So one of the most common misconceptions when people visit fast food restaurants is that its the main food items that are the cause of their weight gain….i.e. the big macs, the whoopers, the burrito supremes, when in fact the slow killer that has remained somewhat dormant in the news is that it’s really the sugar content found in the diet coke and potato products that lead to the slow gain of weight, especially when people who try to stay “healthy” yet are under a time crunch opt for the salad or more “healthier” options when visiting these fast food restaurants. This primarily is seen in mothers trying to satisfy their children’s craving for their happy meals while at the same time stay healthy themselves. Want to really lose weight? Go for the water or non-soda option on your salad. While at it, skip the fries, and with that all other potato-based products, especially potato chips.

According to a recent report by the New England Journal of Medicine, just one extra serving of french fries resulted in an average of 3.35 extra pounds gained every four years, accompanied by the findings that even just an extra handful of potato chips each day could potentially add 1.69 pounds in the same time period. So next time you’re thinking about a quick snack, don’t reach for the bag of chips, try opting for something more healthy, like carrot sticks, celery, etc.. The same exact advice that you’ve been given to keep your children from becoming obese before it’s even up to them to make their own dietary decisions.

In the same report, they also tracked sleeping habits of the participants. Those who had a decent amount of regular sleep (mind you by decent I don’t mean too much) were also prone to lose weight rather than gain it. That was defined as:

People who slept between six and eight hours per night gained less weight over time than people who slept fewer than six hours or more than eight.

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Now if you’re practicing a balanced diet that includes proper amounts of vegetables and other essential nutrients, that also has been shown to counter-act the occasional ‘binge’ at the fast food counter. It’s those that live hectic lives, i.e. having to take care of children and/or work, that sometimes will go without that natural balance which displaces the starch/sugar/carbohydrate levels in your body and results in the additional weight gain.

So as I said, next time you’re at the drive-through, think twice about ordering that diet coke and large fries…..the salad won’t counter-act the effects they’ll play on your body in the long run.

Speciality pharmaceuticals group Shire just posted its first quarter earnings with an extremely strong increase in sales in their hyperactivity treatment group of medications especially in the US market. In fact, they’re making about 19% more than they were this same time last year (keep in mind thats $972 million dollars).

Quoting one of their representatives:

“Sales of our ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) treatments INTUNIV, VYVANSE and ADDERALL XR were all up and the overall ADHD market in the US showed good growth.”

It seems like just another example of drugs being over-prescribed to me. “ohh, johnny didn’t do well on his test? He probably has ADD, let’s talk to a doctor and get him some treatment.” Meanwhile what little Johnny needs is less Xbox 360 and more studying. Parents are now-a-days looking for quick fixes for just about everything and sadly this has become one of them. Let’s keep in mind what we’re prescribing our kids shall we:
Adderall is just a version of amphetamine salts. Remember amphetamine? If you’re old enough it was probably called Dexedrine back when you first heard about it, but that’s just the medical prescription form that they had back then. Even if you don’t remember Dexedrine, you surely remember what the drug called “speed” is right? Think of it as a medically toned down version of the same stuff that is sold on street corners and first became popular by the beatnik generation (who’d usually inject it).

Now, back to adderall, if you think just because it’s not Ritalin that it can’t be that bad you’re wrong. It’s actually (on the scale of how addicting not to mention harmfull if used over time) far worse. From growth stunting, death, heart problems and high blood pressure as starters, this one can be a real problem if taken improperly. These drugs were made to be a supplement to real treatment for their ADD/ADHD. By that I mean behavioral treatment. It’s not just something you get prescribed and then forget about it until each month when you have to go refill the prescription, it’s something you treat with education on how to better train your brain to focus. Whether that’s getting in the habit of taking excessive notes, using a stress ball or other one-handed object to occupy yourself as you engage in another task or any other of the hundreds of treatments that can easily be learned. This isn’t alternative medicine i’m talking about. No new-age, hippie, take some vitamin C and you’ll be fine stuff, this is actually how to treat ADD/ADHD. Just think twice about having your child be prescribed any ADD/ADHD medicine. You don’t want them to still be taking it 10 years from now….because I promise you not only will they have been affected negatively by the drug, they also will most likely be taking a dosage thats 4x higher due to a growth in tolerance.

For more information on the drug visit drugs.com or the WebMD.com section on the drug.

According to a recent report released on Thursday there’s now speculation that there may be a nationwide smoking ban by the year 2010. This by no means has been confirmed however almost half of all US states currently have some form of anti-smoking law in place, with the most drastic being a ban on indoor smoking which from 2000 to 2010 led to 25 states making it illegal.

For you smokers out there, there are still seven states with no restrictions on indoor smoking, however a few specific cities in these states do have acting restrictions barring smoking indoors.

A quote taken from the Associated Press article includes a comment from active pro-smokers-rights group executive:

“Gary Nolan, director of a smokers’ rights group, said he wouldn’t be surprised if the CDC’s prediction came true. Public health officials and others have been putting tremendous pressure on bars and businesses to bar smoking, he added.

“It wouldn’t surprise me if they prevailed,” said Nolan, of the Smoker’s Club. “It’s just a little bit more liberty slipping away at the hands of big government.”

Now as far as research is concerned regarding the economic factors involved in banning indoor smoking, a report from the CDC on the Impact of a Smoking Ban of Restaurant and Bar Revenue showed that during the study taken in El Paso, TX there was zero decline in total revenue after the ban was enacted. (source) Smokers just get use to it and either work on quitting, or smoke in appropriate places.

According to a medical research study released yesterday, overweight Americans spend close to 42% more on health care than your average “normal-weight” citizen.

Consumer as well as corporate spending on weight-loss related treatments is projected to top over $147 billion a year in 2008, according to the new study which started in 2006 to track both a series of test patients as well as national consumer spending trends. That figure accounts for almost 10 percent of all medical spending in the USA for this year!

Overweight and obese Americans spend close to $1,429 more on health care each year than the roughly $3,400 spent by those Americans who fall within the “normal-weight” range.

Most of the excess spending is for prescription drugs needed to manage obesity-related conditions, said Eric A. Finkelstein, one of the study’s authors and the director of the public health economics program at the Research Triangle Institute, a nonprofit research organization.

The results were presented on Monday at the first Weight of the Nation conference, which was held in Washington by officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“Obesity, and with it diabetes, are the only major health problems that are getting worse in this country, and they’re getting worse rapidly,” Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, director of the C.D.C., said.

The average American consumes 250 more calories per day than just two decades ago, Dr. Frieden noted, and don’t forget that thanks to advances in modern technology, the average time spent exercising has decreased compared to that same time period. This could be part of the blame for our rising obesity rate which currently represents the single greatest contributor to the over-all increase in diabetes cases reported in the US. Time spent exercising includes both strenuous physical activity as well as physical labor.

According to a medical research study released yesterday, overweight Americans spend close to 42% more on health care than your average “normal-weight” citizen.

Consumer as well as corporate spending on weight-loss related treatments is projected to top over $147 billion a year in 2008, according to the new study which started in 2006 to track both a series of test patients as well as national consumer spending trends. That figure accounts for almost 10 percent of all medical spending in the USA for this year!

Overweight and obese Americans spend close to $1,429 more on health care each year than the roughly $3,400 spent by those Americans who fall within the “normal-weight” range.

Most of the excess spending is for prescription drugs needed to manage obesity-related conditions, said Eric A. Finkelstein, one of the study’s authors and the director of the public health economics program at the Research Triangle Institute, a nonprofit research organization.

The results were presented on Monday at the first Weight of the Nation conference, which was held in Washington by officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“Obesity, and with it diabetes, are the only major health problems that are getting worse in this country, and they’re getting worse rapidly,” Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, director of the C.D.C., said.

The average American consumes 250 more calories per day than just two decades ago, Dr. Frieden noted, and don’t forget that thanks to advances in modern technology, the average time spent exercising has decreased compared to that same time period. This could be part of the blame for our rising obesity rate which currently represents the single greatest contributor to the over-all increase in diabetes cases reported in the US. Time spent exercising includes both strenuous physical activity as well as physical labor.

A drink a day may keep dementia away it seems.

In a study presented at the Alzheimer’s Association 2009 International Conference on Alzheimer’s Disease, researchers followed 3,069 people 75 and older for six years. At the start of the study, 482 of them had all been diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment.

The study showed that people who drank one to two alcoholic drinks a day were 37% less likely to develop dementia than those who abstained from it. Also to note: it didn’t matter whether the patient chose beer, wine or hard liquor, the results were still the same.

Now before you rush out to find the nearest bottle of wine, the reduction in risk is very similar to that associated with exercising three times a week or more, Sink says. So think twice before changing your drinking habits.

Among people who had mild cognitive impairment at the start of the study, those who drank more than two drinks a day were nearly twice as likely to develop dementia, compared with nondrinkers.

The Scientists took into account the test patient’s education, history of depression and smoking as well as other factors that can affect the risk of forming dementia.

Sink says no one should start imbibing in an effort to ward off dementia. “But older adults who are already drinking moderately don’t necessarily need to cut back if they’re cognitively normal,” she says.

The study doesn’t prove cause and effect. It could be alcohol itself or some other lifestyle factor shared by moderate drinkers that is responsible for the protective effect, Sink says.

But other research has suggested moderate drinking might protect against dementia by increasing levels of good cholesterol and preventing blood platelets from sticking together. It may also stimulate the release of acetylcholine, a chemical that’s important for memory, Sink says.

So why didn’t it help people with mild cognitive impairment? Sink says any benefits from alcohol may not have been strong enough to slow the degenerative disease process that’s already kicked in with people who have mild cognitive impairment.

“Moderate drinking may be protective for healthy adults, but once there are memory problems, it may be very important to curtail that,” says Maria Carrillo, PhD, director of medical and scientific relations at the Alzheimer’s Association.

In a recently released study, Scientists from the University of Kiel, Germany have found a genetic link between dental disease and coronary heart disease (CHD).

Dr Arne Schaefer, of the Institute for Clinical Molecular Biology at the University of Kiel, and colleagues were responsible for this revolutionary breakthrough. Schaefer presented their findings to the annual conference of the European Society of Human Genetics in Vienna on Monday 25 May.

“We found that the genetic risk variant is located in a genetic region that codes for an antisense DNA called ANRIL”, said Dr. Schaefer, “and that it is identical for both diseases.”

“We studied a genetic locus on chromosome 9p21.3 that had previously been identified to be associated with myocardial infarction, in a group of 151 patients suffering from the most aggressive, early-onset forms of periodontitis, and a group of 1097 CHD patients who had already had a heart attack,” he said.

Doctors have known for a long time that periodontitis and coronary heart disease frequently go together, however this is the first time someone has presented evidence supporting the idea that they both come from the same causes.

Gum disease – or periodontitis – can be a path into the bloodstream for approximately 700 cases of bacteria found in the mouth, leading to the more serious problem of coronary heart disease.

Coronary heart disease is the world leading cause of death, and periodontitis, which leads to the connective tissue and the bone support of teeth, is the primary cause of tooth loss in adults over the age of 40. The tooth disease affects 90 percent of people over 60 years old.