Thanks to all the comments on my previous post. I believe that I did an incomplete job in describing my concerns.
Our current payment system has incentives for the wrong behavior. If all lawyers received $200 for a will (fixed price, regardless of complexity), we would see shoddy, cookie cutter wills and lawyers who avoid complex [...]
Last year I challenged the readers to make a Thanksgiving exercise and eating resolution. This is the most dangerous period of the year for weight gain. So once again I challenge you to work out regularly and eat smart until the New Year.
I currently favor the elliptical machine. I listen to music, picking songs which [...]
The definitions of underweight, desirable, overweight and obese are somewhat arbitrary. We generally use BMI to classify patients. “Experts” have told us that ideal weight (BMI 21-25) would decrease mortality. Maybe they are wrong -Causes of Death Are Linked to a Person’s Weight
Linking, for the first time, causes of death to specific [...]
Many Americans make exercise and weight loss resolutions for the New Year. Many of these resolvers have gained significant weight during the “holiday season”. Thursday morning I made a personal resolution to exercise at least 5 days each week from Thanksgiving until New Year’s Day. My goal is to lose a bit [...]
I am currently in Paris, then going to Lausanne to give a 3 talks at the Swiss Society of Internal Medicine on Thursday. Over the past 2 days, I have seen few obese and overweight Parisians. I suspect that despite the high calorie food, Parisians walk enough to maintain desirable weight.
So I searched [...]
Aging: Too Old to Benefit From Exercise? Pish!
People are never too old to gain health benefits from exercise, a new study suggests.
Researchers divided a group of 64 volunteers with an average age of 84 into three groups. The first group exercised by walking, the second did resistance training, and a control group did no exercise.
After [...]
Due to too much travelling, too many restaurant dinners, and a variety of other personal defects, I decided a few weeks ago that I needed to lose several pounds. Fortunately, I do lose weight quickly, and have made great progress over the past 3 weeks. My weight loss diet is one that I [...]
Powered by music
Athletes work hard to reach a state of internal calm, harnessing their mind power to stay intense, but not frantic. Music helps them get into that zone, offering flow, control, focus. It helps them manage the pain of stressing their bodies to levels undreamed of by most three-times-a-week joggers. And it becomes a [...]
Some Extra Heft May Be Helpful, New Study Says
Stop the presses, we have another study which challenges common knowledge! This very carefully done study finds that overweight (defined as BMI 25-30) patients have lower mortality than either “normal” weight or “obese” patients.
The researchers - statisticians and epidemiologists from the National Cancer Institute and the [...]
Trimming fat two ways
Unfortunately, a slew of nutrition activists and nanny-statists want to use the fact some Americans are getting bigger to limit what the rest of us can eat. So we’re seeing lawsuits against food companies, calls for “fat taxes” on calorie-dense eatables, and moves to restrict advertising and marketing of junk food.
We oppose [...]
Resistance Training Curbs Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy
In the study, 11 elderly type 2 diabetics with clinical evidence of peripheral neuropathy engaged in roughly 30 minutes of supervised resistance training of the lower extremities three times per week for 12 weeks. “This was a pilot study to see if this was doable and to see if we [...]
Kudos to Instapundit for alerting me to this article - The Barriers Don’t Exist
When I was originally asked to write the designated dissent piece for TIME’s special issue on obesity, I went back and forth with a fact-checker over my assertion that state and federal governments prevented health insurers from tying health insurance premiums to [...]
Low-carb dieters knew it all along
Last week, the popular carb-slashing Atkins diet received a dollop of endorsement from two new studies after years of being pooh-poohed by health specialists. The studies, published Tuesday in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine, showed that the meat- and fat-rich regimen caused faster weight loss in the short [...]
Seniors need strength training, too
Many people think that beyond a certain age, you become too weak to strength train or benefit from it. But research shows the complete opposite. Without adequate muscle exercise, most adults lose 20 to 40 percent of the muscle they had as young adults. With too much muscle loss people [...]
Hold That Stretch: Warm-Up Is Challenged
Now a major study is stirring renewed discussion about when stretching is and is not beneficial.
The study, a review of six decades of research by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, found that stretching does little to prevent injury during exercise when done outside of a warm-up. [...]
Going on vacation. Will resume blogging either Sunday or Monday. Playing golf and giving health care thoughts a rest. Have a great weekend!!!
Wow - sometimes research provides good news. FITNESS: Study finds no evidence stretching prevents injuries
People who stretched were no more or less likely to suffer injuries such as pulled muscles, which the increased flexibility that results from stretching is supposed to prevent, researchers found. And the injuries found in the study [...]
I might love this diet. Can a high-carb diet help you lose weight?
American Dietetic Association spokeswoman Cindy Moore agreed and said with low-carb diets hogging the spotlight, “it may be a reminder that we can lose weight in a variety of different ways.” Foods on the successful diets included high-fiber cereal, vegetarian [...]
You probably saw this on TV or read this in the newspapers. The Post-Atkins Low Carb Diet
The level of saturated fat that is permitted in the Atkins diet is still more than in other low-carbohydrate diets, and 60 percent of calories are still supposed to come from fat, although trans fats are [...]
Weight loss surgery has a major “upside”. Morbidly obese patients who have major weight loss have wonderful health and social benefits. Despite the danger, for many patients the risk is clearly worthwhile. We must always remember the risk though - Mass. Panel to Probe Obesity Surgery
Massachusetts health officials announced plans [...]
This article explains our portion control problem very well - Want to stay slim? Get a handle on America’s out-of-control food portions
Many readers have a New Year’s resolution to lose weight. You can lose weight just by dieting. However, increasing activity can help greatly. Need Exercise? Count on It
“You’ll lose muscle mass, your metabolism will slow down,” she says. “You gain a lot more things with exercise than just maintenance of weight. [...]
State legislatures have taken heed. They are passing positive laws to attack the obesity epidemic. Worried about obesity, states mulling laws for restaurants, schools and public employees
Under the laws that have passed, states will:
* Test the BMI — body-mass index, a ratio of height to weight — of [...]
I harp on fitness often. Personally I work out approximately 5 days a week, some resistance training, some cardiovascular work. This article speaks to young adults, but I suspect it is rarely too late. Treadmill Tests Gauge Future Fitness
The study involved about 4,400 men and women who were given a [...]
Do not drink excessively when running marathons. Running the Risk of Too Much Water: Hyponatremia Can Sometimes Lead to Death for Marathoners If you run or bike long distances, please read this article.
So how can we get Americans to exercise? Maybe incentives will work - Bribing People To Exercise?
By exercising and staying healthy, Traci and Todd Gianvito have earned enough reward points to take a trip to Florida. And, says Destiny Healthcare member Todd Gianvito, “We’ll be going to Europe next year using the [...]
So what are the costs and benefits of bariatric surgery? We just do not know - so Louisiana will find out! La. Testing Stomach Surgery’s Cost Effect
Forty obese government employees will get weight-reduction surgery in a $1 million experiment to see whether it keeps insurance payments down over the long [...]
New Doctor, New Diet, but Still No Cookies
Theories abound as to what has propelled the South Beach diet to the center of the weight-loss universe since the book bearing its name was published in April. Is it the image it conjures, of bikini-clad models picking at tropical fruit salad between sun-drenched photo shoots? Is [...]
Wow, this is interesting. Forget the stretch
IF the first five to 10 minutes of your workout consists of stretching exercises to reduce the risk of injury, perhaps you should save yourself some time. Not only does such stretching fail to reduce the risk of injury, but recent studies have shown it also [...]
Exercise Is a Habit; Here’s Why to Pick It Up This article reviews some very good studies on exercise benefits for women. It does ignore us men. I can only say, exercise is very good for us also!
Strength vs. Power
Admit it. You thought the terms were synonymous. Wrong, say exercise scientists. “Strength” is a measure of how many pounds you can move in one push or pull. “Power” measures how fast you can move a weight in a given amount of time. The different properties are functions of [...]
