Health News and Scoops

INDIANAPOLIS–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Heartland
Sweeteners is accustomed to receiving recognition for its products,
Ideal^® and Nevella^® with Probiotics,
which stand apart from other sugar substitutes and artificial sweeteners
on the market. In addition, Heartland Sweeteners was named one of
Indiana’s “Companies
to Watch” in 2010. Now, Heartland has something else to celebrate –
CEO Ted Gelov was named a 2011 Midwest finalist in the Ernst
Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2011 program. Gelov is the only
finalist from Indiana.

“Heartland Sweeteners has developed a solid
foundation of leadership, passionate employees and high-quality
products, and everyone is certainly excited about the company’s future.”

Selected by an independent judging panel made up of previous winners of
the award, leading CEOs, private capital investors, and other regional
business leaders, Gelov is one of 26 finalists vying for the award.
“It’s an honor to be a finalist among such an elite group of business
leaders,” said Gelov. “Heartland Sweeteners has developed a solid
foundation of leadership, passionate employees and high-quality
products, and everyone is certainly excited about the company’s future.”

The Entrepreneur of the Year Program, founded and produced by Ernst
Young LLP, recognizes entrepreneurs through regional, national and
global awards in more than 140 cities in more than 50 countries. It is
the world’s most prestigious business award for entrepreneurs. The
program is designed to recognize those who create jobs and encourage
community development and innovation in our broader economy. The Midwest
winner will be chosen at a gala on June 22 in Chicago.

Heartland Sweeteners is located in Carmel, Ind. The company’s branded
no-calorie sweeteners–Ideal^® and Nevella^®
with Probiotics–may be found at retailers across the country and
online. Private Label and Foodservice tabletop sweeteners and baking
mixes are also available. To learn more about Heartland, visit www.heartlandsweeteners.com.

About Heartland Sweeteners
Based in Indianapolis,
Heartland Sweeteners, LLC, is a leader in the production and development
of innovative food products that are great for the whole family.
Heartland produces and distributes branded and private label sweeteners
for the food industry. Their branded products of Ideal® and Nevella® are
great for the whole family, diabetics and people watching their calorie
intake. Ideal® and Nevella® are perfect for baking and are distributed
in North America, Europe, Central and South America. Visit www.heartlandsweeteners.com
for more information.

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Continues Decade-Long Support of Starkey Hearing Foundation

MADISON, Wis.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–In honor of Better Hearing Speech Month in May, Rayovac®, a worldwide
leader in battery power and innovation, reaffirmed today its continuing
partnership with the Starkey Hearing Foundation (SHF) to provide the
gift of hearing around the world, a cooperative effort based on the
belief that quality hearing healthcare is a right all people, including
children, should have.

“Our relationship with the Starkey Hearing Foundation is truly a special
one for us at Rayovac. Bill Austin, founder of the Starkey Hearing
Foundation, is a galvanizing force and the Foundation’s mission, So
the World May Hear, could not be more compelling”

For more than a decade, Rayovac, a division of Spectrum Brands Holdings,
Inc., has worked closely with SHF in a mutual mission and commitment to
help with hearing loss internationally through the donation of hearing
aid batteries to assist hundreds of thousands of those in need each year.

“Our relationship with the Starkey Hearing Foundation is truly a special
one for us at Rayovac. Bill Austin, founder of the Starkey Hearing
Foundation, is a galvanizing force and the Foundation’s mission, So
the World May Hear, could not be more compelling,” said Randy
Raymond, Vice President, Global Sales Marketing, Hearing Aid Batteries
for Rayovac.

“I’ve had the privilege of working with Bill, Tani and their exceptional
team in some of the poorest parts of the world to help give the gift of
hearing, and hope, to people who live under some of the most desperate
conditions imaginable,” Raymond said. “Bill and his team do this,
motivated only by the love of their fellow man and Bill’s complete
conviction that you can change the world, one person at a time. Having
personally seen the smiles and the tears of joy when a child hears for
the first time, I know he’s right.”

In support of SHF, Rayovac is a major sponsor and active attendee of the
organization’s “So the World May Hear®” awards gala on July 24 in St.
Paul, MN. Generous proceeds from the annual ceremony, which spotlights
humanitarians and celebrates the spirit of giving, support SHF’s
worldwide hearing mission trips.

As a global leader in engineering high-quality hearing aid batteries,
Rayovac has donated millions of batteries each year and has been an
official sponsor of the Foundation’s worldwide hearing missions. Rayovac
employees have given generous service by participating in numerous
missions trips throughout the years, including Tanzania, the Dominican
Republic, Guatemala, Mexico and South Africa. On these missions,
thousands of hearing aids are fit on individuals in select communities.

Please visit Rayovac’s Hearing Aid Batteries page on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/RayovacHearing,
click to donate, and Rayovac will give a pack of hearing aid batteries
to the Starkey Hearing Foundation.

“Rayovac is proud to help sponsor the remarkable work of Bill and Tani
Austin and the wonderful, caring team at the Starkey Hearing
Foundation,” Raymond said. “The hearing aid batteries and support we
provide, however, are just a small fraction of what they need to carry
out their important work. We encourage other companies and individuals
to support their efforts – So the World May Hear.”

About Spectrum Brands Holdings, Inc.

Spectrum Brands Holdings, Inc., a member of the Russell 2000 Index, is a
diversified, global consumer products company and a leading supplier of
batteries, shaving and grooming products, personal care products, small
household appliances, specialty pet supplies, lawn garden and home
pest control products, personal insect repellents and portable lighting.
Helping to meet the needs of consumers worldwide, the Company offers a
broad portfolio of market-leading and widely trusted brands including
Rayovac®, Remington®, Varta®, George Foreman®, Black Decker®,
Toastmaster®, Tetra®, Marineland®, Nature’s Miracle®, Dingo®, 8-in-1®,
Littermaid®, Spectracide®, Cutter®, Repel®, and Hot Shot®. Spectrum
Brands Holdings’ products are sold by the world’s top 25 retailers and
are available in more than one million stores in more than 120 countries
around the world. Spectrum Brands Holdings generated net sales of $3.1
billion from continuing operations in fiscal 2010. For more information,
visit www.spectrumbrands.com.

About Rayovac

Rayovac is a worldwide leader in battery power and innovation. Backed by
a long history of bringing the latest innovations to the marketplace,
Rayovac offers a full range of high-performance batteries to meet the
power needs of today’s consumers. From long-lasting alkaline batteries
to advanced green rechargeable technology to the world’s top-selling,
longest-lasting mercury free hearing aid battery, Rayovac’s
state-of-the-art products offer more power for the money. The company
also manufactures a wide selection of high-quality flashlights. For more
information, visit www.rayovac.com.

About The Starkey Hearing Foundation

The Starkey Hearing Foundation is striving to change the social
consciousness of hearing and hearing loss prevention. Hearing loss
affects one in 10 Americans, and 63 million children worldwide, yet many
do not have access to the hearing devices that can help correct that
disability. Each year, the Foundation delivers more than 100,000 hearing
aids through hearing missions in countries stretching from the U.S. to
Vietnam. Since 2000, the Foundation has supplied nearly 498,000 hearing
aids to people in need and is striving to achieve its goal of
distributing over one million free hearing aids in this decade. For more
information on the Starkey Hearing Foundation, visit www.starkeyhearingfoundation.org.

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MANILA, Philippines — The 138,000-strong Philippine National Police (PNP) was placed on full alert effective Monday afternoon as part of the security and safety plan for the opening of classes on June 6 and the coming Independence Day celebrations.

PNP spokesman Chief Supt. Agrimero Cruz Jr. said the full alert status took effect last Monday 5 p.m.

Cruz said that PNP Chief Dir. Gen. Raul M. Bacalzo issued Letter of Instruction 17/2011 (Balik-Eskwela 2011) mobilizing all PNP regional offices and national support units and to perform specific tasks and coordinating instructions to implement the nationwide security and public safety plan.

He added that Bacalzo has placed the entire PNP under nationwide full alert status to ensure the availability and operational readiness of police units, personnel and resources for security and public safety operations in connection with the opening of classes next week.

An estimated 25-million students in different levels are expected to troop to back to schools nationwide for the simultaneous opening of classes in both public and private learning institutions.

Bacalzo said that LOI Balik-Eskwela 2011 ensures the operational readiness of police units in responding to peace and order concerns including threats from criminal elements that may take advantage of the situation.

The PNP chief gave all police regional directors the discretionary authority to raise alert conditions as they deem necessary to effectively implement their respective security and public safety plans.

“Of priority concern to the PNP are incidents of street crimes such as pickpocket, snatching, swindling, robbery/hold-up, and street-level drug trafficking,” said Cruz, adding, police patrols in the vicinity of schools will also be on the look-out for drug traffickers and violent street gangs that may infiltrate the ranks of students.

He said local PNP units were likewise instructed to coordinate closely with school administrators and officials of the Department of Education (DepEd) and Commission on Higher Education (CHED) to ensure safety and security of students.

In Metro Manila, the entire 16,000-strong National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) will field personnel in strategic areas within the vicinity of schools for foot, mobile and police visibility patrols and establish Police Assistance Desks (PADs).

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MANILA, Philippines — Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario and Agrarian Reform Secretary Virgilio delos Reyes Tuesday got the nod of the bicameral Commission on Appointments.

Concurrent CA chairman Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile gave his nod to Del Rosario and Delos Reyes as well as to the appointments of the 21 ambassadors and the ad interim appointments of 39 officers of the Department of Foreign Affairs.

The nominations of the ambassadors and that of the other 12 chiefs of mission, class I, 10 chiefs of mission class II, nine career ministers and eight foreign service officers (FSOs) is the largest number of envoys submitted to the Commission by the 10-month administration of President Aquino.

Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago, chair of the CA’s Committee on Foreign Affairs, favorably endorsed for the confirmation of their appointments.

Delos Reyes’ capability to accomplish over all land reform was decided briefly by the Committee on Agrarian Reform chaired by Sen. Panfilo Lacson.

This, even after Delos Reyes agreed with the proposition that the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) of the country was a failure.

“With a qualified yes: Qualified in the sense, it was a failure since we should have finished this many years ago. But because we are now on the 22nd year of CARP… it is a failure only because of the fact it has taken us too long to be able to finish it when other countries finished it much faster,” Delos Reyes told the committee.

Lacson made a motion recommending his confirmation for plenary.

But during the hearing, Del Rosario’s confirmation was held for a short while when the appointments body heard the sworn opposition filed by a certain Mr. Chung Hing Wong a.k.a. Joseph Wong.

Wong tried to block the nomination of Del Rosario by accusing him syndicated estafa when the latter was still a director of a private development bank.

Wong, who came to the committee hearing unaccompanied by a lawyer, had difficulty answering questions thrown by Santiago.

But when Santiago asked if he has evidence, the businessman could not produce proof to back up his claims but merely said that Del Rosario did not file a counter affidavit in the case he filed at the Department of Justice (DoJ).

Irked by his unpreparedness, Santiago berated Wong and reminded members of the committee that the CA does not function as a court and litigate cases but merely assesses the qualifications of a nominee for a certain government position.

Santiago had to literally “throw out” the oppositor out of the session hall and branded his action as “contemptuous.”

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By Genevra Pittman

NEW YORK |
Mon May 30, 2011 4:27pm EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Having a stressful home or work environment doesn’t make a person more likely to develop multiple sclerosis, hints a large new study.

Previous research has suggested that in people who already have the chronic disease — which affects the brain and spinal cord — stressful events make flare-ups more likely. In the new study, the authors looked at whether stress raised a woman’s risk of getting the disease, and couldn’t find a link.

Despite studying more than 150,000 women, though, the researchers said they couldn’t rule out a connection either because they couldn’t account for all stressful life events and their impact on the body’s disease-fighting systems.

“These results do not support a major role of stress in the development of the disease, but repeated and more focused measures of stress are needed to firmly exclude stress as a potential risk factor for MS,” they report today in the journal Neurology.

The National Multiple Sclerosis Society estimates that about 400,000 people in the U.S. have MS. There is no cure for the disease, which occurs when the protective coating around nerve fibers begins to break down — slowing the brain’s communication to the rest of the body.

Symptoms include fatigue and problems with balance and muscle coordination, as well as memory loss and trouble with logical thinking in some people.

To determine if stress is linked to the onset of MS, researchers including Harvard Medical School’s Dr. Alberto Ascherio analyzed data from two large nationwide studies of female nurses.

Starting in 1976 for one study and 1989 for the other, women were regularly asked about any new diseases they were diagnosed with, including MS, and diagnoses were confirmed by their doctors.

The first group of about 93,000 nurses was also given a questionnaire about their levels of stress at home and at work, six years after the study began. The second group of about 68,500 nurses filled out questionnaires about physical and sexual abuse during childhood and adolescence — another possible cause of stress.

As of 2004 to 2005, 77 women in the first group and 292 in the second had been diagnosed with MS and responded to questionnaires about stress. The number in the second study was higher because researchers included women who had been diagnosed with MS before the study was initiated, and that group was younger.

MS is typically diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 40.

How much stress women reported both at home and work was not linked with their chance of having MS. For example, 44 percent of all women said in their questionnaire that they experienced moderate stress at work, compared to 39 percent of women with MS. Those numbers were similar for moderate stress at home.

Severe stress at work was reported by 11 percent of all women and 5 percent of the MS group in particular.

Nor did a history of physical abuse make women any more likely to get MS.

The researchers found a slight increase in MS in women who said they were touched multiple times in a sexual way as a child — but they note that result is hard to interpret, especially because women who said they were touched once seemed to have a lowest risk of MS.

One limitation of the study was that it only included female nurses, so the findings may not apply to men, the authors say.

Another limitation was that the study only asked about stress at a single time point.

Dr. Thomas Mack, who studies MS at the University of Southern California, said that one question when considering stress is whether to ask people how they feel or to measure the body’s stress response.

“The main difficulty in studying stress specifically is, what does the word mean?” said Mack, who was not involved in the current study.

“Does it have a specific physiologic meaning, or is it a very general term? Some people feel more stressed than others — whether there’s any physiologic meaning to that is very difficult to know,” he told Reuters Health.

Researchers sometimes measure stress by looking at the presence of certain hormones in the blood.

Mack said this issue of stress as a possible cause of MS hasn’t been studied much — mostly because doctors who treat MS are more interested in what causes exacerbations in their patients than why they developed the disease in the first place.

SOURCE: bit.ly/lUcacJ Neurology, online May 30, 2011.

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