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Yahoo
04-08-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Barabak: In America's hardest-fought congressional district, voters agree: Release the Epstein files
When it comes to President Trump, Angie Zamora and Phaidra Medeiros agree on very little. Zamora, a 36-year-old Army veteran, has nothing good to say. "The laws. All the rights taken away from women. The stuff with ICE," Zamora said, ticking off her frustrations as she stopped outside the post office in the Central Valley community of Los Banos. "Why are they going after people working on farms when they're supposed to be chasing violent criminals?" Medeiros, by contrast, is delighted Trump replaced Joe Biden. "He wasn't mentally fit," Medeiros said of the elderly ex-president. "There was something wrong with him from the very beginning." Despite all that, the two do share one belief: Both say the government should cough up every last bit of information it has on Jeffrey Epstein, his sordid misdeeds and the powerful associates who moved in his aberrant orbit. Trump "did his whole campaign on releasing the Epstein files," Zamora said. "And now he's trying to change the subject. 'Oh, it's a 'hoax' ... 'Oh, you guys are still talking about that creep?' And yet there's pictures throughout the years of him with that creep." Medeiros, 56, echoed the sentiment. Read more: Barabak: Here's why Jeffrey Epstein's tangled web is conspiratorial catnip Trump and his fellow Republicans "put themselves into this predicament because they kept talking constantly" about the urgency of unsealing records in Epstein's sex-trafficking case — until they took control of the Justice Department and the rest of Washington. "Now," she said, "they're backpedaling." Medeiros paused outside the engineering firm where she works in the Central Valley, in Newman, on a tree-lined street adorned with star-spangled banners honoring local servicemen and women. "Obviously there were minors involved" in Epstein's crimes, she said, and if Trump is somehow implicated "then he needs to go down as well." Years after being found dead in a Manhattan prison cell — killed by his own hand, according to authorities — Epstein appears to have done the near-impossible in this deeply riven nation. He's united Democrats, Republicans and independents around a call to reveal, once and for all, everything that's known about his case. "He's dead now, but if people were involved they should be prosecuted," said Joe Toscano, a 69-year-old Los Banos retiree and unaffiliated voter who last year supported Trump's return to the White House. "Bring it all out there. Make it public." California's 13th Congressional District, where Zamora, Medeiros and Toscano all live, is arguably the most closely fought political terrain in America. Sprawling through California's midriff, from the far reaches of the San Francisco Bay Area to the southern edge of the San Joaquin Valley, it's farm country: flat, fertile and crossed-hatched with canals, rail lines and thruways with utilitarian names such as Road No. 32 and Avenue 18½. The myriad small towns are brief interludes amid the dairy and poultry farms and lush carpeting of vegetables, fruit and nut trees that stretch to the hazy-brown horizon. The most populous city, Merced, has fewer than 100,000 residents. (Modesto, with a population of around 220,000, is split between the 5th and 13th districts.) Democratic Rep. Adam Gray was elected in November in the closest House race in the country, beating the Republican incumbent, John Duarte, by 187 votes out of nearly 211,000 cast. The squeaker was a rematch and nearly a rerun. Two years prior, Duarte defeated Gray by fewer than 600 votes out of nearly 134,000 cast. Not surprisingly, both parties have made the 13th District a top target in 2026; handicappers rate the contest a toss-up, even as the field sorts itself out. (Duarte has said he would not run again.) The midterm election is a long way off, so it's impossible to say how the Epstein controversy will play out politically. But there is, at the least, a baseline expectation of transparency, a view that was repeatedly expressed in conversations with three dozen voters across the district. Zachery Ramos, a 25-year-old independent, is the founder of the Gustine Traveling Library, which promotes learning and literacy throughout the Central Valley. Its storefront, painted with polka dots and decorated with giant butterflies, sits like a cheery oasis in Gustine's four-block downtown, a riot of green spilling from the planter boxes out front. Inside, the walls were filled with commendations and newspaper clippings celebrating Ramos' good works. As a nonprofit, he said, "we have to have everything out there. All the books. Everything." Epstein, he suggested, should be treated no differently. "When it comes to something as serious as that, with what may or may not have taken place on his private island, with his girlfriend" — convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell — "I do think it should all be out in the open," Ramos said. "If you're not afraid of your name being in [the files], especially when you're dealing with minors being assaulted, it should 100% be made public." Read more: Commentary: Political ploy or bold move to save democracy? Our columnists debate Newsom redistricting threat Ed, a 42-year-old Democrat who manages a warehouse operation in Patterson, noted that Trump released the government's long-secret files on the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., even though King's family objected. (Like several of those interviewed, he declined to give his last name, to avoid being hassled by readers who don't like what he had to say.) Why, Ed wondered, shouldn't the Epstein files come to light? "It wasn't just Trump," he said. "It was a lot of Republicans in Congress that said, 'Hey, we want to get these files out there.' And I believe if Kamala [Harris] had won, they would be beating her down, demanding she do so." He smacked a fist in his palm, to emphasize the point. Sue, a Madera Republican and no fan of Trump, expressed her feelings in staccato bursts of fury. "Apparently the women years ago said who was doing what, but nobody listens to the women," said the 75-year-old retiree. "Release it all! Absolutely! You play, you pay, buddy." Even those who dismissed the importance of Epstein and his crimes said the government should hold nothing back — if only to erase doubts and lay the issue to rest. Epstein "is gone and I don't really care if they release the files or not," said Diane Nunes, a 74-year-old Republican who keeps the books for her family farm, which lies halfway between Los Banos and Gustine. "But they probably should, because a lot of people are waiting for that." Patrick, a construction contractor, was more worked up about "pretty boy" Gavin Newsom and "Nazi Pelosi" — "yes, that's what I call her" — than anything that might be lurking in the Epstein files. "When the cat is dead, you don't pick it up and pet it. Right?" He motioned to the pavement, baking as the temperature in Patterson climbed into the low 90s. "It's over with," the 61-year-old Republican said of Epstein and his villainy. "Move on." At least, that would be his preference. But to "shut everybody up, absolutely, yeah, they should release them," Patrick said. "Otherwise, we're all going to be speculating forever." Or at least until the polls close in November 2026. Get the latest from Mark Z. BarabakFocusing on politics out West, from the Golden Gate to the U.S. me up. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. Solve the daily Crossword
Los Angeles Times
03-08-2025
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
In America's hardest-fought congressional district, voters agree: Release the Epstein files
LOS BANOS, Calif. — When it comes to President Trump, Angie Zamora and Phaidra Medeiros agree on very little. Zamora, a 36-year-old Army veteran, has nothing good to say. 'The laws. All the rights taken away from women. The stuff with ICE,' Zamora said, ticking off her frustrations as she stopped outside the post office in the Central Valley community of Los Banos. 'Why are they going after people working on farms when they're supposed to be chasing violent criminals?' Medeiros, by contrast, is delighted Trump replaced Joe Biden. 'He wasn't mentally fit,' Medeiros said of the elderly ex-president. 'There was something wrong with him from the very beginning.' Despite all that, the two do share one belief: Both say the government should cough up every last bit of information it has on Jeffrey Epstein, his sordid misdeeds and the powerful associates who moved in his aberrant orbit. Trump 'did his whole campaign on releasing the Epstein files,' Zamora said. 'And now he's trying to change the subject. 'Oh, it's a 'hoax' ... 'Oh, you guys are still talking about that creep?' And yet there's pictures throughout the years of him with that creep.' Medeiros, 56, echoed the sentiment. Trump and his fellow Republicans 'put themselves into this predicament because they kept talking constantly' about the urgency of unsealing records in Epstein's sex-trafficking case — until they took control of the Justice Department and the rest of Washington. 'Now,' she said, 'they're backpedaling.' Medeiros paused outside the engineering firm where she works in the Central Valley, in Newman, on a tree-lined street adorned with star-spangled banners honoring local servicemen and women. 'Obviously there were minors involved' in Epstein's crimes, she said, and if Trump is somehow implicated 'then he needs to go down as well.' Years after being found dead in a Manhattan prison cell — killed by his own hand, according to authorities — Epstein appears to have done the near-impossible in this deeply riven nation. He's united Democrats, Republicans and independents around a call to reveal, once and for all, everything that's known about his case. 'He's dead now, but if people were involved they should be prosecuted,' said Joe Toscano, a 69-year-old Los Banos retiree and unaffiliated voter who last year supported Trump's return to the White House. 'Bring it all out there. Make it public.' California's 13th Congressional District, where Zamora, Medeiros and Toscano all live, is arguably the most closely fought political terrain in America. Sprawling through California's midriff, from the far reaches of the San Francisco Bay Area to the southern edge of the San Joaquin Valley, it's farm country: Flat, fertile and crossed-hatched with canals, rail lines and thruways with utilitarian names such as Road No. 32 and Avenue 18½. The myriad small towns are brief interludes amid the dairy and poultry farms and lush carpeting of vegetables, fruit and nut trees that stretch to the hazy-brown horizon. The most populous city, Merced, has fewer than 100,000 residents. (Modesto, with a population of around 220,000, is split between the 5th and 13th districts.) Democratic Rep. Adam Gray was elected in November in the closest House race in the country, beating the Republican incumbent, John Duarte, by 187 votes out of nearly 211,000 cast. The squeaker was a rematch and nearly a rerun. Two years prior, Duarte defeated Gray by fewer than 600 votes out of nearly 134,000 cast. Not surprisingly, both parties have made the 13th District a top target in 2026; handicappers rate the contest a toss-up, even as the field sorts itself out. (Duarte has said he would not run again.) The midterm election is a long way off, so it's impossible to say how the Epstein controversy will play out politically. But there is, at the least, a baseline expectation of transparency, a view that was repeatedly expressed in conversations with three dozen voters across the district. Zachery Ramos, a 25-year-old independent, is the founder of the Gustine Traveling Library, which promotes learning and literacy throughout the Central Valley. Its storefront, painted with polka dots and decorated with giant butterflies, sits like a cheery oasis in Gustine's four-block downtown, a riot of green spilling from the planter boxes out front. Inside, the walls were filled with commendations and newspaper clippings celebrating Ramos' good works. As a nonprofit, he said, 'we have to have everything out there. All the books. Everything.' Epstein, he suggested, should be treated no differently. 'When it comes to something as serious as that, with what may or may not have taken place on his private island, with his girlfriend' — convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell — 'I do think it should all be out in the open,' Ramos said. 'If you're not afraid of your name being in [the files], especially when you're dealing with minors being assaulted, it should 100% be made public.' Ed, a 42-year-old Democrat who manages a warehouse operation in Patterson, noted that Trump released the government's long-secret files on the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., even though King's family objected. (Like several of those interviewed, he declined to give his last name, to avoid being hassled by readers who don't like what he had to say.) Why, Ed wondered, shouldn't the Epstein files come to light? 'It wasn't just Trump,' he said. 'It was a lot of Republicans in Congress that said, 'Hey, we want to get these files out there.' And I believe if Kamala [Harris] had won, they would be beating her down, demanding she do so.' He smacked a fist in his palm, to emphasize the point. Sue, a Madera Republican and no fan of Trump, expressed her feelings in staccato bursts of fury. 'Apparently the women years ago said who was doing what, but nobody listens to the women,' said the 75-year-old retiree. 'Release it all! Absolutely! You play, you pay, buddy.' Even those who dismissed the importance of Epstein and his crimes said the government should hold nothing back — if only to erase doubts and lay the issue to rest. Epstein 'is gone and I don't really care if they release the files or not,' said Diane Nunes, a 74-year-old Republican who keeps the books for her family farm, which lies halfway between Los Banos and Gustine. 'But they probably should, because a lot of people are waiting for that.' Patrick, a construction contractor, was more worked up about 'pretty boy' Gavin Newsom and 'Nazi Pelosi' — 'yes, that's what I call her' — than anything that might be lurking in the Epstein files. 'When the cat is dead, you don't pick it up and pet it. Right?' He motioned to the pavement, baking as the temperature in Patterson climbed into the low 90s. 'It's over with,' the 61-year-old Republican said of Epstein and his villainy. 'Move on.' At least, that would be his preference. But to 'shut everybody up, absolutely, yeah, they should release them,' Patrick said. 'Otherwise, we're all going to be speculating forever.' Or at least until the polls close in November 2026.
Yahoo
01-08-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
I tried a CrossFit Games champ's three-move workout – it left me struggling to climb the stairs
A bog-standard staircase stands between me and my post-gym shower – this is my Everest. Normally the steps would pose no problems, but having just finished a workout challenge from two-time CrossFit Games champion Justin Medeiros, I find my quads are no longer cooperating. The 26-year-old R.A.D athlete laid down the gauntlet during our recent interview, and it sounded fairly innocuous at first; complete 50 wall balls, 50 squat jumps and 50 unweighted squats as quickly as possible. Knowing that elite CrossFit athletes can walk on their hands, toss heavy weights overhead and run faster than most, I thought this all sounded refreshingly accessible and promised to give it a go. Now, as I assumed a vice-like grip on the bannister and took my first shaky steps up the gym stairs, I couldn't help but chuckle at my past-self's hubris. Below, you can find out how to try the workout for yourself, and learn how it left me struggling to climb the stairs. How to do two-time CrossFit Games champion Justin Medeiros' three-move workout Complete the sequence below as quickly as possible: Wall ball x50 Squat jump x50 Bodyweight squat x50 Rest as needed and maintain good form throughout. Your score is the time it takes you to complete all 150 repetitions. In CrossFit, the RX – or 'as prescribed' – standards for the wall balls involve throwing a 9kg ball to a 10ft target for men, and throwing a 6kg ball to a 9ft target for women. The jumping squats and bodyweight squats are performed unweighted. Medeiros, however, performed what he describes as an 'RX+ version of the workout', using a 14kg wall ball and wearing a 10kg weighted vest throughout. This was also just a small portion of his daily training plans, although it's worth remembering that this is his job and he is incredibly fit. For the rest of us, he stresses, the most important thing is to find a version of this workout that provides you with an achievable-yet-challenging test of your fitness. This might mean using a lighter wall ball, or lowering the target number of repetitions for each exercise to suit your fitness level. 'The thing I love most about CrossFit is working out at an affiliate [how CrossFit folk refer to their gyms] then looking left and right and seeing a bunch of people working hard,' Medeiros says. 'At the end of the day, that's all we want. It doesn't really matter how many reps you do or how heavy you're lifting, it's just about being in there and working hard with an awesome group of people.' Read more: Can run clubs really replace pubs? I immersed myself in both communities to find out What is CrossFit and what are the CrossFit Games? CrossFit is a fitness methodology founded in 2000, with the MO of helping participants improve their fitness using 'constantly varied movements performed at high intensity'. A typical one-hour CrossFit class tends to start with a strength or skill-developing section, then conclude with a WOD (workout of the day) to improve participants' physical conditioning. The CrossFit Games is CrossFit's annual quest to find the 'fittest man and woman on earth' via a multi-day competition. In recent years, this has been done via 10-or-more scored events which test the athletes' strength, gymnastic skill, cardiovascular endurance, muscular endurance and other physical attributes. Justin Medeiros has won the CrossFit Games twice, in 2021 and 2022. Read more: Do this expert-approved four-move workout weekly to improve full-body strength, blood sugar and bone density What happened when I tried training like a CrossFit Games champion As a fitness writer, I'm in OK shape. Not CrossFit Games shape, granted, but good enough nick to think this workout might be fairly manageable. And it started off that way. I hit 'go' on my timer, squatted down to grab a medicine ball on the ground in front of me, then started cranking through the wall balls – a dastardly cocktail of squats and overhead throws which quickly sent my heart rate skywards while sapping all power from my legs and shoulders. This exercise had the expected effect, putting my pre-workout banana to good use, but I gritted my teeth and held on to finish all 50 without taking a break. Retrospectively, this may have been a mistake. On the last rep, I let the ball fall and smack the floor with a satisfying slap, then pivoted and sunk into my first squat jump. The point of this exercise is to generate enough power – force times velocity – to launch yourself off the ground at the top of each rep. The problem was, my legs had very little power left in them after the gruelling wall balls. I started with a set of 10, then seven, then five; my thighs were on fire, and I was struggling to separate myself from the ground after each squat. Despite trying to keep my breaks to three deep breaths, I noticed the number on the clock stacking up, and by the time I finished this second exercise I was barely clinging to clusters of three repetitions. Finally, I arrived at the squats. After the jump squats, the first two sets of 10 felt comparatively pleasant, but it didn't take long for the burning in my quads to return. Still, I was able to stick with sets of five and finish the workout in 5min 17sec. I sank to the floor and assumed the obligatory post-workout starfish pose. A couple of minutes later, I peeled myself off the ground to reveal a perfect sweat angel, then grabbed my phone to check Medeiros' score. With a heavier wall ball, and wearing a 10kg weight vest throughout, he had beaten my time by almost a minute: 4min 22sec. To usurp a popular quote, it would appear that those who can, do. And those who can't? We just write about it. Read more: Doctor recommends this simple three-ingredient recipe for supporting gut health and strengthening muscles
The Star
30-07-2025
- General
- The Star
No strings? The perils of being ‘friends with benefits'
Caren Chesler Emma Medeiros made a special friend decades ago while she was in college. Ultimately, Adam Caldow would become her best friend - and also her 'friend with benefits,' slang for a friendship that becomes sexual but not romantic. 'We wanted to lose our virginity, but neither one of us knew what we were doing, so we thought, this is a good match,' Medeiros recalled. 'We won't be embarrassed if we're with someone else who doesn't know what they're doing,' added Medeiros, who is now 44 and living in Lewiston, Maine. From that point on, sex became part of their friendship, no strings attached. 'We really made it clear to each other, this is a physical thing,' she said. There's anecdotal evidence that Medeiros and her friend, who ultimately became her husband, aren't alone. But there's also plenty of anecdotal evidence that navigating such arrangements can be dicey. Therapists and others are quick to point out the shortfalls of such arrangements and to warn people to prepare for, at best, complications, and at worst, destroying the friendship. Proponents say the relationships are like zero-calorie sweeteners: all the sweetness without the calories. Critics say the empty calories will come back to haunt you unless both participants set clear emotional boundaries. In Medeiros's case, she and Caldow dated other people, but after two years realized they wanted to be with each other more than anyone else. 'And thank God we did,' she said. 'The funniest thing was, when we finally did tell our friends we were a couple, not one single person was surprised. Everyone was like, well, it's about freaking time.' They got married in 2012 and have been together ever since. A study published last year in Women's Studies International Forum said such relationships are getting more popular, especially among young adults, and that casual sex may be happening more often between friends than strangers. The three psychology researchers in Portugal who wrote the study attributed that to accessibility, safety, trust, an ease in understanding one's partner's feelings, and an ability to still hang out and do friendly activities. But it's not all sunshine and noncommittal fun. Another study, from the University of Delhi, said such relationships were also 'fraught with emotional complexities, as evidenced by unexpected feelings and conflicts mirroring those in traditional romantic relationships.' 'The emotional toll of [such] relationships manifested in stress, anxiety and unhealthy coping mechanisms underscored the need for caution and self-awareness when entering such arrangements,' researchers in that study wrote. Whether such a relationship will work depends a lot on the context for it, said Shay Thomas, a licensed marriage and family therapist in Atlanta. A successful relationship depends on the participants' motivations and how aligned they are. It also requires impeccable communication. 'Is each person deciding to do this because they're going through a dry spell, or is this some kind of reactive rebound situation? Is it a decision related to avoiding intimacy? Or maybe you don't have time for a relationship, but you want to enjoy sex from a pleasure standpoint,' Thomas said. Ultimately, she said she doesn't believe the relationships have staying power: 'By and large, I believe it's more likely to cause complications and heartbreak and confusion and kind of rupture the friendship.' Tracey Laszloffy, a marriage and family therapist in North Carolina and Connecticut, also doesn't believe the arrangements have a long shelf life. When they end, it's usually because one person's expectations changed, Laszloffy said. 'I think that happens more times than not,' she said. 'The problem is when you think you didn't want this to go any place too intense, and then you find that changes. And then jealousy starts to creep in, and you're thinking, 'That wasn't where I thought we were going with this.'' While anyone can start having feelings for a friend, Laszloffy has seen more women than men get emotionally invested. And then you have people like Natasha Ho. In her case, her former friend with benefits is still a friend - though there are no 'benefits' now - but it took years to get to that stage. While they were still in the benefits stage, there was a period when Ho wondered whether they should start a romantic relationship, but her friend didn't feel the same - and then when she moved on, the friend became jealous and angry and the friendship soured. 'There were a lot of great qualities that I enjoyed about him, but I think the timing just never was there for us to actually be in a committed romantic relationship. And then I found someone that I had the right relationship with, and the timing was right, and the personality was right and what they wanted was the same thing that I wanted,' said Ho, 38, who lives in Tacoma, Washington. She wanted children while her friend did not, she said. He changed jobs frequently, while she craved stability, she said. 'When I look back at it now, I realize that in terms of long-term goals and lifestyle, those kinds of things, we didn't have that compatibility there. We had great friendship compatibility, but in terms of the kind of life we were trying to build long term, we didn't have that,' she said. It took her three attempts over three years to rekindle the friendship. It wasn't until her friend reached out to her four years later that they were able to reconnect. He's even going on a vacation with her, along with her husband and two children. One of the main reasons relationships end is because one or the other has started dating someone, said Laszloffy. 'They've met someone, and they're interested in going in a different direction, and they feel like, now I'm ready for a committed relationship, and so I'm just moving on,' she said
Time of India
17-07-2025
- Health
- Time of India
GLP-1 obesity drugs may boost low testosterone
London: GLP-1 anti-obesity medications are linked with improvements in testosterone levels and health outcomes for men with obesity or type 2 diabetes , researchers reported in San Francisco at ENDO 2025, the Endocrine Society's annual meeting. Weight loss from lifestyle changes or bariatric surgery is known to boost testosterone levels, but the impact of anti-obesity medications has not been widely investigated, study leader Dr. Shellsea Portillo Canales of SSM Health St. Louis University Hospital in Missouri said in a statement. Portillo Canales and colleagues tracked 110 men with obesity - many also with type 2 diabetes - who were being treated with semaglutide, dulaglutide or tirzepatide, the active ingredients in Novo Nordisk's Wegovy and Ozempic or Eli Lilly's Trulicity, Mounjaro, and Zepbound. The average age was 54. None of the men were receiving other testosterone-boosting medications. During 18 months of treatment, the proportion of men with testosterone levels in the normal range rose from 53% to 77%. Testosterone plays a critical role in male sexual functioning but can also impact bone mass, fat distribution, muscle mass, strength and red blood cell production. In the current study, the greater the weight loss, the greater the improvement in testosterone levels, the researchers found. While the study cannot prove GLP-1 drugs caused low testosterone levels to normalize, it does show a direct correlation, Portillo Canales noted. INTERMITTENT ACCESS TO GLP-1 DRUGS STILL YIELDS WEIGHT LOSS Popular GLP-1 anti-obesity medications are effective for weight loss even when treatment is inconsistent, new findings suggest. Patients often face challenges in accessing these medications - such as Novo Nordisk's Wegovy and Ozempic and Eli Lilly's Zepbound and Mounjaro - due to supply shortages and insurance coverage obstacles, study leader Kaelen Medeiros of privately held weight-loss company Calibrate in New York said in a statement. Medeiros and colleagues looked at how interruptions to GLP-1 medication access over the course of two years impacted weight-loss outcomes in 6,392 clients of Calibrate's online metabolic health program. Along with the drugs, the program also included intensive lifestyle interventions and coaching on diet, exercise, sleep and emotional health. Overall, 72.5% of participants experienced at least one disruption in their GLP-1 treatment and 11.1% had multiple disruptions, Medeiros reported at ENDO 2025. Participants who faced access issues reported a 13.7% weight loss within 12 months and a 14.9% loss within 24 months, on average. Those without treatment interruptions reported a 17% weight loss in 12 months and 20.1% in 24 months, on average. Even those who received no more than four treatments over 12 months also achieved clinically significant weight loss, with more than 10% change in body weight on average. "While unpredictable GLP-1 medication access is frustrating, the good news is that our research shows effective weight loss can still be achieved if paired with appropriate lifestyle changes and coaching support," Medeiros said. OSTEOPOROSIS DRUGS CAN BENEFIT HIGH-RISK ELDERLY People who experience a fracture after age 80 might benefit from medications to treat bone deterioration or weakness caused by osteoporosis, researchers reported at the Endocrine Society meeting in San Francisco. Whether to start osteoporosis drugs at that age has been debated for fear that very elderly patients could be more susceptible to the side effects. Researchers at the Cleveland Clinic reviewed medical records on 88,676 patients aged 80 and older who had suffered a fracture due to osteoporosis. Half of them had subsequently been treated with either Merck & Co.'s Fosamax, Roche and GlaxoSmithKline's Boniva, Amgen's Prolia, or Eli Lilly's Evista or Forteo. The others did not receive any osteoporosis drugs. Over the next five years, after accounting for patients' other health conditions, the hospitalization rate was 19% lower and the mortality rate was 15% lower in the group treated with bone-strengthening medications. "The results of our study support the need to enhance the individualized initiation of treatment of osteoporosis, even in people who are older than 80," study leader Dr. Gianina Flocco said in a statement. "Treating people to reduce the burden of osteoporosis complications, like fractures leading to disability or death, would play a significant role in improving health span in the growing older population."
