ScienceBlogs.com -- one of the most well-known and highly-cited blog sites -- caused quite the hullabaloo on Twitter and the blogosphere today when they announced their newest contributor: PepsiCo. For quite some time, SEED Media (the parent company behind ScienceBlogs.com) has sold advertising space on contributors' sites. But as PalMD describes in his post, the center panel of each site is always under the direct control of the author. With the launch of the PepsiCo blog, SEED Media is in grave danger of blurring the line between advertising and content.
Read MoreAs a follow-up to my post "The Truth About Cholesterol", here's a report from Slate showing that all LDLs are not created equal, and some types are more dangerous than others. Moreover, the article discusses how America's "War on Fat" steered us away from butter and lard, but led us to an arguably more dangerous food, the refined carbohydrate. Post your thoughts!
Read MoreCheck out this study. Researchers found that when "teenage" rats (30-45 days old) consumed massive amounts of sugar, they became extremely difficult to train as adults. For two weeks or so during adolescence, one group of rats had free access to a tasty 5% sucrose solution, while the control group only had water available. Similar to some American teenagers, the experimental group of rats consumed about 20% of their daily caloric intake as simple sugar.
Read MoreWe've all heard the mantra: keep LDL levels – the “bad” cholesterol – down, and the “good” HDL cholesterol up. But thanks in part to the ubiquity of statins, such as Lipitor, which allow us to simply pop a pill to limit LDL production in the body, we've recently adopted tunnel vision when thinking about managing cholesterol. LDL levels are all we seem to care about now, as we strive for lower and lower numbers at each visit to the doctor's office. However, I think we're missing the bigger picture by focusing solely on LDL. First, it's made us reliant on medication to solve a problem that can many times be addressed with changes in diet and exercise regimes. Once someone starts Lipitor treatment, they'll be taking it for life, and if LDL levels don't quite get as low as they should, it's all too easy to solve the problem by increasing the dose. When patients first begin Lipitor treatment, physicians typically prescribe the lowest possible amount, 10mg. However, dosing can go as high as 80mg, which begs the question: Do higher doses of the drug really improve outcomes?
Read MoreDiets high in simple sugars and refined carbs cause metabolic disorders and Type II diabetes in millions of Americans. But to make matters worse, new evidence suggests that high sugar diets may be even more dangerous than we initially thought. Having too much excess sugar in the bloodstream is never a good thing, and can lead to medical complications such as kidney failure, cardiovascular disease, and eye problems. But could high blood sugar also cause cancer? A Swedish research team addressed this question by tracking over 500,000 patients for 10-25 yeas, and published their results in the December issue of PLoS Medicine.
Read MoreThe afternoon of Day 1 of the Health 2.0 Conference was highlighted by the session, "The Patient is In". First up, a video that documented the experiences of a group of people that recently started using patient health tools, such as online health journals that track diet or exercise, support sites for quitting smoking, or home blood test kits.
Read MoreTwo articles posted online got under my skin this morning, and I just couldn't resist giving my two cents. First, Tara Parker-Pope, of the New York Times says:
Read MoreMost obesity researchers now agree that metabolic differences, not willpower, are the driving forces behind weight and appetite control. Studies suggest that an imbalance of brain chemicals and hormones, including cortisol, ghrelin, leptin and serotonin, can increase cravings and make certain foods difficult to resist.
Making a choice that leads to better health is not always easy. Otherwise, we would have many more ex-smokers and far fewer holiday pounds to shed. We would have no need for nicotine gum and patches, or Weight Watcher's meetings. So if it's that difficult, why bother? For years, physicians have told the American public that reducing your calorie intake, eating a diet low in salt/sugar/saturated fat, and exercising 3-5 days per week will reduce your risk for heart disease and diabetes. Now, new information has shown that the benefits of a healthy lifestyle are even more far reaching than initially thought -- diet and exercise can affect our minds. About 5-8% of people over the age of 65, and nearly 50% of people in their 80's, show signs of dementia. As the baby-boomer generation increases the population of the 55-64 age group in the U.S. from 29 to 40 million by 2014 , and their life expectancy continues to rise, the number of people affected by dementia is poised to increase as well. Recent studies have shown that regular exercise may prove to be a potent mediator of dementia and Alzheimer's Disease. In one study, those who exercised 3 or more days per week had a 32% risk reduction in developing dementia compared to those who exercised less. Exercise has also been linked in similar studies to moderate cognitive improvements in adults who are at risk for Alzheimer's Disease, as well as a lower occurrence of vascular dementia.
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