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Wednesday, June 6, 2012 – Daily News FEATURES Sister-in-law making life a reality show er-in-law and his wife are strange people. ''Tom and Alice'' live beyond their means and are constantly asking for help. We've given them more than $10,000, and they've never paid back a dime. That's not the worst part. Alice is in love with my husband, ''Dean.'' She gig- gles and flirts with him and used to send him scantily clad pictures of herself. This made us both horribly uncom- fortable. I trust Dean. He would leave the phone on speaker when she'd call. And in order to avoid any hint of impropriety, Dean changed his phone number and email address and got off of all social net- works. He now can only be reached through the office. Alice doesn't work and aspires to be on a reality show for rich wives. When she got pregnant four years ago, she told me that Dean should be in the delivery room because ''it's his baby.'' This can't possibly be true. Dean had a vasectomy years ago, and more importantly, we were out of the country when Alice con- ceived. His father, stepmother and sisters believe her, and she even called our daughter at college to say she has a half-sister. We recently received a petition for child support. My brother-in-law shrugs off his Dear Annie: My broth- wife's behavior, saying Alice has inadequate boundaries. He says he knows the child isn't my husband's, but ''a little extra cash couldn't hurt'' because he is out of work. Dean and I spoke to a Annie's Mailbox by Kathy Mitchell and Marcy Sugar showed up two years later in need of financial help. She also had a new baby we'd never seen. We for- gave her. will suffer the consequences. I don't know how I ended up in an episode of Jerry Springer. Any ideas? — Beside Myself in Jersey Dear Beside: The first thing you should do is get a paternity test so you have legal proof that Dean is not the father of this child. Then talk to as many family members as you can and urge them to convince Alice to get professional help. This woman has serious mental health issues, and her mercenary husband exploits her. Try to arrange other transportation for your mother-in- law so you are not held hostage to her situation, and then do what you must to protect your own family. Dear Annie: For the third time, my daughter has called to verbally abuse me. The first time, I refused to listen, and she withheld her chil- dren from us. We had helped raise our oldest grandchild, and she kept him away for a year. The second time she pulled this stunt, she lawyer. The only reason we stay in touch with his family is because my mother-in- law, a wonderful woman, is battling breast cancer and relies on Alice (who yells at her) for rides to the doctor. My husband is worried that if we take legal action against Alice, his mother She is now practicing this vicious tactic for the third time. We have decided we are too old to deal with this. We've redone our will. Our son will inherit the bulk of the estate, and our daughter will be given a pittance so she cannot claim we've overlooked her. No one should have to take abuse in order to see their grandchildren. — Three Strikes You're Out in Pennsylvania Dear Three: We agree. But how heartbreaking for you. Our condo- lences. ''Ready To Settle Down'' was excellent, but didn't go quite far enough. When I was newly divorced, someone gave me the best advice I've ever received. It has got- ten me through some pretty rocky moments, and hopefully, it will inspire ''Ready'' to rethink her desire to be with the lazy creep now in her life. ''The only thing worse than being alone is wishing you were.'' — Louisville, Ky. Dear Annie: Your response to Annie's Mailbox is written by Kathy Mitchell and Marcy Sugar, longtime editors of the Ann Landers column. Please email your questions to anniesmailboxcomcast.net, or write to: Annie's Mailbox, c/o Creators Syndicate, 737 3rd Street, Hermosa Beach, CA 90254. Elks take top honors in Service Cup TOR K: Could my asthma medication have caused my osteoporosis? What about other drugs? DEAR DOC- 3B Asthma med is low risk for Osteoporosis DEAR READ- ER: As you know, osteoporosis is a disease that weak- ens bones and makes them break more easily. Some asthma treatments can increase your risk for osteoporosis, but that risk is low, and can be reduced further by your doctor. Bone is constantly being demolished and reconstructed. Cells called osteoclasts break down bone, releasing calcium into the bloodstream. Then cells called osteoblasts cause new bone to form in places where it has been broken down. The osteoblasts need adequate levels of calcium to build bone. Of the various drugs that can weaken bones, corticosteroids such as prednisone are the most common. These drugs are often prescribed to treat asthma. How do they weaken your bone? By hindering bone formation on many fronts. First, they stimulate bone- destroying osteoclasts and hamper bone-building osteoblasts. Also, they interfere with the body's absorption of calcium from the gut and increase the amount of calcium lost in urine. Finally, they reduce the production of hor- mones that help keep bones healthy. Dr. K by Anthony L. Komaroff, M.D. cancer, but it increases the risk of osteoporosis. It may seem unfair that a medicine that protects you against one disease can also increase your risk for another disease, but that's the way it is. Modern med- icine has been clever enough to find treatments for many diseases that were untreatable, but not clever enough to find many treat- ments that only do good and never cause harm. So if your doctor says you need to take corticos- teroids for your asthma, don't ignore the advice because you're worried about osteoporosis. Instead, work with your doctor to monitor whether your bones are getting thin- ner. Also take steps to pro- tect your bones: breast and prostate cancers can also harm bone health. That's because the same hormones that can trigger growth of these cancer cells also help keep bones healthy. Reducing levels of these hor- mones helps slow the growth of the — Get enough calcium and vitamin D; — Regularly engage in weight-bearing exercise; — Take appropriate medications when neces- sary; — Don't smoke; — Avoid excessive alcohol use. Talk with your doctor Daily News photo by Chip Thompson The annual Service Cup Golf Tournament award is presented Monday evening to the Red Bluff Elks Lodge. Pictured, from left, are team captains Tony Carbonell, Red Bluff Kiwanis;John Gumm,Red Bluff Rotary;Al Lengtet,Tehama County Farm Bureau and Fred Fourby, Elks, and Elks Exalted Ruler Jim Stevenson. The annual Service Cup Golf Tournament challenges local service organizations at Wilcox Oaks Golf Club and has traditionally been played between the Red Bluff Rotary and Red Bluff Kiwanis, with past victo- ries going to the Rotary. This year the cup was opened to other service clubs in the area and saw the entrance of the Red Bluff Elks Lodge and the Tehama County Farm Bureau. Played in April, the tournament featured four teams of 12 matched up in a best ball, best two out of paired foursomes format. walked away the clear winners, with Rotary and Kiwanis tied for second place. The Elks Lodge A playoff was held between Kiwanis Team vegetation fire hazards this time of year, and in cooperation with neigh- boring fire departments, the City of Red Bluff will suspend all burning with- in the city limits by order of Red Bluff Fire Mar- shal and Interim Fire Chief Jon Bennett. The burn ban shall remain in effect from June 1 until the end of fire season, tentatively Nov. 1. The Red Bluff Fire Department would also like to remind everyone to be aware of the poten- tial for fire starts by lawn mowers. Lawn mowers are for green grass - not dry fields where rock strikes Community Clip? e-mail: clerk@red- bluffdailynews.com or Fax: 527-9251 could ignite the sur- rounding vegetation. The use of string trimmers is recommended for dry vegetation. All lawn equipment (mowers, string trimmers, etc.) shall be equipped with an appropriate spark Captain Tony Carbonell and Rotary Team Captain John Gumm in which Gumm sank a long, arch- ing putt for the victory. Each club committed to contributing $150 to the purse, which would be donated to the win- ning club's charitable cause. would invest the $600 total in its annual Red Bluff Youth Community The Elks announced it Fire season opens, burning suspended In light of increased arrester. It is usually safer to use power equipment in the early hours of the day when temperatures are lower and humidity levels are higher. For questions, contact the Red Bluff Fire Department at 527-1126. Concert and Most Valu- able Student awards. More money was raised the evening of the event by Cornerstone Community Bank, which donated a dinner for which participants and guests paid $5 each. The awarding of the prize money was held Monday evening at the Elks Lodge, with all team captains present to pre- sent prize money. Other commonly used drugs may also contribute to osteoporosis. For exam- ple, proton-pump inhibitors (PPIs) such as omeprazole (Prilosec) slightly increase the risk of fractures. And selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), a type of antidepressant, may cause bone thinning. Excessive doses of thyroid hormone given to people with an underactive thyroid do the same. Hormone treatments for about various medicines that can reduce your risk of getting osteoporosis. We have more informa- tion on osteoporosis in our Special Health Report, "Osteoporosis." (Learn more about this report at AskDoctorK.com, or call 877-649-9457 toll-free to order it.) Dr. Komaroff is a physician and professor at Harvard Medical School. To send questions, go to AskDoctorK.com, or write: Ask Doctor K, 10 Shattuck St., Second Floor, Boston, MA 02115. workshop presented by Susan Mazer and Liz Matthews from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on June 14 at the Loomis Ranger Station in Lassen Volcanic Nation- al Park. Phenology class offered The public is invited to a phenology monitoring There will be an entertaining and informative discussion of phenology and climate change, the role of phenology monitoring and some hands-on practice on collecting the data and uploading it to the National Phenology Network website. For more information, send Matthews an email at matthews@lifesci.ucsb.edu.