Tag: "obesity"

O would some power the giftie gie us…

A team of researchers led by a group from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign recently asked 3,622 young men and women in Mexico to estimate their body size based on categories ranging from very underweight to obese. People in the normal weight range selected the correct category about 80 percent of the time, but 58 percent of overweight students incorrectly described themselves as normal weight. Among the obese, 75 percent placed themselves in the overweight category, and only 10 percent accurately described their body size.

Source: Tara Parker-Pope in the NYT.

May 03, 2012 | 4 comments | by

Not All Community Health Centers are Alike

At Oakhurst Medical Center here [in Stone Mountain, Georgia], just 20% of children have received all their recommended immunizations by age 2…

Fewer than half of its diabetics and a little more than a third of those with high blood pressure had their conditions under control in 2010 — far below national averages…

But 65 miles east of here in Greensboro in rural central Georgia…at TenderCare Clinic, almost all children get the appropriate immunizations, and eight out of 10 diabetics have normal blood sugar levels.

Full USA Today article on the performance variation within community health centers.

May 01, 2012 | 4 comments | by

Some Americans Go to Canada for Care

A weight-loss option that the F.D.A. hasn’t approved.

The intragastric balloon, filled with liquid and left in the stomach for up to six months, is not approved for use in the United States, though it’s available in Europe, South America and other parts of the world… Since the balloon’s introduction in Canada in 2006, people like Mrs. Kwarciak have been streaming north in growing numbers. Drawn by the relative ease of balloon placement, Americans account for nearly a third of patients undergoing the procedures in Canadian clinics just over the border.

Full Roni Caryn Rabin article in the NYT.

Apr 25, 2012 | 5 comments | by

Poor Areas are Not Food Deserts

Poor urban neighborhoods…not only have more fast food restaurants and convenience stores than more affluent ones, but more grocery stores, supermarkets and full-service restaurants, too. And there is no relationship between the type of food being sold in a neighborhood and obesity among its children and adolescents.

Within a couple of miles of almost any urban neighborhood, “you can get basically any type of food,” said Roland Sturm of the RAND Corporation, lead author of one of the studies.

Full article on “food deserts” in The New York Times.

Apr 23, 2012 | 4 comments | by

Speed Reading Course, and Other Links

Forget about taking that speed reading course: The human eye cannot process more than about 300 words per minute.

The human mind gauges someone’s attractiveness in 13 milliseconds. It happens before you realize you’ve seen the image.

Don’t bother to exercise: You can strengthen your muscles by merely imagining exercise.

Most popular diets do not lead to weight loss; however, unpopular ones do (i.e. diet and exercise).

Apr 18, 2012 | 4 comments | by

Shallow Attractive People, and Other Links

Sexual frustration drives males to drink; at least in fruit flies.

Why are Americans so much fatter than the French?

Willpower is more important than intelligence in determining success.

Video games have health benefits.

Apr 10, 2012 | 5 comments | by

Headlines I Wish I Hadn’t Seen

NCAA ads are wrong: athletes are 20 percent less likely to graduate than nonathletes…black athletes are 33 percent less likely.

Andrea Mitchell praises Cuban health care (but “you have to bring your own bed sheets” when you enter a hospital).

Study: Obese Men Have 80% Higher Odds of Producing No Sperm.

Apr 10, 2012 | 5 comments | by

Deceased Husband’s Sperm, and Other Links

Woman conceives with the sperm of deceased husband. Now she wants his Social Security survivor benefits for the kids.

Only doctors should make a profit? Arnold S. Relman and Marcia Angell are still haranguing against capitalism in medicine.

Fat doctors see nothing wrong with fat patients.

A typical American restaurant meal is more like dinner for two.

Can humans grow new body parts – like salamanders and star fish?

Surprise: there is a black market (or is it a gray market?) for shortage drugs.

Mar 26, 2012 | 10 comments | by

The Seventh Deadliest Sin

We tend to blame obesity on gluttony – but that’s exactly backward:

Although people struggling with obesity tend to have less-responsive reward pathways—they even have fewer dopamine receptors—overeating makes the problem worse, further reducing the pleasure from each bite. Like an alcoholic who needs to consume ever-larger quantities of liquor to achieve the same level of intoxication, individuals with “hypofunctioning reward circuits” are forced to eat bigger portions in search of the same level of satisfaction. It’s an addiction with diminishing returns.

Full WSJ article by Jonah Lehrer worth reading.

Mar 09, 2012 | 3 comments | by

Headlines I Wish I Hadn’t Seen

ObamaCare Exchanges Will Cost $111 Billion More Than Predicted Just Last Year. No one knows why.

$323,000 was spent on a man with “do not resuscitate” and “desire for a natural death” orders — during his last 10 days of life. HT: Sarah Kliff

Here is the correct link for the “Attorney General Eric Holder…”

39% of everyone in McAllen, Texas is obese.

Mar 08, 2012 | 6 comments | by
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