Heart Doctor Pioneer Michael DeBakey Dies

Dr. Michael DeBakey, the famous cardiovascular surgeon that pioneered the bypass surgery and inventor of many devices to help people with heart problems, has died at the age of 99 from natural causes at the Methodist Hospital in Houston, TX. In 1932, while he was still in medical school, he invented the roller pump, which later became the most important part of the heart-lung machine. The machine takes over the responsibilities of the heart and lungs during surgery. He was also the pioneer in the development of artificial hearts and heart pumps to help people waiting for transplants. He had helped to create more than 70 surgical instruments in his lifetime.

In the 1950s, DeBakey was the first person to perform the replacement of arterial aneurysms and obstructive lesions. He had developed bypass pumps and connections to replace parts of diseased arteries.

He had performed more than 60,000 heart surgeries in his career that lasted 70 years. His patients had included the Duke of Windsor, the Shah of Iran, King Hussein of Jordan, Turkish President Turgut Ozal, Nicaraguan leader Violetta Chamorro, President Kennedy, President Johnson, and President Nixon. He was a consultant when Russian President Boris Yeltsin had surgery.

He served as the chairman of the President’s Commission on Heart Disease, Cancer, and Stroke during President Johnson’s administration. He had helped to establish the National Library of Medicine and was the author of more than 1,000 medical reports, papers, chapters, and books on surgery, medicine, and similar topics.

In 1953, he performed the first Dacron graft to be able to replace part of occluded arteries. In the 1960s he started coronary artery bypasses. In 1966, he was the first person to successfully use a partial artificial heart. In the 1990s, he helped to create the Michael E. DeBakey Heart Instititute at Hays Medical Center.

Coroner Finds Cause of Singer Sean’s Levert’s Death

A coroner has ruled that the singer Sean Levert died of natural causes. He died soon after getting sick in jail. Attorneys for Levert’s widow found in sheriff’s department records that he wasn’t given his anti-anxiety medicine while he was in jail and he wasn’t being seen by a doctor, which could have possibly prevented his death. He died on March 30^th at the age of 39 at a hospital nearly an hour after he was taken from the Cuyahoga County jail. He was sentenced to serve 22 months in jail for failing to pay child support.

Levert had supposedly been acting strange and was restrained before getting sick. The coroner states that he died from complications of sarcoidosis, which is an inflammatory lung disease that produces small lumps of cells in the body’s organs. He also had heart disease, high blood sugar, and withdrawal symptoms from the drug alprazolam, which is commonly used to treat anxiety disorders and panic attacks.

Sean Levert was a member of the 1980s group called Levert. He was also the son of O’Jays singer Eddie Levert.

China Changes One-Child Policy Due to Earthquake

China has decided to change its one-child policy to exempt the families with a child killed, severely injured, or disabled in the country’s recent earthquake. The families can get a certificate to have another child.

On May 12th of this year, there was a devastating earthquake that killed 65,000 people and left more than 23,000 people missing. There were many children that were killed and injured in the disaster. Usually, having more than one child is illegal in China and families that have more than one child are punished by having to pay fines. If the families’ legally born child is killed and the family only has an illegally born child under the age of 18, then that child can be registered as a legal child. This is a positive thing because it gives the child that was once illegal the same rights as a legal citizen and nine years of compulsory education.

China started the one-child policy in the late 1970s to control China’s very large population and to provide better education and health care. There were already certain exceptions for ethnic groups, rural families, and families where both parents are only children. In some parts of rural China, most families are allowed to have a second child, especially if the first child is a girl.

Many people in China have shown interest in adopting children that have become orphans due to the earthquake. There are not any limitations to the number of orphans that a family can adopt. The adoptions and the future birth to a family that adopts an orphan is exempt from the one-child policy as the earthquake left 4,000 children to become orphans. Most of the orphans will be sent to live with other family members.

Pimp C Funeral

The rapper Pimp C, who was found dead in bed in a Los Angeles hotel room last week, will have a public memorial service on Thursday in Texas. The memorial service will be at the Robert A. Bowers Civic Center in Port Arthur, TX, Pimp C's hometown.

It is said that his death was due to natural causes but the autopsy and toxicology results won't be available for up to eight weeks.

Mr. Whipple From Charmin TV Ads Dies

This past Monday, Dick Wilson the pitchman who played Mr. Whipple in the Charmin tissue commercials, died at the age of 91. He died of natural causes at the Motion Picture & Television Fund Hospital in Woodland Hills. For more than 21 years he made over 500 commercials playing Mr. George Whipple. Wilson also played a drunken character on several episodes of “Bewitched,” played many characters on “Hogan’s Heroes,” and was on “The Bob Newhart Show.”

Obese Woman Dies in Front of Refrigerator

In Staten Island, a morbidly obese woman was found dead in her apartment on the floor in front of her open refrigerator door. She also had an empty oxygen tank near her. Her overweight son was also found dead in the next room. It is assumed that the mother and son died of natural causes.

The son was 280 pounds and had a lifelong heart condition. He was also a candidate for a transplant. The mother was 300 pounds and took care of her son. They are not sure who died first.

Read More of This Interesting Story: http://www.nypost.com/seven/11152007/news/regionalnews/sad_weigh_to_go_995800.htm

Natural Cold Cures

There are natural herbs available that can help you to stay healthy or help you to feel better quicker when you get a cold.

A study showed that 32% of Ginseng users got colds after 4 months compared to 62% taking a placebo. Another study showed that 256 people taking Ginseng had 25% fewer colds after 4 months than the people taking the placebo.

It is shown that the herb Echinacea shortens cold symptoms by a day and a half when taken regularly. It also decreases the chances of catching a cold by 58%.

A supplement containing the herb andrographis paniculata can improve cold symptoms by up to 55%.

Court Orders Burial of Mummified Baby

In Concord, NH a judge ordered a man, named Charles Peavey, to bury his family heirloom, which is a mummified baby that has been passed down for generations through his family. Authorities took the mummy last year after the man’s niece mentioned it at a day care center.

Tests showed that the baby died of natural causes but they didn’t find that the baby was related to the family. The mummy won’t be given back to the Peavey family until they prove the mummy is related to them through DNA testing. The family says the mummy is the child of a great-great uncle. The mummy, named Baby John, had been placed on display on a bureau in the Peavey home. Relatives and friends would treat the mummy like a family member and give it cards during the holiday and a dried fish as a pet. If there is no relation found to the mummy, the baby is ordered to be buried.

The Benefits of Water and Longevity

Water is one of the most important natural elements on earth. There are a lot of reasons that we need water for our basic survival and water has a lot of benefits that keep us healthy. Here are some of the benefits.

The human body is made up of between 55 to 75 percent of water and almost every cell in your body needs water to function properly. Lean people have more water in their bodies because muscle holds more water than fat. Your body is in constant need of replenishing itself. When you breathe you lose two to four cups of water. When your feet sweat you lose a cup of water. When the rest of your body sweats you lose two cups of water.

You have to lose 10 percent of your body weight in water to be considered dehydrated but just 2 percent can affect you physically and cause tiredness and lack of energy. Dehydration can cause problems in blood circulation because when you are dehydrated the blood is thicker and your body would have to work harder to circulate.

Getting enough water can lessen the chance of kidney stones, keep joints lubricated, prevent and lessen the effects of colds and flu, and help prevent constipation. It detoxifies the liver and kidneys. It also keeps the digestive system in order and flushes out the waste from your body. You shouldn’t have much sugar in your diet because it slows down the rate that fluid is absorbed into your body. Studies have shown that people who drank at least 5 glasses of water per day had a 41 percent less chance for a heart attack.

Water is very good for your skin because it acts as a purifier and removes toxins and waste from your body. Drinking water also helps to moisturize the skin and give it a fresh and healthy glow.


Water can aid in weight loss because it acts as a natural appetite suppressant. When you drink enough water it is easier for you body to burn and get rid of fat cells. When you don’t get enough water it is a lot harder to lose weight.

Water has a lot of benefits that are crucial to life and survival. It is recommended to drink 8 to 10 glasses of water per day. Drinking water can help you to live a long and healthy life.