On a safari in Kruger National Park, South Africa, last week, I had an amazing experience learning all about the abundant wildlife we encoutered: giraffes, lions, leopards, zebras, wildebeest, hippos, crocs, and the like. One thing that stands out in my mind is the astounding eating capacity of the elephants: they eat a whopping 250 kilograms of food each day!For an adult male elephant, weighing about 5500 kg, this equates to 1kg of food per 22kg body weight. The weight of food consumed by a...


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As my readers and patients know, I often emphasize the importance of vitamin and mineral supplementation (see previous blogs about multivitamins, and vitamin D). A recent randomized clinical trial has now shown that supplementation with a multivitamin was effective in inducing weight loss in a group of Chinese women.

This clinical trial, published in the International Journal of Obesity, enrolled 96 overweight or obese Chinese women, and randomized them to receive either a multivitamin &...


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Does this image seem familiar to anyone? A snoring bed partner is a common problem! However, the problem may go far beyond nighttime frustration: it may be an indicator of an important medical problem called Obstructive Sleep Apnea.


Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a disorder that is characterized by periods of diminished breathing or pauses in breathing during sleep, caused by repetitive collapse of the upper airway.


 

Symptoms of sleep apnea include: restlessness and snoring...


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As blogged previously, there are a number of weight loss drugs currently under study. The latest study on a combination weight loss medication called Contrave shows good effect to induce weight loss, but with the potential for significant side effects that must be taken into careful consideration.Contrave is a combination of two medications already on the market: bupropion, a smoking cessation agent and antidepressant, and naltrexone, which is used to treat alcohol or narcotic addictions. The...


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