Can’t get going without that morning cup of coffee? New research suggests that drinking your coffee daily may provide protection against heart disease for people 65 and older.

Researchers at SUNY Downstate Medical Center and Brooklyn College, state that people over 65 who had higher caffeinated beverage intake had lower risk of coronary vascular disease and heart mortality than did those with lower caffeinated beverage intake.

“The protection against death from heart disease in the elderly afforded by caffeine is likely due to caffeine’s enhancement of blood pressure”, said John Kassotis, MD, associate professor of medicine at SUNY Downstate.

The protective benefits were found only in people who were not severely hypertensive and no protective effect was found in patients under 65. No protective effect against stroke was found.

The conclusions were drawn by researchers studying data from the first federal National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey Epidemiologic Follow-up Study.

Caffeine may prevent heart disease in elderly

An 80 year old Maine woman displayed quick thinking and Down East practical wisdom in outsmarting an intruder she spotted walking through her house in Hampden.

The woman asked the man what he was doing there. In response the 6’1″, 250 lb intruder grabbed the woman from behind and pushed her towards the bedroom. At the door to the bedroom, the woman braced herself against the door frame trying to break free. Then she did something that may have scared off the intruder. She told him that she was having a heart attack.

The woman convinced the man to take her to the garage to retrieve her heart medication from her car. On their return to the house, the intruder locked her in a bathroom and fled.

Police, who had become suspicious of a pick-up truck parked near the home, quickly arrested Daniel Thanem, 45, a convicted sex offender.

“The lady had enough common sense to keep her wits about her to fake a heart attack and avoid becoming another victim,” said police Sgt. Dan Stewart.

Bangor Daily News

Betty Johnson used it as a doorstop for 50 years. The house’s previous owner had used it for 10 years to prop open the door of the garden shed. But after 60 years Betty finally got curious and wondered if it might be dangerous so she called police.

The object that had been employed as a doorstop at the house in New Malden, England, for 6 decades was an unexploded shell from World War II.

Betty never gave it much thought until a friend came around and “got really quite funny about it”. That made Betty think and she decided perhaps it was time to have someone take a look at it.

Bomb disposal experts came out to remove the shell. Betty is waiting to find out what kind of bomb it was and if there was any danger of it exploding.

Bomb used as doorstop for 60 years

For those suffering from rheumatoid arthritis, a new review of the evidence may show that low doses of steroids can inhibit joint damage if given in the first two years after diagnosis.

Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disorder in which the immune system attacks and destroys healthy joint tissue. It can cause pain, swelling, deformity and disability. Steroids are often used immediately after diagnosis but discontinued after slower-acting drugs begin protecting the joints. RA is usually diagnosed between the ages of 40 and 60.

Concerns about side effects of steroid use means doctors have not used them in long-term treatment of RA. There is still a question over whether low doses will pose the same risks as high doses. However, one review concluded that the adverse effects of low-dose glucocorticoids were lower than is commonly thought.

More information on the study: Low-dose steroids reduce joint damage from rheumatoid arthritis