YOUR HEALTH

EAT YOUR VEG, AND CHEER UP !

British researchers confirm a link
between depression and low levels of folate,
a vitamin which comes from vegetables.

The link emerges after a review of 11 studies with 15,315 participants,
researchers at the University of York, UK, report.

The research led by Simon Gilbody suggests
the introduction of mandatory fortification of
either bread or flour with folic acid could help
in the fight against depression.

"Although research does not prove that low folate causes depression,
we can now be sure that the two are linked.
Interestingly, there is also some trial evidence
that suggests folic acid supplements can benefit
people with depression. We recommend that large
trials should be carried out to further test this suggestion."

Another piece of research by the same team
proves that people with depression commonly have a gene,
which could cause them to process folate less efficiently.

Folate is linked to the production of some of the
"feel good" chemicals in the brain, such as serotonin,
and the identification of this gene provides a
plausible explanation as to why folic acid
supplements may help people with depression,
according to the researchers.

LATEST NEWS

75% of Welsh diet... to lose a stone.

Diet and fitness expert Joanna Hall says
more than three-quarters of Wales' population
are currently dieting, and the average desired weight-loss is almost a stone.
But she says that people need to be aware of
the healthiest and most effective ways of keeping weight off.

“In many cases dieters believe that skipping breakfast
or even starving themselves completely can be
a fast-track to weight-loss success.
But studies show that those who make time to eat breakfast
actually tend to be slimmer than those who skip.
Many forms of dieting are a false economy
and will simply leave you devoid of energy
and your diet doomed to failure.
We live in a society of the quick fix –
but it’s best to focus on a balanced diet
and regular exercise.”

Juliette Kellow, a registered dietician,
says dieters should lose weight by following
a sensible diet and not by starving themselves
or cutting meals completely.
“People end up cutting out foods that they like
and begin eating foods that they don’t like
on a limited intake.
When you cut out your favourite foods you
can start to miss them to the point that
you end up with cravings that get the better
of you, leading to over-indulgence.
Crash dieters often skip meals and miss out on nutrients.
Crash diets are not sustainable – the word diet
implies that you start one day, end another and
change your eating patterns in between.
The best way to lose weight is to eat five fruit
and vegetables a day, fibre-rich wholegrain
bread, cereals and brown pasta and rice.
Reduce your intake of sugary and salty foods
and eat lean meat, poultry, fish and eggs.
Take lots of exercise.”

Hannah Jones, author of
Diary of a Diet: A Little Book of Big;
“Common sense can go out of the window because
people on diets can lose interest in themselves
and what they eat just to get a quick-fix solution
– months can seem too long to wait.
And you know the curse of dieters?
Not fat and sugar, but running out of patience
and a slim boredom threshold.”

Mary Sheppard, director of Cardiff-based Fitness Wales,
says she tries to balance the calories she takes in
with what she burns up and has never been on a diet.

“All the research shows that
people who lose weight quickly
tend to put it back on and pile on
even more pounds than before.
This is because they revert back to their old
eating habits which caused the problem in the first place.
Quick-fix yo-yo dieting does not work for long
because when the diet is over,
all the good work is undone.
A two-weeks-to-the-beach diet can cut calories
and lead to rapid weight loss, with advice from nutritionists.
But a gradual approach with lifestyle changes
is the long-term answer.”

Insulin pill for diabetics?

Patients who need daily injections of insulin may soon
be able to take a pill instead of repeated injections.

UK company Diabetology, with experts at Cardiff University,
says it has solved a crucial problem with oral insulin.

A special coating protects the drug from acids in the stomach,
allowing it to pass into the small intestine to be absorbed.



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IN A DOG-EAT-DOG WORLD....

In a country like the U.K.,
where a pensioner
was recently described as: "waste product",
you might as well stay as "independent" as possible !

Tai chi keeps hips and joints supple,
provides balance and helps blood flow.....
less strokes, heart failures, etc., etc.

Here, people join together
every morning in Havana,
in the Old Plaza, Cuba, for each refreshing dawn.

How ironic that where selfish individualism rules,
the practice of Tai chi drops !

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Cash crisis closes centres.

Health centres providing advice and exercise in deprived areas
across Wales are closing because of a lack of funding.
Many of Wales' 29 healthy living centres,
set up to tackle social and health inequalities,
have closed and the others face an uncertain future.

They were created five years ago with £18m of lottery money
which was matched by other public bodies.



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Wales Reaches The TOP !!!
(Just in case we all get carried away!!!)
Wales is top of Britain's sick list.

Eight of the top 10 sickest places in Britain
.......... are in south Wales..
Merthyr Tydfil is named as the most unhealthy place in the UK,
with Rhondda Cynon Taf and Neath Port Talbot coming 3rd and 4th.

Carmarthenshire, Caerphilly, Torfaen and Bridgend
also have the highest levels of serious illness
and the poorest diets.

The Report's researchers warn that the results
are a "time bomb" for the health service.







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Mams and The Consumer Dream..

Barbara Kingsolver is a writer famous for
her love of nature and of all things rural.
Her farm is in deepest Virginia, within a
U-shaped mountain ridge in the Southern Appalachians.
Kingsolver, 52, has a long list of bestselling books.
She is best known for The Poisonwood Bible.
It has sold more than two million copies,
and was recently voted by members of British
book clubs as their favourite novel of all time.

Out now, is her latest:
"Animal, Vegetable, Miracle".

Part of the motivation for this book is
repulsion at America's advanced state of
"alimentary alienation"; where food is
mass-produced and has little or no bearing
on the lives of those who eat it.
With the help of her husband Steven Hopp,
an environmental studies lecturer, she lays
out in the book the shocking scale of the crisis.

"The average food item on the American shelf
has travelled 1,500 miles - further than most
families go on annual holidays.
The US consumes about 400 gallons of oil a year
per person for agriculture, a rate of guzzling
second only to the car.
And here's a fact straight out of Alice in Wonderland:
the US exports 1.1m tonnes of potatoes,
and imports 1.4m tonnes.

The side-effects of America's fast-food culture are legion:
global warming caused by high food airmiles;
obesity due to the poor diet, particularly among
American children, who are predicted to be the
country's first generation with a shorter life
expectancy than their parents;
the destruction of farming habitats to clear the
way for mass cropping of corn and soya beans;
the detachment of millions of Americans who have
absolutely no inkling of what they are consuming
or where it comes from."
As Kingsolver sums it up:
"Woe is us, we overfed, undernourished US citizens.
We are a nation with an eating disorder, and we know it."

She has finally, after many years, come to accept
as a compliment the idea of being a "housewife".
She argues that women of her generation made
a "devil of a bargain" when they traded home
making for careers.

"We lost a lot - we traded our aprons for
children with health problems because
we pick up junk food on the way.
That's the great hoodwink of my generation."

"Farming has become an extractive industry, like mining.
It used to be about the American dream, with
families working hard to enrich themselves and their communities;
now it's about large powerful corporations
pulling out the good stuff and leaving behind a mess."

THERE'S NONE SO SHORT-SIGHTED....


Elderly patients are paying up to
£2,000 a month for sight-saving injections.
Some sufferers have paid thousands for
a condition which can lead to blindness.
This is even though Wales' local health boards
have been told they can pay for the treatment now.

Plaid Cymru AM Rhodri Glyn Thomas,
chair of the assembly health committee,
says the situation is immoral.
"That is totally unfair on those people
living on low incomes or benefits who are
not in a position to even consider going privately."

Every year 1,000 people in Wales
- mostly over 60 - are diagnosed with the condition
"wet age-related macular degeneration."
If not treated quickly, the condition
leads to the loss of central vision.
If both eyes are affected ...
it means registered blindness.
Until last year most cases were untreatable
but new drugs are now offering hope
of helping 90% of patients.
The drugs - macugen and lucentis -
are being used privately under licence.
They are currently being assessed for
NHS use across the UK by the
National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE !).
The Wales Assembly Government has told health boards in Wales
they can issue the drugs now
....but they are not.

Shirley Possart, 71, from Horton in Gower,
has already spent £12,000 of her savings
on six injections of lucentis after
developing the condition in both eyes.
Although her sight has improved dramatically
and she can now see to drive, read the papers
and do the crossword again, she is worried
about paying for more injections.
"It's my savings and they're rapidly dwindling.
I sincerely hope that they go on the NHS
so that I don't have to go blind."

RNIB Cymru says it knows of no patients in Wales
who are receiving the drugs on the NHS.
The charity's Ceri Jackson says:
"We feel that the local health boards
should be providing this treatment.
It is a sight-saving treatment and
the cost of providing it is cheaper than the cost of
taking care of somebody once they lose their sight."





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GO ON, YOU OLD GITS..... HAVE A LAUGH!!!....
PRESS THE LINK BELOW
FOR A WONDERFUL VIDEO

Hope I die.... before I get old..... !

***********************************************************

CARE FOR THE ELDERLY.



Iwan Rhys Roberts, of Help the Aged in Wales:
"There's a saying that we advocate at Help the Aged:
'Nothing decided about us, without us'.

"We've got a population of older people
who are more aware than ever of
how powerful a lobby they are.
And people are actually starting to stand up and say:
'If you want my vote, you are going to have to earn it."

He says older people are a political force
to be reckoned with, adding:
"Ignore them at your peril."

Help the Aged in Wales has launched its
"Agenda for Older People in Wales".

It says consultations with older people across Wales finds
* OPPOSING HOME CARE CHARGES
* PROMOTING INDEPENDENCE
* EQUALITY
are areas they want addressed.
Also important is to ensure that
the new commissioner for older people in Wales
is adequately resourced to promote and protect
the interests, dignity and rights of older people in Wales.




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SCARED OF OLD AGE?

From the moment we are born, we begin to age.
It would seem that we could have grown accustomed to this.
But no, from a certain age we stop even being happy about our birthdays.
Why are we afraid of growing old?

Although handsome grey hairs and expressive wrinkles lend a person
a certain trustworthiness, for some reason we do not want to exchange
our chestnut locks and velvety skin for them.
All right, that’s grey hairs, but what about a bald patch?
And the expanding waistline, flabbiness and hunched shoulders which go with all this…

Since changes do not catch us unawares, we could prepare for them in advance.
To begin with, it is worth remembering that a person does not just have
a chronological age, but also biological and psychological ones.
All we need to do is look in someone’s passport to find out the first one.
Biological age shows what state someone’s body is in,
and psychological age determines how old a person feels.
Since all these ages are interconnected, it is possible
to change how they relate to each other.
For example, a mature woman who feels twenty five inside will try to
look a corresponding age and keep herself in good shape.
Many items of research show that those people who put off life-changing events
“until later” usually feel and look much younger than their age.
However those who are in a hurry to live already feel old in their youth,
and people around them overestimate their age.
But it is dangerous to ignore our “passport age”:
if an elderly woman wears a bright-coloured bow and frivolous shorts,
she is not continuing her psychological youth but is setting off
down the path to senility. Our reflection in the mirror helps us to remember
that life does not stand still and we should adjust our plans accordingly.
For example, when a 40-year old man examines the bags under his eyes,
he will more quickly realize that it is time to settle down
and raise a son than a twenty-year old dandy.

Radiculitis, heart attack, stroke – just one of these names makes us uneasy -
and if you imagine that this diagnosis has been recorded onto your medical chart,
then tears of sorrow will stream into your half-drunk tea
with sugar and bread roll with butter and jam. Stop there.
What have you got with your bread roll?
Sugar is “white death”, butter is a source of increased cholesterol in the
blood and carbohydrates are a sure way of gaining weight.
Practically all illnesses connected with old age
lie in an incorrect way of life led by a person from their youth.
You can pick out former sportsmen and dancers from their posture and the way they walk.
The higher the level of a person’s usual physical activity,
the more beneficial habits will remain in old age.
Of course it is a shame to swap sweet tea and buns
for mineral water and spinach,
but getting used to keeping your health under control will
reduce the risk of problems arising in old age.
Many people identify old age with loneliness.
It is easy to avoid this problem:
Sincere relations with your children, and then your grandchildren,
will allow you to feel needed, and young again.
Chatting to childhood friends will help a woman
to feel like a girl again.
So nostalgia is an amazing means of psychological rejuvenation.
It is not surprising that many elderly people fall back on it.
On the other hand one should not lose touch with reality.
With age the amount of friends that someone has becomes less and less.
Some move away, you find that you have less and less in common with others,
and some just die.
Therefore people should not be afraid of expanding their circle of acquaintances.
For example, just one son-in-law, if you accept him as your own born son,
can bring not only his parents, but also a rich selection
of numerous relatives into your circle.

There is no need to hide from it –
when we talk about old age, we often mean imminent death.
As someone wittily put it, life is in effect
a terminal illness.
Psychologists maintain that it is only those people
who have achieved practically nothing in their lives
who experience a panicky fear of death.
If a person can look back with pride on their achievements
they can pass away a lot more peacefully.
Therefore we have to create as many of these achievements as possible,
while we have the strength and capabilities.
In conclusion, we can say, that since old age is inevitable;
we should just relax and enjoy it.

WITH AGE, COMES HAPPINESS.
A popular misconception among both young and old,
is that the happiest days of people's lives occur when they're young;
in spite of research having shown the opposite.
While old age was equated with unhappiness for other people,
individuals tend to think they'll be happier than most in their old age.
In other words older people seem to "mis-remember" how happy they were as youths,
just as youths "mis-predict" how happy (or unhappy) they will be as they age.
The research was performed by VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System and University of Michigan.
Research involved over 540 adults between the ages of 21 and 40, or over age 60.
Participants were asked to rate their happiness
at their current age, at age 30 and at age 70;
and also to judge how happy most people are at those ages.
The results are published in the June issue of
the Journal of Happiness Studies, a major research journal
in the field of positive psychology.
"Our stereotypes about aging being an unhappy time of life
are not correct... you have a lot of good times left in front of you,"
said lead author Dr. Heather Pond Lacey.
"We're probably better off expecting good things out of our futures."
Younger people predicted no decline in their own personal
happiness with time. Past research has shown, Lacey noted,
that people tend to see themselves as "above average".
"We often make judgments about ourselves that are more positive
than the judgments we make about other people," she explained.
Among older people who thought they had been happier
in their earlier life, their estimates of past happiness were higher than
current happiness self-reports for the younger group.
The older group also thought that they were
going to be less happy as they aged.
There are a number of theories about why people may get
happier as they get older, Lacey noted.
For one, people may focus less on achievement and more on
personal relationships and enjoying life,
and also get better at managing their own moods.
"People are remarkable in their ability to adapt to circumstances,
both good and bad, but they are perhaps equally remarkable
in their inability to recognize their own adaptation,"
Lacey and her team conclude.

Microwave cooking is one of the most important causes of ill health.
It is certainly one of the most ignored.

There was a lawsuit in 1991 in Oklahoma.
A woman named Norma Levitt had hip surgery,
but was killed by a simple blood transfusion
when a nurse "warmed the blood for the
transfusion in a microwave oven!"

Logic suggests that if heating is all there is
to microwave cooking, then it doesn't matter
how something is heated. Blood for transfusions
is routinely warmed, but not in microwave ovens.

There have been very few scientific studies done
on the effect of eating microwaved food.
This is rather surprising when you think about
the fact that microwaves have been with us for
only a few decades - and that in that time the
incidence of many diseases has continued to increase.

Two researchers, Blanc and Hertel, confirmed that
microwave cooking significantly changes food nutrients.
Hertel previously worked as a food scientist for
several years with one of the major Swiss food companies.
He was fired from his job for questioning procedures
in processing food because they denatured it.
He got together with Blanc of the Swiss Federal Institute
of Biochemistry and the University Institute for Biochemistry.

They studied the effect that microwaved food had on 8 individuals,
by taking blood samples immediately after eating.
They found that after eating microwaved food,
haemoglobin levels decreased.
"These results show anaemic tendencies.
The situation became even more pronounced
during the second month of the study".

Who knows what results they would have found if
they had studied people who ate microwaved food
for a year or more?

The violent change that microwaving causes to the
food molecules forms new life forms called radiolytic compounds.
These are mutations that are unknown in the natural world.
Ordinary cooking also causes the formation of
some radiolytic compounds (which is no doubt one
reason why it is better to eat plenty of raw food),
but microwaving cooking causes a much greater number.
This then causes deterioration in your blood and immune system.

In addition, they found that the number of leucocytes
increases after eating microwaved food -
something which haematologists take very seriously,
because this is often a sign of highly
harmful effects, such as poisoning.
Also, after eating microwaved food,
cholesterol levels increased. Hertel said
"Common scientific belief states that cholesterol
values usually alter slowly over longer periods of time.
In this study, the markers increased rapidly
after the consumption of the microwaved vegetables."
He believes his study tends to confirm new scientific data
that suggest cholesterol may rapidly increase in the blood
secondary to acute stress. "Also," he added,
"blood cholesterol levels are less influenced by
cholesterol content of food than by stress factors.
Such stress-causing factors can apparently consist of foods
which contain virtually no cholesterol - the microwaved vegetables."

Results were published in "Search for Health" in Spring 1992.
How was this research greeted?
A powerful trade organisation, the Swiss Association of
Dealers for Electroapparatuses for Households and Industry
made the President of the Court of Seftigen issue a "gag order".
Hertel and Blanc were told that if they published their findings
they would face hefty fines or up to one year in prison.
In response to this, Blanc recanted his findings.
Hertel went on a lecture tour and demanded a jury trial.

After World War II, the Russians also
experimented with microwave ovens.
From 1957, their research has been carried out mainly
at the Institute of Radio Technology at Klinsk, Byelorussia.
According to US researcher William Kopp, who
gathered much of the results of Russian and German research
- and was apparently prosecuted for doing so -
the following effects were observed by Russian forensic teams:

1. Heating prepared meats in a microwave
sufficiently for human consumption created
- d-Nitrosodiethanolamine (a well-known cancer-causing agent)
- Destabilization of active protein biomolecular compounds
- Creation of a binding effect to radioactivity in the atmosphere
- Creation of cancer-causing agents within
protein-hydrosylate compounds in milk and cereal grains;

2. Microwave emissions also caused alteration in the catabolic
(breakdown) behaviour of glucoside and galactoside
- elements within frozen fruits -
when thawed in this way;

3. Microwaves altered catabolic behavior of plant-alkaloids
when raw, cooked or frozen vegetables were exposed
for even very short periods;

4. Cancer-causing free radicals were formed
within certain trace-mineral molecular formations
in plant substances, especially in raw root vegetables;

5. Ingestion of micro-waved foods caused a
higher percentage of cancerous cells in blood;

6. Due to chemical alterations within food substances,
malfunctions occurred in the lymphatic system,
causing degeneration of the immune system's
capacity to protect itself against cancerous growth;

7. The unstable catabolism of micro-waved foods
altered their elemental food substances,
leading to disorders in the digestive system;

8. Those ingesting micro-waved foods showed a
statistically higher incidence of stomach and
intestinal cancers, plus a general degeneration
of peripheral cellular tissues with a gradual
breakdown of digestive and excretory system function;

9. Microwave exposure caused significant decreases
in the nutritional value of all foods studied.

As a result microwave ovens were banned in Russia in 1976;
the ban was lifted after Perestroika.

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Sore legs? - getting the hump?
Press this Pravda link below to view a sexy Hot-doll
for YOUR over-sexed pet dog!!!!

Is your dog humping legs?

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



DON'T WORRY - BE HAPPY !


U.S. research suggests that people with
optimistic, cheerful personalities
are far less likely to develop memory problems
that are early predictors of Alzheimer's disease
than people who are often stressed out or depressed.

Researchers say those who are most often anxious or depressed
are 40 times more likely to develop mild cognitive impairment,
a form of memory loss that is often a
transitional stage between normal aging and dementia.

"Not only are these individuals losing cognition,
but they are showing many of the changes in the brain
that are associated with Alzheimer's disease,"
says Robert Wilson of Rush University Medical Center in Chicago.

In prior studies, Wilson found people more susceptible
to distress are more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease
than their more carefree counterparts.

"We now see that chronic distress is related to
the first clinical manifestation of Alzheimer's disease," he says.

People with mild cognitive impairment
have some trouble remembering things,
but they do not have significant disability.
Not all develop Alzheimer's disease,
a much more serious impairment,
but about 10 to 15 percent do,
according to the Alzheimer's Society.

Wilson and colleagues analyzed data from two large studies
involving 1,256 older people who started the studies with no memory problems.

After up to 12 years of follow up,
482 people in the study developed mild cognitive impairment.
Participants were rated on how prone they were to worry and depression.




!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In our novel, "Come On Home", a pop concert is described
where sound is contained within the concert area
by the use of special frequency sound waves.

Now we know that this technology actually exists !!
It's called: HyperSonic Sound (HSS).

Essentially, HSS for the first time
does for sound what the laser did for light
— intensely focuses and channels it so it can
travel great distances without dispersing.

To the listener, the sound comes across as if it were through headphones.
Take two steps to the side, out of the sound beam,
and you hear nothing at all.
Step back in, and there it is again.

"I am certain that in time, HSS will be used everywhere,"
says Dionyssis Angelopoulos of Athens, Greece.
He read about HSS, came to San Diego to hear it
and went back to his Greek company to build it
into commercial sound systems.

What's this got to do with health?
.... I hear you ask.... or do I?
When the Branch Dravidian cult was under siege,
before police stormed the compound,
their leader complained of "voices in his head".

Security has always taken new technology for its own sneaky use.
If you start hearing voices, perhaps it's the police,
directing HSS waves to confuse you.
Too far-fetched? Maybe.
Paranoid?
Hopefully.

BEAUTIFUL PETS

It was probably in the Stone Age that animal therapy
was practiced for the first time by humans.
'Though people of that era had no notion that it was ‘animal therapy’
when they were stroking their tame dogs and cats.
Many of us are unaware that patting cats and dogs
brings us not only pleasure but is very good for our health.
Cats help relieve people from stress and fatigue.
The psychologist Boris Levinson used animal therapy
in the sixties,for treating children suffering from autism.
Yet, in the 18th century, doctors at the psychiatric hospital
York Retreat in England were keeping cats, dogs, rabbits
and birds especially for treating their patients.
The hospital’s head physician believed that taking care
of animals gave his patients lots of positive emotions.

Treatment with the help of a cat is the most popular.
It is curious, but everything in a cat’s behaviour
turns out to be healing for humans.
A cat’s purr at a frequency of 4-16 Hz
in some way improves people’s immunity.
Cats have the mysterious ability of
identifying people’s aching organs.
When a cat feels that her owner has something ailing
she settles down close to the person, purrs,
tramples him down and from time to time
slightly scratches him with her claws.
Good feline therapy helps relieve people from
stress, fatigue, sickness and headaches;
it brings down blood pressure, normalizes the pulse,
and also eases pains caused by rheumatism and stomach ulcers.
Those who advocate feline therapy insist that
different breeds of cats can treat various diseases.
Fluffy cats such as Persian cats are wonderful for those
who suffer from osteochondritis, neuralgia or insomnia.
People with diseased liver or kidneys,
and those who suffer from gastritis or colitis,
should have a smooth-haired cat.
Also, it is known that she-cats are good
treatment for neural ailments while tom-cats
better treat radiculitis, arthrosis and the like.

Dogs stand second to cats on the list of animal therapists.
People who walk their dogs several times a day
do not suffer from hypodynamia.
Also, a dog’s saliva contains lycozyme,
an anti-infective agent that helps wounds heal
within a very short period of time.
Big dogs have a high-activity alpha rhythm,
so patients with cardiac insufficiency can hold
their hands for at least half an hour a day
close to a dog’s heart to feel better.

Horse riding is the third most popular therapy
after feline and canine therapies.
Hippocrates said that sitting in a saddle
saves people from having gloomy thoughts.
Horse riding is a perfect treatment for rehabilitation
of patients having spinal traumas,
muscular dystrophy, paralytic legs and arthritis.
In England, horse riding therapy is even used
for the treatment of drug addicted patients.
Dolphins are good for psychological rehabilitation
after traffic accidents.
In Africa, elephants help people cure some diseases
and kangaroos act as therapists in Australia.

Unlike cats - which enjoy the process of treating their masters -
dogs experience the ailments of their masters too emotionally.
The breed of a dog also matters.....
People with grave psychological problems
need a quiet friendly dog such as a Labrador,
golden retriever or Shar pei.
The last is especially good for hot-tempered, unbalanced people
and those who have hyper tension and suffer from frequent headaches.
German and Central Asian sheep dogs help co-ordination of movement, after traumas.
These dogs are used to help patients with walking problems.
Families who want to keep a dog to treat
or amuse their children should consider breeds such as
collies, St Bernards, Newfoundlands, Mittelschnauzers,
Riesenschnauzers, boxers or Airedales.
Terriers can perform wonderfully the role of a babysitter.
A good-natured and lively spaniel can be
a good friend for an active baby.
The Chinese crested dog can relieve its master of
a wide range of diseases: asthma,
blood pressure problems and cardiac rates;
they also help treat allergies, and some skin diseases.
Some experts say that such dogs slow down the clinical course of cancer.

* * *



BI-LINGUALISM DELAYS DEMENTIA !


People who are fully bilingual
and speak both languages every day for most of their lives
can delay the onset of dementia by up to four years
compared with those who only know one language,
Canadian scientists say.

Researchers say the extra effort involved
in using more than one language appears
to boost blood supply to the brain and ensure
nerve connections remain healthy -
two factors thought to help fight off dementia.

"We are pretty dazzled by the results,"
Professor Ellen Bialystok of
Toronto's York University says in a statement.

"In the process of using ... two languages,
you are engaging parts of your brain,
parts of your mind that are active and need
that kind of constant exercise and activity,
and with that experience (it) stays more robust."


The leading cause of dementia among the elderly is Alzheimer's disease,
which gradually destroys a person's memory.
There is no known cure.

Bialystok's team focused on 184 elderly patients with signs of dementia
who attended a Toronto memory clinic between 2002 and 2005.
Of the group, 91 spoke only one language while 93 were bilingual.

"The researchers determined that the mean age of onset
of dementia symptoms in the monolingual group was 71.4 years,
while the bilingual group was 75.5 years," the statement says.

"This difference remained even after considering
the possible effect of cultural differences, immigration,
formal education, employment and even gender
as (influences) in the results," it adds.

Bialystok stresses that bilingualism helps delay the start of dementia
rather than preventing it altogether.

Psychologist Fergus Craik, another member of the team,
says the data shows that being fully bilingual has
"a huge protective effect" against the onset of dementia
but he adds that the study is still a preliminary finding.
The team plans more research into the beneficial side-effects of bilingualism.

The Alzheimer Society of Canada describes the report as exciting
and says it confirms recent studies which show that
keeping the brain active is a good way
to delay the impact of dementia.

"Anything that staves off the time when the risk factor
(for dementia) overcomes the defenses is wonderful news,"
says scientific director Jack Diamond.

The society estimates that in 2000
- the latest year for which data is available -
Canada spent C$5.5 billion ($4.7 billion)
taking care of people with Alzheimer's disease.

Heart patients can waltz their way to better health

Italian researchers have come up with a novel way
for cardiac rehabilitation patients to exercise their damaged hearts
without having to squeeze into spandex or gyrate in a gym:- waltzing.

The dance proves to be just as effective as bicycle
and treadmill training for improving exercise capacity
in a study of 110 heart failure patients.
Dancers also reported slightly more improvement
in sleep, mood, and the ability to do hobbies,
do housework and have sex than the others.

"This may be a more effective way of getting people to exercise,
and may be more fun than running on a treadmill,"
says Dr. Robert Bonow, cardiology chief at Northwestern University School of Medicine.
"Maybe we should try that here.
I'm not sure we can get Americans to waltz,
but they can certainly dance."

Exercise is crucial after people suffer heart problems,
but getting people to stick with it is tough.
As many as 70 percent drop out of traditional programs,
says Dr. Romualdo Belardinelli, director of cardiac rehabilitation
at Lancisi Heart Institute in Ancona, Italy.

"We have to find something that may
capture the patients' interest," he says.

The same researchers previously showed that waltzing
could help heart attack sufferers regain strength.
The new study involved 89 men and 11 women,
average age 59, with heart failure.
The condition occurs when weakened hearts
can no longer pump blood effectively,
making simple activities like climbing stairs
and taking the dog for a walk tough to do,
let alone enjoy.

Researchers assigned 44 patients to a supervised
exercise training program of cycling and treadmill work
three times a week for eight weeks.
Another group of 44 took dance classes in the hospital gym,
alternating between slow and fast waltzes for 21 minutes,
three times a week for eight weeks.
A third group of 22 patients had no exercise.

Heart rates were checked during both activities,
more extensive exercise tests were done
at the start and end of the study,
and artery imaging exams were performed.

Cardiopulmonary fitness increased at similar rates
among those who danced or exercised
and did not change in those who did neither, reports AP.

Oxygen uptake increased 16 percent among exercisers
and 18 percent among dancers.
The anaerobic threshold (the point where muscles fatigue)
rose 20 percent among exercisers and 21 percent among dancers.
Other measures, including a
general index of fitness, were comparable.

Imaging showed that dancers' arteries were more able to
dilate and expand in response to exercise than non-exercisers.

Part of the benefit may be that dancers had a partner
and social companion rather than cycling or walking
on a treadmill alone, doctors say.

"This type of program is more effective," Belardinelli says, "because it is fun."