Lost ten percent

ESA New Form, Long Waits And Dirty Tricks Plus PIP Stats Latest

Today sees the release of the latest personal independence payment (PIP) statistics, giving details of how many claimants are still waiting and how many new claimants and DLA transfer claimants are getting an award.

Today also brings the first mandatory reconsideration statistics. These suggest that DWP dirty tricks have managed to cut the number of employment and support allowance (ESA) challenges by more than half. And they still won’t tell us how many of those challenges are successful.

We explain how to beat the dirty tricks, whether your mandatory reconsideration – the new first step in the appeals process – is for ESA, PIP or another benefit.

The DWP have also announced that a new ESA50 questionnaire is due out early next year which will place more onus on claimants to provide supporting evidence.

Meanwhile, it will come as no surprise to readers to discover that IDS continues to twist statistics, mangle facts and bluster his way out of every hole he finds himself in.

17 December 2014 newsletter

When you lose weight, where does the fat go?

Despite a worldwide obsession with diets and fitness regimes, many health professionals cannot correctly answer the question of where body fat goes when people lose weight, a new study shows. The most common misconception among doctors, dieticians and personal trainers is that the missing mass has been converted into energy or heat. The correct answer is that most of the mass is breathed out as carbon dioxide and goes into thin air.

When you lose weight, where does the fat go? Most of the mass is breathed out as carbon dioxide, study shows

Immune cells in brain respond to fat in diet, causing mice to eat

Immune cells perform a previously unsuspected role in the brain that may contribute to obesity, according to a new study. When researchers fed mice a diet high in saturated milk fats, microglia, a type of immune cell, underwent a population explosion in the brain region called the hypothalamus, which is responsible for feeding behavior, they report.

Immune cells in brain respond to fat in diet, causing mice to eat

Midriff bulge linked to heightened risk of sudden, often fatal, heart malfunction

A persistent midriff bulge, otherwise known as central obesity, is linked to a heightened risk of a sudden, and often fatal, malfunction of the heart's electrical circuitry, suggests research. Sudden cardiac death occurs without warning, and is caused by a sudden unexpected loss of heart function, which rapidly reduces blood flow around the body, including to the brain. It is distinct from a heart attack, and kills around 300,000 people in the USA every year.

Midriff bulge linked to heightened risk of sudden, often fatal, heart malfunction -- ScienceDaily

Fructose and glucose: Brain reward circuits respond differently to two kinds of sugar

New information suggests the brain responds differently to different sugars, and that one type could be connected with overeating. Brain responses to fructose, a simple sugar contained in high-fructose corn syrup, produced activation in the brain's 'reward circuit,' and increased the desire for food, according to new research. This was not true for glucose, the body's major energy source, which is produced mainly by breakdown of complex carbohydrates.

Fructose and glucose: Brain reward circuits respond differently to two kinds of sugar

One of the most difficult challenges in weight loss is keeping the weight off over the long term

"Despite advancements in our understanding of obesity, weight regain after weight loss remains the most substantial problem in obesity treatment -- with both the body and the mind conspiring against individual efforts to maintain weight loss," said Dr. MacLean, co-chair of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) working group who authored the report, "Innovative Research to Improve Maintenance of Weight Loss," published in the January 2015 issue of the journal Obesity. "There are many differences in individuals ranging from genetic to behavioral that lead some to do well on one approach, whereas others do not. Therefore, what works for a friend or coworker may be very different from a weight-loss program that's most effective and sustainable for you over the long term."

One of the most difficult challenges in weight loss is keeping the weight off over the long term

ESA Medicals Now Decide PIP And Vice Versa

Employment and support allowance (ESA) medicals – work capability assessments (WCAs) – are being used to make decisions about eligibility for personal independence payment (PIP), a government minister has confirmed.

Benefits and Work also has evidence that the reverse is true: existing ESA awards are being looked at again and changed on the basis of a PIP medical report.

What’s more, in an effort to reduce the PIP backlog, many thousands of decisions are being made by temporarily promoted DWP staff who aren’t really decision makers at all.

So, it’s probably never been more important to ensure that you give the most detailed and accurate information you can, backed up with supporting evidence if possible, when you are applying for either ESA or PIP.

3 December 2014 newsletter

M.E. and exercise – when will they ever learn?

Our quality of life is less than cancer and multiple sclerosis patients up to six months before their death, yet we are treated as though we just lack the will to exercise and pick up our bed and walk. The lack of recognition of the seriousness of our illness is a blight on the medical profession.

M.E. and exercise – when will they ever learn?

10 of The Most Counter-Intuitive Psychology Findings Ever Published

1. Self-help Mantras Can Do More Harm Than Good

If you've got low self-esteem, you might want to avoid uttering positive mantras such as "I'm a lovable person". A 2009 study found that people lacking in self-belief who spoke this phrase to themselves didn't feel any better afterwards. In fact they felt worse, possibly because the repeated utterance led them to generate contradictory thoughts automatically.

BPS Research Digest: 10 of The Most Counter-Intuitive Psychology Findings Ever Published

Is There Any Science Behind the Gluten-Free Phenomenon?

We may not be able to fully uncover the absolute specifics; however, as you read on, you’ll be clearer on what the actual culprits could be rather than blaming gluten for everything.

Is There Any Science Behind the Gluten-Free Phenomenon?

ME vs. CFS – They’re Not The Same!

... studies have shown that less than 1 in 10 people diagnosed with CFS actually have ME. That means 90% of CFS patients have something completely different from ME. This makes combining the two terms not only highly inaccurate, but also extremely harmful to both patient groups involved. By taking media attention and the precious few research dollars intended for ME and spending it instead on CFS, it leaves those of us living with this horrendous disease with literally no voice and no hope for a better future.

ME vs. CFS – They’re Not The Same! | Documenting M.E.