As the single woman who takes over the work mothers leave behind when they rush off to soccer games, to the pediatrician's office, to the kids' plays and whatever else comes up, I say, "Moms, get a grip."

I don't get paid extra to finish projects you can't or to take over what has to be done regardless of whether or not it's in my job description. If you don't do your work because you've got to see your kid in a school play, I can't do mine, so my performance evaluation and raise goes south. I'm the one who does your job when you take 6 months pregnancy leave and I don't get a pay raise for the time I'm doing two jobs.

Mothers who stay at home work hard. Until the kid is old enough to be hands free, that's understandable. But after age 7, what's the reason to stay home and remain identified solely as a mother?

Motherhood is an easily accepted role with standard expectations. Even if it does involve loads of wet wipes and mundane tasks, you don't have goals to make or a supervisor to please or other workers to deal with. You don't have to make anything, you don't have to be responsible for larger, more socially challenging action. Only women in the workplace make changes to the workplace.

Part of the reason it's necessary to have bake sales and find grants to fix playgrounds is because women, mothers, are not the people in power, not the ones who control government or business, not the ones who control the mechanisms that would make having a bake sale for schools unnecessary. There are not many mothers on boards of education or on city counsels. Money is power.

Even though a stay-at-home mom might imagine the checkbook is "our" money, that's an emotional leap that often proves a jump into the abyss. The reality is that being dependent upon your spouse for financial support puts a mother at a serious disadvantage if she's one of the 50% whose marriages dissolve. Loads of pyramid schemes like Amway, Shaklee and Lia Sophia prey on the unfulfilled mother who wants some pin money but doesn't want to take up a challenge or change.

Sure there's sexism and misogyny, and it's tough to fight your way up the ladder, but if the old saw that childrearing changes the world were true, after 40 years of Feminist talk validating motherhood, why are there still so many glass ceilings? Why are our children, the ones in power now, anti-Feminist, anti-abortion, anti-science, pro-war? Why is the workplace still tilted away from living well to making money at the cost of balance and fulfillment?

If childrearing is so fulfilling and just as dull as working, why aren't fathers doing it?

Newswise — A novel electronic device designed to “zap” away migraine pain before it starts has proven to be the next form of relief for those suffering from the debilitating disease,

according to a study conducted at The Ohio State University Medical Center.

Results of the study, presented TODAY (6/27) at the annual American Headache Society meeting in Boston, found that the experimental device is safe and effective in eliminating

headaches when administered during the onset of the migraine.

With one in eight Americans suffering from chronic migraines, Dr. Yousef Mohammad, a neurologist and principal investigator of the study at Ohio State’s Medical Center, says the study’s results are promising given that only 50 to 60 percent of migraine patients respond to traditional migraine drug treatments.

The noninvasive transcranial magnetic stimulator (TMS) device interrupts the aura phase of the migraine, often described as electrical storms in the brain, before they lead to headaches. Migraine sufferers often describe “seeing” showers of shooting stars, zigzagging lines and flashing lights, and experiencing loss of vision, weakness, tingling or confusion, followed by intense throbbing head pain, nausea and vomiting.

Previous studies, conducted at Ohio State, using a heavy and bulky TMS device, reduced headache pain. To expedite treatment at home, a portable hand-held device was developed and tested.

“Stimulation with magnetic pulses from the portable TMS device proved effective for the migraine patients,” said Mohammad.

“Because of the lack of adverse events in this trial and the established safety of the TMS device, this is a promising treatment for migraines with aura. This sets the stage for future studies in migraines without aura.”

The TMS device sends a strong electric current through a metal coil, which creates an intense magnetic field for about one millisecond. This magnetic pulse, when held against a person’s head, creates an electric current in the neurons of the brain, interrupting the aura before it results in a throbbing headache.

“The device’s pulses are painless and safe,” Mohammad said. “Since almost all migraine drugs have some side effects, and patients are prone to addiction from narcotics, or developing headaches from frequent use of over-the-counter medication, the TMS device holds great promise for migraine sufferers.”

Of the 164 patients involved in the multi-center, randomized clinical trial receiving TMS treatment, 39 percent were pain free at the two-hour post-treatment point, compared to 22 percent in the group receiving “sham” pulses. There were no differences reported related to adverse reactions between the two groups.

It was previously believed that migraine headaches start with vascular constriction, which results in an aura, followed by vascular dilation that will lead to a throbbing headache. However, in the late 1990’s it was suggested that neuronal electrical hyperexcitablility resulted in a throbbing headache. This new understanding of the migraine mechanism assisted in the development of the TMS device.

NeuraLieve, manufacturer of the device located in Sunnyvale, Ca., provided the funding and equipment for the study. Mohammad serves on the company’s board of directors.