Ever noticed that people tend to be around the same weight as spouses and friends? Well, it's not your imagination. A study just out in the New England Journal of Medicine reports that obesity, a major risk factor for type 2 diabetes, acts somewhat like a contagious disease - so when one person puts on weight, others around them follow suit. This, the researchers say, helps explain why Americans have gotten so fat in recent decades.

The study, a summary and discussion of which is featured in The New York Times, involved the analysis of a social network of 12,067 people over a period of thirty-two years (from 1971 to 2003). Researchers tracked not only the health and weight loss/gain of these people, but also who knew whom, who was friends with whom, and who was related to whom. Over time, it became clear that those whose friends became obese were much more likely to grow obese themselves. The likelihood, in fact, tripled in the case of close friends. Interestingly, friendship mattered more as a determining factor than did being related or being neighbors with someone.

It works like this: people tend to share the lifestyle habits of their family and friends. Folks who consider salads delightful and who enjoy frequent jogs around the park generally surround themselves with similarly-minded folks, and it shows in their trim physiques. Likewise, fast-food munchers who enjoy lots of TV tend to hang out with a similar crowd...and their thighs - not to mention waistlines, hearts, blood sugar levels etc. - suffer the consequences. Another factor, says researcher Nicholas Christakis, is the perception of the self in relation to others: "You change your idea of what is an acceptable body type by looking at the people around you."

Oh, this is awesome news for anyone touched by the Avandia mess: manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has announced that its shares are up despite its troubles over the diabetes drug Avandia. The scandal arose over revelations that Avandia could cause heart problems. Things only escalated as details came to light, particularly the role of the US Food and Drug Administration and its completely inadequate response to the problem.

Given all this bad publicity, wouldn't you expect GSK's stocks would take a dive? Well, they did during the quarter that Avandia hit the news. However, the company's overall outlook for the year 2007 still looks pretty darn good, apparently. As a result, projections for earnings-per-share remain stable and the company is expanding its share buyback program.

So much for suffering the consequences of your actions... On the other hand, GSK has vigorously defended Avandia against claims of heart damage. They would say: "Why should we suffer? We haven't done anything wrong."

In the Houston Chronicle, People's Pharmacy columnists Joe Graedon and Teresa Graedon remember a drug scandal from 1970 that mirrors today's Avandia troubles almost exactly. Orinase, a popular diabetes drug was found to be increasing the very heart trouble it was designed (and marketed) to prevent.

Orinase's active ingredient is tolbutamide, a substance that stimulates the pancreas to produce insulin. According to the Graedons, the heart damage being caused by Orinase-takers was first revealed by the University Group Diabetes Program in 1970 following an extensive analysis of diabetes care in the US. Like the Avandia controversy, experts also debated the results of the University Group's conclusions on Orinase, yet it was more or less eventually accepted as fact that drugs belonging to the class sulfonylureas, including tolbutamide, do indeed increase the likelihood of heart problems. I say "more or less" because many authorities still hedge their bets. Example? The health site Drugs.com copies info on Orinase provided by Thomson Healthcare/Micromedix. According to that source, sulfonylureas, have been "reported, but not proven in all studies, to increase the risk of death from heart and blood vessel disease." [My emphasis.] This, thirty-seven years after the release of the study demonstrating such risk!

Orinase is still prescribed in certain situations. Is Avandia destined to end up sidelined, yet still on the market, like Orinase? Seems to be headed that way. In the meantime, the unfortunate reality is that new drugs will continue to be rushed to market and serious side effects discovered (or made public) only after they have been prescribed to thousands of people. The fact is, today's high-tech (and high-priced!) wonder drugs all come with a dose of risk.

If I was Goldilocks (stay with me here), eating the 3 Bears' porridge wouldn't have been an issue. Why? Because: 1) I'm smart enough not to eat food that belongs to an animal that can rip me to shreds (let alone 3 of them), and 2) I really don't like the taste of porridge/oatmeal. The downside of that distaste is that I miss out on a great deal of health benefits offered by whole oats. The solution I came up with is to mix the oats with my morning protein shake, which helps me choke it down. But, it turns out that there is a very easy and tasty alternative to cholesterol-reducing oatmeal, and the best part is that it's much more tasty. Cheerios.

Classic Cheerios (not the Honey Nut kind) has more fiber (4 grams) than a packet of oatmeal (3 grams). And, just like oatmeal, whole-oat cold cereals chip away at your LDL cholesterol because they contain beta-glucans. You should also find the effects on blood sugar to be comparable to those produced by eating a bowl of oatmeal.

The way I see it, it's a Win-Win situation. Of course, if you like oatmeal, making the switch may not be necessary -- although I would still advise it if it can prevent you from becoming the target of 3 hungry bears.

Pomegranate juice was shown to reduce the risk of arthrosclerosis in diabetics who participated in a study conducted over three months. The pomegranate juice also appeared to slow the absorption of unhealthy LDL cholesterol by immune cells.

People with diabetes have increased risk for atherosclerosis, contributing to coronary heart disease, heart attacks, strokes, and other circulation problems. The results of this study suggest that the antioxidants found in pomegranate juice may be beneficial in reducing these heart-related risks associated with diabetes. The sugars in pomegranate juice are attached to unique antioxidants, which actually make these sugars protective against atherosclerosis. Researchers examined the effects of drinking a concentrated pomegranate juice that is the equivalent to about a 6-ounce glass of freshly squeezed pomegranate juice for three months in 10 healthy adults and 10 adults with type 2 diabetes (who were not dependent on insulin therapy). Drinking pomegranate juice did not affect overall cholesterol levels, but researchers found it reduced the uptake of LDL (bad) cholesterol by immune cells, which is a major contributing factor to atherosclerosis.

Albeit a little tart, the reputation of the pomegranate falls heavily on the sweet side. One pomegranate delivers 40% of an adult's daily vitamin C requirement. Food manufacturers' favor using pomegranate extracts instead of the juice because it contains no sugar, calories, or additives. Factor in the folic acid, the free-radical destroying antioxidants, and the overall health benefits of the Chinese apple and ask your arteries if it's worth a 6 ounce glass. I'm guessing the answer is yes.

In future, not filling prescriptions issued for a chronic health condition could earn you a follow up from your insurance company. The Detroit Free Press reports that some Michigan health plans are starting to track whether or not patients on diabetes meds, antidepressants, or on drugs for asthma and heart problems are filling their prescriptions. When they identify patients who are not following through with their doctors' prescribed treatments, they may mail a reminder notice or even notify their doctors. The thinking is that many patients just need a little education on the importance of their prescription meds and the fact that many take a while to start working.

Invasive? Maybe. But the big insurers are concerned to do all they can to get their clients healthy. They realize that preventative care and sticking with prescribed treatment plans are both critical to getting people healthy and, therefore, reducing the necessity for insurance payouts. For example, this particular article cites a study which said that up to twenty percent of hospital and nursing home admissions result simply because patients are not taking their prescriptions or they are taking them incorrectly.

USA TODAY ran a feature story that covered an American Diabetes Association, ADA, briefing over the weekend in which Robert Rizza, president of the ADA, stated that 7.2 million diabetic disabilities and deaths could be avoided by a simple daily pill that combined low-dose aspirin with drugs that lower cholesterol, blood pressure and blood sugar. A polypill is what Rizza called it.

Rizza went on to say that this treatment would cost approximately $100 dollars a year per person. According to the ADA, 21 million Americans have diabetes with an additional 41 million Americans at risk of developing diabetes. When I read this, it struck me that this is either a groundbreaking statement that has profoundly promising implications in the future treatment for diabetes -- or this is common knowledge in the diabetes community and then -- why is no one acting on this knowledge and developing the pill Rizza is referring to? Then again, is creating a mega-pill combining so many different medications in one pill -- prudent?

I am going with groundbreaking news, as the information shared in this weekend briefing was based on a mathematical model produced by Archimedes that predicts various outcomes based on variables in treatments. Now that they have this information, what will they do with it?