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DO IT NOW WHEN IT'S FRESH IN YOUR MIND

The Saga Of Pinehill Book II
Money, Marriage And The Way
is now published and available.
Buy direct from:

http://www.publishamerica.com
(enter the name Saga of Pinehill in
the search box)

If you enjoyed the first book, you
won't be able to put
this one down until you've finished
it. Enjoy.

DO IT NOW WHEN IT'S FRESH IN YOUR MIND

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TODAY'S TRIVIA - - -
-----------------------

Have any other animals been shown to transmit culture?

Do orangutans actually sleep in trees?

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ANSWERS TO YESTERDAY'S TRIVIA - - - -

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Is it true that eBay was started by a man trying to help his
girlfriend trade PEZ dispensers?

Yes. The amazingly popular online auction site was created
in 1995 by Pierre Omidyar to help his fiancee trade her PEZ
dispensers with other collectors across the country.
Apparently, it worked. She's now his wife and the two are
very, very rich.

Do animals have culture?

Well, they aren't going to the opera. But some animals DO
have culture, recent research suggests. A new study,
published in the journal Science, shows that orangutans have
distinct cultures that direct their behaviors, such as how
they eat, use tools, and even say good night. Researchers
found that the tree-living apes learn much of their
lifestyle from other orangutans in their social sphere. They
exhibited behaviors that were unique to their individual
grouping. That means that orangutans in one population
behaved differently than those in other populations. Most
importantly, researchers showed that the behaviors were
culturally transmitted, or passed on to others through
learning. 

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I'LL SEE IT WHEN I BELIEVE IT!

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There are a lot of ways to become a failure,
but never taking a chance is the most successful.

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thePEBBLE CONTENTS:

1. STRANGE BITS AND PIECES!

------------------
2. COVER STORY
------------------------------------

Around The Net

-------------------
3. MEDICAL COLUMN with Karin Henderson

Health Question On Positioning
PART 3 of 4

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4. PERCEPTIONS by Ken Darby

That Decision Will Come Back To Haunt Us

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5. WHY DO WE SAY IT?

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6. THINK ABOUT THIS TODAY!
7. HA! HA!HA!
8. CONTACT INFO
9. THE LAST LINE - - - - -


DO IT NOW WHEN IT'S FRESH IN YOUR MIND

The Saga Of Pinehill Book II
Money, Marriage And The Way
is now published and available. Buy direct from:

http://www.publishamerica.com
(enter the name Saga of Pinehill in the search box)

If you enjoyed the first book, you won't be able to put
this one down until you're finished it. Enjoy.

DO IT NOW WHEN IT'S FRESH IN YOUR MIND

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STRANGE BITS AND PIECES!

In the late 1950's, California surfers invented the
skateboard as a means of surfing outside of water.

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COVER STORY
------------------------------------

Around The Net

Weight-Loss Drug to Be Sold Over the Counter
By STEPHANIE SAUL
Published: February 7, 2007
( New York Times)

The Food and Drug Administration today approved the first
officially sanctioned weight-loss drug that will be sold
without a prescription.

The drug, called Alli, is expected to be available to
consumers this summer and will become the only
government-approved alternative to unproven over-the-counter
weight loss remedies.

Although the same weight-loss medication has been available
by prescription since 1999, some drug industry analysts
believe it will be more widely used as an over-the-counter
product. That market is currently dominated by herbal
potions and nutritional supplements that advertise fast
weight loss, but have no proven effectiveness and can be
dangerous.

Because they are classified as nutritionals, they do not
require F.D.A. approval.

An obesity specialist in Washington, Dr. Arthur Frank, said
Alli had a safe track record and could help patients lose 5
to 10 percent of their weight. On the negative side, Alli
can cause annoying side effects including diarrhea and oily
stools.

Alli’s marketing plan calls for a realistic approach that
will emphasize the need to diet and exercise while taking
the medication. In studies, about half of patients taking
Alli in combination with a diet and exercise plan lost 5
percent or more of their body weight in six months.

The product’s maker, GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare,
said it planned sell Alli for about $2 to $3 a day. The
company has predicted that Alli will be used by 5 million to
6 million people a year.

The F.D.A.’s approval of Alli comes at time when the federal
government is under pressure to address a growing obesity
problem in the United States. Roughly 31 percent of American
adults, or about 60 million people, meet the criterion for
obesity. More than 64 percent of the adult population in
this country is regarded as overweight.

Another weight-loss drug is also under review by the agency.
That compound, rimonabant, works on the brain’s pleasure
centers to suppress appetite. If approved, it would be
available only by prescription.

Alli is an over-the-counter version of a prescription drug
called Xenical, which has been sold in the United States
since 1999. While Xenical is sold in 120-milligram doses,
Alli will be sold in 60-milligram capsules. Company studies
have shown that the 60-milligram dose provides about 85
percent of the weight loss of the higher dose.

The drug works by blocking the breakdown and absorption of
fat in the intestine, at the same time blocking absorption
of calories from that fat. Fat that is not absorbed merely
passes through the system, the reason Alli also causes
annoying side effects — ranging from flatulence and oily
stool to occasional loss of bowel control.

“Say you have a big fatty meal, it blocks the absorption of
a lot of fat, which is good, except that when you get a lot
of fat way down in your colon, you have a chance of
diarrhea, loose stools and unpleasant intestinal symptoms,”
said Dr. Frank, the medical director for the George
Washington University Weight Management Program. Dr. Frank
has served on an advisory panel for Glaxo.

Dr. Jana Klauer, a weight-loss and nutrition specialist in
Manhattan, said the drug’s side effect had been a deterrent
to its use.

“I haven’t had terrific success with it,” Dr. Klauer said.
“My patients just don’t like the side effects. I use it a
little bit, but not a lot.”

Through its intestinal side effects, the drug also creates
an aversion to eating excessive fat, another reason it
works, Dr. Frank said.

The intestinal symptoms can be minimized by eating a diet of
no more than 30 percent fat. The company will package Alli
capsules with seven pocket reference guides that provide
advice on meal-planning, what to order when eating out, a
fat and calories counter, and a journal for recording daily
food intake.

The educational plan will also include a Web site,
myalli.com, where customers taking Alli will be able to log
in, track their progress and obtain personalized advice.

Steven L. Burton, Glaxo’s vice president for weight control
products, said the F.D.A. asked the company to strengthen
its campaign to package the product as an overall
weight-loss plan.

“The F.D.A. wanted us to reinforce education about the
behavioral role in weight loss,” Mr. Burton said. “They
asked for more emphasis on what really are the keys to
successful weight loss, steady gradual weight loss. You need
to be getting more physical activity. We worked on
strengthening those in the label.”

The product was approved despite protests from the Public
Citizen Health Research Group, which had cited studies
linking the prescription version of the drug with
pre-cancerous changes in the intestine.

But Dr. Frank said the drug had a good safety record. “It’s
safe, there’s no question it’s safe,” Dr. Frank said. “It’s
a nonsystemic drug. It’s not absorbed by the intestine. The
only thing it does it runs through the intestinal tract and
drags out some fat with it.”

But Dr. Frank expressed concerns that some patients will buy
the pills and not read the educational material, and then
have episodes of diarrhea.

Dr. Klauer said she was concerned about the potential for
abuse.

“Whenever anything is over the counter, there is a potential
for abuse and I have no doubt that that’s going to happen,”
she said. “I think people who don’t really need it will take
it. People who don’t need to lose weight will take it.”

Because Alli blocks the absorption of some vitamins, people
who use it must also take a multivitamin.

GlaxoSmithKline licensed the product from Roche in 2004 with
plans to switch it to the over-the-counter market even
though the prescription product never met sales
expectations, a disappointment that has been blamed on the
drug’s side effects as well as Roche’s low-key marketing.

The company is regarded at expert in over-the-counter drug
switches because of its experience commercializing Nicorette
chewing gum and Nicoderm skin patches in 1996. Previously,
those products had been sold only by prescription.

GlaxoSmithKline is expected to use some of the same
marketing techniques in switching Alli.

In addition to the Web site, the drug’s introduction is
expected to be accompanied by significant television and
magazine advertising.

“G.S.K. seems to be putting a lot more into how to market it
to consumers,” said Morgan Downey, executive vice president
of the Obesity Society, an obesity research and advocacy
organization in Silver Spring, Md., that has received
financial support from GlaxoSmithKline.

Alli’s approval followed the recommendation of a federal
advisory panel last year that favored its over-the-counter
sale by a vote of 11 to 3.

Dr. Louis J. Aronne, a Manhattan obesity expert who
conducted some of the early research on the drug, said he
believed Alli would be a welcome alternative to some
ineffective products currently sold in the over-the-counter
weight loss market.

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See your future and become it.
---- Ken Darby

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MEDICAL COLUMN - - - - with Karin Henderson


Health Question On Positioning
PART 3 of 4

Why is turning so important? It has to do with pressure on
certain body parts that will possibly be harmed. If you have a
person lie on their side, the blood in their system/body will
"pool" to the lowest point of their body...i.e. the hip area or
ankles. And if they continue to keep that position, the pressure
of the body weight will start to block off that circulation. If
you actually looked at that skin area you would see first see
redness and then blanching or whitish area. This is the initial
stage of skin breakdown. Unless the person is repositioned, this
could well lead to all sorts of "pressure ulcers or sores".
This is one of the big challenges in nursing homes...people sit
or lie for extended periods of time. We assume they move or
wiggle around to make themselves more comfortable. They often
don't.

There are lots of different protective and positioning aids to
prevent pressure sores. When wrists and ankles are mentioned, it
raises the question of more defined restraint. That would come
under specific hospital policies and doctor's orders. (Keep in
mind that these institutions have many, many experiences like
this and will already have made provision for positive results
and preventative measures. The reports on injuries or unexpected
results are long and tedious to complete. Prevention is the
"firewall".)

-------------------------------------------
Karin Henderson is a registered nurse and is thePEBBLE's
columnist for our MEDICAL COLUMN.
We appreciate her input very much. Thanks Karin.
You can send Karin questions at
mailto:kflh@shaw.ca

Health Information Newsletter.
http://www.prescotts-inc.com

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PERCEPTIONS . . . by Ken Darby

-----------------------DISCLAIMER

Some around me think I am an opinionated old goat.
Whether that be true or not I will sometimes, in this column,
talk about things people don't like to talk about - or don't want
out in the open. Take it all with a grain of salt.

Do your own thinking, and don't accept the things I say as
gospel. They are only mental meanderings from a simple soul.

-----------------------END DISCLAIMER

That Decision Will Come Back To Haunt Us

In North America people with intelligence become alcoholics
because they drink too much. Men and women, educated, take
drugs of all descriptions. There is a pandemic concerning
the use of crystal meth.

On top of that this continent has a history of people with
the attitude that if one aspirin will cure a headache then
six will do the job better.

And in order to sell products the advertising specialists
have the entire continent believing you are only beautiful
if you are slim. To top all that off there is a huge
campaign against obesity.

While I am not saying the campaign against obesity is wrong,
what I am saying is that the FDA approving weight reducing
drugs to be sold over the counter without a prescription is
a decision that will hurt badly, even kill, many of our
young people.

Many will now see an opportunity to buy and use these drugs
in the hope, initially, of getting back to a proper weight.
Yet they will use them improperly, they will use too many,
and they will go far beyond the advised usage.

It is beyond me how an intelligent board can let an animal
like this one out of the gate. To assume there will be no
abuse is absurd. To assume there will be no widespread abuse
is also absurd. In a time when the news people see every day
is worrisome, where food is used as a crutch, can you
imagine the potential for misuse of this drug?

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WHY DO WE SAY IT?

Yankee: What is the origin of the term "Yankee"

The word comes from a nickname for the dutch, Jan Kaas,
meaning "John Cheese." Holland has long been famous for its
cheeses and so the nickname Jan Kaas or "John Cheese," is
appropriate to them. In pirate days, English sailors adopted
the term as a derisive name for the Dutch freebooters. In
this sense it became familiar in New York. Then the dutch
settlers there - noting its unpleasant significance - began
to apply it to the English settlers of Connecticut because
they believed the Connecticut English to be far more
enterprising than ethical. The term spread to the other
colonies - though at first it was almost always used to
refer with dislike to the citizens of a colony farther
North. It still is in certain sections - often with a "damn"
placed before it.

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DO IT NOW WHEN IT'S FRESH IN YOUR MIND

The Saga Of Pinehill Book II
Money, Marriage And The Way
is now published and available. Buy direct from:

http://www.publishamerica.com
(enter the name Saga of Pinehill in the search box)

If you enjoyed the first book, you won't be able to put
this one down until you've finished it. Enjoy.

DO IT NOW WHEN IT'S FRESH IN YOUR MIND

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THINK ABOUT THIS TODAY!

When we accept tough jobs as a challenge to our ability
and wade into them with joy and enthusiasm, miracles
can happen. When we do our work with a dynamic
conquering spirit, we get things done. 
Gilbert Arland

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HA! HA! HA!

A Welshman an Englishman and a Irishman were being chased by
Farmer Giles with a shotgun.

After 10 minutes of running they spotted a barn and ran
inside. Once inside they each hid in a old sack against the
barn wall.

The farmer went into the barn but did not see where they
went, he was about to turn back when he saw three suspicious
looking sacks.

He walked forward and prodded the first sack with his gun.
The Englishman inside said...''Meow''.

"Just cats," he thought. He then prodded the second sack.

The Welshman, hearing how the Englishman got off
said....''woof''.

"Just dogs," he thought. As he walked towards the last sack,
the Irishman worked out what he was going to say. As soon as
the farmer prodded his sack he said.....''potatoes!''

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CONTACT INFORMATION:

Complete Contact info on web site
http://www.the-pebble.com

To submit articles to thePEBBLE send a blank email to -
mailto:article.submission@emailsystemscentral.com

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THE LAST LINE - - - - -

Many employees hesitate to praise the people they work
for, thinking it would seem like flattery or would
weaken their bargaining power later on. But the great
employees, like the best bosses, know they are in a
spiral of helping, a contest of giving.
Dale Dauten

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REMEMBER! - IF YOU SEE IT IN thePEBBLE - IT IS SO!

In every defeat there is joy to be found, opportunity to
move on to. Every catastrophe has within it incredible
meaning and purpose. Look for them.
---- Ken Darby