BLUE BODY MAKEUP

Running and Walking for Women Over 40 : The Road to Sanity and Vanity

A consistent program of running or walking is the fastest, easiest, and least expensive road to overall fitness and well-being for women and men at any age. For women over forty it can be the key to the most fulfilling years life has in store.

Katherine Switzer, a pioneer in women's fitness since 1967, when she became the first woman to officially enter the Boston Marathon is once again blazing a trail with the very first running and walking program designed specifically for women over forty. Now every woman can benefit from Katherine's highly personal, motivational, and step-by-step advice.

"For women beginning fitness programs at age forty, fifty, and beyond, the results can be nothing short of dramatic. For the first time they are reaching the body weight and physical conditioning they've always dreamed of. Women who have been reasonably active off their lives can also firnd a new and exciting road of fitness ahead of them after age forty. Some even find themselves outrunning women half their age!" --Katherine Switzer

Ozier Muhammad/The New York Times

Dr. John J. Ricotta works with another surgeon at Stony Brook University Hospital on Long Island. Dr. Ricotta sought training in stenting, to give patients more options.

November 29, 2005
Stent vs. Scalpel
By BARNABY J. FEDER

After Linda Packer, a 64-year-old social worker in Manhattan, fell twice over the Memorial Day weekend and felt vaguely unwell, a series of tests revealed a serious problem: one of the two main arteries carrying blood to her brain was more than 80 percent blocked by plaque.

Hers was a fairly advanced case of a condition, known as carotid artery disease, that becomes increasingly common with age and has been linked to 25 percent of the 700,000 strokes in this country each year. It also leads to millions of cases of mini-stroke, memory loss and other brain impairments that interfere with daily life.

Doctors told Ms. Packer her condition was severe enough to justify cutting open the artery to clear out the plaque. Some 150,000 Americans annually undergo such surgery, whose risks include strokes, heart attacks and infections. Until recently, the only alternative was a combination of blood-thinning drugs and blood-pressure medications, and watchful waiting.

But Ms. Packer sought a relatively new, less-invasive alternative called carotid stenting, which has been used on more than 10,000 patients since regulators approved it last year. The technique widens arteries from the inside by threading a catheter through the circulatory system, pressing the plaque into the wall and inserting a metal mesh stent to prop open the artery.

Despite some complications, Ms. Packer is pleased with the results of her procedure. "When it comes to carving up my neck and leaving a big scar I could avoid," she said, "then my vanity comes into play."

But the procedure's seeming ease and its growing popularity have some experts worrying that too many doctors and patients, spurred on by medical device makers, may embrace it without fully understanding that it is generally as risky as surgery - and potentially riskier in some cases.

It is also expensive. Analysts estimate that sales of carotid stents, which cost around $3,000 each, have not yet topped $100 million. But some envision a $1 billion market for the devices within a decade - not counting doctors' fees.

This country now spends about $2 billion annually on surgical treatment of carotid blockages. Both the surgery and carotid stenting procedures cost $10,000 to $15,000. Prominent skeptics include Dr. Mark J. Alberts, a professor of neurology at Northwestern University Medical School. He cites clinical data showing stroke and death rates of more than 10 percent within one year among those getting stents - not much different from the results in the same study for surgery.

Dr. Alberts and some other doctors say that both procedures are done too often and that the advent of carotid stenting seems to be making the problem of over-treatment worse. "There may be a few niche groups of patients that need a carotid stent, but we're already seeing more carotid stents being put in than is justified," said Dr. Alberts, who practices at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, a major stroke treatment center for the Chicago region.

Everyone agrees that clinical evidence about the relative risks in different types of patients is only beginning to emerge. But some clinical studies have found lower complications for both procedures than those cited by Dr. Alberts, with some results seeming to favor stenting and others leaning toward surgery.

And advocates of the technology say that more recent data show that stenting success rates are climbing, now that the systems use temporarily implanted filters to catch bits of life-threatening plaque knocked loose during the procedure. By contrast, they say, carotid surgery - called endarterectomy - has no significant room for improvement.

"We are beginning to see results that make us believers that carotid stents will replace endarterectomy, and that it's only a matter of time," Dr. L. Nelson Hopkins, a professor of neurosurgery and radiology at the State University at Buffalo School of Medicine, said last month at a symposium in Washington.

The trickiest cases involve elderly patients for whom surgery is risky but stenting might be even riskier. Patients older than 80 are more likely to have calcified blockages that are hard to push aside with a stent, and they are more likely to have twisted arteries in which it is harder to implant the stent. Even stenting proponents worry about overuse of the technology in challenging cases.

"There is too much focus on who is a high surgical risk and not enough on who is at high risk for stenting," Dr. Sriram S. Iyer, chief of endovascular interventions at Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan, said at the same Washington symposium where Dr. Hopkins spoke. (Ms. Packer's proc

For today, presenting...the FAUCEt...lol...So, supposedly, I have something planned in mind of what to shot for today. After yesterday, I learned to always carry/bring the camera even to work - even if in the 8 hours it's in the trunk, I know it will be used after I get off.

So, as I arrived, I hurriedly went to the 6th floor to scout for a specific location. For today, I have been eyeing to shot the sunset from the patio on the 6th floor. I know I will have a good POV because the trees are bald.

The minute 5 pm came, I hurriedly went to the parking garage, grabbed my tripod and my camera bag and climb six plights of stairs. There on the patio, I looked for the location that I spotted earlier and pull the camera out. I wanted to do some test shots to determine my settings. I've pressed the shutter for at least 5 times and nothing happened. I thought I broke my camera only to find out an error sign was blinking. Alas, the error came from the SD. When I checked the SD slot, sure enough I left it in the reader at home. Oh well!!! I thought of my extra SD but it's nowhere to be found. I remember that I put it in my Nintendo DSi. I remember my point and shoot but it's not with me. Both my camera and my game console were in my purse inside the trunk of the car which was about 4 floors down from where I was standing.

I used my cellphone but nope!!! I did not like it. I thought I'll fail today because as I was planning my shot, my beautiful 15 month old daughter decided not to go to bed as early as she can. She stayed up until about almost I was dosing off.

Luckily, i remember Joe's message..I can't flake on this not until I'll reach 10. So I have to get that thinking caps going and at least look for something interesting from inside the house. And bingo!!! I got the faucet...

Whoah!!! That's some kind of a story!!! Nah, i'm just bubbly like that!!! LOL..Sorry, but hey, it's my stream...I can't promise but i'll try, I'll save the detail/play by play happening/event of my photo for the day in my blog...LOL..

This book showcases a wide-range of bathroom designs, from exacting floor plans down to the little details such as built storage and digitally controlled thermal shower jets. Useful for both the do-it-yourselfer and the homeowner who wants to paint a clear picture for an architect or a builder, this practical and visual guide will cover everything from antique fixtures, to modern luxuries, to high-tech touches.
Complete Bathroom Design provides a full range of styles and options, detailed resource listings, and sidebars to help consumers with their decision-making.