Celebrities Health

AIDS activists in Orange County on Thursday expressed shock and sorrow, a day after the revelation that diver Greg Louganis has AIDS. "When somebody comes out and says they're HIV-positive," said Dan Wooldridge, executive director of the Garden Grove-based Gay and Lesbian Community Services Center of Orange County, "it's not only a shock but more like a chronic grief and concern you have that this is still happening."

To the rational mind, the notion of willingly depriving oneself of food for days on end seems illogical, at best. Basic biology, after all, dictates that calories are necessary to sustain everyday functioning and that low levels of, say, iron or potassium could throw off our physical health, possibly even dangerously so. And yet, extreme dietary cleanses seem to have gripped the imaginations of even the most practical among us. Somewhere along the...

Arnold Schwarzenegger, one of Hollywood's biggest and highest-paid stars, had elective heart surgery Wednesday to replace an aortic valve, his spokeswoman said. Schwarzenegger, 49, star of the "Terminator" movies, is expected to make a full recovery and will not be required to take any heart medication after the surgery, said spokeswoman Catherine Olim. Schwarzenegger, who won the Mr. Universe contest five times and retired undefeated as Mr.

The First African Methodist Episcopal Church of Los Angeles and FAME Health Corp. will hold a marathon weekend of testimonials dedicated to promoting abstinence from tobacco, alcohol and drugs. The Rev. Ric Reed will head the church's fourth annual marathon, which begins at 7:30 p.m. Friday and runs through 3 p.m. Sept. 3 at the church, 2270 S. Harvard Blvd. (323) 737 0897.

Puppeteer Jim Henson's sudden death of pneumonia last week is a reminder that this usually benign disease, which strikes about 3 million Americans each year, can be fatal. Generally, pneumonia is well understood by doctors and is easily treated with a variety of antibiotics, said Dr. Bisher Akil, an expert in infectious diseases and pulmonary medicine at the University of Southern California. "You get simple outpatient treatment with antibiotics and you get over it," Akil said.

The same questions kept popping up after people learned that I'd interviewed Pat Boone in his office on Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood. Might as well get those out of the way. Then we'll let the pop singer--with more than 40 years in the biz--tell us about his fitness routine: tennis and the gym. No, he didn't wear leather, but workout gear. No, he wasn't wearing white bucks. He had on gym shoes. Yes, he still drinks milk, but less of it and it's skim.

When Michael Jackson suffered chest pains last week, so did top executives at L.A. Gear. As it turns out, the singing star's chest pains, which hospitalized him for several days, were the result of an inflammation in his ribs. But when Jackson checked into the hospital, officials from L.A. Gear had to be wondering whether their high-priced spokesman--who had yet to appear in a single commercial for them--would soon be up and moonwalking. Executives from L.A.

Eyes wide, the young man describes his upcoming journey to the Amazon jungle and beyond. River rafting. Land trekking. And an escapade into the wild heart of the Rio de Janeiro night life. The doctor nods. He has been to the teeming Brazilian city and to the vast rain forest, along with nearly every other South American country. "For this, you vill need protection," he says. "Yellow fever vaccine. Typhoid. The verks ."

Comedian Martin Lawrence showed signs of improvement Wednesday, said physicians at Cedars Sinai Hospital where he was hospitalized after police detained him for walking into traffic on Ventura Boulevard, yelling curses at passing motorists.

Actor Michael Landon, whose ascent to stardom began with the role of Little Joe Cartwright on the television series "Bonanza," said Monday that he has inoperable cancer of the liver and pancreas. "I am going to fight it," Landon, 54, told reporters during a press conference at his Malibu ranch. "Every moment gets a little more important after something like this. Live every minute, guys." But the actor could not resist joking about his illness.

Guest Workout ends its run with this column. However, you can read Candace Wedlan's celebrity interviews in Southern California Living. * We'll call this the "whenever / wherever workout." That sums up how Michelle Yeoh has learned to keep fit after she starred with Pierce Brosnan in the Bond film "Tomorrow Never Dies." After the release of the 1997 film, her busy travel schedule didn't allow for her usual exercise routine at the gym and dance classes.

The same questions kept popping up after people learned that I'd interviewed Pat Boone in his office on Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood. Might as well get those out of the way. Then we'll let the pop singer--with more than 40 years in the biz--tell us about his fitness routine: tennis and the gym. No, he didn't wear leather, but workout gear. No, he wasn't wearing white bucks. He had on gym shoes. Yes, he still drinks milk, but less of it and it's skim.

If a person had cancer in the early 1960s, he or she might as well have had leprosy. Generally, cancer sufferers were feared and shunned. "There were no support groups, people didn't know any better," said Helen Beebe, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1961 at age 37. The Simi Valley resident recalled the stigma of her illness at that time. She said society has changed in how it treats cancer patients, and modern medicine has allowed more people to survive the disease.

Each had faced a different threat. For 4-year-old Sierra Harp of Irvine, it was a rare brain tumor. For 14-year-old Cori Knight of Anaheim, it was leukemia; for 29-year-old Carrie Lee of Mission Viejo, Hodgkin's disease. But one thing united the three and brought them to Orange on Sunday to celebrate: surviving cancer.

More than 1,500 gay men and lesbians united in the spirit of sharing, caring and valuing their community Saturday night as they celebrated at the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center's 26th anniversary ball and raised $400,000. In black-tie duds they dined, danced and honored the queen of alternative comedy, Tracey Ullman, the Advocate and Wells Fargo for championing gay and lesbian equality.

Arnold Schwarzenegger, one of Hollywood's biggest and highest-paid stars, had elective heart surgery Wednesday to replace an aortic valve, his spokeswoman said. Schwarzenegger, 49, star of the "Terminator" movies, is expected to make a full recovery and will not be required to take any heart medication after the surgery, said spokeswoman Catherine Olim. Schwarzenegger, who won the Mr. Universe contest five times and retired undefeated as Mr.

Elizabeth Taylor is breathing with the assistance of a ventilator after undergoing surgery aimed at determining the cause of pneumonia that has kept her hospitalized for three weeks, her physicians said Monday. The Academy Award-winning actress was admitted to St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica last week for treatment of the pneumonia, and was listed in serious condition in the hospital's intensive-care unit on Monday, her doctors said in a prepared statement.

Guest Workout ends its run with this column. However, you can read Candace Wedlan's celebrity interviews in Southern California Living. * We'll call this the "whenever / wherever workout." That sums up how Michelle Yeoh has learned to keep fit after she starred with Pierce Brosnan in the Bond film "Tomorrow Never Dies." After the release of the 1997 film, her busy travel schedule didn't allow for her usual exercise routine at the gym and dance classes.

Dr. Morris Maizels was not a likely candidate for medical celebrity. He was not a specialist working on a high-tech frontier and he was not associated with a renowned research institution. Maizels, 44, was a family practitioner who had a career very much out of the spotlight, seeing patients with run-of-the-mill ailments at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Woodland Hills.

Comedian Martin Lawrence showed signs of improvement Wednesday, said physicians at Cedars Sinai Hospital where he was hospitalized after police detained him for walking into traffic on Ventura Boulevard, yelling curses at passing motorists.