Health News Tidbits –
December 2005
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Public Health
Govt. Summary on Omega 3 Fatty Acids -
According to the National Institute's of Health Office of Dietary Supplements,
# Most American diets provide more than 10 times as much omega-6 than omega-3 fatty acid. There is general agreement that individuals should consume more omega-3 and less omega-6 fatty acids to promote good health. Good sources of ALA are leafy green vegetables, nuts, and vegetable oils such as canola, soy, and especially flaxseed. Good sources of EPA and DHA are fish.
# Impact on cardiovascular disease: According to both primary and secondary prevention studies, consumption of omega-3 fatty acids, fish, and fish oil reduces all-cause mortality and various CVD outcomes such as sudden death, cardiac death, and myocardial infarction. The evidence is strongest for fish and fish oil supplements.
# Impact on CVD risk factors: Fish oils can lower blood triglyceride levels in a dose-dependent manner. Fish oils have a very small beneficial effect on blood pressure and possible beneficial effects on coronary artery restenosis after angioplasty and exercise capacity in patients with coronary atherosclerosis.
# Impact on other conditions: Omega-3 fatty acids can reduce joint tenderness and need for corticosteroid drugs in rheumatoid arthritis. Data are insufficient to support conclusions about the effects of omega-3 fatty acids on inflammatory bowel disease, renal disease, systemic lupus erythematosus, bone density, and diabetes.
# Safety: Adverse events related to consumption of fish-oil or ALA supplements are generally minor and typically gastrointestinal in nature (such as diarrhea). They can usually be eliminated by reducing the dose or discontinuing the supplement.
Vitamin D appears more important than high calcium for bones -
Consuming more than 800 mg of calcium per day may be unnecessary for bone health if the body has enough vitamin D, say Icelandic researchers.
Using food consumption records from more than 900 adults, the researchers determined that sufficient vitamin D levels can ensure an ideal level of parathyroid hormone (PTH) - a measure of calcium metabolism - even when calcium intake is less than 800 mg per day.
But consuming more than 1200 mg of calcium daily is not enough to maintain ideal PTH if the vitamin D status is insufficient.
The study is part of a growing body of work that points to the important role of vitamin D, and not just calcium alone, in bone health.
The new study, published in today’s issue of JAMA (vol 294, no 18, pp2336-2341), underlines the need to do further work on the RDA for this vitamin.
Courtesy of nutraingredients.com
Silicon may boost calcium/Vitamin D bone benefits -
New research adds to mounting evidence that silicon delivered as choline-stabilised orthosilicic acid (ch-OSAT) may boost the ability of calcium and vitamin D to build bone mineral density (BMD) in osteoporosis and osteopenia sufferers.
The latest study, led by Professor Tim Spector of St Thomas Hospital in London, UK, builds on an earlier investigation indicating that the benefits of ch-OSA in helping build and maintain bone lie in its regulation of bone mineralization, which help trigger the deposition of calcium and phosphate, reducing the number of bone-destroying cells (called osteoclasts) and increasing the number of bone-building cells (osteoblasts).
Spector and his team divided a group of 114 women, all of whom suffered from osteoporosis or osteopenia (bones that are less dense than normal, giving the individual a higher risk of developing osteoporosis), into four groups.
Over a 12-month period the placebo group received the standard recommended dose of calcium and vitamin D3 for osteopenia and mild osteoporosis each day – that is, 1000mg and 800IU respectively.
The other three groups received the same calcium and vitamin D3 doses, but in addition from Jarrow Formulas).
Their findings were presented at the weekend at the conference of the American Society of Bone and Mineral Research in Nashville, Tennessee.
Overall, they noted that the ch-OSA seemed to confer some additional benefit to Ca/Vit D3 supplementation. The effect was particularly pronounced in the PINP, the most sensitive bone formation marker. In the groups receiving six and 12mg of silicon, the improvements were “significant”.
"This study suggests that combined therapy of ch-OSA plus Ca/Vit D3 is a safe, well tolerated treatment that has a potentially beneficial effect on bone turnover, especially bone collagen, and possibly femoral BMD, compared to Ca/Vit D3 alone," concluded the researchers.
Courtesy of nutraingredients.com
Too much calcium may raise prostate cancer risk -
According to the American Association for Cancer Research, based upon the 17 years of follow-up and 1269 incident cases of prostate cancer in the ATBC study, men who consumed more than 2000 mg calcium per day nearly doubled their risk of developing prostate cancer.
Bonnie - as we have said many times with calcium, "too much of it is not a good thing." If malabsorbed, it leeches into other areas of the body like the arteries (creating calcification), and the prostate. Calcium intake should be individualized. In addition, calcium should ALWAYS be taken with magnesium and vitamin D to ensure proper absorption.
Can a dose of bacteria a day keep the doctor away? -
Yes, according to a study of Swedish workers who took supplements containing microorganisms: those on the 'friendly' bacteria pills stayed home sick half as much as their colleagues taking a placebo. The findings lend support to claims that foods with live bacteria can boost the body's immune system.
Workers at a packaging plant received daily liquid doses of either a placebo or Lactobacillus reuteri, a bacteria that is cultured in some yogurts, for 80 days. While 23 of the 87 volunteers receiving a placebo reported sick during that period, only 10 out of the 94 volunteers that took the L. reuteri said they were ill. The results of the blind study appear in the journal Environmental Health.
Steve - I blogged this because it appeared in the Nature, a fairly mainstream journal. We have known for a long time how probiotics help the immune system, but to see it promoted in a journal such as this is exciting.
Drugs/Meds -
Antibiotics given too often for sore throat-study -
Doctors often improperly prescribe antibiotics to children complaining of sore throats but could avoid that mistake by administering a simple test for strep throat, a study said on Tuesday.
American physicians prescribe antibiotics for 53 percent of the estimated 7.3 million children with sore throats who visit a doctor each year, the eight-year study said.
But antibiotics are called for in just the 15 percent to 36 percent of cases where the source of the pain and inflammation is strep throat, or group A streptococcal pharyngitis, against which antibiotics are effective.
"Children with sore throat are frequently given unnecessary antibiotics," said study author Dr. Jeffrey Linder of Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School. "This over-prescribing of antibiotics could be easily remedied by following known guidelines, which include doing a simple, inexpensive strep test before giving antibiotics."
About half the children prescribed drugs did not undergo a test for strep.
"Strep testing is underused," Linder said. "Instead of writing a prescription, physicians should order a test and make sure they are treating kids' symptoms by offering a pain medication like acetaminophen or ibuprofen."
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy of Pediatrics both recommend the strep throat test before giving antibiotics to a child with a sore throat.
"This is critical for not just children but all patients as unnecessary prescription of antibiotics can lead to a variety of issues including increased costs, the potential development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and adverse drug effects," said Linder, who reported his findings in this week's issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
In addition, the study found antibiotics not recommended for use against strep throat were prescribed for 27 percent of the children who received drugs. Penicillin, amoxicillin, erythromycin and first-generation cephalosporins are considered effective against strep, the report said.
Courtesy of Reuters
Steve - Parents, take matters into your own hands...request a strep test before giving your child an antibiotic. If the sore throat is due to cold or flu, an antibiotic is useless. Antibiotics are only effective for bacterial infections, such as strep.
Food/Diet -
Veggies May Prevent Cancer -
Chemicals in certain vegetables and herbs -- including broccoli sprouts, cabbage and gingko biloba -- appear to help prevent cancer, new studies found.
Highlights of the findings, which were presented Monday in Baltimore at a meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research:
*Japanese scientists found that eating fresh broccoli sprouts cut infections from a type of bacteria linked to stomach cancer. Sulforaphane -- a chemical in broccoli sprouts -- helps fight molecules that damage DNA and can lead to cancer. Broccoli sprouts are two- to three-day-old broccoli plants.
*Researchers at the University of New Mexico, Michigan State University and the National Food and Nutrition Institute of Warsaw found that women who ate three servings a week of lightly cooked cabbage or sauerkraut might have a lower risk of developing breast cancer.
*Scientists in Boston found a reduced risk of ovarian cancer in women who consumed ginkgo biloba, an herbal supplement derived from leaves of the gingko tree. Women who took the supplement for six months or longer had a 60 percent lower risk.
*In the final study, a component of garlic was found to curb the effects of a suspected cancer-causing agent released by cooking meats and eggs. Researchers at Florida A&M University tested the substance on human tissue and found it blocked the cancer-causing enzyme.
Courtesy of Bloomberg News
Mediterranean diet good for the heart -
Eating a Mediterranean-style diet for three months can reduce the risk of heart disease by 15 percent, a new study shows.
The heart-healthy effects of the Mediterranean diet -- rich in fruits, vegetables, nuts and fish and olive oil and light on red meat -- are well documented, Dr. Denis Lairon of the Faculty of Medicine Timone in Marseille, France and colleagues note in November's American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. But just one other study has looked at what happens when healthy people are actually put on a Mediterranean-style diet.
To investigate, the researchers assigned 212 men and women at moderate risk for heart disease to eat a Mediterranean diet or a standard low-fat diet for three months. Participants on the Mediterranean diet were instructed to eat fish four times a week and red meat only once a week. Men were allowed two glasses of red wine daily, while women were limited to one.
Recommendations for people on the low-fat diet were to eat poultry rather than beef, pork and other mammal meats; eat fish two or three times a week; stay away from animal products rich in saturated fat; and eat fruit and vegetables, low-fat dairy products, and vegetable oils.
Among people on the Mediterranean diet, total cholesterol dropped by 7.5 percent, and it fell by 4.5 percent in the low-fat diet group. Based on this reduction, the researchers write, overall cardiovascular risk fell 15 percent with the Mediterranean diet and 9 percent with the low fat diet.
Health Benefits of Soy Limited -
According to the NIH's Office of Dietary Supplements October Newsletter, soy products do not have significant effects on blood pressure, bone health, cancer, kidney disease, endocrine function, reproductive health, neurocognitive function, or glucose metabolism. However, daily consumption may lower LDL cholesterol (by about 3%) and triglycerides (6%), and soy isoflavones (at doses of 17.5 to 100mg daily) may reduce hot flashes in postmenopausal women.
The evidence was reviewed by the federal government's Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
Broccoli fights cancer-causing bacteria in humans -
H. pylori, is known to cause gastritis and is believed to be a major factor in peptic ulcers and stomach cancer. In humans the cells lining the stomach can act as reservoirs of helicobacter, making it more difficult to get rid of the infection. Nonetheless, in all but 15 to 20 percent of cases it can be tackled with antibiotics.
The findings of the new study, led by Akinori Yanaka of the University of Tsukuba, were presented yesterday at the American Association for Cancer Research's Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research meeting in Baltimore.
The study involved 40 people who were infected with H. pylori. Over a two-month period, 20 of them received 100g of two- to three- day old broccoli sprouts with their food each day. At this young age, broccoli sprouts contain the highest concentrations of sulforaphane.
The other 20 received 100g of fresh alfalfa sprouts.
The rationale for testing broccoli sprouts against alfalfa was that the chemical constituents are very similar. However while broccoli sprouts contain 250mg of sulforaphane glucosinolate per 100g, alfalfa sprouts contain neither sulforaphane nor sulforaphane glucosinolate.
After two months, the broccoli group showed significantly less H. pylori, although the bacterium was not completely eradicated. Participants’ pepsinogen were also reduced. In the alfalfa group however, both H. pylori and pepsinogen remained at pre-intervention levels.
Further tests conducted two months after the end of the intervention showed that both H. pylori and pepsinogen returned to their previous levels when participants stopped consuming the broccoli sprouts.
Commenting on the findings, Yamaka said: "Even though we were unable to eradicate H. pylori, to be able suppress it and relieve the accompanying gastritis by means as simple as eating more broccoli sprouts is good news for the many people who are infected."
Courtesy of nutraingredients.com
More protein, less carbs may cut heart risk -
Researchers at Johns Hopkins University found that substituting about 10 per cent of calories from carbohydrate to either protein-rich foods, mostly from plant sources, or to monounsaturated fats, contained in olive and canola oil, had a greater benefit on the heart than a carbohydrate rich diet, similar to that known in the US as DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension).
The study, called the Optimal Macronutrient Intake Trial to Prevent Heart Disease (OmniHeart), compared the effects of three different diets, each consumed over a six-week period, on blood pressure and fat in the bloodstream of 164 adults with pre-hypertension.
The first of these diets was rich in carbohydrates, but in the other two diets, approximately 10 per cent of the calories from carbohydrate were replaced with either monounsaturated fat or protein. In the protein-rich diet, about half came from plants.
Each diet was found to lower blood pressure, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and estimated coronary heart disease risk. But when people reduced their carbohydrate intake, the benefits were greater.
Overall, the protein-rich diet decreased cardiovascular disease risk by 21 per cent, and the monounsaturated fat diet decreased risk by almost 20 per cent.
The carbohydrate-rich diet only decreased risk by roughly 16 per cent.
The findings were presented at the American Heart Association's annual meeting in Dallas yesterday and published in today’s issue of JAMA.
Long-term dietary protein intake good for young bones -
In an effort to show yet again how important an influence protein and alkalizing minerals have in influencing bone status, German researchers unveiled some promising results in November's American Journal Clinical Nutrition.
In 229 healthy children and adolescents ages 6-18, long-term dietary intakes were collected yearly over a 4 year period before a one-time bone analysis. The following was discovered:
* There is a consistent positive association of dietary protein with overall bone health (including bone mineral content) and bone stability.
* Until recently, protein was believed to have a negative effect on bone health. Most believe it is due to the excess acidity high protein intake produces. This study shows that if alkalizing mineral intake is adequate, the acid issue is a non-factor.
* Increasing intake of fruits and vegetables (alkali-forming foods) decrease urinary calcium excretion and show a positive effect on bone health.
* This study failed to detect any positive association between calcium intake and bone variables.
* Researchers support the health benefit of a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, in accordance with the "5-A-Day" campaign.
* In children, alkali intake should be achieved through appropriate nutrition, and only if this is not possible with alkalizing supplements, i.e., potassium bicarbonate.
* What the study greatly emphasized was that dietary influences on bone health should involve an integrative approach, because a focus on a single nutrient (i.e. calcium) is not sufficient.
Numbers do not lie when kids eat out -
This story will get a lot of press, but it is essential that we address it as well.
Children who eat out are more likely to be unhealthy than those who eat at home. Here are some statistics of 126 Wisconsin children who ate out more than four times weekly compared to 495 children who ate out fewer than 4 times weekly:
* Overall higher blood pressure
* Lower levels of HDL cholesterol (good cholesterol)
* Ate foods higher in starchm sugar, sodium, fat, and cholesterol
* Drank an average of six cups of soda and other sugary soft drinks
* Overall increase in sedentary activity
Enough said.
Breast-feeding may protect against celiac disease -
Mothers who breast-feed their children may help to protect them from developing celiac disease, which is characterized by intolerance to a protein found in wheat, rye and barley.
In a review of 15 studies, they found that the longer children are breast fed the less likely they are to suffer from the illness.
Although, in a report published in the Archives of Disease in Childhood, researchers are not sure whether breast-feeding delays the onset of symptoms of the illness or provides permanent protection against it.
People who suffer from celiac disease have an intolerance to gluten and are unable to eat wheat, barley and rye products. It is a genetic disease in which the immune system damages the small intestine when gluten is eaten.
The review, which involved more than 4,000 children, showed that if babies were breast-fed when they were introduced to solid foods containing gluten, it cut their risk of suffering from the illness by 52 percent compared to other youngsters.
Courtesy of Reuters
Bonnie - 52% reduction for developing celiac is an astounding number. Chalk up another point for breastfeeding!
Breast-feeding lessens women's diabetes risk -
Breast-feeding, backed for the health effects it bestows on the baby, also appears to reduce the mother's risk of developing adult-onset diabetes.
The protective effect probably comes from the way breast-feeding uses up energy and keeps blood sugar levels stabilized, said the report from Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston.
A look at women 15 years after they had their last baby "found that each year a woman breastfeeds reduced her risk of diabetes by 15%," said Alison Stuebe, a physician who led the study.
The finding was based on a look at more than 150,000 U.S. nurses whose health histories have been tracked for years.
A woman with two children who breast-fed each of them for a year could reduce her risk of diabetes by nearly a third in later years, she said.
"A breast-feeding woman uses up about 500 calories a day making milk for her baby. That's the equivalent of running about four to five miles a day … a lot of energy," Stuebe said.
The study was published in the combined Nov. 23/30 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Assn.
Courtesy of LA Times
Public Health -
Illinois Passes Mercury Free Vaccine Act -
According to the Mercury Free Vaccine Act passed in Illinois in August 2005 to little fanfare:
* commencing January 1, 2006, a person shall not be vaccinated with a merucry-containing vaccine that contains more than 1.25 micrograms of mercury per dose.
* commencing January1, 2008, no person shall be vaccinated with a vaccine or injected with any product that contains, or prior to dilution, had contained as an additive, any mercury based product, whether at preservative or trace amount levels.
Steve - Illinois is only the sixth state to pass this law.
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