Few obese adults get treatment plan from docs

Few obese adults receive a formal weight-management plan from their doctors, despite the proven health benefits of even modest weight loss, a new study suggests. The researchers reviewed the medical records of 9827 patients seen at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, between November 2004 and October 2005. A total of 2543 of these patients were obese.

Principal investigator Dr. Warren G. Thompson, and his colleagues, found that only 505, or about one in five obese patients had their condition formally documented. However, patients who did have a formal diagnosis of obesity were 2.5 times more likely to be given a plan of treatment, such as diet changes and exercise goals.

Obese patients who were older or male were less likely to have their condition documented, whereas patients who were morbidly obese, had diabetes mellitus, or obstructive sleep apnea, were more likely to be formally diagnosed, according to the study published in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings journal.


Better management of obesity could have a "huge public health impact," according to Thompson and his group. Even a modest weight loss, they point out, can help control a range of chronic health problems, such as high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and high cholesterol.

It's possible, Thompson told Reuters Health, that when doctors think about obesity as a medical problem that can be diagnosed, they are apt to discuss ways to manage the problem.

Not surprisingly, he noted, study patients who were severely obese were more likely to have a diagnosis and a treatment plan -- suggesting that doctors need to take a closer look at patients with less severe weight problems.

Thompson also suggests that people who are significantly overweight and have yet to get advice from their doctors should consider broaching the topic themselves.
source : news.yahoo.com

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Kids Living Near School Rarely Walk There

Even though one out of three American children live within a mile of their school, barely half of those students regularly bike or walk to class, researchers report.

Children who live in the South, in rural areas or who have college-educated parents are among those least likely to bike or walk to school, notes the report, which is published in the July issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Sarah Martin and colleagues at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) studied data from more than 7,000 children between 9 and 15 years of age.

They found that almost 35 percent of the children lived within one mile of their schools. Children between 11 and 13 years old were more likely to walk or bike than 9-year-olds. Children whose parents had a high school education were more likely to bike or walk than children with college-educated parents.

"The majority of young people are missing an opportunity to increase daily physical activity by being active travelers," Martin said in a prepared statement.

According to the CDC, nearly one in five (18.8 percent) young people between 6 and 11 years old are overweight. Increased daily physical activity is one of the methods the CDC recommends to help manage weight in young people.

Martin and colleagues said that the reasons why children in urban areas might be more likely to bike or walk are complex. They cited the fact that schools may be in mixed-use neighborhoods where it is more possible to bike or walk, in contrast to suburbs where there may be fewer safe sidewalks.

source : news.yahoo.com

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China stops sale of drug to treat leukemia, arthritis

China's drug safety watchdog has suspended sales of a drug used to treat acute leukemia and rheumatoid arthritis, Xinhua news agency said on Saturday, the latest in a string of food and drug security scandals.

China has faced sharp international criticism, especially from the United States, for failing to stop exports of toxic medical ingredients, foods and toys, and China's own national leadership has demanded stricter food and medicine standards.

Sales of methotrexate produced by Shanghai Hualian Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. have been suspended because it caused an adverse reaction in several child leukemia patients in three hospitals in Shanghai and the southern province of Guangxi, Xinhua quoted the State Food and Drug Administration as saying.

Some children felt pain in their legs while others experienced difficulty in walking after being injected with methotrexate numbered 070403A and 070403B, it said.

The watchdog has ordered the Shanghai and Guangxi food and drug administrations to re-evaluate methotrexate, Xinhua said.

Xinhua quoted World Health Organization statistics saying there have been 12,502 reports of adverse reactions to methotrexate worldwide. It did not give further details.

The food security issue burst into the international spotlight after tainted additives exported from China contaminated pet food in North America.

source : news.yahoo.com

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