Monday, July 2, 2018

Is Robustification Against Aging An Alien Concept?



Remember the movie Cocoon?





Some nursing home residents accidentally discover the rejuvenating force of benevolent alien visitors.

In the end they are given a choice:

join the aliens for a supposedly eternal life, free from sickness, frailty and death,

or stay on Earth with the admittedly bleaker prospects that the rest of us face…
continue



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Tuesday, June 26, 2018

How preventive medical treatment has become a risk factor.

First, do no harm! 

It's a pledge that medicine does not live up to. 



Much of what medical science offers, be it a drug, a treatment or some advice about supplements or diets, will probably not work for you and possibly do you some harm. 

If I was the only one telling you this, you could be forgiven for just waving me off. 

But if a Stanford professor of medicine, health research and statistics tell you "Why most published research findings are false" you may want to listen … Print Friendly and PDFPrintPrint Friendly and PDFPDF

Monday, September 3, 2012

Why We Are Slaves Of Food Obsession.


A 95 years old psychology article holds the key to solving the obesity epidemic. It's not about a long forgotten medicine or an ancient psycho-trick. It's a simple observation about the dynamics of feeding. Vindicated by neurohormonal research, here is what it means to your struggle with extra pounds. [tweet this].
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Monday, August 20, 2012

The Truth About The Genetics Of Obesity.


Evolutionary selection favored those who became fat easily. That's the essence of the "thrifty gene hypothesis". It's like Madonna. On the wrong side of 50, and ripe to be dethroned by something with greater sex appeal. In this case the contender's name is the "drifty gene hypothesis". Here is why you shouldn't be too dazzled about it. [tweet this].    

Exactly 50 years ago, Neel suggested that the high rate of diabetes in our society is the result of  evolutionary selection which favored those of our ancestors whose genes made them store fat more efficiently during periods of food abundance [1]. It's such a marvelously simple explanation that it doesn't take the brains of an Einstein to chatter about it at any dinner party where one wants to be remembered as quite the hobby geneticist. But to every party there is a party pooper. In this case two of them. John R. Speakman and Klaas R. Westerterp are telling us that the high prevalence rate of obesity and diabetes actually disproves the thrifty gene hypothesis [2].
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Monday, August 6, 2012

What Infants Teach Us About Preventing Obesity.


Public health has been telling you for years: you are fat because you move too little and eat too much. And yes, it's your fault if you don't break a sweat every day to keep your waist line in check. But research says, that's not the entire truth. In fact, public health might have taken the easy way out, and here is how it could finally make amends. [tweet this].
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