For many former eyeglass wearers, contact lenses are the most wondrous of spectacles. But they also know that their use requires care. According to the Centers for Disease Control, 20 percent of eye infections are caused by contacts that result in eye damage, including scarred corneas, reduced vision and even the need for a corneal transplant.

But before you blindly run for your old frames, the CDC also notes you can take steps to reduce eye infection risk, such as taking your contacts out at night when you sleep and always storing them in fresh solution.

Greenhouse

Air pollution doesn't stop at your door. It occurs inside homes as well. One natural way to reduce or prevent it may be sprucing up rooms with houseplants. New research shows that certain plants are particularly good at scrubbing volatile organic compounds (VOC) from the air. VOCs are chemicals found in paints and cleaning products. They have been linked to a variety of ailments. The most effective plants tested were bromeliads, a diverse family of mostly tropical species that were found to clear the air of more than 80 percent of six VOCs.

Body of Knowledge

The average person's total skin covering weighs about six pounds.

Get Me That, Stat!

Would you walk a mile for a smoke? Probably not. A new study finds that the longer smokers have to walk from their homes to buy cigarettes, the more likely they are to eventually give up the habit. For every additional 500 meters they had to travel, said researchers, smokers were 16 percent more likely to quit. The takeaway is that moving tobacco retailers farther away from residential areas might boost anti-smoking efforts.

Life in Big Macs

One hour of slow ballroom dancing (waltz, foxtrot, samba) burns 204 calories (based on a 150-pound person) or the equivalent of 0.3 Big Macs.

Doc Talk

Foreverectomy: a surgical procedure that lasts a very long time

Phobia of the Week

Alliumphobia: fear of garlic

Never Say Diet

The Major League Eating record for tacos is 79 in 8 minutes, held by Joey Chestnut. Warning: Most of these records are held by professional eaters; the rest by people who really should find something better to do.

Best Medicine

"I have a split personality," said Tom, being Frank.

Observation

"I went on a diet, swore off drinking and heavy eating, and in 14 days I lost two weeks." — American singer and comedian Joe E. Lewis (1902-1971)

Medical History

This week in 1915, a prisoner developed a rash associated with the disease pellegra. He was part of a study designed by Dr. Joseph Goldberger in which 12 inmate-volunteers at a Mississippi state prison consumed a protein-deficient diet for several months. For Goldberger, the rash was proof that pellagra was caused by poor diet and was not contagious. For the inmates, it was a get-out-of-prison pardon.

Self Exam

Q: Over a lifetime, how many pounds of skin will you shed?

a) 10

b) 13

c) 50

d) 105

A: d) 105 pounds (based on a 70-year lifetime). It's a continual process. An estimated 600,000 dead skin cells are shed each hour or 1.5 pounds a year. Your skin completely regenerates itself about every 27 days.

Curtain Calls

In 1958, an actor named Gareth Jones collapsed and died between scenes of a live television play being broadcast from the studios of the Associated British Corporation in Manchester, England. The show went on, with the director improvising around Jones' absence.

To find out more about Scott LaFee and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.