Fit fatties live longer than unfit fatties

And it's only the unfit fatties who die earlier.  The authors below seem surprised by their findings.  I guess it blows away the "fat is bad" gospel

The intriguing metabolically healthy but obese phenotype: cardiovascular prognosis and role of fitness

Francisco B. Ortega et al.

Abstract

Aims: Current knowledge on the prognosis of metabolically healthy but obese phenotype is limited due to the exclusive use of the body mass index to define obesity and the lack of information on cardiorespiratory fitness. We aimed to test the following hypotheses: (i) metabolically healthy but obese individuals have a higher fitness level than their metabolically abnormal and obese peers; (ii) after accounting for fitness, metabolically healthy but obese phenotype is a benign condition, in terms of cardiovascular disease and mortality.

Methods and results: Fitness was assessed by a maximal exercise test on a treadmill and body fat per cent (BF%) by hydrostatic weighing or skinfolds (obesity = BF% ≥25 or ≥30%, men or women, respectively) in 43 265 adults (24.3% women). Metabolically healthy was considered if meeting 0 or 1 of the criteria for metabolic syndrome. Metabolically healthy but obese participants (46% of the obese subsample) had a better fitness than metabolically abnormal obese participants (P < 0.001). When adjusting for fitness and other confounders, metabolically healthy but obese individuals had lower risk (30–50%, estimated by hazard ratios) of all-cause mortality, non-fatal and fatal cardiovascular disease, and cancer mortality than their metabolically unhealthy obese peers; while no significant differences were observed between metabolically healthy but obese and metabolically healthy normal-fat participants.

Conclusions: (i) Higher fitness should be considered a characteristic of metabolically healthy but obese phenotype.

(ii) Once fitness is accounted for, the metabolically healthy but obese phenotype is a benign condition, with a better prognosis for mortality and morbidity than metabolically abnormal obese individuals.

SOURCE







Secret weapon in fight against lung cancer... is being MARRIED: Singles less likely to survive after treatment

They fail below to ask WHY people might be unmarried.  In some  cases it may be because they are in less than robust mental and physical health to start with.  Even a small minority of unmarrieds of that sort would produce the findings below

Being married can make a big difference in how long people survive after undergoing treatment for lung cancer, a study has found.

Researchers studied 168 patients with locally advanced lung cancer, who were treated with chemotherapy and radiation over a 10-year-period, from January 2000 and December 2010.

They found that 33 per cent of married patients were still alive after three years compared to 10 percent of the single patients, with women faring better than men.

Married women had the best three-year survival rate (46 per cent), and single men had the worst rate (3 per cent).

Single women and married men had the same survival rate. White married patients had a better survival rate than married African-Americans.

The study’s lead author, Elizabeth Nichols, a radiation oncology resident at the University of Maryland Greenebaum Cancer Center said: 'Marital status appears to be an important independent predictor of survival in patients with locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer.

'The reason for this is unclear, but our findings suggest the importance of social support in managing and treating our lung cancer patients. Patients may need help with day-to-day activities, getting to treatment and making sure they receive proper follow-up care.

'We believe that better supportive care and support mechanisms for cancer patients can have a greater impact on increasing survival than many new cancer therapy techniques.

'Not only do we need to continue to focus on finding new drugs and cancer therapies, but also on ways to better support our cancer patients.'

Further research is now being planned to determine if the findings can be corroborated on a wider basis.

E. Albert Reece, vice president for medical affairs at the University of Maryland, said: 'Lung cancer is the number one cause of cancer death in both men and women, and this study by researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine suggests that having a spouse who can act as a caregiver may improve survival for patients with this type of cancer.

'We must figure out ways to help all of our cancer patients live longer, with a better quality of life, regardless of their marital status.'

SOURCE