Calcium supplements may raise risk of heart attack

Calcium supplements, which many people consume hoping to ward off osteoporosis, may increase the risk of heart attack by as much as 30 percent, researchers reported Friday.

These tiny tablets which carry concentrated doses of calcium were also associated with higher incidences of stroke and death, but they were not statistically significant.

The researchers advised people consuming calcium supplements to seek advice from their doctors, take more calcium-rich foods and try other interventions like exercise, not smoking and keeping a healthy weight to prevent osteoporosis.

"People regard calcium supplements as natural but they are really not natural at all," Ian Reid, professor of medicine at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, said in a telephone interview.

Reid and colleagues in Britain and the United States conducted a meta-analysis encompassing 11 studies that tracked nearly 12,000 elderly people over four years.

Half of them were given calcium supplements and the other half placebo or dummy pills with no therapeutic content. The results were published in the British Medical Journal.

"What we found was a 30 percent increase in heart attacks in the people who were randomized to take calcium," Reid said.

"If you have 1,000 people taking calcium for five years, we will expect to find 14 more heart attacks, 10 more strokes and 13 more deaths in the people given calcium than they would have had if they hadn't been treated with calcium," Reid said.

"That is 37 more adverse events and we expect 26 fractures being prevented. So calcium is associated with more bad things happening than with bad things prevented."

While experts are not certain about the biological mechanism by which calcium supplements may damage the body, studies in the past have linked high levels of blood calcium to more heart attacks and damage to blood vessels, Reid said.

"When you take calcium supplements, your blood calcium level goes up over the following four to six hours and goes up to the top end of the normal range," he said.

"That doesn't happen when you have calcium to eat in your diet because the calcium from food is very slowly absorbed and so the blood calcium level hardly changes at all."

Higher blood calcium may lead to the formation of plaques in blood vessels, which can lead to heart attack, stroke and other cardiovascular diseases, Reid explained.

"People have always focused on fat levels in the blood as driving that process (plaque formation) but there is increasing evidence now that calcium levels in the blood might drive that as well," he added.

Palmdale Fire

Today the Palmdale fire reached LA County, destroying a huge area in its path. Affected zones by the wildfire damage include Palmdale, Annaverde, Leona Valley and Ritter Ranch.t has been reported that around 2000 people have been evacuated from the hills around Palmdale and northern Los Angeles County on Thursday night. Authorities are also advising people to keep the car and home windows shut to keep them from inhaling smoke. In the meantime, efforts to put out the fire continue and official information tells us that five thousand acres have been devastated by the –so far- uncontrollable fire.

Help to control the fire come from different sides; today News10.net informed that Sacramento has sent 50 firefighters and 10 engines to help with the Palmdale fire.

Fire Inspector Matt Levesque said “the fire was active on all flanks, driven by heavy brush and dry brown grasses that burn easily.”

National Cheesecake Day: Discover the Hot Deals

National Cheesecake Day is just one of the famous American days dedicated to the things we love like the Ice Cream Day.It is generally celebrated on July 30 and most Americans see it as a national holiday, even if they did not recognize

The exact origin of this festival are unknown, but it is a day that has gained much attention in recent years, thanks to the Internet and food blogs.

One of the main producers of cheese cake in the U.S., the Cheesecake Factory also using the event to promote its products to people and to try to get tasty desserts.

They are doing the same thing today, by offering 50 percent lower prices on their cheesecake slices and donating a portion of their sales to the U.S. for One Year organization Feeding.

When we think of more than 30 types of cakes from the company, this may prove a big day for you to go out and explore the world of delicious cheesecake.

UK Home gets Toy Story 3 space

If you're a UK Home user you'll be used to getting content late, or not at all, but this week is a happy week because the much requested (and pretty cool-looking) Toy Story 3 personal space will finally appear on the UK Home network.
You are just the size of a toy in the giant bedroom, which is packed with mini games and other activities, including the ability to mess around with Andy's dark board, jump on his very springy bed, play with a ball and blocks and explore the hidden nooks and crannies behind all his junk.
Elsewhere in this week's update, the Midway Carnival space will get a new Trigger Happy In-A-Box arcade cabinet, which you can play in your personal spaces. "If you've already bought the key to unlock access to this cabinet in Darla's Den, you'll get a discount," explains Sony.
There's a bunch of new furniture items going up for sale, including the "Spider Legs collection". And there's some new Monkey Island 2-themes headwear appearing too.

Apparently Sony will also stop selling balls for the Supa-Fun Robo-Goalie Time!! mini-game during Thursday's maintenance, or something. And if you have balls you should use them before July 29 when the game will be removed to make way for "a new feature".

mocospace

MocoSpace the largest U.S. social networking site at least 11 million users is designed for a mobile device. It includes features such as mobile chat, instant messaging, sharing photos and videos, blogs and forums. With this in mind, MocoSpace special attention to the safety of its users and functions that may be protected.

When we look at user safety, MocoSpace with the help of the Internet Safety Technical Task Force are taking this very seriously. Here are some tips that the safety of users requires careful MocoSpace. Users should not unsafe or offensive behavior to report, they have to be honest with regard to their age and if found to be under 18 years the account will be removed by MocoSpace. The profile should not inlcude personal information such as an e-mail address, telephone number or postal address. Privacy settings should be adjusted so that only friends can access your information. Cyberbullying, as it appears to be serious, will result in the user's account removed and possibly prosecution.

For users in particular teenagers, this information applies to them. Other tips are security, accepting an invitation from friend only people you know and trust and most importantly, the opinion of MocoSpace and all social networking sites do not meet someone in real life you've only talked online. Internet Safety Task Force conducted a recent study which concludes that anyone can endanger young people in particular. It may be in the form of harassment, sexual or exposed accosted by inappropriate content.

Medical Mystery or Hoax: Did Cheerleader Fake a Muscle Disorder?

Desiree Jennings was living a dream come true. The 25-year-old had a marketing job at a major company, was married to a handsome, successful man, and had challenging hobbies: she was an avid runner, and a cheerleading ambassador for the Washington Redskins football team.

But almost overnight Jennings went from the picture of happiness and health, to a twisted, stuttering vision of pain and suffering.

After a routine flu shot last fall, Jennings said she began experiencing fever and painful body aches. The symptoms quickly progressed until she could only walk with a twisted, halting gait, and had trouble reading, doing simple math -- even remembering things. Her condition put a halt on her once-frenetic lifestyle.

"I want to work, I want to be doing something," she said. "But who's going to hire somebody who can't remember what they did the day before?"

Jennings developed another odd symptom -- a strange foreign accent; the Midwestern woman suddenly sounded British. "It sounds like an accent, but it's not. I just can't pronounce words anymore," she said.

But perhaps worse of all is what happens when Jennings tried to recall specific memories. In her "20/20" interview, Jennings' speech devolved to stuttering, then complete gibberish.