World's Oldest Mother Dies

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A Spanish woman who was the oldest ever to become a new mother died Saturday at the age of 69, according to her family, BBC News reported.

Maria del Carmen Bousada was 66 when she gave birth to twin boys in 2006. She said she received fertility treatments at a California clinic after telling doctors she was 55. A Spanish newspaper said she was diagnosed with cancer shortly after giving birth to sons Christian and Pau, who are now 2 years old.

Bousada had said there was no reason to believe she would not live as long as her mother, who was 101 when she died. Even if she died prematurely, she said, her sons would never be alone, BBC News reported.

"There are lots of young people in our family," Bousada said.

Original Post: HealthDay

Parental Stress Increases Kids' Risk of Asthma

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Asthma is one of the most common ailments of young childhood - rates among children under age 5 have risen 160% from 1980 to 1994 in the U.S. But while the list of triggers that set off bouts of wheezing and shortness of breath (allergies, pollution or strenuous exercise, for example) are well known, it's still not clear exactly how the various factors that cause asthma - including genes, environment and exposure to pollution - contribute to children's chances of developing the disease.

Now researchers at the University of Southern California say they have a clearer understanding. In their study of nearly 2,500 non-asthmatic children ages 5 to 9 who lived in the area, researchers found that the level of stress reported by the children's parents had a significant impact on the kids' susceptibility to other common contributors to asthma - namely exposure to pollution from traffic and secondhand smoke. Scientists found that children whose parents described themselves as stressed and anxious were 50% more likely to develop asthma than kids with non-stressed parents - at least when these youngsters were also exposed to pollution in a high-traffic, urban setting.

Parental stress alone did not increase the children's risk of asthma, but the combination of living in a household with high stress levels and being exposed to pollutants from traffic in the environment was sufficient to trigger the disease. The study found similar results with exposure to tobacco smoke.

Studying a combination of factors can help explain why some kids are more likely to develop asthma than others, says Rob McConnell, lead author of the study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "Childhood asthma is a complex disease and probably has many contributing causes," he says. "This study provides another clue as to what might be causing it."

The results also shed light on how risk factors like stress can increase the vulnerability of the respiratory system to environmental pollution or allergens. Because asthma involves inflammation in the airways in response to particulates that enter from the air, a separate factor that also increases the body's inflammatory response - like stress - can help create especially fertile conditions for asthma to develop. So a child who feels anxiety in response to parental stress, for example, may already have inflammation in his airways, which makes him more likely to develop asthma because of exposure to environmental pollutants.

"The message to take away is that various factors overlap to create asthma," says Dr. Leonard Bielroy, an allergy, asthma and immunology specialist in Springfield, N.J., who has studied some of the condition's intersecting risk factors. "And whether those factors are psychological or physical, the more they overlap, the greater the chance of developing asthma."

While McConnell and his group did not specifically measure stress levels in the study's participants - it's difficult to get a reliable reading in such a large number of youngsters quickly - other studies have shown that parental stress translates directly with more-anxious kids. McConnell hopes that these findings will spur additional studies to investigate why, for example, asthma rates tend to be higher among lower socioeconomic groups. "There are a lot of potential reasons why poverty might be associated with asthma," he says, including that poorer families tend to live in more highly polluted, densely packed urban areas.

But there might also be a psychological contribution, which his study has highlighted. "It's not poverty itself but something about poverty that increases the risk of asthma, and we are suggesting that stress is another exposure we ought to think about."

Original Post: news.yahoo.com

Heart risks 'missed in smokers'

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High blood pressure is picked up less often in people who smoke, despite them being at higher risk of heart disease, research suggests.

A study of more than 20,000 men and women in England found smokers were less likely to be aware that they had high blood pressure than non-smokers.

The University College London team said spotting the condition was particularly important in those who smoke.

Being diagnosed can also prompt people to quit, heart experts said.

Smoking and high blood pressure, also known as hypertension, are both key causes of early death, the researchers wrote in the European Journal of Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation.

National guidelines advocate that doctors encourage those with high blood pressure to stop smoking and that greater effort should be made to look for signs of the condition in those who smoke.

The study, which took data from the Health Survey for England in 2003 and 2006, found improvements over time in the proportion of people who knew they had high blood pressure.

But it was being detected less frequently in people who smoked compared with those who did not, or those who used to smoke but had quit.

Among those smokers who had been diagnosed with the condition, they were more likely to have been told by a health professional to stop smoking than those who did not know they had hypertension, and were more likely to have quit.

Weight

One reason for the lack of diagnosis could be that smokers in the study tended to be thinner than those who did not smoke.

The researchers, who were funded by Cancer Research UK, said that GPs may be more likely to test blood pressure in people who were overweight.

Since 2004, GPs have been paid an incentive to test blood pressure and to record whether someone is a smoker.

Study author Dr Jennifer Mindell said it was disappointing to find smokers with high blood pressure were not being diagnosed.

"It's important to pick up high blood pressure in everybody but it's particularly important in somebody who already has a higher than average risk of heart disease or stroke, including those who smoke.

"And anything that gives people additional motivation to quit must be a good thing.

"It is a reminder for GPs that measuring blood pressure in smokers, even if they are thin, is important."

June Davison, a cardiac nurse from the British Heart Foundation, said: "It is crucial that smokers are aware of their blood pressure as smoking and high blood pressure are among the most common risk factors for cardiovascular disease.

"This study also highlights that if smokers are made aware of their high blood pressure, it can increase their motivation to stop smoking.

She added that smokers over the age of 40 should go for a health check where their blood pressure will be measured and advice on quitting smoking can be given.

Original Post: bcc.co.uk

RIDERS TO THE STARS / Ivan Tors Productions - 1954

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It's Meteor Mayhem Monday with Tabonga, here at The Dungeon!.. It's a redo post from the past all about the first rocket jockeys who pioneered catching meteors, an idea that has never really caught on! Seriously, how in the Hell could anyone catch a meteor?! This flick played on fifties TV regularly, that's where I first saw it, filmed in Supercinecolor even though it was always broadcast in b/w back then...

Kitty White sings the theme in this nice soundclip Eegah!! just sent over, sooooo, you can push the big red 'GO' button over there by purple whatchamacallit, NOW, Ralphie The Tarantula! Here's some audio from... RIDERS TO THE STARS!

The sci-fi story's written by Curt (THE WOLFMAN) Siodmak. The military races to get a 'black box' with info retrieved from a flight into space.

This is a cool looking scene where US agents are trying to aquire astronauts to chase meteors for their space program. Here's William (MEN INTO SPACE) Lundigan changing the bulb in his dark office.

King (INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS) Donovan questions Richard (THE MAGNETIC MONSTER) Carlson about becoming a rocket jock.

Richard's girlfiend's a hot chick that does commercials (she's sitting in the driver's seat) and who doesn't wear a bra!

Wow, the film crew had good access to some pretty awesome space equipment for some of the shots, like at this centrifuge at the University of Southern California for example! Martha (ABBOTT AND COSTELLO GO TO MARS) Hyer plays the very capable and shapely assistant.

William obviously went for a ride in it. Wheeeee!!!..

Just love this stock footage shot, that's all..

It's all about the meteor scoop!

Five..... four..... three..... two.....

Three rockets are launched to try and capture a meteor. The way they portrayed the Earth in the fifties is hilarious, WTF!

Of course, their first attempt ends in total failure!

As a kid, this is the part I always remembered, pretty shocking back then.

Richard looks through his scope and sees his dead amigo, so, totally freaks out! He unbuckles himself from his seat and floats in the cabin! Even worse, the gravity sticks him to the ceiling, making him helpless to prevent his own death!! Seriously wild scene.

Then, things go south for William after he captures a meteor!

When NASA was just a Rambler ambulance and a Chevy firetruck!

William crashes the rocket in the desert but survives the ordeal. I remember that shot of the tore up rocket in the early issues of FAMOUS MONSTERS and in SPACEMEN...

Here's what all the hoopla is about, a sparkling meteor from space with many secrets to tell those who will listen! Reminds me of ANDROMEDA STRAIN.

THX 1138 - Lalo Schifrin \ Walter Murch - "Serious Chemical Imbalance" (1971)

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"The Future Is Now!" - "I Think We're All Bozos On This Bus!" - The Firesign Theatre

"THX 1138" was George Lucas's first full length film!

For some, like Tabonga, who are of the rubber monster persuasion, "THX 1138" is too arty,  slow, and dreary!

It might move at a paramecium's pace at first, but if nothing else, "THX 1138" is 86 minutes of pure eye taffy!!

The amazingly active and talented Robert Duvall as "THX 1138" has been nominated for 6 Oscars for either best actor or best supporting actor, and won the the gold statue once for best actor in "Tender Mercies!"

This is LUH 3417, THX's mate, as portrayed by Maggie McOmie! One of the stars of George Lucas's first feature and yet she has appeared in only one other feature film, four shorts, and one video!

The future doesn't show a lot of promise unless you've got a lot of help!

Home entertainment is provided by repetitious holograms and jungle rhythms provided by Lalo Schifrin!

The almighty ones make judgment upon anyone involved in illegal sexual activity like THX and LUH!

THX and LUH are permanently separated for their illicit behaviour and THX loses it!

Because of his distractions, THX almost turns the whole place into a nuclear nightmare!

The authorities cannot allow such conduct, and the robot security forces escort THX to his new home!

Desperation, despair, despondence, alienation, and a total mental whiteout wipeout are his earned rewards!


Donald Pleasence is Sen 5241, his name has been popping up a lot around here lately! 6' 4" Don Pedro Colley is the black hologram in a white world, and the only one who knows the way out, of course!

Reality is madness to the tenth degree! Maybe the insanity of solitude wasn't so bad compared to the overpopulated and insanely fast moving world of the outside!

How convenient is that? George Lucas's studios were in the Bay area, the home of the B.A.R.T. system, and the awesome looking underground rail system of the future! Sleek and stark, how absolutely perfect?

Unfortunately, holograms aren't such great drivers!

Panic, pursuit and pandemonium ensue!

Shades of "Vanishing Point," some odd number of years into the future!

Run THX, run! There has to be something better! There just has to! Head towards the light, and the possibility of a different existence, even if it means death, it will still be worth it!!

Light, warmth, sunshine, and the possibility of love, maybe? Life really is worth living, or is it? Maybe there's still time for tomorrow, or a sequel, but then, maybe not!

THE DEVIL COMMANDS - "The Iron Hand Of Horror" (1941)

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"The Devil Commands" is a freaky little picture! First off, there's no Devil in it, or even any reference to one, except in the title that I noticed!

It's actually about a poor misguided man searching for a way to reunite himself with a deceased person he loves more than anything, who, in this case, just happens to be his wife!

Boris Karloff is that man, a role he always plays so well! His name this go round is Dr. Julian Blair!

Dr. Blair is experimenting with brain waves, and communication without speaking!

One dark and dreary night his wife is accidently killed while she is sitting in a parked car waiting for him in the pouring rain!

Dr. Blair is a wreck himself after that incident and horribly distraught!

Firmly believing there is a path to the other side, Dr. Blair seeks solace with the local medium Mrs. Blanche Walters played by the Oscar Winning Anne (SCUDDA HOO! SCUDDA HAY!) Revere! I was going to make a joke that she was Paul Revere's wife, but then I found out that she was actually Paul Revere's descendant!

Dr. Blair wastes no time proving that Mrs. Walters is a phony, but yet he still believes she has more moxie than your run of the mill fake medium, and decides to invite her back to his mad lab for some further experimentation!

Mrs. Walters is a tough bird! Dr. Blair shoots ten thousand volts through her, but just like a Timex watch, she takes a licking and comes back ticking!

The two of them with the help of Dr. Blair's slightly warped assistant Karl, move to an old mansion and set up shop anew with the help of a few dead locals! Karl was played by Cy Schindell, who despite only living to the age of 41 before succumbing to cancer, was able to wrack up 152 acting credits including quite a few "Three Stooges" shorts!

Dorthy (Hot Rod Rumble) Adams as Mrs. Marcy the maid is just about to bite off a whole lot more than she can chew! Snooping around just doesn't pay!!

Whoa! A Dead body inside some kind of rockin' robot getup, what gives around this joint! AAaaaahhhh!!!

Right about here, this movie gets real creepy as all the bodies kind of come alive and start gyrating and bouncing around like a bunch of robots in some mad electric poker party!

The surge of electricity is way too much for Mrs. Marcy, so now Dr. Blair has really got a murder on his hands! Before it was just stealing bodies, but now they've actually killed somebody!

The local law enforcement was already suspicious, but when Mrs. Marcy doesn't come back home from work, her husband demands that the law investigates things a little further! Sherriff Ed Willis is played by Kenneth (Punchy Cowpunchers) MacDonald, and Seth Marcy is played by Walter (The first "Floyd The Barber") Baldwin!

Blanche Walters goes on one last wild ride! Aaiiieeee!!!!

Dr. Blair has now totally lost it, and is willing to sacrifice his loving daughter's life just to be able to speak to his dead wife again! Anne Blair was played by Amanda Duff! This film must have been enough for Amanda who called it quits after only 8 acting credits! After what they did to her in this film, you can't hardly blame her!

After the locals storm the house just like in a "Frankenstein" movie, Dr. Blair gives it one last final attempt! He's getting so close he can almost taste it!

But instead of success, the whole place crumbles down around him! What a weird movie, simple, short at 65 minutes, and very effective, but I still don't think they should blame the devil!