This exit plan works

            SYRACUSE , NY - Better body armor, etc., have yielded an unmatched number of U.S. soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan disabled, and 20% are from towns with under 5,000 residents. Barriers to productivity for those with disabilities affect the soldier and the city. The Dept. of Entrepreneurship and Emerging Enterprises in the Whitman School of Management at Syracuse University launched “Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities” (EBV), a training program in entrepreneurship/small business management for vets disabled in Iraq and/or Afghanistan . Mike Haynie, Whitman assistant professor of entrepreneurship and an ex-major in the U.S. Air Force, says EBV will stress practical training in the tools of new venture creation and growth, reflecting issues unique to disability and public benefits programs. Participants will learn how to write business plans, raise capital, get clients, select effective marketing, hiring needs, and how to expand. EBV is offered with the Burton Blatt Institute, which seeks to advance civic, social, and economic participation of persons with disabilities (315-443-8736, or EBVinfo@syr.edu).

            WASHINGTON - Monday Morning in Washington, DC noted the Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Foundation seeks a parent or close family member of a person and outstanding professionals in inclusive services and supports for people with mental retardation, intellectual, and developmental disabilities for an intensive one-year Public Policy Fellowship in Washington. The chosen applicant will learn how legislation is initiated, developed, and passed by Congress, or how programs are administered and regulations promulgated by federal agencies. Fellows will participate in an advocacy training workshop, national disability policy seminars, and the intensive week-long course at Georgetown University 's Kennedy Institute of Ethics. Salaried experience in the field is NOT a requirement. Sept. 14 is the deadline for completed applications. The starting date is seen as January 2008. Address letters of application to Mrs. Eunice Kennedy Shriver, Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. Foundation, 1133 19th St. NW, 12th Floor, Washington, DC 20036. Attn.: Parent Public Policy Fellowship Program.

            BOSTON - A study by the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) and University of Athens ( Greece ) Medical School (UAMS) in the Archives of Internal Medicine suggests naps are good for your heart. Midday napping cut coronary mortality by about 33% among men and women. Researchers led by Androniki Naska, UAMS hygiene and epidemiology lecturer, and senior author Dimitrios Trichopoulos, HSPH professor of cancer prevention and epidemiology, looked at 23,681 people in Greece who, at the study start had no heart disease, stroke, or cancer history. Study participants were followed an average of 6.3 years. Naps are common in the Mediterranean region and several Latin American countries, which tend to have low mortality rates of heart disease. This was a large study of individuals who were healthy at enrollment and to control in detail risk factors such as diet and physical activity. Results showed people who regularly took naps - at least three times per week for an average of at least 30 minutes - had a 37% lower coronary mortality than those not taking naps. The protective effect was strong among working men and weaker among those not working, mainly retirees.

            WASHINGTON - The Associated Press reported treatment options for early Parkinson's expanded with approval of a drug in patch form - a first for medicines to treat Parkinson's symptoms. Once-daily Neupro has rotigotine, never sold in the U.S. , the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said. The patch, made by Schwarz Pharma AG. The disease results from loss of dopamine-producing brain cells. Dopamine is crucial to communicate for cells that control muscle movement, which explains trembling commonly seen in patients. Rotigotine activates brain dopamine receptors, mimicking neurotransmitter's effect. The most common side effects for Neupro include skin reactions at the patch site, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, drowsiness, and insomnia, FDA said. Other potential safety concerns include sudden sleep while in activities such as driving or operating machinery, hallucinations, and decreased blood pressure when standing up, FDA said. Belgium 's UCB bought Germany-based Schwarz Pharma in 2006.

            SAN FRANCISCO - By cutting levels of brain protein "tau," scientists saved memory and life spans of mice genetically engineered to develop Alzheimer's disease, HealthDay News disclosed. The finding could point to strategies to protect aging humans against the brain-robbing illness. "We found a way to make cells more resistant to poisonous amyloid protein that builds up in the brain," said senior author Dr. Lennart Mucke, director of the Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease and professor of neurology at the University of California . "The trick was to reduce normal [tau] protein we all make by half," he said. This "somehow made the brain and memory cells resistant to detrimental effects of amyloid protein," he added. "This provides scientists with a new target, or re-tools a known substance into a potential drug target," said Dr. Sam Gandy, Medical and Scientific Advisory Council chair of the Alzheimer's Association, and director of the Farber Institute for Neurosciences at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia . The findings in the journal Science would complement current efforts to fight Alzheimer's by reducing levels of amyloid protein in the brain.

            WASHINGTON - Monday Morning in Washington, DC noted Children's Health Coverage: States Moving Forward is posted at ccf.georgetown.edu. States cited are: Alaska , Arizona , California , Colorado , Connecticut , D.C., Florida , Hawaii , Illinois , Iowa , Massachusetts , Minnesota , Montana , New Hampshire , New York , North Carolina , North Dakota , Ohio , Oklahoma , Oregon , Pennsylvania , Rhode Island , South Carolina , Tennessee , Texas , Utah , Vermont , Washington , West Virginia , and Wisconsin . The Center for Children and Families is an independent, nonpartisan policy center in Georgetown University 's Health Policy Institute. The mission is to expand and improve health coverage for U.S. children and families.

            BALTIMORE - HealthDay News disclosed vision loss costs Medicare more than $2 billion a year to care for non-eye related medical woes, such as depression and disability. The study was done by scientists affiliated with the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies, Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins University , and Pfizer Inc. "We have understood the devastating personal impact of blinding eye disease on patients and families. With this study, we see the serous economic impact of poor vision on the healthcare system and those who pay for it," study lead researcher Dr. Jonathan C. Javitt stated. Authors checked data on about 1.5 million beneficiaries continuously enrolled in Medicare 1999-2003 and found those with moderate, severe, and total vision loss raised their risk for depression, injuries, and the need for nursing home care. The team estimated that in 2003, blindness and vision loss among beneficiaries cost Medicare $2.14 billion in non-eye related medical expenses. Those with moderate vision loss, severe loss, and blindness had annual non-eye related costs of $2,193, $3,301, and $4,443, respectively, higher than people with normal vision. Many vision woes were caused by Age-related Macular Degeneration ( AMD ), glaucoma, and cataracts not surgically removed. The study was in the journal Ophthalmology.

            SILVER SPRING, MD - Reuters Health noted a single dose of antibiotic azithromycin, sold in the U.S. as Zithromax, is urged as first therapy for traveler's diarrhea, particularly if it's acquired in Thailand, scientists noted in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases. Surveys of U.S. military personnel in Thailand revealed Campylobacter family bacteria are responsible for up to 60% of diarrhea cases, Dr. David Tribble, of the Naval Medical Research Center , and colleagues note. More than 85% of these pathogens resist fluoroquinolone antibiotics, such as Levaquin or Cipro, frequently used for traveler's diarrhea. Researchers studied 156 patients with diarrhea treated at military clinics in Thailand . They were assigned randomly to azithromycin given in a single dose or over three days, or to levofloxacin for three days. Campylobacter organisms were isolated in 64% of patients and 50% of these organisms were resistant to levofloxacin. No azithromycin resistance was seen. Three days after treatment was started, the cure rate was 96% in single-dose azithromycin patients, 85% for three-dose azithromycin patients, and 71% for those given levofloxacin.

            BOSTON - This year, millions of women will experience a universal experience: menopause. Some women will sail through with few problems, but three of every four will experience symptoms due to wide fluctuations of hormones estrogen and progesterone. One in four will have major symptoms that impair quality of life. The most common will be hot flashes, drenching night sweats, disturbed sleep, mood swings, vaginal dryness, concerns about sexuality, and worries about memory slippages - all of which may affect a woman’s most important relationships and her ability to function at home and at work. Dr. JoAnn Manson, professor at Harvard Medical School and author of Hot Flashes, Hormones, and Your Health, was a lead investigator on the Harvard Nurses’ Health Study and the Women’s Health Initiative. Dr. Manson believes the alarmist and uncritically positive views of menopausal hormone therapy are incorrect and harmful. Her “unifying theory” is: Hormone therapy tends to be beneficial when started early after menopause, and harmful when started late after menopause.