An Oprah threat to your health and the health of your children? Have you been misled?

Find out at www.Oprahcide.com or www.DeathByOprah.com

See FTC complaints about Oprah and her diet experts at www.JailForOprah.com

Friday, November 30, 2007

Program Combining Nutrition, Exercise, Other Activities Shows Success In Helping Black Girls Lose Weight

And we paid for this crap.
"An NIH-funded program that combined exercise, nutrition education, field trips and other activities was more successful than a self-esteem program..."
Remember, NIH promotes child abuse, which, in addition to stupid studies like this, is also paid for by us.

So what happened?
"Study participants over two years met weekly and later monthly to focus on diet and exercise or self esteem. At the study's conclusion, the girls in the diet-and-exercise group reported eating 90 fewer calories daily and consuming fewer sweetened drinks and eating slightly more vegetables than girls in the self-esteem group. Thirty percent of overweight girls in the first group lost weight and were able to keep that weight off for two years, compared with 15% of girls in the second group."
And what worked?

Certainly it was not exercise.
"According to the Commercial Appeal, there was no difference in amount of exercise reported by the girls in the two groups."
It was controlling Calories in, which, practically speaking, will always trump Calories out.

The latter is way more difficult and far less efficient.
"Marian Levy, director of the University of Memphis graduate public health program, said, 'It is a very important study,' adding, 'It shows just by making simple dietary changes you can have an impact on weight and health' (Powers, Memphis Commercial Appeal, 11/25). "
Duh.

Idiots.

By the way, fewer Calories in than out will work for people of all colors, ages, genders and anything else you can think of.

To achieve success, see here, here, here, here, here, and here.

It is the deadly approach to weight loss promoted by the experts that causes diets to fail. (For starters, see here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.)

Obesity And Poor Bone Health Linked By Study

A possible explanation why fat people are too spineless to lose weight.
"Being overweight is a known risk factor for heart disease, diabetes and a host of other health conditions. Now, a University of Georgia study published in the November issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition finds that obesity may also be bad for bone health."
And more child abuse:
"'...childhood obesity could have a significant, long lasting negative impact on the skeleton.'"
Apparently the only place fat people have too much bone is atop their necks, the boneheads.

Thursday, November 29, 2007

UQ Hosts Conference On Public Health Nutrition, Australia

Welcome to another Dumb and Dumber nutrition conference.
"The University of Queensland is hosting the Australia Public Health Nutrition Academic Collaboration (APHNAC) conference (November 29-30) which will examine the imperatives driving change in public health nutrition, including the obesity epidemic..."
So far, so good, until you see the presentations.
"Time scarcity and dietary practices "
"Family's eating behaviour during adolescence associated with overweight in young adults; a longitudinal study"
"A 'Cinderella public health dimension': the socio-cultural determinants of a taste for healthy food"
"Marketing junk food and beverages to children: the ethical imperative."
Not a single one of them focuses on the real issue - Calories in, Calories out.

Not a single one will result in real actionable conclusions.

All are directed at creating excuses for fat people, including how they abuse their kids.

The only hope this conference offers, is the no hope of success.

Being active combats risk of functional problems

Yes.

Do it.

Do it for function.

But not for weight loss. It will fail with almost 100% certainty. As it has time and time again.

If you want to be active intending to improve your cardiovascular and/or strength fitness, you will never achieve your goals from simple exercise.

If success is your goal, divorce yourself from the lies, and follow what works.

Little Milk, Exercise Hurts Kids' Bones

How little they really know.

Remember, fat people, you trust these folks with your lives, put their drugs in your body and let them slice you open because you cannot control what you stick in your mouths.

The ignorance: They do not know what is normal bone for kids. This is and has been a simple thing to measure.
"Bone specialists say possibly millions of seemingly healthy children aren't building as much strong bone as they should a gap that may leave them more vulnerable to bone-cracking osteoporosis later in life than their grandparents are...

Now scientists are taking the first steps to track kids' bone quality and learn just how big a problem the anti-bone trio is causing, thanks to new research that finally shows just what "normal" bone density is for children of different ages."

So what are they doing?

"Dr. Heidi Kalkwarf of the Cincinnati Children's Hospital led a national study that gave bone scans to 1,500 healthy children ages 6 to 17 to see how bone mass is accumulated. The result, published last summer: The first bone-growth guide, just like height-and-weight charts, for pediatricians treating children at high risk of bone problems."

But, how do they know who is "healthy"?

They don't:

"Ultimately, the question is what level is cause for concern.

'I don't know if we're raising a population that's going to be at risk" for osteoporosis, Kalkwarf cautions. "It's really hard to know what the cutoff is, how low is too low.'"

Nor do they have an approach to "fix" the "problem" since they have no idea about that either.

"But strong bones require more than calcium alone. Exercise is at least as important. Consider: The dominant arm of a tennis player has 35 percent more bone than the non-dominant arm.

And Canadian researchers recently reported that postmenopausal women who had exercised more as teens had 8 percent stronger bone decades later than their more sedentary counterparts.

Yet childhood exercise is dropping as obesity rises.

Likewise, the body can't absorb calcium and harden bones without vitamin D. By some estimates, 30 percent of teens get too little.

It's not just that they don't drink fortified milk..."
There is a clear bottom line.

These people are clueless about a "problem" that they have not identified despite years of opportunities.

The one thing that is clear, is that fit people, have far fewer bone-related problems than fat people.

So if you are an unfit fat person, do yourself, your children and society a favor and get fit.

Save your independence because when you finally break your hip and lose your freedom to move, your kids will be too darned fat to help you, assuming they survived your nutritional child abuse.

Either way, you will likely rot in a nursing home until you die.

Unless you act to lose the weight and parent responsibly.

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Wider nutrition labeling systems headed to stores in U.S.

More useless, even dangerous, crap, alert!
"A new system for scoring the nutritional value of foods will find its way to grocery store shelves next year, the latest attempt to come up with a standard way to make healthier food choices."
And who is leading this charge?
"The Overall Nutritional Quality Index (ONQI) was developed by a group of nutrition and health experts, led by David Katz, chairman of the Yale Prevention Research Center."
The same guy who has misled millions already with his bull, IMHO. (also see here and here.)

And the same institution as this fat diet guru failure.

And the same profession that has failed us in weight control forever, does not know left from right, can't decide if keyboarding causes carpal tunnel and now thinks that preservatives linked to causing cancer are healthy.

You can bet your life with certainty, that this system will apply the same knowledge and skill as the above.

In fact, you are betting your life.

Don't buy into it.

Apparently the competition is fierce in the domain of bad approaches to labeling.
"But Katz's group isn't the only one trying to develop a standard, comprehensive nutritional scoring system. Producers also are trying to get a seat at the table."
This is another approach that can only harm, not help.

Here are approaches that will help, IMHO. (here, here, here, here, here, and here.)

Hospital makes 3rd brain surgery mistake

Even more proof of cluelessness.
"Rhode Island Hospital has been fined $50,000 and reprimanded by the state Department of Health after its third instance this year of a doctor performing brain surgery in the wrong side of a patient's head."
Do you really think this place has a large gathering of morons than most hospitals or a cross-section of what is out there?

I vote for cross-section.
"'We are extremely concerned about this continuing pattern,' health department director David R. Gifford said in a statement Monday."
That's comforting.

Here is the fix:
"The hospital issued a statement saying it was re-evaluating its training and policies, providing more oversight, giving nursing staff the power to ensure procedures are followed, among other steps."
Left-right refresher courses for the staff.

If they cannot get left and right straight, do you really think they can get the effects of their invasive, useless and harmful fat people interventions right?

If you do, you are dumb as wood.

The point. If you want to avoid a premature encounter with a sick care system that does not know left from right and even more likely does not know its own uber-butt from a hole in the ground, get fit.

"Fitness is the only real preventive medicine." (tm)

All the other stuff is deadly to you and your kids.

Heavy keyboard use won't trigger carpal tunnel woe

This is more proof of cluelessness.

For how long have we been told about the relationship between typing at the computer and carpal tunnel?

Forever.

Apparently even something as simple as figuring out whether using a keyboard causes carpal tunnel is too tough for "modern" medicine.
"People who spend much of their work time typing on a computer keyboard are actually less likely to develop carpal tunnel syndrome than those who spend less time working on a computer, researchers from Sweden have found.

'Although carpal tunnel syndrome is sometimes work-related and ... risk factors probably include certain occupational activities, we are quite confident now that computer use is not one of these,' Dr. Isam Atroshi of Hassleholm Hospital told Reuters Health."

Atroshi?

No, atrocious.

Just like doing simple diet math is too tough for them to figure out why no one can lose weight.

You are being led by fitness primitives, morons, failures and crooks.

The sooner you wise up, the better your chances of flourishing in life.

The longer you follow them, the better your chances of suffering and then dying like fat stink.

Dr. Drug Rep

A come-clean tale of sorts that gives you insight into the corruption harming you and your children.

If you think the weight loss and fitness industries are absent this stuff, I have a bridge to sell you.

If you are not so naive or in denial, here are your ways out. (here, here, here, here, here, and here.)

Try to read it all. I have left some of the links from the original article.

Here is the set-up:
"On a blustery fall New England day in 2001, a friendly representative from Wyeth Pharmaceuticals came into my office in Newburyport, Mass., and made me an offer I found hard to refuse. He asked me if I’d like to give talks to other doctors about using Effexor XR for treating depression. He told me that I would go around to doctors’ offices during lunchtime and talk about some of the features of Effexor. It would be pretty easy. Wyeth would provide a set of slides and even pay for me to attend a speaker’s training session, and he quickly floated some numbers. I would be paid $500 for one-hour 'Lunch and Learn' talks at local doctors’ offices, or $750 if I had to drive an hour. I would be flown to New York for a 'faculty-development program,' where I would be pampered in a Midtown hotel for two nights and would be paid an additional 'honorarium.'...

A few weeks later, my wife and I walked through the luxurious lobby of the Millennium Hotel in Midtown Manhattan. At the reception desk, when I gave my name, the attendant keyed it into the computer and said, with a dazzling smile: 'Hello, Dr. Carlat, I see that you are with the Wyeth conference. Here are your materials.'

She handed me a folder containing the schedule of talks, an invitation to various dinners and receptions and two tickets to a Broadway musical...

At the end of the last lecture, we were all handed envelopes as we left the conference room. Inside were checks for $750. It was time to enjoy ourselves in the city..."
Here is the incomplete "truth" driving the system and harming you:
"... companies sometimes withhold negative data from publication in medical journals. For example, in 2004, GlaxoSmithKline was sued by Eliot Spitzer, who was then the New York attorney general, for suppressing data hinting that Paxil causes suicidal thoughts in children. The company settled the case and agreed to make clinical-trial results public...

Meanwhile, I was keeping up with new developments in the research literature related to Effexor, and not all of the news was positive. For example, as more data came out comparing Effexor with S.S.R.I.’s other than Prozac, the Effexor remission advantage became slimmer — more like 5 percent instead of the originally reported 10 percent. Statistically, this 5 percent advantage meant that only one out of 20 patients would potentially do better on Effexor than S.S.R.I.’s — much less compelling than the earlier proportion of one out of 10.

I also became aware of other critiques of the original Thase meta-analysis. For example, some patients enrolled in the original Effexor studies took S.S.R.I.’s in the past and presumably had not responded well. This meant that the study population may have been enriched with patients who were treatment-resistant to S.S.R.I.’s, giving Effexor an inherent advantage."

Here is how the system stays alive:
"I didn’t mention any of this in my talks, partly because none of it had been included in official company slides, and partly because I was concerned that the reps wouldn’t invite me to give talks if I divulged any negative information...

A year after starting my educational talks for drug companies (I had also given two talks for Forest Pharmaceuticals, pushing the antidepressant Lexapro), I quit. I had made about $30,000 in supplemental income from these talks, a significant addition to the $140,000 or so I made from my private practice."
Here are your opponents:
"I found myself astonished at the level of detail that drug companies were able to acquire about doctors’ prescribing habits. I asked my reps about it; they told me that they received printouts tracking local doctors’ prescriptions every week. The process is called 'prescription data-mining,' in which specialized pharmacy-information companies (like IMS Health and Verispan) buy prescription data from local pharmacies, repackage it, then sell it to pharmaceutical companies. This information is then passed on to the drug reps, who use it to tailor their drug-detailing strategies. This may include deciding which physicians to aim for, as my Wyeth reps did, but it can help sales in other ways. For example, Shahram Ahari, a former drug rep for Eli Lilly (the maker of Prozac) who is now a researcher at the University of California at San Francisco’s School of Pharmacy, said in an article in The Washington Post that as a drug rep he would use this data to find out which doctors were prescribing Prozac’s competitors, like Effexor. Then he would play up specific features of Prozac that contrasted favorably with the other drug, like the ease with which patients can get off Prozac, as compared with the hard time they can have withdrawing from Effexor.

The American Medical Association is also a key player in prescription data-mining. Pharmacies typically will not release doctors’ names to the data-mining companies, but they will release their Drug Enforcement Agency numbers. The A.M.A. licenses its file of U.S. physicians, allowing the data-mining companies to match up D.E.A. numbers to specific physicians. The A.M.A. makes millions in information-leasing money.

Once drug companies have identified the doctors, they must woo them. In the April 2007 issue of the journal PLoS Medicine, Dr. Adriane Fugh-Berman of Georgetown teamed up with Ahari (the former drug rep) to describe the myriad techniques drug reps use to establish relationships with physicians, including inviting them to a speaker’s meeting. These can serve to cement a positive a relationship between the rep and the doctor. This relationship is crucial, they say, since 'drug reps increase drug sales by influencing physicians, and they do so with finely titrated doses of friendship.'"

This should be 'nuff said.

Monday, November 26, 2007

Larger Than Life: The Root Causes Of Obesity

Clark Kent/Superman article.

This article is the exception to the rule that Clark and Superman cannot be in the same place at the same time.

It is 100% correct and 100% wrong simultaneously.
"Like Bridget, Sara Kirk hails from the United Kingdom and could be described as being fascinated with weight management. If they ever had the chance to meet over coffee (or given Bridget's lifestyle, a martini) Sara would have some comforting advice: 'It's not all your fault, Bridget.'...

'For many years, we've looked at weight as an individual problem. It's a personal responsibility willpower, call it what you will. The general consensus still is that it is an individual problem, one that should not be medicalized,' says Dr. Kirk. "Actually, there's a huge body of literature that's coming out now that says we need to look at the culture and the environment."
How ignorant is she?

"The general consensus still is that it is an individual problem, one that should not be medicalized"?

Obviously it it being medicalized as sick care systems around the world are whining about how they are going under trying to take care of fat people.

In fact, the only way to deal with the problems created by fat people is by NOT medicalizing the matter.

If only it were not medicalized. Then we'd have a chance.

Sara is also an excusinator par excellence. Clearly all of the rest of us have forced the fat to put too much food into their faces.
"Dr. Kirk is a former registered dietician and an expert on the management and prevention of obesity. The new Canada Research Chair in Health Services Research is with Dalhousie's School of Health Services Administration and is cross-appointed with the IWK Health Centre."
One could rightly ask if Sara is such an expert, why was she unable to keep people in the UK from creating their own obesity epidemic.

Her solution?

1. Make life harder
2. Make life less convenient
3. Turn back the clock
4. Blame the rest of us for human nature
5. Make life unnatural for humans
"Daily life has changed so dramatically in the past 50 years that most people have little opportunity for built in activity. The western 'driving and convenience culture' is seductive. 'As humans, we want to take the easy way and it's very hard to go against that,' she says....

'I'm only half way through my first year here, but there's a lot to be done,' she says. 'The problem is that, as humans, we want to take the easy way. And I wonder whether we can actually put the genie back in the bottle?'"
Sara is clearly a moron and 100% wrong.

She is also 100% an example of a supporter of the "root cause of obesity."

The root cause is and always will be more Calories in than out.

The root solution is and always will be fewer Calories in than out.

Among the reasons we cannot succeed at controlling this problem are:

1. We keep making excuses for overeaters
2. We refuse to hold people accountable for their overeating behavior
3. We continue to support overeating
4. We provide weight loss advice that is incorrect, impossible and doomed to fail everyone and anyone who attempts weight loss. (click here for the right stuff)

Yep, Sara is an example of a "root cause of obesity" and overweight as an epidemic.

Loud-mouthed idiots with a platform.

Wobblebottom MPs Should Be Stood Down

A fair and correct response to the entry below.
"'It is hypocritical of Helen Clark to refuse entry to Rowan Trezise when she tolerates the presence of several rather corpulent colleagues in the debating chamber,' Dr McGrath added.

'She should get her own house in order first..."
As should we all.

Bill Richardson and other fat, ignorant politicians, beware.

New Zealand bars British man's 'fat' wife

Commendable.

While the rest wring hands and do nothing, the Kiwis are in action mode.
"A British man who moved to New Zealand has been told by officials that his wife is too fat to join him...

...cannot afford to import people into the country who are going to be a significant drain on our health resources.

'You can see the logic in assessing if there is a significant health cost associated with this individual and that would be a reason for them not coming in.'"

Yes.

Kudos Kiwis.

Study: Kids will eat healthy school food

Morons who search for lost keys where there is light and not where they lost them alert.
"Bucking some common notions, a University of Minnesota study has found that school lunch sales don't decline when healthier meals are served, and that more nutritious lunches don't necessarily cost schools more to produce."
Three suggestions to these researchers:

1. See here.
2. Shut up.
3. Shut up.

Sunday, November 25, 2007

Pregnancy link to active children

Bad parenting causes fat kids.

"Mothers who are active during pregnancy end up having children who do more exercise, research shows.

Children are also more likely to be sporty if they have an autumn birthday, the findings suggest.

The Bristol University-led study of 5,500 11 to 12-year-olds, ruled out any biological factors, the British Medical Journal reported.

Instead, the researchers said active pregnant women were likely to continuing to do exercise after birth…

This meant that they set the children a good example and encouraged their children to get into good habits."

The ruling out of "any biological factors" is exactly right.

The example part is not exactly right, but still of some value.

Parents need to maintain the example of good habits to continue reinforcing the value of fitness as a habit to their children.

Teenagers' weight often stays stable

Too little, too late alert!
"Teenagers' weight seems to remain fairly stable over time, a new study suggests, implying that the optimal time to prevent obesity may be earlier in childhood."
No.

The "optimal time to prevent obesity" is when one is "just" overweight.

The "optimal time to prevent overweight" is when one is normal weight.

The "optimal time to prevent" more stupid research is now.

Saturday, November 24, 2007

FDA staff urge psych warnings for two flu drugs

From the makers of the weight loss drugs Xenical/Orlistat/Alli:
"U.S. Food and Drug Administration staffers are recommending new warnings about psychiatric events observed in some patients taking Roche Holding AG's Tamiflu and GlaxoSmithKline Plc's Relenza, according to documents released on Friday."

Big biceps, trim waist mean longer life for men

If you believe this...
"The size of an aging man's belly and the bulk of his biceps provide a more accurate picture of his mortality risk than body mass index (BMI) alone, UK researchers have shown.

Among 4,107 men aged 60 to 79, those with a waist circumference less than 102 centimeters (40 inches) and above-average muscle mass in their upper arms were the least likely to die over a six-year period, Dr. S. Goya Wannamethee of Royal Free and University College Medical School in London and colleagues found...

A man's risk of dying during the study dropped as his muscle mass rose, while both BMI and waist circumference alone showed little relationship to mortality.

Combining muscle mass and waist size provided the most accurate gauge of death risk. Men with waist circumferences greater than 102 cm and above-average muscle mass were 36 percent more likely to die than those with smaller waists and bigger-than-average muscles, while those with big bellies and small muscles were at 55 percent greater mortality risk.

The findings underscore the importance of life-long fitness...

'A combination of a prudent diet (low calorie, low saturated fat, and low alcohol) and regular moderate physical activity is required to achieve these ends..."
Then contact me or read my books. (or see here, here, here and here.)

Season's eating: Food gifts more popular

Give them what they like: food.
"While Americans are spending less overall on presents, sales of food gifts grew almost 50 percent to nearly $16 billion from 2004 to 2006, according to Packaged Facts, a division of Rockville, Md.-based MarketResearch.com. About one-third of consumers shop for food gifts during the winter holidays, it said."
The gift that keeps on giving - diabetes, hypertension, heart attacks, strokes and more!

Season's eatings for Xmas Gras.

Obese teens may be at risk of depression later

More child abuse. Another consequence of fattening up one's kids.
"Obese teenage girls may be more likely than their thinner peers to develop depression or anxiety disorders as adults, a study suggests."
This, the second sentence, clearly fits the definition of child abuse:
"Adult obesity is known to raise the risk of a number of health problems, such as type 2 diabetes and heart disease. For children, though, the most immediate consequences of obesity are often emotional and social -- such as being ostracized by their peers."
And now for the obligatory nutty suggestion:
"She suggested that teenagers who are concerned about their weight, or about any depression or anxiety symptoms, talk to their parents or another trusted adult."
Right.

Talk to the same people who screwed you up in the first place.

Nurse Who Demonstrated A Lack Of Basic Anatomical Knowledge Found Guilty Of Misconduct, UK

Now if we can only get the same treatment for diet gurus, docs, the government, Big Pharma, Oprah, publishers and other media we'd be okay.

Friday, November 23, 2007

Lack Of Healthy Food Options In Washington, D.C., Neighborhoods Cause Of Obesity Disparity, Opinion Piece Says

The excusinators are at it again.
"'The lack of healthy [food] alternatives, coupled with the disproportionate variety of fried and fatty foods in the area, certainly contributes to the obesity rate' of residents in predominately black neighborhoods in Washington, D.C., Malcolm Woodland, a researcher and LRP health disparities fellow, writes in a Washington Post opinion piece (Woodland, Washington Post, 11/18)."
Bull.

It is the excess of Calories.

Nothing more, nothing less.

As to "healthy" foods, the experts still have no handle on it.

The conversation is a distraction.

Blood Pressure Lowering With Direct Renin Inhibitor Aliskiren May Protect Obese & Diabetic People From Toxic Effects Of Abdominal Fat

More attempts to keep the fat fat, hurt patients and have the rest of us pay for it.
"People with raised blood pressure (hypertension), who are at increased risk of cardiovascular or renal disease because of excess weight, are particularly likely to benefit from a new class of blood-pressure lowering treatment called direct renin inhibitors (DRIs), experts said this week."
They are more likely to benefit from weight loss. As in "for sure."

Most College Students Wish They Were Thinner, Study Shows

How ignorant are college kids?
"...most overweight women don't want to be thin enough to achieve a healthy weight."
Apparently, very.

Wishing is a loser's game. When you have to rely on wishes, not action, you are doomed.

How ignorant are researchers?
"In a society in which excess weight is the norm, it's vital, say the researchers, to better understand body dissatisfaction and how this dissatisfaction impacts weight-management efforts."
Apparently, very.

It is vital to understand Calories in, Calories out. That is all.

Stop making excuses.

Top Researcher Argues Most Physicians Aren't Prepared To Deal With Obesity Epidemic

So where's the news?
"A top university researcher argues that most physicians are not adequately prepared to deal with this obesity epidemic."
Problem is, this guy has it all wrong.
"...researcher Tim Caulfield examines the vital role physicians play in managing and identifying obesity"
Physicians have no idea how to handle overweight and obesity and in fact, their advice is deadly. (Which is the only reason it can be called "vital," as in "of or pertaining to life." In this case, it pertains to life by ending it. For starters, see here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here)
"As obesity rises, Caulfield notes, so will the number of malpractice suits."
Let's hope so.

Protect yourself.

Thursday, November 22, 2007

Some find competitive eating hard to swallow

First the runway. Now the foodway.

"This fall, the University of Iowa canceled its annual corn-eating contest, held the week of the Iowa-Iowa State football game. Many saw the contest as a fun nod to the state's hallmark crop, but Phillip Jones, Iowa's vice president of student services, viewed it as an act of gluttony.

'It was something I thought was reasonable based on the data and stories I've seen about obesity and the proportion of people who are overweight,' Jones said. 'I don't know ... if it is dangerous, but it was a symbolic gesture to get people to address changes in our lifestyle.'"

Mr. Jones is the guy in the center two to the left of Big Bird (from our perspective).

Seems as if he could stand to lose a few pounds to set an example for his students.











"Last year, organizers of the World Pie Eating Championship in Wigan, England, gave in to pressure from health advocates and cut back on contestants' consumption.

Competitors converged on the northwestern English town for 15 years to see who could eat the most meat pies in three minutes. But organizers changed the rules in 2006, presenting the award to the person who could eat a single meat pie in the fastest time. They also added a vegetarian category."

Personally, I have yet to see data that these people are role models for the fat folk clogging our world. Just as I have yet to see good data that models cause substantial and significant numbers of people to get thin. If they did, why is there an overfat problem?

Point is, we are making people go away because they allegedly make fatties feel bad.

It is always easier to blame others than point the finger at ourselves.
"Janus said criticism of his sport demonstrates that people misunderstand the nation's obesity problem.

'Most of us are pretty thin and in pretty good shape. To say we're bad examples is misleading,' the 5-foot-10, 165-pound Janus said."

This competitor (Janus) has a BMI of 23.7

Possibly it will be the sports field next when fat people become too big to move and their feelings are hurt by fit people.

If you want to remove bad examples from the public eye, take down OprahWinfrey, Dr.Phil, Art Agatston, the medical-industrial complex, the NIH, Jorge Cruise, Mehmet Oz, David Katz, Rodale Press, Kelly Brownell, the APA and the rest of them.

That would be a good start.

Deliberate self-harm can signal suicide risk

Amorphous threat.

No definition of "delberate self-harm" is offered.

I will offer up flabicide, the intentional infliction of nutritional self-harm leading to death by overeating.

Unfortunately, this form of deliberate self-harm drags the rest of us down with them, by harming us, too.

Here is one way - putting our safety at risk.

Being fat apparently signals a homicide risk, too.

There are other ways, like the economic harm caused by developing diseases of choice and expecting us to pay for their rescue.

Which many of these fat people squander.

If they want to commit flabicide, that is their choice.

They should just leave us out of it.

Cigarette smoking linked with rectal cancer risk

Ann Landers advice mode:

Stick it in the other end.

You're welcome.

Depression at any point in life tied to heart risk

No hope, no hope.
"Older adults who've suffered a bout of major depression at any time in their lives appear to face an elevated risk of heart disease, new research suggests.

In a study of more than 10,000 U.S. adults ages 60 or older, researchers found that those who ever had an episode of major depression were more than twice as likely as those without such a history to have coronary heart disease."
"Ever," "at any time," "at any point."

How stupid is this? More trash highlighting the uselessness of a lot of research.

Give it up now folks because this is depressing.

And now your risk of heart disease is elevated.

Congratulations.

Stay tuned for the drugs to keep you happy.

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Exercise rates are up, CDC study says

Pants on fire alert!
"More U.S. adults are getting physical — or at least that's what they're telling researchers."
Yet...
"The small but significant increases are considered good news, but also seem a little perplexing: U.S. obesity rates are not declining, and there are indicators that some weight-related conditions — such as heart disease — are getting worse in some adults."
The bottom line is that exercise is a bad way to control weight.

As a primary means for controlling weight, you'd have to be a complete moron to exercise.

It simply will not do the trick.

How many times do I have to tell them?

US Senate Committee Releases Report on GSK's "Intimidation" of John Buse Over Rosiglitazone

More encouraging news about the folks who make Xenical (orlistat) and Alli.
"By silencing Buse, GlaxoSmithKline "smothered" an independent medical opinion and may have lost the chance to prevent thousands of MIs and deaths, the committee concluded." (per WebMD, Medscape Daily News, Wednesday November 21, 2007)
Care to think twice about diet pills, and other drugs more generally?

Lose the weight so you don't get them prescribed to you.

Physicians And Blue Cross Blue Shield Of Michigan Tackle Childhood Obesity With Michigan's First Pediatric Healthy Weight Toolkit

No hope of success.

The same people, i.e., physician "experts," who are already killing us and our children prepared these materials.
"The kit was designed in consultation with eight Michigan physicians who are active in battling childhood obesity."
The same deadly advice as before will be offered, i.e., "Treatment recommendations for overweight and obese children."

R.I.P., kids.

Sorry. Not my fault. I tried. (see here, here, here and here.)

Progress In Coronary Disease Death Rates Grinds To Near Halt In Young Adults

Congrats to Gen Ex.
"New research shows that in young adults, decades of hard-won progress in reducing the risk of heart disease appears to be stalling, as recent death rates from coronary disease remain almost unchanged in young men and may even be increasing in women."
If enough of them croak, they may have also found a way to halt the overweight/obesity epidemic.

Doubled Calorie Intake From Beverages Likely Contributes To Adult Obesity

Understatement, stupid statement or both?

"Likely"?

It is a certainty.
"It's not just sugary sodas that are adding to the obesity crisis it's fruit drinks, alcohol and a combination of other high-calorie beverages, say University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Public Health researchers. And during the holidays, when eggnog, cocktails and spiced cider are abundant, the problem can be even more apparent."
It is all about Calories in and Calories out.

How one overindulges in Calories is virtually immaterial.
"Over the past 37 years, the number of calories adults get through beverages has nearly doubled, according to a UNC study published in the November issue of Obesity Research by Kiyah J. Duffey, a doctoral candidate in the department of nutrition, and Barry M. Popkin, Ph.D., professor of nutrition and a fellow at the Carolina Population Center."
And for this crap they needed research.

Stop the flow of funds to these nut cases.

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Pedometers may encourage weight loss

Not likely.

More likely:

People who buy pedometers are more serious about the process.
"The analysis found that increasing physical activity depended on setting a goal and keeping a diary of the number of steps walked each day, said co-author Dr. Dena Bravata of Stanford University."
See.

Some diabetics prone to unsafe driving choices

Another way fat people endanger our safety.
"Drivers with diabetes who have trouble telling when their blood sugar is low may get behind the wheel when they shouldn't, a small study suggests.

The study, of 65 adults with type 1 or type 2 diabetes, found that many of those with impaired awareness of hypoglycemia symptoms thought they were OK to drive even when their blood sugar was dangerously low."

Type 2 diabetes is most commonly caused by being too fat.

Caveat driver and pedestrian.

Monday, November 19, 2007

Nitrite/nitrate-rich food may protect the heart

Flip-flop alert:
"Nitrites and nitrates -- compounds that previously gave cured meats a bad rap -- may not be so bad after all, as new research suggests nitrites and nitrates may protect the heart."
Sodium nitrite is a preservative and it's been linked to cancer.
"Nitrites and nitrates can form the potentially cancer-causing compounds, nitrosamines, and, therefore have been considered harmful. However, research has yet to definitively link dietary nitrites/nitrates with cancer in humans."
Now will someone please explain to me what we know about "healthy" foods?

Let me help with your answer. "Squat."

Smoking accelerates men's hair loss: study

Personal note.

I am not a smoker.

What is my excuse?

Please let me know.

Thank you.

Obesity raises prostate cancer death risk

Because their asses are too fat alert!

Prostates are palpated, i.e., felt, by a doctor when he or she sticks his or her finger up a man's rectum.

If the prostate feels enlarged, hard, irregular, etc., signs of a possible cancer, then other tests are performed to make the diagnosis.

You cannot feel what you cannot reach. Besides who wants to reach that far into someone so their cheek is up against the other person's butt. (social situations excepted for those to whom this disclaimer applies)

Believe me, for most docs, reimbursement is not THAT good.

Also, the tougher it is to feel, the later the diagnosis. The later the diagnosis, the more advanced the cancer usually is.

Or maybe there is another reason. If there is, it is less likely to be right.

AIDS cases drop, but bad data to blame

Is this a punchline?
"'Blah, blah, blah...' said Dr. Kevin De Cock, director of WHO's AIDS department."
If anyone knows, please tell me.

Obese Patients May Receive Incorrect Drug Dosages

Supersize me, doc!
"As if severely overweight people didn't already have enough health concerns, experts are raising another red flag -- the possibility that some of their prescription medications, especially antibiotics, may not be prescribed at the appropriate dosage and could be ineffective...

'The number of individuals with the highest body mass index, very obese people, is up 600 percent between 1986 and 2000,' said David Bearden, a clinical associate professor in the College of Pharmacy at Oregon State University."
And these fat people put the rest of us at risk.
"'Very obese individuals in some cases, even those with severe infections, may be getting only half the necessary dose of a prescription drug such as an antibiotic,' Bearden said. 'That's a problem. It could lead not only to antibiotic failure but also an increase in antibiotic resistance, another serious issue.'"
Yeah, "that's a problem."

One that could kill the rest of us.

Anti-obesity Drugs Offer Modest Results, Many Taking Them Remain Obese Or Overweight

Another take on the diet drug scam.
"If you are overweight/obese and are taking an anti-obesity drug do not be surprised if your weight loss is only modest; neither should you be surprised if you continue being obese/overweight, according to an article in The British Medical Journal (BMJ), published today."
A somewhat lucid moment in the overweight conversation...
"'Selling anti-obesity drugs over the counter will perpetuate the myth that obesity can be fixed simply by popping a pill and could further undermine the efforts to promote healthy living, which is the only long term escape from obesity,' Williams wrote."
Sue the pill makers and pushers.

Waking Up to the Problem of OSA: Consequences and Improved Recognition

Another "fat people are a safety hazard to the rest of us" alert.

The risks posed by fat people are not limited to airplanes anymore.

You are now roadkill in the making.
"Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a sleep-related breathing disorder (SRBD) characterized by partial/complete airway obstruction resulting in suspended breathing."
Who gets it?
"Associated risk factors include being male, older age, high BMI, hypertension, family history, and having a large neck circumference and/or a narrowed airway."
Basically, fat people, since the risks are those of being fat and the consequences of being fat.

What does OSA cause?
Untreated OSA is associated with serious societal and personal consequences. The cardinal symptom of OSA is excessive sleepiness, which can interfere with daily activities and heighten the risk of motor vehicle crashes.
"Motor vehicle crashes."

Anything the rest of us end up paying for?
OSA is associated with numerous medical comorbidities, with the most compelling data exhibiting a link between OSA and hypertension.
So we pay for the self-caused illnesses of these leeches.

Anything else associated with this basically-a-fat-person's problem?
Classic symptoms during sleep include loud snoring, gasping/choking, and severely fragmented sleep, whereas waking symptoms include excessive sleepiness, cognitive difficulties, and mood swings.
"Cognitive difficulties."

Those are problems "pertaining to the mental processes of perception, memory, judgment, and reasoning, as contrasted with emotional and volitional processes."

Problems thinking.

Not uncommonly seen in stupid people.

Stupid with fat people is a Midol matter - stupid happens to fat people before, during and after they are fat.

It's enough to make fit people lose sleep over.

College Students Face Multiple Health Risks

And these are supposed to be our best and brightest.
"Obesity, drinking, and unsafe sex are among the risky health and lifestyle issues uncovered by what may be the largest-ever survey of the health habits of college students.

Almost 40% were overweight or obese, 37% had engaged in high-risk drinking (such as binge drinking), and a high percentage of those who are sexually active do not use condoms, according to a survey completed in the spring of 2007 by almost 10,000 students at 14 colleges and universities in Minnesota."

Time to review admissions requirements.

Sunday, November 18, 2007

Study findings question safety of anti-obesity drug

Oops.
"Patients taking the Sanofi-Aventis anti-obesity drug Acomplia, known generically as rimonabant, have well over double the risk of depression and anxiety, researchers said, adding to the bad news for a drug already linked to suicidal thoughts...

Danish researchers reviewed four studies featuring 4,105 patients and found that people taking 20 milligrams per day of the drug were 2.5 times more likely to discontinue treatment due to depressive disorders and three times more likely to stop because of anxiety than those who received a placebo.<"
How is it possible that medical intervention can have a downside?

Well at least someone cares.
"Salah Mahyahou, Sanofi's head of product communication, said caution raised about who should get Acomplia was in line with the firm's efforts' to ensure the medicine is not prescribed to patients with severe depression or on anti-depressive treatment.

'We believe the meta-analysis does not reveal any new data or any new evidence beyond what is already known by physicians or health authorities,' he said by telephone."

Oops. Again. Maybe not.

If you thought being fat made you depressed, think about the pills and no one at Big Pharma caring.

That should make you even more depressed.

Lose the weight.

UK Fat Patients Claim Discrimination

Let 'em.

This is responsible medicine:
"For two years, Frances Kinley-Manton says she lived with arthritis pain in her hips, a condition that kept her in a wheelchair. She wanted hip replacement surgery. But doctors at Britain's National Health Service said she was too fat for the operation.

Her doctor told the 210-pound woman to lose about 30 pounds before he would consider her for surgery."

This is a partial lie.

She was, "Unable to drop the weight through dieting..."
She could, but diet advice is wrong.

Diet advice is irresponsible medicine.

This is true:
"Doctors say obese people are at higher risk for surgical complications..."
So is this:
"Fat patients have a statistically higher risk for complications for almost any medical procedure. In some orthopedic surgeries, their risk can be five times higher than for a normal-weight person."
And this:
"There are also logistical problems: positioning the patient correctly on the operating table and putting the joint in exactly the right place is more difficult with an obese patient, Bhattacharyya said.

Besides the risk of complications, obese people usually need more time to recover, experts said, and might even wear out their new joints more quickly because of the greater stress from weight."

And who will be the first to sue when the result goes bad?

The fat patient.

Infants of obese mothers have higher mortality risk

Maternal body fat as an abortifacient and infanticidal substance.
"Obese women are at increased risk of having their infant die soon after birth, especially if premature rupture of membranes (PROM) occurs before full-term, according to a report in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology."
More good reasons to limit infertility treatments and hold fat people accountable for harming their kids.

Nutritional child abuse is not limited to the post-natal experience.
"'However, if these findings are causal and we understand the mechanisms behind them, it may be possible to suggest preventive measures,' she added."
How about weight loss?

Few overweight people trim down after heart attack

You have to admire their commitment to food and irresponsible behavior.
"Overweight people lose virtually no weight after suffering a heart attack, according to the first study to evaluate factors associated with post-heart attack weight changes. 'On average less than a half of a percent change in body weight occurred, and that's really small,' Dr. John A. Spertus of the Mid America Heart Institute of Saint Luke's Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri, one of the study's authors, told Reuters Health."
Now to blame everybody except the fat, cardiac patient.
"'...doctors and office staff need to fill the role' of encouraging patients to lose weight and quit smoking. When certified cardiac rehabilitation programs are available, he added, they're often underused. 'We aren't doing as well as we need to be doing.'"
It is not anyone else's fault, fool.

Thinking like this will never solve the problem.

Here is a solution.

Make fat patients pay for their treatment, both ongoing and prior, out of pocket if they do not lose weight.

Then watch the pounds come off.

Friday, November 16, 2007

A Higher Risk Of Obesity For Children Neglected By Parents

Neglect, like breast feeding. See below.
"Strategies for decreasing a child's risk for obesity often focus on improving eating habits and maintaining a high level of physical activity. While this is one way to address the issue, another way to reduce the risk of childhood obesity could simply come down to positive parenting, according to a Temple University study published in the November issue of Child Abuse & Neglect. "
Just what kids need.

More fat parents engaging them in the adults' favorite activity - eating.

Breast milk content may affect child's obesity risk

New form of child abuse alert!
"Mothers who breast feed and have high levels of a protein secreted by lipids in their milk may be increasing the risk that their child will be overweight, German researchers report."
Time to put those uncaring breast-feeders behind bars.
"Dr. Maria Weyermann of The German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg and her colleagues found that a child's likelihood of being overweight by age 2 rose with the amount of adiponectin in his or her mother's milk."
Clearly, all mothers should be tested before being allowed to breast feed.

At last, science has discovered the true cause of overweight and obesity.

They were right all along. It has nothing to do with the Calories.

Idiots.

Fat pills give modest weight loss

Well what did you expect?
"Fat pills like orlistat reduced weight by less than 5kg (11 pounds) or 5% of total body weight - which guidelines say makes their use unjustified."
Thousand spent. Only money lost.

Welcome to the world of fat medicine malpractice. (see here generally)
"They reviewed the evidence from thirty placebo-controlled trials, involving nearly 20,000 people, where adults took one of three anti-obesity drugs - orlistat, sibutramine or rimonabant - for a year or longer...

But adverse effects were recorded with all three drugs and there were high drop-out rates, with 30%-40% of patients failing to complete the trials."
Don't say I did not warn you. (here and here)

Fewer workouts maintain strength training gains

No news here. Well known for a long time, despite what the researchers say.
"When the exercisers reduced their workout schedule to three sessions every two weeks for an additional 21 weeks, they continued to show gains in maximal strength over the first 10 weeks and these gains persisted until the end of the 42-week study."
But there was no continued improvement.

Maintenance always takes less effort than improvement.

Most alternative therapies ineffective in elderly

And young people, too.
"In general, however, many of the studies suffered from flaws in their design, and this was particularly true of those that had positive results, the researchers report in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry."
More flawed studies.
"In particular, no "biologically based" therapy -- including herbs, vitamins and hormones -- has been proven safe and effective for any of these conditions in older adults, said lead researcher Dr. Thomas W. Meeks, an assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego."
So what else is new?

Just like diet studies.

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Insurer Highmark Introduces Health Care Gift Card

Happy Holidays.

Washington Post Examines Use Of Incentives For Weight Loss To Reduce Health Care Costs

Wrongway Peachfuzz alert!
"The Washington Post on Sunday examined how U.S. corporations are 'starting to integrate cash incentives into wellness plans in hopes of reducing' health care costs related to obesity."
Instead of rewarding the responsible among us, they pay the irresponsible.

And we all pay for it. Businesses have a tendency to pass on costs.

Plus they have not provided follow-up data to prove that any weight lost remains lost.

This is as stupid as stupid gets.

Try Adding These Superfoods To Your Thanksgiving Dinner This Year

Supercrap.
"Tired of spinach, bored with broccoli? Experts say there's a new generation of superfoods that promise to do double or triple-duty when it comes to preventing illness."
Try eating fewer Calories instead.

Market Testing Of Dietary Supplements And Drugs Underscores Value Of USP's Public Health Programs

Fraud alert times 3!
"ConsumerLab.com issued a report stating that several multivitamin supplements did not contain label amounts of folic acid."
They were wrong. The watchdog blew it. Fraud 1.
"USP's testing found that the B-50 Tablets do in fact contain the required amount of folic acid, as claimed on the product's label."
But sometimes they may be right. Then manufacturers are being fraudulent. Fraud 2.
"'...USP acknowledges ConsumerLab.com's marketplace surveillance efforts.'"
But you cannot trust them. And other watchdogs.

Still, even without lying about content the concept of healthy foods is a fraud. Fraud 3.

The world is only smart enough to know that whatever you eat to achieve a BMI between 18.5 and 24.9 is "healthy" food.

Everything else is conjecture.

Step One. Eat to achieve a BMI between 18.5 and 24.9. How you get there is your choice. Organic food? That's a choice. Vegetarian diet? That's a choice. Vegan diet? That's a choice. Raw diet? That's a choice.

Step Two. Stop at Step One.

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Tests of dubious value drive up health costs: study

More "so close and yet so far."
"For all the talk about aging baby boomers bankrupting the U.S. health care system, the real cost culprits may be tests and treatments of dubious value, according to a government study released on Tuesday.

Medical costs are growing far faster than the population is growing and aging, Congressional Budget Office Director Peter Orszag said in releasing the report. If nothing is done, health care would eat up half the economy in 75 years, he said."

Fat people will likely eat it up sooner. After all, they are eating up everything else.

But, this is for sure:

"A lot of what we deliver is of dubious value," Orszag said.

The solution is only part right:

"Orszag, who is expanding his agency's health team before an expected deluge of health legislation in the next few years, called for a national push in public and private sectors to learn which treatments work best, and how they stack up against alternatives that may be older or cheaper but just as effective."

We should also recognize what "treatments" have no hope of succeeding since the problems they address are not solvable by medical intervention, i.e., overweight and obesity (and here).

And we should recognize how people are being led away from getting themselves fitter and towards getting sicker by the killer weight loss industry, including: doctors, Big Pharma, diet gurus, the media, the government and medical centers.

"He said that changing payment systems -- which now reward highly specialized doctors who perform many procedures -- would be only one part of the challenge. The cultures of both doctors, who want to do more things, and patients, who demand more and more treatments, would also have to change, he said."

The time is now to reward socially responsible members of society who get and remain fit, because "Fitness is the only REAL preventive medicine. (tm)"

Obese 'should be barred from IVF'

Clearly and with certainty. After all these years, someone is finally standing with me to help the kids. But, don't forget the obese men. They, too, put their children at risk.

"Obese women should be refused fertility treatment until they lose weight, IVF say experts.

Whether they are seeking treatment on the NHS or privately, professionals are being urged to deny treatment to women with a Body Mass Index of more than 35.

Where possible, the British Fertility Society says IVF should be offered only when her BMI has dropped below 30 - a figure based on both height and weight."

To prevent the harm children suffer from overweight/obese parents, I started the Fit To Parent (tm) Program years ago. It was the first of its kind. It remains unique in its efforts to help parents and children.

"'Obesity reduces the chances that a woman will conceive naturally and decreases the possibility that fertility treatment will be successful,' said Mr Tony Rutherford, the chair of the BFS's policy committee.

'It also increases the risk of complications during fertility treatment and pregnancy and endangers the health and welfare of both mother and child.'

Among the 'complications' listed was the difficulty of providing safe anaesthesia for obese women during procedures, as well as problems with viewing ovaries on an ultrasound scan.

Obesity is also thought to raise a woman's risk of miscarriage after IVF treatment."

Fat parents also overwhelmingly place the child at risk of overweight/obesity and the attendant illnesses.

“The chief executive of the Infertility Network endorsed the recommendations, but stressed women must be offered the help they needed to lose weight.”

Unfortunately, the sick care industry does not offer any possibility for weight loss. (See here, here, here, here and here.) To understand why, read this and this.

And, as usual, where there is a chance to make a buck at the expense of a child’s health, sick care attempts to seize it.

"But the chairman of the National Obesity Forum, Dr Colin Waine, said he found the new guidelines 'troubling'.

'Weight loss may improve the success of treatment, and women should be made aware of that, but to deny treatment outright is discriminatory,' he said."

It is not “discriminatory.”

It is a true step towards real preventive care and restrictions should be applied when the father-to-be is fat (the risks to the child-to-be are greater when the woman is fat than when the man is fat).

Colin Waine, IMHO, is clearly unfit to practice medicine and a killer.

'Get tough' call on public health

Yay! Again. Almost.
"Government ministers should shrug off media accusations that they are running a nanny state and introduce tougher public health measures, experts say."
The only snag...
"It also said industry should introduce the most effective food labelling methods once the Food Standards Agency review of the issue is completed.

And it called for town planners and architects to be trained to design buildings and public spaces that encourage physical activity."

It has no hope of working since the efforts are misdirected.

When good idea meets bad execution.

As if food labeling will make a difference when fat folk would rather die than lose pounds.

As if architecture is the answer to fat people. As if they cannot "exercise" now if they wanted.

Morons.

Australia airline 'fat tax' urged

Yay!

"A leading Australian nutritionist has urged airlines to charge obese passengers more for their seats.

Dr John Tickell believes a "fat tax" would highlight his country's obesity crisis and make commercial sense, as heavier loads increase fuel costs."

Now for the killers to enter with a way to make an Australian buck for themselves by keeping the fat fat.

"But health groups have warned that to single out people with weight problems could cause them emotional stress."

Poor, fat babies need health groups to charge them to protect them from losing weight and keep them fat.

"He said that Australian airlines should impose charges on their overweight clients, as they do for excess baggage, because heavier loads increase fuel costs."

He's right.

And these porkers are a safety hazard, too.

C'mon we all know that pigs were not meant to fly.

Charge 'em.

Diabetes 'Revolution' is Cutting Both Ways

Congrats, fatso.
"'The prevalence of diabetes is going up because obesity is going up...'"
And you've bankrupted us because you are bankrupt of self-control.

"But the soaring rate of people with diabetes threatens to overwhelm health systems and undermine economies, health specialists say..."
All for food:
"'I said, 'I cannot continue like this.' I would be sometimes very depressed, say, 'The heck with it, I'm going to have a cheesecake,' she says. She is 5 feet 4 inches tall and weighed 240 pounds. She took daily insulin shots to control her blood sugar."
Wrong conclusion:
"The 'amount of money it will cost in 10 years to manage diabetes is going to bust the economies' of many countries, says institute president Paul Robertson. 'Governments need to jump in and understand, if they don't help, you can pay us now, or pay us later.'"
Right conclusion: don't pay a single penny. Then the problem will begin to correct itself.

Monday, November 12, 2007

Survey Report: Cancer Fear Won't Curb Obesity

You have to admire the commitment of fat people.

Commitment to abusing their children, killing themselves, killing their children and having us pay for their rescue, that is.
"Even fear of cancer won't make Americans take weight loss seriously, said 63% of respondents to a MedPage Today poll."
Stop supporting these people. Stand up for your self, your rights and the rest of the country.

A surprisingly astute comment:
"Said an oncology nurse, 'I think the problem here isn't that fear of cancer doesn't motivate, but rather people don't know how to manage their diets and control their weight. Until we give people useful tools to develop a weight-loss and maintenance plan, they will continue to struggle with obesity. All the counseling in the world won't accomplish that.'"
So while you are in the process of standing up for what is right and if you agree with me about the correct way to manage weight, refer the fat to where they can get "useful tools to develop a weight-loss and maintenance plan," learn "how to manage their diets and control their weight," and help their children, too.

Sunday, November 11, 2007

Perspective On Obesity-Related Research From Body-Weight Regulation Scientists

This article easily contains one of the most concentrated forms of crap on earth.

It is written in fluent technobabble. If you can finish it, since it is so confusingly written, ask yourself the question, "Why not just eat fewer Calories than you burn?"
"When obesity overloads the body with excess nutrients, parts start to fail. Obesity contributes to heart disease, stroke, diabetes, high blood pressure, some cancers, liver disease, immune dysfunction, painful joints, and a host of other problems. With so many parts of the body affected, studies of the health effects of obesity that concentrate on one body organ or system may overlook common underlying events occurring at the cellular level throughout the body...

The authors point to work by Dr. Gökhan S. Hotamisligil of the Harvard University School of Public Health and others who have proposed that metabolic problems arise when the body's cells have to deal with an excess of nutrients. An excess occurs when the body consumes more energy in food than it needs to meet ongoing energy requirements. Hotamisligil and other scientists have found that the oversupply triggers several similar, harmful responses in a variety of cell types: liver cells, the cells lining blood vessels, muscle cells, immune cells and even brain cells.

According to the Science Perspective article, identifying similarities in how different kinds of cells respond to excess nutrients might reveal why so many people put on too much weight and then are unable to lose it...

The authors conclude that more integrative approaches, those that seek out underlying disease mechanisms occurring in cells and tissues throughout the body, rather than those that study single body parts or systems, might more readily lead to strategies for preventing or treating obesity and the many medical problems that accompany it."
It is thinking like this that will bankrupt us on the way to killing ourselves by flabicide.

Saturday, November 10, 2007

New Link Between Genetics And Obesity Discovered, UK

Call Al Gore. British researchers have released more hot air into the atmosphere.
"A group of scientists that includes Professor Chris Ponting of the MRC Functional Genetics Unit in Oxford and Prof Stephen O'Rahilly, University of Cambridge, has made a second breakthrough in twelve months in understanding how the 'obesity gene' triggers weight gain in some individuals."
Not hardly.
"Now, scientists have found that the FTO gene codes for an enzyme that can act directly on DNA to modify it - suggesting that it might have a role in controlling the turning on and off of other genes."
Note "suggesting."

In any event, there is no relationship between weight gain and genetics in the absence of more Calories in than out.

And there never will be. It is and always will be about the Calories.

To wit...
"'A lot of work is still needed to figure out how its actions influence body weight. The finding that FTO may have some involvement in the control of the function of the hypothalamus suggest that, like other obesity genes previously discovered, it may play some role in influencing how well the brain senses hunger and fullness. As the activity of FTO can be altered by small molecules like metabolites, it is possible, in the future, that FTO could be manipulated therapeutically to help treat obesity.'"
Note also, the "manipulate" you part.

Remember, they cannot cure toenail fungus.

Friday, November 09, 2007

Merck agrees to pay $4.85 bln in Vioxx settlement

Remember, these are the same people who will safely cure your overweight and obesity with pills, surgeries, hormonal manipulation and genetic intervention.

Kiss your fat life good-bye.

Or learn how to lose the weight.

And while you are at it, do something about those who are harming you and your children.

Research Links Diet To Cognitive Decline And Dementia

Chicken or egg?
"The findings suggest that weight maintenance reduces the risk of developing obesity-associated disorders, such as high blood pressure and high cholesterol, and is an important component of preserving cognitive health."
But are fat people stupid from eating too much without stopping or did they start off stupid and ate too much without stopping?

We may never know.

Key To Good Health May Be Concentrating On Food Not Nutrients

So close and yet...
"In a recent academic review, a University of Minnesota professor in the School of Public Health has concluded that food, as opposed to specific nutrients, may be key to having a healthy diet."
Isn't that profound?

Here is the too bad part:
"'We are confusing ourselves and the public by talking so much about nutrients when we should be talking about foods...'"
If only they had said "we should be talking about Calories."

Weight control is all about Calories in vs. Calories out.

How you get there is immaterial.

With 100% certainty, for a given BMI, we do not know if a fat person who got there on organic chicken breasts is any healthier than a fat person who got there on filet mignon.

Though you may prefer to eat in a way that you believe is "healthier," as far as weight goes, nothing matters but for the Calories.

Focus on what works, first. It is not the foods, it is the Calories. Then decide how you want to get there.

Do not be distracted by the noise of the experts.

Fasting For Cardiovascular Benefits Studied

Inane remedy alert!
"'People who fast seem to receive a heart-protective benefit...'"
Instead of eating well on a daily basis, let's binge and abstain.

New Risk Factor For Heart Disease Identified In Very Young Children, According To Study At American Heart Association Scientific Sessions

Congrats, parents!

Though the so-called BMI rebound age is questionable, the ill effects of overweight and obesity in children are not.

Parents, pat yourselves on the back, if you are not too fat to reach that far.

Fitness Watch Is Back!

We are back and still have a job since there is plenty of stupid, false and downright deadly fitness "information" to reveal.

For a little while we will be zipping through the nonsense as we play catch-up.

Here goes...

Pioneering Doctors on How to Get Healthy

Not even close.

Weil and Oz are ones whose pictures belong in the post office.

Ornish has some redeeming value. Remen, I don't know enough about.

But a good rule of thumb to use in determining which diet and fitness gurus are likely to kill you is:

If they have appeared on Oprah or The View or consult for ABCNews, avoid them like the plague.

School Programs Trim Kids, but Gains Erased at Home

ABCNews, one of the bigger killers in the media (see post above), IMHO, has uncharacteristically reported something correct - the home is toxic.

The article itself is filled with errors and trash, yet this one point is right.

Parents are clearly the number one child abusers and nutritional child abuse is the most common form of child abuse.

There is no way that the money thrown at fighting overweight and obesity will overcome the influence of the home.

The time to stop funding this nonsense is now.

It is time to make people aware of what really works so they can go about the business of losing weight and helping their kids lose weight, too.

Dieting hardest for emotional eaters: study

Excuses, excuses, excuses.
"Emotional eaters -- people who eat when they are lonely or blue -- tend to lose the least amount of weight and have the hardest time keeping it off, U.S. researchers said on Thursday...

'We found that the more people report eating in response to thoughts and feelings, the less weight they lost,' Heather Niemeier, an obesity researcher at The Miriam Hospital and The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, said in a statement."
Poor babies.

Of course, if they did not make bad choices (in addition to the choice to get fat) and ate celery to cure their blues, they would not gain the weight.
"'Our results suggest that we need to pay more attention to eating triggered by emotions or thoughts as they clearly play a significant role in weight loss,' Niemeier said."
No.

We need to pay less attention and without doubt pay no money to rescue these people.

Then watch the pounds come off.

Instead these pinheads want to put a safety net beneath all of us so we don't feel blue. This anesthetizing of life is impossible and costly.

So-called emotional eaters - grow up.

These researchers - shut up.