Climate Warming to our daily happy life

This is our one and only place where we can not hide...
Now we can not say that consuming energy (even for our own health) doesn't affect our life directly. It only happen in future, and island populations.
NO! It have bigger impact than you think. Be wise yo ..

(AP) Climate warming is allowing disease-causing bacteria, viruses and fungi to move into new areas where they may harm species as diverse as lions and snails, butterflies and humans, a study suggests. Pathogens that have been restricted by seasonal temperatures can invade new areas and find new victims as the climate warms and winters grow milder, researchers say in a study in the journal Science. "Climate change is disrupting natural ecosystems in a way that is making life better for infectious diseases," said Andrew Dobson, a Princeton University researchers and another co-author of the study in Science. "The accumulation of evidence has us extremely worried. We share diseases with some of these species. The risk for humans is going up." Climate changes already are thought to have contributed to an epidemic of avian malaria that wiped out thousands of birds in Hawaii, the spread of an insect-borne pathogen that causes distemper in African lions, and the bleaching of coral reefs attacked by diseases that thrive in warming seas. Humans are also at direct and dramatic risk from such insect-born diseases as malaria, dengue and yellow fever, the researchers said. "In all the discussions about climate change, this has really been kind of left out," said Drew Harvell, a Cornell University marine ecologist and lead author of the study. "Just a one- or two-degree change in temperature can lead to disease outbreaks." Richard S. Ostfeld, a co-author of the study, said, "We're alarmed because in reviewing the research on a variety of different organisms we are seeing strikingly similar patterns of increases in disease spread or incidence with climate warming." Ostfeld is an environmental researcher at the Institute of Ecosystem Studies. In the study, the authors analyzed how warming temperatures already are letting insects and microbes invade areas where they once were barred by severe seasonal chills. They said mosquitoes are moving up mountainsides, spreading disease among animals formerly protected by temperature. They also found some pathogens reproduce more often in warmer temperatures, so there are more germs around to cause infection. Among the possible effects they found: Epidemics of Rift Valley fever, a deadly mosquito-borne disease, rage through northeastern Africa during years of unusual warmth. If the climate becomes permanently warmer and wetter, as some predict, Rift Valley fever epidemics will become frequent. Malaria and yellow fever may become more common as milder winters permit the seasonal survival of more mosquitoes, which carry these diseases. A warmer climate also could enable them to move into areas where the cold once kept them out. In Hawaii, a warming climate has chased the chill from some mountains, letting mosquitos thrive at higher and higher elevations. The bugs have carried with them a type of avian malaria, and the disease has attacked native birds that had no immunity to the disease. "Today there are almost no native birds (in Hawaii) below 4,500 feet," (1,350 meters)(Dobson said in an interview. Coral reefs in many parts of the world are becoming bleached and dying, killed by pathogens that thrive in the warming seas. "Previously many of the waters were slightly below the optimal temperatures for these pathogens," said Ostfeld. "Now the temperatures are right on target. There is a strong link between the warming climate and diseases of corals." Germs that attack oysters also are thriving in the warming waters. Ostfeld said oyster beds as far north as Maine are now being affected by pathogens once barred by a colder sea. An outbreak of distemper killed many lions in Tanzania last year, and the scientists linked that to a climate change that enables flies that carry distemper to invade parts of East Africa. A parasite that kills Monarch butterflies can survive only at warm temperatures, which protected the colorful insect in its northernmost habitats. A warming climate has allowed the parasite to spread. Ostfeld said where the Monarch is rare "it may disappear, and where it is common, it may become less abundant."

Chickenpox can be dangerous for you than for your children

I got chickenpox. It was not very nice feeling. I don't know, it's just like influenza with itchy spots. What made me surprised was that the fact that the attack to adult body was more severe than to my 2 years daughter. Actually it is. Moreover, the complication happened can threat life too. Fortunately, I am still alive and can write to you. :)
I quote from Wikipedia, but from eMedicine, see ... the complication, if 1:50 is small, it is rarely serious. It depends on your self defend ...
eMedicine
Even today, varicella is not totally benign. One study suggested that nearly 1:50 varicella cases are associated with complications. Among the most serious complications are varicella pneumonia and encephalitis; both are associated with a high mortality rate. In addition, significant concerns have been raised about the association of varicella with severe invasive group A streptococcal disease.

Wikipedia
Chickenpox is a highly contagious illness caused by primary infection with varicella zoster virus (VZV). It generally begins with conjunctival and catarrhal symptoms and then characteristic spots appearing in two or three waves, mainly on the body and head rather than the hands and becoming itchy raw pockmarks, small open sores which heal mostly without scarring.
Chickenpox has a 10-21 day incubation period and is spread easily through aerosolized droplets from the nasopharynx of ill individuals or through direct contact with secretions from the rash. Following primary infection there is usually lifelong protective immunity from further episodes of chickenpox.
Chickenpox is rarely fatal, although it is generally more severe in adults than in children. Pregnant women and those with a suppressed immune system are at highest risk of serious complications. The most common late complication of chicken pox is shingles, caused by reactivation of the varicella zoster virus decades after the initial episode of chickenpox.

Why Alzheimer is uncommon in India?

In India, Alzheimer's disease is relatively uncommon. People over the age of 65 living in certain rural areas of India have a less than 1 percent (0.84%) chance of developing the disease. In the larger cities and rural areas of India, the risk is just 2.4 percent.

Compare these findings to people over the age of 65 living in the United States. Again, depending on where we are living, our chances of developing Alzheimer's disease range from a little under 5 percent to an astonishing 17 percent.

So what are people who are living in India doing that we aren't doing here in the US to account for these dramatic differences? What are the tip for their healty life against this alzheimer? The answer seems to be curry, that zesty spice and staple of Indian foods. Research has shown that a compound in curry not only prevents changes in the brain that lead to Alzheimer's disease, it actually reverses some of the damage already present.

How can curry prevent these changes in the brain? Isn't that a lot to expect from a spice? Evidently, it's not too much to expect from this spice. Curry comes from the turmeric plant - Curcuma longa is the plant's official name. Curcumin, a plant compound in turmeric, is the source of curry's instantly recognizable bright yellow pigment. When it comes to the scientific research of Curcuma longa, the terms curcumin and turmeric are both used. Both refer to the same thing - turmeric extract.6 There have been more than 1300 studies on turmeric and its health benefits for humans. Research has shown turmeric is able to help the body get rid of cancer-causing toxins. Turmeric also blocks estrogen receptors and enzymes that promote cancer. And it's been found to stop the growth of new blood vessels in cancerous tumors - an important factor in keeping cancer from getting larger and spreading throughout the body.

But one of turmeric's most exciting health benefits is its ability to reduce, prevent, and stop inflammation. While inflammation is a normal and needed response to injury or disease, chronic inflammation can cause damage to tissues. And researchers are now finding inflammation plays a huge role in Alzheimer's disease. I've always heard that Alzheimer's disease was caused by complex growths in the brain called plaques and tangles. How can simple inflammation cause such a devastating disease? You are right. Plaques and tangles are indeed the hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease. But researchers looking at the brain damage caused by Alzheimer's have always noted the presence of inflammation wherever plaques and tangles form.

In the past, this inflammation was thought to be simply a consequence of Alzheimer's disease. Now scientists believe the inflammation itself starts a chain reaction ultimately contributing to the developement of Alzheimer's disease.11 When cells in the brain are disrupted by inflammation, amyloid, a protein normally found in the brain, begins to act chaotically. This chaos results in the creation of betaamyloid, protein that is toxic to cells in the brain. Sticky deposits of beta-amyloid build up and collect around the cells, making dense clumps or plaques. Because the brain can't break the plaques down or get rid of them, they stay right where they are and slowly accumulate.

Tangles result when long protein fibers that act like scaffolding for brain cells begin to twist and tangle. The cell is damaged and eventually dies. But the tangled proteins remain in the brain even after the dead neuron has been cleared away.

And inflammation might be the culprit causing the long protein fibers to start tangling.The consequence of these abnormalities of protein in the brain is more than the cell death they cause. They also act as roadblocks, interfering with electrochemcial messengers being shot from cell to cell. Therefore, the remaining healthy cells’ activity is diminished as well. Research of identical twins has repeatedly shown that if one twin has Alzheimer's disease, the other has a 60% chance of developing the disease, too. Scientists from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, looked at information from 20,000 twins collected in the 1960s and found 109 pairs of siblings where only one twin had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's. When the Swedish researchers analyzed data about the twins' health, they found the twin with Alzheimer's disease almost always had chronic gum disease. While bleeding gums are definitely not the cause of Alzheimer's disease, the inflammation that plays a large part of chronic gum disease may signal an inflammatory process stuck in overdrive.

In fact, the inflammatory process might occur years before the onset of Alzheimer's, and be the result of any number of infections people can contract. That's why current research is searching for ways to protect brain cells from inflammation. And why some countries have low rates of Alzheimer's disease, like India.

Why curry? Couldn't other lifestyle differences account for the low rates of Alzheimer's disease in India? That's a good question. When researchers begin studying a disease, like Alzheimer's, they look for trends to help them determine how and why the disease occurs. For example, we all now know the connection between cigarette smoking and lung cancer. But, it wasn't until the 1930's that doctors noticed the trend for cigarette smokers to have more lung cancer than people who didn't smoke.17
So it has been with researchers studying Alzheimer's disease. They know Alzheimer's disease has an important connection to inflammation. They also know turmeric reduces inflammation. And when researchers noticed these trends - that people in India eat high amounts of curry from turmeric and have very little Alzheimer's disease - they began to theorize that turmeric might be able to prevent or even treat the illness. And the research they designed around these trends has unequivocally found turmeric to be one common denominator.18-21 What have the turmeric studies shown so far? Simply amazing findings are coming from curry research. Not only does turmeric slow down cancer growth, it's also been found to correct the cystic fibrosis defect in mice, help prevent the onset of alcoholic liver disease, and may slow down other serious brain diseases like multiple sclerosis.22 Researchers from the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) studying turmeric have found it to be more effective than the drugs currently being investigated for Alzheimer's disease treatment and prevention. The researchers have discovered the actual structure and shape of turmeric allows it to penetrate the blood-brain barrier effectively and bind to beta amyloid.23 Other research findings shows turmeric helps remove betaamyloid that's already built up in the neurons. Turmeric helps maintain healthy brain cellular metabolism, helps the cells repair themselves, and keeps the cells connected to each other.

In other words, turmeric helps brain cells stay healthy. And now the UCLA Alzheimer's Disease Research Center (ADRC) is using turmeric in clinical trials and studying the effect of this powerful spice in patients diagnosed with this devastating disease. Clinical trials are the gold standard of medical research. But it's rare in Alzheimer's disease. And it's even more rare when all-natural herbs and spices like turmeric are used in hopes that positive benefits will be discovered. The head of UCLA's research team was recently interviewed and stated that setting out to hopefully prove turmeric's ability to prevent and treat Alzheimer's disease was “tremendously exciting.”

I recently read that one of the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) was found to prevent Alzheimer's disease. Is this true? Scientists recently studied ibuprofen, one of the NSAIDs investigated for Alzheimer's Disease Prevention.

Ibuprofen belongs to a family of drugs that includes naproxen, indomethacin, nabumetone, and several others. These drugs are used most often to get rid of headaches, mild arthritis, and other kinds of pain and inflammation.

In the studies, the average dose of ibuprofen was 800mg a day. Patients took the product for two years. While the results suggested that ibuprofen might reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer's, ibuprofen's side effects are too harmful to be a valid lifelong prevention aid treatment.

Ibuprofen, like other NSAIDs, can cause gastrointestinal bleeding when used at high dosages over a long period of time. Long term use of ibuprofen can also lead to analgesic nephropathy, a kind of kidney damage caused by NSAIDs. As we discussed earlier, turmeric appears to block and break up brain plaques that cause the disease and helps reverse some of the damage already present. Ibuprofen does not provide any protection against free radical damage. No anti-inflammatory medicine can do this.

If I eat curry will I be protected against Alzheimer's disease? There aren't many foods or recipes I make that require curry, do I need to eat it every day? And how much do I need? If you enjoy Indian cuisine, by all means, enjoy these delicious foods. You'll benefit your brain and your appetite. But you make a good point, American meals rarely contain curry. That's why supplements that contain extracts are suddenly quite popular. In fact, there are numerous turmeric/curcumin supplements on the market today. But like all nutritional supplements, some turmeric supplements are superior to others. You need to read their labels to make sure the turmeric extract you are buying will provide the protection you need. Look for high-potency turmeric extract from turmeric (Curcuma longa) rhizome. And make sure the extract is standardized to contain 90% curcuminoids, the active ingredient in turmeric responsible for the positive research findings.

Conclusion Researchers once thought that preventing for Alzheimer's disease would elude them for decades. In fact, several scientists privately speculated the disease might never be ameliorated. They thought the origin of the disease was too complex and the symptoms of the disease were too profound. That's why the ongoing research on turmeric is so exciting. A safe, natural, and effective way to protect against Alzheimer's disease almost seems too good to be true. But, the nation of India and its low incidence of Alzheimer's disease are proof these are not just fluke findings - making turmeric extract a supplement to remember as a tip for healty life.