His article in the current issue of the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease (May 2009) explains why further investigation is needed to identify any causative linkages between vitamin D and dementia, including the type known as Alzheimer’s disease. As an example of how risk factors for the development of Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia could be directly related to vitamin D deficiencies, Dr. Grant cites several studies that have correlated tooth loss with the development of cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s or vascular dementia. Why do people lose teeth? Primarily, he points out in his article, tooth loss is the result of dental caries and/or periodontal disease — and both those conditions are linked to low levels of vitamin D.

In addition, Dr. Grant’s article explains that ample biological evidence has accumulated showing how critical vitamin D is to healthy brain development and function. In fact, vitamin D in sufficient amounts seems to protect brain cells and reduce inflammation. A lack of vitamin D has been associated with increased inflammation and a pro-inflammatory state has been linked, in turn, with dementia.

Dr. Grant is calling for studies of levels of vitamin D in people before dementia is diagnosed and research to determine if vitamin D supplementation is warranted to potentially prevent dementia. In addition, because elderly people are frequently deficient in vitamin D, he suggests that those over 60 years old should consider having their serum vitamin D level tested and, if their vitamin D status is low, he recommends taking 1000 to 2000 IU a day of vitamin D3 supplements and/or increasing the time they spend in the sun year round.

“There are established criteria for causality in a biological system. The important criteria include strength of association, consistency of findings, determination of the dose-response relation, an understanding of the mechanisms, and experimental verification,” Dr. Grant states in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease article. “To date, the evidence includes observational studies supporting a beneficial role of vitamin D in reducing the risk of diseases linked to dementia such as vascular and metabolic diseases, as well as an understanding of the role of vitamin D in reducing the risk of several mechanisms that lead to dementia.”

Finding out how vitamin D might be able to help prevent and perhaps treat Alzheimer’s and other dementias can’t come a moment too soon. The Alzheimer’s Association recently reported that 5.3 million Americans currently have Alzheimer’s disease. It is the seventh-leading cause of death in the U.S.

Reference: “Does Vitamin D Reduce the Risk of Dementia?” by William B. Grant, Ph.D. , Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, 17:1 (May 2009).

For more information:http://www.sunarc.org/http://www.alz.org/alzheimers_disease_facts_figures.asp

About the author
Sherry Baker is a widely published writer whose work has appeared in Newsweek, Health, the Atlanta Journal and Constitution, Yoga Journal, Optometry, Atlanta, Arthritis Today, Natural Healing Newsletter, OMNI, UCLA’s “Healthy Years” newsletter, Mount Sinai School of Medicine’s “Focus on Health Aging” newsletter, the Cleveland Clinic’s “Men’s Health Advisor” newsletter and many others.

The Gannon University women’s basketball program, led by coach Cleve Wright, will host five girls’ camps this summer. Dates are as follows:
• June 15-18 and July 27-30: Fundamentals Camps (grades 3-8).
• June 19-21 and July 17-19: Team Camps (high school junior varsity and varsity teams).
• July 13-16: Shooting Camp (grades 6-12).
The Fundamentals Camps are $100 per person; the Team Camps are $300 per team; and the Shooting Camp is $75 per person. For more information, or to register, contact Cleve Wright, women’s basketball coach, Gannon University, at 814-871-7419.

The Gannon University men’s basketball program, led by coach John Reilly, will host two boys’ camps this summer. Dates are as follows:
• June 13-14: Team Camp (high school junior varsity and varsity teams).
• August 3-7: Fundamentals Camp (grades 3-8).
Cost is $125 per person for the Fundamentals Camp, and $350 per team for the team camp. For more information, or to register, contact the Gannon University men’s basketball offices at 814-871-7212.

The Gannon University volleyball program, led by coach Matt Darling, will host two girls’ camps this summer. Dates are as follows:
• July 6-9: All-Skills Camp.
• July 10-11: Beginner’s Camp (ages 5-12).
The camps will focus on teaching the skills of the game to players at all levels of ability. The cost for the All-Skills Camp is $125 for day camp and $300 for overnight camp (includes all meals and three nights in the residence halls.) The cost for the Beginner’s Camp is $50. For more information, or to register, contact Matt Darling, women’s volleyball coach, Gannon University, at 814-871-7245.

Gannon University will host three sessions of its Young Writers’ Camp: June 23-27, July 7-11, and July 21-25. During these hands-on and collaborative workshops, students will learn to more fully develop their writing process and develop writing projects to produce “working manuscripts” of publishable writing. For more information, or to register, contact Sally LeVan, professor, Gannon University English Department, at 814-871-7506.

Gannon University from July 13-17 will host a High School Journalism Workshop for students in grades 10-12. The workshop will emphasize news and feature writing. The coordinator, Frank Garland, has more than 25 years of experience as a daily news and feature reporter. Workshop topics will include journalistic writing and Associated Press style, writing leads, interviewing techniques, objectivity vs. editorializing, news judgment, beat reporting, features, and ethics and the press. For more information, or to register, contact Frank Garland, instructor, Gannon University English Department, at 814-871-5808.

Gannon University from July 12-17 will host an Engineering Camp for high school students. Participants will learn about career paths in engineering, acquire hands-on building experience, see technology in action, use state-of-the-art engineering and computer tools, and create innovative technical projects. The camp will take place primarily on the Gannon campus, but also will include educational and recreational excursions to off-campus sites. Cost is $495. For more information, or to register, contact Ann Banko, Gannon University Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, at 814-871-7620.

Gannon University’s Regional Summer School of Excellence will be held July 6-10 and July 13-17. The program is designed for high school sophomores and juniors who excel in the sciences and are interested in a unique and hands-on summer learning opportunity. It is free and open to students in Erie, Warren, and Crawford counties. The program offers two weeks of intensive study in the life sciences as students are able to work both in Gannon’s laboratory facilities and aboard the University’s research vessel, the Environaut, on Lake Erie and Presque Isle Bay. The program will run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily. For more information, or to request an application, contact Stan Zagorski, program director and faculty consultant, Gannon University biology department, at 814-871-7641, or the Northwest Tri-County Intermediate Unit at 814-734-5610.

Gannon University will host its “ShakeXperience” Camp July 13-18. The camp will allow participants to experience Shakespeare first-hand through “college-style” classes and workshops in acting, text, design/tech, and movement/stage combat. Participants also will be performing a showcase of scenes and monologues. Students will be housed in Gannon dormitories and will have access to University food service and facilities. The camp is led by Gannon faculty members and qualified instructors. Both seasoned performers and beginners are welcome. Cost is $99. For more information, contact Fr. Shawn Clerkin, assistant professor, Gannon University Theatre, Communications, and Fine Arts Department, at 814-871-7493.

Glutamine is an amino acid found naturally in many foods, including beef, chicken, fish, eggs, dairy products and some fruits and vegetables. L-glutamine, the biologically active isomer of glutamine, is sometimes used in supplement form by body builders to increase their muscle mass. Now new research just reported in the May issue of the Journal of Nutrition concludes glutamine may prove beneficial in offsetting gastric damage caused by H. pylori infection. In fact, the study, which was conducted by scientists at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), suggests glutamine could be a natural alternative to the use of antibiotics now prescribed widely for treating stomach ulcers.

“Our findings suggest that extra glutamine in the diet could protect against gastric damage caused by H. pylori,” senior author Susan Hagen, PhD, Associate Director of Research in the Department of Surgery at BIDMC and Associate Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School, said in a statement to the media. “Gastric damage develops when the bacteria weakens the stomach’s protective mucous coating, damages cells and elicits a robust immune response that is ineffective at ridding the infection.” She added that over time, years of infection can cause persistent gastritis and damage to cells in the digestive tract — creating an environment conducive to the development of malignancies.

In earlier research, Dr. Hagen and her research team had shown that glutamine protects against cell death from H. pylori-produced ammonia. “Our work demonstrated that the damaging effects of ammonia on gastric cells could be reversed completely by the administration of L-glutamine,” Dr. Hagen said in the press release. “The amino acid stimulated ammonia detoxification in the stomach — as it does in the liver — so that the effective concentration of ammonia was reduced, thereby blocking cell damage.”

To find out if a similar mechanism could be at work in intact stomachs infected with H. pylori, the researchers divided 105 mice into two groups. One group of lab animals was fed a standardized diet which was 1.9 percent glutamine. The second group ate the same diet plus supplemental L-glutamine that upped the percentage of the animals’ food intake of the amino acid to 6.9 percent. After two weeks, the mice were again divided into two additional groups with one group receiving a fake dose of H. pylori while the other group received a dose of the real bacteria.

The result was four separate mouse groups comprised of an uninfected control group, an uninfected glutamine group, an infected-with-H.-pylori control group, and an uninfected-with-H.-pylori glutamine group. During the next 20 weeks, the scientists took samples of blood and stomach tissues from the animals for analysis. Blood was checked for antibodies to specific types of T-helper immune cells, which mediate the body’s immune system response when there’s an active H. pylori infection. Stomach tissues were also analyzed for signs of damage, the presence of inflammatory substance called cytokines, and for signs of cancerous cells.

The results? Six weeks after infection, the mice had increased levels of three kinds of cytokines that all play an important role in the stomach’s attempt to protect against the damaging effects of an H. pylori infection. In addition, by the 20th week, the researchers found that the H. pylori-infected animals that were fed the L-glutamine diet had far lower levels of inflammation than the mice eating the standard control diet.

“Because many of the stomach pathologies during H. pylori infection (including cancer progression) are linked to high levels of inflammation, this result provides us with preliminary evidence that glutamine supplementation may be an alternative therapy for reducing the severity of infection,” Dr. Hagen said in the statement to the media.

“H. pylori bacteria infect more than half of the world’s population and were recently identified as a Group 1 carcinogen by the World Health Organization,” she stated. “Approximately 5.5 percent of the entire global cancer burden is attributed to H. pylori infection and, worldwide, over 900,000 new cases of gastric cancer develop each year. The possibility that an inexpensive, easy-to-use treatment could be used to modify the damaging effects of H. pylori infection warrants further study in clinical trials.”

For more information:HERE
About the author
Sherry Baker is a widely published writer whose work has appeared in Newsweek, Health, the Atlanta Journal and Constitution, Yoga Journal, Optometry, Atlanta, Arthritis Today, Natural Healing Newsletter, OMNI, UCLA’s “Healthy Years” newsletter, Mount Sinai School of Medicine’s “Focus on Health Aging” newsletter, the Cleveland Clinic’s “Men’s Health Advisor” newsletter and many others.

Was this just some weird and rare fluke? Apparently not, according to Gary Faerber, MD, a urologist at the University of Michigan Health System, who related Emma’s story in a statement to the media. Dr. Faerber is sounding the alarm that there’s a surprising and growing incidence of kidney stones in children. “I am seeing more and more children who have kidney stones,” Dr. Faerber stated. “It’s a real phenomenon.”

Kidney stones are comprised of minerals and acid salts that should be diluted in the urine. But when urine is too concentrated, these materials can crystallize and solidify, forming kidney stones. Passing these objects can be absolutely excruciating. The pain typically starts in the side or back below the ribs and then radiates to the lower abdomen and groin area.

Sometimes they don’t pass by themselves and doctors use lithotripsy (high-energy shock waves) to fragment and disintegrate kidney stones. Little Emma had to suffer through two lithotripsies for her stones and finally had surgery to remove one that didn’t break up sufficiently.

According to the Mayo Clinic web site, kidney stones are typically found most often in males between the ages of 20 and 70 — with middle-aged men being at the highest risk. But why on earth would a toddler girl develop them? Dr. Faerber asserts the growing incidence of kidney stones in children is linked to the modern diet and lifestyle.

Bottom line: kids are growing up drinking too little water and too many sugar-filled drinks. In addition, youngsters who eat a fast-food diet are taking in high amounts of sodium — and that’s a well-known risk factor for the formation of kidney stones, according to Dr. Faerber.

“The sedentary lifestyle we’re starting to see in the younger age group and the pediatric group is also a risk factor because we know that obesity increases the risk of forming kidney stones,” he adds.

Dr. Faerber also thinks there could be a link between global warming and the condition. Warmer temperatures can lead to dehydration which, in turn, causes urine to become highly concentrated, allowing the formation of crystals that can progress into kidney stones.

So what can parents do to protect their children from this potentially painful condition? “The main takeaway is to get your child to stay away from sugar filled drinks, sodas, colas and go to something natural like plain old water,” Dr. Faerber advises.

Kidney stones are not the only health problem previously almost unknown in youngsters but common in middle age. For the past decade, doctors have noted an alarming rise in the cases of children with type 2 diabetes. In fact, experts like pediatrician Francine Ratner Kaufman, MD, head of the Center for Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism at Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles, have warned type 2 diabetes in youngsters is an “epidemic” fueled — like kidney stones — by too much junk food and too little exercise.

For more information:http://www2.med.umich.edu/prmc/media/newsroom/details.cfm?ID=1129http://www.mayoclinic.com/print/kidney-stones/DS00282/DSECTION=all&METHOD;=printhttp://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/kidneystones.htmlhttp://health.med.umich.edu/healthcontent.cfm?xyzpdqabc=0&id;=6&action;=detail&AEProductID;=HW%5FKnowledgebase&AEArticleID;=hw204795&AEArticleType;=HealthConditionshttp://clinical.diabetesjournals.org/cgi/content/full/20/4/217

The StudyThe findings of this study will be published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (Vol. 293, No. 2: 172-182). It is based on a long-term study of about 149,000 people between 50 and 74 years old. The participants filled out a questionnaire detailing their eating habits in 1982, and again in 1992/1993. The leader of the study was Michael Thun, MD, MS, chief of epidemiology and surveillance research at ACS. Thun and his colleagues looked at how many people had developed the disease by 2001; they then analyzed the risk according to the amount of meat that was consumed.

The participants who consumed the most red meat in both time periods were 30 to 40 percent more likely to develop cancer in the lower part of their colon, compared to the participants who ate the least. The people who ate the most processed meats were 50 percent more likely to develop colon cancer and 20 percent more likely to develop rectal cancer compared to those who ate the least. For red meat the researchers defined “high” as 3 or more ounces per day for men and 2 or more ounces for women. For processed meat (bacon, sausage, hot dogs, ham, cold cuts) “high” was defined as 1 ounce eaten 5 or 6 days per week for men, and 2 or 3 days per week for women. Eating white meat (poultry and fish) did not raise the risk of getting colon cancer. In fact, the group that ate more white meat was less likely to develop colon cancer, the American Cancer Society said. The researchers say that they aren’t sure about why red meat influences cancer risk.

Study ShortcomingsThe study does not take into account all the other factors that go into developing colon cancer. There could have been other factors that contributed to the increased risk of developing colon cancer. They compared the group that ate more red meat to the group that ate more poultry and fish and found that those who ate white meat were healthier and had a lower chance of getting colon cancer, but it is impossible to say if the white meat group had other habits that lower the risk. Even though the study isn’t perfect, it gives us a guideline. The American Cancer Society stated, “This is not a condemnation of red meat, but it is part of a growing body of evidence that red meat shouldn’t be the mainstay of your diet.”

Sources:http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/59/17/4320http://www.cancer.org/docroot/NWS/content/NWS_1_1x_Eating_Lots_of_Red_Meat_Linked_to_Colon_Cancer.asphttp://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/news/20050111/red-meat-eaters-risk-colon-cancer

About the author
Henri Junttila is your average Swede, he loves reading and learning about anything that has to do with nutrition and personal growth. His website Colon Health, provides information on topics such as relieving constipation, colon detox, colon cleaning, the best colon cleanse and colon cleanse products reviewed by his visitors.

The heart of the Parmelee-Hill property sits on a knoll that faces the Sonoma Valley to the East and San Pablo Bay to the South. The climate is typical of coastal influenced areas. Morning fog retreats during warming midday hours. The warmth is commonly broken however by intense afternoon ocean winds that quickly drop the temperature. The fog sometimes retreats only as far as the Western hills until it blows back overhead fairly early in the afternoon. This type of climate tends to be self-restricting, resulting in naturally low-yielding vines producing fruit with intense flavor.

Aromas: perfume, floral, honeysuckle, citrus
Body: full
Color: pale gold

From their website: What a wonderful wine. This may be our finest accomplishment to date. Named after our daughter, Darcy Hill Merritt, who you will often see at tastings.

Winemaker comments: Rich and pale gold in color with green highlights. The nose is perfumey and floral with honeysuckle and a hint of lemon lime plus pear and stone fruit, slightly mineral or stony. A floral and lively palate, rich tropical fruit including nectarine and melon, full bodied, balanced, lush fruit finish. 125 cases produced.

Our fruit is hand-picked at night for better quality; Experienced crews are the backbone of the success at Parmelee-Hill. Nothing other than the cleanest, ripest fruit will make it from the field to the winery. We attempt to harvest as much as possible at night when the fruit is colder and is both truer in sugar content and more resistant to being battered and split during harvest. The boxes are stacked and hauled to the winery where they are dumped and sorted by hand. The end results are whole intact clusters that look much the same as when they were hanging on the vine.
We only crush about 10 tons of fruit for our own use. The largest lot crushed is 2.5 tons, and most lots are harvested in one ton increments. This technique is tough on the farmer (us) however allows Don to source fruit from different blocks to come up with the ultimate field blend for our finished product. We also now have the advantage of experimenting in the vineyard with different practices and tasting the end product to continue to try and increase the quality of the fruit we grow.

Eat with: goat cheese sampler, three selections of local & imported artisan goat cheese, seasonal fruit & baguette

http://www.sonomasyrah.com/

The below comment was received on my Facebook page, it was worth bumping to here.

Peter DiMarzio said: I am a veteran of the US Air Force now working as the EAP Coordinator for District 1 for the last two years. Prior to this position I worked for the last twelve years with the Massachusetts Dept. of Mental Health. I am concerned about GMT topics being placed online in particular Suicide Prevention. I can say after almost every presentation I have has shipmates come up to me with concerns about their shipmates, parents or friends who have express suicidal tendencies, or have concerns these people are heading down that road. These people are looking for guidance on how to help. Its my greatest concern that without this face to face these individuals will sit in front of a computer and never come forward with these concerns. The online training becomes another circle to fill in. I have been to many commands, units and the Academy and all feel this particular topic should remain face to face. Please keep this a face to face training to ensure concerns can be addressed. Thank you.
——-

Mr. DiMarzio,

Thank you for your thoughtful comments regarding the Suicide Prevention GMT. The fact that participants in your Suicide Prevention training feel comfortable approaching you about such sensitive issues tells me you are providing excellent services for our members and employees. Also encouraging is the fact that members at your training sessions are outwardly showing concern about the well-being of shipmates, parents and friends, and are looking for ways to help. This is exactly the Guardian climate we are trying to reinforce within the Coast Guard.

You present a good case for keeping the Suicide Prevention GMT as a face-to-face requirement. My Work-Life staff agrees with you, and so do I. We continue to work towards that end; however, we are currently reaching only about 60% of Coast Guard personnel with face-to-face Suicide Prevention training annually. We realize that face to face is the best delivery method, but training in an alternate format, rather than no training due to limited resource capacity is the current reality. To ensure that we are able to provide everyone with valuable Suicide Prevention training, we must also rely on an online option to serve remote units and those personnel who were otherwise unable to attend the face-to-face training. For all its short-comings, on-line training does have several positive attributes 1. we can be assured that all the important learning objectives are consistently presented 2. we have verification that students actually understood what was taught, 3. the message conveyed is consistent and delivered in an approved / scripted manner.

The revised Suicide Prevention policy that is currently being developed will “strongly encourage” face-to-face training but will allow Commanding Officers/Officers-in-Charge to seek a waiver to use online training in lieu of face to face sessions. With this provision the unit’s chain of command will be able to monitor and ensure the best mix of services.

The use of on-line suicide prevention training is consistent with the policy currently proposed by DoD, and reflects the reality that we are currently unable to reach everyone with “on-site” training. We continue to strive to reach our goal to provide face-to-face Suicide Prevention Training to all Coast Guard personnel in the future.

Thank you again for taking the time to comment on this issue. And, most sincerely, thank you for your passion and enthusiasm in addressing the needs of all of the members of our extended Coast Guard Family. You embody the true meaning of Guardian. Semper Paratus.

Note: Emergency suicide crisis services may be accessed 24 hours a day, seven days a week via the Employee Assistance Program toll free number (800) 222-0364.

The device the pest companies are pushing these days – the “mosquito misting system” – costs several thousand dollars to install, but it does actually kill mosquitoes. These systems use a series of nozzles, usually placed around the periphery of the homeowner’s yard, which emit a fine mist at intervals (many have programmable timers). The mist, which contains water mixed with a pyrethroid insecticide, kills mosquitoes on contact. Pyrethroids are widely used, generalist insecticides touted as “safe” for humans and pets such as dogs and cats, because they are derived from plants (learn more about these “safe” chemicals by clicking here.)

Published in the Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology, these findings reveal that every single infant formula product tested was found to contain perchlorate. The highest levels were reportedly found in the cow’s milk formula products.

How does perchlorate get into infant formula? It’s simple: It’s a contaminant in the water supply that’s given to dairy cows. Those cows, in turn, pass the perchlorate chemicals through their milk, and that milk is used to make infant formula that many (ignorant) parents still feed their babies.

(Can you believe human mothers still feed their human babies milk made from bovine animals?)

What’s a better alternative? First off, human breast milk is the obvious choice. But if that’s not available, goat’s milk infant formula is the next-best thing. (Check your local health food store for goat’s milk brands.)

You can also read some recipes on home-made infant formula at the Dr. Weston Price Foundation (http://www.westonaprice.org/children/recipes.html).

Stop poisoning our babies!
That rocket fuel chemicals are found in the water supply and, subsequently, infant formula is no surprise: Modern civilization is awash with toxic chemicals. Even breastfeeding doesn’t avoid the issue, since virtually all human breast milk is also contaminated with perchlorate!

And it’s not just rocket fuel that’s in the water: The water supply is also contaminated with trace amounts of numerous pharmaceuticals and fragrance chemicals. Remember the recent story about the fish being caught near major U.S. cities and testing positive for psychiatric medications? (http://www.naturalnews.com/025933.html)

You might also want to check out a transcript of a radio show I did on the subject of pharmaceutical contamination of the water supply last year: http://www.naturalnews.com/024764.html

The bottom line? The water supply is toxic, and even if you don’t count the trace amounts of chemicals that have already been found, cities are intentionally adding fluoride and chlorine chemicals to the water supply, too! That makes it quite a toxic brew.

It’s clear that we’ve all got to protect ourselves from the dangerous water supply if we wish to stop poisoning ourselves and our babies.

Water supply solutions
There are essentially TWO places you need to protect your water in your home (this is especially true if you are pregnant or breastfeeding):

1) Your shower.

2) Your kitchen tap.

Fortunately, there are very affordable products that filter the water in each of these places.

On the low end, in the kitchen category, you can buy PUR or Brita water filters at Wal-Mart (if you can stand shopping there) and they really do work! Get ‘em at Costco or Sam’s Club for a better deal. Notably, these devices are cheap up front, but the long-term cost to change out the filters is quite high. It’s sort of like buying an inkjet printer: The printer unit is cheap, but the ink costs you a fortune.

http://www.imeem.com/groups/G2ultq8b/video/sTeK9ehP/x5-read-a-book-nigga-music-video/