X-Message-Number: 18708
From: 
Date: Wed, 6 Mar 2002 00:06:23 EST
Subject: The Nun Study & The Bright Yellow

CryoNet:

This story has been out a while, but I found it again and read it again and 
decided to post its URL.  It also reminded me to take my B-Complex vitamin 
just now -- if just for the folate (folic acid) alone.  By the way, this is 
the vitamin group that brightens up your urine (with no artificial coloring 
added!) -- just another one of those qwerky phenomenons I intend to track 
down some day, along with why we never see the dark side of the Moon. (It's 
that precise, timeworn, absolute synchronization thing that gets me.)

www.time.com/time/covers/1101010514/index.html

My selected excerpts:

"Says Suzman, of the National Institute on Aging: "This is one of the first
studies to look at the cardiovascular component of Alzheimer's disease." 

"Not even close. Snowdon's study attracted the attention of leading
Alzheimer's researchers, who explained to him that the elderly women
represented an ideal population for studying this mysterious disease.
On average, 10% of people over 65 come down with Alzheimer's, a
number that rises to 50% by age 85. Given the aging population of the
convent, they knew that a significant proportion of the nuns would have
the disease."

"Diet may play a role in Alzheimer's in other ways as well. In 1998 British
researchers announced that Alzheimer's victims have low concentrations
in their blood of the nutrient folate, also called folic acid. That's an 
intriguing
result, especially in light of other studies showing that folic acid 
deficiency
plays a role in some forms of mental retardation in children and in cognitive
problems in adults. So Snowdon began looking at levels of folic acid, along
with 18 other micronutrients (including beta carotene, magnesium, zinc and
cholesterol) in blood samples of 30 sisters who had died since the study
began."

I found the following sentence section in the article which must be at least 
as rare as a four leaf clover (not sure about the degree of good luck to be 
bestowed though) with two significant typos within one typed word of each 
other.  Another digital-folate-deprived spellchecker at TIME?

"...hippocapus, the past of the brain..."

(hippocampus, the part of the brain)

Regards,

D.C. Johnson, Raleigh

PS: 
Almost forgot...  For any abusers who might like to keep their folic acid 
(and/or greater B-Complex) habit less detectable, check out the following:  
www.UrineLuck.com

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