XIAM007 - Making Unique Observations in a Very Cluttered World: 01/07/13

Monday, 7 January 2013

Lottery winner fatally poisoned a day after collecting jackpot -

A U.S. medical examiner says a lottery winner was fatally poisoned with cyanide a day after he collected nearly $425,000.

Cook County Medical Examiner Stephen Cina says a limited exam initially found Urooj Khan died of natural causes, but a relative asked for a deeper investigation.

A full toxicology test revealed Khan had ingested a deadly amount of cyanide, and his death was re-classified as a homicide.

Khan died July 20, a day after collecting the lump sum option on a $1 million win. He bought the ticket in Chicago.

Cina said Monday it’s likely that Khan’s body will be exhumed as part of the investigation.

Read more -
http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/1311564--lottery-winner-fatally-poisoned-a-day-after-collecting-jackpot

Men Complain Of Shortened Penis After Prostate Cancer Treatment -

A small percentage of men have complained of a shortened penis after prostate cancer treatment, research reveals.

In a study conducted by researchers from Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women's Cancer Center in Boston, some men have lamented that the change in their penis has interfered with intimate relationships and caused them to regret their choice of treatment.

The study's findings, which are being published in the January issue of the journal Urology, are based on surveys completed by physicians of 948 men treated for prostate cancer and who had suffered a recurrence of the disease.

Complaints were more common in men treated with radical prostatectomy (surgical removal of the prostate) or male hormone-blocking drugs combined with radiation therapy, according to the study.

No men reported a perceived shortening of their penis following radiation therapy alone.

Twenty-five men complained of smaller penises after treatment – 3.73% for surgery, 2.67% for radiotherapy plus androgen deprivation therapy (ADT), and 0% for radiotherapy alone. Radiotherapy included both radiation administered by an external x-ray machine, and brachytherapy – the implantation of radioactive seeds directly into the prostate.

The scientific team, led by radiation oncologist Paul Nguyen, MD, and medical student Arti Parekh, said it is the first study to link men's perceptions of a reduction in penis size to lowered life satisfaction, problems in emotional relationships, and misgivings about the specific form of prostate cancer treatment they chose.

Nguyen said that the potential side effect of a smaller penis is well-known among physicians and surgeons.

Read more -
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/01/04/prostate-cancer-treatment-shortened-penis-men-health_n_2408047.html

McStupid Crook! Man Arrested After Returning to Eat At McDonald's He Robbed! -

The Golden Arches have led to steel bars for one suspected crook.

Police in Pontiac, Michigan Monday said that a 40-year-old man was arrested over the weekend after returning to a McDonald's restaurant he'd robbed three months earlier.

The suspected robber, authorities with the Oakland County sheriff's department said, was pointed out by employees as he used the drive-thru Saturday.

The man remains in custody at Oakland County Jail in connection with the heist, which occurred October 5.

Read more -
http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2013/01/detroit-mcdonalds-robber-arrested-pontiac-michigan

Identical twin mothers in Ohio give birth the same day - two hours apart -

Aiden and Donavyn didn't wait until New Year's Day to come screaming into the world, but the circumstances of their births are still pretty special: The babies were born about two hours apart to Ohio mothers who are identical twins.
The Akron Beacon Journal reports that the 19-year-old mothers -- Aimee and Ashlee Nelson weren't raised to do things alike and did not plan the births to come at the same time. In fact, their due dates were about a week apart.
But Donavyn Scott Bratten was born just after noon on the last day of 2012. Aiden Lee Alan Dilts made his appearance at about 2 p.m.
They were delivered by the same doctor at Summa Akron City Hospital.

Read more: -
http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/01/02/twin-mothers-in-ohio-give-birth-same-day/?intcmp=obnetwork

A Mother woke to find a 1.85m-long python wrapped around her two-year-old daughter -

Tess Guthrie, 22, from Lismore on the far north coast, was woken by her cat hissing at 3.30am and discovered the python wrapped three times around her daughter Zara's arm, who was sleeping in the bed with her.

At first she thought it was a dream but soon realised the horror and grabbed the snake by the head to pry it off her child, which caused the reptile to bite Zara three times on her left hand.

"After we went to the hospital and Tex came, they found the snake sort of down behind the bedside table and in-between the wall but I don't doubt he was there for days," she told the local TV station.

Zara was treated at Lismore Base Hospital and released yesterday morning.

Tex Tillis, from Tex's Snake Removals, who removed the reptile, said the coastal python, or carpet snake, wasn't trying to hurt the child.

"The snake, not in any way, shape or form, had intended to eat the baby - it was trying to have a group hug," he told The Daily Telegraph.

"Pythons, underneath their bottom jaw they have a row of sensors which enable them to see the world in terms of infrared pictures. So in the dark they're going to see a baby as this warm spot."

Ms Guthrie said she had noticed that her cat had been behaving out of character in the days leading up to the python's appearance.

"She's a very resourceful lady," Mr Tillis said. "She tried to grab its head but got six inches down which left the head to bite the baby.

"When you grab a snake, a snake in its reptilian brain thinks, 'anything that can grab me can also eat me'."

Mr Tillis estimates the python to be 5-10 years old: "by no means a big fella - they grow much, much bigger."

But Ms Guthrie insisted that the reptile not be killed and instead it was released back into the wild about 5km from the house.

Mr Tillis said: "Not only is she courageous and gutsy but she's compassionate."

Read more -
http://www.news.com.au/national/mum-finds-her-baby-in-grip-of-a-python/story-fncynjr2-1226548534204

Saturated fats tied to falling sperm counts -

Saturated fats, like those found in rich cheeses and meats, may do more than weigh men down after a meal - a Danish study also links them to dwindling sperm counts.
Researchers, whose report appeared in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, found that young Danish men who ate the most saturated fats had a 38 percent lower concentration of sperm, and 41 percent lower sperm counts in their semen, than those who ate the least fat.
"We cannot say that it has a causal effect, but I think other studies have shown that saturated fat intake has shown a connection to other problems and now also for sperm count," said Tina Jensen, the study's lead author from Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen, the Danish capital.
The research is not the first to connect diet and other lifestyle factors to sperm production and quality. In 2011, Brazilian researchers found that eating more grains - such as wheat, oats or barley - was associated with improved sperm concentration and mobility, and fruit was also linked to a speed and agility boost in sperm.
But that study and most others looked at these associations using data on men seeking fertility treatments, which may not be representative of all men.
For their study, Jensen and her colleagues surveyed and examined 701 young Danish men who were about 20 years old and getting checkups for the military between 2008 and 2010.
They were asked about the food they ate over the prior three months, and then asked for a semen sample. The researchers then broke the results into four groups, depending on how much of the men's energy intake came from saturated fats, and compared how much sperm the men in each group produced.
The men who got less than 11.2 percent of their energy from saturated fats had an average sperm concentration of 50 million per milliliter of semen and a total sperm count of about 163 million.
That compared to 45 million sperm per milliliter of semen and a 128 million count in men who got more than 15 percent of their energy from saturated fats.
The World Health Organization defines anything over 15 million sperm per milliliter of semen as normal. In the study, 13 percent of men in the lowest-fat group and 18 percent of men in the highest-fat group fell below that level.
Although the study cannot determine whether other lifestyle factors might account for the link, Jensen said her team's findings may partially explain studies that have found sperm counts decreasing around the world.
Last year, French researchers reported the number of sperm in one milliliter of the average 35-year-old Frenchman's semen fell from about 74 million in 1989 to about 50 million in 2005.
"I think obesity is another cause, but (saturated fats) could also be a possible explanation," Jensen said.

Read more -
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/saturated-fats-tied-falling-sperm-counts-danes-study-235125028.html

New weight-loss gadget sucks food straight out of stomach... -

Who would have thought that the future of weight loss might lie in the hands of the inventor of the Segway? Dean Kamen, creator of the two-wheeled wonder, along with a team from Aspire Bariatrics, of Philadelphia, has applied for a patent for a pump that can suck food and drink straight out of the stomach.

Users are able to stuff their face before draining their stomach by connecting the pump to a valve surgically installed in their abdominal wall. The makers hope to use it to treat the morbidly obese, and to provide an alternative to a gastric bypass.

Initial setbacks – and here's the really yucky part – have occurred because the pump struggles to break up large foods. One patient reported "clogging" and had to avoid eating cauliflower, broccoli, Chinese food, stir fry, snow peas, pretzels, chips and steak. No chips? It will never catch on.

Read more -
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/eat-drink-and-pump-it-out-new-weight-loss-gadget-sucks-food-straight-out-of-the-stomach-8440201.html