault, you can still do something about it. There is hope, he says, adding, “My advice is that you schedule an appointment with your preferred M.D., who can best diagnose you and offer a variety of solutions ranging from antidepressants to therapy.” Based in Laguna Niguel, Calif., Dr. Paul Corona has helped tens of thousands of patients achieve the happiness they desire, and now he has written a series of three books called “Healing the Mind & Body: The Trilogy” to serve as a comprehensive reference guide for those seeking help. For more information, visit http://drpaulcoronamd.com. Seven Steps To Keeping Your Pet Healthy (NAPSA)—A total of 68 percent of U.S. households own a pet, according to the American Pet Products Association (APPA), with 56.7 million owning a dog and 45.3 million owning a cat. If your home is among them, you may care to heed these seven hints to keep your pet healthy from the experts at the American Veterinary Medical Association: 1. Maintain your pet at a healthy weight; 2. Exercise your pet; 3. Feed a balanced, nutritious diet; 4. Visit the veterinarian at least once a year to make sure your pet is healthy and to help detect problems earlier; 5. Vaccinate your pet against potentially deadly diseases such as distemper, parvo, panleukopenia and rabies; 6. Spay/neuter your dog or cat; 7. Keep your pet free of ticks and fleas. Fleas can be responsible for skin conditions such as flea allergy dermatitis in dogs and miliary dermatitis in cats. Fleas also transmit other parasites including tapeworms. A flea infestation is something no pet owner ever wants to face—especially as nearly half of dogs and 62 percent of cats sleep in their owner’s bed, according to the APPA. To help, you can now get a fastacting oral medication for treating flea infestations containing veterinarian-recommended active ingredient nitenpyram. PetArmor FastCaps (nitenpyram) is an overthe-counter tablet that begins working in 30 minutes to kill fleas on your pet, making it an excellent alternative to topical flea medication, since this protection can’t rub or wash off. If you’ve been itching to help your pet fight off fleas, here’s good news: It may be easier than you realize. There’s no odor or messy application on your pet or in your house. What’s more, you don’t have to separate pets in multipet households. It cuts out the mess and does exactly what you need it to do: kill fleas fast. When used as directed, a single dose kills the adult fleas on your dog or cat. If your pet gets reinfested, you can safely give another dose as often as once a day. It’s generally best to treat all infested pets in the household at the same time, as fleas can reproduce on untreated pets and allow infestations to persist. PetArmor FastCaps tablets are available for dogs, puppies, cats and kittens 4 weeks of age or older and 2 to 25 pounds, or for dogs over 25 pounds. They’re safe for pregnant or breeding dogs and cats, too. Learn More For further facts on flea fighting, visit www.petarmor.com.