Vol. 2, No 2, April 2007






Obesity greater risk than inactivity for diabetics?
Obesity and lack of physical activity both raise the risk of type 2 diabetes in women. Obesity, however, appears to the more critical of the two.

Studies show that weight loss improves heart disease risks not only in young adults but in older adults, too. A small study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (December 2006) found that older obese adults can alter their lifestyle and benefit from it. Researchers looked at 27 obese men and women age 65 or older. Through calorie-cutting and exercise, participants lost weight and lowered their blood pressure, blood sugar, and blood lipids. They also lowered their risk for metabolic syndrome, a collection of conditions that raise a person’s risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

Source:
Reuters Health (January 12, 2007)


It’s never too late to diet and exercise?
Studies show that weight loss improves heart disease risks not only in young adults but in older adults, too. A small study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (December 2006) found that older obese adults can alter their lifestyle and benefit from it. Researchers looked at 27 obese men and women age 65 or older. Through calorie-cutting and exercise, participants lost weight and lowered their blood pressure, blood sugar, and blood lipids. They also lowered their risk for metabolic syndrome, a collection of conditions that raise a person’s risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

Source:
Reuters Health (January 12, 2007)



Microbiology may be causing weight gain?
Researchers at Washington University found that bacteria may cause one person to be more overweight than another. The science journal, Nature, reports that two groups of bacteria in the gut, called the Bacteroidetes and the Firmicutes, are the most dominant and their proportion varies in lean and obese mice and humans.

 

Researchers found that the proportion of Bacteroidetes bacteria is lower in obese mice and people than in lean people. However when researchers studied 12 obese people who followed low-calorie diets for a year, they found the subjects’ levels of Bacteroidetes rose as their weight decreased. Results suggest there may be a microbial component to obesity.

Source:
Reuters (December 21, 2006)


Men more likely to risk heart attack than lose weight
A British poll reveals that 50% of all men say that heart problems would motivate them to lose weight. Ironically, however, 37% of those around three million were nearly 14 pounds overweight, at least doubling their risk of cardiac arrest. Seventy-eight percent didn’t know that “medically obese” is around 42 pounds overweight. The study reveals that many men may not realize that they are in the health danger zone.

Source:
Medical News Today (January 15, 2007)

 

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