Empowered People International Group

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Overweight people who trim down substantially may improve both their health and their wealth, if new research is correct. The study, based on 15 years' worth of data from a large U.S. survey, found that both weight and weight changes were related to people's net worth -- their assets minus their debts.

In general, people with a normal body mass index (BMI) had the highest net worth, and heavy people who lost a significant amount of weight tended to see their wealth increase. Minor weight changes, on the other hand, showed little financial effect.

The pattern was not neat, however. In particular, obese black men had a greater net worth than slimmer black men, and overall, there was no clear association between BMI and wealth among African-American males.

In contrast, being thin helped white women's bottom lines the most, according to findings published online by the journal Economics and Human Biology. A white woman's net worth peaked when her BMI was just above the threshold for "normal," while that of white men and black women was greatest when their BMI was at the higher end of normal. White women also lost the most in terms of absolute dollars as BMI increased.

Similarly, women and white men tended to gain wealth after losing a large amount of weight. For example, a typical white male who trimmed 10 points from his BMI -- equivalent to a 6-foot-tall male going from 250 to 175 pounds -- had a wealth increase of $12,720. But again, black men differed in that their net worth dipped slightly with such a drastic weight change.

The reasons for the racial and gender discrepancy are not clear -- nor is there an easy explanation for the relationship between weight and wealth, according to study author Jay Zagorsky, a researcher at Ohio State University's Center for Human Resource Research in Columbus.

A person's body size does not seem to affect measures of wealth like capital gains made from stocks, he told Reuters Health, and so it would appear that weight affects income specifically.

Other researchers, according to Zagorsky, have speculated that heavy people may face discrimination in the workplace, which could lower their incomes. Obesity might also raise a person's spending, on food or treatments for obesity-related health conditions, for example.

The study drew on data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, a large nationally representative survey of Americans born between 1957 and 1964. Zagorsky based his findings on data collected between 1985, when respondents were at least 20 years old, and 2000.

The results indicate only an association between weight and wealth, and not a definite cause-and-effect relationship. However, Zagorsky pointed to some evidence that it's weight that affects wealth, rather than the other way around.

A subanalysis of survey respondents whose wealth was suddenly boosted with an inheritance found that these individuals had no significant changes in BMI in the following years.

SOURCE: Economics and Human Biology, online July 2005.

While running a homebased business offers tremendous freedom and flexibility; it also requires a high degree of motivation, self-discipline and organization. Especially if you're used to working for a big corporation where you have a well-defined job description, employees who report to you or a manager who closely supervises your work, you may find it difficult to make the transition to being your own homebased boss. If, on the other hand, your job gives you a fair degree of independence and you're chafing at the bit for more, working from home could be exactly what you're looking for.

Ask yourself the following five questions to find out if you're really ready to work from home:

1. Am I a jack-of-all-trades? Unlike working at a big corporation that has resources and specialists to send bills, fix computer problems and deal with problem employees, home based business owners typically have to figure things out on their own. This means mastering the skills necessary to do your own bookkeeping, tech support and hiring/firing-or finding a competent bookkeeper, computer technician or HR service to help you. Even though there are now many outsourced services for small and home based business owners, a solid grasp of QuickBooks, Microsoft Office and the Internet will make you more self-sufficient and cut down on professional services fees.

2. Am I comfortable setting my own schedule If you're used to showing up at an office every morning, operating in an environment without set hours or an employer-imposed schedule can be a difficult adjustment. While everybody claims to want freedom, the truth is that most people are creatures of habit and routine. That's why it's a good idea to create some sort of schedule-even if it's artificial-to break up your day. For example, if you start your day at 9 a.m., you could spend the first hour checking your e-mail messages and making cold calls, then tackle two hours of work before lunch. After lunch, you could make another round of calls, then put in another four hours of work before signing off for the day. Generally, it's a good idea to work the same hours that your clients do.

3. Am I good at setting goals? Just like creating a schedule can help structure your time, setting goals can give you milestones to shoot for and tangible rewards for achieving them. For example, when I was a home based freelance writer, my first goal was to make as much as I'd been making at my old newspaper job. (Fortunately, that wasn't too difficult.) Then I started raising the bar by $1,000 per month. Before long, I had eight newspaper and magazine clients paying me a total of $8,000 per month. As a reward for my hard work and self-discipline, I would sometimes sneak off to see a movie in the middle of the day-the ultimate writer's holiday!

4. Am I easily distracted? Some of the biggest challenges of working from home are the constant distractions. While there may be fewer meetings and less workplace gossip, there will be plenty of other things that compete for your attention, from kids and pets to housework, television and, of course, the refrigerator. It's a good idea to set up your home office in a room with a door to keep intrusions to a minimum.

5. Am I able to call it quits at the end of the day? No matter how much work still needs to get done, it's important to be able to call an end to your day. Even if you go back to the computer after dinner to check your e-mail or do some writing, it's important to set aside some time for your family and yourself. Unfortunately, many people who start working from home discover an inner workaholic they never knew was there. While you may need to put in extra hours initially to get your business off the ground, it's also important to strike a balance between your work and family responsibilities.

A 27-country survey has revealed that six out of ten physicians recognize abdominal fat as a significant risk factor for heart disease; however, only a small percentage of the pubic are aware that waist size can put them at risk for heart disease and less than one in five people can expect to have their waist circumference measured by their doctor.

Nearly 14,000 people and more than 2,600 physicians in 27 countries, including Australia, South Africa, Brazil, Canada, the UK and America, responded to the 'Shape of the Nations' survey, which was conducted in 27 countries during July of this year to assess knowledge and understanding of the increased risk of heart disease posed by excess abdominal fat.

Respondents included members of the public, including people identified as being 'at risk' for heart disease, and primary care physicians. The survey was conducted to coincide with World Heart Day on September 25th 2005.

"Measuring waist circumference is believed to be a better indicator of risk than Body Mass Index (BMI); we know that patients with increasing abdominal obesity coupled with other cardiovascular risk factors such as dyslipidaemia, hypertension and raised glucose levels are at far greater risk of cardiovascular disease,' said Professor Sidney Smith, Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board for the World Heart Federation (WHF).

He added that the 'Shape of the Nations' survey indicates the need for greater education and stronger action to safeguard people from the risk of heart disease.

A high-risk waistline is more than 88cms (35 inches) for women and 102cms (40 inches) for men from North America; 80cms for women and 94cms for men from Europe; 80cms for women and 90cms for men from Central and Latin America, the Middle East, India and Asia; 90cms for women and 85cm for men from Japan and 80cms for women and 94cms for men from the rest of the word.

The results of the 'Shape of the Nation' survey highlights the fact that the general population is still focused on absolute weight; roughly 52 per cent of the population currently jump onto the bathroom scales rather than focus on exactly where they carry their weight.

"It is crucial to increase knowledge about waist measurement as a simple, immediate, reliable indicator of obesity and risk for coronary heart disease (CHD)," said Prof Smith.

Despite therapeutic advances, an estimated 17 million, or one in three deaths worldwide each year, are as a result of heart disease and stroke. It has been predicted that by 2010 heart disease will be the leading cause of death in countries with developing economies. An additional factor contributing to the growing epidemic of cardiovascular disease is the prevalence of diabetes, which is predicted to increase by 72 per cent by 2025.

Abdominal obesity (measured by high waist circumference) is linked to the development of several risk factors such as abnormal cholesterol levels, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, hypertension and thrombosis, which may lead to myocardial infarction or stroke.

Blood maintains a constant concentration of hydrogen ion (pH) by a chemical mixture of hydrogen ions and sodium bicarbonate. The sodium bicarbonate is produced by the carbon dioxide (CO2) formed in the cells as a byproduct of many chemical reactions. The CO2 enters the blood in the capillaries, where red blood cells contain an enzyme called carbonic anhydrase that helps combine CO2 and water (H2O) to form carbonic acid (H2CO3) quickly. The carbonic acid formed then rapidly separates into hydrogen ions (H+) and bicarbonate ions (HCO3-). This reaction can also proceed in the reverse direction, whereby sodium bicarbonate plus hydrogen ion yields carbon dioxide and water.

The correct pH is maintained by keeping the ratio of hydrogen ion to bicarbonate in the blood constant. If you add acid (hydrogen ion) to the blood, then you will reduce the bicarbonate concentration and alter the pH of the blood. Similarly, if you reduce the hydrogen ion by adding alkali, you will increase the bicarbonate concentration and alter the pH of the blood.

Now, the acid/base balance of our blood changes in response to many things including:

• Diet – diets rich in meats (rancid, enzyme depleted proteins provide acids to the bloods when digested. In contrast, diets rich in mineral rich, organic botanicals cause blood to become alkaline because they are rich in bicarbonates.
• Exercise – exercising muscles produce lactic acid that must be eliminated from the body or metabolized.
• Breathing – high altitude causes rapid breathing that makes our blood alkaline. In contrast, certain lung diseases that block the diffusion of oxygen can cause the blood to be acidic.

Through a carbonic anhydrase reaction similar to the red blood cells, hydrogen ions get produced and secreted into the lumen of the nephron. Also, bicarbonate ions get produced and secreted into the blood. In the lumen of the nephron, filtered bicarbonate combines with secreted hydrogen ions to form carbon dioxide and water (carbonic anhydrase is also present on the luminal surface of the kidney cells). Whether the kidney removes hydrogen ions or bicarbonate ions in the urine depends upon the amount of bicarbonate filtered in the glomerulus from the blood relative to the amount of hydrogen ions secreted by the kidney cells. If the amount of filtered bicarbonate is greater than the amount of secreted hydrogen ions, then bicarbonate will be lost in the urine! Likewise, If the amount of secreted hydrogen ion is greater than the amount of filtered bicarbonate, then hydrogen ions will be lost in the urine (i.e. acidic urine).

1. Hydrogen ions added to the blood by breaking down a meat-rich diet combine with bicarbonate in the blood and form carbon dioxide and water.

2. This reaction reduces the bicarbonate concentration and the pH in the blood.

3. The decreased bicarbonate concentration in the blood reduces the amount of bicarbonate filtered in the glomerulus.

4. All of the filtered bicarbonate combines with the hydrogen ion secreted by the kidney cells in the lumen to form carbon dioxide and water.

5. Because the filtered load of bicarbonate was less than the amount of hydrogen ion secreted by the kidney cells, there is an excess of hydrogen ion in the urine.

6. The amount of bicarbonate secreted from the kidney cells into the blood was equal to the hydrogen ion secreted into the lumen and greater than the filtered load of bicarbonate from the blood -- therefore, the blood has a net gain of bicarbonate.

7. This process continues to lose hydrogen ions in the urine and gain bicarbonate in the blood until the concentrations of hydrogen (pH) and bicarbonate ions in the blood are restored to normal.

1. Bicarbonate added to the blood from the fruit or vegetable-rich diet combines with hydrogen ions to form carbon dioxide and water.

2. This reaction reduces the hydrogen ion concentration and increases the pH.

3. The increased bicarbonate concentration increases the amount of bicarbonate filtered in the glomerulus.

4. The filtered bicarbonate exceeds the amount of hydrogen ion secreted by the kidney cell, and excess bicarbonate is lost in the urine.

5. The amount of bicarbonate secreted from the kidney cells into the blood was equal to the hydrogen ions secreted into the lumen and less than the filtered load of bicarbonate from the blood -- therefore, the blood has a net loss of bicarbonate.

This process continues to lose bicarbonate in the urine and reduce the bicarbonate in the blood until the concentrations of hydrogen (pH) and bicarbonate ions in the blood are restored to normal.

If you've ever received a free sample of a prescription drug from your doctor, chances are you were happy to get it. It saved you money and the time of going to a pharmacy, at least for the short-term.

But did you ever wonder why your doctor had a free sample to give you in the first place? Was it truly the best option available?

That free prescription drug sample is just the tip of the iceberg. Drug companies spend $12 billion to $18 billion each year marketing directly to physicians and residents. And they start even before students even enter medical school.

"This contact with drug companies begins in the weeks and months after students graduate from college. By the third year of medical school, they are being saturated with this," said Dr. Frederick S. Sierles, a professor of medicine at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, in North Chicago, Ill, who conducted a study on the topic.

The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, found that by the third year of medical school, students get, on average, one gift or attend one activity sponsored by a drug company each week. It also found, via a survey sent out to 1,143 third-year medical students at eight medical schools, that:

• 93.2 percent of the students were asked or required by a physician to attend at least one lunch sponsored by a drug company.
• 68.8 percent of the students did not think the gifts would influence their practices.
• 57.7 percent believed the gifts would not affect colleagues' practices.
• Students tended to feel that their peers were more likely to be influenced than they were.
• 80.3 percent of the students believed they were entitled to gifts.

"Basically, we have medical students exposed to marketing. We know the marketing is biased in favor of the products. We know the students don't think they are being influenced. So they're being set up to be influenced without knowing it, and to prescribe in a way that is going to be bad for their patients," Sierles said.

Every year, pharmaceutical representatives make 60 million visits to doctors to inform them about their products.

And, says Dr. Marcia Angell, former editor of the New England Journal of Medicine and author of "The Truth About Drug Companies: How They Deceive Us and What to Do About It," the top U.S. drug makers spend 2.5 times as much on marketing and administration as they do on research.

So just how do these drug representatives work their magic to "teach" doctors about the newest and most expensive drugs on the market? They visit hospitals and private practices, bringing with them bagels and cream cheese, pens, pads of paper and other trinkets emblazoned with their company's logo. They sponsor extravagant lunches and take doctors on all-expenses paid trips to luxury resorts.

Said one former drug rep, "[Gifts] buy you time with a doc, time that might change his mind … Money is the big resource. The pads and pens are great for access, but the dinners and what costs money -- CDs, handheld computers, everything given in the name of research -- this is what's thrown at docs to get them to change their minds."

But if a free dinner or pad of paper wouldn't change your mind, maybe a check -- a five- or six-figure one -- would.

According to the New York Times, drug maker Schering-Plough sent six liver-disease specialists checks for $10,000, along with a letter explaining the check was for consulting services that were explained on the attached "Schedule A." As it turns out, "Schedule A" was nothing more than a blank sheet of paper with "Schedule A" printed at the top.

Another doctor also received a $10,000 check from the company, this one as payment for a consulting agreement that required only that the doctor commit to prescribing the company's drugs. Other doctors have reported receiving six-figure checks from other companies under similar circumstances.

In one study, the prescribing habits of two groups of 10 doctors were tracked before and after they went on a free luxury vacation from separate drug companies (and attended several hours of drug seminars each day).

Doctors in the first group, whose trip was sponsored by the makers of an intravenous antibiotic, prescribed 81 units of the drug before the trip -- and 272 units afterward.

The trip for the second group of doctors was sponsored by the makers of an intravenous heart medication. Before the trip, doctors prescribed an average of 34 units. After the trip, it rose to 87 units.

What is perhaps most disturbing is that none of the doctors believed they were influenced. "Maybe I was indirectly influenced by important scientific information that I might not otherwise have heard, but nothing else would influence me," said one.

Clearly, though, doctors are being influenced, often without their even realizing it. "They [doctors and residents] are more likely to prescribe the marketed products than prescribe what they should be prescribing. That's a big danger," said Sierles.

Going back to that free sample from your doctor, it's typically the newest, most expensive drugs that the drug reps give out. But, once your free sample runs out, guess who will foot the bill for those pills, that may be two to three times more expensive than an older or generic (but just as effective) drug? You.

So in the long run, those free samples aren't really free.

"We think that big pharma has gotten intricately involved in every aspect of medical education and clinical practice," said Leana Wen, president of the American Medical Student Association and a medical student at Washington University in St. Louis. "Medical schools really have a duty to educate students about the proper ways to interact with drug companies."

Until that happens, though, it's up to you to protect yourself. The best way to do this? Rather than just accepting whatever prescription your doctor gives you (free sample or otherwise), talk to him or her about all the options available, why this brand is better than others, and whether there's a less expensive alternative on the market.

And, says Dr. Angell:

"...Doctors are too willing to provide drugs for very minor conditions. Those drugs are too often the very most expensive, heavily advertised, me-too drugs. I think that patients have to get a little savvier about that. Instead of just grabbing that sample and thinking they've gotten something for free, they ought to think about what it means. Nearly every drug has side effects. I do think that we are an overmedicated society."

Now, here's the second law that changed my life forever in network marketing. I learned the law of sowing and reaping. And in the law of sowing and reaping is also the story of the law of averages.

Jot this down…the story of the sower. It comes from the Bible. I am amateur on the Bible, but this is such a useful story. Here's what the story says, and take notes, because the drama's in the details.

The sower was ambitious. Evidently, he was ambitious. When you read the whole story you'll conclude yes, this was an ambitious sower.

Here was number two. He had excellent seed. The sower who sowed the seed had excellent seed. And the excellent seed could be an excellent opportunity, an excellent product, an excellent story.

So we've got an ambitious sower with excellent seed. But now here are the rest of the details of the story. For your information, for the drama of your life, so you can understand things better, learning some of this is how I got rich by age 31.

The sower goes out to sow the seed, but the first part of the seed falls by the wayside and the birds get it.

So jot this down. The birds are going to get some of the seed. The birds are going to get some of the seed.

Now you say, "Mr. Rohn, what does that mean?"

Well, I invite John to come to a meeting. He said he'd be there Tuesday night. Tuesday night I show up. John isn't there. I say, "I wonder why John didn't make it."

Now I know the answer. The birds! The birds! John had this great idea of coming to the meeting to look at an opportunity, and somebody stole it and said, "You're not going to go see network marketing." And he says, "Well, maybe not."