Medical Notes: Week of February 26, 2017
Pregnancy and baby aspirin, obesity and education, toxic snow.
The Psychology of Weight Loss Surgery
Patients who have bariatric surgery stand to lose not only lots of weight but often an identity which changes many of their relationships.
Doctors’ Obesity Bias (2016)
Studies show that medical professionals are as biased as the rest of us against people who are overweight, resulting in lectures, misdiagnoses, and patients who start avoiding the doctor. Experts explain the problem, results, and what might be done about it.
The Salt Bomb
Experts discuss why salt is such a health problem and what the federal government is doing to push food processors toward reducing salt content in our diets.
Thermogenesis and Weight Loss
The body uses extra calories to stay warm in cold conditions, creating heath through thermogenesis. However, it's only recently that scientists have discovered one of the mechanisms the body uses for this--brown fat. Now they're learning how to harness brown fat for weight loss. Experts discuss.
Weight, Culture and Science
The cultural bias against obesity is often justified on health grounds. But recent studies show that people classified in the "overweight" BMI category actually have less mortality than normal weight people. Experts discuss how culture drives our obsession with weight and what science really has to say about it.
