You Now Have Excuses For Your Weight

Why are so many people fat? Scientists have come up with some novel excuses, including air conditioning, lack of sleep, fewer smokers, and more sex among obese people, which can produce chubby kids. They are rapidly figuring out that there are no bad ideas when it comes to figuring out obesity.

Twinkies aren't the only things weighing America down, these researchers contend in a report published Tuesday in the International Journal of Obesity.

David Allison, a University of Alabama biostatistician, invited 19 other scientists in the United States, Canada and Italy, to work on the report.

They looked at more than 100 studies on potential contributors to obesity besides diet and exercise, and concluded there was at least some support for 10:

1. Inadequate sleep. (Average sleep amounts have fallen, and many studies tie sleep deprivation to weight gain.)

2. Endocrine disruptors, which are substances in some foods that may alter fats in the body.

3. Nice temperatures. (Air conditioning and heating limit calories burned from sweating and shivering.)

4. Fewer people smoking. (Less appetite supression.)

5. Medicines that cause weight gain.

6. Population changes. (More middle-agers and Hispanics, who have higher obesity rates.)

7. Older birth moms. (That correlates with heavier children).

8. Genetic influences during pregnancy.

9. Darwinian natural selection. (Fat people outsurvive skinny ones).

10. Assortative mating, or "like mating with like," as Allison puts it. Translation: fat people procreating with others of the same body type, gradually skewing the population toward the heavy end.

Not that people necessarily should try to alter these factors, Allison said. For example, "we would never recommend that people start smoking to reduce their body weight."

The same for medications that can lead to weight gain, though doctors may want to consider alternatives if a patient piles on pounds, said Dr. Louis Aronne, a Weill-Cornell Medical School nutrition expert who is past president of the Obesity Society, the leading group of researchers in the field.

Allison said no food or beverage makers funded any part of the report, though he and some collaborators consult for such companies.

The point is, there is more to obesity than diet and exercise, he said. "These are 10 reasonable hypotheses, and as scientists, we should be open-minded," Allison said.

Sleep Apnea Rarely Diagnosed

Not only do many U.S. adults who snore suffer from depression and anxiety, 48 percent had trouble concentrating at work and tire easily.

Of an estimated 25 million patients who suffer from sleep apnea, only 5 percent have actually been diagnosed with sleep apnea, but snoring is one of the main indicators of sleep apnea and unfortunately is largely being ignored, according to Dr. Mansoor Madani, chairman of department of oral and maxillofacial surgery at the Capital Health System in Trenton, N.J., and associate professor of oral surgery at Temple University in Philadelphia.

"We know that patients who suffer from severe snoring and sleep apnea have an increased level of morbidity and mortality," said Madani. "Our concern was the impact it had on their driving habits -- 18 percent of patients reported they dozed while driving at least once over the last few years and 7 percent were involved in accidents causing injuries to themselves and others," said Madani. "Snoring is not funny and has potential to kill if it's associated with severe sleep apnea."

The survey also found that those who snore also had difficulties in problem-solving and performing complex tasks.

Breathing, Exercises Help With Mild Asthma

People with mild asthma may be able to cut reliever inhalers by shallow breathing and upper-body exercises, Australian researchers found.

The University of Sydney compared the impact of two breathing techniques on symptoms, lung function, use of medication and quality of life among 57 adults with mild asthma.

One technique used shallow, nasal breathing with slow exhalations, and the second technique used general upper body exercises, accompanied by relaxation.

Participants practiced their breathing exercises twice a day for around 25 minutes over a period of 30 weeks. They were also encouraged to use a shorter version of their exercises in place of reliever, and to use reliever if the exercises did not work.

Use of reliever medication fell by 86 percent in both groups, a process which began within weeks of starting the exercises, and was maintained over eight months.

The findings are published in Thorax.

Low Carb Diet For Alzheimer's

New York researchers suggest that dietary regimens such as a low-carbohydrate diet might calm or even reverse symptoms of Alzheimer's Disease.

The study, published in the July issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry, used an experimental mouse model to demonstrate that beta-amyloid peptides in the brain can be reduced by subjecting the mice to dietary caloric restriction, primarily based on low-carbohydrate food. Conversely, a high-caloric intake based on saturated fat was shown to increase levels of beta-amyloid peptides.

"Both clinical and epidemiological evidence suggests that modification of lifestyle factors such as nutrition may prove crucial to Alzheimer's disease management," says lead author Dr. Giulio Maria Pasinetti, director of the Neuroinflammation Research Center at Mount Sinai School of Medicine

Mild Asthma Can Be Lethal

One in three fatal asthma attacks worldwide involves a child with a mild form of the disease, and nearly half of all parents are unaware of the risk, according to a new survey presented Wednesday. The survey covered 5,482 asthma patients, their doctors and the parents of young sufferers focused on cases in Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the United States.

Dr. G. Walter Canonica of the University of Genoa in Italy said the survey underscored how effective treatment "is a shared responsibility requiring continuous communication among physicians and children with asthma and their parents."

Asthma is a chronic lung disease caused by airway inflammation, and certain stimuli cause the windpipe to become obstructed. Symptoms include wheezing, coughing and a tightened airway that causes shortness of breath and can be life-threatening. Allergies are responsible for more than 50 percent of asthma in adults. If you are wondering why asthma is so important compared to other diseases, treatment costs society more than that for tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS combined.

Obesity Linked With Low Fiber Diet

Researchers at the University of Texas-Austin report that "normal-weight" adults tend to eat more fiber and fruit than people who are overweight or obese.

The researchers looked at dietary intakes of more than 100 people generally the same age and height, half of whom were considered normal weight based on their body mass index and other measurements, and the other half were overweight or obese.

The researchers found the diets of the two groups were similar in many ways, including intakes of sugar, bread, dairy products and vegetables.

However, the main difference between the two groups were the amount of fiber consumed by the normal-weight adults -- 33 percent more dietary fiber and 43 percent more complex carbohydrates each day, per 1,000 calories.

"Obviously, no magic formula exists for weight loss, but our results indicated that a diet containing more than average amounts of fiber, complex carbohydrate and fruit was associated with normal body fat stores and standard weight for height," the researchers wrote in the June issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association

June Is National Safety Month

This year’s National Safety Month theme, "Making our world a safer place", reflects the need for injury prevention awareness in the workplace, in our homes and communities, and on our roads and highways. Each year, more than 20 million Americans suffer disabling injuries. Another 100,000 die from their injuries.

While American workers recognize safety as a serious issue, their perceptions about their greatest safety risks do not mirror reality, according to a new National Safety Council survey.

Asked to put unintentional injuries in perspective with other safety issues, natural disasters and violent crimes tied with 59 percent of the respondents saying they were equally concerned about each of those threats. Unintentional injuries followed with 55 percent, and concerns about terrorism ranked fourth at 52 percent.

While the effects of violent crime and natural disasters are unquestionably devastating, the number of these incidents falls far short of the thousands of people who die – and the millions who are disabled – by unintentional injuries in the workplace, on the roads and in homes and communities each year.

The survey also revealed that workers’ perceptions of where injuries occur do not reflect national statistics that show far more people are killed or injured from accidents occurring in and around the home than in the workplace. About 31 percent of respondents said they believe they are safer at home than in the workplace, and 62 percent said they feel equally safe at home and at work. Only 5 percent said they feel safer at work.

However, in 2004, about 5,000 workers died and 3.7 million suffered disabling injuries as a result of accidents occurring in the workplace. That same year, nearly 44,100 workers died and 6.8 million American workers were disabled as a result of injuries suffered while they were off the job.

Take a moment to visit nsc.org/nsm this week, and encourage your family to visit the site, too. Injuries can happen every day, everywhere we go. Let's make the month of June a time when all employees and their families stop to consider some of the simple measures we can take to prevent them.

A Cavity Vaccine Coming Soon?

Researchers at The Forsyth Institute have made significant advances in research to develop a vaccine against cavities, according to Martin Taubman and Daniel J. Smith. 5 billion people suffer from tooth decay, and dental cavities affect 60 percent to 90 percent of U.S. school children and most adults. In the United States, dental caries remain the most common childhood disease -- five times more common than asthma, according to The World Oral Health Report.

The dentists have discovered molecules that can stimulate a human immune response and have successfully conducted immunization trials in animal models.

The global epidemic of dental caries highlights the growing imperative to develop a vaccine to prevent cavities, says Taubman.

A full report of the scientific and public-health imperative for a vaccine against dental caries will be published in the July issue of Nature Reviews Immunology.