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In the mid-19th century, a Belgian astronomer and sociologist first developed what would one day become known as the body mass index, or BMI. Adolphe Quetelet wasn't trying to figure out how obese someone was-just what the "average man" had as a ratio of height to weight. Later in the 1970s, the current definition of BMI was codified, but it was never intended to be a measure of individual health but rather a way to track population health.
Over the years, however, BMI became a convenient shortcut as a measure of obesity, simply because it's straightforward to calculate, even though its shortcomings have been long acknowledged in the scientific literature. So this week, the American Medical Association adopted policy language that clearly acknowledged the limits of BMI as a health measurement and gave guidance to doctors on how to use it in conjunction with other key measurements to better serve their patients.
This new policy has, perhaps a bit surprisingly, become grist for the endless culture war mill by political commentators. That's because the AMA-correctly-noted that most of the baseline measurements that the BMI was built on were based on men of European descent but not a larger, more diverse cohort of the population. But overall what the AMA policy is really doing is restoring the BMI to what it was intended to be: one measure among many in determining health. Look at it this way: going just from the BMI, you'd have to classify professional athletes like Travis Kelce or Zion Williamson as "obese" when they clearly aren't.
"Due to significant limitations associated with the widespread use of BMI in clinical settings, the AMA suggests that it be used in conjunction with other valid measures of risk such as, but not limited to, measurements of visceral fat, body adiposity index, body composition, relative fat mass, waist circumference and genetic/metabolic factors," the organization explained in a press release. "The policy noted that BMI is significantly correlated with the amount of fat mass in the general population but loses predictability when applied on the individual level."
P.S. On an unrelated note, we'd like to give a shoutout to longtime Forbes contributor Bruce Japsen, whose new book, which looks at Walmart's history in the healthcare business, was published last week. Check it out!
A first-of-its-kind complaint from the Federal Trade Commission has charged San Francisco genetic testing company 1Health.io for allegedly failing to protect the privacy of its clients-something more than half of Americans say is a concern when it comes to DNA health and ancestry kits.
Read more here.
RSV: Drugmaker GSK said that its RSV vaccine gave long-term protection in older adults after a single shot, according to results from its late stage clinical trial, promising news for efforts to combat the common and potentially lethal infection.
Lymphoma Treatment: The FDA has approved glofitamab-gxbm, marketed by Genentech as Columvi, for the treatment of certain patients with large B-cell lymphoma.
Surgical Intelligence: Surgical data platform provider Caresyntax announced that it's beginning a strategic collaboration with medical liability insurer ProAssurance. Under the agreement, Caresyntax tools will be provided to ProAssurance's surgeon customers.
AI Drug Discovery: Verge Genomics, which uses AI for drug discovery for neurodegenerative diseases, announced positive safety data from its phase 1 trial of VRG50635, which is aimed to be an ALS treatment.
New studies that explore the link between Covid and diabetes add more evidence suggesting a Covid infection may increase the risk of developing diabetes, even acting as a "disease accelerator."
Read more here.
Vaccine scientist Peter Hotez alleges he was stalked after criticizing Joe Rogan and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for spreading vaccine misinformation on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast.
Pharmaceutical giant Merck's lawsuit against CMS and HHS over drug pricing provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act highlights the complex market that makes establishing a "fair" price difficult. .
The virus that causes Hepatitis D may cause more diseases than originally thought, a new study finds.
Nearly one in five Americans faced depression in 2020, a new study from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention says.
Walgreens has partnered with biotech company Freenome to produce clinical trials on the early detection of cancer, after its rival CVS Health announced a plan to slow down on clinical trials by the end of 2024.
According to a new poll, around two-thirds of practicing OB/GYNs say the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade has worsened pregnancy-related mortality and made it more difficult to manage pregnancy related emergencies.
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