| The heart of the matter
BROOKSVILLE � For every one hour of vigorous activity, so one theory goes, you can extend your life by two hours. If that�s so, Chris Thieme is now earning more time. The 59-year-old retired police captain from New Jersey would often walk in the mornings. Now he does so �religiously,� he said. �Before I might say, �I�m going to skip today,�� Thieme recalled Tues-day. �Now I don�t skip.� A health scare earlier this year prompted the newfound motivation. Thieme had started experiencing shortness of breath last year, but ignored it. Finally, after a session of lifting limestone for the front yard landscaping left him extremely winded, his wife Jan insisted he see a doctor. Staff at Oak Hill Hospital found three blockages in his heart that they at first tho-ught could be cleared with stents.
UPI NewsTrack Health and Science News - November 20, 2007
Sleep-deprived moms prone to gain weight OAKLAND, Calif., Nov. 19 Sleeping just five hours a night triples the risk of excessive weight for new moms a year after a baby's birth, U.S. researchers report.
Mothers who reported sleeping no more than five hours daily when babies were six months old had a three-times higher risk for weight retention -- at least 11 pounds -- at their baby's first birthday than moms who slept seven hours per day, the study by Kaiser Permanente and Harvard Medical School -Harvard Pilgrim Health Care said.
The study, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, is the first to examine sleep deprivation's impact on postpartum weight retention, a joint news release said. Previous studies examined the effect of early postpartum sleep deprivation on mothers' cognitive and emotional health.
VIVUS Initiates Pivotal Phase 3 Trial In Obese Patients And Announces Qnexa Dose
VIVUS, Inc. (NASDAQ: VVUS), a pharmaceutical company dedicated to the development and commercialization of novel therapeutic products, today announced that it has initiated the first of two pivotal phase 3 studies of Qnexa in obese patients. The EQUIP study (OB-302) will enroll morbidly obese patients with Body Mass Index ("BMI") that equals or exceeds 35. The co-primary endpoints for these studies will evaluate the differences between treatments from baseline to the end of the treatment period, in mean percent weight loss and in the percentage of subjects achieving weight loss of 5% or more. All phase 3 studies will utilize the company's novel once-a-day formulation of Qnexa, which at full strength, contains 15 mg phentermine IR and 92 mg topiramate CR. PK/PD studies have confirmed that the once-a-day formulation is comparable to the twice-a-day formulation used in the phase 2 study.
Arkansas tackle tips scales at 595
Little Rock TV station KTHV brings you the story of Deddrick McElroy (video), known only as "Heavy" or "Heavy D" to his teammates at Hall High School. Heavy is 16 years old and stands 6-foot and 595 pounds. He wears a modified Triple-X jersey. Because of his weight, the team makes an effort to have him conserve his energy, such as not requiring the defensive tackle to join the huddle before each play. "The space he occupies, you're not gonna run the football right there, that's a given," coach Travis Mann told the station. Heavy has no health issues but is looking forward to having stomach lap band surgery to reduce his weight. If he can improve his quickness, he says, "I'll be unstoppable then." Hall's season wrapped up on Nov. 1; the Warriors went 2-8.
Expanding market
The rising number of obese people and the health problems their weight problems generate have turned baratric surgery into a growth business, both locally and nationally. Baton Rouge General Medical Center recently established a bariatric services division, staffed by three doctors. Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center’s live Web cast of a weight-loss surgery procedure drew more than 800 online viewers, most of them local. Vista Surgical Hospital, the biggest player in the market, does more than 500 bariatric surgeries a year. "We wanted to move into the weight-management program, the weight-management realm for a couple of reasons," said Kurt Bennett, the General’s bariatrics coordinator. "One, obesity is growing, not only in this country, but specifically in southern Louisiana." The Baton Rouge area’s population is growing, in large part because of people moving from New Orleans, Bennett said.
How to overcome joint problems and get yourself moving again
Each year, about a half million people in the United States have joint replacement surgery to regain physical function, with a goal of eliminating pain, cane and limp. Hips and knees top the list of joints replaced but other joints, such as shoulders, elbows, ankles, toes and fingers also can undergo replacement. .
''Nip/Tuck'': Skin Deep
Looks like there's a new cad on the block. Sean (Dylan Walsh) is becoming quite the ladies' man thanks to his star-making performance on Hearts 'n Scalpels. This new twist is providing Sean and Christian (Julian McMahon) with great contrasting story lines. Christian's attempt to regain some buzz of his own backfired when Fiona (Lauren Hutton) found out that he had leaked news of Carly Summers' surgery to Us Weekly. Hutton is absolutely pitch perfect and still lookin' foxy. How old is this lady? More important, how tight have Christian's shirts gotten? During the scene in which Fiona scolded him for the leak, I thought his buttons were gonna pop right off. That man needs to bump up to an XL size next time he's at the mall. And is it just me, or do nude push-ups seem a tad dangerous? What if you slip or lose steam and fall face down? That could lead to some serious bruising.
|
