As the national debate rages about how best to change healthcare funding to serve the greatest number of people with the greatest benefit, the public health journal Health Affairs has published a study that examines the costs of healthcare related to obesity. For those that familiar with the health effects of obesity, the results are no surprise. What follows is a little wonky but interesting.
Skip the Margarine, Enjoy the Fish
On July - 24 - 2009Comments Off
A new study following the dietary habits of over 200,000 people suggests that diets high in a specific type of polyunsaturated fat called linoleic acid may have much higher incidence of a painful disease called ulcerative colitis. While red meat contains some linoleic acid, you will also find it in many margarines and cooking oils including safflower, hemp, sunflower, corn, wheat germ, cottonseed, soybean, walnut, and sesame oil. EMaxHealth points out “Given that many foods, especially fast foods, are fried in such oils, it can be easy for individuals to consume high levels of linoleic acid.”
Fewer Americans Living Healthy Lifestyles
On July - 20 - 2009Comments Off
The American Journal of Medicine reports that compared to 18 years ago, fewer American adults are engaging in 5 key things known to promote long and healthy lives: eating enough fruits and vegetables; exercising regularly; maintaining a healthy body weight; moderate alcohol consumption; and not smoking. Interestingly enough, Forbes managed to report the complete opposite of the findings demonstrating why it’s often useful to be skeptical of media coverage of medical studies.
Not engaging in healthy lifestyles is a sure fire way to age with the machine, not against it.
Hormone Replacement and Ovarian Cancer
On July - 15 - 20091 COMMENT
This week’s Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) reported a huge study from Denmark. Following over 900,000 women for 8 years, they found that post-menopausal women who had hormone therapy were 38% more likely to get ovarian cancer than peers who had not, and the higher risk persisted for 2 years after halting therapy. Moreover, “Regardless of the duration of use, the formulation, estrogen dose, regimen, progestin type, and route of administration, hormone therapy was associated with an increased risk of ovarian cancer.”
Holy ****! Cursing Reduces Pain!
On July - 13 - 2009Comments Off
It turns out that our instinct to say something profane when we experience pain may be good medicine. A small study covered in the journal NeuroReport found that:
Swearing increased pain tolerance, increased heart rate and decreased perceived pain compared with not swearing. However, swearing did not increase pain tolerance in males with a tendency to catastrophise [think that a situation is worse than it really is]. The observed pain-lessening (hypoalgesic) effect may occur because swearing induces a fight-or-flight response and nullifies the link between fear of pain and pain perception.