After obese men took a relatively small dose or resveratrol, an ingredient in red wine, in purified form every day for a month, their metabolisms changed for the better. In fact, the effects appear to be as good for us as severe calorie restriction. Resveratrol is a natural compound.

"We saw a lot of small effects, but consistently pointing in a good direction of improved metabolic health," Patrick Schrauwen of Maastricht University in The Netherlands, was quoted as saying.

Earlier studies in animals had shown that resveratrol alleviates insulin resistance and protects against the ill effects of a high-fat diet, among other benefits. The effects are comparable to what happens when animals or humans significantly restrict the number of calories they consume, a diet plan shown to delay the onset of age-related diseases. Still, no studies had systematically examined the metabolic effects of resveratrol in humans.

To fill that gap, the researchers gave 11 obese but otherwise healthy men a dietary supplement containing 150 milligrams of a 99 percent pure trans-resveratrol (trade name resVida) for 30 days while they measured the amount of energy they expended, the amount of fat they were storing and burning, and more.

The data show that, like calorie restriction, resveratrol supplements lower energy expenditure and improve measures of metabolism and overall health. Those changes include a lower metabolic rate, less fat in the liver, lower blood sugar levels and a drop in blood pressure. Trial participants also experienced changes in the way their muscles burned fat.

"The immediate reduction in sleep metabolic rate was particularly striking," Schrauwen said. Of course, in the case of obesity, it's not entirely clear whether burning fewer calories is a good or a bad thing. It does suggest that participants' cells were operating more efficiently, as they do following calorie restriction.

Those metabolic effects of resveratrol also came with no apparent side effects.

ResVida and other resveratrol supplements are already widely available, but more work is needed to establish whether they indeed have the potential to overcome the metabolic aberrations associated with obesity and aging, according to the researchers.

"I don't see a reason for particular caution, but we do need long-term studies," Schrauwen says.

SOURCE: Cell Metabolism, published online November 1, 2011

Plant-derived sterols, known as phytosterols, have been shown repeatedly to lower bad LDL cholesterol in the blood. A combined analysis of existing trials, published in the Journal of Nutrition, now shows the average size of the effect can be estimated from the dose given.
A large number of clinical studies have demonstrated that eating phytosterols or phytosterol-enriched foods leads to reduced blood levels of bad LDL cholesterol. Elevated LDL cholesterol is a major risk factor for coronary heart disease. To see how exactly the phytosterol effect varies with dose, scientists from Unilever and Wageningen University, The Netherlands, combined results from 84 randomised, controlled trials in one dataset and re-analysed them together - a process called meta-analysis.
The average reduction in blood LDL cholesterol across all studies was found to be 9% with a mean daily phytosterol dose of 2.15 g, administered over 21-182 days. This would roughly translate into 10-20% less new cases of coronary heart disease. Absolute reductions were higher in people with higher baseline LDL cholesterol. Furthermore, the meta-analysis revealed a continuous dose-response relationship, enabling researchers to estimate the effect of any given dose of phytosterols on blood LDL cholesterol levels.
A larger effect was observed with solid foods than with liquid foods but only at high phytosterol doses (> 2 g per day), suggesting that this finding may have little practical relevance for phytosterol doses close to the proposed intake of 2 g per day. There was a tendency towards a slightly lower efficacy of single vs. multiple daily intakes of phytosterols, but the LDL cholesterol-lowering effect was significant for both single and multiple daily intakes. Little added benefit was observed beyond 2.5 g per day of phytosterols. The type of phytosterols, i.e. sterols or stanols, and the format of the food (fat-based vs. non fat-based and dairy vs. non-dairy) had no influence on the relationship between dose and response.
Phytosterol-enriched foods and supplements are the only way to achieve intakes high enough to reduce blood LDL cholesterol. Products currently on the market (enriched spreads, fermented milk drinks, etc.) usually contain the proposed daily phytosterol dose of 2 g in 1 to 3 portions. 
See Sona CardioCol http://www.sona.ie/cardiocol.html

"The proportion of young, apparently healthy adults who are presumably ‘the picture of health’ who already have atherosclerosis is staggering," according to Dr. Eric Larose, an interventional cardiologist at the Institut universitaire de cardiologie et de pneumologie de Québec and an assistant professor at Université Laval.

Atherosclerosis can eventually lead to serious problems including heart disease, stroke, or even death.

The study enrolled 168 young adults (age 18 to 35) – half male and half female – who had no known cardiovascular disease or risk factors such as family history of premature heart disease, diabetes, smoking, high blood cholesterol, or high blood pressure.

The team took complete body measurements, including height, weight, body-mass index and waist circumference. They also measured, through magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), various body fat deposits including subcutaneous fat (fat under the skin that you can measure with calipers) as well as fat within and around the abdomen and chest including the amount of intra-abdominal or visceral fat. In addition, they measured atherosclerosis volumes of the carotid arteries by MRI.

The researchers found that although a large proportion of subjects didn’t have traditional risk factors for atherosclerosis, they did have discrete signs: greater waist circumference, and visceral fat covering the internal organs within the chest and abdomen. Visceral fat is difficult to detect because it surrounds the organs deep inside the body, unlike the fat under our skin than can be easily detected in the mirror or with a pinch of the fingers.

"We know obesity is a bad thing," says Dr. Larose, "but we’re dropping the ball on a large proportion of young adults who don’t meet traditional measures of obesity such as weight and BMI."

He says their message is that beyond simple weight and BMI, measures of fat hidden within (visceral fat) are greater predictors of atherosclerosis. The people with greater visceral fat will have greater atherosclerosis, even if they are young and apparently healthy - and could benefit from preventive lifestyle measures.

Dr. Larose adds that despite having normal weight and BMI, young adults with greater visceral fat have greater atherosclerosis burden, therefore greater risk for clinical events including heart attack and stroke in the long run. "We were encouraged to find that in this young and apparently healthy population, an easy way to measure risk in the doctor’s office is through waist circumference," Dr. Larose explained.

At any given BMI, an enlarged waist circumference measured with a simple tailor’s ribbon was predictive of increased visceral adiposity and of premature atherosclerosis. The prediction of visceral adiposity and of atherosclerosis was almost as precise as by MRI.

Dr. Larose’s study verifies earlier research that found that as many as 80 percent of young Americans killed in war or in car accidents had premature and subclinical (hidden) atherosclerosis.

Doctors say young adults are not superhuman, they are not immune to risk factors.

As a young adult it’s important to manage your risk factors at all ages. Lifestyle will eventually catch up with you. You are never too young to prevent heart disease.

SOURCE: Heart and Stroke Foundation press release October 24, 2011

Researchers have found yoga classes more effective than a self-care book—but no more effective than stretching classes. Back-related function was better and symptoms were diminished with yoga at 12 weeks; and clinically important benefits, including less use of pain medications, lasted at least six months for both yoga and stretching, with thorough follow-up of more than nine in 10 participants.

In the trial, 228 adults in six cities in the US were randomly assigned to 12 weekly 75-minute classes of either yoga or stretching exercises or a comprehensive self-care book called The Back Pain Helpbook.

The class participants received instructional videos and were encouraged to practice at home for 20 minutes a day between their weekly classes. Interviewers who didn’t know the patients’ treatment assignments assessed their back-related function and pain symptoms at six weeks, 12 weeks, and six months.

In 2005, researchers conducted a smaller study that found yoga effective for easing chronic low back pain. With their new trial, researchers wanted both to confirm those results in a larger group and to see how yoga compared to a different form of exercise of comparable physical exertion: stretching.

Both the yoga and stretching classes emphasized the torso and legs.

The type of yoga used in the trial, called viniyoga, adapts the principles of yoga for each individual and physical condition, with modifications for people with physical limitations. The yoga classes also used breathing exercises, with a deep relaxation at the end.

The stretching classes used 15 different stretching exercises, including stretches of the hamstrings and hip flexors and rotators. Each was held for a minute and repeated once, for a total of 52 minutes of stretching. Strengthening exercises were also included.

Researchers say they expected back pain to ease more with yoga than with stretching, so were surprised with their findings. The most straightforward interpretation of their findings would be that yoga’s benefits on back function and symptoms were largely physical, due to the stretching and strengthening of muscles.

But the stretching classes included a lot more stretching than in most such classes, with each stretch held for a relatively long time. They say people may have actually begun to relax more in the stretching classes than they would in a typical exercise class. In retrospect, they say they realized that these stretching classes were a bit more like yoga than a more typical exercise program would be. So the trial might have compared rather similar programs with each other.

They say the results suggest that both yoga and stretching can be good, safe options for people who are willing to try physical activity to relieve their moderate low back pain. But it is important for the classes to be therapeutically oriented, geared for beginners, and taught by instructors who can modify postures for participants’ individual physical limitations.

SOURCE: Archives of Internal Medicine, published online October 24, 2011

According to a study by Dr. Katherine M. Keyes, a post-doctoral fellow at Columbia University, drinking can be influenced by personal and societal factors, including economic fluctuations, political instability, and social norms. Apparently, these norms can even vary among countries and different time periods, leading to different "drinking cultures." A review of 31 peer-reviewed and published studies looked at birth-cohort and gender differences in alcohol consumption, alcohol disorders, and mortality. Analysis showed that people born after World War II are more likely to binge drink and develop alcohol use disorders (AUDs), and that the gender gap in alcohol problems is narrowing in many countries.

"The literature on alcohol consumption indicates that younger birth cohorts, especially women, are increasingly at risk for the development of AUDs. Given that alcoholism among women is increasing, there is a need for specific public health prevention and intervention efforts. Further, results suggest the environment increases risk for alcoholism. While AUDs have a substantial genetic contribution, birth-cohort effects indicate that factors in the environment such as policies, laws, social norms, availability, and broader social context also contribute substantially to underlying risk for AUDs in the population," Dr. Katherine M. Keyes, a post – doctoral fellow in epidemiology at Columbia University was quoted saying.

"Social and cultural factors are among the most powerful determinants of alcohol use and other health behaviours, for example, one approach to intervention for high-risk drinkers, particularly in younger age groups, is to make them realize that they consume quite a bit more alcohol then their peers. The realization that one’s behaviour falls outside of a generally accepted ‘social norm’ often results in behavioural change. Other aspects unique to a particular society at a given time, such as alcohol prices and availability, can be influenced by raising alcohol excise taxes or restricting liquor store hours and thus shape alcohol use," epidemiologist at Washington University School of Medicine Richard A. Grucza was quoted saying.

The review showed that alcoholism among women in United States is a rising problem. Now when women have the opportunity to participate in a workforce, get higher education, and have economic independence from men, women as well employed similar drinking habits to men. However, women are still more vulnerable and have a greater risk of getting chronic diseases rather than men.

Source: Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research

"We found that high, cholesterol levels were significantly related to brain plaques associated with Alzheimer’s disease," study author, Kensuke Sasaki, MD, PhD, of Kyushu University of Fukoka, Japan, was quoted as saying.
The cholesterol levels were tested for 2,587 people between the ages of 40 to 79 years old who had no signs of Alzheimer’s disease. Then they looked for the two trademarks of Alzheimer’s, plaques and tangles, in the brains of 147 autopsied people who died after a long observation period of 10 to 15 years. Out of the 147 autopsied people, 50 had been diagnosed with dementia before death.

Plaques are an accumulation of a form of protein, amyloid, which occurs between nerve cells. Tangles are an accumulation of a different protein, called tau, which occurs inside nerve cells.

People with high cholesterol levels, higher than 5.8 mmol/L, had significantly more brain plaques when compared to those with normal or lower cholesterol levels. A total of 86 percent of people had brain plaques, compared to only 62 percent of people with low cholesterol levels.

The study found no link between high cholesterol and the tangles that develop in the brain with Alzheimer’s disease.

In addition to high cholesterol increasing the risk of Alzheimer’s disease, Dr. Sasaki previously found that insulin resistance, a sign of diabetes, may be another risk factor for brain plaques associated with Alzheimer’s disease.

"Our study clearly makes the point that high cholesterol may contribute directly or indirectly to plaques in the brain, "Dr. Sasaki was quoted saying, "but failed treatment trials of cholesterol-lowering drugs in Alzheimer’s disease means there is no simple link between lowering cholesterol and preventing Alzheimer’s."

SOURCE: Neurology, published online September 12, 2011

In the study, 18 patients who were overweight or obese with high blood pressure consumed 6-8 purple potatoes with skins twice daily for a month. They were told to eat purple potatoes because the colouring material in fruits and vegetables is especially rich in phytochemicals. The potatoes in the study were microwaved, which researchers believe is a good way to preserve nutrients.

Results showed the average diastolic blood pressure reading dropped by 4.3 percent, and the average systolic blood pressure reading dropped by 3.5 percent. Most of the participants took blood pressure medications, and none gained weight during the study.

However, researchers say French fry, doesn’t offer the same benefits. French fries and potato chips are cooked in high temperatures, which seem to destroy most of the healthy substances, leaving mainly starch, fat and minerals. Although they used purple potatoes in their study, researchers believe red potatoes may have a similar benefit.

"The potato, more than perhaps any other vegetable, has an undeserved bad reputation that has led many health-conscious people to ban them from their diet," Joe Vinson, PhD., who headed the research, was quoted as saying. "Mention ‘potato’ and people think ‘fattening, high-carbs, empty calories’. In reality, when prepared without frying and served without butter, margarine or sour cream, one potato has only 110 calories and dozens of healthful phytochemicals and vitamins. We hope our research helps to remake the potato’s popular nutritional image."

SOURCE: 242nd National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society, August, 2011

Vitamin A is a nutrient that must be obtained through one’s diet. Vitamin A deficiency in children increases their risk of certain infections and may also lead to blindness. According to the World Health Organization, 190 million children under age 5 may be vitamin A deficient.

Researchers analysed the results of 43 studies on vitamin A supplementation that included more than 200,000 children. They found vitamin A supplements reduced mortality by 24% in low- and middle-income countries. They say the supplements may also reduce mortality and disability by preventing measles, diarrhoea and vision problems.

The investigators say that the effectiveness of vitamin A supplementation is so well-established that further trials are unnecessary. They call for policymakers to provide supplements to all children at risk for a deficiency.

If the risk of death for 190 million vitamin A-deficient children was reduced by 24%, more than 600,000 lives would be saved each year, and 20 million disability-adjusted life years (a measure of quantity and quality of life) would be gained, according to the authors.

They conclude: "The evidence for vitamin A is compelling and clear. Further trials comparing vitamin A with placebo would be unethical."

SOURCE: British Medical Journal

"Many times parents focus so much attention on back to school clothes, supplies and daily school year routines, that they sometimes overlook some very basic tasks that are important to prepare for a medical emergency," Dr. Sandra Schneider, president of the American College of Emergency Physicians, was quoted as saying. "Planning is best way to ensure the most effective response in an emergency, so take the initiative now. You can use this simple checklist to help kick off a successful and healthy school year."

The checklist includes:

• Organize your child’s medical history records and emergency medical contact information. Provide a copy of this information to your child’s school and any daycare providers with instructions to take it with them to the emergency department if your child is sick or injured. The form should include information related to prescription medications, medical problems, or previous surgeries as well as pertinent family history and emergency contacts.

• Complete a consent-to-treat form and give copies to the school principal and any daycare providers to keep in your child’s record and to take with them if your child should need to go to the emergency department. The form will allow caregivers to authorize medical treatment.

• Work with the school nurse (if your local school has one) and your child’s doctor to develop action plans for any health issues your child has, such as asthma or food allergies.

• Schedule medical and dental check-ups before schools starts. Some children will need immunizations. Consider vision and hearing tests, since impairment can adversely affect learning. Consider a sports check-up if your child will be playing in sports.

• Review and do a dry run with your child of their route to school, explaining potential hazards along the way. If your child walks to school, make sure he or she understands potential traffic dangers.

• If your child takes the bus, establish a safe, visible pick up/drop off spot, preferably with a group of additional children and in an area where they can be clearly watched by adults. If your child drives to school, make sure he or she obeys all laws and wear seatbelts. Make sure your children know how to telephone for help.

• Post emergency-contact numbers by every telephone in your home. Have them practice how to call 911 or the local emergency number, and giving their name, address and a brief description of the problem.

• Develop a family emergency plan in case something happens on the way to or while at school. Be aware of the emergency and evacuation plans your children’s schools may have established.

Coriander oil was tested against 12 bacterial strains, including Escherichia coli, Salmonella enterica, Bacillus cereus and meticillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). The tests, performed by researchers from the University of Beira Interior in Portugal, showed reduced growth of bacteria, most of which were killed, by solutions containing 1.6 percent coriander oil or less.

Coriander is an aromatic plant widely used in Mediterranean cuisine, and the oil produced from the seeds of the plant is one of the 20 most-used essential oils in the world. Numerous health benefits such as pain relief, ease of cramps and convulsions, cure of nausea, aid of digestion and treatment of fungal infections have been associated with this herb over the centuries.

This study provides an explanation of how coriander oil works regarding its antibacterial effects, which was not previously understood.

"The results indicate that coriander oil damages the membrane surrounding the bacterial cell. This disrupts the barrier between the cell and its environment and inhibits essential processes including respiration, which ultimately leads to death of the bacterial cell," Dr. Fernanda Domingues, who led the study, was quoted saying.

Researchers suggest that coriander oil could have important applications in the food and medical industries.

"In developed countries, up to 30 percent of the population suffers from food-borne illness each year. This research encourages the design of new food additives containing coriander oil that would combat food-borne pathogens and prevent bacterial spoilage," Dr. Domingues was quoted saying.

"Coriander oil could also become a natural alternative to common antibiotics," Dr. Domingues added, "We envisage the use of coriander in clinical drugs in the form of lotions, mouth rinses and even pills; to fight multidrug-resistant bacterial infections that otherwise could not be treated. This would significantly improve people’s quality of life."

SOURCE: Journal of Medical Microbiology, published online August 24, 2011

"There is something in a good relationship that helps people stay on track" Kathleen King, professor emerita from the School of Nursing at the University of Rochester and lead author on the paper, was quoted as saying.

In fact, the effect of marital satisfaction is "every bit as important to survival after bypass surgery as more traditional risk factors like tobacco use, obesity, and high blood pressure," coauthor Harry Reis, professor of psychology at the University of Rochester, was quoted as saying.

But the marriage advantage plays out differently for men and women. For men, marriage in general is linked to higher survival rates and the more satisfying the marriage, the higher the rate of survival. For women, the quality of the relationship is even more important. While unhappy marriages provide virtually no survival bonus for women, satisfying unions increase a wife’s survival rate almost fourfold, the study found.

"Wives need to feel satisfied in their relationships to reap a health dividend," explains Reis. "But the payoff for marital bliss is even greater for women than for men." Some studies have suggested that marriage is not beneficial for women, Reis explained. But by factoring in the level of satisfaction, this research provides a more nuance picture. "A good marriage gets under your skin whether you are male or female," Reis said.

The researchers tracked 225 people who had bypass surgery between 1987 and 1990. They asked married participants to rate their relationship satisfaction one year after surgery. The study adjusted for age, sex, education, depressed mood, tobacco use, and other factors known to affect survival rates for cardiovascular disease.

Fifteen years after surgery, 83 percent of happily wedded wives were still alive, versus 28 percent of women in unhappy marriages and 27 percent of unmarried women. The survival rate for contented husbands was also 83 percent, but even the not-so-happily married fared well. Men in less-than-satisfying unions enjoyed a survival rate of 60 percent, significantly better than the 36 percent rate for unmarried men.

"Other research has shown that women are more physiologically sensitive to relationship distress than men, so an unhappy marriage can take a greater toll on their health," explained Reis.

King says that this study points to the importance of ongoing relationships for both men and women. Supportive spouses most likely help by encouraging healthy behaviour, like increased exercise or smoking cessation, which is critical to long-term survival from heart disease. She also suggests that a nurturing marriage provides patients with sustained motivation to care for oneself and a powerful reason to "stick around so they can stay in the relationship that they like." These are qualities of the relationship that likely existed before bypass surgery, and continued afterward, said King.

SOURCE: Health Psychology, published online August 25, 2011

Brian Wansink, PhD., presented his findings at the Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association.
"Most of us have too much chaos going on in our lives to consciously focus on every bite we eat, and then ask ourselves if we’re full. The secret is to change your environment so it works for you rather than against you," Wansink was quoted as saying.

One of Wansink’s studies included 168 movie goers who ate either fresh or stale popcorn from different sized containers. He found people ate 45% more fresh popcorn from extra-large containers than large ones, and the people who were eating stale popcorn consumed 34% more from the extra-large buckets than those eating fresh popcorn.

"They just don’t realize they’re doing it," Wansink said. He says this concept also applies to drinking. Wansink’s research found people pour about 37% more liquid in short, wide glasses than in tall, skinny ones of the same volume.

Wansink says a common myth about dieting is that people know when they are full and stop before they overeat. In one of his studies, researchers brought in 60 people for a free lunch and gave 22-ounce bowls of soup to half, while the other half unknowingly got 22-ounce bowls that were pressure-fed under the table and slowly refilled. Results showed those with the "bottomless bowls" consumed 73% more than those with the normal bowls. However, the "bottomless bowl" participants didn’t realize they had eaten more.

Wansink says simple steps can help dieters control their weight. These include: eating off smaller plates rather than large dinner plates; keeping unhealthy foods out of sight and moving healthier foods to eye-level in the refrigerator or pantry; and eating food in the kitchen instead of in front of the television.

"These simple strategies are far more likely to succeed than willpower alone. It’s easier to change your environment than to change your mind," Wansink concluded.

SOURCE: 119th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association

The amount of multiresistant bacteria is starting to increase in hospitals. A research team at the Portuguese CBA research centre (University of Lisbon) and the Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciencia has shown that when mechanisms of resistance are playing out in the bacteria E. coli, its ability to survive and reproduce increase. Bacteria acquires resistance to antibiotics through mutations in their chromosomes and by incorporating new genes either from their surrounding environment or from other bacteria. Typically the acquisition of new genes comes at a cost to the bacterium that is reflected in a reduction of its cell division rate. Francisco Dionisio, senior author of the paper, was quoted describing this process through the following analogy, "If you disassemble your computer and randomly changed connections and pieces, you wouldn’t expect it to work better than before."

Francisco and his colleagues found that when mutation occurs within the chromosome of a bacterium that has already become resistant, the bacteria divide faster. Similarly, the bacteria that first acquired resistance to antibiotics through mutation of their chromosome gain further resistance and show reproduction rate increases in 32 percent of combinations. This study demonstrates their findings as a general phenomenon and therefore may help to predict how a bacterial population will evolve after receiving a plasmid that becomes resistant to a certain antibiotic.

SOURCES: PLoS Genetics, July 28th, 2011

"There can be serious consequences for those who engage in colon cleansing whether they have the procedure done at a spa or perform it at home. Colon cleansing products in the form of laxatives, teas, powders and capsules with names such as ‘Colon Cleanse’ tout benefits that don’t exist," Ranit Mishori, MD., lead author, and a family medicine physician at Georgetown University School of Medicine, was quoted saying.

Moreover, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration have no authority to monitor these products. Also, colon cleansing was discredited by the American Medical Association in the early 1900’s, even though it’s made a comeback.

The researchers examined 20 studies in the medical literature published in the last ten years. Dr. Mishori notes that while these reports show little evidence of benefit, there are many studies noting side effects following the use of cleansing products including cramping, bloating, nausea, vomiting, electrolyte imbalance, and renal failure.

"Some herbal preparations have also been associated with aplastic anaemia and liver toxicity," Dr. Mishori said.

Colon cleansing services are being offered more and more at spas and clinics by practitioners who call themselves ‘colon hygienists,’ yet Mishori claims they have no significant medical training. The National Board for Colon Hydrotherapy and other organizations that encourage colon cleansing require hygienists to have little more than a high school diploma.

Dr. Mishori believes there are much better ways to enhance wellbeing, "Eat a balanced diet, exercise regularly, get six to eight hours of sleep, and see a doctor regularly."

SOURCE: The Journal of Family Practice, August 1, 2011

Through questionnaires from over 5,000 children, the researchers learned if in the first 12 months after birth whether the children had ever been breast-fed, when breast-feeding was stopped, and whether any other milk or solids were introduced.

When the children were between the ages of one and four, the team looked to see if they had any asthma-related symptoms. The results showed that the children who had never been breast-fed had an increased risk of wheezing, shortness of breath, dry cough and persistent phlegm during their first four years, compared to children who were breast-fed for more than six months.

The children who were fed other milk or solids during their first four months of birth, in addition to breast milk had an increased risk of wheezing, shortness of breath, dry cough and persistent phlegm during the first four years, compared to children who were exclusively breast-fed for their first four months of life.

This study is the first to show a link between the length of breast-feeding and the number of wheezing episodes. Researchers also found evidence that the first asthma-related symptoms occur earlier in life if children were breast-fed for shorter lengths of time or not exclusively.

"The link of duration and exclusiveness of breast-feeding with asthma-related symptoms during the first four years was independent of infectious and atopic diseases. These results support current health policy strategies that promote exclusive breast-feeding for six months in industrialized countries," Dr. Agnes Sonnenschein-van der Voort, from the Erasmus Medical Center in The Netherlands, and lead author of the study, was quoted saying.

The researchers believe that further studies are needed to explore the protective effect of breast-feeding on the various types of asthma in later life.

SOURCE: European Respiratory Journal, July 22, 2011.

Trends in energy intake by eating location have not been examined previously and therefore this study is unique because of its focus on foods consumed away from home as well as foods prepared away from home. The location/source categories showing the greatest increase in percent of kcal/day from 1994 to 2006 were fast food eaten at home and store-bought food eaten away from home. The increase in store-bought foods eaten away from home likely represents an increase in store-prepared foods, and this is a previously unidentified and un-quantified new source of calories prepared away from home.

Researchers also found that the percentage of calories from fast food has increased to surpass intake from schools and has become the largest contributor to foods prepared away from home for all age groups. For foods eaten away from home, the percentage of kcal/day from stores increased to become the largest source of calories eaten away from home. Fast food eaten at home and store-bought food eaten away from home increased significantly.
"Overall, this study highlights the continuing rapid shifts in the sources of food for children in the US—both where it’s eaten and where it’s prepared," Barry M. Popkin, PhD, Professor of Nutrition, UNC’s Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, was quoted as saying.

"These results underscore the need to deepen our understanding of food preparation and consumption patterns, and further pinpoint where research and programmatic activity should focus. The differences in energy intake by eating location revealed in this analysis demonstrate that eating location is an important factor in the diet of American children. Further studies of children’s diet focusing on energy intake and nutritional quality by eating location are warranted, particularly for store-purchased food overall, carry-out or drive-through fast food, and hot-and-ready vs. home-prepared foods….By determining the importance of both where children eat and where their food is prepared, this study helps elucidate where children are obtaining their calories. Because of the increased energy intake and lower nutritional quality associated with away-from-home prepared foods, such insight can be used to focus future efforts to reduce calorie intake and improve dietary quality for American children."

SOURCE: Journal of the American Dietetic Association, published online July 25, 2011

In conjunction with the World Health Organization World Mental Health (WMH) Survey Initiative, researchers from 20 centres collaborated to investigate the prevalence of depression around the globe. To be classified as having had a Major Depressive Episode (MDE) a person was additionally required to fulfil five out of nine criteria including sadness, loss of interest or pleasure, feelings of guilt or low self-worth, disturbed sleep or appetite, low energy and poor concentration.

Based on detailed interviews with over 89,000 people, the results showed that 15% of the population from high-income countries (compared to 11% for low/middle-income countries) were likely to get depression over their lifetime with 5.5% having had depression in the last year. MDE were elevated in high-income countries (28% compared to 20%) and were especially high (over 30%) in France, the Netherlands, and America. The country with the lowest incidence was China at 12% but, in contrast, MDE were very common in India (at almost 36%).

Some aspects were cross cultural – women were twice as likely to suffer depression as men and the loss of a partner, whether from death, divorce or separation, was a main contributing factor. However the contribution of age varied from country to country. Age of onset of depression was almost two years earlier in low income countries and, while the amount of difficulty a person had with aspects of their life increased with depression and how recent their last attack was, it was more apparent in people from high income countries.

This is the first study which uses a standardized method to compare depression and MDE across countries and cultures. We have shown that depression is a significant public-health concern across all regions of the world and is strongly linked to social conditions. Understanding the patterns and causes of depression can help global initiatives in reducing the impact of depression on individual lives and in reducing the burden to society," Professor Evelyn Bromet from State University of New York at Stony Brook was quoted as saying.

SOURCE: BioMed, published online July 25, 2011

Urinary tract infections are common in women, affecting nearly half at some point in their lives. The authors note that up to 30 percent of women develop recurrent UTIs (rUTIs), a condition for which a low-dose antibiotic is frequently used as a preventive measure. "However, this may lead to drug resistance not only of the causative microorganisms but also of the indigenous flora," the authors were quoted as saying. Studies of cranberries and cranberry products have shown some effectiveness in preventing rUTIs, but these trials have not compared those interventions directly with TMP-SMX, the standard antibiotic used in these cases.

Mariëlle A.J. Beerepoot, MD., from the Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, and colleagues conducted a double-blind noninferiority trial of cranberry capsules and TMP-SMX. The 221 participants were premenopausal adult women who had reported at least three symptomatic UTIs in the previous year. They were randomized to take either TMP-SMX (480 mg at night, plus one placebo capsule twice daily) or cranberry capsules (500 mg twice daily, plus one placebo tablet at night) for 12 months. Researchers assessed participants’ clinical status once a month (and for three months after stopping the study medication) via urine and faeces samples and a questionnaire; participants also submitted urine samples when they experienced UTI-like symptoms.

At 12 months, the average number of clinical recurrences was 1.8 in the TMP-SMX group and 4.0 in the cranberry capsules group. Recurrence occurred, on average, after eight months in the drug group and after four months in the cranberry capsules group. Antibiotic resistance rates tripled in the pathogens found in patients in the TMP-SMX group, although three months after the drug was discontinued, resistance rates returned to the levels they had been at when the study began.

The antibiotic used in this study appeared to be more effective at preventing rUTIs than cranberry capsules, but the researchers noted that achieving this result also seemed to increase the rate of antibiotic resistance. "From clinical practice and during the recruitment phase of this study, we learned that many women are afraid of contracting drug-resistant bacteria using long-term antibiotic prophylaxis and preferred either no or nonantibiotic prophylaxis," they report. "In those women, cranberry prophylaxis may be a useful alternative despite its lower effectiveness."

SOURCE: JAMA, published online July 25, 2011

Dr. Lorien E. Urban of Tufts University in Boston and her colleagues conducted a study to evaluate the overall accuracy of restaurant stated energy contents. Food from 42 restaurants were ordered as a take out meal and subsequently analysed at a laboratory for caloric content. These restaurants and food items were selected at random from quick serve and sit down restaurants in Massachusetts, Arkansas, and Indiana. Of the 269 food items tested, 40 percent had measured energy contents of at least ten calories per portion higher than what was stated and 52 percent had measured energy contents at least ten calories per portion lower than the stated energy contents.

Researchers determined that there was a significantly greater variability in the discrepancy between the stated and measured energy contents of all the foods that were tested. Foods with lower energy contents actually contained higher measured energy contents while foods with higher stated energy contents contained lower measured energy. The authors of this study suggest that a potential reason why foods have inaccurate stated energy contents may be poor quality control of portion size.

Lorien E. Urban was quotes saying, "Although our study showed that stated energy contents in restaurants are relatively accurate on average, thus supporting greater availability of this information, projected benefits for preventing weight gain and facilitating weight loss are likely to be reduced if restaurant foods with lower stated energy contents provide more energy content than stated. Additional portion control in restaurants has the potential to facilitate individual efforts to reduce energy intake and to help resolved the national obesity epidemic."

SOURCE: JAMA, July 19, 2011

Exposure to SHS is associated with increased risk of hearing loss among adolescents, according to this study.

Studies have associated exposure to second-hand smoke prenatally or during childhood with various health conditions, from low birth weight and respiratory infections to behavioural problems and otitis media. Children exposed to SHS are more likely to develop recurrent otitis media. "Second-hand smoke may also have the potential to have an impact on auditory development, leading to sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL)," the authors say.

Dr. Anil K. Lalwani and colleagues from NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City examined the risk factors for SNHL, including SHS, among adolescents, stratified by demographic groups. They included 1,533 individuals from 12 years to 19 years of age who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 2005 to 2006. Participants were interviewed about their health status and family medical history, exposure to SHS, and self-recognition of hearing impairment. In addition, they underwent a physical examination, including blood testing for cotinine (a by-product of nicotine exposure), and hearing tests.

Compared with teens who had no SHS exposure, those who were exposed to second-hand smoke exhibited higher rates of low- and high-frequency hearing loss. The rate of hearing loss appeared to be cumulative, increasing with the level of cotinine detected by blood tests. The results also demonstrated that more than 80 percent of participants with hearing loss did not realize they had impairment.

As hearing loss early in life can cause problems with development and functioning, the authors suggested that these results have "significant implications for public health in the United States." They noted that most adolescents do not receive screening for hearing loss in the absence of risk factors; if further studies replicate these results, they state, SHS could be considered one such risk factor. "Adolescents who are exposed to SHS may need to be more closely monitored for hearing loss," the researchers concluded. "In addition, they should be educated about risk factors for hearing loss, such as recreational or occupational noise exposure and SHS."

SOURCE: Archives of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery, published online July 18, 2011

About 33.9 million people have Alzheimer’s disease worldwide, and researchers expect that number to triple in the next 40 years.

In the new study, presented at the Alzheimer’s Association 2011 International Conference in Paris, researchers reviewed data related to predisposing factors for Alzheimer’s. They identified seven risk factors: low educational attainment, smoking, physical inactivity, depression, midlife obesity, midlife high blood pressure and diabetes.

Results suggest a 25 percent reduction in all seven risk factors could prevent as many as 3 million cases of Alzheimer’s disease worldwide.

The researchers found low educational attainment contributed to the largest proportion of Alzheimer’s cases worldwide, and smoking contributed to the second largest proportion of cases. Physical inactivity came in third.

"What really mattered was how common the risk factors were in the population. In the USA, about a third of the population is sedentary, so a large number of Alzheimer’s cases are potentially attributable to physical inactivity. Worldwide, low education was more important because so many people throughout the world are illiterate or are not educated beyond elementary school. Smoking also contributed to a large percentage of cases because it is unfortunately still really common," Deborah Barnes from the University of California, San Francisco, was quoted as saying.

These findings suggest there are ways to reduce the preventable risk factors that contribute to Alzheimer’s disease.

SOURCE: The Alzheimer’s Association 2011 International Conference on Alzheimer’s Disease in Paris and published online in The Lancet

The randomized, controlled clinical trial is the first to document that milk protein lowers blood pressure for people with pre-hypertension and stage-1 high blood pressure.
Systolic blood pressure is the top number in a blood pressure reading and gauges the pressure when the heart contracts.

The 352 adults in the study were at increased risk of high blood pressure or had mild cases of the condition.
"Some previous observational research on eating carbohydrates inconsistently suggested that a high carbohydrate diet might help reduce blood pressure," according to Dr. He, an epidemiologist at Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine in New Orleans, La. "In contrast, our clinical trial directly compares soy protein with milk protein on blood pressure, and shows they both lower blood pressure better than carbohydrates."

Participants were age 22 or older, with systolic blood pressure ranging from 120 to 159 mmHg and diastolic blood pressure from 80 to 95 mmHg. Each was randomly assigned to take 40 grams of soy protein, milk protein or a refined carbohydrate supplement every day, for eight weeks each.

Each eight-week phase was followed by a three-week washout period when study participants did not take supplements. Blood pressure readings were taken three times at each of two clinical visits before and two clinical visits after each eight-week phase, yielding a net blood pressure change for each supplement period. The study results showed no decrease in diastolic blood pressure.

"The systolic blood pressure differences we found are small for the individual, but they are important at the population level," Dr. He is quoted as saying.

Based on previous research, a 2 mmHg decrease in systolic blood pressure could lead to 6 percent fewer stroke-related deaths, a 4 percent lower rate of heart disease deaths and a 3 percent reduction in overall deaths among Americans.

SOURCE: Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association, published online July 18, 2011

The study concluded that when it came to patient-reported outcomes, placebos were equally as effective as the standard medical treatment in helping to relieve patients’ discomfort and their self-described asthma symptoms.

The purpose of this study was to see if the placebo effect actually exists. The study examined 39 patients diagnosed with chronic asthma that were randomly assigned to undergo treatment with an active albuterol inhaler (the standard medical treatment), with a placebo albuterol inhaler, with a shame acupuncture, or with no intervention at all. The study’s conclusion showed that the treatment with the albuterol inhaler resulted in a 20 percent increase in maximum forced expiratory volume in one second. This result compared with an increase of about seven percent for each of the two placebo treatments as well as the "no treatment" control.

Since there was no difference between either of the placebo treatments and the placebo ‘control’ [no treatment], we can report that there was no objective placebo effect with regard to change in lung function. Patient’s descriptions of their systems suggest however that a subjective placebo effect does exist. Patients reported statistically significant symptomatic improvement with albuterol, as well as with the placebo inhaler and with the sham acupuncture.

Upon examining the results, researchers involved in the study were surprised to find that there was no placebo effect in this experiment at first glance. Once they reviewed patients’ subjective descriptions of how they felt however, for both the active treatment and the placebo treatment, it became very apparent that the placebos were as effective as the active drug in helping patients to feel better.

Ted Kaptchuk, senior author of the study and director of the program in placebo studies at BIDMC and associate professor of medicine at HMS was quoted saying, "It is clear that for the patient, the ritual treatment can be very powerful. This study suggests that in addition to active therapies for fixing diseases, the idea of receiving care is a critical component of what patient’s value in health care. In a climate of patient dissatisfaction, this may be an important lesson."

SOURCE: The New England Journal of Medicine, July 13, 2011

According to background information in the article, the majority of studies of eating disorder–related death rates focus on AN. Some research of bulimia nervosa (BN) implies that death rates are low for this condition. Moreover, there is limited information about the likelihood of death with eating disorders not otherwise specified (EDNOS), disordered eating that does not meet the criteria for AN or BN. "Despite EDNOS being a common presentation in eating disorders services, few published data exist regarding mortality rates in patients given this diagnosis," the authors were quoted as saying. In this study, the investigators sought to determine the death rates (and the factors thereof) for each of these types of eating disorders.

Jon Arcelus, L.M.S., MSc., M.R.C.Psych., PhD., from Leicester General Hospital in Leicester, England, and colleagues systematically searched, assessed and analysed studies related to eating disorder death rates. They included English-language, peer reviewed articles published between January 1966 and September 2010 from a variety of scientific-literature database and collections. The researchers examined 36 studies; almost all included AN, one-third included BN, and one-fifth included EDNOS. The studies included 17,272 different patients with eating disorders and reported a total of 755 deaths.

The total number of person-years represented by the studies was 166,642 for AN; 32,798 for BN; and 22,644 for EDNOS. For each 1,000 person-years, the AN group experienced 5.1 deaths (1.3 of which were from suicide), the BN group experienced 1.7 deaths, and the EDNOS group experienced 3.3 deaths. The standardized mortality ratio (the number of actual deaths compared with the number of expected deaths) was 5.86 for AN, 1.93 for BN and 1.92 for EDNOS. The age at which a patient presented for treatment was found to correlate with AN deaths, with patients in their late teens and 20s having a higher death rate than younger patients or those in their 30s.

SOURCE: Archives of General Psychiatry, published online July 4, 2011

The Department of Health defines a major incident as "any event whose impact cannot be handled within routine service arrangements." It involves special procedures by one or more of the emergency services, the NHS, or a Local Authority.
As such, every UK hospital has a Major Incident Contingency Plan, to help it best manage the extraordinary demands likely to be imposed on it during this time. Every healthcare professional has a dedicated page in this plan, explaining their contacts, roles, and responsibilities, known as an "action card."
But a survey of 89 junior doctors in three NHS hospital trusts in Wales showed about nine out of 10 (91%) didn’t know what would be expected of them in the event of a major incident.

Standard procedure in Wales is that once a major incident is confirmed, junior doctors should go to their ward, contact the senior nurse in charge, and compile a list of patients who could safely be discharged while managing the others who can’t. Should they be needed elsewhere, they will be contacted by a senior doctor or the hospital control centre.
However, the survey responses indicated that almost half (47%) would initially go the emergency care department, while more than one in four (27%) had no idea where they should go.

Almost one in three (31%) didn’t know whom they should contact, while 16% said they would contact the switchboard, which would be shut during a major incident.

The junior doctors were also unsure of their primary role, with 16% believing this would be triage of injured patients, and over half (53%) expecting to clerk in patients in emergency care or the medical/surgical assessment units.
Only 3% would first go their ward, and only around one in 10 (12%) believed their primary role would involve ward patients. Only 1% would list patients for discharge.

Most (90%) of the junior doctors recognized the gaps in their knowledge and asked for some teaching on the subject. As the author points out, this is not included in medical school curricula or induction programs for junior doctors in Wales.
"Staff [who are] unaware of their roles and responsibilities will turn a major incident into a major disaster," the author was quoted as saying.

SOURCE: BMJ Open, published online June 29, 2011

During the study mice that were fed a low protein diet for ten weeks before conception (but had a normal diet during pregnancy) gave birth to offspring that had lower birth weights, showed catch-up growth after weaning and increased insulin sensitivity.

"Low birth weight and catch-up growth is associated with enhanced insulin-sensitivity in young adults, this then deteriorates into insulin resistance and type II diabetes with increased age," MSc researcher, Ms Anete Dudele, from the University of Aarhus, was quoted as saying.

"There is also evidence that male offspring are more likely to develop obesity."

Humans and mice respond in the same way to poor diet during pregnancy; their offspring show low birth weights and increased risk of obesity, type II diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

"If humans respond in the same way as mice to preconception diet as well then women should not only consider what they eat during pregnancy but also before pregnancy if they want to reduce the risk of their future children acquiring lifestyle diseases," says Ms. Dudele.

Cardiovascular disease is often associated with obesity and type II diabetes and future research by the team will determine whether offspring born to mothers who had poor preconception diets are predisposed to these types of problems as well.

SOURCE: Society for Experimental Biology Annual Conference in Glasgow on Saturday July 2, 2011

This recent study shows that fisetin, a naturally-occurring flavonoid found most abundantly in strawberries lessens complications caused by diabetes. Flavonoids are significant to the body because they help protect blood vessels from rupturing or leaking, enhance the power of vitamin C, protect cells from oxygen damage, and prevent excessive inflammation throughout the body.
Pam Maher, PhD., senior staff scientist at the Salk Institute’s Cellular Neurobiology Lab, initially identified fisetin as a neuro-protective flavonoid ten years ago.

Maher was quoted as saying, "In plants, flavonoids act as sunscreens and protective leaves and fruits from insects. As foods they are implemented in the protective effect of the Mediterranean Diet."

To test the benefits of fisetin, Maher and her colleagues evaluated the effects of this flavonoid supplementation in Akita mice, a robust model of type I diabetes also known as child onset diabetes. The mice exhibited increased blood sugar typical of type I diabetes and displayed pathologies seen in human complications of both types I and II of diabetes such as kidney disease.

Mice fed a fisetin-enriched diet remained diabetic however, acute kidney enlargement seen in the untreated mice was reversed and high urine protein levels, a sign of kidney disease, fell. The study also suggested that there is a likely molecular mechanism underlying these effects.

Researchers observed that blood and brain levels of sugar affixed to proteins, known as advanced glycation end-products or AGEs, were reduced in fisetin-treated mice compared to those that were untreated. This finding is substantial because research implicates that high blood AGE levels accompany many, if not most, diabetic complications. Excessively high AGE levels also correlate with inflammatory activity thought to promote some cancers.

In order to ingest fisetin levels equivalent to those fed to the Akita mice, Maher estimates that humans would have to consume up to 37 strawberries each day. For this reason, rather than through diet, Maher envisions fisetin-like drugs could be taken as a supplement.

David Schubert, PhD., professor and head of the Cellular Neurobiology Laboratory concurs that the findings of this study only reinforce the common knowledge taught to us by our mothers such as eating a balanced diet with as many freshly prepared organic foods as possible. He worries about the hoops that need to be jumped through to bring a natural product like fisetin to clinical trials.

Schubert was quoted saying, "We will never know if a compound like fisetin works in humans until someone is willing to support a clinical trial."

SOURCE: PLoS ONE, June 27, 2011

"We have new tools for early identification of cardiac and arterial problems in people with type 1 diabetes," Elaine Urbina, MD, a cardiologist at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, was quoted as saying.

"This means we can intensify therapy to improve glycaemic control and reduce cardiovascular risk factors, especially obesity, thereby improving cardiovascular outcomes in people with type 1 diabetes.

The researchers studied 162 people between the ages of 17 and 23. Seventy-eight percent had type 1 diabetes and the remainder were the control group. After adjusting for age, race, sex and lipids, people with type 1 diabetes had both thicker and stiffer carotids than the control group.

SOURCE: American Diabetes Association in San Diego on June 27, 2011

Dr. Laurence Gruer from NHS Health Scotland and his colleagues reviewed the cases of 3,613 women who had never smoked. During the follow-up period of 28 years, half of the women died, including 916 from diseases of the heart and circulation and 487 from cancer. The results show that women in lower occupational groups who were nonsmokers were more likely to die from heart disease and were also more likely to be severely obese compared to the women who smoked.

Dr. Gruer commented that where obesity is more common in disadvantaged groups, it may contribute to health inequalities and increase the burden on local health and social services.

It is important to note just how bad smoking is, even if this study concluded a higher number of deaths resulted from obesity.

Professor Johan Mackenbach from the Erasmus Medical Centre in Rotterdam was quoted as saying, "It is important not to forget that smoking is a much stronger risk factor for mortality than most other risk factors…inequalities in mortality persist among those who have never smoked partly because obesity takes over the role of smoking, but they persist at a much lower level, and that is good news for whoever wants to reduce health inequalities."

SOURCE: British Medical Journal, June 28, 2011

Vitamin D is known for its role in bone-growth while also affecting non-skeletal cells. Vitamin D controls how quickly cells replicate, a process often impacted by cancer. Various institutions have suggested that vitamin D is also associated with lower risks of colon, breast, prostate, and other cancers.

Dermatologist Jean Tang, MD., PhD analysed a study that followed 36,000 women ages 50 to 79 for an average of seven years. Half of these women took a daily dose of 1,000 mg calcium and 400 IU of vitamin D while the control half took a placebo pill. The lack of protective effect in women without a history in non-melanoma skin cancer may be due to the amount of vitamin D given to the patients during the trial. Patients in the placebo group were allowed to take as much vitamin D as the patients that were provided the calcium and vitamin D supplement, thus the experimental difference between these two groups was small.

David Feldman, MD., professor emeritus of endocrinology and coauthor of the study was quoted as saying, "It’s somewhat surprising that there was an effect on melanoma risk, and I think many potential benefits of vitamin D may not have been detected."

Men were not included in the study. Researcher can not be sure whether the protective effect of the supplements would also apply to men with a history of non-melanoma skin cancer.

Tang was quoted as saying, "These results spur us to do more studies."

Tang plans to do multiple lines of research to examine the potential relationship between vitamin D and cancer prevention.

SOURCE: Journal of Clinical Oncology, June 27, 2011

"Skipping breakfast throws off the normal circadian rhythm of fasting and feeding. Breakfast is the worst time to skip a meal," Dr. David Ludwig, a nutrition expert at Harvard-affiliated Children’s Hospital Boston, was quoted as saying.

Carbohydrates in your breakfast should include fibre and if you’re after protein, make sure it’s lean. Other tips include:

• Read food labels. Check out the serving size and calories. And if it’s a grain-based food, you make sure a whole grain of some kind (wheat, oats, etc.) is listed first on the ingredients list.

• Watch your coffee. Many you get at your coffee shop are unhealthy high-calorie, high–saturated fat versions of your basic cup of coffee.

• Only eat processed meats occasionally. Processed meats like bacon and sausage have been associated with a higher risk of colorectal cancer, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes

• An egg a day is okay. One a day is okay for most healthy people. One whole egg doesn’t appear to increase the risk for developing heart disease.

• Choose fruit over juice. Whole has more fibre.

• Blend up a breakfast smoothie. You can combine fruit, juice, yogurt, wheat germ, and other ingredients in a blender and make something delicious and healthful.

Source: Harvard Health Letter, June 2011

Researchers found the combination of Pycnogenol (which contains the pine bark) and Coenzyme Q10 increases the blood volume ejected with each heartbeat in stable heart failure patients who undergo medical therapy. Investigators called the combination supplement "PycnoQ10." They also found blood pressure, heart rate and respiratory rates improved among patients taking the combination supplement.

"Many conditions that lead to heart failure cannot be reversed, but heart failure can often be medically managed with good results," Dr. Gianni Belcaro, a lead researcher of the study, was quoted as saying. "This study shows that a combination of Pycnogenol and CoQ10 offers an effective, natural solution as adjunct for heart health management."

The 12-week study included 53 patients between ages 54 and 68 who had mild to moderate high blood pressure and stable congestive heart failure. All the patients were prescribed heart medication, and most of them used three or more drugs for heart failure treatment.

The patients were divided into two groups. One group received capsules with a combination of 15 mg Pycnogenol and 50 mg CoQ10 (the PycnoQ10 group). The second group received placebo capsules in addition to their prescription medication. They were all instructed to take seven capsules, in the morning after breakfast, each day.

Results showed systolic and diastolic blood pressure was lowered from 139.2 to 133.2 mmHG and 82.3 to 77.3 mmHG in the PycnoQ10 group compared to 140.3 to 139.4 mmHG and 83.4 to 81.2 mmHG in the placebo group. Heart rate was also lowered from 78.4 to 74.2 beats per minute in the PycnoQ10 group compared to 79.1 to 78.4 in the control group.

The physical ability of patients in the PycnoQ10 group also improved. They had a 3.3-times longer walking distance on a treadmill compared to just a marginal improvement in the control group.

"Coenzyme Q10 has been extensively researched for its ability to strengthen the heart muscle, specifically in patients with heart failure. Preclinical trials have suggested that Pycnogenol strengthens heart chamber walls and dilates arteries," Dr. Belcaro said. "These preliminary observations suggest that the respective contributions of Coenzyme Q10 and Pycnogenol in PycnoQ10 may significantly improve heart health."

SOURCE: Panminerva Medica, June 2011

The study was conducted on 120,877 U.S. women and men who didn’t have any chronic diseases and weren’t obese at baseline. The relationships between changes in lifestyle factors and weight change were evaluated every 4 years.

The researchers found that within each 4-year period, participants gained an average of 3.35 lbs. On a daily servings basis, 4-year weight change was most closely associated with the intake of potato chips, potatoes, sugar-sweetened beverages, unprocessed red meats, and processed meats and was inversely associated with the intake of vegetables, whole grains, nuts, and yogurt.

Because efforts to lose weight pose tremendous challenges, primary prevention of weight gain is a global priority. Several lifestyle behaviours may influence whether or not a person can maintain energy balance (calories in = calories out) over the long term. For instance, the consumption of sugar sweetened beverages, sweets, and processed foods may make it harder to do so, whereas the consumption of whole grains, fruits and vegetables might make it easier. In addition, the duration of television viewing and of sleep may influence energy consumption, energy expenditure or both.

SOURCE: New England Journal of Medicine, published online June 23, 2011

The annual rate of catastrophic injury in sports or recreational activities is 6.9 per 100 000 participants, and many of the injured are children and youth under age 21.

"Reducing lifelong disability from sports injuries in children and youth demands a public health solution similar to that used to combat smoking and drunk driving," Drs. Alun Ackery, University of Toronto, and Allan Detsky, Mount Sinai Hospital, with CMAJ Editor-in-Chief Paul Hébert and the editorial writing team, were quoted as saying.

"A coordinated, multifaceted approach involving awareness, education and rule changes is required."

It is important to rest when injured, but our society often admires athletes who continue to play while injured.

"Unnecessary risk taking and violent physical contact in sport need to be ‘denormalized’ through education and awareness campaigns," the authors said.

They suggest that changing rules regarding risk and injury will work. Parents can pressure sports organizations to change rules, former professional athletes who suffered debilitating injuries can help, and the medical professional can provide evidence about what how to prevent injury and create guidelines for recovery times before returning to play.

"This is about keeping our young players healthy to enjoy the rest of their lives," the authors concluded. "Unnecessary lifelong disability will not help anyone, least of all a minor who cannot fully appreciate the consequences of serious injury."

SOURCE: Canadian Medical Association Journal, published online June 20, 2011

Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in the United States and is the second-leading cause of cancer death among men in this country. The disease affects one in six men during their lifetime.

Researchers studied 5,366 men who were diagnosed with prostate cancer between 1986 and 2006. They documented 1,630 deaths and found men with prostate cancer who were current smokers had a 61% increased risk of dying from prostate cancer. These patients also had a 61% higher risk of recurrence when compared to men who never smoked.

Smoking was also linked to a more aggressive disease at diagnosis, which was defined as a higher clinical stage Gleason grade (a measure of prostate cancer severity). Men with non-metastatic disease at diagnosis who smoked had an 80% increased risk of dying from prostate cancer.

The encouraging news was that compared to current smokers, men with prostate cancer who had quit smoking for 10 or more years or who had quit for less than 10 years but smoked less than 20 pack-years before diagnosis, had a prostate cancer mortality risk that was similar to those who had never smoked. However, men who had quit smoking for less than 10 years and had smoked 20 or more pack-years had risks that were similar to the current smokers.

These data are exciting because there are few known ways for a man to reduce his risk of dying from prostate cancer. For smokers, quitting can impact their risk of dying from prostate cancer. This is another reason to not smoke.

SOURCE: Journal of the American Medical Association, June 22-29, 2011

Researchers followed a group of children from birth to adulthood, and made periodic contact with the parents to find out about pet exposure and allergies. At age 18, 565 study participants supplied blood samples to the researchers who measured antibodies to dog and cat allergens in the samples.

They found that being exposed to a pet in the first year of life was the most important exposure period, and the exposure seemed to be protective in some groups. Young men whose families had kept an indoor dog during their first year of life had about half the risk of becoming sensitized to dogs compared to those whose families didn’t keep a dog.

Both men and women were about half as likely to be sensitized to cats if they lived with a cat in the first year of life, compared to those who didn’t.

Scientists say this research provides further evidence that experiences in the first year of life are associated with health status later in life, and that early life pet exposure does not put most children at risk of being sensitized to these animals later in life.

SOURCE: Clinical & Experimental Allergy Reveals, published online June 13, 2011

The researchers found that among wives, taking longer to fall asleep at night predicted their reports of more negative and less positive marital interactions the next day. It also predicted their husband’s reports of less positive marital interaction the following day. In contrast, husbands’ sleep did not affect their own or their wife’s report of next day’s marital interactions.

"We found that wives’ sleep problems affect her own and her spouse’s marital functioning the next day, and these effects were independent of depressive symptoms," according to study leader Wendy M. Troxel, PhD, assistant professor of psychiatry at the University Of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in Pittsburgh.

"Specifically, wives who took longer to fall asleep the night before reported poorer marital functioning the next day, and so did their husbands."

The study involved 32 healthy, married couples with an average age of 32 years married. Sleep latency, wakefulness after sleep onset, and total sleep time were measured by actigraphy, which is a method of monitoring human rest/activity cycles, for 10 nights. The quality of marital interactions were measured daily over the 10-day assessment using electronic diaries to evaluate positive marital interactions such as feeling supported or valued by their spouse, as well as negative marital interactions such as feeling criticized or ignored by their spouse.

The relationship between nightly sleep and next day’s marital interactions was stronger than the association between daily marital interactions and subsequent sleep. Although, husbands’ reports of higher levels of positive marital interactions predicted their own shorter sleep duration the next night.

The researchers say the outcomes show that sleep disorders such as insomnia can have a negative impact on marital relationships.

These results highlight the importance of considering the interpersonal consequences of sleep and sleep loss.

SOURCE: SLEEP 2011, the 25th Anniversary Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies LLC, in Minneapolis, MN, June 14, 2011.

According to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, BPA is a chemical that has been used for more than 40 years in the manufacture of many hard plastic food containers such as baby bottles and reusable cups and the lining of metal food and beverage cans, including canned liquid infant formula. Trace amounts of BPA can be found in some foods packaged in these containers.

Researchers from the University of Missouri compared BPA concentrations in mice that were given a steady diet supplemented with BPA throughout the day. They continuously exposed the mice to BPA through their feed, which is considered the primary route of exposure in animals and humans. In previous studies, mice received a one-time administration of BPA.

The researchers found an increased absorption and accumulation of BPA in the blood of the mice that were exposed to BPA via their diets. Following the exposure through the diet, a significantly greater increase in the active form of BPA, which is the greatest threat as it is the form that can bind to sex steroid receptors and exert adverse effects, was absorbed and accumulated in the animals.

"People are primarily and unknowingly exposed to BPA through the diet because of the various plastic and paper containers used to store our food are formulated with BPA. We know that the active form of BPA binds to our steroid receptors, meaning it can affect oestrogen, thyroid and testosterone function. It might also cause genetic mutations. Thus, this chemical can hinder our ability to reproduce and possibly cause behavioural abnormalities that we are just beginning to understand.

According to the study, more than 8 billion pounds of BPA are produced every year, and more than 90 percent of people in the United States have measurable amounts of BPA in their bodies.

"We believe that these mouse model studies where the BPA exposure is through the diet is a more accurate representation of what happens to BPA as the human body attempts to processes this toxic substance," researchers say. When BPA is taken through the food, the active form may remain in the body for a longer period of time than when it is provided through a single treatment, which does not reflect the continuous exposure that occurs in animal and human populations. We need to study this further to determine where the ingested BPA becomes concentrated and subsequently released back into the bloodstream to be distributed throughout the body.

SOURCE: Environmental Health Perspectives, June 6, 2011

High fat at birth is a possible risk factor for childhood obesity, according to the study’s principal investigator, Jami Josefson, MD, a paediatric endocrinologist at Chicago’s Children’s Memorial Hospital and assistant professor at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

"Previous studies have shown that children of mothers who gain too much weight during pregnancy are more likely to be overweight for their age," Josefson was quoted as saying.

"However, not all these studies accounted for the mother’s diabetes status during pregnancy, which is a known risk factor for offspring obesity."

The new study aimed to find out whether pregnant women who gain more than the recommended amount of weight have fat infants.

This study used a new infant body composition system (Pea Pod) that employs an air-displacement technique, which Josefson said accurately and safely measures newborn body fat. This technique requires the infant to lie in a machine for two minutes. Newborns in the study underwent measurements of length, weight and fat within 48 hours of birth.

Of the 56 mothers the researchers studied, 31 women were within guidelines for pregnancy weight gain, and 25 exceeded the guidelines. The Institute of Medicine recommends that women at a healthy weight before pregnancy gain 25 to 35 pounds while expecting a single baby; overweight women, 15 to 25 pounds; and obese women, 11 to 20 pounds.

Results showed that women who were obese before pregnancy were more likely than healthy-weight women to exceed the weight-gain guidelines (70 percent verses 31 percent). However, regardless of pre-pregnancy weight, women who put on more than the recommended weight gave birth to significantly fatter babies. Their newborns had 490 grams, or 17.5 ounces, of body fat, whereas newborns of women who stayed within the guidelines had 390 grams (13.9 ounces) of fat. This higher obesity risk existed even when birth weight was normal.

"Excessive weight gain during pregnancy, regardless of pre-pregnancy weight, is an important risk factor for newborn obesity," Josefson says. "More research is needed to determine if high amounts of fat at birth are associated with high amounts of fat in childhood."

SOURCE: The Endocrine Society’s 93rd Annual Meeting held in Boston from June 4-7, 2011

"Skin and bones share common building blocks—proteins, and aging is accompanied by changes in skin and deterioration of bone quantity and quality," Lubna Pal, associate professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynaecology & Reproductive Science at Yale School of Medicine, was quoted as saying.

Pal and her research team studied this theory in a subgroup of early menopausal women within three years of their last menstrual period. The investigators assessed skin wrinkles at 11 locations on the face and neck using a pictoral scale in 114 of the enrollees, and assessed skin rigidity at the forehead and the cheek using a device called the durometer. Skeletal mass and density were studied by dual X-ray absorptiometery as well as by a portable heel ultrasound device.

"We found that deepening and worsening skin wrinkles are related to lower bone density among the study participants," said Pal, who is director of the Reproductive Aging and Bone Health Program at Yale. "The worse the wrinkles, the lesser the bone density, and this relationship was independent of age or of factors known to influence bone mass."

In contrast to the skin wrinkles, Pal further noted, higher durometer scores–indicating higher skin rigidity—related to better bone density.

"Our findings that the appearance and physical properties of the skin can reflect the quality of the skeleton are noteworthy because this may allow clinicians to identify fracture risk in postmenopausal women ‘at a glance’ without depending on costly tests," said Pal.

SOURCE: Endocrine Society Meeting held in Boston, Mass. on June 6, 2011

Paediatrician and research fellow at Athens University School of Medicine in Athens, Greece, Dr. Antonia Dastamani, states, "Dieters commonly splurge on a dessert once a week, usually choosing a fattening item. However, we found a positive effect of more frequent consumption of desserts that have a low glycaemic index and low glycaemic load."

Carbohydrates have a low glycaemic index (GI) if they induce glucose or blood sugar levels at a slower rate than other carbohydrates. The glycaemic load (GL) depends on serving size and is the food’s total effect on blood sugar. Obesity can cause insulin resistance which results in higher blood sugar levels and can set the stage for the development of diabetes.

Dastamani and her colleagues studied the effects of incorporating certain low calorie, low GI/GL desserts containing sugar substitutes, into a balanced diet. Investigators studied the effects of two diets in 29 girls, ages 10 to 14 years old that had a body mass index in the 85th percentile or above, considered overweight or obese. A group of 15 girls ate a diet consisting of 45 percent carbohydrates, 35 percent fats, and 20 percent proteins, including the low GI/GL desserts four times a week. The other group of 14 girls followed the same diet except rather than consume the low GI/GL dessert, they ate desserts of their choice once a week.

After three months on the diet, both groups improved their body mass index, however, the group that ate the low GI/GL desserts lost significantly more weight while improving levels of appetite suppressing hormone, leptin. These girls also had better improvements in certain biochemical markers of insulin resistance.

"Childhood obesity is pandemic, and dietary changes among overweight and obese children must be a priority. Desserts with a low glycaemic index and load, when eaten in moderation, are valuable tools in the treatment of paediatric obesity," according to Dastamani.

SOURCE: The Endocrine Society, June 6, 2011

Muscle wasting is a frequent companion of illness and aging, it prolongs hospitalization, delays recoveries, and in some cases, prevents people from going back home. It isn’t well understood, and there is no medicine for it. Or so it was always assumed.

A team of researchers looked at what happens to gene activity in muscles under conditions that promote weakening. They found 63 genes that change in response to fasting in both people and mice and another 29 genes that shift their expression in the muscles of people who are fasting and those with spinal cord injuries. After comparing those gene expression signatures to the signatures of cells treated with more than 1,300 bioactive small molecules, the researchers discovered that ursolic acid might counteract atrophy.

The investigators gave ursolic acid to fasted mice. They found ursolic acid could protect against muscle weakening. When ursolic acid was added to the food of normal mice for a period of weeks, their muscles grew. Animals that were given ursolic acid also became leaner and had lower levels of glucose, cholesterol and triglycerides in their blood.

Ursolic acid is an interesting natural compound. It’s part of a normal diet as a component of apple peels. They say that an apple a day keeps the doctor away. Well it sounds like it was based on science!

As always, the scientists say more research is needed to determine if their findings in mice will translate to humans.

SOURCE: Cell Metabolism, June 7, 2011

Scientists have long suspected that remaining on a stable, healthy diet provides the best outcome for health and longevity, however, obese individuals commonly resort to repeated intentional weight loss followed by weight regain, often called yo-yo dieting. While yo-yo dieting is thought to be harmful, there is little hard scientific evidence to support that. Now new evidence shows Yo-Yo may be better than obese.

In order to verify the long-term health effects of yo-yo dieting, researchers performed what they call "the first controlled study of a yo-yo diet regimen used for an entire life span" with the aid of mice.

Thirty mice, in groups of 10 each, received one of three diets: high fat, low fat or a yo-yo diet, consisting of four weeks of the high-fat diet followed by four weeks of the low-fat diet. The mice stayed on their respective diets throughout their life span. Measures of health, including body weight, body fat and blood glucose (sugar) levels, were obtained.

Researchers say the yo-yo diet resulted in considerable fluctuations in these health measures, decreasing during the low-fat diet and increasing to a diabetic state during the high-fat diet. When health measures during the high-fat and low-fat diet regimens of the yo-yo diet group were averaged, their "average health" was improved compared with obese mice that stayed on the high-fat diet, he reported. Compared with the mice fed the high-fat diet, mice on the yo-yo diet lived virtually 35 percent longer.

"Surprisingly, the mice on the yo-yo diet had a similar life span to that of the low-fat-fed group," they conclude.

The fear of negative health consequences due to weight cycling may be overemphasized. From this study, it appears that it is better to continue to encourage weight loss regardless of the number of attempts and failures.

SOURCE: The Endocrine Society’s 93rd Annual Meeting in Boston, June 6,

”It appears that men who walk briskly after their diagnosis may delay or even prevent progression of their disease,” lead researcher Erin Richman, Sc.D., a research associate at the University of California, San Francisco, was quoted as saying.

”Walking is something everyone can and should do to improve their health,” Richman said.
Richman and colleagues observed 1,455 men who were diagnosed with prostate cancer that had not spread beyond the prostate. These patients reported their physical activity by questionnaire about 27 months after their diagnosis and prior to any evidence of recurrence or second treatment.

Researchers recorded 117 events, including biochemical recurrences (elevations in PSA), secondary treatments, bone metastasis and prostate cancer-specific death. They found that men who walked briskly for at least three hours a week had a 57 percent lower rate of progression of disease than men who walked at an easy pace for less than three hours a week.

”The benefit from walking truly depended on how quickly you walked. Walking at an easy pace did not seem to have any benefit,” said Richman.

This collaborative group also recently reported in a separate cohort of men with prostate cancer that vigorous physical activity after diagnosis was associated with a reduced risk of prostate cancer-specific death.

SOURCE: Cancer Research, May 24, 2011

Pulmonary arterial hypertension is a progressive disorder characterized by abnormally high blood pressure (hypertension) in the pulmonary artery, the blood vessel that carries blood from the heart to the lungs.

Although both aspirin and simvastatin are equally efficient in treating myriad types of cardiovascular diseases, these drugs have yet to be well studied in the treatment of PAH. The study was ultimately intended to decide if the drugs could be effectual in the treatment of patients with PAH.

”Surprisingly, we found no evidence that aspirin or simvastatin had beneficial clinical effects in this population, and the study was terminated early by the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute upon the recommendation of the Data and Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB),” which Dr. Steven Kawut, lead author and Associate Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, was quoted as saying.  ”The results of this study do not support the routine treatment of PAH with these medications.”

With 65 patients enrolled in a placebo-controlled trial, researchers randomized the participants into four groups: one in which patients received aspirin, one in which patients received simvastatin, one in which patients received both drugs, and one in which patients received neither drug. The main outcome, six-minute walk distance (6MWD) (a measure of how far a person can walk in six minutes), tended to be lower in the group taking simvastatin at six months. Based on these early results, the DSMB recommended stopping the study since there was a low probability of demonstrating a beneficial effect of simvastatin even if the study enrolled the planned number of subjects (92). There was no significant difference in the 6MWD between the group taking aspirin and the group taking placebo.

”Multiple animal studies have suggested that simvastatin would be effective in PAH, and aspirin has biologic effects which would be expected to benefit PAH patients,” Dr. Kawut said. “The findings show the importance of subjecting traditional cardiovascular therapies and drugs which appear effective in the laboratory to placebo-controlled RCTs in humans before recommending their use.” ”Aspirin and simvastatin may be prescribed for usual clinical indications in patients with PAH, but should not be administered specifically to treat PAH,” he concludes.

SOURCE: ATS 2011 International Conference, May 18, 2011

“Agomelatine appears to not only target the mood symptoms of depression, but also the circadian and sleep-wake symptoms, which likely contribute to its effectiveness,” the authors wrote. “Agomelatine is currently approved in the EU, US and Australia, and represents a significant step forward in the approach to the treatment of depression, and other mood disorders.”

The paper was written by Ian Hickie, a professor from the University of Sydney and Associate Professor Naomi Rogers from Central Queensland University. The authors say the drug improves the mood of depression sufferers just as well as traditional drugs, but it also helps patients who often have trouble sleeping, waking in the night and feeling tired during the daytime. Researchers say agomelatine may be just as effective as other popular antidepressants such as Prozac and Zoloft in the short term. In the long term fewer patients on agomelatine relapse (24 per cent) than do those receiving placebo (50 per cent).

The authors concluded because of the drug’s ability to restore circadian function between depressive episodes, it may be able to manage some patients with severe depression and other major mood disorders. England’s treatment rationing body, the National Institue for Health and Clinical Excellence, is currently examining whether or not agomelatine should be recommended for patients with depression.

SOURCE: Lancet, May 17, 2011

DNA methylation can alter a gene’s typical function, and the altered genes can be passed along from parent to child. For this study, researchers observed DNA methylation-related changes in the AXL gene in children exposed to maternal smoking in utero. This specific gene plays a major role in many human cancers and in immune response.

”We found that children exposed to maternal smoking in utero had a 2.3 percent increase in DNA methylation in AXL,” Carrie Breton, ScD, assistant professor of preventive medicine at The Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California in Los Angeles was quoted as saying.

For the study, Dr. Breton and her team targeted the mothers and grandmothers of nearly 200 children participating in the Early Asthma Risk Factors Study. Using a detailed questionnaire, the researchers assessed their smoking habits during pregnancy. DNA samples collected from cheek cells of mothers and children were also evaluated. Researchers found that DNA methylation of AXL was associated with in utero exposure to maternal smoking. They also found that grand-maternal smoking was not significantly associated with AXL methylation in either the mother or the child.

”Environmental exposures occurring in utero have the potential to affect DNA methylation patterns before birth. Imprinted genes appear to be particularly susceptible to these exposures since they come from one parent and only a single copy from one chromosome in DNA is active,” Dr. Breton was quoted as saying. “Any environmentally induced epigenetic changes will have greater impact on gene expression and function. In utero and early life exposures are likely to be important, given what we know about timing during development when epigenetic marks are established.”

Dr. Breton concluded that investigating the effects of environmental exposures on epigenetics is a largely unexplored area of research, and could hold great promise for understanding biological mechanisms that underlie exposure-disease associations.

SOURCE: ATS 2011 International Conference, May 18, 2011

SOURCE: British Medical Journal, May 19, 2011

Cancer treatments may impair the immune system, which can result in life-threatening infections. Now, new research shows Indian wild plants may play a role in fighting bacterial and fungal infections in the mouths of oral cancer patients.

Bacteria like Staphylococcus aureus are becoming multi-drug resistant, so researchers are looking for remedies other than antibiotics to fight these infections. Investigators from India tested extracts from several plants used in traditional or folk medicine against microbials found in oral cancer patients' mouths. Of the 40 patients studied, 35 had compromised immune systems with severely reduced neutrophil counts.

Results showed eight of the plants tested significantly affected the growth of organisms collected by the oral swab and pure cultures of bacteria and fungi grown in the lab. These included wild asparagus, desert date, false daisy, curry tree, castor oil plant and fenugreek.
Natural medicines are increasingly important in treating disease, and traditional knowledge provides a starting point in the search for plant-based medicines. Importantly, we found that the extraction process had a huge effect on both the specificity and efficacy of the plant extracts against microbes. Nevertheless, several of the plants tested were broad spectrum antibiotics able to combat bacteria including E. coli, S. aureus and the fungi Candida and Aspergillus. Both desert date and castor oil plant were especially able to target bacteria, such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which are known to be difficult to treat with conventional antibiotics,  according to the researchers.

SOURCE: Annals of Clinical Microbiology and Antimicrobials, May 19, 2011

The study showed differences in sleep patterns related to growth depending on the sex of the baby. “Growth spurts were associated with increased sleep bout duration in boys compared with girls and increased number of sleep bouts in girls compared with boys,” says Lampl.
In general, boys in the study exhibited more sleep bouts and shorter sleep bouts than girls. But neither the sex of the infant nor breast-feeding had significant effects on total daily sleep time. However, breast-feeding as opposed to formula feeding was associated with more and shorter sleep bouts.
Unlike previous studies, this study did not rely on parental recall of infant sleep patterns and growth. Instead, data on 23 infants were recorded in real time over a four- to 17-month span. Mothers kept daily diaries detailing sleep onset and awakening and noted whether babies were breast-feeding, formula feeding, or both and whether their infant showed signs of illness, such as vomiting, diarrhoea, fever or rash.

SOURCE: Sleep. May 1, 2011

SOURCE: Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, April, 2011

In this study, researchers compared growth, body composition and blood pressure in three groups of healthy, fullterm newborns. One group received only breast milk for the first four months of life. The two other groups were randomized to receive either a low-protein formula with 1.8 grams of protein/100 kilocalories (g/kcal) or a high-protein formula with 2.7 g/100 kcal.

After four months, the formula-fed infants continued to receive the same formula, and the breast-fed infants were assigned to the low-protein formula, if needed.
Researchers, who followed 234 children for three years, found that exclusive breast-feeding during the first weeks of life induced a specific pattern of growth and a specific metabolic profile, which appeared to differ in formula-fed infants. The protein content in infant formula may be a key factor in inducing these differences.

As early as 15 days of life, blood insulin levels were lower in breast-fed infants than in formula-fed infants. These differences persisted at 4 months of age, but no differences were seen at 9 months.

Growth patterns also were different between groups during the first year of life, but by 3 years of age, there no longer was any difference in length, weight or body composition (fat mass, lean body mass) between groups. The exception was head circumference, which was slightly lower in the low-protein formula group but still well within the normal range.

At 3 years, an unexpected result was that diastolic and mean blood pressures were higher in the infants who had been fed the high-protein formula compared to the breast-fed infants, Dr. Putet noted. However, these levels were still within the normal range.

”It appears that formula feeding induces differences in some hormonal profiles as well as in patterns of growth compared with breast-feeding,” study coauthor Guy Putet, MD was quoted as saying. “The long-term consequences of such changes are not well-understood in humans and may play a role in later health. Well-designed studies with long-term follow-up are needed.”
If breast-feeding is not possible, Dr. Putet concluded infants should be fed formulas that allow a growth pattern and a metabolic profile similar to that of breast-fed infants.

SOURCE: Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) annual meeting held in Denver, Colorado on May 2, 2011

SOURCE: Presented at the National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS), Boston, August 23, 2010.

SOURCE: British Medical Journal, published online Jan. 31, 2006

SOURCE: PEDIATRICS, 2006;118:1635-1643; Journal of Adolescent Health, 2006;39:800-805

”The evidence from rigorous studies testing the effectiveness of acupuncture during stroke rehabilitation is negative,” the authors concluded. Although acupuncture has done miracles for certain disorders and ailments, there doesn’t seem to be any reliable evidence showing that it is effective for stroke victims.

SOURCE: CMAJ, published online September 28, 2010

SOURCE: Cancer Prevention Research, published online September 20, 2010

SOURCE: Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, published online September 19, 2010

SOURCE: American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, online, August 20, 2010

SOURCE: 240th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society

SOURCE: Genome Research, August 2010.

SOURCE: 240th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society

SOURCE: Pain, August 2010

SOURCE: Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, published August 10, 2010

SOURCE: Disease Models and Mechanisms, August 2010

Ferroportin, the only known protein to eliminate iron from cells, may help doctors more accurately predict if a breast cancer patient’s cancer will return, and in turn help women avoid invasive or toxic treatments.

Aside from non-melanoma skin cancer, breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in women. The National Cancer Institute estimates that more than 200,000 new cases of breast cancer will be diagnosed in 2010 alone.

A study done by researchers at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center (WFUBMC) explored whether the reduction in ferroportin in cancer cells directly contributes to the growth of the cancer or whether it was simply a consequence of the disease.

Researchers first looked at isolated human breast cancer cells and found a significant reduction of ferroportin in the cancerous cells, compared to normal breast cells. Using a mouse model, researchers watched the growth of tumours formed by these cells, and found those in which the levels of ferroportin had been restored to normal, grew more slowly than the tumours formed by cells with depleted levels of the protein. Ferroportin levels were lowest in the most aggressive areas of cancer, confirming the relationship does not only occur in cell culture and isolated breast cancer cells, but also in actual tissue of women with cancer.

"Uniformly, we found that ferroportin levels were a strong predictor of the propensity for a woman’s breast cancer to recur," Frank M. Torti, MD., M.P.H., co-lead investigator for the study and director of the Comprehensive Cancer Center at WFUBMC in Winston-Salem, N.C., was quoted saying. "It’s a striking prediction. This marker separates women into good and poor prognostic groups independently from any other factors such as tumour size, grade, lymph node status, or other conditions."

Researchers hope to expand their study and extend the results to larger populations that include women of various ethnicity and demographics.

Source: Science Translation Medicine, August 2010

Source: CANCER, August 2010

Source: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, August 2010

SOURCE: Rheumatology, July 27, 2010

Erectile dysfunction and depressive mood frequently coincide, and each is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and death. To investigate clinical correlates further, researchers led by Elisa Bandini of the University of Florence studied approximately 2,000 male patients in a clinic for sexual dysfunction using a structured interview while also scoring for depressive symptoms.

Results show that in men with erectile dysfunction, depression increased cardiovascular problems independently from other known risk factors. The use of antidepressant medications did not alter the relationship between severe depressive symptoms and adverse cardiovascular events.

"Recognizing depressive symptoms in subjects with erectile dysfunction is mandatory not only for improving their sexual life, but also for preventing cardiovascular diseases," Bandini was quoted as saying.

"What is important about this study is the broader concept of the sexual medicine problem no longer being just about a man’s performance in the bedroom, but about his psychological mood and his cardiovascular health," Irwin Goldstein, director of sexual medicine at Alvarado Hospital in San Diego , was quoted as saying. "This is a valid reason for a woman to encourage her partner to seek help for his erectile dysfunction."

SOURCE: Journal of Sexual Medicine, July 13, 2010.

SOURCE: American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, July 12, 2010

SOURCE: JAMA, July 2010.

Source: Annual Meeting of the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior (SSIB), Pittsburgh, July 13 - July 17, 2010

SOURCE: International Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases, July 2010.

SOURCE: Archives of Internal Medicine, July 12, 2010.

As part of the Vitamins and Lifestyle (VITAL) cohort study, researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, led by Emily White, PhD., asked 35,016 postmenopausal women with no history of breast cancer to complete a 24-page questionnaire about their use of non-vitamin, non-mineral "speciality" supplements. After six years of follow-up, 880 cases of breast cancer were identified.

Regular use of fish oil supplements containing high levels of the omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA was linked to a 32 percent reduced risk of breast cancer. The reduction in risk appeared to be restricted to invasive ductal breast cancer, the most common type of the disease.
The use of other speciality supplements, many of which are commonly taken by women to treat symptoms of menopause, was not associated with breast cancer risk.

"It may be that the amounts of omega-3 fatty acids in fish oil supplements are higher than most people would typically get from their diet," White was quoted as saying. However, she cautioned against gleaning any recommendations from the results of one study. "Without confirming studies specifically addressing this," she said, "we should not draw any conclusions about a causal relationship."

Edward Giovannucci, MD., Sc.D., professor of nutrition and epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health and an editorial board member of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, agreed. "It is very rare that a single study should be used to make a broad recommendation," Giovannucci was quoted as saying. "Over a period of time, as the studies confirm each other, we can start to make recommendations."

SOURCE: Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, July 8, 2010.

The research will be welcome news to patients with high blood pressure who might now have a natural approach to reducing their risk of cardiovascular disease, including stroke and heart attack.

Study author Amrita Ahluwalia, professor of vascular biology at Queen Mary’s William Harvey Research Institute, explained that the nitrate found in beetroot juice was the cause of its beneficial effects on cardiovascular health and worked by increasing the levels of the gas nitric oxide in the circulation. Professor Ahluwalia was quoted as saying, "We gave inorganic nitrate capsules or beetroot juice to healthy volunteers and compared their blood pressure responses and the biochemical changes occurring in the circulation."

"We showed that beetroot and nitrate capsules are equally effective in lowering blood pressure, indicating that it is the nitrate content of beetroot juice that underlies its potential to reduce blood pressure. We also found that only a small amount of juice is needed — just 250 ml — to have this effect and that the higher the blood pressure at the start of the study, the greater the decrease caused by the nitrate. Our previous study two years ago found that drinking beetroot juice lowered blood pressure; now we know how it works," she said.

The results of the study could pave the way for a natural approach to lowering blood pressure that ultimately may help reduce the massive burden of cardiovascular disease on the National Health System.

SOURCE: Hypertension, June 28, 2010

SOURCE: Society for Experimental Biology , June 2010

SOURCE: Cancer Prevention Research, June 29, 2010

Current research being conducted by Dr. Rajendra S. Apte of the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, suggests that resveratrol -- a natural compound found in red wine, grapes, blueberries and peanuts -- hinders the new blood vessel growth of pathogens.

Even better, resveratrol, through proteins known as sirtuin family proteins, has been shown to reduce effects of aging and act as an anti-cancer agent. A process called angiogenesis, better known as new blood vessel formation, is a major component in the formation of cancer and eye diseases.

Dr. Rajendra and fellow researchers evaluated the consequences of resveratrol treatment on blood vessel growth in the eye. Researchers found they could actually reverse the angiogenesis-blocking effect with certain inhibitors.

"The findings of this study might have a significant impact on our understanding of angioproliferative diseases that are characterized by abnormal angiogenesis both within and outside the eye," Khan et al said.

"Abnormal vascular proliferation in the eye leads to severe visual impairment in several blinding disorders of the eye including age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy," Dr. Apte was quoted as saying. "This study proves that red wine, and its component, resveratrol, directly hampers development of abnormal blood vessels inside and outside the eye."

Source: The American Journal of Pathology, July 2010

SOURCE: Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, June 2010

SOURCE: American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, June 17, 2010

SOURCE: Physiology & Behavior, June, 2010

Vitamin D is crucial for the maintenance of bone and muscle health. It is found in dietary sources such as fish, eggs, fortified milk and cod liver oil. The sun also contributes significantly to the daily production of vitamin D.

Previous studies showing the clustering of low Vitamin D within family members and twins demonstrated genetics’ role in determining Vitamin D deficiency.

Researchers conducted a genome-wide association study that involved almost 34,000 people of European descent from 15 different studies. They used radioimmunoassay and mass spectrometry to determine vitamin D concentrations and found that variants at three genetic sites, or "loci," were significantly associated with vitamin D concentrations. The presence of harmful alleles at three "loci" more than doubled the risk of Vitamin D insufficiency.

The authors believe this study will assist in identifying a subgroup of the white population who are most at risk and who may need extra supplementation.

"Today’s results only partly explain the wide variability of vitamin D status," Dr. Roger Bouillon, of Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium, was quoted as saying in an accompanying editorial. "Whether these genetically-based variations modify the health outcomes in vitamin D deficiency is not known."

SOURCE: The Lancet, June 2010

SOURCE: The Journal of the American Medical Association, 2010; 303: 2377-2385

SOURCE: Archives of Internal Medicine, published online June 14, 2010

Source: Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association, June 2010

SOURCE: Journal of the American Medical Association, (JAMA), May 12, 2010

SOURCE: Archives of Internal Medicine 2010; 170 [9]: 821-827

SOURCE: Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, May 6, 2010

SOURCE: Journal of the National Cancer Institute, published online May 7, 2010

SOURCE: Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association, May 2010

SOURCE: Presented at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C., April 18, 2010

Source: Experimental Biology, April 26, 2010

SOURCE: Presented at the American Society for Nutrition meeting, Anaheim, CA, April 25, 2010

SOURCE: American Association for Cancer Research 101st Annual Meeting, April 2010

Source: Archives of Neurology, June 2010

Source: Osteoporosis International, April 2, 2010

Source: Archives of Internal Medicine, April 12, 2010

SOURCE: Nature Neuroscience, online, April 11, 2010

SOURCE: Pediatrics, online, April 12, 2010

SOURCE: Presented at the National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS), March 22, 2010

The scientists recently showed that walnuts could help fight heart disease by reducing levels of endothelin, a substance that increases inflammation of blood vessels. This effect was in addition to walnuts reducing levels of "bad" cholesterol (low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, or LDL) in the blood. Knowing that people with prostate cancer have elevated levels of endothelin, the scientists decided to test whether eating walnuts could be beneficial in prostate cancer.
"We decided to use whole walnuts in the diet because when a single component of a food linked to cancer prevention has been tested as a supplement, that food's cancer-preventive effects disappear in most cases," Dr. Davis said.
The scientists fed lab mice genetically programmed to develop prostate cancer the equivalent of about 2.5 ounces of walnuts per day -- equivalent to 14 shelled nuts -- for two months. A control group of mice got the same diet except with soybean oil. The walnut-fed mice developed prostate cancers that were about 50 percent smaller than the control mice. Those cancers also grew 30 percent slower.
The scientists reported that the walnut-fed mice had lower levels of insulin-like growth factor-1. High levels of this protein may increase the risk of developing prostate cancer in the first place.
In an effort to understand what walnuts were doing, the scientists used gene chip technology to look for changes in gene levels in the tumour itself as well as the mouse's liver. They found that walnuts had large, beneficial effects in both tumour and liver on genes that have been shown to be involved in controlling tumour growth, the scientists noted.

SOURCE: Presented at the National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS), San Francisco, March 22, 2010

SOURCE: PLoS Medicine, March 23, 2010

SOURCE: JAMA, March 24, 2010

SOURCE: American College of Cardiology 59th annual scientific session, Atlanta, Ga., March 16, 2010

Source: British Medical Journal, March 2010

"Scientists have known for a long time that vitamin D is important for calcium absorption and the vitamin has also been implicated in diseases such as cancer and multiple sclerosis, but what we didn't realize is how crucial vitamin D is for actually activating the immune system, which we know now," Geisler was quoted as saying.

Researchers say the findings could help tackle infectious diseases or epidemics whose effect is widespread. "They will be of particular use when developing new vaccines, which work precisely on the basis of both training our immune systems to react and suppressing the body's natural defenses in situations where this is important -- as is the case with organ transplants and autoimmune disease," Geisler stated.

Source: Nature Immunology, March 2010

SOURCE: PLoS Medicine, 2009

"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 Hernandez.

SOURCE: Presented at the American Association for Cancer Research

Dr. Gerhauser and colleagues stimulated hormone-dependent prostate cancer cells with testosterone, which led to a massive secretion of prostate specific antigen (PSA), an early indicator of prostate cancer in men. Cells were then treated with testosterone and xanthohumol. "Xanthohumol prevented the receptor from translocating to the cell nucleus, thus inhibiting its potential to stimulate the secretion of PSA and other hormone-dependent effects," Dr. Gerhauser said.
When researchers measured the anti-androgenic potential of xanthohumol in a rat model, they found that although xanthohumol was not able to prevent an increase in prostate weight after testosterone treatment, it could reduce testosterone-increased seminal vesicle weight.
Dr. Gerhauser said, "Although the prostate weights were not changed, xanthohumol still reduced the effects of hormone signaling, such as gene expression, measured in the prostate tissue."

SOURCE: Presented at the American Association for Cancer Research Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research Conference, Houston, TX, Dec. 6-9, 2009

Smoking is linked to cancer, emphysema and heart disease. It’s no secret that smoking deteriorates one’s health, yet kicking the bad habit remains a difficult task. New research reveals how your own memories may make quitting even harder.

Researchers explain why many smokers urge to light up after meals, while drinking alcohol, or driving home from work. The brain normally connects environmental cues with the things that support our existence, guiding healthy and successful lives. The brain rewards us when we act toward our wellbeing. "However, nicotine commandeers this subconscious process in the brain so we begin to behave as though smoking is a positive action," Dr. John A. Dani, professor of neuroscience at Baylor College of Medicine and co-author of the study, was quoted as saying.

Nicotine, the addictive ingredient in cigarettes, creates stronger memories connecting environmental cues with smoking behavior. The environmental cues that are linked with smoking memories create an urge to smoke. Cues can vary from a long car drive to a social gathering.

The study recorded brain activity in mice exposed to nicotine. The mice were able to roam within two separate rooms. They were given nicotine in one room and a benign saline solution in the other. Researchers found the mice spent more time in the room providing nicotine. "The brain activity change was just amazing," Dr. Dani was quoted as saying. "Compared to injections of saline, nicotine strengthened neuronal connections -- sometimes up to 200 percent."

He explains that this memory study could potentially lead to treatments for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

SOURCE: Neuron, 2010

Source: American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2009, November 14-18, 2009

SOURCE: Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal for the American Association of Cancer Research, 2009

SOURCE: Presented at the Society for General Microbiology's meeting at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh

SOURCE: Presented at the American Heart Association Scientific Conference, Orlando, FL, November 16, 2009

SOURCE: The Obesity Society, Washington, D.C. October 2009

SOURCE: Obstetrics & Gynecology, November 2009

SOURCE: Neurology, October 27, 2009

SOURCE: Pediatrics, November 2009

SOURCE: Presented at the American Society of Nephrology Annual Meeting, October 31, 2009, San Diego, Calif.

SOURCE: Human Reproduction, November 11, 2009.

SOURCE: International Journal of Andrology, 2009

Sudden cardiac death due to heart rhythm disturbances claims more than 3,000 young lives a year, especially among athletes who have inherited the tendency to develop enlarged and thickened hearts. The peak physical condition of top athletes can mask early warning signs and allow cases of heart defect to go undiagnosed.
Theodore Abraham, M.D., associate professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and its Heart and Vascular Institute and colleagues analyzed data from 134 top Maryland high school athletes screened during the 2008 track and field state championships. The researchers were looking for life-threatening cardiac abnormalities. None of the students in the study exhibited any symptoms.
Although abnormal findings were discovered in 36 student athletes, none was found to have life-threatening heart defects. Twenty-two of those abnormalities were found by EKG alone, nine by ECHO alone and five were picked up on both tests. Those with abnormalities -- which included 19 with high blood pressure, 29 with elevated blood pressure in need of future monitoring, and five with low blood pressure readings -- were referred for follow-up to their doctors.
"If you are going to screen, it has to be comprehensive," Abraham, who spearheads the annual "Heart Hype" screening program run by Johns Hopkins, was quoted as saying. Some screening programs just include EKGs and not ECHOs. "An EKG does show you a lot," said Abraham, "but it doesn't tell you the whole story. The advantage of a comprehensive screening is that it is holistic, rather than being pinpoint. For example, if a doctor were screening for prostate cancer, he wouldn't ignore a large tumor on your head."
Lead study investigator Aurelio Pinheiro, M.D., a postdoctoral research fellow at Hopkins, is quoted as saying he wasn't surprised he and his colleagues didn't find a student with a life-threatening heart abnormality, since it is estimated that only one in 500 Americans has undiagnosed hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and the Hopkins team screened fewer than that.
The screening program is designed not just to prevent deaths from sudden cardiac arrest, but also to raise awareness of the risks to young athletes.
Less pressing but still serious medical conditions were identified by the researchers, notably high blood pressure, which in teenagers, according to Pinheiro, can lead to later heart failure or kidney disease if left untreated.
In some nations, programs to screen teenagers for possible heart problems have been routine for years. Abraham disagrees with some U.S. health professionals who argue that doing expensive diagnostic tests such as the EKG and ECHO are not worth the cost, since sudden cardiac death in young people is relatively rare and mass screenings are unlikely to turn up large numbers of teens in immediate danger. "What is the price for a single life?" he asked. "We're counting the costs up front. We're not counting the savings on the downstream end."
Abraham continued, "Athletes and other teens should let someone know how they are feeling, especially if they have had chest pains, shortness of breath with activity or have fainted. This could save their life."

SOURCE: Presented at the American Heart Association Annual Scientific Sessions, Orlando, FL, November 15, 2009

Source: JAMA, 2009;302(18):1993-2000

SOURCE: Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, October 2009

Researchers took blood pressure readings annually throughout the study. They measured vitamin D blood levels once in 1993, and then compared their asystolic blood pressure measurements in 2007.

Premenopausal women who had vitamin D deficiency in 1993 had three times the risk of developing asystolic hypertension 15 years later, according to researchers. "This study differs from others because we are looking over the course of 15 years, a longer follow-up than many studies," according to Flojaune C. Griffin, M.P.H., co-investigator of the study and a doctoral candidate in epidemiology at the University of Michigan School of Public Health in Ann Arbor. "Our results indicate that early vitamin D deficiency may increase the long-term risk of high blood pressure in women at mid-life."

At the study onset, 2 percent of women had been diagnosed with hypertension, and an additional 4 percent had undiagnosed asystolic hypertension. But 15 years later, 19 percent of the women had been diagnosed with hypertension, and an additional 6 percent had undiagnosed asystolic hypertension, a significant difference. Researchers controlled for age, fat mass, antihypertensive medication use, and smoking.

Researchers determined vitamin D status by measuring blood concentrations of 25-hydroxyvitamin D, which represents vitamin D storage in the body. This assessment in the blood reflects vitamin D obtained from ultraviolet B rays through sun exposure, vitamin D from foods such as fatty fish or fortified milk products and dietary supplements.

Vitamin D is either synthesized in the skin through exposure to ultraviolet B rays in sunlight or ingested as dietary vitamin D. Experts in the medical community generally agree that vitamin D deficiency among women is widespread. Researchers report many women don’t get enough sunlight exposure to help keep vitamin D levels near to normal, nor do they have diets or take supplements that support normal levels of vitamin D.

However, there is no general agreement about the optimal intake of vitamin D. Some researchers said the current recommended intake of 400 to 600 international units (IU) daily is inadequate and suggest a much higher daily intake, from 1,000 to 5000 IU.

Vitamin D has a well-established role in bone health. Other recent research indicates vitamin D deficiency in women may increase the risk of some cancers and have a negative impact on immune function and inflammatory diseases. This study highlights the importance of vitamin D in the risk of high blood pressure later in life, a major health problem in Ireland.

SOURCE: Reported at the American Heart Association’s High Blood Pressure Research Conference, September 24, 2009

Researchers from the Northern Ireland Centre for Food and Health (NICHE) carried out a study on 99 expectant mothers and tested them at three separate times during pregnancy.

They said yesterday that testing at 12 and 20 weeks found that up to 96 per cent of the women had insufficient levels of vitamin D in their blood.

“Examination also revealed that at these test points, 35 per cent could be classified as vitamin D deficient at 12 weeks and 44 per cent at 20 weeks.

The results, published in the latest edition of the British Journal of Nutrition, also showed that during the third trimester, at 35 weeks, 75 per cent had insufficient levels of the vitamin and 16 per cent of women were deficient.

Dr Julie Wallace, from the university’s Biomedical Sciences Research Institute, said: “We speculate, but this remains to be proven, there may well be implications of low vitamin D status during pregnancy for the development of the child.

“Vitamin D is essential for building and maintaining strong bones, and previous studies have reported that low vitamin D levels during pregnancy are linked to lower bone density in children.”

Source: Irish Times 22 Sept. 2009

SOURCE: Annals of Internal Medicine Tip Sheet, September 1, 2009

SOURCE: Neurology, August 25, 2009

• Gender. Women get osteoporosis more often than men.
• Age. The older you are, the greater your risk of osteoporosis.
• Body size. Small, thin women are at greater risk.
• Ethnicity. White and Asian women are at highest risk. Black and Hispanic women have a lower risk.
• Family history. Osteoporosis tends to run in families. If a family member has osteoporosis or breaks a bone, there is a greater chance that you will too.

SOURCE: PLoS Medicine, August 24, 2009

SOURCE: Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ), August 24, 2009

SOURCE: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, August 24, 2009

SOURCE: Cell Metabolism, September 2009

SOURCE: Neuron, published by Cell Press, August 27, 2009

The participants were measured for their adherence to a Mediterranean-type diet and their physical activity. Higher diet scores were awarded for greater consumption of fruits, vegetables, legumes, cereals, and fish, lower consumption of meat and dairy products, and a higher ratio of monounsaturated fats to saturated fats and mild to moderate alcohol consumption.
During the average follow up period of 5.4 years, 282 developed AD. The researchers found that more physical activity was associated with lower risk for AD. “Compared with physically inactive individuals, report of some physical activity was associated with a 29 to 41 percent lower risk of developing AD, while report of much physical activity was associated with a 37 to 50 percent lower risk,” the authors wrote.
When considered simultaneously, both physical activity and Mediterranean diet adherence were significantly associated with AD incidence. “Belonging to the middle diet adherence group was associated with a 2 percent to 14 percent risk reduction,” Researchers write, “while belonging to the highest diet adherence group was associated with a 32 percent to 40 percent reduced risk. Similarly, compared with individuals with no physical activity, individuals reporting some physical activity had a 25 percent to 38 percent lower risk for AD, while individuals reporting much physical activity had a 33 percent to 48 percent lower risk for AD.”
In a related article, researchers found while adherence to a Mediterranean-type diet is linked to lower risk for mortality and chronic diseases, its association with cognitive decline has been unclear.
Dr. Catherine Féart, of the Université Victor Ségalen Bordeaux 2, Bordeaux, France, and colleagues examined whether adherence to a Mediterranean diet was associated with change in cognitive performance and with lower risk of dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. The study included 1,410 individuals age 65 years or older from Bordeaux. Participants were re-examined at least once over 5 years. The authors were quoted as saying that a Mediterranean-type diet “might also have protective effects against cognitive decline in older individuals, because it combines several foods and nutrients potentially protective against cognitive dysfunction or dementia, such as fish, monounsaturated fatty acids, vitamins B12 and folate, antioxidants (vitamin E, carotenoids, flavonoids), and moderate amounts of alcohol.”
“The Mediterranean diet pattern probably does not fully explain the better health of persons who adhere to it, but it may contribute directly. A Mediterranean diet also may indirectly constitute an indicator of a complex set of favourable social and lifestyle factors that contribute to better health. Further research is needed to allow the generalization of these results to other populations and to establish whether a Mediterranean diet slows cognitive decline or reduces incident dementia in addition to its cardiovascular benefits,” the authors conclude.

SOURCE: Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), August 12, 2009

SOURCE: Archives of Dermatology, August 2009

SOURCE: Journal of the American Society Nephrology (JASN), August 13, 2009

Doctors say this is good news for women with a family history of breast cancer as the results suggest a woman can lower her risk of cancer simply by breast-feeding her children.
Among women with a mother or sister with breast cancer, researchers found that those who had breast-fed were more than 50 percent less likely to develop premenopausal breast cancer than those who did not breast-feed. The authors did not find a difference in risk among women with no family history of breast cancer.
For women with a family history, the risk reduction with breast-feeding was similar to taking an anti-oestrogen drug such as Tamoxifen for five years. But unlike Tamoxifen,  the study suggests breast-feeding is good for mothers and for babies.
Stuebe and colleagues reviewed data from a long-term study of more than 100,000 women from 14 states. Stuebe’s study followed more than 60,000 women who reported at least one pregnancy in 1997, when breast-feeding was assessed in detail, and followed them through 2005 to determine how many developed invasive breast cancer.
How long a woman breast-fed seemed to be less important than whether or not she had breast-fed. The reduction in risk was similar whether women breast-fed for a lifetime total of three months or for more than three years. Also, there was no significant difference in risk for women who breast-fed exclusively versus those who breast-fed while supplementing with other foods.

While the researchers are not sure why breast-feeding reduces risk of breast cancer, they suspect that when women do not breast-feed, inflammation and engorgement shortly after birth causes changes in breast tissue that may increase risk for breast cancer. Breast-feeding followed by weaning may prevent this inflammation.
The study authors did not find an association between breast-feeding and premenopausal breast cancer among women without a family history of breast cancer. This could be because there’s something about genetically caused breast cancer that’s affected by breast-feeding, or it could be because rates of breast cancer were so low in women without a family history that we couldn’t see an association in this data set.
The research underscores the public health impact of policies that help mothers successfully breast-feed. In a recent CDC study, more than half of women said they stopped breast-feeding earlier than they wanted to.

SOURCE: Archives of Internal Medicine, August 10, 2009

SOURCE: New England Journal of Medicine, August 13, 2009

SOURCE: Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, 2009

SOURCE: Archives of General Psychiatry, August 2009

SOURCE: Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, August 3, 2009

SOURCE: Cancer Prevention Research, August 3, 2009

SOURCE: Annals of Internal Medicine, August 4, 2009

SOURCE: Pediatrics, August 3, 2009

SOURCE: Journal of Clinical Investigation, July 6, 2009

SOURCE: Cancer, July 13, 2009

SOURCE: Science, July 10, 2009

SOURCE: Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, July, 2009

SOURCE: Alzheimer's Association International Conference on Alzheimer's Disease (ICAD 2009), July, 2009

SOURCE: Society for the Study of Reproduction, July, 2009

SOURCE: Child Development, July/August 2009

SOURCE: American Journal of Pathology, August 2009

SOURCE: Clinical Journal of the American Society Nephrology (CJASN), July 23, 2009

SOURCE: American Journal of Physiology. Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology, published online June 29, 2009

SOURCE: American Society of Clinical Oncology June 2009

SOURCE: Journal of Clinical Oncology, May 26, 2009

SOURCE: British Medical Journal, June 2009

Researchers examined whether frequency of social activity in late life was related to motor function decline in 906 older adults participating in the Rush Memory and Aging Project from 1997 to 2008. Researchers evaluated participants' grip and pinch strength and their ability to stand on one leg and then on their toes, to walk in line in a heel-to-toe manner, place pegs on a board in 30 seconds and tap index fingers for 10 seconds bilaterally.
Participants completed a health survey to assess their physical activities and used a five-point rating scale to measure frequency of social activity, with one indicating participation in a particular activity once a year or less; two, several times a year; three, several times a month; four, several times a week and five, every day or almost every day. Demographic information, education, weight, height and disabilities also were recorded.

"A lower frequency of participation in social activity was associated with a more rapid rate of motor function decline," with each one-point decrease in a participant's social activity score associated with approximately 33 percent more rapid rate of decline, the authors note. Additionally, a one-point decrease on the social activity scale was equivalent to being approximately five years older at baseline. This amount of change is associated with more than a 40 percent increased risk of death and a 65 percent increased risk of developing disability.

"The association of social activity with the rate of global motor decline did not vary along demographic lines and was unchanged after controlling for potential confounders including late-life physical and cognitive activity, disability, global cognition depressive symptoms, body composition and chronic medical conditions," researchers write.

SOURCE: Archives of Internal Medicine, a JAMA/Archives journal. June 22, 2009

SOURCE: BMC Public Health

SOURCE: Cancer Prevention Research, American Association for Cancer Research, June 19, 2009

SOURCE: PLoS Computational Biology, June 19, 2009

SOURCE: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, July 2009

SOURCE: BioMed Central's open access Nutrition Journal, June 20, 2009

SOURCE: Canadian Medical Association Journal, June 9, 2009

SOURCE: Annals of Internal Medicine, June 16, 2009

SOURCE: The Lancet, 2009

SOURCE: Presented at the 23rd Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies, June 2009

SOURCE: CANCER, July 15, 2009

SOURCE: Journal of Clinical Oncology, May 26, 2009

SOURCE: Journal of the American Medical Association, 2009;301:2120-2128

SOURCE: Neurology, May 26, 2009

“In the industrialized countries, the rising incidence of obesity-associated disorders including cardiovascular diseases and diabetes constitutes a growing problem,” study author Marc Winnefeld was quoted as saying. “We’ve shown that white tea may be an ideal natural source of slimming substances.”

SOURCE: Nutrition and Metabolism, published online April 30, 2009

SOURCE: BMC Psychiatry

SOURCE: Presented at the European Congress on Obesity, May 7, 2009

SOURCE: Demography, published online May 8, 2009

SOURCE: Archives of Internal Medicine, May 11, 2009

SOURCE: PLos Medicine, 2009

SOURCE: Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, May 2009

SOURCE: American Urological Association

The rats incorporated either grape powder accounting for 3 percent of their diet or a blood pressure medicine, hydrazine, into a high salty diet. After 18 weeks, both groups held a lower blood pressure, but only those who ate grapes demonstrated better heart function and fewer signs of muscle damage.
Heart cells create glutathione, an antioxidant rich protein responsible for defending against damaging oxidative stress. High blood pressure reduces this production. However, the consumption of grapes increased the production of glutathione, explaining why grapes may lead to a better functioning heart.

SOURCE: Experimental Biology May 2009

SOURCE: National Academy of Sciences' Web site

SOURCE: Experimental Biology, April, 2009

SOURCE: Study conducted at UC Davis

Source: American Association for Cancer Research, April 2009

SOURCE: American Journal of Preventive Medicine, June 2009

SOURCE: Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 2009;53:1440-1447

SOURCE: American Association for Cancer Research April, 2009

SOURCE: American Physiological Society, April 2009

SOURCE: American Academy of Asthma and Immunology March 13-17, 2009

SOURCE: American Journal of Preventive Medicine, May 2009

SOURCE: The Journal of the American Medical Association, 2009;301:1140-1147

See Sona Femikar page http://www.sona.ie/product.asp?id=341

SOURCE: Nutrition & Metabolism, published online April 8, 2009

SOURCE: British Dental Journal, April 11, 2009

SOURCE: Climacteric, 2009;12:1625-25

SOURCE: Archives of Internal Medicine, 2009;169:335-341

Now a new study suggests an easy way to reduce that risk: eat broccoli sprouts. In a study conducted among 48 men and women from Japan, Johns Hopkins investigators found those who ate 70 grams of fresh broccoli sprouts a day significantly reduced the H. pylori in their stomachs.

All of the participants tested positive for the bacteria. The researchers then randomized them to either 70 grams of broccoli sprouts per day or a similar amount of alfalfa sprouts. The subjects were retested for H. pylori at four and eight weeks. By the final follow up, the broccoli sprouts had done the trick. People who ate the alfalfa sprouts showed no change in the degree of infection.

“Broccoli has recently entered the public awareness as a preventive dietary agent. This study supports the emerging evidence that broccoli sprouts may be able to prevent cancer in humans, not just in lab animals,” study author Jed Fahey, Sc.D., was quoted as saying.

Stomach cancer is currently the second most common cancer worldwide, and the second deadliest form of the disease, so finding ways to prevent the condition could have a major impact on public health.

SOURCE: Cancer Prevention Research, published online April 6, 2009

Source: Biology 2009

SOURCE: Archives of Internal Medicine, 2009;169:391-401

SOURCE: Archives of Internal Medicine, February 2009

SOURCE: Gastroenterology, March , 2009

SOURCE: The Journal of the American Medical Association, 2009;301:1131-1139

SOURCE: Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, March/April 2009

SOURCE: Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention, March 2009

Source: Archives of Internal Medicine, March 2009

SOURCE: American Association for the Advancement of Science March 2009

SOURCE: British Medical Journal, published online February 12, 2009

SOURCE: Journal of Biological Chemistry, 2009

SOURCE: PLoS ONE, Feb. 16, 2009

SOURCE: Journal of the American Medical Association, 2009;301:774-775

SOURCE: Canadian Medical Association Journal, Feb. 17, 2009; 180: 371-372, 408-415, 416-421

How would alcohol abuse lead to depression? The researchers aren’t sure, but speculate alcohol might trigger genetic markers that increase the risk for depression, or alcohol’s depressive characteristics may lead to periods of depression in those who overindulge.

SOURCE: Archives of General Psychiatry, published online March 2, 2009

SOURCE: Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, February 2, 2009

SOURCE: Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine, February 2, 2009

SOURCE: Human Reproduction, January 29, 2009

SOURCE: Sleep, 2009; 32:169-174

SOURCE: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2009

SOURCE: Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, February 3, 2008

Researchers at Durham University categorize high caffeine drinkers as someone who consumed more than the equivalent of seven cups of instant coffee a day. Caffeine sources also include tea and energy drinks. In their study the researchers questioned 200 students about their typical caffeine intake. Researchers found “high caffeine users” were three times more likely to have heard a person’s voice when there was no one there compared to “low caffeine users” who consumed less than one cup of instant coffee a day.

The researchers say the findings will contribute to the beginnings of a better understanding of the effect of nutrition on hallucinations.

”This is a first step towards looking at the wider factors associated with hallucinations. Previous research has highlighted a number of important factors, such as childhood trauma, which may lead to clinically relevant hallucinations,” lead author, Simon Jones, a PhD student at Durham University’s Psychology Department was quoted as saying. “Many such factors are thought to be linked to hallucinations in part because of their impact on the body’s reaction to stress. Given the link between food and mood, and particularly between caffeine and the body’s response to stress, it seems sensible to examine what a nutritional perspective may add,” Jones said

SOURCE: Personality and Individual Differences, January 2009

SOURCE: Behavioral and Brain Functions, 2009;5:3

SOURCE: British Medical Journal, January 2009

SOURCE: Chest, 2009:135;143-148

SOURCE: JAMA, January 14, 2009

SOURCE: Cancer Letters, 2009;273:44-54

SOURCE: Archives of General Psychiatry, published online January 5, 2009

SOURCE: Current Anthropology, 2008;49:6

SOURCE: Cancer Prevention Research, January 2009

SOURCE: Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC), 2008

SOURCE: The American Journal of Pathology, 2008;173:1702-1713

SOURCE: JAMA, 2008;300[20]:2379-2388

SOURCE: FASEB Journal

SOURCE: Radiological Society of North America Annual Meeting, Nov. 30-Dec. 5, Chicago, Ill.

SOURCE: New England Journal of Medicine, 2008;359:2105-2120

SOURCE: JAMA, 2008;300[19]:2253-2262

SOURCE: American Association for Cancer Research Nov. 16-19, 2008

SOURCE: JAMA, 2008;300:2012-2021

SOURCE: The Journal of the American Medical Association, Nov. 9, 2008

SOURCE: Journal of Neuroscience, Nov. 5, 2008

SOURCE: Journal of Neuroscience, 2008;28:12107-12119

SOURCE: American College of Chest Physicians Seminar October 30, 2008

SOURCE: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences published online October 27, 2008

SOURCE: American Public Health Association October 29, 2008

SOURCE: Journal of Gerontology: Biological Sciences, 2008;63:1034-1042

SOURCE: Molecular Cell, published online October 9, 2008

SOURCE: Archives of Neurology, 2008;65:1348-1352

SOURCE: Archives of Ophthalmology, 2008;126:1396-1403

SOURCE: PLoS Medicine, published online October 13, 2008

SOURCE: Paediatrics clinical report, 2008;122:1128-1138

SOURCE: Cancer Research, 2008;68:8473-8481

SOURCE: Journal of the American Medical Association, 2008;300:1774-1783

SOURCE: Stroke, published online October 9, 2008

SOURCE: Archives of Internal Medicine, 2008;168:2022-2031

SOURCE: Arthritis and Rheumatism, 2008;58:3100-3109

Results show higher doses of statins led to reduced SC proliferation, which would likely negatively affect the muscles ability to heal and/or repair itself.
Researchers note the data are preliminary and more research is needed. But they say the findings still show there can be serious side effects from taking high doses of statins.
“We are very interested in these effects in the older population,” researcher Dr. Thalacker-Mercer, University of Alabama at Birmingham, was quoted as saying. “It is possible that older adults may not be able to distinguish between muscle pain related to a statin effect or an effect of aging and therefore adverse effects of statins in older adults may be under-reported. Therefore, our next step is to examine statins among older adults.”

SOURCE: American Physiological Society, September 27, 2008

SOURCE: Neurology, 2008;71:1084

SOURCE: International Journal of Feminist Approaches to Bioethics, published online September 26, 2008

SOURCE: Archives of Disease in Childhood, doi:10.1136/adc.2008.140418

SOURCE: Canadian Medical Association Journal, 2008

SOURCE: Canadian Medical Association Journal, 2008

SOURCE: Annual meeting of the American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation in Indianapolis, Sept. 18-21, 2008

SOURCE: Archives of Surgery, September 2008

SOURCE: The Journal of the American Medical Association, 2008;300:1303-1310, 1353-1355

SOURCE: Neurology, published online September 8, 2008

SOURCE: Cancer September 8, 2008

SOURCE: The Journal of the American Medical Association, 2008;300:907-914

SOURCE: Hypertension: Journal of the American Heart Association, published online September 2, 2008

SOURCE: Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, published online September 3, 2008

SOURCE: Diabetes, 2008

“The mouth is probably the dirtiest place in the human body,” Dr. Steve Kerrigan from the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin, Ireland, was quoted as saying. “If you have an open blood vessel from bleeding gums, bacteria will gain entry to your bloodstream. When bacteria get into the bloodstream they encounter tiny fragments called platelets that clot blood when you get a cut. By sticking to the platelets, bacteria cause them to clot inside the blood vessel, partially blocking it. This prevents the blood flow back to the heart and we run the risk of suffering a heart attack.”

Researchers say they have been investigating ways in which bacteria interact with platelets in order to develop new and improved therapies. They found that bacteria use different mechanisms to cause platelets to clump together. This blocks the bacteria from our immune system and antibiotics. They say if they can determine the site at which this happens this could lead to the development of a new drug to prevent this interaction.

Study authors conclude that it doesn’t matter how fit, trim and healthy you are, if you have bleeding gums you are increasing your risk for a heart attack.

See Also page http://www.sona.ie/newsd.asp?ID=12918&keyword=brush

SOURCE: Study presented at the Society for General Microbiology’s Autumn meeting on September 11th at Trinity College, Dublin.

SOURCE: The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, published online Sept. 3, 2008

Researchers say gum chewing may act as a kind of “sham feeding,” stimulating nerves in the digestive system that trigger the release of gastro-intestinal hormones and increase the production of saliva and secretions from the pancreas.

“In conclusion, we feel that the current evidence suggests that gum chewing following abdominal surgery offers significant benefits in reducing the time to resolution of ileus; however, the studies are insufficiently powered to identify a significant benefit in length of stay,” the authors write.

SOURCE: Archives of Surgery, 2008;143:788-793

The study from Norway looked at 3,096 patients in two Norwegian hospitals between 1999 and 2006. Patients were divided into four groups and took one of the following treatments: folic acid, vitamin B12, and vitamin B6; folic acid plus vitamin B12; vitamin B6 alone; or placebo. Patients had follow-up visits with an interview, clinical examination, and blood sampling at one month, one year, and at the end of the study.

The trial was stopped early because participants were concerned about preliminary results from another similar Norwegian study that suggested there were no benefits from the treatment and an increased risk of cancer from the B vitamins.
“We could not detect any preventive effect of intervention with folic acid plus vitamin B12 or with vitamin B6 on mortality or major cardiovascular events among patients with stable coronary artery disease undergoing intensive conventional treatment. We found a numerically lower incidence of stroke and higher incidence of cancer in the groups receiving folic acid, but these observations were not statistically significant,” the authors were quoted as saying.
“Our findings do not support the use of B vitamins as secondary prevention in patients with coronary artery disease,” they said.

SOURCE: JAMA, 2008;300:795-804

SOURCE: Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association, August 18, 2008

SOURCE: 236th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, August 17-21, 2008

The researchers report pre-pregnancy weight was higher in mixed feeding mothers than in exclusively breastfeeding mothers (68.4 kg vs. 61.4 kg) but the difference was not statistically significant. At 12 weeks postpartum, exclusively breastfeeding mothers had lost more total body weight than mixed feeding mothers (4.41 +/- 4.10 kg versus 2.79 +/- 3.09 kg; p = 0.072). There was no significant difference in fat weight change between the two groups (4.38 +/- 2.06 kg versus 4.17 +/- 2.63 kg). However, mixed feeding mothers lost slightly more percent body fat than exclusively breastfeeding mothers (1.90 +/- 4.18 kg versus 1.71 +/- 3.48 kg), but the difference was not statistically significant. The trend in percent body fat loss was significant among exclusively breastfeeding mothers (p = 0.034) but not mixed feeding mothers (p = 0.081). Exclusively breastfeeding mothers consumed more calories than mixed feeding mothers (1980 +/- 618 kcal versus 1541 +/- 196 kcal p = 0.08). Physical activity levels were, however, higher in mixed feeding mothers than exclusively breastfeeding mothers.

The study results provide further evidence that exclusive breastfeeding promotes greater weight loss than mixed feeding among mothers even in the early postpartum period. This suggests that there is the need to encourage mothers to exclusively breast-feed as a means of overweight and obesity prevention in addition to the other well known benefits breast feeding brings to mother and child.

Source: International Breastfeeding Journal 2008, 3:18doi:10.1186/1746-4358-3-18

With interest in complementary medicine for hypertension increasing, researchers thought it is time to update a systematic review and meta-analysis (meta analysis is an analysis of the results of several studies on the same subject which is the ultimate study on a given subject) from 1994 of studies investigating the effect of garlic preparations on blood pressure.

They searched the Medline and Embase databases for studies published between 1955 and October 2007. Randomised controlled trials with true placebo groups, using garlic-only preparations, and reporting mean asystolic and/or diastolic blood pressure (SBP/DBP) and standard deviations were included in the meta-analysis. They also conducted subgroup meta-analysis by baseline blood pressure (hypertensive/normotensive), for the first time. Meta-regression analysis was performed to test the associations between blood pressure outcomes and duration of treatment, dosage, and blood pressure at start of treatment.

Eleven of 25 studies included in the systematic review were suitable for meta-analysis. Meta-analysis of all studies showed a mean decrease of 4.6 ± 2.8 mm Hg for SBP in the garlic group compared to placebo (n = 10; p = 0.001), while the mean decrease in the hypertensive subgroup was 8.4 ± 2.8 mm Hg for SBP (n = 4; p < 0.001), and 7.3 ± 1.5 mm Hg for DBP (n = 3; p < 0.001). Regression analysis revealed a significant association between blood pressure at the start of the intervention and the level of blood pressure reduction (SBP: R = 0.057; p = 0.03; DBP: R = -0.315; p = 0.02).

Their conclusion: They state categorically that their meta-analysis suggests that garlic preparations are superior to placebo in reducing blood pressure in individuals with hypertension.

Source: BMC Cardiovascular Disorders 2008, 8:13doi:10.1186/1471-2261-8-13

Source: Bayol et al. Journal of Physiology, doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.2008.153817.

SOURCE: Neurology, 2008;71

SOURCE: The Journal of Lipid Research, 2008; August

SOURCE: PLoS Computational Biology, 2008;4

Source: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (AJCN), 2008, 88 (1): 58-63).

Source: Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 10.1128/AEM.00739-08 .

SOURCE: Journal of Consumer Research, August 2008

Source: Nutrition Reviews 66 (6), pp 326 - 332, 2008, doi: 10.1111/j.1753-4887.2008.00040.x.

SOURCE: Journal of Applied Physiology, published online July, 2008

SOURCE: American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, 2008; 178: 124-131

SOURCE: Journal of the National Cancer Institute (online edition), July 2008

SOURCE: SLEEP, July 2008

SOURCE: Pediatrics, 2008;122:e242-e250

SOURCE: University of Georgia press release, June 24, 2008

SOURCE: Nutrition Research, published online June 26, 2008

SOURCE: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2008;87:1825-1836

SOURCE: New England Journal of Medicine, 2008;359:61-73

SOURCE: Angiology, 2007;58:225-33; Annals of Neurology, 2006;59:912–921; International Journal of Impotence Research, 2006;18:405-10

SOURCE: Published online in the journal Cell Metabolism on July 3, 2008

The

SOURCE: Pediatrics, July 7, 2008

SOURCE: Cancer Prevention Research, July 2008

SOURCE: American Journal of Cardiology, May 2008;

SOURCE: Canadian Medical Association Journal, 2008;178:1660-1668

SOURCE: Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 2008;56

SOURCE: The Journal of the American Medical Association, 2008;299:2633-264

SOURCE: Circulation; published online June 16, 2008

Experts say whole foods are better than processed foods because they contain more nutrients and also because “the different ingredients in the food act synergistically to enhance each other’s function,” according to Dr. Gordan. For example, phytochemicals in the apple peel and apple flesh may provide the most powerful anticancer benefits when combined.
On average we get 25 percent of our calories from nutrient-poor junk foods. So before you pop that pill prescribed by your doctor, you may want to consider what your next meal is going to be.

SOURCE: Food as Medicine Conference, Baltimore, MD., June 12-15, 2008

SOURCE: Food as Medicine Conference, Baltimore, MD., June 12-15, 2008

SOURCE: Archives of Disease in Childhood, published online May 26, 2008

SOURCE: Journal of the National Cancer Institute, published online May 27, 2008

SOURCE: Cancer Research, 2008;68

SOURCE: Archives of Internal Medicine, 2008;168:1090-1096

SOURCE: PLoS Medicine, published online May 27, 2008

Source: British Medical Journal, 2008;336:1144

Source: British Medical Journal, 2008;336:1144

SOURCE: Science, published online May 23, 2008

SOURCE: Journal of the American College of Cardiology, published online May 26, 2008

On a related issue, Pascale Rozan and colleagues from the Université Henri Poincaré Nancy, France, have found that both male and female rats given lifelong supplements of the prebiotics inulin and oligofructose have a life-span extended by over 30%. The rats consuming the prebiotics also had lower body weights, cholesterol levels and plasma triacyglycerolaemia. (Published in the British Journal of Nutrition, April 2008, doi: 10.1017/S0007114508975607

Source: Clinical & Experimental Allergy, 38 (4), pp 611-618, 2008, doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2222.2008.02942.

Source: Carcinogenesis, doi:10.1093/carcin/bgn072

Source: Molecular Nutrition and Food Research, April 2008.

SOURCE: Presented at the American Thoracic Society’s 2008 International Convention in Toronto, May 16-21, 2008

SOURCE: Pediatric Academic Societies & Asian Society for Pediatric Research Joint Meeting in Honolulu, HI, May 2-6, 2008

SOURCE: The Journal of the American Medical Association, 2008;299:2027-2036

SOURCE: Archives of Internal Medicine, 2008;168:884-890

SOURCE: The Lancet, 2008;371:1538-1546

SOURCE: PLoS ONE, published online May 7, 2008

SOURCE: The Annals of Internal Medicine, published online May 6, 2008

SOURCE: American Chemical Society April 2008

SOURCE: 1999-2004 US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, presented at the Experimental Biology 2008 meeting in San Diego, Calif., April 5-9, 2008

It’s estimated seven million Americans have psoriasis. Psoriasis is an autoimmune disease that occurs when the body’s immune cells mistakenly attack the skin. Patients suffer from red, scaly patches that can be itchy and painful. Up to 30 percent of patients also suffer from psoriatic arthritis, which is often excruciatingly painful and debilitating.

For the study, researchers from Washington University School of Medicine looked at genetic variations of healthy patients and patients with both psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. In the first analysis, they looked at 223 psoriasis patients, including 91 who had psoriatic arthritis and 519 healthy patients. Then in a second study, they looked at a larger set of patients that included 577 with psoriasis, 576 with psoriasis arthritis and more than 1,200 healthy patients.

Study authors say they found seven novel DNA variations linked to psoriasis. They also found DNA variations on chromosome 4 were strongly linked to psoriatic arthritis. Researchers say interestingly, these same variations have been also been linked to other autoimmune disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis, Grave’s disease, type 1 diabetes and celiac disease. The goal now is to use this information to help locate different biological pathways for better treatments for these illnesses.

SOURCE: PLoS Genetics, 2008;4:e1000041

SOURCE: Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, 2008;32:690-698

SOURCE: Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, published online April 2, 2008

SOURCE: Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism – April 2008

SOURCE: Neuron, 2008;57:930-941

SOURCE: Neurology, April, 2008

SOURCE: Child Development, 2008;79

New research from Europe finds a diet filled with flavonoids keeps the heart young longer.

The study looked at two kinds of corn -- one without a type of flavonoids known as anthocyanins; the other rich in anthocyanins. Researchers gave two groups of rats rodent food formula using the two different kinds of corn. Then they studied the effects of heart attacks, which were induced in both groups.

“We found that chronic consumption and effective absorption of anthocyanins rendered the rats more resistant to myocardial infarction (heart attack); in other words, the size of the infarct was significantly reduced in rats fed the anthocyanin-rich diet,” lead researcher Marie-Claire Toufektsian, Ph.D., from the University of Grenoble, was quoted as saying.

The authors also note the role of flavonoids in the Mediterranean diet compared to the so-called Western diet, which is high in fat and low in fiber.

Researchers say the anthocyanins content of the traditional Mediterranean diet is much higher than that of the Western Diet, which might explain why the Mediterranean diet is cardioprotective.

Although the findings are promising, authors caution not to take them to heart quite yet. How the heart is protected is not completely clear, and studies still need to be done in humans, which may show different results.SOURCE: Journal of Nutrition, 2008;138

SOURCE: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, published online April , 2008

SOURCE: Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, published online April 23, 2008

SOURCE: The Journal of the American Medical Association, 2008;299:1690-1697

SOURCE: Presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 60th Annual Meeting in Chicago, April 12-19, 2008

SOURCE: Presented at the American Heart Association’s Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology Annual Conference in Atlanta, Ga., April 16-18, 2008

News headlines over the past few days have you believe that vitamin supplements, and antioxidants in particular may harm rather than benefit your health. The BBC declares 'Research has suggested vitamin supplements do not extend life and could even lead to a premature death.' But do they really? Herebelow is an assessment of the research on which the headlines are based: 

Scientific papers often reveal more than is apparent from the reported results. A recent
review of clinical trials by Bjelakovic et al. claimed to show that certain antioxidant
vitamins increased the risk of death.1 Superficially, this study appears to have a
degree of scientific rigour because of a detailed and extensive use of statistics.

However, the statistics were inappropriately applied to poorly selected data, thus the
conclusions are invalid. Researchers need to remember the fundamentals of the
scientific method to avoid introducing experimenter bias. In this case, experimenter
bias was compounded by a basic misuse of statistical testing.

Selecting your data
Bjelakovic’s review was a meta-analysis of 16,111 scientific papers. Meta-analysis is
a statistical technique which summarizes the results of several studies, giving a
greater weighting to higher quality studies. The problem with Bjelakovic’s review
relates to how the studies were chosen for inclusion in the analysis. Of the initial
studies, 14,910 (93%) were discarded, with only a brief explanation of the exclusion
criteria. Studies were dismissed because they were cancer studies, duplicates, or
because they were deemed ‘not relevant’. However, studies of precancerous lesions2
and skin cancer3 were included in the group designated as having a low risk of bias.
Following the initial selection, 1201 research papers, covering 815 clinical trials, were
described as being “reviewed.” It might be more accurate to say these papers were
subjected to additional selection procedures: 747 (92%) of the 815 were rejected, for
example, because no subject died during the experiment. The remaining 68 studies
were included in the analysis.

Bjelakovic’s review states that this decision, to exclude 9 out of 10 studies (i.e. 747
from 815), depended on the judgement of three of the authors. This is a clear
indication of potential selection bias, as the reviewers had access to the experimental
results in addition to the experimental procedures.

Selection of trials for meta-analysis should be almost mechanical, based on rigorous
objective criteria with critical justification. The large number of studies by Bjelakovic
himself raises concerns in respect of objectivity, as the probability of trials being
selected for inclusion in a meta-analysis can be influenced by knowledge of their
results, leading to inclusion bias.4

Two of the researchers in the Bjelakovic meta-analysis further segmented the data
into two groups, according to the perceived quality of the experimental procedures.
However, once again the selection method did not exclude experimenter bias, as the
researchers may have been influenced by the results of the studies. The complete
selected data set of 68 trials reportedly showed no effect of vitamins on mortality.
Notably, the group selected for low risk of bias showed an increased risk of mortality
with supplements (RR 1.05). A reduced risk of mortality was found in the other group
(RR 0.91). These results are consistent with experimenter bias, based on knowledge
of outcomes in the selection.

Selection of data is a powerful technique. To take an analogy, imagine we were to
survey passenger-carrying vehicles in central London. Unwanted traffic includes
bicycles, milk floats and delivery vans, so we exclude vehicles with less than four
wheels, without side windows, and quiet ones. Small vehicles have a high risk of bias,
since they can be hidden behind other traffic, so we reject any vehicle less than 20
feet long. Dark vehicles are hard to see at dawn or dusk, light coloured ones do not
show up well against the local stone, and blue, green or yellow ones are hard to see
against the panels of a nearby building site, so all are eliminated from the study. After
excluding the groups with a high risk of bias, we count the vehicles and register their
type. The survey concludes that all road passengers in London travel by red bus!

Repeated testing
A critical failing of the Bjelakovic paper is the absence of detail on the number of
statistical tests performed on the data. For example, at least two groups of tests
reported concerned vitamin A. Vitamin A was tested singly and in combination with
other supplements. Both sets of tests showed no significant effects. Then it was
multiply retested: as a single or combined supplement, or taken with selenium, and
again after exclusion of high bias risk. In this second group of tests, vitamin A
reportedly increased mortality.

The fact that this many tests were carried out on just one of the supplements
investigated suggests the results of the study are unreliable. Conventionally, a single
statistical test has a 1 in 20 probability of being significant by chance alone. With 100
such tests, we would therefore expect five ‘significant’ results, just by chance. The
equation for computing the probability of a positive result, p, at significance level á,
in n tests is:
p= (1-(1-á)n)
With a large data set and repeated testing of factors and subsets, several significant
results could be attributable to chance alone.5 In this case, the paper gives no
indication of the number of statistical tests employed, or justification for the
probability values provided.

Nutrition or Pharmacology?
Bjelakovic’s meta-analysis has little biological meaning, because of the large number
of ill-defined substances that have been grouped together. The meta-analysis includes
a diverse range of doses of the individual supplements, with no concern for the
expected physiological effects. In one of the included trials, a single dose of vitamin
A was followed up over a period of three months.6
Bjelakovic also analysed studies of ‘vitamin E,’ an almost meaningless term in terms
of nutrition or pharmacology. Vitamin E refers to a number of fat-soluble
antioxidants, including four natural forms each of tocopherols and tocotrienols.
Additional synthetic forms of tocopherol are widely used for vitamin E studies. Thus,
it is not clear to which actual nutrient Bjelakovic’s ‘vitamin E’ results would apply.
Moreover, one of the vitamin E studies selected by Bjelakovic, as having a ‘low risk
of bias’, has previously been cited by Hickey and Roberts as a prime example of bias
in vitamin studies.7

Only studies with recorded deaths were included by Bjelakovic: this was presumably
considered necessary in a study of death rates. However, this selection has the
potential to increase bias, as it clearly excludes studies where supplements could not
be associated with increased mortality. A secondary effect of this selection technique
is that the included population tended to be sick, rather than healthy. Although most
included studies were on the sick, they used nutritional rather than pharmacological
doses. For example, doses of vitamin C ranged from 60 to 2000 mg; these are too
small to be helpful against serious illnesses.7 Furthermore, trials on nutritional
supplements in disease do not necessarily apply to healthy members of the population.

Conclusions
The paper by Bjelakovic was reported widely by the media but was not subjected to
scientific criticism. Media reports gave the impression that scientific evidence
suggests vitamins may be harmful. In fact, no evidence has been provided to this
effect. The statistics provided were insufficient to support a claim that vitamin
supplements will increase mortality. Moreover, the results cannot validly be
generalised to a relatively healthy general population.
The design of the study was not consistent with general principles of pharmacology
and nutrition. The authors, by not controlling for experimenter bias, have produced a
paper that might simply reflect their own personal bias. This bias is scientifically
controversial and is, perhaps, in resonance with a similar bias in the media.

1 Bjelakovic G., Nikolova D., Gluud L.L., Simonetti R.G. Gluud C. (2007) Mortality in randomized
trials of antioxidant supplements for primary and secondary prevention: systematic review and metaanalysis,
JAMA, 297, 842-857.
2
Correa P. Fontham E.T. Bravo J.C. et al. (2000) Chemoprevention of gastric dysplasia: randomized
trial of antioxidant supplements and anti-helicobacter pylori therapy, J Natl Cancer Inst, 92, 1881-1888.
3
Green A. Williams G. Neale R. et al. (1999) Daily sunscreen application and beta-carotene
supplementation in prevention of basal-cell and squamous-cell carcinomas of the skin: a randomised
controlled trial, Lancet, 354, 723-729.
4
Egger M. Smith G.D. (1998) Bias in location and selection of studies, BMJ, 316(7124), 61-66.
5 Davies O.L. Goldsmith P.L. (1972) Statistical methods in research and production, 4th Edition, John
Wiley, New York.
6
Murphy S, West KP Jr, Greenough WB III, Cherot E, Katz J, Clement L. (1992) Impact of vitamin A
supplementation on the incidence of infection in elderly nursing home residents: a randomized
controlled trial, Age Ageing, 21, 435-439.
7
Hickey and Roberts (2004) Ascorbate: the science of vitamin C, Lulu press.

Poor methodology in meta-analysis of vitamins

From the Oxford Project to Investigate Memory and Ageing (OPTIMA), Department of Physiology, Anatomy & Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom

SOURCE: Journal of Lipid Research, 2007

Researchers from Mayo Comprehensive Pain Rehabilitation Center in Rochester, Minn. report about one in four patients who have chronic pain also have inadequate blood levels of vitamin D, which might contribute to their pain. Patients who did not have enough vitamin D also needed higher doses of morphine for a longer period of time.

The study kept track of the serum vitamin D levels of 267 adults getting outpatient treatment for chronic pain. It also looked at the dose and duration of the morphine they took for pain relief.

In patients with a vitamin D deficiency, the morphine dose was nearly twice that of the group with adequate levels of vitamin D. They also used the pain medication for an average of 71.1 months, compared to 43.8 months, and had lower levels of physical functioning as well as a poorer view of their overall health.

Researchers report it has been known for a long time inadequate levels of vitamin D can cause pain and muscle weakness. But “this is the first time that we have established the prevalence of vitamin D inadequacy among a diverse group of chronic pain patients,” study author W. Michael Hooten, M.D., Medical Director at the Mayo Comprehensive Pain Rehabilitation Center, was quoted as saying. “The implications are that in chronic pain patients, vitamin D inadequacy is not the principal cause of pain and muscle weakness, however, it could be a contributing but unrecognized factor.”
 
Dr. Hooten reports vitamin D inadequacy can be treated easily, inexpensively, and with virtually no side effects by taking a prescription supplement once or twice a week for four to six weeks.

More studies are needed to determine whether treating the low vitamin D levels will improve the overall general health of chronic pain patients.

SOURCE: American Society of Anesthesiologists 2007 Annual Meeting in San Francisco, California, October 13-17, 2007

There are five main goals when it comes to intervention for type 2 diabetes. They are:
     1. Less than 30 percent of total energy intake from fat
     2. Less than 10 percent of total energy intake from saturated fat
     3. At least 15 grams of fiber/1,000 kilocalories
     4. At least four hours per week of moderate level physical activity
     5. More than 4 percent weight reduction

For the current study, 352 individuals with elevated type 2 diabetes risk were recruited to participate. The intervention included six group counselling sessions conducted by trained public health nurses. Risk factors were measured at the beginning and throughout the 12-month study. Then, researchers compared the outcomes of this study to the outcomes of longer, more intense studies.

Study authors report after one year, 20 percent of the participants achieved at least four of the five key lifestyle outcomes. This was a comparable result to the other, longer trials. Researchers say only physical activity and weight loss goals were achieved less frequently in the shorter trial.

Researchers say this study demonstrates lifestyle counseling can be effective and is feasible in real-world settings for those with an elevated risk of type 2 diabetes.

SOURCE: Diabetes Care, 2007;30:2465-2470

Iodine is needed by the thyroid gland to produce thyroid hormones, which is important for normal brain development in infants and children. However, iodine intake has been decreasing in the US for decades, with the main source for most individuals being iodized table salt. According to product labels, all US iodized salt contains 45 mg I/kg.

Purnendu Dasgupta and colleagues tested the amount of iodine present in 88 samples of freshly opened iodized salt. They also tested the iodine distribution homogeneity within individual containers and the loss of iodine from the salt upon exposure to humidity, sunlight and heating.

Results showed that freshly opened, top-of-the-can-salt samples contained an average of 44.1 mg I/kg, with actual values ranging from 12.7 - 129 mg I/kg. A total of 47 of the 88 samples fell below the FDA recommended content while six exceeded it. The homogeneity in a single can of salt varied greatly: 5 samples were taken from the same container at different depths. The variation of iodine content in the same container at the differing depths varied by as little as 1.2 times, to as much as 3.3 times. It was also found that iodine was significantly lost upon high humidity storage, but that light or dry heat had little effect.

The authors express concern that the inadequacy of iodine contents in many iodized table salts and the non-homogeneity of the iodine distribution in such salts may be a potential risk for serious harm, particularly for women who are pregnant or nursing. They also warn that although there is much literature on iodine sufficiency and uptake inhibitors, there is also much misinformation.

Source: Environmental Science & Technology, 2008, doi: 10.1021/es0719071.

Source: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 87 (2), 2008, pp 379 - 384.)

Source: Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, 2008 doi: 10.1002/jsfa.3175.

Source: FHF press release 2008

However it is not only during pregnancy when extra nutrients are important but also before you even start trying to conceive- to help safeguard your nutritional needs before pregnancy, and also after childbirth throughout breast-feeding as extra demands are placed on the mother and a good supply of nutrients assists the production of nutritious breast milk, and also helps to replace a mother’s reserves of depleted nutrients. Supplementation at this time is a logical choice as it is not always easy to obtain these nutrients from food. But which supplement is best to take?

Sona PregnaPlan has been carefully developed by a team of medical experts as a nutritional supplement for women from before conception, throughout pregnancy and whilst breast-feeding, and is based upon solid scientific and medical research into the role of nutrition in conception, pregnancy and lactation. PregnaPlan is a one-a-day multivitamin supplement for pregnancy with added Omega 3 and 6 which are proven to help foetal brain development.

Ideally should be taken from 14 weeks before conception, all throughout pregnancy and breast feeding. It is recommended that any woman of child bearing age thinking of becoming pregnant start supplementing with PregnaPlan as early as possible to build up an adequate supply of these nutrients and prevent against possible deficiencies.

Complete Formula

Omega 3 fatty acids (EPA and DHA) are fundamental molecules in the structure and activity of the membranes in all cells of the body. They have specialised functions in neurological tissues, especially the brain and retina. Because of this role in cell membranes, Omega 3 is essential for the formation of new tissue and therefore important for healthy development and growth of the foetus. DHA is of particular importance during pregnancy and early infancy for brain and eye development. Omega 6 fatty acids (Gamma Linolenic Acid) are also important for structural and functional roles in the brain of the unborn. The foetus in early life needs to receive these nutrients directly as they only have a limited capability to convert essential fatty acids to more active long chain fatty acids such as DHA.

PregnaPlan contains in total a careful balance of 20 nutrients at recommended levels for pregnancy, providing safe and adequate dosages for mother and baby.

When we think of pregnancy folic acid is perhaps the most widely known supplement- a water soluble B vitamin needed for the formation of red blood cells. During pregnancy women are advised to take 400ìg folic acid during the first 12 weeks to prevent neural tube defects in the developing baby. However it is also important after this period to help maintain healthy development of the brain and neural tube, and is vital for cell division from a single cell into a fully developed baby.

It is not only folic acid that is essential as other nutrients such as vitamin B12 and zinc are extremely important for neural tube development and cell division early on in pregnancy. Iron, B vitamins and folic acid are also necessary later in pregnancy for blood formation. Other nutrients are also important such as copper to help form the heart, skeleton and nervous system, vitamin k to help blood clotting and iodine which is important for the metabolic rate and normal physical and mental development. These nutrients can all be found within the PregnaPlan formula.

PregnaPlan. Best for Mother and for Baby.

RSP €11.85 Available in all good pharmacies and health stores in the Republic of Ireland.

SOURCE: Archives of Internal Medicine, 2008;168:459-465

SOURCE: JAMA, 2008;299:1036-1045

SOURCE: General Hospital Psychiatry, 2008;30:127-137

SOURCE: PLoS Medicine, 2008;5:e45:doi:10.1371

SOURCE: Neurology, published online Feb. 27, 2008

SOURCE: Diabetes Care, 2007; 10.2337/dc07-1112

SOURCE: Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2008;1:CD004227

SOURCE: Archives of Internal Medicine, 2008;168:167-173.

SOURCE: Presented at the American Academy of Dermatology’s Annual Meeting on Feb. 1, 2008

SOURCE: BMJ.com, published online Jan. 31, 2008

Alzheimer's disease.

Source:the Cochrane Library 10.1002/14651858.CD001321.pub4.

SOURCE: SLEEP, 2008;31:197-203

SOURCE: Toxicology Letters, 2008;176:149-156

SOURCE: 28th Annual Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine Meeting in Dallas, Texas, Jan. 28 - Feb. 2, 2008

SOURCE: Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2008;1:CD004517

SOURCE: JAMA, Jan. 23, 2008

SOURCE: ACS’s Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, Jan. 23, 2008

SOURCE: Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2008, Issue 1

SOURCE: American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Jan. 2008

SOURCE: Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2008, Issue 1. Art. No.: CD005312

SOURCE: DOI:10.1016/S0140-6736(07)61692-4

The study was led by Erick Turner, MD, assistant professor of psychiatry, physiology and pharmacology at Oregon Health & Science University and Medical Director of the Portland Veterans Affairs Medical Center’s Mood Disorders Program. Turner and colleagues looked at reviews from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for trials on 12 widely used antidepressants drugs. The analysis included more than 12,500 patients. They looked at whether the research was published and if it was they then compared the actual results of the trial with the FDA version of the results.

Turner’s team found that whether and how the studies were published depended on how they turned out. They found 94 percent of the published studies had positive results, but the FDA data showed only half of the studies they were informed of were positive. All but one of the positive studies were published while most of the studies that were not positive were not published or they were published with a positive spin.

“Selective publication can lead doctors and patients to believe drugs are more effective than they really are, which can influence prescribing decisions,” writes Turner. “Doctors and patients must have access to evidence that is complete and unbiased when they are weighing the risks and benefits of treatment.”

SOURCE: New England Journal of Medicine, Jan. 2008

SOURCE: Pedriatrics, 2008;121:65-72

The shocking statistics are revealed in the first paper of a series on maternal and child malnutrition appearing in The Lancet. Professor Robert Black, Johns Hopkins School of Public Health and Professor Zulfiqar Bhutta, Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, Aga Khan University in Karachi Pakistan, and colleagues did the analysis of the information.

The problem is worse in low and middle-income countries. The authors estimate that stunting, sever wasting and intrauterine growth restriction together were responsible for 2.2 million deaths in 2005. The conditions were also responsible for 21% of disability adjusted life years for children under 5 years old. Lack of vitamin A and zinc caused the highest rate of disease out of all the micronutrients studied.

The article also identifies key area where further research is needed. They include developing methods to assess the cause of nutritional status, the prevalence of micronutrient deficiencies in populations and the consequences of nutrition on immune systems, brain development and cognitive ability.

A challenge to agencies, donors and political leaders has been made to try to improve the nutrition of young children worldwide. Overall, under nutrition is the cause of 3.5 million child deaths globally. The main problems are stunting, severe wasting and intrauterine growth restriction. The Lancet Editor Dr. Richard Horton says help is needed from pregnancy to 2 years of age.

Undernourished children live in just 20 countries across four regions. The areas with the most immediate need include Burma, Uganda, India, China and South Africa. Dr. Horton says there are proven interventions including breast-feeding counselling, vitamin A supplementation and zinc fortification. He says there is no magic bullet to fix the problem, but he says long-term investment in the role of women as full and equal citizens is needed.

Dr. Horton ends by saying, “This latest Lancet Series concludes, not surprisingly perhaps, that the international nutrition system is broken. Leadership is absent, resources are too few, capacity is fragile, and emergency response systems are urgently needed. An agency, donor or political leader needs to step up to this challenge. There is a fabulous opportunity right now for someone to do so. But who?”

SOURCE: The Lancet 2008;10:1016

SOURCE: American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology Jan 2008

SOURCE: Behavioral Neuroscience, 2007;121:1306-1315

SOURCE: JAMA Archives of Surgery, December 2007

The national Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium in the US is working on different ways to meet these goals, including an interactive training program.
Miglioretti urges women with breast concerns, such as lumps, to try to go to a medical center that has at least one breast imaging specialist - a radiologist who spends a large percentage of the time reading mammograms and performing breast biopsies.

SOURCE: Journal of the National Cancer Institute, published online Dec. 11, 2007

SOURCE: Biological Psychiatry, 2007;62:1353-1362

SOURCE: BMC Genomics; 2007

Source: Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 46 (45), 2007, pp8699 - 8702, doi: 10.1002/anie.200703587)

Source: Science Daily Nov. 2007

Food Safety Authority - UK

Source: Science Daily

SOURCE: American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions, Nov. 4-7 in Orlando, Fla.

SOURCE: Cell Metabolism, published online Nov. 7, 2007

SOURCE: American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions in Orlando, Florida,

SOURCE: American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2007,

SOURCE: American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2007

SOURCE: The Journal of Clinical Investigation, 2007;117:3339-49

SOURCE: Arthritis & Rheumatism, Nov. 2007 (DOI: 10.1002/art.23078)

SOURCE: The American Journal of Medicine, published October 29, 2007

SOURCE: PEDIATRICS, 2007;120

SOURCE: Journal of Inflammation, Oct. 29, 2007

SOURCE: Mayo Clinic Proceedings, 2007;82:1192-1198

Source: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 86 (4), 2007, pp 1243-1247.

Source: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 86 (4), 2007, pp 1202-1209.

SOURCE: Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 2007;99: 1563-1565, 1565-1567, 1594-1602, 1603-1612

SOURCE: Obstetrics & Gynecology, 2007;110:752-758

SOURCE: Archives of Internal Medicine, 2007;2007;167:1964-1970

SOURCE: Journal of the American Medical Association

SOURCE: SLEEP, 2007

SOURCE: Cell Metabolism, 2007;6:307-319

Source: European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2007; doi: 10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602886

Source: European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2007; doi: 10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602886

Source: Oregon State University

SOURCE: Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, 2007;161:978-985

SOURCE: Chemical Research in Toxicology, Sept., 2007

SOURCE: European Cancer Conference (ECCO 14) in Barcelona, Spain, September 23-27, 2007

SOURCE: The Journal of the American Medical Association, 2007;298:1420-1428

SOURCE: Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, 2007;31:1-4

SOURCE: Archives of Internal Medicine, 2007;167:1752-1759

SOURCE: Pediatric Allergy and Immunology, 2007;18:480-485

SOURCE: Archives of Ophthalmology, 2007;125:1225-1232

SOURCE: Archives of Internal Medicine, 2007;167:1730-1737

SOURCE: Archives of Internal Medicine, 2007;167:1720-1728

SOURCE: International Journal of Cancer, published online Sept. 7, 2007

SOURCE: Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, published online Sept. 7, 2007

SOURCE: Saint Louis University press release, Sept. 10, 2007

SOURCE: Neurology, 2007;69:1084-1093, 1072-1073

In another study nearly nine out of every 100 children in the United States has attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder.
Researchers from Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center studied a group of 3,082 children ages 8 to 15. Between 2001 and 2004, researchers asked the children’s parents about ADHD symptoms, whether or not the child was diagnosed with the condition, and if the children were taking ADHD medications.
Children with ADHD are characterized by hyperactivity, impulsive behaviour and often have difficulty paying attention to tasks. Those with the condition can experience problems in school and at work.
Researchers report 8.7 percent of the children surveyed would qualify as having ADHD. This is equivalent to 2.4 million children in the United States with the condition. Whites were more likely than Hispanics to have ADHD, while boys were more likely than girls to be diagnosed, report researchers. Also, the poorest children were more likely than the wealthiest children to have ADHD.
Study authors conclude this finding “warrants further investigation and possible intervention to ensure that all children with ADHD have equitable access to treatment when appropriate.”

SOURCE: Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine, 2007;161:857-864

SOURCE: Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, 2007;161:865-869; Archives of General Psychiatry, 2007;64:1049-1056

SOURCE: Society for General Microbiology 161th meeting in Edinburgh, Scotland, Sept. 3-6, 2007

SOURCE: Journal of the Society for Integrative Oncology, published online August 29, 2007

SOURCE: The Lancet, 2007;370:657-666

SOURCE: Experimental Eye Research, 2007;84,772-780

SOURCE: American Chemical Society Aug. 19-23, 2007

SOURCE: Nutrition Reviews, 2007;65:s91-s95

SOURCE: Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, Aug., 2007

SOURCE: American Chemical Society 234th National Meeting in Boston, Mass., Aug. 19-23, 2007

SOURCE: Free Radical Biology and Medicine, published online Aug. 22, 2007

SOURCE: The New England Journal of Medicine, 2007;357:648-653

SOURCE: American Chemical Society 234th National Meeting in Boston, Mass., Aug. 19-23, 2007

SOURCE: American Chemical Society 234th National Meeting & Exposition in Boston, Aug. 19-23, 2007

SOURCE: Ohio State University Medical Center, Aug., 2007

SOURCE: Archives of Ophthalmology 2007;125:1089-1095

SOURCE: Journal of the American College of Cardiology, published online August 13, 2007

SOURCE: Archives of Internal Medicine, 2007;167:1610-1618

SOURCE: Hepatology, 2007;46:430-435

SOURCE: Journal of the American Medical Association, 2007;298:754-764

SOURCE: Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 2007; DOI: 10.1

SOURCE: The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 2007;68:1271-1276

SOURCE: American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, 2007;176:370-376, 377-384

SOURCE: Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 2007;99:1224-1231:1214-1215

SOURCE: Neurology, 2007;69:536-545

SOURCE: Proceedings of the US National Academy of Science, published online July 30, 2007

SOURCE: British Medical Journal, published online July 26, 2007

          The Turkish invasion of Armenia began in the 11th century A.D., and the last Armenian kingdom fell three centuries later.  Most of the territories that had once formed the ancient and medieval Armenian kingdoms were incorporated into the Ottoman Empire in the 16th century.  As a Christian minority, Armenians endured second-class citizenship, including restrictions on many aspects of their participation in society, special taxes, and a prohibition on bearing arms.

          During WWI, The Young Turk political faction made a secret agreement with Berlin.  In return for joining the war against Great Britain, France, and Russia, they sought the creation of a new Turkish state extending into Central Asia.  The ideology called "Pan Turkism" (creating an homogenous Turkish state) now saw Armenians as an obstacle to the realization of that goal.

          On April 24th, 1915, several hundred Armenian community leaders and intellectuals in Constantinople (Istanbul) were arrested, sent east, and put to death.  In May, after mass deportations had already begun, Minister of the Interior Talaat Pasha, claiming that Armenians could offer aid and comfort to the enemy and were in a state of imminent rebellion, ordered their deportation (after the fact) to "relocation centers" - actually the barren Syrian desert.

          Armenians in the Ottoman armies, serving separately in unarmed labor battalions, were removed and murdered.  Of the remaining population, the adult and teenage males were separated from the deportation caravans and killed under the direction of Young Turk functionaries.  Women and children were driven for months over mountains and desert, often raped, tortured, and mutilated.  Deprived of food and water, they fell by the hundreds of thousands along the routes to the desert.  Ultimately, more than half the Armenian population, 1,500,000 people were annihilated.  In this manner the Armenian people were eliminated from their homeland of several millennia.  Thousands of refugees scattered throughout the Arab provinces and the Caucasus died of starvation, epidemic, and exposure.  Churches and cultural monuments were destroyed and small surviving children were renamed and raised as non-Armenians.

          "The important point in understanding a tragedy such as this is not the exact and precise count of the number who died, that will never be known, but the fact that more than half the Armenian population perished and the rest were forcibly driven form their ancestral homeland.  Another important point is that what befell the Armenians was by the will of the government." - excerpted from the Model Curriculum for Human Rights and Genocide, published for the California State Board of Education by the California State Department of Education.

Dr. Cho says women should not reduce red meat consumption simply because of this study, but there are other benefits of eating less red meat. Red meat has been associated with other chronic diseases, including heart disease and even colorectal cancer.