Well, you can't argue with success. According to a study done by Medco Health Solutions Inc., there's been a tremendous surge in relief provided to children suffering from various gastrointestinal ailments.

This just in... analysis of prescription data indicates that more than 2 million U.S. children 18 and under used drugs for tummy issues last year. The analysis found specifically:

- 557,259 infants and children up to age 4, or about 3 percent of youngsters in that age range, were taking these drugs last year. That's a 56 percent increase from 2002;
- There was a 31 percent increase among children aged 5 to 11, climbing to an estimated 551,653 children, or 2 percent in that age group in 2006;
- Almost 1 million children aged 12 to 18 had prescriptions for the drugs last year, up 6 percent over 2002.

Dr. Renee Jenkins, president-elect of the American Academy of Pediatrics said: "Heartburn is a common complication of being overweight and the surge happened during the nation's rising obesity epidemic. Today, more than 10 percent of U.S. preschoolers and 30 percent of older children are considered overweight."

But Jenkins added: "Heartburn and acid reflux are also extremely common in infants and young children. Many of them outgrow it and drug treatment often isn't needed, so the increase raises concerns about whether these drugs are sometimes being used unnecessarily."

Dr. Benjamin Gold, an Emory University specialist in children's digestive diseases added a poignant perspective, "Some of these drugs, including Prevacid, were approved for use in children during the study period, which likely contributed to the prescription surge. Still, parents increasingly are demanding that doctors prescribe drugs because of direct-to-consumer marketing."

High fives all around, right?

It is with heavy heart and deep sadness that today we are reporting on the passing of Aedhmar Hines' blog. Monday Morning, age 14 months; loving daughter of Doc Searls Weblog and the late Micro Persuasion; beloved sister of Corante and Jarvis' Buzzmachine; cherished friend of many; died early this morning after a four-month struggle for life.

Sources say the blog passed peacefully surrounded by Hines and a handful of close senior executives from the PR agency Text 100. The firm released the following statement: "Aedhmar has fought off irrelevancy with the grace and good spirit that she's carried throughout her life. We admire her courage for finally letting Monday Morning go."

Monday Morning was launched in February '06. In its inaugural post, Hines said in her native Gaelic:

"As a major advocate of the power that blogs and other forms of peer-to-peer media can have on companies, I thought it was time I joined the conversation. I have the privilege of working with many of the major influencers of all types of media and with companies across the globe that either grew up in, or have come to embrace the blogosphere as an essential part of understanding the impacts and effects on their organizations and the ecosystems they are a part of. So it's time to join the debate and initiate some dialogue myself. As an avid reader of both 'traditional' and 'new' media, my blog will be a weekly reflection on how these dialogues affect the public relations industry and the companies we support. The weekend is a great time to catch up on my reading, so Monday Morning will be a reflection of the writing that intrigued me the most."

During its brief tenure, the blog made an indelible mark on the practice of PR. For generations to come, it will remain a reference piece for lots of academicians interested in "integrated communications and the complexity of cultural fluency when communicating across multiple markets and audiences."

Memorial Service will be held Saturday, Oct. 6th, at 9 a.m., at Hiawatha Funeral Home & Crematory, 2657 Center Rd., Bridgeport. Memorial contributions may be made to The National Blovation Survivor Coalition, 500 NE Spanish River Blvd., Suite 8, Boca Raton, FL 33431.