Gastric Bypass vs Diet and Cardiovascular Risk FactorsA Nonrandomized Controlled Trial

Importance Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) is associated with reduced cardiovascular (CV) risk factors, morbidity, and mortality. Whether these effects are specifically induced by the surgical procedure or the weight loss is unclear. Objective To compare 6-week changes in CV risk factors in patients with obesity undergoing matching caloric restriction and weight loss by RYGB or a very low-energy diet (VLED). Design, Setting, and Participants This nonrandomized controlled study (Impact of Body Weight, Low Calorie Diet, and Gastric Bypass on Drug Bioavailability, Cardiovascular Risk Factors, and Metabolic Biomarkers [COCKTAIL]) was conducted at a tertiary care obesity center in Norway. Participants were individuals with severe obesity preparing for RYGB or a VLED. Recruitment began February 26, 2015; the first patient visit was on March 18, 2015, and the last patient visit (9-week follow-up) was on August 9, 2017. Data were analyzed from April 30, 2021, through June 29, 2023. Interventions VLED alone for 6 weeks or VLED for 6 weeks after RYGB; both interventions were preceded by 3-week LED. Main Outcomes and Measures Between-group comparisons of 6-week changes in CV risk factors. Results Among 78 patients included in the analyses, the mean (SD) age was 47.5 (9.7) years; 51 (65%) were women, and 27 (35%) were men. Except for a slightly higher mean (SD) body mass index of 44.5 (6.2) in the RYGB group (n = 41) vs 41.9 (5.4) in the VLED group (n = 37), baseline demographic and clinical characteristics were similar between groups. Major atherogenic blood lipids (low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, non–high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, apolipoprotein B, lipoprotein[a]) were reduced after RYGB in comparison with VLED despite a similar fat mass loss. Mean between-group differences were −17.7 mg/dL (95% CI, −27.9 to −7.5), −17.4 mg/dL (95% CI, −29.8 to −5.0) mg/dL, −9.94 mg/dL (95% CI, −15.75 to −4.14), and geometric mean ratio was 0.55 U/L (95% CI, 0.42 to 0.72), respectively. Changes in glycemic control and blood pressure were similar between groups. Conclusions and Relevance This study found that clinically meaningful reductions in major atherogenic blood lipids were demonstrated after RYGB, indicating that RYGB may reduce CV risk independent of weight loss. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02386917publishedVersio

Årsrapport 2011 for sykdomsprogrammet: Blod- og seksuelt overførbare infeksjoner

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A representation theorem for guilt aversion

Guilt aversion has been shown to play an important role in economic decision-making. In this paper, we take an axiomatic approach to guilt by deducing a utility representation from a list of easily interpretable assumptions on an agent's preferences. It turns out that our logarithmic representation can mitigate the problem of multiplicity of equilibria to which psychological games are prone. We apply the model in three well-known games and show that its predictions are consistent with experimental observations

Blod- og seksuelt overførbare infeksjoner: Årsrapport 2014 for sykdomsprogrammet

publishedVersio

Four year follow-up of a randomised controlled trial comparing open and laparoscopic Nissen fundoplication in children

The article examines why some postconflict societies defer the recovery of those who forcibly disappeared as a result of political violence, even after a fully fledged democratic regime is consolidated. The prolonged silences in Cyprus and Spain contradict the experience of other countries such as Bosnia, Guatemala, and South Africa, where truth recovery for disappeared or missing persons was a central element of the transition to peace and democracy. Exhumations of mass graves containing the victims from the two periods of violence in Cyprus (1963-1974) and the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) was delayed up until the early 2000s. Cyprus and Spain are well suited to explain both prolonged silences in transitional justice and the puzzling decision to become belated truth seekers. The article shows that in negotiated transitions, a subtle elite agreement links the noninstrumental use of the past with the imminent needs for political stability and nascent democratization. As time passes, selective silence becomes an entrenched feature of the political discourse and democratic institutions, acquiring a hegemonic status and prolonging the silencing of violence

Europe's Orphan

Originally conceived as part of a unifying vision for Europe, the euro is now viewed as a millstone around the neck of a continent crippled by vast debts, sluggish economies, and growing populist dissent. This book presents a compelling defense of the euro. It argues that rather than blaming the euro for the political and economic failures in Europe since the global financial crisis, the responsibility lies firmly on the authorities of the eurozone and its member countries. The eurozone's self-inflicted financial calamities and economic decline resulted from a toxic cocktail of unforced policy errors by bankers, politicians, and bureaucrats; the unhealthy coziness between finance and governments; and, above all, an extreme unwillingness to restructure debt. The book traces the origins of monetary union back to the desire for greater European unity after the Second World War. But the euro's creation coincided with a credit bubble that governments chose not to rein in. Once the crisis hit, a battle of both ideas and interests led to the failure to aggressively restructure sovereign and bank debt. The book concludes that the prevailing view that monetary union can only work with fiscal and political union is wrong and dangerous. Contending that the euro has been wrongfully scapegoated for the eurozone's troubles, the book charts what actually must be done for the continent to achieve an economic and political recovery. This revised edition addresses the economic and political implications of Brexit. It charts what actually must be done for the continent to achieve a full recovery.</p

The Politics That the Euro Needs

This chapter reflects on the political imperative of establishing a coalition among eurozone countries and institutions that can achieve the economic goals listed in the previous chapter and articulates an alternative to the transfers-for-centralised-control paradigm that is driving voters to political extremes. There is one alternative which it has been claimed does not exist: greater national autonomy to pursue countercyclical fiscal policies combined with a framework for orderly sovereign debt restructuring; a eurozone fiscal framework that prioritises the collective fiscal stance; and mutualised debt issuance by a coalition of the willing. Such an alternative, if it had been pursued early in the crisis, would have addressed the balance-of-payments vulnerability of weaker euro members, reduced the cost of stagnation by requiring less austerity, and avoided the strain that the ‘no alternative’ rhetoric has inflicted on Europe's democracies.</p

Europe’s Real Economic Challenges

This chapter defines the three main economic challenges of the members of the single currency. The first is to deal better with balance-of-payments crises — both finish the job of fixing the financial fragmentation from 2010–11 and safeguard against future ones. This is a financial and monetary task, one of ensuring that capital flows across national borders in an orderly and efficient way. The second challenge is a ‘real economy’ task of ensuring that each economy's resources are fully employed: the classic macroeconomic problem of aggregate demand management. Both of these tasks are largely about undoing self-inflicted errors. Finally, the long-run challenge is to make labour and capital as productive as they can be, which is what sustains long-term improvement in living standards.</p