Bad Habits

People who smoke, have high blood pressure, or have diabetes in their 40s and 50s increase their chances of developing dementia, BBC News reports. U.S. researchers, who studied more than 11,000 people between the ages of 46 and 70, found that people who smoked were 70 percent more likely than nonsmokers to develop dementia over the next 12 to 14 years. People with hypertension, meantime, were 60 percent more likely to develop dementia than those with normal blood pressure. The study, published in the journal Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, also showed that people with diabetes doubled their chance of developing dementia.

I have a 5-year-old black lab who has a nasty habit of eating other dogs' feces if she's not carefully watched. She's in good health, eats organic dry food, and is exercised regularly. We've tried everything to break this habit - even our vet is at a loss. Any ideas? Ingesting feces is known as coprophagia. It is considered normal behavior during certain life stages, e.g. it's normal for nursing mothers to eat their own puppies' feces and for a young puppy to sometimes eat it. We're not sure why healthy adult dogs that are eating high-quality food eat their own feces.

A Twitter follower asks: "What do you do when you see your kids pick up your bad habits that you don't want them to have?" (That question could cover a lot of ground, so the follower agreed to narrow it down to something like biting your nails.) I asked Molly Brown Koch, a local parent coach and author who has answered questions about kids using public bathrooms and about dealing with a young hitter, to tackle this one. She wrote back that the solution - and the adults may not like this - is for the grown-up and the child to have a talk and agree to kick their bad habit together.

Perhaps government banning of sugary drinks oversteps. It is a meaningful effort to reduce the burden of obesity on everyone. One thing that has stood out in the debate over health care reform is repeated statements from health care consumers that they do not want to pay for the other guy's health problems. There is one sure way to get consumers on board with changes in habits and consumption and to take more responsibility in their lifestyle choices. Through the wallet. How about higher co-payments for folks whose BMI, which does not lie, is over the recommended goal?

"The only thing I said `no' to was the soap, because I thought I might get bad habits." - Faye Dunaway, saying she would have considered being on a reality TV show if they had been around at the start of her acting career. Dunaway won a best-actress Oscar in 1977 for Network.

Maryland's top-seeded men's soccer team hopes weaknesses exposed in a recent loss might lead to a greater victory as the team approaches today's 7 p.m., second-round NCAA tournament game against Brown at Ludwig Field. In the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament on Nov. 11, a 4-2 semifinal loss to Duke stopped the Terrapins (15-4-1) short of their fourth straight championship-game appearance. Though the defeat robbed the team of one distinction, it provided the perks of rest and self-critique that could help bring another high mark to the program - a College Cup title next month in Cary, N.C. Instead of playing last Sunday, the team had all of last week to have what it deemed solid practices, a luxury that Maryland hadn't enjoyed going into the NCAAs since 2001.

For Michael, a junior high school dropout, it was "a once-in-a-lifetime" experience. There he was, sitting in Chase Bank of Maryland's sky box at Oriole Park, watching the Orioles play the Milwaukee Brewers last night."

Before he can make it back to the Orioles and try to salvage another lost season, Kurt Ainsworth will return to his roots - the ones that run all the way down to the lowest depths of the minor leagues. Maybe something good will grow this time. Ainsworth made the trip last night from Sarasota, Fla., to Aberdeen, where he'll start Sunday for the Single-A IronBirds of the New York-Penn League. Coming off elbow surgery two months ago, he'll be restricted to 50 pitches. Assuming he's no longer burdened by the same painful arm and shattered confidence - both detrimental to staying in the Orioles' rotation - Ainsworth will complete his rehabilitation at Aberdeen and likely reenter Triple-A Ottawa's roster.

YOU SAY you love your cats as much as I love my children, and of course it isn't my place to question your love. Love comes in all varieties. And we are often confused by the object of someone else's love, human or non-human. But I have a few questions to ask you.Do you often dream about your cats' future, and are they a major part of your own visions of tomorrow?Can you imagine a future world without your cats, without the good that you hope they will do for others?Was your very notion of "future" altered the day you brought them home?

I was not yet 2 when Michael Jordan hit the winning basket for North Carolina to win the 1982 national championship. I was 10 when he won his first NBA title with the Chicago Bulls. I don't remember a time when Jordan was not considered the best to ever play basketball. My older brother would watch in awe as Jordan floated through the air for a dunk. He'd say, "You have to watch this because you may never see someone do this again." At the time, I just assumed he meant his ability to make plays that no one else could.

People who smoke, have high blood pressure, or have diabetes in their 40s and 50s increase their chances of developing dementia, BBC News reports. U.S. researchers, who studied more than 11,000 people between the ages of 46 and 70, found that people who smoked were 70 percent more likely than nonsmokers to develop dementia over the next 12 to 14 years. People with hypertension, meantime, were 60 percent more likely to develop dementia than those with normal blood pressure. The study, published in the journal Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, also showed that people with diabetes doubled their chance of developing dementia.

I need some help to break the disposable bag habit. I know those ubiquitous plastic grocery bags are a major source of litter on land and sea and that such debris can poison fish and choke wildlife. I've cringed at bags stuck in trees along the highway and twisted in tall grasses that line tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay. Yet, a reusable cloth bag languishes in the back seat of my car, forgotten until it mocks me when I return from shopping carrying more of the wretched plastic things.

A Twitter follower asks: "What do you do when you see your kids pick up your bad habits that you don't want them to have?" (That question could cover a lot of ground, so the follower agreed to narrow it down to something like biting your nails.) I asked Molly Brown Koch, a local parent coach and author who has answered questions about kids using public bathrooms and about dealing with a young hitter, to tackle this one. She wrote back that the solution - and the adults may not like this - is for the grown-up and the child to have a talk and agree to kick their bad habit together.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - For almost a half, Kyle Boller almost turned me into a believer. I was about to forgive him for his five previous years of bad football. I was going to forgive him for his fumble nearly midway through the first quarter and give praise to new offensive coordinator Cam Cameron for possibly turning Boller around in a short time. And then reality set in. With 6 minutes, 38 seconds left in the first half, Boller didn't see New England Patriots linebacker Shawn Crable, who stepped in front of intended receiver Adam Bergen and picked off the pass.

A woman is driving along a hilly, curving, two-lane road one night in Baltimore's outer suburbs. It is rainy and the fog severely limits visibility. The speed limit is 30 mph. She is going 30 mph. She is driving particularly carefully because she is aware that deer abound in the area and does not want a side of venison to land in her lap. Model Maryland Motorist comes driving up the same road behind her going about 50 mph. MMM is driving an oversize SUV. MMM proceeds to tailgate the woman while flashing brights repeatedly.

In a series of startling announcements last week, the managers of America's Big Three automakers conceded that a business model that had long produced enormous profits and sparked emulation around the world was no longer working. Facing billions in anticipated losses, GM and Ford executives announced sweeping layoffs of both production workers and managers and an array of plant closings, while DaimlerChrysler unveiled significant production cuts, with the declared intention of transforming their failing companies into smaller, more nimble organizations better able to compete for the dollars of increasingly fickle consumers.

While every young baseball player can't be a Tippy Martinez, he can learn to develop the habits and work ethic that enabled Martinez to be one of the best at his craft.The ex-Baltimore Orioles relief pitcher and current Towson State assistant baseball coach has been working with youngsters age 8 to 16 this week at the Tippy Martinez Baseball School.The weeklong school took on an eager class of 56 young county players at the 10th Avenue baseball facility in Brooklyn Park for the second consecutive year.

Physical: An American Checkup James McManus Farrar, Straus and Giroux / 255 pages / $24 About two-thirds of the way through Physical: An American Checkup, James McManus' account of events preceding and following a three-day, $8,484.25 physical he undergoes at the Mayo Clinic, McManus receives a call from his wife, Jennifer: At a children's birthday party, their 5-year-old daughter, Grace, has had her eye punctured by a two-pronged wire sticking out from the end of a magic wand. "From my scalp to my bowels," McManus tells us, "I shuddered."