The Health News USA July 28 2017

Overview

• Scientists call for public health action as they highlight the dangers of the so-called overfat pandemic that is currently sweeping the United States. Obesity and excessive weight are public health concerns; over 70% of U.S. adults are either obese or overweight.
• A version of the Obamacare repeal plan the Senate could pass this week may leave sixteen million more Americans uninsured over a decade, according to a Congressional Budget Office estimate requested by Senate Democrats.
• Health officials announced that a man was diagnosed with Zika virus while living in Texas, the first infection transmitted from a local mosquito in the state this year.  More than 5,000 Zika cases were reported last year – with 224 cases reported to be local Zika transmission in the U.S., the CDC reported.

News on Health Professional Radio. Today is the 28th of July 2017. Read by Tabetha Moreto. Health New

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/318647.php

Scientists call for public health action as they highlight the dangers of the so-called overfat pandemic that is currently sweeping the United States. Obesity and excessive weight are public health concerns; over seventy percent of U.S. adults are either obese or overweight. But being overweight or obese is not the only thing that we should be worried about, new research warns.

The “overfat pandemic” is a public health crisis in the U.S. and around the world, write researchers Philip Maffetone, Ivan Rivera-Dominguez, and Paul B. Laursen, in a study recently published in the journal Frontiers in Public Health. Paul B. Laursen is the corresponding author of the study and a professor at the Auckland University of Technology in New Zealand.

As the researchers explain, the term overfat describes excessive body fat that builds up in certain parts of the body, and it can affect even individuals who are of normal weight. Such a buildup of fat can still pose serious threats to one’s health. Being overfat may raise the risk of cardiometabolic disorders, which can, in turn, lead to a range of chronic diseases and possibly premature death.

The same researchers previously coined the term in a study in which they reported that between sixty two and seventy six percent of the global population are likely to have this health problem. Their new study – which consists of a review of existing research – zooms in on thirty of the world’s most developed countries, as classified by the Human Development Index. As the authors have pointed out in their previous research, being overfat is directly associated with conditions including insulin resistance, high blood pressure, coronary heart disease, stroke, and even cancer.In their new study, they warn that the prevalence of overfat adults and children in developed countries is “extremely high.”

Specifically, in countries such as Greece, Iceland, New Zealand, and the U.S., over ninety percent of adult men and up to half of children were found to be overfat. As the scientists note, relying on traditional body mass index measurements to determine whether someone is overweight or obese may ignore many people who have excessive body fat that puts them at risk of various health conditions.

Because of traditional BMI measurements, it may misleadingly appear that obesity and overweight rates have flatlined in recent years, at least in countries such as the United Kingdom or the U.S. However, rates of abdominal obesity have been on the rise.

http://www.cnbc.com/2017/07/26/skinny-obamacare-repeal-may-leave-16-million-more-uninsured-cbo-estimates.html

A version of the Obamacare repeal plan the Senate could pass this week may leave sixteen million more Americans uninsured over a decade, according to a Congressional Budget Office estimate requested by Senate Democrats.

Democrats on two key Senate committees asked for the score based on reported features of a “skinny” Affordable Care Act repeal. Here are those provisions, according to a Democratic spokesperson: A repeal of Obamacare’s individual mandate, which requires Americans to have coverage or pay a penalty; scrapping the employer mandate requiring employers of a certain size to provide coverage; getting rid of the medical device tax; defunding women’s health care provider Planned Parenthood; dropping the Prevention and Public Health Fund, which invests in various health initiatives.

The CBO also projected premiums would be twenty percent higher than under current law, the spokesperson said. That piece of the estimate was not included in the report the CBO released publicly on Wednesday night. Senate Republicans are pushing to pass some form of Obamacare repeal this week after multiple efforts to follow through on the key campaign promise have stalled recently. After Republican opposition blocked separate proposals to immediately replace Obamacare or repeal it and replace during a two-year transition period, GOP senators’ focus has reportedly turned to the skinny plan.

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2017/07/26/texas-mosquito-infects-local-man-with-zika-virus-health-officials-say.html

A man was diagnosed with Zika virus while living in Texas, the first infection transmitted from a local mosquito in the state this year, health officials announced on Wednesday. The man from Rio Grande Valley did not travel to other states or countries prior to his diagnosis, according to Texas Health and Human Services. He was tested and is not at risk of transmitting the disease to other mosquitoes.

“Thousands of Zika tests have been done since a DSHS recommendation in April expanded testing of pregnant women and people with Zika symptoms in six South Texas counties,” officials said in a news release. In November and December two thousand and fifteen, the Brownsville area had six locally transmitted cases of Zika reported. The mosquito-borne virus became a major health concern last year with an increase of infants born with microcephaly, an abnormally small head.

More than five thousand Zika cases were reported last year — with two hundred twenty four cases reported to be local Zika transmission in the U.S., the CDC reported. Health officials still advise pregnant or women who are expecting to be pregnant to avoid countries where the disease is most prominent.