A diving competition in the United States is bound to have several necessities: a springboard, a platform, some deep water and a Dumais -- in fact maybe two of them, or three. Otherwise, it seems, the meet is just a bunch of guys splashing around in the pool. Might as well be a triple Lindy and a cannonball.
On Monday, Olympians Troy Dumais, 31, and his older brother, Justin, 33, finished fourth and fifth on the three-meter springboard event at the USA Diving Winter National Championships in Nashville, qualifying for the Olympic trials at ages when most divers are done. (Younger brother Dwight Dumais, 25, is a Stanford senior majoring in human biology. Though not as accomplished in the sport as his brothers, he is still a five-time national qualifier and bronze medalist at nationals on the one-meter board in 2005.) In Nashville, Troy teamed with Kristian Ipsen, a Stanford freshman, to win the three-meter synchro title. Ipsen recalls asking Troy for his autograph when he was eight years old.
Ipsen and Dumais clinched the meet by scoring nine or higher on five of six dives. They received perfect marks of 10 for a back dive pike, a forward 3 somersault and a forward 2 somersault with a twist. Their partnership is all the more remarkable because Ipsen has been training at his university in Palo Alto Calif., and can only train a few days each month with Dumais, who trains at the University of Texas and works as a Life Advisor for other Longhorns sports teams. His resume for the role comes from a sport that requires ups, downs, twist and turns is vast.
Troy Dumais almost made the Olympic team as a 16-year-old in 1996. In '98, he won a silver medal at the world championships on the one-meter springboard, an event not contested at the Olympics. Two years later, Dumais had an unusually high degree of difficulty at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Federal Way, Wash., and that was for just getting to the pool.
At 2 o'clock one morning, 17 hours before the finals of the men's three-meter event, he was admitted to St. Francis Hospital, trying to pass the large kidney stone that was breaking up in his body. "I felt like my whole side was exploding," he said. To complicate matters, Dumais, one point off the lead after the semifinals, had told doctors not to administer the usual narcotic given to patients in his condition because it was on the IOC's banned list. Instead they hooked him up to an IV bag, injected him with non-steroidal Toradol and sent him on his way at 5 a.m. after he passed a large stone into his bladder. Twelve painful hours later he was back again, taking in a liter of IV fluid and trying to force himself to excrete the stone completely so he could dive without incident or pain. Instead he passed either a second stone, or a fragment of the original, into his bladder and arrived at the Weyerhaeuser Aquatic Center 45 minutes before competition began. In the stands his parents Kathleen and Marc and 28 other supporters wearing light blue shirts saying Dumais Diving had no clue about Troy's illness. "I didn't want my mom to freak," Dumais said, "so only my brother Justin knew."
Justin Dumais, who was then 21 and would finish 13th in the springboard final, was one of four Dumais siblings who followed Troy into diving after his parents chose it as an outlet for Troy's hyperactivity. "Teachers would ask a question," Kathleen recalled, "and Troy would blurt out the answer without being called." One teacher suspected he had Attention-Deficit Disorder and suggested his parents keep him on Ritalin. Instead they kept him on diving boards.
Should he qualify for the squad at the Olympic Trials in Federal Way in June, Troy would be the first U.S. diver to compete in four Olympics. Still, he admits that there is a void without an Olympic medal to show for his toils. He placed fourth in synchro three-meter with David Pichler at the Sydney Games in 2000, missing out on bronze by less than two points. Even after a sixth-place finish in Beijing two summers ago, he sounded like a man who wasn't done with his dives. "What should I do, sit behind a desk and ask myself if I left it out there?" he said. "If I leave the sport, the sport I love, the sport I've been doing my whole life, I have to be ready to walk away saying I did everything I could, and I know I haven't done that yet."
So at 28, Troy started hitting the weights on the advice of his longtime coach Matt Scoggin. Even though his technique was on par with many of the top Chinese divers, Scoggin felt that a stronger Dumais with a touch more lean muscle could jump a tad higher and have that much more time and space to square himself for cleaner entries that leave a more dramatic impression for the judges. He added between 10 and 15 pounds of muscle thanks to a four-day-a-week program in the gym. He won silver medals in the three-meter springboard and synchronized three meter, diving with Ipsen, at the world championships in Rome in 2009, keeping the elusive Olympic medal within reach.
Justin, 33, is the eldest. He competed with Troy at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, finishing sixth in the synchro springboard event with Troy and won a bronze in synchro with Troy at the worlds in 2005. It was about that time, when doctors diagnosed him with Graves Disease, a thyroid ailment he beat in part by switching medications and keeping diet soda out of his fridge. He has since taken time away from diving for another high-flying vocation, flying F-16 jets for the South Carolina Air National Guard, before his tour of duty in Iraq. Justin had briefly quit the sport to move to Florida with his wife, Amy.
Though they have been each other's rocks throughout the sport, the Dumais boys actually had to be separated in college. Though he is the older diver, Justin had always fought to keep up with Troy. The boys began their collegiate careers at different universities -- Justin at USC and Troy at Texas -- but Justin soon transferred to join the Longhorns. Kenny Armstrong, their coach at Texas, decreed that Troy would compete in springboard events, while Justin jumped from the platform. That kept the two of them from competing against one another instead of for themselves.
2011年12月19日星期一
155kg man undergoes surgery for kidney stone
Dubai: A man weighing 155 kilograms successfully underwent an operation to remove a kidney stone shaped like deer horns which was causing great pain, a senior urologist said.
Egyptian Esmail A.H., 58, went to various hospitals around the country and was told to lose weight before an operation could be done as his weight was a risk factor.
"Shock wave lithotripsy [sound waves to break kidney stones] was also not possible because of the fat content in his body," said Dr Fariborz Bagheri, urologist at Dubai Hospital, who took up the challenge to operate on Esmail.
The doctor's team had to keep Esmail flat on his stomach for two hours to get to the 6-cm large stone which is known as the ‘stag horn', because of its horn-like ends. "From the point of anaesthetists, keeping him in the prone position was very difficult," Dr Bagheri told Gulf News.
Esmail had undergone an operation some years ago to remove another kidney stone. "Two decades ago doctors had to make a large cut at the back and then slice open the kidney to get the stone inside the kidney," said Dr Bagheri, showing a picture of a massive incision in the patient's back.
The medical team decided to get to the cause of Esmail's agony by using a technique involving a telescopic device inserted through a small puncture made in a patient's back. The recovery time is very quick with this procedure, Dr Bagheri said. "Kidney stones are very common in the warmer climates," said the urologist, adding that drinking two litres of water every day was the best way to avoid the problem.
"People work very hard in Dubai and don't drink water to avoid taking a break to go to the toilet," the doctor said.
He said the incidence of kidney stones was particularly high among taxi drivers in Dubai because they went hours without drinking water. Kidney stones occur due to dehydration, eating certain foods like meats and those which have high calcium content, or due to infection, said the urologist. Some stones develop inside the kidney and then lodge themselves in the urinary tract and if it obstructs the passage of urine it is very painful, Dr Bagheri said. But sometimes the crystals develop without obstructing the flow of urine, giving no clue about their presence, he added, recommending periodic tests.
Egyptian Esmail A.H., 58, went to various hospitals around the country and was told to lose weight before an operation could be done as his weight was a risk factor.
"Shock wave lithotripsy [sound waves to break kidney stones] was also not possible because of the fat content in his body," said Dr Fariborz Bagheri, urologist at Dubai Hospital, who took up the challenge to operate on Esmail.
The doctor's team had to keep Esmail flat on his stomach for two hours to get to the 6-cm large stone which is known as the ‘stag horn', because of its horn-like ends. "From the point of anaesthetists, keeping him in the prone position was very difficult," Dr Bagheri told Gulf News.
Esmail had undergone an operation some years ago to remove another kidney stone. "Two decades ago doctors had to make a large cut at the back and then slice open the kidney to get the stone inside the kidney," said Dr Bagheri, showing a picture of a massive incision in the patient's back.
The medical team decided to get to the cause of Esmail's agony by using a technique involving a telescopic device inserted through a small puncture made in a patient's back. The recovery time is very quick with this procedure, Dr Bagheri said. "Kidney stones are very common in the warmer climates," said the urologist, adding that drinking two litres of water every day was the best way to avoid the problem.
"People work very hard in Dubai and don't drink water to avoid taking a break to go to the toilet," the doctor said.
He said the incidence of kidney stones was particularly high among taxi drivers in Dubai because they went hours without drinking water. Kidney stones occur due to dehydration, eating certain foods like meats and those which have high calcium content, or due to infection, said the urologist. Some stones develop inside the kidney and then lodge themselves in the urinary tract and if it obstructs the passage of urine it is very painful, Dr Bagheri said. But sometimes the crystals develop without obstructing the flow of urine, giving no clue about their presence, he added, recommending periodic tests.
2011年12月1日星期四
China's Mengniu Dairy Recovers
Mengnuu Dairy Co, a onetime stock market darling that was at the center of one of China’s worst food scandals, announced Thursday that it is once again distributing milk products in Hong Kong after a three-year absence.
The company says its products have passed stringent heat preservation and other tests and have obtained quality hygiene certificates from mainland authorities. The Hong Kong Food and Environmental Hygiene Department are also responsible for assuring quality and safety, according to a news release.
Hong Kong's Center for Food Safety (CFS) said in an email that permission had been granted in October for the import of two Mengniu products and that imported consignments hadbeen inspected and released in November.
In 2008, the Inner Mongolia-based Mengniu, which is privately owned and publicly traded, as well as some of China’s other biggest dairy companies including the state-owned Yili and Yahsli were found to be distributing milk and infant formula and other food products adulterated with melamine, an industrial resin used in a wide variety of laminates, glues, adhesives, molding compounds and other substances.
Mengniu, which paid some of China’s highest prices for raw products, was buying from dairies that were adulterating the milk with melamine in a bid to boost protein content. By November of 2008, an estimated 300,000 children were victims, with six dying from kidney stones and other kidney damage and another 860 babies hospitalized.
The resultant scandal caused a crisis of confidence in China’s food distribution system from which the country still is attempting to recover. Authorities were accused of covering up the scandal for months to avoid national embarrassment in advance of the 2008 Olympic Games.
Three years later, middle-class Chinese consumers still tend to shy away from domestic milk products, instead looking for safety in western products, according to a study by Synovate Global Market Research. Indeed, as late as July 2010, authorities said they were still seizing melamine-contaminated products in some provinces. It was unclear, however, whether the contaminations were new or resulting from illegal resale of products from the 2008 scandal.
A wide variety of western chains stopped buying Chinese milk products including KFC, McDonalds and Starbucks, which replaced its Mengniu product with soy milk. The market share of foreign brands including Meadjohnson, Dumex, Abbott, and Wyeth soared. A US baby milk powder brand called Bright Beginnings reported sales volume had rise by 600 percent during the first week after the scandal was reported. Eleven countries announced they were stopping all imports of Chinese food products.
A dairy farmer who added the substance to the milk and a salesman who peddled it were executed, three were given life sentences and two more were given 15-year sentences. However, in many cases the families of the children who were affected are still trying to win redress. Officials of Sanlu, the biggest distributor selling milk products to the retail dairy operations, have never been charged or arrested despite the fact that melatonin levels found were among the highest. That has awakened charges that the company was being protected by officials.
In addition, the issue raised far wider concerns in China about the adulteration of lots of different food products including exploding watermelons caused by farmers who used chemicals to promote faster growth, bean sprouts treated with chemicals to make them grow faster, dumplings and steamed buns found to have levels of aluminum far above national standards, pork laced with the steroid clenbuterol to produce lean meat, and many others.
In February this year, reports surfaced that other dairies were using leather-hydrolyzed protein which, like melamine, boosts the protein content of milk. That report resulted in China’s closure of large numbers of dairies, some found to have with up to five times the legal limit of the substance.
The process of recovery for Mengniu has been long and painful. The company estimated a 2008 loss of 900 million yuan from inventory write-offs, plunging sales and damage-control expenditures. The company’s shares, trading at HK$35.80 per share at their 2007 peak, fell to HK$6 before recovering to hover at around HK$9. The shares have since recovered to trade in the HK$26 range.
After the scandal, Mengniu's spent a fortune on advertisements on CCTV, the country's largest TV station, and on outdoor billboards in major cities. It also invited consumers from all over the country to visit its farms and observe the milking process in the attempt to regain trust.
Mengniu said it had pledged US$100 million to upgrade the sources of its milk, investing in small and midsize ranches and dairy farms that it determined it could trust, In an attempt to build quality control, the company said in a prepared release, it has focused on constructing ranches and managing production to seek to maintain product quality. The Group recorded an annual turnover of RMB30 billion in 2010.
None of the scandal was mentioned in the press release issued yesterday announcing Mengniu’s return to Hong Kong. The products, the company said, are being delivered from Inner Mongolia to Hong Kong gradually and have been put on shelves at more than 80 stores. The products are also to be put on shelves at another 90 stores within a month, making a total of more than 170 sales points. That is eventually expected to rise to 400 with the inclusion of Park'N Shop, retail stores and pharmacies. In Macau, Mengniu products are expected to be available for sale within two weeks.
In recent years, Mengniu has focused on constructing ranches and managing production to enhance product quality in every stage of production, with the aim to serve consumers and build strong market awareness in the mainland market.
The group's diversified products range includes liquid milk products, such as UHT milk, milk beverages and yogurt, ice cream and other dairy products such as milk powder. In June 2011, the Group's annual production capacity reached 6.76 million metric tons.
The company says its products have passed stringent heat preservation and other tests and have obtained quality hygiene certificates from mainland authorities. The Hong Kong Food and Environmental Hygiene Department are also responsible for assuring quality and safety, according to a news release.
Hong Kong's Center for Food Safety (CFS) said in an email that permission had been granted in October for the import of two Mengniu products and that imported consignments hadbeen inspected and released in November.
In 2008, the Inner Mongolia-based Mengniu, which is privately owned and publicly traded, as well as some of China’s other biggest dairy companies including the state-owned Yili and Yahsli were found to be distributing milk and infant formula and other food products adulterated with melamine, an industrial resin used in a wide variety of laminates, glues, adhesives, molding compounds and other substances.
Mengniu, which paid some of China’s highest prices for raw products, was buying from dairies that were adulterating the milk with melamine in a bid to boost protein content. By November of 2008, an estimated 300,000 children were victims, with six dying from kidney stones and other kidney damage and another 860 babies hospitalized.
The resultant scandal caused a crisis of confidence in China’s food distribution system from which the country still is attempting to recover. Authorities were accused of covering up the scandal for months to avoid national embarrassment in advance of the 2008 Olympic Games.
Three years later, middle-class Chinese consumers still tend to shy away from domestic milk products, instead looking for safety in western products, according to a study by Synovate Global Market Research. Indeed, as late as July 2010, authorities said they were still seizing melamine-contaminated products in some provinces. It was unclear, however, whether the contaminations were new or resulting from illegal resale of products from the 2008 scandal.
A wide variety of western chains stopped buying Chinese milk products including KFC, McDonalds and Starbucks, which replaced its Mengniu product with soy milk. The market share of foreign brands including Meadjohnson, Dumex, Abbott, and Wyeth soared. A US baby milk powder brand called Bright Beginnings reported sales volume had rise by 600 percent during the first week after the scandal was reported. Eleven countries announced they were stopping all imports of Chinese food products.
A dairy farmer who added the substance to the milk and a salesman who peddled it were executed, three were given life sentences and two more were given 15-year sentences. However, in many cases the families of the children who were affected are still trying to win redress. Officials of Sanlu, the biggest distributor selling milk products to the retail dairy operations, have never been charged or arrested despite the fact that melatonin levels found were among the highest. That has awakened charges that the company was being protected by officials.
In addition, the issue raised far wider concerns in China about the adulteration of lots of different food products including exploding watermelons caused by farmers who used chemicals to promote faster growth, bean sprouts treated with chemicals to make them grow faster, dumplings and steamed buns found to have levels of aluminum far above national standards, pork laced with the steroid clenbuterol to produce lean meat, and many others.
In February this year, reports surfaced that other dairies were using leather-hydrolyzed protein which, like melamine, boosts the protein content of milk. That report resulted in China’s closure of large numbers of dairies, some found to have with up to five times the legal limit of the substance.
The process of recovery for Mengniu has been long and painful. The company estimated a 2008 loss of 900 million yuan from inventory write-offs, plunging sales and damage-control expenditures. The company’s shares, trading at HK$35.80 per share at their 2007 peak, fell to HK$6 before recovering to hover at around HK$9. The shares have since recovered to trade in the HK$26 range.
After the scandal, Mengniu's spent a fortune on advertisements on CCTV, the country's largest TV station, and on outdoor billboards in major cities. It also invited consumers from all over the country to visit its farms and observe the milking process in the attempt to regain trust.
Mengniu said it had pledged US$100 million to upgrade the sources of its milk, investing in small and midsize ranches and dairy farms that it determined it could trust, In an attempt to build quality control, the company said in a prepared release, it has focused on constructing ranches and managing production to seek to maintain product quality. The Group recorded an annual turnover of RMB30 billion in 2010.
None of the scandal was mentioned in the press release issued yesterday announcing Mengniu’s return to Hong Kong. The products, the company said, are being delivered from Inner Mongolia to Hong Kong gradually and have been put on shelves at more than 80 stores. The products are also to be put on shelves at another 90 stores within a month, making a total of more than 170 sales points. That is eventually expected to rise to 400 with the inclusion of Park'N Shop, retail stores and pharmacies. In Macau, Mengniu products are expected to be available for sale within two weeks.
In recent years, Mengniu has focused on constructing ranches and managing production to enhance product quality in every stage of production, with the aim to serve consumers and build strong market awareness in the mainland market.
The group's diversified products range includes liquid milk products, such as UHT milk, milk beverages and yogurt, ice cream and other dairy products such as milk powder. In June 2011, the Group's annual production capacity reached 6.76 million metric tons.
2011年11月23日星期三
Zumba helped me overcome my anorexia demons says Sophie Winter
SOPHIE Winter always enjoyed staying fit with regular visits to the gym. But what started as a passion became an obsession which saw the teenager walking 20 miles a day while eating only mints and iced drinks.
Now, after discovering Zumba Sophie, who at her lowest weighed less than six stones, has turned her life around.
“It’s true. Zumba really has helped save my life,” she smiles.
“I realised that to run a successful business, to get the most out of every day and to realise my dreams, I couldn’t afford to be ill. I had to buck my ideas up and that meant starting to eat again.
“Now I run 12 Zumba classes and have big plans for the future.”
Sophie, who is now 20 and lives in Scarisbrick, says that as a young teenager she regularly helped out at local beauty pageants.
“I never took part but I’d help the photographer and hand out the prizes and I think a lot of my issues stem from that time.
“I was probably a size eight or so but I knew I’d never look like one of those pageant models; they were so glamorous and thin and I just didn’t see myself like that.”
As she grew a little older her weight fluctuated slightly but, she says, it was never a problem and although she wasn’t sporty at school she enjoyed keeping fit at the gym.
“But I was exercising on my own. I’d be in there for ages and wouldn’t see or have to speak to anyone. It wasn’t a very social way to stay fit.”
Having left school at 16 and determined to build up her savings she found herself holding down three jobs.
“I worked in a pub and I also cleaned in a school. Then I got a job in a bistro and ended up running that as well.”
Soon she found herself walking up to 20 miles a day between jobs. Coupled with her exercise regime – she would often cycle for miles – the weight began to drop away.
“Sometimes I’d walk from my home to Southport and back on a Sunday just for the hell of it and I could spend hours on the cross trainer in the gym, too.
“I knew there was a problem but I’d look at myself in the mirror and still see myself as fat.”
She began to suffer kidney problems. Pale skinned anyway she developed dark rings beneath her eyes and her hair started to fall out. Anorexia had her in its grip.
“I lived alone although my parents were nearby and of course they noticed my changed appearance, as did my friends and colleagues. I became known as ‘the girl who spent hours in the gym’.
“But the more people commented on my appearance the more I’d think ‘I don’t care what they think’ and carry on.”
Distraught, her mum tried to force her to eat but to no avail. Her GP also referred to Fazakerley Hospital but Sophie was unwilling to take it further.
“I hated the idea of people touching me and I’d wear baggy clothes all the time to disguise my body shape. I remember weighing myself and I was six stones 1lb but I’m sure I lost more weight after that.
Now, after discovering Zumba Sophie, who at her lowest weighed less than six stones, has turned her life around.
“It’s true. Zumba really has helped save my life,” she smiles.
“I realised that to run a successful business, to get the most out of every day and to realise my dreams, I couldn’t afford to be ill. I had to buck my ideas up and that meant starting to eat again.
“Now I run 12 Zumba classes and have big plans for the future.”
Sophie, who is now 20 and lives in Scarisbrick, says that as a young teenager she regularly helped out at local beauty pageants.
“I never took part but I’d help the photographer and hand out the prizes and I think a lot of my issues stem from that time.
“I was probably a size eight or so but I knew I’d never look like one of those pageant models; they were so glamorous and thin and I just didn’t see myself like that.”
As she grew a little older her weight fluctuated slightly but, she says, it was never a problem and although she wasn’t sporty at school she enjoyed keeping fit at the gym.
“But I was exercising on my own. I’d be in there for ages and wouldn’t see or have to speak to anyone. It wasn’t a very social way to stay fit.”
Having left school at 16 and determined to build up her savings she found herself holding down three jobs.
“I worked in a pub and I also cleaned in a school. Then I got a job in a bistro and ended up running that as well.”
Soon she found herself walking up to 20 miles a day between jobs. Coupled with her exercise regime – she would often cycle for miles – the weight began to drop away.
“Sometimes I’d walk from my home to Southport and back on a Sunday just for the hell of it and I could spend hours on the cross trainer in the gym, too.
“I knew there was a problem but I’d look at myself in the mirror and still see myself as fat.”
She began to suffer kidney problems. Pale skinned anyway she developed dark rings beneath her eyes and her hair started to fall out. Anorexia had her in its grip.
“I lived alone although my parents were nearby and of course they noticed my changed appearance, as did my friends and colleagues. I became known as ‘the girl who spent hours in the gym’.
“But the more people commented on my appearance the more I’d think ‘I don’t care what they think’ and carry on.”
Distraught, her mum tried to force her to eat but to no avail. Her GP also referred to Fazakerley Hospital but Sophie was unwilling to take it further.
“I hated the idea of people touching me and I’d wear baggy clothes all the time to disguise my body shape. I remember weighing myself and I was six stones 1lb but I’m sure I lost more weight after that.
2011年11月7日星期一
Lab gets kidney machine
Another lithotripsy machine has been installed at a private laboratory in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, bringing to two the number of such machines in the country.
Only the National Hospital, Abuja hitherto had the machine.
The machine imported by Two Tees X-ray Centre, Yemetu, Ibadan provides an alternative to surgery on the treatment of kidney stone.
According to the lab Managing Director, Dr Tunde Adepoju, the equipment can break stones in the kidney without undergoing surgery. He explained the machine takes the patient through a painless 45 minutes using the force of short waves to overcome the tensile of the stone. The process is called fragmentation.
Although understood, fragmentation is thought to occur through a combination of methods including comprehensive and tensile forces, erosion, shearing, spalling and cavitation.
Dr Adepoju further explained that stones grow in the kidney when one fails to drink enough water. According to him, small particles are formed and these later become stones in the kidney. When they grow, they block effective operation of the kidney and hinder it from giving out normal urine. "Then the kidney will begin to swell and become non-function. That is what is called kidney failure. This machine is a new technology in Nigeria. It is an alternative to removing kidney stones through surgery. With the lithotripsy machine, there is no anesthesia or surgical pains," he said.
Dr Adepoju said: "The patent just stretches on the table that comes with the machine and the location of the stone is identified through the help of a close circuit television connected to it.
"After locating the stone, we then centre the equipment on it and send spark waves to the stone through the body of the patient. Painless breaking occurs as we send the spark. Thereafter, we will do another X-ray and if it confirms that the stone has been fully broken, we ask the patent to drink plenty of water to flush out the fragments from the system. There is no admission or complications of surgery."
With the presence of the machine in Ibadan, patents in south will no longer need to travel abroad or go as far as Abuja for treatment of kidney stones, he advised.
Only the National Hospital, Abuja hitherto had the machine.
The machine imported by Two Tees X-ray Centre, Yemetu, Ibadan provides an alternative to surgery on the treatment of kidney stone.
According to the lab Managing Director, Dr Tunde Adepoju, the equipment can break stones in the kidney without undergoing surgery. He explained the machine takes the patient through a painless 45 minutes using the force of short waves to overcome the tensile of the stone. The process is called fragmentation.
Although understood, fragmentation is thought to occur through a combination of methods including comprehensive and tensile forces, erosion, shearing, spalling and cavitation.
Dr Adepoju further explained that stones grow in the kidney when one fails to drink enough water. According to him, small particles are formed and these later become stones in the kidney. When they grow, they block effective operation of the kidney and hinder it from giving out normal urine. "Then the kidney will begin to swell and become non-function. That is what is called kidney failure. This machine is a new technology in Nigeria. It is an alternative to removing kidney stones through surgery. With the lithotripsy machine, there is no anesthesia or surgical pains," he said.
Dr Adepoju said: "The patent just stretches on the table that comes with the machine and the location of the stone is identified through the help of a close circuit television connected to it.
"After locating the stone, we then centre the equipment on it and send spark waves to the stone through the body of the patient. Painless breaking occurs as we send the spark. Thereafter, we will do another X-ray and if it confirms that the stone has been fully broken, we ask the patent to drink plenty of water to flush out the fragments from the system. There is no admission or complications of surgery."
With the presence of the machine in Ibadan, patents in south will no longer need to travel abroad or go as far as Abuja for treatment of kidney stones, he advised.
2011年11月6日星期日
They are sold in our pharmacies, not on our street corners
More people die from taking painkillers than from taking heroin.
This does not mean that heroin is safe. It means that painkillers are dangerous and a lot more people take them than take heroin.
There is a problem - as Gordon Brown found out when looking at re-classifying the level of danger from using Cannabis - with talking about the dangers of drugs.
In terms of risk of death, the three most dangerous 'drugs' in our society are all legal.
In the UK, nicotine kills three hundred people a day, sugar kills two hundred people a day and alcohol kills one hundred people a day.
All the illegal drugs together kill fewer than fifty people a day. This does not mean that they are safe. It means that fewer people take them.
If all the people who drink or smoke were to use heroin, there would be considerably more deaths from heroin.
That would not make it a more dangerous drug in terms of mortality risk. The level of risk would be the same for a greater number of people.
Pharmacologically, heroin is a relatively safe drug. It is nothing like as poisonous to the body as alcohol. Its risks often come from overdose or from the use of contaminated needles.
This gives rise to the concept of 'harm reduction', by which 'safe' use and clean needles are seen as sensible approaches to the problem of addiction.
I believe nothing of the kind. The most effective form of harm reduction is total abstinence from all mood-altering drugs, including alcohol (look what happened to Amy Winehouse) and regular attendance at Narcotics Anonymous.
Methadone is prescribed as an alternative to heroin. It is given as a liquid so that it is swallowed rather than injected. This reduces the risk of transferring HIV via dirty needles.
There is also a risk of Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C and other illnesses being caught in the type of environment in which heroin is commonly used.
The overall risks are therefore not simply those of a drug itself but also of the way that it is taken and the environment in which it is taken.
Methadone is a dangerous drug because it often kills in overdose. The Department of Health likes it because it reduces the risk of HIV and crime.
Except that it doesn't do so to any significant extent. It is estimated that fifty percent of people taking Methadone also take daily - daily - heroin and many of the rest also use it occasionally.
There is a black market in Methadone. Some addicts prefer it to heroin.
There is even a black market in 'spit' Methadone, when the liquid is kept in the mouth after being given under supervision and then spat out into a bottle.
Medicinal treatment for diseases of the human spirit - addictions and compulsions and depression - are fraught with physical and psychological dangers.
Medicinal treatment should be the last, rather than the first, resort.
As for painkillers, they are vastly over-prescribed and also bought excessively over-the-counter in pharmacies. It is high time that this danger should be highlighted.
Today I had surgical injections into the facet joints of my lower spine. I know about persistent pain. I've had it for eighteen months and I don't like it.
But, throughout that whole time, except right at the beginning after the acute collapse of a vertebral body, I have not taken pain-killers. They're dangerous. Years ago I took them for one day when I had gallstones and for two days when I had kidney stones.
But mostly I think it is safer to live with some level of pain rather than to take drugs of any kind.
Drugs - all mood-altering drugs, even those that come from a sympathetic doctor rather than from a dealer - are dangerous.
This does not mean that heroin is safe. It means that painkillers are dangerous and a lot more people take them than take heroin.
There is a problem - as Gordon Brown found out when looking at re-classifying the level of danger from using Cannabis - with talking about the dangers of drugs.
In terms of risk of death, the three most dangerous 'drugs' in our society are all legal.
In the UK, nicotine kills three hundred people a day, sugar kills two hundred people a day and alcohol kills one hundred people a day.
All the illegal drugs together kill fewer than fifty people a day. This does not mean that they are safe. It means that fewer people take them.
If all the people who drink or smoke were to use heroin, there would be considerably more deaths from heroin.
That would not make it a more dangerous drug in terms of mortality risk. The level of risk would be the same for a greater number of people.
Pharmacologically, heroin is a relatively safe drug. It is nothing like as poisonous to the body as alcohol. Its risks often come from overdose or from the use of contaminated needles.
This gives rise to the concept of 'harm reduction', by which 'safe' use and clean needles are seen as sensible approaches to the problem of addiction.
I believe nothing of the kind. The most effective form of harm reduction is total abstinence from all mood-altering drugs, including alcohol (look what happened to Amy Winehouse) and regular attendance at Narcotics Anonymous.
Methadone is prescribed as an alternative to heroin. It is given as a liquid so that it is swallowed rather than injected. This reduces the risk of transferring HIV via dirty needles.
There is also a risk of Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C and other illnesses being caught in the type of environment in which heroin is commonly used.
The overall risks are therefore not simply those of a drug itself but also of the way that it is taken and the environment in which it is taken.
Methadone is a dangerous drug because it often kills in overdose. The Department of Health likes it because it reduces the risk of HIV and crime.
Except that it doesn't do so to any significant extent. It is estimated that fifty percent of people taking Methadone also take daily - daily - heroin and many of the rest also use it occasionally.
There is a black market in Methadone. Some addicts prefer it to heroin.
There is even a black market in 'spit' Methadone, when the liquid is kept in the mouth after being given under supervision and then spat out into a bottle.
Medicinal treatment for diseases of the human spirit - addictions and compulsions and depression - are fraught with physical and psychological dangers.
Medicinal treatment should be the last, rather than the first, resort.
As for painkillers, they are vastly over-prescribed and also bought excessively over-the-counter in pharmacies. It is high time that this danger should be highlighted.
Today I had surgical injections into the facet joints of my lower spine. I know about persistent pain. I've had it for eighteen months and I don't like it.
But, throughout that whole time, except right at the beginning after the acute collapse of a vertebral body, I have not taken pain-killers. They're dangerous. Years ago I took them for one day when I had gallstones and for two days when I had kidney stones.
But mostly I think it is safer to live with some level of pain rather than to take drugs of any kind.
Drugs - all mood-altering drugs, even those that come from a sympathetic doctor rather than from a dealer - are dangerous.
2011年11月2日星期三
'Belles' to ring in holiday season
Mix a Santa with a kidney stone, a church Christmas play with a cast stricken by food poisoning, a shepherd with a little red wagon, Elvis and a long-kept family secret, and you have Christmas Belles.
It’s a comedy that cast members promise will deliver the laughs.
“We still laugh at the lines at rehearsals, and we’ve heard them over and over,” said Debbie Fryer, who plays Geneva Musgrove, the longtime director of the church Christmas pageant.
This year, however, she’s been ousted by Honey Raye Futrell, a woman with a checkered past who is trying to make up for her wayward ways, and Miss Geneva is not really happy about it all.
“This is just a bunch of fun,” said Kay Gross, who plays Twink Futrell, recently jailed after she almost burned down the town trying to get back at her boyfriend, who had jilted her.
While some audience members might not be in the Christmas spirit quite so early in November when the production opens, cast members think the play is a good way to usher in the holiday season.
“I think it will get people into the spirit of the season,” said Fryer.
Even with all the laughs, there are some unexpected twists to bring that warm and fuzzy holiday feeling.
“There are a lot of tender moments,” Gross said.
It’s a comedy that cast members promise will deliver the laughs.
“We still laugh at the lines at rehearsals, and we’ve heard them over and over,” said Debbie Fryer, who plays Geneva Musgrove, the longtime director of the church Christmas pageant.
This year, however, she’s been ousted by Honey Raye Futrell, a woman with a checkered past who is trying to make up for her wayward ways, and Miss Geneva is not really happy about it all.
“This is just a bunch of fun,” said Kay Gross, who plays Twink Futrell, recently jailed after she almost burned down the town trying to get back at her boyfriend, who had jilted her.
While some audience members might not be in the Christmas spirit quite so early in November when the production opens, cast members think the play is a good way to usher in the holiday season.
“I think it will get people into the spirit of the season,” said Fryer.
Even with all the laughs, there are some unexpected twists to bring that warm and fuzzy holiday feeling.
“There are a lot of tender moments,” Gross said.
2011年10月30日星期日
`Shock therapy may improve erectile dysfunction`
Good news for those suffering from sever sexual impotence -- scientists have developed a new shock wave therapy which they say could significantly benefit
people who don`t respond well to conventional therapies.
A team at Rambam Healthcare Campus in Haifa who carried out the "extracorporeal shock wave therapy" on 29 men with sever erectile dysfunction (ED) found that the technique significantly improved their sexual function.
The patients in the study continued to see improvements two months after the treatment had stopped, and close to 30 per cent of them achieved normal sexual function and no longer required medications, LiveScience reported.
Extracorporeal shock waves have been used to break up kidney stones, but the sound waves used in the study to treat ED were much less intense and no men reported pain or adverse events during the treatment, the researchers said.
The results, published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine, suggest that sound wave therapy may used to treat ED patients who don`t respond well to conventional therapies, they said.
However, the researchers said, the study was small and the results could have been a placebo effect, so more work is needed to validate the findings.
In the study, the participants, aged over 60, underwent 12 shock treatments over nine weeks. One month after the last treatment, participants began taking ED drugs.
Two months after the treatments concluded, the ED scores improved in 75 per cent of the men in the study. Eight men, nearly 30 per cent, had erections in the normal range when
they used an ED pill. Blood flow improved in all the men.
"For many men, this means the difference between being able and being unable to achieve vaginal penetration," said study researcher Ilan Gruenwald, an associate director of the neuro-urology unit at the Medical Center.
However, other experts have expressed doubts over the success of the the therapy.
The results of the study are somewhat counterintuitive, considering that sound waves used in kidney stone treatments are designed to be destructive, said Dr Andrew Kramer, a
urologist at the University of Maryland Medical Center, who was not involved in the study.
"It`s like saying, take your penis and hit it with a hammer a couple of times," Kramer said.
Even if the benefits of extracorporeal shock wave therapy are confirmed by future research, the therapy may never be mainstream, Kramer said. For one reason, it requires a special machine.
The researchers acknowledged their work is preliminary, but, given their results, they said they hope others in their field remain open-minded about the therapy.
people who don`t respond well to conventional therapies.
A team at Rambam Healthcare Campus in Haifa who carried out the "extracorporeal shock wave therapy" on 29 men with sever erectile dysfunction (ED) found that the technique significantly improved their sexual function.
The patients in the study continued to see improvements two months after the treatment had stopped, and close to 30 per cent of them achieved normal sexual function and no longer required medications, LiveScience reported.
Extracorporeal shock waves have been used to break up kidney stones, but the sound waves used in the study to treat ED were much less intense and no men reported pain or adverse events during the treatment, the researchers said.
The results, published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine, suggest that sound wave therapy may used to treat ED patients who don`t respond well to conventional therapies, they said.
However, the researchers said, the study was small and the results could have been a placebo effect, so more work is needed to validate the findings.
In the study, the participants, aged over 60, underwent 12 shock treatments over nine weeks. One month after the last treatment, participants began taking ED drugs.
Two months after the treatments concluded, the ED scores improved in 75 per cent of the men in the study. Eight men, nearly 30 per cent, had erections in the normal range when
they used an ED pill. Blood flow improved in all the men.
"For many men, this means the difference between being able and being unable to achieve vaginal penetration," said study researcher Ilan Gruenwald, an associate director of the neuro-urology unit at the Medical Center.
However, other experts have expressed doubts over the success of the the therapy.
The results of the study are somewhat counterintuitive, considering that sound waves used in kidney stone treatments are designed to be destructive, said Dr Andrew Kramer, a
urologist at the University of Maryland Medical Center, who was not involved in the study.
"It`s like saying, take your penis and hit it with a hammer a couple of times," Kramer said.
Even if the benefits of extracorporeal shock wave therapy are confirmed by future research, the therapy may never be mainstream, Kramer said. For one reason, it requires a special machine.
The researchers acknowledged their work is preliminary, but, given their results, they said they hope others in their field remain open-minded about the therapy.
2011年9月19日星期一
We all need help to navigate rough waters
How do you do it?" is a question put to many a working parent. My husband and I have been working parents for the past 24 years and still wonder how we can handle life's expected and unexpected challenges.
It reminds me of riding the rapids. We had quite a ride this last month.
Summer is a time of playing catch up to doctor and dentist check ups for the kids. When you have multiple kids, you can have one or two appointments each week.
Here was my list for the month: wisdom teeth out, eye doctor for contacts, physical exam, dentist check up, and orthodontist. My husband and I had to dig in our paddles to get through the doctor visit "rapids" with our busy work schedules.
In the middle of this month, my husband had a bout with kidney stones while driving home from work. He pulled over and called 911. An ambulance and two fire trucks responded. He was taken to the emergency room.
From then on I compare the experience to being caught in a white water hydraulic. Once you are pulled in, you really struggle.
An older daughter got to the hospital first. A friend helped us pick up the car he abandoned on the highway. My travel scheduled had to be cancelled. The kids at home had to fend for themselves.
When it got to be around midnight and I was beat, who did I call? My night owl college age daughter, who came and stayed with her dad. I thought to myself, how fitting, she normally starts her evenings out at midnight anyway.
In the end, he had to go through two separate procedures to get the kidney stones out. Poor guy!
As working parents know, time does not stand still at the office while the river of life takes its twists and turns. I had my laptop, Blackberry and brief case and carried on business in the waiting rooms and halls of doctors, dentists and even throughout the time warp of the emergency room.
It reminds me of riding the rapids. We had quite a ride this last month.
Summer is a time of playing catch up to doctor and dentist check ups for the kids. When you have multiple kids, you can have one or two appointments each week.
Here was my list for the month: wisdom teeth out, eye doctor for contacts, physical exam, dentist check up, and orthodontist. My husband and I had to dig in our paddles to get through the doctor visit "rapids" with our busy work schedules.
In the middle of this month, my husband had a bout with kidney stones while driving home from work. He pulled over and called 911. An ambulance and two fire trucks responded. He was taken to the emergency room.
From then on I compare the experience to being caught in a white water hydraulic. Once you are pulled in, you really struggle.
An older daughter got to the hospital first. A friend helped us pick up the car he abandoned on the highway. My travel scheduled had to be cancelled. The kids at home had to fend for themselves.
When it got to be around midnight and I was beat, who did I call? My night owl college age daughter, who came and stayed with her dad. I thought to myself, how fitting, she normally starts her evenings out at midnight anyway.
In the end, he had to go through two separate procedures to get the kidney stones out. Poor guy!
As working parents know, time does not stand still at the office while the river of life takes its twists and turns. I had my laptop, Blackberry and brief case and carried on business in the waiting rooms and halls of doctors, dentists and even throughout the time warp of the emergency room.
2011年8月28日星期日
Let's play guess the hospital bill
If you were to spend 2 hours and 25 minutes in the emergency room at the “not for profit” Yuma Regional Medical Center, what do you think would be a reasonable bill?
OK, I was diagnosed in 5 minutes (literally), with a kidney stone, given fluids intravenously for dehydration and given a pain-killer.
So, what do you think, $300, $500?
OK, after easily diagnosing the kidney stnoe, the attending physician sent me down for a CT scan, “just to be sure,” of course.
So, now what do you think, $1,000, $1,200?
But we all know the state of health care costs these days, so let's be more realistic.
Would you think a reasonable bill would be $2,000, $3,000?
OK, what would you think might be an UNREASONABLE bill for A DIAGNOSIS of $4,000, $6,000?
Well, I hit the jackpot.
My bill at the “not for profit” organization was $9,527.30 with the doctor's portion of this bill, for literally five minutes of face time and four questions, being $700.63.
I shudder to think what it would have cost had they actually solved the problem.
OK, I was diagnosed in 5 minutes (literally), with a kidney stone, given fluids intravenously for dehydration and given a pain-killer.
So, what do you think, $300, $500?
OK, after easily diagnosing the kidney stnoe, the attending physician sent me down for a CT scan, “just to be sure,” of course.
So, now what do you think, $1,000, $1,200?
But we all know the state of health care costs these days, so let's be more realistic.
Would you think a reasonable bill would be $2,000, $3,000?
OK, what would you think might be an UNREASONABLE bill for A DIAGNOSIS of $4,000, $6,000?
Well, I hit the jackpot.
My bill at the “not for profit” organization was $9,527.30 with the doctor's portion of this bill, for literally five minutes of face time and four questions, being $700.63.
I shudder to think what it would have cost had they actually solved the problem.
2011年8月11日星期四
Crestwood officials indicted in tainted drinking water scandal
For nearly two decades, the former mayor of Crestwood, who ruled the village of 11,000 with an iron fist, hid from regulators and residents the fact that they were drinking contaminated water, federal authorities said Thursday, announcing indictments against two former water department officials.
But Chester Stranczek, whose attorney confirms he’s the “Public Official A” mentioned in the 23-count indictment, has not been charged — and likely will not — face criminal charges, his attorney said, because Parkinson’s disease dementia has left him unfit to stand trial.
Facing felony charges are Frank Scaccia, 59, Crestwood’s former certified water operator, and Theresa Neubauer, 53, former water department clerk and supervisor and currently Crestwood’s police chief. Both are accused of lying to environmental regulators for more than 20 years about using a tainted well to supplement the village’s drinking water supply from Lake Michigan, U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald announced in a press release.
The village told residents and the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency it was only using Lake Michigan water after 1985, when it discovered a village well had been tainted by vinyl chloride, a known carcinogen. But regulators later discovered the village continued to use the well for as much as 20 percent of its water from 1985 to 2007.
The indictment alleges Scaccia and Neubauer acted with unnamed “Public Official A,” an elected Crestwood government official who had authority over the village’s water system, including the use of the well water. Between roughly 1999 and 2007, “Public Official A” signed regulatory documents on behalf of the village.
“Public Official A” is the elder Stranczek, too sick to stand trial, said Chris Gair, who’s been representing Stranczek in some 200 lawsuits filed over the tainted well scandal.
“I feel confident (prosecutors) are not going to come after him because they are aware that his disease has rendered him unfit to stand trial,” Gair said. “He’s no more able to participate in (the lawsuits) than he would in a criminal case. He does not have the mental capacity anymore to do so.”
Stranczek’s son, current Crestwood Mayor Robert Stranczek, could not be reached for comment Thursday afternoon. Employees at the village hall and police department said he and Neubauer were on “planned vacations.”
Neubauer’s attorney, Thomas Breen, said she learned of the charges while camping with her children.
“All of the counts have to do with her when she had a clerical position when she assisted in filing out forms with information given to her by the water department and management,” he said. “The evidence is going to show she had a clerical job filing out forms.”
Neubauer has been placed on administrative leave “pending further review,” according a village statement.
Scaccia’s attorney did not return messages seeking comment. He was fired in March 2010, the village statement said.
“The government’s investigation — resulting in only these false statements charges — confirms that there is not now and never has been any concern with the safety or quality of the drinking water in Crestwood and the health of our citizens has never been compromised or threatened,” the statement read. “Our citizens’ well-being has always been and will always continue to be our top priority.”
An arm of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency determined there is no safe level of exposure to vinyl chloride, which also can cause damage to the liver and nervous system.
Dozens of lawsuits have been filed against the village over the use of the well water, including one by the Illinois attorney general’s office. Crestwood has footed the multi-million-dollar bill for various defense attorneys.
In December, the village settled one of those suits, which covered water bills paid by current and former residents and village business owners. The settlement established a $500,000 fund to give residents partial refunds on their water bills from January 1985 to September 2007 — the years the village was found to have tapped the contaminated well. The village also agreed to a two-year freeze on the cost of vehicle stickers, business licenses and garbage collection fees, among other conditions.
Other lawsuits alleging wrongful death and personal injury still are pending.
Current and former Crestwood residents Thursday said they were outraged and vindicated. Many spoke of their terrible health problems: kidney problems, tumors, immune system disorders and many types of cancer.
But Chester Stranczek, whose attorney confirms he’s the “Public Official A” mentioned in the 23-count indictment, has not been charged — and likely will not — face criminal charges, his attorney said, because Parkinson’s disease dementia has left him unfit to stand trial.
Facing felony charges are Frank Scaccia, 59, Crestwood’s former certified water operator, and Theresa Neubauer, 53, former water department clerk and supervisor and currently Crestwood’s police chief. Both are accused of lying to environmental regulators for more than 20 years about using a tainted well to supplement the village’s drinking water supply from Lake Michigan, U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald announced in a press release.
The village told residents and the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency it was only using Lake Michigan water after 1985, when it discovered a village well had been tainted by vinyl chloride, a known carcinogen. But regulators later discovered the village continued to use the well for as much as 20 percent of its water from 1985 to 2007.
The indictment alleges Scaccia and Neubauer acted with unnamed “Public Official A,” an elected Crestwood government official who had authority over the village’s water system, including the use of the well water. Between roughly 1999 and 2007, “Public Official A” signed regulatory documents on behalf of the village.
“Public Official A” is the elder Stranczek, too sick to stand trial, said Chris Gair, who’s been representing Stranczek in some 200 lawsuits filed over the tainted well scandal.
“I feel confident (prosecutors) are not going to come after him because they are aware that his disease has rendered him unfit to stand trial,” Gair said. “He’s no more able to participate in (the lawsuits) than he would in a criminal case. He does not have the mental capacity anymore to do so.”
Stranczek’s son, current Crestwood Mayor Robert Stranczek, could not be reached for comment Thursday afternoon. Employees at the village hall and police department said he and Neubauer were on “planned vacations.”
Neubauer’s attorney, Thomas Breen, said she learned of the charges while camping with her children.
“All of the counts have to do with her when she had a clerical position when she assisted in filing out forms with information given to her by the water department and management,” he said. “The evidence is going to show she had a clerical job filing out forms.”
Neubauer has been placed on administrative leave “pending further review,” according a village statement.
Scaccia’s attorney did not return messages seeking comment. He was fired in March 2010, the village statement said.
“The government’s investigation — resulting in only these false statements charges — confirms that there is not now and never has been any concern with the safety or quality of the drinking water in Crestwood and the health of our citizens has never been compromised or threatened,” the statement read. “Our citizens’ well-being has always been and will always continue to be our top priority.”
An arm of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency determined there is no safe level of exposure to vinyl chloride, which also can cause damage to the liver and nervous system.
Dozens of lawsuits have been filed against the village over the use of the well water, including one by the Illinois attorney general’s office. Crestwood has footed the multi-million-dollar bill for various defense attorneys.
In December, the village settled one of those suits, which covered water bills paid by current and former residents and village business owners. The settlement established a $500,000 fund to give residents partial refunds on their water bills from January 1985 to September 2007 — the years the village was found to have tapped the contaminated well. The village also agreed to a two-year freeze on the cost of vehicle stickers, business licenses and garbage collection fees, among other conditions.
Other lawsuits alleging wrongful death and personal injury still are pending.
Current and former Crestwood residents Thursday said they were outraged and vindicated. Many spoke of their terrible health problems: kidney problems, tumors, immune system disorders and many types of cancer.
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