A gordura mata

There had been some suggestion that it may be healthier to be pleasantly plump, but the team at the U.S. National Cancer Institute crushed any such idea with a study of 1.5 million adults published on Wednesday. The healthiest BMI is 22.5 to 24.9, they found -- at the upper end of where the World Health Organization, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other groups have said people should be.

Body-mass index is the weight in kilograms divided by the square of the height in meters. A BMI of between 25 and 30 is overweight and a BMI of 30 or over is obese. A person 5 feet 5 inches tall is classified as overweight at 150 pounds (68 kg) and obese at 180 pounds (82 kg). A 5-foot-10 inch (1.8 meter) tall person who weighs 209 pounds (95 kg) has a BMI of 30 and is obese. Being overweight or obese raises the risk of heart disease, diabetes, some cancers and arthritis. The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, confirms that having a BMI of 25 or more also makes a person more likely to die than someone the same age who is slimmer.

A realização de um TAC substitui a colonoscopia

A colonoscopia é muitas vezes inevitável, mas é dolorosa (when a black tube outfitted with a tiny camera is threaded through the colon so doctors can see lesions -- are uncomfortable, costly and carry some risk).

Segundo uma investigação recente, publicada no New England Journal of Medicine, refere que a colonoscopia pode ser substituída pela realização de um TAC, evitando-se custos físicos e financeiros: ``It's wonderful we have another test that works at the same level. We could potentially eliminate a whole class of cancers if patients underwent regular screening and had these removed.''

Antes, o American College of Radiology Imaging Network, já tinha realizado pequenos estudos que verificavam esta nova solução mais confortável e com menos custos (The results confirm findings from smaller studies and support the American Cancer Society's decision in March to include the virtual colonoscopy, also known as a CT colonography, as a screening option).

A tecnologia vai ajudando a que as pessoas sofram menos e tenham uma vida melhor.

Computadores de apoio à mamografia são ineficazes

Sem os avanços da tecnologia, a qualidade da saúde humana não teria avançado tanto. Contudo, o uso da tecnologia nem sempre é eficaz. Se não vejamos este estudo realizado pelo New England Journal of Medicine, aqui divulgado:

• Computer aided mammogram devices are inaccurate according to the results of a new study to be published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
• The computer devices are used to analyze up to 30% of mammograms that are performed in the United States, and have been found to be less accurate than the results when the test is analyzed by a radiologist, as well as on average costing an additional 70 dollars a test.
• The researchers looked at mammograms from 222,135 women from 1998 to 2002.

O Homem quer sempre mais, mas às vezes querer mais pode tornar-se perverso: The USFDA approved the technology for use back in 1998, and since then more and more mammogram facilities have been adopting the CAD program.

E segundo o referido estudo, a tecnologia suportada por computador pode estar em causa: ``This is a hit for CAD and will surprise many mammographers that thought CAD had done some good,'' said Ferris Hall, professor of radiology at Harvard Medical School and author of an editorial accompanying the study, in an interview. ``It's not the end-all, but a substantial hit. CAD is a big business.''

É preciso estar sempre a estudar e a acompanhar a evolução das novas tecnologias.