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11月8日星期二
Bowman earns offensive player of week
A 226-yard, 10-catch receiving performance - the best of any receiver in the Canadian Football League this season - made Edmonton Eskimos slotback Adarius Bowman a nobrainer for the league's offensive player of the week.
Bowman made big plays every time he was called upon in the Eskimos' 23-20 win over the Saskatchewan Roughriders in Friday night's regular-season finale. He scored two touchdowns for the Eskimos to lead them to victory.
On Monday, Bowman said that he had moved past the best game of his CFL career.
"We're just focused on Calgary right now," he said, anticipating the Eskimos' playoff opponent on Sunday. "It was a great week and I enjoyed everything, but we've got to stay focused, man, it's just win. That's the only way we can stay up here now. That's the only thing we're focused on."
"He stepped up and played a big game for us," Eskimos quarterback Ricky Ray said of Bowman. "Really, those first two touchdowns, to catch that long one really got the team going.
"We just weren't really doing much offensively and that was a big play for us. That (second) one where he broke a couple of tackles and got it into the end zone, that just really fires you up as a football team and you could see the momentum kind of going in our favour then. That's what you need to have. You have to have those plays to get guys excited."
When Damon Duval told Derek Schiavone the news, Schiavone thought he was being told a joke.
"Showing up 20 minutes before the game it hit. Derek, we were on the drive (to Commonwealth Stadium) and I looked at him and kind of laughed and said, 'You're not going to like this right now but you might have to play today,'" Duval recalled. "He asked what was wrong and I said, 'I think I'm getting a kidney stone.' "
Schiavone filled in well, making all three of his field goals against the Riders on Friday night, including a game-winning 27-yarder in the final minute of play to lift Edmonton to a 23-20 win. The victory secured the Eskimos their first home playoff game in seven years.
"I thought he was just joking because it was a little cold out," Schiavone said of how he handled Duval's news. "You could tell he was in pain the moment he got in here. At that instant, I started to get ready, just in case."
Duval has a history of kidney stones. The stone he passed at 4: 30 a.m. on Saturday morning was the fifth he's dealt with.
"Thanks, Dad," Duval said. "Unfortunately, these things can be hereditary and he's had over 40 in his life so far."
Duval said the pain of passing the stones is as bad as advertised.
"Have you ever been on a long trip where you had to pee so bad and they won't pull over and let you pee and it starts hurting?" Duval asked. "Well, imagine that magnified by about 100 and that's how it feels.
"There's just no letup. It's just a constant writhing that starts in the lower back and you can feel it as it starts going from the kidneys, making its way through your bladder. The good thing is once it gets in your bladder, for the most part, the pain kind of alleviates and then a lot of pressure and then just, ploop - out comes the stone.
"They give you a little strainer and you just urinate in the strainer and when you hear the ding, you know you're a lucky guy and you've won the game."
The 30-year-old father of two young boys has kept the stones he's passed to teach them what was happening with him.
"They didn't understand," he said. "I kept it so they could see what it was. The reality, it really looks like a little BB and unfortunately that little thing can bring that much pain."
Bowman made big plays every time he was called upon in the Eskimos' 23-20 win over the Saskatchewan Roughriders in Friday night's regular-season finale. He scored two touchdowns for the Eskimos to lead them to victory.
On Monday, Bowman said that he had moved past the best game of his CFL career.
"We're just focused on Calgary right now," he said, anticipating the Eskimos' playoff opponent on Sunday. "It was a great week and I enjoyed everything, but we've got to stay focused, man, it's just win. That's the only way we can stay up here now. That's the only thing we're focused on."
"He stepped up and played a big game for us," Eskimos quarterback Ricky Ray said of Bowman. "Really, those first two touchdowns, to catch that long one really got the team going.
"We just weren't really doing much offensively and that was a big play for us. That (second) one where he broke a couple of tackles and got it into the end zone, that just really fires you up as a football team and you could see the momentum kind of going in our favour then. That's what you need to have. You have to have those plays to get guys excited."
When Damon Duval told Derek Schiavone the news, Schiavone thought he was being told a joke.
"Showing up 20 minutes before the game it hit. Derek, we were on the drive (to Commonwealth Stadium) and I looked at him and kind of laughed and said, 'You're not going to like this right now but you might have to play today,'" Duval recalled. "He asked what was wrong and I said, 'I think I'm getting a kidney stone.' "
Schiavone filled in well, making all three of his field goals against the Riders on Friday night, including a game-winning 27-yarder in the final minute of play to lift Edmonton to a 23-20 win. The victory secured the Eskimos their first home playoff game in seven years.
"I thought he was just joking because it was a little cold out," Schiavone said of how he handled Duval's news. "You could tell he was in pain the moment he got in here. At that instant, I started to get ready, just in case."
Duval has a history of kidney stones. The stone he passed at 4: 30 a.m. on Saturday morning was the fifth he's dealt with.
"Thanks, Dad," Duval said. "Unfortunately, these things can be hereditary and he's had over 40 in his life so far."
Duval said the pain of passing the stones is as bad as advertised.
"Have you ever been on a long trip where you had to pee so bad and they won't pull over and let you pee and it starts hurting?" Duval asked. "Well, imagine that magnified by about 100 and that's how it feels.
"There's just no letup. It's just a constant writhing that starts in the lower back and you can feel it as it starts going from the kidneys, making its way through your bladder. The good thing is once it gets in your bladder, for the most part, the pain kind of alleviates and then a lot of pressure and then just, ploop - out comes the stone.
"They give you a little strainer and you just urinate in the strainer and when you hear the ding, you know you're a lucky guy and you've won the game."
The 30-year-old father of two young boys has kept the stones he's passed to teach them what was happening with him.
"They didn't understand," he said. "I kept it so they could see what it was. The reality, it really looks like a little BB and unfortunately that little thing can bring that much pain."
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3日星期四
The DASH Diet and Why It is One of the Best for Everyone
Pop diets come and go but it seems the DASH diet is here to stay. DASH stands for “Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension.” Beside lowering blood pressure and cholesterol, the DASH diet is associated with a lower risk of kidney stones, cancer, stroke, heart failure, heart disease and developing diabetes. On November 1, 2011, US News and World Report ranked it one of the healthiest diets for the entire family.
US News and World Report reported David Katz, director of the Prevention Research Center at Yale University School of Medicine, said, “Most diets aren't about the family, and that really is a fundamental flaw. It is typically an every-man-for-himself scenario, and inevitably, people leave their families behind.”
The DASH diet is family-friendly, making it a top choice for all kinds of people. While it deflates blood pressure, it also keeps weight in check. The DASH diet is easily tailored for everyone from children to seniors. Meals include vegetables, fruits, fat-free or low-fat dairy, lean meant, poultry and fish and grains. Included in the diet are buckwheat pancakes, fruit smoothies and southwestern-style potato skins.
Teresa Fung, a nutritionist at Simmons College in Boston, said, “I don't think the typical American diet looks anything like DASH or Mediterranean. Most families get pizza or go out to eat twice a week.” She stated moving a step closer would be an improvement for families.
According to the DASH diet website, the diet is recommended by physicians for people with hypertension or pre-hypertension. The National Institute of Health sponsored studies and found the diet plan has been proven to lower blood pressure.
The DASH diet is low sodium and endorsed by several health industry leaders including the American Heart Association, the Mayo Clinic, the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. The DASH Diet also was the basis for the USDA MyPlate. The DASH diet is low fat, high fiber and rich in potassium, magnesium and calcium.
Benefits of the DASH diet include lower cholesterol, weight loss and maintenance and reduced insulin resistance. It can even improve the response to medication for people with severe hypertension.
While the DASH diet may have the same name as the Kim Kardashian store "Dash," there is no connection to the socialite. Other family-friendly diets that landed on the Best Diets rankings of U.S. News include the Mayo Clinic Diet, Mediterranean Diet, Vegetarian Diet and Volumetrics.
US News and World Report reported David Katz, director of the Prevention Research Center at Yale University School of Medicine, said, “Most diets aren't about the family, and that really is a fundamental flaw. It is typically an every-man-for-himself scenario, and inevitably, people leave their families behind.”
The DASH diet is family-friendly, making it a top choice for all kinds of people. While it deflates blood pressure, it also keeps weight in check. The DASH diet is easily tailored for everyone from children to seniors. Meals include vegetables, fruits, fat-free or low-fat dairy, lean meant, poultry and fish and grains. Included in the diet are buckwheat pancakes, fruit smoothies and southwestern-style potato skins.
Teresa Fung, a nutritionist at Simmons College in Boston, said, “I don't think the typical American diet looks anything like DASH or Mediterranean. Most families get pizza or go out to eat twice a week.” She stated moving a step closer would be an improvement for families.
According to the DASH diet website, the diet is recommended by physicians for people with hypertension or pre-hypertension. The National Institute of Health sponsored studies and found the diet plan has been proven to lower blood pressure.
The DASH diet is low sodium and endorsed by several health industry leaders including the American Heart Association, the Mayo Clinic, the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. The DASH Diet also was the basis for the USDA MyPlate. The DASH diet is low fat, high fiber and rich in potassium, magnesium and calcium.
Benefits of the DASH diet include lower cholesterol, weight loss and maintenance and reduced insulin resistance. It can even improve the response to medication for people with severe hypertension.
While the DASH diet may have the same name as the Kim Kardashian store "Dash," there is no connection to the socialite. Other family-friendly diets that landed on the Best Diets rankings of U.S. News include the Mayo Clinic Diet, Mediterranean Diet, Vegetarian Diet and Volumetrics.
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11月1日星期二
Iron will
Last month, the longtime Bend resident completed the Ironman World Championship triathlon — a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike and a 26.2-mile run — in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii.
That is an accomplishment in itself, but by no means is it a rare one. A total of 1,772 other participants also finished the race that day. And Hollander himself had completed the race on 21 previous occasions.
But in this year's field, only Hollander was as old as 81 years.
In fact, no one else in the history of the Ironman World Championship has completed the race at Hollander's age, making him unique among the thousands of finishers who have crossed the finish line at the event, staged annually since the late 1970s.
“I reflect a lot on it, and it means a lot because it means I'm still alive,” Hollander said last week of his achievement. “And I've never been the fastest around, but now I say, ‘Well, I'm the oldest. That's a good thing.' ”
To boot, Hollander, a physicist, repeated as world champion in his division, for men age 80 and older. In 2010 he won the title by default, being the only competitor in his age group.
This year, however, three other men, all 80, joined him in what Hollander said was dubbed the “Iron Gents War.”
Recounting the race, Hollander said he took over the division lead from Bob Scott during the bike leg. But during the marathon run, France Cokan, a Slovak whom Hollander described as his nemesis, passed him.
“Everybody can run faster than me, but I'm pretty steady,” Hollander explained.
That steadiness paid off, as Hollander maintained contact with and then overtook Cokan in the final two miles of the run to win the division in 16 hours, 45 minutes, 55 seconds.
Hollander's time was 14:05 faster than the race's 17-hour cutoff time, but well slower than the 15:48:40 he turned in at the 2010 race.
“Last year I had the race of my life,” noted Hollander, who contested his first Ironman world championship race in 1985. “It's going to be a long time (before) some 80-year-old beats that one. I just had a good day. I got there and everything went right.”
This year, though, a lot went wrong.
A couple of months before this year's world championship, Hollander developed a hernia on the right side of his abdomen. Swimming and cycling did not aggravate the hernia, he said, but he ran the marathon portion of the race holding his hand to his side.
And that day — “out of the blue,” as Hollander put it — a kidney stone began to bother him. That resulted in back pain and abdominal cramps, the latter of which prevented him from ingesting almost anything but water during the race, not an ideal situation for an endurance athlete.
The kidney stone was taken care of shortly after Hollander's return to Bend, and he underwent an operation to repair his hernia this past Friday.
Hollander, a Long Island native, does not expect either of those health challenges to deter him for long. He still has plans for the future.
“Life is really good for me,” he explained. “I just feel full of life, and I'm not done yet either.”
He said he has not ruled out competing in another Ironman, though he may not make a 23rd trip to the world championship.
“I'm not going to say I'm not going to do another Ironman, but it would take a lot to get me back to Kona,” Hollander said.
He does, however, plan to take part in some races on the mainland in the months ahead, including an Ironman 70.3 race (half the distance of a full Ironman) in Galveston, Texas, in April.
Whatever he does decide in the end, Hollander will probably keep trailblazing for the octogenarian set.
“I guess I have actually done some good,” he admitted. “People will see you can be active and be old.”
That is an accomplishment in itself, but by no means is it a rare one. A total of 1,772 other participants also finished the race that day. And Hollander himself had completed the race on 21 previous occasions.
But in this year's field, only Hollander was as old as 81 years.
In fact, no one else in the history of the Ironman World Championship has completed the race at Hollander's age, making him unique among the thousands of finishers who have crossed the finish line at the event, staged annually since the late 1970s.
“I reflect a lot on it, and it means a lot because it means I'm still alive,” Hollander said last week of his achievement. “And I've never been the fastest around, but now I say, ‘Well, I'm the oldest. That's a good thing.' ”
To boot, Hollander, a physicist, repeated as world champion in his division, for men age 80 and older. In 2010 he won the title by default, being the only competitor in his age group.
This year, however, three other men, all 80, joined him in what Hollander said was dubbed the “Iron Gents War.”
Recounting the race, Hollander said he took over the division lead from Bob Scott during the bike leg. But during the marathon run, France Cokan, a Slovak whom Hollander described as his nemesis, passed him.
“Everybody can run faster than me, but I'm pretty steady,” Hollander explained.
That steadiness paid off, as Hollander maintained contact with and then overtook Cokan in the final two miles of the run to win the division in 16 hours, 45 minutes, 55 seconds.
Hollander's time was 14:05 faster than the race's 17-hour cutoff time, but well slower than the 15:48:40 he turned in at the 2010 race.
“Last year I had the race of my life,” noted Hollander, who contested his first Ironman world championship race in 1985. “It's going to be a long time (before) some 80-year-old beats that one. I just had a good day. I got there and everything went right.”
This year, though, a lot went wrong.
A couple of months before this year's world championship, Hollander developed a hernia on the right side of his abdomen. Swimming and cycling did not aggravate the hernia, he said, but he ran the marathon portion of the race holding his hand to his side.
And that day — “out of the blue,” as Hollander put it — a kidney stone began to bother him. That resulted in back pain and abdominal cramps, the latter of which prevented him from ingesting almost anything but water during the race, not an ideal situation for an endurance athlete.
The kidney stone was taken care of shortly after Hollander's return to Bend, and he underwent an operation to repair his hernia this past Friday.
Hollander, a Long Island native, does not expect either of those health challenges to deter him for long. He still has plans for the future.
“Life is really good for me,” he explained. “I just feel full of life, and I'm not done yet either.”
He said he has not ruled out competing in another Ironman, though he may not make a 23rd trip to the world championship.
“I'm not going to say I'm not going to do another Ironman, but it would take a lot to get me back to Kona,” Hollander said.
He does, however, plan to take part in some races on the mainland in the months ahead, including an Ironman 70.3 race (half the distance of a full Ironman) in Galveston, Texas, in April.
Whatever he does decide in the end, Hollander will probably keep trailblazing for the octogenarian set.
“I guess I have actually done some good,” he admitted. “People will see you can be active and be old.”
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