Press

Tonight's story focuses on a report from the Framingham Heart Study that suggests that obesity – and thinness – can spread through social ties. And it's not just that obese people tend to hang out together. If one of a pair of mutual friends BECOMES obese (defined as Body Mass Index, or BMI>= 30) then the risk of the other becoming obese increases by 171%! And social closeness is much more important than geographic closeness. There was no effect for next door neighbors who weren't friends. But a friend 1,000 miles away influences you as much as a friend next door. Originally published on July 25, 2007.

Scientific American article. Originally published on July 25, 2007.

An important new medical study finds that friends who put on excessive weight are a major factor in a person's risk for obesity. Originally published on July 25, 2007.

Wondering why your waistline is expanding? Have a look at those of your friends. Your close friends can influence your weight even more than genes or your family members, according to new research appearing in the July 26 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine. The study's authors suggest that obesity isn't just spreading; rather, it may be contagious between people, like a common cold. Originally published on July 25, 2007.

Judy Foreman article. Originally published on March 20, 2006.

New York Times article. Originally published on February 16, 2006.

A new study shows that spouses have a higher risk of death when their partners are hospitalized during a given year. That risk increases when their partners are suffering from severely mentally or physically disabling conditions such as dementia or a psychiatric illness. Originally published on February 16, 2006.

NPR. Originally published on February 16, 2001.

New York Times article. Originally published on November 28, 2000.

It's a rainy Sunday afternoon, and Nicholas A. Christakis has just received sad news. Frances Holbrook*--"a wonderful old lady," he says--died that morning before he could get to her. Not that he could have saved her, or would have tried: Christakis is a doctor, but his patients rarely survive. His practice is in hospice care. Originally published on February 24, 2000.