Health Fitness InfoCentre

Jeff Bridges on the The Big Lebowski:

It’s not like he’s a know-it-all, the Dude. He’s not a guy who has figured out the way to be or anything like that, but he is comfortable with what he’s got, and, as the Stranger says, things turn out pretty well for him. I guess we can all take comfort in that because - who knows? - things may turn out pretty well for us, too.

I once spent a frustratingly long time sat in a tent in Zermatt on a very limited budget, wishing that the weather would change so that conditions would be right to climb the Matterhorn. The only entertainment was reading a book about the Russian Revolution and drinking the occasionally exorbitantly priced can of Heineken Lager. The South Korean climbing team in the neighbouring tent complex were speaking to their fellow climbers over the radio, who were stuck in a storm on the North Face. At one point they started to sing mournful songs over the radio. Even without any knowledge of Korean, you could detect the tension.

Thankfully their climbers returned after a retreat from the face - looking fairly spaced out. The weather cleared, but the Matterhorn was still out of condition, and as my graduation day was due in three days we made a quick ascent of the Rimpfischhorn instead. At 8am we were on the small summit, and by the afternoon we were on an arguably more dangerous caffeine fueled non-stop drive back to England. My climbing partner was annoyed that we’d bottled the Matterhorn. The year before he had got within 300 meters of the summit, only to get entangled in an accident involving Japanese climbers not of his making.

Still reading this story in the Telegraph, I’m fairly glad that we had the sense to not push on regardless of the weather, purely because our schedule dictated it was our only opportunity.

A gifted British student and three of his friends who died trying to climb Mont Blanc have been branded “stubborn and stupid” by police.
[…]
The four victims died of cold and exhaustion after enduring a night on the mountain exposed to 75mph winds, heavy snowfall and temperatures of minus 15C.

Stphane Bozon, the captain of the High Mountain Police in Chamonix, France, said: “The group decided on this mythical climb without taking into account the weather forecasts. This is stubbornness and stupidity.

“They persisted despite the weather and focused only on climbing Mont Blanc. Their responsibility is total.”

What a waste.

Recent paper:

Cox AR, Gilmartin B. Drug-induced opthalmic adverse reactions. Adverse Drug Reaction Bulletin 2006;241:923-926.

And a book chapter (the proof reading of which I mentioned here) :

Langford NJ, Cox A. Interactions between Antihypertensive Drugs and Other Medications. In: Comprehensive Hypertension. Editors: Lip GHY, Hall JE. Philadelphia, Mosby Elsevier; 2007. 1075-1086

You can buy Comprehensive Hypertension at Amazon.

Here is todays most in-depth reference for any cardiologist, internist, or nephrologist interested in hypertension. Drawing from international experience in cardiology, physiology, and nephrology, Drs. Lip and Hall have assembled a group of section editors and contributors second to none. Youll find the long-term effects of primary and secondary hypertension and a lengthy section on hypertensions for special populations featured prominently. Prevention and treatment of hypertension are covered in detail, from lifestyle and diet issues to drug choice and delivery, and the section on comparison of guidelines is unique to this book.

Petition for Iraqi employees of British Army

The Iraqis who have been working for the coalition forces as translators and in other capacities are in danger from death squads which have been hunting them down. Surely we have a responsibility to attend to the well-being of these people and their families as our military presence in Iraq is reduced. Treating them as other refugees is insufficient and abandoning them is dishonourable. Denmark has set a good example by airlifting out the Iraqi employees of the Danish armed services. This is an example we should follow.

Sign it.

The five Bulgarian nurses and one Palestinian-born doctor (given Bulgarian citizenship recently) jailed because of an allegation that they deliberately infected children with HIV, a charge which they were almost certainly innocent of, have been freed.

They have been in prison since 1999 living under a death sentence, and suffering torture at the hands of the Libyan Authorities.