http://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. Because of the prevalence of obesity in our country, many Americans are expected to develop a serious condition called non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), which can lead to cirrhosis, fibrosis, and in some cases liver failure. It is also one of the best predictors for coronary artery disease. http://phys.org/news222419309.html Medicine & Health Tue, 19 Apr 2011 08:09:19 EST news222419309 Scientists have confirmed that metabolic syndrome, a constellation of conditions that increases the risk of heart disease and diabetes, may also increase the risk of the two most common types of liver cancer, according to data presented at the AACR 102nd Annual Meeting 2011, held here April 2-6. http://phys.org/news221068661.html Medicine & Health Sun, 03 Apr 2011 16:58:04 EST news221068661 Smoking increases the risk of breast cancer, but the risk differs by obesity status in postmenopausal women, according to data from an analysis of the Women's Health Initiative observational study. http://phys.org/news221068211.html Medicine & Health Sun, 03 Apr 2011 16:50:27 EST news221068211 The Mediterranean diet has proven beneficial effects not only regarding metabolic syndrome, but also on its individual components including waist circumference, HDL-cholesterol levels, triglycerides levels, blood pressure levels and glucose metabolism, according to a new study published in the March 15, 2011, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. The study is a meta-analysis, including results of 50 studies on the Mediterranean diet, with an overall studied population of about half a million subjects. http://phys.org/news218738020.html Medicine & Health Mon, 07 Mar 2011 16:34:25 EST news218738020 It is becoming well accepted that, as well as too little exercise, too much sitting is bad for people's health. Now a new study has found that it is not just the length of time people spend sitting down that can make a difference, but also the number of breaks that they take while sitting at their desk or on their sofa. Plenty of breaks, even if they are as little as one minute, seem to be good for people's hearts and their waistlines. http://phys.org/news214030513.html Medicine & Health Wed, 12 Jan 2011 04:58:18 EST news214030513 Children who have a high body mass index (BMI) between 9 and 12 years of age are more likely to have high blood pressure, cholesterol and blood insulin levels (all risk factors for developing heart disease) by the time they reach adolescence, according to a study published in the British Medical Journal today. http://phys.org/news209971055.html Medicine & Health Fri, 26 Nov 2010 05:17:50 EST news209971055 In a study of more than 4,500 children, researchers found those with higher waist circumferences had significantly higher pulse pressures, which is known to increase the risk of heart-related disorders, according to an abstract presented today at the American Society of Nephrology's Renal Week conference in Denver. http://phys.org/news209443540.html Medicine & Health Sat, 20 Nov 2010 02:46:14 EST news209443540 Kids who are deficient in vitamin D accumulated fat around the waist and gained weight more rapidly than kids who got enough vitamin D, a new University of Michigan study suggests. http://phys.org/news208459146.html Medicine & Health Mon, 08 Nov 2010 17:19:25 EST news208459146 A new long-term study published by researchers at the University of Georgia, the Menzies Research Institute in Hobart, Australia and the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute in Melbourne, Australia suggests that waist circumference, rather than the commonly used body mass index measure, is the best clinical measure to predict a child's risk for cardiovascular disease and diabetes later in life. http://phys.org/news206279930.html Medicine & Health Thu, 14 Oct 2010 13:10:01 EST news206279930 What to do: walk around the block or work up a sweat in an aerobic workout at the gym? If you're looking for the best health benefits from an exercise program, University of Alberta researchers have found a traditional aerobic fitness program that gets your heart pumping beats a walking program hands down. But if you want to get moving, a walking program is easier to do, it’s good for you, and you’re more likely to stick with it. http://phys.org/news203678474.html Medicine & Health Tue, 14 Sep 2010 10:40:01 EST news203678474 Overweight American children and adolescents have become fatter over the last decade, according to researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and National Institute on Aging (NIA). They examined adiposity shifts across socio-demographic groups over time and found U.S. children and adolescents had significantly increased adiposity measures such as body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC) and triceps skinfold thickness (TST). The increases in adiposity were more pronounced in some sex-ethnic groups such as black girls. In addition, these groups gained more abdominal fat over time, which was indicated by waist size and posed greater health risks than elevated BMI. Their results are featured in the August 2010 issue of the International Journal of Pediatric Obesity. http://phys.org/news201351473.html Medicine & Health Wed, 18 Aug 2010 11:58:19 EST news201351473 Individuals with a large waist circumference appear to have a greater risk of dying from any cause over a nine-year period, according to a report in the August 9/23 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. http://phys.org/news200581874.html Medicine & Health Mon, 09 Aug 2010 17:00:40 EST news200581874 Palestinian women frequently give birth many times. This has given researchers in the oPt a unique opportunity to study the effects of numbers of births per woman (parity) on risk of coronary heart disease, since previous studies have lacked high numbers of women giving birth more than six times. In this Abstract, the researchers, led by Dr Najwa Odeh Rizkallah, UNICEF Jerusalem, oPT, conclude that parity is linked to obesity, high blood triglyercide concentrations, and increased risk of metabolic syndrome. Any of these factors, alone or in combination, can in turn increase incidence of coronary heart diseases. http://phys.org/news197218499.html Medicine & Health Thu, 01 Jul 2010 18:30:05 EST news197218499 Children with developmental coordination disorder are at greater risk of being overweight or obese according to a study published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). http://phys.org/news196948027.html Medicine & Health Mon, 28 Jun 2010 12:47:21 EST news196948027 For individuals 65 years of age and older, obesity, excess body fat around the waist and gaining weight after the age of 50 are associated with an increased risk of diabetes, according to a study in the June 23/30 issue of JAMA. http://phys.org/news196444719.html Medicine & Health Tue, 22 Jun 2010 17:10:01 EST news196444719 A new study at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) confirms the relationship between depression and abdominal obesity, which has been linked to an increased risk for cancer and cardiovascular disease. http://phys.org/news195321324.html Medicine & Health Wed, 09 Jun 2010 17:10:01 EST news195321324 Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine determined that excess abdominal fat places otherwise healthy, middle-aged people at risk for dementia later in life. Preliminary findings suggest a relationship between obesity and dementia that could lead to promising prevention strategies in the future. Results of this study are published early online in Annals of Neurology, a journal of the American Neurological Association. http://phys.org/news193493400.html Medicine & Health Thu, 20 May 2010 00:00:01 EST news193493400 Although some studies have linked drinking 100 percent juice to excess weight in young children, this might not be the case for teenagers, a new study suggests. http://phys.org/news186414921.html Medicine & Health Fri, 26 Feb 2010 14:10:01 EST news186414921 Ground-breaking results from a study to evaluate the effectiveness of the MEND Program (Mind, Exercise, Nutrition, Do it!), a multi-component community-based childhood obesity intervention, are published today in the US journal Obesity. The results coincide with the launch of Michelle Obama's initiative to reduce childhood obesity announced in the State of the Union speech. http://phys.org/news184261560.html Medicine & Health Mon, 01 Feb 2010 16:00:01 EST news184261560 The higher a person's degree of obesity, the higher their risk of stroke -- regardless of race, gender and how obesity is measured, according to a new study published in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association. http://phys.org/news183319495.html Medicine & Health Thu, 21 Jan 2010 18:20:06 EST news183319495 Couch potatoes beware: every hour of television watched per day may increase the risk of dying earlier from cardiovascular disease, according to research reported in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association. http://phys.org/news182450841.html Medicine & Health Mon, 11 Jan 2010 17:20:01 EST news182450841 Body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference are well known risk factors for cardiovascular diseases (CVD), but a new study reported in the European Journal of Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation today now concludes that these risk factors, when accurately measured by trained staff, can actually predict the risk of fatal and non-fatal disease. The findings, which emerged from a large prospective study of more than 20,000 Dutch men and women aged 20-65 years begun in 1993, show that the associations of BMI and waist circumference with heart disease are equally strong, and explain one half of all fatal and one quarter of non-fatal CVD in those who are overweight and obese. http://phys.org/news179483269.html Medicine & Health Tue, 08 Dec 2009 08:28:12 EST news179483269 Researchers studying a large sample of adolescent American boys have found an association between metabolic syndrome, which is a complication of obesity, and elevated liver enzymes that mark potentially serious liver disease. http://phys.org/news173459901.html Medicine & Health Tue, 29 Sep 2009 16:30:07 EST news173459901 Children with more fat around their midsections could be at a higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease later in life, researchers say. http://phys.org/news171883065.html Medicine & Health Fri, 11 Sep 2009 10:30:03 EST news171883065 Exercise and electro-acupuncture treatments can reduce sympathetic nerve activity in women with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), according to a new study. The finding is important because women with PCOS often have elevated sympathetic nerve activity, which plays a role in hyperinsulinemia, insulin resistance, obesity and cardiovascular disease http://phys.org/news165475002.html Medicine & Health Mon, 29 Jun 2009 06:17:54 EST news165475002 (PhysOrg.com) -- Adding to the growing evidence that a person’s waist size is an important indicator of heart health, a study led by investigators at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) has found that larger waist circumference is associated with increased risk of heart failure in middle-aged and older populations of men and women. http://phys.org/news158423763.html Medicine & Health Wed, 08 Apr 2009 15:36:37 EST news158423763 There's more bad news for people who carry excess weight around their waists: Not only is abdominal obesity associated with diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease and a host of other health problems collectively known as "metabolic syndrome," a new study has found that a high waist circumference is strongly associated with decreased lung function—independent of smoking history, sex, body mass index (BMI) and other complicating factors. http://phys.org/news155558873.html Medicine & Health Fri, 06 Mar 2009 10:48:36 EST news155558873