6, December 2014

Obesity can eat up 8 years of your life

In a new study, scientists have found that overweight and obese people can lose up to 8 years of their lives. 

Researchers at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC) and McGill University, examined the relationship between body weight and life expectancy, and found that obese people have the potential to decrease life expectancy by up to 8 years, and may also develop diabetes or cardiovascular disease earlier in life, and this excess weight can rob them of nearly two decades of healthy life. Lead author Dr. Steven Grover at McGill University said that their team had developed a computer model to help doctors and their patients better understand how excess body weight contributes to reduced life expectancy and premature development of heart disease and diabetes.

The researchers used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (from years 2003 to 2010) to develop a model that estimates the annual risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease in adults with different body weights. This data from almost 4,000 individuals was also used to analyze the contribution of excess body weight to years of life lost and healthy years of life lost.

Their findings estimated that individuals who were very obese could lose up to 8 years of life, obese individuals could lose up to 6 years, and those who were overweight could lose up to three years. In addition, healthy life-years lost were two to four times higher for overweight and obese individuals compared to those who had a healthy weight, defined as 18.5-25 body mass index (BMI).

The age at which the excess weight accumulated was an important factor and the worst outcomes were in those who gained their weight at earlier ages. The study is published in the current issue of The Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology.

Source: www.timesofindia.com

06.12.2014

Mentally ill people are tested more for HIV

People with mental illnesses are more likely to have been tested for HIV than those without such disorders, a new study says. 

The researchers also found that those seriously ill - afflicted with schizophrenia and bipolar disease - had the highest rate of HIV (human immuno-deficiency virus) testing. 

The team from Penn Medicine and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) assessed nationally representative data from 21,785 adult respondents from the 2007 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS). The 2007 version is the most recent cycle of the survey that included information both on mental health diagnoses and HIV testing. 

The researchers found that 15 percent of the respondents reported a psychiatric disorder. 

Of these, 89 percent had symptoms of depression and/or anxiety, 8.5 percent had bipolar disorder and 2.6 percent had schizophrenia spectrum disorder. 

Among persons reporting at least one mental illness, 48.5 percent had been tested for HIV. 

"The 48.5 percent rate compares with a testing rate of 35 percent among those without mental illness," the authors noted. 

More specifically, 64 percent of persons with schizophrenia, 63 percent of persons with bipolar disorder and 47 percent of persons with depression and/or anxiety reported being tested for HIV. 

"Our study shows that persons with mental illness and/or their care providers recognise that they are at higher risk and should be tested," said senior author Michael B. Blank, associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania in the US. 

The research appeared in the journal AIDS Patient Care and STDs.

Source: www.timesofindia.com

06.12.2014

Look at the clock when you are sitting idle. But never look at the clock when you are working

Bill Gates