Review: Health Tips, Myths, and Tricks: A Physician's Advice

HEALTH TIPS, MYTHS, AND TRICKS: A Physician's Advice by Morton E. Tavel
My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This is a basic health reference book with a twist. The author, Dr. Morton E. Tavel, MD has solid credentials, and an authoritative background as a practicing cardiologist as well as a medical school professor.

The book is arranged topically in short chapters within sections of tips, myths and tricks that discuss common questions that patients might want to ask of their physician. It is written in a readable conversational style as if he were speaking personally to the reader. Many of the topics addressed provide references to some scientific evidence, so that readers may follow up with further study if they desire to explore the issue further. The amount of scientific jargon however is minimal, and the answers are informative yet understandable.

There are 62 short chapters, and topics included are chosen from standard, common health concerns as well as controversies and hot-button issues. Some highlights are safe weight loss, trans fats and health, coffee, green tea, chocolate, foods to avoid, dangers of sodium, hypertension, red meat, fish, olive oil, red wine, the common cold, vaccines, second hand smoke, pain killers and sleep. Dr. Tavel addresses what he considers to be a number of myths, conspiracy theories, scams, irrational fears.

This could be a good general health reference book for the home library. It is useful for browsing, as opposed to using search engines to ask health questions because there is a large variety of information compiled here in one book.

I read the e-book version, and I do note some formatting issues. The e-book appears to have originally been formatted for the print edition and then converted to the e-book. without completely reformatting, which created some problems with navigation and visual appearance.

Another issue is large areas of blank white space within the chapters, which seem to be where the section/page breaks appeared in the original print version. This sloppy formatting detracts from the overall quality of the book in the e-book version. I have not seen the actual print version, so I don't know how it looks.

Beside these problems, there were some other editing and proofing errors, including run on sentences, poor syntax and errors such as advising the consumption of a quart of olive oil per week, which seems to be quite a large amount. I wondered why a chapter on polygraph tests was included.

All in all, I found this to be useful, informative book. While the content is good, due to the errors and formatting issues noted, I gave it a lower rating.


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Years of Life Lost Due to Obesity Related Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease

At a Glance

A new study provides a quantitative analysis of the impact of obesity on shortened life spans and on years of healthy life lost to obesity. Men who are 20-39 years of age with a BMI greater than 35 are likely to lose 8.4 years of life and 18.8 years of health based on these statistical models.

Read more about this research below.

It is well established that excess bodyweight is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. To go along with all the research studying and detailing this association, a study published in The Lancet: Diabetes & Endocrinology developed a meaningful metric to determine the effect these diseases have on quality of life and length of life.
 

A disease-simulation model was developed to estimate the annual risk of type 2 diabetes diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and mortality for individuals based on their BMI classification. The data was compiled from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), which included 3992 individuals over a period of seven years (2003-2010)

As seen in previous studies, this study also showed that excess bodyweight was positively associated with increased risk factors for cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. Years of life lost as a result of these conditions ranged from 0.8 to 5.9 years in obese (BMI = 30 to <35) men and 0.9 to 8.4 years in very obese (BMI ≥ 35) men, increasing with age. Years of life lost ranged from 1.6 to 5.6 years in obese (BMI = 30 to <35) women and 0.9 to 6.1 years in very obese (BMI ≥ 35) women, increasing with age. Losses were smaller, but generally similar for overweight (BMI = 25 to <30) men and women. Healthy life-years (years free from premature disease) also decreased as a result excess bodyweight, with totals ranging from two to four times higher than the total years of life lost.

While these results already reveal a lot about the potential impact of obesity on life expectancy and quality of life, they are actually conservative estimates. As they only take into account the risk factors associated with obesity on type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. In the future, additional considerations must also be made for cancer, respiratory disease, hepatic disease, renal disease, and other diseases impacted by excess bodyweight.

Grover S, et al. Years of life lost and healthy life-years lost from diabetes and cardiovascular disease in overweight and obese people: a modeling study. The Lancet: Diabetes & Endocrinology (2014). DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S2213-8587(14)70229-3.

Higher dietary fiber intake is linked to reduced body weight

Selecting high fiber foods while dieting for weight loss is helpful, according to a recent study.
 
At a Glance

Studies show that in addition to its established role in supporting overall health, higher dietary fiber consumption may play a significant role in weight loss and obesity. 

Read more about this research below.

Dietary fiber plays many important roles in the body, and intake has been linked to cardiovascular health and a lower risk of certain cancers. Additionally, evidence from observational studies has linked fiber intake to body weight, showing that obese men and women are likely to consume significantly less dietary fiber than lean individuals. 
 

One particular cohort study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, included 89,432 European participants, aged 20–78 years, who were initially free of cancer, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes. Participants were followed for an average of 6.5 years. Results indicated that total dietary fiber intake was inversely associated with weight and change in waist circumference during the study period. At 10 grams/day higher total fiber intake, there was an estimated 39 grams/year weight loss and waist circumference decreased by 0.08 cm/year. A 10 grams/day fiber intake from cereals alone results in 77 grams/year weight reduction and 0.10 cm/year reduction in waist circumference. Fruit and vegetable fiber was not associated with weight change but had an effect similar to total and cereal fiber intake on reduced waist circumference. 

In another study, a review article published in the journal Nutrition suggests that dietary fiber helps prevent obesity in several different ways. It promotes satiation by slowing gastric emptying, altering glycemic or insulin response, decreasing absorption of macronutrients, and by altering the secretion of gut hormones linked to hunger.

Over the last decade many the most popular weight-loss diets have trended towards high-protein and low-carbohydrate intakes to lose weight. Unfortunately, in an effort to lower carbohydrate intake, these diets often have very low fiber intake as well. Analysis of low carbohydrate diets reveal that in some cases dietary fiber intake is as low as 1.6 grams/day and is almost always less than 10 grams/day.

The author of this review suggests that regardless of dieting method that individuals choose to follow, they should consider the addition of fiber to aid their weight-loss. Dietary fiber can be increased through increasing consumption fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, or through a fiber supplement.

Huaidong Du et al. Dietary fiber and subsequent changes in body weight and waist circumference in European men and womenAm J Clin Nutr Vol. 91, No. 2, 329-336, February 2010.

Slavin J. Dietary fiber and body weight. Nutrition 21(2005);411-418.

The Zen of Walking for Health

I did at least get out and walk a couple of days recently. Usually I walk about a half an hour every day, but it has been postponed the past week or so due to the busyness of the holidays or the weather being either rainy or too cold.

On Christmas Day we went on a family hike in a nearby state forest. It was a sunny, mild day after a several days of heavy rain. We hiked about three miles over moderate terrain, and it was a wonderful, invigorating walk. Most days of course I don't take time out to travel to such a special place to take a walk.

Now that the holidays are over, it's time to get back to a more normal schedule of activity because the lack of daily walking since then has left me feeling sluggish.

What I do is fit walking in to my daily routine, by walking around my neighborhood.   My neighborhood is fairly walkable, and I can often fit in one or more walks to do an errand.  But walking needn't have a purpose.

 I can just as easily go for a walk, with no purpose other than going for a walk. Walking with no purpose is a way to take a break, and think.

 Research has shown that the benefits of walking and moderate physical activity for at least 30 minutes a day can help you:

•     Reduce the risk of coronary heart disease
•     Improve blood pressure and blood sugar levels
•     Improve blood lipid profile
•     Maintain body weight and lower the risk of obesity
•     Enhance mental well being
•     Reduce the risk of osteoporosis
•     Reduce the risk of breast and colon cancer
•     Reduce the risk of non-insulin dependent (type 2) diabetes    

         -- American Heart Association

If you're stressed out or just out of shape, why not try walking?

If 30 minutes a day is a bit of a stretch, start with 10 or 15 minutes and gradually increase the length of your walks.

Incidence of Type 2 Diabetes Exploding

"If current trends continue, 1 in 3 Americans will develop diabetes in their lifetime, and those with diabetes will lose, on average, 10-15 years of life." Center for Disease Prevention

Without widespread intervention, one in three American adults could have type 2 diabetes by the year 2050.
Type 2 diabetes is a chronic health condition that develops when the body becomes resistant to insulin, a hormone that regulates carbohydrate and fat metabolism. The exact mechanism by which type 2 diabetes occurs is unknown, but a number of correlating risk factors-- particularly obesity and physical inactivity-- are well-established.
The number of individuals diagnosed with type 2 diabetes has increased sharply in recent years, with an estimated $174 billion cost to the United States in 2007 alone.
A number of papers have attempted to project type 2 diabetes prevalence 5, 10, and 20+ years into the future. Most of these projections have relied on weak or outdated metrics, however, including old census data, static mortality rates, and overly simple estimations of diabetes incidence.
A recent paper from researchers at the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion hoped to overcome these weaknesses by utilizing recent census data and a matrix of factors derived from an extensive literature review.
The researchers describe their results as "a sobering picture of the future growth of diabetes." Their most optimistic values point to 21% of the U.S. adult population having type 2 diabetes in the year 2050. A middle-ground scenario predicts a prevalence of 25%-28%, while high-end data points to a diabetes prevalence of 33%, or 1 in 3 adults. To put these numbers in perspective, approximately 7% of the U.S. adult population had type 2 diabetes in 2007.
In 1990, prevalence was below 5%.
Unlike some chronic diseases, type 2 diabetes risk can be reduced by relatively moderate lifestyle changes. Losing weight (if overweight or obese),improving dietary choices, and regular exercise are all known to reduce the risk of acquiring type 2 diabetes.
The authors of this paper noted that such changes "can help to decrease loss in quality of life and the future cost of providing care for people with diabetes. Indeed, such efforts are essential if we hope to moderate or slow the growth of diabetes prevalence."
Boyle JP, Thompson TJ, Gregg EW, Barker LE, Williamson DF, Projection of the year 2050 burden of diabetes in the US adult population: dynamic modeling of incidence, mortality, and prediabetes prevalence. 2010. Population Health Metrics 8:29.