A recent US study has added credence to the theory that eating trends leading to obesity, and at the other end of the spectrum, thinness, may often be socially contagious.

Study author and professor at Harvard University, Dr Nicholas Christakis, said, ‘This reinforces the idea that because people are interconnected, their health is interconnected. It takes seriously the embedded-ness of people within social networks and gives new meaning to the concept of public health’.

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New research published in the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology has found that chronic kidney disease patients who are obese, are more likely than their normal-weight counterparts to suffer a condition that increases their risk of heart problems and death.

The condition - hyperparathyroidism - involved increased levels of parathyroid hormone (PTH). Normal levels help maintain healthy bone structure, however elevated PTH levels can result in bone abnormalities, increased heart disease risk and death. In chronic kidney disease patients, hyperparathyroidism is caused by decreased kidney function.

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