Health & Fitness

Scribe:  Lucy Osbourne

Email:  lucy@thethinkering.com

Wilmington, Del. – The Delaware Department of Correction is under the spotlight after a prison hostage situation that left one employee of the state dead.  The stand-off lasted for 20 hours as two state workers were held hostage on Wednesday into Thursday morning. 

A male employee was found unresponsive in the early morning hours Thursday as officers entered the Correctional Center, the worker was pronounced dead at 5:29a.m., according to a statement.  The prison near Smyrna, Delaware has been on lockdown since 10:38 Wednesday morning after an officer made a radio call for immediate assistance. 

Scribe:  Lucy Osbourne

Email:  lucy@thethinkering.com

A Japanese tapeworm is slowing the consumption of Sushi and other raw or undercooked fish products as the Centers for Disease Control and prevention issued a warning.  Diphyllobothrium nihonkaiense, or the Japanese broad tapeworm has been found on in US waters in the Pacific Ocean. 

All previous findings for this parasite has been found in Asian waters only.  Limited to Korea and the Pacific coast of Russia.  This tapeworm can grow to be as long as 30 feet.  Symptoms are minimum but, can become very serious. 

According to a report that cited Dr. William Schaffner at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, “Actually, most of the people who are infected don’t have symptoms,” Schaffner said. Some feel a little bit of abdominal discomfort, some have nausea or loose stools, and some even lose a little weight.

Scribe:  Lucy Osbourne

Email:  lucy@thethinkering.com

Sleep Apnea is front and center after the New Jersey Transit Commuter train crash in September that killed.  The disorder often associated with fatigue is under investigation by the Federal Railroad Administration as a safety issue and is planning to issue an advisory this week stressing the importance of screening for the disease and treatment solutions. 

Sufferers of the condition are repeatedly awakened during the night as their breathing stops due to airway congestion, leading to daytime drowsiness. 

Connecticut bound Metro-North already tests it engineers for Sleep apnea and found that 1 in 9 suffers from the rest robbing disease. 

Thomas Gallagher,48, was the engineer who crashed after his Pascack Valley Line Train slammed in the Hoboken Terminal at 20 mpg killing one woman and injuring more than 100 others.

Scribe:  N. Tru Bass

Email:  ntb@thethinkering.com

Ice Cream has become dangerous as another bout of listeria has sparked recalls across the industry.  Earlier this month Cedar Crest ice cream company announced a listeria contamination the company pointed to the cookie dough as the potential source of the problem.   Aspen Hills, Inc., provided the cookie dough and was also implicated earlier this year when Blue Bell recalled a massive number of products. 

Listeria symptoms can take up to 70 days to develop after exposure and they include, high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, diarrhea and abdominal pain. 

Nancy’s, L.A. Creamery and Agave Dream are all Gourmet ice cream brands who have also joined the product recall. 

Scribe:  N. Tru Bass

Email: ntb@thethinkering.com

A new startling recommendation offed by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force suggests everyone over 40 should consider taking statins even in the absence of heart disease.

According to a written statement, Dr. Douglas K. Owens said, ““People with no signs, symptoms, or history of cardiovascular disease can still be at risk for having a heart attack or stroke,” and continued, “Fortunately, for certain people at increased risk, statins can be very effective at preventing these events.”

Scribe:  Samuel Otis

Email: samuel@thethinkering.com

Matthew Smith, 42, turned himself in to the police after being sought for punching a man in the head for pushing, cussing out and calling Smith a Nigg**.  The charge was originally a homicide charge but was reduced to a misdemeanor charge of assault in the third degree.

The victim Patrick Gorman was walking near Queens Boulevard and Main Street in Briarwood when he bumped Elena Makarova, 39, and said something to the couple.   Smith responded by punching the 64-year-old in the head area with a right hand.  He then reached for what appears to be a gym bag and sauntered off. 

Gorman was taken to a Jamaica Hospital where he died the next day.  The death was ruled a homicide, but is expected to change.

Smith was released on $10,000 bail and is expected back in court on 22 November. 

Scribe:  Samuel Otis

Email:  samuel@thethinkering.com

A Queens woman was pushed in front of a subway train on Monday at the Times Square Station according to the New York Police Department.   A 30-year old woman was apprehended immediately afterward after stander byers identified the woman after the incident.

The pusher was described as emotionally disturbed, was taken into custody and is suspected in a similar attack last month.  Neither the accused or the victim was identified by authorities. 

According to preliminary reports the incident was believed to be unprovoked.   The attack occurred in the early afternoon hours as the Number 1 train approached, immediately afterward emergency workers and police converged on the area as subway traffic was rerouted as the pinned body was removed from the third car of the commuter train. 

Scribe:  N. Tru Bass

Email:  ntb@thehinkeirng.com

Motorcycle melee jumped off on Sunday as two Long Island motorcycle gangs clashed at a classic car show leaving two people injured.  According to authorities the Pagans and Hells Angels have started fighting in the parking lot of the Pennysaver Amphitheater in Farmingville, NY. 

Around noon, officers managed to break up the brawl and separate the groups.  Police admit no arrests were made and two people were taken to local hospitals, while news reports cite a large pool of blood at the scene. 

The two groups have a history of dissension, back in 2010 the two groups bumped heads and in that fight a number of Pagans were arrested.  In that connect Pagan groups from Long Island, NY and New Jersey met and discussed plans to kill members of the rival group, Hells Angels. 

Scribe:  Samuel Otis

Email:  samuel@thethinkering.com

According to two new studies regular cycling may lower your risk of heart disease and heart attack.  According to a Danish study people aged 50 to 65 had a 25 percent lower risk of developing heart disease over 15 years than those who did not cycle. 

Many people find it difficult to find time to exercise, prompting scientist to incorporate exercise into daily activity like the commute.  Suggesting recreational and commuter biking is an easy way to make physical activity part of your routine in an informal fashion. 

In a separate study more than 20 000 swedes were followed in their 40.s,50’s and 60’s for 10 years.   This research suggests those who regularly biked to work were significantly less likely to be obese, have high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes – all of which are major risk factors for heart disease.  

Scribe:  Samuel Otis’

Email:  samuel@thethinkering.com

For years Americans have spread the rumor HIV the virus that causes AIDs has been linked to monkeys in Africa that infected humans around the start of the 20th century and covered all of African before hitting the Caribbean 10 years later. 

Haiti is always the whipping dog of the western world after the Toussaint Overture lead the country to be the first country to gain its freedom from European savagery.   

According to new evidence the first instance of the virus was found in New York City in 1970, long before it was identified as a virus and even longer before it was link to the spread of AIDs.   HIV currently infects more than 36 million people worldwide.  More than 35 million have died from AIDS according the United Nations AIDS agency.