By IRENE MAHER, St. Petersburg Times

Gone are the days when weight-loss surgery was used only for the morbidly obese -- people who are at least 100 pounds over their ideal weight.

That's because even for less severely overweight people who can't keep the pounds off through conventional means, surgery can be the most effective way to banish certain serious health conditions.

At 650 pounds, Michael "Big Mike" Barbetta feared he wouldn't live to see his 40th birthday. After more conservative weight-loss measures failed, the 31-year-old St. Petersburg, Fla., lawyer hoped the lap-band surgical procedure to limit his stomach's capacity would be the answer.

It may be hard to believe but Cathy Rigby, the pint-sized, pig-tailed teenager who won over the world as an Olympic gymnast in the 1968 and 1972 Games, is now a grandmother -- three times over with a fourth on the way.

What are the must-haves at your Thanksgiving meal? You're lucky if the answer is simply "family and friends."

But for so many of us, the list includes an excess of side dishes, sauces, breads and desserts. They overload the table and our stomachs. Then the leftovers fill our fridges until we toss the unrecognizable remnants of stuffing, pie and whatever else.

British singer-songwriter Amy Winehouse rocketed to fame singing about her refusal to go to rehab. So when she died recently at age 27, many people assumed her legendary addictions to drugs and alcohol were to blame.

In this corner: a person with diabetes who faces a list of diet, exercise, medication and testing instructions that must be carried out every single day for the rest of his life.

In the other corner: the doctor who hears the patient insisting he's doing all he can -- yet sees test results that seem to tell a very different story.

To diagnose Parkinson's disease, physicians for decades have had to rely largely on a keen eye and experience.

Now the pairing of a new drug and a high-tech nuclear brain scan is offering long-awaited help in recognizing the progressive movement disorder, which has neither a specific diagnostic test nor a cure.

TAMPA, Fla. - If you're a crossword-puzzle fan -- and even if you aren't -- you've probably heard that solving these word games may be more than a fun diversion. There's some evidence that taking on mentally challenging activities like crossword puzzles may boost brain power and help ward off dementia and Alzheimer's disease as you age.

Mention gout, and some people conjure visions of Henry VIII hobbling around his castle with a turkey leg in one hand and a goblet of wine in the other. Gout long was considered an affliction of wealth.

Today, however, doctors and patients know it's a serious problem at all income levels, and it's on the increase.

Rik Krohn was constantly exhausted. Even driving to work, he'd get so sleepy, he had to pull off the road and nap for 10 minutes before continuing.

A sleep study revealed that Krohn had severe obstructive sleep apnea, a condition that caused him to wake up repeatedly all night long just to breathe.