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2B – Daily News – Tuesday, August 10, 2010 FEATURES Derelict dame disregards daughter Dear Annie: I have been married for five years to a wonderful man. When we first began dating, he had custody of his then 2-year- old daughter. Her biological mother, ‘‘Jessie,’’ wanted nothing to do with her. In fact, the first time I met Jessie, she asked if I wanted to adopt the girl. took it away until she came home. Jessie does not have a good relationship history. At 12, she dated a 30-year- old man. At 14, she gave birth to her first child. She married my husband when she was 20 and then gave birth to his daughter and divorced him within the year. My husband got custody because Jessie did all kinds of dangerous things to abort the baby during her pregnan- cy. Jessie has dated, lived with or married at least 20 men. Three years ago, her then-husband encouraged her to reconnect with her daughter and she came back into our lives. She is now divorced and dating a man she met on the Internet who lives 100 miles away. The problem is, she wants to take our daughter to his house when she has visitation. He lives with six other adults and three chil- dren. Jessie and our daughter recently spent the day there, and we discovered that the kids were left with the other adults while Jessie and her boyfriend went out. Worse, Jessie doesn’t let us contact our daughter. We do not have Jessie’s phone number because she blocks it when she calls us, and when we bought our daughter a phone, Jessie Annie’s Mailbox by Kathy Mitchell and Marcy Sugar I have been told that Jessie has various ‘‘friends’’ living with her at different times. Her own relatives called to tell us she leaves the kids with whoever she can get to watch them. Does my husband have reason for concern, and if so, what are our legal options? I fear for our daughter’s safety, but we do not have the money to keep hiring lawyers. — Worried in Ohio Dear Worried: You have plenty of reason for concern. Jessie is leav- ing her daughter with questionable people under questionable circum- stances. The fact that she won’t allow you to be in touch with the girl is particularly worrisome. Is there a custody agreement in place, allowing Jessie to have unsuper- vised visits? If not, we urge you to push for supervised visitation for Jessie and to get the details in writ- ing, even if it means hiring one more lawyer. Your daughter is worth it. You or your husband can also contact the National Center for Men (nationalcenterformen.org) for additional support and suggestions. Dear Annie: I’m a 15-year-old male, and I masturbate. Some of my friends say they do it also. I’m won- dering whether it’s normal, or am I a freak? — Maryland Dear Maryland: You are per- fectly normal. Stop worrying. Dear Annie: I am writing about the two overweight boys, 11 and 13, who live with their widowed father. While kids do undergo a prepu- bertal growth spurt, if they are sub- stantially overweight now, they are unlikely to outgrow the weight. Also, they clearly have developed counterproductive eating habits, which will probably lead to an even greater rate of weight gain later in life. I also wonder whether there is a component of depression involved. They may have developed a habit of comfort eating to help deal with the loss of their mother and the stresses of a single-parent home. They also might have too much unstructured time and may spend a lot of it watching TV or playing video games. Even a modest increase in physical activity, such as Dad taking the boys for a 20-minute walk around the neighborhood after dinner, may help with both the weight and general feeling of well- being. The father may not know what a reasonable portion is for his sons. He should look into childhood obe- sity programs in his town. Children are most likely to make healthy lifestyle changes when they are educated about nutrition and health and receive positive attention from both adult role models and peers. — Bonnie L. Bunch, M.D., Ph.D. Annie’s Mailbox is written by Kathy Mitchell and Marcy Sugar, longtime editors of the Ann Landers column. Please e-mail your questions to anniesmailboxcomcast.net, or write to: Annie’s Mailbox, c/o Creators Syndicate, 5777 W. Century Blvd., Ste. 700, Los Angeles, CA 90045. How to evaluate investment risks Q: I'm fed up with low interest rates that the banks are offering. Someone sug- gested I buy municipal bonds and get a return of at least 5 percent - - tax free! Should I do that? A: I'm sure you remember the Savage Truth that risk and reward are opposite sides of the coin. Whenev- er you earn higher interest rates, you're taking on more risk. Here's how to evaluate those risks. First, you need to look at the lowest-risk returns available now: the returns on very short-term U.S. Treasury bills or insured bank money-market deposit accounts. According to Bankrate.com, the average rate on an FDIC-insured money-market deposit account is 0.79 percent, though some banks offer as much as 1.30 percent. If you're willing to take a longer-maturity CD, you 609 Walnut St., Red Bluff could earn the national average rate of 1.34 per- cent on a one-year CD or 2.85 percent on a five-year CD. You're paid more interest on these longer-term CDs because you're taking on more risk. It's not a safety risk, because your CD is insured up to FDIC limits. Instead, you're taking on the risk that interest rates might rise in the next year, or five years, leaving you locked into a low-yielding investment. That's why banks must offer a higher interest rate. If you break out of your CD early because you need the cash, you'll pay a penalty. Similarly, if you purchase a bond, you'll also pay a penalty for sell- ing early when rates are rising. But in this case, the penalty is determined by the marketplace. Here's the principle: When interest rates rise, bond prices fall. Think of it this way: Sup- pose you spend $1,000 to pur- chase a 10-year go vernment bond yielding 4 percent. Then the general level of interest rates starts to rise -- either because of fears of inflation or because the economy starts growing again. Then the gov- ernment has to borrow money again, so it issues new 10- year bonds, car- rying an interest rate of 5 percent or 6 percent -- or even 8 percent. Anyone who had kept cash in a money-market account and waited for higher rates could then purchase a $1,000 bond paying 8 per- cent interest. 527-4308 Summer Cleaning Specials 824-4567 CARPET CLEANING Living Room & Hall (up to 350 sq.ft.) $ 5995 Not good with other offers Expires 9/30/10 MODERN CLEANERS $ 400OFF Dry Cleaning Order of $2000 or more Must be presented with incoming order. Excludes Laundry Not good with other offers Expires 9/30/10 AREA RUGS 25% OFF 60¢ sq. ft. reg. 80¢ sq. ft. Excludes some specialty rugs. Must be presented with incoming order. Not good with other offers Expires 9/30/10 1935 Solano, Corning Terry Savage The Savage Truth on Money If you wanted to, or needed to, sell your old 4 percent bond, no one would pay $1,000 for it because their cash could buy a much higher- yielding govern- ment bond. In fact, the price probably would drop to around $650 in the bond-trading marketplace. Of course, you could hold on to your 4 percent bond for the remainder of the 10 years until it matures. But in the meantime, you'd be stuck earning a lot less interest. That's the concept of "interest rate risk." Bonds rise and fall in value, in the opposite direction of inter- est rates. The longer the maturity of the bond, the bigger the potential swing in price. If you lock your money up for only three years, you might not worry so much. But if you're con- sidering a 10-year bond, you have to consider the outlook for inflation and higher interest rates. There's another risk in buying bonds: "quality risk," basically the risk that the borrower (either a com- pany or government) won't be able to pay the interest in the years ahead, or repay the principal when the bond matures. Hypertensive happy off meds DEAR DR. GOTT: I find your articles informative and filled with com- mon sense. I am a 69-year -old woman, 5 feet, 3 inches and 120 pounds. My blood pressure is high-normal. Otherwise, I am healthy. Dr. Peter Gott My physician put me on lisinopril/HCTZ and a few months later added metoprolol XL. He later added amlodip- ine. Each was one tablet daily. I began to have hot flashes and then felt cold. My stomach was upset, and I was very tired. So I started skip- ping the medicines and take none of them now. I walk a lot and feel much better. I realize high blood pressure is dan- gerous, but what about side effects, if that’s why I felt so bad? My blood pressure is about 160/75. I have a home blood-pressure cuff to monitor things. What is your opinion of trying to control my own blood pressure without the meds? DEAR READER: Unfortunately, you failed to include your blood-pressure readings while you were on one, then two, then three medications. That infor- mation would certainly tell the story and would give me my answer. To begin with, your lisinopril/HCTZ is an ACE (angiotensin-con- verting enzyme) inhibitor that helps lower your blood pres- sure and acts as a diuret- ic. The diuretic prevents the body from absorbing too much salt, which can lead to fluid retention. The metoprolol XL treats hypertension and also acts as a long-term treatment for angina and stable heart failure of cardiomyopathic, ischemic or hyperten- sive origin. The amlodipine is a calcium channel blocker that dilates blood ves- sels, lowers your heart rate, and increases the flow of blood to the heart. It is prescribed for hypertension, angina and high-cholesterol levels. I cannot determine if your physician has found the right combina- tion for lowering your blood pressure by com- bining all three or if there may be other underlying conditions requiring treatment. Were I in your shoes, I would speak with my physician for an answer and be guided accord- ingly. If the only issue is hyper- tension and you have substantial- ly reduced your readings without the help of med- ication, I endorse the plan. Exercise, a healthful diet and stress reduc- tion perhaps through water aerobics, massage, yoga or tai chi can go a long way toward that goal and you appear to be well on your way to a healthier existence. To provide related information, I am send- ing you a copy of my Health Report “Hyper- tension.” Other readers who would like a copy should send a self- addressed stamped No. 10 envelope and a $2 check or money order to Newsletter, P.O. Box 167, Wickliffe, OH 44092-0167. Be sure to mention the title or print an order form off my website at www.AskDr- GottMD.com. DEAR DR. GOTT: Last fall, I developed sporadic itching that turned into hives. After that, I felt ill with a sore throat, general weakness and fatigue after very little exercise. I read about a ragweed allergy and its relationship to certain foods. I eliminat- ed them and feel better. Could these hives be related to allergies and food combinations? Is the sore throat and lethargy related to an allergy? DEAR READER: Maybe. Ragweed aller- gy, commonly known as hay fever, presents with itchy eyes, scratchy throat, runny nose and fatigue but not generally hives. Food triggers include sunflower seeds, chamomile, cantaloupe, bananas and some hon- eys. The most common treatments for hay fever include remaining indoors when the pollen count is high, taking antihistamines and aller- gy shots. My guess, however, is that you have a true allergy, which is best treated with total avoidance once the offending sub- stance is identified. Good luck. Dr. Peter H. Gott is a retired physician and the author of several books, including “Live Longer, Live Better,” “Dr. Gott’s No Flour, No Sugar Diet” and “Dr. Gott’s No Flour, No Sugar Cook- book,” which are avail- able at most bookstores or online. His website is www.AskDrGottMD.co m CARE TO COMMENT? 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