by Avik Chatterjee, MD When I first met him, Mr. Smith had just moved into a motel room re-purposed as a homeless shelter, with his four children. He was anxious and distracted, his eyes darting from me to the door, to the children’s clothes folded up on the bed.
“This morning I had to get my kids to school, meet with my housing worker, figure out why MassHealth won’t accept my application, and to top it all off, I know my blood pressure and blood sugar are out of control. Doc, I won’t lie to you, life’s been so difficult this past year, I haven’t taken my medications at all.”
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The FDA recently released two new regulations that provide instructions to restaurants, grocery stores, vending machines and other food establishments for how they will have to comply with the law compelling them to post calories on menus. The idea motivating this law and regulations is that if consumers are aware of the calories of their purchases, they may make lower calorie choices. Is this true? Does the posting of calories or other nutritional information affect consumer choice? And if so, does the nature of the posted information make a difference?
by Marie-France, MD NIH funding is declining, leading to less support for large observational cohort studies. Over the last several decades, these types of studies have allowed us to understand determinants of metabolic and cardiovascular diseases. But, does opportunity knock for a new paradigm of cohort study? This is the bet that the Health eHeart Study is taking.
by Matt Gillman, MD, SM I’ve just returned from a week in South China. This trip was driven in part by the question of why China, along with India and other Asian countries, are hot spots for 21st century diabetes. By 2030, ½ billion people on the planet will have type 2 diabetes. The majority will be in Asia.
by Wei Perng, PhD I have always loved dessert. As a researcher in the field of nutrition and obesity prevention, I am embarrassed to say that I love it more than “real food.” My mother believes that my unrelenting sweet tooth stems from her own preference for anything sweet when she was pregnant with me – pastries, donuts, ice cream, pudding, chocolate – you name it. I always thought this was an old wives’ tale until I stumbled upon some interesting literature while working on a book chapter on the effect of maternal diet on the long-term health of the child. Might we develop preferences for food even before we are born?
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