Overweight Teens Feel Stigmatized, Bullied: Study

A new British study finds that overweight teens are likely to feel stigmatized, isolated and even bullied for their size.

"The perspectives of young people in the U.K., when synthesized across the spectrum of body sizes, paint a picture of a stigmatizing and abusive social world," researchers from the Institute of Education at the University of London wrote.

According to the study, about 20 percent of kids aged 11 to 15 are considered to be obese in the United Kingdom. Researchers found 30 studies that surveyed teens in the United Kingdom (aged 12 to 18) about weight issues. More than 1,400 children -- of all body sizes -- answered the surveys between 1997 and 2010.

Overall, the survey participants felt the social problems caused by excess weight were a bigger deal than health problems. Those surveyed tended to believe that people are responsible for their weight; some respondents linked excess weight to laziness, greed and lack of control, along with a lower level of attractiveness.  http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_145995.html

Ironclad Findings About Red Meat's Harms?

A type of iron found only in red meat is associated with an increase in the risk of heart disease, a new review finds.

Researchers analyzed 21 studies that included more than 292,000 people who were followed for an average of 10 years. They found a link between consuming heme iron -- which is only in red meat -- and a 57 percent increased risk of heart disease.

In contrast, consuming non-heme iron -- found in vegetables, other non-meat sources and iron supplements -- was not associated with the risk of heart disease, according to the researchers at the Indiana University School of Public Health at Bloomington.

"Heme iron is absorbed at a much greater rate in comparison to non-heme iron [37 percent vs. 5 percent]," the researchers said in a university news release. "Once absorbed, it may contribute as a catalyst in the oxidation of [bad cholesterol], causing tissue-damaging inflammation." This inflammation is a potential risk factor for heart disease.

The study was recently published online ahead of print in the Journal of Nutrition.  http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_145945.html

Even Routine Housework May Help Stave Off Disability

Daily physical activity as light as pushing a shopping cart, vacuuming the house or strolling through a museum can dramatically reduce a person's risk of disability, a new study reports.

People who spent more than four hours a day doing light physical activity had more than a 30 percent reduction in their risk for developing a disability, compared to those spending only three hours a day in light activity, researchers found.

"The bottom line is to stay as active as possible. Even spending time in light activity will be beneficial," said lead author Dorothy Dunlop, a professor with the Center for Healthcare Studies at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine, in Chicago.

The federal government recommends that adults get at least 2.5 hours of moderate-intensity exercise a week. Such exercise is known to reduce a person's risk of disability, Dunlop said.

But some people have health issues that prevent them from pursuing that level of exercise, which includes activities like walking briskly, water aerobics, ballroom dancing and bicycling slower than 10 miles per hour, she said.  http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_145970.html

Mother's Pregnancy Weight Gain May Influence Child's Obesity Risk

Children born to mothers who gain either too much or too little weight during their pregnancy are more likely to be overweight or obese, a new study has found.

Putting on too few or too many pounds during a pregnancy "may permanently affect mechanisms that manage energy balance and metabolism in the offspring, such as appetite control and energy expenditure," study author Sneha Sridhar, of Kaiser Permanente's Division of Research, theorized in a Kaiser news release.

"This could potentially have long-term effects on the child's subsequent growth and weight," she said.

In the study, Sridhar's team looked at the medical records of children aged 2 to 5 born to more than 4,100 women in California.

They found that 20.4 percent of those children whose mothers gained more than the recommended amount of weight during pregnancy were overweight or obese, compared to 14.5 percent of those whose mothers gained weight within recommended guidelines.

Similar numbers arose when the researchers compared overweight rates for children whose mothers gained less than the recommended amount of weight during pregnancy.  http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_145685.html

Too Little Vitamin D May Add to Obesity's Burden

Severely obese people with vitamin D deficiency may be less mobile than those with normal levels of the vitamin, a new study says.

Poor physical functioning can reduce quality of life and increase the risk of early death, the researchers noted.

The study included 252 severely obese people who were timed as they walked 1,640 feet and climbed up and down a single step 50 times. The participants also gave blood samples and estimates of their levels of physical activity.

Those with the lowest vitamin D levels had the slowest walking times and the lowest amounts of physical activity, according to the study published April 15 in theJournal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

"People with severe obesity already are eight times more likely to have poor physical function than people with a healthy [body weight]," study co-author Tomas Ahern, of St. Columcille's Hospital and St. Vincent's University Hospital in Dublin, Ireland, said in a journal news release.  http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_145690.html

Obesity Linked to Increased Odds of Losing Baby, Study Finds

Women who are overweight or obese when they get pregnant may be at increased risk for miscarriage, stillbirth or infant death, researchers say.

The danger is greatest for severely obese women, who appear to have about double or triple the risk of losing their baby, although that risk is still small, the study authors noted.

The findings, based on a review of previously published studies, underscore the need for women who plan pregnancy to try to maintain a healthy weight, the researchers suggested.

"As for women who are already pregnant, they should follow existing guidelines for weight gain during pregnancy," said lead author Dagfinn Aune, from the department of epidemiology and biostatistics in the School of Public Health at Imperial College London in England.

"This analysis gives a better picture of the strength of the risks," said Aune. "Although fetal and infant deaths are relatively rare in high-income countries, affecting about 0.5 percent of pregnancies, they are devastating for the parents that are affected."

Moreover, overwhelming data shows that being overweight or obese increases the risk for type 2 diabetes, gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, high blood pressure and birth defects, Aune said.

"All of these conditions have been linked to increased stillbirth risk. Although we don't know all the details of the molecular mechanisms, I think it's likely that there is a biological effect of excess weight on these outcomes," he said.  http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_145693.html

One in Every 20 Adults Is Misdiagnosed in Outpatient Clinics Every Year

A new study, published in BMJ Quality and Safety, finds that one in every 20 adults in the U.S.—which translates to about 12 million adults—is misdiagnosed in outpatient clinics every year. What's more, many of these misdiagnoses have the potential to cause serious harm.

According to the Society to Improve Diagnosis in Medicine, diagnostic error is the leading cause of medical malpractice claims in the U.S., and is estimated to cause 40,000 to 80,000 deaths annually.  http://www.healthline.com/health-news/american-adults-misdiagnosed-outpatient-clinics-041714

Crunchy or Smooth? Food's Texture May Sway Perception of Calories

Creamy butter or ice cream versus a crunchy granola bar: A new study suggests that the texture of foods influences people's dieting choices.

"We studied the link between how a food feels in your mouth and the amount we eat, the types of food we choose, and how many calories we think we are consuming," wrote study authors Dipayan Biswas and Courtney Szocs, both from the University of South Florida, and others.

In one experiment, participants were asked to sample foods that had soft, smooth, hard or rough textures and then estimate their calorie amounts.

In another test, volunteers were asked to watch and rate a number of television ads, thinking that was the test. But they were also given cups with bite-sized brownies as a "thank you" for their time. Half of the participants were also asked about the amount of calories in the brownies.

Some of the participants received softer-textured brownies while the other half got crunchier brownies. People who had been asked about the calories in the brownies which forced them to focus on caloric intake -- ate more of the crunchy brownies than soft.

On the other hand, those whose minds weren't focused on calories tended to eat more of the soft brownies, the investigators found.  http://consumer.healthday.com/vitamins-and-nutrition-information-27/food-and-nutrition-news-316/crunchy-or-smooth-food-s-texture-may-sway-perception-of-calories-686894.html

15-Minute Visits Take A Toll On The Doctor-Patient Relationship

Joan Eisenstodt didn’t have a stopwatch when she went to see an ear-nose-and-throat specialist recently, but she is certain the physician was not in the exam room with her for more than three or four minutes.

“He looked up my nose, said it was inflamed, told me to see the nurse for a prescription and was gone,” said the 66-year-old Washington, D.C., consultant, who was suffering from an acute sinus infection.

When she started protesting the doctor’s choice of medication, “He just cut me off totally,” she said. “I’ve never been in and out from a visit faster.”

These days, stories like Eisenstodt’s are increasingly common. Patients – and physicians – say they feel the time crunch as never before as doctors rush through appointments as if on roller skates to see more patients and perform more procedures to make up for flat or declining reimbursements. 

It’s not unusual for primary care doctors’ appointments to be scheduled at 15-minute intervals. Some physicians who work for hospitals say they’ve been asked to see patients every 11 minutes.   http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Stories/2014/April/21/15-minute-doctor-visits.aspx

The Public Health Crisis Hiding in Our Food

IF you have high blood pressure, you’re in good company. Hypertension afflicts 67 million Americans, including nearly two-thirds of people over age 60. But it isn’t an inevitable part of the aging process. It’s better to think of it as chronic sodium intoxication. And, as an important new study from Britain shows, there’s a way to prevent the problem — and to save many, many lives.

A lifetime of consuming too much sodium (mostly in the form of sodium chloride, or table salt) raises blood pressure, and high blood pressure kills and disables people by triggering strokes and heart attacks. In the United States, according to best estimates, excess sodium is killing between 40,000 and 90,000 people and running up to $20 billion in medical costs a year.  http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/21/opinion/the-public-health-crisis-hiding-in-our-food.html?_r=1