Being Tall, Obese may Significantly Increase Risk of Blood Clots in Deep Veins

Study Highlights:

- The combination of being tall and obese, particularly in men, may substantially raise the risk of developing potentially dangerous blood clots in veins deep in the body.

- If you're tall, you can reduce your risk by maintaining a healthy weight.

DALLAS, April 28, 2011 -- Being tall and obese may increase your risk for potentially dangerous blood clots, according to new research in Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology: Journal of the American Heart Association.

In the United States, more than 275,000 people each year are hospitalized with deep vein clots or pulmonary embolism, according to the American Heart Association.

Obesity is a well-known risk factor for clots in deep veins (usually in the legs) and for pulmonary embolism, a clot in blood vessels of the lungs that can result in sudden death or strain on the heart. Together, the two conditions are called venous thromboembolism (VTE).

Compared with short (5 feet, 7.7 inches or less) and normal-weight men (body mass index < 25kg/m2), the age-adjusted risk of VTE was:


   --  5.28 times higher in obese and tall men
   --  2.57 times higher in normal-weight and tall men (at least 5 feet, 11.7
       inches tall)
   --  2.11 times higher in obese and short men


The amount of risk conferred by being both obese and tall was comparable to other known risk factors for VTE, including pregnancy, the use of oral contraceptives, and carrying one gene for an inherited predisposition to clotting called Factor V Leiden.

Compared with short (5 feet, 2.6 inches or less) normal-weight women, the age-adjusted risk of VTE was:


   --  2.77 times higher in obese and tall women
   --  1.83 times higher in obese and short women
   --  Not increased in normal-weight and tall women (more than 5 feet, 6
       inches)


"We believe that we observed the increased risk in tall and normal-weight men, but not women, because most women do not get sufficiently tall," said Sigrid K. Braekkan, Ph.D., senior study author and a researcher in the Hematological Research Group at the University of Tromso in Norway. "The risk may be present in very tall women, but there were too few to investigate this properly."

Researchers said more studies are needed to determine the mechanisms of the association between tall stature, excess weight and the combination on the risk of VTEs.

"In tall people the blood must be pumped a longer distance by the calf-muscle pump, which may cause reduced flow in the legs and thereby raise the risk of clotting," Braekkan said.

"Understanding and preventing VTE is important because even the first occurrence may be fatal. Obesity, in combination with other VTE risk factors, has been shown to substantially increase the risk, so we wanted to assess the combined effects of tall stature and obesity."

The research team analyzed data from the Tromso study, which conducts periodic health surveys of adults 25-97 years old in the Norwegian town. Researchers collected height and obesity measures on 26,714 men and women followed a median of 12.5 years between 1994 and 2007. During that time, 461 VTEs occurred.

Obesity causes increased pressure in the abdomen, which may reduce the ability of the calf-muscle pump to return the blood from the legs. "Obesity is also linked to a state of constant low-grade inflammation, and inflammation may render blood more susceptible to clotting," Braekkan said.

Physicians should consider people's height and weight as they assess their overall risk for dangerous clots, researchers said.

"Since body height is not easy to modify, the most important thing is to stay slim, especially if you are tall," Braekkan said.

The researchers previously found a strikingly similar rise in clot risk along with height in American men, and believe that the height cut-offs would apply to Caucasian populations in other regions.


Co-authors are Knut H. Borch, M.D.; Cecilie Nyegaard, M.D.; John-Bjarne Hansen, M.D., Ph.D.; Ellisiv B. Mathiesen, M.D., Ph.D.; Inger Njolstad, M.D., Ph.D. and Tom Wilsgaard, Ph.D. Author disclosures are on the manuscript.

The University of Tromso and the Northern Norway Regional Health Authority funded the study.



Statements and conclusions of study authors published in American Heart Association scientific journals are solely those of the study authors and do not necessarily reflect the association's policy or position.  The association makes no representation or guarantee as to their accuracy or reliability.  The association receives funding primarily from individuals; foundations and corporations (including pharmaceutical, device manufacturers and other companies) also make donations and fund specific association programs and events.  The association has strict policies to prevent these relationships from influencing the science content.  Revenues from pharmaceutical and device corporations are available at www.americanheart.org/corporatefunding.


SOURCE  American Heart Association

Warning Signs of Heart Failure

Shortness of breath and fluid retention aren't the only warning signs...
"If you have heart failure, chances are you have (or had) one or more of the conditions listed below. Some of these can be present without you knowing it. Typically these conditions cause the "wear and tear" that leads to heart failure. Having more than one of these factors dramatically increases your risk."

Mercedes-Benz First Teen Driving School in the United States to Open in Los Angeles

Learn to drive in style.

MONTVALE, N.J.- Mercedes-Benz USA announces today that it is opening the company's first Mercedes-Benz Driving Academy in Los Angeles in October 2011, offering a fully integrated driver's education program and school that incorporates online, classroom and behind-the-wheel training for Los Angeles-area teens.

The Mercedes-Benz Driving Academy is unveiling details for its teen driving school at the annual California State PTA Convention, where approximately 2,500 California PTA members are attending from April 28 - May 1, 2011 in Long Beach, CA.

Mercedes-Benz is appointing Carolyn Duchene as Director for the Mercedes-Benz Driving Academy, and she will be responsible for the launch and management of daily operations. A Mercedes-Benz USA employee since 1994, Duchene has held several positions in the areas of marketing, digital media, training and education, and customer service.

"In addition to a unique educational approach, our highly qualified staff will be a key differentiator for the Mercedes-Benz Driving Academy. We are recruiting and hiring the best talent for all areas of operation," said Duchene.
"The Mercedes-Benz Driving Academy will connect with students and parents using a personalized, customer-centric approach that truly creates a unique offering among driver's education services for new teen drivers."

In preparation for its fall launch, the Mercedes-Benz Driving Academy is actively recruiting uniquely qualified driving instructors, who will be groomed to deliver the Academy's research-based program in a highly effective coaching style. The Mercedes-Benz Driving Academy instructors are going to be Mercedes-Benz employees and eligible to receive Mercedes-Benz USA benefit packages.

Several auto manufacturers and third-party organizations are currently offering teen driving programs which primarily focus on crash avoidance and defensive driving exercises. However, Mercedes-Benz Driving Academy aims to be the only car manufacturer to offer a California DMV-approved program, fully integrated with the Graduated Driver Licensing framework. The goal of the Mercedes-Benz Driving Academy is to prepare students for today's driving environment by going beyond basic car control skills and rote learning of traffic rules.

The core program utilizes multiple teaching techniques and delivery methods ranging from online learning to interactive classroom sessions and behind-the-wheel training. The program will incorporate approaches such as digital animation to visualize road hazards in an online program, problem-solving exercises in the classroom, and hands-on experience of risky situations and in-car coaching techniques based on questioning rather than instruction. This approach is combined with consistent feedback from driving coaches to parents, which aims to assist them in planning their supervised driving practice. The overall collective curriculum aims to benefit and appeal to the vast spectrum of learning-styles which will ensure greater engagement and absorption of skills and knowledge.

A fully integrated California-focused curriculum will take a student from their instruction permit license stage through their provisional license. Other offerings include an on-road only curriculum for those who have chosen to complete their driver education requirement through other means, and a tailored program that takes into account individual driver's needs to further develop and improve driving skills.

"Vehicles, highways, and the driving environment have changed dramatically over the past 60 years, however driver education remains relatively unchanged in the U.S.," said Alexander Hobbach, Senior Manager of Business Innovation at Daimler AG. "Mercedes-Benz feels there is opportunity to better prepare teens for today's driving conditions, and while our offering will have premium pricing over existing schools, we are dedicated to delivering significant value based on unique coaching methods and curriculum that is aimed at teaching new teens how to drive safely."

The Mercedes-Benz Driving Academy is working with several advisers in the finalization of its proprietary curriculum including Daniel R. Mayhew, Senior Vice President of the Traffic Injury Research Foundation (TIRF); Allan Williams, Ph.D., former Chief Scientist at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS);and Bill Combs, Executive Director of the Driver Education and Training Administrators and former Director of Communications at the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA).

"A teenager's ability to drive safely should be one of the most important priorities for parents and it is extremely imperative that parents take a very active part in this process from researching driving schools to following through on supervised driving," said Mayhew.

Beyond curriculum development that sets new industry standards, The Mercedes-Benz Driving Academy is building on strategic partnerships in an effort to raise awareness about teen driver safety and to also engage educators and parents to ultimately combat the leading cause of deaths among teens, which is motor vehicle crashes according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Mercedes-Benz Driving Academy, in conjunction with Impact Teen Drivers, will be delivering a public service outreach program through 2-hour parent/teen workshops, delivered in local Los Angeles- area high schools. These workshops will raise awareness on the importance of teaching teens the proper way to drive. Through interactive work groups, parents and their children will discuss the responsibility they have to each other when it comes to driver education while acknowledging that driving is an important part of teenager's life that leads to more freedom and independence. With the help of the California PTA, approximately twenty schools will be identified to host the workshops beginning late summer.

"The opportunity to have Mercedes-Benz step-up to work with Impact Teen Drivers and law enforcement and education partners to offer driver safety seminars at no cost to Los Angeles-area schools is commendable," said Kelly Browning, PhD, executive director of Impact Teen Drivers. "It is crucial that we educate teens and empower them to promote the safe driving message in order to have a fundamental and sustained behavior shift. This isn't about bad kids doing bad things, but good kids making poor choices. One poor choice can alter or end their lives and the lives of those they care about."

Impact Teen Drivers, Inc., which was founded by the California Association of Highway Patrolmen, the California Teachers Association, and California Casualty, provides education to teens and parents regarding the dangers of reckless and distracted driving through breakthrough campaigns delivered online and in schools.

Committed to raising the level of driver education and increasing road safety, the Mercedes-Benz Driving Academy continues Mercedes-Benz long-standing corporate dedication to driver safety. For continuous updates before the October 2011 opening and employment opportunities, please visit mbdrivingacademy.com for information.

The Limits of School Reform - NYTimes.com

The Limits of School Reform - NYTimes.com

Excerpt from article. PLEASE READ ENTIRE.

Going back to the famous Coleman report in the 1960s, social scientists have contended — and unquestionably proved — that students’ socioeconomic backgrounds vastly outweigh what goes on in the school as factors in determining how much they learn. Richard Rothstein of the Economic Policy Institute lists dozens of reasons why this is so, from the more frequent illness and stress poor students suffer, to the fact that they don’t hear the large vocabularies that middle-class children hear at home.

Yet the reformers act as if a student’s home life is irrelevant. “There is no question that family engagement can matter,” said Klein when I spoke to him. “But they seem to be saying that poverty is destiny, so let’s go home. We don’t yet know how much education can overcome poverty,” he insisted — notwithstanding the voluminous studies that have been done on the subject. “To let us off the hook prematurely seems, to me, to play into the hands of the other side.”

That last sentence strikes me as the key to the reformers’ resistance: To admit the importance of a student’s background, they fear, is to give ammo to the enemy — which to them are their social-scientist critics and the teachers’ unions. But that shouldn’t be the case. Making schools better is always a goal worth striving for, whether it means improving pedagogy itself or being able to fire bad teachers more easily.

Deepwater Horizon, Fukushima, the Chilean Miners and the Human Cost of Energy - Ecocentric - TIME.com

"Blood per Kilowatt." (Never thought I would see this idea in secular print.)
Deepwater Horizon, Fukushima, the Chilean Miners and the Human Cost of Energy - Ecocentric - TIME.com

"It isn't just oil or electrons that flows in our pipelines and transmission wires. It's blood.

In fact, the blood cost is another way to calculate the energy equation: blood per kilowatt."

Read more: http://ecocentric.blogs.time.com/2011/04/22/on-earth-day-contemplating-the-human-cost-of-energy/#ixzz1KUe0akRx

NY case underscores Wi-Fi privacy dangers - Yahoo! News

NY case underscores Wi-Fi privacy dangers - Yahoo! News
What it should be: "I think it's convenient and polite to have an open Wi-Fi network," said Rebecca Jeschke, whose home signal is accessible to anyone within range."Public Wi-Fi is for the common good and I'm happy to participate in that — and lots of people are," said Jeschke, a spokeswoman for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a San Francisco-based nonprofit that takes on cyberspace civil liberties issues.

What it is: Wi-Fi and Internet was never invented or intended for criminal use or criminals--of any sort. Why should the innocent pay a price for the dammed? Love good, hate evil. Society is always burdened with what to do about evil, as it infects just about everything. Evil is inconvenient to those who are just. Concentrate on incarcerating the dammed and leave the innocent alone. Open and unsecured Wi-Fi or hotspots, as they were called back in the day before the widespread use of wireless internet, are just as the EFF spokeswoman said.

Homeless woman prosecuted for enrolling son in Conn. school - Yahoo! News

Homeless woman prosecuted for enrolling son in Conn. school - Yahoo! News
This is an unfortunate shame. It is as if we as a body of people, who form this country, have no common sense. Why put this woman in jail and kick her friend out? Isn't their another way? The harshness of the law meets these women because they are poor and black or because the law regarding changing school districts is harsh?

Change Your Eye Color Surgery: Eye Surgery Safety | Suite101.com

Change Your Eye Color Surgery: Eye Surgery Safety | Suite101.com

Some who have undergone this groundbreaking surgery express regrets and have developed vision problems.