Dr. Vikram .R. Lotwala

6 a.m.: Waking Up Tried and true: Set your alarm 15 minutes earlier than you actually need to wake up, so you can rise gradually and mentally prepare for the day ahead. Expert tip: Go to sleep with your blinds at least halfway open : When the sun flows in, your brain will slow its melatonin production and start generating adrenaline, so you'll be half-awake by the time your alarm goes off. App for that? The Sleep Cycle alarm clock ($0.99, iPhone) analyzes your sleep patterns and wakes you up when you'll feel most rested. © Pixland/Thinkstock 7 a.m.: Before Your Commute Tried and true: Have a small breakfast to kick-start your metabolism. Expert tip: Even something as simple as string cheese with an apple and roasted nuts will help you stay energized—protein and calcium are key. © Stockbyte/Thinkstock 8 a.m.: On the Way In Tried and true: Living close to the office might help perk you up. Researchers...

Peter Dazeley / Getty Images If Americans keep getting heavier at the current rate, 42% of the population will be obese by 2030, a new study says. The increase accounts for an additional 32 million obese Americans and a whopping $549.5 billion in medical expenditures over the same time frame. The rise in obesity rates has slowed over the past decade or so, settling at about 36% — or 78 million U.S. adults — in 2010. The new public health report presented on Monday at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Weight of the Nation conference in Washington, D.C., predicts that unchecked, that rate could increase by 33% by 2030. “Should these forecasts prove accurate, the adverse health and cost consequences of obesity are likely to continue to escalate without a significant intervention,” said study author Dr. Justin Trogdon of RTI International, a nonprofit research organization, in a statement. The number of people with severe obesity — those...

The total number of women dying of womb cancer has increased by 20 per cent in the last ten years. According to figures released by Cancer Research UK, since the start of the 21st century total yearly deaths from womb cancer has gone up by 400 - from 1,500 to a current level of 1,900. The rise in the number of deaths follows a significant increase in the number of women being diagnosed with this particular type of the disease Higher levels of obesity in recent years are thought to be a major reason for the increase in deaths with experts saying that obese women run twice the risk of developing  the disease. Up to the year 2000 the percentage of women who developed womb cancer had remained roughly constant for a quarter of a century and death rates had been declining, according to Cancer Research UK. But since the late 1990s, the death rate has risen from 3.1 to 3.7 per 100,000 in the UK. However, because the total number of womb cancer diagnoses has increased, o...

As America's waistline expands, costs soar By Sharon Begley NEW YORK | Mon Apr 30, 2012 10:46am EDT (Reuters) - U.S. hospitals are ripping out wall-mounted toilets and replacing them with floor models to better support obese patients. The Federal Transit Administration wants buses to be tested for the impact of heavier riders on steering and braking. Cars are burning nearly a billion gallons of gasoline more a year than if passengers weighed what they did in 1960. The nation's rising rate of obesity has been well-chronicled. But businesses, governments and individuals are only now coming to grips with the costs of those extra pounds, many of which are even greater than believed only a few years ago: The additional medical spending due to obesity is double previous estimates and exceeds even those of smoking, a new study shows. Many of those costs have dollar signs in front of them, such as the higher ...