How about flax seed or flax seed oil for Omega-3? Do we also need to keep a ratio of Omega-6?

One hundred grams of ground flax seed supplies about 450 kilocalories, 41 grams of fat, 28 grams of fiber, and 20 grams of protein.

Flax seed sprouts are edible, with a slightly spicy flavor. Excessive consumption of flax seeds with inadequate water can cause bowel obstruction.

Flax seed
Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy	2,234 kJ (534 kcal)
Carbohydrates	28.88 g
Sugars	1.55 g
Dietary fiber	27.3 g
Fat	42.16 g
Protein	18.29 g
Thiamine (Vit. B1)	1.644 mg (126%)
Riboflavin (Vit. B2)	0.161 mg (11%)
Niacin (Vit. B3)	3.08 mg (21%)
Pantothenic acid (B5)	0.985 mg (20%)
Vitamin B6	0.473 mg (36%)
Folate (Vit. B9)	0 μg (0%)
Vitamin C	0.6 mg (1%)
Calcium	255 mg (26%)
Iron	5.73 mg (46%)
Magnesium	392 mg (106%)
Phosphorus	642 mg (92%)
Potassium	813 mg (17%)
Zinc	4.34 mg (43%)

Flaxseed oil is good for the heart because it is the richest source of alpha-linolenic acid. Flaxseed itself (ground or whole) also contains lignans, which may have antioxidant actions and may help protect against certain cancers, though not everyone agrees on this issue.
Flaxseeds and flaxseed oil may help to:

- Lower cholesterol, protect against heart disease and control high blood pressure. Several studies indicate that flaxseed oil, as well as ground flaxseeds, can lower cholesterol, thereby significantly reducing the risk of heart disease. Flaxseed oil may also have a protective effect against angina (chest pain) and high blood pressure. In addition, a 5-year study done recently at Boston's Simmons College found that flaxseed oil may be useful in preventing a 2nd heart attack. It may also help prevent elevated blood pressure by inhibiting inflammatory reactions that cause poor circulation andartery-hardening plaque.

Ground flaxseed or flaxseed oil?

Liquid flaxseed oil is the easiest form to use, although it must be kept refrigerated. It is available either in liquid form, or in capsules.
If you prefer to use ground flaxseeds, just add 1 or 2 tablespoons of to an 8-ounce glass of water and mix. Flaxseeds have a pleasant, nutty flavor and taste good sprinkled on salads, cooked vegetables, or cereals.
I recommend you grind the seeds (or buy ground flaxseed) because whole seeds simply pass through the body. Grinding the seeds just before using them best preserves flavor and nutrition, but pre-ground seeds are more convenient. Keep them refrigerated. There are no nutritional differences between brown and yellow seeds.
For best absorption, take flaxseed oil with food. It is easily mixed into juices and other drinks, and its nutty, buttery flavor complements cottage cheese, yogurt and many other foods. You can also use it instead of olive oil in a salad dressing. Don't cook with it, however, as this will deplete the oil's nutrient content.

The Truth About Omega-3sWho Needs Omega-3s in Your Family?

Omega-3s in fish oil and supplements: what’s your best strategy?

If you’re thinking about adding an omega-3 fatty acid supplement to your daily diet, there are things to consider first. Do you really need one? What type of supplement should you choose? What are the risks? WebMD’s got the answers.

Who needs more omega-3s?

The evidence suggests that just about all of us could stand to get more omega-3s in our diet. Increased intakes of omega-3s may be especially important to people with certain diseases or risk factors. Studies have found very strong evidence that omega-3 fatty acids may help:

• Boost heart health
• Control triglycerides
• Lower blood pressure

There’s good evidence that omega-3 fatty acids may help with lots of other conditions too – including depression, rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, ADHD, osteoporosis, and more.

Omega-3s: supplements vs. diet

In general, experts say that it’s always best to get nutrients from food. So if you’re looking to get more omega-3s in your diet, eating oily fish – like salmon, trout, mackerel or sardines – two or three times a week is the best way to do it. These fish contain docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and  eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) omega-3 fatty acids, the type most beneficial. Because oily fish also accumulate pollutants, the Food Standards Agency recommends that pregnant and breast-feeding women, and girls and women who might become pregnant, limit their oily fish consumption to two portions per week. Also, pregnant and breastfeeding women are advised to avoid shark, swordfish and marlin, and everyone else is advised to limit these fish to one portion per week.
Plants contain a-linolenic acid (ALA) omega-3 fatty acids, less potent but still good for you. You find ALA in foods such as walnuts, flax, and rapeseed oil.
What about supplements? Experts stress that popping an omega-3 supplement can’t excuse an unhealthy diet. That said, many people are resistant to changing the way they eat. Eating more fish may not be an option for vegetarians -- or for people who just don’t like it. For them, omega-3 supplements, algae oil capsules, or products fortified with algal oil DHA may be a good choice.
Even for people who are healthy and eating well, experts say that adding a daily omega-3 supplement might not be a bad idea. After all, the benefits of omega-3 supplements are numerous and the risks are very low.

Omega-3 fatty acid supplements: animal and plant sources

There are three types of omega-3 supplements you can buy. The most popular is fish oil, which is made from various fish like anchovies and sardines. It contains two omega-3 fatty acids, EPA and DHA.
Other supplements are derived from plant sources, like flax, or are derived from algae oil. Plant sources contain ALA, which is broken down minimally into EPA and DHA in the body. Another source of fatty acids is algae oil, which contains DHA; and many foods are fortified with this as a source of DHA.
So which should you chose? Many experts recommend fish oil for several reasons. EPA and DHA from fish oil have been studied much more extensively. Algae sources of omega-3s contain DHA, but not EPA. Lastly, only a minimal amount of ALA is actually converted into DHA and EPA in the body.
However, if you’re a vegetarian -- or you just can’t tolerate fish oil – considering plant-based omega-3 supplements is a reasonable idea. There are also many products fortified with DHA from algae oil and DHA capsules for those who do not eat fish.

Omega-3 fatty acid supplements: dosage

It’s always best to check with your doctor that it is safe for you to take omega-3 supplements, and what dose you should take.
In general, most experts recommend 1 g of DHA and EPA (combined) from fish oil. However, for specific conditions your doctor might recommend up to 4-5 g per day. No one should take such high doses without medical supervision.
Here’s one problem: many people get confused about the dosage. Why? Because they don’t realise there’s a difference between a gram of fish oil and a gram of its active ingredients (the omega-3s DHA and EPA.)
The dose often recommended is 1 g of omega-3s – the EPA and the DHA added together. But depending on the brand, a one gram (1,000 mg) fish oil capsule may contain only 300 mg of DHA and EPA combined. So to get 1 g of omega-3s, you’d have to take four capsules – four grams of fish oil.
So keep that in mind. Ignore the amount of fish oil and focus only on the amount of DHA and EPA inside it. However, there is no official recommended daily amount in the UK.
The ideal dose of an ALA supplement is not so clear. There’s less evidence and more variability in how a person’s body will convert it into omega-3s. You could ask your doctor for advice or just follow the directions on the label.

Choosing an omega-3 fatty acid supplement

When you’re standing in the chemists, it can be hard to know how to choose a supplement brand. What should you look for in an omega-3 supplement? Here are some tips.

• Ask your doctor or pharmacist for a recommendation. This can save you a lot of trouble. They may have a favourite brand.
• Look for independent testing. Many supplement manufacturers have their products evaluated by an independent third party, like IFOS (International Fish Oil Standards). These groups test supplements to make sure that the supplements contain what the supplements claim. They also confirm that the products are purified and free of any toxins – like mercury and PCBs. Look for evidence of independent testing on the label or research a brand online.
• Decide how you want to take it. Omega-3 supplements most often come as capsules. But other forms are available, like liquid oils. Some energy bars and other foods are now augmented with omega-3s.
• Consider capsules with enteric coating. The most common complaint about fish oil is that it causes heartburn and burping. Enteric-coated capsules may reduce the problem.
• Check the ingredients. Look for supplements that have high levels of EPA and DHA per gram of fish oil. The higher the amount of EPA and DHA in each capsule, the fewer you’ll have to swallow.

Omega-3 fatty acid supplements: side effects

On the whole, omega-3 supplements seem to be very safe. The most common side effects from fish oil are indigestion, diarrhoea, and 'fishy burp'. But here are some other things to consider.

• Fish oil supplements (EPA/DHA) may thin the blood. Although this effect is mild and safe for most people, no one should take a dose of above 1 or 2 g without checking with a doctor first.
• If you have a health condition that affects the blood’s ability to clot, talk to a doctor before using these supplements at any dose. The same goes for anyone taking medicines or supplements that thin the blood like warfarin, aspirin, clopidogrel (brand name Plavix) or garlic. Signs of trouble include easy bruising and increased bleeding -- in the gums, for instance. If you have any of these symptoms, stop using the omega-3 supplement and see your doctor right away. There appear to be separate effects from EPA and DHA; DHA has not been associated with bleeding problems.
• Pregnant women and children should also check with their doctor before using an omega-3 supplement.
• Many people are concerned about the risk of contaminants – like mercury – in fish oil. While certain fish like swordfish and shark can have risky levels of these contaminants, fish oils seem to be safer. Fish oil is usually made from smaller fish that are less likely to build up toxins. Still, you should always look for a brand that has been deemed safe by an independent laboratory.

Tips for using omega-3 fatty acid supplements

• If one brand doesn’t work, try another. If you don’t like the side effects of a supplement or feel like it’s not helping, try a different one. Experts say that some brands just work better in certain people.
• Always take supplements with food. It’s one way to reduce the risk of an upset stomach.
• Store fish oil supplements in the fridge. It will keep the fish oil fresh and may reduce side effects like burping and indigestion.
• Consider alternatives to fish oil supplements. If the side effects from fish oil are just too bothersome, try a different approach. Push yourself to eat fish two or three times a week. Or opt for a plant-based supplement instead.
• Ask your doctor about using omega-3 supplements alongside your standard medicines. Omega-3 supplements can be a good complement to some standard drugs. For instance, omega-3 supplements can boost the effectiveness of some antidepressants and cholesterol medicines. What’s the benefit? By taking the omega-3, you may be able to get the same benefit with a lower dose of your prescription drug.
• If you have a medical condition, never start using omega-3 supplements as a treatment on your own. Although everybody should check with a doctor before using a supplement, it’s crucial if you have a health condition. Instead of treating yourself, work together with your doctor to come up with a comprehensive treatment plan.

HYPERTENSION IN CHILDREN

Recommendations to practitioners from the European Society of Hypertension are to :

• Regularly measure blood pressure in children.
• Use ambulatory blood pressure measurements.
• Once hyertension is diagnosed, perform routine laboratory investigations and
  eventually more sophisticated examinations as well to rule out secondary hypertension and target organ damage.
• Medical treatment aims to achieve values below the 95th percentile
• Use of diuretics, direct vasodilators, central agents and alpha-blockers
  are not advised, calcium antagonists, ACE-inhibitors and angiotensin II receptor blockers, are advised.
• Treatment starts with low-dose monotherapy and, if necessary, implementing
  the dose or, preferentially, making use of low dose combination treatment
  to avoid side-effects.

Up until a few years ago, hypertension in children and adolescents was regarded as a clinical problem of lesser importance than the hypertensive state in adults, based on two major beliefs.

1. First, the thinking that the physiological age-related increase in blood pressure which characterises the growth process may interfere with (and often render questionable) the diagnosis of a high blood pressure state.
2. Second, the belief that blood pressure elevation in children is rare and less dangerous than in adults, due to the common opinion that childhood is a condition characterized by low cardiovascular risks.

Two sets of data have drastically modified these concepts. Epidemiological studies have shown that the prevalence of the hypertensive state in children is by no means irrelevant (2), particularly when :

1. An overweight or an obese state is concomitantly present and
2. Appropriate blood pressure measurements and proper interpretation of tables of blood pressure percentiles are performed.

In addition some sets of data provide evidence that high blood pressure may cause and/or be associated with an elevated cardiovascular risk in children as well (2).

The ESH Guidelines on the management of high blood pressure in children.

The ESH Guidelines document represent the fist attempt made by a European Society to comprehensively address the complex issue of diagnosis, evaluation and treatment of the hypertensive state in childhood. Previous antecedents to this editorial endeavour are represented by the documents issued by the National High Blood Pressure education program Working Group on High Blood Pressure in Children (3-4) which only in part provide practical recommendations capable of guiding current clinical practice. The main features of the Guidelines will be briefly discussed thereafter under separate headings.

I -  Definition

The ESH guidelines emphasise the importance of integrated blood pressure measurements into current pediatric clinical practice, providing a classification of hypertension that takes the physiological pattern of the blood pressure increase in the first 2 decades of life into account (Table 1).

A novel concept introduced by these Guidelines refers to the need to have blood pressure measurements other than clinic ones during the pediatric age as well, as we do in adults. Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring, in particular, is reported to be essential both for the diagnosis as well as for the management of pediatric hypertension (2). As it occurs in adults, ambulatory blood pressure monitoring in children has specific reference normality values, which are again expressed as percentile values for age, gender and height (5). As expected they are lower than the sphygmomanometric ones.

Important issues of future evaluation are in the definition of the 24 hour blood pressure profile pattern in hypertensive children, the presence or the absence in pediatric age of the non-dipping phenomenon as well as the existence at younger ages of the morning blood pressure surge.

2 - Diagnosis and evaluation

ESH Guidelines offer an algorithm for the hypertension diagnosis in childhood which is based on systolic and/or diastolic blood pressure values³ 95th percentile. Values between 90 th to 95th percentile require accurate follow-up based on repeated blood pressure measurements throughout months without immediate pharmacological interventions.

Once the hypertensive state is diagnosed, the assessment of the patient should be based on routine laboratory investigations and eventually more sophisticated (so called "second step") examinations in order to rule out the presence of secondary hypertension as well as target organ damage. This latter evaluation should also include echocardiography (again reference values are expressed in percentiles), carotid ultrasonography, search for microalbuminuria and, in specific cases, cranial computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging technique and fundoscopy. Search for microalbuminuria is of particular relevance because it also holds in the first decades of life a relevant prognostic significance which is not affected (as it happens in adult hypertension) by the concomitant presence of comorbities.

Needless to say that in childhood special attention should be payed to excluding secondary hypertension, whose prevalence at the pediatric age appears to be greater than in adults (1). Screening for secondary hypertension is mandatory in children and teenagers, the most common secondary hypertensive form being represented by renal parenchimal alterations (glomerulonephritis, polycystic kidney, renal artery stenosis) and coartaction of the aorta (1). In the suspicion of a secondary hypertensive state specific biochemical and instrumental examinations are required, as it happens in adults.

3 - Therapeutic approach

Along with life-style interventions, which are of major importance particularly when hypertension is detected in overweight or in obese children, Guidelines extensively discuss pharmacological intervention, which has to be initiated in cases where hypertension is symptomatic, has a secondary nature, or when is complicated by target organ damage or diabetes mellitus type 1 or 2.

Blood pressure goals during treatment are set at values below the 95th age, gender and height percentiles, although 90th percentiles probably offer greater protection. To achieve such goals, the drug classes for adults can be used in pediatric hypertension, with the only exception being diuretics, which have no documented evidence of clinical use in children. The same apply for direct vasodilators, central agents and alpha-blockers.

The four drug classes which are to be used in paediatric hypertension are beta-blockers, calcium antagonists, ACE-inhibitors and angiotensin II receptor blockers, starting with low-dose monotherapy and, if necessary, implementing the dose or, preferentially, making use of low dose combination treatment in order to avoid the occurrence of side-effects. The follow-up of the treated young patient should be based on regularly scheduled visits, with the aim at obtaining full blood pressure control.

A key but still unanswered question is temporal duration of antipertensive drug treatment in children. The suggestion, also from the ESH Guidelines, is not to stop treatment in childhood, even when blood pressure displays a good control and no target organ damage is present (low risk category). A more conservative behaviour in this case is to take advantage of the low dose single drug treatment approach.

4 - Current position and perspectives

The ESH Guidelines on hypertension in children have several merits, the most important being the attempt to provide a detailed guide on what to do in presence of a high blood pressure state in children. They also have limitations, as properly emphasised by the authors. These limitations, however, are mainly due to the partial or total lack of information we still have on some specific issues discussed in the document, such as the lack of evidence on the long-term effects of treatment on prognosis and regression of organ damage in children. These issues will thus become priorities for future investigations.

Table 1	Definition and classification of hypertension in pediatric age
Class	SBP and/or DBP percentile
Normotension	< 90th
High-normal blood pressure	³ 90th to <95th
	120/80,even if below 90th percentile in adolescents
Stage 1 hypertension	95th percentile to the 99th percentile +5 mmHg
Stage 2 hypertension	>99th percentile + 5 mmHg

SBP : systolic blood pressure; DBP : diastolic blood pressure.

A SIMPLE ALGORHYTHM FOR AF

Using simple clinical variables may produce a reliable estimate of individuals' absolute risk of atrial fibrillation (Afib), researchers reported.
The seven risk-factor algorithm accounted for 63.6% of the Afib risk in a U.S. cohort of more than 5,400 whites and African Americans, according to Susan R. Heckbert, MD, PhD, of the University of Washington in Seattle, and colleagues.
The same risk algorithm applied to a separate cohort of over 4,000 men and women from Iceland explained 47.0% of the population-attributable risk of Afib, Heckbert and co-authors reported in the Nov. 22 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.
While the validation study uncovered only "moderate accuracy" for Afib risk across heterogeneous populations, it's likely to be accurate enough for clinical practice or in selecting patients for clinical trials, Gregory M. Marcus, MD, MAS, of the University of California San Francisco, said in an accompanying editorial.
"Such an instrument will facilitate the development of primary prevention therapies for atrial fibrillation, potentially improving the paradigm for millions of patients," Marcus wrote.
Studies testing "upstream" therapies to prevent Afib have been hampered by an inability to identify at-risk patients, requiring large samples of unselected patients to adequately power studies, which is "too frequently prohibitively expensive," he noted.
The researchers cautioned that it still remains to be shown whether using the algorithm to guide clinical management could reduce the number of incident Afib cases -- since there are no current primary prevention strategies.
But the risk predictor does include some potentially modifiable factors routinely available to clinicians, they noted.
The algorithm was derived from five-year incidence of Afib in the Framingham Heart Study (which had 4,764 participants) and included the following factors:

• Age
• Sex
• Body mass index
• Systolic blood pressure
• PR interval from the 12-lead electrocardiogram
• Hypertension treatment
• Heart failure

To validate the algorithm, Heckbert's group applied it to two large, independent, community-based cohorts in which baseline Afib cases were excluded.
The cohorts included 4,238 individuals (ages 5 to 95) in the Age, Gene/Environment Susceptibility-Reykjavik Study (AGES) in Iceland, and 5,410 people in the same age range enrolled in the U.S. Cardiovascular Health Study (16.2% were African American).
Overall, the researchers found 1,359 incident Afib events in 100,074 person-years of follow-up in all three cohorts.
Unadjusted five-year Afib incidence differed between the studies:

• There were 12.8 Afib cases per 1,000 person-years in AGES.
• Afib incidence was 22.7 per 1,000 person-years among whites, and 18.4 per 1,000 person-years among blacks in the Cardiovascular Health Study.
• Incidence of Afib was 4.5 per 1,000 person-years in the Framingham Heart study.

The differences might be explained by differences between the studies in mean age, study period, and ascertainment of cases, Heckbert's group suggested.
But across all of the cohorts, similar relative risks for Afib incidence were seen with the individual risk factors.
The strongest risk factors were age, with about twofold increased incidence per decade older age across the cohorts, and heart failure, with 1.78- to 4.45-fold elevated risk for prevalent cases across the cohorts.
The algorithm "performed reasonably well in all samples," the researchers noted in the paper.
After recalibration for baseline incidence and risk factor distribution, the algorithm had a C statistic of 0.67 in AGES (95% CI 0.64 to 0.71) and 0.68 in whites (95% CI 0.66 to 0.70) and 0.66 in African Americans (95% CI 0.61 to 0.71) in the Cardiovascular Health Study -- with no significant difference between the races (P=0.47).
Differences, again, may have been due to age distribution, the researchers suggested.
"The risk algorithm may thus provide a tool applicable across a broad range of individuals at risk for atrial fibrillation," Heckbert's group wrote in Archives.
They cautioned, though, that their study had a number of limitations.
For one thing, it was limited by lack of information on valvular heart disease, which is one of the strongest risk factors for Afib, but with low population-attributable risk given its less than 5% prevalence.
Also, the definition of heart failure (and thus the baseline prevalence) differed between cohorts -- with rigorous adjudication of heart failure events in the Framingham Heart Study and Cardiovascular Health studies, but only hospital discharge diagnoses in AGES, the researchers noted.
Since Afib can often be asymptomatic, missing some cases "may have actually made the prediction tool look worse than it actually is," Marcus wrote in the editorial.
Prospective studies are needed, he and the researchers agreed, noting that the cohort studies used were not originally designed to look at Afib prediction.
And since clinicians may have useful information that wasn't available in the cohorts -- such as family history of Afib -- future studies should also prospectively look at the value of adding specific factors to the risk prediction tool, Marcus added.

FIVE MOST HEART-DEADLY THINGS

1) Smoke or hang around with smokers! Despite higher cigarette prices, advertising caveats, and public smoking bans, people are still smoking.  Smoking is the most dangerous – and most reversible – risk factor for heart disease.  Quitting smoking and avoiding second-hand smoke today will lower your heart disease risk to a that of a nonsmoker in just two years.

2) Buy more groceries with trans fats! Ever wonder why that six-month-old pastry stays so tasty?  Or how those fries crunch, chips snap, and wrapped snacks don’t expire until after your next high school reunion?  It’s all thanks to trans fats, a factory-derived “solution” to fresh food and unprocessed baked goods.  Trans Fats offer no nutritional value and wreak havoc on your cholesterol.  Avoiding all trans fats will reduce your risk of heart disease and add some real flavor to your groceries.

3) Add salt! Do you add salt to boiling water, stir-fried veggies, or your dinner plate without even stopping to taste the food beforehand?  Think of your table salt as coming with a side dish of blood pressure medication.  Eating a lower salt diet can lower your blood pressure by five points — which for many people can mean one less prescription.  Use that co-pay instead to stock up on garlic, pepper, oregano, and other no-sodium seasoning.

4) Gain some weight! This one is unfortunately all too easy.  Processed food,gargantuan portions, and increased screen time have conspired to add inches to our waistline and layers of risk to our hearts.  As we grow older, our metabolisms slow.  This means that we need to adapt, watch our diets, and maintain our activity levels as we age.  Losing just ten pounds can reduce your risk of heart disease by as much as 50% when you consider the positive impact on your blood pressure, blood sugar, and cholesterol.  Just ten pounds.

5) Stop taking your medications! There are lots of excuses — inconvenience, side effects, and don’t forget cost.  No one likes to take pills.  But we know that blood pressure, cholesterol, and diabetes medications not only make your laboratory tests look pretty, but will also reduce your likelihood of a heart attack.  Risk factors for heart disease are painfully silent, and uncomfortably asymptomatic.  It turns out that you can feel good but still be at risk.  Talk to your doctor about a medication regimen that will work for you — and stick with it!

Every Excess Pound Gained Raises Risk of Death
Dec. 1, 2010 -- Your risk of death rises steadily with every overweight pound you gain, a huge study funded by the National Institutes of Health confirms.
Even if you don't smoke and are in otherwise good health, your risk of death goes up 31% with every 5-point increase in BMI, a measure of body mass based on weight and height.
Just being a little bit overweight increases death risk. Compared to those with a normal-range BMI of 22.5 to 24.9:
• A BMI of 25.0 to 29.9 increased death risk by 13%
• A BMI of 30.0 to 34.9 increased death risk by 44%
• A BMI of 35.0 to 39.9 increased death risk by 88%
• A BMI of 40.0 to 49.9 increased death risk by 251%
Those figures are for women who do not smoke and who have no underlying disease. The risks are similar for men, note Amy Berrington de Gonzalez, DPhil, of the National Institutes of Health, and colleagues.
"We conclude that for non-Hispanic whites, both overweight and obesity are associated with increased all-cause mortality," they conclude. "All-cause mortality is generally lowest within the BMI range of 20.0 to 24.9."
BMI measured before age 50 had the strongest effect on death risk.
Being underweight may also increase death risk, but it's not clear whether underlying, undetected disease might account for this finding.
The study pooled data from 19 long-term studies that followed 1.46 million white adults for five to 28 years.
The strong statistical significance of the findings suggest that an earlier study of the impact of obesity on death risk -- which was scary enough -- may have underestimated the problem. That study found that adult obesity cut life expectancy by four years. The new data show that obesity has a much greater effect on life span.
"In our study, there were more than five times as many deaths among participants in the highest obesity categories (BMI of 35-0 to 39.9 and 40.0 to 49.9) than in previous studies, because severe obesity had become more common," Berrington de Gonzalez and colleagues note.
Smoking and chronic disease have an enormous effect on death risk. To isolate the effects of obesity, the researchers calculated death risk for nonsmokers who reported no underlying disease.
The findings appear in the Dec. 2 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

Dr. Rehan Omar's healthy hearts: Huy, it's me.

Dr. Rehan Omar's healthy hearts: Huy, it's me.: "Dear all, please feel free to ask questions regarding the management of cardiovascular ailments, free of cost. You just have to give your co..."