Scientific American Topic - Obesity

Does Getting Fat Protect against Fat?

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 08:10:08 EST

Everyone knows that obesity is bad for your health. Packing on the pounds, we’re told, leads to all sorts of medical problems: high cholesterol, insulin resistance, greater risk of diabetes and heart disease. But researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center see things a little differently. In a paper in the journal Trends in Endocrinology and Metabolism [see http://bit.ly/bKaP33 ], they argue that being fat can actually protect us from these disorders. [More]

Genetics in the Gut: Intestinal Microbes Could Drive Obesity and Other Health Issues

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 19:00:00 EST

Outnumbering our human cells by about 10 to one, the many minuscule microbes that live in and on our bodies are a big part of crucial everyday functions. The lion's share live in the intestinal tract, where they help fend off bad bacteria and aid in digesting our dinners. But as scientists use genetics to uncover what microbes are actually present and what they're doing in there, they are discovering that the bugs play an even larger role in human health than previously suspected--and perhaps at times exerting more influence than human genes themselves. [More]

Waste Land: Does the Large Amount of Food Discarded in the U.S. Take a Toll on the Environment?

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 13:00:00 EST

Dear EarthTalk: What are the environmental implications of all the food we throw away here in the United States? --Mike Schiller, Cambridge, Mass. [More]

Test-Tube Babies May Face Greater Health Risks Than Naturally Conceived Children

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 18:15:00 EST

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Shot in the Arm: Has the U.S. Invested Enough Health Stimulus Money in Prevention?

Wed, 17 Feb 2010 15:45:00 EST

As lawmakers divvied up billions of dollars last year to address the nation's fiscal crisis via the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), they did not skimp on funding health . About one of every six and a half ARRA dollars went to programs at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)--the single largest allocation for any federal agency. Less than 1 percent of those monies, however, are going toward keeping people from getting sick in the first place. [More]

Chronic health conditions in children are on the rise

Tue, 16 Feb 2010 16:40:00 EST

The prevalence of chronic health conditions among children in the U.S. doubled between 1994 and 2006, according to a study published in the February 17 issue of JAMA The Journal of the American Medical Association . [More]

Genetic Doping Next Athletic Cheat

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 09:42:08 EST

The Vancouver Olympics begin February 12th. And scientists are on high alert. Not just for well-known ways to gain an advantage, like steroids or blood doping. The researchers are also worried about what’s called genetic doping. It’s the latest in elite athletic cheating.

Researchers writing in the journal Science point to a few different types of gene therapy that could get hijacked for athletics instead of medical uses, like the treatment of obesity, diabetes or muscle disease. For example, genes for insulin-like growth factor could enhance muscle mass. And molecules that regulate the expression of genes may make athletes more energy efficient, or help create more slow-twitch muscle fibers.

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Readers Respond on "Squeezing More Oil from the Ground"

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 08:00:00 EST

End or No End? In “ Squeezing More Oil from the Ground ,” Leonardo Maugeri, director of strategies and development of an international oil company, expresses the conventional view of his profession, assuming a world of near-infinite oil resources to be produced under market forces. Maugeri is particularly dismissive of our Scientific American article “The End of Cheap Oil” [March 1998]. It is difficult to find fault with at least its title, considering that the average price of oil over the preceding 10 years was $28 a barrel but rose to $45 over the ensuing decade to reach a peak of almost $150 in 2008.

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You'll Go Blind: Does Watching Television Close-Up Really Harm Eyesight?

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 13:00:00 EST

Dear EarthTalk: Years ago I read that children should be kept at least two feet from the television because of harmful electronic emissions. Is this still relevant? Is there a difference regarding this between older and new flat-screen models? --Horst E. Mehring, Oconomowoc, Wisc.

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Immune Response May Worsen Alzheimer's

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 10:00:00 EST

Inflammation in the body has gotten a bad rap recently, thanks to the exacerbating role it may play in health problems such as heart disease and cancer. Now there may be one more malady to add to the list: Alzheimer’s disease.

When inflammation arises in the body as a result of infection or injury, the immune response also appears to accelerate memory loss in people with Alzheimer’s, according to a recent study published in the journal Neurology . In this study of changes in patients’ cognitive abilities over a span of six months, Alzheimer’s patients who had chronic (ongoing) inflammation as a result of, for instance, obesity or arthritis experienced four times the amount of memory loss as compared with patients without such inflammation. And those with chronic inflammation who also experienced an acute immune response (short-term, such as from an infection) were even worse off: their memory loss accelerated 10 times faster than patients without any inflammation.

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Perilous Plastics?: FDA Joins Other U.S. Health Agencies in Chorus of Concern about BPA

Fri, 15 Jan 2010 16:31:00 EST

Discard scratched baby bottles and sippy cups. Do not put hot liquids into plastic containers for infants. Most importantly, breast-feed infants if at all possible. [More]

Study Finds Exposure to Chemical Pollutants Increases Fat

Fri, 15 Jan 2010 13:50:00 EST

Researchers have for the first time found a connection between exposure to certain chemicals and insulin resistance , according to a study published in the online edition of Environmental Health Perspectives .

A group of European scientists examined whether exposure to persistent organic pollutants (POPs) contributed to insulin resistance, which has been increasing around the world. More than 25 percent of U.S. adults suffer from metabolic conditions stemming from insulin resistance that include fatigue, obesity and difficulty regulating blood levels of fat and sugar.

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Chemical in Many Consumer Plastics Linked to Heart Disease

Wed, 13 Jan 2010 20:01:00 EST

Higher concentrations of bisphenol A--a common ingredient in plastics found in products ranging from polyester to water bottles--have been linked to heart disease , according to a new follow-up study. A similar study was performed by the same team in 2008 using older data from a survey conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). [More]

Turn On, Tune In, Drop Dead

Wed, 13 Jan 2010 08:38:08 EST

Attention, couch potatoes. Every hour spent on the sofa watching TV, whether it’s Iron Chef or Biggest Loser, is bad for your heart. Researchers tracked the viewing habits and health of nearly 9,000 adults to come up with the not-too-surprising finding, published in the journal Circulation . What’s alarming is just how bad being fused to your Lazyboy turns out to be.

For every hour glued to the boob tube each day, a participant's risk of death from cardiovascular disease shot up 18 percent. Viewers who tuned in daily for four hours or longer were 80 percent more likely to die from cardiovascular disease compared with people who watched TV for two hours or less each day.

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A device that curbs speed eating could help obese children and adolescents cut the fat

Wed, 06 Jan 2010 15:00:00 EST

Wolfing down a meal in record time can lead to more than digestive discomfort and possible acclaim in food-eating contests. Studies have warned that speed eaters can easily become overeaters , possibly because they lose track of how sated they are amidst hurried bites. Moreover, the pattern of consuming large portions of food quickly is associated with obesity in children, adolescents and adults. [More]

Could Re-Wilding Avert the 6th Great Extinction? [Slide Show]

Tue, 05 Jan 2010 16:01:00 EST

Editor's Note: The following is an excerpt from Caroline Fraser's book Rewilding the World .

Over the years, coyotes ate many of Michael Soulé’s cats. For most people, this might have been the end of the story, a nasty reminder of nature’s darker proclivities. But Michael Soulé is not most people.

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Obesity is now just as much of a drag on health as smoking

Tue, 05 Jan 2010 00:01:00 EST

In case anyone needs a reminder to stick to that New Year's resolution to slim down or kick the cigarette habit, researchers have confirmed that obesity and smoking are still the country's leading contributors to preventable deaths and illnesses. In fact, the new findings, from a 16-year survey of more than 3.5 million adults, reveal that being overweight has taken the lead as contributing the most to preventable poor health in the U.S. [More]

Natural Pot-Like Compound Could Fight Obesity

Tue, 29 Dec 2009 10:19:08 EST

Could there be a substance that both gives us the munchies and can help combat obesity? There may indeed be, according to research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences .

The Monell Center in Pennsylvania partnered with Kyushu University in Japan to study compounds called endocannabinoids. These occur naturally in our body and are similar to THC, the compound primarily responsible for marijuana’s psychoactive effects.

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Christmas Season Science

Wed, 23 Dec 2009 16:35:08 EST

Scientific American daily podcast contributor Karen Hopkin talks about a few recent studies related to the science of the Christmas season.

Podcast Transcription

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Bugs Inside: What Happens When the Microbes That Keep Us Healthy Disappear?

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 09:15:00 EST

Bacteria, viruses and fungi have been primarily cast as the villains in the battle for better human health. But a growing community of researchers is sounding the warning that many of these microscopic guests are really ancient allies. [More]