Build a playground - $6M available in matching funds

Triple M Recreation announces that local governments, schools and non-profit agencies may be eligible for matching grant funds for new playgrounds under a program sponsored by Game Time, a leading manufacturer of playground equipment.  Triple M Recreation represents GameTime products and has local offices in Arizona, Colorado, NM & W. Texas.

The “Fighting Obesity Through Play,” matching grant program helps fund the purchase of playground equipment to encourage children’s physical activity and to replace playgrounds that are old and unsafe.

All orders for matching funds for playgrounds must be received no later than Nov. 14, 2008. For more information and an application form, call 800-235-2440, or go to www.gametime.com

Dara Torres promotes exercise, embraces role model status

Dara Torres has been an inspiration to many in her return to the pool and recent Olympic success.  She authored her own article for the USA Weekend newspaper insert where she talks of being a role model and provides motivational tips.

The important thing to remember is that you can always find time to exercise. If, say, you’re a working mom, instead of taking the elevator in your building, take the stairs. You can always try to find little ways to do a little bit of exercise each day or every other day.

And then there’s diet. When I wake up, I have this nutritional drink, which I had before each one of my races. It has every single nutrient and protein that I need in a meal. The point is that getting the right nutrition is essential to your health and fitness, even if you aren’t an Olympic athlete.

The active lifestyle is one that she is already introducing to her 2 1/2-year-old daughter, Tessa.

Exercise was very important to me growing up, and I am already trying to teach Tessa how important it is. The funny thing is, she already loves it.

Read the entire USA Weekend article “You can always find time to exercise.”

Here are some other relevant Dara Torres articles:

Dara Torres: 2012 Olympic Games a ‘possibility’ - MSNBC
Dara Torres throws out first pitch at Yankees game - AM New York
Dara Torres Walks The Runway At Fashion Week - NY Post
Doctor dives in to repair swimmer Torres’ shoulder - CN

Google offers $10M for ideas that can ‘change the world’

If you could suggest a unique idea that would help as many people as possible, what would it be?

Google has unveiled a bold $10M effort to implement ideas that can “change the world.”  Project 10^100 (that’s “ten to the hundredth”) marks the 10th anniversary of the company and is meant to “celebrate the spirit of Google users and the web.”  All ideas need to be submitted by October 20, 2008.

“We’re launching  a call for ideas that could help as many people as possible, and a program to bring the best of those ideas to life,” says Andy Berndt, Managing Director, Google Creative Lab. “CNN will be covering this project, including profiles of ideas and the people who submit them from around the world.  For a deeper look, follow along at Impact Your World.”

Google noted that the ideas can be big or small, technology-driven or not. But they do have to have a potential positive impact on the world.  As part of the announcement Google provided some examples of projects that fall in line with the spirit of Project 10^100.

What are some examples of ideas we think are cool? A team of just two people are implementing a solution to help the millions of people who laboriously carry on their heads 5-gallon buckets of water for long distances by designing and distributing The Hippo Water Roller (www.hipporoller.org), a relatively inexpensive 24-gallon container that can be easily wheeled on the ground. First Mile Solutions (www.firstmilesolutions.com) is implementing simple but effective ideas for connecting isolated communities in developing countries to the Internet. One plan has communities tacking on Wi-Fi devices to public buses so they can detect and send stored emails and messages as the buses travel through unconnected areas. Google is excited to fund projects that similarly have a big impact.

Google provided the following categories for which it will be considering ideas:

• Community: How can we help connect people, build communities and protect unique cultures?
• Opportunity: How can we help people better provide for themselves and their families?
• Energy: How can we help move the world toward safe, clean, inexpensive energy?
• Environment: How can we help promote a cleaner and more sustainable global ecosystem?
• Health: How can we help individuals lead longer, healthier lives?
• Education: How can we help more people get more access to better education?
• Shelter: How can we help ensure that everyone has a safe place to live?
• Everything else: Sometimes the best ideas don’t fit into any category at all.

Woman completes road race after lung transplant

Achievement in athletics is relative. Consider Castro Valley’s Heidi Tegner, who may have turned in one of the most incredible 384th-place finishes in road-racing history.

Um, 384th place? Right. With her sister Amber and a half-dozen friends running with her, that’s where Tegner, 24, finished in the recent 5K Eden Medical Center Run to the Lake. She had to fight back tears of joy when she completed her quest.

At what position she finished hardly mattered, though she did wind up outpacing 126 runners. That she ran the race at all was enough.

One day short of a year earlier, Tegner underwent 10 hours of surgery at Stanford Hospital, receiving a double lung transplant after her battle with cystic fibrosis had reached an acute stage. She had 23 percent breathing capacity in her lungs at the time and required round-the-clock oxygen support.

“I had a tank I would have to take with me wherever I went,” she said. “I had trouble climbing the stairs. I’d have to stop halfway and catch my breath before I could climb the rest.”

Tegner never thought she would run again, let alone participate in a 5K. But after her remarkable recovery from surgery — her lung capacity is at 100 percent — she’s able to set real-life goals, and one of them was to honor her anonymous teenage donor by running in the event.

“Originally, just my sister and a bunch of her friends were going to run in honor of my donor,” she said. “They actually trained for it. But three days before, I just decided to do it, too.”Earlier in the year, Tegner had started preparatory training for the biennial Transplant Games in Pittsburgh, Pa., and though she missed that event because of a physical setback and other commitments, she felt she was in shape to make the 5K attempt.

The day of the race, she admitted to a slight case of panic.

“I was thinking, ‘How am I ever going to complete this? There’s no way,’” she said.

Ten years ago, it probably would have been unthinkable. The first successful double lung transplant wasn’t performed until 1986. Even now, it’s a rare, risky surgery with many postoperative concerns. According to the American Lung Association, only about 1,000 are performed every year, and about 15 percent involve cystic fibrosis patients.

Read the full story at InsideBayArea.com

Carl Seward has been writing a regular article of every day heroes for his regional paper in Northern California.  He suggested that this was a good story for Champoli to share.   You can find all of Carl’s articles in his online archive.

Medicare’s monthly premium won’t rise in 2009

Good news for millions of American seniors: Medicare’s standard Part B monthly premium in 2009 will remain the same as in 2008, the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said Friday.

The $96.40 rate means 2009 will be the first year since 2000 that there hasn’t been an increase in the standard premium over the previous year, the agency said. In addition, the 2009 Part B deductible will be the same in 2009 as it is this year — $135.

Medicare’s Part B program covers the health care of seniors and disabled people. The monthly premium paid by beneficiaries covers a portion of the cost of physicians’ services, outpatient hospital services, certain home health services, durable medical equipment and other items.

While increased use of Part B services is expected in 2009, the higher anticipated costs are “offset by a substantial reduction in the premium ‘margin’ needed to maintain an adequate contingency reserve in the Part B trust fund account,” the CMS explained in a news release.

The Part B premium is based on a beneficiary’s annual income. If gross income is greater than certain amounts ($85,000 in 2009 for a beneficiary filing an individual income tax return or married and filing a separate return, and $170,000 for a beneficiary filing a joint tax return), the beneficiary has to pay a larger portion of the estimated total cost of Part B benefit coverage.

One advocate for Medicare recipients said the decision to keep Plan B premiums the same is “welcome news.”

“News that health care premiums are not going up is rare these days. The stability in the Part B premium is good news for people with Medicare struggling to cope with rising prescription drug costs and medical bills,” Robert M. Hayes, president of the Medicare Rights Center, said in a news release.

However, the CMS also announced Friday that the Part A deductible will rise $44, to $1,068 in 2009. The Part A program covers hospital and hospice care as well as short stays in nursing homes. About 99 percent of Medicare beneficiaries covered by this program do not pay a monthly premium. The deductible is their only cost for up to 60 days of Medicare-covered inpatient hospital care in a benefit period.

Beneficiaries must pay an additional $267 per day for days 61 through 90 in 2009, and $534 per day for lifetime reserve days that can be used for hospital stays beyond the 90th day in a benefit period. In 2008, those amounts are $256 and $512, respectively. Daily coinsurance for the 21st through 100th day in a skilled nursing facility will be $133.50 in 2009, up from $128 in 2008, the CMS said.

For beneficiaries who have to pay for Part A coverage, the monthly premium will increase from $423 in 2008 to $443 in 2009.

In mid-August, the CMS said the average monthly premium for Medicare’s prescription drug plan will increase from $25 this year to $28 in 2009. The premium for next year is 37 percent lower than originally projected when the Part D drug coverage was introduced in 2003.

National Library of Medicine

Survival rates improve for Kids with Blood Cancers

In the United States, 5- and 10-year survival rates continue to improve for children younger than age 15 diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), acute non-lymphoblastic leukemia, or non Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), says a new study.

Advances in treatment for these diseases have led to increased long-term survival for patients. But most population-based studies include survival data from patients diagnosed in the mid 1990s or before and, therefore, may not reflect current outcomes, according to background information in the study.

In order to assess current trends, researchers compared 5- and 10-year survival estimates for patients diagnosed in 1990-94, 1995-99, and 2000-04, and also developed methods to predict survival in patients diagnosed in 2005-09.

The researchers found that from 1990-94 and 2000-04, 5- and 10-year survival increased from: 80.2 percent to 87.5 percent and from 73.4 percent to 83.8 percent, respectively, for patients with ALL; from 41.9 percent to 59.9 percent and from 38.7 percent to 59.1 percent, respectively, for patients with acute non-lymphoblastic leukemia; and from 76.6 percent to 87.7 percent and from 73.0 percent to 86.9 percent, respectively, for patients with NHL.

For children diagnosed in 2005, the estimated 10-year survival rate was 88.0 percent for ALL patients, 63.9 percent for patients with acute non-lymphoblastic leukemia, and 90.6 percent for NHL patients.

“Our period analysis revealed that survival after diagnosis with childhood hematologic malignancies has improved greatly over the past decade,” the study authors concluded. “Improvements in survival in childhood hematologic malignancies are most likely attributable to changes in how these diseases are treated.”

The study was published in the Sept. 9 online issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Source: NLM

Stand up to Cancer raises $100M

In an unusual merging of the usually competitive three major television networks – ABC, CBS and NBC – the Friday night “Stand Up To Cancer” (SU2C) telethon raised more than $100 million for cancer research.  The figure included money raised from viewers since the campaign officially began, on May 28, 2008.

According to ABC’s website the telethon reached an estimated 170 countries and territories and was the most-watched show on broadcast television according to Nielsen Media Research.

A spectacular line up of talent including Jennifer Aniston, James Taylor, Scarlett Johansson, Meryl Streep, David Cook, Christina Applegate, Lance Armstrong, Jack Black, Kirsten Dunst, Charles Barkley, America Ferrera, Halle Berry, Hilary Swank, Forrest Whitaker, Jimmy Fallon, Keanu Reeves made personal appearances on the show.

SU2C funds will support research projects conducted by interdisciplinary, multi-institutional translational and clinical research “Dream Teams” and high-risk Innovative Research Grants from which ideas for new Dream Teams may arise. The funds will be administered through the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), the largest scientific organization in the world focusing on every aspect of high-quality, innovative cancer research.

The Entertainment Industry Foundation is a charitable organization whose head, Lisa Paulsen, vowed that 100 percent of the money would go directly to fund research.

Cancer, the uncontrolled growth of diseased cells, spreads through the body invading healthy organs. The newly discovered map of genetic mutations behind some of the most aggressive cancers – glioblastoma and pancreatic cancer – are offering hope for new diagnostic tests and better treatments.

Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the country after heart disease, and The American Cancer Society predicts that 1,437,180 new cancer cases will be diagnosed this year alone.   More than 500,000 in the U.S. die from cancer which takes more than six million worldwide each year.

Epilepsy drug may help alcoholics

University of Michigan researchers have found that an epilepsy drug might reduce insomnia, and help alcoholics become sober again.

Alcoholics are highly likely to suffer from chronic insomnia that keeps them from getting enough night sleep, and the condition reduces of recovering from alcohol dependence.  However, doctors don’t normally prescribe insomnia medications, because most sleeping pills can be habit-forming or have adverse
effects due to an alcohol-damaged liver.

The University of Michigan alcoholism and sleep researchers recent study may offer some sign of a possible way out of this conundrum.

The study, published in the August issue of the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, suggests that the drug gabapentin might be able to reduce insomnia in recovering alcoholics, and help
them stay away from alcohol more successfully. The drug, often used to treat epilepsy and chronic pain, is not habit-forming and is not processed by the liver.

Although the study involved only 21 insomniacs in recovery from alcohol dependence, and did not provide long-term gabapentin treatment or long-term follow-up on their sleep or their alcohol recovery, it was
randomized, placebo-controlled, and double-blinded. In all, 30 percent of the patients who received gabapentin during alcohol recovery relapsed to drinking, compared with 80 percent of those who received a
placebo.

Based on the results, the researchers have already launched additional studies of the potential role of gabapentin in alcohol recovery and sleep.

“We showed that the patients who got the real drug, rather than placebo, were less likely to relapse to drinking — or if they relapsed it was later,” says lead author Kirk Brower, M.D., FASAM, the executive
director of U-M Addiction Treatment Services and a professor of psychiatry at the U-M Medical School. “In other words, gabapentin prevented and delayed relapse. Meanwhile, patients reported sleeping
better in both the treatment and placebo groups, which may be due to the gabapentin in the first group and the resumption of drinking in the other.”

“We showed that the patients who got the real drug, rather than placebo, were less likely to relapse to drinking — or if they relapsed it was later,” said lead author Dr Kirk Brower, FASAM, the executive director of U-M Addiction Treatment Services and a professor of psychiatry at the U-M Medical School.

“In other words, gabapentin prevented and delayed relapse. Meanwhile, patients reported sleeping better in both the treatment and placebo groups, which may be due to the gabapentin in the first group and the resumption of drinking in the other,” he added.

Co-author Dr. Flavia Consens, an associate professor of neurology and member of the U-M Sleep Disorders Centre said that as many as 70 percent of people with alcohol problems suffer insomnia, while others cope with other sleep disturbances including breathing problems known as sleep apnea.

Americans drinking less alcohol

Americans are drinking less alcohol, with middle-aged people consuming about one-third less than 50 years ago, researchers report.

Overall, Americans are drinking less beer, but more wine, while consumption of hard liquor has remained fairly constant. Also, more people say they don’t drink, and those born later in the 20th century are more moderate drinkers than their parents.

“It looks like moderate drinking has been increasing, heavy drinking is down a little bit, and total alcohol consumption is down a little bit,” said lead researcher Dr. R. Curtis Ellison, a professor of medicine and public health at Boston University School of Medicine.

“It is encouraging news that more people are drinking moderately, and the average intake is coming down rather than shooting up,” he said.

For the study, Ellison’s team collected data on 8,000 people who took part in the Framingham Heart Study. People in the initial arm of the study were born before 1900 up until 1959. Those from the initial enrollment group as well as their children were interviewed every four years from 1948 to 2003 about their alcohol consumption.

Ellison explained that the Framingham study consists primarily of white, middle-class individuals from the Massachusetts town of the same name. “It generally tends to reflect trends within the country among middle-class, white Americans,” he said.

The researchers found that, overall, people are drinking less. “People drank about a third more back in the ’50s and ’60s than they did in the ’70s up to 2004,” Ellison said.

There’s been a gradual decrease in the average amount of alcohol people drink. For instance, alcohol consumption among men has gone from about two-and-a-half drinks a day to one-and-a-half drinks a day, Ellison said.

“At the same time, there’s been a decrease in beer and an increase in wine consumption among people. But the average intake has decreased,” he said.

As for liquor, the average intake has remained pretty much the same, he added.

Despite the decline in alcohol consumption, the risk of alcohol dependence did not show a corresponding decrease, the study also found.

“We don’t know why alcohol consumption has gone down,” Ellison said. “The data are very clear that light to moderate drinking, without binge drinking, is generally good for health, whereas a larger amount of binge drinking is bad. It looks like, in this population, it’s going in the right direction.”

The study findings were published in the August issue of The American Journal of Medicine.

David L. Katz, director of the Yale University School of Medicine Prevention Research Center, noted that during “recent decades, the messages about alcohol have increasingly emphasized the potential to derive both pleasure and health benefits from wine, provided the dose is prudent. The trends in this study suggest those messages are having an impact, at least in Framingham, Massachusetts. Among those not vulnerable to alcohol abuse, intake patterns appear to be shifting in accord with expert recommendations.”

New Book Helps Stroke Survivors and Families

Someone in the United States has a stroke every 40 seconds on average and stroke is the third leading cause of death according to the American Heart Association. Ron Gardner, survivor of a severe stroke, understands what it feels like to have his life changed forever. He has made it his personal mission to better the lives of the other more than five million survivors and their loved ones with his new book, Take Brave Steps for Stroke Survivors and Families – A Message of Motivation and Hope.

The book teaches how motivation meets inspiration following a life altering event. Unlike other books, Gardner leads readers from “bitter to better.” He shares his heart-felt personal tragedies and triumphs over stroke and he guides survivors through the Take Brave Steps™ process, including Tips, Self-Reflections, and Exercises.

Ron explains how the book came to be.  “On the morning of November 5, 1997, I woke up and my life had changed forever. I had suffered a severe stroke in my sleep and when I woke up, I was paralyzed on my right side and barely able to speak.”

The issue was Ron did not immediately seek medical attention, and the focus of the book is to help people better understand what to do, and how to deal with all the challenges that come with a stroke.

“I did something terribly stupid. I was in denial and I said to myself, “This isn’t happening to me. I’ll walk this off. My foot is asleep.” Well that was the wrong thing to do. After more than six hours, I called my wife at work and alerted her that something had gone wrong and we finally went to the emergency room.  Unfortunately, I had suffered six more hours of brain damage. I hope others will learn to call 9-1-1 immediately if they have any similar symptoms.

“It took me approximately one year to learn to walk and talk again.  My wife and I found there was very little information related to the mental, emotional and social and family challenges we faced available. I decided to close that information gap and help millions of others by writing the book.”

“What makes this book special is that I share very personal accounts of the suffering and how I prevailed over the illness and that is where the reader’s journey to empowerment and wellness begins. I invite them to get actively involved with their own recovery by participating in self-reflections, tips and other helpful Brave Step tools.”

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