Revitalize Your Bones

Osteomalacia is a condition indicated by softening of the bones, accompanied by pain, tenderness, muscle weakness, and loss of appetite and weight.

The disease is responsible for the prevalence of bone fractures in older people; it is caused by vitamin D deficiency, which in turn causes mal-absorption of calcium.

According to the Medical Research Mineral Metabolism Unit and Department of Orthopedic Surgery at the General Infirmary, Leeds, England, a degree of Vitamin D deficiency not sufficient to cause osteomalacia, may be responsible for osteoporosis, a disease manifesting rarefaction (less dense than normal) and increased porousness of bone.

The researchers suggest that persons who easily fracture (elderly people in particular), should fortify their diets with Vitamin D to maintain healthy bones. – Lancet.

Caffeine Toxicity. The byproducts of caffeine are clear thinking, decreased drowsiness, less fatigue, and improved reaction time – so they say. But they don’t say moderately high doses of caffeine can produce pharmacological symptoms essentially identical to anxiety neurosis.

Dr. John Greden, a former associate director of psychiatric research at Walter Reed Army Medical Center at a meeting of the American Psychiatric Association, warned that doses of 50 to 200 milligrams of caffeine can produce pharmacological actions. He cited Drill’s Pharmacology Text which refers to 250 milligrams of caffeine as “large,” saying that individuals could ingest a greater amount without being aware of it.

For example, “three cups of coffee, two over-the-counter headache tablets, and a cola drink” provide approximately 500 mg. of caffeine.

Dr. Greden describes the symptoms of caffeinism as restlessness, irritability, insomnia, headache, and muscle twitching; he said they read “like a classic description of anxiety attack.”

The Accident-Prone. Physically, accident-prone persons look like other people, but they don’t think – and therefore don’t act – like other people.

Psychological tests of drivers who repeatedly have accidents reveal personalities that respond quite differently from other people to similar driving situations.

The accident-prone persons react on impulse, making sudden choices that often involve taking a chance. Because they perceive the hazards differently, they act differently from other people. They also appraise social situations differently and respond to other people differently. – Executive Fitness Newsletter.