No Such Thing as "Healthy Obese"

I've been doing a lot of thinking about Science Writing.

Here is an example of great Scientific Journalism from Forbes.com (via Dr. Ves)
Study Debunks Notion of 'Healthy Obese' Man

The report concisely analyzes a new study in the journal Circulation, including the patient size and population (1800 Swedish men) and most importantly, context: ("starting at age 50 for an unusually long time, 30 years, recording those who have died of a heart attack or stroke.") Problems with previous studies did not track patients over an adequate period of time (in which patients were only followed for 15 years or less.)

The results:

the study found that over the 30-year period, the risk of cardiovascular disease was 63 percent higher in men of normal weight who had metabolic syndrome, compared to normal-weight men who did not have metabolic syndrome. It was 52 percent higher in overweight men without metabolic syndrome, 74 percent higher in overweight men with metabolic syndrome, 95 percent higher in obese men without metabolic syndrome and 155 percent higher in obese men with metabolic syndrome.

The only thing that this report fails to do is cite the original article, which I will do (along with an older one that is readily available on PubMed.)

Circulation. 2008 Jun 17;117(24):3057-9.
Healthy lifestyle: even if you are doing everything right, extra weight carries an excess risk of acute coronary events.
Johan Ärnlöv, Erik Ingelsson, Johan Sundström, and Lars Lind
Impact of Body Mass Index and the Metabolic Syndrome on the Risk of Cardiovascular Disease and Death in Middle-Aged Men
Circulation, Dec 2009
Poirier P.

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It's topical and relevant, especially in this holiday season :)

So what will I tell my patients?
If you are a middle-aged Swedish male with a pot-belly, high cholesterol, elevated blood sugars, and high blood pressure, you are doubling your risk for a cardiovascular event (1.74x for overweight, 2.55x for obese.) If you only have a pot-belly you ALSO increase your risk (1.52x for overweight, 1.95x for obese.)

This is likely even higher for other more at-risk populations.

Podcasts

This part was a real struggle for me, since I have never used podcasts before. I didn't even use iTunes before. After a lot of searching, I came across some fun podcasts.

My new podcast stream:






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iDistraction

My blogging has dropped off, due to some new distractions.
I thought I'd share one of them, since it bears medical/educational relevance, in the same vein as Joshua Schwimmer of Efficient MD.com:

Other apps recommended: "8 Medical iPhone Apps You Should Prescribe to your Health-Care Professional."

Medscape loads faster than Epocrates, but Epocrates is the go-to for medicine info.
Medcalc is a classic that I used a lot on my PDA, just like Eponyms.
Heme Calc also has formulas for nephrology, cardiology, gastroenterology and obstetrics -- I couldn't tell the difference between the other apps offered (so I went with the one with the prettiest color.)
Reach MD radio has streaming radio for medical professionals. Really good for a smattering of general medical topics.
PubMed on Tap: Joel Topf found this very helpful when he needed a citation to back up the statement he made that "the data doesn't support the common sense notion that contrast accelerates the loss of residual renal function."
Shots online and NEJM Image Challenge are two weblinks that I found worthwhile storing on my homepage.


Evernote is ever AWESOME. Especially when I found out that I could *Favorite* my handout on Acid-Base and EKG reading for quick access (local file, no repeat downloading necessary)
Google Reader and Twitter provide me with round-the-clock streaming data on the latest and greatest, by subscribing to some of the best, web-savvy, provocative and brilliant physicians!