MINNEAPOLIS — John Steigauf spent more than a decade fiddling with the innards of those huge United Parcel Service trucks until an icy day two years ago when the company put him on leave from his mechanic’s job. A supervisor escorted him off the premises. His work was good. He hadn’t socked the boss or embezzled money. It had to do with what was inside him: diabetes. U.P.S. framed it as a safety issue: Mr. Steigauf’s blood sugar might suddenly plummet while he tested a truck, causing him to slam into someone. Mr. Steigauf considered it discrimination, a taint that diabetes can carry. ‘I was regarded as a damaged piece of meat,’ he said. ‘It was like, ‘You’re one of those, and we can’t have one of those.’ ‘ With 21 million American diabetics, disputes like this have increasingly rippled through the workplace: ¶A mortgage loan officer in Oregon was denied permission to eat at her desk to stanch her sugar fluctuations, and eventually was fired. ¶A Sears lingerie saleswoman in Illinois with nerve damage in her leg quit after being told she could not cut through a stockroom to reach her department. […]
NEW YORK — A Christmas day explosion pushed the number of American troops killed in Iraq above the Sept. 11, 2001, death toll, prompting one father of a slain soldier to call for an end to the war. ‘I want the boys to come home, you know,’ said Robert Lootens, whose son, Jonathan, was killed in October on his second tour of duty. ‘Personally, I can’t see where we’re really accomplishing anything over there anymore.’ The White House said Tuesday that President Bush grieves for each member of the armed forces who has died and that he will ensure that the sacrifice of those killed – 2,978 as of Tuesday afternoon – won’t be in vain. ‘The war on terror is going to be a long struggle,’ deputy White House press secretary Scott Stanzel said. ‘The challenge of our generation is to prevent an attack on our country even greater than 9/11 from happening again.’ The bomb explosion Monday, which killed two soldiers south of Baghdad, raised the number of troops killed to 2,974 since the […]
A variation of a gene that controls the size of cholesterol molecules in the bloodstream is common among elderly Ashkenazim who remain mentally sharp If you live to 100, as roughly one in every 10,000 people do, you will likely want both your mind and body intact. Researchers have now discovered a gene that accomplishes just that, apparently protecting the brain as well as prolonging life. The Longevity Genes Project, initiated by Nir Barzilai, director of the Institute for Aging Research at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, investigates people who live exceptionally long lives. ‘There’s a strong family history of longevity in these people,’ says Barzilai. ‘Research has shown the odds of having exceptional longevity are about 10 to 18 times more if you have a centenarian in your family. And these usually aren’t vegetarians or professional athletes. Some have smoked for 90 years.’ Barzilai and his colleagues examined 158 people of Ashkenazi, or Eastern European Jewish, descent who were 95 years of age or older. They chose Ashkenazi Jews since current generations stem from a relatively limited number of ancestors. This means they have a comparatively uniform genetic makeup, making it easier to identify important […]
CHICAGO, Illinois — Taking such popular heartburn drugs as Nexium, Prevacid or Prilosec for a year or more can raise the risk of a broken hip markedly in people over 50, a large study in Britain found. The study raises questions about the safety of some of the most widely used and heavily promoted prescription drugs on the market, taken by millions of people. The researchers speculated that when the drugs reduce acid in the stomach, they also make it more difficult for the body to absorb bone-building calcium. That can lead to weaker bones and fractures. Hip fractures in the elderly often lead to life-threatening complications. As a result, doctors should make sure patients have good reason to stay on heartburn drugs long term, said study co-author Dr. Yu-Xiao Yang of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. ‘The general perception is they are relatively harmless,’ Yang said. ‘They often are used without a clear or justified indication for the treatment.’ Some people find relief from heartburn with over-the-counter antacids such as Tums, Rolaids and Maalox. But for others, those medicines do not work well. Moreover, heartburn can be more than a source of […]
Listen to the way people malign chocolate: Sinful! Decadent! To die for! There’s even that popular restaurant dessert known as ‘Death by Chocolate.’ But is this any way to talk about a loved one — especially during the season of comfort and joy? Bite your tongue! Evidence is mounting that some kinds of chocolate are actually good for you. Here’s the latest about the healthy side of your chocolate habit and taste-tested advice on what to try. Merry munching. A happier heart Scientists at the Harvard University School of Public Health recently examined 136 studies on coco — the foundation for chocolate — and found it does seem to boost heart health, according to an article in the European journal Nutrition and Metabolism. ‘Studies have shown heart benefits from increased blood flow, less platelet stickiness and clotting, and improved bad cholesterol,’ says Mary B. Engler, Ph.D., a chocolate researcher and director of the Cardiovascular and Genomics Graduate Program at the University of California, San Francisco, School of Nursing. These benefits are the result of cocoa’s antioxidant chemicals known as flavonoids, which seem to prevent both cell damage and inflammation. Better blood pressure If yours […]
Remote Viewing the Year 2060
