1. What is the fastest bird on foot?
2. What planet is closest to the sun?
3. A heptagon is a shape with how many sides?
If you feel that you might know, or want to know the answers - watch the show "are you smarter than a Fifth Grader?" I scored 68%. I know that when I was in fifth grade my parents were very disappointed with scores that low.
Recently the "sun" and its effects have been on my mind. Better weather is very close here in New Hampshire- Mother Nature is a temptress! This week my condo complex sent out a memo asking if there was an interest in a community garden. I signed up. Yesterday there was an article in the local newspaper hinting at the dangers of a lack of Vitamin D during the winter. There were the usual references to cabin fever among the forest dwellers of Maine. Portsmouth citizens believe anyone living north of Portland, Maine is a hillbilly. However there was enough useful information that it got me thinking. I did some reading and this is what I found.
As we age, we shrink in stature, our bones become brittle, our muscles weaken, and lethargy, apathy, and depression rule our emotions. Because these signs are seen commonly in the elderly, they almost assume the status of "normal". As does use of medication to treat them. Most medication, though, only treats symptoms.
Bone loss, muscle weakness, and depression have a common origin in ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation deprivation. Yes, deprivation: inadequate exposure to UVB radiation--the type of radiation we are warned about by dermatologists. Ultraviolet radiation, the invisible portion of sunlight, occurs in three types: A, B, and C. Type C radiation is very deadly but is not an important concern because the ozone layer (at least for now!) blocks all of it from hitting the earth. Type A is involved in aging effects on skin, and type B is associated with sunburn. It is widely known that overexposure to UVB radiation can cause skin cancer, but it is also true that underexposure to UVB radiation is just as harmful, maybe even more harmful, to our overall health.
Exposing unprotected skin to UVB radiation sets in motion a cascade in which the initial (prohormone) form of vitamin D, found in the skin, is converted to an intermediate form (25-hydroxyvitamin D) in the liver, and then is converted in the kidneys where it becomes the active hormonal form (1,25 dihydroxyvitamin D). This latter form regulates calcium balance, suppresses tumors, and interacts with numerous tissues in the body, including those in the brain. Individuals who receive little or no exposure to UVB radiation are at risk of having inadequate blood levels of vitamin D, which is associated with bone disorders (including osteoporosis); hypertension; cancers of the prostate, breast, and colon; muscle weakness; and depression. Instead of disorders of aging, these should be considered disorders of environmental deprivation.
You might be thinking, "Surely young and old can get enough vitamin D from their diet and supplements." Unfortunately, this is probably not the case, for three major reasons. First, it is almost impossible to get enough vitamin D from diet alone unless one eats sardines or other fatty, oily fish every day. Second, vitamin D supplements, at least in the United States, generally come bound to other vitamins or minerals, such as calcium. Therefore, getting enough vitamin D through supplementation could mean getting excessive amounts of other vitamins or minerals, which could cause other health problems. It is possible, although difficult, to overdose on vitamin D via supplementation; however, it is not possible to overdose on vitamin D via UVB radiation exposure.
My take is that we can only benefit from more outdoor activity. But this is from someone who is now "not as smart" as when he was if fifth grade. Caveat Emptor!
The creature, called Swamp Thing, was originally conceived as Alec Holland mutating into a vegetable-like creature, a "muck-encrusted mockery of a man". However, under writer Alan Moore, Swamp Thing was reinvented as an elemental entity created upon the death of Alec Holland, with Holland's memory and personality intact. He is described as "a plant that thought it was Alec Holland, a plant that was trying its level best to be Alec Holland."
Alan Moore's Swamp Thing had a profound effect on mainstream comic books, being the first horror comic to approach the genre from a literary point of view since the EC horror comics of the 1950's, and broadened the scope of the series to include ecological and spiritual concerns while retaining its horror-fantasy roots.
Waldo County, situated in mid-coast Maine along scenic Penobscot Bay, has genuine New England character evidenced by working port towns and quaint rural villages. Visitors are awed by the area's unspoiled beauty. From striking coastal views to sweeping mountain vistas, dramatic natural settings abound. In addition great care has been taken to preserve and refurbish numerous historic landmarks, homes and buildings. Consequently, the Maine of yesteryear is still found here.
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