With a final vote on health care slated for this weekend, reform has never been closer. But as legislators weigh in on the health care bill this Sunday, they may want to keep in mind the lurking variable undermining health in America today. We're not talking about agricultural subsidies, junk food advertising or racism. In the words of Bill Clinton, "It's the economy, stupid!" The connection between job loss and poor health has been well documented; some researchers estimate that a worker displaced at age 40 will have a loss in life expectancy of 1 to 1.5 years. It appears that even the ... Read More
Dogs Offer Clues to Self-Control
March 16, 2010 • By • 3 Comments
"Why can’t you exercise self-control?” That disdainful question has been posed repeatedly to procrastinators, overeaters and others who find it hard to resist self-destructive impulses. It has rarely, if ever, been asked of dogs. But according to newly published research, the same mechanism that regulates human self-control also operates in canines. The study, in the journal Psychological Science, confirms the notion that self-control is a limited resource, one that can and does get depleted. It also suggests this is not “a uniquely human process.” A University of Kentucky ... Read More
Smile to Live Longer?
March 11, 2010 • By • Leave a Comment
This bit of research should make you smile (or maybe smirk). Ernest L. Abel and Michael L. Kruger at Wayne State University have found that the larger your smile, the longer you may live. Yes, that's right; "smile intensity" seems to have a statistically significant effect on a person's longevity. In their research, to be published in the journal Psychological Science, the professors conducted an amusing case study that used a sampling of 230 photographs of baseball players culled from the now-defunct Sporting News Baseball Register. The professional ball players were chosen as a ... Read More
Federal Food Aid Diabetes’ Best Friend?
March 3, 2010 • By • 1 Comment
During the health care summit last week, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) suggested that America needs to restructure some of the systemic culture that leads to poor health in the first place, and not just invest in costly treatment of people once they're sick. In particular, he mentioned a pair of intriguing culprits. "We actually create more diabetes through the food stamp program and the school lunch program than probably any other thing," he said, precisely because we're not incentivizing people to eat well. Coburn's literal claim is hard to fact-check; there are no statistics (nor would it ... Read More