The newest target of the worldwide “Go Green” campaign is obesity. Virtually everyone understands the concepts of reduce, reuse, and recycle in the context of being better stewards of the environment, but now “reduce” may mean reducing your waistline. An article recently published in the International Journal of Epidemiology, suggests that the prevalence of obesity in the population today significantly contributes to greenhouse gas emissions and climate change.

Of the nearly 7 million people on the planet today, more than 1 billion are overweight, and 300 million are obese. Of course, overweight and obesity contribute to numerous health concerns, including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. But, do overweight and obesity cause global warming as well? Read more →

The obesity epidemic in the United States has stirred emotions and inspired calls for public health initiatives to get American thin. The idea of food taxes on sugar-sweetened drinks levied to curb the consumption of such beverages is discussed in an article published by the New England Journal of Medicine. The idea of an excise tax on junk food is not new, but is up for debate again as states look for ways to reduce expenditures and increase revenues in tough economic times. Read more →

More than 5 years ago in his state of the union address, President George W. Bush announced a goal that all Americans have electronic health records within 10 years. Since then, momentum has been building towards that target, but we still have a long way to go. A recent special article published online by the New England Journal of Medicine reported that less than 2% of American hospitals have a comprehensive electronic records system in place in all major clinical units. Read more →

With the intensifying call for transparency in corporate America, several pharmaceutical companies have announced plans to jump on the proverbial bandwagon early. In anticipation of the passage of the Physician Payments Sunshine Act in the U.S. Senate, Eli Lilly and Merck have announced plans to establish online registries of payments made to physicians. Additionally, Glaxo Smith Kline, Pfizer, and AstraZeneca will disclose charitable giving and change the way they financially support educational programs. Read more →

The metabolic syndrome is a group of risk factors for cardiovascular disease, including high blood pressure, impaired levels of blood cholesterol, altered glucose metabolism or insulin resistance, and obesity. These risk factors together increase the likelihood of heart disease, stroke, peripheral vascular disease, and type 2 diabetes. Now, a new study concludes that women with metabolic syndrome are also at an increased risk for dementia and cognitive dysfunction. Read more →

Diabetes in pregnancy is associated with increased morbidity for the mother and the infant. Complications of pregnancy-related diabetes include birth defects, congenital abnormalities, shoulder dislocation during delivery, cesarean delivery, excessive fetal weight and head size, and hypertension. Risk factors for gestational diabetes, or glucose intolerance first diagnosed in pregnancy, include advanced maternal age, overweight or obesity prior to pregnancy, family history of diabetes, and belonging to an ethnic group with a high prevalence of diabetes (African American, Native American, Hispanic, South or East Asian, or Pacific Islander.) A new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association finds that in addition to the well-known complications of diabetes during pregnancy, women with gestational diabetes are more likely to experience depression during and after pregnancy. Read more →