Reality is always more complicated than you think.
Profile
Jake Young is a MD/PhD student at Mount Sinai School of Medicine focusing in Neuroscience. He is due to graduate in 2032. He received a BS and a MS in Biological Sciences from Stanford University -- where he spent most of his time drinking heavily and building vegetable catapults instead of learning information that would now be eminently useful. When he is not failing terrifically to perform his sworn duties, he enjoys watching bad movies, ethnic food, and running.
Pure Pedantry is a blog about science -- social sciences and otherwise -- as well as academic and scientific culture. No one can live on science alone, so I also like to dwell on pop culture, periodically explore the humanities, and indulge in other types of geeky goodness.
Jake is joined periodically by two wonderful guest bloggers: Kara Contreary and Kate Seip. See the About Page.
DISCLAIMERS: 1) Jake Young is not a licensed physician (yet). He is merely a medical student. The information published on this site is not intended for use in medical decision making. Please seek advice from a licensed, medical professional before making any health decisions. 2) The opinions expressed are my own or those of my co-bloggers. They do not represent the views of SEED magazine or the educational establishments we currently attend.
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Obesity and Heart Disease:
It has become almost the conventional wisdom that the obesity epidemic is at least partially attributable to people eating out. I for one really try and avoid eating out because I always feel like I end up eating junk food....
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Posted on June 3, 2008 11:29 AM • 9 Comments •
Now that is pretty clear. This is from Miller and Silverstein in Nature Clinical Practice. It is in reference to childhood obesity: There has been much debate about the cause of the current epidemic of obesity. Most experts agree that...
Posted on December 6, 2007 11:53 AM • 1 Comments •
A speculative theory about how wealth relates to the rates of obesity and what this means for policy
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Posted on September 26, 2007 2:36 PM • 22 Comments •
Not good news for people who think low carbs is the answer. A recently published study has shown an increase in mortality associated with low-carb/high-protein diets. Studies looking at the comparative effectiveness of different diets have shown that basically all...
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Posted on May 17, 2007 10:10 AM • 4 Comments •
The NYTimes ran an excerpt of a book called Rethinking Thin: The New Science of Weight Loss -- and the Myths and Realities of Dieting by Gina Kolata. Having read the excerpt -- I haven't read the whole book --...
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Posted on May 10, 2007 11:43 AM • 11 Comments •
If this works, this guy is going to make a bagillion dollars: By giving ordinary adult mice a drug - a synthetic designed to mimic fat - Salk Institute scientist Dr. Ronald M. Evans is now able to chemically switch...
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Posted on April 30, 2007 10:31 AM • 4 Comments •
If you don't want to overeat, make sure they don't bus your table: People watching the Super Bowl who saw how much they had already eaten -- in this case, leftover chicken-wing bones -- ate 27 percent less than people...
Posted on April 10, 2007 9:14 AM • 5 Comments •
This article struck my eye because all of the literature I was familiar with said the opposite. The authors looked a weight gain in the mother during pregnancy and found that the children of the mothers who gained too much...
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Posted on April 2, 2007 10:40 AM • 6 Comments •
After surveying parents of overweight children researchers found that the majority are not even aware their child is overweight: Researchers with Deakin's Centre for Physical Activity and Nutrition Research surveyed more than 1200 families to find out if parents had...
Posted on February 5, 2007 11:32 AM • 4 Comments •
Greg Beato in Reason: "It will take a grassroots effort of doctors, community leaders and consumers to force the government and the food industry to get those sugary foods out of mainstream American diets" [Robert] Lustig [of UCSF] told the...
Posted on January 12, 2007 9:15 AM • 3 Comments •
I knew the children were up to something -- with their beady little eyes: Adults who live with children eat more fat, and more saturated fat, than those who do not, according to a new study. The report, published online...
Posted on January 10, 2007 12:06 PM • 3 Comments •
This is never going to end: A lawmaker introduced a bill on Tuesday that would make Massachusetts the first U.S. state to ban artificial trans fats from restaurants, closely following New York City's ban of the artery-clogging oils. "We have...
Posted on December 20, 2006 11:11 AM • 1 Comments •
I wrote before about how I think the NY trans-fat ban is scientifically supportable but not particularly the government's business. Here is interesting speculation in Free Exchange: Banning trans fats in restaurants, but not in grocery stores, doesn't make sense....
Posted on December 19, 2006 10:45 AM • 3 Comments •
Yesterday, the NY Board of Health voted to ban trans fats -- after a phase-out period -- in restaurants in the city: New York City's board of health on Tuesday voted to phase out most artificial transfats from restaurants, forcing...
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Posted on December 6, 2006 12:37 PM • 5 Comments •
The most commonly cited causes of the obesity epidemic over the last 30 years are decreases in physical activity and increased consumption of unhealthy foods: the Big Two. For these as causes, we have what can only be described as...
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Posted on November 17, 2006 11:14 AM • 5 Comments •
BMI or Body Mass Index is a measure of obesity that is used to approximate the health problems associated with being overweight. It is really easy to calculate. The formula for it is weight in kilograms divided by height in...
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Posted on August 22, 2006 12:59 AM • 8 Comments •
A study reveals that an increasingly large number of Americans are too fat to fit in MRIs and have X-rays that lack resolution: More and more obese people are unable to get full medical care because they are either too...
Posted on July 27, 2006 12:24 PM • 6 Comments •
