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Teens Need To Hear About 'More Than Abstinence,' Philadelphia Inquirer Editorial Says
Although it is "important for other young people to hear" Bristol Palin"s message "about how hard it is to be a teenage mother," her "lesson falls short by suggesting that any teen can successfully avoid premarital sex," a Philadelphia Inquirer editorial says. Palin, who gave birth in December 2008 after an unintended pregnancy and is the daughter of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R), has "changed her tune" since she said in a February interview that teen abstinence is ""not realistic at all,"" the editorial states. It adds that Bristol Palin -- now an "abstinence ambassador" for the Candie"s Foundation -- recently said that abstinence is "realistic" and that it is the "harder choice, but it"s the safer choice."The editorial continues that Palin is correct that "[a]bstinence is the only foolproof way to avoid pregnancy" and sexually transmitted infections. However, "any viable lesson about avoiding teen pregnancy should include methods besides avoiding sex, including the use of condoms," the editorial says. Recent studies have shown that abstinence-only sex education programs have had "no measurable impact on delaying teens from having sex for the first time," according to the editorial, which adds that teen pregnancy rates rose 5% between 2005 and 2007 after years of declines. Additionally, three out of 10 U.S. girls will get pregnant by age 20, a figure that increases to more than 50% for Hispanics and blacks. The editorial concludes that teens "need frank talk about premarital sex that includes all of the viable options to avoid pregnancy" (Philadelphia Inquirer, 5/15).

Age Concern And Help The Aged On New Research On Dementia, UK
Commenting on the new research on Alzheimer"s by the the Institute of Psychiatry at King"s College London, Michelle Mitchell, Charity Director for Age Concern and Help the Aged said:
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Three Organizations Form Alliance To Address Global Malnutrition
"Three internationally known organizations based in St. Louis - the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, the Washington University School of Medicine and St. Louis Children"s Hospital" - have entered into a partnership, known as the Global Harvest Alliance (GHA), which aims to "create inexpensive, nutritionally complete food to help the world"s hungry and undernourished," the AP/Google.com reports. Alliance researchers will focus on several of the most successful approaches used to combat malnutrition and attempt to further enrich foods already used to fight it. "In addition, the alliance aims to help testing and distribution of crops genetically modified to boost nutritional content. They hope to provide the crops cheaply to farmers to produce more nutritious foods," writes the AP/Google.com (Taylor, 7/29).
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Eight To 14 Weekly Units Of Booze Boosts Overall Tally Of Days Spent In Hospital

Downing between eight and 14 units of alcohol a week boosts the total number of days spent in hospital, finds research published ahead of print in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. Twenty one weekly units is the government"s recommended maximum weekly tally of alcohol for men. The study included almost 6,000 working men, aged 35 to 64 during the early 1970s, from West and Central Scotland. Participants underwent a comprehensive health screen to check for underlying and potential health problems and were quizzed about their weekly alcohol consumption. This was categorised as none; 1 to 7 units; 8 to 14; 15 to 21; 22 to 34; and 35 or more. Their health was then tracked for an average of 28 years, using national hospital activity data, focusing on heart and respiratory diseases, stroke and alcohol related illness/conditions. The results showed that men drinking over 22 units a week had a 20% higher rate of admissions into acute care hospitals than non-drinkers. But relatively low levels of alcohol consumption gave rise to a higher number of bed days. Drinkers of eight or more weekly units spent longer in hospital than non-drinkers, with length of stay progressively increasing the higher the weekly consumption. Those drinking the most chalked up a 58% higher use of beds. The number of admissions for stroke, and more time spent in hospital as a result, started with a weekly tally of 15 units, and progressively increased the more weekly units were consumed. Those downing 22 or more weekly units had more admissions for respiratory illness, but they had the lowest rates of admission for coronary heart disease. Non-drinkers had the highest rates of admission for this. Men drinking 22 or more units a week had more admissions for mental health problems. But non-drinkers had a higher rate of admissions for mental ill health than those who drank between 1 and 14 units a week. The authors conclude that alcohol has a "notable effect" on health service use and therefore overall costs to the NHS. Journal Of Epidemiology And Community Health


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