underwriting

And Yet Another Reason Why The War in Mexico Bothers Me

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Gunmen Kill 17 at Party in Mexico – NYTimes.com

Across northern Mexico, there have been increasing reports of mass shootings at parties, bars and rehab clinics.

In the worst such massacre this year, gunmen raided a drug-rehab center in the northern city of Chihuahua and killed 19 people last month. In January, gunmen barged into a private party in the border city of Ciudad Juarez and killed 15, many of them high school or university students. Relatives say the January attack was a case of mistaken identity, while state officials claim someone at the party was targeted, although they have not said who it was.

The killings in Torreon came three days after the first successful car bombing by drug cartels, an attack that introduced a new threat to Mexico’s raging drug war.

War Dead Nearly 25,000 in Mexico

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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 = Cognitive Decline

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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

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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

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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.

Arava (leflunomide) – Watch Those Liver Enzymes

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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

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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.

Exercise + Tea + Vitamin D = Lower Dementia Risk

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Study: Exercise, tea and vitamin D to ward off dementia – USATODAY.com

The researchers found that participants who had moderate to heavy levels of physical activity had about a 40% lower risk of developing any type of dementia. Those who reported the least amount of activity were 45% more likely to develop dementia compared with those who logged higher levels of activity.

In a second study, including data on more than 4,800 men and women ages 65 and older, participants were followed for up to 14 years. Tea drinkers had less mental decline than non-tea drinkers. Those who drank tea one to four times a week had average annual rates of decline 37% lower than people who didn’t drink tea.

Coffee didn’t show any influence except at the highest levels of consumption, researchers say. Author Lenore Arab of UCLA says, “Interestingly, the observed associations are unlikely to be related to caffeine, which is present in coffee at levels two to three times higher than in tea.”

In a third study, British researchers looked at vitamin D’s effect on brain health. They examined data from 3,325 U.S. adults ages 65 and older from the NHANES III study. Vitamin D levels were measured by blood test, and cognitive tests were administered. Odds of cognitive impairment were about 42% higher in those deficient in vitamin D, and 394% higher in people severely deficient.