572-Pound Spokesman of Unhealthy Eatery Dies.

PHOENIX — A 572-pound man who gained fame as spokesman for the Heart Attack Grill -- a Phoenix-area restaurant that unabashedly touts its unhealthy, high-calorie menu –- died Thursday, MyFoxPhoenix.com reported.

Friends of 29-year-old Blair River say he died Tuesday, possibly from contracting pneumonia after a bout with the flu.

Standing at 6’8”, River gained attention from around the globe after signing on to be the larger-than-life spokesman for Chandler's Heart Attack Grill last fall. There, servers are dressed like nurses and the owner wears a doctor's lab coat, but the menu is the opposite of health-conscious.

Jon Basso, the restaurant's founder, teared up a bit Wednesday when he was asked about the 29-year-old's sudden death.

"We all have a very, very brief time on this earth, and the measure of a man is how he leaves the world after he's been here, and I can tell you Blair River was my friend," Basso told MyFoxPhoenix.

Many criticize the eatery that offers meals in excess of 8,000 calories. They feature huge hamburgers, milkshakes and fry their fries in pig lard. A sign in front of the building reads, "Caution. This establishment is bad for your health."

Basso says he expects the criticism, but the message beneath the outrageous menu is one of caution. Even some diners agree -- it's your choice to eat there or not to eat there.

"We are absolutely guilty for glorifying obesity, it's what we do, but if you stop and think about why we glorify obesity and come into the Heart Attack Grill diet center I think you'll get it," Basso told the website.

When MyFoxPhoenix talked to River in November about his modeling contract, he said he felt healthy and had no regrets about the way he lived his life.

River was a genuine person who told us the Heart Attack Grill gig, at $100 an hour, was all in good fun. Basso wants him to be remembered as a gentle giant and not someone who represented poor eating habits.

The founder said River was a creative genius who had been planning to take part in the shooting of a promotional spot called, "Heart Attack Grill: The Musical."

River started as a state champion high school football player and wrestler from Payson, Ariz. He leaves behind a young daughter.

The Perfect Diet.

Every so often, a new diet is touted as the secret to good health, rapid weight loss and flatter abs. The truth is, the perfect diet is already out there — and it's a balanced diet.

A diet that provides the right amount and types of calories (energy) to maintain all the body’s systems is considered a balanced diet.

There are three basic rules to the perfect diet: Don’t skip breakfast because it really is the most important meal of the day; eat at least three meals a day because anything less will lower your metabolism and attempt to eat food from every food group at every meal because you will ingest an adequate amount and better quality of calories.

The perfect diet consists of the types of food you learned about in the food pyramid in fifth grade. The pyramid has six food groups, each providing one or more of the three nutrients needed for survival and that build the perfect diet.

Carbohydrates are the main source of energy for the body. The two main forms of carbohydrates are simple (sugars) and complex (starches). Fiber also falls under the umbrella of carbohydrates. There are four calories per every gram of carbohydrates. Carbs can be found in whole grains, fruits and vegetables, dairy products, and beans.

In a balanced diet, roughly 60 percent of your calories should come from carbs. The average man between the ages of 19 and 30 needs 1,200 calories per day. Active men can add about 300 carb calories to their daily intake. The majority of the carbohydrate sources are healthy. Fruits and vegetables contain both fructose and fiber. Dairy products have carbohydrates as well as calcium. Whole grain or multigrain breads, multigrain cereals, brown rice, pasta, beans, and legumes provide fiber, B vitamins and tend to have low glycemic levels. They are broken down into glucose at a slower rate and prevent spikes in blood sugar and the mid-afternoon slump that happens when you're coming off that sugar high.

Refined sugars have no nutrients but contain calories. In a well-balanced diet, these sugars are limited. If possible, choose brown sugar or honey instead.

A balanced breakfast: To follow the perfect diet, start your day with a bowl of oatmeal made with low-fat or 2 percent milk, sweetened with low-sugar fruit preserves and chunky peanut butter.

Fats is essential for survival. It makes up the cell walls and is needed to transport and absorb fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K. A little goes a long way when it comes to fats in the perfect diet; 15 percent to 20 percent of your daily calories should come from fat. There are nine calories per gram of fat — twice the calories from one gram of carbs — which is why too much fat and not enough exercise can lead to weight gain. Fats are an important energy source during exercise but are not the first choice. The main source of fat on a balanced diet should be unsaturated fat. Saturated fats are found in meat, eggs, milk, and cheese. Butter, margarine, coconut oil, palm oil, and Crisco are all examples of saturated fat. If it's solid or very thick in its natural state, and it will leave fatty deposits in your arteries and colon.

Cholesterol is another essential fat, and it is produced in the liver. It is used for cell and hormone production. Cholesterol is found in meat and dairy products. Ingesting too much saturated fat can also raise cholesterol levels. Choose olive oil or canola oil, and eat leaner cuts of meat. Fish contains the healthy fatty acids omega-3 and omega-6. A hunk of salmon, a tuna steak, tilapia, or mahimahi are meaty fish that are good sources of unsaturated fat.

Fat tastes good — that's why we eat it — but it should be consumed in moderation. And that’s the key to a balanced diet. Be wary of low-fat products; the fat is usually replaced with sugar to maintain flavor. Always remember to check the labels, and eat the "regular" versions of foods and watch your portions.

A balanced lunch: A sandwich is a portable way to get a balanced meal. On 7- or 12-grain bread, have tuna fish, chicken or turkey breast, Gouda cheese, mesclun greens, and honey mustard.

Lung cancer ‘Artificial airway’ transplant is world first.

PARIS: French doctors said on Thursday they were delighted at a medical first in which a 78-year-old man was given a section of artificial airway to save a lung afflicted by bronchial cancer.

The bronchi are the main tubes for taking air from the trachea to the two sides of the lung.

In cases of early, non-metastasizing cancer of the bronchus, surgeons typically remove a whole lung, as well as the bronchus itself, if the tumour is located in the centre of the organ.

In more than a quarter of cases, this leads to death within three months of the operation.

A team led by thoracic and vascular surgeon Emmanuel Martinod removed the diseased part of the bronchus and grafted a replacement, thus saving the lung.

The transplant, carried out in a three-hour on October 28 2009, entailed a small metal tube-shaped frame, or stent, which supported a section of artery taken from a deceased donor and frozen in a tissue bank.

The advantage of aortal tissue is that it does not require anti-rejection drugs, which are not recommended for cancer patients, whose weakened immune system is less able to combat infection.

“The patient is doing very well,” Martinod, a professor at the Avicenne Hospital in eastern Paris, told a press conference.

“He needs regular monitoring, but he’s doing fine, he’s walking, he goes to his house in the country.” The patient “has the respiratory capacity of an 80-year-old man with a history of smoking,” he said.

Alain Carpentier, a professor of bio-surgery who is also president of France’s Academy of Sciences, said the tissue regrowth was “magical.” “The bronchus is regenerating,” he said, explaining that the transplanted aortal tissue had become a “matrix” which was now being recolonised by bronchial cells.

They were rebuilding the epithelium, a mucal lining of the bronchus that cleanses the airways.

The surgery culminated 10 years of research.

Between 20 and 30 similar operations are being scheduled in an investigation to see whether the transplant should be enlisted in routine surgery for treating this form of lung cancer.

Vaccines can help after cholera starts studies.

WASHINGTON: Cholera today is more resilient than previous types, but as the world marks 50 years since the most recent strain surfaced, two studies this week suggest that vaccines can help even after an outbreak starts.

One of the studies in this week's Public Library of Science (PLoS) Neglected Tropical Diseases journal analyzed data from Zimbabwe, India and Tanzania to see how many cases could have been preventable under differing response times, vaccine dosage and coverage area.

In Zimbabwe, where a cholera outbreak began in August 2008 and lasted through July 2009, quick intervention could have saved many of the 4,288 lives lost.

"If a rapid response had taken place and half of the population had been vaccinated once the first 400 cases had occurred, as many as 34,900 (40%) cholera cases and 1,695 deaths (40%) could have been prevented," it said.

However in places like Kolata in India and Zanzibar in Tanzania which suffer from endemic cholera "the impact would have been less dramatic," the study said.

A second study examined the use of oral vaccines in Vietnam, and found that it was 76 percent protective against a cholera outbreak in Hanoi "after adjusting for intake of dog meat or raw vegetables and not drinking boiled or bottled water most of the time."

The research is particularly important because of the way the current type of cholera has evolved to become more resilient and deadly than its predecessors, said Edward Ryan, an infectious disease expert at Harvard University.

"We have a wily and adaptive foe that has changed the rules of engagement repetitively, and it may be time for us to similarly adapt our strategies," Ryan wrote in PLoS.

"Response efforts to cholera over the last 30 years have largely focused on treating individuals who become afflicted in the short-term, and trying to provide safe water and improved hygiene in the long-term," Ryan said.

"However, as we mark a half century for this pandemic, we must stop and ask: is this still the best approach?"