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12B Daily News – Saturday, January 26, 2013 Furniture Depot 50-60% OFF NEW YEAR Select Items 235 So. Main St., Red Bluff 527-1657 MON.-FRI. 9:00-6:00 SAT. 9:00-5:00 • SUN. 11:00-5:00 limited to stock on hand Glory Days maturity &lifestyles Grandparents learn to text to keep in touch with grandchildren By Kim Hone-McMahan Akron Beacon Journal (MCT) AKRON, Ohio — Grandparents may turn up their noses at text messaging as a way to communicate with their tech-savvy grandchildren. They want to hear the kids' voices, and they can use the phone to talk — not type. But is that realistic in today's world? And are they at risk of missing out on a relationship with the youngsters they love? "It's natural for grandparents to want as much personal interaction with their grandchildren as possible. Many grandparents feel like texting is so impersonal and detached (and) really do get a great deal of happiness from hearing their grandchildren's voices," said Amy Goyer, AARP's home and family expert. "There is nothing wrong with trying to balance phone calls and in-person time with texting or emailing, but as grandchildren grow up, grandparents may have to adjust to their changes and preferences." Kids often have hectic lives. And sometimes texting is the best way to keep in touch — whether Granny and Gramps like it or not. "I'd say they run the risk of losing touch with their grandchildren's everyday lives if they don't text," Goyer added. "That doesn't mean their whole relationship will fall apart, but they can stay in closer touch if they are willing to text." Goyer added that those older than 50 are high adopters of technology, and grandparents are often motivated by their grandchildren to learn how to use new forms of technology — such as texting. Many grandparents who live miles away from their loved ones have taken to Skype to hear and see their grandkids. With the free software application, a webcam and a high-speed Internet connection, users can talk to and see each other live via the Internet. But many busy teens and 20somethings say texting is more convenient. Nancy Lemmon and her 17-year-old grandson, Tyler Moore, aren't separated by miles. In fact, they live just a few doors from each other in Stow, Ohio. Still, they text regularly to communicate. Moore is a busy guy. Though technically a student at Stow-Munroe Falls High School, he is taking 18 hours of post-secondary classes at Kent State University and participating in an internship in the psychology department. With those things and other activities, he's not the easiest guy to get in touch with for a voice conversation. "They do not want to chat on the phone with their grandmother, or anyone else for that matter. They want to communicate short and sweet," Lemmon explained. "Tyler may respond to me when I ask how he did at Kent this semester. He may let me know he has arrived safely at a destination out of town. He can tell me that he scored the highest grade in his psychology class or he got a 4.0 this semester at school, but the words that warm my heart the most is when he simply texts, 'I Love You.'" Sitting in his grandmother's home, Moore acknowledged the two would go longer periods of time without communicating if it weren't for texting. "People don't talk on the phone that much anymore," he said. If grandparents can adjust to thinking of texting as a way to bring them closer to their grandchildren, Goyer thinks they will be more willing to adopt it as a method of communication. "The reality is that tweens, teens and young adults these days use texting as their most common form of communication and if grandparents … really want to be in touch they'd better learn to text, even if it's just the basics," Goyer said. And Lemmon offered: "Keep on texting, grandmas, and stay in touch. We have to learn the technology in order to savor these important relationships." The human digestive process is an engineering marvel microscopically small DEAR DOCTOR K: pieces, and those pieces Can you describe how food get absorbed from the makes its way through our gut into the bloodstream. body, from the mouth to Those tiny pieces the other end? become the building DEAR READER: This blocks for everything question is fun to answer, your body needs to funcbecause the gut is a marvel tion. of nature's engineering. It's Dr. K The gastrointestinal both a food processor and a (GI), or digestive, tract is garbage disposal. First, it by Anthony L. works as a food processor, Komaroff, M.D. a series of hollow organs. They're linked to breaking down food and liquids into chemical components form a long tube that runs from that the body can absorb as nutri- mouth to anus. First comes the ents. Then, what's left — the throat and esophagus, then the garbage — is expelled by an effi- stomach, small intestine and colon. The walls of the tube concient disposal system. The food you eat is of no value tain muscles that perform different to you unless it is broken up into functions. (I've put an illustration of the GI tract on my website, AskDoctorK.com.) (1) Digestion begins in the mouth, where food is chewed until it's small enough to be swallowed. The teeth chop the food up into small pieces — but pieces you can see. Chemicals called enzymes in saliva begin to digest these pieces further. (2) Once food is swallowed, it enters the throat and then the esophagus. Food does not simply drop down the esophagus; it is pushed by contractions of the esophageal muscles. These muscles squeeze in a coordinated way to move food from the top to the bottom of the tube, always pushing it downward. At the bottom of the esophagus, where it meets the stomach, there is a muscular sphincter. When it's working properly, this sphincter remains shut except when you're swallowing, to prevent stomach acid from irritating the esophagus. (3) Once the food moves into the stomach, muscles mix it into a soft mush. Saliva, hydrochloric acid and the enzyme pepsin help to further break down the food into a thick liquid called chyme. The stomach delivers chyme to the small intestine. (4) The main work of digestion takes place in the small intestine. That's where the fats, starches and proteins in your food are turned into the tiniest pieces — fatty acids, simple sugars and amino acids. These nutrients are absorbed by the intestine's thin lining and then transported in the blood to cells throughout the body. (5) Finally, what's left of the food arrives in the large intestine, the colon. The walls of this muscular tube soak up most of the remaining water. Bacteria in the colon feast on the little nutrition left in your food. What's left is propelled further down the colon. It settles in the rectum, until you release it during a bowel movement. The garbage disposal has made room for the next shipment from the food processor!