The Tragedy of Liberalism

Patrick J. Deneen

The ship of liberalism is in dangerous waters not because it hasn’t yet realized its potential but because it overwhelmingly has. Our political battles are likely to continue to be shaped by the dominant narrative to which we have all become accustomed—conservative against progressive, right against left. And all the while, the logic of liberalism will inexorably continue to unfold, impelling the ship toward the inevitable iceberg while its passengers bicker not over the arrangement of the deck chairs but over which end of the ship will stay above water when the iceberg strikes.

What is needed today is not better theory, but better practice. When Tocqueville visited America in the early 1830s, he marveled at Americans’ political do-it-yourself spirit. Unlike his French compatriots, who for centuries had acquiesced in a centralized aristocratic order, Americans would readily gather in local settings to solve problems. In the process, they learned the “arts of association.” They were largely indifferent to the distant central government, which then exercised relatively few powers. Local township government, Tocqueville wrote, was the “schoolhouse of democracy,” and he praised the commitment of citizens to securing the goods of common life not only for the ends they achieved but for the habits and practices they fostered and the beneficial changes they wrought on citizens themselves. The greatest benefit of civic participation, he argued, was not its effects in the world, but those on the relations among people engaged in civic life: “When the members of a community are forced to attend to public affairs, they are necessarily drawn from the circle of their own interests and snatched at times from self-observation. As soon as a man begins to treat of public affairs in public, he begins to perceive that he is not so independent of his fellow men as he had at first imagined, and that in order to obtain their support he must often lend them his cooperation.”9

"Researchers at Harvard say that if current trends in child obesity continue, nearly six out of 10 of today’s children will have obesity when they are 35."

Nearly 6 out of 10 of today’s children will be obese at 35, researchers say

"Researchers at Harvard say that if current trends in child obesity continue, nearly six out of 10 of today’s children will have obesity when they are 35.

Escess weight in childhood is predictive of adult obesity and only children who are at a healthy weight have a less than 50 percent chance of having obesity as adults, the researchers also found."

Thom Lambert: Pai’s Right on Net Neutrality and Title II

Pai’s Right on Net Neutrality and Title II

As I explain in my new book, How to Regulate, sound regulation requires thinking like a doctor.  When addressing some “disease” that reduces social welfare, policymakers should catalog the available “remedies” for the problem, consider the implementation difficulties and “side effects” of each, and select the remedy that offers the greatest net benefit.

If we followed that approach in deciding what to do about the way Internet Service Providers (ISPs) manage traffic on their networks, we would conclude that FCC Chairman Ajit Pai is exactly right:  The FCC should reverse its order classifying ISPs as common carriers (Title II classification) and leave matters of non-neutral network management to antitrust, the residual regulator of practices that may injure competition.

HT:MN

J Med Ethics. 2017 Aug 20. pii: medethics-2016-103778. doi: 10.1136/medethics-2016-103778. [Epub ahead of print]

Direct to consumer genetic testing and the libertarian right to test.

Bonython WE1, Arnold BB1.

Author information

1

School of Law and Justice , Faculty of Business Government and Law, University of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia.

Abstract

Loi recently proposed a libertarian right to direct to consumer genetic testing (DTCGT)- independent of autonomy or utility-reflecting Cohen's work on self-ownership and Hohfeld's model of jural relations. Cohen's model of libertarianism dealt principally with self-ownership of the physical body. Although Loi adequately accounts for the physical properties of DNA, DNA is also an informational substrate, highly conserved within families. Information about the genome of relatives of the person undergoing testing may be extrapolated without requiring directengagement with their personal physical copy of the genome, triggering rights and interests of relatives that may differ from the rights and interests of others, that is, individual consumers, testing providers and regulators. Loi argued that regulatory interference with exercise of the right required justification, whereas prima facie exercise of the right did not. Justification of regulatory interference could include 'conflict with other people's rights', 'aggressive' use of the genome and 'harming others'. Harms potentially experienced by relatives as a result of the individual's exercise of a right to test include breach of genetic privacy, violation of their right to determine when, and if, they undertake genetic testing and discrimination. Such harms may justify regulatory intervention, in the event they are recognised; motives driving 'aggressive' use of the genome may also be relevant. Each of the above criteria requires clarification, as potential redundancies and tensions exist between them, with different implications affecting different groups of rights holders.

"Domestication, it turns out, was a decidedly mixed blessing for humans."

Great Scott

George Scialabba

Against the Grain: A Deep History of the Earliest States
by James Scott
Yale University Press, 312 pp., USD$26.

Domestication, it turns out, was a decidedly mixed blessing for humans. Judging from fossils, cereal-based diets were associated with shorter stature, bone distress, iron-deficiency anemia, and other deficits. The domus—the module including house and outbuildings, livestock yards, gardens, etc.—attracted hordes of commensals: not only dogs, pigs, and other mammals but also rodents, sparrows, insects, and weeds, as well as all their associated parasites and disease organisms, for which the domus was an ideal environment. A loss of alertness and emotional reactivity—the invariable result of animal domestication—may have similarly occurred among human domus-dwellers. And so labor-intensive was life in the domus that, Scott writes, “if we squint at the matter from a slightly different angle, one could argue that it is we who have been domesticated.”⁴

China's Obesity Problem Linked To Single Child Policy

"What they found was that only-sons had significantly greater BMI and were at greater risk (23 percent) of overweight and obesity than sibling-sons. Overall, the only-sons reported less time spent in watching TV and using the internet than sibling-sons. Further, the weight trend was accentuated in only-sons from urban areas — they were 36 percent more likely to be overweight and 43 percent more likely to be obese than were urban sibling-sons.

Analysis of girls’ data indicated that only-daughters had a higher risk of obesity (43 percent) than sibling-daughters, but this difference wasn’t statistically significant — even when urban and rural girls were examined separately."

Why Ajit Pai is right

PRO-NEUTRALITY, ANTI-TITLE II

"Any regulatory decision — indeed, any decision period — is about tradeoffs. To choose one course of action is to gain certain benefits and incur certain costs, and it is to forgo the benefits (and costs!) of alternative courses of action. What makes evaluating regulations so difficult is that the benefits are usually readily apparent — the bad behavior or outcome is, hopefully, eliminated — but the costs are much more difficult to quantify. Short-term implementation costs may be relatively straightforward, but future innovations and market entries that don’t happen by virtue of the regulation being in place are far more difficult to calculate. Equally difficult to measure is the inevitable rent-seeking that accompanies regulation, as incumbents find it easier to lobby regulators to foreclose competition instead of winning customers in an open market.

A classic example of this phenomenon is restaurants: who could possibly be against food safety? Then you read about how San Francisco requires 14 permits that take 9 months to issue (plus a separate alcohol permit) and you wonder why anyone opens a restaurant at all (compounded by the fact that already-permitted restaurants have a vested interest in making the process more onerous over time). Multiply that burden by all of the restaurants that never get created and the cost is very large indeed."

HT:MK

Psychol Res. 2017 Nov 7. doi: 10.1007/s00426-017-0937-8. [Epub ahead of print]

Morality and soap in engineers and social scientists: the Macbeth effect interacts with professions.

Schaefer M1.

Author information

1

Medical School Berlin, Calandrellistr. 1-9, 12247, Berlin, Germany. michael.schaefer@medicalschool-berlin.de.

Abstract

Several studies demonstrate that physical cleansing is actually efficacious to cope with threatened morality, thus demonstrating that physical and moral purity are psychologically interwoven. This so-called Macbeth effect has been explained, for example, by the conceptual metaphor theory that suggests an embodiment of the moral purity metaphor. Recent research draws attention to individual differences when using conceptual metaphors. The present study shows that the moral purity link interacts with different professions. Engineering and social science students were asked to hand copy a text in which the protagonist behaved in an immoral way (or in a moral way, control condition). Subsequently, they had to rate cleansing and other products. Both groups of participants showed higher ratings for cleansing products when hand copying the unethical story, but this Macbeth effect was significantly stronger for the group of engineering students. The results demonstrate that the Macbeth effect interacts with individual differences of the chosen profession. The outcome is discussed in terms of recent theories on individual differences in disgust sensitivity.

PTPR-γ

Liver Link between Obesity and Diabetes Highlights New Therapeutic Target

"In summary, our results indicate that the increased hepatic PTPR-γ level observed in obesity is sufficient to cause insulin resistance and hence unveil PTPR-γ as a new target for anti-T2DM therapy,” the authors continue. “Our data suggest that means aimed at decreasing hepatic PTPR-γ expression/activity should improve T2DM. This goal could be achieved by development of specific PTPR-γ inhibitors."

"If it can be shown that some people with serious mental illness can be rational with regard to suicide..."

Int J Law Psychiatry. 2013 Sep-Dec;36(5-6):358-65. doi: 10.1016/j.ijlp.2013.06.006. Epub 2013 Jul 7.

Why are people with mental illness excluded from the rational suicide debate?

Hewitt J1.

Author information

1

Centre for Philosophy, History and Law in Healthcare, College of Human and Health Science, Swansea University, UK. Electronic address: j.l.hewitt@swan.ac.uk.

Abstract

The topic of rational suicide is often approached with some trepidation by mental health professionals. Suicide prevention strategies are more likely to be seen as the domain of psychiatry and a wealth of psychiatric literature is devoted to identifying and managing suicide risk. Whether or not suicide can be deemed permissible is ostensibly linked to discussions of autonomy and mental capacity, and UK legislation directs that a patient's wishes must be respected with regard to treatment refusal where decisional capacity is intact. In the context of the care and treatment of those with physical disorders, extreme and untreatable physical suffering is likely to be accepted as rational grounds for suicide, where the person possesses cognitive coherence and an ability to realistically appreciate the consequences of his or her actions. In the case of those with serious mental disorder, the grounds for accepting that suicide is rational are however less clear-cut. Serious mental illness is typically conceived of as a coercive pressure which prevents rational deliberation and as such, the suicides of those with serious mental illness are considered to be substantially non-voluntary acts arising from constitutive irrationality. Therefore, where an appropriate clinician judges that a person with serious mental disorder is non-autonomous, suicide prevention is likely to be thought legally and morally justified. There are arguably, two questionable assumptions in the position that psychiatry adopts: Firstly, that psychogenic pain is in some way less real than physical pain and secondly, that mental illness invariably means that a desire to die is irrational and inauthentic. If it can be shown that some people with serious mental illness can be rational with regard to suicide and that psychological pain is of equal significance as physical suffering, then it may be possible to conclude that some persons with serious mental illness should not by definition be excluded from the class of those for whom rational suicide may be a coherent choice.

"People bereaved by suicide are especially vulnerable to developing complicated grief."

PLoS One. 2017 Jun 23;12(6):e0179496. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0179496. eCollection 2017.

Grief interventions for people bereaved by suicide: A systematic review.

Linde K1, Treml J1, Steinig J1, Nagl M1, Kersting A1.

Author information

1

Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Adaption to the loss of a loved one due to suicide can be complicated by feelings of guilt, shame, responsibility, rejection, and stigmatization. Therefore people bereaved by suicide have an increased risk for developing complicated grief which is related to negative physical and mental disorders and an increased risk for suicidal behavior. Grief interventions are needed for this vulnerable population. The aim of this systematic review was to provide an overview of the current state of evidence concerning the effectiveness of interventions that focus on grief for people bereaved by suicide.

METHODS:

We conducted a systematic literature search using PubMed, Web of Science, and PsycINFO for articles published up until November 2016. Relevant papers were identified and methodological quality was assessed by independent raters. A narrative synthesis was conducted.

RESULTS:

Seven intervention studies met the inclusion criteria. Two interventions were based on cognitive-behavioral approaches, four consisted of bereavement groups, and one utilized writing therapy. As five of the seven interventions were effective in reducing grief intensity on at least one outcome measure, there is some evidence that they are beneficial. Bereavement groups tend to be effective in lowering the intensity of uncomplicated grief, as are writing interventions in lowering suicide-specific aspects of grief. Cognitive-behavioral programs were helpful for a subpopulation of people who had high levels of suicidal ideation.

LIMITATION:

On average, methodological quality was low so the evidence for benefits is not robust. The stability of treatment effects could not be determined as follow-up assessments are rare. Generalizability is limited due to homogeneous enrollments of mainly female, white, middle-aged individuals.

CONCLUSIONS:

People bereaved by suicide are especially vulnerable to developing complicated grief. Therefore, grief therapies should be adapted to and evaluated in this population. Prevention of complicated grief may be successful in populations of high risk individuals.

EXERCISE CAN MAKE CHILDREN SMARTER, SCIENTISTS SAY

"The researchers said this suggests there is an independent association between cardiorespiratory fitness and gray-matter volume in different areas of the brain. If true, the findings point to exercise as a possible intervention against the negative effects of obesity on children’s brains.

Interestingly enough, the researchers found that only aerobic exercises seemed to have this effect (students were also given other types of exercises to do)."

"If the moment is all we have, then all we can do is pursue pleasurable moments, ones that dissolve as swiftly as they appear, leaving us always running on empty, grasping at fleeting experiences that pass."

I still love Kierkegaard

He is the dramatic thunderstorm at the heart of philosophy and his provocation is more valuable than ever

The limitations of the ‘ethical’ are perhaps most obvious to the modern mind. The life of eternity is just an illusion, for we are all-too mortal, flesh-and-blood creatures. To believe we belong there is to live in denial of our animality. So the world has increasingly embraced the ‘aesthetic’. But this fails to satisfy us, too. If the moment is all we have, then all we can do is pursue pleasurable moments, ones that dissolve as swiftly as they appear, leaving us always running on empty, grasping at fleeting experiences that pass. The materialistic world offers innumerable opportunities for instant gratification without enduring satisfaction and so life becomes a series of diversions. No wonder there is still so much vague spiritual yearning in the West: people long for the ethical but cannot see beyond the aesthetic.

Servicemen killed in WWII to finally be buried in California

Servicemen killed in WWII to finally be buried in California

The Defense Department says Army Air Forces 1st Lt. Homer Spence and Marine Corps Reserve Assistant Cook Frank Masoni will be buried Saturday with military honors. Spence's funeral is in Manteca, and the service for Masoni is in Gilroy.

The plane Spence was piloting disappeared during a mission over southern Germany in July 1944. He was 22. The wreckage was found in 2010, and Spence's remains were identified using DNA analysis.

Masoni was killed in November 1943 during a battle with Japanese forces on an island in the Pacific Ocean. He was 21. His remains were identified using dental and other records.

"...people do not regain weight because they lack willpower."

For Better Health, Trim Weight-Loss Goals

The good news is that, thanks to groundbreaking obesity research conducted during the last few decades, we now know why it is so hard to sustain weight loss. Since the 1980s, when most scientists thought fat cells were inert storage vessels, we have discovered that they are in fact engines in a vast and complicated network,which interacts with the brain to control hunger, metabolic rates, and other key functions.

Unfortunately, these insights into how our bodies work have not led to reliable interventions to control them. This suggests two lessons. First, people do not regain weight because they lack willpower. Instead, their best efforts are countered by powerful biological responses that fight them at every turn. The second lesson comes from my University of Michigan colleague, Dr. Charles Burant: “Don’t get heavy in the first place.”

Int Rev Law Econ. 2017 Jun;50:7-14. doi: 10.1016/j.irle.2017.03.002. Epub 2017 Mar 21.

The Effects of Malpractice Non-Economic Damage Caps on the Supply of Physician Labor: Heterogeneity by Physician Age and Risk.

Pesko MF1, Cea M1, Mendelsohn J2, Bishop TF1,3.

Author information

1

Division of Health Policy and Economics, Department of Healthcare Policy and Research, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY.

2

Boston University School of Medicine.

3

Division of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY.

Abstract

We explore the impact of malpractice caps on non-economic damages that were enacted between 2003 and 2006 on the supply of physician labor, separately for high-malpractice risk and low-malpractice risk physician specialty types, and separately by young and old physicians. We use physician data from the Area Resource File for 2000-2011 and malpractice policy data from the Database of State Tort Law Reforms. We study the impact of these caps using a reverse natural experiment, comparing physician supply in nine states enacting new caps to physician supply in ten states that had malpractice caps in place throughout the full time period. We use an event study to evaluate changes in physician labor compared to the prior year. We find evidence that non-economic damage caps increased the supply of high-risk physicians <35 years of age by 0.93 physicians per 100,000 people in the year after the caps were enacted. Non-economic damage caps were cumulatively associated with an increase of 2.1 high-risk physicians <35 years of age per 100,000 people. Stronger non-economic damage caps generally had a larger impact on physical supply.

"The key to success in diabetes prevention starts with promoting behavior changes..."

A silent killer than can be prevented

The key to success in diabetes prevention starts with promoting behaviour changes, for example, losing weight, having an active lifestyle, incorporating more fibre into the daily diet, avoiding consuming food high in saturated fats and stopping drinking and smoking. The more changes people make to their lifestyle, the less likely they are to develop diabetes. Moreover, it is essential that individuals who are at risk of developing diabetes get regular blood glucose tests to allow for early diagnosis. Screening for diabetes can assess the risk of developing this chronic disease in the future, which will not only prevent diabetes, but also stop prediabetes from progressing.

From UNC: Medical Abortion Reversal: Science and Politics Meet

Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2017 Nov 12. pii: S0002-9378(17)32320-7. doi: 10.1016/j.ajog.2017.11.555. [Epub ahead of print]

Medical Abortion Reversal: Science and Politics Meet.

Bhatti KZ1, Nguyen AT2, Stuart GS1.

Author information

1

Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of North Carolina School of Medicine.

2

Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of North Carolina School of Medicine. Electronic address: antoinette_nguyen@med.unc.edu.

Abstract

Medical abortion is a safe, effective, and acceptable option for patients seeking an early non-surgical abortion. In 2014, medical abortion accounted for nearly one-third (31%) of all abortions performed in the United States. State-level attempts to restrict reproductive and sexual health have recently included bills that require physicians to inform women that a medical abortion is reversible. In this commentary, we will review the history, current evidence-based regimen, and regulation of medical abortion. We will then examine current proposed and existing abortion reversal legislation. The objective of this commentary is to ensure physicians are armed with rigorous evidence to inform patients, communities, and policy makers about the safety of medical abortion. Furthermore, given the current paucity of evidence for medical abortion reversal, physicians and policymakers can dispel bad science and misinformation and advocate against medical abortion reversal legislation.

J Med Ethics. 2017 Nov 16. pii: medethics-2017-104389. doi: 10.1136/medethics-2017-104389. [Epub ahead of print]

Ethics, health policy, and Zika: From emergency to global epidemic?

Jamrozik E1,2, Selgelid MJ1.

Author information

1

Monash Bioethics Centre, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia.

2

Department of General Medicine, Royal Melbourne Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

Abstract

Zika virus was recognised in 2016 as an important vector-borne cause of congenital malformations and Guillain-Barré syndrome, during a major epidemic in Latin America, centred in Northeastern Brazil. The WHO and Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO), with partner agencies, initiated a coordinated global response including public health intervention and urgent scientific research, as well as ethical analysis as a vital element of policy design. In this paper, we summarise the major ethical issues raised during the Zika epidemic, highlighting the PAHO ethics guidance and the role of ethics in emergency responses, before turning to ethical issues that are yet to be resolved. Zika raises traditional bioethical issues related to reproduction, prenatal diagnosis of serious malformations and unjust disparities in health outcomes. But the epidemic has also highlighted important issues of growing interest in public health ethics, such as the international spread of infectious disease; the central importance of reproductive healthcare in preventing maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality; diagnostic and reporting biases; vector control and the links between vectors, climate change, and disparities in the global burden of disease. Finally, there are controversies regarding Zika vaccine research and eventual deployment. Zika virus was a neglected disease for over 50 years before the outbreak in Brazil. As it continues to spread, public health agencies should promote gender equity and disease control efforts in Latin America, while preparing for the possibility of a global epidemic.

Female friendly facilities will herald a new inclusive era for sports in Tasmania

“Build it and they will come” should be the mantra for Tasmania’s politicians and sports administrators that will see all the state’s athletes, be they male or female, have the best chance to shine and have a long, rewarding sporting life.

Support Care Cancer. 2017 Nov 18. doi: 10.1007/s00520-017-3965-4. [Epub ahead of print]

Racial differences in symptom management experiences during breast cancer treatment.

Samuel CA1,2, Schaal J3, Robertson L4, Kollie J5, Baker S6, Black K7,8, Mbah O5, Dixon C9, Ellis K7,8, Eng E7,8, Guerrab F10, Jones N11, Kotey A7, Morse C12, Taylor J5, Whitt V11, Cykert S13,14.

Author information

1

Department of Health Policy and Management, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1105F McGavran-Greenberg Hall, CB#7411, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599-7411, USA. cleo_samuel@unc.edu.

2

Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 450 West Drive, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA. cleo_samuel@unc.edu.

3

The Partnership Project, 620 S. Elm St, Suite 381, Greensboro, NC, 27406, USA.

4

Department of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, 5150 Centre Avenue, POB 2 Room, 438, Pittsburgh, PA, 15232, USA.

5

Department of Health Policy and Management, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1105F McGavran-Greenberg Hall, CB#7411, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599-7411, USA.

6

Department of Public Health Studies, Elon University, Campus Box 2337, Elon, NC, 27224, USA.

7

Department of Health Behavior, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA.

8

Cancer Health Disparities Training Program, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 135 Dauer Drive, CB#7440, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599-7440, USA.

9

Department of Public Health Education, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 437 Coleman Building, P.O. Box 26170, Greensboro, NC, 27402-6169, USA.

10

Department of Public Health Education, North Carolina Central University, 1801 Fayetteville St, Durham, NC, 27701, USA.

11

Sisters Network Greensboro, P.O. Box 20304, Greensboro, NC, 27420, USA.

12

Guilford College, 5800 W Friendly Ave, Greensboro, NC, 27410, USA.

13

Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 450 West Drive, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA.

14

School of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 5034 Old Clinic Building, CB#7110, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA.

Abstract

PURPOSE:

Racial disparities in cancer treatment-related symptom burden are well documented and linked to worse treatment outcomes. Yet, little is known about racial differences in patients' treatment-related symptom management experiences. Such understanding can help identify modifiable drivers of symptom burden inequities. As part of the Cancer Health Accountability for Managing Pain and Symptoms (CHAMPS) study, we examined racial differences in symptom management experiences among Black and White breast cancer survivors (BCS).

METHODS:

We conducted six focus groups (n = 3 Black BCS groups; n = 3 White BCS groups) with 22 stages I-IV BCS at two cancer centers. Focus groups were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Based on key community-based participatory research principles, our community/academic/medical partner team facilitated focus groups and conducted qualitative analyses.

RESULTS:

All BCS described positive symptom management experiences, including clinician attentiveness to symptom concerns and clinician recommendations for pre-emptively managing symptoms. Black BCS commonly reported having to advocate for themselves to get information about treatment-related symptoms, and indicated dissatisfaction regarding clinicians' failure to disclose potential treatment-related symptoms or provide medications to address symptoms. White BCS often described dissatisfaction regarding inadequate information on symptom origins and clinicians' failure to offer reassurance.

CONCLUSIONS:

This study elucidates opportunities for future research aimed at improving equity for cancer treatment-related symptom management. For Black women, warnings about anticipated symptoms and treatment for ongoing symptoms were particular areas of concern. Routine symptom assessment for all women, as well as clinicians' management of symptoms for racially diverse cancer patients, need to be more thoroughly studied and addressed.

"Obesity could BANKRUPT the NHS"

'Obesity could BANKRUPT the NHS' A growing number of obese children undergoes joint ops

CHILDREN as young as 10 are having to undergo joint replacements due to damage caused by obesity, shocking new figures show.

Tam Fry, chairman of the National Obesity Forum, said: “This is tragic. 

“Teenagers are still growing and their growth plates are not fused, so a replacement is extremely serious for them. 

“Without surgery they might be crippled. 

“Obesity is not only causing an increased risk of cancer, heart disease and diabetes but also serious weight‑related joint damage.  

“The cost of the obesity epidemic could bankrupt the NHS.”  

"Sarcopenia is now recognized as a major clinical problem for older people."

Poorer health influences muscle strength in later life

Accelerated loss of muscle mass and strength in older age is called sarcopenia, and can in turn affect balance, gait and overall ability to perform tasks of daily living. It is common in older people and is associated with disability, a higher risk of mortality and significant health care costs.

Professor Cyrus Cooper, Director of the MRC LEU, said: "Sarcopenia is now recognised as a major clinical problem for older people. We know that poor diets and being physically inactive are common in older age and contribute to the condition.

Battle over veterans’ health care comes down to VA Choice

Battle over veterans’ health care comes down to VA Choice

Because health care dollars follow the veteran, the migration of dollars out of the system affected the operating budgets at the VA facility programs. VA medical and regional directors wrote in an internal VA memo that the costs of outsourcing veterans’ care to the private sector has been a “major driver, in budget shortfalls for Veterans Health Administration facilities across the country.”

Carbs, not fats, are the problem

Deadly sugar addiction – why carbs, not fats, are the problem

Research shows that sugar affects the brain in the same ways as cocaine or heroin. Scans show identical areas of the brain light up when exposed to drugs or sugar.

“Sugar addiction is really no different than opioid addiction. People have looked at all these things that are similar to opioid addiction,” Lehman said. “It’s a real effort, it’s not as easy as saying, ‘Hey, I’m going to eat junk food.’”

So how did all the companies get it so wrong with the low-fat craze?

The American Medical Association Journal reported last year sugar companies paid researchers in the 1960s and 1970s to downplay the role sugar has on health. And with that research, the blame shifted to fatty foods. So to make low fat foods taste better, sugar-based additives were put in most everything.

“When we all believed that fats are bad and carbs were good, so we were eating low-fat cookies and low-fat food, and what happened to America? We got immense. We got giant,” Lehman said.

Structured Annual Faculty Review Program Accelerates Professional Development and Promotion

Acad Pathol. 2017 Mar 1;4:2374289516689471. doi: 10.1177/2374289516689471. eCollection 2017 Jan-Dec.

Structured Annual Faculty Review Program Accelerates Professional Development and Promotion: Long-Term Experience of the Duke University Medical Center's Pathology Department.

Robboy SJ1, McLendon R1.

Author information

1

Department of Pathology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA.

Abstract

This retrospective observational study on faculty development analyzes the Duke University Pathology Department's 18-year experience with a structured mentoring program involving 51 junior faculty members. The majority had MD degrees only (55%). The percentage of young women faculty hires before 1998 was 25%, increasing to 72% after 2005. Diversity also broadened from 9% with varied heritages before 1998 to 37% since then. The mentoring process pivoted on an annual review process. The reviews generally helped candidates focus much earlier, identified impediments they individually felt, and provided new avenues to gain a national reputation for academic excellence. National committee membership effectively helped gain national exposure. Thirty-eight percent of the mentees served on College of American Pathologists (CAP) committees, exponential multiples of any other national society. Some used CAP resources to develop major programs, some becoming nationally and internationally recognized for their academic activities. Several faculty gained national recognition as thought leaders for publishing about work initiated to serve administrative needs in the Department. The review process identified the need for more protected time for research, issues with time constraints, and avoiding exploitation when collaborating with other departments. This review identified a rigorous faculty mentoring and review process that included annual career counseling, goal-oriented academic careers, monitored advancement to promotion, higher salaries, and national recognition. All contributed to high faculty satisfaction and low faculty turnover. We conclude that a rigorous annual faculty review program and its natural sequence, promotion, can greatly foster faculty satisfaction.

Transl Cancer Res. 2016 Oct;5(Suppl 5):S964-S971. doi: 10.21037/tcr.2016.10.75.

How are lung cancer risk perceptions and cigarette smoking related?-testing an accuracy hypothesis.

Chen LS1, Kaphingst KA2,3, Tseng TS4, Zhao S1.

Author information

1

Department of Health and Kinesiology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA.

2

Department of Communication, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA.

3

Huntsman Cancer Institute, Salt Lake City, UT, USA.

4

Department of Behavioral and Community Health Sciences, School of Public Health, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, LA, USA.

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Subjective risk perception is an important theoretical construct in the field of cancer prevention and control. Although the relationship between subjective risk perception and health behaviors has been widely studied in many health contexts, the causalities and associations between the risk perception of developing lung cancer and cigarette smoking have been inconsistently reported among studies. Such inconsistency may be from discrepancies between study designs (cross-sectional versus longitudinal designs) and the three hypotheses (i.e., the behavior motivation hypothesis, the risk reappraisals hypothesis, and the accuracy hypothesis) testing different underlying associations between risk perception and cigarette-smoking behaviors. To clarify this issue, as an initial step, we examined the association between absolute and relative risk perceptions of developing lung cancer and cigarette-smoking behaviors among a large, national representative sample of 1,680 U.S. adults by testing an accuracy hypothesis (i.e., people who smoke accurately perceived a higher risk of developing lung cancer).

METHODS:

Data from the U.S. Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS) were analyzed using logistic regression and multivariate linear regression to examine the associations between risk perception and cigarette-smoking behaviors among 1,680 U.S. adults.

RESULTS:

Findings from this cross-sectional survey suggest that absolute and relative risk perceptions were positively and significantly correlated with having smoked >100 cigarettes during lifetime and the frequency of cigarette smoking. Only absolute risk perception was significantly associated with the number of cigarettes smoked per day among current smokers.

CONCLUSIONS:

Because both absolute and relative risk perceptions are positively related to most cigarette-smoking behaviors, this study supports the accuracy hypothesis. Moreover, absolute risk perception might be a more sensitive measurement than relative risk perception for perceived lung cancer risk. Longitudinal research is needed in the future to investigate other types of risk perception-risk behavior hypotheses-the behavior motivation and the risk reappraisals hypotheses-among nationally representative samples to further examine the causations between risk perception of obtaining lung cancer and smoking behaviors.