Eating Disorders and Weight Management Blogs This is an OPML file. It can be used to export all the MedWorm RSS feeds on this topic into your personal RSS reader (usually you have to save this file to your own computer before clicking on an Import OPML command in your own feed reader to upload the file which will then import all the feeds) or it can be used by webmasters to integrate MedWorm feeds with their own website. This is an RSS file. You can use it to subscribe to this data in your favourite RSS reader, such as GoogleReader, or to display this data on your own website or blog. Subscribe to this data using MyMedWorm.Subscribe to this data using GoogleReader.Subscribe to this data using Bloglines.Subscribe to this data using MyYahoo.

This page shows you the most recent publications within this specialty of the MedWorm directory.

Excess Body Fat Hardens Arteries
There are all sorts of good reasons to avoid becoming fat. Excess fat tissue is linked to an increased risk of all the common diseases of aging, and correlates well with a shorter life expectancy and higher lifetime medical expenditures. Fat tissue creates higher levels of chronic inflammation and alters the signaling environment in the body, causing a wide range of changes. Here is another of them: Having too much body fat makes arteries become stiff after middle age, a new study has revealed. In young people, blood vessels appear to be able to compensate for the effects of obesity. But after middle age, this adaptabilit...
Source: Fight Aging! - May 16, 2013 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Reason Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs

Six ways to protect your eyes this summer
Summer sun increases the risk of age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in adults. A number of steps can help prevent that disease, as well as your risk of developing cataracts, diabetic retinopathy, and glaucoma. 1. Shield your eyes. Wearing sunglasses and a hat with a wide brim to protect you from ultraviolet rays may help delay cataracts and help reduce the risk of AMD. 2. Eat right. A healthful diet high in green leafy vegetables, fish, fruit, and other food high in antioxidants may help protect against age-related eye diseases. 3. Watch your weight. Obesity has been linked to the progressio...
Source: Consumer Reports Health Blog - May 15, 2013 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Joel Keehn Tags: cataracts Conditions & Treatments Diabetes glaucoma Heart Disease macular degeneration Health Source Type: blogs

What RDoC Research Might Look Like
The month of May is a violent thingIn the city their hearts start to singWell, some people sing, it sounds like they're screamingI used to doubt it, but now I believe itMonth Of May ------The Arcade FireToday is Mental Health Month Blog Day, sponsored by the American Psychological Association (APA). It's designed to:...educate the public about mental health, decrease stigma about mental illness, and discuss strategies for making lasting lifestyle and behavior changes that promote overall health and wellness.If the public has been following the recent hullabaloo about how to diagnose mental illnesses, they ...
Source: The Neurocritic - May 15, 2013 Category: Psychiatrists and Psychologists Authors: The Neurocritic Source Type: blogs

Top stories in health and medicine, May 14, 2013
Brought to you by MedPage Today. 1. Adult-Observed ADHD Reflects True Rate in Kids. Parent- and teacher-reported rates of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder do not appear to overestimate the true prevalence of the condition. 2. H7N9 Pandemic? Not Yet but Still Worrisome. The H7N9 avian influenza now circulating in China has two of the three characteristics of a pandemic virus. 3. If Job Stress Mounts, Healthy Living May Be Lifesaver. A handful of studies have suggested that high stress work environments are bad for the heart, but some of the job-related risk may be reduced by avoiding a quartet of known lifestyle ris...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - May 14, 2013 Category: Family Physicians Tags: News Infectious disease Psychiatry Source Type: blogs

No need to oversell the human microbiome with studies like these ...
I know I complain all the time about news stories and people "overselling the microbiome". Mind you, I believe microbial communities are likely to be found to have very very important roles in the biology of the plants and animals and other organisms on which they live, but I worry about overhyping the possibilities. But thankfully, there are some good researchers at work out there documenting just what the microbiome can and does do. And the results continue to be promising. Here is the one that caught my eye most recently: BBC News - 'Weight loss gut bacterium' found about this PNAS pape...
Source: The Tree of Life - May 14, 2013 Category: Medical Scientists Authors: Jonathan Eisen Source Type: blogs

Body Of Proof Star Dana Delany Mistakes Horizontal Tracheostomy for Cricothyroidotomy
InsideSurgery.com watched with interest a recent episode of the terrific ABC medical drama Burden of Proof staring Dana Delany as Dr. Megan Hunt, a neurosurgeon turned medical examiner. Although we found the Body of Proof episode much more realistic than most medical television shows, one unconventional medical decision we noted was the script calling for a tracheostomy to be performed to establish an emergency airway in the field. Dana Delany as Dr. Megan Hunt in Body of Proof This is technically not correct as an emergency airway established in the field is always a cricothyroidotomy, not a tracheostomy. No doubt, the w...
Source: Inside Surgery - May 13, 2013 Category: Surgeons Authors: Editor Tags: Musings Body of Proof cricothyroidotomy Dana Delany Megan Hunt tracheostomy Source Type: blogs

Fight Aging! Newsletter, May 13th 2013
In this study we used the hMTH1-Tg mouse model to investigate how oxidative damage to nucleic acids affects aging. hMTH1-Tg mice express high levels of the hMTH1 hydrolase that degrades 8-oxodGTP and 8-oxoGTP and excludes 8-oxoguanine from both DNA and RNA. Compared to wild-type animals, hMTH1-overexpressing mice have significantly lower steady-state levels of 8-oxoguanine in both nuclear and mitochondrial DNA of several organs, including the brain. hMTH1 overexpression prevents the age-dependent accumulation of DNA 8-oxoguanine that occurs in wild-type mice. These lower levels of oxidized guanines are associated with in...
Source: Fight Aging! - May 12, 2013 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs

Help for Those Dealing With Diabulimia
By Web Team If you or someone you love is dealing with the eating disorder known as diabulimia, the organization "Diabulimia Helpline" can lend a hand. Diabulimia Helpline is the only nonprofit organization dedicated to "education, support, and advocacy" for people with diabulimia — a condition in which a person stops taking his or her insulin in an effort to lose weight — and their families. The organization has a 24-hour helpline available at (425) 985-3635, an insurance specialist who can help navigate the steps to getting insurance for an eating disorder, and a referral service to help people find health...
Source: Diabetes Self-Management - May 11, 2013 Category: Diabetes Authors: Web Team Source Type: blogs

What Mental Health Means to Me
It is Mental Health Awareness month, and I began to contemplate what mental health means to me. Mental health and wellness is the state at which one feels, thinks, and behaves. Mental health can be viewed on a continuum, starting with an individual who is mentally well and free of any impairment in his or her daily life, while someone else might have mild concerns and distress, and another might have a severe mental illness. Everyone has “stuff” that they keep contained in a tightly sealed plastic bag. There are some who occasionally can’t help but let the “stuff” leak, and there are those with the bag wide ope...
Source: World of Psychology - May 10, 2013 Category: Psychiatrists and Psychologists Authors: Kristi DeName Tags: Disorders General Health-related Mental Health and Wellness Policy and Advocacy Psychology Research Anger Management Anxiety Disorder Art Therapy Chronic Migraines Health Awareness Month Health Concern High Blood Pressure Holis Source Type: blogs

Metformin May Delay Aging Process
By Diane Fennell The oral diabetes drug metformin may slow the aging process by mimicking the effects of a calorie-restricted diet, according to a new animal study from the United Kingdom. Metformin is believed to be the most commonly prescribed diabetes medicine in the world, with over 48 million prescriptions written in 2010 in the United States alone. Calorie restriction has been shown, in some cases, to improve health and lengthen life in animals ranging from worms to rhesus monkeys. Similar effects have been noted with the use of metformin, but it has not been clear how the drug might help delay the aging process. ...
Source: Diabetes Self-Management - May 10, 2013 Category: Diabetes Authors: Diane Fennell Source Type: blogs

The 7 Bad Habits of Highly Unhealthy People
There are a number of reasons why many of us fail to take control of our health. Everything from time, lack of quality information, and motivation play a roll in our success or failure. But there’s another set of lesser-known reasons why you aren’t as healthy as you’d like: the thoughts in your head. Below I’ve profiled the top seven bad mental habits I see over and over, and how you can fix them. #1 The belief that success is left to a special few Some people seem to have this concept that people who end up really successful, healthy, and happy, are just the lucky few. When you ask them how Mozart, Tiger w...
Source: PickTheBrain | Motivation and Self Improvement - May 10, 2013 Category: Life Coaches Authors: Alexander Heyne Tags: health and fitness self improvement bad habits unhealthy Source Type: blogs

Link feast
In case you missed them - 10 of the best psychology links from the past week: 1. Love this - "Neuroscience may be sexier than psychology right now, and it certainly has a lot more money and celebrity. But they really cannot get along without each other." Alison Gopnik in the Wall Street Journal. 2. New Scientist has started a new column written by people with "mysterious neurological conditions". The first is by Heather Sellers who has a severe form of prosopagnosia (AKA face blindness). 3. There's been lots of coverage this last week about NIMH director Thomas R. Insel's announcement that his organisation - the wo...
Source: BPS RESEARCH DIGEST - May 10, 2013 Category: Psychiatrists and Psychologists Authors: Christian Jarrett Source Type: blogs

In praise of Chris Christie’s weight loss approach
I had never paid too much attention to New Jersey’s Republican Governor Chris Christie until Hurricane Sandy, when I was impressed with how he put residents of his state above politics in his cooperation with President Obama on the response to the storm. Unfortunately that seems to distinguish him in this day and age. So Christie has built up a reserve of credibility with me and I suspect others. Therefore I take him at his word that his recent gastric banding surgery for weight loss was undertaken primarily for the sake of his family rather than to bolster his chance to become President. The press coverage is helpfu...
Source: Health Business Blog - May 9, 2013 Category: Health Managers Authors: David E. Williams of the Health business blog Tags: Patients Source Type: blogs

Fish oil not helpful in preventing heart events
New research was just published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Researchers from Italy randomized over >12,000 individuals at high risk for heart related events to receive either 1 gram capsule of fish oil or placebo. Patients at high risk included those with diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, smoking, obesity or other conditions. Most already were taking cholesterol-lowering statins, aspirin and other medicines to lower their chances of heart problems. The researchers found no difference in heart related events. Eating fish 1-2 times per week as part of a balanced Mediterranean Diet has ...
Source: Dr Portnay - May 9, 2013 Category: Cardiology Authors: Dr Portnay Source Type: blogs

Christie Gets a Band
I had blogged a while ago about New Jersey governor Chris Christie's angry response to a former White House physician's opinion that he needed to think about losing some weight. Christie basically told the doc she needed to mind her own business. My take was that, morbid obesity being a risk factor for coronary artery disease, stroke, and early death, Christie's weight would be a issue I considered if and when he decided to run for the Presidency in 2016. In order to be reassured that he could withstand the stress and pressure of being the leader of the world's only superpower, I ...
Source: Buckeye Surgeon - May 9, 2013 Category: Surgeons Authors: Jeffrey Parks MD Source Type: blogs

Even more firsthand symptoms of a broken healthcare system
by Thomas Dahlborg "You are not going to be a professional baseball player ... " Jimmy is a player on the high school recreational basketball team I coach, and yes, the orthopedic surgeon who reviewed Jimmy's MRI and who spent a total of 30 minutes over two visits tried to destroy this boy's dream (unintentionally, I hope) to play professional baseball. I learned of this healthcare encounter from Jimmy's mother and as she relayed these events to me I composed the following letter to this physician in my mind: Dear Doctor: Do you know Jimmy? Truly know him? Do you know what Jimmy has overcome throughout his life to...
Source: hospital impact - May 8, 2013 Category: Health Managers Authors: Wendy Johnson Source Type: blogs

Would You Rather Walk 5,000 Steps a Day or Pay More for Insurance?
That may sound like a hypothetical question, but one health insurer put this question to the test -- and a new study finds that the controversial question -- and resulting action taken -- actually worked to keep costs down and customers healthier. (Source: The ND Blog: Notes from the Nutritionista by Monica Reinagel, L.D.N., C.N.S.)
Source: The ND Blog: Notes from the Nutritionista by Monica Reinagel, L.D.N., C.N.S. - May 8, 2013 Category: Nutritionists and Food Scientists Tags: Health health care insurance money news obesity study walking Source Type: blogs

Paid to Lose Weight
By Quinn Phillips As study after study has shown, losing weight and keeping it off is difficult for most people. There may be a variety of reasons why this is the case, from a biological tendency to maintain stores of body fat to difficulty maintaining motivation beyond a short period of time. But whatever the barriers may be, many researchers are convinced that almost any behavioral change is possible when people are given the right incentives. And what greater incentive is there than money? In a study whose results were presented at the annual meeting of the American College of Cardiology in March, researchers devised a ...
Source: Diabetes Self-Management - May 8, 2013 Category: Diabetes Authors: Quinn Phillips Source Type: blogs

Chris Christie Lap Band Surgery
We are following with interest the news reports today of the Chris Christie lap band surgery. Although we are not participating in his care, some general information on what lap band or laparoscopic gastric banding and typical clinical issues to be considered is detailed below. Lap band surgery is a commonly performed surgical operation done for the control of morbid obesity. It is best performed by experienced bariatric surgeons and is sometimes referred to as the “mini” weight loss surgery. However, while the surgery is not as extensive as the roux-en-Y reconfiguring of the gi tract, it is a operation that i...
Source: Inside Surgery - May 7, 2013 Category: Surgeons Authors: Editor Tags: Medical News Wire Chris Christie gastric surgery lap band surgery weight loss surgery Source Type: blogs

Another Germ Theory Victory - Back Pain?
The "New Germ Theory" people may have notched up another one: a pair of reports out from a team in Denmark strongly suggest that many cases of chronic low back pain are due to low-grade bacterial infection. They've identified causative agents (Propionibacterium acnes) by isolating them from tissue, and showed impressive success in the clinic by treating back pain patients with a lengthy course of antibiotics. Paul Ewald is surely smiling about this news, although (as mentioned here) he has some ideas about the drug industry that I can't endorse. So first we find out that stomach ulcers are not due to over-dominant mothers...
Source: In the Pipeline - May 7, 2013 Category: Chemists Tags: Infectious Diseases Source Type: blogs

Deep Brain Stimulation for Anorexia Nervosa
Buffer In Toronto, Canada six women were treated for anorexia nervosa with deep brain stimulation. They had a long period of many years of unsuccessful conventional management. Their average BMI were 11 to 15 in the years before the study. The electrodes were placed just beneath the corpus callosum. Complications One woman had a self limiting panick attack during the procedure. One developed a cardiac air embolus that resolved within 5 minutes during the procedure. One patient had a seizure after the operation when switching the device on. After switching it off and restarting again after one week seizures didn’t r...
Source: Dr Shock MD PhD - May 7, 2013 Category: Psychiatrists and Psychologists Authors: Dr Shock Tags: Shrink Life in General Source Type: blogs

As I sit by my father in the hospital, there is a choice to be made
With gratitude to Doctors Rafael Espada and Michael Madani, for fixing my father’s heart, twice. When Michael Phelps was interviewed during the Beijing Olympics, the world first learned about the extraordinary amount of food needed to fuel the swimmer with the wingspan of a pterodactyl. He said that he ate 12,000 calories a day, and no one believed him except for me. I believed him because I too was a swimmer in my youth, and a distance swimmer at that. Breakfast consisted of two scrambled eggs with cheddar cheese, a few slices of bacon, buttered toast, and a half grapefruit or cantaloupe. Lunch was a sandwich and chips ...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - May 6, 2013 Category: Family Physicians Tags: Physician Heart Obesity Source Type: blogs

Is Extreme Dieting And Exercise Worth It? My Personal Journey – With Photos
Conclusion: In my experience, the best a slightly overweight, middle aged woman can do (safely) in 8 weeks is lose 10 lbs of pure fat and gain 5 lbs of muscle. It is extremely difficult to achieve that much, and I would highly recommend doing it over a longer period of time. Is the pain worth the effort? Here are my “before” and “after” photos. What do you think? Before: (151 lbs) After (145 lbs): (Source: Better Health)
Source: Better Health - May 6, 2013 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Dr. Val Jones Tags: Health Tips Opinion True Stories Best Case Scenario Body Impedance Clothing Fit Diet Eight Week Plan Extreme Weight Loss fat loss Female Is It Worth It Middle-aged Percent Body Fat Strength Training Wedding Diet Weight Trai Source Type: blogs

More on Weight, Disease and Longevity
The controversy over whether higher weight leads to increased disease and mortality is as confusing as the one over whether sugar is addictive or not. First we hear that obesity leads to poor health and premature death, then we hear that it doesn’t. All we can do is stay informed and pay attention to the results of reputable research studies. I offer the following information not to take sides in the debate, but in the hopes that you’ll take it in with self-compassion and use it to motivate yourself to become healthier. According to an article in the 3/13 Nutrition Action Health Letter, “Weighing the o...
Source: Normal Eating - May 6, 2013 Category: Eating Disorders Authors: eatnormalnow Source Type: blogs

Seeking "normal"
These days I am reading and reflecting on several books, among them Barbara Stevens Sullivan's The Mystery of Analytical Work: Weavings from Jung and Bion and Natalie Boero's Killer Fat: Media, Medicine, and Morals in the American "Obesity Epidemic". This week these thoughts from them came together for me: most of the people to whom I spoke talked about a desire to lose weight to be normal, to be able to wear a smaller size, to blend in, and to avoid the stigma and discrimination faced by fat people. This pattern held not only for people like Tina, who had undergone surgery in order to lose wei...
Source: Jung At Heart - May 5, 2013 Category: Psychiatrists and Psychologists Source Type: blogs

Wheat Belly does Europe!
Long-time Wheat Belly follower, Donna, describes her 3-week jaunt through Europe . . . sans wheat! She successfully navigated her way through rich European breakfasts, lunch, and dinners, not getting tripped up even once. (Wheat Belly followers here since the beginning may remember Donna’s fabulous shrinking tummy transformation that she posted for us way back.) When my husband George and I decided to take a three week trip to Europe to celebrate our 25th anniversary, one of my first thoughts was “How could I stay true to Wheat Belly while visiting France and Italy? Baguettes, croissants, pastries and pasta eve...
Source: Wheat Belly Blog - May 5, 2013 Category: Cardiology Authors: Dr. Davis Tags: Wheat-elimination success stories Source Type: blogs

Fight Aging! Newsletter, May 6th 2013
Discussion Latest Headlines from Fight Aging! T-Regulatory Cells More Numerous in the Aged Immune System HMGA1 as a Potential Common Mechanism in Cancer A Skeptical View of Mitochondrial DNA Damage and Aging Protecting Cryonics Patients A Review of Adenylyl Cyclase Type 5 and Longevity in Mice On Extending Mouse Longevity Growth Hormone and IGF-1 in Aging IGF1R Levels in the Brain Correlate With Species Life Span Calorie Restriction and Calorie Restriction Mimetics The Burrill and Buck Aging Meeting, May 20th 2013 SENS RESEARCH FOUNDATION ANNUAL REPORT FOR 2012 http://www.fightaging.org/archi...
Source: Fight Aging! - May 5, 2013 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs

It's not over yet, just some links for May day
A Dog’s Best Friend Instinct And Loyalty Activist Post The New Conquistadors A Technological Divide Threatens Our Survival america #1 In Fear, Stress, Anger, Divorce, Obesity, Anti-Depressants America land of opportunity for illegals America Stands Upon the Precipice of Brutal Martial Law AOL On Janet Porter Presents Heather Has Two Cigarettes satire on heather has 2 mommies banned in many online sites Arvo Part Salve Regina (Full) Arvo Pärt Sanctus Bertrand Russell Great Minds on Race Boston Bombing What You Aren't Being Told Boston Smoke And Mirrors Spooked America - Morris Candyman theme song It was always...
Source: Nightmare Hall - Welcome to my nightmare - May 4, 2013 Category: HIV AIDS Source Type: blogs

“We Should Reopen It.” BC Conservative Party Leader John Cummins on the Closed BC Adult ADHD Clinic
“We Should Reopen It.” BC Conservative Party Leader John Cummins on the Closed BC Adult ADHD ClinicPost from: Adult ADD Strengths 6 Years ago in 2007, the BC Liberal government under then health minister George Abbott shut down the only provincial adult ADHD clinic in BC at Children’s Hospital in Vancouver after a 12-14 month long wait list for an entire year. In May 2011 I asked Christy Clark during her by election campaign at her town hall meeting if she would re open the BC adult ADHD clinic. She said “I don’t have enough information about the specifics of the program that you’re talking about, ...
Source: Adult ADD Strengths - May 3, 2013 Category: Psychiatrists and Psychologists Authors: Pete Quily Tags: ADD / ADHD Advocacy Politics ADHD related newtag Source Type: blogs

The 7 point plan to losing weight without relying on willpower
A common belief, even among doctors, is that almost no one succeeds in losing weight in the long term. And for almost two decades, I’ve counted myself among the skeptics, being able to tally on the fingers of one hand the number of my patients who’ve managed to do it—literally less than five out of multiple hundreds, if not a few thousand. When I stumbled across the ideas put forth in the slow-carb diet though (“slow” in contrast to “low” because one cheat day a week is allowed), I became excited—and not just for my patients. Though I’ve never had much of a weight problem myself, after nine years of mar...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - May 2, 2013 Category: Family Physicians Tags: Conditions Obesity Source Type: blogs

Are Doctors’ Orders Less Likely To Be Followed If The Doctor Is Overweight?
A recent, 358-person survey conducted by researchers at Yale University (and published in the International Journal of Obesity) suggested that patients may be less likely to follow the medical advice of overweight and obese physicians. Survey respondents were 57% female, 70% Caucasian, 51% had BMIs in the normal or underweight category (31% overweight and 17% obese), and were an average age of 37 years old. Respondents rated overweight and obese physicians as less credible than normal weight doctors, and stated that they would be less likely to follow advice (including guidance about diet, exercise, smoking cessation, pre...
Source: Better Health - May 2, 2013 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Dr. Val Jones Tags: Health Tips Opinion Research Compliance Influence Internal Medicine International Journal Of Obesity Obese Overweight Patient Compliance Physicians Primary Care Stigma Survey Weight Bias Weight Loss Yale Source Type: blogs

New Reports Confirm Perio-Systemic Connection and Outline Clinical Recommendations
European Federation of Periodontology and American Academy of Periodontology Issue Consensus Reports Reaffirming Relationship between Periodontal Disease and Cardiovascular Disease, Diabetes, Adverse Pregnancy OutcomesChicago, IL – April 30, 2013 – The American Academy of Periodontology (AAP), in collaboration with the European Federation of Periodontology (EFP),) recently published a series of consensus reports that analyze the scientific evidence linking periodontal disease, specifically periodontitis, to other systemic diseases, including diabetes, cardiovascular disease and adverse pregnancy outcomes. The consensus...
Source: Dental Technology Blog - May 2, 2013 Category: Dentists Source Type: blogs

The Testosterone Trap
Should the Modern Man Be Taking Testosterone? Is It Low T? .com By now you've likely seen the commercials. Fit-looking middle-age men telling you how they put on weight, had less energy, and were no longer the sexual tigers they were in their twenties -- until, that is, they started rubbing testosterone gel on their shoulder, upper arm, or abdomen. Now they feel more like the men they used to be. The commercials don't mention a 2009 study in the New England Journal of Medicine wherein a group of men on testosterone replacement therapy had more than four times the number of cardiovascular problems -- so many that the s...
Source: PharmaGossip - May 2, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs

A dietitian sees the wheat-free light
Sharon posted her story of wheat-free epiphany . . . despite advising people to eat more “healthy whole grains” for 25 years! I’m a Registered Dietitian who has been practicing for 25 years. I’ve known many people to eliminate “bread products” in an effort to lose weight only to see them gain back twice as much, so I’ve been poo-pooing a low carb diet for years–until January of this year. I hit the scale at 143 lbs on by 5’3″ body, my glucose indicated pre-diabetes, my weight was getting ever so close to the obese category, and my blood pressure was 160/90. A friend posted about the Wheat B...
Source: Wheat Belly Blog - May 1, 2013 Category: Cardiology Authors: Dr. Davis Tags: Wheat-elimination success stories Source Type: blogs

When the Doctor Is Overweight - NYTimes.com
This is a fascinating article. I am very interested in hearing from you regarding your thoughts on this topic. Please leave a comment to this blog -- it should make for a very interesting discussion. I know that as a physician, I spend all day speaking to patients about their weight, their level of physical activity, their diet, their smoking and their medical compliance. There are definitely days that I feel hypocritical if I know that recently I have not been exercising or eating well or taking my medicines as prescribed. When I feel this, it helps me relate to my patients and understand just how hard the thing...
Source: Dr Portnay - May 1, 2013 Category: Cardiology Authors: Dr Portnay Source Type: blogs

A Review of Adenylyl Cyclase Type 5 and Longevity in Mice
Gene therapy to remove adenylyl cyclase type 5 (AC5) was shown to increase mouse longevity a few years back, and researchers have since been working to better understand the mechanisms involved. Like many longevity mutations, this gene is involved in many crucial low-level cellular processes, and researchers are interested in producing drugs to mimic some of the effects of a full gene therapy: G-protein coupled receptor/adenylyl cyclase (AC)/cAMP signaling is crucial for all cellular responses to physiological and pathophysiological stimuli. There are 9 isoforms of membrane-bound AC, with type 5 being one of the two major...
Source: Fight Aging! - May 1, 2013 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Reason Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs

Did Type 2 Diabetes Have Anything to Do With Taking My Father Away?
By Jan Chait Dad and my little brother were watching John Wayne movies one day last week when Dad gave a big sigh and, as quietly as that, passed over to a world where he could once again walk through his beloved woods, read the books he liked, and hold cogent conversations. His Type 2 diabetes hadn't been playing nice with him lately. Did that have anything to do with his death? Was it his age? He was 89, but my family tends to be long-lived: His mother was 96. The fact that he had normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH), which can affect gait, continence, and memory? How about the carotid arteries in his neck, which were nar...
Source: Diabetes Self-Management - April 30, 2013 Category: Diabetes Authors: Jan Chait Source Type: blogs

WSJ Article Fails To Raise Key Questions About Cardiovascular Risk In Children
There’s probably no greater public health issue than the long-term consequences of the childhood obesity epidemic. So the Wall Street Journal should be commended for digging into some of the important science behind this problem in a feature article in today’s paper. The author, Ron Winslow, is widely regarded as the best working journalist who regularly covers cardiovascular medicine. But I’m afraid the article fails to raise several key questions about the topic and therefore misses an opportunity to educate people about its complexities. The article deals with the “growing concerns about the ca...
Source: CardioBrief - April 30, 2013 Category: Cardiology Authors: Larry Husten Tags: Policy & Ethics Prevention, Epidemiology & Outcomes HDL High-density lipoprotein LDL obesity pediatrics Triglyceride Wall Street Journal Source Type: blogs

Evidence Suggests Eating Omega 3, Mediterranean Diet, Preserves Memory
The study found that in healthy people, those who more closely followed the Mediterranean diet were 19 percent less likely to develop problems with their thinking and memory skills. +Alzheimer's Reading Room The largest study to date finds that eating foods that contain omega-3 fatty acids, found in fish, chicken and salad dressing and avoiding saturated fats, meat and dairy foods may be linked to preserving memory and thinking abilities. However, the same association was not found in people with diabetes. The research is published in the April 30, 2013, print issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American...
Source: Alzheimer's Reading Room, The - April 30, 2013 Category: Dementia Authors: Bob DeMarco Source Type: blogs

Can We Stamp Out Thinspiration on Twitter? Torri Singer Thinks We Can
Pro-anorexia (or “pro-ana”) groups have been around online for over a decade, and we first discussed them here five years ago. More recently, with the rise of social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest, these groups have found a new life. Often associated with the label “thinspiration,” these groups elevate the idea of being thin to a virtual religion. People who are all about thinspiration engage in disordered eating in order to be as thin as possible — a common symptom of anorexia. But they don’t see it as a disorder or a problem, making this an insidious problem. Noneth...
Source: World of Psychology - April 29, 2013 Category: Psychiatrists and Psychologists Authors: John M. Grohol, Psy.D. Tags: Anorexia Bulimia Disorders Eating Disorders General Health-related Interview Mental Health and Wellness Motivation and Inspiration Policy and Advocacy Women's Issues Adult Life Bandwagon Beautiful Girls Broadcast Journalism D Source Type: blogs

Highlights from TEDMED 2013
This post was originally published on Rock Health’s blog. Rock Health is powering the future of the digital health ecosystem, bringing together the brightest minds in health and technology to build better solutions. Rock Health supports digital health entrepreneurs through a startup accelerator, public events, and open-source research. TEDMED 2013 in Washington DC was an unforgettable experience. The Rock Health team joined 1,800 thought leaders from across the country to hear brilliant short talks, experience imaginative art performances, and connect with others seeking to change health care. Here are some of o...
Source: Disruptive Women in Health Care - April 29, 2013 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: dw at disruptivewomen.net Tags: Events TEDMED Source Type: blogs

Childhood Obesity
I am becoming more and more interested in understanding childhood obesity. I have been learning about the its complex cause and about some strategies to help prevent and treat this growing problem in America.Last week, I attended a symposium on the topic and came away more determined then ever to help fight this problem.If kids continue to gain weight and get less exercise, there is the possibility that given obesity's co-existing cardiovascular conditions (atheroslcerosis, HTN, high cholesterol, DM, stroke and sleep apnea) --our children's generation may be the first to have a shorter lifespan than their parent'...
Source: Dr Portnay - April 29, 2013 Category: Cardiology Authors: Dr Portnay Source Type: blogs

Losing Weight Without Losing Your Mind
Recycling Blog Photos--Good for the Earth, and Cheaper than Getting Sued for Copyright Infringement! There is a lot of advice out there about how to lose weight, some of which is helpful and some of which is just plain creepy. Anyone else catch that recent tip about infesting yourself with roundworms? So this isn't a post about how to lose weight. Instead, this is just a few of the 9,700 thoughts I have about the psychological aspects of weight loss. It's my impression that a determined, focused, lifelong quest to shed excess pounds and keep them off can make most normal people at least slightly bonker...
Source: Cranky Fitness - April 29, 2013 Category: Eating Disorders Authors: Crabby McSlacker Source Type: blogs

Sunday News Round-Up, Conference Then Vacation Edition
First up, some recent posts from Our Bodies Our Blog: How Can We Help Teen Mothers Avoid and Cope With Postpartum Depression? – discussion of a study that tried to answer that question Study: IUDs Offer Safe Contraception Option for Teens But Rarely Prescribed – analysis of a study looking at IUD use in adolescents, with data on complications Supreme Court Hears Case Against Myriad Genetics: Why Patents Hurt Women’s Health – OBOS is a co-plaintiff in the case against BRCA1 an BRCA2 gene patents. I look at the oral arguments. “Can We See the Baby Bump, Please?”: Film on Commercial Surrogacy in India...
Source: Women's Health News - April 28, 2013 Category: Medical Librarians Authors: Rachel Tags: Abortion Abuse, Rape, & Safety Access, Rights, & Choice Adolescent Health Body Image & Eating Disorders Cancer Contraception Drugs Events & Observances Government Health Research Laws, Legislation, & Courts Libraryland Miscellane Source Type: blogs

Six ways Big Pharma manipulates consumers - Salon
This article originally appeared on AlterNet. The blockbuster pill profit party is over for Big Pharma. Bestselling pills like Lipitor, Seroquel, Zyprexa, Singular and Concerta have gone off patent and sites which their ads sustained are withering on the vine. WebMD, for example, the voice of Pharma on the Web, with a former Pfizer exec serving as CEO, announced it would cut 250 positions in December. But don’t worry, Wall Street. Pharma isn’t going to deliver disappointing earnings just because it has little or no new drugs coming online and has failed at the very reason for its existence. Here are six new Pharma ma...
Source: PharmaGossip - April 28, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs

Scientists Discover a Key Mechanism for the Most Common Form of Alzheimer’s Disease
Scientists have discovered that a network of genes involved in the inflammatory response in the brain is a crucial mechanism driving Late Onset Alzheimer's Disease (LOAD) +Alzheimer's Reading Room The findings, published online in the journal Cell, provide new understanding of key pathways and genes involved in LOAD and valuable insights to develop potential therapies for the disease. To date, scientists have been challenged in understanding LOAD, the most common form of AD. Despite decades of intensive research, the causal chain of mechanisms behind LOAD has remained elusive. Subscribe to the Alzheimer's Reading R...
Source: Alzheimer's Reading Room, The - April 27, 2013 Category: Dementia Authors: Bob DeMarco Source Type: blogs

Researchers Discover New Type of Human Fat Cell
Researchers at Sahlgrenska Academy have discovered another type of human fat cell. The researchers say humans have two different kinds of brown fat cells and not just one kind as previously thought. Unlike white fat cells, which store the body's surplus energy in the form of fat, brown fat cells are able to burn energy and turn it into heat. A brown fat cell photographed via microscope is pictured above. The researchers are calling the new type of brown fat tissue that they have discovered "classical brown fat." According to the Gothenburg study, young people have this classic brown fat tissue, but it seems to disappear d...
Source: HealthNewsBlog.com - April 26, 2013 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Tags: diet fat-cell brown-fat-cell Source Type: blogs

Why stress & obesity related hypertension . . . is not considered as secondary Hypertension ?
Systemic hypertension (SHT ) is the commonest clinical entity encountered in cardiology consultations . 95 % of HT is considered primary. The remaining 5 % form the most important class of HT (Secondary to renal parenchymal, vascular , endocrine, etc) How intelligent is this traditional classification of HT ? The incidence of primary and secondary HT varies depending upon the level of investigation we do . One of my regular patient who gets to me for HT .He is 42 year old man works in financial institution with lots of work stress and he was marginally obese as well . He was investigated for...
Source: Dr.S.Venkatesan MD - April 26, 2013 Category: Cardiology Authors: drsvenkatesan Tags: Hypertension essential hypertesnion priamry vs secodary hypertesnion renal hypertension secondary hypertension stress and obesity related hypertension Source Type: blogs

On The Pulse - 26th April 2013
New thinking about obesity (Source: OnMedica Blogs)
Source: OnMedica Blogs - April 26, 2013 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Source Type: blogs

The substance of fat – a multisensory event about fat
Want to explore fat with pencil and pastry fork? We seem to live in a world obsessed with fat. Obesity is described as a worldwide health threat, and we are bombarded by diet advice. But fat itself is a mystery. While we know that “full fat” foods can be bad for us, we also know that the body needs fat (and of course, greasy food can be the most delicious). We often find fatty substances disgusting, but moisturize our skin with lotions based on lard and oil. And the kinds of bodies seen as beautiful oscillate wildly over time and media. It’s a love-hate relationship. Last year we opened the exhibition “Obesity ...
Source: Biomedicine on Display - April 25, 2013 Category: Medical Scientists Authors: Thomas Söderqvist Tags: aesthetics events Source Type: blogs