CDC Scientists ID New Killer Germ, but What Should They Call It?

By Theresa Tamkins

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I just returned from the sprawling campus of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta. This huge federal agency is on the front line of fighting just about every kind of health threat, from biological weapons to dengue fever to obesity—both in the United States and abroad. (They have 14,000 employees in countries around the world).
But more importantly (for glamour-seeking sci-fi fans), the CDC has played a starring role in just about every apocalyptic movie or book ever made, from Stephen King’s The Stand to Richard Preston’s Hot Zone. Will Smith researched his role in I Am Legend by chatting with CDC scientists. (Yes, he is as nice as he seems, CDC insiders say.)
So is working at the CDC as exciting as the movies make it out to be? Well, yes. On the day I was there for a tour, I met Pierre Rollin, MD, of the Special Pathogens Branch, who had just come from a meeting to discuss a name for a new killer virus. Read More

Some see psychosocial barriers to weight loss.(Psychosomatic Medicine)

SEATTLE--Money and time are the leading barriers to seeking weight-loss treatment among overweight and obese adults, but stigma and a belief that one is too heavy for treatment become more influential barriers as people get heavier.

Little is known from the literature about patterns of treatment seeking for obesity over time, Anna C. Ciao said at an international conference sponsored by the Academy for Eating Disorders. She also said little is known about barriers that might prevent treatment seeking from taking place.

An anonymous online survey offered to overweight or obese men and women aged 18 years or older addressed some of these issues, according to Ms. Ciao, a ... Read more

Why Does Colorado Kick Alabama’s Fat Butt?

By Scott Mowbray

Alabama resident and Health.com diabetes blogger Sean Kelley has worked hard to put his home state’s obesity rank (No. 2 in the country, waddling just behind Mississippi) in context. Don’t snicker at the deep-fried South, Sean warns: “The South may have the three states that have obesity rates of more than 30%, but the rest of the country (save Colorado) is not far behind with rates between 20% and 29%.”

I’ve lately been spending time in Colorado, the only state whose obesity rate, at 18.7%, weighs in below 20%. (Obesity is defined as having a Body Mass Index, or BMI, greater than 30). And I can tell you that as a New Yorker who carries 20 extra pounds around, I’m anxious when I walk into a Colorado social event. Will I be the porkiest guy in the room? Usually, yes. About 80% of the people at any gathering I’ve been to in Colorado are Obama-thin (especially the Republicans) and have that calm-before-the-void look that comes from knowing the difference between a piton and a carabiner. Read More

Weekends Tough on the Diet

(HealthDay News) -- Anyone who has avoided Monday morning weigh-ins knows this unalterable truth: Weekends are not a dieter's friend.

Now, researchers have some science to back up dieters' complaints about weekends being their undoing: Most people do eat more on the weekend, even when they're trying to lose weight.

"Weekend indulgences can wreak havoc on weight control, either causing our weight to increase or if we are following a diet to lose weight, can hinder our weight loss efforts," said study author Susan Racette, an assistant professor at Washington University in St. Louis. The research was published online recently in the journal Obesity.

Racette and her colleagues followed 48 men and women for a year, trying to determine the effects of weekends on weight loss efforts.

They assigned the participants, who ranged from being healthy weight to being nearly obese, to one of three groups: The controls did not change diet or activity levels; the calorie-restriction group reduced intake by 20 percent, and the physical activity group increased physical activity every day by 20 percent. Participants kept food diaries and wore devices to measure activity.

But even before the intervention started, Racette gathered data -- on daily weight, food intake and physical activity -- and found that the weekends were for indulging.

"At baseline, before they were supposed to be following a diet or exercise plan, we found on weekends, people gained weight," she said. During the week, the weight would decline. But the weekend effect was strong. "If you translate it out to a year, it could have increased weight by 9 pounds."

Before the intervention, participants ate an average of 2,257 calories on Saturday compared to just 2,021 during the week. But the average activity on weekends overall didn't differ much from average weekday activities. So, it was the food, not the lack of activity, that was to blame, Racette said.

Racette monitored the participants for a year after they started the intervention, and the weekend indulgences continued. The calorie restriction group stopped losing weight on weekends, while the physical activity group gained slightly (about .17 pounds). There were not significant weight changes in the controls on weekends.

Weekend indulgences help explain the slower-than-expected weight loss of many dieters, Racette said. "There is less structure on the weekend for a lot of people, and that can wreak havoc," she said. "A little indulgence turns into a big indulgence. Being vigilant on the weekends is really important for people either trying to lose weight or maintain a weight loss," she said.

More information
For more on dieting, American Dietetic Association.