A recent study has uncovered another possible risk factor for the development of type 2 diabetes: working long hours in low-paying jobs. In a study published this week in the Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, researchers found that people who work more than 55 hours per week performing manual work or other low socioeconomic status jobs face a 30 percent greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes when compared to those working between 35 and 40 hours per week. The association remained even after researchers accounted for risk factors such as smoking, physical activity levels, age, sex and obesity as well as after they excluded shift work, which has already been shown to increase type 2 diabetes risk. The study is the largest so far to examine the link between long working hours and type 2 diabetes. To conduct the study, researchers examined data from 23 studies involving more than 222,000 men and women in the U.S., Europe, Japan and Australia who were followed for an average of more than seven years. While on the surface, researchers found a similar type 2 diabetes risk among those who worked more than 55 hours per week and those working a more standard 35-40 hour week, more in-depth analysis revealed that workers in low socioeconomic jobs did, indeed, face a significantly higher risk. In other words, the association between long work hours and higher type 2 diabetes risk was only apparent among low-income groups. In a related commentary published in the same journal... |
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(c) 2010-2024 Jon L Gelman, All Rights Reserved.
Showing posts sorted by date for query obesity. Sort by relevance Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by date for query obesity. Sort by relevance Show all posts
Saturday, September 27, 2014
Study: People who work long hours in low-wage jobs experience higher risk of diabetes
Monday, September 15, 2014
Thank You Truck Drivers!
Today's post is shared from cdc.gov and was authored by W. Karl Sieber, Ph.D.:
When you eat lettuce from California or purchase a new couch, consider how these goods got to your local grocery store or home. Nearly 2 million heavy or tractor-trailer truck drivers cross the nation every year to bring us the goods we are used to finding on our store shelves or to deliver our online purchases [BLS 2012]. In honor ofTruck Driver Appreciation Week(September 14-20), we want to thank all truck drivers for their hard work and dedication.
Truck drivers are essential to the United States. It is important that safety and health professionals and truck drivers and their employers work together to keep truck drivers safe and well. A recent NIOSH survey found that when compared to the U.S. adult working population, more long-haul truck drivers (heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers whose freight delivery routes require them to sleep away from home) were obese, cigarette smokers, and diabetic. For example, obesity and current smoking were twice as prevalent.
These results suggest that the job itself, which can include long hours sitting, stress factors like traffic and demanding schedules, and limited access to healthy foods, may contribute to a higher chance for health problems. This gives our partners and us an opportunity to use the work setting to identify and stimulate changes that can lead to better health. To do so, it is essential that we communicate effectively with truckers and trucking companies.
NIOSH is exploring different ways to share health information with the trucking industry. We are seeking your input to help us determine:
- What is the best way to get our information out to long-haul truck drivers?
- Who would long-haul truck drivers listen to?
- What health and safety topics are important to long-haul truck drivers?
W. Karl Sieber, Ph.D.
Karl Sieber is a NIOSH Research Health Scientist with the Surveillance Branch of the Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations, and Field Studies. He is the Project Officer for the National Survey of U.S. Long-Haul Truck Driver Health and Injury. The survey was supported by NIOSH with partial funding from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation.
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Friday, July 18, 2014
TOP 10 EVENTS IN CALIFORNIA WORKERS’ COMP 1ST HALF 2014
2014 is half done. What were the most significant events/themes in California workers’ comp in the first half of 2014? Here, in no particular order, are my top picks: 1. CONTROVERSY OVER UTILIZATION REVIEW AND INDEPENDENT MEDICAL REVIEW CONTINUES Utilization review and independent medical review continued to generate controversy during the first half of 2014. California injured workers, doctors, and applicant attorneys complained that it was increasingly hard to get consistent treatment for work injuries, as many adjusters used utilization review to deny treatments. Prominent attorney advocates called for reform of utilization review statutes and regulations. However, there were disputes about the raw numbers. A January 2014 study by CWCI (the California Workers’ Comp Institute) (http://cwci.org/research.html) claimed that only about 4.7% of treatment requests are ultimately denied or modified. According to the CWCI around 75% of treatment requests were approved without being sent to UR (“elevated review”). These numbers were in line with a 2011 study done by RAND. In response, a January 2014 analysis )of 2013 sample UR audit data prepared by CAAA consultant Mark Gerlach documented that some insurers were denying as much as two of every three treatment requests. Reviewing audit data, Gerlach noted that there was a wide range in approval rates of different claims administrators. Overall,... [Click here to see the rest of this post] |
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Monday, June 30, 2014
Obesity Prevalence by Occupation in Washington State
Truckers, movers, and police and firefighters are likeliest to be obese. Doctors, scientists and teachers are the healthiest.
Those are the results of a first-of-its-type study the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries sponsored connecting what you do for work with obesity. The study also examined the percentage of workers in specific occupations who smoke, have adequate fruit and vegetable servings, participate in leisure time exercise and report high physical demands of their job.
“This is the first state-level study using the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System data to estimate occupation-specific obesity."“The objective of the research was to identify occupations in need of workplace obesity prevention programs,” said Dr. David K. Bonauto, associate medical director for L&I’s research division. “Employers, policy makers and health practitioners can use our results to target and prioritize prevention and health behavior promotions.”
The study, “Obesity Prevalence by Occupation in Washington State, Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System,” was published earlier this year by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The study was based on more than 88,000 participants the CDC contacted in the state in odd years from 2003-2009. It found that nearly 1-in-4 workers statewide were obese.
“We know obesity poses a threat to public health,” Dr. Bonauto said. “This is the first state-level study using the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System data to estimate occupation-specific obesity. All states within the U.S. could have this data if questions about occupation and industry were added to many state and national health surveys.”
Truck drivers were the most obese, nearly 39 percent. The proportion of current smokers was highest also for truck drivers, who – with computer scientists and mechanics – had the lowest proportion of adequate servings of fruits and vegetables. “Truckers are likely influenced by the availability of food choices, such as fast food and convenience stores,” Dr. Bonauto noted.
The study has its limitations. Because researchers used self-reported height and weight, there might be an underestimate of obesity. Also, the body mass index results don’t distinguish between fat and muscle mass. Police and firefighters, for instance, had a high prevalence of obesity but also had the highest proportion of vigorous leisure time physical activity.
Those with less education and an income less than $35,000 had a significantly higher likelihood of being obese, according to the study. Workers who had regular servings of fruits and vegetables and adequate physical exercise were less likely to be obese.
Photo credit: kennethkonica / Foter / Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic (CC BY-ND 2.0)
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Monday, April 14, 2014
Add Texting to the List of Things That Are Killing Us Faster
Today, in news that will make you feel bad about your existence: Texting and tinkering with mobile devices for extended periods of time could make you die sooner, the doctors of the world say. As The Telegraph reports, the hunchback pose that people adopt while staring down at their devices is known to increase the risk of an early death in the elderly. Chiropractors are concerned that younger people—who spend between one and two hours on their phones a day—could be shaving years off their lives. The United Chiropractic Association (and probably your mom) say that Gollum-like posture can be just as threatening a health risk as obesity, citing studies that bad posture in older people is linked with a disease called hyperkyphosis. Colloquially known as “dowager’s hump,” this condition is often associated with heart problems. Apparently older folk with even the slightest hump are 1.4 times more likely to die than those without. In other words, we’ve all been killing ourselves slowly while we sit, smoke, and apply sunscreen. Now texting is helping speed up the process. “This isn’t alarmist or scaremongering; it’s what more and more research is telling us,” UCA chiropractor Edwina Waddell told The Telegraph. “And the good news is that it doesn’t have to happen because it’s something we all have a degree of control over.” Control? Sounds like someone’s never... |
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Nov 03, 2013
Lost in the clamor for stricter distracted-driving laws, a study from April 2013 found discouraging patterns in the relationship between texting bans and traffic fatalities. As one might expect, single occupant vehicle crashes dip ...
Oct 01, 2013
Andrew M. Cuomo revealed a plan to put "texting zones" on the New York State Thruway and state highways, where drivers can pull over and respond to text messages. This is, in part, a response to the fact that New York has ...
Oct 23, 2013
... drive on the roads. While the Federal government has strictly enforced the no texting while driving rule, the states maintain a patchwork of confusing regulations and statutory prohibitions. Today's post is shared from nj.com.
Friday, December 13, 2013
How Clinical Guidelines Can Fail Both Doctors and Patients
Guidelines came about after generations of physicians wanted to bring something more than “opinion and experience” to the patient’s bedside. In the late 1960s legislation for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was amended to call for a demonstration of efficacy and an assessment of benefits and risk as prerequisite to the licensing of any pharmaceutical. Modern clinical science resulted, first slowly and now with an avalanche of clinical trials, each pouring forth outcome data galore. The Burden of Clinical Data Clinicians are expected to stay current with this wealth of information. The modern medical curriculum instructs all budding physicians on how to evaluate the quality and the clinical relevance of all such contributions to the body of clinical science. Because some (or perhaps many) find this exercise overwhelming, there are organizations—many academic and some without any discernible relationships with purveyors that could pose... |
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Jon L. Gelman of Wayne NJ is the author NJ Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thompson) and co-author of the national treatise, Modern Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thompson). For over 4 decades the Law Offices of Jon L Gelman 1.973.696.7900 jon@gelmans.com have been representing injured workers and their families who have suffered occupational accidents and illnesses.
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Wednesday, November 27, 2013
Exposure to Shift Work as a Risk Factor for Diabetes
Using telephone survey data from 1111 retired older adults (≥65 years; 634 male, 477 female), we tested the hypothesis that exposure to shift work might result in increased self-reported diabetes. Five shift work exposure bins were considered: 0 years, 1-7 years, 8-14 years, 15-20 years, and 20 years. Shift work exposed groups showed an increased proportion of self-reported diabetes (χ2 = 22.32, p < 0.001), with odds ratios (ORs) of about 2 when compared to the 0-year group. The effect remained significant after adjusting for gender and body mass index (BMI) (OR ≥ 1.4; χ2 = 10.78, p < 0.05). There was a significant shift work exposure effect on BMI (χ2 = 80.70, p < 0.001) but no significant gender effect (χ2 = 0.37, p 0.50).
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Sunday, November 24, 2013
Doctors Say Heart Drug Raised Risk of an Attack
Cardiologists have accused a small drug company of withholding data from a clinical trial showing that the company’s drug, meant to reduce the risk of heart attacks, increased the risk instead.
The cardiologists said that the company, Anthera Pharmaceuticals, did not turn over data to academic investigators, as it was required to do, for more than a year.
“Despite a contract that required transfer to the academic authors, the company stonewalled every attempt to acquire the data,” Dr. Steven Nissen, a cardiologist at the Cleveland Clinic, said in an email on Tuesday.
Dr. Nissen was the senior author of a report on the data that was published online Monday by The Journal of the American Medical Association and presented at the annual meeting of the American Heart Association in Dallas. In unveiling the results there, the lead investigator, Dr. Stephen Nicholls, publicly admonished the company.
Dr. Colin Hislop, the chief medical officer at Anthera, denied the accusations, saying it simply took time to gather and organize the data. “I don’t think the timeline was particularly protracted, nor were we being difficult,” he said in an interview Tuesday.
Studies and lawsuits have shown that many clinical trial results, particularly negative ones, are not published. Critics say that hampers medical practice and violates an obligation to patients, who try experimental treatments in part to advance knowledge.
“We think that when you enter...
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FAA to Evaluate Obese Pilots for Sleep Disorder
After laying the groundwork with months of public education efforts, the FAA on Wednesday confirmed it plans to implement a new policy requiring special screening of pilots with excess weight or other factors that increase their risk of suffering from sleep apnea. To maintain their licenses, those aviators will have to be evaluated by a physician who is a sleep specialist. The FAA eventually also plans to expand the effort to identify air-traffic controllers at greater risk for sleep apnea. Once a pilot has been diagnosed with the condition—marked by sleep deprivation that causes daytime fatigue—he or she will have to undergo treatment before getting approval to return to the controls. In a statement, the FAA said the updated guidelines to physicians are designed to help pilots and boost aviation safety "by improving the diagnosis of unrecognized or untreated" forms of the sleep disorder. For private or weekend pilots especially, the impact could be dramatic. In 2011, the FAA identified about 125,000 pilots who were considered obese, making them potential candidates for testing under an expanded policy, according to the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, the largest national membership organization representing private aviators. There... |
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Wednesday, November 20, 2013
New obesity treatment guideline released
Insurance coverage for weight-related counseling, such as helping patients plan new menus with fewer calories or outline a realistic fitness program, could improve under this new recommendation. More importantly, the panel of physicians and weight researchers outlined which interventions are the most effective based on clinical trials. Doctors should treat patients who are obese — a BMI of 30 or above (180 pounds or more for a 5-foot-5 person — as well as those who are overweight with a BMI between 25 to 30 (150 to 180 pounds for a 5-foot-5 person) if they have certain heart disease risk factors such as type 2 diabetes, the guideline states. People at a healthy weight, or who are overweight without any health problems, should keep their weight steady. “It’s not just about body weight, but whether excess body weight is associated with medical conditions,” said Dr. Timothy Church, director of preventive medicine research at Pennington Biomedical Research Center, who was not involved in writing the guideline.
Doctors can offer drugs or bariatric surgery to help reverse obesity, but they should first try providing patients with intensive counseling to help them exercise and eat right.
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Thursday, October 31, 2013
DePaolo's Work Comp World: Trucks, WBV and Cancer
The National Cancer Institute (NC!) reports that over 230,000 males in the US will diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2013 and that 29,790 deaths will result. David DePaolo, published of WorkCompCentral®, writes today of the potential new wave of workers' compensation claims arising from the association of whole-body vibration syndrome (WBV) experienced by truck drivers and its relationship to prostate cancer. He links source material to support the argument. This post is shared from http://daviddepaolo.blogspot.com . You just never know what the next big risk category is going to be in workers' compensation. I had been persuaded by an argument offered by Charlie Kingdollar, Vice President emerging issues unit for General Re Corp., that nanomaterials would be the next asbestos. OSHA has been particularly concerned with silica in the past couple of years. |
Thursday, September 26, 2013
N.J. boosts public workers' insurance coverage for alcoholism, drug addiction
Gov. Chris Christie, shown here in Asbury Park at an unrelated event today, announced that the state's health benefits plan for public workers will cover alcoholism and drug addiction the same as other mental illnesses starting next year.Tony Kurdzuk/The Star-Ledger
More than 200,000 public workers in New Jersey will get enhanced insurance coverage for mental illnesses such as alcoholism and drug addiction beginning next year, Gov. Chris Christie announced today.A committee of state and union officials approved "mental health parity" on Friday for the state's second-largest health benefits plan. It means the same level of coverage now provided for a biologically-based mental illness — such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder — will apply to other types of illnesses such as alcoholism, drug addiction and eating disorders. The expansion is expected to cost "less than $5.1 million a year" and will affect more than 217,000 current and retired workers enrolled in the State Health Benefits Program, Christie's office said in a news release today. The insurance plan covers state, county and local government workers as well as employees of New Jersey's public colleges and universities, and their dependent family members. Along with that change, the committee approved "four new lower-cost health plan options" and a new "wellness program" that seeks to encourage healthier lifestyles by offering workers gift cards worth $100 to $250 per person every... |
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Saturday, September 21, 2013
Poor Diet Of Shift Workers An "Occupational Health Hazard"
The editors of a leading journal suggest that the poor diet of shift workers should be considered an occupational health hazard. They argue that working patterns should be treated as a specific risk factor for obesity and type 2 diabetes, which have reached epidemic proportions in the developed world, with the developing world not far behind. With reference to studies published in earlier issues of the journal, that show links between increased risk in type 2 diabetes and shift work patterns in American nurses, Dr Virginia Barbour, chief editor of the journal PLoS Medicine and her fellow editors make a case in this month's edition for classing unhealthy eating as a new form of occupational hazard, especially in those workplaces that employ shift workers, whose easy access to junk food compared to healthier options just makes it harder to keep to a good diet. Shift work is common in both the developed and the developing world. About 15 to 20% of workers in Europe and the US work shifts, many of them in the health care industry. As the world moves more toward the 24/7 pattern of "open all hours", shift work will become even more common than this, and if the data from studies cited in their... |
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Tuesday, September 10, 2013
Law Will Shift Demographics For Medicaid Toward Healthier Group, Study Finds
The health law is expected to change the face of Medicaid – literally. Using statistics from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, the authors found that the group of newly eligible individuals is:
“It’s really a game changer,” said Dr. Tammy Chang, a lead author of the report. “A lot of providers think of Medicaid... |
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Sunday, September 8, 2013
California bill limiting workers' comp claims by athletes advances
An effort by the National Football League and owners of other professional sports teams to limit workers' compensation claims by out-of-state athletes is close to final passage in the California Legislature.
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The measure cleared the state Senate on Friday on a 34-2 vote. In May, it passed the Assembly on a 61-4 tally.
The proposal is expected to win final passage next week in the Assembly and to be on the governor's desk shortly after the scheduled Sept. 13 legislative recess.
Because of its liberally interpreted workplace injury laws, California has become the de facto forum of last resort for so-called cumulative trauma claims, including head injuries, by retired players. Many of them may have participated in just a handful of games in California over the course of their careers.
The crackdown on athletes' workers' compensation claims has been the focus of a major lobbying campaign by the NFL and other pro-sports leagues. Former athletes have filed more than 4,400 claims involving head and brain injuries since 2006.
Such claims represent an estimated potential $1-billion liability for the NFL alone.
The bill, AB 1309 by Assemblyman Henry T. Perea (D-Fresno), does not affect players who spent their careers with California-based football, baseball, basketball, hockey and soccer teams.
However, it bans claims from athletes who played for California teams for less than two seasons, and those who played for California teams at least two seasons but spent seven...
[Click here to see the rest of this post]
Found on
The proposal is expected to win final passage next week in the Assembly and to be on the governor's desk shortly after the scheduled Sept. 13 legislative recess.
Because of its liberally interpreted workplace injury laws, California has become the de facto forum of last resort for so-called cumulative trauma claims, including head injuries, by retired players. Many of them may have participated in just a handful of games in California over the course of their careers.
The crackdown on athletes' workers' compensation claims has been the focus of a major lobbying campaign by the NFL and other pro-sports leagues. Former athletes have filed more than 4,400 claims involving head and brain injuries since 2006.
Such claims represent an estimated potential $1-billion liability for the NFL alone.
The bill, AB 1309 by Assemblyman Henry T. Perea (D-Fresno), does not affect players who spent their careers with California-based football, baseball, basketball, hockey and soccer teams.
However, it bans claims from athletes who played for California teams for less than two seasons, and those who played for California teams at least two seasons but spent seven...
[Click here to see the rest of this post]
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Found on
Wednesday, September 4, 2013
Avoidable Deaths from Heart Disease, Stroke, and Hypertensive Disease — United States, 2001–2010
The US CDC reports that deaths attributed to lack of preventive health care or timely and effective medical care can be considered avoidable. In this report, avoidable causes of death are either preventable, as in preventing cardiovascular events by addressing risk factors, or treatable, as in treating conditions once they have occurred. Although various definitions for avoidable deaths exist, studies have consistently demonstrated high rates in the United States. Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of U.S. deaths (approximately 800,000 per year) and many of them (e.g., heart disease, stroke, and hypertensive deaths among persons aged <75 years) are potentially avoidable.
Monday, September 2, 2013
Media Portrays Social Security as an Avenue to Benefits for the Unemployed - WRONG! It's Not That Simple...
The Social Security Administration turns down many worthy applicants when they first apply.
Photo credit: Thomas Hawk / Foter.com
/ CC BY-NC
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Today's post comes from guest author Susan C. Andrews, from Causey Law Firm.
So I work with the program’s rules - yes, there are rules for deciding these cases – it is not enough just to claim to be disabled. And I come face to face with individuals who are struggling, sometimes with a major health issue such as cancer, or rheumatoid arthritis, or Multiple Sclerosis.
Other folks have multiple health problems that have combined to force them from the labor market. All of them have medical records, often reams of them, documenting diagnoses, chronicling surgeries and other treatment regimens. This is one big thing I think the general public does not know: a person must have one or more diagnoses from a qualified physician that could account for the symptoms and limitations he or she is reporting to Social Security.
Brain injuries a big problem for NFL in California
By the thousands, professional athletes from around the country are seeking medical care or money through California's workers' compensation system for brain trauma and other injuries suffered on the playing field. Former athletes have filed more than 4,400 claims involving head and brain injuries since 2006 — seven times more than in the previous 15 years, according to a Times analysis of state records. Nearly three-quarters of all new claims made in California now include alleged brain injuries. Most of these claims come from former pro football players, brought by superstars such as Joe Theismann, Tony Dorsett and Earl Campbell, as well as unheralded practice squad players. |
Saturday, August 31, 2013
Is Big Sugar the Next Liability Target?
By Vik Khanna
Growing paranoia is the hallmark of the aging process for me. Although I am a generally affable sort (I know, it doesn’t always seem that way from my writing), I am also a fairly suspicious person. I am starting to think that all the food industry’s sweet talk about the innocence of sugar is really just icing on a toxic cake and that we’ve all been sold a bill of goods. In particular, I wonder — and part of me hopes — that Big Sugar might soon replace Big Tobacco as the favorite target of our most underappreciated and misunderstood national resource…the plaintiff’s bar. There is no question we eat way too much sugar and that the increase in consumption has coincided nicely with both our rise in obesity and decline in health status even though we are living longer. Not that I think the Tobacco Settlement (TS) was great social policy. You can read my full view here; but, to summarize, as an immigrant and a person of color, a part of me resents the TS because all it did is push the burden of fulfillment of the financial terms into the hearts and lungs of people in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The smug satisfaction of tobacco opponents in the US and their glib dismissal of the impact on predominantly poor people of color around the world is first order racism. Any analogous move against Big Sugar (BS) could be quite interesting. There is, of course, the delectable duality of... |
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- Garlock testimony switches to financial liability (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
- Corporate Liability: Halliburton Pleads to Destroying Evidence in Gulf Pil Spill 2010 (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
- An "F" for Quality (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
- Liability Claim Collateral SOurce Payments Subject to MSP (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
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