War Dead Nearly 25,000 in Mexico

/ SupremeCmdr / Leave a comment

Mexico car bomb: ‘Colombianization’ of Mexico nearly complete – CSMonitor.com

Mexico had already overtaken Colombia in terms of kidnappings. The public has long gotten accustomed to a censored press, threats to politicians, and grisly violence that includes decapitation and bodies hanging from highway overpasses. Now, it appears, Mexico has moved even closer to the kind of violence that plagued the South American nation in its darkest days.

A well-orchestrated car bomb exploded in Ciudad Juarez late Thursday, across from El Paso, Texas, killing at least three and sparking panic among the Mexican population. It is the first known use of a car bomb against authorities and the local population, and marks a troubling new level of violence as traffickers seeking to control the drug trade battle one another and Mexican authorities.

Low Vitamin D = Higher Parkinson’s Risk

/ SupremeCmdr / Leave a comment

Medical News: Low Vitamin D Increases Parkinson’s Risk – in Neurology, Parkinson’s Disease from MedPage Today

In the first longitudinal study to explore this possible connection, Knekt and colleagues analyzed data from the Mini-Finland Health Survey, which was carried out between 1978 and 1980.

Participants provided information on socioeconomic background, medical history, and lifestyle; serum levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D were determined by radioimmunoassay.

Among the 3,173 participants included in the analysis, there were 50 incident cases of Parkinson’s disease during a 29-year follow-up.

A significant inverse association was seen between age- and sex-adjusted levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D and Parkinson’s disease, with the relative risk between the highest and lowest quartiles of serum concentration of the vitamin being 0.35 (95% CI 0.15 to 0.81, P for trend=0.006).

The association persisted after adjustment for body mass index, leisure-time physical activity, month of blood draw, education, marital status, smoking, and alcohol consumption.

Participants whose serum concentration of the vitamin was at least 50 nmol/L had a 65% lower risk than those whose levels were below 25 nmol/L.

Low Vitamin D = Cognitive Decline

/ SupremeCmdr / Leave a comment

Medical News: Vitamin D Deficiency May Be Linked to Cognitive Decline – in Neurology, General Neurology from MedPage Today

Low levels of vitamin D appear to be associated with an increased risk of cognitive decline among older people, according to researchers.

In an observational study conducted among more than 800 Italians ages 65 and older, severe vitamin D deficiency was associated with a 60% increase in the risk of substantial cognitive decline (by a standard measure), according to David Llewellyn, PhD, of the University of Exeter in Exeter, England, and colleagues.

The findings — if confirmed by further studies and randomized clinical trials — “open up important new possibilities for treatment and prevention,” Llewellyn and colleagues wrote in the July 12 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.

Death by Fishing

/ SupremeCmdr / Leave a comment

Commercial Fishing Deaths — United States, 2000–2009

Commercial fishing is one of the most dangerous occupations in the United States (1). During 1992–2008, an annual average of 58 reported deaths occurred (128 deaths per 100,000 workers) (1), compared with an average of 5,894 deaths (four per 100,000 workers) among all U.S. workers. During the 1990s, safety interventions addressing specific hazards identified in Alaska resulted in a significant decline in the state’s commercial fishing fatality rate (2). During 2007–2010, CDC expanded surveillance of commercial fishing fatalities to the rest of the country’s fishing areas. To review the hazards and risk factors for occupational mortality in the U.S. commercial fishing industry, and to explore how hazards and risk factors differ among fisheries and locations, CDC collected and analyzed data on each fatality reported during 2000–2009. This report summarizes the results, which showed that, among the 504 U.S. commercial fishing deaths, the majority occurred after a vessel disaster (261 deaths, 52%) or a fall overboard (155 deaths, 31%). By region, 133 (26%) deaths occurred off the coast of Alaska, 124 (25%) in the Northeast, 116 (23%) in the Gulf of Mexico, 83 (16%) off the West Coast, and 41 (8%) in the Mid- and South Atlantic. Type of fishing was known in 478 deaths; shellfish (226, 47%) was the most common, followed by groundfish (144, 30%) and pelagic fish (97, 20%). To reduce fatalities in this industry, additional prevention measures tailored to specific high-risk fisheries and focusing on prevention of vessel disasters and falls overboard are needed.

Vitamins D & E = Healthy Brains

/ SupremeCmdr / Leave a comment

Vitamins D, E Might Help Maintain Brain Health

In one trial, British researchers tied low levels of vitamin D to higher odds of developing dementia, while a Dutch study found that people with diets rich in vitamin E had a lower risk of developing dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease.

Finally, a study released by Finnish researchers linked high blood levels of vitamin D to a lower risk of Parkinson’s disease.

One Veggie Burrito with Salmonella Please

/ SupremeCmdr / Leave a comment

I had a burrito with guacamole and salsa for lunch today.  Serious!

Medical News: Salsa, Guacamole Among Top Causes of Foodborne Illness – in Infectious Disease, Public Health from MedPage Today

The incidents accounted for 4.1% of all restaurant-related food borne illnesses from 1998 to 2008, more than double the 1.6% incidence from 1984 to 1997.

Of the 5,560 salsa or guacamole-related illnesses reported, 33% were attributed to Salmonella, 18% to Norovirus, 15% to Shigella, 10% to other infections, and 24% due to unknown causes. The infections resulted in a combined 145 hospitalizations and three deaths.

Of the outbreaks, 95 were traced to salsa and 36 to guacamole. Reported reasons for contamination included improper storage time or temperature (30%), contamination by food handlers and preparers (20%), and contaminated equipment or cross-contamination.

The raw ingredients used to make the popular condiments — including tomatoes, hot peppers, and cilantro — have also been implicated in past outbreaks of foodborne illnesses, Kendall noted.

The study concluded that training materials should be devised for the healthy preparation and storage of salsa and guacamole.

The CDC began collecting data on foodborne illnesses in 1973, but the first recorded incidents related to salsa and guacamole occurred in 1984.

Arava (leflunomide) – Watch Those Liver Enzymes

/ SupremeCmdr / Leave a comment

Medical News: FDA Adds Liver Failure Warning to RA Drug – in Product Alert, Prescriptions from MedPage Today

The FDA has expanded the black box warning to the label of the rheumatoid arthritis drug leflunomide (Arava) to include possible fatal liver damage.

The agency received 49 adverse event reports — including instances of jaundice, coagulopathy, encephalopathy, and 14 fatalities — about the drug from August 2002 to May 2009. Of the patients reporting adverse events, 36 were hospitalized.

Big Head? Read On

/ SupremeCmdr / Leave a comment

Perhaps a new component of the senior questionnaire?

BBC News – Big head ‘may protect against dementia’

Having a big head may help protect against the worst ravages of dementia, say researchers.

They found that people with Alzheimer’s with the largest craniums had better memory and thinking skills than patients with smaller skulls.

The Munich University team believe a larger head means there are greater brain reserves to buffer against dementia-related brain cell death.

Their findings, based on 270 patients, are published in the journal Neurology.