The Newsroom, August 24, 2009
Obesity is on a rampage. The World Health Organization pegs the number of those affected at more than 300 million worldwide, with a billion more overweight. With obesity comes an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes and hypertension.
Now there is more discouraging news.
In a study published in the current online edition of the journal Human Brain Mapping, senior author Paul Thompson, a UCLA professor of neurology, lead author Cyrus A. Raji, a medical student at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, and their colleagues compared the brains of elderly people …

Food hijacked Dr. David Kessler’s brain. Not apples or carrots. The scientist who once led the government’s attack on addictive cigarettes can’t wander through part of San Francisco without craving a local shop’s chocolate-covered pretzels. Stop at one cookie? Rarely.
It’s not an addiction but it’s similar, and he’s far from alone. Kessler’s research suggests millions share what he calls “conditioned hypereating” — a willpower-sapping drive to eat high-fat, high-sugar foods even when they’re not hungry.
In a book being published next week, the former Food and Drug Administration chief brings to consumers the disturbing conclusion …