Viagra May Help Men Lose Weight
Viagra may help men lose weight. According to a study by the University of Bonn, mice that were given Viagra (sildenafil) over longer periods of time were resistant to obesity when fed a high-fat diet. Researchers, whose findings were published in the Journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, said that the drug could potentially “melt” the “spare tire” section around the midriff. So Viagra is the best drug ever? Fellas, before you run out and fill your Viagra prescription, note that the studies were done on mice, not humans, and we are wary of any journal with the term “experimental” in the title. [Science Daily]
The good news? Obesity numbers didn’t increase in the U.S. between 2011 and 2012. The bad news? It didn’t go down either. Gallup and Healthways started tracking Americans’ weight daily in 2008 as part of the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index. The 2012 data comprise more than 350,000 surveys of American adults. One startling statistic is how income plays a role in obesity. People with an annual income more than $90,000 a year were the second least obese (people 18-29 were the least). People that made less than $36,000 a year were the third most obese. [Gallup]
The average physician will spend 11 percent of his or her career with an unresolved malpractice claim, according to a new study reported in Health Affairs. Neurosurgeons has the most length of time with an unresolved claim at 27 months, and psychiatrists had the least at 16 months. The study is part of a larger project to understand how malpractice works and to investigate possible improvements to the system. [Harvard Medical School]
The Dana-Farber Cancer Institute received a large grant from Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation (ALSF) through their Centers of Excellence program, which funds research of leading childhood cancer institutions that are committed to developing and conducting early phase clinical trials. The first institutions that will receive the funding of $350,000 per year (renewable annually for up to five years for a total of $1.75 million) are Baylor College of Medicine, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the University of California San Francisco.
