For every earnest dieter, there is this eternal conundrum: Which way is better for keeping lost pounds off, losing them fast or losing them slowly?

Scientists at the University of Melbourne investigated. Their conclusion: Losing weight gradually doesn't change the amount or rate of weight regained compared with more rapid weight loss. But if you want to lose a lot of weight, you're likelier to do so if you do it quickly.

"Global guidelines recommend gradual weight loss for the treatment of obesity, reflecting the widely held belief that fast weight loss is more quickly regained," said study co-author and dietitian Katrina Purcell. "However, our results show that an obese person is more likely to achieve a weight-loss target of 12.5 percent weight loss and less likely to drop out of their weight-loss program if losing weight is done quickly."

But here's the bad news. You knew there would be bad news.

The researchers found that three-fourths of the dieters, regardless of whether they lost weight quickly or they lost weight slowly, regained all of the pounds within three years.

Body of Knowledge

There are as many hairs per square inch on your body as there are on a chimpanzee. The difference is that most of ours are too light and fine to be easily seen.

Counts

23: estimated annual sales, in billions of dollars, of candy in the U.S.

2: estimated annual sales, in billions of dollars, of candy for Halloween alone.

Source: Encyclopedia of Junk Food and Fast Food, by Andrew F. Smith (2006)

Stories for the Waiting Room

Researchers in New York City conducted a survey of the metropolis's notorious rat population, estimated to be about double the number of human residents, or about 17 million rodents. The researchers wanted to get a better idea of the number and types of pathogens a rat might carry — and possibly transmit to people.

So they trapped 133 Norway rats throughout the city's five boroughs, focusing on rats living inside residential buildings. They found that the rats carried 15 of 20 known bacterial and protozoan pathogens. They also identified 18 viruses never seen before.

Phobia of the Week

Coulrophobia: fear of clowns (but not restricted to evil clowns).

Never Say Diet

The speed-eating record for potato latkes is 46 in eight minutes, held by Pete Czerwinski. Warning: Most of these records are held by professional eaters; the rest are held by people who really should find something better to do.

Hypochondriac's Guide

Blue rubber bleb nevus syndrome is a rare condition involving malformation of the venous system, both in the skin and visceral organs. Patients end up with extremely painful, constantly bleeding lesions.

Observation

"It is sometimes an appropriate response to reality to go insane." — author Philip K. Dick (1928-82)

Medical History

This week in 1958, the first coronary angiogram was unintentionally performed by Dr. F. Mason Sones Jr., a pediatric cardiologist at the Cleveland Clinic. This diagnostic X-ray procedure uses dye injected to visualize blockages of the small nutrient arteries of the heart. Animal studies had shown that the dye in coronary arteries caused heart fibrillation, so it was never tried on humans. Sones was using the method to dye only the openings of a patient's diseased vessels but inadvertently injected dye into the patient's coronary artery. No heart fibrillations occurred, eventually leading to the safe use of dye for multiple imaging procedures.

Last Words

"June 3. Cold Harbor. I was killed."

That was from a note found in the bloodstained diary of a dead Union soldier at the Battle of Cold Harbor, which was in 1864.

To find out more about Scott LaFee and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.