And Now, a Moment from Our Sponsor...

Ingrid Sturgis, Howard University professor by day and world famous author by night, is using her own observations and research to detail her new book on interracial dating between black women and other races.

An established author of a relationship based book entitled The Nubian Wedding: Words and Rituals to Celebrate and Plan an African-American Wedding, and numerous articles on black love, Sturgis is no stranger to the topic of love and relations.

“When I worked at Essence [magazine], we did a survey on how black women felt on dating outside the race; 60 percent were okay with dating outside of their race, and that was surprising to me,” said Sturgis. This research, along with studies done on eHarmony.com, sparked the focus of her new book that is currently in production.

Born and raised in the South Bronx, Sturgis was able to grow up around a variety of people and relationships. Those observations made while living in the melting pot of New York is what Sturgis is using to obtain most of her stories and information.

“I’ve seen it here more than anywhere in the world. I, personally, have never really dated outside of the race. It’s not about my experiences but the experience of other people I know,” explain Sturgis.

The main focus of Sturgis’s new book is the relationships between black women and men outside of their race, an often controversial topic in the African-American community. Studies show that black women are least likely to date outside of their race among all ethnic groups. However, because of the lack of available black men, Sturgis believes black women are “having greater choices and taking advantage of their options.”

“I’m writing the trend,” says Sturgis. “The trend has to do with the unavailability of black men to be married. [Black women] are opening up.” The completion date for Sturgis’s new book is yet to be determined.

City Stroke

According to University of Michigan in Ann Arbor researchers, residents of cities with numerous fast food restaurants within their proximity are more inclined to strokes.

The study was conducted between January 2000 and June 2003 in Nueces County, TX where there are more than 260 fast food restaurants. Over 1,200 strokes were recorded due to blood clots during the time of the study.

The observed relationship between the city and the fast food restaurants suggested a 1 percent increase in stroke per fast food restaurant.

Researcher Dr. Lewis B. Morgenstern says they are still unsure whether the reasoning for this association is because of the actual consumption of the fast food or if the fast food restaurants were just placed in unhealthy neighborhoods.

The National Restaurant Association disagrees with the study for lack of data and says the study failed to mention the eating and exercise habits of the individuals involved. Spokeswoman Beth Johnson defends fast food chains by explaining how the industry continues to offer healthier options for its consumers and how the study has not legit association between fast food consumption and strokes.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/02/19/stroke.fast.food/index.html

No Smoking Zone

Individuals exposed to secondhand smoke are at a high risk of developing dementia according to current research done by University of Cambridge and University of Michigan researchers.

The researchers took 4,809 nonsmokers over the age of 50 and tested their salivary cotinine concentration. HealthDay reporter Steven Reinberg explains cotinine as “a product of nicotine that can be found in saliva for about 25 hours after exposure to smoke.”

Those participating in the study also took memory, math, and verbal tests to evaluate their cognitive impairment and brain functionality. Individuals who scored in the lowest 10 percentile were recorded as having some type of cognitive damage.

Increased risks of heart disease, stroke, and Alzheimer’s disease for passive smokers are already well-known. This study now can add dementia to list of dangers caused by secondhand smoke, for those exposed have an increased risk of about 44 percent.

According to lead researcher Ian Lang, there is a direct relationship between cognitive function and secondhand smoke; the more exposure to secondhand smoke, the more an individual’s cognitive functions become weaken and increase the possibilities of dementia.

“People should definitely take this study seriously,” says Connie Ross, a 51-year-old African-American woman. “As someone who has been married to a smoker for 28 years, this study really hits home.”

http://health.yahoo.com/news/healthday/secondhandsmokelinkedtodementia.html

http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/abstract/338/feb12_2/b462

Estrogen vs. Testosterone on Capitol Hill

Recent medical evidence shows that women are less risky in their decision making than men, resulting in the idea that they may be better government and economic leaders.

It is evident that all of the top bankers on Capitol Hill are men. The current state of Wall Street is perhaps the consequence of four things: greed, glory, disaster, and risk – each issue related to high levels of testosterone.

A Cambridge University scientist tested the saliva of male traders and found that their testosterone rose when they made large amounts of money. This brings people believe that more estrogen present in the field may be beneficial.

Scientific studies show that women use both sides of their brain more than men, making them less risky than their counterparts. Also, oxytocin, a hormone present in women, makes them more cautious under stress and likely to look at the bigger picture.

These recent discoveries suggest gender balance is key in government and economics. Men are known to be fast reactors, short-term thinkers, and big risk-takers. To create more equilibrium, more women in management positions insinuate good results for businesses.

http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=6862108

Salmonella Shipping Scandal

Recent inspection records show Georgia-based company Peanut Corp. of America continued to ship off salmonella-contaminated peanuts after knowing that the products were or could be tainted.

The Food and Drug Administration reported the company continued to ship some products after the tested peanuts had either been confirmed for salmonella or had not recieved the clearing test results. For example, the FDA reports that on July 18 and 24, the company sent out chopped peanuts after a private lab had confirmed salmonella in the products. This is in contradiction to Federal Law which forbids shipping or producing products that could be harmful to the consumers' health. Finding show that this has been happening as far back as 2007.

Eight deaths and over 500 illness are the result of the recent salmonella outbreak, including 1,550 product call backs. ABC News reports that a criminal investigation has been opened by the Justice Department.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/02/06/peanut.butter/index.html
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=6825713

Double Take

According to Tara Parker of the NY Times, 200 sets of identical twins were used in an aging study to determine what outside factors contribute to facial aging during the annual twin convention in Twinsberg, Ohio.

The researching doctors chose identical twins because they are "genetically programmed" to age at the same rate, making it easier to distinguish what outside environmental and life experiences quicken the aging process. The study focused only on identical twin women; no men were involved in the study.

Using photographs, a panel would point out the aging differences in the appearance of each twin to determine which one looked older than the other. Several factors were established as increased aging factors such as depression, sun exposure, divorce, stress, and smoking. The twin who had more experience or exposure to the aforementioned factors usually appeared older than the twin who did not.

51-year-old identical twin Bonnie Richardson finds the study to be quite accurate: "[My sister and I] basically look the same. This is probably because we have about an equal amount of stress and sun exposure and are both married. The aging process seems to be the same for both of us right now."

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/05/twin-studies-explain-wrinkles-of-aging/