Wellnews by Scott LaFee

A pair of unrelated studies point to two possibly predictive signals of Alzheimer's disease.

In the first, conducted at New York University's Langone Medical Center, researchers linked olfactory dysfunction in model animals with the buildup of amyloid plaque in the brain, which is a distinguishing feature of the degenerative neurological disease. The loss of smell, the scientists say, could serve as an early diagnostic tool for the disease.

In the second study, scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis studied 511 people with an average age of 78. They found that participants who tended to have "mental lapses" may be more likely to have Alzheimer's disease than people who do not have these lapses.

The mental lapses were defined as feeling drowsy or lethargic all day or several times during the day despite sufficient sleep; sleeping two or more hours before 7 p.m.; having times when the flow of ideas and thoughts seems disorganized, unclear or not logical; or staring into space for long periods.

Study participants with these symptoms were 4.6 times more likely to have dementia than those without mental lapses. And their Alzheimer's symptoms tended to be more severe.

The studies were published in the Journal of Neuroscience and Journal of the American Academy of Neurology, respectively.

NUMBER CRUNCHER

An entree of Applebee's crispy buttermilk shrimp with sauce, potatoes and toast contains 843 calories, 306 from fat. It has 34 grams of total fat or 52 percent of the recommended total fat intake for a 2,000-calorie daily diet.

It also contains 377 milligrams of cholesterol (126 percent); 1,563 mg of sodium (65 percent); 83 grams of total carbohydrates (28 percent); 8 g of dietary fiber (32 percent) and 52 g of protein.

GET ME THAT.

STAT!

A new study out of the Bristol-Myers Squibb Children's Hospital says the most effective time period for beginning toilet training of children is between 24 months and 32 months of age. Researchers studied 150 children, ages 4 to 12, half with some form of "urge incontinence," such as day-wetting or bed-wetting. They found that children who began toilet training after 32 months of age had more problems. Timing appeared to be more important than the specific training method used.

BEST MEDICINE

A man who was feeling poorly visited his doctor. In the course of the exam, the doctor asked the man what he typically ate in a day.

"Well, for breakfast I usually have a handful of red jelly beans and one or two blue ones. For lunch, I stick to yellow jelly beans, but for dinner I'll splurge and eat them all — red, blue, yellow, plus maybe some black jelly beans, too."

"That's the problem," the doctor said. "You're not eating any greens."

OBSERVATION

My doctor gave me two weeks to live. I hope they're in August.

— Comedian Ronnie Shakes

PHOBIA OF THE WEEK

Barophobia — fear of gravity

BODY OF KNOWLEDGE

The most sensitive finger on the human hand is the index finger.

EPITAPHS

Beneath these poppies buried deep,

The bones of Bob the bard lie hid;

Peace to his manes; and may he sleep

As soundly as his readers did!

— Tombstone of Robert Southey, an English poet laureate (1774-1843)

To find out more about Scott LaFee and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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