Too many men 'unconcerned' about weight health risks

What me worry?

Too many men are failing to recognise the health risks of being overweight, according to Men's Health Forum chief executive Peter Baker.

If they had to pay for those increased risks, they would get concerned lickety-split.

Social Costs of Medical Injuries, Errors Top Hard Costs

Fit people tend to be healthier than unfit people. This makes them less likely to be exposed to medical errors.

The annual cost of measurable medical errors is at least $17 billion, but the "social" costs are as high as $958 billion each year, which is nearly half of all U.S. healthcare spending in 2008, according to two separate studies published in Health Affairs

Save yourself from sick care.

Get fit.

Obesity in Pregnancy May Raise Infant Death Risk

As we have advocated for years - fat people should not have children.

Babies born to obese moms appear to have an increased risk of dying before birth, at delivery, and during their first year of life, according to a new study...

“...achieving a healthy weight before pregnancy should be the goal.”

Amen.

Latest Findings On The Effects Of Caffeine In Diabetes

Caffeine is bad, again.

A growing body of research suggests that caffeine disrupts glucose metabolism and may contribute to the development and poor control of type 2 diabetes, a major public health problem. A review article in the inaugural issue of Journal of Caffeine Research: The International Multidisciplinary Journal of Caffeine Science, a quarterly peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. publishers, examines the latest evidence, contradicting earlier studies suggesting a protective effect of caffeine.

It was good.

It was bad.

It was good.

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

How A Serious Problem Arises In Fatty Liver

How? From being too darned fat.

Up to 80 percent of obese people develop fatty liver disease, which is regarded a typical characteristic of the dangerous metabolic syndrome. Deposition of fat in the liver may lead to chronic liver inflammation and even to liver cancer. In addition, fatty liver is considered to be an independent risk factor for coronary heart disease and atherosclerosis.

The great medical relevance of fatty liver as a severe condition accompanying insulin resistance and type II diabetes caused the research group headed by Dr. Stephan Herzig of the Division of Molecular Metabolic Control to investigate how this syndrome arises.

How it arises?

From eating too many Calories.

'Nuff said.

Choosing Between High-Fat And Healthier Snacks: Warning Labels Better Than A Fat Tax

Since there are no healthy foods (or "junk" foods), only healthy eating, warning labels are a bad idea (there are other reasons). Still this is better than attacking the wallets and pocketbooks of the calorically responsible.

Warning labels on junk food would be more effective than a "fat" tax for deterring overweight people from making unhealthy purchases, a new University of Alberta study has found.

A survey of 364 shoppers in random Alberta grocery stores showed that while price alone wouldn't deter people from reaching for junk food, shoppers - including those with the heaviest body mass index - did heed a label that warned of high fat content and included a note that the item was being taxed because of it.

The study asked shoppers to choose between high-fat and healthier snacks in the 50 cent to $2 range. Some of the items came with a hypothetical warning label. The responses were analyzed, and showed three groups of consumers. While two of the groups were already sensitive to either price or less healthy snacks and tended to avoid them, one of the groups - the one with the highest body weight - seemed deterred only by the warning label.

In any event, we'll see how long that lasts.

Child Obesity Intervention Fails to Modify BMI

Well, what did you expect?

An intervention targeting obesity in children reduces television viewing but does not significantly decrease body mass index (BMI) or diet-related behaviors, according to the findings of a new study.

Elsie M. Taveras, MD, MPH, with the Obesity Prevention Program, Department of Population Medicine, at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts, and colleagues reported their findings in the April 2011 issue of the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.

According to the researchers, overweight preschool-aged children "especially those with overweight parents, tend themselves to become obese as adults and are at high risk of short-term and long-term adverse outcomes."

In the current study, researchers assessed the extent to which an intervention could prevent an increase in BMI and improve obesity-related behaviors among children at increased risk for obesity.

A total of 475 children aged 2.0 to 6.9 years were included in the analysis. Participants had a BMI in the 95th percentile or higher or had at least 1 overweight parent and a BMI in the 85th to less than 95th percentile. They were randomly assigned to receive the intervention (n = 271) or usual care (n = 204), and changes in BMI and obesity-related behaviors were noted during a 1-year period.

Fat parents have fat kids.

And the fat parents fatten their kids for the kill whether they are in front of the tube or not.

"To our knowledge, the High Five for Kids study is the first randomized controlled trial in a primary care setting aimed at reducing obesity among preschool-aged children," Dr. Taveras and colleagues note.

They conclude that after 1 year, the "High Five for Kids study improved television-viewing behaviors among preschool-aged children but did not have significant effects on BMI or diet-related behaviors."

The researchers plan to evaluate the intervention effects for a longer period and "examine the components of such an intervention that are maximally effective, scalable, and cost-effective."

They should try Fit To Parent (tm).

Adolescent Body Mass Index (BMI) Can Predict Young Adulthood Diabetes And Heart Disease

Nutritional child abuse, no question.

A large cohort study following 37,000 teenagers for 17 years found that an elevated, yet normal range Body Mass Index (BMI) constitutes a substantial risk factor for obesity-related disorders in young adults (age 30-40).

The study showed that elevated BMI in adolescence has distinctive relationships with type 2 diabetes and coronary heart disease in young adulthood. Researchers showed that diabetes is influenced mainly by recent BMI and weight gain. However, for coronary heart disease, both elevated BMI in adolescence and recent BMI are independent risk factors. The natural progression of coronary heart disease is probably the consequence of gradually increasing atherosclerosis during adolescence and early adulthood.

Stop the abusers.

Adipose Cells And Breast Cancer, A Dangerous Combination

Breast cancer is one way to lose weight.

I don't advocate it, but, hey, it's your choice.

Apart from its direct effect on health (such as cardiovascular diseases and diabetes), obesity is increasingly suspected of playing a role in the prognosis of breast cancer and, in particular, its propensity to spread. However, no direct cause and effect relationship had been demonstrated until now. This breakthrough has finally been made through the collaborative work of two teams of researchers from Inserm, CNRS and the Université Paul Sabatier. Their research has made it possible to highlight, both in vitro and in vivo, the presence of adipose cells (known as adipocytes) near breast tumors. These adipocytes have specific biological characteristics. When associated with tumors, they are capable of modifying the characteristics of cancerous cells, making them more aggressive. The results of this work are published in Cancer Research of 1st April 2011.

Numerous statistical studies have already established a link between obesity and the "aggressiveness" of breast cancer in women, without ever succeeding to explain this phenomenon. In order to find an explanation, the researchers studied the cross-talk between adipose cells and tumor cells.

Kudos, fatsos.

What's Coming Next In The Biochemical Battle Of The Bulge?

Easy question.

Dozens of researchers in the coming days will lay out what's around the corner in the biochemical battle of the bulge as part of the Experimental Biology 2011 conference in Washington, D.C.

Failure.

Response To Stress Blunted By Elevated Levels Of Sodium, Study Shows

Salt is health food!

All those salty snacks available at the local tavern might be doing more than increasing your thirst: they could also play a role in suppressing social anxiety.

New research from the University of Cincinnati (UC) shows that elevated levels of sodium blunt the body's natural responses to stress by inhibiting stress hormones that would otherwise be activated in stressful situations. These hormones are located along the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, which controls reactions to stress.

The research is reported in the April 6, 2011, issue of The Journal of Neuroscience, the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience.

"We're calling this the Watering Hole Effect," says Eric Krause, PhD, a research assistant professor in the basic science division of UC's department of psychiatry and behavioral neuroscience and first author of the study. "When you're thirsty, you have to overcome some amount of fear and anxiety to approach a communal water source. And you want to facilitate those interactions - that way everyone can get to the water source."

Krause and his team dehydrated laboratory rats by giving them sodium chloride, then exposed them to stress. Compared with a control group, the rats that received the sodium chloride secreted fewer stress hormones and also displayed a reduced cardiovascular response to stress.

"Their blood pressure and heart rate did not go up as much in response to stress as the control group's, and they returned to resting levels more quickly," says Krause.

"Also, in a social interaction paradigm with two rats interacting, we found them to be more interactive and less socially anxious."

For those of you who (mistakenly) think stress is bad, salt up.

Drinking over the limit 'raises cancer risk'

Where is that supersubstance resveratrol when you need it?

This research found that individuals who drank more than two standard drinks a day for men and one drink a day for women were particularly at risk of alcohol-related cancers.

A standard drink contains about 12g of alcohol, which is equivalent to a 125ml glass of wine or a half pint of beer.

Bummer.

BMI in Teen Years Linked to Later Heart Disease Risk

More nutritional child abuse.

An elevated body mass index (BMI) in adolescent boys -- even within the normal range -- is a risk factor for coronary heart disease in middle life, researchers reported.

Help stop it.

Obesity In Childhood Leads To Poor Posture And Back Pain

Oh, your kid's achin' back! Another effect of nutritional child abuse.

Being overweight as a child and adolescent can lead to poor postures linked to back pain, according to new research by Curtin University's School of Physiotherapy, the Curtin Health Innovation Research Institute and the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research.

Help stop the abuse.

Vitamin D Can Decrease, Or Increase, Breast Cancer Development And Insulin Resistance

The final word on the cure du jour.

In mouse models of breast cancer, researchers at the Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, a part of Georgetown University Medical Center, found that vitamin D significantly reduced development of estrogen receptor-positive (ER+) breast cancer both in lean and obese mice, but had no beneficial effect in estrogen receptor-negative (ER-) cancer. In fact, obese mice destined to develop ER- breast cancer were clearly worse off than lean ER- mice if they were given vitamin D in their diet.

The researchers, who presented their study at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) 102nd Annual Meeting 2011, also found that vitamin D reversed insulin resistance in obese mice, no matter which breast cancer subtype they later developed. In lean mice, however, there was no evidence that vitamin D increased insulin sensitivity.

"Use of vitamin D supplementation is clearly tricky. In the many studies that have been done studying the effect of vitamin D in different cancer types, there is no straight link between use and benefit," says the study's lead investigator, Leena Hilakivi-Clarke, Ph.D., a professor in the Department of Oncology...

IMPACTS OF VITAMIN D INTAKE IN HUMANS

In colon cancer, risk of development reduced but no effect found in later stage cancers.

In pancreatic, esophageal, prostate cancers there is a potential increased risk.

There. Now you know.

Man's change began when he couldn't fit in ride with son

Compelling evidence that this expert "dubbed 'An Apostle for Fitness" by the Wall Street Journal'" and the researchers she now worships are full of s**t - as are all the pinheads who are excusinators for the fat.

John Memmer said his light bulb moment occurred when he couldn't fit on an amusement park ride with his son.

The 39-year-old auto insurance underwriter from Bloomington, Illinois, was on a family outing at a theme park in Missouri and his son, Alex, desperately wanted him to share a seat next to him.

"The attendant tried to push and squeeze me into the seat, but to no avail. I was too big to fit," said Memmer. "So there I was with hundreds of people staring at me as all of this was going on, and then I heard my son start to cry as I had to climb off the ride," he said.

A stranger in line agreed to sit with his son, but at that moment, Memmer knew it was finally time to lose weight.

"All the shoulda, coulda, wouldas catalyzed into an intense desire to finally do something about it," he said...

He started his weight loss program during the summer of 2009 and eventually lost about 115 pounds over the course of a year. His initial weight was 300 pounds. Memmer said he kept his plan simple: eating less and consuming fewer calories.

It is about willpower and a proper approach to weight loss which none of the experts offer. (e.g., see here, here, here, here, here and here)

No excuse in the world will change that.

Many Women Would Trade 1 Year of Life to Be Thin

But would they eat fewer Calories than they burned for one year of life to get thin?

Almost one-third of young women would trade at least a year of their lives to have a perfect body, according to a new survey of British undergraduates.
The survey found that 16 percent of young women queried said they'd trade a year of life for their ideal body weight and shape. Ten percent were willing to trade two to five years, and 2 percent were willing to trade up to 10 years of life away. One percent said they would give up 21 years or more.

Nope.

Idiottes.

Portly NY Councilman Leroy Comrie Wants To Eliminate Toys From Unhealthy Meals

Another fat obesity expert. (e.g., see here and here)

An overweight New York politician is on a crusade to eliminate toys from fast food meals that he says promotes unhealthy eating habits in children.

"If we can get the fast food industry to lead in this healthy quest by doing happy meals that have a nutritional value we would definitely change the tide of childhood obesity," New York City Council Deputy Majority Leader Leroy Comrie told ABC News.

And an articulate one, too. ("...meals that have a nutritional value...")

Idiot.

Obesity Increases the Risk of Fetal and Infant Death, and the Risk of Complications After Hysterectomy

More data supporting the notion that the fat should not reproduce.

Women who are obese during early pregnancy have a significantly increased risk of their baby dying before, during or up to one year after birth, according to research just published in the journal Human Reproduction. A second paper also published in the journal April 5 shows that obesity increases the risk of complications, such as bleeding and infections, during and after a hysterectomy operation.

Early nutritional child abuse, plain and simple.

Diet Dogma Misguided, Study Reveals

Diets fail because they are made impossible.

Advising weight loss is absolutely the right way to go.

It must be done right.

These researchers have s**t for brains and are part of the problem since they are part of the system.

Advising obese and overweight patients to lose weight does more harm than good, according to a recent study in Nutrition Journal, an online scientific publication. The article ranks as one of the publication's most "highly accessed" and has generated a storm of controversy among health professionals.

Linda Bacon, an associate nutritionist at University of California, Davis, and nutrition professor at City College of San Francisco, and Lucy Aphramor, a specialist dietitian with England's National Health Service and an honorary research fellow at Coventry University, conducted the survey of almost 200 scientific studies appearing in provisional form in the Journal's January 24th issue, just released in final version.

Rather than improving patient well-being, their review showed, weight-loss advice more often leads to weight gain, feelings of failure, and diminished health status. The authors advise health professionals to set aside weight as a marker and strive instead to help people improve health behaviors.

"The weight-focused approach does not, in the long run, produce thinner, healthier bodies," said Bacon. As a consequence, "many medical and policy measures are misdirected, costly and damaging. It is clear from our review of the data that body weight is a poor target for public health interventions."

Right premise (diet dogma is misguided); wrong conclusion.

ACC: CVD Risk Seen in Middle School Students

Fat parents have fat kids.

Children as young as 11 show worrisome signs of future cardiovascular danger, two studies of Michigan sixth-graders showed...

Children who are overweight or obese are at risk for abnormal lipid levels, Jackson explained.

Nutritional child abuse.

Stop it.

Breast Cancer Risk Increased By Social Isolation, Stress-Induced Obesity In Mice

Now why would she be socially isolated?

Stress from social isolation, combined with a high-fat diet, increases levels of a brain neurotransmitter - neuropeptide Y, or NPY - in mice that then promotes obesity, insulin resistance, and breast cancer risk, say researchers at Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, a part of Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC).

I wonder.

New Data Show Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease Will Reach Epidemic Status in the US

Non-alcoholic liver disease is like Type 2 diabetes, i.e., it is usually a disease of choice. Fat people are more likely to get non-alcoholic liver disease.

Kudos, fatsos.

According to new data presented at the International Liver CongressTM, the United States (U.S.) could soon be faced with an epidemic of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD)1, one of the major contributing factors of chronic liver disease (CLD), considered as one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. The study highlights that if the current rates of obesity and diabetes continue for another two decades, the prevalence of NAFLD in the US is expected to increase by 50% in 2030...

Mark Thursz EASL's Vice Secretary commented: "Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is fast becoming one of the top concerns for clinicians due to the obesity epidemic and it's potential to progress to advanced liver disease which significantly impacts on overall liver-related mortality. This data highlights a serious concern for the future, and the enormous increasing health burden of NAFLD. If the obesity epidemic is anything to go by, the U.S. NAFLD epidemic may have a ripple effect worldwide. It is imperative that health systems continue to drive effective educational programmes to reinforce awareness among the general public to alert them of the risks of obesity and promote the importance of diet and exercise."

NAFLD is the term used to describe fat build-up in liver cells in people who do not drink alcohol excessively and is the most common persistent liver disorder in Western countries with an estimated overall prevalence of 20-30%.

NAFLD encompasses a spectrum of liver disease associated with insulin resistance, diabetes and obesity and as such people most at risk of NAFLD are those who are obese, have insulin resistance associated with diabetes, high blood pressure and cholesterol.

Demand that the fat pay for the additional costs of this disease of choice.

Otherwise, it is coming out of your pocket.

Fruit Fly's Response To Starvation Could Help Control Human Appetites

More wisdom from the weight loss menagerie.

Biologists at UC San Diego have identified the molecular mechanisms triggered by starvation in fruit flies that enhance the nervous system's response to smell, allowing these insects and presumably vertebrates - including humans - to become more efficient and voracious foragers when hungry.

Their discovery of the neural changes that control odor-driven food searches in flies, which they detail in a paper in the April 1 issue of the journal Cell, could provide a new way to potentially regulate human appetite.

It won't.

More heavy hitters in the expanding fatso menagerie:



Rodents:



The Fruit fly:



Birds:



Worms:



Marmots:

Lemurs:

But, why bother? The only animal you need is:

Plain Nuts: Walnuts Are Tops For Your Diet Overall

You are plain nuts if you buy into this.

So you never met a nut you didn't like. You love your cashews and pistachios, your Brazilians and pecans. Did you know however, that walnuts are the best source of antioxidants and bad chemical element defenders made by nature on the planet? It's true according to a new study presented at the American Chemical Society's National Convention this week.

Joe Vinson, Ph.D. explains:

"Walnuts rank above peanuts, almonds, pecans, pistachios and other nuts. A handful of walnuts contain almost twice as much antioxidants as an equivalent amount of any other commonly consumed nut. But unfortunately, people don't eat a lot of them. This study suggests that consumers should eat more walnuts as part of a healthy diet."

Nuts in general contain plenty of high-quality protein that can substitute for meats for example. They contain a multitude of vitamins and minerals, dietary fibers and are dairy and gluten free. Regular consumption of small amounts (a few nuts a day) of walnuts or peanut butter with decreases risk of heart disease, certain kinds of cancer, gallstones, Type 2 diabetes, and other health problems.

Untrue.

There are data that antioxidants increase the likelihood of developing Type 2 diabetes, are ineffective for heart disease and are associated with other harms.

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

Micro-RNA Blocks The Effect Of Insulin In Obesity

Really.

Do we need to get to the point where micro-RNA is needed to slim fatsos down?

Really?

Max Planck researchers have discovered a new mechanism that leads to the development of type 2 diabetes in obesity. Body weight influences the risk of developing diabetes: between 80 and 90 percent of patients with type 2 diabetes are overweight or obese. According to scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Neurological Research in Cologne and the Cologne Cluster of Excellence in Cellular Stress Responses in Aging-associated Diseases (CECAD), short ribonucleic acid molecules, known as micro-RNAs, appear to play an important role in this mechanism.

Just lose the weight, fat people.

'Quick fix' GPs blamed as number of people using diet pills balloons

"Balloons." Just like the people who take them.

Record numbers of overweight men and women are resorting to diet pills, statistics reveal.

Doctors are writing almost 1.5million prescriptions a year for the drugs – 11 times more than a decade ago.

The figures come as obesity is spiralling, from 7 per cent of adults in 1980 to 23 per cent in 2009.

However, it is feared that many GPs are using the pills as a quick fix instead of encouraging patients to focus on healthy eating and exercise.

Just 127,000 prescriptions for obesity pills were handed out in England in 1999 against 1.45million in 2009, according to latest figures from the NHS Information Centre.

The cost to the Health Service has rocketed to almost £47million a year as a result.

Orlistat – which is marketed under the trade name Xenical – is the only anti-obesity pill currently available for GPs to prescribe to seriously overweight patients.

And it is remarkably ineffective.

Orlistat, which came on to the market in 1998, disrupts the absorption of fat in the intestine so that the body excretes it instead.

Users must stick to a low-fat diet or face unpleasant side effects, including bowel problems.

Although doctors argue that issuing pills is only a last resort after obese patients have failed to lose weight by changing their diet and lifestyle, health experts have criticised the findings, arguing that GPs are still turning too quickly to the prescription pad.

Lies.

It is impossible not to lose weight if one eats fewer Calories than one burns.

Money wasted.

Mothers In Motion: Intervention Program To Help Low-Income Mothers Improve Health

But will it?

A Michigan State University nursing researcher has been awarded $3.3 million to help low-income mothers who are overweight or obese improve their health by eating well, being active and dealing with stress.

The intervention program, called Mothers In Motion and funded by the National Institutes of Health, is led by Mei-Wei Chang, a researcher at MSU's College of Nursing. Chang will partner with two community-based programs: the federally funded Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, and MSU Extension.

"More than 52 percent of American women 20 to 39 years old are at risk for having high blood sugar, heart disease and other health conditions because they are overweight or obese," Chang said. "To have a broad impact on obesity in our state, these partners have joined forces to address the underlying issues that cause weight gain in our target audience of young, low-income, overweight and obese mothers."

This Mothers In Motion research will measure how well program participants respond to stress and monitor changes in body weight, blood sugar and some types of fat in the blood. The study will enroll 465 young, low-income overweight and obese mothers 18 to 39 years old from four local WIC programs in the city of Detroit and Calhoun, Genesee and Jackson counties.

Betcha it won't.

Vast Majority of Hoarders Overweight or Obese

Squirrel genes in humans - that has to be it.

In a new study of clinical hoarders classified as "high savers," 92% of the patients were overweight or obese. This finding suggests there may be an underlying genetic association with the dopamine system.

"This is much higher than the national rate of overweight/obesity," observed Daniel George-Denn, BA, of Binghamton University, Albany, New York, a research assistant working with Meredith Coles, PhD, a co-investigator of the study.

Hoarding is characterized by the obtaining of possessions, difficulty in discarding, and impairment stemming from physical barriers or distress. It has high comorbidity with diseases other than obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), particularly depression, and has serious effects on individuals, Mr. George-Denn noted.

High rates of obesity (body mass index [BMI] ≥ 30) and overweight (BMI, 25.0 - 29.9) have been reported in clinically and nonclinically diagnosed hoarders compared with nonhoarders, and therapists have frequently observed an association.

Gotta be the dopamine.

Could never be poor impulse control.

Gotta drug them.

Not.

Most Americans Get Enough Vitamin D

Even more bad news for the cure du jour and Whore Foods.

Two-thirds of Americans are getting enough vitamin D, according to a new analysis by researchers from the National Center for Health Statistics.

Vitamin D is often called the "sunshine vitamin" because our bodies make it when exposed to sunlight. It is found in some fatty fish such as salmon and tuna, and in cheese and eggs. It is often added to milk.

In recent years, vitamin D deficiency has been linked to a host of diseases and conditions, including brittle bones, heart disease, diabetes, certain cancers, and autoimmune diseases.

The analysis shows that from 2001 to 2006, 67% of Americans age 1 or older had blood levels of vitamin D that fell between 50 to 125 nanomoles per liter, which is considered adequate. Another 24% were at risk for inadequate levels of vitamin D, with blood levels of 30 to 49 nmol/L; 8% were at risk of deficiency, which is defined as less than 30 nmol/L. Just 1% of the population has blood levels that were too high.

Including those allegedly "at risk for inadequate levels," which means that their levels are adequate, 91% of people do not need this stuff.

You are free to stop wasting your money on this supplement.

Diet Drug Orlistat Linked to Kidney, Pancreas Injuries

Greasy, slimy, loose stools were not enough.

A review of patients taking the diet drug orlistat (Xenical/Alli, Roche) in Ontario, Canada over a seven-year period points to a 2% increase in acute kidney injuries within one year of patients starting the drug...

Separately, drug-safety watchdog Public Citizen has sent a 31-page letter to FDA commissioner Dr Margaret Hamburg demanding that the agency remove both prescription and over-the-counter orlistat from the market, citing new data obtained from FDA adverse-reaction files, including 47 cases of acute pancreatitis and 73 cases of kidney stones. This is the second time Public Citizen has petitioned the FDA to pull the drug from the market.

Oops.

Vitamin D and Cancer: Existing Evidence Shows No Clear Benefit

Bad news for the cure du jour and Whore Foods.

The idea that vitamin D reduces both cancer incidence and mortality, which stems from observational studies, is biologically plausible and has been promulgated with widespread enthusiasm. But the evidence is "inconsistent and inconclusive as to causality," say vitamin D experts who were on the Institute of Medicine (IOM) panel that recently published a definitive report on vitamin D and health outcomes.

Although the IOM report covered all aspects of vitamin D and its effects on health, a new pronouncement — published online March 23 as a Perspective in the New England Journal of Medicine — focuses specifically on cancer.

"Given that the potential role of vitamin D in cancer prevention has been widely touted, many people were surprised that cancer-related considerations didn't figure prominently" in the IOM report, write the authors, headed by JoAnn Manson, MD, DrPH, from the Department of Medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.

"The committee's comprehensive review of the evidence regarding vitamin D's role in preventing cancer, however, revealed that the research is inconsistent and doesn't establish a cause–effect relationship," they explain.

Most of the evidence is derived from laboratory studies, ecologic correlation, and observation investigations of serum vitamin D levels in association with cancer outcomes. There have been no large-scale randomized clinical trials with vitamin D and cancer as the primary prespecified end point, they noted.

"Existing evidence falls short" of showing clear benefits from vitamin D on cancer, they conclude.

You can stop wasting your money and life on this supplement.

AAAAI: Asthma Tracks Childhood Obesity

More about the effects of nutritional child abuse.

Overweight children who become overweight young adults appear to have an increased risk of developing asthma compared with children who don't carry extra pounds or whose weight normalizes as they grow, researchers reported.

In a study of more than 800 children and young adults, those who were overweight in elementary school and after high school were 2.4 times (P=0.017) more likely to have asthma compared with those who were normal weight from childhood through late teens.

"The effect was more pronounced among boys," said Minto Porter, MD, a fellow in allergy and immunology at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, during her poster presentation at the annual American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology meeting here.

In her study, male subjects were 3.3 times (P=0.048) more likely to have asthma if they were overweight as children and as young adults. Girls had a 1.9-fold increased risk of having asthma (P=0.09), Porter said.

The results were consistent regardless of the presence or absence of atopy, Porter told MedPage Today.

She did note that children who are overweight as 6- to 8-year-olds and whose weight then normalized by the time they finished high school did not appear to have a statistically significant risk of developing asthma (P=0.73).

Another reason to hold the parents of fat kids accountable.

Diet and Exercise Best for Improving Physical Function

Add anabolic agents, and you have a winning approach.

"Eat right and get plenty of exercise" is the cornerstone of improved physical function in the elderly, according to the results of new study [1]. The combination of weight loss and exercise provided greater improvements in physical function and ameliorated frailty more than either intervention alone, although weight loss and exercise alone were beneficial, report investigators.

Published in the March 31, 2011 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, the randomized, controlled trial included 107 obese adults aged 65 years of age of older. Patients were randomly assigned to one of four treatment groups: weight loss alone, exercise alone, weight loss and exercise together, or a control arm. The purpose of the trial was to assess changes on a modified Physical Performance Test (PPT) at one year, as well as to assess measures of frailty, body composition, bone-mineral density, and quality of life.

Find out more to help yourself.

Virginia Gov. Robert Mc­Don­nell vetoes P.E. bill

In some very real ways, this is a sensible act.

Gov. Robert F. McDonnell vetoed a bill Thursday requiring all elementary and middle school students in the state to participate in at least 150 minutes of physical activity a week, describing the proposal as an unfunded mandate on Virginia’s schools.

His decision followed weeks of lobbying by school officials, particularly in populous Northern Virginia, who argued that the requirement could extend the school day, lead to cuts in arts and music classes and cost millions of dollars to hire new teachers.

Mc­Don­nell, a Republican who frequently praises small government and criticizes federal mandates, has not issued any other vetoes since taking office last year.

“While I strongly agree that we must encourage exercise and physical activity, I oppose unfunded mandates, whether they come from Washington or Richmond,’’ Mc­Don­nell said. “In the fight against childhood obesity and preventable disease, we all have a role to play. Government cannot just pass legislation and make this problem go away.”

Exercise is a terribly inefficient way to control weight. In fact, you either have to be an idiot or a member of the leisure class to support this approach.

It is far better and more efficient to control weight with caloric intake control.

In fact, even if one exercises, meticulous control of caloric intake is still necessary.

So few Calories are burned exercising that, in fact, in a matter of seconds all the time, effort, energy and resources spent on exercising are undone.

This is usually done at home, rendering any school, taxpayer-funded effort a waste.

A better approach, if the school is to increase PE time, is to have the parents of fat kids who do not lose weight held accountable for overfeeding their children and engaging in nutritional child abuse.

Penalties for the abuse can be used to offset the costs of the program.

New HHS Federal Guidelines For Concessions And Vending Essential To Obesity Prevention Efforts

Bulls*t. No they are not.

The American Public Health Association commends the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for unveiling new Health and Sustainability Guidelines for Federal Concessions and Vending Operations. APHA has been a steadfast supporter of good nutrition as a cornerstone to promoting the public's health.

Just another way to punish the calorically responsible for the decisions of the fat.

F**k HHS.

Overweight teenagers run risk of liver disease

Fat parents have fat kids. More nutritional child abuse.

AUSTRALIAN teenagers are becoming so overweight they are doing the type of damage to their livers that would normally be seen in older alcoholics, researchers have found.

The researchers discovered a condition called fatty liver disease, which is normally found in older people who are overweight or obese, heavy drinkers, or have chronic conditions such as hepatitis, in about 13 per cent of the 17-year-olds they tested.

Kudos, fatsos.

FDA proposes calorie counts on menus

It hasn't worked heretofore, so why not do it more?

It could get harder to indulge in a double cheeseburger and fries without feeling guilty.

Menu labeling requirements proposed Friday by the Food and Drug Administration will require chain restaurants with 20 or more locations, along with bakeries, grocery stores, convenience stores and coffee chains, to clearly post the calorie count for each item on their menus.

"We've got a huge obesity problem in this country and it's due in part to excess calorie consumption outside the home," says Mike Taylor, FDA deputy commissioner for foods. "Consumers generally when you ask them say they would prefer to have that information."

But they don't use it, s**thead.

The USA government at work.

Sigh.

A Smile Can Increase Children's Fruit & Veggie Consumption

Wanna bet?

A new study, published in the journal Obesity, suggests that parents smile while eating something that they want their children to eat. Researchers found that how much children wanted to eat a particular food was influenced by emotions displayed by people eating it in photos.

Photos of people happily eating a child's favorite food made them want it even more, while a photo of a person looking "disgusted" by that same food tended to make the children want it less. If a child disliked a certain food, seeing someone with a pleasant expression eating it made the child more open to trying that food.

There must be a lot of parents who scowl while eating, eh?

BTW, note that "Photos of people happily eating a child's favorite food made them want it even more," not that they ate more or enjoyed it more or kept eating more over the long haul.

The only mores here, are more bad research and the more-on authors of the study.

Three Square Meals a Day Paired With Lean Protein Help People Feel Full During Weight Loss

Advice that does not square with the experts of the clear IMHO con, AdipOprah.

Eating fewer, regular-sized meals with higher amounts of lean protein can make one feel more full than eating smaller, more frequent meals, according to new research from Purdue University.

"We found that when eating high amounts of protein, men who were trying to lose weight felt fuller throughout the day; they also experienced a reduction in late-night desire to eat and had fewer thoughts of food," said Heather J. Leidy, an assistant professor of nutrition and exercise physiology at the University of Missouri who was a postdoctoral researcher at Purdue for this study.

"We also found that despite the common trend of eating smaller, more frequent meals, eating frequency had relatively no beneficial impact on appetite control. The larger meals led to reductions in appetite, and people felt full. We want to emphasize though that these three larger meals were restricted in calories and reflected appropriate portion sizes to be effective in weight loss."

The findings are reported in this month's issue of Obesity. This research was funded by the National Pork Board and the American Egg Board, and additional support was provided by the Purdue Ingestive Behavior Research Center and National Institutes of Health's Indiana Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute.

"Our advice for people trying to lose weight is to add a moderate amount of protein at three regular meals a day to help appetite control and the feeling of fullness," said Wayne W. Campbell, Purdue professor of foods and nutrition. "Egg and lean pork products are good sources for protein, and if they are incorporated at meals when people do not normally consume protein, such as at breakfast and lunch, they may prove to be a nice strategy to control weight; promote satiety, which is the feeling of being full; and retain lean tissue mass, which is essential for people as they age."

Not the first time they have been debunked. (e.g., see here)

Cornell Expert: French Diet A Proven Recipe For Weight Loss Failure

The same as all other diet advice. (e.g., see here, here, here, here, here and here)

David Levitsky, professor of Nutritional Sciences and Psychology at Cornell University, comments on the rising popularity of the French protein-centric, low-fat, low-carb Dukan Diet, the focus of a new book to be published in North American next month.

Levitsky says:

"We have had plenty experience with high protein diets for weight. Eating large amounts of protein will cause rapid weight loss, but its water and not tissue. One loses weight because high protein diets inhibit appetite, at least initially.

"In the long run, 6 months or more, the rapid weight loss disappears, and weight loss is no different from a calorically restricted diet. The evidence is also clear that rapid weight loss will not produce sustained weight loss."

Yep.

Join the club, French diet.

Obese with strong heart beats thin and weak

Not exactly.

"You are better off if you are fit, and you are better off if you have a shorter belt," said Eric Ravussin, an obesity expert at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, LA.

That is the real takeaway message.

Patients who were fit and relatively thin had the lowest odds of dying in the study period and constituted a "control" group. Fit but overweight patients were about twice as likely to die, while those who were fit but obese had three times the risk of death compared to the fit and thin control group.

Things got more complicated for the unfit. Patients with poor fitness scores who were overweight were nearly 7 times more likely to die during the study compared to the control group. But normal-weight people who were unfit were nearly 10 times more likely to die, the researchers found.

So get fit.

But to do that, you must do it the right way.

"Worm Screening" In Obesity Study, A Way Of Finding New Targets For Human Diseases

More lessons for us to learn from animals. For a more complete list of animals that are teaching us lessons, see the end of the post.

Researchers exploring human metabolism at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) have uncovered a handful of chemical compounds that regulate fat storage in worms, offering a new tool for understanding obesity and finding future treatments for diseases associated with obesity.

As described in a paper published this month in the journal Nature Chemical Biology, the UCSF team took armies of microscopic worms called C.elegans and exposed them to thousands of different chemical compounds. Giving these compounds to the worms, they discovered, basically made them skinnier or fatter without affecting how they eat, grow, or reproduce.

Here are more animal mentors:

Flies:



Rodents:



The Fruit fly (more):



Birds:



Worms:



Marmots:

Lemurs:



Even more lessons to be learned from the expanding fatso menagerie.



But, why bother? The only animal you need is:

1 In 4 Overweight or Obese Adults Don’t Believe They Have a Problem

Which means that 100% of us have a problem.

When it comes to losing weight, perception is not always reality - in fact, it's often a major hurdle.

In a new study, nearly one in four adults who were either overweight or obese did not believe they had a weight problem, and as a result did not see a need to improve their health.

With nearly 70 percent of Americans classified as either overweight or obese, the findings have serious implications for how to target efforts that will help Americans lose weight, researchers said.

"It's often said that the first step in improving a problem is believing that you have one. That's particularly true for obesity," said Gary Bennett, associate professor of psychology and neuroscience at Duke University and senior author of the study.

"A sizeable proportion of obese Americans don't accept that they have a weight problem. This group is less likely to practice healthful behaviors that will help them lose weight and improve their health."

And their diseases of choice are expenses which we are all expected to underwrite.

Fight back.

Government Shutdown Could Disrupt Medical Research

A blessing.

If the federal government is forced to shut down, research at the National Institutes of Health campus would probably be affected immediately; it would take longer to be felt at the more than 3,000 research institutions funded by NIH across the country.

Just about nothing is more certain than the waste associated with "medical research" for treating obesity and finding its "causes."

The amount down the tubes is in the multi-billions.

There is one cause, more Calories in than out.

There is one "cure," fewer Calories in than out.

There is one way to stop the research madness, defund it.

If a shutdown is what it takes, go for it.

Obesity rate among men triples in just 20 years

(2-piece mankini for the moobs set set of moobs)

Erin go bloat.

Obesity rates among Irishmen have tripled in just 20 years, creating a health timebomb, a new report warns.

The research shows that more than a quarter (26pc) of men are now obese, compared with just 8pc in 1990.

Female waistlines have also dramatically expanded, with 21pc of Irishwomen now classed as obese, up from 13pc two decades ago.

Overall, three out of every five adults are now overweight or obese -- yet many women, in particular, are low in several key vitamins and minerals.

These alarming statistics were revealed in a study of 1,500 adults who allowed researchers from the Irish Universities' Nutrition Alliance at UCD and UCC into their homes. They offered up food diaries, blood-pressure tests and insights into their lifestyle habits.

Time for a kinder, gentler potato famine?

Religious Young Adults Become Obese by Middle Age: Cause May Be Unhealthy Food at Religious Activities

Time to place a fat tax on the Eucharist wafers.

Could it be the potato salad? Young adults who frequently attend religious activities are 50 percent more likely to become obese by middle age as young adults with no religious involvement, according to new Northwestern Medicine research. This is the first longitudinal study to examine the development of obesity in people with various degrees of religious involvement.

"We don't know why frequent religious participation is associated with development of obesity, but the upshot is these findings highlight a group that could benefit from targeted efforts at obesity prevention," said Matthew Feinstein, the study's lead investigator and a fourth-year student at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. "It's possible that getting together once a week and associating good works and happiness with eating unhealthy foods could lead to the development of habits that are associated with greater body weight and obesity."

And this is from a future doctor.

Another great reason to get fit.

Fit people are generally less sick than unfit people.

This will lessen your likelihood of meeting the future Dr. Feinstein or any of his classmates in a professional setting.

IMHO, morons.

Reliable? Heart Studies Often Exclude the Elderly

More reasons to get fit and stay away from sick care.

The vast majority of heart failure cases occur in adults aged 65 and older, but a report out today says a large number of clinical trials studying the disease exclude older patients, often unnecessarily.

For more than 20 years, "regulatory agencies have been trying to include more older people in clinical trials, but the situation doesn't seem to be changing much," Dr. Antonio Cherubini, a geriatrician at the University of Perugia Medical School in Italy, told Reuters Health.

Of the 251 heart failure trials analyzed by Dr. Cherubini and colleagues, 43% unjustifiably excluded the elderly, the authors reported online today in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

A quarter of the evaluated studies excluded older patients based on age alone, a practice that the American Geriatrics Society and other groups have been working to phase out for years. Other trials excluded the elderly indirectly by rejecting patients with multiple diseases or on multiple medications.

The data are corrupted.

Just like the diet data.

Get fit.

It is the best way to survive.

Eskimo Study Suggests High Consumption of Omega-3s in Fish-Rich Diet Reduces Obesity-Related Disease Risk

There is a lesson here - blubber is a health food.

A study of Yup'ik Eskimos in Alaska, who on average consume 20 times more omega-3 fats from fish than people in the lower 48 states, suggests that a high intake of these fats helps prevent obesity-related chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease.

Eat blubber.

You can even make smoothies with this versatile ingredient.

Obese Patients Have Double The Risk Of Airway Problems During An Anesthetic

Double your body, double your risk.

A major UK study on complications of anaesthesia has shown that obese patients are twice as likely to develop serious airway problems during a general anaesthetic than non-obese patients. 'The airway' means the air passages from the outside world to the lungs, which must be kept open to keep the patient alive.

Kudos, fatsos.

Not So Sweet: Increased Added Sugars Intake Parallels Trends in Weight Gain

However, there is absolutely no proof of cause and effect.

Weight gain in adults coincided with increased consumption of added sugars, in a study reported at the American Heart Association's Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism/Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention 2011 Scientific Sessions. Added sugars are sugars and syrups added to foods during processing, preparation, or at the table.

Junk research.

SNA Submits Comments On Proposed School Meal Standards

The morons at the SNA want more money (again) to continue doing the same crappy job that they IMHO have.

The School Nutrition Association (SNA) has submitted comments to the US Department of Agriculture in response to the department's proposed rule outlining new nutrition standards for school meals.

The comments, available through this link, express SNA's support for the proposed rule's goals of increasing student consumption of fruits, vegetables and whole grains while reducing the sodium, calories and fat in school meals. Yet, the document raises concerns about schools' ability to meet all the requirements within the proposed rule's tight timetables.

To provide schools adequate time to train staff, secure necessary equipment, change menus, identify new suppliers, and help students adapt to the new meals, SNA advises delaying mandatory implementation of the rule until school year 2013-2014. The Association recommends incentivizing early implementation by providing the additional 6 cent reimbursement to schools that meet the new meal pattern prior to SY 2013-2014.

One major barrier to meeting the new standards is cost: USDA estimates that if the proposed rule is fully implemented, the cost of preparing a school lunch could rise by more than 15 cents while the cost of preparing a school breakfast could rise by more than 51 cents. Yet, the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act provides only 6 cents more per lunch to help schools meet these new standards and no additional reimbursement to assist with costly improvements to breakfast.

Disband these IMHO malevolent charlatans.

Preference For Junk Food Acquired By Offspring During Pregnancy

Crap. It is because these kids are fed certain foods after they are born.

And BTW, there are no junk foods.

A new research report published online in The FASEB Journal suggests that pregnant mothers who eat high sugar and high fat diets have babies who are likely to become junk food junkies themselves. According to the report, which used rats, this happens because the high fat and high sugar diet leads to changes in the fetal brain's reward pathway, altering food preferences. Not only does this offer insight into the ever-increasing rate of human obesity, but it may also explain why some people easily resist fatty and sugary foods, while others seem hopelessly addicted.

More stupidity.

Unknown Factors May Protect Patients From Ravages of Diabetes

More evidence that they have no idea what they are talking about.

A select group of patients appear to have some novel protective factors that allow them to live with type 1 diabetes for a half-century or more without development of serious adverse effects, investigators report in the April issue of Diabetes Care.

The study authors saw no significant relationship between the prevalence of complications and glycemic control, as measured by hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) levels in this group of patients.

Comforting.

Then deal with the known factors that protect people from diabetes and other bad diseases - fitness.

Arizona Governor Proposes Fining Fat Residents, Smokers

Right idea, wrong implementation, wrong language, wrong amount.

As part of a plan to revamp the state's Medicaid program, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer announced on Thursday that she is proposing fees for adults who lead unhealthy lives.

Childless adults who are obese or suffer from a chronic condition and who fail to work with their doctor to meet specific goals would be charged $50 annually. The $50 annual fee also would apply to all childless adult smokers.

"If you're not going to manage those things and take some personal responsibility, and in turn that costs the state more money, then you need to have some skin in the game," said Monica Coury, assistant director of Arizona's Medicaid program.

Employers are taking notice of the costs of obesity and making changes. Alabama charges obese government employees $25 a month for insurance if they don't attempt to lose weight. A hospital in Tennessee won't hire anyone who's a smoker and neither will Alaska Airlines or the county of Sarasota, Fla.

Fat people and smokers should pay more for their care because they cost more.

It is not a fine.

It is their "fair share."

And absolutely fat people with kids (nutritional child abusers) or who do not delay having kids until the weight is lost and get pregnant should pay more.

And they should all pay more than $50, since they cost more, much more, than $50.

Predictably, there is the moron politician spouting s**t.

Democratic State Sen. Kyrsten Sinema told ABC News that while she supports efforts to encourage people to live healthier lives, she feels the fees penalize the wrong people and reach too far.

"There are some people who have diabetes and are obese through no fault of their own," Sinema said. "To fine people for medical conditions that might be beyond their control, that's just not right. ... This would punish people with disabilities who have done nothing wrong.

Type 2 diabetes and obesity are choices.

Overweight/obesity and the diseases of choice that come with it are within each person's control.

Period.

New strategic plan for NIH obesity research seeks to curb epidemic

Criminal. Insane. And what was the strategic plan doing up 'til now?

To combat the obesity epidemic, the National Institutes of Health is encouraging diverse scientific investigations through a new Strategic Plan for NIH Obesity Research.

More than one-third of adults in the United States and nearly 17 percent of the nation’s children are now obese, which increases a person’s chance of developing many health problems, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, fatty liver disease, and some cancers. In 2008, obesity-related medical costs were an estimated $147 billion. Government, nonprofit and community groups, businesses, health care professionals, schools, families, and individuals are taking action to address this public health problem — and research can provide the foundation for these efforts.

NIH funds research to reduce the prevalence of obesity and its health consequences, an investment of $824 million in fiscal year 2010, plus awards totaling $147 million made in the same year through the Recovery Act. This NIH strategic plan, developed by the NIH Obesity Research Task Force, recognizes that eating less and exercising more is easier said than done. Highlighting the crucial role of research in efforts to reduce obesity, the plan emphasizes moving science from laboratory to clinical trials to practical solutions, and is designed to help target efforts and resources in areas most likely to help.

“Obesity has many causes and contributing factors. This plan is a bold blueprint that will encourage the research community to examine the epidemic of obesity from diverse perspectives,” said NIH Director Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D. “Through the scientific opportunities outlined in the strategic plan, researchers can work together toward the goals of preventing and treating obesity, to help people lead healthier and more fulfilling lives.”

There is only one cause of overweight/obesity - more Calories in than out.

What there are many of are excuses.

This "plan" is a waste, doomed to fail and a genuine piece of s**t.

It is a criminal waste of resources perpetrated by an agency and people who are clearly out of touch with reality.

In a word, nuts.

Weight Worries For Mother-To-Be

No worries. If there were, they would not be fat.

Being seriously overweight during pregnancy increases dangers for both mother and unborn child, but little is being done to help obese mums-to-be, says a leading researcher in the field.

Dr Nicola Heslehurst, from Teesside University's Health and Social Care Institute, led a team of academics from the universities of Teesside, Newcastle and Durham looking at the provision of clinical and support services for obese pregnant women.

They found that maternal obesity has more than doubled over the last two decades with one in six pregnant women now facing extra risks to themselves and their babies.

More than half the women who die in pregnancy or childbirth are obese or overweight and being seriously overweight increases the likelihood of conditions such as cardiac disease, diabetes and pre-eclampsia and can be a contributing factor in stillbirth, congenital anomalies and prematurity.

"But very little is being done nationally to support women in achieving a healthy weight before bearing children", says Dr Heslehurst, whose study of births around the country was published in the International Journal of Obesity. "Despite the potential risks, there is no strategic public information campaign."

Fat people should not have kids until the weight is lost.

And if they do, they should pay more for the increased costs.

Period.

Study Reveals Global Negative Attitudes Toward Fat Bodies

A rare attack of cogent thinking on a worldwide basis.

Stigma against overweight people is becoming a cultural norm around the world, even in places where larger bodies have traditionally been valued. That's according to a cross-cultural study of attitudes toward obesity to be published in the April issue of Current Anthropology.

Researchers from Arizona State University surveyed people in nine diverse locations around the world and found negative attitudes toward fat bodies in every one. The results suggest a rapid "globalization of fat stigma" in which overweight people are increasingly viewed as ugly, undesirable, lazy, or lacking in self control, the researchers say.

The researchers surveyed people in Mexico, Argentina, Paraguay, the U.S., and the U.K. Also included were American Samoa, Puerto Rico, and Tanzania - cultures that have traditionally been thought of as fat-positive. People were asked if they agreed or disagreed with a series of statements about body size. Some statements were fat-negative ("Fat people are lazy"), others were fat-positive ("A big woman is a beautiful woman").

The responses across these diverse cultures were largely congruent with Western attitudes, the researchers found. What's more, the highest fat stigma scores were not in the U.S. or the U.K., "but rather Mexico, Paraguay, and - perhaps most surprisingly - in American Samoa," the researchers write.

And, of course, the researchers conclude that the people are wrong.

Yep. That has gotta be it.

Faith and Fat: Religious Youths More Likely to Be Obese by Mid-Life

Holy fatsos! Corpulent corpus from corpus?

According to research from Northwestern University, youths of a healthy weight who frequently participated in religious activities were twice as likely to become obese by middle age than their less-religious peers.

Belief in the almighty Calorie.

Half of All AF Due to Avoidable Risk Factors

Another condition more common among the gluttonous, i.e., fatsos.

Half of all cases of atrial fibrillation (AF) are due to cardiovascular risk factors such as hypertension, diabetes, obesity, and smoking, new research shows. And it's not just those with obviously high levels who are at risk, but even those with borderline BP, blood glucose, and body-mass indexes (BMIs), say the researchers, whose findings, from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study, are published online March 28, 2011 in Circulation.

And treatment is lifelong.

The fit are expected to contribute to this.

Fight back.