Shift Work Might Lead to Type 2 Diabetes, Obesity

More bulls*t from the morons at ABCNews.

Type 2 diabetes is fat person diabetes.

While shift workers are needed to help our 24-7 world go 'round, an editorial written by Dr. Virginia Barbour, chief editor of the journal PLoS Medicine, warned that such work schedules can put a person at increased risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes. She even argued that unhealthy eating habits on the job should be considered an occupational health hazard.

Note the "unhealthy eating habits" argument.

Unhealthy eating is eating to a BMI in excess of 24.9 (or less than 18.5 - rarely a problem).

It is not an occupational health hazard.

It is a personal failing.

As is Dr. Virginia Barbour's stupid assertion.

Regaining Weight Bad For The Health

News Flash!

Recent research has shown that even after dieting and losing weight, the body tends to try its best to regain the lost fat stores. Holiday times tend to be tough for those trying to stay trim, and New Year resolutions often don't stick.

Perhaps an article published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition will provide some extra incentive. The study shows that older women who lose weight tend to gain it back again as fat not muscle.

Barbara Nicklas, Ph.D., a gerontologist at the J. Paul Sticht Center on Aging and Rehabilitation at Wake Forest Baptist and principal investigator for the study put it rather frankly:

"The body composition of some of the women was worse than before their weight loss ... When older women lose weight, they also lose lean mass. Most women will gain a lot of the weight back, but the majority of the weight regained is fat."

Duh.

Re-inventing the wheel.

A waste.

Teen Obesity Rates Linked To Mother-Child Relationship Earlier On

You can bet that just about all childhood overweight/obesity is one way or another the fault of a parent/guardian.

A mother's relationship with her toddler in terms of sensitivity to their cues and needs, as well as the child's sense of emotional security, impacts on their subsequent chances of being obese teenagers, researchers from the Ohio State University College of Public Health, and Temple University, reported in the peer-reviewed journal Pediatrics.

And the sooner the responsible party is held accountable, the better.

Higher Liver Surgery Mortality for Extremely Obese Patients

Kudos, fatsos.

Extremely obese patients have higher 30-day mortality after liver resection, according to a new analysis of data from Veterans Affairs medical centers.

This is one return on your investment of too many Calories.

Mom's Lack of Attachment to Toddler Linked to Teen Obesity

Excusinators working overtime.

The extent of attachment security between mother and child when the child is aged between 15 and 36 months appears to be related to the risk for obesity in that child when it is 15 years old, new research suggests.

As if in the 12+ years between 15 and 36 months of age, a parent could not intervene.

K-rap.

Alzheimer's: Diet Patterns May Keep Brain from Shrinking

Guess who is more likely to have cognitive problems - fatsos or intended-size humans.

People with diets high in several vitamins or in omega 3 fatty acids are less likely to have the brain shrinkage associated with Alzheimer's disease than people whose diets are not high in those nutrients, according to a new study published in the December 28, 2011, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

Those with diets high in omega 3 fatty acids and in vitamins C, D, E and the B vitamins also had higher scores on mental thinking tests than people with diets low in those nutrients. These omega 3 fatty acids and vitamin D are primarily found in fish. The B vitamins and antioxidants C and E are primarily found in fruits and vegetables.

In another finding, the study showed that people with diets high in trans fats were more likely to have brain shrinkage and lower scores on the thinking and memory tests than people with diets low in trans fats. Trans fats are primarily found in packaged, fast, fried and frozen food, baked goods and margarine spreads.

I'm betting the data will tip more strongly towards fatosity than Calorie source.

You should, too.

The Academy Of Nutrition And Dietetics Advocates For Expanded Nutritional Coverage Under Medicare

Wonder if these IMHO whores have a vested interest in this. What do you think?

The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics has prepared a request to submit to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to expand coverage of medical nutrition therapy (MNT) for specific diseases, including hypertension, obesity, and cancer, as part of the CMS National Coverage Determination (NCD) Process. Most chronic health conditions can be controlled or treated with medical nutrition therapy, yet Medicare will only reimburse nutrition therapy services provided by a registered dietitian for individuals with diabetes and renal disease. "That's just not enough if we want to improve the health of the nation and rein in escalating healthcare costs," says Marsha Schofield, MS, RD, LD, the Academy's Director of Nutrition Services Coverage.

Under the NCD Process, the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services can expand Medicare coverage for services that are reasonable and necessary for the prevention of an illness. Ms. Schofield explains, "There are an escalating number of baby boomers turning 65 and entering the Medicare system. The majority of Medicare spending is on individuals with chronic conditions, and almost 70% of Medicare beneficiaries suffer from cardiovascular disease. Chronic conditions can be controlled or treated with medical nutrition therapy, so it just makes sense to try to expand the Medicare beneficiary's access to these important services."

If they have done such a slam bang, effective job heretofore, then why are there so many fat, sick people around?

Screw 'em, the feckless jerks.

Myths and Truths of Obesity and Pregnancy

Early nutritional child abuse.

Ironically, despite excessive caloric intake, many obese women are deficient in vitamins vital to a healthy pregnancy. This and other startling statistics abound when obesity and pregnancy collide. Together, they present a unique set of challenges that women and their doctors must tackle in order to achieve the best possible outcome for mom and baby...

Respiratory disease in obesity -- including asthma and obstructive sleep apnea -- increases the risk for non-pulmonary pregnancy complications, such as cesarean delivery and preeclampsia (high blood pressure).

True

Obese women have increased rates of respiratory complications, and up to 30 percent experience an exacerbation of their asthma during pregnancy, a risk almost one-and-a-half times more than non-obese women. According to Thornburg, respiratory complications represent just one piece of the puzzle that adds to poor health in obesity, which increases the likelihood of problems in pregnancy. She stresses the importance of getting asthma and any other respiratory conditions under control before getting pregnant.

The fat should not reproduce.

Gastric Band Complications

More to come.

As more and more people opt for gastric band surgery to lose weight, the more people will experience complications linked to the procedure. In a case report published Online First in The Lancet, Dr. Adam Czapran at the Department of Respiratory Medicine and Coronary Care Unit at Russells Hall Hospital in Dudley, West Midlands, UK, and his team describe a 49-year old woman's ordeal several years after she had gastric band surgery.

Stay tuned.

Early Dietary Experience Shapes Salt Preference Of Infants And Preschoolers

As it likely does all food preferences.

So what?

Researchers from the Monell Center report that 6-month-old infants who have been introduced to starchy table foods which often contain added salt have a greater preference for salty taste than do infants not yet eating these foods. Reflecting their greater liking for salty taste, the exposed infants consumed 55 percent more salt during a preference test than did infants not yet introduced to starchy foods.

At preschool age, the same infants were more likely to consume plain salt, demonstrating the enduring influence of early dietary exposure. The findings highlight the potentially significant role of early dietary experience in shaping the salty taste preferences of infants and young children.

"More and more evidence is showing us that the first months of life constitute a sensitive period for shaping flavor preferences. In light of the health consequences of excess sodium intake, we asked if the effect of early experience extended to salt," said lead author Leslie J. Stein, Ph.D., a physiological psychologist at Monell.

It has been estimated that reducing sodium intakes could prevent more than 100,000 deaths annually and save billions in medical costs in the United States alone. Beginning as early as 1969, the U.S. government has issued statements calling for a reduction in sodium intake. To date, the call to reduce salt intake has not been successful, in part because humans like the taste of salt.

May not matter.

Even the sacred relationship between salt and hypertension has been repudiated in some studies.

Still think they have any idea what they are talking about?

Pulmonary Problems May Be Late Complication of Lap Band

Better to lose the weight naturally, then suffer the many downsides of fat person surgery.

Physicians caring for patients with laparascopic adjustable gastric bands (lap bands) should remain alert for late complications, according to a report published online December 22 in the Lancet.

"Given the increasing frequency of people undergoing interventional procedures to aid weight loss, recognition of the short-term and long-term complications is paramount," the authors warn.

Here is how to lose weight properly.

Diet For Retired Military Personnel Reduces Medical Costs

Weight loss for just about any fat person will lower medical costs.

According to a report published online in Preventive Medicine, a weight management intervention designed for military members who are inactive and retired, and their families, could improve their health in addition to lowering medical expenditures.

Investigators at RTI International, Virginia Commonwealth University, University of South Carolina, Cooper Institute, and TRICARE Management Activity, discovered that patients who took park in the Healthy Eating and Active Living in TRICARE households (HEALTH) weight management program, lost weight, lowered blood pressure and increased physical activity.

The rest of us should not have to pay for it no matter who the fat person is or what he or she did when younger.

You want to live a healthier life?

Lose the weight on your own or pay for it and/or the consequences yourself.

Obesity Linked To Higher 5-Year Death Rate After Esophageal Cancer Surgery

More evidence that the fat do not want to live longer lives.

Obesity doubles the risk of cancer recurrence and cancer-related death in patients with esophageal cancer who have been treated with surgery, researchers at Mayo Clinic found. Their 778-patient study, which appeared in the Dec. 1 issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology (http://jco.ascopubs.org/), found that five-year survival in obese patients -- those with a body mass index of 30 or higher -- with esophageal cancer was 18 percent, compared to 36 percent in patients of normal weight.

The research is the first to find that obese patients with esophageal cancer have worse outcomes following surgery than patients with a normal weight, says lead investigator, Harry Yoon, M.D., an oncologist at the Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center.

"Obesity is considered a risk factor in the development of this cancer, which is known to be both highly lethal and increasingly common," he says. "But prior to this study, we did not really understand the impact of obesity in this upper gastrointestinal cancer."

Clearly we should stop paying for their rescue - they give themselves the illness and then they make the rescue we pay for less effective.

Kudos, fatsos.

Virgin Olive Oil & Fish Fatty Acids Help Prevent Acute Pancreatitis

Not even close.

Acute pancreatitis is more common in alcoholics and persons with gall bladder disease, among others.

Oleic acid and hydroxytyrosol present in a particularly high concentration in virgin olive oil and n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids found in fish affect the cellular mechanisms involved in the development of acute pancreatitis, a disease of oxidative-inflammatory etiology. Therefore, oleic acid and hydroxytyrosol can be considered potential functional ingredients, as they may prevent or mitigate this disease.

Such was the conclusion drawn in a study conducted by a research group at the University of GranadaPhysiology Department, where the researchers examined the role of the Mediterranean diet ingredients in the prevention and mitigation of cell damage.

This study appears to have done nothing to demonstrate prevention.

Be careful of what you read and conclude.

Lean Beef Can Contribute To A Heart-Healthy Diet

Who knows?

Lean beef can contribute to a heart-healthy diet in the same way lean white meats can, according to nutritional scientists.

The DASH diet - Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension -- is currently recommended by the American Heart Association to lower cholesterol and reduce risk of heart disease. People following the DASH diet are encouraged to eat fish and poultry, but not much beef.

According to the Centers for Disease Control about 26 percent of American deaths are caused by heart disease.

"The DASH diet is currently the gold standard for contemporary diet recommendations," said Michael Roussell, nutrition consultant and recent Penn State Ph.D. graduate. "The DASH diet emphasizes plant protein foods, poultry, fish and small amounts of lean beef. Consumers often interpret this to mean that red meat is restricted on a healthy diet. Our research is showing that if you can keep your saturated fat levels controlled and lean beef portions in check, you can incorporate lean beef into a heart healthy diet and still see equal reductions as with white meat and fish."

These folks claim to:

The Beef Checkoff Program of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association and the National Institutes of Health - supported Penn State General Clinical Research Center funded this research.

You decide.

Vitamin D For Cardiovascular Disease, Cancer, And Bone Fracture Protection? Evidence Is Lacking

Truth about Vitamin D.

Does vitamin D supplementation protect people from bone fractures, cancer and cardiovascular disease? Researchers wrote in Annals of Internal Medicine in two separate articles that so far there is no compelling evidence to support any of these claims.

More bad news for the cure du jour.

Supersized Market Economy, Supersized Belly: Wealthier Nations Have More Fast Food And More Obesity

Garbage.

New research from the University of Michigan suggests obesity can be seen as one of the unintended side effects of free market policies.

A study of 26 wealthy nations shows that countries with a higher density of fast food restaurants per capita had much higher obesity rates compared to countries with a lower density of fast food restaurants per capita.

Note that the researchers blame it on "fast food" restaurants instead of wealth.

That is a choice.

A political choice and not a scientific choice.

This is a bad, biased, all-too-common "research" technique used to persuade, not to prove.

It (fatosity) has nothing to do with wealth or "fast food."

It is all about the Calories.

New Evidence That Bacteria In Large Intestine Have A Role In Obesity

More garbage.

Bacteria living in people's large intestine may slow down the activity of the "good" kind of fat tissue, a special fat that quickly burns calories and may help prevent obesity, scientists are reporting in a new study. The discovery, published in ACS' Journal of Proteome Research, could shed light on ways to prevent obesity and promote weight loss, including possible microbial and pharmaceutical approaches, the authors said.

Nothing will defeat Calories in vs. Calories out.

Not bacteria.

Not researchers with bacteria-sized brains.

L.A. schools' healthful lunch menu panned by students

This is what happens when that overweight/obese s**t for brains Michellesie "The Cow" Obama puts her plan into action.

It's lunchtime at Van Nuys High School and students stream into the cafeteria to check out the day's fare: black bean burgers, tostada salad, fresh pears and other items on a new healthful menu introduced this year by the Los Angeles Unified School District.

But Iraides Renteria and Mayra Gutierrez don't even bother to line up. Iraides said the school food previously made her throw up, and Mayra calls it "nasty, rotty stuff." So what do they eat? The juniors pull three bags of Flamin' Hot Cheetos and soda from their backpacks.


"This is our daily lunch," Iraides says. "We're eating more junk food now than last year."

For many students, L.A. Unified's trailblazing introduction of healthful school lunches has been a flop. Earlier this year, the district got rid of chocolate and strawberry milk, chicken nuggets, corn dogs, nachos and other food high in fat, sugar and sodium. Instead, district chefs concocted such healthful alternatives as vegetarian curries and tamales, quinoa salads and pad Thai noodles.

There's just one problem: Many of the meals are being rejected en masse. Participation in the school lunch program has dropped by thousands of students. Principals report massive waste, with unopened milk cartons and uneaten entrees being thrown away. Students are ditching lunch, and some say they're suffering from headaches, stomach pains and even anemia. At many campuses, an underground market for chips, candy, fast-food burgers and other taboo fare is thriving.

Acknowledging the complaints, L.A. Unified's food services director, Dennis Barrett, announced this month that the menu would be revised. Hamburgers will be offered daily. Some of the more exotic dishes are out, including the beef jambalaya, vegetable curry, pad Thai, lentil and brown rice cutlets, and quinoa and black-eyed pea salads. And the Caribbean meatball sauce will be changed to the more familiar teriyaki flavor.

The district is even bringing back pizza — albeit with a whole wheat crust, low-fat cheese and low-sodium sauce, according to food services deputy director David Binkle.

"We're trying to put healthier foods in place and make food [that] kids like, and that's a challenge," Binkle said. "But we want to be responsive and listen and learn."

But, they have not learned.

There are no such things as "healthy" foods.

There is only eating healthily.

Here is the Fat Fearless Leaderette:

Here is what she and her moron hubby should do (making the generous assumption that they are capable of thinking):

First Data to Show Antihypertensive Therapy Prolongs Life

Fat, unfit people are more likely to be hypertensive than intended-size, fit people.

The first long-term data from a high-blood-pressure study, the Systolic Hypertension in the Elderly Program (SHEP), show that each month of chlorthalidone-based therapy was associated with approximately one day of extension in life, free from cardiovascular death.

"The main findings are that after 22 years of follow-up, when about 60% of the participants in SHEP were dead, we saw a prolonged life expectancy in those who took the active treatment for 4.5 years, and that is the first time this has been reported in studies of hypertension, because you have to wait a long time to find out differences in life expectancy," lead author Dr John B Kostis (UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, NJ) told heartwire . "In hypertension trials, by the time everybody dies, the investigators have died," he added.

Imagine how much longer people would live if they did not develop hypertension and were not on meds.

Encouraging Loved One To Lose Weight Could Be Best Gift This Christmas

Wait. Don't be a Grinch.

Encouraging an overweight partner or close friend to shed some pounds could be your best gift to them this Christmas. Yet a recent UK poll finds that while most people worry that an excessive waistline might be affecting their loved one's health, a considerable number shy away from raising the matter with them.

The International Chair on Cardiometabolic Risk (ICCR), an academic organization based at Université Laval in Quebec City, Canada, commissioned the poll to highlight the risk of being overweight, particularly around the waist.

Carrying too much fat around the waist raises the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, coronorary heart disease, and stroke.

If you choose this role, be supportive the rest of the year and let those about whom you care enjoy the holiday.

One day will not undo what 364/365 days can accomplish.

Vitamin D Data on Optimal Dose Inconclusive, Say Studies

More about the cure du jour.

Health professionals often recommend vitamin D to help with a variety of ailments because of previous research that found it can improve bone health and lower the risk of developing cancer, heart disease and more.

But new research published this week in Annals of Internal Medicine suggests that while vitamin D is vital to health, the appropriate amount is up for debate, since data from existing studies are inconclusive. Before experts can make recommendations about what the proper dosages of are for optimum health, more consistent studies are needed.

Still think they have any idea what they are talking about?

Studies Suggest an Acetaminophen-Asthma Link

Remember when this stuff was supposed to be safe?

The sharp worldwide increase in childhood asthma over the past 30 years has long perplexed researchers, who have considered explanations as varied as improved hygiene and immunizations. Over the last decade, however, a new idea has emerged.

The asthma epidemic accelerated in the 1980s, some researchers have noted, about the same time that aspirin was linked to Reye’s syndrome in children. Doctors stopped giving aspirin to children with fevers, opting instead for acetaminophen. In a paper published in The Annals of Allergy and Asthma Immunology in 1998, Dr. Arthur Varner, then a fellow in the immunology training program at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine, argued that the switch to acetaminophen might have fueled the increase in asthma.

Right or wrong, the real point is that medicine complications can occur many years after their introduction.

Better not to use weight loss drugs or surgeries as they will likely be shown as harmful years later.

Best to lose the weight naturally.

Increase In Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis Spurred By Obesity And Diabetes Epidemics

Type 2 diabetes, is fat person diabetes.

Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) occurs when fat builds up in the liver. This accumulation of fat damages the liver and leads to cirrhosis. NASH is rapidly increasing in the U.S. mainly related to the epidemics of obesity and diabetes. As a result, the proportion of liver transplantations performed for NASH cirrhosis rose dramatically from roughly 1% in 1997-2003 to more than 7% in 2010. However, according to new research published in Liver Transplantation, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, post-transplantation survival for NASH patients is excellent, with one-year survival rates near 88%.

Kudos, fatsos.

Kids' Sugary Drink Intake Drops When Calorie Data Is Displayed

I told you so. See my nutrition label here.

When calorie data on sugary drinks is displayed in convenience stores, teenagers buy fewer of them, especially African-Americans and children from lower-income neighborhoods, researchers from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health reported in the American Journal of Public Health.

Sara Bleich, PhD. and team set out to determine how three ways of providing teenagers with calorie data might impact on their purchasing and consumption of sugary drinks. They placed three kinds of different posters:
Calorie poster - one said that a fruit drink has 250 calories
Percentage of daily intake poster - it said that the fruit drink had 10% of their daily recommended calorie need
Physical activity poster - this one informed that they would need to run for 50 minutes in order to use up the calories contained in a fruit drink or soda
The authors found that purchases of sugary drinks dropped by approximately 40% if posters were displayed, compared to providing no information at all.

The physical activity poster had the greatest impact - this reduced sugar-sweetened drink purchases by 50%.

Still, and of real importance, does the decision-making last and are the fewer Calories compensated for elsewhere?

Young Adults Drop Exercise With Move To College Or University

No excuse.

Regular exercise tends to steeply decline among youth as they move to university or college, according to a study by researchers at McMaster University.

Researchers found a 24 per cent decrease in physical activity over the 12 years from adolescence to early adulthood. The steepest declines were among young men entering university or college.

The research appears in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. The study, based on Statistics Canada's National Population Health Survey, followed 683 Canadian adolescents 12 to 15 years old, who were interviewed twice a year until they were 24 to 27 years of age.

While the children were most active, the research suggests that this advantage quickly disappears.

"This is a critical period, as the changes in physical activity during the transition from late adolescence to early adulthood represents the most dramatic declines in physical activity across a person's life," said Matthew Kwan, the principal investigator for the study and a postdoctoral fellow of the Department of Family Medicine of the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine.

All you have to do is eat fewer Calories.

Period.

Salt Consumption - Policy Makers Consume Too Much Of It

Hypocrisy.

"Do as I say, not what I do" appears to be a character trait shared by several salt policy-makers in the Netherlands. According to a study in the Christmas issue published on bmj.com, one hot meal in work canteens of salt policy-makers in the Netherlands contains more salt than the recommended daily allowance (RDA) of 6 grams.

Salt policy makers who eat in their work canteens consume roughly 15.4 grams of salt per day, say the team led by Dr. Lizzy Brewster at the University of Amsterdam. Compared with the recommended daily allowance this amount of salt equates to a 36% increase in premature death.

It is estimated that consuming too much salt causes 30% of all hypertension cases. In several countries programs have been established in order to encourage individuals to eat less salt.

The team concentrated on policy makers, as they believed they would be highly aware of the risk of excessive salt consumption.

They cannot follow their own advice, yet thy expect the rest of us to.

Walk Faster To Outwit The Grim Reaper

Why exercise is meaningless or worse and training is the way to go.

The Grim Reaper is a famous mythological and literary figure personifying death. According to a study published in the Christmas issue on bmj.com, men of 70 years and older can elude the Grim Reaper by walking at speeds of at least 3 miles (or 5km) an hour. Researchers say that for the first time, they have estimated the usual walking speed of the Grim Reaper at 1.8 miles per hour, saying he never walked faster than 3 miles per hour.

Train.

Here's where to learn how to train.

Winter Diets? The Secret Is To Chill The Extremities

Really. Is it worth it?

Large mammals living in temperate climates frequently have difficulty finding food during winter. It is well known that they lower their metabolism at this time but does this represent a mechanism for coping with less food or is it merely a consequence of having less to eat? The puzzle has been solved at least for the red deer by the group of Walter Arnold at the Research Institute of Wildlife Ecology, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna. The results are published in the "Journal of Experimental Biology".

Although the temperate climates of central Europe provide plentiful food in summer, finding enough to eat is much more problematic in winter. Many small mammals avoid the problem by hibernating but this survival strategy is generally not practised by larger animals. With the exception of some bears, large mammals remain fully awake throughout the year, yet they too must reduce their metabolism to cope with the comparative scarcity of food. Red deer, for example, are known to lower their heart rate and to allow their extremities to cool substantially during winter. These changes have been interpreted as a mechanism for conserving energy but could simply reflect the fact that the animals cannot find enough food to eat, as the act of digestion is known to have a direct influence on a ruminant's metabolism.

Just eat fewer Calories than you burn.

And keep your extremities.

America's Heart Health Needs Improvement

And what is the biggest threat to America's Heart Health?

America's heart and blood vessel health is far from ideal, according to data in the American Heart Association's "Heart Disease and Stroke Statistical Update 2012," published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

The update provides insight into our less than ideal cardiovascular health. For example, obesity continues to be a major problem for many Americans. More than 67 percent of U.S. adults and 31.7 percent of children are overweight or obese. Over the past 30 years, the prevalence of obesity in children has increased from 4 percent to more than 20 percent.

Fatosity.

Stroke Risk Driven By Diet Quality And Overeating, Rather Than Individual Nutrients

See, as we have been saying all along, it is all about the Calories and that there are no "healthy" foods, only eating healthily.

A review published in the special stroke issue of The Lancet Neurology says that many of the numerous studies on stroke prevention have been based on unreliable evidence. The same applies to headlines that have highlighted potential benefits of specific nutrients and foods. According to researchers, the risk of stroke is more likely to be predicted by dietary patterns and excess energy intake, i.e. overeating...

...Even though it is a well-known fact that malnutrition and over-consumption of calories increase the risk of stroke, researchers have little knowledge about which particular nutrients and foods affect the risk of developing stroke.

This could be due to the fact that there are almost no randomized trials, which provide reliable evidence, and the few that have been carried out indicate that dietary supplements, such as antioxidant vitamins, B vitamins, and calcium do not lower the risk of stroke, but could actually increase the chance of a heart attack and mortality. Another explanation is that the majority of studies evaluated stroke as a single outcome, meaning that important effects of foods, nutrients, beverages, and dietary patterns on different types of stroke may have been overlooked.

Data from observational studies that do not prove cause and effect, and are therefore less reliable indicate that the risk of stroke could be reduced by low-salt - and low sugar diets that are high in potassium or other diets, such as the Mediterranean diet, which is rich in vegetables, fish, fruit, nuts and whole grains.

Still think they have any idea what they are talking about?

How To Cut Calories With Fast Foods

Would say I was plagiarized, but my approach is better.

With today's hectic schedules, individuals often eat at fast food joints due to convenience. Although fast food joints are packed with tempting colorful signs, those watching their weight can still order healthier alternatives. Dr. Jessica Bartfield, who specializes in nutrition and weight management at Gottlieb Memorial Hospital, part of Loyola University Health System, explained:

"The average American consumes close to 50% of his or her meals outside of the home and fast-food restaurants are abundant. By following a few rules, you can keep any fast food meal in calorie check."


Dr. Bartfield likes sandwich shops that allow customers to fill their sandwich with a variety of vegetable toppings, which adds nutritional value, while having the option to stay clear of higher-calorie ingredients like dressings and cheese.

And it let's you enjoy your meal more.

Whole Grains Most Sought After Health Claims On Food Packages

This is a distraction.

Grocery Shopper Trends report whole grains are now the most sought after health claims on food packages, followed closely by claims about dietary fiber. In the December 2011 issue of Food Technology magazine, published by the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT), contributing Editor A. Elizabeth Sloan writes about the latest whole grain trends in food.

The number of whole grain products has increased nearly twenty-fold between 2000 and 2010 according to Mintel's Global New Products Database. More consumers look for the "100 percent whole wheat" descriptor on foods, more than they look for "a full serving of vegetables or fruit" notes Technomics Inc.'s 2010 Healthy Eating Consumer Trend Report.

When it comes to overweight/obesity, it is all about Calories in vs. Calories out.

The source of the Calories is immaterial.

Regaining Weight After Losing It Might Harm Menopausal Women

It harms anybody if the BMI goes above the "healthy" range.

According to a study recently published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, older women who lose weight but do not maintain the loss might suffer some negative consequences in their overall health. The National Institute on Aging sponsored the investigation.

Investigators at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, demonstrated that within a year, some older women gain a considerable amount of weight back after losing it.

Barbara Nicklas, Ph.D., a gerontologist at the J. Paul Sticht Center on Aging and Rehabilitation at Wake Forest Baptist and lead researcher for the investigation, explained:

"The body composition of some of the women was worse than before their weight loss. When older women lose weight, they also lose lean mass. Most women will gain a lot of the weight back, but the majority of the weight regained is fat."

Useless.

Dietary Fibers From Algae Help Weight Loss

Hard to believe you can lose weight from eating something that looks so yummy.

Researchers at the Faculty of Life Sciences (LIFE) at the University of Copenhagen have established that dietary fibers from brown algae boosts the body's sensation of satiety, so that people eat less and lose more weight.

Earlier studies have demonstrated that a fiber-rich diet is easier for maintaining weight. Researchers at the University of Copenhagen have now discovered in a new PhD project that alginates (dietary fibers) from brown algae, are superb at creating an 'artificial feeling of fullness' in the stomach.

Scientists have categorized the numerous different types of seaweed into three main groups, such as brown algae (Phaephycecae), red algae (Rhodophyta) and green algae (Chlorophyta). The researchers of this study based their study primarily on palm seaweed fibers obtained from the brown algae.

PhD student Morten Georg Jensen says:

"Over a three-year period, we have studied the effect of taking different alginate doses. We are able to demonstrate that the healthy subjects who took alginates and were also allowed to eat as much as they wanted felt less hungry and ate less than the subjects not drinking fiber drinks with alginates."

Jensen and his team conducted a 12-week study involving 96 overweight men and women. They assigned 48 participants to consume a specially designed drink containing alginates three times daily before each main course, whilst the other 48 received drinks containing placebo without alginates. The drinks were administered as a supplement to an energy-reduced diet.

They discovered that of the 80 participants who completed the study, those in the alginate group achieved a significantly greater loss of weight loss on average, i.e. 1.7 kg, compared with participants in the placebo group. This weight loss has been primarily achieved because of a reduction in body fat percentage.

The difference is a whopping 0.3 pounds or 4.8 ounces per week of additional weight loss.

Probably resulted from the vomited Calories.



Isn't it better just to eat fewer Calories?

Orangutans That Have Survived Extreme Food Scarcity May Provide Better Understand Of Obesity And Eating Disorders In Humans

Clueless, moron researchers.

Rutgers Evolutionary Anthropologist Erin Vogel thinks new research published in Biology Letters, a Journal of the Royal Society, examining how endangered Indonesian orangutans - considered a close relative to humans - survive during times of extreme food scarcity might help scientists better understand eating disorders and obesity in humans.

"There is such a large obesity epidemic today and yet we don't really understand the basis of the obesity condition or how these high-protein or low-protein diets work," said Vogel, whose research, Bornean orangutans on the brink of protein bankruptcy, represents the first time scientists have looked at how these long-haired, orange-colored apes - that depend on low-protein fruit to survive - endure protein cycling, or period bouts of protein deprivation. "I think studying the diets of some of our closest living relatives, the great apes; may help us understand issues with our own modern day diets," she said.

According to Vogel, an assistant professor of anthropology in Department of Anthropology and Center for Human Evolutionary Studies, in the School of Arts and Sciences, the research shows that it is only during high periods of high caloric and protein intake that orangutans put on fat, a scientific fact that is sometimes ignored by those who believe that high protein, low carbohydrate diets are the best way to lose weight. She said it is only when caloric intake is restricted that orangutans use these fat reserves for energy and eventually dip into their protein (muscle) reserves - a condition that is seen with eating disorders like anorexia.

All they are doing in describing Calories in vs. Calories out.

No more, no less.

Bariatric surgery may help teens, but insurers often exclude them

Just as they should exclude adults.

As obesity among young people continues to rise, a growing number of clinicians and researchers say that weight-loss surgery may be their best chance to take off significant weight and either correct or avoid such conditions as diabetes and heart disease, which often go hand-in-hand with obesity. But although health plans frequently cover bariatric surgery in adults, coverage for the procedure in patients younger than age 18 is spotty.

Experts in pediatric obesity say that caution is warranted and that insurers shouldn’t just rubber-stamp such surgery in adolescents. But they say emerging research may lead to more coverage for young people.

Let's hope not.

We will just end-up paying more for these piglets will diseases of choice given to them by their child-abusing folks.

Pediatric Weight Management: Researchers Develop 'Conversation Cards' To Broach The Subject

Another hare-brained, doomed to fail approach.

Medical researchers at the University of Alberta have created a deck of cards with conversation starters about sensitive and informational topics related to weight, that parents can use to guide their discussions when talking about their child's weight management with health professionals.

As if nutritional child abusing parents will collaborate with abuse enabling physicians to own up to their own shortcomings.

Fat chance.

This will work.

CPAP Benefits in Metabolic Syndrome

Obstructive sleep apnea is more common in fatsos, as is metabolic syndrome.

Three months of treatment with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) was associated with improvements in many different components of the metabolic syndrome in a new study in patients with both metabolic syndrome and obstructive sleep apnea.

In the study, published in the December 15 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine [1], CPAP therapy was associated with a decrease in both systolic and diastolic blood pressure, lipids, glycated hemoglobin, body mass index, and abdominal fat.

Lead investigator, Dr Surendra Sharma (All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi) told heartwire he was excited about these results. He said: "Currently, we use medicines for the treatment of metabolic syndrome. The message of this study is that, if metabolic syndrome is associated with obstructive sleep apnea, then CPAP should be the first-line of treatment." He added: "Ours is the first evidence-based study with positive results and gives a ray of hope for patients that have obstructive sleep apnea with metabolic syndrome."

In the paper, the authors explain that 70–80% of patients with obstructive sleep apnea also have metabolic syndrome, and that obstructive sleep apnea is known to be an independent risk factor for hypertension and insulin resistance. While CPAP is an established treatment for symptomatic obstructive sleep apnea, its effect on metabolic syndrome is not clear. Few studies of this issue have been conducted, and studies that have been carried out have shown conflicting results.

Better to lose the weight than require CPAP.

Besides, the data are conflicting and this study does nada to demonstrate that any lowering of risk factors translates into better health.

Vitamin D & Incontinence

Hey, why not? Vitamin D deficiency has been associated with every other condition, so why not incontinence, too?

Vitamin D deficiency is higher among certain demographic segments, including women, the elderly, and the obese. All three groups also share an increased risk of pelvic floor problems, including urinary incontinence. Could there be a connection? Perhaps so, according to recent research.

Probably not.

Simply more bulls**t about the cure du jour.

Scandal Over Mediator, a French Weight-Loss Drug, Prompts Calls for Wide Changes

Oops.

In 33 years on pharmacy shelves here, the diabetes drug Mediator was prescribed to an estimated five million French patients, many of them diabetics, many others hoping simply to lose weight. When French authorities ordered the drug off the market in 2009, alerted to possible cardiovascular risks, there were 300,000 active prescriptions.

Mediator and its enigmatic French manufacturer, Laboratoires Servier, a privately held company with a troubled past, find themselves at the center of France’s largest public-health scandal in at least a decade. Health officials estimate that as many as 2,000 people died, with thousands more hospitalized, victims of cardiac valve damage and pulmonary hypertension apparently linked to the drug.

Politicians and the press have pilloried Servier, charging that it concealed the dangers of Mediator for decades and insisting that the company has a wider history of disregarding health concerns about its products. Many have noted that two Servier weight-loss products, both closely related to Mediator, were at the center of the fen-phen scandal of the late 1990s in the United States.

Bummer.

Repeated Use of Acetaminophen Can Be Fatal

That would be, for example, Tylenol - a medication given to kids. And this has been around for, like, ever.

Imagine what they will find with weight loss drugs. Too late. See above.

Repeated doses of slightly too much acetaminophen (known as paracetamol in the United Kingdom and elsewhere in Europe) can be fatal, according to the results of a large, single-center cohort study published online November 22 in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology.

"On admission, these staggered overdose patients were more likely to have liver and brain problems, require kidney dialysis or help with breathing and were at a greater risk of dying than people who had taken single overdoses," senior author Kenneth J. Simpson, MBChB (Hons), MD, FRCP (Edin), from the University of Edinburgh and Scottish Liver Transplant Unit in the United Kingdom, said in a news release.

"They haven't taken the sort of single-moment, one-off massive overdoses taken by people who try to commit suicide, but over time the damage builds up, and the effect can be fatal," he adds.

In the United Kingdom, acetaminophen hepatotoxicity is the leading cause of acute liver failure (ALF). However, the effect of a staggered overdose pattern or delayed hospital presentation on mortality or need for emergency liver transplantation was previously unknown.

They will find bad stuff, too.

Childhood Obesity Interventions Focusing on Environment Pay Off

Lies. They absolutely do not.

Childhood obesity prevention programs targeted to children aged 6 to 12 years that emphasize improving nutrition and physical activity levels are generally effective and worth the investment, according to a review of evidence on obesity intervention strategies around the world.

An international team of researchers conducted a review of 55 studies on childhood obesity prevention programs. The results were published online December 7 in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. The publication is an update to a Cochrane Review from 2005, which included 22 studies.

The reviewers assessed the studies' results according to change in body mass index (BMI), with the secondary goal of addressing the questions of what works for whom, why, and for what cost.

They identified studies in conventional medical research databases in March 2010, and included those studies that used a controlled study design, with or without randomization, and that involved interventions lasting 12 weeks or more.

The results showed that with only a few exceptions, the programs were generally effective in reducing adiposity...

Although more studies are needed to better identify which specific obesity prevention strategies are most effective and long-lasting, the currently available results underscore that individual improvements follow suit when broader changes to the environment are made, said Waters.

"Our findings show that obesity prevention is worth investing in," she said. "Given the range of programs included in this review, it is hard to say exactly which components are the best, but we think the strategies to focus on are those that seek to change environments, rather than just the behavior of individuals."

They have no data demonstrating lasting effects.

And that is what is needed to show that an intervention "pays off."

Period.

UK Study Finds Lack of Net Benefit for Mammography

Another thing to consider when you are weak and think they have some idea of what they are talking about.

Remember how we are told to have mammograms performed?

Mammographic breast cancer screening could be doing more harm than good, according to a new analysis conducted in the United Kingdom that backs up the findings of a previous Cochrane review.

James Raftery, PhD, professor of health technology assessment, and Maria Chorozoglou, a research fellow at the Wessex Institute, University of Southampton, United Kingdom, reported their findings in an article published online December 8 in the British Medical Journal.

According to the researchers, the Forrest report, first published in 1986, suggested that screening would reduce the death rate from breast cancer by almost one third, with minimal harmful effects and at a low cost. However, a Cochrane review published in 2009 found that the benefits were not so apparent because of the risk for overtreatment.

"[F]or every 2000 women invited for screening throughout 10 years, one will have her life prolonged, and 10 healthy women, who would not have been diagnosed if there had not been screening, will be diagnosed as breast cancer patients and will be treated unnecessarily," the authors of the 2009 Cochrane report write.

I repeat.

Still think they have any idea what they are talking about?

Breast Cancer Risk Increased in Early Diabetes

The smoke-fire-lose your breasts nexus.

Every medical student knows that correlation is not causality, but there is further damning evidence of an association between diabetes and risk for breast cancer, reported Swedish investigators here at the 34th Annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS).

A case-control study drawing on data from Sweden's extensive birth-to-death population registry and a national prescription registry showed that diabetes was associated with a nearly 40% increase in risk for breast cancer, reported Hakan Olsson, MD, a professor in the departments of oncology and cancer epidemiology at Lund University in Lund, Sweden.

And who tends to get diabetes more?

Fatsos.

Women On Rotating Night-Shifts At Increased Risk Of Type 2 Diabetes, Weight Gain

Don't rotate.

In women, there is a positive association between rotating night shift work and the risk of developing type 2 diabetes and, furthermore, long duration of shift work may be associated with greater weight gain. These findings from a study by Frank Hu and colleagues from Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, USA, published in this week's PLoS Medicine, are of potential public health significance as a large proportion of the working population is involved in some kind of permanent night and rotating night shift work.

The authors used data from the Nurses' Health Study I (NHS I - established in 1976, and which included 121704 women) and the Nurses' Health Study II (NHS II - established in 1989, and which included 116677 women), and found that in NHS I, 6,165 women developed type 2 diabetes and in NHS II 3,961 women developed type 2 diabetes. Using statistical models, the authors found that the duration of rotating night shift work was strongly associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes in both cohorts and that the risks of women developing type 2 diabetes, increased with the numbers of years working rotating shifts. However, these associations were slightly weaker after the authors took other factors into consideration.

"...[T]hese associations were slightly weaker after the authors took other factors into consideration," like how stupid this is.

All that matters are the Calories.

There would be zero weight gain in the absence of more Calories in than out.

Period.

Endurance Exercise Linked To Damage In The Right Ventricle Of The Heart

And you foolishly thought endurance exercise was good for your heart.

Researchers have found the first evidence that some athletes who take part in extreme endurance exercise such as marathons, endurance triathlons, alpine cycling or ultra triathlons may incur damage to the right ventricles of their hearts - one of the four chambers in the heart involved in pumping blood around the body.

The research, published online in the European Heart Journal [1], found that although the damage was reversed within a week of a competitive event in most of the 40 athletes studied, five of them (13%) showed evidence of more permanent damage, with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showing scarring of the heart muscle (known as fibrosis). These five had been competing in endurance sports for longer than those who did not show the same damage.

Dr André La Gerche (MD, PhD), a postdoctoral research fellow at St Vincent's Hospital, University of Melbourne, Australia, but who is currently based at the University Hospitals Leuven, Belgium, said: "It is most important that our findings are not over-extrapolated to infer that endurance exercise is unhealthy. Our data do not support this premise."

Perhaps not, but you can bet that some data will in order to create yet another excuse for fat people.

Preventing Childhood Obesity

This crap is doomed to fail.

Targeting children aged six to 12 with school-based programmes that encourage healthy eating, physical activity and positive attitudes to body image are among a range of interventions that can help reduce levels of obesity, according to a new review of the evidence. While some people argue against taking action because they worry that the action could itself do harm, evidence of harm due to the interventions themselves was not found across the studies. "There is now compelling evidence that strategies can be implemented to halt the growing rates of obesity in children. We know that doing nothing is likely to result in increases of overweight and obesity, particularly in countries where the prevalence continues to rise", says the lead researcher of this study, Prof Elizabeth Waters, who works at the McCaughey Centre at the University of Melbourne, Australia. The research is published in The Cochrane Library.

Targeting kids is moronic.

Targeting parents is the way to go.

Kids do not prepare their meals, buy groceries or earn discretionary income to spend on Calories.

Hold parents accountable.

Until then, all efforts are off-target.

Diabetes And Obesity Increase Breast Cancer Risk

Now who gets diabetes at a much higher rate and obesity? Fatsos.

A report at The San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, held Dec. 6-10, 2011, looked at cancer risks associated with having Diabetes or being Obese. The Swedish study has shown that Obesity or Diabetes after the age of 60 significantly increase the possibility of developing breast cancer.

As they say, lose it (the weight) or lose it (the breast).

Is Obesity A Ciliopathy, Triggered By Malfunctioning Primary Cilia?

The only thing cili here is the silly research.

Is obesity a ciliopathy, a disorder such as polycystic kidney disease (PKD), which is triggered by a defect in the microscopic hair-like cilia that protrude from virtually every cell of humans and other vertebrates?

University of Alabama, Birmingham (UAB) researchers told the American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB) 2011 Annual Meeting in Denver that mutations in primary cilia may scramble signaling pathways in the hypothalamus, the appetite-regulating region of the brain, and trigger chronic obesity.

Their preliminary findings suggest that mutated primary cilia are unable to dock the melanin concentrating hormone (MCH) receptor, a key control on appetite.

There is only one thing that "triggers" obesity - more Calories in than out.

All the rest is ciliness.

Teens' Physical Activity Discouraged By Some Mexican Parents

Not "some." Just the bad, stupid ones.

Imagine this scene: A teen who is about to enter college goes for a run or heads off for a game of soccer. But Mom and Dad complain about it, and the more physically active the teen is, the more the parents push back against it.

"This scenario is a variation on an often-heard complaint among students in Mexico," said Angela Wiley, co-author of a new University of Illinois survey of Mexican college applicants that offers a possible explanation for these attitudes and experiences as being rooted in cultural beliefs and expectations.

"In Mexico, where there are very high rates of obesity and diabetes, we'd expect parents to encourage their teens to be active, but this study tells us the opposite is often true, at least for college-bound students," she added.

Hold the parents accountable.

Watch childhood obesity plummet.

Obesity And Diabetes Undermining America's Overall Health

Obesity and diabetes the poster diseases of a fat person's illnesses of choice.

America's overall health is being undermined by obesity and diabetes, other chronic diseases, and child poverty; these detriments have been deemed greater than the benefits from improvements in cardiovascular deaths, preventable hospitalizations and smoking cessation, says a new report titled 2011 America's Health Rankings.

Kudos, fatsos.

Obesity Linked To Worse Outcomes In Early Breast Cancer Treatment

More bad news for fat boobs. ("boob" - A stupid or foolish person; a dolt.)

Obesity is associated with worse outcomes overall in early-stage breast cancer, researchers reported at the 2011 CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, held Dec. 6-10, 2011.

Obesity was linked to shorter time to recurrence (TTR), disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS).

Of course, fat and stupid/foolish/dolt, are redundant.

Some Children's Cereals Have More Sugar Than Twinkies And Cookies

So what?

Parents wishing to give their kids a good start to the day have good reason to be concerned about the amount of sugar in children's breakfast cereals, says the Environmental Working Group (EWG), in its recent review of 84 popular brands sold in the United States. According to EWG's analysis, the worst offender is Kellogg's Honey Smacks, which comprises nearly 56% sugar by weight; in fact, a one-cup serving of this cereal contains 20 grams of sugar, which is more than you will find in a Hostess Twinkie snack cake. And one cup of any of another 44 cereals, including the popular Cap'n Crunch and Honey Nut Cheerios, contains more sugar than three Chips Ahoy! cookies, or about three teaspoons...

Add to this the fact that the rate of childhood obesity has tripled in the US in the last three decades, to the point where now, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in five children is obese, and rates of type 2 diabetes in children are also rising rapidly, and we may well be facing the unprecedented scenario that the children of today will have a shorter lifespan that their parents.

And therein lies the misdirection play.

Obesity has little to nothing to do with sugar.

It has everything to do with Calories.

Until people learn that it is the Calories that are to blame and not the source, there will be no resolution of the fat kid problem.

Weighing Up Fat Tax

A fat tax is a stupid idea and for idiots unless done as described here.

A 'sin tax' applied to sweetened goods on store shelves is not the most efficient, effective method of lowering caloric intake from sweet food and would be more disruptive to consumers than necessary, according to Iowa State University research.

With a national debate taking shape about the possibility of a national tax on foods with high sweetener content, ISU economists have examined how such a tax would best be applied.

Rather than assessing a tax on these sugary goods as they are taken through the grocery store checkout lines, the research shows that a better way is to tax the food processers on the amount of caloric sweeteners, such as corn syrup and sugar added in processing before the product hits the shelves.

The proposal in this article is also just plain idiotic.

Most Parents Not Told By Doctors Their Child Is Overweight, USA

More bad parenting - should/do you really need someone else to tell you your kid is porkulent?

Only 29.1% of parents in America whose children are overweight say their doctor mentioned this problem to them, the rest do not recall ever being asked about their child's bodyweight by a physician or any health care professional, researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine reported in Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.

If you cared, you would not.

Starch Consumption Raises Risk Of Breast Cancer Coming Back

Don't eat starch. Don't eat fat. Low-carb diets, i.e., high protein diets, are usually high fat, ketogenic diets, e.g., Atkins.

Oh, BTW, the study is a bunch of crap.

Breast cancer survivors whose starch intake is above average have a greater risk of cancer recurrence compared to other breast cancer survivors, researchers from the University of California, San Diego explained at the 2011 CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, Dec. 6-10, 2011. The researchers added that it is in particular starch that raises the risk, and not just overall carbohydrates...

The team carried out an analysis on 2,651 females who had taken part in the Women's Healthy Eating and Living (WHEL) Dietary Intervention Trial. This study was a plant-based intervention trial involving a total of 3,088 breast cancer survivors - the analysis was on a subset of women. The scientists had set out to determine whether carbohydrate consumption impacted on breast cancer recurrence, and followed up the women for seven years (average).

Edmond said:

"The WHEL dietary trial, even though it focused on fruits and vegetables, fiber and fat, didn't really have a specific carbohydrate goal."


The team gathered data on carbohydrate intake from several 24-hour dietary recalls at the start of the study and at one year. They telephoned the participants once a year, and gathered information on what they had eaten during the previous 24 hours.

Average carbohydrate intake at baseline was 233 grams per day.

They found that carbohydrate intake during the first year:
was 2.3 grams per day higher among the women whose breast cancer had recurred
was 2.7 grams per day lower among the women whose breast cancer had not recurred

Note the difference was a matter of a few grams.

There are 28.375 grams in an ounce.

If just a few grams makes such a huge difference, there is no hope.

No choice but starvation.

One Third of Cancers Caused by Lifestyle Factors

Illnesses of choice.

One third of all cancers are caused by 4 common lifestyle factors — tobacco, diet, alcohol, and obesity.

This finding comes from a detailed review of lifestyle and environmental factors. Researchers calculated the fraction of cancers that can be attributed to each of these factors. The huge study was published as a supplement to the December issue of the British Journal of Cancer.

"This is the most comprehensive review of cancer and lifestyle undertaken to date," said lead author Max Parkin, MD, professor of epidemiology at Queen Mary University, London, United Kingdom. He was speaking at a press conference held by Cancer Research UK, which sponsored the review.

More than enough reason to quit paying for the fat (and others) who choose to give themselves illnesses.

Physical Fitness More Important Than Body Weight In Reducing Death Risks

More about the mythical fat, fit person.

If you maintain or improve your fitness level -- even if your body weight has not changed or increased -- you can reduce your risk of death, according to research reported in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

Almost all the time, fat goes with unfit and a fit person is unfat.

Ludicrous to expect otherwise.

Link Between Low Vitamin D Levels And Higher Degrees Of Insulin Resistance

Another link between Vitamin D, aka the cure du jour, and everything else.

A recent study of obese and non-obese children found that low vitamin D levels are significantly more prevalent in obese children and are associated with risk factors for type 2 diabetes. This study was accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM).

High rates of vitamin D deficiency have been found in obese populations and past studies have linked low vitamin D levels to cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. The mechanisms by which obesity and its comorbidities are related to vitamin D deficiency are not fully known. This new study examined associations between vitamin D levels and dietary habits in obese children, and tested whether there were correlations between vitamin D levels and markers of abnormal glucose metabolism and blood pressure.

"Our study found that obese children with lower vitamin D levels had higher degrees of insulin resistance," said Micah Olson, MD, of The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas and lead author of the study. "Although our study cannot prove causation, it does suggest that low vitamin D levels may play a role in the development of type 2 diabetes."

But they don't, I'll bet.

And you should, too.

After all, if the role of the cure du jour was so great, a pill of Vit D would cure the problem.

It does not.

Fructose Does Not Cause Weight Gain in Isocaloric Diet

Of course it doesn't.

In a meta-analysis that promises to generate a spectacular debate, Canadian researchers have challenged what they call "the fructose-centered view of obesity" with the finding that fructose does not cause weight gain in the setting of a calorie-controlled diet.

The results were reported here at the International Diabetes Federation World Diabetes Congress 2011 by John Sievenpiper, MD, PhD, from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, and his colleagues.

In presenting the findings, Dr. Sievenpiper added fuel to the fructose debate, which has already sparked inflammatory headlines, lively letters to journal editors, and impassioned YouTube lectures that have gone viral, elevating some of his opponents to almost "rock star status," he said.

Richard Johnson, MD, professor of medicine at the University of Colorado, Denver, and author of The Sugar Fix: The High-Fructose Fallout That Is Making You Fat and Sick, said he has concerns about the Canadian findings.

"The way fructose stimulates weight is by causing leptin resistance; hence, it will not be observed with short-term studies or with isocaloric diets. Understanding physiology is required," he told Medscape Medical News.

No, s**thead, Johnson.

Understanding thermodynamics, specifically the First Law, is all that is required.

And you clearly do not know it.

Moron.

A Handful of Pistachios Can Decrease Glycemic Response

It is not the nuts. It is the fat that slows down the absorption of the carbs.

A couple of handfuls of pistachio nuts eaten with a high-glycemic meal such as pasta can do wonders for postprandial glucose and insulin levels, especially in people with metabolic syndrome, according to new research presented here at the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) World Diabetes Congress 2011.

And who would fund such a misleading study?

The study, sponsored by the Western Pistachio Association, Fresno, California...

Oh.

And who is this researcher?

The study was sponsored by the Western Pistachio Association, Fresno, California. Dr. Kendall is a co-investigator on an unrestricted grant from the Coca-Cola Company and has served on the scientific advisory board and received research support, travel funding, consultant fees, or honoraria from Pulse Canada, Barilla, Solae, Unilever, Hain Celestial, Loblaws Inc., Oldways Preservation Trust, the Almond Board of California, the International Nut Council, Paramount Farms, the California Strawberry Commission, the Canola and Flax Councils of Canada, and Saskatchewan Pulse Growers. He also receives partial salary funding from research grants provided by Unilever, Loblaws, and the Almond Board of California.

A whore for nuts?

You decide.

Few Parents Recall Being Told By Doctors That Their Child Is Overweight

So? Just because they do not "recall" does not mean they were not told.

A new analysis of national survey data finds that less than one-quarter of parents of overweight children recall ever being told by a doctor or other health care provider that their children were overweight.

Though I bet that they were not since docs cannot afford to "offend" bad parents 'cuase they need the patients.

FDA, FTC Crack Down on Illegal HCG Weight Loss Products

What took them so long?

The Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Trade Commission issued warning letters today to seven companies that market over-the-counter weight loss products containing the hormone HCG, calling for these companies to stop selling and marketing these unapproved drugs.

Oh, I know.

It is the government.

That is why they will never go after the IMHO crook AdipOprah.

Weight Loss Improves Beta Cell Function in Type 2 Diabetes

News flash! Being less fat is better.

Beta cell function can improve after just 12 weeks of weight loss in patients with type 2 diabetes, according to research presented here at the International Diabetes Federation World Diabetes Congress 2011.

More evidence that Type 2 Diabetes is a disease of choice for which the rest of us should not pay.

Eating Rice May Raise Arsenic Levels

Is rice made from apples?

On the heels of new revelations about arsenic in grape and apple juice, a new study shows that rice may be a significant source of arsenic in the diets of pregnant women.

Why the number cause of death in China and Japan is arsenic poisoning.

Not.

Women on Bisphosphonate Therapy May Need Screening Radiography

Two words - Anabolic Clinic (sm).

Women on long-term bisphosphonate therapy might benefit from screening radiographs to detect incomplete atypical femoral fractures (AFF). Focal cortical hypertrophy suggests risk for AFF, and a transverse fracture pattern in one femur would suggest that the other femur is at risk.

Learn how anabolic substances can prevent/reverse osteoporosis and obviate the new need for radiation exposing screening procedures.

Go here, here and here.

"Just Chill?" Relaxing Can Make You Fatter

It is all about Calories in vs. Calories out.

Conventional wisdom says that exercise is a key to weight loss - a no-brainer. But now, Tel Aviv University researchers are revealing that life as a couch potato, stretched out in front of the TV, can actually be "active inactivity" - and cause you to pack on the pounds.

Such inactivity actually encourages the body to create new fat in fat cells, says Prof. Amit Gefen of TAU's Department of Biomedical Engineering. Along with his Ph.D. student Naama Shoham, Prof. Gefen has shown that preadipocyte cells - the precursors to fat cells - turn into fat cells faster and produce even more fat when subject to prolonged periods of "mechanical stretching loads" - the kind of weight we put on our body tissues when we sit or lie down.

The rest is the minutiae and of remarkable unimportance.

High Fruit And Veggie Diet In Females Reduces Stroke Risk

Not so fast.

Females who consume lots of fruit, vegetables and grains have a lower risk of stroke, even if they have a history of cardiovascular disease, compared to women who don't, researchers from the Karolinska Institute, Sweden, reported in Stroke.

First author, Susanne Rautiainen, said:

"Eating antioxidant-rich foods may reduce your risk of stroke by inhibiting oxidative stress and inflammation. This means people should eat more foods such as fruits and vegetables that contribute to total antioxidant capacity."

Oxidative stress has been shown to extend life span and antioxidants have been shown to increase the likelihood of certain illnesses, e.g., see here.

Still think they have any idea what they are talking about?

Recall! Salmonella In Grape Tomatoes

Remember to eat you five servings per day.

FDA announced a recall of grape tomatoes from Front Row Produce of St. Louis MO. The 10oz pint and 10lb bulk grape tomatoes supplied by Rio Queen Citrus, Mission TX, have been recalled because they may be contaminated with Salmonella.

Salmonella, is a bacterium which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems.

Healthy persons infected with Salmonella often experience fever, diarrhea (which may be bloody), nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. In rare circumstances, infection with Salmonella can result in the organism getting into the bloodstream and producing more severe illnesses such as arterial infections (i.e., infected aneurysms), endocarditis and arthritis.

Good luck.

Most Pediatric Hospital Food Unhealthy

There are no "healthy" foods. There is only eating healthily.

One would assume in light of the obesity epidemic amongst the nation's youngsters that children's hospital would lead by example in being a role model for healthy eating, however, a new study published in Academic Pediatrics shows that that in Californian hospitals only 7% of entrees classify as being 'healthy'.

According to a study by researchers from UCLA and the RAND Corporation, an assessment of 14 food venues at the state's 12 major children's hospitals revealed that hospitals were falling short in their offerings and practices of healthy eating.

To learn how to eat healthily at all ages, go here.

Social Engagement in Older Adults May Improve Health

"Health is a function of participation. Participation is a function of fitness." (tm)

Maintaining high or increasing levels of social interaction over time has potentially protective effects on cognitive and physical abilities in older adults, according to a new study published in the December issue of the Journal of Health and Social Behavior.

Get fit.

Dieters Should Eat Foods Rich In Protein, Mostly From Dairy, To Protect Bones During Weight Loss

Guess who funded this one.

New research suggests that a calorie-restricted diet higher in protein - mostly from dairy foods - and lower in carbohydrates coupled with daily exercise has a major positive impact on bone health in overweight and obese young women.

The study, published online in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, found bone health improvements were particularly evident due to the high density of bone-supporting nutrients such as calcium, vitamin D and dairy-based protein.

These folks did:

Dairy Farmers of Canada, the US Dairy Research Institute and Canadian Institutes of Health Research funded the I.D.E.A.L. (Improving Diet Exercise and Lifestyle) for Women study. Agropur Incorporated provided the dairy products used in the investigation.

Think you should believe what you read?

New Research Finds Obesity Negatively Impacts Income, Especially For Women

K-rap. This is not new.

A new report from The George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services' Department of Health Policy (GW) uncovered an overall wage differential between those of normal weight and those who are obese, especially when it comes to women. The research, released today, demonstrates the impact obesity may have on a person's paycheck.

Has been known for years.

Exercise Benefits Breast Cancer Survivors, Patients With Lymphedema, Say Researchers

Another reason to train.

After reviewing published evidence, University of Missouri researchers conclude the benefits of exercise outweigh the risks for breast cancer survivors, including those who develop lymphedema, a chronic swelling that commonly occurs after breast cancer treatment. Co-author Jane Armer, professor in the University's Sinclair School of Nursing, and colleagues, write about their findings in the December 2011 issue of the Journal of Cancer Survivorship.

Learn how to train here.

Prediction Tools Can Aid Diabetes Prevention

You only need one...

New research from Queen Mary, University of London suggests that many cases of diabetes could be prevented by making use of existing prediction tools.

The study, published in the British Medical Journal, shows that there are dozens of different techniques for predicting with reasonable accuracy who will develop diabetes but almost none are currently being used.

The researchers say that if these tools were used by GPs and members of the public, many cases of diabetes could be prevented.

The team led by Dr Douglas Noble reviewed 145 different 'risk scores' for type 2 diabetes. While none were 100 per cent accurate, many gave a reasonable prediction of whether someone will develop diabetes over the next decade.

Research suggests that up to half of all cases of diabetes can be prevented by lifestyle measures, such as diet and exercise, or medication.

That tool is the "you are too da**ed fat" tool, i.e., the BMI.

Fish Consumption Reduces Risk Of Alzheimer's Disease

Wanna bet?

People who eat baked or broiled fish on a weekly basis may be improving their brain health and reducing their risk of developing mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer's disease, according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).

"This is the first study to establish a direct relationship between fish consumption, brain structure and Alzheimer's risk," said Cyrus Raji, M.D., Ph.D., from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. "The results showed that people who consumed baked or broiled fish at least one time per week had better preservation of gray matter volume on MRI in brain areas at risk for Alzheimer's disease."

Look here to see death rates per 100,000 for Alzheimer.Dementia.

Seems as if countries with lots of fish do not fare so well.

Anti-Inflammatory Polyphenols Discovered In Apple Peels

Guess arsenic is an anti-inflammatory.

Here's another reason why "an apple a day keeps the doctor away" - according to new research findings published in the Journal of Leukocyte Biology*, oral ingestion of apple polyphenols (antioxidants found in apple peels) can suppress T cell activation to prevent colitis in mice. This study is the first to show a role for T cells in polyphenol-mediated protection against an autoimmune disease and could lead to new therapies and treatments for people with disorders related to bowel inflammation, such as ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease and colitis-associated colorectal cancer.

Who knew?

Report: Arsenic in Apple, Grape Juice

Remember to eat your 5 servings daily.

Ten percent of store-bought apple and grape juice samples have more arsenic -- and 25% have more lead -- than the Environmental Protection Agency allows in bottled water, a Consumer Reports study finds.

Those total arsenic levels are well below the FDA's current "level of concern" that prompts further tests. But the consumer advocacy group says the federal agency should be more worried.

A Consumer Reports poll shows that over a third of kids age 5 years and younger drink more apple juice (over 6 ounces or one juice box a day) than pediatricians recommend. Children are more sensitive to arsenic poisoning than are adults. And a lot of them drink at least 16 ounces a day, potentially exposing them to high levels of arsenic.

Moreover, a scientific survey commissioned by Consumer Reports -- using CDC survey data -- found that people who reported drinking apple juice or grape juice have about 20% higher levels of arsenic in the urine than those who didn't drink juice.

Still think they have any idea what they are talking about?

Leading Out-Of-School-Time Organizations Unite To Combat Childhood Obesity Epidemic

More like out-of-their-minds.

ChildObesity180, an alliance of multi-sector national leaders committed to reversing the trend of childhood obesity, announced today a unique partnership of leading out-of-school-time organizations that have united to adopt consistent principles for nutrition and physical activity.

The Healthy Kids Out of School initiative, launched at the Partnership for a Healthier America's Building a Healthier Future Summit today, is a collaboration between Boy Scouts of America, Girl Scouts of the USA, the National Council of La Raza, the National Council of Youth Sports, the National Urban League, Pop Warner, US Youth Soccer, YMCA of the USA, and the National 4-H Council.

The leaders of these organizations, convened by ChildObesity180, developed universal nutrition and physical activity principles from a broad list of evidenced-based recommendations for combating childhood obesity marking the first time leaders from these groups have worked together toward a common goal.

"Healthy Kids Out of School represents a groundbreaking collaboration of major youth-focused groups in a new and strategic effort," said Peter Dolan, chairman of ChildObesity180. "These organizations are demonstrating the essential leadership and cooperation necessary to counter the childhood obesity epidemic and to meaningfully improve the health and well-being of the tens of millions children who participate in their programs."

This is all crap.

One reason - if there were any good "evidence-based recommendations for combating childhood obesity" then why haven't these organizations been using them?

This is not leadership.

It is leader-s**t.

Obesity Counseling - Medicare To Add Coverage

Stupid is as stupid does.

Medicare beneficiaries will be able to get coverage for preventive obesity counseling, CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) announced today. The CMS says this is part of the widening range of preventive services CMS has been adding to its coverage since the signing of the Affordable Care Act. Covering the costs for preventive obesity counseling complements the Million Hearts initiate, CMS explained in a communiqué.

A waste.

Will not work, but since people tend to lose weight after the age of 70, look to the Feds to skew the data in an attempt to justify their stupidity.

Americans Have Put On 20 Pounds In 20 Years

Just what they needed. Otherwise, how would they fit into their oversized clothes?

American adults now weigh an average of 20 pounds more than they did two decades ago, and their view of what they should ideally weigh has also increased, according to Gallup's annual Health and Healthcare survey, which questioned 532 men and 480 women who come from 50 US states and the District of Columbia (selected using random-digit-dial sampling). 61.6% of American adults today are overweight, but only 39% say they think they are.

The survey, which relied on self reports, reveals that the average weight for an adult American male is 196 pounds, and 160 pounds for a female - nearly 20 pounds more than in 1990.

Kudos, fatsos.

US Teens Not Eating Enough Fruit And Veg, CDC Report

So? Note, not a single word about consequences.

US teens are eating less than the recommended amount of fruit and vegetables, according to the latest report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that was published on 25 November.

Based on data from the National Youth Physical Activity and Nutrition Study, the CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) finds that in 2010 the median consumption of fruit and vegetables among high school students was 1.2 times per day, which is considerably lower than that recommended by the Department of Health and Human Services.

In addition, says the CDC, about 1 in 4 teens eats fruit less often than once a day, and 1 in 3 eats vegetables less often than once a day.

These results suggest the majority of US teens are not meeting their current daily fruit and vegetable recommendations...

Meaningless.

Laptop Wi-Fi Said to Nuke Sperm, but Caveats Abound

Not about fitness, rather fitness about nuts.

The digital age has left men's nether parts in a squeeze, if you believe the latest science on semen, laptops and wireless connections.

In a paper November 23rd in Fertility and Sterility, Argentinian scientists report that they obtained semen samples from 29 healthy men, placed a few drops under a laptop connected to the Internet via Wi-Fi and then hit download.

Four hours later, the semen was, eh, well-done.

A quarter of the sperm were no longer swimming around, for instance, compared to just 14% of sperm in samples stored at the same temperature but away from the computer.

Sorry.

Could not resist.

Growth Hormone Increases Bone Formation In Obese Women

Two words - Anabolic Clinic (sm).

In a new study presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA), growth hormone replacement for six months was found to increase bone formation in abdominally obese women.

"This is the first time that the effects of growth hormone on bone have been studied in obesity," said the study's lead author, Miriam A. Bredella, M.D., a radiologist at Massachusetts General Hospital and assistant professor of radiology at Harvard Medical School in Boston. "Growth hormone is extremely important for bone health, and women with increased belly fat have weaker bones and reduced growth hormone levels."

And there are other benefits to anabolics.

The baseline measurements showed that 32 percent of the women had osteopenia and one woman had osteoporosis. After six months, women who had received growth hormone showed increased bone formation, increased bone marrow fat and muscle mass, and higher levels of Vitamin D. They also exhibited a loss in abdominal fat compared to the placebo group. Women with the most abdominal fat loss had greater increases in bone formation.

"In addition to bone formation, our results also showed that growth hormone increases muscle mass, decreases belly fat and lowers cardiovascular risk markers, such as cholesterol and C-reactive protein," Dr. Bredella said.

To find out more, go here, here and here.

Are Socioeconomics Behind Racial Disparities in Weight?

K-rap.

The rate of obesity and chronic diseases varies substantially across different racial and ethnic groups, but the underlying causes of those disparities remain obscure. In a new study, low socioeconomic status (SES) appears to account for more of that disparity than does lack of knowledge of healthy eating habits and diet-related health risks.

At least according to the questions asked as presented in this piece, there is almost no way to determine just how much more stupid fat low SES people are than fat high SES people.

At any level of SES, you have to either lack knowledge or possess an overabundance of stupidity/ignorance/lack of self-esteem, etc., to be fat.

4 Drugs Cause Most Adverse-Event Hospital Stays for Seniors

And who needs these drugs more than most?

Adverse drug events (ADEs) cause an estimated 100,000 emergency hospitalizations for seniors each year, yet two thirds involve just a handful of anticoagulants and diabetes medications, according to a study published in the November 24 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

The study, by researchers from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), singles out 4 drugs and drug classes — warfarin, oral antiplatelet medications, insulins, and oral hypoglycemic agents. Alone or together, they account for 67% of emergency ADE hospitalizations of adults 65 years and older.

Guess.

Vitamin D May Not Have Cardioprotective Benefits

More bad news for the cure du jour.

Data from a prospective, randomized, placebo-controlled trial has cast real doubt on the alleged cardioprotective benefits of vitamin D. Researchers performing the small study report that treatment with vitamin D for four months had no significant effect on endothelial function, vascular stiffness, or inflammation in healthy postmenopausal women.

"At this point in time, from the standpoint of heart-disease prevention, we have no evidence to prescribe vitamin D to patients, and we have no evidence not to give it," senior investigator Dr James Stein (University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, WI) told heartwire. "We have other agents that have been proven effective to lower the risk of cardiovascular disease. In the US, with many patients taking the supplement and many physicians prescribing it, some of whom are megadosing it, what we really have going on is a massive, uncontrolled experiment."

Oops.

Exploring The Role Of Endoscopy In Treating Obesity

Another way for the sick care system to make a buck off fatsos.

The American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE) and the American Society for Metabolic & Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS) have issued a new white paper on the potential role of endoscopic bariatric therapies (EBTs) in treating obesity and obesity-related diseases like Type 2 diabetes.

The white paper entitled, "A Pathway to Endoscopic Bariatric Therapies," appears online in both GIE: Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, the peer-reviewed scientific journal of the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE) and Surgery for Obesity and Related Diseases (SOARD), the peer-reviewed scientific journal of the American Society for Metabolic & Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS).

"The two societies formed a joint task force to identify opportunities where endoscopic treatments may play a role in improving patient outcomes and reducing costs," said Gregory G. Ginsberg, MD, FASGE, ASGE president and chair of the ASGE/ASMBS Task Force on EBT. "The white paper establishes the criteria for success as new technologies and procedures are developed."

The real criteria for success are can they sell it and turn a profit.

AMA Adopts Policies to Benefit Physicians and Patients Alike

Not really.

Delegates voted on a number of resolutions that will both strengthen the physician–patient bond and help keep physicians afloat in an economically challenging environment here at the American Medical Association (AMA) House of Delegates 2011 Interim Meeting.

The idea is to do the latter while claiming it does the former.

Obese Patients With Diabetes Experience Improved Heart Function Following Restricted Calorie Diet

News Flash! Fatsos improve with weight loss.

A low-calorie diet eliminates insulin dependence and leads to improved heart function in obese patients with type 2 diabetes, according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).

"Lifestyle interventions may have more powerful beneficial cardiac effects than medication in these patients," said the study's lead author, Sebastiaan Hammer, M.D., Ph.D., from the Department of Radiology at Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands. "It is striking to see how a relatively simple intervention of a very low calorie diet effectively cures type 2 diabetes mellitus. Moreover, these effects are long term, illustrating the potential of this method."

Unfortunately, very low Calorie diets are unsustainable and over time the weight is regained.

Right idea, wrong way.

Weight Loss Undermined By Mid-Morning Snacks

This is the approach promoted by AdipOprah's s**t for brains experts and an explanation for why she is such a pig.

Adult females who are dieting in order to lose weight, may find their pounds come off much more slowly if they have a snack between their breakfast and lunch, researchers from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center reported in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.

Go here.