News Letter 2007 07

M. A. SMITH

A PROFESSIONAL LAW CORPORATION

MASAPLC.COM

Michael A. Smith, Attorney at Law

319 E. Foothill Blvd., #C Voice - (626) 357-1177

Arcadia, CA 91006 Facsimile - (626) 357-4588

July 2007 No. 25

Testicular cancer is the most common form of cancer in men aged 20 to 35 but can occur in men who are younger and older. Some cancers are genetic; if a relative has suffered from this form, you need to be particularly cautious. The risk is higher if you had an undescended testicle as a child.

It is normal for one testicle to be slightly larger than the other but if either suddenly gets bigger, get it checked. There are a lot of causes of lumps in the scrotum, most of which are nothing to worry about, but if you notice something new you should see your doctor. Also seek help if you get a persistent dull ache in the groin. Thanks Fred C.

A Pennsylvania entrepreneur has developed technology to give all the battery juice needed directly from the air. Powercast and its first major partner, electronics giant Phillips, are set to launch their first device powered by electricity broadcast through the air.

Powercast’s platform uses nothing more complex than a radio. A transmitter plugs into the wall and a dime-size receiver can be embedded into any low-voltage device. The receiver turns radio waves into DC electricity, recharging the device’s battery at a distance of up to three feet.

Treating cancer with surgery, chemotherapy or radiation may cause tumors to spread. Researchers may have found one of the causes, a compound called TGF-beta. Tests in mice show using radiation or the chemotherapy drug doxorubicin both raised levels of TGF-beta, which in turn helped breast cancer tumors spread to the lung.

Using an antibody to block TGF-beta stopped the process, reported Dr. Carlos Arteaga at Vanderbilt University. Developing drugs that block TGF-beta might help prevent cancer from recurring, Arteaga reported.

Cancer experts have wondered if the so-called primary tumor, the first and biggest tumor, might somehow suppress the growth of other tumors, and that removing or destroying the first tumor might allow other, undetectable, tumors to grow. TGF-beta, which is involved in both the growth and suppression of tumors, may hold part of the answer. Mice infected with human breast cancer cells were treated with radiation or doxorubicin and had higher levels of TGF-beta in their blood. They also had more tiny tumor cells in their blood, and these cells metastasized, or spread, to the lungs.

When the mice were treated with an antibody that suppresses TGF-beta, the spread stopped. The spreading process did not occur at all in mice bred to lack the TGF-beta protein.

Testing is now being done on TGF-beta levels in the blood of breast cancer patients. Thanks Fred C.

Severe teeth loosening appears to increase the risk of premature death due to cancer or cardiovascular disease. According to researchers at the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, who tracked 3,743 randomly selected people, between the ages of 30 and 40, actual loss of teeth suggested an undetected, ongoing disease for some 15 to 20 years.

Researchers found a clear link between severe tooth loosening disease, loss of one or more molars and a tripled risk of premature death but have not been able to explain the link. Their theory is a long-term inflammation during teeth loosening produces harmful substances such as cytokines that may impact the immune system. Thanks Fred C.

Japanese scientists have developed an oral vaccine for Alzheimer’s disease that has proven effective and safe in mice. The team is preparing to move to small-scale clinical trials in humans, possibly this year.

When administered to mice suffering from the disease, which causes dementia and is currently incurable, the vaccine reduced the amount of amyloid plaques in the brain and improved mental function. The treatment did not cause inflammation or inter-cranial bleeding in the mice. Amyloid plaques are believed to be at the root of Alzheimer’s disease.

The treatment was tested on 28 mice genetically modified to develop Alzheimer’s. Half the animals were given a dose of the vaccine at the age of 10 months, while the control group were not treated. Three months later, tests showed mental function in the treated mice had returned to levels close to those before they developed Alzheimer’s symptoms. Thanks Fred C.

The chief purpose of education, it might be argued, is to equip one’s mind with the ability to absorb information and analyze it critically in order to reach a conclusion. Ironically, however, the more information we are given about the academic performance of California’s six million-student system of public education (mostly in the form of test results), the less we truly know about how our children are being equipped with those vital cognitive and analytical skills.

State Superintendent of Schools, Jack O’Connell, released the latest round of test scores and declared, “We’re on the right track (CA rated 800 API).” When the details are examined, the term “right track” appears to be somewhat rosy.

The 800 API score is not a very high standard. The state itself says it would take a score of 875 to equate to grade-level proficiency in reading, math and other skills. In other words, if every school only reached the 800 score O’Connell terms the “benchmark of achievement,” it would mean every student would still be sub par.

Even if the 800 score were acceptable, barely 1/3 of California schools are reaching that target. And, when we look at the districts with large numbers of poor, non-English-speaking, Latino or African American students, the scores are downright abysmal. LA Unified Schools, for example, managed only a pathetic 655 API, with African American and Latino students barely topping 600; with other districts even lower.

O’Connell says the state will create separate targets for student subgroups to make sure teachers and principals concentrate on low-performing students. There is, however, an expanding body of opinion that the API itself is flawed, with the numbers being manipulated.

The March 2007 issue of AMA journal Archives of Internal Medicine reported women who regularly use aspirin in low to moderate doses had a lower risk of dying from any cause. The study was done over a 24-year period. The finding was especially striking for cardiovascular disease deaths.

Data from some 79,439 women was evaluated. Participants were free of cardiovascular disease and cancer at the beginning of the test period. Women were questioned at the beginning of the test and every two years thereafter, through 2004, concerning their aspirin use. It was determined there were 45,305 women who did not use aspirin, 29,132 who took low to moderate doses (1 to 14, tablets per week); and 5,002 who reported taking more than 14 tablets per week.

There were 9,477 deaths through June 2004; 1,991 from heart disease and 4,469 from cancer. Subjects who used aspirin had a 25 percent lower risk of dying from any cause; a 38 percent lower risk of cardiovascular disease death, and a 12 percent lower risk of dying of cancer than those not using aspirin regularly. The reduction in cardiovascular disease deaths became significant with 1 to 5 years of aspirin use; cancer death reduction associated with aspirin did not become significant until at least 10 years of use. The decrease in cancer deaths was strongly related to colorectal cancer, although women who used aspirin for more than 20 years appeared to experience

“Aspirin therapy may influence cardiovascular disease and cancer through its effect on common pathogenic pathways such as inflammation, insulin resistance, oxidative stress and cyclooxygenase (COX) enzyme activity. Thanks Fred C.

Medical co-payments and deductibles, along with difficult-to-understand policies and complex hospital billing issues, are among the main reasons even people who have health insurance can face devastating financial costs, according to The Access Project. The Boston-based advocacy group studied 45 cases of people who had trouble paying medical bills to determine why they ran into difficulties. The study was funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and the Missouri Foundation for Health.

The study comes as higher annual deductible policies (those at $1,000 or more for individuals or $2,000 for families) are being touted by some policymakers, insurers and employers as a means of controlling rising health care spending in the US. Most insured people have lower annual deductibles, according to data from the Kaiser Family Foundation. Even with lower deductibles, some families are still having trouble.

One in four Americans ha trouble paying for medical care during the year. Of those reporting having trouble paying, 69 percent had insurance.

Along with deductibles and co-payments, The Access Project found other factors associated with medical debt were annual or lifetime “caps” on benefits; extra charges for “out of network” care, even when admitted to in-network hospitals; and complex billing systems by insurers and hospitals that left patients confused about what they owed. Thanks Fred C.

●Paper Security: Keep paperwork in a safe, locked location. Financial documents do not belong in a briefcase that can be lost, stolen or left unguarded in your car, even for a short time.

●Document Disposal: Put papers you no longer need through a cross-cut shredder. Receipts, papers with credit card account and Social Security numbers and loan documents, all contain information a thief can convert into a new account in your name. Even a seven-year old receipt can be used.

If the population of China walked past you, 8 abreast, the line would never end because of the rate of reproduction.

“Typewriter” is the longest word you can make using the letters on only one row of the keyboard.

Snails can sleep for up to three years at a time. (I know a few people who can do this, too).

The microwave was invented after a researcher walked by a radar tube and a chocolate bar melted in his pocket. Thanks Don C.

July’s flower is the water lily. The gem is a ruby and moonstone which stands for contentment. Googl