In a study of more than 125,000 people, one cup of coffee per day cut the risk of alcoholic cirrhosis by 20 percent. Four cups per day reduced the risk by 80 percent. The coffee effect held true for women and men of various ethnic backgrounds.
It is unclear whether it is the caffeine or some other ingredient in coffee that provides the protection, said study co-author Dr. Arthur Klatsky of the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research in Oakland, Calif.
Of course, there is a better way to avoid alcoholic cirrhosis of the liver, Klatsky said.
“The way to avoid getting ill is not to drink a lot of coffee, but to cut down on the drinking” of alcohol, he said.
From the department of snarkology at Bottoms Up U:
In an amazing display of accelerated evolution, scientists reported today that in the space of under 1000 years, humans evolved the trait of college students drinking both massive quantities of coffee and alcohol.
A sociologist explained the evolution of the behavior like this:
A college education frequently leads to a better paying job, and thus enhanced reproductive success.
Failure to drink alcohol leads to less reproduction. But too much alcohol leads to liver disease, which can also hurt reproduction rates.
By biochemical accident, coffee provides 80% protection from liver disease when massive amounts of alcohol are consumed.
For those who drink alcohol, failure to also drink coffee leads to both liver disease and flunking out, both of which hurt reproductive success.
Through straightforward “survival of the fittest,” only those who drink both alcohol and coffee survive college and achieve optimum reproduction.
It remains to be determined in a future study whether liver disease is the immediate cause of flunking out, or a correlated effect.
We repeat: This is only snark. Do not self medicate alone – medicate in the presence of classmates and friends!
For real medical science news, however, see my entry below.
Subscribers on a Verizon family calling plan can sign up for a $10-a-month service called “Chaperone” that allows them to use a computer or a cell phone to determine the location of their child’s phone. For an additional $10, the subscribers can also use a service called “Chaperone With Child Zone,” which will send text messages alerting the parent when the child arrives or departs from a specific area, such as a school or day-care center.
Verizon is the latest to craft this new service utilizing Global Positioning System chips and other location technologies included in cell phones…
…Jeff Kagan, a telecommunications industry analyst, said that these services were likely to become more common options for cell phone subscribers.
“Today’s technology can be very helpful in keeping tabs on everyone,” Kagan said in a statement.
Yep. Nothing like giving away your child’s civil liberties before he’s had a chance to assert them, is there? And how do you think the NSA will feel about this handy little feature?
didn’t do a whole lot for people’s opinions of Bush and his war: NYT/CBS News Poll
The death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi has done little to improve views of how things are going for the U.S. in Iraq or boost President Bush’s approval ratings, a CBS News poll finds…
…Fifty-five percent of Americans still say the war in Iraq is going badly for the United States, while an overwhelming majority, 82 percent, describe the situation in Iraq as a civil war between Iraqis…
…Zarqawi’s killing hasn’t helped President Bush with the public, either. His overall job approval rating remains just 33 percent — down slightly from 35 percent last month — while 60 percent disapprove.
Well, there really are only so many times you can kill someone before the public gets tired of hearing about it, don’t you think?
Eating a diet consisting largely of fast food could cause your waistline to bulge more than eating the same amount of fat from healthier sources. Monkeys fed a diet rich in trans-fats – commonly found in fast foods – grew bigger bellies than those fed a diet rich in unsaturated fats, but containing the same overall number of calories. They also developed signs of insulin resistance, which is an early indicator of diabetes. Trans-fats, or partially hydrogenated oils, are found in many fast foods and also in baked goods and processed snacks. They dramatically increase the risk of heart disease – even more than saturated fats found in animal products.
Researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute report that a common “oncogene engine” – a small family of malfunctioning cell growth switches – drives several seemingly unrelated, lethal forms of cancer, including malignant melanoma. The finding suggests that it may be possible to attack these different cancers with the same therapy.
And from the Department of Health and Human Services, via the NY Times: Warning: Public health officials have determined that not breast-feeding may be hazardous to your baby’s health. While the public education campaign may be controversial, public health leaders say the weight of the scientific evidence for breast-feeding has grown so overwhelming that it is appropriate to recast their message to make clear that it is risky not to breast-feed.
Have you ever read Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser (I think that’s the author)? It was an excellent book, very well researched. And it made you never want to go near fast food again, because the industry’s negative effects go so far beyone health and diet.
Haven’t read that one, but I saw that documentary where that guy only ate fast food for a month (called something like “Supersize Me”?) and had the fear put into me for a good long time.
I wholeheartedly recommend reading the book…it goes into detail about the food manufacturing industry. The conditions under which the food is raised, the hazards of working in a meat processing plant, the flavoring industry, etc.
1,502 individuals may have been impacted by a breach in the computer system at the NNSA’s [National Nuclear Security Administration] service operations at Albuquerque, N.M.
The computer theft occurred eight months ago but didn’t become public until Friday during a congressional hearing in Washington, creating a furor among some congressmen and a controversy within the U.S. Department of Energy.
Did I miss this earlier, or did it sneak under the radar?
How widespread is the security problem with social security numbers?
Well, it’s huge. Not really because there are so many breaches of security (I don’t know how many there are) but because a Social Security number is a de facto national ID number. If someone gets their hands on your social security number, they can use it for all kinds of mischief. It’s kind of a single point of failure in the chain of privacy.
It wasn’t intended to be that way, but that’s the way it’s turned out.
A side benefit of our secure vacation bunker is free newspapers — the local morning daily, The Wall Street Journal, and USA Today. This from the latter:
MSNBC, the also-ran in cable news after 11 years, has tapped its on-air legal-affairs anchor, Dan Abrams, to run the network that averages just 242,000 viewers a day — less than many big-city newscasts.
The move was a surprise: Abrams has little management experience, and TV news anchors rarely join executive ranks.
It comes a week after Rick Kaplan, who used to run CNN, abruptly left the helm at MSNBC after 2½ years. The joint venture between NBC and Microsoft has long placed a distant third behind top-rated Fox News and CNN, which draw nearly four times and twice MSNBC’s viewership respectively.
[…snip…]
Abrams says his immediate aim is to build on the success of two of MSNBC’s highest-rated shows, Chris Matthews’ Hardball and Keith Olbermann’s Countdown, “and use some of the irreverence, some of the excitement that comes from those shows and have that reflected throughout the network.”
Abrams says he can’t detail how that will manifest itself, but during daytime parts he hopes “to make it not as much of a pure newscast. We want to make it more vibrant.”
More talk?
Not necessarily, he says. “But there is a way to do breaking news in a more exciting way.”
Griffin says Hardball and Countdown work because “they know exactly what they are, they have a great sensibility, and they’re different. We’ve talked about translating that success across the board.”
Translation — looks like Keith Olbermann has a job as long as he wants it…unfortunately, so does Tweety but we’ve got to take the bad with the good.
According to the article, NBC President Steve Capus was impressed with some of the suggestions for improving programming that Abrams e-mailed over the past several months, which is why Abrams got the gig…hmmm, maybe I should email Abrams with my idea of hiring Aaron Brown and giving him a Larry King-style interview program, but limiting celebrity interviews to slow-news Fridays…
I completely forgot to mention this when I read it recently. He’s going to be teaching at Az State (blech)
Former CNN Anchor Aaron Brown will join ASU’s faculty in the spring semester as the John J. Rhodes Chair in Public Policy and American Institutions at Barrett Honors College.
[snip]
“We are delighted to have Aaron Brown accept our offer to come to ASU and interact with our faculty and students as the Rhodes Chair,” says Mark Jacobs, dean of the Barrett Honors College. “Print and broadcast media serve as an American institution that could not be more important to a democratic society, and we are privileged to have such a renowned and respected journalist on our campus for a semester.” – linkage
Here’s a link to a really swell video put up on the net that has pissed off more than a few people. It’s called Hadji Girl, sang by a really nice Marine for a bunch of other really nice Marines!
an antidote for alcoholic cirrhosis? AOL News/AP
Just thought you’d like to know.
From the department of snarkology at Bottoms Up U:
In an amazing display of accelerated evolution, scientists reported today that in the space of under 1000 years, humans evolved the trait of college students drinking both massive quantities of coffee and alcohol.
A sociologist explained the evolution of the behavior like this:
It remains to be determined in a future study whether liver disease is the immediate cause of flunking out, or a correlated effect.
We repeat: This is only snark. Do not self medicate alone – medicate in the presence of classmates and friends!
For real medical science news, however, see my entry below.
Now I know that I can drink a fifth a day and my liver will be safe.
wants you to track your children with GPS: Kansas City Star
Yep. Nothing like giving away your child’s civil liberties before he’s had a chance to assert them, is there? And how do you think the NSA will feel about this handy little feature?
didn’t do a whole lot for people’s opinions of Bush and his war: NYT/CBS News Poll
Well, there really are only so many times you can kill someone before the public gets tired of hearing about it, don’t you think?
A DNA vaccine has successfully reduced the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease in mice. The result could signal the first preventative and restorative treatment vaccine for Alzheimer’s without serious side effects. In other related good news, Canadian studies show that some types of a sugar called cyclohexanehexol — also known as inositol — prevented the accumulation of amyloid beta deposits, a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease. The treatment also improved cognitive abilities in the mice and allowed them to live a normal lifetime.
Up to 20% of people diagnosed with epilepsy in the US could have been misdiagnosed and may actually suffer from “pseudoseizures” – which have an underlying psychological cause. A new set of studies suggests that checking a patient’s eyes during a seizure may provide a means of distinguishing between the two conditions.
Eating a diet consisting largely of fast food could cause your waistline to bulge more than eating the same amount of fat from healthier sources. Monkeys fed a diet rich in trans-fats – commonly found in fast foods – grew bigger bellies than those fed a diet rich in unsaturated fats, but containing the same overall number of calories. They also developed signs of insulin resistance, which is an early indicator of diabetes. Trans-fats, or partially hydrogenated oils, are found in many fast foods and also in baked goods and processed snacks. They dramatically increase the risk of heart disease – even more than saturated fats found in animal products.
Ozone pollution doesn’t just choke our cities as smog, it might also be bad for your heart. Ozone reacts with cholesterol and produces substances called atheronals. These are found in the fatty “plaques” that cause diseased arteries to narrow, and now it is believed they have a role in plaque formation and lead to artery narrowing.
Folic acid supplements could help reduce the size of precancerous lesions in the larynx, or even protect against them, researchers claim. Smokers are particularly prone to these lesions and might benefit from taking folic acid as a preventative measure
Researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute report that a common “oncogene engine” – a small family of malfunctioning cell growth switches – drives several seemingly unrelated, lethal forms of cancer, including malignant melanoma. The finding suggests that it may be possible to attack these different cancers with the same therapy.
And from the Department of Health and Human Services, via the NY Times: Warning: Public health officials have determined that not breast-feeding may be hazardous to your baby’s health. While the public education campaign may be controversial, public health leaders say the weight of the scientific evidence for breast-feeding has grown so overwhelming that it is appropriate to recast their message to make clear that it is risky not to breast-feed.
Nice roundup, Knox.
Have you ever read Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser (I think that’s the author)? It was an excellent book, very well researched. And it made you never want to go near fast food again, because the industry’s negative effects go so far beyone health and diet.
Haven’t read that one, but I saw that documentary where that guy only ate fast food for a month (called something like “Supersize Me”?) and had the fear put into me for a good long time.
I wholeheartedly recommend reading the book…it goes into detail about the food manufacturing industry. The conditions under which the food is raised, the hazards of working in a meat processing plant, the flavoring industry, etc.
From today’s Knoxville News-Sentinel:
Did I miss this earlier, or did it sneak under the radar?
How widespread is the security problem with social security numbers?
It’s probably a lot more widespread than anyone wants us to find out, and I hadn’t heard about that particular breach in privacy yet.
Are you and I the only ones here in the bucket today? 🙂
Well, it’s huge. Not really because there are so many breaches of security (I don’t know how many there are) but because a Social Security number is a de facto national ID number. If someone gets their hands on your social security number, they can use it for all kinds of mischief. It’s kind of a single point of failure in the chain of privacy.
It wasn’t intended to be that way, but that’s the way it’s turned out.
A side benefit of our secure vacation bunker is free newspapers — the local morning daily, The Wall Street Journal, and USA Today. This from the latter:
Dan Abrams goes from legal anchor to head of MSNBC
MSNBC, the also-ran in cable news after 11 years, has tapped its on-air legal-affairs anchor, Dan Abrams, to run the network that averages just 242,000 viewers a day — less than many big-city newscasts.
The move was a surprise: Abrams has little management experience, and TV news anchors rarely join executive ranks.
It comes a week after Rick Kaplan, who used to run CNN, abruptly left the helm at MSNBC after 2½ years. The joint venture between NBC and Microsoft has long placed a distant third behind top-rated Fox News and CNN, which draw nearly four times and twice MSNBC’s viewership respectively.
[…snip…]
Abrams says his immediate aim is to build on the success of two of MSNBC’s highest-rated shows, Chris Matthews’ Hardball and Keith Olbermann’s Countdown, “and use some of the irreverence, some of the excitement that comes from those shows and have that reflected throughout the network.”
Abrams says he can’t detail how that will manifest itself, but during daytime parts he hopes “to make it not as much of a pure newscast. We want to make it more vibrant.”
More talk?
Not necessarily, he says. “But there is a way to do breaking news in a more exciting way.”
Griffin says Hardball and Countdown work because “they know exactly what they are, they have a great sensibility, and they’re different. We’ve talked about translating that success across the board.”
Translation — looks like Keith Olbermann has a job as long as he wants it…unfortunately, so does Tweety but we’ve got to take the bad with the good.
According to the article, NBC President Steve Capus was impressed with some of the suggestions for improving programming that Abrams e-mailed over the past several months, which is why Abrams got the gig…hmmm, maybe I should email Abrams with my idea of hiring Aaron Brown and giving him a Larry King-style interview program, but limiting celebrity interviews to slow-news Fridays…
I completely forgot to mention this when I read it recently. He’s going to be teaching at Az State (blech)
Here’s a link to a really swell video put up on the net that has pissed off more than a few people. It’s called Hadji Girl, sang by a really nice Marine for a bunch of other really nice Marines!
David Corn has a pretty good take on the Fitz/Rove/Plame situation on Common Dreams.