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Health Notes

DEMENTIA EDUCATIONAL SERIES ... An early-stage dementia education series for families affected by Alzheimer's or other memory impairment is being offered by the Alzheimer's Association at its new headquarters at 1060 La Avenida in Mountain View. The six-week series includes an overview of early-stage dementia, the latest medical research, legal and financial planning, family relationships, community services and coping and thriving. The classes are free. For more information contact Judy Filippoff, 800-272-3900, Judy.Filippoff@alz.org, or John Timbs, 650-962-8111, John.Timbs@alz.org.

FLU-VACCINE VOLUNTEERS NEEDED ... Researchers at Stanford University Medical Center need volunteers for a flu-vaccine study of adults and children and immune response. For the first study, healthy adults ages 18 to 30 or 70 to 80 years of age are needed. Three clinic visits are required during a one-month period. For the second study, healthy adults ages 18 to 30 and 60 to 100 are needed. The series of three clinic visits and the phone call will be repeated in the two following years. A third study needs healthy children ages 5 to 9 years and healthy adults ages 18 to 49. Three clinic visits during two months are required. Blood samples are taken and/or flu vaccines are given during the study. Participants are paid $30 for each clinic visit. Call 650-498-7284, or e-mail Vaccines_Program@stanford.edu. The full trial descriptions can be viewed at: vaccines.stanford.edu

ILLUMINATING RESEARCH ... Sunlight makes a vicious strain of bacteria even more dangerous, according to Stanford researchers. Brucella, infectious bacteria that cause the disease brucellosis, causes flu-like symptoms sometimes lasting for weeks or months and can result in chronic pain, meningitis and encephalitis in people who ingest unpasteurized dairy products. Researchers found that Brucella can increase its infectiousness 10-fold when exposed to sunlight. This is the first time light has been shown to change the course of a bacterial disease, according to the study team, which included Stanford researchers. Brucella may not be the only bacteria to be made more potent by light: As many as one-third of other bacterial species may react to light by producing physiological or chemical changes. The findings surprised researchers because the blue-light-reactive proteins found in Brucella were thought to only exist in plants. When sunlight hits the plant, the proteins change shape and cue changes in direction of the plant's growth. But 12 percent of the more than 500 bacterial species studied have proteins that look like blue-light-sensing proteins in plants, researchers found. They theorize the blue-light-sensing proteins may take advantage of sunlight coming through the skin and into the bloodstream. The bacteria may then be able to avoid destruction by infection-fighting cells in blood. The study was published in the Aug. 24 issue of Science.

Health Notes is a monthly feature announcing health and fitness events and news. Send news to Health & Fitness Editor Sue Dremann at sdremann@paweekly.com.