Give slim kids higher marks, says French diet guru

PARIS (Reuters) - Pierre Dukan, the nutritionist behind the popular but controversial Dukan diet, has suggested that France tackle child obesity by giving extra exam marks for slimness. Dukan, who has sold 8 million copies of his diet book worldwide, made the proposal in a 250-page book called 'An Open Letter to the Future President', which he sent out on Tuesday to 16 candidates for France's presidential election. The plan calls for high school students to be allowed to take a so-called "ideal weight" option in their final year exams, the "baccalaureat," under which they would earn extra points if they kept a body mass index (BMI) of between 18 and 25. Those already overweight at the start of the two-year course would score...

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Posted in: HEALTH

Modest exercise cuts obese women's blood pressure

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Even fairly modest amounts of exercise can help older obese women lower their blood pressure numbers, a new clinical trial suggests. In a study that randomly assigned 404 women to exercise or not, researchers found that lower-intensity activity -- walking on a treadmill or pedaling an exercise bike -- curbed what's known as exercise blood pressure. That refers to blood pressure levels during physical activity, including daily routines like walking around a store or climbing stairs. While it's normal for blood pressure to rise when we're active, steeper increases have been linked to a heightened risk of heart disease -- independent of a person's usual blood pressure at rest. So the new findings,...

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Study shows memory loss can start as early as 45

LONDON (Reuters) - Loss of memory and other brain function can start as early as age 45, posing a big challenge to scientists looking for new ways to stave off dementia, researchers said Thursday. The finding from a 10-year study of more than 7,000 British government workers contradicts previous notions that cognitive decline does not begin before 60 years of age, and it could have far-reaching implications for dementia research. Pinpointing the age at which memory, reasoning and comprehension skills start to deteriorate is important because drugs are most likely to work if given when people first start to experience mental impairment. A handful of novel medicines for Alzheimer's disease, the most common form of dementia,...

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Diabetes in pregnancy, poverty linked to ADHD

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Babies born to poor mothers with pregnancy-related diabetes have an extra-high risk of developing attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, a new study suggests. So-called gestational diabetes typically develops during the second or third trimester of pregnancy, especially in women who are overweight before getting pregnant, eat an unhealthy diet and don't exercise. It affects between two and 10 percent of pregnant women, according to national data, and rates are rising alongside type II diabetes in the general public. While the new study doesn't prove that moms' gestational diabetes leads to ADHD in kids, it's likely that diabetes-related changes in the blood shared by mother and fetus could affect...

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Posted in: HEALTH