Body Mass Index (BMI)

To Lower Your Risk of Cancer, Look to Your Waist

By: Austin Perlmutter, Medical Student, Miller School of Medicine Years of data now clearly demonstrate connections between obesity and increased risk for cancer. However, a new study published in the well-respected medical journal, The Lancet, is one of the first to examine this risk on a large scale. With over 5 million participants, the actual data is even […]

Visceral Fat and Hypertension: A Link?

MedPageToday.com Published: Sep 2, 2014 By Nancy Walsh, Senior Staff Writer, MedPage Today Action Points Normotensive participants were followed for a median of 7 years for the development of hypertension (systolic blood pressure) in order to determine the relationship of fat distribution with incident hypertension. Increased visceral adiposity, as determined by imaging studies, but not […]

Exercise May Shield Older Women From Afib

MedPageToday.com Published: Aug 21, 2014 By Salynn Boyles, Contributing Writer, MedPage Today Story Source Action Points Note that this analysis of the Women’s Health Initiative found a link between higher body mass index and new-onset atrial fibrillation. Be aware that regular exercise decreased the risk of atrial fibrillation, particularly among overweight and obese women. High-intensity […]

Body-mass index and risk of 22 specific cancers: a population-based cohort study of 5·24 million UK adults

The Lancet, 08/21/2014  Evidence Based Medicine Story Source Bhaskaran K, et al. – High body–mass index (BMI) predisposes to several site–specific cancers, but a large–scale systematic and detailed characterisation of patterns of risk across all common cancers adjusted for potential confounders has not previously been undertaken. Authors aimed to investigate the links between BMI and […]

High BMI, intensive physical activity increased risk of knee replacement

OrthopedicsToday August 18, 2014 Patients with osteoarthritis who had high body mass index and performed intensive physical activity at work experienced a higher risk of having a knee replacement, according to study results. Researchers prospectively followed 315,495 patients who underwent knee replacement and identified through the Norwegian Arthroplasty Register. Cox proportional hazard regression was used […]

Antibiotics Early in Life May Boost Obesity Risk

MedPageToday.com Published: Aug 17, 2014 By Salynn Boyles, Contributing Writer, MedPage Today Exposure to antibiotics early in life may permanently alter gut microbes in a way that could increase obesity risk years later, researchers reported. In a study that compared outcomes in mice given low-dose penicillin versus those who were not, infancy was identified as […]

Excess Weight May Fuel Many Cancer Types

-Increasing body size had significant associations with 10 common types of cancer, a study involving more than 5 million people showed. by Charles Bankhead, Staff Writer, MedPage Today August 14, 2014 Increasing body size had significant associations with 10 common types of cancer, a study involving more than 5 million people showed. Overall, body mass […]

Morbidly Obese Have Death Risk Similar to Smokers

Marcia Frellick July 08, 2014 Extremely obese people — those with a body mass index (BMI) greater than 40 kg/m2 — have higher mortality rates, and most of these additional deaths are caused by cancer, heart disease, and diabetes, according to a study published online July 8 in PLOS Medicine. Cari Kitahara, PhD, from the […]

Musculoskeletal pain in obese compared with healthy-weight children

Tsiros MD, et al. Clin J Pain. 2014 Jul;30(7):583-8. doi: 10.1097/AJP.0000000000000017. PubMed Reference Abstract OBJECTIVES: To investigate whether obesity is associated with musculoskeletal pain in children. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Obese (n=107) and healthy-weight (n=132) 10- to 13-year-old children (132 males, 107 females) participated in an observational case-control study. Children self-reported pain location (excluding abdominal pain), […]

Physical Activity, Obesity, Weight Change, and Risk for AF

Research · June 06, 2014 Story Source TAKE-HOME MESSAGE In 14,219 participants of the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study, BMI, weight change, and weight loss/gain of >5% of initial body weight were positively associated with the risk for atrial fibrillation (AF). In men, but not women, physical activity had a small protective effect on the […]

Waist-to-Height Ratio Plus BMI Identifies Obese at Highest CVD Risk

Medscape Medical News Lisa Nainggolan June 02, 2014 SOFIA, Bulgaria — A new study has shown that combining 2 ways of assessing a person’s size — body mass index (BMI) and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) — may be a better way of identifying which overweight and obese individuals are at highest risk for cardiovascular disease and […]

Obesity Will Surpass Smoking as Biggest CV Risk Factor

Heartwire Marlene Busko May 22, 2014 Medscape Article OTTAWA, ON — Within a year, obesity will overtake smoking as the number-one modifiable cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factor in Canada, researchers predict[1]. Moreover, the prevalence of diabetes is expected to increase over the next seven years, according to this study, which was published online May 20, […]

Weight and glycemic control may significantly impact individuals who develop sustained forms of Atrial Fibrillation

Factors Associated With Persistent vs Paroxysmal AF Research · May 01, 2014 TAKE-HOME MESSAGE In middle-aged women without atrial fibrillation (AF) or cardiovascular disease at baseline, increasing age, body mass index, and weight were strongly associated with the development of nonparoxysmal vs paroxysmal AF. Baseline glycated hemoglobin levels were associated with the development of nonparoxysmal […]

Meta-Analysis of BMI and Survival in Breast Cancer Patients

Research · April 27, 2014 TAKE-HOME MESSAGE In this large meta-analysis of 82 studies evaluating the association between obesity and breast cancer survival, investigators found that increased BMI before or after breast cancer diagnosis and treatment was associated with a significant increased risk of total and breast cancer–specific mortality, in both pre- and post-menopausal women. This […]

Off the Lifestyle Hook with Statins? Study Shows Weight Gain, More Calories Consumed

Medscape Michael O’Riordan April 24, 2014 SAN DIEGO, CA — Individuals prescribed statin therapy for high cholesterol levels have increased their caloric intake by nearly 10% and their intake of fat by 14% over a recent 10-year period, while no changes in eating habits have been observed among statin nonusers, a new study shows[1]. In […]

Obesity Boosts Risk for Persistent Pain After Car Crash

Medscape Medical News > Conference News Fran Lowry May 15, 2014 Story Source TAMPA, Florida — Overweight and obese individuals have an increased risk of having persistent moderate or severe neck pain after a motor vehicle collision that can last up to a year. This finding should be one more reason to get overweight individuals […]

Overweight and Obesity Linked to Age-Related Cataract

Research · April 03, 2014 Full Story Journal Reference   TAKE-HOME MESSAGE This meta-analysis of six longitudinal cohort studies revealed that overweight (defined as BMI of 25 to 29.9 kg/m2) was significantly associated with the development of posterior subcapsular (PSC) cataracts, while obesity (defined as BMI > 30 kg/m2) was significantly associated with nuclear, cortical, […]

Do Fat Teens Face an Early Death?

Published: Apr 2, 2014 By Salynn Boyles, Contributing Writer, MedPage Today Full Story Action Points Body mass index at adolescence is associated with all-cause mortality in adulthood. In contrast to a documented decrease in mortality rates in normal weight participants, mortality rates among overweight and obese adolescents did not improve in the last 40 years. […]

Weight change following TKA, THA affects outcome

March 25, 2014 Patients who lose weight after joint replacement surgery have better clinical outcomes and activity levels, according to data presented at the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Annual Meeting. “Our findings represent the first report to present evidence that weight loss is associated with improved clinical outcomes, while weight gain is associated with […]

BMI and Mortality in Adults With Type 2 Diabetes

N. Engl. J. Med 2014 Jan 16;370(3)233-244, DK Tobias, A Pan, CL Jackson, EJ O’Reilly, EL Ding, WC Willett, JE Manson, FB Hu Research · January 30, 2014 Full Story Journal Reference TAKE-HOME MESSAGE Some studies have reported an “obesity paradox” whereby being overweight vs being normal or underweight was associated with lower mortality in patients […]