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Today’s Redundant Research: War Causes Depression, Diabetics Shouldn’t Pig Out

January 27th, 2010 by StaceyButterfield in Better Health Network, News, Research
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This week’s obvious news consists of findings that you might have hoped weren’t true, but really you already knew they were.

First, sending your spouse off to war will make you unhappy, according to the New England Journal. “Among wives of soldiers deployed for up to 11 months, researchers found almost 3,500 more diagnoses of depression, anxiety, sleep disorders and other mental health issues than among wives who husbands stayed home,” reported HealthDay. Guess these women actually liked their husbands!

Then, it turns out that diabetics should not pig out, especially on salt, according to the Archives of Ophthalmology via HealthDay. A study of black patients with diabetes found that those who ate more calories and more sodium were more likely to develop diabetic retinopathy. “These results suggest that low caloric and sodium intakes in African-American individuals with type 1 diabetes mellitus…might be part of dietary recommendations for this population,” the authors concluded. Shoot, now we will have throw out those “hot dog a day keeps the doctor away” guidelines.

*This blog post was originally published at ACP Hospitalist*

Calorie Listings Don’t Seem To Influence Eating Behaviors In Poor Neighborhoods

January 14th, 2010 by StaceyButterfield in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News
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It may still be a little fuzzy how health care reform will affect insurance coverage, but there is one area where it’s already having a clear impact, according to the Washington Post: menus.

A lesser-known aspect of the proposed legislation is that it will mandate calorie posting of the sort currently done in New York City for restaurants with more than 20 locations nationwide. The WashPo story reports on the positive impacts that publicization of calories has public health–apparently restaurants offer more healthy dishes, and diners swarm to them. Which is interesting, because the last time we discussed this issue, researchers were reporting that people actually consumed more calories after the stats were posted. Read more »

*This blog post was originally published at ACP Internist*