Toronto - Surgery may be the best option for some back injuries, according to a new study in the New England Jornal Of Medicne.
In the study, researchers compared spine surgery for spinal degeneration to a combinatio of rest, medication and physical therapy. Two years after treatment, people who had surgery experienced less pain and more mobility compared to people who took painkillers and physical therapy.
“As a surgeon, it’s very important to me that I have evidence that I can share with my patients as they are trying to decide how to proceed with treatment,” said Dr. James Weinstein of the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center. “Up until now, we suspected surgery produced better results, but we had little objective data to support that. With the results of this study, we can now discuss much more fully the surgical and non-surgical options available to our patients so that they can make an informed choice.”
Not all back injuries are created equal
In a sepeate study researchers found that surgery to correct damage to the sciatic nerve was no better than other types of treatments.
“Thus, for patients with persistent sciatica, there seems to be a reasonable choice between surgical and nonsurgical treatment, which may be influenced by aversion to surgical risks, the severity of symptoms, and willingness to wait for spontaneous healing,” Richard Deyo of the University of Washington in Seattle said in an accompanying editorial.
Researchers note that many back injuries often heal over time. The benefit to surgery is a quicker recovery.
In an unusual protest, British performance artist, Mark McGowan ate meatballs which were made from a Corgi, a breed of dog often kept by the Royal Family.
McGowan is protesting alleged cruelty exhibited by Prince Philip. The husband of Queen Elizabeth II is reported to have beaten to death a fox, during a fox hunt.
The event was broadcast live on a radio program hosted by Bob and Roberta Smith. Yoko Ono, widow of John Lennon, was also there and tasted some of the Corgi meatballs.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) seemed to approve of the protest: “The idea of eating a corgi will make many people lose their lunch,” said Poorva Joshipura, European director. “But foxes, who are hunted for so-called entertainment, are no less capable of feeling fear and pain.” McGowan said the corgi he consumed had died recently at a breeding farm and had not been killed for the purposes of the protest. It was minced with apple, onion and seasoning, turned into meatballs and served with salad, but McGowan said: “It’s disgusting. It’s really, really, really disgusting.”
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) claimed however that there was no evidence that Prince Philip had mistreated the fox or that it had suffered.
New York - The debate continues over whether patients with lower-back pain should get surgery or physical therapy.
Two studies released Thursday won’t settle the question, but both lean toward getting surgery, even though any operation carries some additional risks.
The studies were based out of Holland and at Dartmouth University, and compared surgery to physical therapy in patients with herniated or degenerative spinal discs.
Both treatments helped patients, but those who got the surgery recovered more quickly
Washington - Actor Fred Thompson is leaving his role on “Law and Order” for a possible run at the white house, according to media reports Wednesday.
Dick Wolf, The executive producer of the show, confirmed that Thompson will be leaving the long running TV Show.
Wolf said the former Tennessee senator told him he “has not made a firm decision about his political future,” but the shows production schedule would create constraints.
NBC is owned by General Electric Co.
His expected entrance in the race could dramatically shake up the GOP field but it’s unclear exactly who among the top GOP candidates - Giuliani, McCain or Romney - would be affected the most by his candidacy.
Conservative voters are not sold on any of them, which may give Thompson an opening. He’s been casting himself as a straight-talking conservative in the mold of former President Reagan even though he took some positions that angered the base as a senator.
Thompson served in the Senate from 1994 to 2002, capturing the seat held by Al Gore in a special election. During his tenure, Thompson voted to oust President Clinton from office, but also was one of 10 Republican senators who voted against one of the two impeachment charges.
Belleville - Riyo Mori, Miss Universe 2007, is a Japanese national who went to Centennial High School in Belleville, Ontario as an international student so she could study ballet at the Quinte Ballet School.
Riyo graduated from CSS just last year and still has a lot of friends in Belleville especially one lucky guy by the name of Andrew Shepherd.
You see Andrew got to take the future Miss Universe to their prom last spring. CSS, a good high school, is known for more for it’s athletics than it’s academics and the proof of this is that Andrew got to take the future Miss Universe to her prom because no one else asked her.
The other big news from the Miss Universe pageant was the fall of Miss USA.
A clip of Miss USA tripping over during the show thas become a hit on internet video sharing site YouTube.
The show was hosted by Miss Teen USA 1999 Vanessa Minnillo and Mario Lopez and held In Mexico City.
London - Andrei Lugovoi, the man who British authorities say poisoned and killed a ex-Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko with polonium-210, a radioactive isotope, says that the British government tried to recruit him to be a spy and that Litvinenko was working as a spy for British intelligence. He also claims that the British government is connected with the murder of Litvinenko and that he “has evidence” to prove his claims, but did not state what the evidence might be.
According to Lugovoi, who spoke to reporters during a press conference in Moscow, the British government wanted him to collect personal information that related to the Russian President, Vladimir Putin.
“[I was] openly recruited as the British security service agent. They asked me to collect any… compromising information about [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin and the members of his family,” said Lugovoi.
Lugovoi also stated that Litvinenko and a Russian tycoon named Boris Berezovsky were also working for the British government saying “Litvinenko became an agent who left the control of (British) special services and was killed. In the words of Sasha himself, first he was recruited and afterwards, on his advice, Boris Abramovich gave to the British some security council documents [from Russia] and also became an MI6 agent.”
Lugovoi also told the press that he had no motive to commit the murder and that Litvinenko was not an enemy of his.
“Sacha [Litvinenko] was not my enemy. I didn’t feel cold or hot from whatever he was doing, from the books that he was writing. I’ve been in business for a long time and I was not really interested. [Litvinenko was killed] If not by the British intelligence services themselves, then under their control or with their connivance,” added Lugovoi.
So far, British officials denied to comment on the claims saying that the incident is a matter for the criminal system.
“This is a criminal matter and not an issue about intelligence. A request for extradition for Mr. Lugovoi to face trial in a UK court has been handed over. We await the formal Russian response,” said the Foreign Office of the U.K..
Litvinenko was murdered in 2006.
Washington - Actor and former Tennessee senator Fred Thompson, is expected to annouce a bid to run for President.
Thompson has been competitive with the top-tier trio in national popularity polls, which largely measure name recognition early in the campaign. He is well-known nationally for his acting role as the gruff district attorney Arthur Branch on NBC’s long-running drama “Law & Order.”
His expected entrance in the race could dramatically shake up the GOP field but it’s unclear exactly who among the top GOP candidates - Giuliani, McCain or Romney - would be affected the most by his candidacy.
Conservative voters aren’t sold on any of them, which may give Thompson an opening. He’s been casting himself as a straight-talking conservative in the mold of former President Reagan even though he took some positions that angered the base as a senator.
Thompson served in the Senate from 1994 to 2002, capturing the seat held by Al Gore in a special election. During his tenure, Thompson voted to oust President Clinton from office, but also was one of 10 Republican senators who voted against one of the two impeachment charges.
Montreal - A Montreal woman was surprised to discover that a local gay bar does not serve women.
Audrey Vachon and her father went for av drink at Le Stud in Montreal’s gay village where a waiter told her father, Gilles, that the bar does not serve women.
According to Vachon, the waiter refused to even look at her during the conversation.
“On the spot I didn’t believe it, I thought it was a bad joke,” Vachon said speaking the AP.
“I didn’t say a word until I’d left. I was too shocked. I was embarrassed, I was humiliated, I felt guilty that I’d even gone there, like I’d done something wrong.”
Vachon 20, said she is the type of person who would complain if a homosexual was refused service.
The owner of the bar, Michel Gadoury says his bar has never allowed women since they opened 11 years ago.
“We’re not discriminating, women have the right to come on certain days,” Gadoury told Radio-Canada.
“It’s a choice, it’s a choice that my clients make, that they ask me to make, and we’re respecting them.”
Audrey stressed that Article 10 of the Quebec charter was amended in 1977 to prevent sexual discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and that ironically she was basing her complaint relying on the same article of law.
“I’m scandalized!” she said of being treated this way by “a community which has suffered discrimination in the past.”
The bar, an understated spot in a flamboyant part of the city, has the trappings of a local pub with pool tables and video poker terminals.
On many nights it shows gay pornography on TV screens instead of the usual hockey game.
Washington - An Atlanta, Georgia, man was being held under armed guard at a Georgia hospital Wednesday after his attempt to evade US health officials, who have warned he suffers from an extremely drug-resistant strain of tuberculosis.
The man, who has not been identified, may have exposed passengers on two international flights to the disease, according to the US Centres for Disease Control (CDC.)
The forced quarantine was the first such move by US public authorities in more than 40 years.
Passengers onboard the Air France flight from Atlanta, Georgia to Paris on May 12 and then on a Czech Air flight from Prague to Montreal on May 24 were being urged to check in with the CDC for testing.
The background in the case was unclear. The Atlanta man apparently identified with the disease in January by public health officials. But he told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he had not been prohibited from leaving the country when he told them he needed to fly to Greece for his wedding.
The CDC tracked him down on his honeymoon in Rome to order him into isolation, the newspaper reported.
President Bush urged Congress on Wednesday to authorize an additional $30 billion to fight AIDS in Africa over five years, doubling the current U.S. commitment.The money would provide treatment for 2.5 million people under the President’s Emergency Program for AIDS Relief, White House press secretary Tony Snow said.
Through March 31, the program has supported treatment for 1.1 million people in 15 countries, including more than 1 million in Africa, Snow said. The program’s original five-year mandate, which called for spending $15 billion, expires in September 2008.
Snow said the specific goals for the next five years _ after Bush leaves office _ call for treatment of 2.5 million people, prevention of more than 12 million new infections and the care of more than 12 million people, including 5 million orphans and children.
The White House also announced that Bush’s wife, Laura, will visit four African countries _ Zambia, Mali, Mozambique and Senegal _ that have benefited from the U.S. program. The trip will take place June 25-29.
The president’s announcement comes before next week’s annual summit of industrialized nations in Heiligendamm, Germany. Germany is pledging to make Africa a central point and is calling for more aid, further debt relief and improved financial oversight.
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