Dr. Sanjay Gupta's 'Cheating Death' Special Debuts Oct. 17; CDC Reports Continued Rise in Obesity

This weekend, neurosurgeon and CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta, M.D., explores the world of physicians whose work promises to stretch survival time -- and, possibly even, to reverse the process of dying. They, and their patients, are cheating death.

The program, titled "Another Day: Cheating Death," follows just days after the release of Dr. Gupta's latest book, "Cheating Death: The Doctors and Medical Miracles That Are Saving Lives Against All Odds," which is already a bestseller on Amazon. The show debuts at 8 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 17, and again at 11 p.m. On Sunday, Oct. 18, "Cheating Death" airs at 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. [NOTE: All times Eastern.]

CDC: Obesity Among U.S. Adults Continues to Rise
One way to "cheat death" is to control obesity, which is related to about 20 major diseases; e.g., heart disease, diabetes, cancer.

Recently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] reported that the prevalence of obesity is 25 percent or higher in 32 U.S. states. In fact, the proportion of U.S. adults who are obese increased to 26.1 percent in 2008, compared to 25.6 percent in 2007. The data come from CDC’s Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System [BRFSS], a state-based phone survey that collects health information from adults aged 18 and over.

In six states -- Alabama, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia -- adult obesity prevalence was 30 percent or more. Thirty-two states, including those six, had obesity prevalence of 25 percent or more. Only one state, Colorado, had a prevalence of obesity less than 20 percent. But no state showed a significant decrease in obesity prevalence from 2007 to 2008.

More than 400,000 U.S. adults were surveyed in the 2008 BRFSS, which is the world’s largest telephone health survey. To assess obesity prevalence, survey respondents are asked to provide their height and weight, which is used to calculate their body mass index [BMI]. A person is considered obese if they have a BMI of 30 or above.

"Obesity is a major risk factor for many chronic diseases, such as heart disease and diabetes," said Dr. William Dietz, director, CDC’s Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity. "As obesity increases among all age groups, we are seeing chronic diseases in much younger adults, compared to a few decades ago. For example, we now see young adults who suffer from heart disease risk factors and other conditions, such as type 2 diabetes, that were unheard of in the past."

For more information on obesity trends, including an animated map, visit: http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/trends.html.

SOURCES: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CNN [photo], U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
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