the-psoriasis-treatment

As if we needed any more reason to pick on Body Mass Index (BMI): new research finds that this most accepted approach for assessing overweight and obesity based on height and weight could lead to misclassification of young Asian-American women as healthy when they're really "skinny fat," which could put them at greater risk for type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. In my last post , I discussed the scary, growing problem of sarcopenic obesity  (aka "skinny fat") in older adults, described as age-related muscle loss in combination with the accumulation of body fat. One common result of sarcopenic obesity is a misclassification using BMI as "normal-weight" in these aged individuals. Misclassification in older adults with sarcopenic obesity is just one reason why BMI is loathed by those interested in public health. Sadly, I learned at Experimental Biology, misclassification also occurs frequently across all ages depending on ethnicity. Asian America...

With all the attention given to body fat, a result of the high prevalence of obesity and type 2 diabetes, skeletal muscle is often given the back seat. Yet holding on to lean muscle mass alone, in itself, may be the most important factor in avoiding health problems above. What's often forgotten is that skeletal muscle is a metabolically active tissue that plays a critical role in consuming energy and determining metabolic rate, it's the large site for fat burning, and it's a primary site for blood glucose disposal. It's time to give muscle its due. When you reach age 60 or older, it gets harder to keep, let alone build, muscle. The reasons are a combination of lack of energy, exercise, dietary protein, and hormones. One more is a blunted protein synthesis response that is described as anabolic resistance in aging. Left to run their course, these factors eventually bring on a decrease of muscle mass over time, or sarcopenia. The loss is also often accom...

By the year 2050, the number of people in the world over 80 years old will reach 370 million. About 50 percent of adults currently 85 and older have Alzheimer’s disease. The statistics are sobering and warn of a growing and serious epidemic. A high prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease, which is a debilitating and costly disease, can severely impact the population. With this perspective, the American Society for Nutrition hosted a symposium on the nutritional prevention of cognitive decline on Wednesday at Experimental Biology in San Diego. At the event, speakers presented a comprehensive overview of epidemiological, animal, and clinical trials regarding the role of B vitamins, omega-3s, vitamin D, and caffeinated beverages such as coffee and tea in the prevention and treatment of cognitive impairment. Martha Morris, Ph.D., an epidemiologist at Tufts University, discussed the relationship of folic acid, B12, and homocysteine to age-related cognitive decline, dementia, and Alzheimer’s dise...

Workplace programs are an effective and worthwhile way for employers to help improve the health of their employees and reduce medical costs, scientists said Tuesday at Experimental Biology 2012 in San Diego at a session organized by the American Society for Nutrition.  The medical expenses for employees who are obese are estimated at about 42 percent higher than for those with a healthy weight, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Yet for the approximately 60 percent of Americans who are employed, it may be the workplace itself that is at the root of weight gain in the first place. Shirley Beresford, Ph.D., professor of epidemiology of University of Washington, expressed optimism that workplace obesity programs could help reduce obesity based on a history of research. She explained that programs offered a way for employers to partner in intervention; however, she noted that the enthusiasm of employees for behavioral change may fall short. The trouble wi...

There is little question that nutrition provides the foundation of health and wellbeing and that research into better nutrition is central to enabling a population live healthier, more productive, and longer lives. With this perspective in mind, the American Society for Nutrition assembled a working group of leading nutrition thought leaders to identify a list of nutritional research areas that required greater or further analysis and prioritization. In a symposium entitled "The Future of Nutrition Research" on Tuesday at Experimental Biology 2012 (#EB2012), these thought leaders outlined what was generally agreed as the six areas of nutrition research that deserved attention. The areas of the research comprised of the following: Understand variability in responses to diet and food—a broad area that includes research in epigenetics, proteomics, and metabolomics. Understand the nutritional impact on healthy growth, development, and reproduction The role of nutrition in health ...

Lindsay Allen Efforts to curb or eliminate vitamin and mineral deficiencies globally have existed for almost a century, although there are now still as many questions if not more than ever before about what the next steps should be. There are seldom solutions that are simple to guide public policy internationally and there remain large challenges when it comes to making informed recommendations.  Lindsay Allen, Ph.D., R.D, who is the 2012-2013 recipient of the E. V. McCollum International Lectureship in Nutrition, discussed a new way forward to improve the health of infants, children, and pregnant women internationally on April 22 at the McCollum Lecture organized by the American Society for Nutrition at Experimental Biology 2012 in San Diego. She currently serves as the Center Director of the USDA, ARS Western Human Nutrition Research Center.  She discussed the challenges faced in global research and policy on micronutrient deficiencies as well as new methodologies on th...

The scientific community lashed out against "sugar is toxic" sensationalism on Sunday, April 22, identifying it as a distraction from more meaningful areas of research and debate on the causes of obesity and disease. In a highly attended debate at Experimental Biology 2012 in San Diego sponsored by the Corn Refiners Association, scientists expressed clear frustration about the repeated assaults on sugar both in recent news reports and in the scientific literature. "You don't often see this at a meeting," said John White, Ph.D., of White Technical Research, to me after the event, referring to what he said was "the groundswell of researchers pushing back" against inflammatory remarks and overstatements. The symposium organized by the American Society for Nutrition showcased both sides of the controversy surrounding the metabolic effects and health implications of sugar—fructose, sucrose, and high-fructose corn syrup—using latest available and emerging sc...

What is wrong with "eat less, move more"? Most of us are familiar with this mantra as weight-loss advice. However, a new consensus statement from the American Society for Nutrition ( ASN ) and the International Life Sciences Institute ( ILSI ) contends that this energy-in-energy-out framework isn't really so simple. The problem lies in that consuming fewer calories and burning more through physical activity doesn’t always translate well to weight management. That is not to say that the framework of energy balance—negative energy balance for weight loss; positive energy balance for weight—is wrong. At some level, it’s right; however, several factors come into the equation. During a Saturday morning session of Experimental Biology ( #EB2012 ) in San Diego, Calif., researchers discussed the topic of this complexity and promoting a new paradigm on energy balance. Energy balance is not just about addition of diet and exercise; each affects the other, so that changing one chang...

Carotenoids are thought to protect against Alzheimer's disease because of their antioxidant properties and their accumulation in the brain. However, a new study from Tufts University is putting the theory into question. More than a century has passed since the German physician Dr. Alois Alzheimer first presented evidence on the case of Auguste Deter, who at only 51 suffered from severe memory loss and other psychological changes. At autopsy, Dr. Alzheimer found his patient had severe shrinkage and abnormal deposits of the nerve cells. "That was in 1906," said nutritionist Annie Roe, a USDA researcher at Tufts University, who presented her laboratory's findings on April 21 at Experimental Biology 2012 in San Diego. "There's still disparity among scientists as to the etiology of this rapidly growing disease as we now know as Alzheimer's disease." Currently, in the United States there are 5.3 million people with Alzheimer's disease. Unless new metho...

Sci-comm thrives on social media.  "Writing is thinking on paper" is one of the many beautiful phrases by William Zinsser, author of On Writing Well . Only, if Zinsser had put those words down more than three decades later, he might have added that writing is also thinking on blogs, Twitter, Facebook, and Google+. As I prepare to head off to San Diego for Experimental Biology ( #EB2012 )—where I’ll be  blogging  about The American Society for Nutrition's meeting—I’ve been thinking a good deal about Zinsser’s phrase and about Mary Canady's ( @comprendia ) call  for those attending #EB2012Tweetup  to share their new media science communications success stories. My own story begins with me simply blogging and tweeting as a way to think  and as a way to remember what it was that I thought .  I learned early on that I was never very good at thinking about new information clearly or remembering my thoughts later—unless I wrote my thoughts dow...

Welcome new followers! I'm excited to report that I've been selected as official blogger for The American Society for Nutrition ( ASN ) 76th Scientific Sessions and Annual Meeting in conjunction with  Experimental Biology 2012  (EB 2012) on April 21 through 25 in San Diego, Calif. Click here for a peek at the preliminary program. What exactly is EB 2012? The conference is a highly anticipated annual event where six scientific societies hold their joint scientific sessions and annual meetings. Besides ASN, other societies represented are: the American Association of Anatomists ( AAA ), the American Physiological Society ( APS ), the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology( ASBMB ), the American Society for Investigative Pathology ( ASIP ), and the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics ( ASPET ). The conference attracts leading researchers from several different life-science disciplines. There will be new findings presented and it ...