In the Antarctic, the new findings confirm the trend of other recent studies - that the West is losing mass to the oceans whereas the ice sheet in the East is either getting thicker or remaining stable.
Levy writes that the concurrent decline in mortality from cardiovascular disease is likely the result of advances in both prevention and treatment, but only advances in primary prevention can explain the trend found in the autopsy studies.
If we have either of those as parents, then no matter which way the trend swings, or what the studies prove over time, we can, at the very least, live with the knowledge that we did what we thought was the best for our children.