Lifelong Learning

SIDD, SIRD, MOD, AND MARD – DM2 Subgroups

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Type 2 diabetes (T2D) was recently reclassified into severe insulin-deficient diabetes (SIDD), severe insulin-resistant diabetes (SIRD), mild obesity-related diabetes (MOD), and mild age-related diabetes (MARD), which have different risk of complications. We explored whether DNA methylation differs between these subgroups and whether subgroup-unique methylation risk scores (MRSs) predict diabetic complications.

Novel Subgroups of Type 2 Diabetes Display Different Epigenetic Patterns That Associate With Future Diabetic Complications — https://doi.org/10.2337/dc21-2489

More acronyms!

READ THIS BOOK

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Now that I have your attention…

“Some of the best evidence for the role of exercise in maintaining weight loss comes from the National Weight Control Registry, an online group of over ten thousand men and women who have lost at least thirty pounds and kept it off for at least a year. These folks defy the cynical view that meaningful, sustainable weight loss is impossible. The average Registry member has lost over sixty pounds and kept it off for more than four years. They are truly exceptional…Nearly all of them (98 percent) report changing their diet to lose weight, which makes sense given how diet can affect the reward and satiety systems in our brain and impact how much we eat.”

Pontzer, Herman. Burn (pp. 255-256). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

It took a while for me to find the manila folder hanging somewhere in one of my file drawers. Surprising because I have a lot less paper files gathering dust in hanging folders. I know it’s here but where? Ah, there it is… Desk 2 south of the tax files, north of my paper life insurance policies. I am participant number 8784.

The National Weight Control Registry (NWCR) was established in 1994 by Rena Wing, Ph.D. from Brown Medical School and James O. Hill, Ph.D. from the University of Colorado. This study is the largest investigation of long-term successful weight loss maintenance. Few individuals succeed at long-term weight loss. The NWCR was developed to identify and investigate the characteristics of individuals who have succeeded at long-term weight loss. The NWCR is tracking over 10,000 individuals who have lost significant amounts of weight and kept it off for long periods of time. http://www.nwcr.ws/

I started sending data to this study in 2007. Most years I get one annual survey. Occasionally I’ve received and completed a number of smaller supplemental surveys. I am 8784 and have kept the weight off for nearly 50 years. Since the Great Melt of 1975 I’ve cycled between 163 and 205 pounds. For the past decade I carried 200-205 pounds on my 5.10 frame. During the first year of the pandemic I dropped 25 pounds (again). Currently I’m holding around 170.

I am exceptional but you can be exceptional too. 8784 signing out.

Thinking About Retirement (or just another fine Saturday Morning)

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Andel’s suggestion to anyone contemplating retirement: “Find a new routine that’s meaningful.” He points to people living in the Blue Zones, regions of the world that have been identified to be home to a greater number of residents who’ve reached the age of 100 and beyond. One of the common characteristics among Blue Zone inhabitants is, says Andel, “these people all have purpose.”

Think Retirement Is Smooth Sailing? A Look at Its Potential Effects on the Brain — https://getpocket.com/read/2840794990

The funny thing about life at “retirement age” and still working is you think about retirement a lot.

Since I still work a full time job I have a lot of trouble envisioning what my retirement will look like.

After reading this article and listening to Andel’s short talk I am now scared of retirement.

I need to figure out how to avoid brain rot. But my journal tells me I already have.

My Purpose is to educate others on diet and disease, weight loss and weight management by sharing my personal journey through writing and other teaching activities.

The Covert Life of Hospital Architecture — spaceandorganisation — FREE BOOK

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In this post, Julie Zook and I sit down to discuss some key headlines of our recent co-edited book, The Covert Life of Hospital Architecture, which was published open access with UCL Press on 22 March 22. Health as social, hospitals as social We conceived The Covert Life of Hospital Architecture in late 2019, just […]

The Covert Life of Hospital Architecture — spaceandorganisation

The original post has a link to download the full book free of charge.

Before you think this is an odd post from an old underwriter I’ll give a brief explanation. My major in college was Sociology, one of my kids is an Architect, and the other is in medicine.

But the original post had me at FREE BOOK.

The App That Helps Me Be a More Patient Centered Physician — A Country Doctor Writes:

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One of the most rewarding things I do in my clinic happens on my iPhone. When I sit down with a middle aged patient to talk about their cardiovascular risk, I open the risk calculator created by the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology. I talk my way through as I enter […]

The App That Helps Me Be a More Patient Centered Physician — A Country Doctor Writes:

The risk calculator is quite useful but I re-blogged this post for its link to the Hale study, which was news to me. This study published in 2004 showed older people between the ages of 70 and 90 who followed a Mediterranean diet have 50% lower rate of all-cause and cause-specific mortality than people who dine on the SAD Western diet. The four primary risk factors were diet, moderate alcohol intake, physical activity, and non-smoking.

Lifestyle matters.

Internet Use in Retirement and Cognitive Function

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Focusing on a sample of 2,105 older people from Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Israel, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland who have been retired since 2004, researchers examined retirees’ cognitive function in both 2013 and 2015. They specifically focused on a word recall test, where individuals were asked to recall a list of 10 words immediately, and then again five minutes later.

Results found that, on average, people who used the internet after they retired were able to recall 1.22 extra words in the recall test compared to non-internet users. However, retirees who used the internet were also more likely to be male, younger, better educated, and have been retired for a shorter period. They also appear to be in better health — even though they drink and smoke more.

Lancaster University. “Using internet in retirement boosts cognitive function.” ScienceDaily. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/09/210920100910.htm (accessed September 20, 2021).