BOSTON - Add foot woes to conditions excess weight can cause or worsen, says Foot Care Basics, an updated report from Harvard Medical School.  Each time you step, you put about 1½ times your weight on your foot.  If you run or play tennis, 3-4 times your weight lands on each foot each time it hits the ground.  Every pound you gain adds to the stress.  Poundage can add to heel pain misery (particularly plantar fasciitis) and arthritis, among other foot ills.  When too much strain is put on the plantar fascia (ligament-like structure that runs from your heel to the ball of your foot) it may become inflamed.  That usually causes a sharp pain at the heel.  If you’re overweight or obese, you’re likely to leave your foot doctor not only with pain medication and stretching exercises but also advice on losing weight.

WASHINGTON - Monday Morning in Washington, D.C. noted DisabilityNation is an audio magazine by and for people with disabilities.  Too often, we hear about the legal, physical, or attitudinal barriers facing persons with disabilities in our society.  Unfortunately, not enough attention is focused on those with disabilities simply living life.  The goal of DisabilityNation is to provide listeners with an alternative view of disability issues.  Often, mainstream media tends to glorify disability or frames us as being heroic because we live our lives and participate in everyday activities.  DisabilityNation is produced by people with disabilities.  Therefore, we know that living with a disability isn't heroic, it isn't inspirational, and it isn't unusual.  It’s just part of life.

CALGARY, CANADA - A plate and cereal bowl with proper portion size markers seem to aid obese diabetics lose weight and cut glucose-controlling medications, noted a report in Archives of Internal Medicine.  The proportion of U.S. adults 1960-2000 who were obese rose from 13.4 to 30.9%, the article stated.  Most type 2 diabetes cases reflect obesity.  Cutting calories has been shown to aid blood sugar control in diabetics, partially by fostering weight loss.  The authors wrote: "Portion sizes are an important [factor in] energy intake; calories ingested by subjects at a meal have been correlated directly with the serving size offered."  Dr. Sue Pedersen, and colleagues at the University of Calgary, did a six-month controlled trial of commercially available portion control plates and bowls.  The plates had sections for proteins, carbohydrates, cheese/sauce, with the rest for vegetables.  The sections approximated an 800 calorie meal for men, a 650 calorie meal for women.  The bowl allows a 200 calorie meal of cereal and milk.  After follow-up, patients using the dishes -16.9% - lost at least 5% of their body weight.

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services’ National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced a new information campaign of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK).  It highlights the importance of using accurate methods to test hemoglobin A1c in people with diabetes who have sickle cell trait or other inherited forms of variant hemoglobin.  The specific needs for testing blood glucose control in these patients are explained in two booklets, "Sickle Cell Trait and Other Hemoglobinopathies and Diabetes: Important Information for Physicians" and "For People of African, Mediterranean, or Southeast Asian Heritage: Important Information about Diabetes Blood Tests."  Studies have shown repeatedly that intensive control of blood glucose, blood pressure, and cholesterol reduces heart disease and the other complications of diabetes.  The hemoglobin A1c blood test (or simply the A1C test) is an essential tool in diabetes care because it shows a patient's average level of blood glucose control in the previous 2-3 months.  Physicians base their treatment decisions in large part on the A1C test results.

BOSTON - The Associated Press reported more than 800 of them have lost an arm, a leg, fingers, or toes; more than 100 are blind.  Dozens need machines to keep them alive.  Hundreds are disfigured by burns, and thousands have brain injuries and mangled minds.  America's war wounded get less attention than the 3,500 troops killed in Iraq.  They number 35,000-53,000, and more are coming home, with injuries of a magnitude the government didn’t predict and is struggling to treat.  "If we left Iraq tomorrow, we would have the legacy of all these people for many years to come," said Dr. Jeffrey Drazen, editor-in-chief of the New England Journal of Medicine and an adviser to the U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs.  "The military wasn't prepared for its success" at keeping severely wounded soldiers alive, he said.  Unlike previous wars, few have been shot.  The signature weapon of this war - the improvised explosive device - has left a signature wound: traumatic brain injury.  Soldiers hit in the head or knocked out by blasts - "getting your bell rung" is the military euphemism - sometimes have no visible wounds but can be irritable, depressed, and unaware they are impaired.

PHILADELPHIA - Cancer specialists from OncoLink.org, the cancer Web-based resource of the University of Pennsylvania Abramson Cancer Center, launched OncoLife, an individualized plan-of-care based on the national Institute of Medicine’s recommendations for adult cancer survivors.  The free program - soon available in Spanish - provides cancer survivors with information on health risks they face from cancer therapies, plus a defined plan to maintain health once they’re out of treatment.  "The good news for cancer survivors is their numbers are growing," said Dr. James Metz, radiation oncologist and editor of OncoLink.  "Thanks to more successful cancer therapies, an estimated 10 million survivors are living in the U.S.  Unfortunately, cancer treatments aren’t without consequences and many of these survivors are dealing with the long-term effects of treatments with little or no guidance." OncoLife is a simple on-line questionnaire patients, or their caregivers, can complete.