Issue Date: October 1, 2006
2 new ways to build kids' English skills
To help baby Einsteins grow into adolescent eggheads, many parents turn to technology. Here are two new gadgets that are designed to build spelling and vocabulary skills:
An updated Children's Talking Dictionary & Spell Corrector (geared for ages 6 to 10) offers 40,000-plus definitions, word games, a handwriting guide and a rhyme finder.
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary & Thesaurus with Comprehensive Reference Set (for high school kids and above) has 300,000-plus definitions, a list of common SAT words, grammar and style guides, a five-language translator and more.
Each is $59.95 from franklin.com.
The gadgets' basic displays and crude animation seem archaic in an era of iPods, but both are portable -- a great asset for kids on the go.
The Children's Talking Dictionary offers 40,000-plus definitions.
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Apples pack more punch
TIPS:
Eat the skin. It can have 6 times more antioxidants than the flesh.
Red Delicious is tops in antioxidants.
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An apple a day also may keep away memory loss, asthma, cancer, diabetes, heart disease, stroke and tooth loss. Crisp, new details:
Memory. Drinking 2 cups of apple juice or eating two to three apples a day may boost production of acetylcholine, often lacking in Alzheimer's patients. When University of Massachusetts Lowell researchers gave apple juice concentrate to elderly mice with Alzheimer's-like symptoms, they did better on learning maze tests and had more acetylcholine.
Cancer. An Italian study showed that eating at least an apple a day cut risk of cancer of the mouth and pharynx by 21%; esophagus, 25%; colon, 20%; breast, 18%; ovaries, 15%; prostate, 9%.
Asthma. Apples are rich in an antioxidant called apigenin that, in animal tests in Japan, suppressed responses leading to asthma and allergies. Apigenin also is found in beans, broccoli, celery, cherries, grapes, onions and parsley.
Diabetes. Harvard investigators found that women who ate an apple a day were 28% less likely to develop type 2 diabetes than women who ate none.
Heart. Eating apples may help stifle blood clots and plaque in arteries, which lead to heart disease. Example: Eating two more apples or 1 1/2 cups of 100% apple juice a day slowed changes in bad LDL cholesterol that contribute to artery-clogging plaque, says University of California-Davis research. And European studies suggest less fatal heart disease and 40% fewer strokes in apple eaters.
Teeth. Harvard epidemiologists say men who stopped eating apples were more apt to lose their teeth.
Contact Jean Carper at stopagingnow.com.
Scientific sources for this article
Alzheimer's symptoms
Chan, A. J Alzheimers Dis. 2006 Aug;9(3):287-91
and
Research Shows Benefit of Apple Juice
Cancer
Gallus S. Ann Oncol. 2005 Nov;16(11):1841-4. Epub 2005 Aug 9
Asthma
Butland BK. Thorax, 2000 Feb; 55(2): 102-8
Yano S, J Agric Food Chem. 2006 Jul 12;54(14):5203-7<
Diabetes
Song Y, J Am Coll Nutr. 2005 Oct;24(5):376-84
Heart
Hubbard GP. J Thromb Haemost 2004 Dec; 2(12): 2138-45
Pearson DA. Lif Sci, 1999; 64(21): 1913-20
Hertog MG. Lancet 1993 Oct 23; 342(8878): 1007-110
Knekt P. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2000 May; 54(5): 415-7
Teeth
Hung HC. J Am Dent Assoc, 2003 Sep;134(9):1185-92
Antioxidant levels
Tsao R. J Agric Food Chem 2003 Oct 8;51(21): 6347-53
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Is it time to wrestle out of your ARM?
With rising interest rates, many low-rate adjustable mortgages have, well, adjusted. It isn't pretty. Strategies:
Determine how bad it can get. Check your loan's "lifetime cap," which limits how much your rate can ever increase. If it's low enough, you may find your highest payment isn't a lot more than a new fixed-rate loan.
Consider a fixed. If your lifetime cap is high, refinance. Your new payments probably will be higher, and you may have fees and closing costs, but you won't have any more surprises.
Ride it out. If you recently took out a hybrid adjustable, don't panic. Rates may drop by the time your loan adjusts in three to five years.
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Shape up for cold season
Exercise is the key to staying healthy and fighting disease, right? "There is some scientific evidence in support, but not a lot," says Laurel Mackinnon, author of "Advances in Exercise Immunology." But still, she says, exercise is more likely to prevent rather than cause illness.
While there is no guideline for the optimal amount of exercise needed to strengthen immunity, the average person should get 30 to 60 minutes of moderate exercise each day for general health and disease prevention.
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