underwriting
A Day in the Life – Insurance Underwriter (expert or not)
DM and Depression – Watch That Combo
In Women, Diabetes Plus Depression a Deadly Combo
Women who had diabetes had about a 35 percent increased risk of dying, and those with depression had about a 44 percent increased risk, compared with women with neither condition, the researchers calculated.
Those with both conditions had about twice the risk of dying, the study authors found.
iPhone ECG
National Folic Acid Awareness Week
Announcements: National Folic Acid Awareness Week
This is not a joke.
Richard Lehman’s Journal Review – Late Links
BMJ Group blogs: BMJ » Blog Archive » Richard Lehman’s journal review – 6 December 2010
BMJ Group blogs: BMJ » Blog Archive » Richard Lehman’s journal review – 29 November 2010
BMJ Group blogs: BMJ » Blog Archive » Richard Lehman’s journal review – 22 November 2010
Sorry for the late links. But better late than never.
As an enthusiastic regular drinker of wine, I am delighted to note the PRIME study which confirms that by doing so I halve my chance of myocardial infarction. I suppose I also increase my chance of pancreatitis, cancers of the GI tract and stroke. Perhaps liver disease too, though the literature is surprisingly obscure at levels of intake below about 100u/week. The thing not to do is binge drink, which is a common pattern in Northern Ireland, and probably increases your baseline risk of MI. I think the further north you travel, the more dysfunctional alcohol use becomes, as warm oblivion becomes ever more desirable. As if to illustrate this point, a review of frostbite finds that nearly half of it is associated with alcohol use. I bet that means vodka or whisky in most cases, and wine alone hardly ever.
Obesity and Vitamin D
Obesity May Interfere With Vitamin D Absorption
The study found an inverse relationship between excess pounds and an insufficient amount of vitamin D, which is critical to cell health, calcium absorption and proper immune function. Vitamin D deficiency can raise the risk for bone deterioration and certain types of cancer.
The researchers also suggest that overweight and obese people may have problems processing the vitamin properly.
Suicides Are Up
Amid persisting economic duress, worries rise about suicides – CSMonitor.com
Psychologists have long linked suicides to economic stresses such as unemployment or credit problems. The recent economic turmoil, in which many people have seen sliding home values, job loss, and evaporating savings, exacerbates the risk, says Nancy Zarse, an associate professor of clinical forensic psychology at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology.
Suicide is historically linked to economic downturns. The rate peaked in 1933, the height of the Great Depression, at 17.4 per 100,000 people, according to the American Association of Suicidology, which studies suicidal behavior and advocates prevention. That peak came one year after the US unemployment rate reached 25 percent, a stark contrast to the jobless rate of 0.04 percent just a few years earlier.
The suicide rate has never revisited that 1933 level, but it has increased this decade – from 10.7 per 100,000 people in 2000 to 11.5 in 2007, the last year tabulated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Those latest figures predate the worst of the Great Recession.)
The War to Our South – Update 12/18/10
Mexico touts progress in drug war, but death toll rises to 30,197 – CSMonitor.com
Mexico released figures this week showing that 30,196 people have been killed in drug-related violence over the past four years, with a record 12,456 killed from January through November, compared to 9,600 deaths in 2009 and 5,400 in 2008.
Note the fact these figures are coming from the Mexican government and are likely understated.
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