Dave Chapelle, the oft-conflicted comedian who turned down a $50 million contract with Comedy Central and jetted to South Africa instead, checked into the hospital over the weekend for “exhaustion”.
While virtually nonexistent in the non-Hollywood patient population, exhaustion seems to be a growing epidemic amongst the celebrity set (see: Lindsay Lohan, Nicole Ritchie etc). All of those years of long work hours I thought I was just tired. Maybe I was actually exhausted? What do the admission orders consist of for exhaustion? Do they have special imaging modalities to confirm that diagnosis? And how do they know it was really exhaustion and not simply moderate sleepiness?
But neither StopPagingMe.com nor the pop culture-loving American public are stupid. We can read between the lines, i.e. “exhaustion” is a term coined by the public relations types to mask a whole assortment of other real diagnoses that are much less palatable when reported in the media.
Thus, we have come up with the Top 5 Differential Diagnoses for “Exhaustion” for those who might want to speculate about the real reason behind a hospital admission.
1. Depression - Definitely the most likely and frequently seen in the celeb set
2. Drug addiction/intoxication/overdose - A close second and most likely intimately related to #1
3. Psychotic break - aka Martin Lawrence Syndrome. Also, commonly seen in association of both #1 and #2 and may actually be the last stop on the disease spectrum.
4. Any illness which may reflect poorly on the actor - Actors earn money from the image they project on the screen and when the public finds out that their action hero actually has rheumatoid arthritis or their sex symbol has Hepatitis C (a la Pam Anderson), well, not good.
5. All of the above
To help out the PR flack, we have also decided to provide the Top 5 Alternatives to the “Exhaustion” Euphemism:
1. Unspecified illness - Why even give the public the pleasure of guessing what the celebrity has? Leave them in the dark completely - it sort of adds an air of mystery.
2. Flu-like symptoms - Reliable, undeniable, and actually a lame but legitimate reason for ER visit.
3. Chest pain - There’s just so much of it and so many reasons for it.
4. Hyperstimulantemia - This is not a real diagnosis but it might fit the bill in many cases.
5. Mental anguish - Nothing wrong with going the honest route.
1. How did it happen to a guy like him?
There is a misconception (sort of) that the upper class does not succumb to such tragic deaths. It is not completely unfounded as those who have more money tend to have better access to health care, screening, education, and are more vigilant about doctors’ visits. even as someone who treats patient with severe heart attacks like his, it was quite surprising that such a well-educated, well-heeled political powerhouse like Russert could go in such a way. Russert, according to numerous reports, was not the healthiest guy, though.
And when we say that, we mean “healthy” in the sense of his cardiac risk factors, or those features that make him more inclined to a cardiac event, i.e. heart attack. According to several reports, Russert had several features that made him more prone to an event like this – he was a male (yes, it’s risk factor), he was over 55, he was a Type 2 diabetic, he was not a thin guy which may suggest issues with his diet and exercise habits (and hence, his cholesterol profile), and he was at the top of a very demanding profession requiring him to drive hard.
The first question I thought when I heard about Russert is when he had his most recent stress test. His doc admitted to the press that he had performed adequately on an exercise stress test in late April. As an aside, there are different types of stress test that have significant differences in their ability to find an abnormality. The classic exercise treadmill test without nuclear images is the least sensitive in detecting CAD. Why a VIP like him, with such significant risk factors would not have the most sensitive is study is beyond me but it’s also possible that he had a recent stress test and that it was falsely negative, or that he had that rare occurrence of a ruptured non-significant coronary plaque in a particularly vulnerable location causing a massive heart attack.
2. How can I prevent it from happening to me?
For many of you readers (and me, as well), this may be the most important question. Besides all the doctoral advice about eating healthy, quitting smoking, getting your cholesterol checked and blah blah blah, I’ll simplify it to: SEE YOUR DOCTOR. It is not fun to see your doctor when you’re feeling good and it almost seems wasteful to spend money on tests and meds when you feel fine but as this case illustrates you may not be fine – or you may be convincing yourself you’re fine when in actuality you have dealt with subtle symptoms for a long enough time to consider them part of your daily routine. If you are a male over 45 or a female over 55 you already have one risk factor for CAD. If you have high cholesterol, a father/mother/sister/brother with a prior MI, if you smoke, if you have high blood pressure, if you have DM, then you have a 2nd risk factor and should be screened for CAD with a stress test. So, be vigilant about your healthcare, ask your doc questions about your risk profile, and visit his office at least once per year – if not only to hear the sermon about living a healthy lifestyle.
3. How did he have a “normal” stress test just months before?
As I wrote earlier, different stress test types have different levels of sensitivity in detecting blockages of the coronary tree. The least sensitive is the standard ECG exercise treadmill test which basically consists of you running on a treadmill while hooked up to a continuous ECG. This is still the test of choice recommended by the American College of Cardiology guidelines for the majority of folks who can walk. However, in this era of litigious patients and scared docs many cardiologists opt for the nuclear stress test which may be done in combination with exercise or a pharmacxologic agent used to simulate activity (e.g. adenosine or dobutamine). This test provides the doctor with several computer-generated “images” of your heart muscle and how it uptakes these nuclear tracers. If there is absence of the nuclear tracer, it implies that this are of heart muscle is not receiving adequate blood flow, i.e. perfusion. Basically, nuclear imaging provides an additional level of sensitivity to corroborate or add to the information obtained from the standard ECG treadmill test. Or, when comeone is unable to exercise, nuclear may be your alternatrive.
So, it’s possible that Tim Russert’s coronary blockage was missed by a stress test but it is also possible that the blockage was not significant enough to be picked up. Many authors have decribed major heart attacks occurring as the result of a rupture of a non-critical cornary plaque, i.e. one that is occluding less than 70% of the vessel.
Turthfully, in medicine, no screening test is perfect and the search for the so-called “vulnerable plaque” – one that is prone to rupture and resultant heart attack - has been something of great interests to cardiologists. Numerous imaging modalities and clinical predictor algorithms have been used to try and isolate those patients at greatest risk but at its core, and regardless of all the newest technology and pharmaceutical intervention, medicine is still an art as much as it is a science. And sometimes the disease beats the doctors.
Many of us are at the stage in our lives where concepts that once seemed so far away are now staring us in the face. Things like having children, getting a job, saving money, buying a home, protecting your family - these were concerns for our parents, not us. But the truth is, we’re not in school any more and we have put in long hours of training and studying to get to this point. It is now our responsibility to plan for the future and this why we have begun our newest series: Residential Planning. Every month we will tackle a new issue that residents face inside (and outside) the hospital and bring you the hard facts as well as interviews with experts in the field. Our only goal is to educate you and provide you some framework with which to make future decisions.
We begin with a topic that many of you have probably heard about but rarely taken seriously: DISABILITY INSURANCE. You’re young, healthy, and careful in the hospital so you don’t need to think about getting sick or injured on the job right? How many doctors actually become disabled? Your hospital would help you if you couldn’t work, wouldn’t they? How many doctors actually end up needing Disability? To help us better understand the real deal with Disability, we have brought in Paul Ferrante of Northwestern Mutual Financial Network, named one of America’s Most Admired companies by Fortune Magazine and ranked #1 by the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI).
SPM: Paul, can you give us a brief explanation of what disability insurance is?
Paul Ferrante (PF): Your most important financial asset is your ability to earn an income. Disability income insurance is designed to replace a portion of your earned income lost due to a partial or total disability. It is basically money given to you if you become sick or are injured and are no longer able to work - either temporarily or permanently.
SPM: Many of the training physicians that visit our website have been offered disbaility insurance at least once. Because of the many debts incurred as a resident, and the belief that we are still semi-invincible at this point in our career, most are reticent to buy. Give us your top 3 reasons why young doctors should have disability insurance.
PF: OK. Good question. Giving only three is not easy but let me see if I can break it down to the 3 most essential reasons.
1. The most important is to protect your earning potential. A 30-year-old physician beginning a career with an annual earned income of about $100,000, will earn over $3.6 million during his or her working years (until age 65) - this assumes no increases in one’s income. If that same physician had 3% increases in income each year, he would earn over $6.3 million. This is a large sum of money regardless of how long you have trained or the risks that you face on the job. This is money that will support a family, send children to school, take you on vacation, even provide for your retirement. It is earnings that you need and deserve and you want it preserved no matter what.
2. Secondly, protect your future insurability.
3. Lastly and especially important considering all the loans you guys have: insurance premiums are lower at younger ages.It is always prudent to pay less for the same product if you can and if you believe that you may want Disability in the future, it would benefit you to start now rather than wait unitl later.
SPM: Are there different types of disability insurance? What type is best for residents?
PF: Your individual disability income insurance policy may be purchased as either a “non-cancelable and guaranteed renewable policy” or as a “guaranteed renewable policy.” Not all companies offer both types.
A non-cancelable policy cannot be changed unilaterally by the Company. The premiums and provisions are guaranteed once the contract is issued.
A guaranteed renewable policy cannot be cancelled nor have its terms, other than premiums, changed by the Company. Premiums may only be changed by class and may be subject to approval by the appropriate regulatory agency.
SPM: About how much would a typical plan cost per year?
PF: Cost for plan varies greatly on a number of factors, including sex, age, health, occupation, smoking status, total disability definition, benefit period, beginning date, state of residence and additional benefits. Individual disability income insurance, by itself or as a supplement to employer-provided group coverage, is essential for anyone who works and relies on that income. A good financial representative can help individuals explore the many options available and select a disability insurance policy to suit each person’s budget and personal financial needs. The most important step is to make sure a policy is in place.
SPM: If I was injured and could not do my job, how do they determine how much I would get?
PF: Generally, if you are injured or sick and can not perform the duties of your regular occupation, you would receive 100% of your monthly benefit (assuming you were totally disabled). If you could perform one or more of the principal duties of your regular occupation, you would not be totally disabled. In that situation, you may qualify for partial disability benefits.
SPM: As you know, doctors love data. Can you give us some stats that make us think a little harder about disability insurance?
PF: My pleasure. These data come from a variety of sources which I have attached below.
Disability Statistics
- 82% of U.S. workers have either no long-term disability coverage or coverage they feel is inadequate (1).
- One out of every five people will be disabled through injury or illness for a period of three months or more during their working life (2).
- There are over 18,000 known medical impairments. Each has different causes and effects.
- Approximately 75% of disabilities are caused by an illness and not an accident (3).
- In 1980, there were 55 companies that were considered major competitors in the disability income marketplace (4). Today that number has dwindled to 13, because many competitors have either abandoned the disability income marketplace, or have merged their product line with another company (5). Of the top five competitors on the list, only Northwestern Mutual has remained in the disability income marketplace without merging its product line with any other company.
- Based on premium earned, Northwestern Mutual is the number one mutual company in total non-cancelable individual disability insurance in force. Northwestern Mutual is the second largest in total non-cancelable individual disability insurance in force among all insurance companies (6).
- Northwestern Mutual allocated $72 million in total dividends for policyowners in 2004.
- Northwestern Mutual paid $330 million in disability benefits to our policyowners in 2004, and more than $1.6 billion during the past five years.
- In 2004, over 68% of the new disability insurance policies issued by the company were purchased by existing policyowners within the Northwestern Mutual family (7).
(1) 2001 survey by the Consumer Federation of America and the American Council of Life Insurers.
(2) 1985 Commissioner’s Disability Table (a).
(3) 1986 Commissioner’s Disability Table (a).
(4) Source: Northwestern Mutual. These are companies that offered an individual non-cancelable disability income insurance policy in 1980.
(5) 2004 Company Annual Statements.
(6) Figures as of December 31, 2004.
(7) Figures as of December 31, 2004.
by Tina Wu
Dear Tina,
I am a third-year in Cali and I have issues. I’m doing a surgical clerkship right now and my resident definitely seems to be throwing out the vibes, if ya know what I mean. He’s an okay guy and really smart but I’m not sure I’m into him. How should I handle his advances and what can I do now?
Cringing in Cali
Dear Cali,
To your resident, and all the other residents and attendings hitting on medical students working under them: Beware of the resident-med student relationship!
This is a clear recipe for disaster.
Best case scenario: You go out with him. In real life, he’s captivating, knows more than medicine, funny, great dresser, and great in bed. You fall madly in love with each other, he writes you a fantastic evaluation, you go into his field, and you two live happily ever after in hospital heaven.
Worst case scenario: You go out with him, find out that he is dating 6 other medical students, loves to use the power move, holds your evaluation over your head, and to make matters worse, he tells all of his buddies that you have weird bedroom fetishes. You find out that he’s known as the “MedStudent Pimp” and you break up with him. His evaluation says that you are lazy, and unintelligent – translation — bad in bed and stupid for breaking up with him. You fail your rotation and everyone starts calling you’re the “Pee Queen”.
If you think worst case scenario won’t happen, imagine all the scenarios in between failing and falling madly in love. I’m going to bet that since you’re writing an online magazine, you’re not going to fall madly in love with him so let’s handle the best way to gently reject him.
You have to trust that he is adult enough to handle rejection. The again, I thought that a senior resident would be professional enough to realize the ramifications of propositioning a medical student.
If you don’t like him, tell him that you think that he’s great and smart, etc, but you are currently in a relationship. It would be great if you could be friends because you do think that he is a good doctor and a wonderful teacher. You would love to talk with him sometime about the pros and cons of residency, hours, the program, and any other BS hospital talk. You have a lot of friends that you have met on rotations and appreciate the mentorship. Use the words “mentor” and “friends” as much as possible. If you’ve already said to him that you’re single, you’re a big part of this mess. (Note to all: avoid relationship status talks at all costs unless you have a fatty ring). He should understand if you are in a relationship. Then, pretend the conversation never happened and act professionally. If by some chance, he does not get the point, a good kick in the Ben-Wa’s is very effective.
If you do like him, tell him that you would be interested in dating, but you feel that now isn’t the right time, given the circumstances. Maybe you could go out in the future, after the rotation is over (so he can see you as a normal human being, not a pitiful, obedient, eager medical student.)
I would strongly recommend not going out with him regardless of your feelings toward him. Think about it. If you really are a good medical student, you are constantly stroking his ego: laughing at his unfunny jokes, jumping at the opportunity to kiss his feet, repeatedly thanking him for telling you what different acronyms mean. If you can play the game of medical school well, he will get the impression that he can just lay there while you do all the, eh, work. The more you stroke his ego, the better medical student you appear to be. But by becoming an expert stroker, he’s going to think you stroke something else just as eagerly.
The power struggle of the chain of medicine is intimidating at best, and the power abuse is always prevalent. If you did anything that contributed to this awkward uncomfortable moment, don’t let it happen again.
For the residents thinking about asking out a medical student: Never underestimate how obsequious and fake these evaluation-dependent students may act towards you. But, most importantly, don’t forget that we live in America, and in America we have the card that trumps all of medicine: the Queen of Sexual Harassment.
There are almost as many medical references out there as there are medicines. No one is photocopying the most recent review article on anything anymore. The information now comes fast and furious via ultra-condensed pocket reference books, online medical references (e..g MDConsult, e-Medicine, WebMD, etc), PDAs, or at the very least, an online journal. Medical students and residents now walk the floors with a virtual library in their white coat. But which ones are the best? Some are super pricey and we want to help you choose where your money is best spent.
Pay attention to our rating system in which we judge the price ($-cheap, $$$$-expensive); the Cost-benefit ratio, Resale potential, and finally, Portability of each resource.
If you have a medical resource that you would like to rate, please follow our example by providing a brief description followed by the numerical values and send it to webmaster@stoppagingme.com!
UpToDate – This is really the gold standard, and has been for some time. The hefty dent it will put in your residency-level bank account is worth every penny as the superbly crafted resource comes with quarterly updated CD-ROMs, PDA compatibility, and most importantly, a website that you can access from any computer with internet access.
What makes it so good? Firstly, it is profoundly easy to use: type in a topic and the closest related items comes up – and they are usually very close to what your topic of interest. Secondly, each topic is written for the specific goal of helping you manage patients and uses the latest evidence-based medicine and guidelines to assist you in the care of inpatients. It also sites each and every journal article from which it derives its information so you can go and pull the actual articles of you want to see more. Not enough? It is untouched by the annoying ads that plague lesser medical reference sites, making UpToDate feel like the Professionals’ choice for research. This lack of ad dollars probably contributes to their high price but in the end it’s worth it. There is an abundance of graphs, tables and images that assist with your understanding of each topic and make excellent additions to any PowerPoint presentation. Finding faults with this resource is difficult but if your topic is not related to internal medicine or one if its related specialties, you might not be so lucky, i.e. if you’re looking for surgical techniques for open long bone fractures UpToDate may not do the trick.
Price: $$$$ - You get what you pay for!
User Friendliness: 4.5/5 - If it’s related to medicine at all, it’s here.
Cost-Benefit: 4/5 - If you can get some others to also buy, they’ll discount the price significantly. There’s also a significant price cut if you prove to them that you are a resident, fellow or medical student.
Resale value: 1/5 - You cannnot really sell UTD since you would essentailly be selling a username and passsword or an old DVD-ROM. Not worth the trouble and they take great pains to preserve the membership for the real members.
Portablility: 5/5 - You can get it online at www.uptodate.com, on your PDA, or from DVDs. Any questions?
January 25th,2009
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A chief surgical resident at Mayo Clinc Scottsdale faced a disciplinary hearing for allegedly snapping a pic of his patient’s tattooed johnson and showing the picture to fellow doctors. The pic was taken while the surgeon was scrubbed for a gall bladder.
Dr. Adam Hansen admitted to using his cell phone to take a picture of the genitals of Sean Dubowik, a strip club owner, whose penis brandished the phrase “Hot Rod.”
Another surgeon tipped off The Arizona Republic Monday on what Dr. Hansen had done. In response to this, the Mayo Clinic called Dubowik to inform him of what had happened.
“I got a strange call after my surgery from a doctor who said there was a problem,” the Sydney Morning Herald quoted Dubowik, 37. “He said Hansen was on the phone and would explain.”
Hansen was then put on the phone and explained the situation to the patient.
“He told me he didn’t want me to read about it in the newspaper first,” Dubowik recalled.
Hansen had reportedly been placed on administrative leave, and was facing a range of punishments that could go from probation to dismissal.
“Patient privacy is a serious matter, and photographing someone in this manner without a good reason is something we will investigate down to the last detail,” stated Dr. Joseph Sirven, the education director for Mayo Clinic Arizona.
Dubowik explained that the tattoo was something done on a bet, describing it as “the most horrible thing I ever went through in my life.”
Commenting on the incident, he said “The longer I sit here the angrier I get.”
January 25th,2009
Side-Effects |
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Attention gamers: You can now buy a Wii for your medical office or resident lounge and write it off as a business expense. Our medical colleagues in Chicago have figured out a way to make the latest gaming sensation, the Nintendo Wii, into a viable medical asset. Check it out.
Read the whole article by AP medical writer Lindsey Tanner below
CHICAGO - Some call it “Wiihabilitation.” Nintendo’s Wii video game system, whose popularity already extends beyond the teen gaming set, is fast becoming a craze in rehab therapy for patients recovering from strokes, broken bones, surgery and even combat injuries.
The usual stretching and lifting exercises that help the sick or injured regain strength can be painful, repetitive and downright boring.
In fact, many patients say PT — physical therapy’s nickname — really stands for “pain and torture,” said James Osborn, who oversees rehabilitation services at Herrin Hospital in southern Illinois.
Using the game console’s unique, motion-sensitive controller, Wii games require body movements similar to traditional therapy exercises. But patients become so engrossed mentally they’re almost oblivious to the rigor, Osborn said.
“In the Wii system, because it’s kind of a game format, it does create this kind of inner competitiveness. Even though you may be boxing or playing tennis against some figure on the screen, it’s amazing how many of our patients want to beat their opponent,” said Osborn of Southern Illinois Healthcare, which includes the hospital in Herrin. The hospital, about 100 miles southeast of St. Louis, bought a Wii system for rehab patients late last year.
“When people can refocus their attention from the tediousness of the physical task, oftentimes they do much better,” Osborn said.
Nintendo Co. doesn’t market Wii’s potential use in physical therapy, but company representative Anka Dolecki said, “We are happy to see that people are finding added benefit in rehabilitation.”
The most popular Wii games in rehab involve sports — baseball, bowling, boxing, golf and tennis. Using the same arm swings required by those sports, players wave a wireless controller that directs the actions of animated athletes on the screen.
The Hines Veterans Affairs Hospital west of Chicago recently bought a Wii system for its spinal cord injury unit.
Pfc. Matthew Turpen, 22, paralyzed from the chest down in a car accident last year while stationed in Germany, plays Wii golf and bowling from his wheelchair at Hines. The Des Moines, Iowa, native says the games help beat the monotony of rehab and seem to be doing his body good, too.
“A lot of guys don’t have full finger function so it definitely helps being able to work on using your fingers more and figuring out different ways to use your hands” and arms, Turpen said.
At Walter Reed Army Medical Center, the therapy is well-suited to patients injured during combat in Iraq, who tend to be in the 19 to 25 age range — a group that’s “very into” playing video games, said Lt. Col. Stephanie Daugherty, Walter Reed’s chief of occupational therapy.
“They think it’s for entertainment, but we know it’s for therapy,” she said.
It’s useful in occupational therapy, which helps patients relearn daily living skills including brushing teeth, combing hair and fastening clothes, Daugherty said.
WakeMed Health has been using Wii games at its Raleigh, N.C., hospital for patients as young as 9 “all the way up to people in their 80s,” said therapist Elizabeth Penny.
“They’re getting improved endurance, strength, coordination. I think it’s very entertaining for them,” Penny said.
“It really helps the body to loosen up so it can do what it’s supposed to do,” said Billy Perry, 64, a retired Raleigh police officer. He received Wii therapy at WakeMed after suffering a stroke on Christmas Eve.
Perry said he’d seen his grandchildren play Wii games and was excited when a hospital therapist suggested he try it.
He said Wii tennis and boxing helped him regain strength and feeling in his left arm.
“It’s enjoyable. I know I’m going to participate with my grandkids more when I go visit them,” Perry said.
While there’s plenty of anecdotal evidence that Wii games help in rehab, researcher Lars Oddsson wants to put the games to a real test.
Oddsson is director of the Sister Kenny Research Center at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis. The center bought a Wii system last summer and is working with the University of Minnesota to design a study that will measure patients’ function “before and after this ‘Wiihab,’ as someone called it,” Oddsson said.
“You can certainly make a case that some form of endurance related to strength and flexibility and balance and cardio would be challenged when you play the Wii,” but hard scientific proof is needed to prove it, Oddsson said.
Meantime, Dr. Julio Bonis of Madrid says he has proof that playing Wii games can have physical effects of another kind.
Bonis calls it acute “Wiiitis” — a condition he says he developed last year after spending several hours playing the Wii tennis game.
Bonis described his ailment in a letter to the New England Journal of Medicine — intense pain in his right shoulder that a colleague diagnosed as acute tendonitis, a not uncommon affliction among players of real-life tennis.
Bonis said he recovered after a week of ibuprofen and no Wii, and urged doctors to be aware of Wii overuse.
Still, as a Wii fan, he said in an e-mail that he could imagine more moderate use would be helpful in physical therapy “because of the motivation that the game can provide to the patient.”
Say what you want about Dancing With the Stars. Go ahead and mock that Flavor Flav show and the inane lives of teenage rich kids as seen on MTV’s The Hills. But don’t you dare include any of those shows in the same breath as The Biggest Loser, possibly the most important show to hit primetime in the past 50 years.
Reality programming has become TV’s version of crack. It’s easy to make and equally addictive. Put a bunch of camera hogs with personality disorders together in the same house and watch the entertainment ensue. Just imagine if you could use the dependency for good rather than evil - that’s right, healthy crack.
If you have not seen Loser, the basic premise is to get 14 morbidly obese people to lose as much weight as humanly possible in 100 days. They are divided into two teams and each team is given a personal trainer that works them like they have never been worked – and many of them really have never worked out. They are also taught important lessons about diet e.g. what is healthy and what is fat-inducing. They are taught how to order at a restaurant, how to prepare healthy family meals, how to count calories and so much more. Sure, there are blatant product placements and shameless ads for everything from low-fat turkey to exercise bikes but it’s all in good fat, er, fun. And the best part about all these life lessons that the losers get is that they are televised and even charted for the millions of obese watchers at home.
America is the fattest country in the world with more than 45% of our population classified as obese. Our BMI’s are only matched by our insatiable hunger for TV, and reality TV in specific goes together with couch potatoes like special sauce on a Whopper. Who better to make you feel OK about yourself than 15 semi-retarded women literally fighting to marry a 5′3″ ex-rapper with gold teeth and a giant clock around his neck?
The Biggest Loser is more effective than any institution or individual physician in combating the growing obesity epidemic. Not even the best of academia can affect as many lives over the course of a month as Loser does in one night. What doctor do you know talks to millions of households every week and shows demonstrable evidence that simple diet and exercise does indeed bare out results?
Week after week, the losers drop weight and improve physically and emotionally. There is a minimum of 10 crying scenes, 12-14 shots of massively sweaty tank tops and 6-8 mentions of how they are “doing it for their children”. As with any good reality show, there is bickering, badgering, complaining and just enough scheming to remind you that someone has to be sent home. But the proof is in the fat-free pudding for this bunch, as most often the person who lost the least weight is sent home to combat their eating issues alone.
Perhaps we like reality shows too much and are stretching to find the good in an otherwise crappy genre of TV. But if just one person at home learns that eating a short stack with two eggs on the side with bacon is not a typical breakfast then this show has succeeded in making people better. And isn’t that what we all want to do?
Check out this website to see some great before and after action http://www.nbc.com/The_Biggest_Loser/
Reuters reported that a Canadian gent who asked his lover to carve a heart-shaped symbol on his chest during a rough sex game almost died when she accidentally pressed too hard and punctured his heart, a newspaper said on Thursday.
How hard was she pressing?
The Winnipeg Free Press said the 25-year-old woman had been sentenced to three years’ probation after she pleaded guilty to assaulting the man in February 2007.
The 24-year-old man was initially given little chance of survival but made a full recovery and is backing the woman. Both had been drinking heavily and engaging in rough sex when he asked the woman to carve the symbol, the paper said.
Johnny Government has created an Internet tool to confuse the general public even more about their medical care costs.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is running ads ithis week in several states showing consumers how to compare services and quality of care in area hospitals by using a new Web site.
The ads, which are running in more than 50 other newspapers across the country, promote Hospital Compare (hospitalcompare.hhs.gov), a Web site that scores 26 quality and patient satisfaction measures at nearly 4,000 hospitals nationwide.
I tried it out myself and was thoroughly, well, befuddled. While it seems like the older crowd would benefit most from this website’s Medicare emphasis there are 2 problems we can see:
1. Medicare are for old people
2. If I can’t figure out the website there is no way my grandmother can
See more about this here:
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/363904_ratehospitals21.html?source=mypi
