life underwriting

Scientists identify weight loss ripple effect

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That’s the finding of a new University of Connecticut study that tracked the weight loss progress of 130 couples over six months. The researchers found that when one member of a couple commits to losing weight, the chances were good the other partner would lose some weight too, even if they were not actively participating in a weight loss intervention.

The study’s lead investigator, UConn Professor Amy Gorin, calls it a “ripple effect.”

“When one person changes their behavior, the people around them change,” says Gorin, a behavioral psychologist. “Whether the patient works with their healthcare provider, joins a community-based, lifestyle approach like Weight Watchers, or tries to lose weight on their own, their new healthy behaviors can benefit others in their lives.”

The study, published in the peer-reviewed medical journal Obesity, also found that the rate at which couples lose weight is interlinked. In other words, if one member lost weight at a steady pace, their partner did too. Likewise, if one person struggled to lose weight, their partner also struggled.

Read the entire source article here.

I wonder if there is a multiplier effect if you only associate with others trying to lose weight?  My 200 pound weight loss was done on the buddy system with my girlfriend.  It was a long time ago but between the two of us the total combined weight loss was over 250 pounds.

The weight loss was a good thing but it didn’t help our relationship.

 

Drink More Green Tea

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Conclusion

This study suggests that the consumption of green tea ≥2 times/d is associated with a reduced risk of COPD in Korean populations.

Consuming Green Tea at Least Twice Each Day Is Associated with Reduced Odds of Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease in Middle-Aged and Older Korean Adults

Drink more green tea.

Especially if you’re an older Korean.

Eat More Cashews

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Conclusion

Cashew nut supplementation in Asian Indians with T2DM reduced systolic blood pressure and increased HDL cholesterol concentrations with no deleterious effects on body weight, glycemia, or other lipid variables. This study was registered at the clinical trial registry of India as CTRI/2017/07/009022.

Cashew Nut Consumption Increases HDL Cholesterol and Reduces Systolic Blood Pressure in Asian Indians with Type 2 Diabetes: A 12-Week Randomized Controlled Trial

This explains why cashews are my favorite nut.

I’m the guy who picks out all of the cashews in a bowl of mixed nuts.

ADHD Prescriptions Skyrocket Among Young Women

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The percentage of women who filled a prescription for an ADHD medication rose from 0.9% in 2003 to 4.0% in 2015 ― an increase of 344%, the researchers report.

ADHD prescriptions increased for all subgroups of female patients aged 15 years to 44 years (analyzed in 5-year increments), and in all geographic regions of the country. The largest increase in ADHD prescriptions occurred among women aged 25 to 29 years (700% increase), followed by women aged 30 to 34 (560% increase).

WHY???  Read the Medscape article (and comments) here and the MMWR report at this link.

 

 

Mortality Falls After AF Ablation in Heart Failure

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A majority of patients in the ablation group, about 63%, were in sinus rhythm at the 60-month follow-up, compared with only 22% (P<0.001) in the group with medically managed AF, “which suggests that maintenance of sinus rhythm is beneficial when achieved without the use of antiarrhythmic drugs,” write the authors, led by Dr Nassir F Marrouche (University of Utah Health, Salt Lake City).

Read the source article here.

 

Tom Petty’s COD Lesson for Underwriters

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Good article from The Dose Makes the Poison blog.  You can read the entire article here.

I found the following excerpt fascinating.  The bold lines are my highlights.

From a general forensic toxicology standpoint, the real takeaway is that this is a dangerous combination of substances to use concurrently. He was consuming two powerful opioid and two potent benzodiazepines which when used together can create synergistic effects and exaggerated central nervous system depression. Add that situation to an already compromised cardiovascular and respiratory system, and it’s a recipe for disaster.  For my own information, I would love to see the full toxicology report with quantitative measures of drug, etc. How much fentanyl was present? How much temazepam and alprazolam were detected? Not that any of that really matters though.

With the detection of acetylfentanyl and despropionylfentanyl, it seems as if Tom Petty was supplementing his pharmaceutical medications with illicitly manufactured substances. Acetylfentanyl is not a pharmaceutical medication anywhere in the world and is only found as a designer opioid/analog meant to skirt the controlled substances act in the USA. Fentanyl does not metabolize to acetylfentanyl. As despropionylfentanyl is a precursor/intermediate used in the illicit (non-pharmaceutical) synthesis of fentanyl, it generally used as a marker for exposure to illicitly manufactured fentanyl. The presence of this substance has also been associated with the use of various fentanyl analogs including acetylfentanyl, acrylfentanyl, and furanylfentanyl. No one knows if the use of illicit opioid was intentional or not. Remember the situation surrounding Prince’s death. Multiple pills were found in his residence that looked like pharmaceutical hydrocodone/acetaminophen but turned out to be counterfeit tablets containing fentanyl and the opioid research chemical U-47700.

As a conclusion, I’ll say, please do not mix depressant drugs. Do not mix opioids with benzodiazepines. Do not mix either of them with ethanol. Stay safe, folks.

Pay attention to those medications.

Didn’t I mention this previously when writing about Heath Ledger’s death?

Going to Mexico?

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Let’s not mention the 10 or 11 other states with Level 3 warnings of reconsider travel. 

Read the entire State Department advisory here.

Why isn’t the mainstream media all over this story?

Why doesn’t HGTV International House Hunters tell you about this risk?

Do not travel to:

    • Colima state due to crime.
    • Guerrero state due to crime.
    • Michoacán state due to crime.
    • Sinaloa state due to crime.
    • Tamaulipas state due to crime.