Dental Sealants Pose No Risk From Leaking Estrogen

Dental Sealants Pose No Risk From Leaking Estrogen
By Suzanne Rostler

NEW YORK, Jan 28 (Reuters Health) -- Dental sealants do not appear to leech
dangerous amounts of an estrogen-like compound, results of a recent study
suggest.

Dental sealants are plastic coatings brushed onto teeth to prevent decay.
Once applied, they harden to form a protective coat. Sealants contain
bisphenol A (BPA) -- a chemical that mimics the effects of estrogen in the
body. BPA may leak into the mouth before the sealants have hardened.

Animal studies showed that pregnant mice who received low doses of BPA were
more likely to give birth to male offspring with larger prostates. However,
the effect of BPA in humans remains unclear.

``Our study showed that the chemical released was not absorbed, so any
possible health effects were not found,'' lead author Dr. Eric Y.K. Fung,
with the University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Dentistry, said in
an interview.

Fung and colleagues collected saliva and blood samples from 40 people, aged
20 to 55 years, who had not previously used dental sealants. Samples were
taken before the sealants (at a concentration of 8 or 32 milligrams) were
applied, and again 1 hour, 3 hours, 1 day, 3 days and 5 days after
application.

Results in the January issue of the Journal of the American Dental
Association show that BPA was detected in some saliva samples 1 and 3 hours
after sealants had been applied. However, saliva samples did not contain BPA
after 3 hours and none of the blood samples contained BPA.

``This finding implies that when BPA is released orally from sealant, it may
not be absorbed systemically, the quantity absorbed is minute and below our
detection limit, or BPA absorbed... is being metabolized,'' the authors
explain.

Further, ``there is no solid evidence that (BPA) is absorbed or causes
adverse health effects.'' And since the chemical is contained in dozens of
commercial products, including the inside of food cans, exposure from other
sources may be greater than from dental sealants, the researchers note.

``Thus, the recent concern regarding the potential estrogenicity of sealants
may be unfounded,'' Fung and colleagues conclude. SOURCE: Journal of the
American Dental Association 2000;131:51-58.

Piaggio MP3 250 - Jay Leno's Garage

Nice video review of the Piaggio MP3 250 from Jay Leno as part of his Jay Leno's Garage.

Marrow Transplant May Have Cured AIDS

Marrow Transplant May Have Cured AIDS

By PATRICK McGROARTY, AP

BERLIN (Nov. 12) - An American man who suffered from AIDS appears to have been cured of the disease 20 months after receiving a targeted bone marrow transplant normally used to fight leukemia, his doctors said Wednesday.

While researchers — and the doctors themselves — caution that the case might be no more than a fluke, others say it may inspire a greater interest in gene therapy to fight the disease that claims 2 million lives each year. The virus has infected 33 million people worldwide.

Dr. Gero Huetter of Berlin's Charite Medical University announced that an American man living in Germany apparently has been cured of AIDS 20 months after receiving a targeted bone marrow transplant.

Dr. Gero Huetter said his 42-year-old patient, an American living in Berlin who was not identified, had been infected with the AIDS virus for more than a decade. But 20 months after undergoing a transplant of genetically selected bone marrow, he no longer shows signs of carrying the virus.

"We waited every day for a bad reading," Huetter said.

It has not come. Researchers at Berlin's Charite hospital and medical school say tests on his bone marrow, blood and other organ tissues have all been clean.

However, Dr. Andrew Badley, director of the HIV and immunology research lab at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., said those tests have probably not been extensive enough.

"A lot more scrutiny from a lot of different biological samples would be required to say it's not present," Badley said.

This isn't the first time marrow transplants have been attempted for treating AIDS or HIV infection. In 1999, an article in the journal Medical Hypotheses reviewed the results of 32 attempts reported between 1982 and 1996. In two cases, HIV was apparently eradicated, the review reported.

Huetter's patient was under treatment at Charite for both AIDS and leukemia, which developed unrelated to HIV.

As Huetter — who is a hematologist, not an HIV specialist — prepared to treat the patient's leukemia with a bone marrow transplant, he recalled that some people carry a genetic mutation that seems to make them resistant to HIV infection. If the mutation, called Delta 32, is inherited from both parents, it prevents HIV from attaching itself to cells by blocking CCR5, a receptor that acts as a kind of gateway.

"I read it in 1996, coincidentally," Huetter told reporters at the medical school. "I remembered it and thought it might work."

Roughly one in 1,000 Europeans and Americans have inherited the mutation from both parents, and Huetter set out to find one such person among donors that matched the patient's marrow type. Out of a pool of 80 suitable donors, the 61st person tested carried the proper mutation.

Before the transplant, the patient endured powerful drugs and radiation to kill off his own infected bone marrow cells and disable his immune system — a treatment fatal to between 20 and 30 percent of recipients.

He was also taken off the potent drugs used to treat his AIDS. Huetter's team feared that the drugs might interfere with the new marrow cells' survival. They risked lowering his defenses in the hopes that the new, mutated cells would reject the virus on their own.

Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infections Diseases in the U.S., said the procedure was too costly and too dangerous to employ as a firstline cure. But he said it could inspire researchers to pursue gene therapy as a means to block or suppress HIV.

"It helps prove the concept that if somehow you can block the expression of CCR5, maybe by gene therapy, you might be able to inhibit the ability of the virus to replicate," Fauci said.

David Roth, a professor of epidemiology and international public health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said gene therapy as cheap and effective as current drug treatments is in very early stages of development.

"That's a long way down the line because there may be other negative things that go with that mutation that we don't know about."

Even for the patient in Berlin, the lack of a clear understanding of exactly why his AIDS has disappeared means his future is far from certain.

"The virus is wily," Huetter said. "There could always be a resurgence."

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.

Does periodontal disease cause type 2 diabetes?

Does periodontal disease cause type 2 diabetes?

Diabetes has long been a risk factor for periodontal disease; new research may point to reverse causation.

Diabetes has long been believed to be a risk factor for periodontal disease. Results of a new study show that the reverse might also be true, according to researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. Ryan T. Demmer, PhD, MPH, associate research scientist in the department of epidemiology, said that these findings add a “new twist” to the association, suggesting that periodontal disease may lead to diabetes.

“It has been generally accepted that periodontal disease is a consequence of diabetes despite the fact that this association has not been studied with the same methodological rigor applied to coronary and stroke outcomes,” he told Endocrine Today. “We found that over two decades of follow-up, individuals who had periodontal disease were more likely to develop type 2 diabetes later in life when compared to individuals without periodontal disease.”

The researchers studied over 9,000 participants without diabetes from a nationally representative sample of the U.S. population, with more than 800 eventually developing diabetes. They then compared the risk of developing diabetes over the next 20 years between people with varying degrees of periodontal disease and found that individuals with elevated levels of periodontal disease were nearly twice as likely to become diabetic in that 20-year timeframe. Demmer said to keep an open mind about the results, however.

“They certainly are thought-provoking, biologically plausible and supported by longstanding research regarding periodontal disease and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. While there are no immediate clinical implications that stem from these findings, they do suggest a need for additional research,” he said.

Endocrine Today spoke with leading endocrinologists and dentists to discuss how the results of this study may impact the field.

Periodontal disease

“Endocrinologists will be a critical component to moving this area of scientific research forward,” Demmer said. He added that the impetus for the current study, which was published inDiabetes Care, was the existing research regarding periodontal infection and CVD.

“The first studies suggesting a link between periodontal disease and both heart attack and stroke were published nearly 20 years ago,” said Moise Desvarieux, MD, PhD,associate professor in the department of epidemiology at Columbia University and senior author of the study. “Since those initial publications, the association has been well established, although it remains unknown whether the association is causal or coincidental.”

Desvarieux and Demmer both noted that the question of whether nondiabetic adults with periodontal disease develop diabetes at a higher rate than those without periodontal disease is one that had not been scientifically tested.

To find answers, they looked at a total of 9,296 men and women without diabetes aged 25 to 74 years who were participating in NHANES I and had completed a baseline dental examination (1971-1976) and at least one follow-up evaluation (1982-1992). They defined six categories of baseline periodontal disease using the periodontal index. Of the 7,168 dentate participants, 47% had periodontal index of zero, which meant they were periodontally healthy. Incident diabetes was defined by death certificate, self-report of diabetes requiring pharmacologic treatment or health care facility stay with diabetes discharge code.

Incident diabetes odds were increased by 40% among participants with gingivitis (P<0.05)>

Demmer said one hypothesis linking clinical periodontal disease and incident type 2 diabetes involves chronic inflammation resulting from the bacterial infections that often contribute to clinical periodontal diseases.

“It is possible that these bacterial infections could also contribute to chronic elevations in systemic inflammatory mediators (ie, tumor necrosis factor-alpha). Studies have shown that inflammatory mediators such as TNF-alpha can induce insulin resistance, possibly via disruption of signal transduction pathways,” he said. David R. Jacobs, PhD, professor in the division of epidemiology and community health at the School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, and a coauthor of the study, agrees that “inflammation associated with or caused by periodontal disease could lead to diabetes.”

In Desvarieux and Demmer’s study, participants missing 25 to 31 teeth at baseline had an incident diabetes OR of 1.70 relative to participants missing zero to eight teeth (P<0.05).>

“This could be suggestive that the people who lost all of their teeth had a history of infection at some point, but subsequently lost their teeth and removed the source of infection,” Desvarieux said.

Chronic inflammation

“These are very interesting data, now adding another risk factor to the long list of risk factors for type 2 diabetes,” said Serge Jabbour, MD, FACP, FACE, associate professor of clinical medicine in the division of endocrinology, diabetes and metabolic diseases at the Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia.

“The results, however, are not completely unexpected, since there was a link between both diseases already discussed in previous studies,” Jabbour said.

Jabbour and Demmer, like most of the experts interviewed by Endocrine Today, said they think the most likely alternative explanation for the observed association is the underlying chronic inflammation behind both diabetes and periodontal disease.

“There is compelling evidence that inflammation and chronic infection play an essential role in the development of type 2 diabetes, and studies in humans suggest that circulating inflammatory marker levels may predict type 2 diabetes years in advance of the onset of these diseases,” said Thomas Beikler, Dr Med, Dr Med Dent Habil, associate professor in the department of periodontics at the University of Washington.

Beikler, who received periodontal specialty training at the University of Muenster, Germany, said the area affected by periodontitis is greater than most professionals would think it is and spans over an area of about 75 cm2, which is equivalent to the palm surface area.

“For that reason it is not astonishing that an increase in local and systemic expression of inflammatory cytokines, such as TNF-alpha and IL-6, has been reported in individuals with periodontitis,” he said. “Both TNF-alpha and IL-6 have been shown to impair intracellular insulin signaling, which may lead to insulin resistance,” said Beilker, who added that these factors may contribute to an increased risk of systemic diseases such as diabetes in patients with periodontal disease.

Karen Earle, MD, medical director of the center for diabetes services at California Pacific Medical Center, said that several possible explanations exist aside from chronic inflammation.
Earle noted the genetic tendency towards both periodontal disease and diabetes. “Another possibility is that patients with poor eating behaviors are more likely to have periodontal disease as well as diabetes. There was some information about diet included in the study criteria — but only through diet recall of the patients.”

Study limitations

Michelle Magee, MD, director of the MedStar Diabetes Institute, Washington Hospital Center, Washington, DC, and associate professor of medicine, Georgetown University School of Medicine, said that the study is limited by the lack of confirmatory blood glucose measurements for a diagnosis of diabetes at either baseline or at time of follow-up data collection.

“We know that pre-diabetes and indeed type 2 diabetes itself can be present for many years prior to the time of diagnosis,” she said.

“While the investigators have minimized the potential for unrecognized diabetes to have been present by defining a 10-year interval between data samples, it is still possible that fasting glucose or impaired glucose tolerance were present and unrecognized. They may have progressed to type 2 over the course of this time period, particularly during the baseline collection period during the 1970s when there was certainly less awareness of the implications of minimal elevations in blood glucose,” Magee said.

Magee added that if this is the case, the increased incidence of periodontal disease could be attributed to the long-term impact of hyperglycemia on the microvasculature and blood flow to the gums, with resultant impairment of nutrient flow to the gums.

“This would be compounded by an increased propensity to infection, white cell functional impairment and chronic inflammation in the presence of chronic mild hyperglycemia,” she said.

Kashif Munir, MD, assistant professor of medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, also does not think the study has set anything in stone.

“I don’t think we can say for sure that periodontal disease is causative in this case,” said Munir, “but rather that shared factors such as chronic inflammation or genetics may partially underpin both diabetes and periodontal disease. It would be interesting if these findings could be confirmed, and further if we could test the hypothesis that treating periodontal disease aggressively could decrease the risk of diabetes.”

Reverse causation

Periodontal disease and diabetes are both associated with an increase in pro-inflammatory and a decrease in antiinflammatory cytokines, according to Stuart Weiss, MD, assistant clinical professor of endocrinology at the NYU School of Medicine.

“This is likely how diabetes and periodontal disease are related and how they are seen in association with other conditions, including CVD,” Weiss said.

Endocrinologists need to make patients understand that good dental care is very important and encourage good and aggressive oral hygiene.

“The stress of periodontal disease can lead to a release of chemical mediators that increase inflammation, and the stress of poorly maintained diabetes can make the body more vulnerable to infections and worsening of periodontal disease,” Weiss said. He noted that in his practice he’s seen many cases of diabetes worsened by poor oral health, but with either dental work or more aggressive glucose control — both conditions improve.

Beikler shared a story about interning at a diabetic specialty clinic 16 years ago, before he entered dental school. Beikler said he saw a lot of patients who had difficulty achieving sufficient metabolic control. At the time, he said, no physician would have spent a second thinking about dental problems as a cause for the difficulties in achieving good metabolic control.

"I’m wondering now if some of those patients may have benefitted from routine periodontal examination and treatment,” he said. “I hope that the awareness among all medical and dental professions has increased and that both groups understand that there exists a strong interrelationship between periodontitis and diabetes mellitus that needs a common treatment approach.”

“This reverse causation would imply that endocrinologists, diabetologists and internists would need to refer their patients more often to their periodontist before finalizing their therapeutic approaches, given that treating periodontal disease may favorably affect the control of diabetes,” said Salomon Amar, PhD, DMD, associate dean for research, Boston University Goldman School of Dental Medicine.

“Diabetic patients are more open to the idea of necessitating a comprehensive periodontal treatment as part of their control of diabetes, but we need more public awareness of the need to consult and refer patients to their dentists to achieve optimal treatment and hopefully early detection,” said Amar, noting that insurance companies have already developed plans for patients with diabetes for coverage of appropriate periodontal therapies.

Next steps

While he is excited about the results, Demmer is the first to admit that researchers should react cautiously to these findings as they require confirmation in other research settings.

“One concern we discussed is the potential for diagnostic bias in which individuals with periodontal disease were possibly more likely to be tested for and diagnosed with diabetes,” Demmer said. “We feel this is unlikely, but it does remain as a possibility.”

Regardless of cause and effect, it is well known that individuals with type 2 diabetes are more likely to have periodontal diseases. Therefore, it seems reasonable for endocrinologists to consider supplying patients with information on the signs/symptoms of periodontal diseases and making referrals to dental colleagues as appropriate.

Demmer and Desvarieux have recently received a grant award from NIH to begin planning a study that will better test this hypothesis. They expect to begin collecting preliminary data soon. They specifically want to test whether colonization with known oral pathogens puts individuals at risk for progression of known diabetes risk factors.

“By collecting information regarding oral bacterial colonization, as opposed to using clinical surrogates of infection, we can focus the hypothesis and get clearer answers,” Demmer said.
Ultimately, if the data continue to demonstrate an association between periodontal infection and diabetes risk, Demmer said, treatment studies will be necessary to demonstrate that periodontal treatment can in fact reduce diabetes risk. – by Angelo Milone

Do the results of this study have a major impact on the field of endocrinology?

Impact of trial design: Perspective from Endocrine Today’s Chief Medical Editor
The periodontal issue is interesting but clearly illustrates the difference from findings resulting from well-designed randomized clinical trials and the findings of epidemiologic, population-based surveys. The former are a higher level of evidence and are accepted proof of causation, whereas the latter show association, not causality. The bases for that association are unclear and may be multiple. – Alan J. Garber, MD, PhD Professor in the Departments of Medicine, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and Cellular & Molecular Biology at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, and Chief Medical Editor of Endocrine Today

For more information:
• Demmer RT, Jacobs DR, Desvarieux M. Periodontal disease and incident type 2 diabetes. Diabetes Care. 2008;31:1373-1379.
• Demmer RT, Desvarieux M. Periodontal infections and cardiovascular disease: The heart of the matter. J Am Dent Assoc. 2006;137:14S-20S.

Whoopi Goldberg Talks About Her Personal Experience With Gum Disease

A few weeks ago, Whoopi Goldberg returned to her TV show, "The View," after being absent for emergency gum surgery. In this episode, she spent a few minutes discussing her personal experience with gum disease and how she will be losing her teeth. But, more importantly, Whoopi did a tremendous public service by bringing up the serious health consequences of gum disease (periodontal disease) that go well beyond losing teeth. Gum disease can kill you! Yes, you read that correctly! New discoveries are revealing possible connections between gum disease and heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and cancer, for example.

Dentists have known about this for several years. But, it's amazing how the power of Whoopi's celebrity will do more for public awareness of gum disease than the dental profession could dream of doing. Whoopi set aside her pride and laid it all on the line to spread a very important message. Thanks, Whoopi!

The good news is that gum disease can be treated and prevented at our office. Make an appointment today at http://www.advanceddental.com/ or call 860-828-3933.

Dentists and Dental Hygienists have known about this for several years and have been educating patients, however having a celebrity like Whoopi Goldberg sharing her personal story will do more for public awareness than the dental profession could dream of doing. Thanks, Whoopi!

Check out this short video!

Advertising Passed Off As Research Confuses The Public Again

Study Published in New England Journal of Medicine
Expands the Indications for Statins—and the Public Suffers

Today’s (November 10, 2008) front page headlines worldwide announced a simple test called “highly sensitive C-reactive protein” (HS-CRP) and the most powerful cholesterol-lowering statin currently on the market, Crestor (rosuvastatin), used together, could cut the risk of heart attacks, strokes, and death from cardiovascular disease in half.¹ For the casual reader, Crestor appears to be a miracle treatment with few risks and reasonable costs. Today’s publication adds to the belief of a growing number of experts that “statins are so wonderful that they should be added to our drinking water” (like fluoride).

For this study nearly 90,000 people were examined, and most of them were identified as being at increased risk for a heart attack, stroke, and/or premature death. Rather than choosing professionalism and treating the underlying causes of their health problems: their diet and lifestyle; these researchers chose commercialism; creating the most effective pharmaceutical advertising campaign ever devised. And they have succeeded.

The study was funded by the maker of the drug, AstraZeneca, and the lead author, Paul M Ridker MD, is listed as a co-inventor on patents held by Brigham and Women's Hospital related to the use of HS-CRP for the evaluation of a patient’s risk of heart disease.

Profits Are Determining Medical Care

The cost of Crestor (rosuvastatin) is about $3.45 per day—much higher than that of generic statins. That amounts to $1259 a year just for this drug. Doing the math, this means to prevent one event in one “apparently healthy patient” would cost about $300,000 just for the Crestor. These figures do not include the cost of doctors’ visits, the lab tests and the treatment of side effects from the medications, including the serious adverse events caused by Crestor.(Calculations: Absolute benefit of 1 event for 120 treated patients for 1.9 years at $1259 = 120 x 1.9 x $1259 = $287,052.)

Heart attacks, strokes, and the need for surgery and drugs are caused primarily by eating the Western diet, and secondarily by “bad habits,” including cigarette smoking and lack of exercise. The underlying disease, atherosclerosis, is reversible. There are no side effects or added costs with diet-therapy—therein lies the problem (no profit).

How Did They Get Those Results?

1) They stacked the deck with sick people, but passed them off as “healthy” to the press and public.

Previous studies of statins have found that people at high risk for a heart attack or stroke will benefit, but healthy people will not.² The deception in this study began by choosing high-risk test subjects and identifying them as “apparently healthy men and women.”

The nearly 18,000 people selected for the study out of the original 89,890 screened had very high HS-CRP levels of over 4.2 mg/L. Simply based on the HS-CRP these were not “apparently healthy,” but rather, people at high risk for cardiovascular disease. The cutoff value for high “bad” LDL-cholesterol level was 130 mg/dL. This allowed the inclusion of many high-risk people—“good health” is associated with a LDL below 100 mg/dL. In addition, the average blood pressure (134/80 mmHg) and total cholesterol (186 mg/dL) numbers were too high for these people to be considered “apparently healthy.”

The baseline median body mass index (BMI) was 28.3 (normal 18.5-24.9), indicating most of these people were overweight or obese. At the beginning of the study 41% were reported to have “metabolic syndrome.” (Metabolic syndrome is a combination of medical disorders, such as abdominal obesity, elevated blood sugar, triglycerides, and blood pressure, which considered together indicate an increased risk of cardiovascular disease.)

2) They Emphasized Relative, Not Absolute Benefits

Reporting the “relative benefit” of a drug is the most common method used by drug companies to deceive patients and their doctors. In this case relative risk reduction was determined by dividing the number of designated events (heart attacks, stroke, and deaths from cardiovascular disease) for the treated (Crestor) group by the events for the placebo group: 83 vs. 157. This mean the treated group had half (53%) the chance of an event compared to placebo. This figure is impressive.

However, the “absolute benefit”—the real life benefit a person can expect from treatment—is a very different story. Consider the numbers: nearly 18,000 people were treated for almost 2 years. In absolute numbers this means 83/8901 or 0.9% of those people taking Crestor had a serious event, as opposed to 157/8901 or 1.8% of those in the placebo group. This is an absolute event reduction of less than 1%. In other words, 120 patients had to be treated with Crestor for 1.9 years to prevent one designated event: heart attacks, strokes, and death from cardiovascular disease.

3) Early Termination of the Study Is Impressive but Suggests Dishonesty.

The study was supposed to go on for 4 years, but was stopped at 1.9 years for “ethical reasons.” It was considered unethical to continue the study because continuation would mean depriving the people in the placebo group of the advantage of the treatment—Crestor in this case. “Early termination” of research is a powerful technique used by pharmaceutical companies to enhance the perceived value of the treatment in the minds of the medical profession, the press, and the public. But it has been shown that studies that are stopped early are biased and prone to exaggeration.³ According to a recent review in the Journal of the American Medical Association, “RCTs (Randomized Controlled Trials) stopped early for benefit are becoming more common, often fail to adequately report relevant information about the decision to stop early, and show implausibly large treatment effects, particularly when the number of events is small. These findings suggest clinicians should view the results of such trials with skepticism.”⁴ No mention was made in this report about two other recent studies (CORONA and GISSI-HF) where Crestor did not result in any improvement in survival.^5,6

4) Researchers Underemphasized Serious Adverse Events from Crestor

One of the most important findings from this study (found in table 4) is the similar number of serious adverse events in both the Crestor-treated and placebo groups—1352 (15.2%) vs. 1377 (15.5%). How can that be? Wasn’t the number of events about half (83 vs. 157) for those taking Crestor? The study focused on events (heart attacks, strokes, and deaths from cardiovascular disease) that are expected to respond favorably to treatment. The study, and the media that followed, did not give appropriate attention to all adverse events that occurred. Clearly, there was an increase in non-cardiac serious adverse events in the Crestor group. Obviously, it is not in the best interest of the sponsor of the study to give attention to this finding.

The article did mention an increase in risk of diabetes in those treated with Crestor (270 reports of diabetes, vs. 216 in the placebo group). But there must be more. Amazingly, this study reported only one case of serious muscle damage (rhabdomyolysis). The expected rate is 3.16 fatal cases per million prescriptions written for Crestor.⁷ This is 16 to 80 times higher than that reported for other statins. Almost four years ago Dr. David Graham, FDA's associate director for science and medicine, named Crestor as one of five drugs that pose serious safety concerns and the FDA told AstraZeneca to pull its ads for Crestor because they do not mention its risks of causing acute kidney failure or rhabdomyolysis.

There is no long-term information on the safety of using these high doses of Crestor to lower “bad” LDL-cholesterol to 55 mg/dL (as they did in this study). This study was stopped after less than 2 years, but patients prescribed statins can expect to take them for 20 years and longer.

One More Deregulated System That Must Be Fixed

Neither the patient nor our over-burdened health care system can thrive with this kind of deception from the pharmaceutical companies and the medical journals.

Fortunately, health care professionals are beginning to recognize that what is happening in medical care is just like the tragedies we have recently witnessed in the stock market and the housing industries. Unregulated business practices lead to a few very rich people becoming even richer, and severe suffering for the rest of us. The time has come for change. Researchers and publishers must be held accountable like stockbrokers and bankers. Regulation enacted to protect the public is long overdue.

What is HS-CRP? C-reactive protein (CRP) is a molecule produced in response to inflammation. It is non-specific, in other words, it does not identify the source of the inflammation, which could be due to an infection of a toe, arthritis, or a bad cold. The connection to cardiovascular disease (heart attacks and strokes) is that the sores (like pustules) on the artery walls cause the CRP to rise. This festering artery disease (atherosclerosis) is the underlying cause of heart attacks and strokes. The elevated CRP is simply one sign of the trouble—other signs are elevated blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol and triglycerides. Highly sensitive (HS) refers to laboratory methodology used to increase accuracy. A level of less than 1mg/L indicates low risk, a level between 1 and 3mg/L indicates moderate risk, and a level greater than 3mg/L indicates high risk of active artery disease. The people in this study were on average in the high-risk group, in need of immediate and intensive dietary intervention. Statins, like Crestor, are believed to be anti-inflammatory, reducing HS-CRP levels. Even without the postulated benefit of reduced inflammation, the cholesterol lowering effects of statins have been shown to reduce the risk of serious cardiovascular events in people at high risk.2 A low-fat diet also cuts CRP in half in 4 weeks.8 This reflects less inflammation, which means healing the arteries as a result of following a healthier diet.

References:

1) Ridker,P Danielson, E Fonseca F, Genest J, Gotto A, Kastelein J, Koenig W, Libby P, Lorenzatti A, MacFadyen J, Nordestgaard B, Shepherd J, Willerson J, Glynn R, the JUPITER Study Group.
Rosuvastatin to Prevent Vascular Events in Men and Women with Elevated C-Reactive Protein. N Engl J Med. 2008; 359:2195-2207

2) Abramson J, Wright JM. Are lipid-lowering guidelines evidence-based? Lancet. 2007 Jan 20;369(9557):168-9.

3) Hopewell S, Clarke M, Moher D, Wager E, Middleton P, et al. PLoS Medicine Vol. 5, No. 1, e20 doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.0050020

4) Montori VM, Devereaux PJ, Adhikari NK, Burns KE, Eggert CH, Briel M, Lacchetti C, Leung TW, Darling E, Bryant DM, Bucher HC, Schünemann HJ, Meade MO, Cook DJ, Erwin PJ, Sood A, Sood R, Lo B, Thompson CA, Zhou Q, Mills E, Guyatt GH. Randomized trials stopped early for benefit: a systematic review. JAMA. 2005 Nov 2;294(17):2203-9.

5) Kjekshus J, Apetrei E, Barrios V, Böhm M, Cleland JG, Cornel JH, Dunselman P, Fonseca C, Goudev A, Grande P, Gullestad L, Hjalmarson A, Hradec J, Jánosi A, Kamensk? G, Komajda M, Korewicki J,
Kuusi T, Mach F, Mareev V, McMurray JJ, Ranjith N, Schaufelberger M, Vanhaecke J, van Veldhuisen DJ, Waagstein F, Wedel H, Wikstrand J; CORONA Group. Rosuvastatin in older patients with systolic heart failure. N Engl J Med. 2007 Nov 29;357(22):2248-61.

6) Gissi-Hf Investigators. Effect of rosuvastatin in patients with chronic heart failure (the GISSI-HF trial): a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Lancet. 2008 Aug 29.

7) Bruce J, Rabkin E., Martin V. Rhabdomyolysis associated with current us of simvastatin and Nefazodone: Case report and current review of the literature. Advanced Studies in Medicine
2003; 3: 168-172.

8)Rankin JW, Turpyn AD. Low carbohydrate, high fat diet increases C-reactive protein during weight loss. J Am Coll Nutr. 2007 Apr;26(2):163-9.

©2008
John McDougall All Rights Reserved
McDougall Wellness
Center P.O. Box 14039, Santa Rosa, CA 95402
http://www.drmcdougall.com

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Advanced Dental - official dentist of the New Britain Rock Cats!

Dr. Mike Maroon & Dr. Darryl Simms star in this ad for Advanced Dental featuring Rocky & Blooper, mascots of the New Britain Rock Cats Baseball Club.

Advanced Dental is the official dental office of the New Britain Rock Cats and this ad was played on the jumbotron during all Rock Cat home games during the 2008 season.

Poor Oral Health Can Cause Localized Hair Loss

Cosmetic dentistry has taken flight in recent years. Publicity from Extreme Makeover (ABC) and new technology, like CEREC for one-visit porcelain restorations, Zoom! Whitening, and Lumineers, has boosted the popularity of cosmetic dentistry. In addition, recent research has revealed a link between overall health and oral health, such as the fact that gum disease can contribute to increased risk for a number of problems, from low-weight births to heart attacks, strokes, and Alzheimer's. We now know that oral health can contribute to a person's appearance, outside of their smile. Image conscious patients will be interested to learn that alopecia areata, a condition of hair loss, may be connected to poor oral health.

According to an article on www.plasmetic.com, bald patches sometimes occur "in a line projected from the dental infection." The scalp, as well as facial hair (eyebrows, beard, etc.) may be affected; men and women are susceptible. Hair does regenerate, but patients can have relapses. The article suggests that patients who notice localized bald patches should visit their dentist. Findings are attributed to Professors Joe Antonio Gil Montoya and Cutando Soriano.

SOURCE: http://www.plasmetic.com/latest-trends/cosmetic-dentistry/bad-teeth-can-lead-to-bald-patches.html

David Letterman Reacts to John McCain Suspending Campaign

Too funny! David Letterman goes off on John McCain after McCain lied about his whereabouts in cancelling an appearance on The Late Show.

Tina Fey plays Sarah Palin on SNL

Funny skit with Tina Fey playing Sarah Palin on SNL

Dr. Simms & Margie Disco!

It's Dr. Simms & Margie getting down Disco style! :D

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Kickin' it OLD SCHOOL!

Check out me & my homey's Darry & Tim and we kick it up OLD SCHOOL!

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Brady's season over after injuring knee vs. Chiefs

NFL.com Wire Reports

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Reigning NFL MVP Tom Brady suffered a serious knee injury in the season opener that will end his 2008 campaign, reports NFL Network's Adam Schefter.

Brady left Sunday's game against the Kansas City Chiefs after being hit on the left leg. He has started 128 consecutive games, but went to the turf clutching his left knee midway through the first quarter when he was hit in the pocket by Chiefs safety Bernard Pollard. After being tended to on the field, he walked off, limping, between two trainers.

Meanwhile, free-agent quarterback Chris Simms is scheduled to arrive in New England Monday morning for a workout and a physical, Schefter reports. If all goes well, Simms could be a Patriot by the end of the day. Kansas City and Tennessee, each of whom had quarterbacks suffer significant injuries on Sunday, also have contacted Simms.

Brady, 31, went to the locker room and was not seen again on the sideline as backup Matt Cassel led the Patriots to a 17-10 victory. The two-time Super Bowl MVP was not available for comment after the game, and coach Bill Belichick said he had nothing to add to the in-game announcement that it was a knee injury.

Brady was 7-for-11 passing for 76 yards, completing a 26-yard pass to Randy Moss on the play in which he was injured. Moss fumbled the ball away when he was tackled; the Patriots forced Kansas City to punt, then Cassel came in for New England.

"Since I've been here and been around Tom, he's always popped back up," Cassel said. "I didn't know (how serious it was). I just buckled my chinstrap and the guys rallied around me. I felt their support."

Cassel took over at his 2 yard-line and, after two handoffs nearly netted the Chiefs a safety, completed his first pass to Moss for a 51-yard gain. Cassel, Brady's backup for the past three years, finished the 98-yard drive with a 10-yard touchdown pass to Moss that gave New England a 7-0 lead.

"This is something I've been preparing for for a long time," said Cassel, who threw just 33 passes while backing up Heisman Trophy winners Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart at Southern Cal. "It's not something I expected to come up on opening day."

A former fourth-stringer who was the 199th overall selection in the 2000 draft, Brady himself took over at quarterback when longtime starter Drew Bledsoe sustained a life-threatening chest injury in a 2001 game against the New York Jets. Brady led the Patriots to their first NFL title that year, another in 2003 and another in 2004.

In the process, Brady has become one of the league's biggest stars and a crossover cover boy who has met the Pope and the president, dated actresses and supermodels and rewrote one of the NFL's most coveted records.

Last year, while leading New England to a 16-0 regular season, Brady set a record with 50 touchdown passes and improved his overall record as a starter to 100-27 -- the best in the Super Bowl era. The Patriots blew a chance at an unprecedented 19-0 season and a fourth NFL title with a 17-14 loss in February's Super Bowl to the New York Giants.

Brady did not play in four exhibition games this summer -- all of them Patriots losses -- while trying to recover from a right foot injury.

"He's the face of the New England Patriots, and Tom being who he is it kind of hurts, to be honest with you," said Moss, who caught 23 of Brady's TD passes in 2007, also a record. "I know the show must go on. Hopefully Matt Cassel is ready to step in. I know the team is ready to embrace him and let him lead us."

Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press

--
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Dr. Mike Maroon
Founder & Fellow Academy of Comprehensive Esthetics

ACE 2008 Symposium on Esthetic Dentistry ~ Nov 5-8, 2008 ~ Hyatt Regency Coconut Point Resort & Spa ~ Bonita Springs, FL

Learn more about upcoming events at www.ACEsthetics.com or call 800.701.6223

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Four Rules of Time

Four Rules of Time
By: Brian Tracy

There are four rules of time. The first is that time is perishable. This means that it cannot be saved. In fact, time can only be spent. Because time is perishable, the only thing you can do with it is to spend it differently, to reallocate your time away from activities of low value and toward activities of higher value. But once it is gone, it is gone forever.

Time Is Indispensable
The second rule of time is that time is indispensable. All work requires time. No matter what it is you want to do in life, even looking out a window or sleeping in for a few extra minutes, it requires a certain amount of time. And according to the 10/90 Rule, the 10% of time that you take to plan your activities carefully in advance will save you 90% of the effort involved in achieving your goals later. The very act of thinking through and planning your work in advance will dramatically reduce the amount of time that it takes you to do the actual job.

The Currency of the Future
The third rule of time is that time is irreplaceable. Nothing else will do, especially in relationships. Time is the only currency that means anything in your relationships with the members of your family, your friends, colleagues, customers and coworkers. Truly effective people give a lot of thought to creating blocks of time that they can then spend, without interruption, with the important people in their lives.

 

Spell the Word Correctly
There is a question: "How do children spell the word 'Love?'" And the answer is "T-I-M-E." It is the same with your spouse, as well. The important people in your life equate the amount of time that you spend with them, face to face, head to head, knee to knee, with the amount that you actually love them.

Grow Your Relationships
The more time that you spend with another person, especially a member of your family, the deeper grows your understanding and affection for that person. If you get too busy to spend time with your children, you eventually lose contact with them and they go off into their own personal world of school, peers and other activities.

The Key to Goal-Achievement
The fourth rule is that time is essential for accomplishment. Every goal you want to achieve, everything you want to accomplish, requires time. In fact, one of the smartest things you ever do, when you set a goal, is to sit down and allocate the exact amount of time that you are going to have to invest to achieve that goal. The failure to do this almost always leaves the goal unaccomplished.

Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action:

First, decide today to redirect and reallocate your time away from low-value tasks and toward high-value activities.

Second, make a plan to spend more time face-to-face with the most important people in your life. The more you think about the use of your time, the better you will become.

Barack Obama's Democratic Nominee Acceptance Speech

View Barack Obama's Democratic Nominee Acceptance Speech

SIRIUS AND XM COMPLETE MERGER

SIRIUS AND XM COMPLETE MERGER

SIRIUS XM Radio Chosen as New Corporate Name

Combined Company Has Over 18.5 Million Subscribers, Annualized Second Quarter Revenue Exceeding $2.4 Billion

Company to Offer Consumers Best of Both Services, While Maximizing Significant Efficiencies

SIRIUS XM Reiterates Financial Guidance; Expects 2009 Synergies of $400 million and 2009 Adjusted EBITDA of over $300 Million

NEW YORK, NY – July 29, 2008 –SIRIUS Satellite Radio (NASDAQ: SIRI) and XM Satellite Radio today announced that they have completed their merger, resulting in the nation's premier radio company. The new company plans to change its corporate name to Sirius XM Radio Inc. The combined company's stock will continue to be traded on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol "SIRI".

SIRIUS XM Radio begins day one with over 18.5 million subscribers, making it the second-largest radio company, based upon revenue, in the country; and, based upon subscribers, the second largest subscription media business in the U.S. With under 10% penetration of the home and car market, the opportunity for continued growth is significant.

"I am delighted to announce the completion of this exciting merger between SIRIUS and XM," said Mel Karmazin, CEO of SIRIUS XM Radio. "We have worked diligently to close this transaction and we look forward to integrating our best-in-class management teams and operations so we can begin delivering on our promise of more choices and lower prices for subscribers."

"Every one of our constituencies is a winner. Combined, SIRIUS XM Radio will deliver superior value to our shareholders. By offering more compelling packages and the best content in audio entertainment, we are well positioned for increased subscriber growth. Our laser focus on subscribers will continue and listeners can be assured that there will be no disruption in service. We also believe that the completion of the merger will eliminate any confusion that has been lingering in the marketplace," added Karmazin.

XM shareholders will receive 4.6 shares of SIRIUS common stock for each share of XM.

Competitive New Options for Consumers

SIRIUS XM Radio broadcasts more than 300 channels of programming, including exclusive radio offerings from Howard Stern, Oprah, Opie & Anthony and Martha Stewart, among others. SIRIUS XM Radio will offer these expanded options to consumers through arrangements with the world's leading automakers and its relationships with nationwide retailers.

As a result of the merger, SIRIUS XM Radio will also be able to offer consumers new packages in audio entertainment, including the first-ever a la carte programming option in subscription media. In addition to two a la carte options, the new packages will include: "Best of Both," giving subscribers the option to access certain programming from the other network; discounted Family Friendly packages; and tailored packages including "Mostly Music" and "News, Talk and Sports." The first of the new packages will be available in the early Fall.

"One of the most exciting benefits of this transaction is the ability to offer subscribers the option of expanding their subscriptions to include the Best of Both services. Given the respective popularity of exclusive programming on both SIRIUS and XM, we expect many subscribers will upgrade their current subscription," said Karmazin.

"The upside potential for both consumers and shareholders is huge. Consumers have the ease of adding premier programming without purchasing a new device. For shareholders, this kind of organic growth is a key part of the company's future and the success we expect to see," said Karmazin.

As promised when the merger was first announced, existing radios will continue to work and every subscriber has the option of maintaining their current service package.

Benefits for Shareholders Begin Immediately, Integration Already Under Way

SIRIUS XM Radio expects to begin realizing the synergies expected from this transaction immediately.

"In addition to realizing significant potential revenue growth, the management team will move quickly to capitalize on the synergies that many analysts have predicted for this combination. We expect to begin achieving those synergies without sacrificing any of the world-class programming and marketing we are known for," said Karmazin.

The company today also reiterated guidance for the combined SIRIUS XM Radio. Based upon a preliminary analysis, the combined company expects to realize total synergies, net of the costs to achieve such synergies, of approximately $400 million in 2009; to post adjusted EBITDA exceeding $300 million in 2009; and to achieve positive free cash flow, before satellite capital expenditures, for the full year 2009. The company also expects that both synergies and adjusted EBITDA will continue growing beyond 2009.

"We have all the tools necessary to begin executing as a combined company with high aspirations for subscriber growth and greater financial performance in part from the significant synergies that we begin realizing literally today – on Day One. We are moving quickly to integrate the operations," said Karmazin.

The corporate headquarters will be located in New York, NY and XM Satellite Radio, the company's wholly-owned subsidiary, will remain headquartered in Washington, DC.

Effective after the close of the market yesterday, trading in XMSR common stock on the Nasdaq Global Select Market ceased.

About SIRIUS XM Radio

SIRIUS XM Radio is America's satellite radio company delivering the "The Best Radio on Radio" to more than 18 million subscribers, including 100% commercial free music, and premier sports, news, talk, entertainment, traffic and weather.

SIRIUS XM Radio has exclusive content relationships with an array of personalities and artists, including Howard Stern, Oprah, Martha Stewart, Jimmy Buffett, Elvis, Jamie Foxx, Barbara Walters, Frank Sinatra, Opie & Anthony, The Grateful Dead, Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Tom Petty, and Bob Edwards. SIRIUS XM Radio is the leader in sports programming as the Official Satellite Radio Partner of the NFL, Major League Baseball, NASCAR, NHL, and PGA, and broadcasts major college sports.

SIRIUS XM Radio has exclusive arrangements with every major automaker. SIRIUS XM Radio products are available at shop.sirius.com and shop.xmradio.com, and at retail locations nationwide, including Best Buy, Circuit City, RadioShack, Target, Sam's Club, and Wal-Mart.

SIRIUS XM Radio also offers SIRIUS Backseat TV, the first ever live in-vehicle rear seat entertainment featuring Nickelodeon, Disney Channel and Cartoon Network; XM NavTraffic service for GPS navigation systems delivers real-time traffic information, including accidents and road construction, for more than 80 North American markets.

The guidance contained herein are based upon a number of assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by us when taken as a whole, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies, many of which are beyond our control. In addition, the guidance is based upon specific assumptions with respect to future business conditions, some or all of which will change. The guidance, like any forecast, is necessarily speculative in nature and it can be expected that the assumptions upon which the guidance is based will not prove to be valid or will vary from actual results. Actual results will vary from the guidance and the variations may be material. Consequently, the guidance should not be regarded as a representation by SIRIUS or any other person that the synergies, adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow will actually be achieved. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on this information.

This communication contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements include, but are not limited to, statements about the benefits of the business combination transaction involving Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. and XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc., including potential synergies and cost savings and the timing thereof, future financial and operating results, the combined company's plans, objectives, expectations and intentions with respect to future operations, products and services; and other statements identified by words such as "anticipate," "believe," "plan," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "will," "should," "may," or words of similar meaning. Such forward-looking statements are based upon the current beliefs and expectations of SIRIUS' and XM's management and are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies, many of which are difficult to predict and generally beyond the control of SIRIUS and XM. Actual results may differ materially from the results anticipated in these forward-looking statements.

The following factors, among others, could cause actual results to differ materially from the anticipated results or other expectations expressed in the forward-looking statement: general business and economic conditions; the performance of financial markets and interest rates; the ability to obtain governmental approvals of the transaction on a timely basis; the failure to realize synergies and cost-savings from the transaction or delay in realization thereof; the businesses of SIRIUS and XM may not be combined successfully, or such combination may take longer, be more difficult, time-consuming or costly to accomplish than expected; and operating costs and business disruption following the merger, including adverse effects on employee retention and on our business relationships with third parties, including manufacturers of radios, retailers, automakers and programming providers. Additional factors that could cause SIRIUS' and XM's results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements can be found in SIRIUS' and XM's Annual Reports on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2007, which are filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") and available at the SEC's Internet site (http://www.sec.gov). The information set forth herein speaks only as of the date hereof, and SIRIUS and XM disclaim any intention or obligation to update any forward looking statements as a result of developments occurring after the date of this communication.

G-SIRI

Contacts for SIRIUS XM Radio:

Media Relations

Patrick Reilly
212-901-6646
PReilly@siriusradio.com

Kelly Sullivan
Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher
212-355-4449
ksullivan@joelefrank.com

Nathaniel Brown
212-708-6170
Nathaniel.Brown@xmradio.com

Chance Patterson
202-380-4318
Chance.Patterson@xmradio.com

Investor Relations

Paul Blalock
212-584-5174
PBlalock@siriusradio.com

Hooper Stevens
212-901-6718
HStevens@siriusradio.com

Joe Wilkinson
202-380-4008
Joe.Wilkinson@xmradio.com

Richard Sloane
202-380-1439
richard.sloane@xmradio.com

Manage your team's energy

From: Dr. June Darling

When I've talked about this to dentists. They feel it's so unfair that they should be the manager of team energy, but here's a good article that may convince you to at least consider your emotions as contagious as work (and everywhere in your life), but especially important to consider if you want energetic, productive workers. j.

 

Manage Your Team's Energy, Not Just the Work

Posted: 13 Aug 2008 11:15 PM CDT

Following is a excerpt from our upcoming book "Profit From the Positive: What Every Business Leader Needs to Know From the New Science of Positive Psychology."

~ Margaret Greenberg (Bio, Articles) and Senia Maymin (Bio, Articles)

Germs and colds aren't the only things we spread in the workplace. Our emotions, both positive and negative, are just as contagious. Have you ever walked into a meeting and felt so much tension that you became tense, too? Conversely, have you ever walked into someone's office and felt so much openness that you started to feel more open and welcoming as well? This spreading of emotions from one person to the next is what psychologists call Social Contagion Theory. Here's how it works.

Human beings are hard-wired to mimic the facial expressions and moods of those we come in contact with. Sigal Barsade, associate management professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, claims we can unconsciously "catch" both good and bad moods. And you can "catch" these emotions in a matter of milliseconds according to Elaine Hatfield, psychology professor at the University of Hawaii and co-author of Emotional Contagion.

Researchers at Uppsala University in Sweden showed people pictures of both happy and angry faces for a fraction of a second and observed how people reacted. When participants looked at pictures of happy faces, their own facial expressions mirrored the picture – they responded with a smile. Similarly when participants viewed pictures of angry faces, they responded with a frown.

According to Hatfield, incremental muscle movements, like the smile or the frown, actually trigger the brain to feel that emotion. For example, when we feel happy our brain sends us a message: smile. But it works the other way, too. When we see someone else smile our brain sends us another message: smile. This very act of smiling sends another message to our brain, telling us to feel happy. So maybe our mothers were really on to something when they told us to quit mopping around and "put on a happy face."

So what does this have to do with managing your team's energy? Your own emotions have more influence over your team's energy level and subsequent productivity than perhaps you realize.

Carlos arrives at the office at 7:45 sharp every day. Two of his employees, Rachel and Mike, like to get in around 7:00 so they can grab a cup of coffee, catch up on emails, and get ready for the day ahead. Every morning they look up from their desks as Carlos walks in. Rachel and Mike have an inside joke:

"We can tell what kind of day it's going to be around here by Carlos' morning expression. If he smiles and says 'good morning' we know it's going to be a good day, and we can get on with our work. If his head is down and doesn't even acknowledge us, we know it's going to be a bad day and we better be ready to jump at a moment's notice. When our teammates arrive around 8:00, they stop by our desks and ask, 'So what kind of day is it going to be?' and they're not talking about the weather."

Researchers at the University of Michigan found that when business leaders were in a good mood, their team members experienced more positive and fewer negative moods. Additionally, if the boss is in a good mood, the team finds it much easier to accomplish their tasks. Remember if you manage or lead others, your moods are even more contagious! Think of it this way: a manager's negative moods are like spreading a cold, maybe even a flu, in the office. Do you really want people at work feeling lousy and having declining productivity? Or do you want to pay attention to your non-verbal behavior, and be aware of how people "catch" your emotions?

 

June Darling, Ph.D
Executive Coach and Consultant
for Maverick-Minded Professionals
www.summitgroupresources.com
providing the resources to bring out the best in you and your business

"If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader." John Quincy Adams

First Annual Scoot tour of Southern New England!

I uploaded some photos of the First Scoot Tour of Southern New England hosted by Vespa Hartford. http://www.VespaHartford.com

You can view the entire album online at http://s513.photobucket.com/albums/t337/drmikemaroon/Scoot%20Tour%202008/?albumview=grid


All lined up and ready to roll!


Michelle gives the signal that she's ready to go!


All Pat needs is a coke bottle, some dental floss and an old napkin and he can make an atomic bomb, or change oil, whichever he feels like doing at the time...kind of like MacGuyver!


Howie helps by siphoning oil out of Michelle's bike to get her back on the road while some patient fellow scooterists watch and say to themselves, "I'm glad it's not my bike!"


Some Suzuki Bergman 400s made the trip...


Everyone enjoys when someone elses bike breaks down!


It's a good time for a chat...and to check out the BIG RUCKUS!


We had a nice group for this ride.


Nice shot of a Vespa GTS250ie and a Kymco People 200


Some more scoots...Doug's suped up orange ET4 is in the front.


STELLA'S


Leader of the Vesperados!


We got caught in a downpour and everyone tries to hide under the gas station canopy.


Enjoying lunch (and some dry time) in Bennington, VT.


Enjoying lunch (and some dry time) in Bennington, VT.

Scooters Rule!

I love this Italian video showcasing vintage scooters enjoying life! Enjoy!

Toyota Targets Segway With Winglet Personal Transportation

Tokyo — TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION (TMC) announced today development of the "Winglet", a personal transport assistance robot ridden in a standing position.




The Winglet—still being refined—is one of TMC's people-assisting Toyota Partner Robots. Designed to contribute to society by helping people enjoy a safe and fully mobile life, the Winglet is a compact next-generation everyday transport tool that offers advanced ease of use and expands the user's range of mobility.




The Winglet consists of a body (with a projected area the size of an A3 sheet of paper) that houses an electric motor, two wheels and internal sensors that constantly monitor the user's position and make adjustments in power to ensure stability. Meanwhile, a unique parallel link mechanism allows the rider to go forward, backward and turn simply by shifting body weight, making the vehicle safe and useful even in tight spaces or crowded environments.




TMC has created three models, the "L", "M" and "S", each having different handling features that allow consumers to select a model appropriate to their needs—from "practical" to "hands-free sporty".




TMC plans various technical and consumer trials to gain feedback during the Winglet's lead-up to practical use. Practical tests of its utility as a mobility tool are planned to begin in Autumn 2008 at Central Japan International Airport (Centrair) near Nagoya, and Laguna Gamagori, a seaside marine resort complex in Aichi Prefecture. Testing of its usefulness in crowded and other conditions, and how non-users react to the device, is to be carried out in 2009 at the Tressa Yokohama shopping complex in Yokohama City.




TMC is pursuing sustainability in research and development, manufacturing and social contribution as part of its concept to realize "sustainability in three areas" and to help contribute to the health and comfort of future society. Toyota Partner Robot development is being carried out with this in mind and applies TMC's approach to monozukuri ("making things"), which includes its mobility, production and other technologies. In a related development, TMC unveiled the "MOBIRO" mobility robot, designed for use in a sitting position, in 2007.




TMC aims to realize the practical use of Toyota Partner Robots in the early 2010s by furthering its robotic development and strengthening collaboration between industry, government and academia.

Visit http://www.toyota.co.jp/en/news/08/0801_1.html for more details.

Manny Ramirez traded from Red Sox to Dodgers

Left fielder Manny Ramirez has been traded to the Dodgers as part of the three-team deal that will send Pirates outfielder Jason Bay to the Red Sox, the Boston Globe's Gordon Edes and Nick Cafardo are reporting.

The Red Sox will also lose Craig Hansen and Brandon Moss as part of the deal. Here are the names involved:

To Red Sox
Jason Bay

To Dodgers
Manny Ramirez

To Pirates
Craig Hansen (from Red Sox)
Brandon Moss (from Red Sox)
Andy LaRoche (from Dodgers)
Bryan Morris (from Dodgers)

SI.com reported that the Red Sox got the OK from Ramirez, who would have had the rights to veto any deal. From SI.com: "He signed off on the paperwork, contingent upon the two $20-million team options for 2009 and '10 being dropped. The move will set the stage for Ramirez to become a free agent this winter."

Sad to see Manny go...he was a great player for the Sox and a great player to watch. Here's hoping that when Sox fans remember Manny's years in the future they'll remember the fun-loving easy-going player who could hit the snot out of the ball.

Good luck in L.A. Manny...