ROCKVILLE, Md., Jan. 12 — Obesity surgery is a billion-dollar growth market for patients from ages 18 to 54. Bariatric surgery procedures for patients from the ages of 55 to 64 in the United States increased by 2,000% over a seven-year period, from 772 in 1998 to 15,086 in 2004, according to a report released by the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) here. A smaller but increase in bariatric surgery also occurred among 18- to 54-year-olds over the same period, growing from 12,481 operations in 1998 to 103,097 in 2004, for a net 726% gain. This age group represented the largest segment of the obesity surgery market. Over the same period, deaths associated with the surgery declined by 78%, from 0.9% in 1998, to 0.2% in 2004, and hospital stays declined by nearly two day in each age group. The year 2004 also saw the first reports of bariatric surgery on adolescents, with 349 procedures for patients ages 12 to 17. ‘This report shows that more Americans are turning to obesity surgery and that an increasing number of younger people are undergoing these procedures,’ said AHRQ director Carolyn M. Clancy, M.D. ‘As […]
A conservation programme for some of the world’s most bizarre and unusual creatures has been launched by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL). Species like the bumblebee bat and the pygmy hippopotamus will be protected under the Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered (Edge) project. The scheme targets animals with unique evolutionary histories that are facing a real risk of extinction. The ZSL says many of these species are ignored by existing conservation plans. The Society defines Edge animals as having few close relatives, genetically distinct, and require immediate action to save them from extinction. ‘One-of-a-kind’ ‘People have been talking about one-of-a-kind species being particularly important for conservation for a long time, but it has been very difficult to integrate them into conservation planning,’ Jonathan Baillie, the programme’s lead scientist, told BBC News. ‘This is the first global-scale programme where we have been able to do it.’ This has been made possible because of the development of a taxonomic ‘super tree’ that shows the relationship between different species. EDGE ‘FOCAL SPECIES’ FOR 2007 Pygmy hippopotamus (Image: ZSL) Pygmy hippopotamus Attenborough’s long-beaked echidna Hispaniolan solenodon Bactrian camel Yangtze River dolphin Slender loris […]
LIVERPOOL LAND, Greenland — Flying over snow-capped peaks and into a thick fog, the helicopter set down on a barren strip of rocks between two glaciers. A dozen bags of supplies, a rifle and a can of cooking gas were tossed out onto the cold ground. Then, with engines whining, the helicopter lifted off, snow and fog swirling in the rotor wash. When it had disappeared over the horizon, no sound remained but the howling of the Arctic wind. ‘It feels a little like the days of the old explorers, doesn’t it?’ Dennis Schmitt said. Mr. Schmitt, a 60-year-old explorer from Berkeley, Calif., had just landed on a newly revealed island 400 miles north of the Arctic Circle in eastern Greenland. It was a moment of triumph: he had discovered the island on an ocean voyage in September 2005. Now, a year later, he and a small expedition team had returned to spend a week climbing peaks, crossing treacherous glaciers and documenting animal and plant life. Despite its remote location, the island would almost certainly have been discovered, named and mapped almost a century ago when explorers like Jean-Baptiste Charcot and Philippe, Duke of Orléans, charted […]
For what experts say is probably the first time, more American women are living without a husband than with one, according to a New York Times analysis of census results. In 2005, 51 percent of women said they were living without a spouse, up from 35 percent in 1950 and 49 percent in 2000. Coupled with the fact that in 2005 married couples became a minority of all American households for the first time, the trend could ultimately shape social and workplace policies, including the ways government and employers distribute benefits. Several factors are driving the statistical shift. At one end of the age spectrum, women are marrying later or living with unmarried partners more often and for longer periods. At the other end, women are living longer as widows and, after a divorce, are more likely than men to delay remarriage, sometimes delighting in their newfound freedom. In addition, marriage rates among black women remain low. Only about 30 percent of black women are living with a spouse, according to the Census Bureau, compared with about 49 percent of Hispanic women, 55 percent of non-Hispanic white women and more than 60 percent of Asian women. […]
Men who take a low dose of aspirin to protect against heart disease may also reduce the risk of adult-onset asthma. A study of more than 22,000 doctors showed that a low dose of aspirin every other day cuts the risks of asthma by 22 per cent. The findings come from the 1980s Physicians’ Health Study in the US, which was designed to assess the effectiveness of aspirin in cutting heart attacks. It was ended after less than five years because it had clearly shown the benefit, in the form of a 44 per cent reduction in first heart attacks. The data was re-analysed by a team at the Division of Ageing at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Massachusetts.
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Remote Viewing the Year 2060
