GOOD THINGS TO KNOW

Here are a few new things to know that might be helpful, motivating, or insightful.

It's been known that obesity can be a risk factor for getting cancer.  Now there's a study, a meta-analysis of multiple studies, that confirms that waist circumference is also a risk factor for getting cancer.  And the risk is linear, meaning the greater the measurement the greater becomes one's risk for getting one of several cancers: colon, breast, pancreas, liver, esophagus, kidney, uterine, gallbladder, and stomach.  Each of these cancers were found to be independently associated with increased body fat.  The more body fat one has the higher their risk of getting cancer.  You'll probably be hearing more about this in the media in the near future.

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I recently saw two men who have suspected sleep apnea who were unable to complete a sleep study because they couldn't fall asleep at the Sleep Center where the study was performed.  They complained it was a strange place and was not their home or a hotel.  If you or someone in your family is a heavy snorer and wakes up feeling tired there's now new technology on the Coast that allows a person to be monitored at home for sleep apnea.  Sleep apnea is more common in men older than 50 with thick, stocky physiques, who snore, are 20 pounds or more overweight, and have a neck circumference of greater than 16 inches.  The device simply clips on your finger and wrist.  The following morning you turn it in to the hospital where it is scanned and a report is generated regarding the diagnosis.  Sleep apnea is now associated with increased risk for heart attacks.

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There's a new and more accurate risk calculator for calculating the probability that you might have a heart attack or stroke within the next 10 years.  It's based on about twenty different factors and parameters.  The calculator is interactive, free, and online and can be found HERE.  Since it calls for height in centimeters and weight in kilograms here's a little help --- Height in inches x 2.54 = height in centimeters; weight in pounds divided by 2.2 = weight in kilograms.

Stay well!