PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Managing obesity in adults: Tips for primary care physicians

2012-05-15
(Press-News.org) Managing adult obesity is challenging for primary care physicians, but a new review published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) aims to provide an evidence-based approach to counselling patients to help them lose weight and maintain weight loss.

"Even though evidence suggests that patients are considerably more likely to lose weight when they are advised to do so by their primary care physicians, most patients who are clinically obese do not receive weight-loss counselling in primary care," writes Dr. Gilles Plourde, Cliniques Médicales de Nutrition et d'Amaigrissement de Gatineau, Quebec, with coauthor. "Patients may be told to lose weight, but they may not be given advice on how to do so successfully. There is an urgent need to find simple, effective strategies for improving weight-loss counselling in clinical practice."

The Canadian Health Measures survey (2007-2009) estimates that 62% of Canadian adults are overweight, and 24% are obese. Obesity is most common in middle-aged adults and declines after age 65. The economic costs of obesity are high, estimated at $4.6 billion in 2008, and when the health costs of related diseases are included, cost estimates rise to almost $7.1 billion. Obesity is linked to increased risks of high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, osteoarthritis, various cancers and other diseases.

While there is no single approach that works with everyone, physicians can use the 5A model to successfully counsel patients to change their eating habits and levels of physical activity. The 5A model, adapted from smoking cessation therapies, consists of assess/ask, advise, agree, assist and arrange.

Dietary modification and caloric restriction have been shown to be effective. Increases in physical activity and/or intensity combined with caloric restriction increase weight loss. As well, behavioural therapy to change a patient's behaviour and habit has been shown to increase the success of dietary and exercise interventions, which also can help patients maintain weight loss.

Many physicians do not feel trained to treat obesity and weight issues. Research indicates that regularly measuring body mass index and waist circumference and using prompts to record can lead to better management of obesity.

"Adult obesity remains a public health concern in Canada," state the authors. "Primary care physicians are in an influential position to provide weight-loss counselling, which can be successfully done using the 5A model of behavioural change and stage-specific strategies for changing lifestyles… .A sixth "A" should be added to the mnemonic: advocate — that is, to advocate for environmental and policy changes that support healthy eating and physical activity."

INFORMATION:

END



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Smoked cannabis reduces some symptoms of multiple sclerosis

2012-05-15
A clinical study of 30 adult patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine has shown that smoked cannabis may be an effective treatment for spasticity – a common and disabling symptom of this neurological disease. The placebo-controlled trial also resulted in reduced perception of pain, although participants also reported short-term, adverse cognitive effects and increased fatigue. The study will be published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal on May 14. Principal investigator Jody Corey-Bloom, MD, PhD, ...

Physical fitness may reduce hypertension risk in people with family history

2012-05-15
If your parents have a history of high blood pressure, you can significantly reduce your risk of developing the disease with moderate exercise and increased cardiovascular fitness, according to new research in the American Heart Association's journal Hypertension. In a study of more than 6,000 people, those who had a parent with high blood pressure but were highly fit had a 34 percent lower risk of developing high blood pressure themselves, compared to those with a low-fitness level who had the same parental history. "Understanding the roles that family history and ...

Sleepwalking more prevalent among US adults than previously suspected, Stanford researcher says

2012-05-15
STANFORD, Calif. — What goes bump in the night? In many U.S. households: people. That's according to new Stanford University School of Medicine research, which found that about 3.6 percent of U.S. adults - or upward of 8.4 million - are prone to sleepwalking. The work also showed an association between nocturnal wanderings and certain psychiatric disorders, such as depression and anxiety. The study, the researchers noted, "underscores the fact that sleepwalking is much more prevalent in adults than previously appreciated." Maurice Ohayon, MD, DSc, PhD, professor of ...

Colon cancer risk when a first-degree relative has precancerous polyps is not clear

Colon cancer risk when a first-degree relative has precancerous polyps is not clear
2012-05-15
INDIANAPOLIS -- Current colorectal cancer screening guidelines for individuals with first-degree relatives with precancerous colon polyps are based on studies that were not properly designed or were too limited to shape those guidelines, according to a new systemic review of research on the topic. The review authors call for new studies to measure the risk and identify the factors that modify it. "We found that most studies that are cited for the risk for colorectal cancer when first-degree relatives -- parents, siblings or children -- have a precancerous polyp do not ...

Measuring CO2 to fight global warming

Measuring CO2 to fight global warming
2012-05-15
SALT LAKE CITY, May 14, 2012 – If the world's nations ever sign a treaty to limit emissions of climate-warming carbon dioxide gas, there may be a way to help verify compliance: a new method developed by scientists from the University of Utah and Harvard. Using measurements from only three carbon-dioxide (CO2) monitoring stations in the Salt Lake Valley, the method could reliably detect changes in CO2 emissions of 15 percent or more, the researchers report in the online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences for the week of May 14, 2012. The method ...

Economic growth in China has not meant greater life satisfaction for Chinese people

2012-05-15
Despite an unprecedented rate of economic growth, Chinese people are less happy overall than they were two decades ago, reveals timely new research from economist Richard Easterlin, one of the founders of the field of "happiness economics" and namesake of the Easterlin Paradox. In 1990, at the beginning of China's economic transformation, a large majority of Chinese people across age, education, income levels, and regions reported high levels of life satisfaction. Sixty-eight percent of those in the wealthiest income bracket and 65 percent of those in the poorest income ...

Anthropologists discover earliest form of wall art

2012-05-15
Anthropologists working in southern France have determined that a 1.5 metric ton block of engraved limestone constitutes the earliest evidence of wall art. Their research, reported in the most recent edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shows the piece to be approximately 37,000 years old and offers rich evidence of the role art played in the daily lives of Early Aurignacian humans. The research team, comprised of more than a dozen scientists from American and European universities and research institutions, has been excavating at the site ...

Gastric feeding tubes may raise pressure ulcer risk

Gastric feeding tubes may raise pressure ulcer risk
2012-05-15
PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — A new study led by Brown University researchers reports that percutaneous endoscopic gastric (PEG) feeding tubes, long assumed to help bedridden dementia patients stave off or overcome pressure ulcers, may instead make the horrible sores more likely to develop or not improve. The analysis of thousands of nursing home patients with advanced dementia appears in the May 14 edition of the Archives of Internal Medicine. "This study provides new information about the risks of feeding tube insertion in people with advanced cognitive impairment," ...

Are people with HIV/AIDS more prone to sudden cardiac death?

Are people with HIV/AIDS more prone to sudden cardiac death?
2012-05-15
What is the connection, if any, between sudden cardiac death and people with HIV/AIDS? And can that knowledge help prolong their lives? In a comprehensive, 10-year UCSF study, researchers found patients with HIV/AIDS suffered sudden cardiac death at a rate four times higher than the general population. "As part of my ongoing research in 2010, we were looking at every instance of sudden death in San Francisco," said first author Zian H. Tseng, MD, an electrophysiologist and an associate professor of medicine in the UCSF Division of Cardiology. "I noticed that many of ...

Drug kills cancer cells by restoring faulty tumor suppressor

2012-05-15
A new study describes a compound that selectively kills cancer cells by restoring the structure and function of one of the most commonly mutated proteins in human cancer, the "tumor suppressor" p53. The research, published by Cell Press in the May 15th issue of the journal Cancer Cell, uses a novel, computer based strategy to identify potential anti-cancer drugs, including one that targets the third most common p53 mutation in human cancer, p53-R175H. The number of new cancer patients harboring this mutation in the United States who would potentially benefit from this ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Thirty-year mystery of dissonance in the “ringing” of black holes explained

Less intensive works best for agricultural soil

Arctic rivers project receives “national champion” designation from frontiers foundation

Computational biology paves the way for new ALS tests

Study offers new hope for babies born with opioid withdrawal syndrome

UT, Volkswagen Group of America celebrate research partnership

New Medicare program could dramatically improve affordability for cancer drugs – if patients enroll

Are ‘zombie’ skin cells harmful or helpful? The answer may be in their shapes

University of Cincinnati Cancer Center presents research at AACR 2025

Head and neck, breast, lung and survivorship studies headline Dana-Farber research at AACR Annual Meeting 2025

AACR: Researchers share promising results from MD Anderson clinical trials

New research explains why our waistlines expand in middle age

Advancements in muon detection: Taishan Antineutrino Observatory's innovative top veto tracker

Chips off the old block

Microvascular decompression combined with nerve combing for atypical trigeminal neuralgia

Cutting the complexity from digital carpentry

Lung immune cell type “quietly” controls inflammation in COVID-19

Fiscal impact of expanded Medicare coverage for GLP-1 receptor agonists to treat obesity

State and sociodemographic trends in US cigarette smoking with future projections

Young adults drive historic decline in smoking

NFCR congratulates Dr. Robert C. Bast, Jr. on receiving the AACR-Daniel D. Von Hoff Award for Outstanding Contributions to Education and Training in Cancer Research

Chimpanzee stem cells offer new insights into early embryonic development

This injected protein-like polymer helps tissues heal after a heart attack

FlexTech inaugural issue launches, pioneering interdisciplinary innovation in flexible technology

In Down syndrome mice, 40Hz light and sound improve cognition, neurogenesis, connectivity

Methyl eugenol: potential to inhibit oxidative stress, address related diseases, and its toxicological effects

A vascularized multilayer chip reveals shear stress-induced angiogenesis in diverse fluid conditions

AI helps unravel a cause of Alzheimer's disease and identify a therapeutic candidate

Coalition of Autism Scientists critiques US Department of Health and Human Services Autism Research Initiative

Structure dictates effectiveness, safety in nanomedicine

[Press-News.org] Managing obesity in adults: Tips for primary care physicians