Diet & Weight Loss: Would You Risk Heart Attack or Stroke To Take A Diet Pill?

It's no secret that I'm not fond of diet pills, and I've written quite a bit about my disdain for "Alli: The Diarrhea Diet" over the last few years. And it is now being reported that the prescription diet pill "Meridia" increases a person's risk of heart attack and stroke. Didn't we learn anything from the whole "Fen-Phen" debacle? When it comes to taking any medication, the first thing you have to do is determine if the benefits outweigh the risks of taking it. So let's take a look at the benefits. It seems that Meridia offers less than a nine pound reduction in weight. But is this really a benefit? This is a drug that is prescribed by physicians to "obese" patients (people that need to lose a lot of weight before they will see any health benefits), so a nine pound reduction in weight hardly seems to be worth the risk. From WebMD - Weight Loss Pill Meridia Ups Heart Attack and Stroke: The editors of the New England Journal of Medicine disagree. In a strongly worded editorial, they call Meridia "another flawed diet pill." They note that in return for offering a weight loss of under 9 pounds -- less than 5% of the body weight of the overweight participants in the study -- the drug had a one-in-70 chance of causing a heart attack or stroke. People with underlying heart problems had an even higher one-in-52 risk of heart attack or stroke. And the New England Journal of Medicine editors note that many people who are overweight or obese have undiagnosed heart problems. With such a small benefit, why would anyone risk having a heart attack or stoke by taking this drug? I wonder what physicians are telling their patients when they prescribe this drug? Are they explaining to their patients that this medication will be putting their health in serious danger for very mediocre results? This drug has already been banned in Europe, and the FDA is expected to make recommendations regarding Meridia later this month. The unfortunate thing is there will always be another dangerous weight loss drug ready to take over when one goes off the market. Here is a video discussing the pros and cons of Meridia... Weight loss medication risks Is it just the diet drugs that people are willing to risk their lives to take? What would you do if your doctor offered to give you medication that would reduce the symptoms of a cold or virus, but at the same time greatly increase your risk of developing pneumonia? Would you take medication for a headache that greatly increased your risk for a stroke? It seems the logical answer to these questions would be NO. So it makes me wonder if patients taking Meridia are getting the facts but still choosing to risk their life for weight loss. Or even worse, just not being told the facts. I also think that in addition to understanding the risks of these diet drugs, we need to take a closer look at why so many people are willing to risk their lives to be thin? What's going on? We really need to stop the "dying to be thin" mentality in this country, and start focusing on being healthy. What do you think about this latest diet pill controversy? Do you think the nine pounds lost using Meridia is worth the increase risk of heart attack and stroke? Would you be willing to put your life at risk by using pills to lose weight? Do you think the FDA should take Meridia off the market? Let us know your thoughts in comments. Contributing Editor Catherine Morgan Also at Catherine-Morgan.com

Ver história original : mois+de+juillet+mtv+networks+auteur Fonte : BlogHer

Fab Find of the Week: Seamless Undies from Bench Body

Okay ladies, I think we’re close enough that I can talk to you about the U-word–underwear! No matter how fabulous your outfit is, if you have VPL (visible panty line), then the whole look is ruined. Great ensembles always start with good foundations. The proper undergarments not only hold everything in place, but they also ensure that [...]

Ver história original : mois+de+juillet+mtv+networks+auteur Fonte : ShopCrazy

Dear PoP – Anyone Know What’s Happening at the Oasis Liquor store in NE?

“Dear PoP, I was walking towards the NY Ave-Gallaudet metro when I noticed that the Oasis Liquor store on 3rd and M St NE is getting a whole new facelift inside and out. The exterior has been repainted and there were construction workers inside fixing up the place. The Oasis Liquor sign is still up [...]

Ver história original : mois+de+juillet+mtv+networks+auteur Fonte : Prince Of Petworth

Mahjongg Dimensions wants you to send friends to the 'Fire Dimension'

Even if you're not hip to the whole Mahjongg scene, Mahjongg Dimensions on Facebook is an easy way for anyone to kill 5, 20 or 220 minutes any given day of the week. This game is not only a cool 3D version of the classic game, but you only have one minute to match tiles like a real Mahjongg master. Like all Facebook games, there's the ever-present upsell -- in this case, to buy boosts for your game. But, lucky you, this week is Fire Dimension week, which allows players to send a free Deluxe Fire Bonus to friends, so they can "experience the Fire Dimension." Is that also a subtle way to tell our friends to go to hell? To the Fire Dimension with you all! Play Mahjongg Dimensions on Facebook > Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Ver história original : mois+de+juillet+mtv+networks+auteur Fonte : Blog.games.com

Digital Ceramic Oscillating Pedestal Heater with Remote Control

Why heat the floor when you can heat just the interior air? That’s the premise behind this modern digital ceramic oscillating pedestal heater by Lasko. Wonderfully energy efficient, the pedestal heater allows money to be saved by directing heat into a single room rather than the whole house. The vertical structure means heat loss via [...]

Ver história original : mois+de+juillet+mtv+networks+auteur Fonte : Home Interior Design Themes

Sept. 2, 2010 - Learning To Salsa Dance In 3rd-4th Grade Performing Arts

Maya helped teach Emily the basic salsa step in class today. This ‘whole body’ learning is very valuable for many reasons: it requires coordinating left, right, backward, forward, musical timing, following verbal directions, and working closely with a partner!

Ver história original : mois+de+juillet+mtv+networks+auteur Fonte : The St. Michael School

I am not clarifying my Other M review

Because I didn't write a review, remember? However, I feel like a few statements in my not-a-review of the game merit a little more explanation. So let's do that, shall we? (I meant to write this yesterday, but the past 36 hours have been kind of crappy and stressful.) First, I referred to Super Metroid as "a game whose success was a fleeting stroke of good luck," which rankled a couple of people who didn't understand what I meant. Which is this: Super Metroid is one of those games that was a product of its time and technology, and its impact was especially potent for its good fortune in arriving when it did. It possessed a subtly and sophistication lacking in other games of the day. Super Metroid would have been a great game even five years later, but in 1994 it was a towering achievement. That's all. More deserving of explanation and reconsideration is this comment: "Other M's plot bits come off with that awkward quality of early PlayStation games, because that's precisely where Nintendo is in terms of narrative design: where everyone else was 15 years ago." I need to retract that statement, at least in part, because it disparages Nintendo as a whole when I was really remarking on a very specific facet of the company. Internally developed Nintendo games rarely focus on narrative, and outside of Other M the only place you'll find story-heavy first party Nintendo titles is under the auspices of Intelligent Systems (Fire Emblem, Advance Wars, Paper Mario, etc.). Yes, there have been a few exceptions through the years -- I'm thinking primarily of the Famicom Tantei Club series and EarthBound -- but those titles were very much genre pieces (adventure and RPG, respectively). [Camera cuts, revealing mysterious girl behind window] GIRL: "Samus... so we meet again." Other M is unusual in that it's the company's first real attempt to develop (or co-develop, anyway) a narrative-heavy game brimming with real-ime cutscenes and CG and dialogue and even touches of in-game narrative. Nintendo just doesn't make games like that; even Zelda games rarely have more than a couple of minutes of dialogue at a time, and those are never fully voiced. Other M is Nintendo venturing into new territory... and, perhaps not surprisingly, they've fumbled their first attempt. A lot of people are pointing the finger of blame at the company's choice of partners, and in truth some of Other M's more egregious quirks do demonstrate a suspicious trace of Team Ninja's fingerprints. On the other hand, Samus doesn't demonstrate any pneumatic chest-jiggle that I've noticed, so you have to admire the presence of at least that level of restraint. Really, though, I think the bigger problem with Other M is just that Nintendo's veteran staff doesn't have much experience with this sort of storytelling. They've always subsisted on a more minimalist approach to conveying plot, and the company's narrative style hasn't really evolved much beyond the 16-bit approach of text boxes and pantomime. And that's been fine, for the most part; their games' stories have been sufficient to get the job done, and the localizations are always a step or three above average. Other M ventures beyond the 16-bit style to attempt presenting its game in the fashion of mid-'90s FMV-heavy games... and that's exactly how it comes off, but not in a good way. It's stilted, awkward, and painfully Japanese in the worst way, what with all its heavy-handed symbolism and dialogue that circuitously skirts around important backstory details that all the characters know so those common facts can be doled out to the player at the director's discretion. I guess you'd call it "contrived withholding." I'd put Other M's presentation about a half-step ahead of the original Resident Evil's. Which makes sense, because like I said, Nintendo's forays into this space put them about where everyone else was 15 years ago. "I also hope that's not Chris' blood...." I just hope the push-back they're seeing from fans will encourage them to push ahead and refine their efforts rather than simply retreat into the comfortable familiarity of the 16-bit style. Nintendo has a lengthy history of innovation, and I think they could do amazing things with modern in-game narrative, just as Super Metroid did in its time. Here's where were invoke another Japanese storytelling trope: the one where those of us on the sidelines clench our fists and think vigorously about how much we believe in Nintendo as speed lines zoom behind us. Ganbare, Nintendo Software Planning & Development division! We believe in you!! Anyway, blah blah blah. I wish Other M weren't so annoyingly intrusive with its once-per-hour mandated quota of crappy story, but the action is really impressive. I hope everyone has had a chance to give it a fair shake and judge the final results for themselves... which, really, was the ultimate point of my previous post. Whether you like the game or not, it's always best to sort that decision out for yourself. Uh, not to say we reviewers are superfluous or anything! Ha ha. Sigh.

Ver história original : mois+de+juillet+mtv+networks+auteur Fonte : Verbal Spew

Tuesday’s beached marijuana boat marks third strange incident near ‘Jensen Beach Triangle’

Marijuana bales were transferred from a beached boat on Hutchinson Island and transferred to a St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office truck and taken away. (Ronda Robbins photo)By Will Greenlee What do a deadly plane crash, beached sailboat en route to Cuba and a boat laden with more than a half ton of marijuana have in common? They all happened or turned up since mid-May as part of what at least one local resident called the “Jensen Beach Triangle.” The three incidents happened along or off a strip of beach by the Island Beach Resort and Shuckers restaurant on Hutchinson Island in southern St. Lucie County. “Everybody’s saying it, too,” Ingrid Peters, 46, said Wednesday about the Jensen Beach Triangle reference. “It’s weird, Bermuda Triangle, Jensen Beach Triangle.” Peters, a Pennsylvania native who moved to Florida when she was 17, lives in a condominium just north of Shuckers. “It sounds crazy, the whole thing is bizarre,” Peters said. “I’ve lived here 15 years and I’ve never seen anything like this. Nothing happens here.” The string of unusual incidents began with tragedy May 15 when a single-engine, Soviet-era plane crashed into the ocean not far offshore. The plane appeared to be attempting an aerobatics maneuver. Killed in the incident were Fort Lauderdale pilot and part-time Jensen Beach resident Don Hopkin, 60, and his passenger, James B. Dooms, 39, of North Palm Beach. On Aug. 20, a sailboat came ashore. The sailboat owner, a man from England, and a woman who is from Germany, told customs officials they were about 2 miles offshore when their anchor line “gave way.” The sailboat stayed beached for several days. And on Tuesday, officials found more than 1,100 pounds of marijuana — with a street value of more than $1 million — in a boat that came ashore, an incident U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement continue to investigate. “That is really weird,” said Ronda Robbins, 48, who watched Tuesday from her 15th floor condo as the pot boat made its way ashore and a man jumped off. “It just seems everything happens right here in this area. I don’t know what it is.” Blayne Rosely, who manages the Island Beach Resort and helps with Shuckers, on Wednesday walked along a wooden boardwalk leading to the beach, pointing out the spots where the boats came ashore and the plane crashed. “I don’t know how to wrap it up other than it’s quite strange,” he said. “Obviously, the airplane crash was a major tragedy and there was a wedding going on actually on the beach when it happened. There were people in the wedding party that actually ran out there and tried to help.” The Bermuda Triangle, or Devil’s Triangle, is a “mythical geographic area” off the southeast coast of the United States, according to the U.S. Coast Guard website. The points connect at Miami, Bermuda and San Juan, Puerto Rico, to connect the triangle. The area is known for a reported “high incidence of unexplained losses of ship, small boats and aircraft. “The Coast Guard does not recognize the existence of the so-called Bermuda Triangle as a geographic area of specific hazard to ships or planes,” the website states. In addition to the three incidents, Robbins, a Jacksonville native, mentioned a manatee rescued in front of Shuckers and a dead, 10-foot-long hammerhead shark that washed up near her condo in the last two months. “It looked like it had two bullet holes in it,” she said of the shark. A handful of beachgoers dotted the windy oceanfront in the area before lunch Wednesday. Gerry Crepeau, 56, and his 52-year-old wife, Cathy, sat in beach chairs south of Shuckers as rough surf sent crashing waves lapping at their feet. “I think it’s a just freaky thing that happened,” Cathy Crepeau said. “It’s very unusual.” The Crepeaus live in Massachusetts and were visiting Cathy Crepeau’s mother who lives in a condo in the area. “Usually things happen in threes so maybe it’s done now,” Cathy Crepeau said.

Ver história original : mois+de+juillet+mtv+networks+auteur Fonte : Treasure Coast Talk

Sponsored Post: Okay, So I'm Taking the Activia 14-Day Challenge

Like you, I've seen those Activia yogurt commercials featuring Jamie Lee Curtis about a million times. And every time, while I'm singing along to the jingle, I wonder: Could eating that stuff (with Bifidus Regularis!) for two weeks actually help my inner-workings behave better, or is this whole thing just a genius marketing scam? See, I've always prided myself on having a fairly high-functioning digestive system: For the most part, everybody down there seems to know what floor they need to be on at any given point, and when they need to take the elevator a few floors south, and finally, when they need to pack up and exit the building. (TMI Alert: I do take an herbal digestive stimulator every night, and have for years.) So, in general, I feel pretty good in the down-under digestion department. But then again, maybe I just think I do. Is it possible that I could feel even better? Does my digestive system really need to be regulated by Bifidus? ... More » Post from: BlissTree Sponsored Post: Okay, So I'm Taking the Activia 14-Day Challenge

Ver história original : mois+de+juillet+mtv+networks+auteur Fonte : Blisstree » FEEL

Army Ten Miler :: 50 days 23 hours 31 Minutes

There's some anxiety, excitement and hard work going on over here at the Army Wife Network. We're almost all beginners who are running the ten miler, so I thought I'd share here (on LAS) the slides for beginners and the Army Ten Miler map. As well, I wanted to invite you all to the Hooah Fest and share with you our cadence contest results (for you who may just be coming on board to AWN). This whole process has really just a lot of fun, and we're not done yet... Everything you really need is available at the Army Ten Miler website. It's very helpful, and George our guest columnist and Operations Manager over there has been helpful as well. Here is a link to his columns under Health & Fitness at AWN: http://www.armywifenetwork.com/?page_id=142 His are labeled: Zero to Ten in Six! Here are links to the two Army Wife Talk Radio shows he's been on: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/awtr/2010/03/23/awtr-show-258-teaching-character-to-our-children.mp3 http://www.blogtalkradio.com/awtr/2010/08/31/awtr-show-280-army-ten-miler.mp3 Just being new to the area, I'm excited about all the wonderful historic places we'll be running by. Check out the map! Sites like: Jefferson Memorial, Korean War Memorial, Pentagon, Washington Monument, Arlington Memorial Bridge and more! The beginners guide talks about the schedule: Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, the Expo, packet pick-up, NO-NOs, a checklist and even next years Save the Date info for ATM 2011 (October 9, 2011). And when we're no longer beginners, we've finished and deserve a great big HOOAH, Army Wife Network will be there. Plans are ongoing for our Household 6 themed tent where you'll meet our team's Household 6, Janet McIntosh, and other AWN members at the Hooah Fest/Finish Festival. Everyone is invited! Last but not least, I want to be sure to pass on that this is a family friendly affair. There will be plenty for the kids to do. They can even get involved right now with the "Name the Cheetah" contest. The prize is college $$ "in the form of a qualified 529 college savings plan provided by Health Net Federal Services,". (The Name the Cheetah Mascot Contest is open to all kids between the ages of 4-14 of Active Duty Army, National Guard, and Army Reserve parents/legal guardians.) That's it in a nutshell for all you newbies, like us, out there. Tell us :: are you going? Are you running? What unit are you representing? Have any advice? Where are you at in your training? We'd love to hear your story. More to follow....in the next 50 days, 23 hours, and 31 minutes. This post is from LovingASoldier.com. Loving A Soldier? Living The Life? For more resources visit ArmyWifeNetwork.com!

Ver história original : mois+de+juillet+mtv+networks+auteur Fonte : Loving A Soldier Blog