Karen Pallarito

Older Americans often have difficulty getting a good night's rest. It's a huge quality-of-life problem, experts say, because contrary to popular belief, seniors require about the same amount of sleep as younger adults.
   ”Sleep problems and sleep disorders are not an inherent part of aging,” said Dr. Harrison G. Bloom, a senior associate at the International Longevity Center-USA and associate clinical professor of geriatrics and medicine at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City. "It's pretty much of a myth that older people need less sleep than younger people.”
   Yet, in a study published recently in The American Journal of Medicine, researchers found that more than half of older Americans have problems getting the shuteye they need.
   Older people tend to have "sleep fragmentation,” meaning they wake up more often during the night, said study author Dr. Julie Gammack, an assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Geriatric Medicine at St. Louis University.
   They also seem to get less "REM” sleep, the type of sleep during which rapid eye movement occurs, Bloom added.
   It's unclear what role these naturally occurring changes in sleep patterns have on a person's quality of life, Bloom said. "What is important, though, is that older people often have actual sleep disorders and problems with sleep,” he said.
   And, experts say, there is usually more than one cause.
   "Sleep disturbance in older adults is typically associated with acute and chronic illnesses, including specific sleep disorders like sleep apnea and restless leg syndrome that appear with greater frequency in older populations,” said Michael V. Vitiello, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and associate director of the University of Washington's Northwest Geriatric Education Center.
   As people age, they typically develop more diseases and suffer from aches and pains. "These things can disrupt sleep, so what they may perceive as a sleep disorder may actually relate to the effects of some of their other medical problems,” Gammack noted.
   Taking multiple medications, as many older people do, can also lead to fatigue and "hypersomnia,” or being tired all the time, Bloom added.
   Another big problem, he noted, is depression and anxiety. "Those are very commonly associated with sleep problems.”
   Despite the prevalence of sleep difficulties in older adults, many patients aren't getting the help they need.
   "The average physician receives very little training about sleep disorders and typically does not routinely screen patients for them,” said Vitiello, who serves on the board of directors of the National Sleep Foundation. This may be due to a lack of time or training or the belief that there is little that can be done to improve sleep, he explained.
   As a result, problems like insomnia, restless leg syndrome, sleep apnea and circadian rhythm disorders are underdiagnosed and undertreated, Bloom said.
   To rectify the problem, a national coalition of aging, geriatric medicine and sleep organizations is currently developing guidelines to promote prevention, diagnosis and treatment of sleep problems in older adults. The National Coalition for Sleep Disorders in Older People expects to publish its recommendations by mid-2008.
   "The reason we're concerned with these [problems], besides a major issue on quality of life and being tired the next day and not functioning properly, is that these sleep disorders are associated with hypertension, diabetes, pulmonary disease, heart disease, depression and anxiety,” said Bloom, chairman of coalition's expert task force.
   A cause-and-effect relationship has yet to be established between sleep disorders and these chronic health problems, but Bloom suspects they at least contribute to each other. And he believes a causal relationship may be found in years to come.
   "This is very, very much a tip-of-the-iceberg problem,” he said.

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Unstoppable China Rayyan Kamal

China is poised to take over the world, I hear. With double digit growth rates over the past decades that have led the nation's GDP to become the world's second largest, it seems China can only go higher and further. I think it's telling that President Bush has made more trips to China than Hu Jintao has made to the U.S. How many countries can boast this special treatment from the world's reigning superpower?
   And as many Chinese might say, China's return to prominence has been a long time coming. Once the most formidable civilizations in the world, China has been relegated to obscurity since Europe overtook economically, technologically and militarily in the early 1500's. China has witnessed humiliation over the past century: occupation by Japan, war between the Nationalists and the Communists, the spectacular loss of life incurred by the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution, and more. After falling so low from such great heights perhaps there was nowhere for China to go but up.
   "The Open-Door Policy,” spearheaded by then Chairman Deng and adopted by China in 1978, signified the beginning of China's rise. Before this time China had pursued an inward policy that discouraged interactions of any form with other countries. Soon after this new policy was adopted, Chairman Deng made a visit to America ensuring that his trip was extensively covered by the press. He wanted to expose his people to the affluence enjoyed by the average American. This was a risky move, as it could have caused the Chinese people to be dissatisfied with the Chinese Communist Party. Instead, media coverage of his trip yielded the effect Deng had hoped for. It convinced his people that closing in on itself would not make China any wealthier - engaging with the rest of the world was key to its growth. In addition, seeing the prosperity of the Americans made the Chinese more determined, more focused to attain the same level of development as their American counterparts.
   Deng's economic reforms reduced the number of Chinese people living in poverty from 250 million in 1975 to 100 million in 1985. Shrinking the basic farming unit from the village commune to the plot owned by each family increased productivity tremendously by the simple but powerful logic of incentives - the family had to produce enough to sustain itself and could no longer depend on the rest of the village for help. Regions like Guangdong were given the designation of Special Economic Zones (SEZ's) that would receive special treatment economically: tax exemptions, subsidies and targeted foreign direct investment. So successful were these SEZ's that other regions were made into SEZ's. The controversial one-child policy, forbidding Chinese nationals to have more than one child, also gained in importance during Deng Xiaoping's term. As controversial as this policy was and still is, no one can deny that it mitigated the extent of the demographic explosion that hampers development in other countries.
   Initially relying on its cheap and abundant labor force to sustain its economy, China is slowly but surely educating its future workforce and ensuring they engage in skilled work. To this end, the age-old Chinese reverence for knowledge and education must be at least partly thanked.
   Whether or not it usurps America's position as the world's chief superpower, China's staggering economic progress in the past few decades should make its Asian neighbors proud and spur them to emulate this success.
   Rayyan Kamal is a sophomore at Yale University

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The art of fusion cooking Saad Quasem

A few nights ago I walked into Buddakan- a signature restaurant that serves the primary purpose of promoting fusion food to the top brass of Philadelphia. I walked through the Asian planked, French furnished lobby and encountered an Asian staff welcoming us in French. Buddha Bar CDs were playing in the background adding to the mixed nature of fusion. As I took my seat I couldn't help but notice the greenish light shining from the Chandeliers. I was taken aback by the fusion.
   Of course the menu is even more fused by gastronomic delights such as French Szechwan noodles, grilled lamb cops with Chinese mashed potatoes, poached salmon in ginger soy sauce, apricot-brandy with sake lemon juice, Mandarin Caesar salad and onion soup with tofu scraps are a few names on the list. As a fan of both Asian and European cuisine, I was quite delighted to taste the dishes I ordered. My appreciation of the dinner only sparked more respect for fusion.
   Fusion food came into fashion in the late 70s in California, now it has taken place in every corner of the world. Buddakan is located in the plush Old City district of Philadelphia. The area is inhabited by old money, many descendents of the first settlers make a large population. The bourgeoisie enjoy dining at designer European restaurants and indulge in the finest cuisine any restaurant has to offer. For this kind of aristocracy it is indeed impossible to accept fusion food. "How dare they serve blue caviar on rice bread?” kind of attitude is prevalent. Nevertheless, the delicacies served at Buddakan, seems to be an eye opener to the aristocracy. They are learning to sacrifice traditions for novelty.
   I read an article about an Indian fusion food festival held in Rome a few months ago. Miss India apparently was the chief guest of the event. The menu ran from mango soup to quail garam masala with cherry sauce, millefeuille pastry layered with saffron-yoghurt to silver-saffron wrapped blueberries to be accompanied by pomegranate diluted chardonnay. The names seem rather ornate and I remain assured that the fare served is fabulous. It pushes us to a new arena of questions that arise from the exponentially increasing fusion culture.
   Are we bored of traditional customs, food to be precise? Are the chefs bored of orchestrating meals that have been served for centuries? Or is introducing modern cuisine, a quick money making scheme?
   As a human being, I constantly look for new things to do. I believe change is the only constant in life. There must be a vibrant population who are like me exploring fresh possibilities of dining. This mindset had brought chefs of different cultures to use their creativity in order to serve dishes that are certainly non-traditional. They wish to present treats that shall fit into the category of gourmet cooking, without being customary. It is certainly fashionable to accept new trends.
   We are probably not bored of old concepts. With time we refine a lot of customs but we keep the fundamentals straight. In such circumstances the fundamentals remain cooking state of the art food. If it is being carried out then there should be no complaints.
   If these concepts are carried out, then fusion food should be the only craving in a few years. I suppose I will be going to the Buddakan even more often.

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Eating more whole grain and fiber-rich food may lower the risk of pancreatic cancer by about 40 percent, study findings suggest.
   Dr. June M. Chan, of the University of California, San Francisco, and colleagues identified this reduced risk among adults who ate two or more servings of whole grains each day compared with those who ate less than one serving a day.
   They also noted about a 35 per cent reduction in risk among individuals who ate the highest amount of fiber (26.5 grams per day or more) compared with those who ate the least (15.6 grams per day or less).
   "There is a possibility that diet can affect one's risk of pancreatic, as well as other cancers,” Chan told Reuters Health, "and that eating a diet rich in a wide variety of grains is likely to not only help in the prevention of diabetes and heart disease, but also this very deadly cancer.”
   The researchers looked at grain intake among 532 people with pancreatic cancer and 1,701 people without pancreatic cancer among the San Francisco Bay area population.
   The two groups were similar in age, gender, and body weight, and had a similar history of diabetes, but those with pancreatic cancer were more frequently current smokers, the investigators note in the American Journal of Epidemiology.
   Overall, the results of the study suggest that eating more whole grains may protect against pancreatic cancer.
   On the other hand, eating two or more servings of doughnuts a week, compared with less than a serving a month, was found to raise the risk of pancreatic cancer. However, so did eating two or more servings a week of cooked breakfast cereals such as oatmeal, which the investigators suspect may be explained by their inability to distinguish between sweetened or 'instant' cereals and less refined cereals.
   "The risk reductions associated with some whole grain foods and fiber provide general support for the hypothesis that whole grains are better than more refined and sweetened grains for pancreatic cancer prevention,”Chan said. However, "further studies are needed to confirm this,” Chan added.
   Source: American Journal of Epidemiology, November 15, 2007.

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