Calcified valve needs monitoring

Dear Dr. Gott: I had an echocardiogram done several months ago. My family doctor said I had some minor calcification around a valve in my heart. He said that at my age (71) and being a diabetic (I only take pills), that it would probably outlive me. Can you give me information about this subject?

Dear Reader: One of the most common consequences of the aging process is the formation of calcium deposits in the body's tissues, particularly in the arteries and heart valves. These deposits, if slight or even moderate, do not need attention unless they are causing arterial blockages or a stiff valve that no longer opens and closes as it should.

It makes sense for your calcified valve to be monitored with annual cardiac ultrasound testing. If your cholesterol is too high, you will need to diet and, perhaps, consider a cholesterol-lowering medication.

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Recent Studies Suggest Popular 'Diet Pill' Relacore Reduces Acne ...

NEW YORK, Feb. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- As crazy as it sounds, recent studies conducted at Stanford and Wake Forest Schools of Medicine suggest there's a connection between stubborn stress-related belly bulge, unsightly acne flare- ups and the so-called "Belly Fat" pill, Relacore(R) (from the Carter-Reed Company) ... and that link is stress. By now we've all heard that stress increases cortisol (the stress hormone) and cortisol increases "belly fat." Well, now it seems that stress also increases both the frequency and the severity of acne breakouts.

While this may be terrible news for millions of us who seem to be stressed-out even on the best of days, it turns out to be great news for the Carter-Reed Company. You see, Carter-Reed makes Relacore, the anti-stress feel-good pill that has become America's #1 selling "Belly Fat" pill because of the connection between stress and abdominal fat.

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Parker column: The skinny on America's diet mayor

OKLAHOMA CITY — If anyone still doubts the correlation between obese America and our fast-food culture, consider Okla-homa City, where the mayor has asked residents to join him on a diet.

The city best known to many Americans as the site of Timothy McVeigh's horrific act of terrorism in 1995 is also the fast-food axis of the nation and the eighth fattest, with an obesity rate of 25 percent.

Mayor Mick Cornett is hoping to change that. On New Year's Eve, he challenged citizens to lose 1 million pounds and launched an interactive Web site where people can sign on and track their weight loss (thiscityisgoingonadiet.com).

As of this writing, 14,688 dieters, including interlopers from 40 countries, have lost 27,153 pounds, or about 13.5 tons.

Sitting in his office in downtown Oklahoma City, Cornett looks more like a GQ model — or like the news anchor he was until 1999.

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