Vitamins bad for your health?

Or a biased study?...........




A yahoo report today;http://uk.news.yahoo.com/28022007/140/vitamin-pills-increase-risk-death.html states that rather than helping increase your life expectancy, taking Vitamins A and E increases your risk of death! I've put a comment at the end of this article.


Millions use antioxidants Beta carotene and Vitamins A and E across the globe and it
has previously been alleged they helped protect against heart disease and cancer.

Scientists in Denmark, now say that antioxidants "significantly increase mortality". BUT critics said the finding was based largely on studies of people who were already chronically ill before they were treated with supplements!

The study related only to synthetic supplements and not to fruits and vegetables, which are natural and contain less concentrated levels of antioxidants.

Researchers did not pinpoint any biochemical mechanism that may be behind the increased death risk. But it may be that "by eliminating free radicals from our organism, we interfere with some essential defensive mechanisms," the study concluded.

The report stated that those taking Beta carotene and Vitamins A and E had a 5% higher death risk than those not using them.

It also found no evidence that Vitamin C increases longevity. Although Selenium tended to reduce mortality, more research is needed on that topic.

Speaking as someone who takes vitamins (not A or E but C), I'm always interested in these sorts of articles but this one has been taken out of context and reported correctly but incorectly, if you see what I mean? The results are absolute and truthful however this report needs to be added to many others before a declaration is made about the vitamins concerned.

1-66, so what is the question?

A) The speed my first ever car would travel in approximately 3o minutes? (Not 10 seconds like most modern cars!)..... ....Ah and there is my first car.

B) The numbers of the houses in my street?

C) The odds you could get on Helen Mirren walking away with the OSCAR for best actress for playing Queen Elizabeth II ........... No, that is Helen Mirren playing Betty I, I said Queen Elizabeth II! ....That's better.

The answer is A............No, it is actually A and C to be honest with you but A is only correct if you are going downhill. Yes one bookmaker is giving the staggering odds of 1-66 whereas others are being more cautious with 1-14. Dame Judy Dench has decided not to even turn up to this year's event and instead is staying at home while recovering from a knee op. Don't blame her to be honest. I feel rather sorry for Kate Winslet though, if only it was any other year then maybe she may have been more lucky? maybe there should be a catagory in the oscars for those who have multiple nominations and never seem to be the cats that get the cream? Penelope Cruz and Meryl Streep are also in the same catagory but lets be fair, Meryl has lots of awards, as does Judy and Penelope is a stunning woman and can afford to wait a while longer for an oscar and personally I don't like her as an actress anyway. There are better acresses in the supporting role for instance Jennifer Hudson who I've liked since American Idol days (Does it show I'm a big Idol fan?)

I am not going to be blogging with the results as the come up as I really cannot be bothered to stay up till the early hours, but if the bothersome mouse makes an appearance in my house then I may be up and about. We shall see.

Good luck to KATE and JENNIFER.

http://www.oscars.org/

Deadly trip

Yesterday evening 84 year old Margaret Masson from Glasgow died and eight others were seriously injured when several carriages were left on their sides after the Virgin London to Glasgow service derailed at Grayrigg, near Kendal in Cumbria UK.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/6392181.stm

The link is for the story in pictures which were taken this morning at the remote site which could only be reached by a single track road. Obviously that made things much harder for the rescue services who struggled to get to the passengers - But DID!

The focus at the moment is on the points but as of yet there is no definative reason as to why the Pendolino type of train derailed. It was travelling at 95mph and is capable of travelling at 125mph and is one of those 'tilting' trains which makes journeys more comfortable normally and in fact Virgin who run this service have an excellent safety record.

My thoughts go out to those affected by this however, a heart-rendering concern which happened over on the other side of the world was the funeral for the twenty-three unidentified people who lost their lives in the Indian train fire caused by a bomb last Sunday. The reasons were quite simply because the bodies were beginning to decompose and if families come forward and can prove identification via DNA at a later date, the bodies can be exhumed and re-buried. Both Islamic and Hindu religious verses were recited during the sombre ceremony in the village of Mehrana in Haryana.

68 people died in total last Sunday. I wish them well as they leave this life and head onto the next.

Amreican Idol

Thought I'd lighten the mood up as I'm mouse infested and could do with a break right now.

http://www.americanidol.com/

I have really enjoyed American Idol or shold I say I loved it up till last year and then it blipped big time when the grey ferret or whatever he's called won the show.

I don't have a favourite as of yet and so I can be completely impartial. It looks as Chris Sligh, who is a larger than average, geeky looking, curly haired....(Oh that's it - A bit like Alan Davies for the Brits who haven't seen him,) odd looking young man with a good voice, well he appears to have a strong fanbase and if you've got one of those then you have the battle half won............Antonella somebody has had some pictures posted of her over in the states and alledgedly she's pi**ed as a fart and not showing her best. It was when she was 21 so the moralists are on to it!.......Blake Lewis is a 'Hottie' but I cannot recall him at this moment in time? Don't always need a good voice do they though?

American Idol is on tonight at 8.30pm on ITV2

Auditions over, 2 boys and 2 girls go out. Who's going to be in the dogpound and who's going home!

Giveth with one hand.....

And taketh away with the other.

1,600 British troops will soon be coming home from Basra but what's this?

"More UK soldiers for Afghanistan"

Why and how many?

1000

This is according to a BBC News report ; http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/6388717.stm

Afghanistan is a frightening country and I cannot understand why we should send any more troops when it is in my opinion a dead end cause. The Taleban have been fighting in that country for decades and if the Russians and their mighty power could not cause a surrender then how the heck are the might of the current peacekeeping force plus an extra one thousand men and women going to help matters?

The one aspect that people in this country are possibly not thinking about is also how much does it cost to keep 6000 troops in Afghanistan, 7000 if the rumours are to be believed? Then we have our brave soldiers in Iraq too. I would never knock the bravery of those who are out there but I just cannot fathom out the cost of all of this.

No wonder the hospitals and schools have so little money?

Still no date?

Yesterday I was full of hope that Blair would announce a date for the removal of our troops from Iraq. Call it one of the last acts of honour before he resigns as leader at some point this year and Gordon the so called 'leader in waiting' takes over.
But no, 1,600 service people will be coming home which has got to be a good thing however we are swapping them with Prince Harry. I imagine those already serving hope he's good!
http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=642&id=286822007

Back to being serious. I was hearing a statistic today that 800 civilians per week die in Iraq. Who are we, the Americans and our fellow allied troops protecting? That's an unfair question because terroists play dirty games, nevertherless, I remember this being talked about before 'we' invaded?

What is the answer? I don't know. My grandmother, s German single mother, got together with my grandfather, a British army officer, while he was based out in Germany. Some Germans still did not accept the way the way the war had ended and did not accept English squadies in it's towns and cities.

60 years on we still have troops in Germany.

Our boys coming home

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6373087.stm

BBC News reports that finally our troops will be coming home soon from Iraq now that the Iraqis are taking the the lead in frontline security in Basra. All is "completed" and "successful"., Tony Blair is quoted saying!

My feelings on the whole Iraq business are very mixed because I didn't like the fact that we had troops over there in the first place and then yesterday I happened to be going past the church (by pure chance), when the 100th British soldier was having his service of rememberence before being laid to rest. I don't talk openly to my American friends for fear that my feelings would be in conflict with theirs and I so not want to offend? I don't know how differently we all feel and how strongly anyone feels? It's a hard call.....But the truth is I've hated this whole affair. The 45 minute rule business led to the suicide of a man who was never able to explain himself but who was made to look guilty by our government.......In fact I don't like our government but haven't liked ANY government yet!!!! The thought of the tories with their namby pamby rules getting in makes me fill with dread because as much as they are critical they would be just as bad.

So our troops will be home soon?

What about those innocents who are dying every day? Yesterday it was over 20, the day before 60 people dead......in total thousands but still not as many as Saddam had killed (Maybe?)

We still have troops in Afganistan and there is no word on when they are coming home......I'd like to hear that?