new ID system
Iris recognition service brought in to help find missing Alzheimer's patients
Under a new program in place in 21 states and getting its start in Maine in Penobscot County, a digital camera would take a picture of the unidentified person and compare it to a local or national database.
[PHOTO]Susan Carpenter (center), development officer with the Massachusetts-based B12 Technologies, explains the iris recognition biometric technology...Paid for through a $25,000 grant from the Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation...

Melatonin and Sleep Disturbances:
"....'We found melatonin to be a very good treatment for these patients. In Israel, [melatonin] is a pharmaceutical substance that needs a physician's prescription and is prepared in pharmacies. The usual dosage...is 5 mg taken daily at a fixed time [usually 10 p.m. to 11 p.m.]. Melatonin treatment is well established in our treatment protocol,' he said. 'It has to be emphasized, however, that this treatment is only effective for biological rhythm disorders [sleep/wake schedule disturbances and jet lag], but it is not a miracle sleeping pill for psychophysiological insomnia.' Dagan added that he has not confronted any major side effect....."

"MESSAGE TO OLDER ADULTS: EMBRACE, DON'T FEAR THE EFFECTS OF SENSIBLE EXERCISE
- Stress from exercise does not threaten the heart, study shows - Johns Hopkins Medicine Press Releaase
"A Johns Hopkins study should ease the concerns held by many older adults with mild high blood pressure about the strain or harm exercise could cause their hearts. Results of the research on 104 men and women age 55 to 75 showed that a moderate program of physical exertion had no ill effects on the heart's ability to pump blood nor does it produce a harmful increase in heart size.

In this study, "moderate" translated to sustained exercise for about an hour, three times a week. Researchers say that people's concerns stem from the fact that during each workout, blood pressure can on average rise from 40 millimeters to 60 millimeters of mercury. The Johns Hopkins study is believed to be the first to evaluate the effects of exercise on the heart's ability to function, to pump and to fill up with blood.

"While having high blood pressure at rest is a well-established risk factor for heart problems, older people should not fear the effects of moderate exercise on the heart, despite short-term bump-ups in blood pressure during their workout," says lead study investigator and exercise physiologist Kerry Stewart, Ed.D., a professor of medicine and director of clinical and research exercise physiology at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and its Heart Institute. "Exercise is a highly effective means of increasing the heart's efficiency and reducing body fat, factors that may ward off future health problems, such as heart disease and diabetes."

A report on the Johns Hopkins study, published in the July issue of the journal Heart, showed that after six months of aerobic exercise on a treadmill, bicycle or stepper, plus weightlifting, participants showed no overall ill effects in 11 measures of diastolic heart function, when the organ's main chamber fills with blood between beats. They also found that exercise produced no increase in eight measures of heart size, including left ventricular mass and wall thickness. In contrast, a long-term effect of hypertension, even when the body is relaxed, is hypertrophy, an enlargement of the heart that eventually stiffens and weakens the muscle.

Not only were there no ill effects sustained, despite periodic increases in blood pressure during the workout, Stewart and his team reported, but results also suggest that the exercise producing these effects benefited the hearts of those who made the most gains in physical fitness and for those who lost the most abdominal fat....

And, researchers say, unlike the increased heart size that results from high blood pressure, any increase in heart size observed in the active group was similar to what athletes experience when their hearts get bigger and stronger, not stiff.

A study published last year by the Johns Hopkins scientists showed that exercise reduced by more than 20 percent the number of people who develop metabolic syndrome, a clustering of three or more risk factors for developing heart disease, diabetes and stroke. Risk factors include high blood pressure, elevated blood glucose levels, excess abdominal fat and abnormal cholesterol....

"Making gains in body fitness and losing abdominal fat are truly important to the long-term health of the heart," says study co-author and cardiologist Edward Shapiro, M.D., a professor at Johns Hopkins. "Our results confirm that moderate-intensity exercise can have many health benefits - including gains in heart function that are linked to increased fitness and reduced fatness.

"Our study also shows that the vast majority of older people with mildly elevated blood pressure can benefit from moderate exercise, and they should talk about it with their physician to determine an appropriate exercise and any other options for treatment...."

Harvard News Release

For older women, there’s not much leeway between healthful and harmful drinking

BOSTON, MA —Various studies suggest that moderate drinking helps prevent cardiovascular disease and lowers the risk for dementia. What hasn’t made the headlines are the downsides of alcohol for women. The July issue of Harvard Women’s Health Watch reports on the risks of alcohol, and why women, especially older women, are particularly vulnerable to them.

There is solid evidence for benefits from moderate drinking. For example, studies have shown that one drink per day, compared with no drinking at all, can reduce a woman’s risk for heart disease and stroke by as much as 50%. Other research suggests that older women who drink moderately have better cognitive skills.

But there are also risks. Even as little as one-half drink per day increases the risk for breast cancer, possibly because alcohol raises estrogen blood levels, which can promote the growth of breast tumors. Women are also quicker than men to become dependent on alcohol and to suffer the consequences, including damage to the brain and other organs, psychiatric problems, and accidents. One in 13 adults in the United States has a serious alcohol problem, and at least six million of them are women.

Women are more sensitive to alcohol than men are because their bodies contain less water and more fatty tissue. Water dilutes alcohol in the bloodstream; fat retains it. So women’s brains and other organs are exposed to higher concentrations of alcohol for longer periods of time. The risk increases with age.

Given the benefits and risks of alcohol, the Harvard Women’s Health Watch suggests that women 65 and over should be especially careful to limit themselves to one drink per day—or less.

Harvard News Release

For older women, there’s not much leeway between healthful and harmful drinking

BOSTON, MA —Various studies suggest that moderate drinking helps prevent cardiovascular disease and lowers the risk for dementia. What hasn’t made the headlines are the downsides of alcohol for women. The July issue of Harvard Women’s Health Watch reports on the risks of alcohol, and why women, especially older women, are particularly vulnerable to them.

There is solid evidence for benefits from moderate drinking. For example, studies have shown that one drink per day, compared with no drinking at all, can reduce a woman’s risk for heart disease and stroke by as much as 50%. Other research suggests that older women who drink moderately have better cognitive skills.

But there are also risks. Even as little as one-half drink per day increases the risk for breast cancer, possibly because alcohol raises estrogen blood levels, which can promote the growth of breast tumors. Women are also quicker than men to become dependent on alcohol and to suffer the consequences, including damage to the brain and other organs, psychiatric problems, and accidents. One in 13 adults in the United States has a serious alcohol problem, and at least six million of them are women.

Women are more sensitive to alcohol than men are because their bodies contain less water and more fatty tissue. Water dilutes alcohol in the bloodstream; fat retains it. So women’s brains and other organs are exposed to higher concentrations of alcohol for longer periods of time. The risk increases with age.

Given the benefits and risks of alcohol, the Harvard Women’s Health Watch suggests that women 65 and over should be especially careful to limit themselves to one drink per day—or less.

Risk Factors Total a Score to Predict Dementia Risk :
"There's a simple way, to calculate a middle-age patient's eventual dementia risk, on a scale of one to 15, according to Swedish investigators.The risk score highlights the role of vascular factors in the development of dementia 20 years hence, said Tiia Ngandu, Ph.D., of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm.

'It may help to identify individuals who can benefit from lifestyle changes and drug therapies,' she said in a poster presented at the International Conference on Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders here...."

"

Alzheimer study explains death of brain cells:
"Researchers at Children's Hospital & Research Center at Oakland (CHRCO) have published a new study that is the first to explain how brain cells die in patients with Alzheimer Disease. This discovery is an important first step to helping researchers devise ways to slow, prevent and eventually cure a disease that affects an estimated 4.5 million Americans. In a study published in a recent issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, lead scientist Hani Atamna, PhD, found that alterations in the production of heme (a molecule that contains iron) may be the key to understanding why excessive amyloid-beta is toxic to brain cells. Dr. Atamna had previously discovered that Alzheimes patients have abnormal amounts of heme in their brains. In new research results, Atamna's team showed that amyloid-beta readily binds with heme to form a compound that can be flushed from cells. When there is insufficient heme or too much amyloid-beta, however, the amyloid-beta forms large toxic 'clumps' that the cell cannot dissolve and eliminate......"

Women and Cardiovascular Disease: Brigham and Women's Hospital - Harvard Medical
How does cardiovascular disease affect women?
Long considered a man's problem, heart disease now affects more females than males. Heart disease is responsible for 52 percent of all deaths in American women, claiming 250,000 female lives every year – more than all forms of cancer. Fortunately, much is known today about preventing and monitoring heart disease through lifestyle changes, which makes it possible to control many of your risk factors. Learn more.

Alzheimer's patch shows promise:
"Alzheimer's patients may soon get the first skin patch to treat the creeping brain degeneration, a novel way to deliver an older drug so it's easier to take and might even work a little better.The patch, which infuses the drug Exelon through patients' skin, headlines a trio of innovative potential treatments unveiled Wednesday at an Alzheimer's meeting in Spain. Also under study are a prostate cancer drug that may help dementia, too, and an immune therapy to ward off the gunk that is Alzheimer's brain-clogging hallmark......"