The human brain went through two enormous evolutionary changes — one in size, followed by an even more important one in cognitive ability. Your brain consumes huge amounts of calories and exhibits incredible prowess. In fact, your brain’s roaring metabolism, possibly stimulated by early man’s invention of cooking, may be the main factor behind our most critical cognitive leap, new research suggests.

About 2 million years ago, the human brain rapidly increased its mass until it was double the size of other primate brains. Some believe this is because humans started to eat better food. But then, about 150,000 years ago, a different type of spurt happened — those big brains suddenly got smart. Humans started innovating, invented many new tools, and started creating art and perhaps religion.

Research suggests that increased access to calories spurred these cognitive advances. The extra calories may have come from the first hearths. Cooking, by breaking down fibers and making nutrients more readily available, is a way of processing food outside the body. Eating cooked meals would have lessened the energy needs of the human digestion system, thereby freeing up calories for the brain.

Nearly half of cancer patients in England are being forced to cut back on food or heating in order to pay for their prescriptions drugs. Almost two-thirds miss out on simple leisure activities, like family days out, to cope with their medication costs.

A survey of nearly 500 cancer patients in England found that 44 percent were struggling to cope with drug costs.

Prescription charges were eliminated in Wales in 2007, and will be phased out in Scotland by 2011. Northern Ireland has frozen its charges while it considers whether to abolish them entirely. In England, however, the government has ruled out any move towards free prescriptions.

Even when your budget is tight, you never want to skimp when it comes to your health. Fortunately, there are ways to get well and stay that way for less.

1. Reduce Your Need for Allergy Meds

Don’t keep stacks of books and magazines, stuffed animals, decorative pillows and other “dust-mite breeding grounds” in the bedroom. Dust mites are the leading cause of indoor, year-long allergies. If outdoor pollens set off your allergies, close your windows and turn on a fan. If you’re a jogger, jog in the evening when pollen counts are lower, and when you get home, remove your clothes immediately and shower to get rid of the pollen that has attached itself to your clothes, skin and hair. And don’t let your pet sleep in your room or in your bed.

2. Substitute Honey for Antibiotic Cream

Raw, unprocessed honey — the kind you buy at the farmers’ market or in the health food section of the grocery store — can also be used to treat mild skin infections and burns. In fact, when compared with over-the-counter creams, honey might be even more effective for small burns. Most anti-bacterial creams stick to the skin as well as the gauze, causing further irritation when the gauze is lifted. Honey is partially absorbed by the fragile, puffy skin, providing a slippery membrane between the flesh and the bandage.

3. Go to Sleep Early

Researchers have long reported that six to eight solid hours of lights out is critical for optimal brain functioning and a healthy immune system. But stay away from sleeping pills and painkillers — they may knock you out at bedtime, but the flat, dreamless sleep they induce does not generally provide the healing and repair your mind and body craves.

4. Work Out At Home

Who needs to pay hundreds of dollars to work out at a gym? Why not rent exercise DVDs, or make your living room a yoga studio a few nights out of the week? The only thing you risk losing is the camaraderie you can find at the gym. But that’s easy to re-create at home. Invite a few friends over, pool your tape collection, set realistic goals and make a commitment to stick to the plan.

5. Take Advantage of Free Screenings

If you have a history of skin cancer or have a suspicious mole, you really need to make a habit of getting your skin checked for skin cancer — insurance or no insurance. The American Center for Dermatology has partnered with dermatologists across the country to offer free screenings. Just go to www.melanomamonday.org to find a convenient location. Free blood pressure machines in pharmacies and malls can be located through www.lifeclinic.com/locator/search.asp, and free mammograms are offered by government or local programs in a number of states.

Should you throw moldy bread in the trash, or just trim around the green spot? Can Sunday’s leftovers be Friday’s meal?

Scientists have developed methods to detect spoilage, but until these are available on a mass scale, food science and safety experts have some tips.

First — slimy, stinky, spotty or chunky changes in food don’t mean very much in terms of safety. It may not taste good, that doesn’t mean it’s going to make you sick. That’s because there’s a difference between what food scientists call spoilage bacteria and pathogens.

Spoilage bacteria form into slimy films on lunch meat, soggy edges on vegetables or stinky chicken. But the pathogens that do make you sick are odorless, colorless and invisible.

Since consumers can’t count on looks or smell, instead use the rule of four: no more than four days at 40 degrees Fahrenheit or 4 degrees centigrade. (Freezing fresh food at zero degree Fahrenheit will keep it safe indefinitely.) Temperature can slow or stop bacterial growth of either the pathogens or the spoilage variety. Forty degrees Fahrenheit buys people three days for safety with raw chicken and ground beef, three days with cuts of beef and lamb, and four days for leftovers.

Allowing anything to go above the cold 40 degrees along the way from store to frying pan can make the difference between illness and safety — and about 25 percent of refrigerators in the U.S. are kept at too high a temperature for safety. Be sure to check yours.

Accentia Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ABPI) announced today that the Company has filed its Quarterly Report (Form 10-Q) with the SEC, reporting the results of its operations, including consolidated results with its majority-owned subsidiary, Biovest International, Inc. (OTCBB:BVTI), for its third fiscal quarter ended June 30, 2008.