Thread: Diet Guru Atkins in Critical Condition

Diet Guru Atkins in Critical Condition
17 minutes ago

By ULA ILNYTZKY, Associated Press Writer

NEW YORK - Low-carbohydrate diet promoter Dr. Robert Atkins remained in critical condition Thursday after suffering head injuries from a fall while walking to work, his spokesman said.


AP Photo



"There is no change in his condition. That's not a good thing and it's not a bad thing. We're waiting for progress. He remains in critical condition. He is resting," spokesman Richard Rothstein said.


Atkins, 72, slipped and fell Tuesday in snow at the corner of Third Avenue and 55th Street in midtown Manhattan, just yards from the Atkins Center for Complementary Medicine.


"He was navigating the snow and ice" when he fell on an icy sidewalk during the city's springtime snowstorm, Rothstein said.


Dr. Keith Berkowitz, Atkins' internist and a colleague at the center, was walking behind Atkins and came to his aide, Rothstein said. The diet guru was rushed to New York Weill Cornell Medical Center, where "he underwent surgery to remove a blood clot that was formed when he banged his head on the pavement," he said.


Rothstein said doctors were not planning further procedures at this time. "They are waiting to see how the healing process proceeds."


He said it was Atkins' habit of walking every morning from his home on Sutton Place to the Atkins Center.


Atkins is the author of the best-selling "Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution." His diet emphasizes meat, eggs and cheese and discourages bread, rice and fruit.


Long a source of controversy among nutritional experts who have favored a lowfat, high-carbohydrate approach, the Atkins diet has recently gained new adherents after several studies showed that people lost weight on it without compromising their health. The studies showed that Atkins dieters' cardiovascular risk factors and overall cholesterol profile in fact changed for the better.


Rothstein said Atkins is a cardiologist who still sees patients four days a week at the center, where he practices complementary medicine — mainstream and alternative medicines. The center treats obesity and obesity-related diseases, which includes diabetics (news - web sites) and patients with cardiovascular problems.


In 1999, Atkins established the Robert C. Atkins Foundation to finance diet research. The institute has sponsored research at Duke University, the University of Connecticut and Harvard. He also hosts "Your Health Choices," a syndicated radio show.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...hospitalized_5

That's too bad. Hope he recovers.