Scientists have developed a new drug that attacks excess body fat, and a new study reports that it helped a small group of obese monkeys lose weight. Experts say the drug's fat-attack mechanism is an intriguing approach to weight loss, but questions remain about the drug's effectiveness and safety in humans.
Previous diet drugs try to help the body lose fat by increasing metabolism or by controlling the hunger pangs that make people want to eat more. But researchers at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston designed the new drug Adipotide to attack the fat itself by destroying the blood supply that keeps it alive.
"Without the blood supply, the fat withers away and is remetabolized by the liver," said Dr. Wadih Arap, one of the study's authors.
The researchers tested the drug in a small group of obese monkeys. After four weeks, the monkeys lost an average of 11 percent of their body weight. The drug also lowered the animals' Body Mass Index (BMI) and trimmed their waistlines. Lean monkeys who took the drug did not lose weight, suggesting that the drug selectively targeted the fat in obese monkeys.
The study was published in the journal Science Translational Medicine.
"This is an exciting new concept in our efforts to control obesity," said Dr. Lou Aronne, director of the Comprehensive Weight Control program at Weill-Cornell Medical College. "But we need human studies for efficacy and more importantly, safety."
Researchers say the fact that the drug worked in monkeys, the closest animal relatives of humans, makes them hopeful that the drug could be safe and effective in humans. The monkeys in the study were also similar to people in the way they packed on the pounds – by overeating and not exercising.
But despite the promise of these early results, the drug seems to share some of the problems that have plagued diet drugs and "magic bullet" obesity treatments in the past. Four weeks after the monkeys stopped taking the drug, they began to regain their weight. Dr. Keith Ayoob, associate professor in pediatrics in the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in Bronx, N.Y., said that fact makes the drug like many of its less-than-magical predecessors.
"We've always been able to get people to lose weight, but the real question is how to keep the lost weight from returning. Right now, there's no drug for that," Ayoob said.
Arap acknowledged that the drug didn't seem to help the monkeys keep weight off, but he noted that the animals didn't change their lifestyles or diet the way that humans can.
"The hope is that in patients, we say this treatment gave you a leg up and helped you lose the weight, now you have to diet and exercise and change your lifestyle," Arap said.
Even if Adipotide proves to be successful in humans, the drug would have to travel the long regulatory road required by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration before it could be sold for weight loss. Experts have noted that the agency's approval process seems to be more rigorous for drugs aiming to fight obesity. The FDA nixed three weight-loss drugs submitted for approval in 2010, citing safety concerns.
Currently, only one drug is FDA-approved for weight loss: orlistat (sold as Xenical or Alli). But the drug causes a number of unpleasant and damaging side effects, including liver damage, pancreatitis and kidney stones, according to a report from the consumer watchdog Public Citizen in April.
Adipotide produced some side effects in the monkeys in this current study, particularly in the kidneys. But the researchers noted that these were "generally mild and reversible."
2011年11月9日星期三
2011年10月24日星期一
Is This the End of Popping Vitamins?
A succession of large-scale human studies, including two published earlier this month in leading medical journals, suggests that multivitamins and many other dietary supplements often don't have health benefits—and in some cases may even cause harm.
The data have prompted some nutrition researchers to say taking vitamins is a waste of money for those without a specific nutrient deficiency or chronic illness. Such findings have also fueled a debate about whether the field should continue conducting expensive human trials to figure out whether particular supplements affect health.
"The better the quality of the research, the less benefit [supplements] showed," says Marion Nestle, professor of nutrition, food studies, and public health at New York University. "It's fair to say from the research that supplements don't make healthy people healthier."
For instance, vitamins B-6 and B-12 are often touted as being good for the heart, but several studies have failed to find that they lower risk of cardiovascular disease, according the Office of Dietary Supplements, part of the National Institutes of Health. Vitamin C hasn't been shown in many studies to lower a person's risk of getting a cold. Calcium, while important to bone health, doesn't lower risk of heart disease or cancer and may increase risk of kidney stones.
"We have an enormous body of data telling us that plant-rich diets are very healthy," says Josephine Briggs, head of the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, another NIH center. "As soon as we take these various antioxidants[and other nutrients] out and put them in a pill, we're not consistently getting a benefit."
Researchers and nutritionists are still recommending dietary supplements for the malnourished or people with certain nutrient deficiencies or medical conditions. For instance folic acid—the supplement form of folate——reduces the likelihood of a common birth defect if taken by pregnant women.
Studying the effects of vitamins and supplements in the real world is difficult, since people eat foods with multiple nutrients that can interact with supplements and skew results. And observational trials can only show an association, not cause and effect.
That is one reason the Council on Responsible Nutrition, which represents the supplement industry, says it is too early to say supplements don't have health benefits. Duffy MacKay, the group's vice president of regulatory and scientific affairs, says lengthier studies may be required to show the benefits of some supplements.
Micronutrients, which include antioxidants like vitamin C, hormones like vitamin D and metals like iron, are essential to the body in small amounts because they help facilitate important reactions in and between cells. Too much of them, however, can cause problems.
The effectiveness of many dietary supplements remains untested and makers aren't required to do tests before selling a product. Still, about half of Americans reported taking at least one supplement a month in 2006, in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey published in April of this year. The supplement industry brought in $28 billion in sales in 2010, up 4.4% from 2009, according to Nutrition Business Journal, an industry trade publication.
Vitamin users may derive a benefit from the placebo effect, experts say. And they often are convinced the supplements make them feel better, regardless of what studies show.
"The thing you do with [reports of studies] is just ride them out, and literally we see no impact on our business," said Joseph Fortunato, chief executive of supplement retailer GNC Corp., according to a transcript of the company's third-quarter conference call with analysts last week.
"Consumers believe in our products," a spokesman for GNC said. GNC's revenue grew 15.5% in the third quarter of this year compared to a year ago and the stock, which closed at $25.08, is up 0.5% year-to-date.
Of growing concern to many scientists are the increasing hints of harm from vitamins.
The first red flags started emerging nearly 20 years ago. Researchers thought from early work that extra beta-carotene could help prevent lung cancer, but two randomized trials published in 1994 and 1996 showed an increased rate of lung cancer among smokers who took beta-carotene supplements.
Oncologist Mark Heaney of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York showed in laboratory work in 2008 that vitamin C appeared to inhibit the effect of chemotherapy drugs for cancer treatment. Subsequent research has shown vitamin C may inadvertently protect cancer cells more than normal cells.
A study published this month in the Journal of the American Medical Association, known as the SELECT trial, found that vitamin E—previously thought to lower risk of prostate cancer—actually increased the chance slightly. The risk could be mitigated by the simultaneous consumption of another micronutrient, selenium, the study says.
Multivitamins aren't faring much better. Results from the Iowa Women's Health Study, published earlier this month in the Archives of Internal Medicine, found in a sample of over 38,000 older women, multivitamin use over time was linked with a slight but statistically significant increased risk of earlier mortality.
A studyof 1,900 men and women in 15 cities across Europe published in 2008 in the European Journal of Nutrition followed healthy elderly individuals for 10 years. Among smokers in the study, those who took multivitamins were more likely to die younger than smokers who didn't.
Another large trial examining postmenopausal women in the NIH's Women's Health Initiative found no discernible impact from taking a multivitamin on preventing breast, lung or colorectal cancer, cardiovascular disease or premature death, according to the 2009 study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.
Some experts warn against overemphasizing the potential harm of multivitamins because it isn't clear how that statistical uptick in risk of death would translate into actual increased risk in real life.
The consistent failure to show benefits has led researchers at the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine and elsewhere to call for more lab experiments and small-scale studies of how the nutrients work, after over a decade of pursuing large, clinical trials of particular supplements' effectiveness.
"We've missed a step," says Alan Kristal, a professor of epidemiology at the University of Washington who studies the links between diet and cancer. "We need to understand the mechanism by which these things are acting."
Roberta Anding, a nutritionist at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston, says some people need multivitamins and other supplements, but she is cautious about the risk from high doses of micronutrients. "It's no longer nutrition when the doses become high, it's pharmacology," she says.
The best way to get micronutrients is through a balanced diet, she says.
"If you're looking at this as, 'At least I'm [taking a multivitamin],' but you're not exercising or eating well, then it is a waste of money," says Ms. Anding, a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association, a research and advocacy group.
The data have prompted some nutrition researchers to say taking vitamins is a waste of money for those without a specific nutrient deficiency or chronic illness. Such findings have also fueled a debate about whether the field should continue conducting expensive human trials to figure out whether particular supplements affect health.
"The better the quality of the research, the less benefit [supplements] showed," says Marion Nestle, professor of nutrition, food studies, and public health at New York University. "It's fair to say from the research that supplements don't make healthy people healthier."
For instance, vitamins B-6 and B-12 are often touted as being good for the heart, but several studies have failed to find that they lower risk of cardiovascular disease, according the Office of Dietary Supplements, part of the National Institutes of Health. Vitamin C hasn't been shown in many studies to lower a person's risk of getting a cold. Calcium, while important to bone health, doesn't lower risk of heart disease or cancer and may increase risk of kidney stones.
"We have an enormous body of data telling us that plant-rich diets are very healthy," says Josephine Briggs, head of the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, another NIH center. "As soon as we take these various antioxidants[and other nutrients] out and put them in a pill, we're not consistently getting a benefit."
Researchers and nutritionists are still recommending dietary supplements for the malnourished or people with certain nutrient deficiencies or medical conditions. For instance folic acid—the supplement form of folate——reduces the likelihood of a common birth defect if taken by pregnant women.
Studying the effects of vitamins and supplements in the real world is difficult, since people eat foods with multiple nutrients that can interact with supplements and skew results. And observational trials can only show an association, not cause and effect.
That is one reason the Council on Responsible Nutrition, which represents the supplement industry, says it is too early to say supplements don't have health benefits. Duffy MacKay, the group's vice president of regulatory and scientific affairs, says lengthier studies may be required to show the benefits of some supplements.
Micronutrients, which include antioxidants like vitamin C, hormones like vitamin D and metals like iron, are essential to the body in small amounts because they help facilitate important reactions in and between cells. Too much of them, however, can cause problems.
The effectiveness of many dietary supplements remains untested and makers aren't required to do tests before selling a product. Still, about half of Americans reported taking at least one supplement a month in 2006, in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey published in April of this year. The supplement industry brought in $28 billion in sales in 2010, up 4.4% from 2009, according to Nutrition Business Journal, an industry trade publication.
Vitamin users may derive a benefit from the placebo effect, experts say. And they often are convinced the supplements make them feel better, regardless of what studies show.
"The thing you do with [reports of studies] is just ride them out, and literally we see no impact on our business," said Joseph Fortunato, chief executive of supplement retailer GNC Corp., according to a transcript of the company's third-quarter conference call with analysts last week.
"Consumers believe in our products," a spokesman for GNC said. GNC's revenue grew 15.5% in the third quarter of this year compared to a year ago and the stock, which closed at $25.08, is up 0.5% year-to-date.
Of growing concern to many scientists are the increasing hints of harm from vitamins.
The first red flags started emerging nearly 20 years ago. Researchers thought from early work that extra beta-carotene could help prevent lung cancer, but two randomized trials published in 1994 and 1996 showed an increased rate of lung cancer among smokers who took beta-carotene supplements.
Oncologist Mark Heaney of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York showed in laboratory work in 2008 that vitamin C appeared to inhibit the effect of chemotherapy drugs for cancer treatment. Subsequent research has shown vitamin C may inadvertently protect cancer cells more than normal cells.
A study published this month in the Journal of the American Medical Association, known as the SELECT trial, found that vitamin E—previously thought to lower risk of prostate cancer—actually increased the chance slightly. The risk could be mitigated by the simultaneous consumption of another micronutrient, selenium, the study says.
Multivitamins aren't faring much better. Results from the Iowa Women's Health Study, published earlier this month in the Archives of Internal Medicine, found in a sample of over 38,000 older women, multivitamin use over time was linked with a slight but statistically significant increased risk of earlier mortality.
A studyof 1,900 men and women in 15 cities across Europe published in 2008 in the European Journal of Nutrition followed healthy elderly individuals for 10 years. Among smokers in the study, those who took multivitamins were more likely to die younger than smokers who didn't.
Another large trial examining postmenopausal women in the NIH's Women's Health Initiative found no discernible impact from taking a multivitamin on preventing breast, lung or colorectal cancer, cardiovascular disease or premature death, according to the 2009 study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.
Some experts warn against overemphasizing the potential harm of multivitamins because it isn't clear how that statistical uptick in risk of death would translate into actual increased risk in real life.
The consistent failure to show benefits has led researchers at the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine and elsewhere to call for more lab experiments and small-scale studies of how the nutrients work, after over a decade of pursuing large, clinical trials of particular supplements' effectiveness.
"We've missed a step," says Alan Kristal, a professor of epidemiology at the University of Washington who studies the links between diet and cancer. "We need to understand the mechanism by which these things are acting."
Roberta Anding, a nutritionist at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston, says some people need multivitamins and other supplements, but she is cautious about the risk from high doses of micronutrients. "It's no longer nutrition when the doses become high, it's pharmacology," she says.
The best way to get micronutrients is through a balanced diet, she says.
"If you're looking at this as, 'At least I'm [taking a multivitamin],' but you're not exercising or eating well, then it is a waste of money," says Ms. Anding, a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association, a research and advocacy group.
2011年10月12日星期三
Harrison hopes to reverse fortunes vs. Tigers
Rangers manager Ron Washington says he isn't worried about what's happened in the past when big left-hander Matt Harrison pitched against the Tigers. And with good reason.
Harrison's history with Detroit isn't pretty -- a 1-4 record with a 6.89 ERA in seven games. But the worst of those losses, an 8-1 setback last June, comes with a fairly large asterisk.
Or at least a very small kidney stone.
Harrison, who will pitch Game 4 of the American League Championship Series on Wednesday at 3:19 p.m. CT on FOX against the Tigers, said Tuesday he passed a stubborn kidney stone later that night in June after giving up eight hits and four runs (three earned) in a four-inning outing.
"I had the kidney stone like three days before," said Harrison, who was taken to a hospital in Cleveland to deal with the issue before his start against the Tigers. "I thought I passed it. But I ended up passing it after that game. So it definitely took a lot of energy out of me before that start."
Harrison wasn't making excuses, however, and only brought up the incident when asked on Tuesday.
"I still should have gone out there and made some better pitches and at least given us a chance to win," said the 26-year-old North Carolina native. "It was a little bit of a rough month right there. Luckily I was able to manage to get through it and keep going."
Harrison also got knocked out of a start in Minnesota by a line drive and battled a blister issue early in the season as well. But he's been a rock in the Rangers' rotation for the past month, going 5-0 with a 2.78 ERA in his past six starts. That includes a five-inning, two-run outing that earned him the win in last week's AL Division Series-clinching 4-3 win over Tampa Bay.
"He found his legs in August," Washington said. "He's been strong since then."
Harrison's other start against Detroit this season was a 5-4 loss on Aug. 3, when he went six innings and gave up four runs on nine hits. He recalls that as a pretty solid outing, marred by a home run to Alex Avila in the sixth inning off a changeup.
"It was a bad pitch," he said. "Other than that, I thought I threw pretty good. They're a tough lineup. They have a lot of righties and it's especially tough against left-handers. The big thing is you have to keep them uncomfortable at the plate."
Harrison's own comfort level figures to have grown by leaps and bounds with his first playoff start now under his belt. The youngster was left off the playoff roster last season during the Rangers' run to the World Series and he's relishing his opportunity this time around.
"Once I got out there, after the first two batters my nerves were calm and it seemed like another game," he said of his ALDS win. "It's been a great experience so far and I'm looking forward to more [on Wednesday].
"After missing the playoffs last year, it meant a lot to me to be able to start in a playoff game and be in the game that we clinched to go on the ALCS."
Now Harrison has a chance to get the Rangers back on track after Detroit rallied for a 5-2 victory on Tuesday that cut Texas' series lead to 2-1. But he will have to deal better with a team that had his number even before the kidney stone. In his seven career games against the Tigers, they've hit .364 with a 1.045 OPS in 31 1/3 innings.
Harrison's history with Detroit isn't pretty -- a 1-4 record with a 6.89 ERA in seven games. But the worst of those losses, an 8-1 setback last June, comes with a fairly large asterisk.
Or at least a very small kidney stone.
Harrison, who will pitch Game 4 of the American League Championship Series on Wednesday at 3:19 p.m. CT on FOX against the Tigers, said Tuesday he passed a stubborn kidney stone later that night in June after giving up eight hits and four runs (three earned) in a four-inning outing.
"I had the kidney stone like three days before," said Harrison, who was taken to a hospital in Cleveland to deal with the issue before his start against the Tigers. "I thought I passed it. But I ended up passing it after that game. So it definitely took a lot of energy out of me before that start."
Harrison wasn't making excuses, however, and only brought up the incident when asked on Tuesday.
"I still should have gone out there and made some better pitches and at least given us a chance to win," said the 26-year-old North Carolina native. "It was a little bit of a rough month right there. Luckily I was able to manage to get through it and keep going."
Harrison also got knocked out of a start in Minnesota by a line drive and battled a blister issue early in the season as well. But he's been a rock in the Rangers' rotation for the past month, going 5-0 with a 2.78 ERA in his past six starts. That includes a five-inning, two-run outing that earned him the win in last week's AL Division Series-clinching 4-3 win over Tampa Bay.
"He found his legs in August," Washington said. "He's been strong since then."
Harrison's other start against Detroit this season was a 5-4 loss on Aug. 3, when he went six innings and gave up four runs on nine hits. He recalls that as a pretty solid outing, marred by a home run to Alex Avila in the sixth inning off a changeup.
"It was a bad pitch," he said. "Other than that, I thought I threw pretty good. They're a tough lineup. They have a lot of righties and it's especially tough against left-handers. The big thing is you have to keep them uncomfortable at the plate."
Harrison's own comfort level figures to have grown by leaps and bounds with his first playoff start now under his belt. The youngster was left off the playoff roster last season during the Rangers' run to the World Series and he's relishing his opportunity this time around.
"Once I got out there, after the first two batters my nerves were calm and it seemed like another game," he said of his ALDS win. "It's been a great experience so far and I'm looking forward to more [on Wednesday].
"After missing the playoffs last year, it meant a lot to me to be able to start in a playoff game and be in the game that we clinched to go on the ALCS."
Now Harrison has a chance to get the Rangers back on track after Detroit rallied for a 5-2 victory on Tuesday that cut Texas' series lead to 2-1. But he will have to deal better with a team that had his number even before the kidney stone. In his seven career games against the Tigers, they've hit .364 with a 1.045 OPS in 31 1/3 innings.
2011年5月22日星期日
'Our little piece of heaven': Swansea couple's backyard goes with the flow
A visit to a neighbor's pond led Tim and Cindy Hammond to build theirs.
"We were just taking a walk in the neighborhood," said Cindy. "We saw a neighbor who had a pond. He invited us back to look at it. I said, 'That's really pretty. I'd like one of those one day,' and he was off like a shot."
That was about seven years ago.
Their pond -- with waterfall and stream -- is now the focal point of the Swansea yard. From the second-story deck, you can hear water tumbling over rocks and see clumps of yellow irises with their feet stuck in the 18-by-12-by-3-foot pool. Impatiens and hostas dot the landscape.
Mulched paths wind through woods that stretch across the back of the yard. It's kind of like the English woodlands garden at Missouri Botanical Garden, which the Hammonds visited for inspiration.
"I love it," said Cindy, 59, sitting on the deck after work. "It turned out way better than I imagined. I think it's great. We sit out in the evenings. In the morning, we drink coffee. It's very peaceful. We hear the stream. The back reminds me of the Missouri Ozarks. It's just very, very peaceful."
Hostas, fern and wildflowers such as Virginia bluebells, trillium, Solomon's seal and mayapples do well in the shady setting.
"We let nature take its course," Tim said. "It's a lot easier than fighting it."
The wood-chip pathways are lined with fallen limbs. The Hammonds replace the chips every three years because they either sink, wash away or rot.
"It's low maintenance," said Cindy. "There aren't a lot of weeds. We do put mulch out by the pond."
The Hammonds have lived on the partially wooded lot for 30 years. Cindy grew up in Belleville. Tim, born in Toronto, grew up in southern California, and came to the Midwest because of a job. He's a retired civilian contracting officer from Scott Air Force Base. They have three grown daughters, two grandsons and a granddaughter on the way.
Tim built the lower deck during his first year of retirement.
"He's very goal-oriented," said his wife.
The pond project came next.
"The girls' playhouse used to be there," said Tim, 68. "When they grew up, we took the playhouse down."
The spot was just right for the pond project. He started by laying out a hose in a kidney shape.
"I had nothing to do with it," said Cindy. "I have no sense of creativity. He would tell me and talk about it. I was clueless."
"It wouldn't be something for someone not an engineering type," said Cindy.
"I enjoy the challenge," said Tim.
Shortly after, he began digging the 3-foot deep pond, he hired two teen neighbors to help.
"I knew their work ethic," said Tim. "They were happy to have the job. I fed them sandwiches and made them take breaks. The boys did the heavy work and moved stone."
The dirt piled from the hole became the stream bed.
"It grew into something much larger ... When I had to do engineering, I started looking at books, going to pond stores, talking to people to determine the best type of equipment."
For the pond, he purchased an Aquascape system that included a heavy rubber liner, bio falls, the skimmer and filtering system that's rated for 8,000 gallons an hour. The 3,500-gallon pond turns over a couple times an hour, he said.
Costs escalated.
"He told me a certain amount," said Cindy, a information technology business manager for AT&T. "It was three times that amount."
Tim estimates he spent $3,000 initially, not including landscaping and rock, pathways and shrubs.
"I probably have $10,000 to $15,000 in it," he said. "I am in the wrong business. Rock is expensive. I hand-picked boulders and rocks. I was afraid to tell Cindy how much it cost.
"I got a little (rock) at a time so she wouldn't notice, and I pay the bills."
But looking out from the upper-level eck onto the pretty, parklike setting makes it all worthwhile.
"We spend hours out here," said Tim. "It's peaceful. It's our little piece of heaven."
"We had the family over," said Cindy. "Both grandsons are almost 2. They came a month ago and had an absolute ball.
"They played king of the mountain, and had fun throwing rocks into the pond. They never got tired of throwing rocks in the pond."
Critters have discovered the water project, too. Blue heron, raccoons and "something like a weasel" visit and take a swipe at the goldfish. A few frogs moved in to let them know they have a healthy set-up.
In the evening, timers turn on landscape lights around the water. Tiki torches add atmosphere.
"It's kind of like 'Survivor' island," said Cindy, "and we are right behind Schnuck's."
Tim's water feature advice:
-- Don't skimp on the liner. Get the best you can afford. "I bought very heavy, top-of-the-line stuff. At the time, Aquascape was pretty much premiere."
-- Roots can be a problem. Cut them back so they don't pierece the liner. It was hot, heavy work, but worthwhile, said Tim.
-- Cantilever edges of the pond. When the rock rims over the edges, fish can swim underneath. That way, cats and other critters can't get them.
-- Consider upkeep and maintenance. "There is some upkeep work," said Tim. "I think it's a little understated. Ours is in a forest. There are lots of leaves. I spend an hour a week tops, cleaning little things such as the filter basket."
-- Tim recommends emptying and cleaning the falls and pond every two or three years. He uses a powerwasher to clean it.
-- "If I run the pump 24/7, it costs $75 a month," Tim said. "We turn it off in the winter and put in a pond heater so there's oxygen (for the fish). Several go down and hide. It's about three feet deep. They go to sleep and we don't see them at all."
-- Watch your water level and the ground around the waterfall and pond. Theirs settled in places and had to be built up.
"We were just taking a walk in the neighborhood," said Cindy. "We saw a neighbor who had a pond. He invited us back to look at it. I said, 'That's really pretty. I'd like one of those one day,' and he was off like a shot."
That was about seven years ago.
Their pond -- with waterfall and stream -- is now the focal point of the Swansea yard. From the second-story deck, you can hear water tumbling over rocks and see clumps of yellow irises with their feet stuck in the 18-by-12-by-3-foot pool. Impatiens and hostas dot the landscape.
Mulched paths wind through woods that stretch across the back of the yard. It's kind of like the English woodlands garden at Missouri Botanical Garden, which the Hammonds visited for inspiration.
"I love it," said Cindy, 59, sitting on the deck after work. "It turned out way better than I imagined. I think it's great. We sit out in the evenings. In the morning, we drink coffee. It's very peaceful. We hear the stream. The back reminds me of the Missouri Ozarks. It's just very, very peaceful."
Hostas, fern and wildflowers such as Virginia bluebells, trillium, Solomon's seal and mayapples do well in the shady setting.
"We let nature take its course," Tim said. "It's a lot easier than fighting it."
The wood-chip pathways are lined with fallen limbs. The Hammonds replace the chips every three years because they either sink, wash away or rot.
"It's low maintenance," said Cindy. "There aren't a lot of weeds. We do put mulch out by the pond."
The Hammonds have lived on the partially wooded lot for 30 years. Cindy grew up in Belleville. Tim, born in Toronto, grew up in southern California, and came to the Midwest because of a job. He's a retired civilian contracting officer from Scott Air Force Base. They have three grown daughters, two grandsons and a granddaughter on the way.
Tim built the lower deck during his first year of retirement.
"He's very goal-oriented," said his wife.
The pond project came next.
"The girls' playhouse used to be there," said Tim, 68. "When they grew up, we took the playhouse down."
The spot was just right for the pond project. He started by laying out a hose in a kidney shape.
"I had nothing to do with it," said Cindy. "I have no sense of creativity. He would tell me and talk about it. I was clueless."
"It wouldn't be something for someone not an engineering type," said Cindy.
"I enjoy the challenge," said Tim.
Shortly after, he began digging the 3-foot deep pond, he hired two teen neighbors to help.
"I knew their work ethic," said Tim. "They were happy to have the job. I fed them sandwiches and made them take breaks. The boys did the heavy work and moved stone."
The dirt piled from the hole became the stream bed.
"It grew into something much larger ... When I had to do engineering, I started looking at books, going to pond stores, talking to people to determine the best type of equipment."
For the pond, he purchased an Aquascape system that included a heavy rubber liner, bio falls, the skimmer and filtering system that's rated for 8,000 gallons an hour. The 3,500-gallon pond turns over a couple times an hour, he said.
Costs escalated.
"He told me a certain amount," said Cindy, a information technology business manager for AT&T. "It was three times that amount."
Tim estimates he spent $3,000 initially, not including landscaping and rock, pathways and shrubs.
"I probably have $10,000 to $15,000 in it," he said. "I am in the wrong business. Rock is expensive. I hand-picked boulders and rocks. I was afraid to tell Cindy how much it cost.
"I got a little (rock) at a time so she wouldn't notice, and I pay the bills."
But looking out from the upper-level eck onto the pretty, parklike setting makes it all worthwhile.
"We spend hours out here," said Tim. "It's peaceful. It's our little piece of heaven."
"We had the family over," said Cindy. "Both grandsons are almost 2. They came a month ago and had an absolute ball.
"They played king of the mountain, and had fun throwing rocks into the pond. They never got tired of throwing rocks in the pond."
Critters have discovered the water project, too. Blue heron, raccoons and "something like a weasel" visit and take a swipe at the goldfish. A few frogs moved in to let them know they have a healthy set-up.
In the evening, timers turn on landscape lights around the water. Tiki torches add atmosphere.
"It's kind of like 'Survivor' island," said Cindy, "and we are right behind Schnuck's."
Tim's water feature advice:
-- Don't skimp on the liner. Get the best you can afford. "I bought very heavy, top-of-the-line stuff. At the time, Aquascape was pretty much premiere."
-- Roots can be a problem. Cut them back so they don't pierece the liner. It was hot, heavy work, but worthwhile, said Tim.
-- Cantilever edges of the pond. When the rock rims over the edges, fish can swim underneath. That way, cats and other critters can't get them.
-- Consider upkeep and maintenance. "There is some upkeep work," said Tim. "I think it's a little understated. Ours is in a forest. There are lots of leaves. I spend an hour a week tops, cleaning little things such as the filter basket."
-- Tim recommends emptying and cleaning the falls and pond every two or three years. He uses a powerwasher to clean it.
-- "If I run the pump 24/7, it costs $75 a month," Tim said. "We turn it off in the winter and put in a pond heater so there's oxygen (for the fish). Several go down and hide. It's about three feet deep. They go to sleep and we don't see them at all."
-- Watch your water level and the ground around the waterfall and pond. Theirs settled in places and had to be built up.
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