A1A South

Most women in the US consume too little choline

Park Ridge, Ill. (April 3, 200 Choline, an essential nutrient found in foods such as eggs, is associated with a 24 percent reduced risk of breast cancer, according to a study supported by a grant from the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), to be published in The FASEB Journal’s print issue in June.(1) This study adds to the growing body of evidence that links egg consumption to a decreased risk of breast cancer.

In this new case-control study of more than 3,000 adult women, the risk of developing breast cancer was 24 percent lower among women with the highest intake of choline compared to women with the lowest intake. Women with the highest intake of choline consumed a daily average of 455 mg of choline or more, getting most of it from coffee, eggs and skim milk. Women with the lowest intake consumed a daily average of 196 milligrams or less.

“Choline is needed for the normal functioning of cells, no matter your age or gender,” says Steven H. Zeisel, MD, PhD, University of North Carolina, who is an author of the study and a leading choline researcher. “Increasing evidence shows that it may be particularly important for women, particularly those of child-bearing age.”

Only ten percent of Americans currently meet the recommended intake for choline, identifying a need to increase choline intake across the population.(2) According to the Institute of Medicine, adequate choline intake is 550 milligrams per day for men and breastfeeding women, 425 milligrams per day for women, and 450 milligrams per day for pregnant women.(3) One egg contains 125.5 milligrams of choline, or roughly a quarter the recommended daily supply, making eggs an excellent source of this essential nutrient.(4) Choline is found exclusively in the egg’s yolk. Other top food sources of choline include liver, wheat germ and cauliflower.

“While choline is an essential nutrient to the human diet, most people haven’t even heard of it,” says Gerald Weissmann, MD, Editor in Chief of The FASEB Journal and research professor of medicine and director of the Biotechnology Study Center at the New York University School of Medicine. “Given that in the U.S. there is a real need to understand how much choline we require in our diet, we hope that research, education and awareness about choline will increase as a result of this study published in The FASEB Journal.”

Eggs and Decreased Risk of Breast Cancer:Two previously published studies, supported by NIH grants, have shown that women who eat eggs have a lower risk of developing breast cancer:

• A study published in 2003 by researchers at Harvard University found that women who reported higher consumption of eggs, vegetable fat and fiber during adolescence had a smaller risk of developing breast cancer as adults. Specifically, eating one egg per day was associated with an 18 percent reduced risk of breast cancer.(5)
• A study of Chinese women published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention in 2005 showed that those who consumed the most fruit, vegetables and eggs were significantly less likely to have breast cancer. For those that reported eating at least six eggs per week, the risk of developing breast cancer was 44 percent lower than for those who ate two or less eggs per week.(6)

Other Benefits of Choline:In addition to playing a role in the normal functioning of all cells, including brain and nerve function, liver metabolism and the transportation of nutrients throughout the body, choline has been shown to:

• Prevent Birth Defects: According to population-based research, infants from mothers whose diets were deficient in choline were four times more likely to have neural tube defects such as spina bifida. This increased risk was observed even when other nutrients that help prevent birth defects, such as folic acid, were in adequate supply.(7)
• Improve Memory: Research suggests that choline is essential for proper fetal and infant brain development. It appears that choline affects the areas of the brain responsible for memory function and life-long learning ability.(
• Reduce Heart Disease Risk: Choline, like folate, is involved in breaking down homocysteine, an amino acid in the blood that may be associated with an increased risk of heart disease. In fact, research shows that choline deficiency results in increased homocysteine levels.(9) This may help to explain why 30 years of research have shown that healthy adults can consume eggs without increasing their risk of heart disease.(10)

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Sigh.  So much of what we were told in the past about diet and health has proved to be so much bullshit.  “Don’t eat eggs, it will raise your cholesterol and give you a heart attack.”  “Avoid the sun, it will give you cancer and wrinkles.” 

Okay, well, maybe they were right on both the (skin) cancer and wrinkles (grin), but vitamin D has proved to have a protective effect against other cancers including breast and colon cancer.

How much damage have we done to ourselves in terms of our health by following advice on “healthy” diets from somebody that was only interested in the profit from book sales or dietary supplements?

Too bad that we can’t hold individuals financially accountable for the misinformation that they’re spreading that can cause actual harm.  

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Police and prosecutors were shocked when a judge decided to release a man accused of killing a woman in 2006. Kenneth Williams had been in jail since his arrest and charged with first-degree murder in the July 2006 shooting death of 51-year-old Martha Kirkley.At a hearing in the case this week, Judge John Merrett eliminated Williams’ bond, allowing him to be released to house arrest. He must wear an electronic ankle bracelet so his movements can be monitored.

Williams’ release shocked police and prosecutors.

“This guy’s preying on people in this community and we’ve got to do what we can to make that community safe,” Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office Undersheriff Frank Mackesey said. “You do that by putting these thugs in jail, one person at a time.”

Mackesey said the release is especially troubling because Williams, 23, shot Kirkley because he though she was a snitch.

“I mean, this guy is in jail for killing someone that he thinks that testified against him on an earlier date, so I can only imagine what kind of fear this sends to the witnesses in the current case against him,” Mackesey told Channel 4’s Laura Mazzeo.

But Williams’ defense attorney, Richard Kuritz, strongly disagrees.

“My client is not a threat to the community and that reference that there was a snitch in another case is absolutely unfounded,” Kuritz said. “Nobody at the JSO is going to be able to cite to you a case in which this victim was a snitch in any case much less against my client.”

The move especially stunned others in law enforcement because Merrett has a reputation for admonishing criminals and ordering long sentences.

Merrett cannot comment on a pending case, but before releasing Williams, he said the state’s case was getting weak.

“Obviously were very happy the judge was strong enough in this case simply to follow the law to the facts of this case,” Kuritz said. “(It) may not be a politically popular decision, but that’s his job.”

Kuritz said that many of the witness have credibility issues and are criminals themselves.

Police said that’s no reason to let Williams out of jail.

“This guy murdered somebody. The victim before she died, said his name. She had an excited utterance at the scene telling us that,” Mackesey said. “You know, it may be a weak case because of the credibility of the witness, but this case is what we got and the victim deserves that.”

Source:  News4Jax

Well, I certainly hope that the people who were going to testify against him are well armed, because they won’t get any help from the judicial system.

A teen in New Smyrna Beach was hospitalized Thursday after a shark tore into his foot and leg, leaving broken teeth in the swimmer’s wound, according to a report by FLORIDA TODAY news partner WKMG Local 6 News.

Doctors said the shark’s teeth sunk in inches from Joey Giangrasso’s major artery as he swam in waist-deep water near the south jetty in New Smyrna Beach.

“One of the nurses said it’s the worst (bite) she has seen since she started working at the hospital, victim’s mother, Laurie Giangrasso, said.

The shark refused to let go of Giangrasso’s leg until he started to beat it away.

“He didn’t see it until the shark was on his foot,” Giangrasso said. “When he turned and saw this massive body, he tried to hit it and get it off his foot. Because when the shark had his foot, he was shaking the foot. You can tell that because of where the bites are.”

The teen was taken to Bert Fish Medical Center were he received dozens of stitches, Local 6 reported.

The bite is the fourth confirmed bite of the year and the third in 10 days, Beach Patrol representative Scott Petersohn told the Daytona Beach News Journal.

It puts Volusia County on track to match one of its worst shark bite years ever.

In 2001, there were eight shark bites in Volusia County during April.

Source: FloridaToday.com

Many people don’t think about shark bites when they’re wading in the ocean. After all, they’re just wading along the shore. Large sharks can, and do, swim and hunt for prey in waist-deep (or even shallower) water. My son’s girlfriend was bitten on the foot last year while swimming, but the shark decided that she wasn’t all that tasty and spit her foot out.

The House resoundingly rejected “welfare for politicians” Wednesday.

By an 82-34 vote, members approved a proposed constitutional amendment that would eliminate the 1998 voter-approved system allowing candidates to draw state matching money in races for governor and Cabinet.

If voters in November reject the elimination, the House also easily approved a bill to drastically lower the spending caps on state-subsidized campaigning.

“Let’s end this welfare for politicians,” said Rep. Alan Hays, R-Umatilla, who sponsored the legislation. “What it boils down to is the government extracting dollars from citizens and spending it on political campaigns.”

He said most of his constituents and others he’s talked to about it are surprised to learn that tax money can be used for political campaigning.

The current law sets campaign spending limits at $20.5 million for governor and $10.2 million for Cabinet races. The Legislature hiked the limits in 2005 from $5 million and $2 million.

Democrats generally opposed the whole plan but, seeing it would surely pass, Rep. Loranne Ausley got an amendment on the statute to revert to the pre-2005 caps if the constitutional amendment fails. If the Hays proposal (HJR 281) passes in the Senate but does not get the required 60 percent public approval at the polls in November, his companion bill (HB 277) would lower the spending caps.

Ausley, D-Tallahassee, said she favors public finance to reduce the influence of special-interest money in campaigns, but if the system itself survives she wants to go back to previous levels.

Ausley said 64 percent of voters approved public financing in 1998. She said 17 other states have some form of it. Democrats made a point of reminding Hays and other GOP lawmakers that their presidential candidate, Sen. John McCain, sponsored federal campaign-reform laws and favored public financing in Arizona.

“To be quite honest with you, I don’t care what other states do,” said Hays.

Source: Florida Capitol News

My children telling me that “everybody else does it” wasn’t something that gained instant approval from me as a parent and likewise doesn’t persuade me as a taxpayer.

GENEVA (Reuters) - At least three brothers in Pakistan were infected with the bird flu virus last year, and some human-to-human spread likely occurred, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday.

But the United Nations agency said the deadly disease had not gone beyond the family cluster near Peshawar, suggesting “limited human to human transmission”.

“This outbreak did not extend into the community and appropriate steps were taken to reduce future risks of human infections,” it said in a statement.

Similar clusters of H5N1 bird flu virus within families have been previously detected in Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam.

The WHO had earlier confirmed only one human H5N1 infection in Pakistan — a 25-year-old man who died in late November. On Thursday, it said international laboratory tests have now confirmed that two of that man’s brothers also had the disease.

One of those two brothers — who both fully recovered — was a veterinarian involved in culling infected poultry, whose symptoms began in late October, making him the first or “index case” of the bird flu cluster.

None of the veterinarian’s brothers had any direct contact with sick or dead poultry, according to the WHO.

But it said a fourth brother, who also died in mid-November after having close contact with the sick veterinarian, was considered a “probable” case. No blood or tissue samples had been taken from his body, so it never could be proven.

The laboratory test results supported the findings of an investigation of the outbreak that “suggested limited human to human transmission likely occurred among some of the family members which is consistent with some human to human transmission events reported previously,” the WHO said

The largest known cluster of human bird flu cases occurred in May 2006 in the Karo district of Indonesia’s North Sumatra province, where as many as 7 people in an extended family died.

Experts fear that the virus — which has killed 238 of the 378 people known to have been infected with it since 2003 — could mutate into a form that spreads easily from one person to another. That could trigger a deadly influenza pandemic.

All known close contacts of the Pakistani brothers, including other family members and health care workers, had been monitored and cleared for any signs of infection, according to the WHO.

Source:  Reuters

We’re finding this out 7 months after the fact. The first notification that we are going to have of H5N1 becoming more infectious to humans will be if/when mass amounts of humans begin dying and it can no longer be hidden. Do I expect, say, Indonesia to do the right thing and raise the alarm immediately? No.

Supermodel Naomi Campbell has been arrested at Heathrow airport in London after she was handcuffed on board an aircraft and led off the plane by police, Sky News reported.

The 37-year-old British model, known for her fiery temper, is being held on suspicion of assaulting a police officer, Sky reports.

An airport spokesperson told Sky News: “I can confirm that a passenger on board a British Airways flight was removed by police.”

Passengers reported that she was aggressive and abusive to staff.

A London Metropolitan Police spokesman said a woman was arrested at terminal 5 for an assault on police, but has refused to disclose her identity or give her age.

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Maybe she’d be less angry if she ate a decent meal.  To be 38 years old and have to maintain a weight of 122 lbs. at 5′ 9 and 1/2″ has got to be hard.  

I’m 5′9″ and in my 20s, I effortlessly maintained a weight in the low 120s due to limited eating and rigorous exercise.  I had a very difficult time with pregnancy, only carrying 2 out of 4 pregnancies through to completion, and one of those resulted in premature labor.  In retrospect, I think I just didn’t weigh enough. 

Now that I’m older and going through menopause, I eat whatever the hell I feel like eating, and I’m all mellow and happy.  Unfortunately, I need to cut that eating crap out and start watching my caloric intake and increasing my activity.  That will probably make me all surly.

If you hear a news report of a woman in the Jacksonville area taking hostages at a donut shop or you happen to be in that donut shop, well, better stand clear until I have enough raspberry filled Krispy Kremes. 

If some scrawny supermodel bitch gets in my way when I’m dieting, she better not even think of having an attitude problem with me. 

SwampMan’s computer died this week and, despite the fact that I was claiming near death status from the flu, he dragged me to Best Buy which had in stock, so the website said, a basic computer without the package deal which we did not need.   So, since he wouldn’t go without me, I got up from my death couch and accompanied him.

We had never been to a Best Buy before, and were seriously underwhelmed.  There was hardly anything in stock, and the salespeople were unhelpful.  When I asked about the computer that we found over their website, he stared at me as though I had grown an additional eye in the middle of my forehead. 

“We only sell complete packages”, he told me. 

“The website said this particular computer was available at this particular store.”

“The website was wrong”, and walked away without offering to order it for us, or offering any additional assistance whatsoever.  Well, we’re certainly not going to go back to the Best Buy at City Station Drive in Jacksonville any time soon.  Probably never.

We went back home, checked the internet, and went to the next Best Buy where the computer was listed, this time on Southside Blvd. in Jacksonville.  Again, we went in and asked for assistance with that particular computer.  The one that their website said was available for immediate pickup at that store.  The computer that their “customer service” computer in the middle of the store said was available at that store.  The salesman said they didn’t have any and tried to switch us to a more expensive package deal with a monitor that would have taken about 5 years’ wages in Cuba to buy.  “According to the Best Buy website, that computer is available for immediate pickup in your store.” 

“Sorry.”   I hope he caught the flu from me.

We went across the street to a newly reopened CompUSA.  The salesperson was extremely helpful, recommending one computer with a particular chip over another that was equally priced, and carried the computer to the front of the store, stood in line for us, and then placed it on the counter for us before going back to his section of the store.

We ended up paying about $150 more for that particular computer than the one advertised by Best Buy which apparently doesn’t actually exist.  We were pleased that we were able to get Windows XP instead of Windows Vista because we were worried about whether some of the (very expensive) software that SwampMan has would work on Vista.  When I go to get a laptop, I’ll be visiting that young man for assistance.

To recap, our first and second visits to Best Buy were extremely unsatisfactory.  There won’t be a third.  It had less selection than the local Sam’s but attempted to atone for it with nonexistent yet surly customer service.