Amblyopia Undetected `lazy eye’ causes vision problems

This condition — amblyopia, sometimes called “lazy eye” — can result from strabismus, crossed eyes that turn in or eyes that turn out. When eyes turn in, double vision results and the brain discards the image from one eye to “fix” the problem. When eyes turn out, the brain receives input from only one eye at a time and learns to favor the better eye.

An eye that drifts off center by just a degree is enough to cause amblyopia, but the untrained eye will not notice a disparity until one eye turns in or out by about five degrees.

Jane Brody
Mercury News
June 1, 2005

Connecticut: Ron Gambardella Insurance & Financial Services

There is a bewildering array of life insurance choices. To name a few there are policies that do not require a blood and urine samples, others that return all of your premium payments at the end of the term period and still others that invest permanent policy cash values in an assortment of mutual funds. Each product has advantages and disadvantages. Most people who purchase insurance do not have the experience to make the appropriate choice given their own financial situation. You may have questions such as “Can someone own a life insurance policy other than the insured?” That is why service is what our clients expect and service is what we provide.

By focusing on a Connecticut, every client is afforded individualized personal service prior to purchasing a policy and after the policy is in force (You won’t believe the questions that come up relative to change in beneficiaries long after the policy has been sold.). Even before meeting with an agent, you can request your free, no obligation quote. You will receive your quote via e-mail. Only after your completely satisfied with the product and price, you will meet with an agent. The purpose of the agent visit is to complete your life insurance application as well as provide you an opportunity to ask any additional questions and get immediate answers – not to sell any products; the application process takes between 20 minutes and a half hour. Life insurance is important part of your financial planning. It is this personalized service that our clients value when making a decision to purchase a life insurance policy. The best part is that you will pay among the lowest premiums in the industry from top rated insurance carriers.

Shop for Life & Health Plans Online!
Serving Only Connecticut Residents and Businesses!
Ron Gambardella
Insurance & Financial Services
800-685-5727

Panel Urges Limits on Use of a Heart Drug Natrecor

A panel of cardiologists delivered a setback to Johnson & Johnson, recommending that the company’s heart-failure therapy Natrecor not be given to outpatients and calling for a large clinical trial to determine its safety.

The panel, led by Dr. Eugene Braunwald of Harvard Medical School, said the intravenous therapy should be reserved for seriously ill patients arriving at hospitals. The committee warned in particular against regular serial outpatient infusions of the drug, a growing practice in heart-failure treatment clinics that have sprung up.

By STEPHANIE SAUL
New York Times
Published: June 15, 2005

Remembrance: Richard Eberhart, 101, Poet Who Wed Sense and Intellect, Is Dead

With their concern for the natural world, and their persistent exploration of the tension between spirit and matter, Mr. Eberhart’s poems hark back to the Romantic tradition of Blake and Wordsworth. (He parted company with full-blown Romanticism through his use of short lines and irregular rhythms.) His style typically married an almost naïve description of sensory images with an erudite intellectualism. Though some critics found this marriage forced, for others it succeeded far more often than not.

By MARGALIT FOX
New York Times
Published: June 14, 2005

Designing a multimedia conversation aid for reminiscence therapy in dementia care environments

As world populations grow older the incidence of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and other dementia related illnesses increases (approximately 18 million sufferers worldwide). One particularly devastating effect of AD is the loss of short-term memory, which radically impairs the sufferer’s ability to communicate. People with dementia, however, often retain a facility for long-term memory that can function strongly given appropriate stimulation.

Project CIRCA (Computer Interactive Reminiscence and Conversation Aid), utilizes interactive multimedia (including audio, video, animation and QuickTime VR environments) to stimulate long-term memory to prompt verbal and non-verbal communication.

Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

Touch screen multimedia system has helped people with dementia be more interactive with carers

The Computer Interactive Reminiscence and Conversation Aid (Circa) packages clips of old films, music and photos which can be played via a touch screen.

Reminiscence therapy is important for dementia sufferers, but they are often led and controlled by the carer.

BBC News
June 15, 2005

Red meat ‘linked to cancer risk’

A major study has found fresh evidence of a link between red and processed meat and bowel cancer, scientists say.

The European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) looked at the dietary habits of over 500,000 people across Europe over 10 years.

BBC News
June 15, 2005

Medicare Presses for Wide Choice in Drug Benefits

As companies devise insurance policies for the new Medicare drug program, federal officials are pressing them to offer a surprisingly generous array of prescription drug choices, according to industry executives.

As a result, experts say, the Medicare drug benefit, which begins in January, is shaping up to give beneficiaries access to a larger number and a wider variety of prescription drugs than are now available to many workers and retirees with private employer-sponsored health insurance.

By ROBERT PEAR
New York Times
Published: June 15, 2005

GOP Senators May Make 69 Retirement Age

Key Senate Republicans are considering gradually raising the Social Security retirement age as high as 69 over several years as they struggle to jump-start legislation that President Bush has placed atop his second-term agenda, officials said Tuesday.

Under current law, the retirement age for full Social Security benefits is 65 1/2 and is scheduled to reach 67 for those born in 1960 or later.

By DAVID ESPO
The Associated Press
Tuesday, June 14, 2005; 8:48 PM

Entrepreneurs Offer Cheaper Printer Ink

We recently tested some of the new ink-cartridge replacement options on several measures. Aside from cost, we wanted to see how the no-name replacements compared quality-wise with branded cartridges. We used everything from a do-it-yourself refill kit to a re-engineered ink cartridge off the Internet, and we also headed into a Cartridge World store and an Island Ink-Jet stall to get our empty ink vessels refilled.

By PUI-WING TAM
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
June 14, 2005; Page D1

Cartridge World; www.cartridgeworldusa.com
Island Ink-Jet; www.islandinkjet.com
Jet-Tec; www.jettecusa.com
Number One Inkjet., store.1-inkjet.com