Green tea drinkers show less disability with age: study

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Tuesday, 07 February 2012 05:22

Green tea contains antioxidant chemicals that may help ward off the cell damage that can lead to disease. Researchers have been studying green tea's effect on everything from cholesterol to the risk of certain cancers, with mixed results so far

Elderly adults who regularly drink green tea may stay more agile and independent than their peers over time, according to a Japanese study that covered thousands of people.

Green tea contains antioxidant chemicals that may help ward off the cell damage that can lead to disease. Researchers have been studying green tea’s effect on everything from cholesterol to the risk of certain cancers, with mixed results so far.

For the new study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, researchers decided to examine the question of whether green tea drinkers have a lower risk of frailty and disability as they grow older.

Yasutake Tomata of the Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine and his colleagues followed nearly 14,000 adults aged 65 or older for three years.

They found those who drank the most green tea were the least likely to develop “functional disability”, or problems with daily activities or basic needs, such as dressing or bathing.

Specifically, almost 13 per cent of adults who drank less than a cup of green tea per day became functionally disabled, compared with just over 7 per cent of people who drank at least five cups a day.

“Green tea consumption is significantly associated with a lower risk of incident functional disability, even after adjustment for possible confounding factors,” Tomata and his colleagues wrote.

The study did not prove that green tea alone kept people spry as they grew older.

Green-tea lovers generally had healthier diets, including more fish, vegetables and fruit, as well as more education, lower smoking rates, fewer heart attacks and strokes, and greater mental sharpness.

They also tended to be more socially active and have more friends and family to rely on.

But even with those factors accounted for, green tea itself was tied to a lower disability risk, the researchers said.

People who drank at least five cups a day were one-third less likely to develop disabilities than those who had less than a cup per day. Those people who averaged three or four cups a day had a 25 per cent lower risk.

Although it’s not clear how green tea might offer a buffer against disability, Tomata’s team did note that one recent study found green tea extracts seem to boost leg muscle strength in older women.

While green tea and its extracts are considered safe in small amounts, they do contain caffeine and small amounts of vitamin K, which means it could interfere with drugs that prevent blood clotting.

Ontario licence plate? He's a terrorist

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Last Updated on Saturday, 04 February 2012 21:48 Saturday, 04 February 2012 21:44

Floridian sicks police on "terrorist"

"What's that, some kind of foreign licence plate? Yeah, that guy's a terrorist."

That's what Joseph Tarochione thought when he spotted a set of white-and-blue Ontario plates on a car in Florida, apparently.

On January 31, the 73-year-old Homosassa, Florida man dialed police, said he was with the Department of Defense special forces and asked them to inspect a vehicle belonging to a Canadian tourist for bombs, reports News 13.

Tarochione had used his own vehicle to force the Ontario car (not the one pictured; that's a modified stock image) off the road and into the parking lot of a strip club, where he held the, um, suspects until officers arrived.

Problem is, Tarochione is not acually with the Department of Defense. And the tourists were not terrorists. Just Canadians. No bombs. No guns.

That doesn't mean firepower wasn't involved. When police searched Tarochione's car, they found a .22 Magnum handgun, a .22 long rifle revolver, a 16-gauge shotgun and ammunition.

Good thing he didn't try to use any of them during his "arrest." No one was harmed during the incident.

Tarochione was later arrested and jailed for impersonating a law enforcement officer.

UPDATE 04/02/2012: Since he's been released from jail on bond, Tarochione has told a local NBC TV news station that he pulled over the Ontario driver because, he alleges, the tourist was driving erratically, almost hitting a pedestrian and two cars, including his own. Tarochione said he considers such hazardous driving "terrorizing."  

souce: msnbc

Aafia Siddiqui contracts cancer in US jail

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Thursday, 02 February 2012 19:33

KARACHI - Pakistani scientist Dr Aafia Siddiqui, who is serving 86-year imprisonment in a US prison cell, has contracted cancer and allegedly become pregnant as a result of sexual abuse during her confinement.

Talking to The News Tribe, her sister Dr Fouzia Siddiqui said she had come to know through Pakistani Consul General in Houston that Aafia had been diagnosed with a cancer. She added that earlier there were reports that the Pakistani scientist had become pregnant due to alleged sexual abuse during imprisonment. However, the Pakistan Embassy has not playing its role in either confirming or rejecting the reports.

She said that former Pakistan ambassador to US Husain Haqqani was called back the next day when he told us about the condition of Aafia.

She quoted Pakistan Consul General Aqil Nadeem as saying that he was requesting the jail authorities for providing medical facilities to the Pakistani scientist.

Fouzia said keeping in view the reputation of the Roswell jail and the nature of her sister’s disease the request was insufficient.

She urged the Pakistan Embassy to arrange a team of physicians comprising doctors from jail as well as from private sector for Aafia.

Fouzia said that newly-appointed Pakistan Ambassador to US Sherry Rehman had assured her all possible help before leaving for America to take up her new assignment. However, despite making contact with her, the envoy has not given any response in this regard.

Speaking about the reports of Aafia’s alleged pregnancy, she said that her family was told about it after the Pakistani scientist showed some symptoms in the women jail.

Fouzia appealed to the US and Pakistani authorities to arrange a telephonic conversation of her mother with Aafia.

Earlier, British journalist and human rights activist Yvonne Ridley had declared the long punishment of Aafia as just ‘one step away from death’.

Talking about attitude of Pakistani politicians being adopted on the Aafia issue, Fouzia said she would not believe in their statements until and unless her sister returns to Pakistan. She complained that the politicians had only exploited the Aafia issue just to gain political mileage.

She said that Aafia had been provided substandard food at jail, which led to health problems as she had complained of it during her earlier telephonic conversations.

The News Tribe, a UK-based bilingual news website has approached Pakistan Ambassador to US Sherry Rehman through an email to get her point of view on the issue but received no response till the filing of this news.

Husain Haqqani to leave Pakistan tonight

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Tuesday, 31 January 2012 03:31

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's former ambassador to the US Husain Haqqani will be traveling to Abu Dhabi then to the US via a private airline.

According to sources, Haqqani will be taken to the airport with a security escort provided by the Islamabad police.

On Monday, the Supreme Court lifted travel restrictions on Haqqani under the condition that he appear before the memo commission whenever summoned and should do so within four days of the notice.

Meanwhile, the US businessman at the center of the memo scandal has written an email to Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammed Chaudhry.

Sources received details of that email in which Ijaz writes that he is willing to come to Pakistan if he is provided assurance by the Chief Justice.

The assurance according to Ijaz should be that he be allowed come to Pakistan on one flight record his statement then leave on the next flight out.

The US businessman fears that if comes to Pakistan he might be stuck in the country for one year and his business and family would be severely affected.

Ijaz further writes in the email that he was the one who had given the proposal to lift travel restrictions on Husain Haqqani because "it shouldn't be the case that one person was under restrictions while the other was free."

He goes on to write that if the commission was to record his statement abroad then it was necessary for Haqqani to also be present.

Mansoor Ijaz adds that he had been receiving threats from Interior Minister Rehman Malik.