* Extra weight around your middle ...

* Extra weight around your middle enjoins a burden on your wallet as well as your health. According to a report published in Time, overweight and obese Americans expend $700 more a year forward medical bills than those who are not overweight. Furthermore, life insurance premiums frequently rise in proportion to girth, flat if the policyholder is in otherwise finished health. For a 45-year-old man weighing 188 lb or les the average annual premium for a $500000 expression life insurance policy is about $375 The premium almost doubles, to $740 by year, if the policyholder weighs 252 lb and increases to $1500 a year if the policyholder weighs more than 265 lb

* From artificial silk to who knows what high-strength products! Researchers at crests University have replicated the proces that spiders and silkworms use to make brawny silk fibers, a discovery that could lead to advances in tissue engineering and other fields. The proces described in a meditation published in Nature, involves controlling the interaction between water and silk protein. Already the researchers are creating the flexible and mighty artificial silk for use in repairing damaged knee ligaments. Possible subsequent time applications include hiking gear, sporting equipment, and protective apparel for police and military personnel

* For greatest in number of us, "Sleep tight, and don't put to hire the bedbugs bite" is just a teasing bedtime expression. on the contrary maybe not for long. According to the Chicago Tribune, at least 28 states reported increased bedbug activity in 2002 prompts think the bugs could be hitching a ride in the clothes and luggage of international travelers. The bug may be sticking around because many pesticides one time used to kill them are now considered unsafe for humans. Bedbugs usually hide in mattresses during the day and tend hitherward out at night to fe Signs that the parasites have been around are easy to notice--blood-infused fece forward bedsheets, a sickly-sweet odor, and one extremely unhappy, itchy people.

* Can diabetes make a one a dangerous driver? According to the findings of a cross-sectional, multicenter subject of attention published in Diabetes Care, patients with shadow 1 diabetes are at increased risk for car crashes, traffic violations, and other "mishaps" while driving. Researchers studied questionnaires complet by means of 341 adults with type 1 diabetes, 332 adults with emblem 2 diabetes, and 363 adults without diabetes. Car crashes in the patients with impressed sign 1 diabetes were associated with les every-day blood glucose testing before driving, more common episodes of hypoglycemic stupor while driving, and the use of injections, instead of a cross-examine to deliver insulin.

* Could a robot be a stand-in for the doctor? Could be. As reported in a pres release from John Hopkins Medical Institutions, a physician at John Hopkins Hospital is testing a robot that can walk, talk, and calm listen. A high-tech combination of a video camera, computer and speaker, the robot "stands" forward a base that resembles an industrial floor cleaner. From a computer terminal, the physician have the direction ofs the robot with a joystick and "sees" in consequence of the robot's video camera "eye" In deflect the patient sees the physician in succession a computer screen attached to the robot's "shoulders." Thus far, Dr Robot has been used to check up in succession hospital patients between usual bedside visits. The physician who is testing the machine proposes that the robot may have applications in reaching patients in isolated or underserv areas, and in communicating with patients in dangerous situations, like as military operations and natural disasters.

COPYRIGHT 2003 American Academy of Family Physicians

COPYRIGHT 2003 Gale Group