World's Oldest Person Found Thriving in the Amazon

Photo courtesy of Survival International

from TreeHugger.com
by Stephen Messenger, Porto Alegre, Brazil

While the Amazon rainforest is certainly known to be teeming with life, it turns out that the people who live there are too. Maria Lucimar Pereira, an indigenous Amazonian belonging to the Kaxinawá tribe of western Brazil, will soon be celebrating her birthday -- her 121st birthday, to be exact. The truth behind Pereira's remarkable longevity was recently discovered by the Brazilian government while performing a routine review of birth records -- which, in her case, date back to 1890 -- making her the world's oldest living person. And the best part of all? Pereira credits her long-life to an all-natural diet derived wholly from the Amazon.

According to Survival International, an indigenous rights group working in the Amazon, the government officials have confirmed the validity of Pereira's birth certificate, indicating that the Brazilian native is not only the world's oldest living person, but is also 6 years older than the previous title-holder.

What makes Pereira's longevity all the more fascinating are the humble conditions in which she lives. The centenarian, who will turn 121 years old on Saturday, lives in a remote corner of the Amazon, in the Brazilian state of Acre, where she practices a traditional way of life that stretches back for centuries, free of many modern amenities many people half her age often think they cannot live without.

Pereira credits her long-life to an active, healthy lifestyle, in addition to a diet rich in locally grown meats, fruits, and vegetables gathered in the forests around her home -- free of the extra salt, sugar, and preservatives so commonly found in foods around the world. Her all-natural diet, along with frequent walks around town, has allowed Pereira to thrive while others, many years her junior, do not.

With so many fads and gimmicks aimed at promoting a 'healthy' alternative, Pereira's example seems to suggest that looking to past dietary habits may be the best way to ensure a thriving life stretching far into the future.

"All too often we witness the negative effects forced change can have on indigenous peoples," says Stephen Corry of Survival International. "It is refreshing to see a community that has retained strong links to its ancestral land and enjoyed the undeniable benefits of this."

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Partners to build research centre for seniors at the University of Waterloo

WATERLOO, Ontario, August 29, 2011 /Canada NewsWire/ - An ambitious partnership involving the Ontario government, postsecondary sector and Schlegel Villages will develop a centre of excellence for research, training and innovation in senior health care and wellness at the University of Waterloo. The goal is to help Canada better prepare for an aging population.

The development on Waterloo's north campus will be built in three phases, starting with a 192-bed long-term care home owned and managed by Schlegel Villages. It will include a specialized building where faculty, staff and students from the University of Waterloo, Conestoga College and the Schlegel-UW Research Institute for Aging (RIA) will work and learn with residents and staff from the adjacent long-term home.

Two later phases will develop assisted living and independent living for seniors as well as a primary care health centre to create a full continuum of care. Total construction costs will be about $130-million.

"This project is a sterling example of government, university, college and private collaboration," said Ron Schlegel, chair of Schlegel Villages and Founder of the RIA. "We have a university that is tops in Canada for innovation and entrepreneurship, a college with a passion for building a workforce better equipped to meet the needs of growing numbers of seniors, a research institute with a strong track record in practice-relevant research, and a provider of long-term care and retirement that is a leader in the province."

The Ontario government will contribute $20-million in capital funds for the 192-bed long-term care home. The province will also provide $625,000 a year in operating funds for the learning, research and innovation centre. The provincial funding will enhance capacity and expertise in the long-term care sector, as well as improve the delivery of existing long-term care services.

"Today's announcement is evidence of the Ontario government's commitment to providing first-class care for seniors in our community. The creation of these additional beds means that we will have more services in waterloo Region for those who require them, " - John Milloy, minister of training, colleges and universities, and MPP for Kitchener Centre

"I have worked consistently for the last four years to secure 192 long-term care beds for the seniors in our community," said Leeanna Pendergast, MPP for Kitchener-Conestoga. "The Schlegel-University of Waterloo Research Institute for Aging brings cutting-edge services to our community not found anywhere else in North America."

The province's investment unleashes an estimated $84-million in additional funding for teaching and research, including financial and land contributions from the University of Waterloo The Schlegel family will provide a minimum $45-million over 20 years to fund 14 research chairs in aging, matched fifty-fifty by the University of Waterloo and one research chair matched fifty-fifty by Conestoga College. The family will also contribute $3-million to the capital costs for the learning, research and innovation centre.

"We are very pleased to be a partner in the centre of excellence. We look forward to working with the RIA to address the growing need for knowledgeable and skilled workers dedicated to senior living and care. Our early experience with the Schlegel Chair for Enhanced Seniors Care and our living classroom at the Village of Riverside Glen indicates that this collaborative approach creates a positive impact on students' attitudes about working with seniors, often leading them to choose careers in the field." - John Tibbits, president, Conestoga College.

These contributions build on the $6-million Schlegel has already committed to found the RIA for a total investment of over $50-million. Four research chairs are already in place and actively working in the areas of geriatric medicine, geriatric pharmacotherapy, vascular aging and brain health, and nutrition, while a fifth chair in enhanced senior care is at Conestoga College. The new learning, research and innovation centre will be operated as part of RIA.

The work of the centre of excellence will inform policy and program decisions to directly and positively impact on a number of government priorities, including long-term care transformation, building human resource capacity in the seniors care system, resident-centred care, reducing emergency room visits, and job creation/economic activity stemming from commercialization and export of products internationally, including curriculum.

The centre will provide students, researchers and educators with the opportunity for direct engagement in seniors care environments. It will develop new training programs and enhance gerontology content of existing programs to build a workforce better prepared for the rapidly increasing senior population.

"Ensuring an appropriate quality-of-life for an increasing population of seniors may prove to be one of our greatest challenges in the decades to come," said Feridun Hamdullahpur, president of the University of Waterloo. "Innovative collaborations like this one - marrying research and education with the daily experience of resident seniors - will help incubate programs and services that will improve that quality of life."

Over the next 20 years, the number of seniors in Ontario will double, with the fastest growing group being those over age 80. This will put unprecedented pressure on healthcare systems serving seniors - programs that are already under strain.

Construction on the first phase should begin in late 2012 and be completed late spring 2014. While construction is underway, faculty and staff will begin developing learning, research and innovation programs from the nearby Village of Winston Park and RIA offices in Kitchener.

The centre of excellence will also include the Village of Winston Park, Williamsburg Town Centre and Williamsburg South in Kitchener. These locations extend the model to provide a range of research and development sites to study aging at home and broader health system issues.

About Schlegel Villages

Twelve long-term care and retirement communities in Ontario owned and managed by Schlegel Villages will serve as accelerator centres leading to dissemination of products and services developed through the learning, research and innovation centre. For more information go to www.schlegelvillages.com.

About Schlegel-Waterloo Research Institute for Aging

The Schlegel-University of Waterloo Research Institute for Aging was created in 2005 as a senate-approved research institute at the University of Waterloo, then became a non-profit charitable organization in 2006 with core partnerships with University of Waterloo, Conestoga College and Schlegel Villages. The RIA conducts research aimed at enhancing the care, health and wellness of older adults in community-based and long-term care environments. The 2,500 residents living in 11 Schlegel Villages provide voluntary and vibrant living research environments and living classroom environments. The best of what is learned in these environments is disseminated broadly to benefit seniors everywhere. For more information go to www.the-ria.ca.

About Waterloo

The University of Waterloo, located at the heart of Canada's Technology Triangle, is one of Canada's leading comprehensive universities. Waterloo is home to 30,000 full- and part-time undergraduate and graduate students who are dedicated to making the future better and brighter. Waterloo, known for the largest post- secondary co-operative education program in the world, supports enterprising partnerships in learning, research and discovery. For more information about Waterloo, visit www.uwaterloo.ca

"As researchers, we need to think not only of our contributions to knowledge, but how we're changing the lives of Canadians. The Schlegel-University of Waterloo Research Institute for Aging has been a defining force in enhancing the health and care of older adults. This new centre will be the catalyst for experiential learning and innovative discoveries to address the complex needs of our aging population." - Susan Elliott, dean, faculty of applied health sciences, University of Waterloo

University of Guelph and the City of Guelph are Part of $60-Million Water Consortium

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, centre, speaks with a wastewater treatment company while touring displays at the Ontario Discovery Conference in Toronto, May 18, 2011. - Photo Credit: Ontario Innovation via Flickr

GUELPH, Ontario August 23, 2011 - University of Guelph News Release - The University of Guelph and City of Guelph are key players in a groundbreaking, $60-million clean water initiative announced today. The Southern Ontario Water Consortium includes eight universities and 60 industry partners, and will create a platform for world-leading research, testing and technology development. About a dozen U of G faculty will be involved.

“This nexus will transform how water is studied and how universities, governments and industry work together to find viable solutions,” said Kevin Hall, U of G’s vice-president (research), a civil engineer and water expert. “Industry will have access to the latest academic discoveries and innovations, and scientists can connect with municipal and provincial water authorities and technology developers to better understand their needs and priorities. It’s win-win collaboration.”

The Ontario government kick-started the consoritum with an investment of nearly $9 million from the Ministry of Research and Innovation in 2009. Building on this success, today the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario) announced it’s providing $20 million through its Technology Development Program. IBM Canada has also contributed $20 million, with the remaining funding coming from the participating universities and private-sector partners.

"One of the most important issues for communities around the world is access to clean drinking water and the safe treatment of wastewater," said Gary Goodyear, minister of state for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario. "This investment will strengthen southern Ontario’s position as a world leader in clean water technologies, create new jobs in our region, while offering solutions for communities across the globe that lack easy access to clean water."

Glen Murray, Ontario Minister of Research and Innovation, added:

“This tremendous collaboration of leading Ontario scientists will help us meet current and emerging challenges in drinking water and wastewater treatment. Ontario is proud to support our water technology researchers and companies so they grow, expand and export water technology to the world using ‘made-in-Ontario’ expertise.”

The consortium will include five research nodes: wastewater treatment, drinking water testing and development, ecotoxicological analysis, watershed management, and sensor development.

The wastewater research node will be located in Guelph and led by U of G engineering professor Ed McBean, who holds the Canada Research Chair in water supply security. A cutting-edge facility to house pilot-scale treatment systems will be constructed at the City of Guelph’s Wastewater Treatment Plant as part of the initiative. As well, there will be new pilot-scale equipment and analytical capabilities in laboratories on the U of G campus.

The new facility and equipment will allow for sophisticated testing of technologies being designed to treat and recycle wastewater for multiple uses. The capacity to evaluate water and wastewater technologies at this scope and breadth are not currently available, McBean said.

“This is a world-class opportunity. It will help ensure that Ontario stays in the lead in water research,” he said. “It will also foster university and industry co-operation and encourage us to go overseas with these technologies, where we can really make a difference.”

Cameron Walsh, manager of wastewater services for the City of Guelph, said the city is pleased to be part of the consortium and that the planned facility is a key component of the research platform.

“It’s envisioned that innovations developed through this collaboration will not only position stakeholders well in terms of planning and prioritization of future needs, but also create economic benefits as solutions move from pilot scale to commercialization.”

There will also be facilities in the Grand River watershed, the Mimico Creek sub-watershed near Toronto, and the Greenway Wastewater Treatment Centre in London, as well as a mobile facility that will be deployed across watersheds as needed. A Toronto-based computation and data facility — funded by the IBM contribution — will participate in the analysis, storage and distribution of the collected data.

The consortium is being led by the University of Waterloo and includes, in addition to U of G, the University of Western Ontario, Wilfrid Laurier University, McMaster University, the University of Toronto, Ryerson University, and the University of Ontario Institute of Technology.

FedDev Ontario was created as part of Canada’s Economic Action Plan to support businesses and communities in southern Ontario to allow the region to compete globally.

Sock Summit Celebrates Knitting...Socks

Photo credit: yarnharlot

from TreeHugger.com
by Bonnie Alter, London

The Sock Summit 2011 was a purl of an event. Held in Portland, Oregon, it was a "one of a kind conference for hand-knitters that explores the humble art form known as the sock."

Why socks, one might well ask. Well, these thousand or so women have the answer to that one, and it's not simple.

As they say:

"Socks are practical, beautiful, historical, engaging and symbolic. Socks are circular, portable, structural and a perfect tiny canvas for almost any hand knitting technique you'd like to put on them. No matter what you're interested in when it comes to knitting, there's a way that it has to do with socks."

We know that knitting is hip and fashionable now, but it wasn't ever thus. This group of women (mainly) is celebrating the geeky, intellectual streak in knitting and making it a virtue.

According to the Toronto Star, they even held an impromptu flash mob where they went to a square and danced with their favorite skeins of yarn to "I had the Time of My Life" with banners proclaiming "Taking Sock Knitting Almost Too Far."

It's a meeting of the minds, with women knitting through out all the classes. There was the fastest knitter competition, and the Fleece to Foot competition where a team of spinners and weavers start with a sheep, and end up with a shawl, and the first team to do it wins.

This is the winner of a competition to design a sock that could be knit by a team of five at the Fleece to Foot Challenge. Of course there was a Sock Hop, and in 2009 they won a Guinness World Record for The Most Number of People Knitting Simultaneously (937 participants).

Why do they do it? "As sock knitters, we're all a little strange," says one. "Knitting socks makes us happy. That's why we do it and, as such, it can be considered a spiritual exercise."

Explained another: to her they're all about engineering or sock "architecture." "I think of socks as the sports car driving of knitting. Sweaters tend to be done in separate, flat pieces. A sock is like a curvy, mountain road. You can't see around the corners."

It's also a universal tradition that transcends history and politics. "If I sat down in a park in Tehran and knit, I would gather a group of women around me like that."

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Holistically Healthy Lifestyle Reduces Alzheimer's Risk, Study Says

Photo credit: bravenewtraveler

from TreeHugger.com
by Sara Novak, Columbia, SC

A holistically healthy lifestyle marked by ample exercise and a healthy whole foods diet means less risk of Alzheimer's. Basically, the way you treat your body has a lot to do with your mind. New research links activity level, blood pressure, weight, and smoking to Alzheimer's, according to the Washington Times. And prevention is crucial considering that there is yet no cure to this agonizing disease.

Currently Alzheimer's impacts 35 million people around the world and for the most part people feel helpless in preventing it. But a new study points to decisions we make during our lives as an indicator of the disease later in life.

"We can do something about this," Dr. Ronald Petersen, a Mayo Clinic dementia specialist who had no role in the study told the Washington Times. A common misconception is that you're "dealt a deck of cards at birth," he said, but "people need not just sit back and watch this unfold."

A whole foods diet loaded with fruits and vegetables along with exercise, avoiding smoking, and weight management reduce your changes of the disease significantly.

According to the Washington Times:

The study used a mathematical model to estimate the impact of top modifiable risk factors for Alzheimer's disease: smoking, depression, low education, diabetes, too little exercise, and obesity and high blood pressure in mid-life.

Education had the biggest impact on the disorder worldwide because this accounts for individuals that don't use cognitive function as often and it was also linked to poor nutrition. Smoking was the second highest risk factor worldwide. In the US, where education rates are higher, a sedentary lifestyle and mid-life depression were the biggest risk factors.

According to Alzheimer's Prevention, the ideal prevention diet includes 20 percent healthy fats including extra virgin olive oil, avocado, and flax seed oil and whole foods including soy, fish, and other lean proteins as well as a rainbow of fruits, vegetables, and legumes. And then there's the brain superfoods including blueberries, spinach, and seaweed.

This isn't very far from a locally minded plant-based diet. Hit the farmers' market and load up on the freshest, most antioxidant laden produce, cook everything with good fats (listed above), and walk to get to all your destinations. It's low impact on the planet and studies like this prove your risks of disease later down the line decline.

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The United Senior Citizens of Ontario Inc. Holds 53rd Annual Convention

TORONTO, Aug. 8, 2011 /Canada NewsWire/ - The United Senior Citizens of Ontario Inc., (U.S.C.O.) is holding its 53rd annual convention at the Best Western Hotel, 700 Lakeshore Dr. North Bay, Ontario on August 15, 16, and 17, 2011 with approximately 200 delegates in attendance.

Representing some 300,000 seniors across the province, the U.S.C.O. is dedicated to promoting the quality of life of older adults through educating, counselling and advising seniors, service providers, and policy makers about issues of importance to seniors.

The delegates discuss resolutions that have been submitted by many of our 900 clubs.

These resolutions will be debated and voted on. Those passed will be forwarded in a brief to the various government ministries involved.

There will be speakers representing provincial and local government as well as presentations on other timely topics of interest to seniors.

We look forward to a very exciting and challenging convention as we debate issues such as health, pension, transportation, etc.

We invite all persons over the age of 50 to become active in the seniors movement by joining the largest volunteer, grass-roots senior association in Ontario.

Give yourself a voice in your future - call U.S.C.O office at 1-888-320-2222.
Or e-mail us at office@uscont.ca

Canadian News Icon Lloyd Robertson Signs Off Sept. 1 on CTV

photo credit: babyspinkstein via Flickr

TORONTO, Aug. 4, 2011 /Canada NewsWire/ - After 60 years in broadcasting - and 35 years at CTV - Canada's most-trusted news anchor Lloyd Robertson signs off for the last time at the end of his final broadcast on Thursday, September 1 at 11 p.m. on CTV, it was confirmed today. Robertson vacates his role as Chief Anchor and Senior Editor of the country's most-watched newscast, CTV NATIONAL NEWS WITH LLOYD ROBERTSON, while continuing on at CTV in a variety of roles, including as Host and Chief Correspondent of the documentary series W5.

In the hour leading up to Robertson's final newscast, CTV airs LLOYD ROBERTSON - AND THAT'S THE KIND OF LIFE IT'S BEEN, a new, original one-hour documentary directed by Robertson's daughter Lisa. The documentary premieres Thursday, September 1 at 10 p.m. local time, scheduled across Canada to immediately precede Robertson's final newscast in all markets on CTV.

In the weeks leading up to his final newscast, viewers across Canada have an opportunity to pay tribute to Robertson on the dedicated, interactive website, CTV.ca/Lloyd, which goes live today. There, viewers can send in written comments, upload video and photos, and send personal messages to Robertson, while accessing highlights of his storied career.