Thursday, October 23, 2008

How we eat, can make a difference

According to a new study from Japan, published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), the combination of eating quickly and eating until full was associated with being overweight. That effect was observed, regardless of how many calories were consumed. The study enrolled 3287 adults, and was designed to examine whether eating until full and/or eating quickly, are associated with being overweight.

Eating to fullness doubled the odds of being overweight. Eating quickly also doubled the chance of becoming overweight. This reminds me of a previous posting a little less than a year ago.

The source article:

Maruyama K, Sato S, Ohira T, Maeda K, Noda H, Kubota Y, Nishimura S, Kitamura A, Kiyama M, Okada T, Imano H, Nakamura M, Ishikawa Y, Kurokawa M, Sasaki S, Iso H. The joint impact on being overweight of self reported behaviours of eating quickly and eating until full : cross sectional survey. BMJ. 2008 Oct 21;337:a2002. [PMID: 18940848] (Full Article)

Monday, October 13, 2008

First Heart Attack - How Young?

A study from Michigan gave an answer to a question: Can obesity make someone suffer a heart attack at a younger age? The authors examined the data of 111,847 patients who suffered from a type of heart attacks called "non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI)." They found that the leanest individuals whose BMI was 18.5 kg/m(2) or less, developed that type of heart attacks at an average age of 74.6 years, compared to those with BMI of 40 or above, whose average age for the first heart attack was only 58.7 years.

Notice that a BMI of less than 18.5 is considered, by definition, underweight (see the Bariatric Surgery Glossary), which is abnormal and not healthy. Remember, the benefits of a healthy heart can only be realized in an overall healthy body. Having said so, the contribution of obesity to the premature occurrence of a heart attack cannot be ignored. We should do everything possible to treat and prevent obesity when as young as possible, to help preventing life-threatening complications.

Reference:

Madala MC, Franklin BA, Chen AY, Berman AD, Roe MT, Peterson ED, Ohman EM, Smith SC Jr, Gibler WB, McCullough PA; CRUSADE Investigators. Obesity and age of first non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2008 Sep 16;52(12):979-85. [PMID: 18786477] (Abstract)

Monday, October 6, 2008

Overweight, Excessive Insulin Secretion and Higher Prostate Cancer Mortality

This time, a men's health topic. A new study from Boston, published in a Lancet Oncology Early Online Publication on October 6, 2008, presented evidence that being overweight, and/or having excessive insulin secretion (as indicated by a high plasma C-peptide concentration), increases the risk for death in prostate cancer.

The study reported on 2546 men who are participants in a Physicians' Health Study of 24 years, and who developed prostate cancer. Patients who started off being overweight or obese a higher risk for death from prostate cancer, compared to normal-weight men Patients who were both obese and who also had high insulin levels had four times the risk compared to controls. The authored cautioned "Further studies are now needed to confirm these findings."

The study confirms previous evidence regarding the relationship between prostate cancer mortality and obesity. Although diabetes is associated with lower risk of prostate cancer, the new study suggests a correlation to high secretion of insulin, which is a characteristic of insulin resistance. Insulin resistance is common in overweight and obese people. Despite the complex relationship, being overweight or obese appears to have an all in all bad effect on those who develop prostate cancer.

References:

Ma J, Li H, Giovannucci E, Mucci L, Qiu W, Nguyen PL, Gaziano JM, Pollak M, Stampfer MJ. Prediagnostic body-mass index, plasma C-peptide concentration, and prostate cancer-specific mortality in men with prostate cancer: a long-term survival analysis. Lancet Oncology Early Online Publication. October 6, 2008. (Abstract)


Smith MR, Bae K, Efstathiou JA, Hanks GE, Pilepich MV, Sandler HM, Shipley WU. Diabetes and mortality in men with locally advanced prostate cancer: RTOG 92-02. J Clin Oncol. 2008 Sep 10;26(26):4333-9. [PMID: 18779620] (Abstract)