David Geldmacher, MD, of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, told MedPage Today that the potential benefit of exercise to reduce dementia risk is worth bringing up with patients, even though recommendations for exercise are made routinely for cardiovascular health reasons. Many patients are willing to forego exercise with the belief that sudden death by a heart related illness isn’t such a bad way to expire. On the other hand the thought of living with a chronic debilitating disease like dementia is highly undesirable and exercise might be an acceptable lifestyle change to prevent that process. Knowing that fitness can reduce the Alzheimer risk may give them further motivation to follow through with an exercise and fitness plan.

In an unrelated but equally fascinating study, researchers at the Durham Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina found that Caucasian men who participated in regular exercise at a moderate level were less likely to have prostate cancer on biopsy of suspicious areas of the prostate. If the biopsy did reveal prostate cancer the grade of the cancer tended to be lower indicating a more favorable prognosis. This study of 164 Caucasian men and 143 black men did not show any fitness protection for black men who exercised regularly. The authors went on to point out the small size of the study and the fact that the level and frequency of exercise was self-reported not measured or monitored by the research team. Other factors such as heredity, diet and lifestyle issues may be factors as well. They recommended further study to determine the exact relationship between exercise and prostate health or disease.

Both these studies strongly support the concept that regular exercise of a moderate level probably has strongly favorable influences in multiple areas of health. I will continue to urge my patients to get some form of regular exercise that they enjoy on a daily basis while the researchers confirm the long term benefit of regular exercise and fitness.

The study was led by Karl Michaelsson, MD, of Uppsala University in Sweden and published in the online edition of the British Medical Journal. They found that the group consuming 1400 mg or more per day of calcium had a higher risk of death from cardiovascular disease, ischemic coronary disease and all causes than expected. The high calcium intake did not however increase the risk for strokes. At the other end of the spectrum were those individuals on an extremely low calcium diet with less than 600 mg per day. They were found to have an increased risk of death as well from all the causes mentioned above plus stroke.

Once again this appears to be a call for moderation in one’s diet. Too much or too little of anything is associated with consequences. At the current time postmenopausal women are advised to consume 1600 mg of calcium a day between diet and supplements. It may be time to look at that number and see how it applies to North American women as opposed to Swedish women who participated in this project.

According to WPEC, parents were dropping their kids off at the Learning Experience daycare center around 7:00 a.m. when they said a man managed to get inside the building where the children get dropped off.

According to parents and day care employees, the man said “God sent me here” and then he told parents “God sent me here to take the children.”

Parents told WPEC the man first tried to get into a backyard gated area where there’s a playground but then managed to get into the building through an always locked front door by another parent who let him into the building.

Employees called 911. Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office deputies took the man into custody. They said he’s being held under the Baker Act for a mental evaluation.

No weapon was involved and none of the children were hurt, but parents are questioning the safety of the daycare.

Basquiat, a film about a once struggling, now popular graffiti artist, will be shown at our studio this Saturday night. The tribute is meant to honor the existence and influence of the poet and artist who has since departed. This movie stars Jeffrey Wright (as Basquiat) and David Bowie (as Andy Warhol), along with Dennis Hopper, Benecio Del Toro, and Gary Oldman. Basquiat’s story shows how perseverance and the right frame of mind can make your destiny become a reality. His life and success impacted the lives of so many others, becoming much larger than himself.

SFH Movie, Art, and Music Night Series will highlight artists and musicians each month through a film, an art show, and a live DJ. This month DJ Digsy mixes up the music entertainment after Basquiat and our Vinyl Destination record art show will be on display and available for purchase.  Please feel free to bring chairs or blankets to make yourselves comfortable.

Who: SFH hosts–Digsy and Fade

What: Basquiat movie, Vinyl Destination, DJ Digsy

Where: 422 West Industrial Ave. #7, Boynton Beach, FL. 33426

When: Saturday, 2/23/13, 8pm

Cost: Free

Basquiat info:

http://basquiat.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Michel_Basquiat

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/22/jean-michel-basquiat-birthday-15-things-about-the-artist_n_2347564.html

Vinly Destination show:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.482829275108607.107515.376854455706090&type=3

Men and women across the Palm Beaches routinely come to Palm Beach plastic surgeons like Dr. Greg DeLange of the Estetica Institute to change the look of their bodies through cosmetic surgery. These procedures, known as body-sculpting, have become routine and safe ways for patients to slim down and boost their self-esteem.

Palm Beach cosmetic surgeons across the area perform various kinds of procedures to give patients better figures. Patients come from cities like Boynton Beach, Lantana, Lake Worth, West Palm Beach and Jupiter for tummy tucks Palm Beach and other body-contouring procedures. These surgeries, which are also referred to as abdominoplasty Palm Beach, give patients slimmer figures by removing fat deposits and excess skin from their midsections. Some men and women require more extensive weight-loss surgeries, like lap-band surgeries, to achieve the figures they desire. Dr. Gregory DeLange performs a number of body-sculpting procedures, including traditional liposuction and a variation on the procedure that he calls standing liposuction.

Most surgeons, including Dr. DeLange, also offer anti-aging procedures and one of the most popular forms of cosmetic surgery in the Palm Beaches, breast augmentation Palm Beach surgeries. Men and women visit surgeons across the region to address wrinkles and fine lines on their faces, as well as sagging and loose skin on different parts of their bodies. Patients can appear more youthful and healthier by undergoing Botox Palm Beach treatments or surgeries like body lifts, brow lifts and facelifts. Breast enhancement surgeries, including breast lifts, have become popular for women of various ages.

JCPenney Co. Inc. of Plano, Texas, has asked a federal court to rule on whether a style of weather-resistant boots that it recently started selling can continue to be called “Aspen.”

A Boynton Beach, Fla., company called Aspen Licensing International Inc. owns a trademark for various commercial uses of the word “aspen.” In November, the company sent a cease-and-desist demand to JCPenney, alleging that its advertising and sale of cold-weather boots referred to by the style name “Aspen” infringed on that trademark.

According to the Aspen Times, some people believe the word is generic enough to the point where a company cannot own the trademark rights to it.

(© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

Also Check Out:

• Teacher Suspended After Pouring Pencil Shavings In Student’s Mouth
• Mosquito-Fighting Plan Allows Access To Private Property With No Warrant
• “Sexually Suggestive” Exercises Center of LA Fitness Lawsuit
• Memorial Service Wraps For Chris Kyle
• Police Expand Hunt For Escaped Florida Inmate

In the online version of the Journal of the American Medical Association an analysis of data compiled by the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey ( NHANES) suggested that today’s baby boomers are not as healthy as their parent’s generation. The baby boomers, born between 1946 and 1964, may live longer but they do so with more complaints and more chronic illnesses.  The study compared the two generations at ages 46 and 64 on several health measures using the years 2007- 2010 for the baby boomers and comparing it to data they had from 1988- 1994 for the prior generation.

The demographics in the two groups indicated a larger number of Hispanics and non-Hispanic Blacks in the baby boomer generation than the previous generation.  The data in many cases was self-reported with only half as many baby boomers 13% reporting their health as “excellent” while their parents’ generation had 32% respond excellent to the same question.  The baby boomers reported that more were using walking assisted devices, more were limited in work and more had functional limitations than their parents’ generation. As a group, obesity is more common in the baby boomers (39% vs. 29%), as is high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol and diabetes.

The prior generation got more physical exercise than the baby boomers by a margin of 50% compared to 35% when asked if they were getting exercise at least 12 times per month. Smoking was more common in the prior generation.  The study authors concluded that we need to “expand efforts at prevention and healthy lifestyle promotion in the baby boomer generation.”

It is hard for me as a clinician to gain much insight from this data. Clearly the previous generation lived through a depression and fought two major wars. Their definition of “excellent” may be different than baby boomers whose expectations may be completely different from reality.

An epidemic of obesity has contributed to an increase in its associated diseases including diabetes, high blood pressure and lipid abnormalities. The goal of education and prevention is a wise one and needs to start in the preschools and elementary schools if we wish to be a healthier society

At an International Stroke Conference in Hawaii, reported on in MedPage Today, researchers found relationship between smoking pot and having an ischemic stroke. P. Alan Barber, MD., PhD, professor of clinical neurology at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, told of seeing a 30 year old stroke patient who had none of the traditional risk factors for a stroke. The patient smoked cannabis or marijuana regularly. This led to the doctor reviewing the records of all his younger stroke patients. They found a high proportion of tests positive for marijuana use in younger stroke victims and decided to expand their study.

The current study looked at 160 stroke patients with an average age of 45.  Sixteen percent (16%) of the stroke patients tested positive for cannabis whereas only 8% of the control patients tested positive. When the researchers used detailed statistical analysis to review the data the only risk factor associated with ischemic stroke, or TIA, was marijuana use. “The study provides the strongest evidence to date of an association between cannabis and stroke.”

This was a preliminary study and it could not account for the tobacco use of the control subjects. Most of the marijuana users were tobacco smokers as well. The study did not delineate the extent of the pot smoker’s use of marijuana in terms of quantity and frequency of use. Barber went on to say that more detailed and extensive studies would be coming. He feels there is a definite link between pot smoking and stroke citing the fact that cannabis constricts brain vessels and can be associated with palpitations and atrial fibrillation which is a risk factor for stroke.

As the political pressure builds on states to legalize marijuana, tax it and use it as a revenue source; it would be nice to find out the consequences of its use and its effect on future illness and health care costs? Is it the marijuana? Is it the method of delivery by smoking it rather than pill form? These questions should be addressed in future studies.

Hello art, music, and entertainment fans! Soul Focus House is co-hosting a district-wide event for the public. Our studio is presenting for the first time our ”remixed compilation” of vinyl record art projects ranging from functional to picturesque made from upcylced materials. At any rate, must-haves for collectors! After dark a music and a light show provide a backdrop while we paint inside the studio. Outside, the bands, entertainers, food, and a variety of artists continue to delight the senses. This is a family and pet friendly event so we hope to see you all there!

Where: Boynton Beach Art District, 422 West Industrial Avenue #7, Boynton Beach, FL. 33426
When: February 17, 2012 from 10am until 10pm
Cost: $10 after noon, free before noon.

02/02/13, PALM BEACH, FL — Unsolved murder of 80-year-old suburban Boynton Beach man leaves family frustrated, friends scared -

He then shot and killed himself.

Shortly before 2 a.m., Victoria Flores Zavala, 36, was watching TV when she heard noise in her home in the 400 block of Southwest Eighth Avenue, police said.

[worldnow id=8307703 width=385 height=288 type=video]

That’s when she found her estranged husband, Isidro Zavala, 45, choking one of the boys, police said.

The mother tried to fight him off and begged Isidro Zavala kill her instead.

After killing their sons, he then told his wife he wanted her to suffer.

“During statement with the wife there is a comment made. She said ‘Why don’t you kill me’ and he said ‘No, you’re going to live with this’,” said Boynton Beach police Detective Chris Crawford.

The boys were identified as Eduardo Zavala, 12, and Mario Zavala, 11.

When police arrived on scene, they found one child dead in a back screened patio area and his deceased brother in the kitchen dining room area.

Isidro Zavala killed himself with a gun and was discovered dead in the kitchen.

Mariano Batalla, a friend of Zavala, said he was stunned when he heard the news.

“He’s always happy. He’s an amazing man. That’s why I don’t believe how he killed himself I don’t believe that,” said Batalla.

“I feel sad. I don’t know why the dad did this. I don’t know what the kids did to him. When I heard about it, I started to cry because they were my friends,” said neighbor Billege Alcin.

Detectives have obtained a search warrant for the house where the killings occurred as well as a home in the 1100 block of Southeast Third Street where Isidro Zavala had been staying.

The Zavalas have a 19-year-old son who does not live with his family and was not at the home when the killings occurred, police said.

Police also said there is no history of reports of domestic violence or abuse at the home.

According to court records obtained by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Victoria Flores Zavala had filed for divorce in October. The couple married in Palm Beach County in May 1993.

More details were expected at a news conference schedule by police for 2 p.m. We’ll update this story with the new information.

Sara Varona Yoga – Private Instruction, Workshops, Retreats

A yoga practitioner for 15 years and teacher for the past 11, Sara Varona discovered yoga during her career as a professional dancer.  Her passion for movement, breath work and spiritual practice led her into a dedicated path of yoga where she eventually became qualified to teach. For the past eight years, Sara has studied with Shiva Rea and a number of international teachers, from India to Thailand, that has helped her shape her unique style and sensitivity to student needs. Specializing in private sessions, Sara’s private clients appreciate her comprehensive and individualized approach, which employs hands on adjustments, dynamic Thai yoga stretches and an eclectic array of customized workouts to help clients reach their goals. Working with all ages and body types, whether beginning or advance, Sara’s group and private classes are always insightful and relaxed with just enough challenge to excite and motivate.  She also teaches monthly workshops, leads yoga fire ceremonies and conducts retreats in beautifu,exotic locations throughout the world. In 2013, Sara will be launching her first 200-Hour teacher training. For more information, or to contact Sara for a private yoga session, please visit her website at http://www.saravaronayoga.com

She can also be found on Facebook.