Overweight raises liver disease risk

Teens carrying too much weight increase chances of problems later

Dontari Poe, the Atlanta Falcons nose tackle and two-time Pro Bowler, came into the NFL Combine at 346 pounds — and could run the 40yard dash in 4.98 seconds! A super-big, super-fast lineman makes for a great player ... but, according to new research, packing on extra pounds is not so great for a young man’s liver down the line — even Dontari’s.

We know that when teenagers are overweight, they’re looking at an increased risk for Type 2 diabetes and heart disease later in life. New research shows that over-poundage also increases the risk of serious liver problems as an adult.

For the study, published in Gut, researchers analyzed health records of 1.2 million Swedish men from the time they were young adolescents through adulthood. They found that the higher a boy’s BMI in the later teenage years, the higher his chances of developing severe liver disease and even liver cancer. And the risk of liver problems is even greater for young men with Type 2 diabetes.

If your child is overweight or already has Type 2 diabetes, you need to act NOW to help ensure a healthy, productive future for him or her. That means changing the way your family shops for, prepares and eats food. Get the kids involved — and get creative! Initiate smaller meals and a family activity plan that includes after-meal walks and weekend adventures to local parks. Then work with your doctor to monitor your child’s liver health (a simple blood test will do it), and you’ll catch any problems before they develop.

Low-fat won’t help you shed fat

Remember the Burl Ives song about the old lady who swallowed the fly? By the end of the song, she’d swallowed a cow to catch the goat to catch the dog to catch the cat to catch the bird to catch the spider (it wiggled and jiggled and tickled inside her) to catch the fly. But, it concludes, “I don’t know why she swallowed the fly ...”

Well, if you’re swallowing foods marketed as “low-fat,” “low-sugar” or “low-sodium” to help improve your nutrition or lose weight, you might just be swallowing a spider to catch a fly, too! And you should ask yourself, “Why am I eating that?”

A new study looked at more than 80 million foods and beverages purchased among 40,000 U.S. households over five years, and found that “in many cases, foods containing lowsugar, low-fat or low-salt claims had a worse nutritional profile than those without claims.” For example, low-fat chocolate milk has more sugar than plain milk, and more fat and sugar than many other beverages. Even more confusing, a brownie can be labeled “low-fat” if it has three grams of fat per 40-gram serving, but low-fat cheesecake has three grams of fat per 125-gram serving. The brownie has a relatively higher fat content!

The lesson here: You have to read the nutrition labels, not just packaging claims. Remember, if a company has to make a low-content version in the first place, chances are the original wasn’t healthy and the new one isn’t much better.

Home is where the healing happens

Dorothy spends her entire “The Wizard of Oz” journey searching for a way home to Kansas, only to find that the solution was as simple as clicking her ruby heels and repeating: “There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home.”

Well, according to new research, Dorothy’s mantra also may apply to people recovering from hip or knee replacement surgery. Three new studies presented at the annual meeting of the American Association of Orthopedic Medicine show that, for most people, home is a better place to recover than a rehab facility.

One investigation by researchers at Thomas Jefferson University School of Medicine found that people who went directly home after total knee replacement had a lower risk of post-surgery complications and hospital readmission than those who went to an inpatient rehab facility.

Another, done by New York’s Hospital for Special Surgery, showed that patients admitted to a care facility after hip replacement had a higher risk of wound complications, respiratory problems and hospital readmission.

Worried about recovering at home if you live alone? Yet another study found that patients recovered at home as quickly and with as few complications whether they lived with others or not. Our Tip: Post-TKR, have a visiting nurse, friends, even paid attendants for a few days to help you get in and out of bed (bathroom!), work with your auto knee-bending machine and manage pain medications.

So, before you get a hip or knee replacement, talk to your doc about how to best head home post-op.

Follow the GPS — and learn nothing

As “Deep Throat” told journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein: If you want to find the criminals, “Follow the money.” If only it were that simple when it came to finding your destination in an unfamiliar metropolis or across state lines! That’s why so many folks think the best advice is “follow the GPS!” But there’s one problem: You don’t learn how to navigate by just blindly following instructions, and that can dull your wits or even lead to disaster. Remember the couple who were stranded in an Oregon national park last year after following their GPS straight into a pile of snow?

Recently British researchers monitored the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex activity of volunteers while they drove through London. Apparently navigating and driving through the streets puts a very high demand on your hippocampus and prefrontal cortex — the parts of your brain that use and strengthen working and reference memory.

Unfortunately, the opposite is true when you navigate using GPS. You pretty much disengage your hippocampus and prefrontal cortex, and don’t really get to know your surroundings — and you’re doing one more digital activity that distances you from engagement in real life. So expand your neural network by opening an atlas, get an online map and study the roadways and routes available. Then head out for an adventure. If you make a wrong turn, don’t fret. Heck, if you Google “GPS wrong directions” you get millions of online complaints! We bet you can do better than that relying on your brain and eyes.

No matter what they say, you can prevent some cancers!

Once again, headlines proclaim a “shocking finding” that makes us nuts! This week’s 72-point headline goof? “Nearly Two-Thirds of Cancers Are Caused By DNA Mistakes.” ARGHHH! That proclamation makes it seem like no matter what smart lifestyle choices you make, you can’t dodge the big C. That’s WRONG, WRONG and more WRONG. And the research those headlines are based on doesn’t agree either!

Johns Hopkins researchers found that the majority of cancers of the pancreas, brain, bone or prostate are attributable to random and unpredictable genetic mutations. However, they also found that somewhere around 29 per cent of all cancers are triggered by environment and/or lifestyle choices (and those cancers often are among the most prevalent), and just five per cent by inherited genetic traits. Furthermore, they state, “Deleterious environmental ... factors ... can directly increase the mutation rate.”

From other studies, it’s well established that obesity is associated with an increased risk of cancer of the kidney, gallbladder, endometrium, ovaries, thyroid, liver and colon. For example, overweight women are two to four times more likely to be diagnosed with endometrial cancer.

Your power over cancer lies in avoiding toxins (tobacco is the most common one, but BPA, BPS and phthalates also are common); making smart food choices (avoiding the Five Food Felons and taking half a multivitamin twice a day); physical activity (10,000 steps a day or the equivalent); getting seven to eight hours of sleep nightly; and stress-response reduction. That’s the formula for a long, healthy life, and it’s in your control.