August 16th, 2004
The Secret Life Of Fat
MSNBC is carrying a three part article on fat and its influence on long term health and longevity. In a nutshell, fat turns out to be a surprisingly complex part of the body: "Increasingly, researchers believe that the biochemistry of fat holds clues both to its tenacity and to the diseases associated with obesity, including heart disease, diabetes and even certain cancers." The weight of scientific evidence strongly links excess weight (and thus excess fat) to all of the most common - and terrible - age-related conditions. If you are even modestly overweight younger in life, you are significantly raising your risk of suffering cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer's and other degenerative conditions as you age.