Calendar

Support: The Stars Grief Support Group for Kids will hold a six-week support series for young adults 18 to 30 at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, 2718 Dixie Highway, Crestview Hills. Free. The group will meet at 7 p.m. Tuesdays beginning June 8. Information: Marsha Linneman or Liz Sievers, (859) 292-0244.

Success: St. Elizabeth Medical Center will hold "Living Successfully with Fibromyalgia" at 7 p.m. June 9 at the South Unit in Edgewood. Free. Reservations: (859) 578-5999.

Help wanted

Knee pain: Researchers at the University of Cincinnati are recruiting subjects for a study on how diet and exercise modifications affect osteoarthritis-related knee pain.

Subjects with knee pain should be ages 45 to 69 and otherwise healthy, with no history of liver or kidney disease. Information: Dr. Shanil Juma, 558-7508 or Henna Muzaffar, hennakhan80@hotmail.com.

Hot news

Online: Beginning Tuesday, patients and families at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center will be able to create and update free, private personalized Web pages to share news with friends and family and receive messages of support.

Families can use CarePages before, during and after hospitalization to keep loved ones up to date on patients' progress. For information, visit www.cincinnatichildrens.org.

Healthy living

Real thing: The American Society of Health-System Pharmacists says consumers need to be especially vigilant to make sure they aren't receiving counterfeit prescription medications.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says counterfeit drug investigations have quadrupled since 2000, and the World Health Organization says counterfeit medications make up 7 to 10 percent of the world market.

The society's recommendations:

• Pay attention to your medication, particularly the instructions on how to take it, the correct dosage and warnings about its interaction with other drugs.

• Talk to your pharmacist if your medicine looks, tastes, smells or feels different than it used to; is packaged differently; or doesn't produce expected results.

• Be very careful when ordering drugs from online pharmacies. Buy medications only from pharmacy sites that bear the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy's VIPPS (Verified Internet Pharmacy Practice Sites) symbol.

On screen

Work it: Keeping Fit in Your 50s: Workout Essentials for a Changing Body (Acorn Media) features aerobic, strengthening and flexibility routines. Buy all three for $49.99 on DVD ($39.99 on VHS) or $19.99 each.

Shelf help

Guide: Exercise Ball for Beginners (HarperResource; $21.95) by Chrissie Gallagher-Mundy is a nifty resource for newbies interested in core strengthening.

Contact Peggy O'Farrell by phone, 768-8510; fax, 768-8330;
e-mail, pofarrell@enquirer.com.