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Posted on 04/09/2003 6:27:42 PM PDT by Lil'freeper
Dr. Atkins Hospitalized With Severe Brain Injury
NEW YORK (AP) - Low-carbohydrate diet promoter Dr. Robert Atkins was hospitalized Wednesday with severe head injuries after falling on an icy sidewalk, his spokesman said.
Atkins, 72, slipped and fell during Tuesday's snowstorm outside the Atkins Center for Complementary Medicine, spokesman Richard Rothstein said.
``He was negotiating the snow and ice and failed in that negotiation,'' Rothstein said. A colleague rushed Atkins to New York Weill Cornell Medical Center, where he underwent surgery for severe head trauma, Rothstein said.
The extent of Atkins' impairment was unknown, he said.
``He's in recovery now, and the doctors are telling us that it will be a day or two days or three days before we have the answers to these questions,'' Rothstein said.
Atkins is the author of the best-selling ``Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution,'' which sold more than 10 million copies worldwide.
For year, Atkins' high-protein, low-carb diet was the butt of jokes among nutritionists and diet gurus across the nation. But last year, studies were published that concluded he was right all along. Researchers from Duke University reported that six months on the high-fat, low-carbohydrate Atkins Diet added up to more weight loss and better cholesterol than a low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet.
Eric Westman, MD, Duke University obesity researcher, says he decided to study the Atkins Diet after treating several patients who were "losing significant weight using the Atkins diet." But Westman says he didn't expect the high-fat regimen to do better than "the standard low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet that we use at the Duke Diet Center."
Westman assigned 120 obese volunteers -- 75% of them women -- to either the Atkins diet or to a low-fat diet that restricts fat to less than 30% of total calories. The participants following the Atkins diet got less than 10% of calories from carbohydrates, while 60% came from fat. The Atkins diet also includes the use of fish oil, borage oil, and flaxseed oil supplements.
After six months the Atkins diet group lost about 14% of their starting weight or an average of 30 pounds, which was considerably better than the 20-pound or 9% loss for the low-fat dieters.
Best wishes to Dr. Atkins for a speedy recovery.
Not getting enough butter, clearly.
The French must have been involved in the negotiations. That would explain the failure.
Hope the good Dr. makes a full recovery.
Where's Jimmy Carter when you need him?
Off appeasing a vicious dictator somewhere, no doubt.
Dr. Robert C. Atkins Hospitalized After Accident
New York, NY, April 9, 2003--Early Tuesday morning April 8th, on his daily walk to work, Dr. Robert C. Atkins fell on the sidewalk outside his office and suffered injuries to his head. The dramatic snowstorm that hit New York City the day before along with the unusually cold temperatures left streets and sidewalks particularly dangerous. Fortunately, his colleague at The Atkins Center, Dr. Keith Berkowitz, was arriving at work at the same time and was able to rush Dr. Atkins to Cornell University Medical Center. We learned last night that as a result of the fall, Dr. Atkins did suffer severe head trauma and required surgery. He is currently under medical observation. Once he is discharged from the hospital, Dr. Atkins will continue his convalescence at home, under the care of Dr. Berkowitz.
I'm sure all the Atkins-haters will say, "See? Low-carb diets ruin your motor coordination!"
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