The Checkup: Dick Cheney Had a Heart Transplant

The former VP had major surgery over the weekend.

• Oh hey, how was your weekend? Former vice president Dick Cheney had a pretty eventful one. In case you missed the news, 71-year-old Cheney underwent heart transplant surgery in a Virginia hospital on Saturday. This AP article outlines Cheney’s sordid history of heart problems in detail, but suffice it to say he’s had five (!!) heart attacks since the age of 37, and has apparently been waiting for a new heart for the past two years; the organ came from an unknown donor. Cheney’s most recent heart attack was in 2010, which was the same year he had a pump placed in his heart to keep it beating. News of the procedure has sparked an age debate when it comes to organ transplants, with some arguing that there should be age guidelines—and perhaps caps—to help determine who should receive organs when there are too few to go around. As the AP reports, the majority of heart transplants occur in 50- to 64-year-olds, and lots of people die waiting for organs because they’re scarce. What do you think? Should organs be saved for people who have more years left to live and fewer potential complications with the surgery itself? Weigh in in the comments.

• I love this story on a possible cure for baldness mainly because it uses a photo of actor Jason Alexander (i.e. Seinfeld‘s George Costanza) for the lead. Perfect.

• Chew on this slim-down tactic: eat strong-smelling foods, take smaller bites, lose weight. Wait, what?