Los Angeles Marathon

Los Angeles Roadrunners: Photos from March 12, 2011 Training Run

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LA Roadrunners Run/Walk 5 2010-2011199

Pace Leader Nancy with Patricia and Jaime in Venice

Here are some photos from my Los Angeles Roadrunners Run/Walk 5 Training Group which I snapped yesterday at Venice Beach and in Santa Monica. The Los Angeles Roadrunners is the official training group for next Sunday’s (March 20) Los Angeles Marathon.

Here a re a few more:

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Run/Walking down Santa Monica Pier

LA Marathon Finish Line - California and Ocean

The very important LA Marathon finish line at California and Ocean in Santa Monica

LA Roadrunners Run/Walk 5 2010-2011184

Los Angeles Roadrunners 2010-2011 Run/Walk Group 5

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Diet

Poll Watch: Obesity Levels Lowest in Colorado, Highest in West Virginia

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The 2010 Gallup Well-Being Index

According to the latest Gallup Poll.

Colorado, Hawaii, and Utah had the lowest obesity levels in the United States in 2010, although at least 2 in 10 adults were obese in each of these states. West Virginia, Mississippi, and Kentucky had the highest obesity rates, with more than 3 in 10 obese residents living in these states. The prevalence of obesity is nearly eight percentage points higher, on average, in the 11 states with the highest obesity levels compared with the 10 states with the lowest obesity levels — 30.5% vs. 22.6%, respectively.

A very interesting regionalization of obesity levels. I cannot help but think that this is based on culturally-based eating and food choice habits.

Here is the table:

So, what does this mean?

The implications of increasing obesity rates and the associated health outcomes of being obese are extensive for national, state, and local leaders. A recent Gallup study analyzed obesity data from 187 U.S. metro areas and found that if all of them reduced their obesity rates to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s national goal of 15%, the U.S. could save $32.6 billion in healthcare costs annually.

The 2010 state-level findings underscore the connection between high obesity levels and diabetes diagnosis and highlight how widespread this problem is across the country. Obesity and diabetes rates in the U.S. have only worsened since Gallup and Healthways started tracking these conditions daily in January 2008. Strong leadership at the governmental, organizational, and individual level focused on changing health habits, including encouraging more frequent exercise and healthy eating, is needed to begin to reduce these costly and potentially deadly health issues.

There is much work to do to promote healthy diets and more frequent exercise for better health and longevity.

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Dentistry

New Pathogen Linked to Severe Early Childhood Tooth Decay Identified

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Early childhood caries

So say researchers at The Forsyth Institute.

Researchers at The Forsyth Institute have made a significant discovery about the nature of childhood dental disease. The scientific studies led by Anne Tanner, BDS, Ph.D., identified a new pathogen connected to severe early childhood caries (cavities). This bacterium, Scardovia wiggsiae, was present in the mouths of children with severe early childhood caries when other known pathogens such as Streptococcus mutans were not detected. This research may offer the potential to intervene and halt the progression of disease.

Early childhood caries, ECC, is the most common chronic infectious disease of childhood in the United States. Severe ECC can destroy primary teeth, cause painful abscesses and is the major reason for hospital visits for young children. This condition disproportionately affects disadvantaged socio-economic groups. This research, which will be published in the April issue of Journal of Clinical Microbiology, provides new insight on the microbiota of severe early childhood caries.

There is nothing more heartbreaking than a young child with rampant dental disease. Identification of this pathogen will hopefully lead to more effective treatment.

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Diigo Links

Flap’s Links and Comments for March 8th from 19:28 to 19:31

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These are my links for March 8th from 19:28 to 19:31:

  • Is there a safer way to clean my dog’s teeth? –

    Q: My friend says her neighbor, who is a dental hygienist, cleans dogs’ teeth without using anesthesia. Isn’t this a safer way for my dog to have his teeth cleaned?

    A: The American Veterinary Dental College is an organization of board certified veterinary dentists. They are the preeminent experts in the field of veterinary dentistry. They have adopted a thorough position statement concerning this very subject. The full statement reads:

    “In the United States and Canada, only licensed veterinarians can practice veterinary medicine. Veterinary medicine includes veterinary surgery, medicine and dentistry. Anyone providing dental services other than a licensed veterinarian, or a supervised and trained veterinary technician, is practicing veterinary medicine without a license and shall be subject to criminal charges.

    This position statement addresses dental scaling procedures performed on pets without anesthesia, often by individuals untrained in veterinary dental techniques. Although the term “Anesthesia-Free Dentistry” has been used in this context, AVDC prefers to use the more accurate term Non-Professional Dental Scaling to describe this combination.

    Owners of pets naturally are concerned when anesthesia is required for their pet. However, performing NPDS on an unanesthetized pet is inappropriate for the following reasons:

    1. Dental tartar is firmly adhered to the surface of the teeth. Scaling to remove tartar is accomplished using ultrasonic and sonic power scalers, plus hand instruments that must have a sharp working edge to be used effectively. Even slight head movement by the patient could result in injury to the oral tissues of the patient, and the operator may be bitten when the patient reacts.

    2. Professional dental scaling includes scaling the surfaces of the teeth both above and below the gingival margin (gum line), followed by dental polishing. The most critical part of a dental scaling procedure is scaling the tooth surfaces that are within the gingival pocket (the subgingival space between the gum

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  • ‘Good’ Cholesterol May Cut Colon Cancer Risk –

    High levels of "good" cholesterol may reduce the risk of colon cancer, a new study suggests.
    If other studies confirm this finding, people with low levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol should "be advised to change their lifestyle to reduce their risk of colon cancer," said lead researcher Dr. Bas Bueno-de-Mesquita, from the department of gastroenterology and hepatology at the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment in Bilthoven, the Netherlands.
    Cutting "bad" (LDL) cholesterol and increasing "good" (HDL) cholesterol already are known to reduce the risk for heart disease, and this new study provides another reason to pay attention to your blood cholesterol numbers.

    +++++++

    This is a two-fer. good for the heart and the colon.

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Diigo Links

Flap’s Links and Comments for March 8th from 19:20 to 19:20

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These are my links for March 8th from 19:20 to 19:20:

  • Senate bill aims to combat pharmaceutical theft -Along with stiffer penalties, the bill would formally criminalize the acts of storing, transporting or changing labels on stolen medical products. Those activities are currently not covered by criminal statutes.The measure comes amid a rise in the value of pharmaceutical heists, which has increased 350 percent since 2007. Last March, the theft of $75 million worth of Eli Lilly drugs from a Connecticut warehouse drew new attention to the problem. It was the largest crime of its kind on record.Law enforcement officials would have more leeway to pursue and punish criminals who steal prescription pharmaceuticals under a proposal introduced Tuesday by Senate lawmakers.

    A bill supported by six Democrats would increase the penalties for stealing stolen medical products and give police extra tools, including wiretaps, to track thieves. The bill accomplishes this by bringing medical theft under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations law, which was originally developed to prosecute organized crime.

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