Troubling Trends

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Early adolescence is characterized by wide-reaching hormonal changes, as well as physiological changes throughout the body. At the same time, all sorts of neural, cognitive and social shifts are happening. These changes could make social-media environments, such as those provided by Snapchat or TikTok, particularly alluring, but also especially impactful on mental health9–11. Several developmental-psychology studies have shown, for instance, that adolescents — particularly those in early to mid-adolescence — place increased importance on being able to interact with their peers, and on what their peers think of them12. Other studies suggest that although young children tend to view themselves positively, as they become adolescents, their ideas about themselves come to more closely align with what they perceive others to think of them13,14. Still more work has shown that being rejected or not being included has a greater impact on mood for those in early to mid-adolescence than for people older than 2515.

How social media affects teen mental health: a missing link — Nature 614, 410-412 (2023) — https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-00402-9

I Thought I Told You To Put That Phone Down!

If I have to tell you one more time to Put The Phone Away…

Yikes!

Kaiser Permanente $4.5B loss in 2022

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Nonprofit hospital and health plan operator Kaiser Permanente on Friday posted a $4.5 billion net loss in 2022, compared to a $8.1 billion net gain in 2021, as the integrated system struggled with billions of dollars in investment losses, a rise in care volume and ongoing labor shortages.

Kaiser’s $4.5B loss in 2022 driven by labor expenses, investment losses — https://www.healthcaredive.com/news/kaiser-reports-13b-operating-loss-2022-driven-by-expenses-inflation/642595/

Yikes.

Meet Bobi, the World’s Oldest Dog

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At 30 years and 266 days old, a Portuguese dog named Bobi was crowned the world’s oldest dog ever on February 1, breaking an almost century-old record, per Guinness World Records (GWR). The previous titleholder, an Australian cattle dog named Bluey, was born in 1910 and lived for 29 years and 5 months. 

Meet Bobi, the World’s Oldest Dog — https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/meet-bobi-the-worlds-oldest-dog-180981601/

See for yourself.

Bobi is 164 years old in human years. See https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/health/how-to-calculate-dog-years-to-human-years/

Food Addiction

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Addiction to Highly Processed Food Among Older Adults — https://www.healthyagingpoll.org/reports-more/report/addiction-highly-processed-food-among-older-adults

Read the press release here – https://ihpi.umich.edu/news/1-8-americans-over-50-show-signs-food-addiction-u-m-poll-finds

Read more about the Yale Food Addiction Scale here – https://sites.lsa.umich.edu/fastlab/yale-food-addiction-scale/

Step 1: I admit I am powerless over pizza.

The picture above is a normal size slice at Benny’s. The tall beer can was strictly in the picture to provide perspective. For more about Benny’s see https://garyskitchen.net/worship-the-whale/.

The Economic Cost of Obesity

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CONCLUSIONS: The 2-part models of instrumental variables, which estimate the causal effects of obesity on direct medical costs, showed that the effect of obesity is greater than suggested by previous studies, which estimated only correlations. Much of the aggregate national cost of obesity—$260.6 billion—represents external costs, providing a rationale for interventions to prevent and reduce obesity.

J Manag Care Spec Pharm, 2021 Mar;27(3):354-366.
https://doi.org/10.18553/jmcp.2021.20410

HT to https://www.healthcare-economist.com/2023/02/08/estimating-the-economic-cost-of-obesity/

Scary Charts – 02.06.23

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To the extent that the Fed knows anything, it knows this, and really, really wants to force that blue line down into negative territory if possible. But it also knows that doing so will send prices spiraling out of control – which is another way of saying the dollar will crash (not necessarily against the euro and the yen, which have similar problems, but against oil, lumber, eggs, milk, cars, and all the other things voters buy regularly). The result? Political and financial chaos.

Welcome To the Death Spiral — https://rubino.substack.com/p/welcome-to-the-death-spiral

YIKES!

On a positive note I’ll likely be dead when the SHTF.

The Wind Chill Hit Minus 108 at New Hampshire’s Mount Washington — smithsonianmag.com

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The 6,288-foot summit endured record-breaking conditions brought by an Arctic air mass. The mountain in north-central New Hampshire stands 6,288 feet tall and often experiences dramatic weather. But meteorologists say this weekend’s powerful winds and chilly temperatures—which dipped to as low as minus 47 degrees—were unparalleled. The previous record-low wind chill at Mount Washington was minus 102.7 degrees in 2004.

The Wind Chill Hit Minus 108 at New Hampshire’s Mount Washington — Latest articles | smithsonianmag.com

Do people change their eating habits after a diagnosis of cancer? A systematic review.  — Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics Notes

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The JHND Editor’s Pick for February 2022 is a systematic review  by Amal Aldossari, Jana Sremanakova, Anne Marie Sowerbutts, Debra Jones, Mark Hann and Sorrel Burden. This is a very timely review of the evidence as the numbers of people who are now living with and beyond cancer is at a historic high. Whilst 1 in 2 adults […]

Do people change their eating habits after a diagnosis of cancer? A systematic review.  — Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics Notes