Archive for October, 2006
Reported in the journal Neurology, research has found that middle aged adults scores on cognitive tests were affected by body-mass index. People with higher BMIs tended to score less well.
The research was done on over 2,200 healthy workers with a baseline in 1996 and follow up testing in 2001. The researchers speculate that the results might foreshadow that people with higher BMI are more susceptible to dementia in later life via the effect of fat cells on body chemistry.
October 14th, 2006
That’s the message of research reported in the J. of the American Dietetic Association based on observing over 1400 kids with access to school vending machines. We know, it’s not a big surprise. It does show how the environment affects behavior, and our nutritional environment is no different. The authors suggest that you could help to avoid this choice and its inevitable outcomes of obesity and diabetes by either reformulating the drinks or changing their “availability.”
October 11th, 2006
A recent study reported in the American Journal Health-System Pharmacy shows that patients who undergo bariatric surgery are at risk of nutrient deficiency. Further, it indicates that these patients may not absorb needed drugs in sufficient amount at standard doses.
October 10th, 2006
Wired magazine, of all places, is where you can find a fascinating summary of one of the more important debates in modern medicine. The issue is whether obesity is a lifestyle issue or a medical issue. And the answer to that question is important not only for you personally, but maybe even more so for big drug companies. You can read The Thin Pill article online.
What happened was that some physicians wanted to begin using the ‘metabolic syndrome’ as a medical diagnosis. As such, it becomes a disease condition and qualifies for different treatment under FDA regulations and is a tempting target for big Pharma’s never ending search for the blockbuster drug. As it happens, all of the big pharmaceutical companies are in a race to develop drugs to attack obesity — a pill to take the place of a healthy lifestyle.
Some other physicians believe that the ‘metabolic syndrome’ is just a name for well-known symptomatic states that lead to disease conditions. And putting a name on them doesn’t alter the fact that a healthy lifestyle — weight loss and exercise, again and again — is the best lifelong way to avoid or cope with them.
So what is it to be? A pill that costs billions and billions — including billions in tax dollars if it is approved for Medicare (and you better believe it will be!) — or getting people into healthy routines?
October 9th, 2006
We keep hoping for a pill to make it all go away. The fantasy: eat as much as I want sitting in front of the tube, and never gain an ounce.
The reality: The latest hope for the miracle pill based on neuropeptide Y (NPY) which is, as the researchers put it in their inimical way, “a potent orexigenic neuropeptide.” In plain English, they tested this chemical to see if it would help people lose weight. It did, but only a couple pounds more than the control group (7.5 pounds for test vs. 4 pounds for control). See the abstract in the journal Cell Metabolism.
October 4th, 2006
A new website at www.HIHSeniorHealth.gov has updated information on high blood pressure, the ’silent killer.’ The site says that high blood pressure is not inevitable with aging, and that a healthy lifestyle (with all the usual suspects: healthy weight, exercise, good nutrition…) can help to lower blood pressure, with an assist from medications if necessary.
October 2nd, 2006
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