Media releases

• Vigil and memorial fund being organized for slain student

  Wednesday, December 06, 2017 | By Brock University

  MEDIA RELEASE: 6 December 2017 – R00232

  A vigil will be held on the Brock University campus Friday, Dec. 8 to honour first-year Medical Sciences student Yosif Al-Hasnawi, who was killed in Hamilton on Saturday night while trying to stop an altercation.

  A memorial fund is also being organized to create a scholarship in Al-Hasnawi’s name to remember the 19-year-old Hamilton resident.

  “Yosif’s death devastated us, but we plan to look further into it and make sure his death is not forgotten,” said Brock Student Justice Centre Supervisor Zanab Jafry, a fourth-year Brock student who is organizing the vigil.

  She said the Student Justice Centre is concerned with the witness reports of Al-Hasnawi not being treated well by paramedics.

  “The devastation is two-fold. One because he was killed, but also because he didn’t get the treatment he needed,” she said. “We want to make sure what happened to Yosif is not just remembered, but that it’s corrected and that our society learns from this in future.”

  Jafry, who is in the same Medical Sciences program as Al-Hasnawi, said Brock faculty, staff and students, as well as some of Yosif’s family members and spiritual leaders, will take part in the Friday vigil.

  The service will take place at 3 p.m. in Academic South Room 216. More information can be found on the Student Justice Centre Facebook page.

  “Yosif wanted to help people. He lived his life that way and it seems that’s also how he died — in the service of others,” Jafry said.

  In addition, donations are now being collected to establish the Yosif Al-Hasnawi Memorial Fund, which will be used to establish a scholarship in his name. Donations can be made online at brocku.ca/donate or by phone at 905-688-5550 x4190.

  Cheques payable to “Brock University” with “In memory of Yosif Al-Hasnawi” in the reference line can be mailed to Development and Alumni Relations, Brock University, 1812 Sir Isaac Brock Way, St. Catharines, ON L2S 3A1.

  For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:

  * Dan Dakin, Media Relations Officer, Brock University ddakin@brocku.ca, 905-688-5550 x5353 or 905-347-1970

  Brock University Marketing and Communications has a full-service studio where we can provide high definition video and broadcast-quality audio.

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  Categories: Media releases

• Lithium in water associated with slower rate of Alzheimer’s disease deaths

  Tuesday, December 05, 2017 | By Brock University

  MEDIA RELEASE: 5 December 2017 – R00231

  Trace elements of lithium in drinking water can slow death rates from Alzheimer’s disease, Brock University research has found.

  Rates of diabetes and obesity, which are important risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease, also decrease if there is a particular amount of lithium in the water, says the study, published recently in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease.

  Postdoctoral fellow Val Fajardo and Rebecca MacPherson, Assistant Professor in the Department of Health Sciences, collected statistics on various lithium levels in drinking water in 234 counties across Texas.

  Lithium is a water-soluble alkali metal found in igneous rocks and mineral springs. It is commonly used to treat bipolar and other mood disorders, but at much higher doses than what occurs naturally in drinking water.

  The research team, which included Associate Professor of Health Sciences Paul LeBlanc, compared lithium levels naturally found in tap water with Alzheimer’s disease mortality rates, along with the incidence of obesity and diabetes, in the Texas counties.

  “We found counties that had above the median level of lithium in tap water (40 micrograms per litre) experienced less increases in Alzheimer’s disease mortality over time, whereas counties below that median level had even higher increases in Alzheimer’s deaths over time,” says Fajardo.

  The frequency of obesity and Type 2 diabetes also went down when the drinking water contained similar lithium levels, the researchers found.

  Fajardo says he and his team focused on Texas because data on lithium levels were “freely available.”

  Previous studies have demonstrated lithium’s ability to protect against Alzheimer’s disease, obesity and diabetes.

  “However, we are one of the first groups to show that lithium’s potential protective effect against Alzheimer’s disease, obesity and diabetes may translate to the population setting through very low levels of lithium in tap water,” says Fajardo.

  The Brock research comes on the heels of an August study from the University of Copenhagen linking high lithium levels in drinking water to decreases in dementia rates.

  But Fajardo warns it’s too early to start advising authorities to add lithium to drinking water.

  “There’s so much more research we have to do before policy-makers look at the evidence and say, OK, let’s start supplementing tap water with lithium just like we do in some municipalities with fluoride to prevent tooth decay,” he says.

   

  For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:

  * Dan Dakin, Media Relations Officer, Brock University ddakin@brocku.ca, 905-688-5550 x5353 or 905-347-1970

  Brock University Marketing and Communications has a full-service studio where we can provide high definition video and broadcast-quality audio.

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  Categories: Media releases