A GROWING number of middle-aged Australians are joining a “calorie restriction” movement in a drastic bid to live for longer.

They believe eating about 20 per cent less than the recommended daily intake will extend their lifespans and help them avoid getting sick.
Evidence shows animals given fewer calories, or kilojoules, have longer life expectancies than those that eat an average amount.
Calorie restriction may also reduce the risk of heart disease, diabetes and some cancers.
However, critics warn people who drastically restrict their diets may be more likely to develop eating disorders, nutritional deficiencies and fertility problems.

continue reading "Eat less - live long"

…over a billion people worldwide are overweight or obese, making the anti-obesity drug market big business. An estimated $1.2 billion was spent on anti-obesity drugs worldwide in 2005….. (bbc news)

“The purpose is not just to achieve weight-loss but to reduce health risk factors”
______________Dr Colin Waine

From Thanksgiving turkey to Christmas goose to New Year’s champagne, chances are you’re already embarking on a season of hefty eating. Could you stop yourself, even if someone paid you to?

We no longer have to fatten up to face winter scarcity, but the tradition of stuffing ourselves with seasonal delights continues. Holiday weight gain tends to be small–an average of a pound a year, according to one study–but it sticks with us and is a leading cause of obesity later in life. A little holiday overindulgence can lead to years of health problems later on. But we overeat anyway. One economist is actually suggesting cash incentives as a way to get people to shed pounds.

In Pictures: What Fat Costs America

Six in 10 people in the United States are overweight, with a third crossing the boundary into obesity. The extra weight leads to at least 100,000 deaths annually. Obese people are at a much higher risk for heart attacks, strokes, diabetes, arthritis and some cancers.
continue reading "What Fat Costs America"

Danish study warns on safety of Sanofi’s Acomplia

Patients taking the Sanofi-Aventis anti-obesity drug Acomplia have well over double the risk of depression and anxiety, researchers said, adding to the bad news for a drug already linked to suicidal thoughts.

Danish researchers reviewed four studies featuring 4,105 patients and found that people taking 20 milligrams per day of the drug were 2.5 times more likely to discontinue treatment due to depressive disorders and three times more likely to stop because of anxiety than those who received a placebo.

The findings published in the Lancet journal follow a U.S. advisory panel decision in June that the drug should not be approved in the world’s largest drugs market because it may increase suicidal thoughts and depression.

“Taken together with the recent U.S. Food and Drug Administration finding of increased risk of suicide during treatment with rimonabant, we recommend increased alertness by physicians to these potentially severe psychiatric reactions,” Arne Astrup of the University of Copenhagen and colleagues wrote.
continue reading "Warning from Reuters"