Did You Know

Drink Water with Meals to Avoid Obesity and Diabetes

Drinking water with meals could be one of the easiest ways to avoid obesity and its accompanying ills, according to new published research. T. Cornwell of University of Oregon and R. McAlister of Michigan State University detailed two studies in...

Caffeine May Stop Diabetes Memory Loss

Researchers studied mice with type 2 diabetes to show how diabetes can have an impact on the hippocampus area causing memory loss, and why the consumption of caffeine can stop this loss. The scientists showed that the long-term consumption of...

Aspirin Ingredient Helps Treat Diabetes

Researchers have revealed a connection between an ingredient in aspirin and a protein that helps to regulate cell growth and metabolism that could lead to new treatments for cancer and type 2 diabetes.They found that salicylate can improve the...

US Exercises Half as Much as It Should

Americans should exercise about twice as much as the 2 hours a week they report, researchers said, after analyzing current data on more than 100,000 respondents of all ages. The CDC recommends adults ages 18-64 get about 4 hours of physical...

Number of people with High Cholesterol Drops

Data just out from the CDC show that only 13.4% of adults in the U.S. have high cholesterol, according to data collected in 2009 and 2010. A decade earlier, 18.3% of American adults had high cholesterol. High cholesterol starts at 240 milligrams of...

Lyrica Fails in Pain Trials

Pregabalin (Lyrica) was not effective in reducing neuropathic pain associated with HIV infection or diabetes in two separate trials, the drug's manufacturer said. Pfizer has announced that the phase III HIV neuropathy study was stopped early, after...

Next Generation of U.S. Doctors Sees Gloomy Future

A majority of young doctors feel pessimistic about the future of the U.S. healthcare system, with the new healthcare law cited as the main reason. Nearly half of the 500 doctors surveyed think the Affordable Care Act, President Obama's policy...

People More Likely to Eat Fruits within Reach

A new study says that greater visibility of fruit increases their intake, but the same does not hold true for vegetables. Researchers tested a total of 96 college students by placing apple slices and carrot cuts in either clear or opaque bowls on a...

Misperception of Weight Is Key Barrier to Weight Loss

Misconception about one's weight is an important barrier to weight loss in obese people, a new study has revealed. "This misperception is important because the first step in dealing with a weight problem is knowing that you have one," Margarita...

Medicare Fund Exhausted by 2024

Funding for Medicare will be exhausted in 2024, according to the annual report from the program's trustees, but federal health officials note that the program would run dry eight years sooner if not for the Affordable Care Act. The good news is...

Hops Used in Beer Reduce Weight Gain in Diabetes and the Obese

A class of compounds found in hops reduces weight gain in obese and diabetic mice, according to a published study. Eight weeks of treatment with the compounds, called tetrahydro iso-alpha acids, also reduced gut permeability and normalized insulin...

10 Least Obese Cities

A poll released last week reveals that, overall, our nation's cities are getting fatter. But the 10 least-obese areas are bucking that trend, with an average obesity rate of 15.9%, well below the national average of 26.1%, and half that of the...

Fasting Lowers Diabetes Risk

A new study tested whether routine periodic fasting is associated with diabetes and showed more evidence for modest benefits derived from intermittent fasting. "Previously we discovered that routine periodic fasting was associated with a lower...

Selenium Supplements May Increase Risk for Type 2 Diabetes

Selenium supplementation might predispose some people to diabetes if they already have adequate levels of the metal, the author of a review cautioned. One study of more than 1,200 Americans found that those who took 200 micrograms of selenium daily...

Skipping Breakfast Increases Diabetes Risk 20 Percent in Men

If you avoid breakfast, watch out, because scientists have found that men regularly skipping their morning meal are more likely to develop diabetes. The study discovered that missing out on food first thing in the morning increases a man's chances...

Children Get 16% of Calories from Added Sugar

Data from the National Center for Health Statistics show that children are getting an average of 322 calories a day from added sugar, or about 16% of calories they consume each day. A study found that 59% of added-sugar calories come from food and...

Green Coffee Beans May Aid Weight Loss

In a small, 22-week study, researchers found that 16 overweight men and women lost an average of 17 pounds. Overall, body weight declined by an average of 10.5% and body fat declined by 16%. Participants took the green (unroasted) coffee beans in...

More Frequently Eating Chocolate Related to Lower BMI

Consumption of certain types of chocolate has been linked to some favorable metabolic associations with blood pressure, insulin sensitivity and cholesterol level. Beatrice A. Golomb, M.D., Ph.D., with the University of California, studied 1,018 men...

Statins May Curb Parkinson's Disease Risk

Regular use of cholesterol-lowering statins may help reduce the risk for Parkinson's disease (PD), particularly in adults younger than age 60 years. The data suggest that long-term use of statins could provide a benefit against risk of developing...

Keep Dieting Simple for Success, Nutrition Experts Say

Dieters have the option of many weight-loss plans and programs, but too much information can become paralyzing, nutrition experts say. They add that all plans can get results if people stick to them and are accountable. Gary Foster of Temple...

Coffee Drinking Decreases Risk for Diabetes and Is Not Linked to Chronic Illnesses

Researchers collected information on coffee drinking habits, diet, exercise and health from more than 42,000 adults without any chronic conditions. Nine years later, they found that coffee drinkers and non-drinkers were similarly likely to develop...

iPads Provide Better Patient Care

Although electronic health records can result in more time spent at computer workstations rather than patients' beds, the use of an iPad increased efficiency and provided better patient care, researchers found. When 115 internal medicine residents...

Statins Cost Four Times More in US than UK

The cost of statins in the US is radically higher than the costs paid for the same brands in the UK. Statin costs were as much as 400% higher in the US than in the UK. Statins are prescribed in far greater numbers in the US. Thirty-three percent of...

Nutrition Labels Now on Meat Packages

Starting on March 10, nutrition labels found on almost all packaged foods can be found for ground meat and poultry. Forty of the most popular whole, raw cuts or meat and poultry, such as chicken breast or steak, also will have nutritional...

Patients Perceive Ice Cream and Cookies as Healthy Snacks

Consumers' perceptions of what constitutes a healthy snack are subjective, but even so, 86% of shoppers consider fresh fruit a healthy snack, and 73% believe raw vegetables are a healthy snack, according to a recent consumer survey by Mintel, a...

Sitting for Seven Hours a Day Raises Diabetes Risk in Women

The study found women who spend the most time sitting down during the week are more likely to show early signs of type 2 diabetes than those who are more active. Blood tests revealed they had higher levels of markers that suggest the body is well...

Insulet, LifeScan Partner Up

Insulet and LifeScan have entered a partnership through which the latter's OneTouch blood-glucose monitoring technology will be integrated into the former's OmniPod Personal Diabetes Manager. They will develop a new PDM for the OmniPod tubeless...

Most Consumers Don't Understand Nutritional Labels

A survey of more than 25,000 consumers in 56 countries, found that about 6 out of 10 consumers (59%) have difficulty comprehending nutritional labels and just 52% understood them "in part." Consumers in North America showed the most confidence in...

Weight Loss Can be Contagious

According to a new study, teammates in a team-based weight loss competition significantly influenced each other’s weight loss, suggesting that shedding pounds can have a ripple effect. Team members not only achieved similar weight loss...

Wider Hips Protects against Metabolic Disorders Such as Diabetes

Adrian Cameron from Deakin University, study co-author, stated that, "We knew that higher hip circumference was protective against metabolic diseases such as diabetes as well as death…. However, we did not know that taking waist and hip...

Medicare to Cover Obesity Prevention Services

Under the new benefit, Medicare beneficiaries are eligible to receive free obesity screenings, and individuals identified as obese (BMI of 30 kg/m2 or greater) are also eligible for free obesity counseling in primary care settings. The counseling...

Women with Small Breasts Have Less Type 2 Diabetes

Researchers at Harvard University and the University of Toronto surveyed 92,106 women and found those who had a D-cup or larger at the age of 20 were at around three times higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes than those with an A-cup. Harvard...

Dietary Fiber as a Treatment for Type 2 Diabetes

Evidence of the relationship between fiber intake and control of diabetes is mixed. The purpose of the study was to determine if an increase in dietary fiber affects glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) and fasting blood glucose in patients with type 2...

NYC Subway Ads Warn People against Supersizing Meals

The New York City health department launched a subway advertising campaign to warn people about the health risks of eating supersize portions. The restaurant industry said it is being unfairly attacked, but the department's Gretchen Van Wye said...

One Percent of the U.S. Accounts for 22% of All Healthcare Spending

But, it's better than it once was. That figure was up slightly from the previous year's 20%, but is still smaller than it was in 1996, when the top 1% of healthcare spenders accounted for 28% of total healthcare expenditures. Average per capita...

Study Finds Babies Born after 1970 Are Bigger at Birth

A new study showed that babies born in southwestern Ohio after 1970 were an estimated 1 pound heavier and more than half an inch longer compared with babies born in earlier decades. Researchers found that modern babies and counterparts in previous...

Coffee Drinkers at Reduced Risk of Type 2 Diabetes

Scientists are offering a new solution to that long-standing mystery as to why heavy coffee drinkers have a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Ling Zheng, Kun Huang and colleagues explain that previous studies show that coffee drinkers are at...

Ten U.S. States Will See Highest Diabetes Prevalence and Cost

A new study conducted by the Institute for Alternative Futures and funded by Novo Nordisk highlighted the top 10 U.S. states that are labeled as "diabetes hot spots" and are projected to carry the brunt of the epidemic over the next 15 years. The...

Patients Want to Read and Share Their Medical Records

Patients want easy access to any notes their doctor has recorded about them, and they want the right to let others view their medical information, according to a pair of U.S. studies, which surveyed more than 37,000 patients and more than 170...

Appetite-curbing Hormone Helps to Lose Weight

Obese patients with or without diabetes who took a minimum dosage of the appetite-suppressing glucagon-like peptide-1 hormone for at least 20 weeks lost more weight than people in control groups from a review of 25 studies in the British Medical...