Sham vs. Wham: The Health Insider

Mediterranean Diet Confirmed to Increase Health and Lifespan

2011-12-29T08:33:00.000-08:00

A Mediterranean diet with large amounts of vegetables and fish gives a longer life. This is the unanimous result of four studies to be published by the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, a highly regarded Swedish research institute. Research studies ever since the 1950s have shown that a Mediterranean diet, based on a high consumption of fish and vegetables and a low consumption of animal-based products such as meat and milk, leads to better health.

Scientists at the Sahlgrenska Academy have now studied the effects of a Mediterranean diet on older people in Sweden. They have used a unique study known as the “H70 study” to compare 70-year-olds who eat a Mediterranean diet with others who have eaten more meat and animal products. The H70 study has studied thousands of 70-year-olds in the Gothenburg region for more than 40 years. The results show that those who eat a Mediterranean diet have a 20% higher chance of living longer.

“This means in practice that older people who eat a Mediterranean diet live an estimated 2-3 years longer than those who don’t”, says Gianluca Tognon, scientist at the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg.

These results are supported by three further as yet unpublished studies into Mediterranean diets and their health effects: one carried out on people in Denmark, the second on people in northern Sweden, and the third on children.

“The conclusion we can draw from these studies is that there is no doubt that a Mediterranean diet is linked to better health, not only for the elderly but also for youngsters”, says Gianluca Tognon.

Dave

Probiotics Shown Effective in Radiation Protection

2011-11-17T06:59:00.000-08:00

Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have shown that taking a probiotic before radiation therapy can protect the intestine from damage — at least in mice. And as things usually work out, this implies a connection to the same protection in humans.

The new study suggests that taking a probiotic also may help cancer patients avoid intestinal injury, a common problem in those receiving radiation therapy for abdominal cancers. The research is published online in the journal Gut. Radiation therapy often is used to treat prostate, cervical, bladder, endometrial and other abdominal cancers. But the therapy can kill both cancer cells and healthy ones, leading to severe bouts of diarrhea if the lining of the intestine gets damaged.

“For many patients, this means radiation therapy must be discontinued, or the radiation dose reduced, while the intestine heals,” says senior investigator William F. Stenson, MD, Professor in Gastroenterology at Washington University. “Probiotics may provide a way to protect the lining of the small intestine from some of that damage.”

Stenson has been searching for ways to repair and protect healthy tissue from radiation. This study showed that the probiotic bacteria Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (LGG), among other Lactobacillus probiotic strains, protected the lining of the small intestine in mice receiving radiation.

“The lining of the intestine is only one cell-layer thick,” Stenson says. “This layer of epithelial cells separates the rest of the body from what’s inside the intestine. If the epithelium breaks down as the result of radiation, the bacteria that normally reside in the intestine can be released, travel through the body and cause serious problems such as sepsis.”

The researchers found that the probiotic was effective only if given to mice before radiation exposure. If the mice received the probiotic after damage to the intestinal lining had occurred, the LGG treatment could not repair it. Because the probiotic protected intestinal cells in mice exposed, the investigators believe it may be time to study probiotic use in patients receiving radiation therapy for abdominal cancers.

“In earlier human studies, patients usually took a probiotic after diarrhea developed when the cells in the intestine already were injured,” says first author Matthew A. Ciorba, MD. “Our study suggests we should give the probiotic prior to the onset of symptoms, or even before the initiation of radiation because, at least in this scenario, the key function of the probiotic seems to be preventing damage, rather than facilitating repair.”

The investigators sought to evaluate LGG’s protective effects in a way that would leave little doubt about whether it was preventing injury, and if so, how it was protecting the cells that line the intestine. “Some human studies have looked at the possibility that probiotics might reduce diarrhea, but most of those studies have not been quite as rigorous as we would like, and the mechanism by which the probiotics might work has not been addressed,” Stenson says.

If human studies are launched, Ciorba says one bit of encouraging news is that the doses of probiotic given to mice were not exceptionally large, and their intestines were protected. So people wouldn’t need mega-doses of the probiotic to get protection.
“The bacteria we use is similar to what’s found in yogurt or in commercially available probiotics,” he says. “So theoretically, there shouldn’t be risk associated with this preventative treatment strategy any more than there would be in a patient with abdominal cancer eating yogurt.”

Dave

How "Natural" Is This?

2011-11-12T13:40:00.000-08:00

I was recently looking at Rhodiola supplements on Vitacost, one of those big discount vitamin and herb stores on the web. I couldn't find the quality brands but I saw something with their own brand name on it. I was OK with the price, it was about half of the norm. But when I looked at the ingredients, I was absolutely shocked. This was a "100% natural product" sold by a store that promotes healthy products and healthy lifestyles. And one of the major ingredients in this product (besides the herb) was something called Hydromellose.

Hypromellose turns out to be a very friendly sounding name for a very nasty sounding chemical ingredient. This is, to me, unbelievable that it shows up in the "other ingredients" and that their capsule is actually made from this stuff. Hypromellose is actually short for hydroxypropyl methylcellulose, otherwise known as HPMC. It is a semisynthetic, inert, viscoelastic polymer used as an ophthalmic lubricant and for other industrial purposes. That's right -- it's in the ingredients list of something that I would be swallowing three times a day every day of my life.

Next time you're thinking of cheapening up on your dietary supplements, think twice before you start downing products with ingredients like this or some of the other nasty items that show up in supplements, like stearic acid and magnesium stearate.

Dave

New Use for Existing Drugs?

2011-10-13T17:03:00.000-07:00

New research from Johns Hopkins suggests that brain-injured patients on cholesterol-lowering medications known as "statins" appear to be much more likely to survive a traumatic head injury. (Statins are sold under names like Lipitor and Crestor). This is exciting news because there has never been a medication given specifically to head trauma patients and the research here looks very promising.

Older patients who happened to have been taking cholesterol-lowering statin drugs when admitted to the hospital with serious head injuries were 76 percent more likely to survive than those not taking the drugs, according to results of this study. Those taking statins also had a 13 percent greater likelihood of achieving good, functional recovery after one year.

The findings hold out the promise of a specific drug treatment for traumatic brain injury, for which there is none, the researchers say, and could increase use of what is already an incredibly popular class of drugs prescribed to more than four in 10 senior citizens in the United States alone.

“These data are intriguing,” says Eric B. Schneider, Ph.D., study leader and an epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins University. “We don’t think it’s the lowering of cholesterol that’s helping the brain recover in those who have been taking statins. We think there are other, less well-known properties of statins that are causing the benefits we seem to be seeing here.”

The results are reported in the October issue of The Journal of Trauma.

Schneider says he and his colleagues now want to do a clinical trial administering statins to brain-injured patients not already on the cholesterol-lowering drugs immediately upon arrival in the emergency department, to study whether the medication would have a direct beneficial impact on recovery. “If you get this drug into people very quickly after the injury, we may get the same effect as if the drug were in the body before the accident,” he says.

Let's hope that's the case.

Dave

Some Parents are Increasing Risk of Preventable Outbreaks

2011-10-03T07:47:00.000-07:00

A national survey of parents of young children found more than 1 in 10 use an alternative vaccination schedule, and a large proportion of parents using the recommended schedule seem to be “at risk” for switching to an alternative schedule.

“Small decreases in vaccine coverage are known to lead to dramatic increases in the risk of vaccine preventable disease outbreaks,” says Amanda Dempsey, M.D., assistant professor in the department of pediatrics and communicable diseases and a member of the Child Health Evaluation and Research Unit at C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital. “Not following the recommended schedule leaves kids at risk for these diseases unnecessarily.”

Following a vaccination schedule that deviates from those recommended by recognized groups such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy of Pediatrics leads to under-immunization. Under-immunization has been shown to significantly increase the risk of contracting and spreading vaccine preventable diseases like measles and whooping cough,” Dempsey adds.

This research shows that the problem of under-immunization is likely to continue to worsen in the future given that many parents have attitudes that indicate they are not convinced about the safety of having their kids vaccinated at recommended times. The study, “Alternative vaccination schedule preferences among parents of young children,” was published online today ahead print in the journal Pediatrics. It involved a survey of 771 parents of children ages 6 months to 6 years. Among this group, surveyed in May 2010, 13 percent reported deviating from the recommendations, though only 2 percent refused all vaccines.

Most of the parents using an alternative schedule said they themselves (41 percent) or a friend (15 percent) developed the schedule. Research has shown that using an alternative vaccine schedule is strongly associated with not having a regular health care provider for the child. The vaccines most commonly delayed were the measles-mumps-rubella (45 percent) and diphtheria-tetanus-acellular pertussis (43 percent) vaccines. A large minority (30 percent) of parents using an alternative schedule said they had initially followed the recommended vaccination schedule; most said they switched because it “seemed safer.”

Dave

Link Between Smoking and Chronic Pain in Women

2011-09-29T06:36:00.000-07:00

A new study led by University of Kentucky researchers seems to show that women who smoke heavily experience significantly more chronic musculoskeletal pain.

More than 6,000 Kentucky women over the age of 18 were surveyed on their smoking habits and symptoms of chronic pain. Syndromes included in the analysis were fibromyalgia, sciatica, chronic neck pain, chronic back pain, joint pain, chronic head pain, nerve problems, and pain all over the body.

Results showed that women who smoke, or who were former smokers, had a greater chance of reporting at least one chronic pain syndrome in comparison to nonsmokers. Former smokers showed a 20 percent increase, occasional smokers showed a 68 percent increase, and in daily smokers the odds more than doubled (104 percent). In addition, daily smoking was associated more strongly with chronic pain than older age, lower educational attainment, obesity, or living in an Appalachian county.

There's a definite connection, but the direction of it is uncertain, says Dr. David Mannino, a pulmonary physician in the UK College of Public Health and co-author of the study. "This study shows a strong relationship between heavy smoking and chronic pain in women," Mannino said. "But what is the direction of this association? Does smoking cause more chronic pain, or do more women take up smoking as a coping mechanism for experiencing chronic pain?"

Mannino describes acute pain as a "protective response" and theorizes that perhaps female smokers experience acute pain that develops into chronic pain because their normal protection and mechanisms are damaged by exposure to smoke.

Dave

Saw Palmetto Study Shows No Benefit

2011-09-27T16:01:00.000-07:00

According to new research, the fruit of the saw palmetto tree does not relieve symptoms of an enlarged prostate, even when men take the herbal supplement in very high doses.

The research is published Sept. 28, 2011, in the Journal of the American Medical Association, a journal which has often been decidedly negative about natural products and their effectiveness. Many older U.S. men take saw palmetto extract in an attempt to reduce bothersome symptoms of a swollen prostate, including frequent urination and a sense of urgency. Its use in Europe is even more widespread because doctors often recommend saw palmetto over more traditional drug treatments.

While the authors of this study believe that the results of their new study will settle an ongoing debate over the effectiveness of saw palmetto for a condition known as benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH, there will no doubt be protests from the millions of men who experience a reduction in prostate issues while taking saw palmetto. Earlier studies of the supplement have produced conflicting results, and none have evaluated the benefits of saw palmetto in high doses.

In the current study, however, men took many times the standard dose of saw palmetto. It's unclear to me why they would choose to ignore recommended doses and, instead, use "jumbo" doses of this extract. [DGJ comment: I would think that proper dosing is the issue, and not how much someone can tolerate. If you were stranded on a desert island and you ate a number of banana's off a tree, it would taste great and keep you alive. But, if you ate two hundred of them in one sitting, you'd be sick as a dog. What does taking massive doses prove?].

“Now we know that even very high doses of saw palmetto make absolutely no difference,” says co-author Gerald Andriole, MD, the Robert K. Royce Distinguished Professor and chief of urologic surgery at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. “Men should not spend their money on this herbal supplement as a way to reduce symptoms of enlarged prostate because it clearly does not work any better than a sugar pill.”

[DGJ: Another attempt at killing the supplement industry].

The multi-center study, led by Michael Barry, MD, at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, involved more than 300 men age 45 and older who had moderate symptoms suggestive of an enlarged prostate, such as frequent urination, difficulty emptying their bladders and a weak urine stream. The men were randomly selected to receive a daily dose of saw palmetto extract, beginning at 320 milligrams, or an identical-looking placebo pill with the same distinctive smell and taste.

After 24 weeks, the saw palmetto dosage was increased to 640 milligrams a day, and after another 24 weeks, to 960 milligrams a day – triple the standard dose. In all, men took saw palmetto or a placebo for nearly 17 months. Neither the physicians nor the patients knew who was taking what regimen until the end of the study.

The researchers found that among men who took saw palmetto, prostate problems improved slightly but not more than in men taking a placebo.

“We commonly see this in clinical trials,” Andriole explains. “Patients often report an improvement in symptoms because they are taking something, even if it is a placebo. But in this study, there was no benefit to taking saw palmetto over the placebo.”
The researchers found that saw palmetto had no greater effect than the placebo on BPH symptoms as well as other conditions related to an enlarged prostate such as waking at night to urinate, PSA level and bladder control.

Dave

Caffeine a Suitable Anti-Depressant?

2011-09-26T16:04:00.001-07:00

Increased caffeinated coffee consumption has now been shown to be associated with decreased risk of depression in women. The risk of depression appears to decrease for women with increasing consumption of caffeinated coffee, according to a report in the September 26 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Caffeine is the most frequently used central nervous system stimulant in the world, and approximately 80 percent of consumption is in the form of coffee, according to background information in the article. Previous research, including one prospective study among men, has suggested an association between coffee consumption and depression risk. Because depression is a chronic and recurrent condition that affects twice as many women as men, the authors sought to examine whether, in women, consumption of caffeine or certain caffeinated beverages is associated with the risk of depression.

Michel Lucas, Ph.D., R.D., from the Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, and colleagues studied 50,739 U.S. women who participated in the Nurses’ Health Study. Participants, who had a mean (average) age of 63, had no depression at the start of the study in 1996 and were prospectively followed up with through June 2006. Researchers measured caffeine consumption through questionnaires completed from May 1980 through April 2004, including the frequency that caffeinated and noncaffeinated coffee, nonherbal tea, caffeinated soft drinks (sugared or low-calorie colas), caffeine-free soft drinks (sugared or low-calorie caffeine-free colas or other carbonated beverages) and chocolate were usually consumed in the previous 12 months. The authors defined depression as reporting a new diagnosis of clinical depression and beginning regular use of antidepressants in the previous two years.

When compared with women who consumed one cup of caffeinated coffee or less per week, those who consumed two to three cups per day had a 15 percent decrease in relative risk for depression, and those consuming four cups or more per day had a 20 percent decrease in relative risk. Compared with women in the lowest (less than 100 milligrams [mg] per day) categories of caffeine consumption, those in the highest category (550 mg per day or more) had a 20 percent decrease in relative risk of depression. No association was found between intake of decaffeinated coffee and depression risk.

“In this large prospective cohort of older women free of clinical depression or severe depressive symptoms at baseline, risk of depression decreased in a dose-dependent manner with increasing consumption of caffeinated coffee,” write the authors.

Dave

Stopping Smoking Boosts Working Memory

2011-09-22T06:33:00.000-07:00

Here is some interesting research on smoking that was just published by Northumbria University in the UK.

They've found that giving up smoking isn’t just good for your health, it’s also good for your memory, according to research published in this month’s online edition of Drug and Alcohol Dependence. That paper reveals that stopping smoking can restore everyday memory to virtually the same level as non-smokers.

Academics from the Collaboration for Drug and Alcohol Research Group at Northumbria University tested 27 smokers, 18 previous smokers and 24 who had never smoked on a real-world memory test.

Participants were asked to remember pre-determined tasks at specific locations on a tour of a university campus. While smokers performed badly, remembering just 59% of tasks, those who had given up smoking remembered 74% of their required tasks compared to those who had never smoked who remembered 81% of tasks.

Dr Tom Heffernan at Northumbria said: “Given that there are up to 10 million smokers in the UK and as many as 45 million in the United States, it’s important to understand the effects smoking has on everyday cognitive function – of which prospective memory is an excellent example.”

He added: “This is the first time that a study has set out to examine whether giving up smoking has an impact on memory.We already know that giving up smoking has huge health benefits for the body but this study also shows how stopping smoking can have knock-on benefits for cognitive function too.’’

Dave

Back Pain? New Research Shows Movement Beats Couch Potato

2011-09-21T06:24:00.000-07:00

A researcher at the Sahlgrenska Academy (University of Gothenburg, Sweden) says to "Move if you have back pain." Patients with acute low back pain who were advised to stay active despite the pain fared better than those who were told to adjust their activity in line with their pain.

The research paper looked at 109 patients with acute severe lowback pain who were randomly advised in one of two ways: “stay active even though it hurts” or “adjust your activity to the pain”. They were also asked to keep a diary for seven days and to note how many steps they took each day, to what extent they could carry out their day-to-day activities and how they felt physically. They also completed a form to show whether they felt depressed or not.

In spite of having more pain, the group that was advised to be as active as possible recovered more quickly and did not feel depressed at the end of the follow-up.

“The other category, who had been advised from the very start to adjust their activity to their pain, were less mobile and felt slightly depressed compared to the patients who were active,” says Olaya-Contreras, a researcher at the Sahlgrenska Academy’s Department of Orthopaedics.

She believes that this could be because some people who are depressed and in pain experience the pain more acutely. Another explanation could be that the more acute the pain is perceived to be, the less a person wants or is able to move. This, according to Olaya-Contreras, is in line with previous research.

“I think that if you’re suffering with acute low back pain you should try to remain as active as possible and go about your daily business as well as you can. If you don’t keep moving, it’s easy to get locked into a downward spiral, as inactivity combined with pain can, in a worst case scenario, turn into long-term disability and an inability to work that, in turn, can lead to depressed mood and more pain.”

Low back pain affects up to 80% of people of working age at some time in their lives, though most will get better. Low back pain can be recurring, and some people will continue to suffer with some degree of pain. In 85-90% of cases the pain cannot be attributed to a specific illness or injury.

I've had severe lower back pain for years and I'm going to take this researcher's advice and start moving, stretching, walking. I'll report back and let you know how I'm doing,

Dave

Buying Supplements from Amazon.com? Think Twice.

2011-09-20T15:17:00.000-07:00

Here's a clipping from a news article on Yahoo.com which describes the conditions that employees faced this summer at the main warehouse for Amazon.com. Because many people reading this blog are users of supplements, vitamins and herbs, take note of these conditions and ask yourself if these products are a smart investment when purchased from this company. After all, the only thing that can kill your supplements is heat and humidity.

Employees say they faced brutal heat at Amazon warehouse
By Liz Goodwin

Twenty current and former employees at an Amazon warehouse in Pennsylvania say they were forced to work in brutal heat at a breakneck pace while hired paramedics waited outside in case anyone became dangerously dehydrated.

Spencer Soper has published an exhaustive investigation into the massive online retailer's Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania operation. Soper reports that a local doctor treated employees at the facility for heat-related health problems, and wound up filing a complaint about conditions there with federal regulators. Many of the warehouse's employees were temporary and hired through a staffing company; if they did not meet packing quotas, they faced daily threats of termination, Soper writes.

He also notes that a corps of other temporary workers were poised to replace any freshly fired Amazon employee. "The safety and welfare of our employees is our No. 1 priority at Amazon, and as the general manager, I take that responsibility seriously," Amazon warehouse manager Vickie Mortimer told the paper.

I love Amazon and I buy from them two or three times a week. But I will never, ever buy a supplement or any other kind of heat-sensitive product from them again.

Dave

Vitamin D May Lower Risk of MS

2011-02-07T19:20:00.000-08:00

All the cable TV doctors are out today reporting that people who spend more time in the sun and those with higher vitamin D levels may be less likely to develop multiple sclerosis (MS). This is according to a study published in the February 8, 2011, issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. MS is a chronic disease of the brain and spinal cord, usually with recurrent flare-ups of symptoms. It is often preceded by a first episode (or event) of similar symptoms lasting days to weeks.

“Previous studies have found similar results, but this is the first study to look at people who have just had the first symptoms of MS and haven’t even been diagnosed with the disease yet,” said study author Robyn Lucas, PhD, of Australian National University. “Other studies have looked at people who already have MS—then it’s hard to know whether having the disease led them to change their habits in the sun or in their diet.”

The multi-site study involved 216 people age 18 to 59 who had a first event with symptoms of the type seen in MS. Those people were matched with 395 people with no symptoms of possible MS who were of similar ages, of the same sex and from the same regions of Australia.

The participants reported how much sun they were exposed to during different periods of their lives, and researchers also measured the amount of skin damage participants had from sun exposure and the amount of melanin in their skin. Vitamin D levels (from sun exposure, diet and supplement use) were measured by blood tests. The risk of having a first event, diagnosed by a doctor, ranged from approximately 2 to 9 new cases for every 100,000 people per year in this study. The reported UV light exposure of participants ranged from about 500 to over 6,000 kilojoules per meter squared.

The researchers found that the risk of having a diagnosed first event decreased by 30 percent for each UV increase of 1,000 kilojoules. They also found that people with most evidence of skin damage from sun exposure were 60 percent less likely to develop a first event than the people with the least damage. People with the highest levels of vitamin D also were less likely to have a diagnosed first event than people with the lowest levels.

Studies have shown that MS is more common in latitudes further away from the equator, and this has been confirmed in Australia.

- Dave

Cigarette Smoke, Auto Exhaust and French Fries Could be Major Alzheimer's Culprits

2010-11-18T08:21:00.000-08:00

New research is coming up with evidence that exposure to a group of chemicals known as type-2 alkenes can increase the chances of developing Alzheimer’s disease and other neurological conditions such as Parkinson’s disease. These chemicals are found in the smoke inhaled from cigarettes, the exhaust of automobiles and even in French fries at your local fast food restaurant.

Dr. Richard M. LoPachin, a neurochemist and director of research in the Department of Anesthesiology at Montefiore Medical Center and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, says “The thought process and memory deficits associated with Alzheimer’s disease appear to be due to the very early loss of function of nerve endings in the brain."

“Two years ago, we published a series of peer-review papers describing how type-2 alkenes (such as acrylamide and acrolein) damage nerve endings in the brains of animals and, since then, interest in the scientific community has grown steadily,” said Dr. LoPachin. “For example, just in the last six months there were more than a half dozen articles published in neuroscience journals that demonstrate an excess of acrolein and other type-2 alkenes in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients.”

According to Dr. LoPachin and others in the field, this excess means that these highly toxic chemicals are also being generated within nerve endings during the disease process that presumably initiates Alzheimer’s dementia. Dr. LoPachin believes that this internal production of the type-2 alkenes, along with external exposure to these chemicals (smoking, diet and other environmental factors), causes a perfect neurological storm – a doubly powerful type-2 alkene attack on brain nerve endings from outside the body and from within as well.

“This dual intoxication of nerve endings led us to conclude that daily environmental exposure to neurotoxic type-2 alkenes could increase the incidence of Alzheimer’s disease,” he said.

As evidence for the role of type-2 alkenes in neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease has grown, Dr. LoPachin and his colleague, Dr. Terrence Gavin, in the Department of Chemistry at Iona College, have discovered a possible antidote that is derived from chemical compounds found in curry spice (curcumin), wine (resveratrol) and apple skins (phloretin). They are calling this compound "2-ACP."

Their research, recently reported in a Journal of Neurochemistry article ( "β-Dicarbonyl Enolates: A New Class of Neuroprotectants"), showed that this compound from curry, wine and apples completely protected nerve cells in culture from acrolein-induced damage by latching onto this type-2 alkene and neutralizing its toxic effects. 2-ACP could, therefore, be a treatment for neurological conditions such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. Drs. LoPachin and Gavin believe that 2-ACP treatment would be safe and effective in humans, because it is derived from non-toxic natural products that already have clinically demonstrated neuroprotective properties.

Dr. LoPachin says that although the 2-ACP studies are quite advanced in the world of molecular biology, they nonetheless will need to be confirmed in animal studies.

Dave

Dark Chocolate Study Results Show Decline in High Blood Pressure

2010-10-03T06:30:00.000-07:00

For people with hypertension, eating dark chocolate can significantly reduce blood pressure. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Medicine combined the results of 15 studies into the effects of flavanols, the compounds in chocolate which cause dilation of blood vessels, on blood pressure.

Dr Karin Ried worked with a team of researchers from the University of Adelaide, Australia, to conduct the analysis. She said, “Flavanols have been shown to increase the formation of endothelial nitric oxide, which promotes vasodilation and consequently may lower blood pressure. There have, however, been conflicting results as to the real-life effects of eating chocolate. We’ve found that consumption can significantly, albeit modestly, reduce blood pressure for people with high blood pressure but not for people with normal blood pressure”.

The pressure reduction seen in the combined results for people with hypertension, 5mm Hg systolic, may be clinically relevant – it is comparable to the known effects of 30 daily minutes of physical activity (4-9mm Hg) and could theoretically reduce the risk of a cardiovascular event by about 20% over five years. The researchers are cautious, however, “The practicability of chocolate or cocoa drinks as long-term treatment is questionable”, said Dr Ried.

Dave

Watch Out: "Corn Sugar" On its Way Into Your Kitchen

2010-09-28T09:24:00.000-07:00

Earlier this month, the Corn Refiners Association (CRA) petitioned the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to allow food and beverage manufacturers to label high fructose corn syrup ‘corn sugar.'

Do you believe this? Instead of doing something about the problems caused by High-Fructose Corn Syrup in childhood and adult obesity, this "association" is doing all they can to confuse the issue, by getting a new name and brand for the same old product.

Corn Sugar is simply High Fructose Corn Syrup. Don't be fooled. Avoid it like the plague.

Dave

Omega 3 Products Vary Dramatically in "Bioavailability"

2010-09-27T09:21:00.000-07:00

I know that you are probably taking fish oil supplements, because anyone reading this site is particularly health-savvy. But did you know that there is a great deal of difference in the "bioavailability" of the different kinds of fish oil products?

First off, let me explain what this term means. Many times when we take our vitamins and supplements only a fraction of the ingredients actually get ingested and used by our body. Much of the vitamin pill, or omega-3 supplement, goes right out the digestive tract and exits the body. In other words, the "bioavailability" of the supplement isn't very high. This happens all the time with certain products like Co-Q 10, fish oil, and even certain herbs. Some manufacturers include additional ingredients in with their products to ensure that more of the actual product becomes available to the body. For example, I take a Co-Q 10 that has a substance added to it that increases it's absorbability. Another product with improved absorption is Verde Botanica's Rhodiola product, Mind Body & Spirit, which contains a trace amount of a clinically-tested ingredient made from an extract of pepper, and this increases the bioavailability -- making the Rhodiola effect much more noticeable.

But in fish oil, it's always been questionable which variety of oil has the most impact on the body. Now, a new report shows that a certain type of processing of the oil can improve its bioavailability as much as 50%. That form of oil is called ""re-esterified triglycerides." That's a mouthful, but basically if you ask your supplier how they process their omega 3 oils, they'll be able to answer you, and it will be one of three types.

These various forms of fish oil include free fatty acids (FFA), ethyl esters (EE) or as re-esterified triglycerides (rTG). The latter term refers to products made from fish body oil in which the approximate 30 percent TG content is transferred to ethyl esters and then molecularly distilled to remove the short chain and the saturated fatty acids increasing the EPA and DHA contents to around 60 percent. This is a long way of saying that researchers using different oils have found that if you take one additional step in the processing of that oil, you can give the product 50% more bang for the buck.

Dave

Want to Kill Garlic Mouth?

2010-09-05T15:09:00.000-07:00

The BBC has recently reported that drinking a glass of milk can stop garlic breath.

It seems that there are sulphur compounds in garlic which make it particularly difficult on the breath. If you are worried about this problem, there may be relief in your refrigerator. "Drink a glass of milk" say scientists who claim it can stop the lingering odor issues.

In tests with raw and cooked garlic cloves, milk "significantly reduced" levels of the sulphur compounds that give garlic its flavor and pungent smell. This research recently showed up in the Journal of Food Science. They say it is the water and fat in milk that deodorizes the breath.

For optimum effect, drink a glass of the milk as you eat the food with garlic, they say. For me, that's tough, because often the food containing garlic goes better with a glass of fine wine than it does with milk.

Mixing milk with garlic in the mouth before swallowing had a higher odor neutralizing effect than drinking milk after eating the garlic in the trial that scientists performed. And full-fat milk provided better results than skimmed milk or just water, according to breath samples taken from a volunteer.

Although garlic is good for you - containing several vitamins and minerals - once eaten, it can cause bad breath and body odor lasting hours or even days.

Plain water, and some foods, such as mushrooms and basil, may also help neutralize garlic smells, the study authors Sheryl Barringer and Areerat Hansanugrum say.

But it is the mixture of fat and water together that works best, the Ohio State University team say.

"The results suggest that drinking beverages or foods with higher water and/or fat content such as milk may help reduce the malodorous odour in breath after consumption of garlic and mask the garlic flavor during eating," they say.

Dave

Blown out rotator cuffs? New surgeries can help!

2010-09-02T07:03:00.000-07:00

I can hardly lift my arms up over my shoulders, and just reaching into the back seat of the car can send shooting pain throughout the entire side of my body. For me, I've been living with the pain, but now I've read that there are some solutions to what is called a "rotator cuff injury."

A new study conducted at Rush University Medical Center has shown that minimally invasive, or arthroscopic, surgery can significantly improve pain and function for people like me. The most difficult persons to treat, however, have been senior citizens, because these older adults often have had complications. Surgeons often recommend against surgery for seniors because circulation and bone quality are poorer. Many elderly patients also often have other diseases that can compromise the healing process. But the arthroscopic surgery in the cases studied proved remarkably successful.

The study has just been published online in Arthroscopy: The Journal of Arthroscopic and Related Surgery and will appear in the October issue.

"In people over the age of 70, pain is the main issue, and pain relief is a fairly reliable outcome after surgery," said orthopedic surgeon Dr. Nikhil Verma, who led the study. "Patients do not require that their shoulder function be fully restored. They just want the pain to be gone." Verma is assistant professor of orthopedic surgery at Rush.

Tears in the rotator cuff, the complex of four muscles that stabilize the back of the shoulder joint, occur in about 20 percent of the population over the age of 65 and typically result from chronic degenerative changes. The tears in the musculature cause considerable pain and loss of range of motion.

A total of 39 patients over the age of 70 underwent surgery to repair full-thickness tears in the rotator cuff after more conservative treatment, such as pain medication and debridement to remove fragments of tissue, had failed. The patients were followed for two years after surgery and their shoulder function was compared with that of similar individuals of the same age who had healthy, normal shoulders.

Their range of motion improved significantly -- no longer did reaching across the table, or into the back seat of the car, send pain raging through their limbs. Patients were able to raise their arm in front and rotate it to the side – something that for many was difficult or impossible before the surgery. Muscle strength also improved. Pain was reduced significantly in 96 percent of the patients, many of whom had undergone the surgery because their pain was so bad they were unable to sleep. Almost all the patients reported improved function in their shoulder, and 94 percent said they were satisfied and would undergo the surgery again if they had to make the decision over.

When these post-operative results were viewed in light of the normal aging process, the majority of individuals had a shoulder that functioned nearly as well as a healthy shoulder for that age group and gender.

Dave

High Fructose Diet May Contribute to High Blood Pressure

2010-08-07T10:49:00.000-07:00

People who eat a diet high in fructose, in the form of added sugar, are at increased risk of developing high blood pressure, or hypertension, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society Nephrology (JASN). The results suggest that cutting back on foods and beverages containing a lot of fructose (sugar) might decrease one’s risk of developing hypertension.

Hypertension is the most common chronic condition in developed countries and a major risk factor for heart and kidney diseases. Researchers are striving to identify environmental factors that might be responsible for the development of hypertension, and they suspect that fructose may play a role. Over the past century, a dramatic increase in the consumption of this simple sugar, which is used to sweeten a wide variety of processed foods, mirrors the dramatic rise in the prevalence of hypertension.

To examine whether increased fructose consumption has contributed to rising rates of hypertension, Diana Jalal, MD (University of Colorado Denver Health Sciences Center) and her colleagues analyzed data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2003-2006). The study involved 4,528 US adults 18 years of age or older with no prior history of hypertension. Study participants answered questions related to their consumption of foods and beverages such as fruit juices, soft drinks, bakery products, and candy. Dr. Jalal’s team found that people who consumed a diet of 74 grams or more per day of fructose (corresponding to 2.5 sugary soft drinks per day) had a 26%, 30%, and 77% higher risk for blood pressure levels of 135/85, 140/90, and 160/100 mmHg, respectively. (A normal blood pressure reading is below 120/80 mmHg.)

“Our study identifies a potentially modifiable risk factor for high blood pressure. However, well-planned prospective randomized clinical studies need to be completed to see if low fructose diets will prevent the development of hypertension and its complications,” said Dr. Jalal.

Dave

Women and Sexual Dysfunction: It's the Majority

2010-07-27T20:31:00.000-07:00

It's proving that more women than not have sexual dysfunction of one kind or another.

Almost two-thirds of females attending a general urology practice reported that they suffered from sexual dysfunction, according to a paper in the August issue of BJUI, the journal of the British Association of Urological Surgeons.

Dysfunction rose with age in all categories except orgasm, with more than half of women aged from 18 to 30 reporting orgasm problems, significantly higher than women aged 31 to 54.

Researchers asked 587 women aged from 18 to 95, who attended a urology clinic in New Jersey, about six key areas of female sexual dysfunction (FSD): lack of desire, arousal issues, lack of lubrication, problems achieving orgasm, lack of satisfaction and pain during intercourse. 63% of the women suffered from FSD and that there were significant links between FSD and age, menopausal status and use of selective antidepressants.

Key findings of the survey included:

· The most sexually active age groups were 31-45 year-olds (87%), 18-30 year-olds (85%) and 46-54 year-olds (74%). It then fell sharply in 55-70 year-olds (45%) and in women who were over 70 (15%).

· The top overall problem was lack of desire (47%), followed by orgasm problems (45%), arousal issues (40%), lack of satisfaction (39%), lack of lubrication (37%) and pain (36%).

· Five of the six categories increased as the women got older: desire from 36% to 96%, arousal from 27% to 54%, lubrication from 26% to 45%, satisfaction from 28% to 88% and pain from 10% to 56%.

· The only category that bucked the trend was orgasm, with problems higher in the 18-30 age group (54%) than in the 31-45 (43%) and 46-54 (48%) age groups. It then rose to 66% at 55-70 and 87% when women were over 70.

The top three problems by age group were:

· 18-30: orgasm (54%), desire (36%) and satisfaction (28%)

· 31-45: desire (48%), orgasm (43%) and satisfaction (40%)

· 46-54: desire (65%), satisfaction (53%) and orgasm (48%)

· 55-70: desire (77%), orgasm (66%), satisfaction (65%)

· Over 70: desire (96%), satisfaction (88%) and orgasm (87%).

“FSD can have a major effect on women’s quality of life” says Dr Fromer, author of the report. “Self-esteem, sense of wholeness and relationships can be seriously and adversely affected, exacting a heavy emotional toll. Researchers have found significant associations between major categories of sexual dysfunction, reduced physical and emotional satisfaction and general well-being. That is why it is so important to ensure that problems are identified and tackled wherever possible," said Fromer.

Dave

Virgin Olive Oil is Linked to Protection Against Breast Cancer

2010-07-01T07:31:00.000-07:00

In contrast to other vegetable oils, it now appears that virgin olive oil protects the body against breast cancer. Researchers at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, led by Dr Eduard Escrich, have discovered a key mechanism by which this oil works against tumors.

While these studies have been carried out in an experimental model, researchers at UAB are now beginning a new study with human cell lines. In the recently concluded experimental study, the UAB researchers decoded a complete cascade of signals within breast tumor cells activated by virgin olive oil. They concluded that benefits include a decrease in the activity of the oncogene, changes in the protein signaling pathways, prevention of DNA damage and even stimulated the death of tumor cells.

Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer in Western countries. Research carried out with animal models demonstrate that a diet rich in fats is directly related to the incidence of cancer. Some types of fats however can play a protective role against the development of these tumors. Such is the case with virgin olive oil, rich in oleic acid, a mono-unsaturated fatty acid, and one that contains several bioactive compounds such as antioxidants. A moderate and regular intake of virgin olive oil, characteristic of the Mediterranean diet, is associated with low incidences of specific types of cancer, including breast cancer, as well as with having a protective role against coronary diseases and other health problems.

This is quite interesting because in comparison to those mechanisms activated by corn oil, rich in n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids, the olive oil actually slows the tumor progression, while corn oil (which we use so much of in the USA) actually increases the aggressiveness of such tumors.

Dave

McNuggets: Still "McFrankenstein"

2010-06-30T04:50:00.000-07:00

Here's an interesting note that I found on one of the CNN blogs . . . I hadn't seen this anywhere else. Congrats to CNN for doing the research here.

They found that there is a great difference in McNuggets sold in McDonalds in the UK versus what is sold in the States. Incredibly enough, there are preservatives and chemicals in the USA products, but not in the UK products. How is it that we rate so highly, McDonalds management?

American McNuggets (190 calories, 12 grams of fat, 2 grams of saturated fat for 4 pieces) contain the chemical preservative tBHQ, tertiary butylhydroquinone, a petroleum-based product. They also contain dimethylpolysiloxane, “an anti-foaming agent” also used in Silly Putty.

By contrast, British McNuggets (170 calories, 9 grams of fat, 1 gram of saturated fat for 4 pieces) lists neither chemical among its ingredients.

Dave

LCD Monitors and TV's Being Recycled to Aid Human Health

2010-06-29T03:05:00.000-07:00

The fastest growing waste in the world could soon be helping to combat hospital infections, according to scientists at the University of York in the UK.

Researchers at the University's Department of Chemistry have discovered a way of transforming the chemical compound polyvinyl-alcohol (PVA), a key element of monitors and TV's with liquid crystal display (LCD) technology, into an anti-microbial substance that destroys infections such as Escherichia coli and some strains of Staphylococcus aureus.

The York research team had earlier found a method of recovering PVA from television screens and transforming it into a substance which, due to its compatibility with the human body, could be suitable for use in tissue scaffolds that help parts of the body regenerate. It could also be used in pills and dressings that are designed to deliver drugs to particular parts of the body. These latest developments were showcased by Dr Andrew Hunt at the 14th Annual Green Chemistry and Engineering Conference in Washington DC on 21 June.

Dr Hunt, of the York Green Chemistry Centre of Excellence, said: "The influence of LCDs on modern society is dramatic - it is estimated that 2.5 billion LCDs are approaching the end of their life, and they are the fastest growing waste in the European Union. But we can add significant value to this waste. By heating then cooling the PVA and then dehydrating it with ethanol we can produce a high surface area mesoporous material that has great potential for use in biomedicine."

This group at York has found that they can enhance the material's anti-microbial properties by the addition of silver nanoparticles. The result is that it can destroy bacterial infections such as E.coli. Potentially, it could be used in hospital cleaning products to help to reduce infections.

The project's next steps will be to test the PVA-based substance against commercial compounds to determine relative effectiveness, and to secure approval from regulatory agencies regarding the suitability of silver nanoparticles for human health applications.

Dave

Pigeon's DO Carry Nasty Bacteria

2010-06-28T02:57:00.000-07:00

The strange thing about pigeons is that some people love them, while others consider them to be nothing more than "flying rats." Recent research has shown that regardless of how you feel about feeding those pigeons in the park, they do carry with them a variety of very nasty bugs.

Sampling of pigeons captured on the streets of Madrid has revealed the bacterial pathogens they carry. Researchers writing in BioMed Central’s open access journal Acta Vetinaria Scandinavica found two bugs that were highly prevalent in the bird population, Chlamydophila psittaci and Campylobacter jejuni, both of which cause illness in humans.

Fernando Esperón from the Animal Health Research Center, Madrid, Spain, worked with a team of researchers to analyze blood and enema samples taken from 118 pigeons caught using gun-propelled nets. He said, “The present study demonstrates the extremely high prevalence of two zoonotic pathogens in feral pigeons. At the same time, infection with these pathogens did not appear to be associated with any harmful clinical signs in the birds themselves. This leads to the hypothesis that pigeons act as asymptomatic reservoirs of Chlamydophila psittaci and Campylobacter jejuni. These birds may therefore pose a public health risk to the human population."

Chlamydophila psittaci was found in 52.6% of the pigeons captured, while Campylobacter jejuni was present in 69.1%. Although there have been few reports of disease transmission between pigeons and humans, it can occur by aerosols, direct contact or indirect contact through food and water contamination. According to Esperón, “Thermophilic Campylobacter species are considered the primary pathogens responsible for acute diarrhea in the world. In fact, in many countries such as England and Wales, Canada, Australia and New Zealand Campylobacter jejuni infection causes more cases of acute diarrhea than infection by Salmonella species."

Next time you are thinking about pulling out a handful of seeds or a loaf of old bread for those birds, think about the downstream effect of the pigeon's presence in our community and the dangerous bugs they bring with them.

Dave

Resveratrol Reduces Weight Gain in Primates

2010-06-27T14:47:00.000-07:00

As anyone who reads the health blogs and news reports knows, resveratrol is a natural substance that is widely studied for its "anti-aging" properties among other things. Recently, a French research team has shown that there may be some other benefits to this compound. At least, research in the primate lemurs has shown that scientists may soon have a clearer understanding of the factors that govern obesity in humans.

Work by a team in the "Mécanismes adaptatifs : des organismes aux communautés" Laboratory (CNRS/Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle) has revealed that this compound reduces weight gain in lemurs. Such findings provide new information regarding the effects of resveratrol on energy metabolism and the control of body mass in primates. This study is published on 22 June 2010 in BMC Physiology.

Resveratrol is a plant compound that is present in certain fruits, such as grape skins, blackberries and peanuts, etc. This compound has been widely studied, notably regarding its effects on aging, as it has demonstrated that it can increase longevity in numerous animal models. This natural substance also improves the health and survival of mice fed a hyperlipidic diet, but until now, no studies had been performed on primates in this field.

The team led by Dr. Fabienne Aujard has studied the effects of resveratrol on the metabolism of grey mouse lemurs (Microcebus murinus). With a lifespan of 8 to 10 years, this small primate is a lemur, which is an animal model for studies on aging. It displays very pronounced seasonal physiological rhythms: its metabolism and body weight fluctuate on a seasonal basis. The researchers added resveratrol to the feed of the lemurs while regularly measuring their body temperature, weight gain and resting metabolic rate. After four weeks, they observed an immediate effect: the animals had reduced their food intake by 13% and increased their resting metabolic rate (which represents a proportion of their energy expenditure) by 29%.

The ingestion of resveratrol thus enabled the lemurs to considerably reduce their weight gain at a time of the year when they have a natural tendency to increase their body mass so as to store as much energy as possible before the mating season. In addition, modifications to the body temperature of treated animals were observed, suggesting that resveratrol might also modify the energy strategies developed by this primate. This effect, which is not observed in rodents, may thus be specific to primates. Furthermore, the short-term findings of this study were recently confirmed by the initial results of Fabienne Aujard's team as part of a study of the long-term effects of resveratrol on the delayed appearance of age-related deficits and an increase in the longevity of grey mouse lemurs.

These findings represent an important step towards the development of treatments for human obesity, which results from a prolonged imbalance between energy intake and expenditure.

Dave

Erectile Dysfunction Drugs May Lead to Hearing Dysfunction

2010-05-18T07:34:00.000-07:00

New research by a University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) professor shows an association between hearing loss and the use of the erectile dysfunction drug Viagra. This is causing a lot of concern among an older population which already has an inclination to lose hearing ability.

Findings published May 18 in Archives of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery indicate a potential for long-term hearing loss following use of Viagra, and possibly following use of other phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors (PDE-5i) drugs such as Cialis and Levitra, although results on those drugs are inconclusive. The one being studied is Viagra.

The article goes on to say, “It appears from these findings that the current government warning regarding hearing loss and the use of PDE-5i medications is warranted. Though there are limitations to this study, it is prudent that patients using these medications be warned about the signs and symptoms of hearing impairment and be encouraged to seek immediate medical attention to potentially forestall permanent damage.”

In 2007, following the report of several case studies potentially linking PDE-5i use and sudden hearing loss, the Food and Drug Administration announced labeling changes for PDE-5i medications so that the risk of hearing problems was more prominently displayed. The study author, Dr. McGwin, said this is the first epidemiologic study to evaluate the relationship between PDE-5i drugs and long-term hearing loss.

McGwin examined data on 11,525 men over 40 years of age gathered by the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, a survey conducted by the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality between 2003 and 2006. Men who reported use of PDE-5i medications were twice as likely to also report hearing loss as were men who had not used the drugs.

McGwin said the relationship was strongest for men reporting use of sildenafil (Viagra) over those who used tadalafil (Cialis) or vardenafil (Levitra), a finding he attributed in part to a small sample size for both of the latter drugs. McGwin said the findings indicated an elevated but not statistically significant increase in hearing loss for users of tadalafil and vardenafil.

PDE-5i drugs were originally designed to treat pulmonary hypertension and are now used extensively in the treatment of erectile dysfunction (ED). McGwin said one important consideration in evaluating the nature of the relationship between the drugs and hearing is the existence of a plausible biological mechanism of how these drugs might cause hearing loss.

“PDE-5i medications work in ED patients by their ability to increase blood flow to certain tissues in the body,” said McGwin. “It has been hypothesized that they may have a similar effect on similar tissues in the ear, where an increase of blood flow could potentially cause damage leading to hearing loss.”

Dave

"No Rub" Contact Lens Products -- Do they work?

2010-05-10T19:16:00.000-07:00

For years now, I've been using those "no rub" contact lens products. There are a variety of lens cleaning solutions that promise to remove protein from the contacts and keep your all-important lenses as clean as they should be. And yet, I've never been totally satisfied. I've recently discovered that this is more of a marketing statement than anything else. "No rub" to me is simply a nonsense statement. After doing some investigation, I've extended the use of my lenses by a week or two at a minimum and I'm getting many more annoyance-free hours out of them daily.

I used to put my lenses on in the morning about 7 AM and by 6 PM or so I'd be dying to take them out. And, during the day, I'd have regular periods where I just couldn't see like I was used to. Blurry vision, lots of blinking and squinting, etc, would occur regularly. After my new routine, this does not occur any longer.

To determine whether this routine was actually making a difference, I put one set of contact lenses through the old "no rub" process and another similar set through the process below. Sure enough, by the end of the week, there was a considerable difference in my vision through the lenses that had been properly cleaned. Here's what I now do:

1) Take the lenses out and put a few drops of your contact lens solution on them and run with your finger tips on both sides of the lens, very carefully, taking about 10 - 15 seconds per side.

2) Insert the lens into your lens holder cup and fill with solution. Allow to stand overnight.

3) Remove the lens in the morning and put in the palm of your hand. Apply a small amount of saline solution such as the excellent product "Unisol 4" by Alcon Laboratories. Now, repeat that light rub that you gave the lens the night before, but this time with the clean saline.

4) Place the lens in your eye. Notice how fresh it feels and without sting, since the saline washes away the cleaning agent.

This is allergy season in Sedona, and the air is full of Juniper pollen and its the worst time for buildup on contact lenses. I have given my lenses a new lease on life. Try it!

Dave

Red Eyes: Could be More than just Allergies

2010-04-11T16:26:00.000-07:00

I've just returned from the Raleigh/Durham area, and I've never seen pollen as bad as it is there right now. The streets actually had a layer of yellow on them. Cars were filthy, covered with yellow pollen. And everywhere you go, you see sneezing people with red, bloodshot eyes. Many of the children in families of my North Carolina relatives had allergic eyes.

But when a child develops red, watery eyes, it may be allergies, or it could be the sign of a more serious eye condition, according to a leading pediatric ophthalmologist. According to Bibiana Jin Reiser, M.D., M.S., a pediatric ophthalmologist with The Vision Center at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, “Red, itchy, watery eyes can be a temporary allergic reaction to pollen or other environmental irritants and should go away after a few days or weeks. However, if your child has red, itchy eyes year-round, if their eyes become seriously inflamed and produce a sticky, mucous-like fluid, or if they become very sensitive to the sun, it could be the sign of a more serious condition.”

Dr. Reiser said that the common, mild form of seasonal or environmental ocular allergy is called allergic conjunctivitis. The conjunctiva is the thin, clear membrane covering the white part of the eye. This common condition can usually be treated effectively with eye drops or decongestants. We use Claritin in my household, or a generic version of the same which we buy at Costco.

Those who are prone to this type of allergy should consider using hypoallergenic pillows, wrapping mattresses to prevent dust mites, closing windows and using air conditioning during high allergy season, removing pet dander and utilizing a vacuum with a HEPA (high efficiency particulate air) filter. All these things can help.

The more serious types of conditions that may initially mimic eye allergies are atopic conjunctivitis and vernal conjunctivitis. In the former, for example, you may find your child has red, watery eyes year-round and in the latter during the warmer months: April to August. In vernal conjunctivitis, the child’s eyes have severe redness and itching and may exude a sticky, mucous like substance. The child may complain of photophobia, a painful sensitivity to strong light. Vernal conjunctivitis is often seen in young males and can be associated with asthma or eczema

It is essential to see a family doctor or an eye doctor promptly if the child has one or more of these symptoms:1) says sunlight hurts his eyes, 2) his eyes discharge a thick, mucous like substance, 3) has symptoms that are not relieved by eye drops or decongestants, and 4) has additional allergic symptoms, like eczema or asthma.

Dave

Would Going Vegetarian Make our Planet "Greener"?

2010-04-02T09:56:00.000-07:00

There's a new report out that asks the question, "If everyone became vegan and so ate only fruit and vegetables, what would happen to our greenhouse emissions?" Interestingly, the report states that if this occurred, and mankind suddenly decided to eat as vegans do, then there would be a mere 7% reduction in the earth's greenhouse emissions.

The widespread adoption of vegetarianism would have even less impact, while organic food production actually leads to a net increase in greenhouse gas emissions. Those are the conclusions of this research paper that was published in the journal Progress in Industrial Ecology.

I found it fascinating, and disturbing, that the authors (Helmi Risku-Norja and Sirpa Kurppa of MTT Agrifood Research Finland) determined that the cultivation of soil for whatever purpose, whether growing crops or raising livestock, is the primary source of greenhouse gas emissions in food production. In other words, it's not the fertilizer production, animal husbandry, or agricultural energy requirements that cause the problem.

Using the example of Finland, the authors explain that for current average food consumption, emissions from soil represent 62% of the total emissions. Greenhouses gases released by cows and sheep account for 24%, and energy consumption and fertilizer manufacturing about 8% each. The problem with extensive organic production (despite this approach to farming being considered the “green” option) is that there is such a lower efficiency. It requires the cultivation of greater areas of soil, which counteracts many of the benefits of the organic approach.

Dave

Radon Causes Deaths from Lung Cancer

2010-03-30T19:34:00.001-07:00

In Germany, radon in residential buildings has been shown to be a major risk factor for lung cancer. It's clear that this is a worldwide health concern.

A research paper in the current edition of Deutsches Ärzteblatt International by Klaus Schmid of the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg and his coauthors discusses the 1900 deaths from lung cancer that they see every year in Germany, purely due to radon within residential buildings.

The authors base their assessment on the results of relevant German studies which include the recently published guidelines of the German Society for Occupational and Environmental Medicine as well as a current publication from the German Commission on Radiological Protection. These indicate that radon within residential buildings makes a major contribution to the radiological exposure of the general population. Schmid and his colleagues refer to measurements taken from residential areas -- those found mildly unhealthy levels of radon in 36% of homes and severely unhealthy levels in more than another 18%.

Exposure within houses is predominantly due to release of radon-containing subsurface air from the soil into the building. Radon can penetrate into houses through leaks in the foundation or in the walls that are in contact with the soil.

Occupational physicians have long known that radon can cause lung cancer, particularly in uranium miners. For individuals without occupational exposure, radon is regarded as the second most important cause of lung cancer after smoking.

Dave

Arginine Supplementation Found to Improve Cycling Performance

2010-03-25T04:13:00.000-07:00

Researchers writing in BioMed Central’s Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition tested a combination of the amino acid Arginine and an antioxidant in sixteen cyclists, finding that it enhanced their anaerobic threshold. (This term refers to the amount of work done before lactic acid begins to accumulate in the blood.)

Researcher Zhaoping Li worked with a team of scientists from the University of California (Los Angeles) to carry out the randomized controlled trial with older cyclists. She said, “The loss of exercise capacity with age often results in a reduction in physical fitness and more rapid senescence. A dietary supplement that increases exercise capacity might help to preserve physical fitness by optimizing performance and improving general health and well being in older people."

One way in which older people may find their exercised capacity reduced revolves around the signaling molecule nitric oxide (NO), which is involved in many physiological processes, including those related to working out. NO production diminishes in quantity and availability as we age and is associated with an increased prevalence of other cardiovascular risk factors. In the body, NO is created from the amino acid arginine and is inactivated by oxygen free radicals. By supplementing the diet with both this precursor and an anti-oxidant, the researchers hoped to support the NO system in the cyclists and thereby enhance performance.

Sixteen cyclists aged between 50 and 73 were randomly assigned to receive either the supplement or dummy placebo pills. After one week of study, the anaerobic threshold of the supplement group increased, while that of the control group did not significantly alter. This increase in anaerobic threshold was preserved at week three. According to Li, “We’ve demonstrated a 16.7% increase in anaerobic threshold. This indicates a potential role of arginine and antioxidant supplementation in improving exercise performance in elderly."

Dave

Endometriosis Risk Lower with Omega 3 Food Intake

2010-03-24T15:56:00.000-07:00

Women whose diets are rich in foods containing Omega-3 oils appear to be less likely to develop endometriosis, while those whose diets are heavily laden with trans fats might be more likely to develop the debilitating condition, new research suggests. The study, one of the largest to have investigated the links between diet and endometriosis, was published today (Wednesday 24 March) in the journal of Human Reproduction.

The study found that while the total amount of fat in the diet did not matter, the type of fat did indeed make a difference. Women who ate the highest amount of long-chain Omega-3 fatty acids were 22% less likely to be diagnosed with endometriosis than those who ate the least; those who ate the most trans fats had a 48% increased risk, compared with those who ate the least.

These findings, resulting from 70,709 American nurses who were followed for 12 years, suggest that diet may be important in the development of endometriosis. They also provide more evidence that a low fat diet is not necessarily the healthiest. Another impact from the research is further evidence for the case that eliminating trans fats from the food supply is a very good thing.

The study’s leader, Dr. Stacey Missmer, is an assistant professor of obstetrics, gynaecology and reproductive biology at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston.

“Millions of women worldwide suffer from endometriosis. Many women have been searching for something they can actually do for themselves, or their daughters, to reduce the risk of developing the disease, and these findings suggest that dietary changes may be something they can do. The results need to be confirmed by further research, but this study gives us a strong indication that we’re on the right track in identifying food rich in Omega-3 oils as protective for endometriosis and trans fats as detrimental,” Dr. Missmer added.

Endometriosis occurs when pieces of the womb lining, or endometrium, is found outside the womb. This tissue behaves in the same way as it does in the womb – growing during the menstrual cycle in response to oestrogen in anticipation of an egg being fertilized and shedding as blood when there’s no pregnancy. However, when it grows outside the womb, it is trapped and cannot leave the body as menstruation. Some women experience no symptoms, but for many it is very incapacitating, causing severe pain. The tissue can also stick to other organs, sometimes leading to infertility. It afflicts about 10% of women. The cause is poorly understood and there is no cure. Symptoms are traditionally treated with pain medication, hormone drugs or surgery.

It's nice to hear another Omega 3 success story. Long-chain Omega-3 fatty acids are found mostly in oily fish. They have been linked to reduced heart disease risk. Trans fats are artificially produced through hydrogenation, which turns liquid vegetable oil into solid fat. Used in thousands of processed foods, from snacks to ready-meals, they have already been linked to increased heart disease risk. We read frequently about various communities around the world that have instituted bans on these dangerous fats.

Dave

Compound in Bananas Looks to have Great Anti-HIV Abilties

2010-03-17T19:15:00.000-07:00

A strong possibility exists that new therapeutics directed against HIV may come from research on bananas, proving once again that the plant world holds enormous potential for cures. This potent new inhibitor of HIV, derived from bananas, may open the door to new treatments to prevent sexual transmission of HIV, according to a University of Michigan Medical School study published March 19 in the Journal of Biological Chemistry.

Scientists have an emerging interest in lectins, naturally occurring chemicals in plants, because of their ability to halt the chain of reaction that leads to a variety of infections.In laboratory tests, BanLec (the lectin found in bananas) was clearly as potent as two anti-HIV drugs currently on the market. Based on these findings, BanLec may become a less expensive new component of applied vaginal microbicides, researchers say.

This banana extract could become one of the ways of stopping the spread of the HIV, which is a category of drug that is vitally needed. The rate of new infections of HIV is outpacing the rate of new individuals getting anti-retroviral drugs by 2.5 to1, and at present it appears an effective vaccine is years away. That's why bananas could step in and save the day.

Study senior author David Marvovitz, M.D., professor of internal medicine at the U-M Medical School, says that while condom use is quite effective, condoms are most successful in preventing infection if used consistently and correctly, which is often not the case, particularly in developing countries.

“[Some] women have little control over sexual encounters so development of a long-lasting, self-applied microbicide is very attractive,” Markovitz says. The most promising compounds for inhibiting vaginal and rectal HIV transmission are agents that block the virus prior to integration into its target cell, which is what this lectin appears to do.

Lectins are sugar-binding proteins. They can identify foreign invaders, like a virus, in the body, and attach themselves to the pathogen. The U-M team discovered that BanLec can inhibit HIV infection by binding to the sugar-rich HIV-1 envelope protein, gp120, and block its entry to the body. It's exciting because therapies using BanLec could be cheaper to create than current anti-retroviral medications which use synthetically produced components, plus BanLec may provide a wider range of protection, researchers say.

Dave

Stressful Pregnancy May Lead to Asthma Later in Life

2010-03-17T16:10:00.001-07:00

New research proves how stress during pregnancy may raise the risk of asthma in children. Researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston have investigated differences in immune function markers in cord blood between infants born to mothers in high stress environments and nfants born to mothers with lower stress. They have found marked differences in patterns that may be associated with asthma risk later in life.

“This is the first study in humans to show that increased stress experienced during pregnancy in these urban, largely minority women, is associated with different patterns of cord blood cytokine production to various environmental stimuli, relative to babies born to lower-stressed mothers,” said Rosalind Wright, M.D., M.P.H., associate physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

The findings have been published online in the American Thoracic Society’s American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. Asthma is known to be more prevalent among ethnic minorities and among disadvantaged urban communities, but the disparity is not completely explained by known physical factors. Urban women living in the inner-city also experience significant stress, particularly minority women. This research may finally be shedding some light on why this difference has occurred.

The role of stress in asthma development is poorly understood, but animal studies have suggested that the mother’s stress during pregnancy can influence the offspring’s immune system, starting in the womb.

Dave

Checklist for Depressive Symptoms

2010-03-09T05:26:00.000-08:00

I just found a one-page, 27-item questionnaire that is available free online. It was designed for doctors to help them screen their patients, but It's really an interesting tool for anyone who wants to know if they are showing symptoms of the four most common psychiatric illnesses. It's validity has been confirmed in a study led by University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill researchers.

"Results of the My Mood Monitor (M-3) Checklist" was published in the March/April 2010 issue of Annals of Family Medicine. The checklist was developed by M-3 Information of Bethesda, Md., and is available at www.mymoodmonitor.com (click on the headline of this blog post for the link). I took this test and found it very easy and informative. Obviously, if you have any issues it's going to direct you to your doctor, but it is possible to learn about how you are feeling and whether or not these feelings are "normal."

The lead author of the report says that about one in 10 Americans who suffer from depression and anxiety-related mental health disorders never receives treatment because they don’t understand what’s wrong, and when they go to their family doctor these treatable illnesses are too often missed.

Dave

Women Who Drink Moderately are Less Likely to Gain Weight

2010-03-08T22:28:00.000-08:00

According to a new report in the March 8th issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, normal-weight women who drink a light-to-moderate amount of alcohol appear to gain less weight and have a lower risk of becoming overweight and obese than non-drinkers.

Alcohol contains about 7 calories per gram, and there are approximately 28 grams per ounce -- so it is possible to see that alcohol drinking could indeed contribute to weight gain. However, research has not provided evidence that consuming alcohol is a risk factor for obesity. In fact, studies like this one suggest that a moderate consumption of alcohol can actually have the opposite effect.

Dr. Lu Wang of Brigham and Women’s Hospital (Boston) and colleagues studied more than 19,000 U.S. women age 39 or older with normal weight. On an initial questionnaire, participants reported how many alcoholic beverages they typically drank per day. A total of 7,346 reported drinking no alcohol; 6,312 drank less than 5 grams; 3,865 drank 5 to less than 15 grams; 1,129 drank 15 to less than 30 grams; and 568 drank 30 grams per day or more.

Over an average of 13 years of follow-up, women on average gained weight progressively. Women who did not drink alcohol at all gained the most weight, with weight gain decreasing as alcohol intake increased. A total of 7,942 (41.3 percent) women who initially had normal weight become overweight or obese, including 732 who become obese. Compared with women who did not drink at all, those who consumed some but less than 40 grams per day of alcohol were less likely to become overweight or obese. Women who drank 15 to less than 30 grams per day had the lowest risk, which was almost 30 percent lower than that of non-drinkers.

“An inverse association between alcohol intake and risk of becoming overweight or obese was noted for all four types of alcoholic beverages [red wine, white wine, beer and liquor], with the strongest association found for red wine and a weak yet significant association for white wine after multivariate adjustment,” the authors write.

The authors caution that, given potential medical and psychosocial problems related to drinking alcohol, its beneficial and adverse effects for each individual must be considered before making any recommendation about its use. It's interesting to note the red wine connection here once again.

Dave

Migraine Sufferers Face Increased Risks of Cardiovascular Disease

2010-02-26T09:34:00.000-08:00

According to a new study at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, migraine sufferers are twice as likely to have heart attacks as people without migraine. The study, published in the February 10 online issue of Neurology, found that migraine sufferers also face increased risk for stroke and were more likely to have key risk factors for cardiovascular disease, including diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.

“Migraine has been viewed as a painful condition that affects quality of life, but not as a threat to peoples' overall health,” said lead investigator Richard B. Lipton, M.D., senior author of the study and professor in the Department of Neurology at Einstein. Lipton directs the Headache Center at Montefiore Medical Center, the University Hospital and Academic Medical Center for Einstein.

“Our study suggests that migraine is not an isolated disorder and that, when caring for people with migraine, we should also be attentive to detecting and treating their cardiovascular risk factors,” he told the press.

More than 29 million Americans suffer from migraine, according to the National Headache Foundation. There are two major forms, migraine without aura and migraine with aura. Both forms involve pulsing or throbbing pain, pain on one side of the head, nausea or vomiting, or sensitivity to light or sound. Migraine with aura has additional neurological symptoms including flashing lights, zig-zag lines, or a graying out of vision. Migraine is most common between the ages of 25 and 55; women are affected three times more frequently than men.

Previous research has shown that migraine with aura is associated with heart disease and stroke, particularly in health care professionals over the age of 45. The Einstein study, however, showed that both migraine with aura and migraine without aura are risk factors for heart disease and stroke in people from all walks of life between the ages of 18 and 80.

The data also shows that people with migraine were about 50 percent more likely than controls to have diabetes, hypertension, and elevated cholesterol, all well-known cardiovascular risk factors. The study found that these risk factors may contribute to – but do not fully explain – the increased risk of heart attack and stroke in persons with migraine.

“Migraine sufferers should not be alarmed by our findings,” said Dr. Lipton. “While we found an increased risk for cardiovascular problems, the percentage of people actually affected remains small.”

Dave

Obesity Raises Kidney Stone Risk

2010-02-18T13:55:00.000-08:00

A new study from Johns Hopkins shows that obesity nearly doubles the risk of developing kidney stones, but the degree of obesity doesn’t appear to increase or decrease the risk one way or the other. This means that no matter how far into the category of obesity a person may slip, they have a very significantly raised risk of having to deal with kidney stones (as well as all the other diseases and complications that affect obese people).

“The common thinking was that as weight rises, kidney stone risk rises as well, but our study refutes that,” says study leader Brian R. Matlaga, assistant professor of urology at Johns Hopkins. “Whether someone is mildly obese or morbidly obese, the risk for getting kidney stones is the same.” The findings are published in the February Journal of Urology.

Over the last decade, several epidemiological studies have shown a strong connection between obesity and kidney stone disease. However, as obesity continues to rise worldwide, Matlaga and his colleagues wondered whether different subcategories of obesity, ranging from mildly to morbidly obese, presented different risks. Matlaga says that he and his colleagues aren’t sure why obese people are more at risk for kidney stones, though metabolic or endocrine factors unique to obesity are likely reasons, along with dietary factors such as a high-salt diet. The researchers plan to study these potential risk factors in subsequent studies.

Dave

Weight Problems in Your 20's Can Kill You in Your 40's

2010-02-12T12:15:00.000-08:00

Dr. Dale J. Hamilton, diabetes clinical services chief at The Methodist Hospital in Houston has released information that may be of interest to readers in their 20's who are overweight. That is, people who are obese and have type 2 diabetes in their 20s will be at higher risk of having a heart attack or stroke in their 40s if they do not change their lifestyle.

”If your blood pressure is 136/88 and you’re a man with a waist over 40 or a woman with a waist over 35 it spells trouble,” says Dr. Hamilton. “These are two of the five symptoms of metabolic syndrome, a problem that can lead to type 2 diabetes. All you need is three to begin seeing increased atherosclerosis.”

High triglyceride levels over 150, insulin resistance and a low HDL (good cholesterol) are factors of metabolic syndrome, along with high blood pressure and central obesity. More than 47 million Americans have it according to the American Heart Association. Many of these patients will end up suffering with type 2 diabetes, which may lead to coronary artery disease and stroke later in their lives. If you knew that you would be debilitated in your 40's after having a stroke, would you continue the same lifestyle today, in your 20's?

“Small changes every day can help curb big problems later on,” Hamilton said. “Losing five to 10 pounds will help lower blood pressure. Reducing saturated fats, carbohydrates, and eating about two-thirds the amount you eat now will help you lose weight around the middle. Walk 45 minutes a day instead of 30.”

There are many experts who believe that it was replacing sugar with high fructose corn syrup in processed foods in the United States and Canada in the 1990s has caused the rise of type 2 diabetes cases. High fructose corn syrup is made by changing the sugar in corn starch to fructose, another form of sugar. It has become popular because it extends the shelf life of processed foods and is cheaper than sugar. It has also become a popular ingredient in many sodas and fruit-flavored drinks.

“The problem with high fructose corn syrup is that it promotes central obesity,” Hamilton said. “Another problem with it is that it fools your body into thinking you are hungry. I don’t think you need to eliminate it from your diet, you just need to be aware of how much of it you are consuming on a daily basis because too much can lead to serious weight gain.”

Keep in mind, he said, type 2 diabetes symptoms often go untreated because there are few or no symptoms until it is too late. “Having three or more of the risk factors associated with type 2 diabetes over an extended period of time is the equivalent of already having a heart attack,” Hamilton said. “These risk factors need to be treated aggressively in order to curb the problem and give you a better chance at a longer, healthier life.”

Dave

Energy Drinks and Alcohol: A Horrible Combination

2010-02-11T08:53:00.000-08:00

The University of Florida Health Science Center is reporting that energy drinks, favored among young people for the caffeine jolt, also play a lead role in several popular alcoholic drinks, such as Red Bull and vodka. But combining alcohol and energy drinks may create a dangerous mix, according to new research.

In a study of college-aged adults exiting bars, patrons who consumed energy drinks mixed with alcohol had a threefold increased risk of leaving a bar highly intoxicated and were four times more likely to intend to drive after drinking than bar patrons who drank alcohol only. The study appears in the April issue of the journal Addictive Behaviors.

“Previous laboratory research suggests that when caffeine is mixed with alcohol it overcomes the sedating effects of alcohol and people may perceive that they are less intoxicated than they really are,” said the study’s lead researcher Dennis Thombs, an associate professor in the UF College of Public Health. “This may lead people to drink more or make uninformed judgments about whether they are safe to drive.”

Experts believe that among college drinkers, as many as 28 percent consume alcohol mixed with energy drinks in a typical month.

“There’s a very common misconception that if you drink caffeine with an alcoholic beverage the stimulant effect of the caffeine counteracts the depressant effect of the alcohol and that is not true,” Goldberger said. “We know that caffeine aggravates the degree of intoxication, which can lead to risky behaviors.”

Dave

Lower IQ Appears to Equal Higher Risk of Disease, Death

2010-02-10T11:12:00.000-08:00

Previous research has shown that lower intelligence scores - as reflected by written or oral tests of IQ - have been associated with a raised risk of cardiovascular disease. Now, a new study funded by Britain's Medical Research Council, which set out to gauge the relative importance of IQ alongside other risk factors, has found that lower intelligence scores were associated with higher rates of cardiovascular disease and total mortality at a greater level of magnitude than found with any other risk factor except smoking.

The findings, published in the February issue of the European Journal of Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation, are derived from a population study designed to investigate the influence of social factors on health. The present analysis was based on data collected in 1987 in a cohort of 1145 men and women aged around 55 and followed up for 20 years. Data were collected for height, weight, blood pressure, smoking habits, physical activity, education and occupation. Tests for cognitive ability (IQ) were assessed using a standard test of general intelligence.

Scientists took nine major risk factors for cardiovascular mortality and compared them with data from the study participants. Results showed that the most important risk factor was cigarette smoking, but it was followed by low IQ. Similar results were apparent when the health outcome was total mortality.

Commenting on the public health implications of the findings, the study's principal investigator Dr David Batty said that the individual skills reflected in a person's IQ may be important in the management of personal cardiovascular risk.

"From a public health perspective, there is the possibility that IQ can be increased, with some mixed results from trials of early learning and school readiness programs," said Dr Batty.

Personally, I'd suggest that those with a higher IQ have read about factors relating to personal health and have taken action, resulting in a reduced risk factor.

Dave

Antidepressants May Increase Risk of Stroke and Death

2010-02-05T09:22:00.000-08:00

Scientists at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine have determined that postmenopausal women who take antidepressants face a small but statistically significant increased risk for stroke and death compared with those who do not take the drugs. The new findings are from the federally-funded, multi-institution, "Women’s Health Initiative Study" which is sponsored by the National Institutes of Health.

The research, published in the December 14 online edition of Archives of Internal Medicine, examined data from 136,293 study participants, aged 50 to 79, who were not taking antidepressants when they enrolled in the study, and who were followed for an average of six years. When they looked at those who began taking antidepressants, the researchers found no difference in coronary heart disease (defined as fatal and non-fatal heart attacks) but they did observe a significant difference in stroke rates. In fact, antidepressant users were 45 percent more likely to experience strokes than women who weren’t taking antidepressants.

The study also found that when overall death rates (all-cause mortality) were compared between the two groups, those on antidepressants had a 32 percent higher risk of death from all causes compared with non-users.

Dr. Wassertheil-Smoller, senior author, points out that more research is needed to determine the reasons behind these differences. And, because this was an observational study, the findings are not as conclusive of causality as would be the case for a randomized controlled trial.

Still, it certainly adds to the evidence that taking a pharmaceutical anti-depressant is a major life decision.

Dave

Memory Failing? You May Be at Higher Risk for Stroke

2010-02-03T08:33:00.000-08:00

Men and women who experience memory loss or a decline in their thinking abilities may be at a higher risk of stroke, regardless of whether they have been diagnosed with dementia. This warning comes to us courtesy of a new report published in the February 2, 2010 issue of Neurology.

Study author Bernice Wiberg, MD (Uppsala University, Sweden) and his colleagues took 930 men in Sweden around the age of 70, all without a history of stroke, and put them through mental tests which are used by doctors to measure cognitive decline.

During a 13-year period, 166 men developed a stroke or transient ischemic attack, or TIA. Brain infarction is the most common cause of stroke -- this happened to 105 patients. It causes tissue damage when the proper amount of blood does not reach the brain. Hemorrhage is another kind of stroke.

The study found that people who were among the bottom 25 percent of performers in at least one of the cognitive tests were three times more likely to have a stroke or a brain infarction compared to those who scored among the top 25 percent of performers on the tests.

“Our results support the idea that cognitive decline regardless of whether a person has dementia may predict risk of stroke,” said Wiberg. The test which was most successful of the three tests used is a simple test that, with more research, could be used to identify those persons for whom stroke prevention measures should be considered.

Dave

Pomegranate Juice's Healthy Properties

2010-02-02T07:15:00.000-08:00

New research from Israel was presented at the American Society of Nephrology’s 43rd Annual Meeting and Scientific Exposition in Denver, CO. It seems that pomegranate juice may reduce complications in kidney disease patients on dialysis, including the high morbidity rate due to infections and cardiovascular events. While this is a preliminary study, it does suggest that 12 months consumption of pomegranate juice “has a continuous, accumulative, beneficial effect for dialysis patients.”

The researchers found that pomegranate juice consumption yields a lower level of oxidative stress, reduced inflammation, an improvement in lipid profile, and reductions in blood pressure. Wow, all of this from one of the oldest "superfruits" used by humans -- and a truly delicious beverage!

There appear to be many benefits to drinking pomegranate juice. The authors noted that recent studies have claimed it to be a rich source of antioxidants, and that it lowered both cholesterol and blood pressure – especially in diabetic and hypertensive patients. Israeli researchers reported that patients on dialysis, in addition to their renal disease, also suffer from increased risks of diabetes (over 50 percent increased risk), hypertension (over 80 percent risk increase), and cardiovascular disease. They also noted that kidney disease patients are exposed to high levels of oxidative stress.

Among dialysis patients, vitamin E is a well documented to reduce cardiovascular events, and other polyphenols are known to reduce lipid oxidation and oxidative stress. I think that we can now add Pomegranate juice to the recommendations for dialysis patients, as it is known for its strong antioxidant activity. The antioxidant capacity of pomegranate juice is due to its high concentration of anthocyanins and hydrolysable tannins, including both allegic, and gallagic acids, and the poniculagenim – which originate from the pomegranate and contribute up to 50 percent of its antioxidant activity.

Dave

Coffee, Decaf and Tea All Associated With Reduced Risk of Diabetes

2010-01-27T07:23:00.000-08:00

Those who drink more coffee (regular or decaffeinated) or tea appear to have a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes, according to an analysis of previous studies reported in the December 14/28 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

Diabetes is a growing health threat to our population. By the year 2025, approximately 380 million individuals worldwide will be affected by type 2 diabetes, according to background information in the article. “Despite considerable research attention, the role of specific dietary and lifestyle factors remains uncertain, although obesity and physical inactivity have consistently been reported to raise the risk of diabetes,” the authors write.

Previously published research has suggested that drinking more coffee may be linked with a reduced risk.

Dr. Rachel Huxley of the University of Sydney (Australia) and her colleagues found that each additional cup of coffee consumed in a day was associated with a 7 percent reduction in the excess risk of diabetes. Individuals who drank three to four cups per day had an approximately 25 percent lower risk than those who drank between zero and two cups per day.

In addition, in the studies that assessed decaffeinated coffee consumption, those who drank more than three to four cups per day had about a one-third lower risk of diabetes than those who drank none. Those who drank more than three to four cups of tea had a one-fifth lower risk than those who drank no tea.

“That the apparent protective effect of tea and coffee consumption appears to be independent of a number of potential confounding variables raises the possibility of direct biological effects,” the authors write. Because of the association between decaffeinated coffee and diabetes risk, the association is unlikely to be solely related to caffeine. Other compounds in coffee and tea—including magnesium, antioxidants known as lignans or chlorogenic acids—may be involved, the authors note.

The authors state that the implications for the millions of individuals who have diabetes mellitus, or who are at future risk of developing it, could be substantial." They conclude, “For example, the identification of the active components of these beverages would open up new therapeutic pathways for the primary prevention of diabetes mellitus."

Dave

Milk Thistle Has Protective Effect in Chemotherapy

2010-01-26T06:19:00.000-08:00

A new study finds that the herb milk thistle may help treat liver inflammation in cancer patients who receive chemotherapy. Published in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the study indicates that the herb could allow patients to take potent doses of chemotherapy without damaging their liver.

Chemotherapy drugs frequently cause inflammation in the liver, and when they do, doctors must often lower patients' doses or stop administering the therapies altogether. Clinical studies have investigated using milk thistle to treat liver damage from cirrhosis (from alcohol) or toxins (such as mushroom poisoning). Despite limited study data, the herb is often used for the treatment of chemotherapy associated liver problems. To test whether milk thistle could help treat chemotherapy associated liver problems, Kara Kelly, MD, of the New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center in New York City and colleagues conducted a randomized, controlled, double blind study in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), who commonly experience this side effect.

Fifty children with ALL were enrolled in the study and were randomized to receive milk thistle or placebo for 28 days. At the start of the study, all of the children had evidence of liver inflammation as measured by elevations in blood levels of the liver enzymes, aspartate amino transferase (AST) and amino alanine transferase (ALT). When the investigators performed liver function tests on the children at day 56 (28 days after receiving the herb or placebo), children receiving milk thistle had improvements in their liver enzymes compared with children receiving a placebo. Specifically, the group that took milk thistle had significantly lower levels of AST and a trend towards significantly lower levels of ALT. Taking milk thistle also seemed to help keep fewer patients from having to lower the dose of their medications: chemotherapy doses were reduced in 61 percent of the group receiving milk thistle, compared with 72 percent of the placebo group. In addition, milk thistle appeared to be safe for consumption.

The researchers also studied the effects of combining milk thistle with chemotherapy on leukemia cells grown in the laboratory through cell-culture in bioreactors or petri dishes. They found that milk thistle does not interfere with the cancer-fighting properties of chemotherapy.

"Milk thistle needs to be studied further, to see how effective it is for a longer course of treatment, and whether it works well in reducing liver inflammation in other types of cancers and with other types of chemotherapy," said Dr. Kelly. "However, our results are promising as there are no substitute medications for treating liver toxicity."

Dave

Antidepressants May Change Personalities

2010-01-25T07:11:00.000-08:00

According to background information in a recent JAMA article (Arch Gen Psychiatry, 2009;66[12]:1322-1330), two personality traits, neuroticism and extraversion, have been related to depression risk. Both traits have been linked to the brain’s serotonin system. It is that serotonin system which is also targeted by the class of antidepressants known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs).

Tony Z. Tang, Ph.D., of Northwestern University (Evanston, Ill.) and colleagues studied the effects of one particular SSRI, paroxetine, in a placebo-controlled trial involving 240 adults with major depressive disorder. A total of 120 participants were randomly assigned to take paroxetine, 60 to undergo cognitive therapy and 60 to take placebo for 12 months. Their personalities and depressive symptoms were assessed before, during and after treatment.

All participants experienced some improvement in their symptoms of depression, as one would suspect after taking a pharmaceutical antidepressant. However, even after controlling for these improvements, individuals taking paroxetine experienced a significantly greater decrease in neuroticism and increase in extraversion than those receiving cognitive therapy or placebo. “Patients taking paroxetine reported 6.8 times as much change on neuroticism and 3.5 times as much change on extraversion as placebo patients matched for depression improvement,” the authors write.

“One possibility is that the biochemical properties of SSRIs directly produce real personality change,” they write.

SSRIs are widely used to treat depression. It has not been made clear to many patients by their doctors, however, that the drugs may indeed induce a distinct change in personality, something the patient may not have bargained for.

Dave

Omega-3 Fatty Acids May Reduce Risk of Colon Cancer

2010-01-15T12:03:00.000-08:00

The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is saying that long-chain omega-3 fatty acids, primarily found in fish and seafood, may have a positive role in colorectal cancer prevention. This statement is in accordance with results presented at the Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research Conference, held in December '09 in Houston.

“Experimental data have shown benefits of long-chain omega-3 fatty acids in colorectal carcinogenesis, ranging from reduced tumor growth, suppression of angiogenesis and inhibition of metastasis,” said Sangmi Kim, Ph.D., a fellow at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS, a unit of NIH), Research Triangle Park, N.C. “Our finding of inverse association between dietary intakes of long-chain omega-3 fatty acids and distal large bowel cancer in white participants adds additional support to the hypothesis.”

Kim and colleagues studied the link between polyunsaturated fatty acid intake and distal large bowel cancer using data from a population-based control study in which they recruited 1,509 white participants (716 cancer cases and 787 controls) and 369 black participants (213 cancer cases and 156 controls). Nineteen polyunsaturated fatty acids were assessed using a validated food frequency questionnaire, which included 124 questions on food items. The researchers used the questionnaire to collect information on the frequency and amount of foods typically consumed in the past 12 months.

Patients who consumed more long-chain omega-3 fatty acids had a reduced risk of distal large bowel cancer. Compared to the lowest quartile, fat intake in the highest quartile was linked with a 39 percent reduced risk of cancer. These numbers seem fairly strong indication of the positive nature of omega-3 fatty acids in colorectal cancer.

Oddly, the researchers detected these associations in white participants, but not in black participants.

“We were surprised that the association was not also observed among blacks,” Kim said. “We considered several possible explanations but were not able to account for this difference with the data we had. This finding warrants future study, but we should be careful about drawing conclusions about potential racial differences in the benefit from long-chain omega-3 fatty acids from this study. An increase in dietary intake of long-chain omega-3 fatty acids, which mainly come from fish and seafood, may be beneficial in the prevention of distal large bowel cancer,” Kim said.

Dave

Pistachios Reduce Risk of Lung Cancer

2009-12-28T11:59:00.000-08:00

“Pistachios are one of those good-for-you nuts, and 2 ounces per day could be incorporated into dietary strategies designed to reduce the risk of lung cancer without significant changes in body mass index,” said Ladia M. Hernandez, senior research dietitian in the Department of Epidemiology at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.

It's nice to know that there is a delicious tasting nut out there that actually has healthy properties, and in this case, is showing scientists a considerable benefit when consumed by those who would otherwise be at risk of certain cancers.

A diet that incorporates a daily dose of pistachios may help reduce the risk of lung and other cancers, according to data presented at the American Association for Cancer Research Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research Conference, held Dec. 6-9. This is likely because vitamin E provides a degree of protection against certain forms of cancer. Higher intakes of gamma-tocopherol, which is a form of vitamin E, may reduce the risk of lung cancer. Pistachios are loaded with gamma-tocopherol.

“Pistachios are a good source of gamma-tocopherol. Eating them increases intake of gamma-tocopherol so pistachios may help to decrease lung cancer risk,” said Hernandez, the main author.

Pistachios are known to provide a heart-healthy benefit by producing a cholesterol-lowering effect and providing the antioxidants that are typically found in food products of plant origin. Hernandez and colleagues conducted a six-week, controlled clinical trial to evaluate if the consumption of pistachios would increase dietary intake and serum levels of gamma-tocopherol. Many experts will tell you that it is better to get your vitamin E through natural food sources than via supplements.

A pistachio-rich diet could potentially help reduce the risk of other cancers from developing as well, according to Hernandez.

“Because epidemiologic studies suggest gamma-tocopherol is protective against prostate cancer, pistachio intake may help,” she said. “Other food sources that are a rich source of gamma-tocopherol include nuts such as peanuts, pecans, walnuts, soybean and corn oils.” The study, conducted at Texas Woman’s University included 36 healthy participants who were randomized into either a control group or the intervention group consisting of a pistachio diet. There were 18 participants in the control group and 18 in the intervention group.

Hernandez and colleagues found a significant increase in energy-adjusted dietary intake of gamma-tocopherol at weeks three and four in those on the pistachio diet compared with those on the control diet. The similar effect was seen at weeks five and six among those on the pistachio diet compared with those on the control diet. For those on the pistachio diet, cholesterol-adjusted serum gamma-tocopherol was significantly higher at the end of the intervention period compared to baseline.

Dave

Celebrex Undermines Aspirin’s Anti-Clotting Action

2009-12-16T17:04:00.000-08:00

Researchers at the University of Michigan Health System suggest that it may not be a good idea to combine the pharmaceutical drug Celebrex with a daily low-dose aspirin regimen. Millions of Americans take Celebrex for arthritis or other pain. Many, if they are middle-aged or older, also take a low-dose aspirin tablet daily to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke. Yet they may be getting little protection, because Celebrex keeps the aspirin from doing its job effectively.

Doctors frequently advise daily low-dose aspirin (81 mg) for patients who have heart conditions, notably a serious form of angina known as unstable angina, or for patients who are at risk of second heart attacks. Aspirin is well-known for its ability to discourage formation of blood clots that can lead to heart attack and stroke. In addition, arthritis patients who take Celebrex regularly are often put on low-dose aspirin because this is thought to counteract Celebrex’s own potential clot-promoting effect.

But there is a problem with this combination. In laboratory studies, University of Michigan researchers found that several drugs in the class to which Celebrex belongs interfere with aspirin’s ability to discourage blood clots, if the aspirin is taken in low doses. These results appear in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

“There are many people who take low-dose aspirin, perhaps as many as half of men over 50. If they are also prescribed Celebrex for arthritis or other pain, our results suggest that the Celebrex will probably interfere with the aspirin’s action,” says William L. Smith, Ph.D., the study’s senior author and chair of the biochemistry department at the University of Michigan Medical School.

“The greatest risk is having people take Celebrex who are taking aspirin for cardiovascular problems that are known to be mitigated by aspirin, including patients with unstable angina or those at risk for a second heart attack,” he says. In unstable angina, small clots form in arteries and interfere with blood flow. Previous studies of healthy subjects found no ill effect on blood clotting when Celebrex was combined with aspirin at higher doses, specifically a daily “regular” aspirin tablet (324 mg), Smith notes. So it may be that a higher aspirin dose, or spreading out the time between taking low-dose aspirin and Celebrex, will allow aspirin to be effective.

For many people, however, Aspirin’s undesirable effects on the gastrointestinal tract at higher doses when taken long-term would have to be taken into account.

More research is ongoing, as it will be important to determine if a balance in dose and/or dose regimens can be found so that aspirin and Celebrex can both be effective.

Dave

Hibiscus a Possible Help for Hypertension

2009-12-05T11:30:00.000-08:00

Hibiscus, an easily accessible and popular herb, has been shown in a recent study to be very good for reducing blood pressure in hypertensive people.

Hibiscus flowers have been used historically to treat high blood pressure, liver disease, and fever. It now turns out that in addition to ascorbic and citric acid (vitamin C), they contain a number of important vasoactive alkaloids, anthocyanins and quercetin, which may lay behind this blood-pressure benefit.

The study referred to was designed to compare the blood pressure lowering effects of “Sour tea,” made from Hibiscus sabdariffa, with ordinary black tea (Camellia sinensis) in type II diabetics with mild high blood pressure. Sixty such patients, none of whom were taking antihypertensive or lipid-lowering medications, were randomly assigned to drink one cup of Sour tea or black tea twice daily for one month. Each infusion was to be made with one tea sachet weighing 2 gm, placed in a teapot with 240 ml boiling water, and steeped for 20–30 minutes. They were permitted to add one cube of sugar.

The average systolic blood pressure (SBP) in the Hibiscus group decreased from 134.4 ± 11.8 mmHg at baseline to 112.7 ± 5.7 mmHg after 1 month, a robust 16% reduction. Among the black tea drinkers, the average SBP actually increased over the month, from 118.6 ± 14.9 mmHg at baseline to 127.3 ± 8.7 mmHg, a 7.3% rise. There were no statistically significant changes in mean diastolic blood pressure in either group.

Overall, the interventions were deemed “effective” (i.e., producing significant decreases in systolic pressure) in 48% of the Sour tea patients but only 15% of the black tea patients. The study was written up in the Journal of Human Hypertension, 2009; 23: 48–54). The findings are highly supportive of Hibiscus as a remedy for mild blood pressure elevations, in which the risks and costs of drug therapy may not be outweighed by their expected benefits, or in cases where a patient does not want to begin pharmaceutical treatment.

Dave

Cigarettes Harbor Many Bacteria

2009-12-03T05:07:00.000-08:00

A new international study conducted by centers in both the USA and France shows that cigarettes are "widely contaminated" with bacteria, including some known to cause disease in people. This work was done by researchers at the University of Maryland as well as at the Ecole Centrale de Lyon in France.

The research team describes the study as the first to show that "cigarettes themselves could be the direct source of exposure to a wide array of potentially pathogenic microbes among smokers and other people exposed to secondhand smoke." Their study will appear in an upcoming edition of the journal Environmental Health Perspectives and the manuscript has been posted online.

Lead researcher Amy R. Sapkota, an assistant professor at UMD (Maryland) says, "We were quite surprised to identify such a wide variety of human bacterial pathogens in these products. The commercially-available cigarettes that we tested were chock full of bacteria, as we had hypothesized, but we didn't think we'd find so many that are infectious in humans," explains Sapkota, who holds a joint appointment with the University's Maryland Institute for Applied Environmental Health and the department of epidemiology and biostatistics.

"If these organisms can survive the smoking process - and we believe they can - then they could possibly go on to contribute to both infectious and chronic illnesses in both smokers and individuals who are exposed to environmental tobacco smoke," Sapkota adds. Obviously scientists feel they need to learn more about the bacterial content of cigarettes, because these products are still used by more than a billion people worldwide.

Among the study's findings and conclusions:

* Commercially available cigarettes show a broad array of bacterial diversity, ranging from soil microorganisms to potential human pathogens;
* This is the first study to provide evidence that the numbers of microorganisms in a cigarette may be as "vast as the number of chemical constituents;"
* Hundreds of bacterial species were present in each cigarette, and additional testing is likely to increase that number significantly;
* No significant variability in bacterial diversity was observed across the four different cigarette brands examined: Camel; Kool Filter Kings; Lucky Strike Original Red; and Marlboro Red;
* Bacteria of medical significance to humans were identified in all of the tested cigarettes and included Acinetobacter (associated with lung and blood infections); Bacillus (some varieties associated with food borne illnesses and anthrax); Burkholderia (some forms responsible for respiratory infections); Clostridium(associated with foodborne illnesses and lung infections); Klebsiella (associated with a variety of lung, blood and other infections); and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (an organism that causes 10 percent of all hospital-acquired infections in the United States).

This research might account for the fact that the respiratory tracts of smokers are characterized by higher levels of bacterial pathogens.

Dave

Loneliness Can be Contagious

2009-12-01T06:09:00.000-08:00

Research at the University of Chicago, the University of California San Diego and Harvard shows that loneliness can spread among groups of people like a bad cold.

Using data from a large-scale study that has been following health conditions for more than 60 years, a team of scholars found that lonely people tend to share their loneliness with others. Gradually over time, a group of lonely, disconnected people moves to the fringes of social networks.

“We detected an extraordinary pattern of contagion that leads people to be moved to the edge of the social network when they become lonely,” said University of Chicago psychologist John Cacioppo, one member of the study team and one of the nation’s leading scholars of loneliness. “On the periphery people have fewer friends, yet their loneliness leads them to losing the few ties they have left.”

Other members of the study team were James Fowler, Associate Professor at the University of California San Diego, and Nicholas Christakis, Professor of Medicine in the Harvard Medical School. Before relationships are severed, people on the periphery transmit feelings of loneliness to their remaining friends, who also become lonely. “These reinforcing effects mean that our social fabric can fray at the edges, like a yarn that comes loose at the end of a crocheted sweater,” said Cacioppo.

Because loneliness is associated with a variety of mental and physical diseases that can shorten life, Cacioppo said it is important for people to recognize loneliness and help those people connect with their social group before the lonely individuals move to the edges.

These findings were published in the article, “Alone in the Crowd: The Structure and Spread of Loneliness in a Large Social Network,” published in the December issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. For the study, the team examined records of a study which has been ongoing since 1949, including more than 5,200 people in what was originally a study of cardiovascular risk.

The study has since been expanded to include about 12,000 people, as the children and the grandchildren of the original group and others have been included to diversify the population sample. This study now includes more tests, including measures of loneliness and depression. The second generation in the study, which includes 5,124 people, was the primary focus of the loneliness research.

Researchers kept in touch with the subjects every two to four years and collected names of friends who knew the subjects. Those records became an excellent source of information about the people’s social networks.

By constructing graphs that charted the subjects’ friendship histories and information about their reports of loneliness, researchers were able to establish a pattern of loneliness that spread as people reported fewer close friends. The data showed that lonely people “infected” the people around them with loneliness, and those people moved to the edges of social circles. The team found that the next-door neighbors in the survey who experienced an increase of one day of loneliness a week prompted an increase in loneliness among their neighbors who were their close friends. The loneliness spread as the neighbors spent less time together.

Women, who are more likely to need emotional support, were more likely to report “catching” loneliness from others than were men. People’s chances of becoming lonely were more likely to be caused by changes in friendship networks than changes in family networks.

Research also shows that as people become lonely, they become less trustful of others, and a cycle develops that makes it harder for them to form friendships. Societies seem to develop a natural tendency to shed these lonely people, a pattern which makes it all the more important to recognize loneliness and deal with it before it spreads.

“Society may benefit by aggressively targeting the people in the periphery to help repair their social networks and to create a protective barrier against loneliness that can keep the whole network from unraveling,” the authors said.

Dave

Soy Products May be Important for Fighting Colon Cancer

2009-11-25T08:08:00.000-08:00

Scientists at the Children’s Hospital & Research Center in Oakland, California, have identified a new class of therapeutic agents found naturally in soy that can prevent and possibly treat colon cancer, the third most deadly form of cancer. "Sphingadienes" (SDs) are natural lipid molecules found in soy that research shows may be the key to fighting colon cancer.

The study, led by Dr. Julie Saba, director of the Cancer Center at Children’s Hospital Oakland, will be published in the December 15, 2009 issue of Cancer Research. Soy has long been touted as protective against colon cancer, but Dr. Saba’s team made the groundbreaking discovery that SDs naturally found in soy may underlie the benefits of soy products. It is important for science to find the mechanism of action behind a natural product claim on something like this -- it lends much more credibility to the concept.

“It’s very exciting,” said Dr. Saba. “First, we are encouraged to find a natural molecule that could be consumed through soy products as a strategy to help prevent colon cancer. Second, this information is important because we can build on our understanding of the structure and metabolism of SDs in terms of developing new drugs to treat people who already have colon cancer. Uncovering how SDs exert their effects also helps us to find the most likely combinations of drugs that may work synergistically to eliminate cancer cells and mutant cells that could give rise to cancer.”

Future research is needed to identify the best way to deliver SDs and to confirm the overall toxicity when the compounds are used for extended time periods and in combination with other agents. Dr. Saba, who has already received two grants to continue her research, also hopes to determine if SDs are effective in protection against other cancers. While Dr. Saba acknowledges that future research is needed to determine if there are other components of soy that are beneficial in fighting colon cancer, she has no concerns suggesting more soy in the diet.

“I would be comfortable recommending soy products as a change in the diet that could protect against cancer. The more that soy is studied, the more of these protective agents are found, so it’s a very healthy diet choice," said this author.

Dave

New Report Damns Chinese Drywall as Unsafe

2009-11-24T11:42:00.001-08:00

There has long been a suspected link between Chinese drywall and toxic effects reported by thousands of U.S. homeowners. Their stand on this faulty product was strengthened Monday by three preliminary reports issued by the federal government.

The strongest link came from an analysis of air sampled inside dozens of homes containing drywall made in China. The study of 51 homes detected hydrogen sulfide and formaldehyde, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

The investigators also examined materials such as copper pipes and wiring for corrosion. In the homes containing the problem drywall, there was a "strong association" between the high levels of hydrogen sulfide and the corrosion of the metals, he said. Many home owners have experienced corrosion and have, in fact, moved out of their homes due to this issue with the Chinese drywall. Insurers have generally not paid them.

It is absolutely amazing to me why consumers in the USA and other regions of the world continue to buy cheap, Chinese made products. This drywall is just the latest in a long string of health problems caused by Chinese goods. Each day, tens of thousands of consumers go into vitamin shops and buy Chinese manufactured dietary supplements. Major brands contain Chinese vitamin C, as one example. (Think twice next time before you pour a package of fizzy Vitamin C powder into a glass of water. It's right off the boat from China, despite the big brand name.)

Companies will always tell you that "We control our manufacturing process -- while it may be from China, we do the quality control." That didn't help the children who died from tainted Chinese milk products, and the quality control by US importers didn't prevent people from building sick homes with Chinese drywall.

Stick with companies that buck the trend and use high-quality manufacturing methods and extracts. These will generally not be sourced from China.

Dave

New Environmentally Friendly Plastic On the Horizon

2009-11-23T06:00:00.000-08:00

A recent win by a team of pioneering South Korean scientists may put the spotlight on good uses of genetic technologies. It seems this group has succeeded in producing the polymers used for everyday plastics through bioengineering, rather than through the use of fossil fuel based chemicals. This groundbreaking research, which may now allow for the production of environmentally conscious plastics, is published in two papers in the journal Biotechnology and Bioengineering to mark the journal’s 50th anniversary.

Polymers are molecules found in everyday life in the form of plastics and rubbers, and they originate as products of fossil fuels. The Korean team, from KAIST University and the Korean chemical company LG Chem, led by Professor Sang Yup Lee focused their research on Polylactic Acid (PLA), a bio-based polymer which holds the key to producing plastics through natural and renewable resources.

The head of this lab and author, Dr. Lee, commented “The polyesters and other polymers we use everyday are mostly derived from fossil oils made through the refinery or chemical process. The idea of producing polymers from renewable biomass has attracted much attention due to the increasing concerns of environmental problems and the limited nature of fossil resources. PLA is considered a good alternative to petroleum based plastics as it is both biodegradable and has a low toxicity to humans.”

However, up until now PLA has been produced in a complex and expensive process, which has yielded only a small amount of commercially available bio-degradable plastic, which remains expensive. Now, through the use of a new strain of E.coli bacteria, the team has developed a one-stage process which produces polylactic acid and its copolymers through fermentation, the same kind of process used to make beer. This makes the renewable production of PLA and lactate-containing copolymers cheaper and more commercially viable.

“By developing a strategy which combines metabolic engineering and enzyme engineering, we’ve developed an efficient bio-based one-step production process for PLA and its copolymers,” said Lee. “This new strategy should be generally useful for developing other engineered organisms capable of producing various unnatural polymers by direct fermentation from renewable resources."

Dave

Confirming What Mom Told Us . . .

2009-11-22T07:29:00.000-08:00

It's nice to see that high-tech research programs produce results that correlate with what we've been told since birth by our mothers and other health experts.

Researchers at the Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Heinrich-Heine University, Düsseldorf, Germany, investigated the relationship between fruit and vegetable intake, plasma antioxidant micronutrient status and cognitive performance in healthy subjects aged 45 to 102 years. The result of this study of 193 patients was published in the August issue of the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease,and indicated higher cognitive performance in individuals with high daily intake of fruits and vegetables.

Subjects with a high daily intake (about 400 g) of fruits and vegetables had higher antioxidant levels, lower indicators of free radical-induced damage against lipids as well as better cognitive performance compared to healthy subjects of any age consuming low amounts (less than 100 g/day) of fruits and vegetables.

These scientists recommend the modification of nutritional guidelines, specifically those aimed at intake of fruits and vegetables. They believe that eating these fruits and veggies should be encouraged to lower the prevalence of cognitive impairment.

“It is known that there is a strong association between fruit and vegetable intake and the natural antioxidant defenses of the body against free radicals. It is also known that bad nutritional habits increase the risk of developing cognitive impairment with and without dementia," says Dr. M. Cristina Polidori, author. "With this work we show a multiple link between fruit and vegetable intake, antioxidant defenses and cognitive performance, in the absence of disease and independent of age. Among other lifestyle habits, it is recommended to improve nutrition in general and fruit and vegetable intake in particular at any age, beginning as early as possible. This may increase our chances to remain free of dementia in an advanced age.”

These findings are independent of age, gender, body mass index, level of education, lipid profile and albumin levels, all factors able to influence cognitive and antioxidant status. The relevance of the findings is also strengthened by the fact that this was a relatively large number of subjects.

Further studies are planned that will include larger subject cohorts, patients with Alzheimer’s disease at different stages and patients with mild cognitive impairment without dementia.

Dave

Selenium Supplements and High Cholesterol

2009-11-17T12:02:00.000-08:00

I have a love-hate relationship with selenium. As you know if you read the research on supplements, some studies say that selenium has a strong anti-cancer effect. Other studies say that overall mortality goes UP when taking selenium supplements. Now, a new research study published in a peer-reviewed publication Nutrition indicates that selenium may be linked to higher cholesterol readings in those who supplement. This one may push it over the edge for me on taking selenium supplements . . .

Scientists at the University of Warwick Medical School said consuming too much selenium can have adverse effects. While it has strong antioxidant properties, and the above-mentioned perception that it can reduce cancer risks, there is now an apparently legitimate concern that higher quantities of selenium found in some supplements may be a bad thing.

The scientists reached this conclusion after examining the relationship between plasma selenium concentrations (levels of selenium in the blood) with blood lipids (fats in the blood). A cross-sectional study of the1042 participants in the 2000-2001 National Diet and Nutrition Survey (United Kingdom) revealed that among those with higher plasma selenium (more than 1.20 µmol/L) there was an increase in the average total cholesterol level of 8 per cent (0.39 mmol/L (i.e. 15.1 mg/dL). Researchers also found a 10 per cent increase in non-HDL cholesterol levels, which is the bad cholesterol most closely linked to heart disease.

Making the final step linking high selenium intake, supplementation, and high cholesterol, the scientists noted that among the participants, 48.2 per cent admitted they regularly took additional selenium in supplement form. Of course, you never know about these kinds of studies. This research team may have had an anti-supplement bias going into the study -- and perhaps they didn't explore what OTHER common indicators this population group may have had. Still, I think we all need to look at the available information on selenium before deciding if it is the right thing to do for our own personal situation.

Dave

Transcendental Meditation: Nearly 50% Lower Rates of Heart Attack, Stroke, and Death in Heart Patients

2009-11-16T17:35:00.000-08:00

Patients with coronary heart disease who practiced the stress-reducing Transcendental Meditation technique had nearly 50 percent lower rates of heart attack, stroke, and death compared to nonmeditating controls, according to the results of a first-ever study presented during the annual meeting of the American Heart Association in Orlando, Fla., on Nov.16, 2009.

The trial was sponsored by a $3.8 million grant from the National Institutes of Health–National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, and was conducted at The Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee in collaboration with the Institute for Natural Medicine and Prevention at Maharishi University of Management in Fairfield, Iowa.

The nine-year, randomized control trial followed 201 African American men and women, average age 59 years, with narrowing of arteries in their hearts who were randomly assigned to either practice the stress-reducing Transcendental Meditation technique or to participate in a control group which received health education classes in traditional risk factors, including dietary modification and exercise.
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The study found a 47 percent reduction in the combination of death, heart attacks, and strokes in the participants, along with a clinically significant (5 mm Hg average) reduction in blood pressure associated with decrease in clinical events, and significant reductions in psychological stress in the high-stress subgroup.

“Previous research on Transcendental Meditation has shown reductions in blood pressure, psychological stress, and other risk factors for heart disease, irrespective of ethnicity. But this is the first controlled clinical trial to show that long-term practice of this particular stress reduction program reduces the incidence of clinical cardiovascular events, that is heart attacks, strokes and mortality," says Robert Schneider, M.D., lead author.

Dave

Kicking the Smoking Habit Improves Surgical Outcomes

2009-11-10T08:27:00.000-08:00

Going for surgery? If so, the scientific evidence is clear -- smoking has a direct negative impact on postoperative outcomes. Quitting smoking is one of the best things people can do to improve their chances of recovering from surgery without complications.

I've never been a smoker, but I have people in my family who smoke, and although its a sensitive subject, they've told me in the past that they are "too far along" as a smoker to quit now. They believe that their lungs are now permanently affected. But did you know that the body begins to heal within hours of quitting? Twelve hours after a person has given up the habit, his or her heart and lungs already begin to function better, as the nicotine and carbon monoxide levels start dropping. It takes less than a day for blood flow to improve, which reduces the likelihood for post-operative complications.

David O. Warner, M.D., is chair of the Smoking Cessation Initiative Task Force. He says, “Every year, we care for up to 10 million smokers in surgery. We see the immense toll that smoking takes on a person’s body, but we also witness the tremendous benefits patients who stop smoking before surgery experience in their healing process.”

Because patients are advised to abstain from smoking for as long as possible both before and after surgery, it represents a golden opportunity for people to take action to quit. When confronted with surgery, many patients decide to take stock of their lives and change their behaviors. This defining moment is a great opportunity to commit to quitting, as it will have a significant impact on one’s quality of life for years to come.

Besides, patients who quit smoking heal better! In one study, more than half of patients who continued smoking after surgery developed complications compared to less than 20 percent who quit.

Dave

Alternate-Day Fasting Shows Promise for Dieters

2009-11-09T09:17:00.000-08:00

A new type of dieting was recently studied by the University of Illinois at Chicago. While restricting daily calorie intake is a common plan to help obese and overweight people slim down to healthier weights, this would generally require a 15-40 percent calorie reduction, which makes sticking to the diet hard for many.

Researchers in Chicago have found that a modified version of a plan called "alternate-day fasting" may be easier for most people and that it has the added bonus of improving cardio health. The findings appear in the November 1 issue of The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

"This diet has been around about 20 years, but its effect on weight loss hadn't really been studied," said Krista Varady, assistant professor of kinesiology and nutrition, who led the UIC research team. The 10-week trial studied 16 clinically obese people -- 12 women and four men -- between the ages of 35 and 65 who all weighed more than 210 pounds, had kept their weight stable for the previous three months, and had body mass indexes of between 30 and 39.9.

On fast days, participants ate the equivalent of between 20 and 25 percent of their normal daily energy needs. Weight loss ranged from 10 to 30 pounds; the researchers expected an average loss of only five pounds. Blood pressure and heart rate were also lowered, along with total cholesterol and circulating fat levels.

Varady hopes now to study the effects of staying on the diet for at least six months, looking for evidence of self-motivation and to see if the diet helps in maintaining proper weight. "Why are some able to do it but others not? It takes about two weeks to adjust to the diet, after which people don't feel hungry on the fast day," she said.

Dave

Children Who Drink Full-Fat Milk Weigh Less

2009-11-06T06:22:00.000-08:00

A recent thesis presented at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, shows that eight-year-old children who drink full-fat milk every day have a lower Body Mass Index (BMI) than those who seldom drink milk. The study showed that children who drink full-fat milk every day weigh on average just over 9 lbs less.

"This is an interesting observation, but we don't know why it is so. It may be the case that children who drink full-fat milk tend also to eat other things that affect their weight. Another possible explanation is that children who do not drink full-fat milk drink more soft drinks instead," says dietician Susanne Eriksson, author of the thesis.

The scientists also discovered a difference between overweight children who drink full-fat milk every day and those who do not. Children who often drink milk with a fat content of 3% are less overweight. The thesis shows also that the children eat more saturated fat than recommended, but those children who have a high intake of fat have a lower BMI than the children with a lower intake of fat.

Susanne Eriksson has investigated the nutrition, body composition and bone mineralization of 120 healthy 8-year-olds. Much of the results can now be used as a standard to determine what is normal for healthy children at that age. The children recounted what they had eaten during the previous day, and answered questions concerning how often they ate certain foods. Various risk markers in the children's blood were also measured.

"Many of these children had been examined when they were four years old, and we discovered that their eating habits were pretty much unchanged four years later. It appears to be the case that eating habits are established early", says Susanne Eriksson.

The thesis found that 62% of the children had low levels of vitamin D in their blood. The general guideline value for all people for vitamin D is 75-100 nmol/l, but most children had less than this. High levels of vitamin D are found in oily fish, while certain dairy products have been fortified with additional vitamin D. It can be difficult to obtain sufficient levels of the vitamin through the diet.

"We could not determine whether the children's level of vitamin D is correlated with their consumption of fish, but we did see that those children who ate oily fish, such as salmon and mackerel, at least once a week have higher values of the long-chain fatty acids EPA and DHA in their blood. This shows how important it is to eat such fish, instead of processed fish such as fish fingers", says Susanne Eriksson.

Dave

Green Tea Extract as Chemoprevention Agent for Oral Cancer

2009-11-05T07:33:00.001-08:00

Researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center have been working with green tea extracts, and recently published the news that this extract has shown promise as a cancer prevention agent for oral cancer in patients with a pre-malignant condition known as oral leukoplakia.

Their study has been published online in Cancer Prevention Research, and is the first to examine green tea as a chemopreventative agent in this high-risk patient population. In studying the data after the study, researchers found that more than half of the oral leukoplakia patients who took the extract had a clinical response. This is significant because according to the American Cancer Society, more than 35,720 are expected to be diagnosed annually with oral and/or pharynx cancer and the five-year survival rate is less than 50 percent.

Green tea is rich in polyphenols, which have been known to inhibit carcinogenesis in preclinical models, and it has long been investigated in laboratory, epidemiological and clinical settings for several cancer types. We've written up many of these reports in this blog. Still, clinical results have been mixed.

"While still very early, and haven't yet had definitive proof that green tea is an effective preventive agent. These results certainly encourage more study for patients at the highest risk for oral cancer," said Vassiliki Papadimitrakopoulou, M.D., professor at M. D. Anderson and the study's senior author. "The extract's lack of toxicity is attractive - in prevention trials, it's very important to remember that these are otherwise healthy individuals and we need to ensure that agents studied produce no harm."

This was a Phase II dose-finding study, and 41 M. D. Anderson oral leukoplakia patients were randomized between August 2002 and March 2008 to receive either green tea extract or placebo. Participants took the extract, an oral agent, for three months at one of three doses, for three times daily. To best assess biomarkers, participants also underwent a baseline and 12-week biopsy, an important component in the design of the study, the researchers say.

Of those taking green tea at the two highest doses, 58.8 percent had a clinical response, compared with 36.4 percent in the lowest extract dose and 18.2 percent in the placebo arm. At an extended follow-up with a mean of 27.5 months, 15 participants had developed oral cancer, with a median time to disease development of 46.4 months.
Although not statistically significant, the green tea extract also improved histology and trended towards an improvement in a number of biomarkers that may play a vital role in predicting cancer development.

Another important finding, say the researchers, was that that the extract was well tolerated. Side effects, including insomnia and nervousness, were mostly seen in the high-dose group but produced no significant toxicity.The researchers said that the green tea extract studied in this trial was exclusively developed as a pharmaceutical.

Dave

Reduction in Heat-Processing of Foods Reduces Risk of Chronic Disease

2009-11-04T08:13:00.000-08:00

I found this particular news story fascinating. It appears that there is a dramatic health difference that one can make simply by eliminating certain types of cooking practices. I'm going to give this a try immediately. Antioxidants are great, but if one could eliminate the oxidants to begin with . . .

Researchers from Mount Sinai School of Medicine report that cutting back on the consumption of processed and fried foods, which are high in toxins called Advanced Glycation End products (AGEs), can reduce inflammation and actually help restore the body’s natural defenses regardless of age or health status. These benefits are present even without changing caloric or nutrient intake.

This study, published in the October/November issue of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, provides a simple dietary intervention that could result in weight loss and have significant impact on several epidemic diseases, including diabetes, heart disease, and kidney disease.

The findings are the result of a clinical study involving over 350 people which was conducted in collaboration with, and with support from, the National Institute on Aging (NIA). The study builds on earlier research conducted in animal models that demonstrated the effective prevention of these diseases and even the extension of lifespan by consuming a reduced AGE diet.

“What is noteworthy about our findings is that reduced AGE consumption proved to be effective in all study participants, including healthy persons and persons who have a chronic condition such as kidney disease,” said the study’s lead author Helen Vlassara, MD, Professor at Mount Sinai School of Medicine.

“This suggests that oxidants may play a more active role than genetics in overwhelming our body’s defenses, which we need to fight off disease. It has been said that nature holds the power, but the environment pulls the trigger. The good news is that unlike genetics, we can control oxidant levels, which may not be an accompaniment to disease and aging, but instead due to the cumulative toxic influence of AGEs,” said Dr. Vlassara.

AGEs are harmful substances that are abundant in Western diets, and which proliferate when foods are heated, pasteurized, dried, smoked, fried or grilled. Once absorbed in the body, AGEs adhere to tissues and oxidize them, causing inflammation which in turn can lead to disease. AGEs may increase the risk of diabetes, heart disease, kidney disease and other chronic conditions.

For the study, a subset of 40 healthy participants who were either between the ages or 18 and 45 or older than 60, and another nine patients with kidney disease, were randomly assigned to one of two diets. One group followed their own regular Western diet that was rich in AGEs. The second group followed a diet of similar caloric and nutrient content, but with only one-half the amount of AGEs, known as the “AGE-less diet.” Participants in the AGE-less intervention were advised to avoid grilling, frying or baking their food and instead were instructed to poach, stew, or steam their meals. There was no change in calories or nutrient intake during this period.

After four months on the AGE-less diet, blood AGE levels, lipid peroxides, inflammatory markers, and biomarkers of vascular function declined by as much as 60 percent in healthy participants. A reduction of similar magnitude was found in kidney patients after only one month on the AGE-less diet.

The investigators believe that daily AGE consumption in the standard Western diet is at least three times higher than the safety limit for these oxidants. This could, in part, explain the changes seen in disease demographics.

Dr. Vlassara cautioned, “Even though the AGEs pose a more immediate health threat to older adults, they are a similar danger for younger people, including pregnant women and children, and this needs to be addressed. AGEs are ubiquitous and addictive, since they provide flavor to foods. But they can be controlled through simple methods of cooking, such as keeping the heat down and the water content up in food and by avoiding pre-packaged and fast foods when possible. Doing so reduces AGE levels in the blood and helps the body restore its own defenses.”

Dave

Lower Cholesterol in Men Lowers Risk of Aggressive Prostate Cancer

2009-11-02T22:19:00.000-08:00

As with any cancer, prostate cancer affects different people in different ways. My Dad, who died of prostate cancer in his early sixties, was unfortunate in that he had what is known as a "high-grade" version of the disease. It didn't take long from the time of discovery to his death, which is unusual because prostate cancer is so often treatable. But his tumors were fueled by this high-grade, aggressive nature.

New research from Johns Hopkins has shown that if men can lower their cholesterol levels, they are less likely than those with higher levels to develop this high-grade prostate cancer - a form of the disease with a poorer prognosis, according to results of this collaborative study.

In this study of more than 5,000 U.S. men, epidemiologists say they now have evidence that having lower levels of heart-clogging fat may cut a man's risk of this form of cancer by nearly 60 percent.

“For many reasons, we know that it’s good to have a cholesterol level within the normal range,” says Elizabeth Platz, Sc.D., M.P.H. (Johns Hopkins' Kimmel Cancer Center). “Now, we have more evidence that among the benefits of low cholesterol may be a lower risk for potentially deadly prostate cancers.”

For men at prostate cancer age, normal range is defined as less than 200 mg/dL (milligrams per deciliter of blood) of total cholesterol. Platz and her colleagues found similar results in a study first published in 2008, and in 2006, she linked use of cholesterol-lowering statin drugs to lower risk of advanced prostate cancer. For the current study, Platz and her collaborators analyzed data from 5,586 men aged 55 and older enrolled in the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial from 1993 to 1996. Some 1,251 men were diagnosed with prostate cancer during the study period.

Men with cholesterol levels lower than 200 mg/dL had a 59 percent lower risk of developing high-grade prostate cancers, which tend to grow and spread rapidly. High-grade cancers are identified by a pathological ranking called the Gleason score. Scores at the highest end of the scale, between eight and 10, indicate cancers considered the most worrisome to pathologists who examine samples of the diseased prostate under the microscope.

In Platz’s study, cholesterol levels had no significant effect on the entire spectrum of prostate cancer incidence, only those that were high-grade, she says. Results of the study are expected to be published online Nov. 3 in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention. Also in the journal is an accompanying paper from the National Cancer Institute showing that lower cholesterol in men conferred a 15 percent decrease in overall cancer cases.

Dave

"Energy Healings" - Hype or Healthy?

2009-10-30T06:37:00.000-07:00

I live in Sedona, Arizona, a somewhat new-age community where there is an "energy healer" on every block. But in the off-chance that you may not have this luxury, let me describe what I'm talking about. There's a new study just published in a respected scientific journal that reviews the science behind a growing, worldwide interest in what the authors call "biofield therapies." These therapies are often practiced under common names such as Reiki, Therapeutic Touch and Healing Touch.

Biofield therapies, which claim to use subtle energy to stimulate the body's healing process, are promising complementary interventions for pain reduction in a number of conditions, reducing anxiety for hospitalized patients and reducing agitated behaviors in dementia, over and above what standard treatments can achieve. However, longer-term effects are less clear. Dr. Shamini Jain (UCLA) and Dr. Paul Mills (University of California, San Diego) published their review of the science behind biofield therapies in this week's Journal of Behavioral Medicine.

A significant number of patients use Reiki, Therapeutic Touch or Healing Touch despite very little which proves that they work. These techniques have been used over millennia in various cultural communities to heal physical and mental disorders. They have only recently been under the scrutiny of current Western scientific methods.

Jain and Mills did a detailed review of 66 clinical studies looking at biofield therapies in different patient populations with a range of ailments. They examine the strength of the evidence for the efficacy of these complementary therapies. While they consider the published work on this science to be of average quality, in scientific terms, they do indeed find strong evidence that biofield therapies reduce pain intensity in free-living populations, and moderate evidence that they are effective at lowering pain in hospitalized patients as well as in patients with cancer.

There is also moderate evidence that these therapies ease agitated behaviors in dementia and moderate evidence that they reduce anxiety in hospitalized patients. The authors found inconclusive evidence for biofield therapies on symptoms of fatigue and quality of life in cancer patients, as well as for overall pain reduction, and anxiety management in cardiovascular patients. It is clear from this analysis of the data that something is going on with Biofield therapy work, and that some people can benefit greatly from the practice.

Dave

The War over Hormone Replacement Therapy Evens Out

2009-10-29T06:05:00.000-07:00

Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to treat menopausal estrogen deficiency has been in widespread use for over 60 years. Several observational studies over the years have shown that HRT use by younger postmenopausal women has been associated with a significant reduction in total mortality. Until 2002 and the publication of a large and negative study, HRT was supported by the available evidence because it appeared to increase longevity in postmenopausal women.

That changed after the publication of the "Women’s Health Initiative" or WHI study, which received a great deal of publicity. This trial indicated increased risk for negative outcomes in older women. Since then, there has been rigorous debate regarding whether Hormone Replacement Therapy is beneficial or harmful. Now, in an article published in the November 2009 issue of The American Journal of Medicine, researchers write about a very large review of all the available data using a scientific method of analysis called "Bayesian methods." During this new research it was concluded that HRT almost certainly decreases mortality in younger postmenopausal women.

The authors pooled results from 19 randomized trials that included age-specific data from the earlier WHI trial, with 16,000 younger postmenopausal women (mean age 55 years) followed for 83,000 patient-years, and showed that the mortality relative risk was much less than had been earlier stated.

Shelley R. Salpeter, MD, says in the article, “It is clear that these findings need to be interpreted in the light of potential benefits and harms of hormone therapy. The available evidence indicates that hormone therapy in younger postmenopausal women increases the risk of breast cancer and pulmonary embolism and reduces the risk of cardiovascular events, colon cancer, and hip fracture."

The reduction in deaths from coronary heart disease, fracture, and colon cancer outweighed the increase in deaths from breast cancer, stroke and pulmonary embolism. Is it a wash in your case? Talk to your doctor. He or she may tell you that in addition to this mortality benefit, hormone therapy in younger women provides an improvement in quality-of-life measures, at least in the first few years of treatment.

Dave

Propolis Products with Many Benefits

2009-10-27T07:47:00.000-07:00

There has been a lot written about certain functional foods which prevent or reduce the risk of suffering from certain illnesses. One of them, propolis, has been known about for ages and was just recently written up in a review published by Basque Research. The identification and extraction of propolis from beehives is an industry in Basque country (Spain) and it enables the development of high value products worldwide -- products with uniquely high concentrations of biologically active compounds.

Propolis is the resinous substance that bees gather from the leaf buds of trees and certain vegetables. They transform it and use it to disinfect the beehive, seal cracks, or to build panels. Propolis is also used by bees as an anti-microbial agent and embalming substance for intruders. Propolis is directly responsible for guaranteeing the aseptic nature of the beehive. Were it not for propolis, beehives would develop viruses and bacteria given their conditions of temperature and humidity.

Most of the promising biologically active compounds (those with proven pharmacological abilities) come from the fractions of resins and balsams this compound contains. Due to the great number of active ingredients, a tincture (alcoholic extract) of propolis is the most often-used delivery form for its therapeutic properties. Notable amongst its properties are its antioxidant and anti-microbial action; in Basque country, it has been shown to have healing, analgesic, anaesthetic and anti-inflammatory activities.

Testing in Basque country showed strong antioxidant properties for propolis. The antioxidant activity trials provided knowledge about the capacity of the product for neutralizing free radicals. These radicals represent damaged molecules and are capable of causing damage at cell level --causing the onset of future degenerative illnesses, such as cancer, Alzeheimer, and so on.

Propolis also shows strong antimicrobial properties, and was tested against a variety of microbes. Microbial growth was shown to be inhibited in the presence of different concentrations of propolis. The minimum inhibitory concentrations were produced at very low concentrations of propolis, thus corroborating the high antimicrobial potential of the product.

It is my belief that propolis is another of nature's tools to protect humankind from the continued onslaught of new and nastier microorganisms.

Dave

Hepatitis: Drinking Coffee Slows Progression of Liver Disease

2009-10-24T07:01:00.000-07:00

Patients with chronic hepatitis C and advanced liver disease who drink three or more cups of coffee per day have a 53% lower risk of liver disease progression than non-coffee drinkers. This research has been published in a new study led by Neal Freedman, Ph.D., MPH (National Cancer Institute). The study found that patients with hepatitis C-related bridging fibrosis or cirrhosis who did not respond to standard disease treatment benefited from increased coffee intake. An effect on liver disease was not observed in patients who drank black or green tea. Findings of the study appear in the November issue of Hepatology, a journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infects approximately 2.2% of the world’s population (with more than 3 million Americans infected). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) cites HCV as the leading cause of liver transplantation in the U.S. and accounts for 8,000 to 10,000 deaths in the country annually. Globally, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates 3 to 4 million persons contract HCV each year with 70% becoming chronic cases that can lead to cirrhosis of the liver and liver cancer.

That's why this major study is important, as it shows a very significant effect for a very common beverage. This study included 766 participants who had hepatitis C-related bridging fibrosis or cirrhosis and failed to respond to standard treatment of the common anti-viral drugs. At the onset of the study, patients were asked to report their typical frequency of coffee intake and portion size over the past year.

Results showed that participants who drank 3 or more cups of coffee per day had a relative risk of .47 for reaching one of the clinical outcomes. Researchers did not observe any association between tea intake and liver disease progression, though tea consumption was low in the study. “Given the large number of people affected by HCV it is important to identify modifiable risk factors associated with the progression of liver disease,” said Dr. Freedman. “Although we cannot rule out a possible role for other factors that go along with drinking coffee, results from our study suggest that patients with high coffee intake had a lower risk of disease progression.”

Dave

Hookworms as an Allergy Cure?

2009-10-23T06:51:00.000-07:00

A study conducted in Vietnam has added further weight to the view that parasitic gut worms, such as hookworm, may be able to help researchers develop new therapies for the prevention and treatment of asthma and allergies.

Dr Carsten Flohr (The University of Nottingham) and Dr Luc Nguyen Tuyen (Khanh Hoa Provincial Health Service, Vietnam) collaborated on this study, which is the largest double-blind placebo controlled clinical trial to date looking at the potential links between hookworm and other gut worm infections and allergic conditions such as asthma and eczema.

This research does not suggest that we all run out and find some gut parasites to infect us -- instead, it points out that in certain populations where poor hygiene practices allow the citizenry to catch these parasites, the amount of allergies and asthma is much lower than in more "developed" nations. In countries such as Vietnam, scientists find that as these hygienic practices improve, the incidence of allergies and asthma goes up. Experts believe that over millions of years of co-evolution worms have found methods to dampen down host immune responses to prolong their own survival inside humans. This relationship seems to have become so intertwined that without gut worms or other parasites, our immune system can become unbalanced, which in turn could contribute to the development of asthma and other allergies.

Dr Flohr’s study was conducted in a rural area of central Vietnam where two out of three children have hookworm and other gut parasite infections and where allergies are extremely rare. More than 1,500 schoolchildren aged 6-17 took part.

The team investigated whether repeated tablet treatments to clear the body of gut worms made it more likely for children to develop allergic conditions. The treated children were found to have a significantly increased risk of a positive allergy skin test to house-dust mites and cockroach. This suggests that gut worms have the potential to tone down human immune responses, and as a result further research is now needed to identify precisely how gut parasite infection can prevent allergic sensitization.

Dr Carsten Flohr of The University of Nottingham adds: “The next step is to understand exactly how and when gut parasites program the human immune system in a way that protects against allergic sensitization, and for such studies, follow-up from birth will be essential.”

We may someday soon discover something about the way that hookworms adapt our immune system which will allow us to develop a therapy to mimic that action, saving countless millions from the agony of allergies and asthma.

Dave

Social Isolation Actually Spurs Growth of Cancer

2009-10-22T11:20:00.000-07:00

My apologies for the absence of new blog posts over the first part of October. My travel schedule was rough; at one point, I delivered one presentation each day while traveling to various universities on the East Coast, from the University of Maryland (Baltimore) to Virginia Commonwealth, Virginia Tech, Duke and UNC Chapel Hill. The Sham vs. Wham publication schedule at this point will go back to normal.

Recently a study was published in Cancer Prevention Research (a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research) which explored the health dangers of being isolated socially. It turns out that one's social environment can play an important role in the biology of disease, including breast cancer, and lead to significant differences in health outcomes.

"This study uses an elegant preclinical model and shows that social isolation alters expression of genes important in mammary gland tumor growth,” said the journal’s Deputy Editor, Dr. Caryn Lerman. The studies were done in mice, in a "model system" set up to mimic what happens in the human body.

Previous results from clinical studies have indicated that social support can improve the health outcome of patients with breast cancer. Epidemiological studies have suggested that social isolation increases the mortality risk from several chronic diseases, and not just breast cancer.

Author Suzanne D. Conzen, M.D. (University of Chicago) along with colleagues from the Institute of Mind and Biology at the same university, evaluated whether an unfavorable social environment could influence tumor growth in mice that are genetically predisposed to mammary gland cancer. They found that female mice that were chronically stressed because of social isolation (from the time they were first separated from their mothers) developed significantly larger mammary gland tumors compared to those mice that were group-housed. Additionally, the isolated mice developed a heightened corticosterone stress hormone response.

“... Living in the stressful environment was associated with greater tumor size, suggesting that the social environment may in fact alter the biology of cancer growth," Conzen said. Further research is needed to focus on which specific cell types the changes in gene expression are taking place. This knowledge could potentially lead to interventions that block similar pathways favoring the growth of human breast cancer.

Dave

Deceptive Practices in the Yogurt Business?

2009-09-28T11:57:00.000-07:00

A recent class action lawsuit against Dannon resulted in a $35 million out of court settlement, which as you know, means that a lot of consumers will get a 50 cent discount on yogurt while the attorneys take home millions in legal fees. But, at least it taught this manufacturer a lesson that it cannot tout health benefits that are not there.

It has been announced that the same firm which succeeded with Dannon is now going after General Mills, which is being sued over probiotic claims once again (like Dannon) for its products in the Yo-Plus lineup. The action was brought to a Florida court and it claims that General Mills has made misleading and completely unsubstantiated gut health claims.

The lawsuit claims that the General Mills’ statements were “immoral, unethical, unscrupulous and substantially injurious to consumers”, and in breach of both its contract with consumers and its warranties. Wow, that's a fairly broad argument, especially throwing in morality and all. The claims in question suggest Yo-Plus could regulate digestive health benefits that other similar products could not.

General Mills told an industry reporter that it would not comment on ongoing litigation. Yo-Plus contains the Bifidobacterium lactis strain BB12 and is one of the best-selling probiotic products in the US, behind Dannon’s spoonable yougurt, Activia, and drinkable one-shot yogurt, DanAactive (the subjects of the earlier lawsuit). The lawyers state that not only do studies conducted by General Mills fail to support their claims, some of them, “flatly contradict” them.

I hate class action lawsuits. But I guess my opinion is that if there is no other way to clean up faulty claims, than a large penalty should make most companies pay attention. I just wish that someone would benefit other than the attorneys, or that they would give a significant portion of their earnings back to some non-profit in the natural products industry.

Let's face it -- you can't get a significant dose of probiotics from a yogurt. It just ain't there. You need BILLIONS of colony forming bacteria, and there isn't a yogurt manufacturer today putting that quantity of this expensive ingredient into a yogurt. If you want to try a great tasting product with 20 Billion CFU's per serving, try somethlng like Good Belly, the wonderful little fruit drink in a shot-glass sized container. (We have no affiliation - that's a personal recommendation only).

Dave

Small Study Shows Probiotics Easing Anxiety

2009-09-24T08:13:00.000-07:00

In a study done earlier this year, one of those "good bacteria," Lactobacillus casei (strain Shirota) has been shown to ease symptoms of anxiety in people with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). It seems that two months of supplementation with the bacterial strain was associated with a decrease in anxiety symptoms, according to findings published in the journal Gut Pathogens.

University of Toronto researchers recruited 39 chronic fatigue patients and randomly assigned them to receive daily supplements of either Lactobacillus casei strain Shirota or placebo for two months. The probiotic used was a relatively strong one, with 24 billion colony forming units per dose.

At the end of the study, the researchers reported significant increases in the faecal levels of both Lactobacillus and Bifidobacteria in people receiving the bacterial strain, compared to placebo. A significant reduction in the symptoms of anxiety was recorded in the Lactobacillus group.

“These results lend further support to the presence of a gut-brain interface, one that may be mediated by microbes that reside or pass through the intestinal tract,” wrote the authors, led by Dr. Venket Rao from the University of Toronto.

The researchers admitted the research was preliminary and raises many questions regarding the mechanism of action. “The results of the present study should be viewed simply as a stimulus for further research,” they added.

Dave

Can CoEnzyme Q-10 Slow Progression of Parkinson's Disease?

2009-09-22T11:23:00.001-07:00

A large scale, multi-center clinical trial is underway on one of the supplement industry's hottest sellers -- the product CoEnzyme Q-10. Rush University Medical Center is participating in this trial taking place in the U.S. and Canada to determine whether this vitamin-like substance, in high doses, can slow the progression of Parkinson’s disease, a neurodegenerative disorder that affects about one million people in the United States.

“The very best therapies we have for Parkinson’s can only mask the symptoms – they do not alter the underlying disease,” said neurologist Dr. Katie Kompoliti, a specialist in movement disorders at Rush. “Finding a treatment that can slow the degenerative course of Parkinsons’s is the holy grail of Parkinson’s research.”

Coenzyme Q10 is produced naturally in the body and is an important link in the chain of chemical reactions that produce energy in mitochondria, the “powerhouses” of cells. The enzyme is also a potent antioxidant – a chemical that "mops up" potentially harmful chemicals generated during normal metabolism.

In the Phase III trial, the highest dose of 1,200 mg. appears promising. Over the course of 16 months, patients taking this dose experienced significantly less decline than other patients in motor (movement) function and ability to carry out activities of daily living, such as feeding or dressing themselves.

But researchers cited the need for a more extensive review to confirm the results. In the present trial, funded by the National Institutes of Health and the National Institute of Neurological and Disorders and Stroke, 600 patients will be enrolled at 60 centers in the U.S. and Canada. Two dosages of coenzyme Q10 are being tested,1,200 mg and 2,400 mg, delivered in maple nut-flavored chewable wafers that also contain vitamin E.

Dave

Cocoa Benefits the Cardiovascular System

2009-09-21T08:15:00.000-07:00

I enjoy reading "HerbClip," a summary of recent news about plant-based health benefits. The newsletter is published by the American Botanical Council, an important organization in the USA (and one that is very active globally as well). Plants have few champions -- I'd say that the ABC is one of the most important voices. (Click on the headline of this post to visit the homepage of non-profit ABC).

Herbclip recently described many of the findings on this plant, one that has been shown to have a great benefit to the cardiovascular system. An interesting piece of research was published earlier this year in the journal Circulation.

In the piece from Circulation, the authors describe a bit of history for cocoa. Cocoa consumption dates back to 1600 BCE and was introduced from the New World to the Europeans in the 16th century. Cocoa is processed in many different ways, and of course the major processing method led to the development of chocolate. Purported health benefits of cocoa consumption include improvements in heart function, digestion, and kidney and bowel function. However, in a discussion of cocoa's health benefits, It is very important to distinguish between the natural product cocoa and the processed product chocolate, because the fat and sugar content of chocolate really does nothing healthy. The authors note in their research article that the effects of cocoa may not apply to chocolate.

The Kuna Indians, a tribe indigenous to islands off the coast of Panama, was the first population to show health benefits from cocoa consumption. The Kunas consume what is considered to be huge amounts of cocoa and yet they have "markedly lower" cardiovascular mortality than other Pan-American citizens and no age-dependent increase in blood pressure or decline in kidney function. This by itself is a strong pointer to what could be gained by more cocoa consumption.

The authors point out that this mechanism is environmental and not genetic, because these cocoa benefits are lost after migration to urban Panama City where cocoa is replaced with lower flavanol content foods. A number of other cited studies shows that the health benefits of cocoa may be linked to its constituent flavonoids (e.g., flavanols and procyanidins)—a subgroup of polyphenols. Both the flavanol content and the total antioxidant capacity have been shown to increase plasma after cocoa consumption.

These same biocompounds (flavanols) can be found in high concentrations in grape juice, wine, and various berries. In cocoa, conventional chocolate processing can markedly reduce the levels of flavanols. Detrimental effects to the healthy content include roasting or fermenting the beans. In addition, the location where the cacao beans are grown also determines the flavanol content.

Research has shown that cocoa consumption affects nitric oxide levels in a positive way, increasing its production in humans. Cocoa flavanols have also been shown to improve circulation to the brain in elderly subjects, suggesting protection against dementia and stroke. A number of studies also appear to correlate cocoa consumption with lowered blood pressure, with some evidence for reduced insulin resistance. It has also displayed antioxidant properties, increasing overall antioxidant capacity and decreasing several markers of oxidation. Even cocoa butter, which is the fat portion of cocoa, appears to not affect cholesterol negatively as most fats would.

What a plant! If only chocolate brought with it all of the health benefits of cocoa.

Dave

Supplement Marketing Going Over the Top

2009-09-17T10:56:00.001-07:00

I've been a supplement user for two decades. I've never seen anything like the wacky marketing of some supplements today -- I believe that companies selling this way are going to completely screw up their own industry. If firms don't stop with the exaggerated claims and the heavy-handed push that they use to market their products, they'll find themselves regulated to death.

It's not just sleaze operators in the berry business, those who use the names of unwitting personalities like Oprah, Dr. Oz and Britney Spears to sell their cheazy supplements. Even DOCTORS are going over the top now. I just got an email from Dr. Marcus Laux for a new product he sells, which looked interesting to me. I am a customer of his already.

So I clicked on the "more information" button to get more details, and I was directed to one of those long, never ending scrolling web pages with gobs and gobs of detail and claims about this product. Unfortunately, there was not a single picture on that page of the back of the bottle showing a clear description of what is in the product. In other words, a SUPPLEMENT PANEL, which is the first thing that a savvy consumer is going to look at on a supplement product. It was nowhere to be found.

When I called the company's 800#, the salesperson told me she didn't know what a supplement panel is. I asked her to read off the ingredients, and instead, she starts to read off the long list of claims. No way I could get her to even answer my question of WHAT IS IN IT???

There are rules in place right now that should work to prohibit this kind of behavior. For some reason, they don't. I don't want more rules. My fear is that the sleaze element in supplement marketing is going to spoil the industry for everyone.

As a consumer of supplements, PLEASE stick to products you know are sold by quality marketing. Do not fall prey to companies that make wild claims and then don't stick to the rules, or that avoid showing you what's in the product. Steer clear of buying products that show up on pop-up boxes on the Internet, and those sold by multi-level marketers, at least from those who exaggerate claims. Let's clean up the business ourselves, as consumers, by buying smart.

Dave

My Problems with Trader Joe's

2009-09-14T08:14:00.000-07:00

I'm feeling very bad right now about one of my favorite companies in the world, Trader Joe's. For anyone who lives near a Trader Joe's store, you know the feeling of a visit to TJ's. It's like going to see old friends. Great products, friendly staff, reasonable prices, and I always thought that it was heads and shoulders above the big natural food chains.

That is, until my doctor reminded me to avoid foods that are high in sodium.

Trader Joe's makes its fortunes based upon the impression that anything you buy in the store is going to be natural, organic and healthy. Well, my friends I've got to tell you that this isn't necessarily true, and it breaks my heart. I live in a small town in Northern Arizona, and I have frequently arranged "Trader Joe trips" to the city, two hours each direction to Phoenix, just to pick up groceries for our family and often others as well.

Those came to a screaming halt when I started to look at the sodium content of the Trader Joe's brand foods. I'd suggest that you do the same. Even if you are a diehard Trader Joe's fan, as I have been, it's time to consider giving your local store some feedback about how displeased you are with their level of sodium. Take a look at those wonderful salads and wraps, for example. I would buy these delicious fresh treats and tuck them away for a quick and "healthy" lunch. Then, I started looking more closely.

Trader Joe's plays the same tricks that other companies do with sodium, except they play them even better. A sandwich or wrap that shows 400 mg. of sodium (high, but do-able if you are hungry) ends up being eaten before you notice that this tiny little wrap was TWO PORTIONS, and you actually just consumed 800 mg of sodium! A small tray of "Arabian Joe's" Middle Eastern treats that could be downed in five minutes by one adult ends up being two or three servings, each with nearly 1000 mg of sodium in it.

Crackers, frozen foods, deli items . . . they are all the same at Trader Joe's. As full as you can get of sodium, with no effort to provide a healthy sodium level ANYWHERE in the store.

Readers, it's time to let Trader Joe's know (or any other local store you have which plays the same portions-trickery that these guys do) that we aren't going to take it anymore. Today, I visited a new competitor, a place called Fresh 'n Easy, that seems to offer an alternative. While they aren't ideal, I found a lot of lower-sodium choices.

Let's get the word out.

Dave

Traffic Noise Adds to High Blood Pressure

2009-09-10T06:17:00.000-07:00

Do you ever have a feeling that you are gritting your teeth together or tensing up when you are subjected to a constantly noisy environment? I know that I do. Recently I sat in a hotel room writing an article and it was right next to the freeway. Soon, I had a jaw ache and I didn't even realize where it had come from.

Now I do. That's because it's been proven that traffic noise raises blood pressure. And when blood pressure is up, you know that other parts of your body are being stressed at the same time.

Researchers writing in the journal Environmental Health have found that people exposed to high levels of noise from nearby roads are more likely to report suffering from hypertension.

Researchers from Lund University Hospital, Sweden, investigated the association between living close to noisy roads and having raised blood pressure. The main author said, “Road traffic is the most important source of community noise. Non-auditory physical health effects that are biologically plausible in relation to noise exposure include changes in blood pressure, heart rate, and levels of stress hormones. We found that exposure above 60 decibels was associated with high blood pressure among the relatively young and middle-aged, an important risk factor for cardiovascular diseases such as heart attack and stroke”.

Modest exposure effects were generally noted in all age groups at average road noise levels below 60 dB(A). More marked effects were seen at higher exposure levels primarily among relatively young and middle-aged people.

Dave

Vitamin C Now Proven to Protect Skin Cells

2009-09-09T06:19:00.000-07:00

Recently, scientists at the University of Leicester and Institute for Molecular and Cellular Biology in Portugal studied new protective properties of vitamin C in cells from the human skin, which could lead to better skin regeneration.

Some manufacturers have included Vitamin C in skin preparations for years. But it wasn't until recently that science has actually shown a significant benefit for this vitamin when applied topically.

The work found that a form of Vitamin C helped to promote wound healing and also helped protect the DNA damage of skin cells. Their findings have been published in the journal Free Radical Biology and Medicine, the same journal that recently featured the news about Rhodiola protecting human cells from ultraviolet radiation (reported on here). This is the latest in a long line of publications from these researchers (University of Leicester) concerning vitamin C.

Tiago Duarte, formerly of the University of Leicester, and now at the Institute for Molecular and Cellular Biology in Portugal, said: “The exposure to solar ultraviolet radiation increases in summer, often resulting in a higher incidence of skin lesions. Ultraviolet radiation is also a genotoxic agent responsible for skin cancer . . . Our study analyzed the effect of sustained exposure to a vitamin C derivative (ascorbic acid 2-phosphate) in human dermal fibroblasts. We investigated which genes are activated by vitamin C in these cells, which are responsible for skin regeneration. The results demonstrated that vitamin C may improve wound healing. . . and also protect the skin by increasing the capacity of fibroblasts to repair potentially mutagenic DNA lesions.”

Dr Marcus S. Cooke from the Department of Cancer Studies and Molecular Medicine and Department of Genetics, at the University of Leicester, added: “The study indicates a mechanism by which vitamin C could contribute to the maintenance of a healthy skin by promoting wound healing and by protecting cellular DNA against damage caused by oxidation."

The study has the potential to lead to advances in the prevention and treatment of skin lesions specifically, as well as contributing to the fight against cancer.

Dave

New Research on Rhodiola rosea - the Cold Weather Herb that Reduces Stress

2009-09-02T04:36:00.000-07:00

A new piece of research on the arctic-grown Rhodiola rosea root has just been published in the Elsevier publication Free Radical Biology & Medicine ( 2009 Sep 1;47(5):577-84), done by the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of California at Irvine. It is quite interesting work because it has been shown that there is protection developed for human cells cultured in the laboratory against oxidative stress -- this comes with strong anti-aging possibilities.

Generally, when an herb or nutrient acts on cells this way, it is through activation of antioxidant defenses. In this case, however, there was no such activation. Instead, the herb enhances oxidative stress protection to the human cells via another method, not determined in this research and still considered somewhat of a mystery. More work is ongoing in this laboratory.

The authors state that Rhodiola rosea root has been long used in traditional medical systems in Europe and Asia as an adaptogen to increase an organism's resistance to physical stress. Recent research has demonstrated its ability to improve mental and physical stamina, to improve mood, and to help alleviate high-altitude sickness. On the "mood uplift" front, many holistic psychiatrists now recommend Rhodiola much more frequently than St. Johns Wort to their patients to support mild-to-moderate depression, primarily because of mixed reviews and drug interactions with SJW. Rhodiola does not appear to have any of these drug interactions. (It is noted that Rhodiola is not to be used by the biopolar).

Previously this same laboratory at UCI found that R. rosea extends the life span of the fruit fly. In this new research, scientists found that R. rosea supplementation could protect cultured cells against ultraviolet light and even the toxin paraquat. These results suggest that more research is needed in order to determine the method of action of this mysterious herb, used for nearly 1,000 years, and to better understand its protection against oxidative stress and what could prove to be a significant anti-aging benefit to humans.

Dave

PS - Readers, my biosketch to the right makes it perfectly clear that I have an involvement in a business that produces world class Rhodiola rosea. My passion and enthusiasm for this plant goes back many years. ProActive BioProducts sells what is the purest (and most potent) form of Rhodiola. Click on the headline of this article to see that product from Verde Botanica brand . . . "Mind Body & Spirit".

Low-Carb DIets and Possible Damage to Vascular System

2009-09-01T00:52:00.000-07:00

There are some health concerns creeping into the previously good news about low-carbohydrate/high-protein diets. Researchers have discovered that atherosclerosis is a problem. While these diets have proven successful at helping individuals rapidly lose weight, little is known about the diets’ long-term effects on vascular health.

Now, a study led by a scientific team at Beth Israel Deaconess provides some of the first data on this subject, demonstrating that mice placed on a 12-week low carbohydrate/high-protein diet showed a significant increase in atherosclerosis, a buildup of plaque in the heart’s arteries (and an issue that remains a leading cause of heart attack and stroke). The findings also showed that the diet led to an impaired ability to form new blood vessels in tissues deprived of blood flow, as might occur during a heart attack.

This study was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

“It’s very difficult to know in clinical studies how diets affect vascular health,” says senior author Anthony Rosenzweig, MD, Director of Cardiovascular Research in BIDMC’s CardioVascular Institute and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. “We, therefore, tend to rely on easily measured serum markers [such as cholesterol], which have been surprisingly reassuring in individuals on low-carbohydrate/high-protein diets, who do typically lose weight. But our research suggests that, at least in animals, these diets could be having adverse cardiovascular effects that are not reflected in simple serum markers.”

Rosenzweig and his coauthors found that the increase in plaque build-up in the blood vessels and the impaired ability to form new vessels were associated with a reduction in vascular progenitor cells, which some hypothesize could play a protective role in maintaining vascular health.

If you are like me, you know plenty of people who are on these low-carb, high-protein diets and who are losing weight. What they may not be clear on is their possible risk factors for cardiovascular disease.

Dave

Rye Bread and Feelings of Fullness

2009-08-31T10:36:00.001-07:00

Recently I read how the Swedes had been conducting clinical trials on rye and that they had discovered that eating rye bread in the morning led to feelings of satiety and that it held this feeling of fullness for several hours afterwards.

I've always gotten up in the morning before my spouse and had breakfast. Then, when she is awake and in the kitchen, I'd make the coffee for her and sit down to talk, along with a second breakfast. This "two breakfast" routine had led over the years to a weight gain which I was eventually able to get rid of with some dieting. But I was never able to completely shake my desire to have those two breakfasts.

Now, after reading about the Swedish trials, I have been experimenting with rye bread myself and it works just as described in the literature. The most recent Journal of Nutrition describes how Swedish researchers learned about rye's benefits when compared to wheat products in the morning. “The results show that rye bread can be used to decrease hunger feelings both before and after lunch when included in a breakfast meal,” said the researchers. “Rye bran induces a stronger effect on satiety than the other two rye fractions used when served in iso-caloric portions,” they concluded.

I found a wonderful rye bread product produced by French Meadow Bakery of Minnesota, made without salt and with only organic ingredients. I highly recommend it -- it is simply delicious, and after eating a slice of this rye toast with a light layer of cream cheese or some butter, I am not hungry again until lunch. My "two breakfasts" problem has been solved.

Dave

Low Levels of Vitamin D and Cardiovascular Diseases in Diabetics

2009-08-28T00:54:00.000-07:00

It's been determined that low levels of vitamin D are known to nearly double the risk of cardiovascular disease in patients with diabetes, and researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis now think they know why.

It appears that diabetics deficient in vitamin D can't process cholesterol normally, so it builds up in their blood vessels, increasing the risk of heart attack and stroke. The new research has identified a mechanism linking low vitamin D levels to heart disease risk and may lead to ways to fix the problem, simply by increasing levels of vitamin D.

This is great news to anyone who has diabetes, because supplementation with D is inexpensive and readily available. "There is debate about whether any amount of sun exposure is safe, so oral vitamin D supplements may work best," says the lead author, "but perhaps if people were exposed to sunlight only for a few minutes at a time, that may be an option, too.".

Dave

Severe Brain Degeneration Shown in Obese People

2009-08-27T08:14:00.000-07:00

In the current online edition of the journal Human Brain Mapping, Paul Thompson, senior author and a UCLA professor of neurology, and lead author Cyrus A. Raji, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, compared the brains of people who were obese, overweight, and of normal weight, to see if they had differences in brain structure.

These researchers discovered that obese people had 8 percent less brain tissue than people with normal weight. (Overweight people had 4 percent less tissue). According to Thompson, who is also a member of UCLA’s Laboratory of Neuro Imaging, this is the first time anyone has established a link between being overweight and having what he describes as “severe brain degeneration.”

This could be a scary thought for the nation's millions of obese people. “That's a big loss of tissue and it depletes your cognitive reserves, putting you at much greater risk of Alzheimer's and other diseases that attack the brain,” said Thompson, who went on to say that the risk for Alzheimer's is greatly reduced if one eats healthily and keeps body mass under control.

In looking at both grey matter and white matter of the brain, they found that the people defined as obese had lost brain tissue in the frontal and temporal lobes (areas of the brain critical for planning and memory) and in the anterior cingulate gyrus (attention and executive functions), hippocampus (long term memory) and basal ganglia (movement is controlled here).

"The brains of obese people looked 16 years older than the brains of those who were lean," says Thompson. This research shows another reason for the extremely high cost to society of the ever-increasing obese population.

Dave

Daily Probiotics Regimen Reduces Colds, Fevers in Children

2009-08-26T06:15:00.000-07:00

A new study from probiotics producer Danisco shows that daily supplement of Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium strains may reduce the incidence of cold and flu-like symptoms in children by 50 per cent. Further, a combination of the two strains has been linked to reductions in fever incidence by 73 per cent, a reduction in the occurrence of runny noses by 59 per cent, and drop in the incidence of coughing by 62 per cent, according to findings published in the journal Pediatrics.

“Daily probiotic dietary supplementation during the winter months was a safe, effective way to reduce episodes of fever, rhinorrhea [nasal issues], and cough, the cumulative duration of those symptoms, the incidence of antibiotic prescriptions, and the number of missed school days attributable to illness,” wrote the authors, led by Gregory Leyer, an R&D scientist for Danisco in Madison, Wisconsin.

This research showed that L acidophilus alone was effective, but also indicated a trend for a broader protective effect when it is combined with Bifidobacterium.

Indeed, used by itself, L. acidophilus cut the fever incidence by 53 per cent, the occurrence of runny noses by 28 per cent, and the incidence of coughing by 41 per cent.

Leyer and his co-investigators from Tongji University (Shanghai), the University of Texas (Houston), and Sprim USA recruited 326 children aged between three and five in a child care centre in China. The children were randomly assigned to one of three groups, and received twice a day for six months the single L. acidophilus NCFM strain, the combination of the strains, or a placebo.

In addition to the reductions in the incidence in fever, coughing, and runny noses, the researchers noted a reduction in the use of antibiotics in children either of the probiotic interventions, while these children also missed fewer days of child care.

“Although the reduced incidence of antibiotic prescriptions for all indications noted in an earlier study was confirmed, this study is the first to indicate a trend toward more-significant results with a combination versus single strain preparation,” wrote the authors.

I think it is important to note here that getting a good dose of probiotics into a child means something more than just eating some yogurt. (In fact, one major yogurt manufacturer is being sued because their claims for probiotic content are so overblown.) Always check the amount of "CFU's" (colony-forming units) in your probiotics product and go for those that show billions and not millions of these good bugs.

Dave

High Blood Pressure Linked to Memory Problems

2009-08-25T14:01:00.000-07:00

New research published in the August 25, 2009, print issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology, shows how high blood pressure is linked to memory problems in people over age 45.

The study found that people with high diastolic blood pressure (the bottom number of a blood pressure reading) were more likely to have cognitive impairment, or problems with their memory and thinking skills, than people with normal readings. For every 10-point increase in that bottom number, the odds of a person having cognitive problems was seven percent higher. The results were valid after adjusting for other factors that could affect cognitive abilities, such as age, smoking status, exercise level, education, diabetes or high cholesterol.

This was a very large study and it involved nearly 20,000 people age 45 and older across the country who had participated in a study about stroke, and who had never had a stroke. A total of 1,505 of the participants, or 7.6 percent, had cognitive problems, and 9,844, or 49.6 percent, were taking medication for high blood pressure.

“It’s possible that by preventing or treating high blood pressure, we could potentially prevent cognitive impairment, which can be a precursor to dementia,” said study author Georgios Tsivgoulis, MD, of the University of Alabama at Birmingham and a member of the American Academy of Neurology.

The reason that high blood pressure issue appears to be linked to memory could be that research has shown high diastolic blood pressure leads to weakening of the small arteries in the brain; this weakening of arteries can actually result in the development of brain damage in small, random areas that contain memories.

Dave

Overblown Claims and Unethical Marketing Games in the "Berry" Business

2009-08-24T11:28:00.001-07:00

There were lawsuits filed recently by Harpo Inc, producers of The Oprah Winfrey Show and The Dr Oz Show, targeting manufacturers of acai berry products among others.

“Consumers should be aware that neither Oprah Winfrey nor Dr Oz are associated with nor do they endorse any acai berry product, company or online solicitation of such products, including MonaVie juice products,” reads a statement on Winfrey’s website. Harpo attorneys are also pursuing marketers of resveratrol products who have taken the same liberties with Oprah's and Dr. Oz's names.

I'm happy to see the alleged deceptive practices of these companies exposed. I'm sure Britney Spears will follow with her own lawsuits -- the same "berry" manufacturers are using images of the young star on their obnoxious Internet popup ads.

“The acai berry supplement sales programs are among the most aggressive that we have seen using misleading sales tactics to scam consumers,” said one of those involved in the Oprah lawsuits. I agree -- I've never seen anything like the sleazy tactics used by these acai berry marketers. While its true that the antioxidants in acai are indeed quite powerful, the difference between them and other berries just doesn't merit this kind of crazy push. It's a fad-- pyramid marketers and even stores are going to be left with cases and cases of acai berry and other "miracle" berry products before the year is out.

“Consumers should always be skeptical and educate themselves instead of blindly believing any endorsement claims. Also, consumers need to be very wary of weight loss and health claims that sound too good to be true" warn those involved with the Harpo case.

As these lawyers and state officials are now discovering, the "acai berry revolution" turns out to be just another great, big Internet marketing scam.

Dave

Economic Downturn May Leave Major Health Problems in its Wake

2009-08-22T03:33:00.000-07:00

The current economic downturn, most specifically the nation’s home foreclosure epidemic, appears to be taking its toll on Americans’ health as well as their wallets. A study was done of those people undergoing foreclosure which reported that nearly half of them showed serious signs of depression. A full 37 percent met clinical screening criteria for major depression.

This study was done by the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and was published online this week in the American Journal of Public Health. Many of those studied also reported an inability to afford prescription drugs; many also described poor eating habits, including skipping meals.

“The foreclosure crisis is also a health crisis,” says lead author Craig E. Pollack, MD, who conducted the research while working as an internist at Penn. “We need to do more to ensure that if people lose their homes, they don’t also lose their health.”

In addition to the high number of participants reporting depression symptoms, the study of 250 Philadelphia homeowners undergoing foreclosure also shed light on other health care problems that may be spurred by difficulties keeping up with housing costs. The authors say that the data collected in Philadelphia may be only the tip of the iceberg when compared to other cities that have experienced a sharp spike in housing foreclosures.

Dave

Friendly Gut Bacteria Aid Immune System in Fighting off Infection

2009-08-21T03:35:00.000-07:00

Research published by scientists at UT Southwestern Medical Center has found that bacteria present in the human gut help initiate the body’s defense mechanisms against Toxoplasma gondii, a nasty parasite responsible for toxoplasmosis. While generally considered to be mild, a T gondi infection can have serious and potentially fatal effects in pregnant women, their fetuses and anyone else with a weakened immune system.

How it is that the body first senses the presence of this parasite has been somewhat of a mystery for a long time. But in this new UT Southwestern study (appearing online and in the Aug. 20 issue of Cell Host & Microbe), researchers suggest that instead of activating receptors directly, T gondii’s first interaction in the human gut is with the helpful bacteria that live inside us. Those bacteria then release signaling molecules, alerting the human host to the invader.

What an important role this is for those friendly, probiotic gut bacteria that we need to have living inside of us! This is why it is a travesty that antibiotics are so overprescribed and that we so often casually knock out our entire flora for no good reason at all.

“While this is very early data, our results suggest that looking at the bacteria present in each patient’s gut could help physicians understand their susceptibility to infectious diseases,” said Dr. Felix Yarovinsky, assistant professor of immunology at UT Southwestern and senior author of the paper. “It also suggests the possibility of developing novel probiotic strategies for treating parasitic infections."

T gondii affects more than 1 billion people worldwide. The protozoan parasite can infect most warm-blooded animals, but the primary host is the house cat. Animals are generally infected with T gondii by ingesting contaminated meat, water or the feces of a cat that has recently been infected; however, the parasite also can be passed from mother to fetus.

Toxoplasmosis is often passed to humans through contaminated cat feces; therefore, pregnant women are encouraged to keep all house cats indoors and recruit someone who is not pregnant to clean the litter box daily. Once a person is infected, the parasite penetrates the intestine and spreads throughout all organs.

Dave

Popcorn loaded with antioxidants?

2009-08-19T15:08:00.001-07:00

Every time we go to the movies, my wife makes a snide comment about my popcorn eating habit. (Usually, the large size popcorn bag is empty about the time the trailers end . . .). Now, thanks to some new research being reported on in NutraIngredients, I can tell her that I am eating a health food.

It turns out that certain cereals and snacks like popcorn may be healthier than previously thought thanks to their unusually high antioxidant content. At a meeting of the American Chemical Society, scientists from the University of Scranton (Pennsylvania) indicated these items have “surprisingly large” amounts of antioxidants called polyphenols.

According to the poster presentation at the ACS, whole grains are responsible for the polyphenol content, which is high enough even after baking to rival established antioxidant sources such as fruit and veggies.

Lead researcher Joe Vinson, a chemist at the University of Scranton, said the research revealed higher polyphenol levels than previous studies because it looked at the total antioxidant content rather than just focusing on free antioxidants, which are the ones not bound to sugar. Cereals made with oats were found to have the highest antioxidant content with corn in second place and wheat coming third.

Certain snack foods made from corn are over-processed, which removes all the antioxidant possibilities. This would include corn chips or Tortilla chips, as one example. Popcorn, however, is indeed full of antioxidants!

Dave

Headache Risk in Children

2009-08-17T19:05:00.000-07:00

A German scientist, Dr. Jennifer Gassmann (and her coauthors) has done a recent study on risk factors for childrens' headaches -- she and her team have determined that it is family quarrels and a lack of free time which seem to promote these health problems in children. This work appears in the current issue of the Deutsches Ärzteblatt International.

This investigation was a component of a large-scale study entitled “Children, Adolescents, and Headaches” in which data were collected in four annual “waves” from 2003 to 2006. Up to 30% of all children around the world complain of headache symptoms arising at least once per week. It can be heartbreaking when you hear your child complain regularly of headaches -- because it appears there is nothing you can do.

Now, it does indeed look as if there are some family changes that can help these kids. Boys who experienced more than one family quarrel per week had a 1.8 times higher risk of developing headaches. The amount of free time available to them seemed to be even more important: boys who only sometimes had time to themselves had a 2.1 times higher risk of developing headaches.

Parents’ behavior when their child complains of headache also seemed to play a major role. Either positive or negative reinforcement from the parents teaches the child that he or she can gain certain advantages from headache symptoms. The parents’ responses had a particularly strong effect on the frequency of symptoms in girls: reinforcing parental responses raised their risk of recurrent headaches by 25%.

The sexes also differed with respect to the frequency of headache. Twice as many girls as boys had their symptoms at least once a week. The children’s age, however, seemed to have no more than a minor effect on headache manifestations.

Dave

Wine Shows Protection for Cancer Radiation Therapy

2009-08-14T09:59:00.000-07:00

There's been a lot written about the benefits of drinking red wine. Recently, a new scientific study came out of Italy that is fascinating, because it shows how drinking wine while undergoing radiation treatment for breast cancer may reduce the incidence of skin toxicity in these patients. This work was recently published in the August issue of the official journal of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO).

Radiation therapy-induced side effects, as anyone who has undergone radiation knows, are a nightmare. Reducing or eliminating them is an important part of a patient’s cancer treatment management. While there are currently several medications available to help protect healthy organs from the effects of radiation, they are often expensive. Even worse, they have side effects of their own.

Researchers at the Department of Oncology at Catholic University in Campobasso and in Rome, Italy, working with the Italian National Research Council, conducted this study to determine if the natural antioxidants in wine would provide a protective effect in preventing acute skin toxicity in patients undergoing radiation therapy after conservative surgery for breast carcinoma.

The study consisted of 348 patients divided into three groups based on the dose/fractionation scheme used. Patients consuming wine had a lower incidence of Grade 2 or higher acute toxicity than those who did not consume alcohol. Patients who drank just one glass of wine per day had a 13.6 percent incidence of skin toxicity versus a 38.4 percent incidence in patients who did not drink wine.

“If wine can prevent radiotherapy-induced toxicity without affecting antitumor efficacy, as we observed, it also has the potential to enhance the therapeutic benefit in cancer patients without increasing their risk of serious adverse effects,” said Vincenzo Valentini, M.D., a radiation oncologist at Catholic University in Rome, Italy. “The possibility that particular dietary practices or interventions can reduce radiation-induced toxicity is very intriguing.”

Dave

Avian Flu Virus tied to Parkinsons, Alzheimers RIsk

2009-08-13T06:47:00.000-07:00

Luckily, the H1N1 ("Swine Flu") virus, while pandemic, does not appear to have some of the side effects of other possibly pandemic strains. Researchers are now showing that at least one strain of the H5N1 ("Bird Flu") avian influenza virus leaves survivors at a significantly increased risk for Parkinson’s disease and possibly other neurological problems later in life. This is according to new research from St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

In the August 10 online early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers reported that mice which survived infection with the avian flu strain were more likely than uninfected mice to develop brain changes associated with neurological disorders like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases. Both Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s involve a loss of brain cells crucial to a variety of tasks, including movement, memory and intellectual functioning. The study revealed the H5N1 flu strain caused a 17 percent loss of the same neurons lost in Parkinson’s as well as accumulation in certain brain cells of a protein implicated in both diseases.

“This avian flu strain does not directly cause Parkinson’s disease, but it does make you more susceptible,” said Richard Smeyne, Ph.D., associate member in St. Jude Developmental Neurobiology and the paper’s senior author.

“Around age 40, people start to get a decline in brain cells. Most people die before they lose enough neurons to get Parkinson’s. But we believe this H5N1 infection changes the curve. It makes the brain more sensitive to another hit, possibly involving other environmental toxins,” Smeyne explained.

Should the avian flu virus mutate to a pandemic variety including human-to-human transmission it could possibly leave a huge increase of Parkinson's and Alzheimer's cases in its wake.

Dave

Antibiotic Overuse Leads to Resistant Tuberculosis

2009-08-12T07:44:00.000-07:00

Fluoroquinolones are one of the most commonly prescribed antibiotics in the U.S. and are used to fight a number of different infections such as pneumonia, and they include brand names Cipro, Floxin, Avelox and others. Often, they are prescribed for relatively minor issues, such as sinusitis. As you will see in many mentions on this blog, antibiotic overuse has led to many health concerns for our population.

The problem is that these same antibiotics are our first line of defense against TB (Tuberculosis) infections that show drug resistance. Now, research shows that the widespread general use of fluoroquinolones (for issues like sinusitis) may be creating a strain of fluoroquinolone-resistant TB. This general overuse of a common antibiotic may be undercutting the same drug's utility as our major defense against a terrible disease.

The results are published in the August 15 issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

“While fluoroquinolone resistance in TB strains has been reported since the mid 1990’s, to our knowledge no one had investigated the direct causes of it,” said Dr. We wanted to determine whether and to what extent clinical practices were having an effect of creating that resistance,” said Rose A. Devasia, M.D., clinical instructor of Vanderbilt University.

To investigate the causes of the small but growing proportion of fluoroquinolone-resistant TB cases, Dr. Devasia and colleagues analyzed the records of every newly diagnosed patient with TB who was also enrolled in Tennessee’s Medicaid program, TennCare between January 2002 and December 2006. Using the TennCare pharmacy database, they were able to obtain information on the patients’ use of fluoroquinolone for the 12 months prior to their TB diagnosis. They used M. tuberculosis isolates taken from each patient to test for fluoroquinolone resistance in each case. Researchers found a linear association between previous fluoroquinolone exposure and fluoroquinolone resistance.

Overall, patients who had used fluoroquinolones within 12 months of diagnosis were almost five times as likely to have a fluoroquinolone-resistant strain of TB than those who had not used fluoroquinolones, and there was a linear association between length of fluoroquinolone use and fluoroquinolone resistance.

“For now, we all need to be more careful when considering the use of these drugs un the community setting and limit the use of prolonged or repeated courses of fluoroquinolones, or even avoid them altogether, in patients who are risk of having active TB,” they wrote in an accompanying editorial in the same issue of the journal.

Dave

Aspirin Reduces RIsk of Death from Colorectal Cancer

2009-08-11T09:30:00.000-07:00

Investigators from Massachusetts General Hospital, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women's Hospital (all in the Boston area) are reporting that regular use of aspirin after colorectal cancer diagnosis may reduce the risk of cancer death. In the August 12 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, the study's authors say that the aspirin-associated survival advantage was seen primarily in patients with tumors expressing the COX-2 enzyme, a characteristic of two-thirds of colorectal cancers.

"While previous studies by our group and others showed that aspirin and other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs reduce the risk of developing colorectal cancer, this study is the among the first to show that aspirin can also improve survival in patients who have already been diagnosed with colorectal cancers. Moreover, the benefit appeared to be especially strong among patients with cancers that express COX-2," says Andrew Chan, MD, the study's lead author. "This is an important first step toward developing targeted approaches to improving patient outcomes."

Many previous studies have shown that regular use of aspirin and other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs reduces the risk of developing colorectal cancer. The current study focused on 1,279 study participants who were diagnosed with stage 1, 2 or 3 colorectal cancer during their participation in the studies for whom data was available on aspirin use before and after diagnosis. The benefit was especially strong among patients who began using aspirin after diagnosis. In contrast, patients who were aspirin users before diagnosis did not appear to benefit as much from continuing aspirin use after diagnosis. As expected, the survival benefit appeared restricted to patients with COX-2-positive tumors.

"We believe our results could lead to improvements in the therapy of patient with colon cancer," says Charles Fuchs, MD, of Dana-Farber, the study's senior author. "We're now following up this observational study with a randomized trial to evaluate adding the COX-2 inhibitor celecoxib -- which is less likely to have the gastrointestinal side effects of aspirin -- to standard chemotherapy."

Dave

Decreased Sleep May Lead to Diabetes

2009-08-05T11:40:00.000-07:00

According to a new study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, the short sleep times experienced by many individuals may contribute to the development of insulin resistance and reduced glucose tolerance. This in turn may increase the long-term risk of diabetes for these poor sleepers.

One increasingly common aspect of the Western lifestyle is a night of poor sleep, which is often aggravated by physical inactivity and overeating. Many Americans sleep fewer than six hours each night and individuals who report such short sleep times have in previous studies demonstrated an increased risk of developing diabetes. This new study examined whether reduced sleep duration itself may increase the risk of developing diabetes when combined with physical inactivity and overeating, and you guessed it -- it does.

Researchers in this study subjected a group of healthy middle-aged men and women to two controlled 14-day periods of sedentary living with free access to food and 5.5 or 8.5 hour bedtimes. When the subjects had their bedtimes decreased from 8.5 hours to 5.5 hours they showed changes in their response to two common sugar tests, which were similar to those seen in people with an increased risk of developing diabetes.

“Our findings raise the possibility that when the unhealthy aspects of the Westernized lifestyle are combined with reduced sleep duration, this might contribute to the increased risk of many overweight and sedentary individuals developing diabetes,” said Plamen Penev, MD, PhD, of the University of Chicago, a senior author of the study.

Dave

Honeybee Antioxidant Protects Athletes from Overheating

2009-08-04T01:52:00.000-07:00

Propolis, a compound from honeybees that bees use to seal their hives, may protect against heat stress in athletes, according to an article in the Journal of Food Science, published by the Institute of Food Technologists.

Widely used as a folk medicine, honeybee propolis (sometimes called "bee glue") has an active biocompound known as caffeic acid phenethyl ester, or CAPE. CAPE has a broad spectrum of biological activities including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antiviral uses. Heat stress, hyperthermia, is considered to be the main factor underlying the early fatigue and dehydration seen during prolonged exercise in the heat. “Since hyperthermia and free radical generation are related to exercise-induced physical damage, it is reasonable to test whether an antioxidant can prevent or reduce hyperthermia-induced free radical generation and damage,” says lead researcher Yu-Jen Chen of Chinese Culture University in Taiwan.

Researchers examined blood from 30 competitive cyclists who engaged in endurance training for two to four years prior to the investigation. None participated in any competitions or intensive training or had any clinical illness or medical or surgical treatments for four months prior to the study. It turned out to have a very positive effect on these cyclists.

“CAPE rescued mononuclear cells from hyperthermia-induced cell death,” writes Yu-Jen Chen. “This implies that CAPE might not only promote athletic performance but also prevent injury secondary to endurance-exercise-induced hyperthermia.”

Dave

Are You Exercising Your Brain?

2009-08-03T14:15:00.000-07:00

According to a new study published in the August 4, 2009, print issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology, those who engage in activities that exercise the brain (reading, writing, card games, etc.) may delay the rapid memory decline that occurs if they later develop dementia.

The study involved 488 people age 75 to 85 who did not have dementia at the start of the study. They were followed for an average of five years; during that time 101 of the people developed dementia. (That's a scary thought -- more than 20%.)

Before beginning the trial, researchers asked the participants how often they participated in six leisure activities that engage the brain: reading, writing, doing crossword puzzles, playing board or card games, having group discussions, and playing music.

The researchers then looked at the point when memory loss started accelerating rapidly for the participants. They found that for every additional activity a person participated in, the onset of rapid memory loss was delayed by 0.18 years.

“The point of accelerated decline was delayed by 1.29 years for the person who participated in 11 activities per week compared to the person who participated in only four activities per week,” said study author Charles B. Hall, PhD, of Albert Einstein College of Medicine in Bronx, NY.

The results remained valid after researchers factored in the education level of the participants. “The effect of these activities in late life appears to be independent of education,” Hall said. “These activities might help maintain brain vitality. Further studies are needed to determine if increasing participation in these activities could prevent or delay dementia.”

The study was supported by the National Institute on Aging.

Dave

Black Tea and Diabetes

2009-07-30T01:51:00.000-07:00

Do you know what the single most consumed beverage is in the world, besides water? It is tea. Long known for its antioxidants, immune boosting abilities and, most recently, antihypertensive properties, black tea could have another health benefit. Black tea may be used to control diabetes, according to a study in the Journal of Food Science, published by the Institute of Food Technologists.

Researchers from the Tianjin Key Laboratory in China studied the polysaccharide levels of green, oolong and black teas and whether they could be used to treat diabetes. Polysaccharides, a type of carbohydrate that includes starch and cellulose, may benefit people with diabetes because they help retard absorption of glucose. The researchers found that of the three teas, the polysaccharides in black tea had the most glucose-inhibiting properties. The black tea polysaccharides also showed the highest scavenging effect on free radicals, which are involved in the onset of diseases such as cancer and rheumatoid arthritis.

“Many efforts have been made to search for effective glucose inhibitors from natural materials,” says lead researcher Haixia Chen. “There is a potential for exploitation of black tea polysaccharide in managing diabetes.”

I'm sure we'll be seeing some products in the supplement category come out of this research.

Dave

Healthcare Reform: What Do We Do About Soaring Obesity Costs?

2009-07-29T13:49:00.000-07:00

While it is great to hear of possible healthcare reform, I wonder how Congress feels about the topic of obesity. While I have no problem paying a slight surtax to help everyone get health insurance, like many others I would be quite upset to be paying for someone who is terribly obese, because the costs stemming from obesity are so high. In fact, in the USA, annual medical expenditures attributable to obesity have doubled in less than a decade. Currently, the costs of obesity in the US may be as high as $147 billion per year.

This number comes from a new study by researchers at RTI International, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention. The study, published on the Health Affairs' Web site, reports that, between 1998 and 2006, the prevalence of obesity (body mass index greater than 30) increased by 37 percent. That's a scary figure.

These results reveal that obesity is now responsible for 9.1 percent of annual medical expenditures, compared with 6.5 percent in 1998. The results also showed that an obese person has $1,429 per year more medical costs, or about 42 percent more costs, than someone of normal weight. Costs for an obese Medicare recipient are even greater. 8.5 percent of Medicare expenditures, 11.8 percent of Medicaid expenditures, and 12.9 percent of private payer expenditures are attributable to obesity.

This is why I think that healthcare reform has to consider the matter of obesity as one of the top targets for consumer education. It is a shame that healthy people of a normal weight would have to pick up the costs for those who have made the opposite lifestyle decisions.

"The medical costs attributable to obesity are almost entirely a result of costs generated from treating the diseases that obesity promotes. Thus, obesity will continue to impose a significant burden on the health care system as long as the prevalence of obesity remains high," said Eric Finkelstein, Ph.D., director of RTI's Public Health Economics Program and the study's lead author.

Dave