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For Bob Perdrizet of Searsport, there is truly no time like the present.

That's why the 91-year-old avid gardener and longtime midcoast resident packed up his Honda CR-V in May for a solo adventure to Alaska and back.

Perdrizet said he was fed up with the rain that was inundating his gardens, but there was another reason he wanted to go.

"I've got five children. They all tried to talk me out of it," the chipper nonagenarian said earlier this week while taking a break from working in his Searsport garden plot. "I said, 'I'm going to be 92 in July. This is my last shot at it.' When you're in the 90s, how many days do you have left?"

So, he made good on an old dream of driving north and west across Maine, most of Canada and into Alaska, which became a state in 1959 when he was 38 years old.

"I wanted to see how the pioneers did it. I can't believe they did it," Perdrizet said. "I was amazed."

His 11,000-mile round-trip journey included up-close-and-personal moose sightings, some tricky traffic around Montreal, chilly hotel rooms and much more. There were massive, snow-capped mountains, glaciers, grizzly bears and mountain sheep that licked salt off the road surfaces. He met incredibly friendly, helpful folks at his hotel in Anchorage. He left his business card under a rock outcropping in British Columbia.

Was it worth it? Undoubtedly yes, Perdrizet said.

"I'm dumbfounded when I see old people retire and sit back," he said. "There's no reason why they can't have an active life. If not physically, then mentally. I hate the word 'retire.' You retire to a new venture. A new hobby. A new anything."

His trip to Alaska was just the latest, and likely not the last, adventure in a life packed with them. As a 12-year-old growing up in Connecticut in the Great Depression, he and some buddies decided to hop freight trains to California and search for gold. They made it halfway across the country before turning back because a friend was homesick.

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91-year-old Mainer Remains Active, Drove Solo to Alaska

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Lawrence LeBlond for redOrbit.com

Diets based on healthy carbohydrates and not on low-fat may offer dieters a better chance of burning calories and keeping weight off and without unwanted side effects, according to a new study published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The research suggests that dieters trying to maintain weight loss burned significantly more calories eating a carb-healthy diet rather than a low-fat diet, but some experts say the results are still preliminary.

The National Institutes of Health-funded study, led by Cara Ebbeling, PhD, associate director and David Ludwig, MD, director of the New Balance Foundation Obesity Prevention Center Boston Childrens Hospital, found that diets that reduce the surge in blood sugar after a meal (low-glycemic index or very-low carb) may be more beneficial to those trying to achieve lasting weight loss.

Participants in the study who followed a low-glycemic-index diet, which includes fish, fruit, vegetables, nuts and whole grains, also saw improved cholesterol levels and other important markers that lower the risks of developing heart disease and diabetes. The researchers said that foods such as minimally processed oatmeal, almonds, brown rice, beans and healthy fats like olive oil, and other similar foods also offer beneficial results.

Furthermore, the study found that the low-glycemic diet had similar metabolic benefits to the very-low-carb diet without negative effects of stress and inflammation as seen by participants consuming the foods in the very-low-carb diet.

Ludwig explained that most people struggle to keep weight off. Previous studies have shown that weight loss reduces the bodys daily energy expenditure (how many calories the body burns through activity and just by resting) making it easy to regain weight.

The studys 21 participants, who ranged in age from 18 to 40 years old, lost 10 to 15 percent of their body weight during the three-month diet that contained about 45 percent of total calories from carbohydrates, 30 percent from fat, and 25 percent from protein.

One month after the weight-loss phase of the study, the participants were each placed on one of the three diets: low-fat, very-low-carb, and low-glycemic-index. The participants were then switched to the other two diets during two additional four-week periods.

The low-fat diet consisted of about 20 percent calories from fat, 60 percent from carbs, and 20 percent from protein; the low-carb diet consisted of 10 percent of calories from carbs, 30 percent from proteins, and 60 percent from fat; and the low-glycemic diet was made up of 40 percent calories from carbs, 40 percent from fat, and 20 percent from protein.

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Low-Glycemic Diet Best For Maintaining Weight Loss

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(CBS News) Does it feel like your diet isn't helping you keep off pounds in the long run? A new study suggests that simply cutting calories might not do the trick: It may depend on what kind of calories you're snipping from your daily intake.

The study, published on June 27 in The Journal of the American Medical Association, says that low-glycemic diets that compliment a person's changing metabolism are the best at helping keep the pounds off.

Study: Not all calories are created equal U. S. Task Force recommends obesity screening, counseling for obese patients Nuts about nuts? Best and worst kinds for health

"Our findings suggest that actually trying to restrict either carbs or fat is not the best way (to achieve long-term weight loss) and instead to focus on the quality of the fats and the quality of the carbs," Dr. David Ludwig from Boston's Children's Hospital told CBS This Morning (CTM).

Ludwig explained on the Boston Children's Hospital blog that after individuals lose weight, the rate at which they burn calories slows down. This makes it difficult to maintain the continued weight loss. With the study, researchers were attempting to find a diet that would continue the accelerated calorie-burning rate while taking into account the body's new metabolism.

"Keeping weight off - even under the best circumstances - is difficult," Ludwig told the Boston Children's Hospital blog. "But lining up biology and behavior can help."

For the study, researchers recruited 21 young adults who were overweight and obese. After losing 10 to 15 percent of their body weight (on average 30 pounds), they were placed on one of three diets that contained the same amount of calories, albeit from different sources, in random order for four weeks each: a low-fat diet (60 percent of calories from carbohydrates, 20 percent from fats, 20 percent from proteins; high glycemic load), a low-glycemic index diet (40 percent of calories from carbohydrates, 40 percent from fats, and 20 percent from protein;s moderate glycemic load) and a very low-carbohydrate diet (10 percent of calories from carbohydrates, 60 percent from fats, and 30 percent from proteins; low glycemic load).

Doctors measured both the pre-weight loss numbers for resting energy expenditure (REE) - the amount of calories required for a 24-hour period during a non-active phase - total energy expenditure (TEE) - all energy expended in a 24-hour period including the REE - hormone levels and metabolic syndrome components, as well as the stats during each period the subject was on the various diet.

The researchers found that compared with the pre-weight loss numbers, the decrease in REE and TEE was greatest in the low-fat diet, followed by the low-glycemic index diet and finally the very low-carbohydrate diet. This means the low-fat diet slowed down metabolism the most. Hormone levels were negatively affected by the low-carbohydrate diet, meaning that inflammation increased and the risk of disease also increased as well.

The overall winner was the low-glycemic diet, which offered both a healthy and an easy way to keep metabolic rates up. To keep a low-glycemic diet, people must eat fiber-rich, natural carbohydrates, proteins and healthy fats, including nuts, avocados or olive oil. Grain products that have a low level of processing are also encouraged, while fruit juice and soda are to be avoided. Sugar can be consumed, but only with a balanced meal and in moderation. Drinking water is encouraged.

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Low-glycemic index diet may be best at keeping off pounds

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WASHINGTON (AP) The Food and Drug Administration has approved Arena Pharmaceutical's anti-obesity pill Belviq, the first new prescription drug for long-term weight loss to enter the U.S. market in over a decade.

Despite only achieving modest weight loss in clinical studies, the drug appeared safe enough to win the FDA's endorsement, amid calls from doctors for new weight-loss treatments.

The agency cleared the pill Wednesday for adults who are obese or are overweight with at least one medical complication, such as diabetes or high cholesterol.

The FDA denied approval for Arena's drug in 2010 after scientists raised concerns about tumors that developed in animals studied with the drug. The company resubmitted the drug with additional data earlier this year, and the FDA said there was little risk of tumors in humans.

"The approval of this drug, used responsibly in combination with a healthy diet and lifestyle, provides a treatment option for Americans who are obese or are overweight and have at least one weight-related comorbid condition," said FDA's drug center director, Dr. Janet Woodcock, in a statement.

Arena and its partner Eisai Inc. expect to launch the drug in early 2013.

With U.S. obesity rates nearing 35 percent of the adult population, many doctors have called on the FDA to approve new weight loss treatments.

But a long line of prescription weight loss offerings have been associated with safety problems, most notably the fen-phen combination, which was linked to heart valve damage in 1997. The cocktail of phentermine and fenfluramine was a popular weight loss combination prescribed by doctors, though it was never approved by FDA.

In a rare move, the FDA explicitly stated in a press release that Belviq "does not appear to activate" a chemical pathway that was linked to the heart problems seen with fen-phen.

The FDA said the drug acts on a different chemical pathway in the brain, which is believed to reduce appetite by boosting feelings of satiety and fullness.

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US clears first new weight-loss pill in 13 years

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By Matthew Perrone, The Associated Press

WASHINGTON - The Food and Drug Administration has approved Arena Pharmaceutical's anti-obesity pill Belviq, the first new prescription drug for long-term weight loss to enter the U.S. market in over a decade.

Despite only achieving modest weight loss in clinical studies, the drug appeared safe enough to win the FDA's endorsement, amid calls from doctors for new weight-loss treatments.

The agency cleared the pill Wednesday for adults who are obese or are overweight with at least one medical complication, such as diabetes or high cholesterol.

The FDA denied approval for Arena's drug in 2010 after scientists raised concerns about tumors that developed in animals studied with the drug. The company resubmitted the drug with additional data earlier this year, and the FDA said there was little risk of tumors in humans.

"The approval of this drug, used responsibly in combination with a healthy diet and lifestyle, provides a treatment option for Americans who are obese or are overweight and have at least one weight-related comorbid condition," said FDA's drug centre director, Dr. Janet Woodcock, in a statement.

Arena and its partner Eisai Inc. expect to launch the drug in early 2013.

With U.S. obesity rates nearing 35 per cent of the adult population, many doctors have called on the FDA to approve new weight loss treatments.

But a long line of prescription weight loss offerings have been associated with safety problems, most notably the fen-phen combination, which was linked to heart valve damage in 1997. The cocktail of phentermine and fenfluramine was a popular weight loss combination prescribed by doctors, though it was never approved by FDA.

In a rare move, the FDA explicitly stated in a press release that Belviq "does not appear to activate" a chemical pathway that was linked to the heart problems seen with fen-phen.

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Arena's Belviq is first new prescription weight-loss pill to win US approval in over a decade

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Screening American adults for obesity -- the latest recommendation by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force -- is easy as pie: Take a patient's height (in meters), divide it by his weight, squared (in kilograms). If the resulting number is 30 or more, the patient gets the modern equivalent of a scarlet letter -- "O" for obese -- imprinted on his forehead (well, on his medical records).

It's what comes after this that's kicking up debate.

If a patient's BMI is over 30, the new recommendation advises, the doctor needs to tell the patient that obesity puts him at much higher risk of diseases such as Type 2 diabetes, heart disease and some cancers but that weight loss and lifestyle changes can help.

Then the physician is to offer the patient, or refer her to, an intensive weight-loss program that teaches her nutrition, motivates her to exercise at least 150 minutes a week, shows her how to track her fat and calorie intake and helps her brainstorm ways to overcome obstacles to dieting.

If the Obama Administration's overhaul of healthcare is still intact after Thursday's Supreme Court ruling, obesity screening and referrals to an intensive, high-quality weight-loss program will become standard care for all patients. And those sessions -- at least 12 and as many as 29 in the first year -- also will have to be fully covered by insurance.

The federal task force that wrote the recommendation says that such measures are necessary in light of the fact that just more than 1 in 3 American adults is obese, which heralds an epidemic of Type 2 diabetes and heart disease to come if not stemmed. The new recommendation could become a cornerstone of the nation's "war on obesity."

But not everybody likes the recommendation.

Linda Bacon, a nutritionist, exercise physiologist and psychotherapist who wrote the book Healthy at Every Size, thinks it's time to stand down the war on obesity and curb the hurtful, bellicose talk about fat people. She is one of a renegade group of scientists and healthcare practitioners "who question the dogma that you must be thin to be healthy -- and that encouraging people to lose weight is helpful."

Reacting to the federal task force's recommendations, Bacon said they'll not only be a bad investment -- people who lose weight overwhelmingly regain it -- but the recommendations will also backfire: Discouraged Americans who have lost and then regained a few pounds feel bad about themselves, stop their daily power-walk and resort to binge-eating and other disorders that come with an unhealthy preoccupation with food.

"There's a very simple alternative that USPSTF could have offered us: They could easily promote the lifestyle habits they think are valuable for health and well-being -- not weight loss," Bacon said. People of so-called healthy weight who haven't exercised in forever would be told to get up and move. People who are overweight or obese by BMI standards but who eat healthfully and exercise regularly would be left alone.

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Obesity screenings for all American adults? Not so fast, some say

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by Rob Stein, National Public Radio

June 27, 2012

For the first time in 13 years, the Food and Drug Administration has approved a new drug to help people lose weight.

The FDA gave the green light to Arena Pharmaceuticals to sell Belviq, or lorcaserin generically, a twice-a-day pill that suppresses appetite and appears to affect metabolism by influencing levels of the brain chemical serotonin.

"Obesity threatens the overall well being of patients and is a major public health concern," Janet Woodcock, director of the FDA's drug center, said in a statement. "The approval of this drug, used responsibly in combination with a healthy diet and lifestyle, provides a treatment option for Americans who are obese or are overweight and have at least one weight-related comorbid condition."

The drug was approved for obese people (those with a body mass index of 30 or more) and overweight people with a BMI of 27 or more, who also have at least one weight-related health condition, such as high blood pressure, Type 2 diabetes or high cholesterol.

In studies sponsored by Arena, about half of patients taking Belviq lost about 5 percent of their body weight after a year. The most common side effects include headache, dizziness, fatigue, nausea, dry mouth, and constipation.

The FDA had rejected the drug in 2010 after a panel of experts advised the agency to give it a thumbs down because of safety concerns. Early studies indicated the drug might cause tumors in rats and possibly heart problems in people. Lorcaserin works in a way one part of the fen-phen diet pill combination that was pulled from the market in 1997 because it caused heart valve damage.

But agency the company submitted new data aimed at alleviating those concerns and the same panel endorsed approval in May. Some panel members, however, again expressed concerns about the drug's safety, especially the heart problems, as have some consumer advocates.

"Faced with this serious concern, it would be dangerous and unconscionable for you to allow the FDA to disregard the available evidence and subject large numbers of obese patients, already at risk for cardiovascular disease, to the added risk of damaged heart valves," wrote Sidney M. Wolfe of the Public Citizen's Health Research Group, in a letter to FDA Commissioner Margaret A. Hamburg.

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FDA OKs first new weight-loss drug in years

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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT)-

A new study challenges the notion that a calorie is just a calorie by finding that diets reducing the surge in blood sugar after a meal are preferable for weight loss, ultimately praising the low-glycemic index diet.

Many people are emotionally distressed after regaining weight that took so long to lose in the first place; only one in six overweight people will maintain even 10-percent of their weight loss long-term. Regaining weight as often been attributed to a decline in motivation and maintaining an exercise and diet regimen. After people lose weight, the rate at which people burn calories (energy expenditure) decreases, reflecting a slower metabolism. This explains why people tend to regain lost weight.

In order to keep energy expenditure at a high rate, the study researchers suggest a low-glycemic load diet as a more effective way to burn calories at a higher rate after weight loss. "We've found that, contrary to nutritional dogma, all calories are not created equal," David Ludwig, MD, director of both the New Balance Foundation Obesity Prevention Center and the Optimal Weight for Life Clinic at Boston Children's Hospital, was quoted as saying.

"Total calories burned plummeted by 300 calories on the low fat diet compared to the low carbohydrate diet, which would equal the number of calories typically burned in an hour of moderate-intensity physical activity," he was quoted as saying.

The study recruited 21 adult participants ages 18-40 years old who were first directed to lose 10 to 15 percent of their body weight. After weight stabilization, each participant completed all three of the following diets in random order, each for four weeks at a time. The randomized crossover design allowed for rigorous observation of how each diet affected all participants, regardless of the order in which they were consumed:

A low-fat diet: reduces dietary fat and emphasizes whole grain products and a variety of fruits and vegetables. Comprised of 60% of daily calories from carbohydrates, 20% from fat, and 20% from protein

A low-glycemic index diet: made up of minimally processed grains, vegetables, healthy fats, legumes and fruits. Comprised of 40% of daily calories from carbohydrates, 40% from fat, and 20% from protein. Low-glycemic index carbohydrates digest slowly, keeping blood sugar and hormones stable after a meal

A low-carbohydrate diet: modeled after the Atkins diet, this diet was comprised of 10% of daily calories from carbohydrates, 60% from fat and 30% from protein

Each participant was measured with state-of-the-art methods, including stable isotopes to measure participants total energy expenditure as they followed each diet. Additionally, each of the three diets fell within the normal healthy range of 10-35% of daily calories from protein.

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A better way to lose weight?

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Retirees are a wealthy lot indeed.

According to the Employee Benefit Research Institute, those 65 and older have amassed some $8.6 trillion in their retirement accounts alone, not including pension plans or personal savings - a point not lost on the con artists of the world.

Retirees also have more spare time to consider proposals that come their way.

Scams that target older Americans are almost too numerous to name.

Some play the emotional card, knowing grandparents would do most anything to help a grandchild in need.

Some claim to cure illnesses that conventional medicine can't fix.

Still others exploit retirees who undersaved for their nest egg, or, well, tempt the taste for a quick buck in all of us.

Here are six major con categories. If you encounter any of them run away.

Investment Scams

Investment scams are among the most costly to seniors.

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Retiree Money Scams Flourish, Change With the Times

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WASHINGTON (AP) - The Food and Drug Administration has approved Arena Pharmaceutical's anti-obesity pill Belviq, the first new prescription drug for long-term weight loss to enter the U.S. market in over a decade.

Despite only achieving modest weight loss in clinical studies, the drug appeared safe enough to win the FDA's endorsement, amid calls from doctors for new weight-loss treatments.

The agency cleared the pill Wednesday for adults who are obese or are overweight with at least one medical complication, such as diabetes or high cholesterol. The drug should be used in combination with a healthy diet and exercise.

Obesity Society President Patrick O'Neil said he's encouraged by the drug's approval because it underscores the notion that lifestyle changes alone are not enough to treat obesity.

"This is good news because it tells us that the FDA is indeed treating obesity seriously," said O'Neil, who teaches at Medical University of South Carolina and was the lead researcher on several studies of Belviq. "On the other hand, it's not the answer to the problem or even a big part of the answer."

Even if the effects of Belviq are subtle, experts say it could be an important first step in developing new treatments that attack the underlying causes of obesity.

"The way these things tend to work is you have some people who do extremely well and other people don't lose any weight at all. But if we had 10 medicines that were all different and worked like this, we would have a real field," said Dr. Louis Aronne, director of the weight loss program at Weill-Cornell Medical College.

The FDA denied approval for Arena's drug in 2010 after scientists raised concerns about tumors that developed in animals studied with the drug. The company resubmitted the drug with additional data earlier this year, and the FDA said there was little risk of tumors in humans.

Arena and its partner Eisai Inc. of Woodcliff Lake, N.J., expect to launch the drug in early 2013.

With U.S. obesity rates nearing 35 percent of the adult population, many doctors have called on the FDA to approve new weight loss treatments.

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FDA OKs new weight-loss pill

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