The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Tuesday, September 29, 2009 - 7A 'U' study reveals vitamin D link with high blood pressure Res vita cha pr( Vitai er won increas sure la ongoin, versity Acco Health jects w cy in 19 to have sure w in 2007 Publ Griffin study epidem nature tain de "It V earch shows low (the vitamin D-blood pressure link- age) stood out," she said. imin D increases High blood pressure often doesn't affect women until middle nce of high blood age, Griffin said, but the findings suggest that the vitamin D deficien- essure threefold cy could serve asa warning sign. "There may be something we By DYLAN CINTI could do in younger age that has For the Daily an impact on the trajectory of our health," Griffin said. min D deficiency in young- She added that one way to men may be linked to an stave off high blood pressure is ed risk of high blood pres- by increasing vitamin D intake by ter in life, according to an getting more sun and eating foods g study conducted by Uni- like fatty fish, milk, eggs and mush- researchers. rooms. trding to the Michigan Bone She added that in regions like and Metabolism Study, sub- Michigan - where itis often cloudy ho had a vitamin D deficien- - it could be difficult to get healthy 93 were three times as likely amounts of ultraviolet rays. developed high blood pres- "It's important to start supple- hen they were tested again menting, especially if there's a 7. possibility that failing to do so ic Health student Flojaune could have a negative impact on , a co-investigator of the our cardiovascular health," she and doctoral candidate in said. iology, said the longitudinal The study was based on annual of the study allowed for cer- check ups of 559 Caucasian females velopments to come to light. in Tecumseh, Mich. The main was actually over time that objective was to document physi- cal changes in women as they aged, with a particular emphasis on bone health. The relationship between vitamin D and heart health was an indirect finding. Today, Griffin and Dr. Crystal Gadegbeku, the study's co-author and internal medicine associate professor in the Medical School, are presenting the study's findings at the American Heart Associa- tion's annual High Blood Pressure Research Conference in Chicago. While Griffin is optimistic about the study's findings, she said more research needs to be done to account for racial disparities in blood pressure. "Future studies need to be done to really flesh out what's going on," Griffin said. Griffin is also currently investi- gating the disparity in high blood pressure between black and white women in a separate study called the Study of Women's Health Across the Nation. Griffin said more research will "help develop nuanced public health messages to ensure that we are optimizing health." AARON AUGSBURGER/Daly University President Mary Sue Coleman meets with members of SACUA, the leading faculty governing body, yesterday. COLEMAN From Page 1A President's 100 NewFacultyInitia- tive, Coleman dodged the question saying she would talk about the program at her State of the Univer- sity address on Oct. 5. "Come to the State of the Uni- versity address, because I'm going to be talking about it," Coleman said with a laugh. Coleman did tell SACUA mem- bers that she felt the University was in a good position to be hiring the new, interdisciplinary faculty because so many other universities aren't currently hiring. Coleman also said she would update the University community on the North Campus Research Complex as part of her State of the University address. "You'll be hearing more about that," Coleman said. "It's certainly been a major focus of mine." Coleman also reassured SACUA members that she will make imple- mentation of the Recreational Sports Task Force a top priority in the upcoming year. "We need to figure out a way that we can tackle it," Coleman said. "We haven't quite come to grips with how we're going to do that, but it is high on my agenda for issues totake on this year." Coleman said two logical approaches would be to either increase the number of recreation- al facilities across campus or to build larger, centralized facilities. "One of the things that worries me about a big, new central facility is that I don't know how we would fund it right now," Coleman said, adding that additional facilities spread across campus may be the prudent thing to do with the Uni- versity's tightbudget. - Cassie Belfour contributed to this report. For Obama, Olympics plea a gamble RESEARCH From Page 1A put together a very strong response to the challenge," Assanis said. The Michigan Memorial Phoenix Energy Institute, which was found- ed in 1948 as a World War II memo- rial, was initially intended to explore peaceful uses of nuclear energy but has since broadened its scope to all energy research. Recently, the MMPEI has pursued education ABROAD From Page 1A tracted the virus, because not all students were tested for the flu. LeBlanc wrote that a small num- ber of students exhibited H1N1 symptoms during the summer, and OIP responded by directly contacting them. "We communicate with stu- dents on an individual basis once we are aware they are ill, and try to ensure they have what they need for a safe and complete recovery," she wrote. LeBlanc added that OIP takes the health and safety of students studying abroad "very seriously." The office constantly moni- tors international areas through the World Health Organization and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention websites. OIP also seeks advice from University medical officials. When the H1N1 virus broke out in April, the University cancelled and suspended abroad programs in Mexico - where the virus orig- inated. As compensation, the Uni- versity offered alternate locations for students to study, in other Spanish-speaking countries like the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica and Spain. LeBlanc wrote that there has been less of a concern about H1N1 since the virus emerged in the spring. "In addition to the information shared by medical professionals at (the University), we are aware that the current status of H1N1 influenza outbreaks in most inter- national locations is less severe now than it was in April/May of this year, or even later in the sum- mer," she wrote. According to the World Health Organization, as of Sept. 20, the H1N1 virus has caused 3,917 deaths in 191 countries - with more than 300,000 confirmed cases worldwide. In an interview last month, Chief Health Officer Robert Win- field said there has been a "con- tinuing level" of H1N1 across the world, particularly in the south- ern hemisphere. "It's been quite active in the southern hemisphere in Austra- lia, South America (and) southern Africa," Winfield said. "That's because this is the winter time, which is the typical time for influ- enza." LSA senior Allison Grekin said she believes she contracted the H1N1 virus when she was study- ing abroad at the University of Oxford in England this summer. Out of 40 students in the pro- gram, Grekin said 10 of them had the flu. Although she was projects focused on improving the design of batteries, electric motors and electric vehicles. "As the fate of Michigan and other states are emerging in these new industries, we're going to need people with these new skills," Assanis said. "Someone will need to educate and change the future workforce." Duderstadt said the growing importance of energy sustainabil- ity and its connection to global climate change may be the next significant shift in research focus. Faculty, he said, will follow the path of funding and will be reac- tive to the decisions made by the Obama administration as it col- laborates with Congress. "Over the next 10 to 20 years, as a nation and as a world, we're going to have make some really tough decisions," Duderstadt said. "Right now, we don't have either the scientific information or the technological capability to make those decisions wisely." Pre: De forI WAS dent Ba to Den: Olympic to an is - and e as well in his pi Obar hagenc time aI before Commi pics. O couldn' needed debate sident will fly to As the White House announced the change of heart on Monday, nmark to lobby there seemed to be increasing confidence that the votes could be Chicago's bid to stacking up Chicago's way to host the 2016 Summer Games. If ChM- host games cago does come away the victor in the four-way race - Madrid, Rio HINGTON (AP) - Presi- de Janeiro and Tokyo are the other rack Obama's decision to fly contenders - Obama could get a mark to support Chicago's political boost for helping to deliver cs bid elevates the Games the Games to his adopted home- sue of national importance town and for handing the U.S. a xposes him to political risks fresh source of national pride. as rewards at a critical point If the U.S. loses, he still might get residency. points for trying. But he would be na's presentation in Copen- visibly tied to a failed effort - and on Friday will be the first to the spending of political capi- U.S. president has appeared tal on an endeavor many Ameri- the International Olympic cans might consider unworthy of ttee to lobby for an Olym- so much of a president's time and bama initially had said he energy. t make the trip because he , This is something Obama can, to tend to the health care ill afford when the public already at home. shows signs of fatigue with his' major efforts on so many fronts at once, many so far unfulfilled. "If you actually go to Copenha- gen and meet with the Olympic committee, you're really on the line to deliver," said Darrell West, a politicalanalyst at the Washington- based Brookings Institution. The president already has a lot on the line. He's re-examining his adminis- tration's strategy in Afghanistan, managing the shaky U.S. economy and pushing hard for health care overhaul. Aides say Obama didn't make the decision to travel until this past weekend, after he returned home from the G-20 economic summit in Pittsburgh and consulted with first lady Michelle Obama and senior adviser Valerie Jarrett. They both were already planning to:traveltwo Copenhagen as the U.S. delegation leaders, due to depart Tuesday. not officially tested for H1N1, Grekin said she believed she had it because she exhibited the virus' symptoms, which include a fever over 100.4 degrees, coughing, a sore throat, aching muscles and vomiting. In line with the University of Michigan's current policy, the University of Oxford told ill stu- dents to isolate themselves in their rooms, where resident advisors brought them meals. Students there were also prohibited from going to a doctor because health officials feared contagious patients would spread the flu. After missing one week of classes, Grekin said she fell far behind with her coursework. "My professors had to cre- ate special assignments for me because I couldn't complete what was on the syllabus," she said, adding that her professors were understanding and willing to make adjustments. "The flu destroyed the regular syllabus and the regular amount of studying we had to do," she said. But even healthy students ran into problems while studying overseas this summer. LSA junior Grayson Smith traveled to China this summer with about 15 other students from across the country. When they arrived at the airport in Haikou, medical officials boarded the plane to take every passenger's temperature. According to Smith, one boy in the group had a slightly elevated temperature and was sent to the hospital for the night. The rest of the students were taken to Hainan University, where they were supposed to study for nine weeks, but they were quaran- tined in a building on the edge of campus. At specific times twice per day, people came to check their tem- peratures. Smith said they were discouraged from socializing with each other and had to isolate themselves in their rooms for one week. "We had to relax and take it easy, which was kind of a bummer because everyone was so excited to get there," he said. Since people worldwide had concerns about the H1N1 virus, Smith said what happened to him wasn't "completely out of the blue," but that the steps taken for healthy individuals were unex- pected. "What surprised us more was how we were treated," he said. "We were sort of held in the dark about exactly what was going on and how exactly this was an effective way to prevent us from infecting she Chinese commu- nity." The U.S. Department of State has placed a travel alert to all U.S. citizens traveling to China. The message - warning of China's stric toeasuresof quarantining passengers who have fevers or influenza symptoms - expires Dec. 30, 2009. According to LeBlanc, this is not an issue for OIP because there are no students traveling to China through University programs this fall. Other students traveling this semester, like LSA junior Katrina Lewis, have been told to practice good health habits so they don't get sick. Lewis is studying at L'Institut d'Etudes Politique d'Aix-en- Provence in France. She wrote in an e-mailinterview that the university has taken measures to inform students how to stay healthy. "I have seen many 'cover your cough' posters and other posters detailing hand washing or other useful prevention techniques," she wrote. Although Lewis said she has not heard of anyone getting the virus on campus, she said the uni- versity plans to close for a week if three or more cases appear. LSA seniors Chelsea Roth and Leah Hoffheimer were studying together at John Cabot University in Rome when the first cases of H1N1 surfaced in Mexico. Roth said many Europeans were not nervous about the flu because "it was something that was kind of far away." Hoffheimer said the hype they experienced came from talking to their parents and listening to the news. "We became obsessed with American news, and we all made CNN our homepage," she said. "We were constantly checking to see what was going on." According to Roth, American students were mostly worried about flying back to the United States, especially when govern- ment officials advised against traveling on airplanes. "The day before we left, Vice President (Joe) Biden made that target comment that he wouldn't fly or have his family get on a plane," she said. But everyone made it home safe safely and healthy. LeBlanc wrote that the H1N1 virus is still on OIP's radar, but there are also other concerns to follow. "We continue to carefully mon- itor all areas of the world, and try to keep an eye on the bigger picture in terms of health, safety and security, not just the flu," she rote.