Overweight Individuals More Susceptible To Risk Factors For Further Weight Gain

Shocker!

Some risk factors for obesity become stronger the more overweight a person is, according to a study published in the online journal PLoS ONE.

Fat people are likely to get fatter.

Brilliant!

Not.

Very-Low-Calorie Diet Improves Diabetic Heart Function

When the fat lose weight, things improve.

Obese patients with type 2 diabetes who consumed a severely restricted diet of just 500 calories a day for 4 months showed a reduction in pericardial fat and improved the function of their heart, researchers said here at the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) 97th Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting.

They were all also able to discontinue insulin injections, lead author Sebastiaan Hammer, MD, PhD, from Leiden University Medical Center, the Netherlands, told Medscape Medical News.

Whoda thunk it?

FDA Takes Legal Action Against Dietary Supplement Maker In Pennsylvania

Traditional Chinese Medicine as practiced in Pennsylvania.

The FDA has for the first time taken legal action against a dietary supplement manufacturer and owner, which has substituted ingredients and products and failed to note the changes on the final product labels. The U.S. Department of Justice, which filed the permanent injunction for the FDA, could prohibit the defendant from producing and distributing over 400 products for violating the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act.

It is the first time that the FDA is carrying out legal proceedings against a dietary supplement manufacturer of this size because of its failure to comply with the dietary supplement current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) regulations, which require manufacturers to ensure quality in their dietary supplements by controlling all aspects of their processes and procedures. In 2007, the cGMPs came into effect for dietary supplements in a stepped process based on company size. The company did not meet the relevant cGMP requirements after 2010, when the its compliance date became effective.

Deer penis substitute, anyone?

Healthier Food Choices Impacted By Low Motivation And Attention, Not The Labeling Itself

More evidence that overweight/obesity are simply matters of choice.

The final results from the Food Labeling to Advance Better Education for Life (FLABEL) project, which provides the latest research on consumer behavior and nutrition labels, demonstrate that even though the nutritional information on European food labels is well understood, consumers lacking motivation and attention nevertheless prevent the labels from making a positive impact on food choices.

Another reason not to pay for the illnesses of choice bronto sapiens develop.

Gene Finding May Help Scientists Combat Obesity And Diabetes

Won't.

Against the backdrop of the growing epidemic of obesity in the United States, scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have made an important new discovery regarding a specific gene that plays an important role in keeping a steady balance between our food intake and energy expenditure. The study may help scientists better understand the keys to fighting obesity and related disorders such as diabetes.

The study, which was published in the November 25, 2011 print edition of The Journal of Biological Chemistry, focused on the melanocortin-3 receptor (MC3R), which normally responds to signals of nutrient intake.

"What we discovered was quite a surprise," said Scripps Research Associate Professor Andrew Butler, who led the study. "We thought that the actions of the receptor expressed in the brain would be critical for metabolic homeostasis. However, what we found is that actions of the receptor expressed outside the brain appear to be equally important."

Anytime you read/hear that a discovery is a "surprise" and "important," realize at least these 2 things.

If there was surprise then all previous research is suspect or the current research is.

If it is important they likely have not tested the results of their research and are hyping it.

L-arginine: Supplement Tested On Fit, Athletic Men Shows No Advantage

Another supplement appears to have bitten the dust.

One of the most recent, popular supplements for athletes looking to boost performance comes in the form of a naturally-occurring amino acid called L-arginine.

The reason for its popularity is twofold says Scott Forbes, a doctoral student in exercise physiology. "First, L-arginine is a precursor for nitric oxide that is known to improve blood flow, which in turn may aid the delivery of important nutrients to working muscles and assist with metabolic waste product removal. Secondly, L-arginine has been shown to increase growth hormone levels in the blood." ...

What Forbes found was that in healthy, young, physically active males the two different doses significantly elevated L-arginine concentrations in the blood at rest, and both a low dose and a high dose were equally effective in doing so, but neither dose promoted a significant increase in nitric oxide, growth hormone, insulin, or insulin-like growth factor-1.

Save your money.

High and Low Levels of Sodium Intake Track With CV Risk

More damned if you do, damned if you don't - unless you drink your urine.

Adding another dash of controversy to the ongoing debate over the health benefits of restricting sodium intake, a new study has found that CV risk was increased at both low and high levels of sodium intake.

The solution is to drink your own urine...

Different and Convergent Findings Explained?

Of note, however, the authors did not observe a significant association until sodium excretion exceeded 6.5 g per day, "a threshold that is higher than that recommended by the WHO and many national guidelines," the authors write.

As a crude estimate, "sodium out" is believed to reflect "sodium in," O'Donnell told heartwire , such that excretion levels of 6.5 g per day are roughly equal to consuming 6500 mg daily.

"Compared with moderate sodium excretion, we found an association between high sodium excretion and CV events and low sodium excretion and CVD events, which emphasizes the urgent need to establish a safe range for sodium intake in randomized controlled trials," they observe.

Most nutrition guidelines, notes Dr Paul Whelton (Tulane University, New Orleans, LA) in an accompanying editorial, recommend sodium intake of no higher than 1500 mg for people with established hypertension and no higher than 2300 mg for those at lower risk [2].

"The general body of knowledge suggesting that we take in amounts of sodium that are vastly in excess of our needs is exceedingly solid," he said in an interview. "It's good to publish findings, it adds to the puzzle, and it's an interesting study, but one has to be cautious," he said.

The Low and the High and the in-Between

O'Donnell and colleagues, used single baseline urine tests obtained in the ONTARGET and TRANSCEND trials, measuring both sodium and potassium excretion, and linked these results with subsequent CVD deaths, MIs, and congestive heart failure hospitalizations over 56 months of follow-up.

They report that compared with mean levels of sodium excretion from 4 to 5.99 g per day, subjects with sodium excretion greater than 7 g per day faced an increased risk of CV events, but so did subjects with excretion levels of less than 3 g per day.

If it is too salty, cut back on the salt.

If it is too bland, consume more salt.

Good luck sorting it out.

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

Bottoms up!

200-lb 8-year-old placed in foster care

Nutritional child abuse and the failure of mandatory reporters and the system to respond.

An 8-year-old elementary school student who weighs more than 200 pounds has been taken from his family and placed into foster care after county social workers said his mother wasn't doing enough to control his weight.
The Plain Dealer newspaper reports that the Cleveland 8-year-old is considered severely obese and at risk for such diseases as diabetes and hypertension.

The case is the first state officials can recall of a child being put in foster care strictly for a weight-related issue.

Lawyers for the mother say the county overreached when authorities took the boy last week. They say the medical problems he is at risk for do not yet pose an imminent danger.

A spokeswoman says the county removed the child because caseworkers saw his mother's inability to reduce his weight as medical neglect.

Good for the caseworkers, albeit late.

As to the mother's lawyers, "The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers."

European Adult Obesity Rates Range From 7.6% To 24.7%

Kudos, Euros.

Obesity rates in Europe have been rising and are now a serious public health concern, even though at a range of 7.6% to 24.7% they are much lower than those in the USA which stand at 26.8% for females and 27.6% for males, says a European Health Interview Survey, published by the statistical office of the European Union, Eurostat.

A person is obese when their BMI (body mass index) is over 30.

The authors reported that, among the 19 European states in this survey, obesity rates are higher among females in eight states, higher among males in ten, and the same in one.

Still better than in the USA.

Still no reason to be proud, however.

Neuron Transplants Can Repair Brain Circuits

This is not evidence that there is a problem with the brains of fat people.

A new study by Harvard University neuroscientist Jeffrey Macklis and colleagues suggests it is possible to transplant fetal neurons into a part of the mouse brain that does not normally generate new brain cells, and they will repair abnormal circuits. In this case, the researchers repaired a genetic defect that causes obesity, but that was not the goal of their work which was to establish proof of principle that transplanted neurons can integrate into existing faulty brain circuits and restore them...

The researchers, from Harvard University, Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and Harvard Medical School (HMS) used mutant mice that had been genetically engineered to lack the receptor for leptin, a hormone that acts on brain cells in the hypothalamus to regulate metabolism and control body weight. Without this receptor, mice become morbidly obese and diabetic.

Nope, fat people do not lack the leptin receptor.

They lack self-control.

Moderate Alcohol Intake Linked To Lower Female Diabetes Risk

News flash! Refined carbs are good when followed by an alcoholic chaser.

Females in middle age who drink alcohol moderately and consume large amounts of refined carbohydrates have a 30% lower chance of developing diabetes type 2, compared to women with similar dietary habits who don't drink, researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health wrote in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Examples of refined carbohydrate foods include sugary drinks, white bread, some pastas, and (polished) white rice.

Remember when refined carbs were bad?

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

Hypertension in College Linked to CHD Deaths in Midlife

Guess which kids are more likely to get high blood pressure.

Young men with prehypertension or hypertension during their college years--half a century ago--were significantly more likely to die of coronary heart disease than their normotensive counterparts, a new analysis shows...

They point out that the lack of clinical-trial evidence supporting the safety and efficacy of BP lowering in younger adults is even more pressing now, given the rising levels of hypertension and obesity in childhood and adolescence.

Fat ones.

Kudos, fat kids.

Exercise May Encourage Healthy Eating Via Brain Changes

Probably not.

Exercise may encourage healthy eating by changing parts of the brain that influence impulsive behaviour, according to a new review of the available literature by researchers from Spain and the US published in Obesity Reviews. The researchers conclude that in a society where we are surrounded by temptations and triggers that facilitate over-eating and excess, the part of the brain responsible for "inhibitory control" undergoes "relentless strain" (they note it has limited capacity anyway), and doing exercise on a regular basis enhances it.

"By enhancing the resources that facilitate 'top-down' inhibitory control, increased physical activity may help compensate and suppress the hedonic drive to over-eat," they write.

Obesity has been rising at an alarming rate in Spain in recent years, so much so that in some parts of Spain, the proportion of the population that is obese is higher than that in many parts of the United States, the country traditionally considered as having the highest obesity rates in the western world.

Also, in line with other countries in the Mediterranean, Spain has one of the highest rates of childhood obesity in Europe.

Maybe it is just that people who invest time and energy in a pursuit don't want to spoil it - Occam's Razor.

BTW, notice that this proponent of the Mediterranean Diet, has "one of the highest rates of childhood obesity in Europe."

Scientist Uses Vitamin B12 To Deliver Appetite-Suppressing Hormone Via Chewing Gum

A lie.

"PYY is an appetite-suppressing hormone," Doyle says. "But, when taken orally, the hormone is destroyed in the stomach and that which isn't destroyed has difficulty crossing into the bloodstream through the intestines."

What's needed is a way to disguise the PYY so that it can travel through the digestive system relatively unharmed. Several years ago, Doyle developed a way to use vitamin B12 as a vehicle for the oral delivery of the hormone insulin. B12 is able to pass through the digestive system with relative ease and carry with it insulin, or other substances, into the bloodstream. Similarly, his research team attached the PYY hormone to his patent-pending vitamin B12 system. "Phase one of this study was to show that we could deliver a clinically relevant amount of PYY into the bloodstream," Doyle says. "We did that, and we are very excited by the results."

The next step involves finding ways to insert the B12-PYY system into such things as chewing gum or an oral tablet to create a nutritional supplement to assist individuals in losing weight in much the same way as nicotine-laced gum is used to help people stop smoking. "If we are successful, PYY-laced gum would be a natural way to help people lose weight," he says. "They could eat a balanced meal, then chew a stick of gum. The PYY supplement would begin to kick in about three to four hours later, decreasing their appetite as they approach their next meal."

It has not been done.

And if it is, it will likely not work.

Care to bet?

Exercise More Dangerous Than Fighting Fires For Firefighters

But there is something even more dangerous...

In the United States, emergency medical services together with fire fighters experience the highest rates of injuries and deaths in the workplace.

Research published online in Injury Prevention shows that although fire fighters are more likely to sustain injuries during exercise than whilst putting out fires, the most time off work is due to injuries incurred whilst carrying patients.

Fat patients.

Kudos, fatsos.

You injure our first responders.

Nutritionists Say Willpower No Match For Cheap Food, Big Portions

More evidence that overweight/obesity are choices.

Ditching the diet for Thanksgiving? Turkey with all the fixings isn't the only temptation causing would-be dieters to miss their goals, according to a new Cornell University review article that finds powerful environmental cues are subconsciously bending willpower every day.

"We're slaves to our environment," said David Levitsky, professor of nutritional sciences and of psychology at Cornell, who co-authored the article with graduate student Carly Pacanowski.

The article, "Free Will and the Obesity Epidemic," will be published in an upcoming print edition of the journal Public Health Nutrition*.

Levitsky and Pacanowski analyzed hundreds of articles on eating behavior and found forces that individuals have no control over are heavily influencing the obesity epidemic in the United States. These forces include cheap food prices and ease of access to unhealthy food. Social factors such as seeing others eat are also strong stimulants, Levitsky said, and have taken on more strength in the past 50 to 60 years, as restaurant dining becomes more frequent.

All it takes is just saying, "No."

Too Little Salt Can Also Be A Problem

Well, this should clear up the confusion. Not.

We've been bombarded for more than two decades with scientists and doctors telling us to eat less salt. Statistics show that those eating excessive salt in their diets are far more likely to suffer from cardiovascular problems, but as with any nutritional or diet information, moderation and balance is the key. Everyone is familiar with the active salt intake in hot countries like Mexico and Spain, where more salt is lost through perspiration, so it should come as no surprise that too little salt can also be a problem.

A study in the November 23 issue of JAMA shows that too high or too low sodium levels in urine carries a far higher risk for cardiovascular events (for higher levels), or cardiovascular death and hospitalization for congestive heart failure for lower levels.

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

Study Finds 25 Percent Of Canadians Aged 31 To 50 Exceed Safe Limit Of Total Calories Derived From Fats

They are doomed.

As part of their study, the researchers examined data from the Canadian National Population Health Survey to evaluate how eating habits could impact obesity trends among adults aged 18 to 65. The World Health Organization, which uses the body mass index (BMI) to measure weight-for-height, estimates that a BMI greater than or equal to 25 makes for an overweight person and a BMI greater than or equal to 30 equals obesity.

"More than 25 per cent of Canadians aged 31 to 50 exceed the safe limit of total calories derived from fats," adds co-author Mesbah Sharaf, a PhD candidate in the Concordia Department of Economics, noting advances in food engineering by producers may have contributed to the difficulty of resisting food craving and increase obesity rates.

Oink. Eh?

Prevention Strategies Needed To Stop Americans Getting Fatter

How about caloric intake control?

In 2020, the vast majority of adults in America will be overweight or obese and more than half will suffer from diabetes or pre-diabetic conditions, according to projections presented by Northwestern Medicine researchers at the American Heart Association (AHA) Scientific Sessions in Orlando.

Nah.

Too sensible.

UK elderly's human rights 'being breached': study

Two words - Anabolic Clinic (sm).

Poor treatment of many elderly people in their own homes is breaching their human rights, says a study of England's home care services.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission report into council-operated home care said there is evidence of a "systematic failure" in the way care is given.

Home care services are used by more than 450,000 older people, around 20 percent of everyone in that age range, but only around half of a sample of people questioned for the study were satisfied with the services they received.

Researchers identified many cases of treatment that they felt breached human rights, including cases of physical and financial abuse.

Key findings included carers neglecting tasks because of time constraints, carers refusing to warm and serve food because of "unfounded" health and safety concerns, money being stolen over a period of time, chronic disregard for older people's privacy and a disregard for clients' dignity when carrying out intimate tasks.
Evidence given to the commission included a woman being left stuck on the toilet in her bathroom, as the care worker said she was too busy completing the list of care tasks to help her.

"The cumulative impact on older people can be profoundly depressing and stressful: tears, frustration, expressions of a desire to die and feelings of being stripped of self-worth and dignity - much of which was avoidable," the report said.

Independence is one of the effects of Anabolic Medicine (sm).

Learn more here, here and here.

AND SEE POST BELOW.

Donald Berwick Resigns as Head of CMS

SEE POST ABOVE.

"I am romantic about the NHS; I love it. All I need to do to rediscover the romance is to look at health care in my own country." Donald Berwick, MD, head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Donald Berwick, MD, a long-time advocate of patient safety, is resigning as administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), effective December 2, after a short tumultuous term as President Barrack Obama's point person for healthcare reform.

Oops.

U.S. Population On Track to Getting Even Fatter

'Cause they can't run. They are too fat.

In 2020, the vast majority of adults in America will be overweight or obese and more than half will suffer from diabetes or pre-diabetic conditions, according to projections presented by Northwestern Medicine researchers at the American Heart Association (AHA) Scientific Sessions on Nov. 16, in Orlando, Florida.

Apparently fatosity is about the only growth industry in the USA.

Childhood Obesity What Are The Health Risks?

Nutritional child abuse. What are the health risks?

It is widely suspected that the current wave of obesity among children will result in greater rates of cardiovascular disease and diabetes over the next few decades. But a second systematic review of research into childhood obesity and metabolic disease in adult life has shown there is little evidence of a direct link and suggests that treating obesity during childhood will remove any risk of lasting harm.

This new study, and the second of its kind carried out by nutrition experts at The University of Nottingham, has strengthened their original findings that we could in fact be more at risk of health problems if we are lean as children and become obese as adults. Unexpectedly the work suggests that there could even be a slight protective effect if we are overweight as children and reduce our Body Mass Index (BMI) in adulthood.

The research, funded by the Organix Foundation, and published online in the International Journal of Obesity, warns that as a result dieticians and nutritionists are missing an important at-risk group.

This second review has been performed by Louise Lloyd, a graduate student in nutrition, Dr Sarah McMullen, lecturer in Human Nutrition, and Professor Simon Langley-Evans, Chair in Human Nutrition, all based in the Division of Nutritional Sciences (School of Biosciences). The Division carries out research which focuses on the basis of the individual response to diet, development and ageing.

Their review shows that previous studies suggesting that childhood obesity permanently raises risk of disease failed to take into account adult BMI. As a result, there is insufficient evidence to demonstrate links with long term-risk which are independent of adult BMI.

The researchers reviewed 11 academic studies which considered the health of thousands of people living in westernised countries. They say that when adult BMI was accounted for, people at the lower end of BMI in childhood who became obese later in life actually had the highest chances of high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

Professor Langley-Evans said: "There is substantial evidence that childhood obesity tracks into adulthood and it is clear that adult obesity puts us at higher risk of metabolic disease. We are not therefore suggesting that childhood obesity is without consequences. Targeting childhood and adolescence for prevention and treatment of obesity is wholly appropriate in order to establish a healthy weight moving forward into the adult years. However, we have found that the nature of the relationship between early BMI and adult disease risk is very complex. People at the lower end of the BMI range in childhood and go on to be obese as adults seem to be at particular risk. Therefore, by focusing on children who are overweight or obese for the promotion of health weight management we may be missing an important at-risk group."

Overweight and obesity are associated with a range of chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and certain cancers. The World Health Organisation has estimated that around a third of coronary heart disease and ischaemic strike cases are attributable to excess weight. As the prevalence of excess weight and obesity continues to increase there are significant implications for population morbidity and mortality with the increase in childhood obesity of particular concern.

Dr McMullen said: "We conducted the reviews because we were interested in the impact of obesity during childhood on long term disease risk. We were surprised to see that when we adjusted for adult body mass index the relationships disappeared and, in fact, many of them reversed. Our analysis of the research as a whole goes against many of the conclusions from the individual studies. Most surprising to us was the finding that it is those who are relatively lean in childhood but go on to be obese during adulthood who are at particular risk.

"We must be very clear about one thing obesity does have a very negative impact on health in many different ways. We know that people who are obese during childhood are more likely to be obese as adults, and this has a direct impact on their health and wellbeing at that time. It is generally assumed that an earlier onset and longer duration of obesity is associated with a greater cardiovascular risk, which has increased concerns about childhood obesity trends. However, very important questions remain as to the nature of the relationship. For example it isn't clear whether weight loss interventions in adult life can fully ameliorate the risks associated with childhood obesity or whether an independent effect of childhood obesity remains, irrespective of the degree of adult weight."

Stuff like the above, that's what.

Excessive Amounts Of Vitamin D Linked To Onset Of Atrial Fibrillation

Another bad day for the cure du jour.

While previous studies have linked vitamin D deficiency to an increased risk for cardiovascular disease, new research at the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute shows that too much vitamin D can lead to the onset of a dangerous heart condition known as atrial fibrillation.

Researchers at Intermountain Medical Center, the flagship facility for the Intermountain Healthcare system, studied more than 132,000 patients and found the risk of developing atrial fibrillation was two and a half times greater in those with excess levels of vitamin D compared to patients with normal levels.

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

The Smokers’ Surcharge

Good news!

More and more employers are demanding that workers who smoke, are overweight or have high cholesterol shoulder a greater share of their health care costs, a shift toward penalizing employees with unhealthy lifestyles rather than rewarding good habits.

But, the NYT has it all wrong, as usual.

It is not a penalty.

It is a reflection of the increased risk these people pose.

Charge them more and more until they pay for their true risks to the system.

Panel Recommends Universal Cholesterol Screening for Kids

Parents killing their kids.

An expert panel is recommending that all children, regardless of family history, undergo universal screening for elevated cholesterol levels. The panel recommends that children undergo lipid screening for nonfasting non–HDL-cholesterol levels or a fasting lipid panel between the ages of 9 and 11 years followed by another full lipid screening test between 18 and 21 years of age.

The guidelines, from the Expert Panel on Integrated Guidelines for Cardiovascular Health and Risk Reduction in Children and Adolescents, appointed by the National Health, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) and endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), also recommend measuring fasting glucose levels to test for diabetes in children 10 years of age (or at the onset of puberty) who are overweight with other risk factors, including a family history, for type 2 diabetes mellitus.

"The goal of the expert panel was to develop comprehensive evidence-based guidelines that address the known risk factors for cardiovascular disease to assist all primary pediatric care providers in both the promotion of cardiovascular health and the identification and management of specific risk factors from infancy into young adult life," write panel chair Dr Stephen Daniels (University of Colorado School of Medicine, Denver) and colleagues in Pediatrics.

Fat kids are at greatest risk.

And who has fat kids?

Generally, fat parents do.

Today's Teens Will Die Younger of Heart Disease, Study Finds

Fat parents have fat kids. This news must make them proud.

A new study that takes a complete snapshot of adolescent cardiovascular health in the United States reveals a dismal picture of teens who are likely to die of heart disease at a younger age than adults do today, reports Northwestern Medicine research.

Kudos, fatsos.

You should not have reproduced.

Metabolism Boosted By Enzyme, Weight Gain Prevented In Mice

Inflammation is good!

Male and female mice engineered to express the inflammatory enzyme IKKbeta in their fat tissue ate more but gained less weight. They burned sugar and fat more effectively than mice who were left unaltered. The research may shed light on how obesity and inflammation affect insulin resistance and sensitivity.

In a new study, scientists report that they substantially curbed weight gain, improved metabolism, and improved the efficacy of insulin in mice by engineering them to express a specific human enzyme in their fat tissue. Although the obesity prevention came at the significant cost of widespread inflammation, the research offers new clues about the connections among obesity, insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes, and inflammation.

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

Green Tea May Lower "Bad" Cholesterol, New Analysis

Piss, er, kiss, your LDL goodbye!

A new analysis of published studies finds that consuming green tea, either as a beverage or in capsule form, is linked to significant but modest reductions in total and LDL or "bad" cholesterol, but the researchers found no link with HDL or "good" cholesterol and triglycerides. Dr Olivia J. Phung, of the College of Pharmacy at Western University of Health Sciences in Pomona, California, and colleagues, write about their findings in the November issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association...

However, Phung and colleagues note that although randomized controlled trials have examined the effect of green tea catechins on blood fats or lipids, including cholesterol, these have been small and shown conflicting results.

Or not.

Protein, Not Sugar, Stimulates Cells Keeping Us Thin And Awake, New Study Suggests

The sugar high, sugar rush is gone?

A new study has found that protein and not sugar activates the cells responsible for keeping us awake and burning calories. The research, published in the scientific journal Neuron, has implications for understanding obesity and sleep disorders.

Wakefulness and energy expenditure rely on "orexin cells", which secrete a stimulant called orexin/hypocretin in the brain. Reduced activity in these unique cells results in narcolepsy and has been linked to weight gain.

Scientists at the University of Cambridge compared actions of different nutrients on orexin cells. They found that amino acids - nutrients found in proteins such as egg whites - stimulate orexin neurons much more than other nutrients.

Tell that to a parent of a kid who eats sugary foods.

Seems a bit contrary to the empirical evidence, no?

At 3.5 Years Of Age Future Obesity May Be Predicted

Wrong. You can predict it before conception.

Researchers can predict which children are most likely to become obese by examining their mothers' behaviour around their birth, according to a recent University of Montreal study published in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine. "Although behaviour is extremely hard to change and is also influenced by a complex tangle of influencing factors in the environment, I hope these findings will help improve the social and medical services we offer to mothers and infants," said lead author Laura Pryor, a PhD candidate at the university's Department of Social and Preventive Medicine. The findings come as the province of Quebec, like other societies, grapples with a surge in childhood obesity over the last generation.

Fat parents have fat kids.

If the parents are fat prior to conception you can bet that the offspring will be fat.

No need to wait 3.5 years.

Obese Patients Reduce Weight Via Primary Care-Based Weight Intervention

No they don't.

Can a visit to your primary care doctor help you lose weight? Primary care physicians, working with medical assistants in their practices, helped one group of their obese patients lose an average of 10.1 lb during a two-year lifestyle intervention, according to a new study by researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Their 10 lb weight loss was associated, over the two years, with improvements in cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors, including waist circumference and HDL cholesterol levels. The results of the POWER-UP (Practice-based Opportunities for Weight Reduction at the University of Pennsylvania) trial were reported in the latest edition of the New England Journal of Medicine and at the American Heart Association annual meeting.

"The enhanced lifestyle counseling program offers a successful model for treating obesity in primary care practice with the support of regular staff members - primary care providers (PCPs) and medical assistants," said POWER-UP principal investigator Thomas A. Wadden, PhD, professor of Psychology in Psychiatry at Penn's Perelman School of Medicine and director of the Penn Center for Weight and Eating Disorders. "This is an important finding, in light of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' recent proposal to cover the costs of intensive behavioral weight loss counseling provided to seniors in primary care practice by physicians and nurse practitioners," Dr. Wadden added.

5 pounds per year!

But only for "one group."

Not only is that not successful, it is a tremendous waste of resources that can be used to help people who do not choose to give themselves illnesses.

Clearly, when one looks nationally, primary care docs, like all docs, are abysmal failures at helping patients lose weight.

NHS: Crackdown on 'hidden waiting' ordered by ministers

"I am romantic about the NHS; I love it. All I need to do to rediscover the romance is to look at health care in my own country." Donald Berwick, MD, head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Ministers are ordering a crackdown on "hidden" waiting in the NHS in England.

Hospitals currently have to see non-urgent patients within 18 weeks but there are nearly 250,000 on lists who have waited for longer than this.

Ministers believe there is not enough incentive for these patients to be treated, meaning some are left "languishing" unnecessarily.

Oops.

Check Children's Cholesterol Levels, New Guidelines, USA

Fat parents have fat kids. Fat people are at a higher risk of cardiovascular disease.

Children should be checked for blood cholesterol levels between 9 and 11, and then again between 17 and 21 years, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has announced in new guidelines for doctors. The NIH says the guidelines have been endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics. In other words, two cholesterol checks before the age of 21. The guidelines have been published today in the journal Pediatrics.

The new recommendations appear in a document titled "Expert Panel on Integrated Guidelines for Cardiovascular Health and Risk Reduction in Children and Adolescents: Summary Report".

Previous recommendations included only children with a family history of high cholesterol or heart disease, and other factors linked to cardiovascular disease risk.

The authors wrote:

"Atherosclerosis begins in youth, and this process, from its earliest phases, is related to the presence and intensity of the known cardiovascular risk factors. Clinical events such as myocardial infarction, stroke, peripheral arterial disease, and ruptured aortic aneurysm are the culmination of the lifelong vascular process of atherosclerosis."

The sign of a truly sick, child abusing society is when you have to screen kids for adult illnesses that are diseases of choice.

Kudos, fatsos.

Less Exercise, More TV Hours Linked To Higher Depression Risk In Women

Now why would slothful women who likely overconsume Calories be depressed?

Researchers analyzing data from a long term study of women in the US found low levels of exercise and watching lots of TV were each linked to a higher risk of depression compared to high levels of exercise and little TV viewing. A report of their findings appeared recently in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

It is a mystery.

Teen Diets Should Include More Fiber, But Not Necessarily Less Fat

So it is not the cholesterol and the saturated fat.

A diet high in fiber - but not necessarily one low in saturated fat or cholesterol - is tied to a lower risk of heart disease and type-2 diabetes in teenagers, according to new findings from Michigan State University.

A study led by Joseph Carlson of MSU's Division of Sports and Cardiovascular Nutrition suggests to reduce metabolic syndrome - a collection of risk factors including high blood pressure and a large waistline - it is more important to emphasize diets including fiber-rich, nutrient-dense, plant-based foods than focus on restricting foods high in cholesterol or saturated fat.

The research is published in Journal of the American Dietetic Association.

"What we found is that as fiber intake increases, the risk for metabolic syndrome decreases," said Carlson, a registered dietitian and associate professor at MSU. "High-fiber, nutrient-dense foods are packed with heart healthy vitamins, minerals and chemicals that can positively affect many cardiovascular risk factors.

"It may be better to focus on including these foods than to focus, as is commonly done, on excluding foods high in saturated fat."

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

Salt Linked to Heart Woes, but Some Say the Evidence Is Shaky

A sacred cow at the salt lick.

Uncle Sam wants you to consume less salt. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration held a day-long hearing today, discussing strategies to help Americans cut the salt from their diets, the latest assault in the crusade against sodium.

In the past few decades, the government has created guidelines, cajoled industry groups and garnered support from major medical groups such as the World Health Organization and the American Heart Association to encourage more Americans to get the salt out of their diets. Their action is stems from the medical wisdom that many know by heart: A diet high in salt raises blood pressure, which increases the risk of heart attacks, strokes and a host of other cardiovascular problems. If the food industry, restaurants and citizens cut their daily salt intake, the feds argue, the national burden of cardiovascular disease would be eased.

The FDA's goal is to get the food industry to gradually reduce the amount of salt in processed and restaurant foods, which account for 75 percent of Americans' salt intake, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

But a number of scientists and physicians say that the case against salt is far from closed. The evidence connecting high-sodium diets with heart disease and death is flimsy, they argue, and does not warrant such sweeping changes in salt consumption.

"Other than in those patients with underlying heart or kidney failure, there is little conclusive evidence that moderate salt intake actually increases heart disease risk," said Dr. Stuart Seides, associate director of cardiology at the Washington Hospital Center.

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

'Enhanced' Counseling May Help Some Obese Patients

Eating fewer Calories than they burn would help more.

About a third of obese patients who received "enhanced counseling"--monthly weight-loss counseling supplemented with meal replacements or a weight-loss drug--had 5% weight loss at two years, researchers report [1].

The Practice-based Opportunities for Weight Reduction Trial at the University of Pennsylvania (POWER-UP) was presented here Monday at the American Heart Association 2011 Scientific Sessions and is published online November 14, 2011 in the New England Journal of Medicine.

"The key finding is that primary-care practitioners working with medical assistants can help their obese patients loose a small but clinically meaningful amount of weight," lead author Dr Thomas A Wadden (University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia) told heartwire . "A modest, 5% weight loss can reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes and improve other cardiovascular risk factors such as high triglyceride and LDL-cholesterol levels," he noted.

But as long as these fatsos pay for it themselves, go for it.

Abuse Early in Life Linked to Cardiovascular Risk

And what does this say about biomarkers?

Women who suffer either physical or sexual abuse early in life have a significantly increased risk for subsequent cardiovascular events, including myocardial infarction and stroke, a new study suggests.

The study, using data from the Nurses' Health Study II, shows that women who reported they had experienced forced sexual activity during childhood or adolescence had a greater than 50% increased risk for cardiovascular disease. The relationship with physical abuse was significant but less robust, the authors note, and will have to be confirmed in other data sets.

This is the third study to show that forced sex among girls is linked with at least a 50% increase in cardiovascular event risk, lead author Janet Rich-Edwards, ScD, MPH, associate professor in the Department of Medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, said at a press conference here. The relationship was only partially explained by traditional cardiovascular risk factors.

"The consistency of the sexual abuse studies suggests that we continue our abuse prevention efforts in childhood, and that we also develop specific cardiovascular disease prevention strategies tailored to the needs of women who've experienced abuse in childhood," Dr. Rich-Edwards concluded.

Maybe they need to be reevaluated.

School Bans on Sugary Drinks Do Not Lower Total Consumption

A failed policy.

In-school bans of sugary soft drinks are thought to be a key tool for reducing adolescent sugar consumption, but they are not proving effective in reducing overall intake of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs), according to new research published online November 7 in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.

Overall SSB access and purchasing among teenagers was no better in states that banned only soda (66.6% and 28.9%, respectively) compared with states that had no beverage policy at all (66.6% and 26%, respectively). However, states that banned all sugary drinks in schools had a lower prevalence of both access and purchasing of such beverages while in school compared with states without a ban (prevalence difference for in-school access, −14.9; 95% confidence interval, −23.6 to −6.1; P < .05; and prevalence difference for in-school purchasing, −7.3; 95% confidence interval, −11.0 to −3.5; P < .05).

End it.

Web-Based Intervention Appears Ineffective For Preventing Weight Gain In Adolescents

Not "appears." It is ineffective.

A web-based computer-tailored intervention aiming to increase physical activity, decrease sedentary behavior, and promote healthy eating among adolescents was not associated with positive long-term outcome measures, but may have positive short-term effects on eating behaviors, according to a report published Online First by Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Always was and always will be a stupid idea.

Need to go after the parents and stop coddling the fat kids.

Three Kiwis A Day To Keep The Cardiologist At Bay

Must be true and exactly three per day works for everybody.

Apples are out and Kiwis are in, now it's three kiwis a day to keep the doctor away. Individuals from southern China can be proud of their native fruit once again, as new research shows the furry fruit lowering blood pressure.

Kiwis may be one of the smaller fruits, but they are stacked with nutritional contents in their juicy green flesh; inlcuding Lutein, a powerful antioxidant which is thought to be one of the active components in the fruit that reduces blood pressure.

Not.

Certain to be useless.

Unless you sell kiwis.

Exercise Referrals Ineffective

You don't say.

While it is acknowledged that physical activity promotion is a key public health message, a new study questions the effectiveness of current exercise referral schemes and whether improvements to existing schemes or better targeting should be sought.

Research commissioned by the NIHR Health Technology Assessment programme and carried out by research teams from the Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry (PCMD) and the Universities of Exeter (Sport and Health Sciences) and Brunel (Health Economics Research Group), has called into question the effectiveness of exercise referral schemes as they are delivered at present.

The study is published in the British Medical Journal on-line on Monday 7th November and in press on Friday 12th November.

The findings of the study indicate that there is 'weak evidence' to support exercise referral schemes as a means of increasing the physical activity and improving the health outcomes of sedentary individuals in the long run. The results of the study do not diminish the importance of physical activity promotion but highlight the need to continue to identify cost effective ways to change population prevalence.

Another reason the fat should pay for their illnesses of choice since they choose to get them and do not choose to do what it takes to improve their condition.

BTW - exercise is useless or worse.

Training is what is needed.

Which Exercises Are Best For Elderly People?

They don't know.

"Although the duration and frequency of these exercise programs vary, in general the effective programs ran three times a week for a duration of three months and involved exercises that challenged people's balance while they were standing. Interestingly we found that walking and cycling generally do not improve balance, although they have many other beneficial effects."


The researchers discovered much of the evidence to be of poor quality, which made combining different studies extremely difficult due to lack of consistency in the measurement instruments used to test balance.

Howe concludes:

"If the research community identified a core group of balance outcomes that were used in all future studies, we would be in a much stronger position to combine individual studies and better understand of which type of exercise is the most effective to improve balance."

Gives you confidence, no?

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

Eat Like A Caveman To Lose Weight

And die young as they did.

Researchers from UCSF say that their research has shown people on a diet of high protein and plenty of vegetables show dramatic health improvements, including weight loss without exercising profusely and lower blood pressure. In short it's the diet of our caveman ancestors thousands of years ago who were what is termed "Hunter Gathers".

Good luck with that.

Banning Sugar-Sweetened Beverages In Schools Does Not Appear To Reduce Consumption Among Adolescents

Forget "does not appear." It does not. Period.

State policies banning all sugar-sweetened beverages in schools are associated with reduced in-school access and purchase of these beverages, however these policies are not associated with a reduction in overall consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages, according to a report published Online First by Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

The problem is neither the soda nor the schools.

The problem is the parent(s) and the home.

Hold those responsible for making kids fat accountable and watch the pounds melt away.

Childhood Obesity Rate Dropping - California

A rounding error, probably.

From 2005 to 2010 the obesity/overweight rate in children in California dropped one percentage point, offering hope that the three-decade-long increase may be finally turning, researchers from the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research and the California Center for Public Health Advocacy (CCPHA) revealed in a new report. However, the authors emphasize that rates are still extremely high - three times higher among 12-19 year olds and four times higher among 6-11 year olds than they were in the 1970s...

Lead author, Dr. Susan Babey, said:

"Children's health is still at risk in a significant number of counties," said Babey. "We found that 31 of California's 58 counties experienced an increase in childhood overweight over the five-year period from 2005 to 2010. We hope this county-by-county analysis will help community leaders pinpoint and take action in counties in the greatest danger."

There is no favorable trend.

There is only PR hype.

Salt Reduction Helps Blood Pressure A Tiny Bit, But May Raise Cholesterol Levels

Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

Reducing salt intake is said to have a beneficial effect on blood pressure, especially among those who already suffer from hypertension (high blood pressure), however, one of the undesirable effects of consuming much less salt is a higher risk of elevated levels of blood cholesterol and triglycerides, researchers from Denmark reported in The American Journal of Hypertension. They also found that the benefits of sodium reduction on blood pressure are tiny.

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

Online Intervention Does Not Seem To Help Adolescent Bodyweight Control

Say it ain't so.

An online computer-tailored intervention for adolescents which focuses on reducing inactivity and sedentary behavior, raising physical activity, and promoting good eating habits was found not be effective in the long-term, researchers from Erasmus University Medical Center, the Netherlands reported in the journal Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. Called the FATaintPHAT intervention, it may have short-term benefits in improving eating behaviors, the authors added.

Another stupid idea that proved itself to be stupid because researchers were too stupid to realize how stupid it was.

Further Evidence That Eating Slower Reduces Food Intake

This time it really is the key to overweight/obesity.

Two new studies by researchers at the University of Rhode Island are providing additional insights into the role that eating rate plays in the amount of food one consumes. The studies found that men eat significantly faster than women, heavier people eat faster than slimmer people, and refined grains are consumed faster than whole grains, among other findings...

The latest research follows up on a landmark 2007 study conducted by Melanson that was the first to confirm the popular dietary belief that eating slowly reduces food intake. That study found that women who were told to eat quickly consumed 646 calories in nine minutes, but the same women consumed just 579 calories in 29 minutes when encouraged to pause between bites and chew each mouthful 15 to 20 times before swallowing.

It is those 67 Calories that cause all the trouble.

Not.

Link Between Cognition, Sleep-Disordered Breathing And Bodyweight In Kids

How to raise an idiot of a child - get 'em fat.

Findings published online ahead of the print publication in the American Thoracic Society's American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine show that researchers at the University of Chicago discovered important new associations between obesity, sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) and cognitive processing among elementary school children.

And fat, cognitively-impaired idiot kids grow up to be fat, cognitively-impaired idiot adults.

Banning Sodas At School Not Enough, Say Experts

Of course this would not work.

Although children are not buying sugary drinks at school because of state bans, their overall consumption of such beverages does not seem to have dropped, researchers from the University of Illinois at Chicago reported in Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine after carrying out a study involving nearly seven thousand pupils in 40 US states.

It was stupid from the get-go.

All weight problems, one way or another, are based in the home, not in the school.

New Drug Cuts Blood Supply To Fat Cells For Weight Loss

A drug designed to kill cancer cells. No chemo is good chemo.

The drug was tested on monkeys to start with, and over four weeks they lost an average of 11 percent of their body mass. The drug also lowered the animals Body Mass Index (BMI) which measures the ratio of fat to other tissue. Interestingly, monkeys that were already thin did not lose any further weight, meaning that the drug was effectively targeting only fat cells and in theory cannot be overused.

Researchers are hopeful that the drug being successful on monkeys means it will translate to humans relatively easily, although of course, trials and tests may take some years.

Unfortunately though, the compound appears to share one of the same traits of many so called "magic" diet pills, and the monkeys soon showed weight gain once they stopped the medication.

So you have to poison yourself for life.

Bad trade-off.

Risk Of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Not Increased By Low Vitamin D Levels

Just when you thought that Vitamin D could cure everything and low Vitamin D levels caused everything.

Vitamin D levels are not related to acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD) in patients with severe COPD, according to a large prospective cohort study involving 973 North American patients. The findings were published online ahead of the print edition of the American Thoracic Society's American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

In the study, a secondary analysis of data from a randomized, controlled trial of the effects of azithromycin on the frequency of AECOPD, no relationship was found between baseline Vitamin D levels and time to first AECOPD or between vitamin D levels and AECOPD exacerbation rates.

"Vitamin D insufficiency and deficiency are common in patients with COPD, and patients with severe COPD are at the highest risk for exacerbations, so we hypothesized that low vitamin D levels might increase the risk of AECOPDs," said Ken M. Kunisaki, M.D., of the Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Medical Center. "Our negative results are in contrast with earlier studies in which lower vitamin D levels were associated withhigher rates of respiratory infections in adults and more frequent asthma exacerbations in children."

Another bad day for the cure du jour.

Commercial Weight Loss Programs More Effective Than NHS-Based Services, UK Study Finds

Of course and it is not because commercial programs are any good - they are not.

In fact, they suck.

Commercial weight loss programmes are more effective and cheaper than primary care based services led by specially trained staff, finds a study published on bmj.com.

It is because the fat person has some skin in the game.

That is why charging the fat more for sick care to reflect real costs will lead to weight loss.

Contravening Lay Beliefs Of Eating At Heart Of Our Dietary Disasters

At least he got one thing right.

Waste not, want not. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Don't snack before supper; you'll ruin your appetite.

These dietary pearls of wisdom have been dropped on children for decades, and University of Alberta researcher Robert Fisher says that while people remember them, they quite often have a hard time applying them. In an article recently published in the journal Appetite, Fisher's research notes that while people know the rules surrounding good eating and proper nutrition, they seem to lack one common component that often costs them the battle of the bulge: willpower.

It is all about self-control.

Becoming fat is a choice.

Exercise And Vegetarian Diet Offer Protection Against Diabetes In Black Population

Any diet or activity that results in fewer Calories in than out or prevents overweight/obesity will protect against this disease of choice.

New research shows that following a vegetarian diet and exercising at least three times a week significantly reduced the risk of diabetes in African Americans, who are twice as likely to be diagnosed with diabetes when compared to non-Hispanic whites.

"These findings are encouraging for preventing type 2 diabetes in the black population, which is more susceptible to the disease than other populations," said Serena Tonstad, MD, a professor at Loma Linda University and lead author of the research, published in the October issue of Nutrition, Metabolism & Cardiovascular Diseases.

In addition to being at a greater risk for developing diabetes, black persons in the U.S. are also more likely to suffer from diabetes-related complications, such as end-stage renal disease and lower-extremity amputations, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

"A vegetarian diet may be a way to counteract the increased diabetes risk for the black population," Dr. Tonstad said.

And it will work for whites, browns, yellows, any color.

Body Weight, Sleep-Disordered Breathing And Cognition Linked In Children

Fat parents have fat, stupid and tired kids.

Researchers at the University of Chicago have found important new relationships between obesity, sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) and cognitive processing among elementary school children.

"The intricate interdependencies between BMI, SDB and cognition shown in our study are of particular importance in children, as their brains are still rapidly developing," says study author Karen Spruyt, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the Pritzer School of Medicine. "Rising rates of obesity in children may amplify these relationships. Public health campaigns targeting obesity should emphasize not only the health benefits but the potential educational benefits of losing weight."

More early nutritional child abuse.

Kudos, fatsos.

Classroom Cookery Lessons To Fight Obesity Head On

A crock of s**t.

Since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other studies revealed that obesity among children has tripled over the past 3 decades, it is vital that we teach children early to form healthy food habits. However, as teachers curriculums are already packed, where does nutritional education in elementary schools fit in? Maybe in subjects, such as math, science, geography and the study of other cultures.

An investigation demonstrates how successfully the Cooking with Kids program helps children learn school subjects as well as develop cooking skills. The study is published in the November/December 2011 issue of the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior.

Executive director Lynn Walters founded the experiential food and nutrition education program (cookingwithkids.net) for children at elementary schools that is based on food acceptance principles and social learning theory whereby students prepare, explore, and enjoy fresh affordable foods from various cultural traditions. The program also teaches children how to treat one another respectfully and to practice social skills by collaborating to prepare a meal and eating together. Walters together with program director Jane Stacey have created integrated curriculum materials for children in grades K-1, 2-3 and 4-6.

Not a single word about whether this touchy-feely crap does anything to "combat obesity."

Why?

'Cause it doesn't.

Identification Of Structure Of Apolipoprotein Could Lead To Development Of New Drugs To Treat Obesity, Stroke And Diabetes

Identifying the wrong thing.

Using a sophisticated technique of x-ray crystallography, researchers Xiaohu Mei, PhD, and David Atkinson, PhD, from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have for the first time obtained an "image" of the structure and the precise arrangement of the atoms in a truncated form of the apolipoprotein A-I (apoA-I) molecule. The findings, which appear in the November issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry, may lead to the development of new drugs to treat obesity, stroke and diabetes.

No need to identify anything other than all overweight/obesity is caused by more Calories in than out.

No drug is needed except for Self-Restraint-inol.

Study Challenges Assumed Links Between Poverty, Fast Food And Obesity

Poverty does not cause obesity, but obesity causes poverty.

A new national study of eating out and income shows that fast-food dining becomes more common as earnings increase from low to middle incomes, weakening the popular notion that fast food should be blamed for higher rates of obesity among the poor.

"There is a correlation between obesity and lower income, but it cannot be solely attributed to restaurant choice," said J. Paul Leigh, professor of public health sciences at UC Davis and senior author of the study, which is published online in Population Health Management. "Fast-food dining is most popular among the middle class, who are less likely to be obese."

Another "truth" debunked.

Fighting The Obesity Epidemic

A waste of money.

Research into diabetes and obesity at the University of Bergen (UiB) gets a major boost with one of these Advanced Grants from the European Research Council (ERC). The project is led by professor and paediatrician Pål Rasmus Njølstad at UiB's Department of Clinical Medicine.

He and his team have been studying genes that could be associated with obesity and diabetes. With the aid of the ongoing Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (MoBa), Njølstad and his team now wish to dig deeper into this research. Through their research, they are collecting biological material and survey data from more than 100,000 pregnancies.

Expensive research

Without the grant from ERC it would not be possible to do this research. It is very expensive to conduct this research and surveys in such an extensive study.

Not to mention useless, too.

Cooking May Have Driven Human Evolution

Wanna bet?

Next time you're out to dinner, you may want to think twice before ordering your steak rare.

In a first-of-its kind study, Harvard researchers have shown that cooked meat provides more energy than raw meat, a finding that challenges the current food labeling system and suggests humans are evolutionarily adapted to take advantage of the benefits of cooking.

Led by Rachel Carmody, a Ph.D. Candidate in the Department of Human Evolutionary Biology at Harvard's Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and published online ahead of print this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS Early Edition), the research bridges the fields of human evolution and modern human nutrition.

If we are so well adapted, then why are cooked meats, rightly or wrongly, linked to cancers?

Thousands of Lives Could Be Saved If Rest of UK Adopted Average Diet in England, Study Concludes

Not hardly.

Around 4,000 deaths could be prevented every year if the UK population adopted the average diet eaten in England, concludes research published in BMJ Open.

Why?

England worst in Western Europe for obesity and teenage pregnancy

England fares worse than any other country in Western Europe on a range of health measures such as obesity and teenage pregancy, a new report shows.

That's why.

Economic, Health Benefits Offered By Increased Use Of Bicycles For Commuting

Wanna bet?

Cutting out short auto trips and replacing them with mass transit and active transport would yield major health benefits, according to a study just published in the scientific journal Environmental Health Perspectives. The biggest health benefit was due to replacing half of the short trips with bicycle trips during the warmest six months of the year, saving about $3.8 billion per year from avoided mortality and reduced health care costs for conditions like obesity and heart disease.

Riding a bike, or engaging in any activity, will do less than zip for weight loss unless fewer Calories are consumed than burned.

That is the key. Not the activity.

Metabolic Shifts Shown In First Clinical Trial Of Red Wine Ingredient

As if they will use the overrated resveratrol in its concentrated, i.e., not straight from the bottle, form.

The puke and stay thin diet.

When obese men take a relatively small dose of resveratrol in purified form every day for a month, their metabolisms change for the better. In fact, the effects appear to be as good for us as severe calorie restriction. Resveratrol is a natural compound best known as an ingredient in red wine.

"We saw a lot of small effects, but consistently pointing in a good direction of improved metabolic health," said Patrick Schrauwen of Maastricht University in The Netherlands.

Alcoholism to the overweight/obesity epidemic rescue!

Weight loss surgery funding cut

Good news!

Georgia says cutting surgical weight loss from the state's plan was essential to help balance the budget. Their self-funded health care program had a projected deficit of $815 million for the 2012 and 2013 fiscal years.

The state says 1,577 members have had the surgery in the 2 1/2 years it has been covered for a total cost of $30.8 million. That works out to a little less than $20,000 per person.

In a statement to CNN, a spokeswoman for the state's health plan says, "We examined a number of options to address the projected deficits. It was imperative that these options be fiscally responsible, fair to the membership, and feature wellness and choice." The cuts eliminated the 2012 shortfall and reduced the 2013 shortfall...

For now, the initial cost of the surgeries was too much. The state says it is "aware of numerous studies projecting long-term savings over a five- to 10-year period following bariatric surgery but has not had the program in place long enough to realize any significant savings." It will continue to monitor to see whether the patients who had the surgery as state employees will end up saving them money.

Not a single penny for fat person surgery.

And have the fatsos pay for their illnesses of choice.

Cost savings?

Billions.

English-style diet 'could save 4,000' in rest of UK

Mediterranean Diet move over, there is a new diet in town.

Eating like the English could save 4,000 lives a year in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, a study claims.

People in England eat more fruit and vegetables and less salt and fat, reducing heart disease and some cancers, say Oxford University experts.

Wanna bet?

Too much sitting behind 92,000 cancer cases a year: Report

The results of fat, flat lard asses.

Here's bad news you might want to take standing up. An ominous new report ties a lack of physical activity - spending too much time sitting on your duff, essentially - to up to 43,000 cases of colon cancer and 49,000 cases of breast cancer each year.

The report - presented Thursday at an annual conference of the American Institute for Cancer Research in Washington, D.C. - has experts urging Americans to make more time for physical activity and to take a one- to two-minute break for every hour of sitting.

However, the suggested remedy, "take a one- to two-minute break for every hour of sitting," will not work, IMHO.

Unsaturated Fat Breakdown Leads to Complications of Acute Pancreatitis in Obese Patients

But, hey, who needs a good pancreas anyway?

The toxic byproducts produced by the breakdown of unsaturated fats lead to a higher likelihood of severe inflammation, cell death and multi-system organ failure among acute pancreatitis patients who are obese, say researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Their findings, published online November 2 in Science Translational Medicine, provide new insight into how fat can induce complications after sudden inflammatory, non-infectious illnesses.

Kudos, fatsos.

Mediterranean Diet and Exercise Can Reduce Sleep Apnea Symptoms

More bulls**t.

You don't need either. All you need is to lose weight.

Eating a Mediterranean diet combined with physical activity can help to improve some of the symptoms of sleep apnea, according to new research. The study, which is published online in the European Respiratory Journal, looked at the impact a Mediterranean diet can have on obese people with sleep apnea, compared to those on a prudent diet.

Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) causes frequent pauses of breathing to occur during sleep, which disrupts a person's normal sleeping pattern. It is one of the most prevalent sleep-related breathing disorders with approximately 2-4% of the adult population experiencing the condition. This percentage increases up to 20-40% with obesity, and weight loss is often an essential part of the recommended treatment plan.

Make it easy on yourself.

Just shed the pounds. However you do it, your sleep apnea will almost certainly improve.

Race, Maternal Age, BMI Are Factors in Gestational Diabetes

More about the early nutritional child abusing fatsos.

Age and body mass index (BMI) are important factors in whether a woman will develop gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Those factors are particularly relevant in black African and South Asian women, according to a study published online November 2 in BJOG...

"Advancing maternal age and BMI are more important risk factors for GDM in South Asian and Black African women than in White European or Black Caribbean women," the authors write.

“The finding that older age and higher BMI interact with racial group in relation to the prevalence of GDM emphasises the important public health message of healthy eating and weight control, which is particularly crucial in women of South Asian and Black African racial origin,” the authors conclude.

Fat people should not get pregnant.

Images in Magazines and On Television Increase Body Dissatisfaction

Clearly these folks would not be dissatisfied with their bodies in the absence of magazines and TV.

But, if you are dissatisfied, stop whining and do something about it.

Adolescents who read magazines and watch television contents that deal with the concept of image prove to be unhappier with their own bodies. Girls are more susceptible to experiencing a lower perception of their physical appearance. Body dissatisfaction is linked to the type of content that is consumed (diet, beauty, health or music videos) rather than the frequency of exposure.

"Body dissatisfaction is NOT linked to the type of content that is consumed."

"Body dissatisfaction is linked to the NUMBER OF CALORIES that ARE consumed."

Vitamin D Study Suggests No Mortality Benefit for Older Women

Another bad day for the cure du jour.

A study of postmenopausal women found no significant mortality benefit from vitamin D after controlling for health risk factors such as abdominal obesity. The only exception was that thin-waisted women with low vitamin D levels might face some risk. The results agree with advice issued last year by the Institute of Medicine that cautioned against vitamin D having a benefit beyond bone health.

Doctors agree that vitamin D promotes bone health, but a belief that it can also prevent cancer, cardiovascular disease and other causes of death has been a major health controversy. Consistent with advice issued last fall by the Institute of Medicine, a new study finds that vitamin D did not confer benefits against mortality in postmenopausal women after controlling for key health factors such as abdominal obesity.

"There's not enough evidence to do anything about vitamin D levels if it's not in regard to bone health.""What we have is clinical trial evidence that for the most part vitamin D doesn't seem to be helpful for conditions where people thought it might," said study lead author Charles Eaton, professor of family medicine and of epidemiology in the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University and a physician at Memorial Hospital in Pawtucket, R.I. "The best we can tell is that there isn't an association. Once we took into account these other factors, high levels didn't provide a benefit and low levels didn't put you at risk."

And remember you heard it here first that Vitamin D was likely overrated.

Obesity Hormone Adiponectin Increases the Risk of Osteoporosis in the Elderly, Study Finds

Kudos, fatsos.

While obesity is a well-known cause of cardiovascular disease, research from the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, has now revealed that one of the body's obesity-related hormones -- adiponectin -- is also linked to osteoporosis and an increased risk of fractures.

You're so fat, your bones bust.

Extending life span by increasing oxidative stress.

More about the deadly effects of antioxidants.

Various nutritional, behavioral, and pharmacological interventions have been previously shown to extend life span in diverse model organisms, including Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Caenorhabditis elegans, Drosophila melanogaster, mice, and rats, as well as possibly monkeys and humans. This review aims to summarize published evidence that several longevity-promoting interventions may converge by causing an activation of mitochondrial oxygen consumption to promote increased formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). These serve as molecular signals to exert downstream effects to ultimately induce endogenous defense mechanisms culminating in increased stress resistance and longevity, an adaptive response more specifically named mitochondrial hormesis or mitohormesis. Consistently, we here summarize findings that antioxidant supplements that prevent these ROS signals interfere with the health-promoting and life-span-extending capabilities of calorie restriction and physical exercise. Taken together and consistent with ample published evidence, the findings summarized here question Harman's Free Radical Theory of Aging and rather suggest that ROS act as essential signaling molecules to promote metabolic health and longevity.

Beware of antioxidants.

Mice Are Not Men, Health Risk From Eating Well-Done Meat May Be Underestimated

Reasons to be wary of animal research results.

Mice are often used to test whether substances in food are harmful to humans. This requires that mice and humans metabolise substances in the same way. Humans have certain enzymes in more parts of the body than mice. The health risk associated with harmful substances in food may therefore be underestimated.

Researchers at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health have adopted a mouse type where human enzymes have been inserted to examine whether people may be more sensitive to certain carcinogenic substances from heat-treated foods. They have obtained a better model to assess negative health effects in humans from substances in food using these mice.

The results show that the incidence of intestinal tumours increased from 31 per cent to 80 per cent in "human-like" mice who consumed substances from meat crust (i.e. the surface formed during heat-treatment).

And earlier research results may overestimate risks, too.

Obesity Link To Periodontitis

Whatcha smiling about, fat person?

In a study titled "MicroRNA Modulation in Obesity and Periodontitis," lead author Romina Perri, University of North Carolina School of Dentistry, Oral Health Institute, conducted a pilot investigation to determine whether obesity or periodontal disease modified microRNA expression and whether there was any potential interaction between obesity and periodontitis that could involve microRNA modulation. This study is published in the Journal of Dental Research, the official publication of the International and American Associations for Dental Research (IADR/AADR)...

A perspective article titled "Obesity, Inflammation and Oral Infections: are microRNAs the Missing Link?" was co-authored by Francesco D'Aiuto and Jean Suvan, University College London Eastman Dental Institute. In it, the authors suggest that these data could represent a mechanistic breakthrough in our understanding of the modulatory effects of obesity on periodontal tissue destruction, but caution reproducibility of these findings is needed in larger and well-characterized cohorts

The right answer should be, "Not much."

How Do Europeans React At Being Told What To Eat?

By continuing to eat whatever they darn well please.

As part of the larger EATWELL Project, which is focused on effective policy interventions to promote healthy nutrition for all in the EU, the EATWELL survey is an international study based on random samples of more than 3,000 computer-aided web interviews that assessed public acceptance of nutrition policies in the UK, Italy, Belgium, Denmark and Poland depending on age, economic wealth, political views, obesity attributions, and the willingness to pay for such policies. Dr Mario Mazzocchi presented the preliminary survey results of the project, which was funded by the EU Commission, on October 27 at the University of Bologna during the 11th FENS European Nutrition Conference in Madrid...

The way people perceive what causes obesity is highly significant when explaining support of healthy eating policies. Researchers found that the most accepted cause in all respondents was reported as obesity due to lack of personal willpower of changing food habits and exercise. The second highest perceived cause was 'discounting', or the tendency to succumb to immediate satisfaction rather than thinking of future health implications.

At least the respondents are right about the causes.

Obesity Gene's Effect Reduced By Exercise

Bulls**t. There is no obesity gene.

New research published in this week's PLoS Medicine reveals that by living a physically active lifestyle, the genetic predisposition to obesity caused by the 'fat mass and obesity associated' (FTO) gene can be significantly reduced. The large international collaboration was led by Ruth Loos from the Medical Research Council Epidemiology Unit in Cambridge, UK, and showed that the effect of the FTO gene on obesity risk is nearly 30% weaker among physically active adults compared with those who are physically inactive.

There are just overweight/obese people with an excuse.

And just like anyone who eats too many Calories, if you burn more you will lessen the amount of weight gained, prevent gain or lose weight.

It all depends on how many Calories are burned relative to the number overeaten.

Nationwide Study Finds The 'Freshman 15' To Be Just A Myth

Another "truth" busted.

Contrary to popular belief, most college students don't gain anywhere near 15 pounds during their freshman year, according to a new nationwide study.

Rather than adding "the freshman 15," as it is commonly called, the average student gains between about 2.5 and 3.5 pounds during the first year of college.

And college has little to do with the weight gain, the study revealed. The typical freshman only gains about a half-pound more than a same-age person who didn't go to college.

"The 'freshman 15' is a media myth," said Jay Zagorsky, co-author of the study and research scientist at Ohio State University's Center for Human Resource Research.

Believing the conventional wisdom is fraught with problems.

Do EU-Funded Diet Projects Work?

No.

An EU (FP7) funded project called EATWELL (Interventions to Promote Healthy Eating Habits: Evaluation and Recommendations) aims to overcome unhealthy diets, one of the biggest public health challenges of the 21st century. To encourage people to be more physically active and eat healthier diets, E.U. member states have started different national policy campaigns to establish which interventions are more effective than others, as success can only be achieved through systematic assessment strategies. The EATWELL project was designed to establish these campaigns success- and failure-rates and uncertainties. The results of their findings were announced at the 11th FENS European Nutrition Conference in Madrid on Thursday 27 October 2011 and provide policy makers with advice on creating more successful healthy eating policy interventions...

Although Europe is only starting to implement fiscal strategies, such as fat taxes, evidence obtained outside Europe indicates that this strategy leads to large tax revenues but only to small behavioral responses.

And they almost certainly never will.

Overweight Teens Want To Lose Weight, Go About It The Wrong Way

Of course they do as does just about everyone else.

Conventional diets are unsustainable starvation diets.

About 14 percent of Philadelphia's high school students are considered overweight, and while a myriad of research has been published on what schools, communities and parents can do to help curb these rates, very little information exists on what the teens themselves are doing to lose weight.

Research led by public health doctoral candidate Clare Lenhart has found that while most obese teens in Philadelphia report wanting to lose weight, their actions are more of a hindrance than a help.

In an analysis of findings from the Philadelphia Youth Risk Behavioral Survey, Lenhart and colleagues organized data from nearly 44,000 adolescents into different types of health behaviors, such as: recent smoking; amount of weekly physical activity; daily soda consumption; and hours per day playing video games.

While most of the obese teens reported trying to lose weight (about 75 percent), this group was also more likely to report smoking. In addition, females trying to lose weight were more likely to report participating in 60 minutes or more of physical activity per day; however, data showed that these females were also prone to consume soda on a daily basis - regular, not diet. Males who were trying to lose weight were more likely to report having no days of physical activity, and also reported playing more than three hours of video games per day.

"From a health education standpoint, finding out that three-quarters of students who are obese want to lose weight is exactly what we want," said Lenhart. "But the behavior they're engaging in is puzzling; it's counterproductive to what they're trying to do."

To learn how to lose weight properly, go here.

You Are Now Entering The Most Dangerous Time Of The Year

Insane killjoys.

That's right. We are talking about the upcoming holiday season, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Eve. Not only do the number of alcohol related accidents increase but also, so do waistlines.

People do more damage to themselves year-round.

Enjoy the holidays and, as with almost all else, do not overdo it.

But people get fat and stay fat from behaviors during the rest of the year.

Dieters Fail Because Of Hormones Not Lack Of Will Power

Bulls**t.

And those who succeed must have no hormones.

New research released...in the New England Journal of Medicine, suggests that people fail to lose weight on diets, more because of hormone imbalances than lack of will power.

The crux of the problem is that as a person loses weight, especially in more aggressive dieting, the body changes the hormones its producing, adjusting for the loss in fat reserves, and promoting a stronger urge to eat more and replace the reserves.

The author of the study Joseph Proietto of the University of Melbourne in Australia, said in an email :

"People who regain weight should not be harsh on themselves, as eating is our most basic instinct."

Excusinators working overtime.

Maternal Hypertension Increases Risk for Birth Defects

Guess who is more likely to get maternal high blood pressure - a bronto sapien or an intended-size human?

Pregnant women with treated or untreated hypertension are at higher risk of carrying fetuses with congenital anomalies than are normotensive women. The finding points to elevated blood pressure as the teratogen, rather than the drugs used to treat it, according to a report published online October 18 in the British Medical Journal.

Answer: the fatso.

More early nutritional child abuse.

Childhood Diet Lower In Fat And Higher In Fiber May Lower Risk For Chronic Disease In Adulthood

What a concept - not fattening kids up to prevent diseases of choice in the future.

A recent study has found that a childhood behavioral intervention to lower dietary intake of total fat and saturated fat and increase consumption of foods that are good sources of dietary fiber resulted in significantly lower fasting plasma glucose levels and lower systolic blood pressure when study participants were re-evaluated in young adulthood. The study was accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism (JCEM).

Too bad it will be unlikely to get implemented by fat parents.

People Pay Less Attention To Nutrition Labels Fact Than They Think They Do

Go figger.

A new investigation published in the November issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association reveals that consumers do not pay as much attention to nutrition facts labels as they believe. Researchers used an eye-tracking device to objectively measure how much consumers pay attention to these labels. They discovered that consumers believed they were paying more attention to the labels than what the eye tracking device actually measured. Furthermore, they found that Nutrition Facts labels that are centrally located are view (sic) more frequently and longer than labels located peripherally.

But does that make a difference?

I'll bet it doesn't/won't.

Black Licorice Halloween Hazard! Don't Eat Too Much Warns FDA

My apologies to you trick-or-treaters, 40 and older, who died from eating too much black licorice.

Halloween is the biggest candy eating holiday in the US, and many Americans will be stashing up on licorice: but in a timely update to consumers issued this week, the Food and Drug Administration asks: do you realize that you can overdose on licorice? Eating too much (for instance 2 ounces a day for two weeks), especially if you are aged 40 or older, can land you in hospital with irregular heart rhythm (arrhythmia)...

The problem is that too much licorice can cause your potassium levels to drop, say FDA experts. And that is bad news, because potassium is an essential electrolyte that is involved in electrical and cellular activity throughout the body. Without it, we would seize up like robots when their batteries run out.

Sorry.

My bad.

Patterns: Study Suggests Obesity Hinders Flu Vaccine

Kudos, fatsos.

A new study suggests that overweight people benefit less from the flu vaccine than those of normal weight, and the heavier they are, the lower their immune response to the shot over time.

Researchers studied 74 people given the combination vaccine against three strains of flu in the 2009-10 season, measuring their antibody response one month after getting the shot and then a year later. A third of the group were of normal weight, a third overweight and a third obese. Most were women.

After one month, overweight people had produced about the same level of antibodies as those of normal weight. But 11 months later, more than half of the obese patients had a fourfold or greater decrease in antibodies, a drop seen in just 25 percent of the normal-weight subjects.

The study, published online last week in The International Journal of Obesity, found that the activity of CD8+ T cells, white blood cells that help fight flu infection, also decreased as body mass index increased.

The study is continuing in an effort to determine whether body mass index correlates with actual rates of laboratory-confirmed influenza in people who have been vaccinated.

“We have stronger flu vaccines for elderly populations, because their immune response is not as robust,” said the senior author, Melinda A. Beck, a professor of nutrition at the University of North Carolina. “Maybe we need stronger vaccines for obese people as well.”

Or maybe we need to let them experience the result of their choice to become fat.

You decide.