Secrets of Longevity: Blue Zones Quest
February 14, 2008
Dan Buettner refers to them as Blue Zones — geographical locations people reside that appear to give them an advantage when it comes to living longer, active, healthier lives. Buettner has been traveling the globe in search of these locations in order to learn the secrets of longevity from the residents who live there. In his quest thus far, the writer and avid adventurer has traveled to Costa Rica, Sardinia,Okinawa and Loma Linda, California.
In profiling the residents, Buettner states he has discovered both unique and common characteristics of people who not only live much longer than most of us, but are defying the stereotype of what it means to age. They are healthy and active well into their 80s, 90s, and beyond.
What are the secrets to longevity? Buettner shares his observations at Blue Zones:
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Living to 100: More than luck and genes
February 13, 2008
Living to 100 is not so much a matter of luck, or genetics, or lack of chronic illness, as it is lifestyle. Indeed, nearly one-third of the centenarians interviewed in a study conducted by Boston University researchers had been diagnosed with high blood pressure, heart disease or diabetes years earlier. For those who suffer chronic illness, doctors who did not take an ageist attitude that treating older patients does not offer much benefit, had patients who went on to live to 100 years of age.
While a certain amount of luck and good genetics factor into the longevity equation, healthy lifestyle habits make quite a difference in living to 100. Those who do not smoke, managed a healthy weight, and stayed physically active have greater odds of remaining agile in mind and body to 100 and beyond. According to the researchers, survival decreased with each risk factor.
In the US, there are more than 55,000 centenarians. Americans who are 85 and older are this country’s fastest growing group of older adults.
Wonder how long you might live? Based on medical research and scientific data, The Living to 100 Life Expectancy Calculator asks 40 questions related to your health and family to estimate how long you can expect to live at www.livingto100.com.
Forever stamp saves on postal rate hikes
February 12, 2008
On May 12, the US Postal Service will raise the price of a first class stamp from 41 cents to 42 cents. This is not the first postage rate price increase, and it certainly will not be the last. If keeping up with periodic price increases is frustrating and inconvenient, the US Postal Service offers the Forever stamp at 41 cents with a guarantee that regardless of future price hikes, the Forever stamp will be accepted for mailing first class letters forever into the future.
"Who said nothing lasts forever?" stated Postmaster General and Chief Executive Officer John E. Potter. "The Forever stamp is a consumer innovation guaranteed to deliver unprecedented convenience and value to our customers. It’s good forever." Forever stamps were introduced last year, and the US Postal Service estimates over five billion stamps have been sold. The US Postal Service expects to sell just as many right before the new price increase for a first class stamp on May 12.
Forever stamps can be purchased online at the USPS website, by by calling 1-800-STAMP-24 or visiting your local Post Office. In addition, Forever stamps will be available through Automated Teller Machines (ATMs), as well as grocery stores and convenience stores.
Dogs Rule: Pedigree Adoption Drive homeless dogs loving homes
February 12, 2008
The Pedigree Adoption Drive at Dogs Rule is a campaign to help over four million homeless shelter dogs find loving homes and to support over 100 breed rescue organizations nationwide. Only half of homeless dogs in shelters and breed rescue organizations find a home. If you cannot adopt a dog, there are other ways to help the Pedigree Adoption Drive at Dogs Rule campaign.
Volunteer at a shelter. Find volunteer opportunities in your area at the Pedigree Adoption Drive Find a Volunteer Opportunity webpage. Simply type in your zipcode and a list of available volunteer opportunities are listed.
Donate to the Pedigree Adoption Drive at Dogs Rule. Donate online. Your donation is tax deductible. Last year, the foundation raised over $1 million dollars. Donate Pedigree Food for Dogs at your local shelter and Pedigree will match your donation.
Join the Million Dollar Mosaic. Visit the Million Dog Mosaic and upload photo of your dog. For each photo uploaded, $1 dollar will be donated to the Pedigree Adoption Drive.
The Pedigree Adoption Drive DogsRule has produced great commercials to promote the campaign for homeless dogs. In this one, Echo gets passed up at the shelter.
During an episode of Celebrity Apprentice, two teams of celebrities competed to create a winning commercial for the Pedigree Adoption Drive DogsRule campaign. With Gene Simmons leading the Hydra team, the winning ad featuring Lennox Lewis with Trace Adkins narration is airing during the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.
Health insurance company asks doctors to rat out patients
February 12, 2008
Of all the reasons to vote for universal health care, this one makes the very short list. The Wall Street Journal is reporting Blue Cross of California is looking for loopholes when they sent out a letter to doctors asking doctors to report medical conditions the patient may have failed to report when applying for health insurance. Health insurance companies are allowed to cancel policies for people who do not list all medical conditions when applying for health insurance coverage.
Blue Cross insists the method of sending a doctor the patient’s application for coverage so the doctor can add any medical conditions the patient may have left off the health coverage application is necessary to keeping health insurance costs down.
Thank goodness, doctors are not joining this Sherlockian activity where patient trust would surely be broken. According to California Medical Association president Richard Frankenstein, “We’re outraged that they are asking doctors to violate the sacred trust of patients to rat them out for medical information that patients would expect their doctors to handle with the utmost secrecy and confidentiality.”
Lenny Kravitz: In hospital with flu complications
February 12, 2008
Grammy award winning American singer, songwriter, record producer and arranger Lenny Kravitz has been hospitalized due to complications from bronchitis. Kravitz came down with the flu in January and has been suffering from severe respiratory tract infections. The European tour to promote the new album It Is A Time For Revolution has been postponed.
Lenny Kravitz spokesperson issued the following statement, "Due to extreme dehydration and fatigue, doctors were unable to control it with outpatient treatment and advised the singer to check into the hospital. He was taken this morning to the emergency room at Mount Sinai Hospital in Miami for immediate treatment."
Kravitz retro hippie reggae funk rock style of music are in part a result of the early musical influences of Count Basie, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Bobby Short, Sarah Vaughan, and the rock music of Aerosmith, Jimi Hendrix, Kiss, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Cream, and The Who. To date, Kravitz has released nine albums: Let Love Rule, Mama Said, Are You Going My Way, Circus, 5, Greatest Hits, Lenny, Baptism and It is Time for a Love Revolution.
Uno the Beagle: Snoopy would be proud
February 11, 2008
2.12.2008 Update: Uno wins Best in Show! In 100 Best in Show awards given at the Westminster Kennel Dog Show, Uno is the first beagle to ever win Best in Show. The spectators erupted in cheers and gave the decision a standing ovation.
Congratulations Uno! the all American dog.
An early crowd favorite, the playful beagle Uno won Best of Breed on the first day of the 2008 Westminster Kennel Dog Show. Uno is no stranger to winning. The two-year-old beagle, whose official name is K-Run’s Park Me in First, has won 32 best in show titles and currently ranks sixth in the country for show dogs.
Dog show buzz has it Uno might take the top prize on Tuesday night as Best in Show. No beagle has ever won Westminster’s top award, and it has been 69 years since a beagle has won Best of Breed in the Hound group.
When Uno won Best of Breed, handler Aaron Wilkerson remarked, "Snoopy would be proud."
Why hasn’t a beagle ever won Best in Show at America’s number one dog show?
"Great show dogs often have an air about them. It’s like this is their world and we’re just living in it," explained Westminster TV host David Frei. "But beagles want to be in our world."
Then Frei added, "What better choice could there be to win America’s dog show than an all-American dog. A beagle winning would bring down the house."
Uno traveled to the Westminster Kennel Dog Show with his stuffed frog toy and a pillow with a star. Perhaps Uno will leave with the top trophy of trophies in the dog show world.
The Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show
February 11, 2008
Beginning Monday, February 11th, the 132nd Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show opens at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Four new breeds: the Plott (Hound Group), the Tibetan Mastiff (Working), the Swedish Vallhund (Herding) and the Beauceron (Herding) will join 2,500 purebreed dogs in the annual judging competition. All Hound, Terrier, Non-Sporting and Herding breeds and varieties will be judged on Monday, with Groups judged on Monday evening. All Sporting, Working, and Toy breeds and varieties will be judged on Tuesday, with Groups judged on Tuesday evening. Best In Show will also be judged on Tuesday evening. Junior Showmanship preliminaries will be judged each afternoon, with the finals to be held at 7:30PM on Tuesday evening. In total, 169 breeds and varieties will be judged in seven different groups.
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Diet soda weight gain
February 11, 2008
Don’t mess with the real thing. Have you been drinking artificially sweetened diet soda on the assumption that it will help you lose weight? It might be time to reconsider that notion. Diet soda causes weight gain, according to researchers. A recent study where rats were fed yogurt sweetened with a simple sugar similar to table sugar gained less weight and body fat than rats fed yogurt sweetened with zero calorie saccharin.
Purdue University’s Ingestive Behavior Research Center researchers explained, "Breaking the connection between a sweet sensation and high-calorie food, the use of saccharin changes the body’s ability to regulate intake. That change depends on experience. Problems with self-regulation might explain in part why obesity has risen in parallel with the use of artificial sweeteners."
Saccharin appears to trick the body in not registering artificially sweetened drinks and foods as sugar. As a result of this thwarted response, people tend to have more trouble controlling the amount of food they eat and maintaining a desired body weight. Sweetened foods provide a stimulus, and digestive reflexes gear up for that intake, however, when artificial sweetened drinks and foods are not followed by many calories, the body gets confused. Therefore, people can eat more or expend less energy than they might if they were consuming naturally sweetened drinks and foods.
Researchers admit that this news will not be welcomed by human clinical researchers and healthcare practitioners, who often recommend low or no calorie sweeteners as a means of controlling weight gain.
Delta Burke: Designing Women star in Psychiatric Ward
February 6, 2008
Best known for her role as Suzanne Sugarbaker in the television series Designing Women, tv, stage and film actress Delta Burke checked into a psychiatric hospital because her medications were not working in the treatment for severe depression, obsessive compulsive disorder and an excessive hoarding disorder.
According to a taped conversation with Burke published on the TMZ blog, Ms Burke shared they suspect she has not been properly diagnosed. Of her mental suffering, Burke spoke most about wanting to get her hoarding issue under control.
She explained, "Okay — have you seen those shows where they don’t find the body for days and they go in to clean up and it’s stacks of newspapers up to the ceiling? That’s hoarding and I hate it."
Ms Burke was voted Most Likely to Succeed in high school. She went on to win Miss Florida. Of the Designing Women cast members, Ms Burke received two Emmy nominations for Best Actress as Suzanne Sugarbaker. She has a recurring role on Boston Legal as Bella Horowitz, a former love interest of William Shatner’s character Denny Crane. Currently, it is reported she is reprising her role as Noleta in the upcoming 2008 Del Shores’ TV series Sordid Lives: The Series.
Delta Burke has been married to actor Gerald McRaney for nearly twenty years. We wish Ms Burke and her family all the best.