Medical junk science: Canned veggies may make kids fat

The war on BPA continues -- from the usual shoddy base

Can feeding your child canned soup and vegetables make her fat? According to study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), it just might — but only if your child is white. That’s the latest junk science “finding” from yet another study designed to condemn the chemical bisphenol A (BPA). Despite obvious flaws with the study and the implausibility of its findings, newspapers around the nation, news websites, blogs and others continue to declare that there is “more evidence” that BPA poses a health problem.

You would think that reputable medical journals like JAMA would focus on science that truly adds insight and value about medical research and public health. After all, the group that publishes it — the American Medical Association – states on its website that its mission is “[t]o promote the art and science of medicine and the betterment of public health.” But this study really doesn’t do that. It’s more akin  to political science than it is to medical research and may harm public health if it leads to bans on food packaging that uses BPA resins. BPA bans are used to prevent the development of deadly pathogens in our food, and there are no good substitutes.

Surely, all publications have a bias toward studies that come up with positive associations even if dozens of others fail to find associations. Positive findings are more interesting news, even though this bias can generate false impressions as to the state of research. But that alone does not explain why JAMA published this study, which, much like a recent study on BPA and heart disease, is so flawed that no one — let alone a serious medical journal — should take it seriously.

The JAMA obesity study used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) program to assess national health trends. Each year, CDC collects data from a different group of volunteers (rather than follow the same group), conducting physical exams and interviews. From this database, the JAMA study pulled data related to BPA levels found in urine and body fat measurements for 2,838 subjects aged 6- through 19 years old. It found that for some participants high BPA levels were associated with higher body fat, which it concluded suggests that BPA contributes to obesity.

Like the heart disease study, the JAMA obesity study is seriously flawed for two main reasons. First, it relies on “spot sampling” of BPA — measuring exposure via one urine sample per subject. The fact is BPA levels in urine change practically hourly, which means that one-time measurements tell us nothing! Second, it largely ignores the fact that the human body quickly metabolizes BPA before it can have any health impacts. For more background on these two issues, see my blog post on BPA and coronary heart disease.

Those two facts alone are reason enough for JAMA to reject publication of this study, but there are many other reasons why JAMA should have refused publication. First, the association they found — if it means anything at all — may simply suggest that children who eat processed foods (much of which is packaged in containers that use BPA resins) tend to be overweight. In fact, processed foods contain greater calories than do fresh produce. The study notes:

    Obese children may drink more canned or bottled beverages, or eat more canned food, and thus have higher urinary BPA levels. Similarly, although we adjusted for excessive caloric intake and television watching—lifestyle-associated risks for childhood obesity—it may be those sedentary children consume foods high in BPA.

Moreover, the association they found was not even particularly compelling or consistent. Specifically, it found that BPA is associated with higher body fat among non-Hispanic white children, but not for Hispanic or black children. Unless there is some compelling and plausible body of research to suggest why this is the case, such disparate results suggest that the association was little more than a statistical accident.

The study authors themselves admit up front in the “abstract” that they have not really discovered anything new. They note:

    BPA exposure is plausibly linked to childhood obesity, but evidence is lacking to date.

In the “discussion” section, they note the study’s key flaw:

    If BPA is rapidly and completely excreted, as suggested by the few adult pharmacokinetic studies to date, then a single measurement of urinary BPA concentration would be a poor proxy for long-term exposure.

However, they then enter into an unscientific rationalization to justify drawing conclusions from what is admittedly a “poor proxy”:

    Recent data from adults in NHANES 2003-2004, however, suggest that urinary BPA concentration does not decrease rapidly with fasting time, suggesting that it is stored in fat or other physiologic compartments.

In other words, the JAMA authors rest the validity of their methodology — and ultimately their conclusions — on an existing outside data source that simply “suggests” the human body stores BPA, which is hardly a scientific finding. In fact, the citation they provide for “recent” data goes to a single study from 2004 that also uses NHANES data and that is not very compelling for drawing the conclusions that JAMA authors use it to do.

More HERE





NYC: Industry sues to block ban on sugary drinks

Soda makers, restaurateurs and other businesses sued Friday to try to block the city's unprecedented move to restrict sales of super-sized, sugary drinks, an effort the city called a coup for public health but the industry views as unfair and undemocratic.

"For the first time, they're telling New Yorkers how much of certain safe and lawful beverages they can drink," said Caroline Starke, a spokeswoman for the business groups, whose complaint also faults the city for making the decision through an unelected board. The groups include the American Beverage Association, the National Restaurant Association, a soft drink workers union and groups representing interests ranging from movie theater owners to Korean-American grocers.

A spokesman for Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the regulation's chief champion, called the lawsuit a groundless effort to stop a groundbreaking policy.

"This predictable, yet baseless, lawsuit fortunately will help put an even greater spotlight on the obesity epidemic," said the spokesman, Marc LaVorgna, who noted that the city also won fights over outlawing smoking in bars and offices and forcing fast-food restaurants to list calorie counts on their menus.

The beverage industry hinted it was considering a suit as soon as the city Board of Health approved the regulation last month. The rule would stop restaurants, cafeterias and concession stands from selling soda and other high-calorie drinks in containers larger than 16 ounces. It's set to take effect in March.

Bloomberg has called it a reasonable way to fight an obesity problem that takes a toll on many New Yorkers' health and city hospitals' budgets.

The measure keeps people from drinking extra calories without thinking, he says. For someone who drinks a soda every day, for example, downing a 16-ounce Coke instead of a 20-ounce one trims 14,600 calories a year, or the equivalent of 70 Hershey bars.

"Nobody is banning anything," the mayor said when the plan passed, noting that someone who wanted a second soda could get one.

The soda makers and sellers say the city is being a nanny-like nag to consumers and imposing an unfair, uneven burden on businesses. Manufacturers will have to get new bottles, and eateries will lose sales to competitors that aren't covered by the rule, they say. A customer who couldn't buy a 20-ounce soda at a pizzeria would be able to get a Big Gulp at a 7-Eleven, for instance, as convenience stores are under different regulations.

"(The rule) unfairly harms small businesses at a time when we can ill afford it," the suit says.

It also says the Bloomberg-appointed health board shouldn't dictate the size of soft drinks. Ten City Council members signed onto a July measure calling on the health board not to approve the rule; a New York Times poll in August showed that six in 10 New Yorkers opposed it.

The city says the board, made up of physicians and other health experts, is exactly the panel to make such decisions. It has held sway over matters ranging from milk inspection in the 1870s to banning lead paint in 1960, the city notes.

SOURCE

New Study: Walking Does NOT Protect Heart

"Walking is man's best medicine," said Hippocrates more than 2,400 years ago, and for many years, most doctors have advised their patients to walk regularly. Advocates of walking claim numerous health benefits including reduced risk of heart attack and stroke. But walking, in and of itself isn't enough, says a new Danish study.

Research published in the online journal BMJ Open found that although fast walking and jogging can slash the risk factors for heart disease and stroke by 50 percent, it's the intensity that counts. Simply walking an hour a day made no difference in combating the impact of metabolic syndrome, which is a combination of factors, including midriff bulge, high blood pressure, insulin resistance, elevated glucose levels, and abnormal levels of fat in the blood.

Three factors — genes, diet, and lack of exercise — are thought to be keys in the development of metabolic syndrome, which encourages inflammation and blood thickening.

Scientists studied more than 10,000 Danes between the ages of 21 and 98. They were originally assessed in 1991-1994 and followed for up to 10 years. All of the participants answered questions about their level of physical activity and were then categorized according to intensity and duration.

Initially, about 1 in 5 (20.7 percent) women and 1 in 4 (27.3 percent) men had metabolic syndrome. Prevalence of the disease was strongly linked to the level of physical activity. Among the women, almost 1 in 3 of those who were sedentary had the syndrome, whereas only 1 in 10 women who were very physically active had it. Among men, just under 37 percent of sedentary participants had the syndrome compared to under 14 percent of men who were the most active.

Of the remaining participants who didn't have metabolic syndrome, just under two-thirds completed the final survey and assessment. At that point, 1 in 7 had developed the condition.

Again, incidence was higher among those with a sedentary lifestyle. Almost 1 in 5 (19.4 percent) of them had developed metabolic syndrome compared to about 1 in 9 (11.8 percent) of those who were very physically active.

It was not only the amount of exercise, but also the intensity which helped reduce the risk of developing the syndrome. After all factors were considered, fast walking speed halved the risk, while jogging cut the risk by 40 percent. Going for an hour's walk, however, made no difference.

“Our results confirm the role of physical activity in reducing [metabolic syndrome] risk and suggest that intensity rather than volume of physical activity is important,” the authors concluded.

The American Heart Association recommends at least 150 minutes of moderate exercise, or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise weekly.

SOURCE




BBC falls for junk science about alcohol

BBC bosses have been forced into a humiliating U-turn after wrongly claiming that cracking down  on cheap alcohol would save the lives of tens of thousands of pensioners.

They have admitted that a Panorama investigation into alcohol abuse and the elderly used research supporting the introduction of minimum prices which was later discovered to be wrong.

The BBC1 programme, called Old, Drunk And Disorderly?, claimed the lives of 50,000 pensioners would be saved across England over ten years if a price limit were brought in.

Scotland is to introduce a minimum price of 50p per unit for alcohol next year.

Joan Bakewell, a former pensioners’ tsar under the last Labour Government, who presented the programme, told viewers: ‘We reveal new research which predicts raising alcohol prices could save the lives of thousands of pensioners.’

She also wrote in a newspaper: ‘With cheap booze available round-the-clock in supermarkets, there  is evidence that if England follows Scotland’s lead, there could be 50,000 fewer alcohol-related deaths over the next decade.’

However, BBC bosses have admitted the figure was exaggerated, saying the real estimate is 11,500. It has ordered that the show be taken down from its online iPlayer service and re-edited.

The Corporation blamed Sheffield University for providing the wrong figures, pointing out that the university had ‘apologised unreservedly’.

In a statement, it said: ‘The School of Health and Related Research at Sheffield University emphasised the human error was wholly on their part and has apologised unreservedly to the BBC.’

In a statement, Sheffield University insisted  the mistake did not impact ‘in any way’ on other work by its Alcohol Research Group, which has previously claimed that a 50p-per-unit minimum price in England would reduce alcohol consumption by 6.7 per cent.

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Caffeine protects against Alzheimer's

In oxygen-deprived mice

Recent studies have linked caffeine consumption to a reduced risk of Alzheimer's disease, and a new University of Illinois study may be able to explain how this happens.

"We have discovered a novel signal that activates the brain-based inflammation associated with neurodegenerative diseases, and caffeine appears to block its activity. This discovery may eventually lead to drugs that could reverse or inhibit mild cognitive impairment," said Gregory Freund, a professor in the U of I's College of Medicine and a member of the U of I's Division of Nutritional Sciences.

Freund's team examined the effects of caffeine on memory formation in two groups of mice—one group given caffeine, the other receiving none. The two groups were then exposed to hypoxia, simulating what happens in the brain during an interruption of breathing or blood flow, and then allowed to recover.

The caffeine-treated mice recovered their ability to form a new memory 33 percent faster than the non-caffeine-treated mice. In fact, caffeine had the same anti-inflammatory effect as blocking IL-1 signaling. IL-1 is a critical player in the inflammation associated with many neurodegenerative diseases, he said. "It's not surprising that the insult to the brain that the mice experienced would cause learning memory to be impaired. But how does that occur?" he wondered.

The scientists noted that the hypoxic episode triggered the release of adenosine by brain cells. "Your cells are little powerhouses, and they run on a fuel called ATP that's made up of molecules of adenosine. When there's damage to a cell, adenosine is released," he said. Just as gasoline leaking out of a tank poses a danger to everything around it, adenosine leaking out of a cell poses a danger to its environment, he noted.

The extracellular adenosine activates the enzyme caspase-1, which triggers production of the cytokine IL-1β, a critical player in inflammation, he said. "But caffeine blocks all the activity of adenosine and inhibits caspase-1 and the inflammation that comes with it, limiting damage to the brain and protecting it from further injury," he added.

Caffeine's ability to block adenosine receptors has been linked to cognitive improvement in certain neurodegenerative diseases and as a protectant against Alzheimer's disease, he said.

"We feel that our foot is in the door now, and this research may lead to a way to reverse early cognitive impairment in the brain. We already have drugs that target certain adenosine receptors. Our work now is to determine which receptor is the most important and use a specific antagonist to that receptor," he said.

SOURCE 

Hypoxia/Reoxygenation Impairs Memory Formation via Adenosine-Dependent Activation of Caspase 1

Gabriel S. Chiu1 et al.

Abstract

After hypoxia, a critical adverse outcome is the inability to create new memories. How anterograde amnesia develops or resolves remains elusive, but a link to brain-based IL-1 is suggested due to the vital role of IL-1 in both learning and brain injury. We examined memory formation in mice exposed to acute hypoxia. After reoxygenation, memory recall recovered faster than memory formation, impacting novel object recognition and cued fear conditioning but not spatially cued Y-maze performance. The ability of mice to form new memories after hypoxia/reoxygenation was accelerated in IL-1 receptor 1 knockout (IL-1R1 KO) mice, in mice receiving IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1RA), and in mice given the caspase 1 inhibitor Ac-YVAD-CMK. Mechanistically, hypoxia/reoxygenation more than doubled caspase 1 activity in the brain, which was localized to the amygdala compared to the hippocampus. This reoxygenation-dependent activation of caspase 1 was prevented by broad-spectrum adenosine receptor (AR) antagonism with caffeine and by targeted A1/A2A AR antagonism with 8-cyclopentyl-1,3-dipropylxanthine plus 3,7-dimethyl-1-propargylxanthine. Additionally, perfusion of adenosine activated caspase 1 in the brain, while caffeine blocked this action by adenosine. Finally, resolution of anterograde amnesia was improved by both caffeine and by targeted A1/A2A AR antagonism. These findings indicate that amygdala-based anterograde amnesia after hypoxia/reoxygenation is sustained by IL-1β generated through adenosine-dependent activation of caspase 1 after reoxygenation.

SOURCE

The Nitrate and Nitrite Myth: Another Reason not to Fear Bacon

Goodie!  I have been having bacon 'n eggs for breakfast most mornings for many years.  Now I can rest easy

Bacon has been long considered unhealthy due to the use of nitrates and nitrites in the curing process. Many conventional doctors, and well-meaning friends and relatives, will say you’re basically asking for a heart attack or cancer by eating the food many Paleo enthusiasts lovingly refer to as “meat candy”.

The belief that nitrates and nitrates cause serious health problems has been entrenched in popular consciousness and media. Watch this video clip to see Steven Colbert explain how the coming bacon shortage will prolong our lives thanks to reduced nitrates in our diets.

In fact, the study that originally connected nitrates with cancer risk and caused the scare in the first place has since been discredited after being subjected to a peer review. There have been major reviews of the scientific literature that found no link between nitrates or nitrites and human cancers, or even evidence to suggest that they may be carcinogenic. Further, recent research suggests that nitrates and nitrites may not only be harmless, they may be beneficial, especially for immunity and heart health. Confused yet? Let’s explore this issue further.

It may surprise you to learn that the vast majority of nitrate/nitrite exposure comes not from food, but from endogenous sources within the body. (1) In fact, nitrites are produced by your own body in greater amounts than can be obtained from food, and salivary nitrite accounts for 70-90% of our total nitrite exposure. In other words, your spit contains far more nitrites than anything you could ever eat.

When it comes to food, vegetables are the primary source of nitrites. On average, about 93% of nitrites we get from food come from vegetables. It may shock you to learn that one serving of arugula, two servings of butter lettuce, and four servings of celery or beets all have more nitrite than 467 hot dogs. (2) And your own saliva has more nitrites than all of them! So before you eliminate cured meats from your diet, you might want to address your celery intake. And try not to swallow so frequently.

All humor aside, there’s no reason to fear nitrites in your food, or saliva. Recent evidence suggests that nitrites are beneficial for immune and cardiovascular function; they are being studied as a potential treatment for hypertension, heart attacks, sickle cell and circulatory disorders. Even if nitrites were harmful, cured meats are not a significant source, as the USDA only allows 120 parts per million in hot dogs and bacon. Also, during the curing process, most of the nitrite forms nitric oxide, which binds to iron and gives hot dogs and bacon their characteristic pink color. Afterwards, the amount of nitrite left is only about 10 parts per million.

And if you think you can avoid nitrates and nitrites by eating so-called “nitrite- and nitrate-free” hot dogs and bacon, don’t be fooled. These products use “natural” sources of the same chemical like celery and beet juice and sea salt, and are no more free from nitrates and nitrites than standard cured meats. In fact, they may even contain more nitrates and nitrites when cured using “natural” preservatives.

It’s important to understand that neither nitrate nor nitrite accumulate in body. Ingested nitrate from food is converted into nitrite when it contacts our saliva, and of the nitrate we eat, 25% is converted into salivary nitrite, 20% converted into nitrite, and the rest is excreted in the urine within 5 hours of ingestion. (3) Any nitrate that is absorbed has a very short half-life, disappearing from our blood in under five minutes. (4) Some nitrite in our stomach reacts with gastric contents, forming nitric oxide which may have many beneficial effects. (5, 6) You can listen to my podcast “Does Red Meat Increase Your Risk of Death?“ for more information on this topic.

In general, the bulk of the science suggests that nitrates and nitrites are not problematic and may even be beneficial to health. Critical reviews of the original evidence suggesting that nitrates/nitrites are carcinogenic reveals that in the absence of co-administration of a carcinogenic nitrosamine precursor, there is no evidence for carcinogenesis. (7) Newly published prospective studies show no association between estimated intake of nitrite and nitrite in the diet and stomach cancer. (8) Nitric oxide, formed by nitrite, has been shown to have vasodilator properties and may modulate platelet function in the human body, improving blood pressure and reducing heart attack risk. (9, 10, 11) Nitrates may also help boost the immune system and protect against pathogenic bacteria (12, 13, 14)

So what do we take from this? There’s no reason to fear nitrates and nitrites in food. No reason to buy nitrate-free, uncured bacon. No reason to avoid cured meats in general, particularly those from high quality sources. In fact, because of concerns about trichinosis from pork, it makes a lot more sense in my opinion to buy cured bacon and other pork products. I do.

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Coffee linked with vision loss?

The study below is somewhere between moronic and dishonest. The  glaucoma incidence between extreme groups was NOT STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT.  The one tiny significant effect they did find was that  MODERATE coffee drinkers had more glaucoma than people who drank no coffee.  So you can avoid glaucoma either by drinking no coffee or lots of coffee?  What a load of rubbish! 

There may be something going on in their sample but the authors below don't know what it is.  Who, for instance, were the nurses who drank no coffee?  Strange people!  Maybe they were Mormons and Seventh Day Adventists,  who are known to have better health

Drinking more than three cups of coffee a day may increase the risk of vision loss and blindness, according to American research.

Even moderate amounts of the drink make developing the devastating eye condition glaucoma more likely.

The study, published in the journal Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science, suggests coffee lovers reduce their intake to reduce their chances of developing the condition.

Glaucoma occurs when the drainage tubes within the eye become slightly blocked.

This prevents eye fluid from draining properly, causing pressure to build up. This can damage the optic nerve, which connects the eye to the brain, and the nerve fibres from the retina (the light-sensitive nerve tissue that lines the back of the eye).

The researchers, from the Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, suggest that compounds found in coffee may increase pressure within the eyeball, causing a vision-destroying condition known as exfoliation glaucoma.

This occurs when material is rubbed off both the eye's iris and lens, which then clogs up the eyeball's fluid-draining system, leading to increased pressure within the eye

However no correlation was with other caffeine products such as tea, cola or chocolate.

Previous research has found that Scandinavian populations have the highest occurrence of exfoliation glaucoma.

They also have the highest consumption of caffeinated coffee in the world.

The new study assessed more than 120,000 people in the UK and U.S. who were over 40 and not suffering from glaucoma.

They completed questionnaires about how much coffee they drank and their medical records were checked for a history of glaucoma.

Those who drank more than three cups a day were had an increased risk of developing glaucoma compared with those who abstained.

Women with a family history of glaucoma also had an elevated risk.

Coffee may not be without its benefits, however. Research published earlier this year in the New England Journal of Medicine found drinking four to five cups a day possibly reduced the risk of heart disease, stroke and diabetes, among other conditions

SOURCE

The Relationship between Caffeine and Coffee Consumption and Exfoliation Glaucoma or Glaucoma Suspect: A Prospective Study in Two Cohorts

Louis R. Pasquale


Abstract

Purpose: We examined the association between caffeine and caffeinated beverage consumption in relation to the risk of exfoliation glaucoma or exfoliation glaucoma suspect (EG/EGS).

Methods:  We followed 78,977 women from the Nurses' Health Study (NHS) and 41,202 men from the Health Professionals Follow-up Study (HPFS) who were at least 40 years of age, did not have glaucoma, and reported undergoing eye examinations from 1980 (NHS) or 1986 (HPFS) to 2008. Information on consumption of caffeine-containing beverages and potential confounders were repeatedly ascertained in validated follow-up questionnaires. Confirmation with medical record review revealed 360 incident EG/EGS cases. Multivariate rate ratios (RRs) for EG/EGS were calculated in each cohort and then pooled using meta-analytic techniques.



Conclusions: We observed a positive association between heavier coffee consumption with risk of EG/EGS in this large prospective study.

SOURCE

Study: Many drugs just fine years after “expiry date”

Chances are, your medicine cabinet contains some pills that are past their expiration date. You might even have some pain relievers, some cough syrup or some sleeping pills that were purchased back when Richard Nixon was in the White House. But you can’t seem to throw them away because you suspect they might still be OK to take.

If you’ve wondered whether medicines really do need to be tossed after their expiration date, you’re got some company at the California Poison Control System, UC San Francisco and UC Irvine. Researchers from those institutions decided to satisfy their curiosity by testing the effectiveness of eight drugs that had been sitting around, unopened, in pharmacies for years after they had supposedly gone bad.

These drugs were not just a few years past their prime, these medications were a full 28 to 40 years past their official expiration dates.

The eight drugs contained a total of 15 active ingredients. The researchers couldn’t find a standard test for one of them (homatropine), so they focused their analysis on the other 14.

The tablets and capsules were dissolved and subjected to chemical analysis using a mass spectrometer. That revealed how much of the active ingredients remained in the pills.

Out of the 14 active ingredients, 12 were still at high enough concentration – 90% of the amount stated on the label – to qualify as having “acceptable potency,” the researchers found. These included:

Acetaminophen (the pain reliever in Tylenol)

Codeine (an opiate that treats pain and coughs)

Hydrocodone (an opiate used to treat moderate to severe pain)

Phenacetin (an analgesic that’s not used much anymore)

Caffeine (a stimulant)

Chlorpheniramine (an antihistamine used to treat colds and allergies)

Pentobarbital (a short-acting barbiturate)

Butalbital (a barbiturate that lasts for an intermediate period of time)

Secobarbital (a barbituate used to treat insomnia)

Phenobarbital (a barbiturate that controls seizures and relieves anxiety)

Meprobamate (a tranquilizer to treat anxiety)

Methaqualone (a sedative and muscle relaxant known by the brand name Quaaludes)

The only active ingredients that missed that cutoff were aspirin and the stimulant amphetamine.

The expiration date on a drug is usually one to five years after it was manufactured. But those dates are often set arbitrarily, since the Food and Drug Administration doesn’t require pharmaceutical makers to test how long the active ingredients will last, the researchers wrote.

They noted that the Shelf-Life Extension Program allows drugs in federal stockpiles to be retained for up to 278 months after their stated expiration date if tests show they are still potent. But some of the ingredients tested in this study remained good for 480 months – so far.

The research team’s obvious conclusion? “Our results support the effectiveness of broadly extending expiration dates for many drugs,” they wrote.

“The most important implication of our study involves the potential cost savings resulting from lengthier product expiration dating,” they added. “Given that Americans currently spend more than $300 billion annually on prescription medications, extending drug expiration dates could yield enormous health care expenditure savings.”

The analysis was published online Monday by Archives of Internal Medicine. The full report is behind a paywall, but you can can read the first page here.

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HRT 'is safe and can protect against heart without increasing cancer risks'

This was evident from the beginning.  It was only attention-seeking hysteria that knocked it

Taking HRT is safe and can protect against heart disease without increasing cancer risks, a milestone study claims.

It found women who take hormone replacement therapy at the start of the menopause for 10 years can reduce their risk of heart failure, heart attacks and premature death.

Most importantly, the study found there was no extra risk of cancer, strokes or blood clots even 16 years after starting HRT.

Using HRT halved the risk of heart disease and strokes, and cut the death rate by 43 per cent during the study period.

Experts hailed the findings as finally demonstrating that HRT has long-term health benefits after a decade-long controversy over its safety.

British doctors are calling for rules on HRT prescribing to be re-written, allowing a new generation of women to get bone protection and relief from menopausal symptoms such as hot flushes and mood changes.

At present, women in their 50s are told to use hormone replacement therapy drugs for the shortest period of time and not longer than five years.

The new Danish study is the only one to be carried out where women were randomly assigned to take HRT at the start of the menopause, and then their health checked after ten and 16 years.

Around 1,000 aged between 45 and 58 were recruited, with half taking HRT which was started early after the menopause. The control group received no treatment.

The study, published on the bmj.com website, found that after ten years, 33 women in the control group had died or suffered heart failure or a heart attack compared with only 16 women who were given HRT.

They also found that 36 women in the HRT group were treated for cancer compared with 39 in the control group. Ten women in the HRT group were treated for breast cancer compared with 17 in the control group. Eleven women in the HRT group were treated for strokes compared with 14 in the control group.

Specialists had long believed the oestrogen in HRT should prevent heart disease, but in 2002 the US Women’s Health Initiative study claimed women on the treatment were at higher risk of breast cancer, heart disease and strokes.

Expert analysis has since concluded the risks were caused by HRT being used in women many years past the menopause, for whom it was never intended.

Dr John Stevenson, reader in metabolic medicine at Imperial College London, said UK authorities should update guidance which says HRT should be offered only to women with serious menopausal symptoms for the shortest time possible.

‘The strength of the [Danish] study is its long duration, and this shows that HRT, started around the menopause, is really pretty safe indeed, even for longer-term use,’ he said.

SOURCE




Botox trialled as asthma treatment

An oddball idea but it is fair to give it a trial

A Melbourne research team is hoping it can help fight asthma by using Botox which is commonly used to reduce wrinkles.

The researchers are reporting promising results from injections of Botox into the voice box.

They will also trial using Botox to treat hay fever.

Yvonne Lakeland is one of a group of asthma patients who have undergone the new treatment involving the Botox injection. She has had severe asthma for decades and has suffered many asthma attacks.  "There were times where I've had to be resuscitated and I've been on life support," she said.

The trial is being led by the director of respiratory medicine at the Monash Medical Centre in Melbourne, Professor Phil Bardin.

"In 11 injections we've given, nine we think have been successful," he said.  "What it's done is it's improved people's asthma symptoms - hasn't taken the asthma away obviously but seems to have improved it in many people.

"On the measurements we do on the CT scan, we can see that there's an opening of the voice box that suggests that more air is going through and suggests that people will be feeling less breathless with their asthma."

Professor Bardin says in asthmatics it is believed the voice box is asthmatic as well as the lung itself and that some of the limited air flow is caused by the voice box blocking the flow of air to the lung.

"So all the treatment does is it causes paralysis, or partial paralysis," he said.  "Some of the muscles in the voice box it relaxes and lets air through, in and out."

Despite the promising signs, Professor Bardin does not have enough proof that Botox can combat asthma but is planning a more comprehensive trial to find out.

Ms Lakeland is optimistic.  She had five asthma attacks last year and has noticed an improvement since her Botox injections. "In February this year I had the first injection," she said. "It's over four months now since I had the last one, which was only the second one and I still haven't had an attack.  "That's good news".

It is not the first time the botulinum toxin has been used in medicine.  It is used in neurology and as a treatment for migraines.

A comprehensive trial of the asthma treatment will begin next year.

Professor Bardin is hoping it can also be used to target the nerves responsible for hay fever.  "It will get under the surface, below the surface, and will be able to have an effect there," he said.  "It may be much more effective than say treatments with antihistamines that try to mop up the problem after it's occurred."

Professor Bardin is about to begin a trial of a gel to treat hay fever.

SOURCE

Children under three should be banned from watching TV, says authoritarian a*hole

Evidence for harm?  Just: "authorities say".  It's just conceited elitist opinion

Parents need to drastically cut the number of hours children spend watching television, while under threes should be stopped from watching altogether, a leading psychologist has warned.

Limiting the amount of time youngsters are sat in front of a screen could have significant advantages for their health, development and wellbeing, according to Dr Aric Sigman.

By the age of seven, a child born today will have spent a full year glued to screens and over the course of childhood youngsters spend more time watching TV than in school.

The population's vast use of games consoles, tablet computers, televisions, smart phones and laptops has been linked to obesity problems and an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and Type 2 diabetes - with the average child exposed to five different screens in each household.

Writing in the influential medical journey Archives Of Disease In Childhood, Dr Sigman said such extensive use could also lead to attention problems and other psychological difficulties.

‘Reducing total daily screen time for children, and delaying the age at which they start, could provide significant advantages for their health and wellbeing,' he writes.

‘While many questions remain regarding the precise nature of the association between screen time and adverse outcomes, the advice from a growing number of both researchers and other medical associations and government health departments elsewhere is becoming unequivocal: reduce screen time.’

The amount of time spent in front of a screen could also adversely affect children's social relationships, he added.

He said many parents use the devices as ‘electronic babysitters’ as a means to occupy their children.  ‘Screen time appears to have created the three-parent family,’ he added.

There are emerging concerns about the amount of time children spend watching 3D televisions and consoles - saying such devices could affect the development of the child's depth perception.

Dr Sigman - who is also a child health expert - has made a raft of suggestions for children's screen consumption including delaying the age children start using screens to at least three.

Children aged between three and seven should be limited to half-an-hour to an hour of screen time each day, he said.  Those aged seven to 12 should spend just one hour in front of screens.  Children aged 12 to 15 should have a maximum of 1.5 hours in front of screens and those aged 16 and over should spend just two hours, he recommends.

He concluded: ‘As health risks are reported to occur beyond exposure of two hours of screen time per day, although the average child is exposed to three times this amount, a robust initiative to encourage a reduction in daily recreational screen time could lead to significant improvements in child health and development.

‘Britain and European medical establishments should consider screen time as a separate entity from sedentary behaviour, and offer an advisory on the average number of hours per day young children, in particular, are viewing screen media, and the age at which they start.’

SOURCE






Fungal Meningitis Outbreak is iatrogenic

Quite appalling

It starts with a headache, nothing major. Then the neck stiffness sets in, the high fever. That's all the warning you have before fungal meningitis inflames your brain and takes your life. And it's happening, all of a sudden, to unprecedented numbers of people all across America.

Fungal meningitis is a devastating illness, but also historically an incredibly rare one. Which is why the 64 recent cases—spread over seven states—that have plagued the US in a very short time is so troubling. Five have died, thousands more are at risk. Even worse? It can all be traced back to a single, preventable source.

The Cure Is the Disease

Methylprednisolone acetate is an injected steroid, commonly used to treat the pain and swelling associated with arthritis but also deployed against blood disorders, severe allergies, even some cancers. Between the months of July and September, 52,848 vials of the stuff were shipped from New England Compounding Center Inc, in Framingham, MA, to treatment centers throughout the country.

In all, Reuters reports, 76 facilities in 23 states received shipments from NECC's warehouse. The steroid has a shelf life of 180 days, which means that thousands of patients could have been injected in that time, and thousands more could be still.

Why does all of this matter? Because every single case of fungal meningitis that has been reported in the last several weeks can be traced back to a dose of methylprednisolone acetate, provided by the New England Compounding Center.

Twenty-three states. 76 facilities. 52,858 vials. And most of them still unaccounted for.

What's Next

There's good news, yet; fungal meningitis—unlike its viral and bacterial brethren—is not contagious. This may count as an outbreak, but it won't reach full-fledged epidemic. It helps, too, that the offending batches of steroid have been recalled, and that NECC has suspended operations until it can figure out exactly what went wrong. But we're far from out of the woods, according to the Center for Disease Control's Benjamin Park:

"Unfortunately, despite the current recall, we expect to see additional cases as this investigation unfolds. However, it is possible if patients are identified soon and started on appropriate antifungal therapy some of the unfortunate consequences may be averted."

It takes up to a month for symptoms to present themselves, which means that we'll be seeing the fallout throughout October, and maybe beyond.

Meanwhile, the best thing you can do to protect yourself is to pass on the steroid treatments until it's absolutely certain that every one of those 52,858 tainted vials is accounted for. That, and hope the CDC and drug manufacturers can figure out how to make sure this never happens again.

SOURCE

Update: Comment from a medical correspondent:

"Likely this drug was "preservative free" - made popular by hysteria following use of MUCH LARGER DOSES of preservatives accidentally introduced into spinal fluid many years ago. Local pain clinic doctor informed me – that preservatives in steroids have MUCH LOWER incidence of complications than "natural" drug. Amount of preservatives is trivial, NOT proven in any way to be harmful, and likely would have prevented the infection problem."

How watermelon could prevent heart attacks AND weight gain -- in mice

A daily slice of watermelon could help prevent heart disease by halting the build-up of harmful cholesterol, new research shows.

Scientists who carried out studies on mice fed a high-fat diet found the fruit halved the rate at which 'bad' low-density lipoprotein, or LDL, accumulated.

Current guidelines in the UK recommend keeping total cholesterol below 5mmols per litre, a measurement of how much fat there is in each litre of blood in the body, with LDL accounting for no more than 3mmols/litre.

But an estimated 20 per cent of patients with excessive LDL levels are classed as resistant to statins - the drugs taken by around seven million people in the UK to control cholesterol.

The latest study, published in the Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry, suggests watermelon juice could help.

Researchers fed two groups of mice a high-fat diet but gave one water to drink and the other watermelon juice.

They tracked their health for several months and at the end of the experiment found the mice given watermelon juice had 50 per cent less LDL than those on water - despite eating the same diet.

They also weighed an average of 30 per cent less, but their blood pressure was no different.

Research leader Dr Shubin Saha said: ‘We didn’t see a lowering of blood pressure. But these other changes are promising.

‘We know that watermelon is good for health because it contains citrulline. We don’t know yet at what molecular level it’s working and that’s the next step.’

Some studies suggest the chemical is vital for the production of nitric oxide, a gas that widens blood vessels.

This research follows another recent study published in the Journal of Functional Foods which suggested eating apples each day could significantly improve the heart health of middle-aged adults in just one month.

Those who ate a daily apple over four weeks lowered 'bad' cholesterol in the blood by 40 per cent.

Taking capsules containing polyphenols, a type of antioxidant found in apples, had a similar, but not as large, effect.

Bad cholesterol can interact with free radicals to become oxidized, which can trigger inflammation and can cause tissue damage.

SOURCE




Harrison Bergeron’s Lunchtime

Some things in Sweden have yet to change.  The Local reports:

A talented head cook at a school in central Sweden has been told to stop baking fresh bread and to cut back on her wide-ranging veggie buffets because it was unfair that students at other schools didn’t have access to the unusually tasty offerings. Annika Eriksson, a lunch lady at school in Falun, was told that her cooking is just too good.

Pupils at the school have become accustomed to feasting on newly baked bread and an assortment of 15 vegetables at lunchtime, but now the good times are over. The municipality has ordered Eriksson to bring it down a notch since other schools do not receive the same calibre of food – and that is “unfair”.

Moreover, the food on offer at the school doesn’t comply with the directives of a local healthy diet scheme which was initiated in 2011, according to the municipality.

“A menu has been developed… It is about making a collective effort on quality, to improve school meals overall and to try and ensure everyone does the same,” Katarina Lindberg, head of the unit responsible for the school diet scheme, told the local Falukuriren newspaper.  However, Lindberg was not aware of Eriksson’s extraordinary culinary efforts and how the decision to force her to cut back had prompted outrage among students and parents.

“It has been claimed that we have been spoiled and that it’s about time we do as everyone else,” Eriksson said. She insisted, however, that her creative cooking has not added to the municipality’s expenses. “I have not had any complaints,” she told the paper.

Eriksson added that she sees it as her job to ensure that the pupils are offered several alternatives at meal times.  The food on offer does not always suit all pupils, she explained, and therefore she makes sure there are plenty of vegetables to choose from as well as proteins in the form of chicken, shrimp, or beef patties. From now on, the school’s vegetable buffet will be halved in size and Eriksson’s handmade loafs will be replaced with store-bought bread.Her traditional Easter and Christmas smörgåsbords may also be under threat.

Vonnegut:

The year was 2081, and everybody was finally equal. They weren’t only equal before God and the law. They were equal every which way. Nobody was smarter than anybody else. Nobody was better looking than anybody else. Nobody was stronger or quicker than anybody else. All this equality was due to the 211th, 212th, and 213th Amendments to the Constitution, and to the unceasing vigilance of agents of the United States Handicapper General.

Some things about living still weren’t quite right, though. April for instance, still drove people crazy by not being springtime. And it was in that clammy month that the H-G men took George and Hazel Bergeron’s fourteen-year-old son, Harrison, away…

SOURCE

Will global warming cause more asthma in California Children?

By Mollie Bloudoff-Indelicato

Mollie would seem to have a very indelicate brain.  Perhaps all the blood is off it.

She has  a lot of assertion, and some very weak reasoning below which tries to convince us that global warming -- if it ever comes -- would be bad for asthma.  I have endeavoured to pick out below the line of reasoning from among all the "human interest" content but you will see that no actual evidence for her claims is given.  I wonder why?  Could it be this medical report which says that: 

"Asthma UK says that for three quarters of the 5.4 million people with asthma, cold air is a trigger for their symptoms.  The charity says hospital admissions for asthma usually peak during periods of particularly cold weather. Breathing cold air into the lungs can trigger asthma attacks."

So warming would in fact be a good thing for asthmatics.  Hein?  It is a disgrace that the pseudo scientific rubbish below appeared in the "Scientific American"  -- now long ago transmogrified into  the "Unscientific American"

Climate change is expected to compound the issue, according to a new body of work published in the journal Issues in Ecology. Higher temperatures and an increased risk of drought on the West Coast essentially "cook" the nitrogen, resulting in nitrous oxide and ozone. These nitrogen byproducts cause cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, especially among the region's rural and urban poor who don't have the money to move away and reduce their exposure.

In 2007, about 25 million Americans had asthma, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Costs for the chronic disease increased from an estimated $53 billion in 2002 to about $56 billion in 2007. The condition is distinctly prevalent in California's Central Valley, where one out of every six children have asthmatic symptoms -- a contemporary warning of how dire this issue could become in the near future.

Nitrous oxide leads to more ozone

It's not nitrogen gas by itself that's the problem. Eighty percent of the world's atmosphere is made up of the gaseous form. Nitrous oxide is a different story. The combination of nitrogen and oxygen molecules creates a powerful gas. In small quantities, nitrous oxide is used as "laughing gas" in dentist offices. On a larger scale, the vapor traps heat and contributes to global warming.

"It's a very potent greenhouse gas," said Eric Davidson, the president of Woods Hole Research Center. "It's about 300 times more potent per molecule as carbon dioxide."

He added, "Its half-life is over 100 years. The emissions of that gas will be with us through many generations."

The subsequent increase in temperature only makes matters worse. Nitrous oxide is also a precursor to ozone and nitrogen dioxide. Ozone in the stratosphere is a good thing. These molecules block some of the ultraviolet rays that heat the Earth. However, ozone close to the surface is a harmful irritant, triggering asthma, reducing lung capacity and affecting immune system response.

More HERE.  H/T Tom Nelson






Crookedness born of desperation

The sort of nonsense reported below never ceases.  It is cold weather (winter) that most sends people to hospital and kills them but there is a never-ending attempt from Warmists to "prove" that it is actually warm weather that is bad for you.  There may indeed be some conditions made worse by warm weather (e.g. mosquito-borne diseases) but the balance is clearly the other way

The funny bit about the study below, however, was that it claimed to cover temperature effects on health but their survey included only the months from May to September!  They left winter completely out of it!  What joke "research"!  There are few people more crooked than a Greenie

The journal article is:  "The Effect of Temperature on Hospital Admissions in Nine California Counties".  Check it for yourself

The risk of heading to the emergency room for certain conditions, such as heart disease, diabetes, stroke, kidney disease and low blood pressure rises slightly as temperature and humidity increase, according to a new study from California.

Researchers also found that for a few conditions, including aneurysm and high blood pressure, higher temperatures were tied to a drop in ER visits.

"What we know about climate change is that heat waves in California and throughout the world are going to become more severe and more intense," said Rupa Basu, the study's lead author and an epidemiologist at the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment. "With that, we're realizing this might implicate more health effects" from future temperatures.

That heat waves can lead to more deaths is already known, and one recent report predicts150,000 additional heat-related deaths will occur in U.S. cities by 2100 because of climate change (see Reuters story of May 24, 2012).

Basu and her colleagues looked at the relationship between heat and specific health conditions, rather than deaths, during the warm seasons in California from 2005 to 2008.

During this period there were 1.2 million visits to emergency rooms, the researchers report in the journal Epidemiology.

Basu's team divided the state into 16 climate zones and compared emergency room visits each day in a given area to local variations in temperature and humidity outside.

For each 10-degree increase in temperature, they saw increased ER visits for a variety of conditions - from a 1.7 percent rise in ER visits for heart disease to a 4.3 percent rise in diabetes visits to a 12.7 percent increase in visits for low blood pressure.

Conditions diagnosed as heat illness or heat stroke rose nearly four-fold for every 10-degree climb on the thermometer, and dehydration visits increased by 25 percent.

Although the study could not pinpoint why certain health conditions are more likely to send people to the ER on hotter days, Basu said it likely has to do with how our bodies adapt to heat.

SOURCE

Florida school considers 'trash-cams' at school cafeterias

Officials say federal law requires veggies on menu, but students toss them.  "You can lead a horse to water ...."

Lake County School Board officials are considering attaching cameras to school cafeteria trash cans to study what students are tossing after officials found that most of the vegetables on the school menu end up in the trash can.

New federal laws require students to take a healthy produce at lunchtime, but last year in Lake County, students tossed $75,000 worth of produce in the garbage.

"It's a big issue, and it's very hard to get our hands around it," said School Board member Todd Howard, who suggested "trash-cams." "They have to take (the vegetable), and then it ends up in the trash can, and that's a waste of taxpayer money.  It's also not giving students the nutrition that they need."

Laurel Walsh, whose daughter attends Tavares Elementary School, says getting kids to eat their fruits and vegetables is not the job of the respective schools.

"I think it starts at home with the parents.  If the kids just don't like it because they've never been given it at home, they're not going to try something new here," she said.

No decisions have been made on the cameras, but school leaders say they wouldn't capture students faces, just what they're throwing away.

SOURCE





Health body's eating tips unsubstantiated

THE food industry has attacked proposals by Australia's top health advisory body that people should limit red meat, avoid excessively processed food and reduce supermarket trips by car on environmental grounds, saying this approach has nothing to do with health.

A five-page draft document issued by the National Health and Medical Research Council says Australians should consider avoiding overconsumption of food and drinks, not purely for health reasons but because "this involves greater use of natural resources and puts more pressure on the environment".

Likewise, the document suggests people choose a variety of "seasonal and local" fruit and vegetables and grains "to reduce environmental impact".

The draft, which is open for public consultation for a month, also suggests Australians "minimise impact by reducing shopping trips by car", eat "raw food when appropriate" and use "home composting for disposal of food waste".

 The document suggests Australians should "choose protein sources that have a lower environmental impact, such as pork, poultry, eggs, tofu, tempeh, nuts and seeds, and legumes/beans". It added fish and seafood should come from "stable stocks".

The document, which is proposed as an appendix to the next edition of the NHMRC's Dietary Guidelines, expected to be released next year, says the evidence that food choices and environmental degradation are linked had strengthened since the guidelines previous edition in 2003.

Gary Dawson, chief executive of the Australia Food and Grocery Council, which represents the food and grocery processing sector, said environmental considerations "did not have any place in dietary guidelines at all . . . It adds to concerns that the (dietary guidelines) process has run off the rails a bit . . . the risk is it undermines the credibility of the guidelines themselves."

Nutritionist Rosemary Stanton, a member of the NHMRC working panel that developed the appendix, defended the environmental focus, saying there had been "overwhelming" support in submissions for the inclusion of advice of this kind.

SOURCE

Fast food children ‘develop lower IQs’: Junk diet has a lasting effect (?)

The two statements in the heading above don't make a logical sequence. The writer  sort of gets it below in that they realize that the poor eat more fast food but they fail to realize that the poor are dumber and that the low IQ is passed on genetically  -- with what they eat being just incidental.  Journal abstract at foot of article below.

In her comments below Dr Dumb ("Stumm" is German/Yiddish for "dumb") relies heavily on "common sense".  She is obviously a very conventional thinker  -- despite the fact that she is author of a paper which claims that "Intellectual Curiosity Is the Third Pillar of Academic Performance"!  Ya gotta laugh!

She also is a poor psychologist.  The idea that you can reliably measure IQ at age 3 is ludicrous.  Any results you get from it are likely to be a random walk

And in the end she concludes that food type accounts for a "negligible amount" of IQ change.  In other words the kids remained  as bright or dull as they originally were  -- regardless of what they ate!  No wonder she relies so heavily on "commonsense".  Science is clearly too hard for her.  I think she gets by on glamour

Children given more fast food meals will grow up to have a lower IQ than those who regularly eat freshly-cooked meals, according to a study.

Childhood nutrition has long lasting effects on IQ, even after previous intelligence and wealth and social status are taken into account, it found.

The study examined whether the type of main meal that children ate each day had an impact on their cognitive ability and growth.

It looked at 4,000 Scottish children aged three to five years old and compared fast food with freshly-cooked food.

The study, undertaken by an academic at Goldsmiths, University of London, found that parents with a higher socio-economic status reported that they gave their children meals prepared with fresh ingredients more often, which positively affected their IQ.

Lower socio-economic status was linked to more children having fast food, which led to lower intelligence.

Dr Sophie von Stumm, from the department of psychology at Goldsmiths, said: ‘It’s common sense that the type of food we eat will affect brain development, but previous research has only looked at the effects of specific food groups on children’s IQ rather than at generic types of meals.


Stumm

‘This research will go some way to providing hard evidence to support the various high-profile campaigns aimed at reducing the amount of fast food consumed by children in the UK.’

Dr von Stumm said her findings highlighted that differences in children’s meals were also a social problem. ‘Mothers and fathers from less privileged backgrounds often have less time to prepare a freshly cooked meal from scratch for their children,’ she said.

‘These children score lower on intelligence tests and often struggle in school.

‘Schools in less privileged areas must do even more to balance children’s diet, so that they can achieve their cognitive potential.

‘It shows that the freshness and quality of food matters more than just being full, in particular when children are young and developing.’

SOURCE

You are what you eat? Meal type, socio-economic status and cognitive ability in childhood

By Sophie von Stumm

Abstract

The current study tests if the type of children's daily main meal (slow versus fast food) mediates the association of socioeconomic status (SES) with cognitive ability and cognitive growth in childhood. A Scottish birth cohort (Growing Up in Scotland) was assessed at ages 3 (N = 4512) and 5 years (N = 3833) on cognitive ability (i.e. vocabulary and picture similarities), SES, and the frequency of having slow and fast food main meals per week. SES was highly correlated at ages 3 and 5 years, while intelligence and the type of meal were only moderately associated across ages. SES at age 3 was positively related to ability at age 3 but not at age 5. The type of meals partially mediated the effects of SES on cognitive ability at ages 3 and 5, with more slow meals being associated with better cognitive performance.

Furthermore, a higher frequency of slow food meals were positively related to cognitive growth between ages 3 and 5 years, after adjusting for SES and prior cognitive ability; however, they only accounted for a negligible amount of the variance in cognitive change. Overall, slow food was associated with better cognitive ability and cognitive growth in childhood, albeit corresponding effect sizes were small.

SOURCE

Taking low dose of aspirin to prevent heart disease could slow down memory loss

Another study which ignores its own conclusions (highlighted).  I long ago noted in my own researchh career that "scientists" usually come to the conclusion they intended to come to, regardless of what their data shows

Taking a low dose of aspirin may help keep the brain young, claim researchers.  A study of older women taking low doses to prevent heart disease found it also helped preserve their memory.

Millions of Britons take aspirin on doctor’s orders to prevent heart problems.  Other research suggests it may cut the risk of cancer.

There have been conflicting results from studies about whether long-term use of Non Steroidal Anti Inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as aspirin protects against declining brain power and dementia.

But research published in the online journal BMJ Open found regular low-dose aspirin did slow cognitive decline.

The five-year study at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, involved 681 women aged 70 to 92.  The majority of women were at high risk of heart disease and stroke.

Decline in brain power was found to be considerably less among those who took aspirin every day over the entire period.  It is thought the same effect would be found in men.

All the elderly women were put through tests to measure their physical health and intellectual capacity, including verbal fluency and memory speed, and dementia.

A group of 129 women were taking low dose aspirin (75 to 160 mg) every day to ward off a heart attack or stroke when the study started. A further 94 were taking various other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs).

Their health was tracked over five years, at the end of which the intellectual capacity of 489 women was assessed again.

The mini-mental state examination (MMSE) score fell, on average, across the whole group at the end of the five years, but this decline was considerably less in the 66 women who had taken aspirin every day over the entire period.

The researchers then divided up the group into those who had taken aspirin for the entire five years (66); those who had stopped taking it by 2005-6 (18); those who were taking it by 2005-6 (67); and those who hadn’t taken the drug at any point (338).

Compared with women who had not taken aspirin at all, those who had done so for all five years, increased their MMSE score, while those who had taken aspirin at some point, registered only insignificant falls in MMSE score.

There were no differences, however, in the rate at which the women developed dementia.

The scientists say aspirin’s protective effect may be due to its anti-clotting action helping to improve blood flow to the brain.

Professor Clive Ballard, of the Alzheimer’s Society, said: ‘It is a potential additional benefit.  However aspirin does have a number of potentially serious side-effects with long-term use and shouldn’t be taken for long periods unless prescribed by a doctor.’

The author of the research paper, which was published in the online journal BMJ Open, expressed caution over the observational study as the MMSE can detect subtle changes in cognitive ability.

Dr Anne-Borjesson-Hanson University of Gothenburg in Sweden, said: 'The findings indicate that aspirin may protect the brain, at least in women at high risk of a heart attack or stroke.'

SOURCE

Could statins cut glaucoma risk?

The usual epidemiological garbage.  You have to be pretty robust to cope with statins and it is that robustness which lies behind other desirable health outcomes

Taking a daily statin to lower cholesterol levels could reduce the risk of developing glaucoma in tens of thousands of elderly people.

Scientists found the risk of developing the eye condition was eight per cent lower among those who took statins for at least two years, compared to those who did not take them.

They believe statins could improved blood flow to parts of the eye and reduce high pressure inside the eye, which can trigger glaucoma.

Medics discovered the association after looking at results from more than 300,000 Americans over 60. The research is published in the journal Ophthalmology.

Glaucoma is disease of the optic nerve that, left untreated, can cause vision loss or blindness. It is often associated with high intraocular (eye) pressure, although there are other causes.

About 500,000 people in Britain are diagnosed with it, but an additional 1.7 million are at risk.

Dr Joshua Stein, of Michigan University, said: “Statins' apparent ability to reduce glaucoma risk may be due to several factors, including improved blood flow to the optic nerve and retinal nerve cells and enhanced outflow of the aqueous fluid, which may reduce intraocular pressure.

“While more research is needed, we hope our results may contribute to saving the sight of thousands who are predisposed to glaucoma."

But David Wright, chief executive of the International Glaucoma Association, warned the study far from proved statins lowered the risk. Strict randomised controlled trials were needed to test the theory, he said.  “I’d love it to be the case, but we can’t say statins do lower the chance of glaucoma at the moment,” he concluded.

SOURCE






Spotless homes don't make for unhealthy kids

I have been saying this for years -- JR

Mothers and fathers have one less reason to drop the mop and hide the Hoover from today - because scientists have debunked a popular modern theory that living in clean homes harms children’s health.

In recent years the ‘hygiene hypothesis’ has become an acceptable excuse to leave the house in a condition that could be described as ’lived-in’.

The theory holds that lack of exposure to common microbes, caused by living in spotless homes, means children’s immune systems do not develop as they should. This could explain large rises in asthma and other allergic conditions, it contends.

First proposed in a British Medical Journal article in 1989, it has almost reached the status of received wisdom.

But now microbiologists say the theory is wrong. A new scientific report, examining more than 20 years of research, concludes the hygiene hypothesis is not supported by the evidence.

Sally Bloomfield, honorary professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), said: “The underlying theory that microbial exposure is crucial to regulating the immune system is right.

“But the idea that children who have fewer infections, because of more hygienic homes, are then more likely to develop asthma and other allergies does not hold up.”

She is presenting the report with colleagues today at the national conference of the Infection Prevention Society in Liverpool.

Dr Rosalind Stanwell-Smith, also from the LSHTM, said: “Allergies and chronic inflammatory diseases are serious health issues and it’s time we recognised that simplistically talking about home and personal cleanliness as the cause of the problem is ill-advised.

"It’s diverting attention from finding workable solutions and the true, probably much more complex, causes.”

However, Graham Rook, emeritus professor of medical microbiology at University College London, has proposed an alternative version of the theory.

His ‘Old Friends’ thesis contends that lack of exposure to microbes that have been familiar to humans since the Stone Age is really responsible.

He said modern homes had a less diverse mix of microbes than rural homes of the past. But he said the amount of cleaning we do of the places we now live makes little difference.

SOURCE

Say cheese! Full fat dairy products may reduce heart attack deaths (?)

This is an excellent example of  how misleading statistics based on extreme groups (usually quintiles) can be.  The extreme  groups result and the result using all the data give opposite conclusions.  I will stick with ALL the data.  In which case there is no relationship between intake of dairy products and cause of death.

But it is self-report data anyway so is very weak as evidence of anything

A new Australian study has found that eating full-fat dairy may reduce the risk of cardiovascular-related death.

Dr Jolieke van der Pols from the Queensland Institute of Medical Research (QIMR) Cancer and Population Studies Group said this is a surprising but not unfounded result.  'There are other studies that suggest that certain fats in dairy may be protective for cardiovascular disease,' Dr van der Pols said.

'We found that people with the highest intake of full-fat dairy had 70 per cent less chance of death by heart disease or stroke than those who had the lowest intake of full-fat dairy.'

'It is possible that milk fat may contain nutrients that counteract the expected negative effects of the saturated fat in dairy products.'

Scientists surveyed more than 1500 Australians about their dairy intake over 16 years and found total intake of dairy products was not associated with cardiovascular death.

The study also found that total dairy intake had no correlation to death due to cancer or overall risk of death.

The paper will be published in European Journal of Clinical Nutrition

SOURCE

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 64, 569-577

Dairy consumption and patterns of mortality of Australian adults

M Bonthuis et al.

Background/Objectives:

Dairy foods contain various nutrients that may affect health. We investigated whether intake of dairy products or related nutrients is associated with mortality due to cardiovascular disease (CVD), cancer and all causes.

Subjects/Methods:

We carried out a 16-year prospective study among a community-based sample of 1529 adult Australians aged 25–78 years at baseline. Habitual intakes of dairy products (total, high/low-fat dairy, milk, yoghurt and full-fat cheese), calcium and vitamin D were estimated as mean reported intake using validated food frequency questionnaires (FFQs) self-administered in 1992, 1994 and 1996. National Death Index data were used to ascertain mortality and cause of death between 1992 and 2007. Hazard ratios (HRs) were calculated using Cox regression analysis.

Results:

During an average follow-up time of 14.4 years, 177 participants died, including 61 deaths due to CVD and 58 deaths due to cancer. There was no consistent and significant association between total dairy intake and total or cause-specific mortality. However, compared with those with the lowest intake of full-fat dairy, participants with the highest intake (median intake 339 g/day) had reduced death due to CVD (HR: 0.31; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.12–0.79; P for trend=0.04) after adjustment for calcium intake and other confounders. Intakes of low-fat dairy, specific dairy foods, calcium and vitamin D showed no consistent associations.

Conclusions:

Overall intake of dairy products was not associated with mortality. A possible beneficial association between intake of full-fat dairy and cardiovascular mortality needs further assessment and confirmation.

SOURCE

New 'smart' breast cancer drug gives an extra six months of life and stops loss of hair

A huge amount of work has obviously gone into this and it  sounds like an advance but initial trials often give that impression.  Whether it gives better results than the control in later trials will be the real test.  Patients are getting some pretty toxic stuff with it

Brits will probably not get it anyway if past NHS policies are any guide

A new ‘smart’ drug for breast cancer extends women’s lives by six months while reducing toxic side effects including hair loss.

Campaigners claim the drug offers a ‘precious lifeline’ for women with the most aggressive form of the disease, who have tried other treatments.

Known as T-DM1, it combines the ‘wonder’ drug Herceptin with a potent chemotherapy agent.  T-DM1 is designed to seek out and destroy cancerous cells while sparing healthy tissue from unnecessary damage.

Results from a major trial show the drug prolonged the lives of patients with advanced HER2-positive breast cancer by 30.9 months compared with 25.1 months on standard therapy.  Patients on T-DM1 had fewer, less severe side effects and reported a better quality of life.

The results were released yesterday at the European Society for Medical Oncology in Vienna, Austria.

Around 10,000 British women have HER-2 positive breast cancer diagnosed each year – about one in five of those affected.
new blood is on the way

Paul Ellis, professor of cancer medicine at King’s College London, said the trial results were remarkable in patients with advanced  disease who had relapsed on existing treatment.

‘HER-2 positive breast cancer is very aggressive and once it progresses to the “advanced” stage it becomes very difficult to treat,’ he said.  ‘These results are truly outstanding and will positively alter the outlook and outcomes for patients.’

Professor Ellis said the drug was possibly the biggest advance since Herceptin was licensed for use in 2000.

‘T-DM1 contains an extremely potent form of chemotherapy that’s been around 20 years which we haven’t been able to use before because it’s so toxic,’ he said.  ‘Clever new technology has allowed these two older drugs to be linked so that the chemotherapy  is not released until it reaches  the target.

‘Drugs used at this stage of the disease often make women feel worse, but the beauty of this treatment is that it costs women fewer side effects such as hair loss and improves their quality of life.’

T-DM1 seeks out and destroys cancerous cells in a two-stage attack. It attaches to the tumour cell and blocks signals that encourage the cancer to spread.  Then it breaches the outer defences and releases chemotherapy to destroy it from within. This spares healthy tissue from unnecessary damage.

The cancer’s return is also delayed and side effects from chemotherapy such as diarrhoea and hair loss are significantly reduced.

Professor Ellis, who also works at Guy’s Hospital, London, said around 1,000 women a year would benefit from the drug in the UK after relapsing.

But eventually it might be used before the disease spread possibly replacing current treatment using Herceptin and chemotherapy as separate agents.

It was possible the technology could be effective in treating other types of tumour.

The drug’s manufacturer, Roche, is applying for a licence in Europe, which could mean it is available for patients before the end of 2013. The price is not yet known.

Baroness Morgan, chief executive of the research charity Breast  Cancer Campaign, said: ‘This “smart” drug could be a precious lifeline for women with HER2- positive advanced breast cancer who currently have limited treatment options. We hope it will be made available to women as early as possible.’

Carolyn Rogers, senior clinical nurse specialist at another charity, Breast Cancer Care, said: ‘The trial evaluates a new way of combining chemotherapy and targeted therapy in one agent which could help delay the progression of secondary breast cancer as well as reduce the likelihood of some of the very unpleasant side effects that are associated with chemotherapy.’

SOURCE

Video games as an "addiction"

This rubbish has been going on for years.  Video games are popular with kids so *therefore* they must be bad.  For kids with other problems they may seem so but most kids are fine.  They just exchange older recreations such as book reading for new recreations.  I used to read 3 books a week when I was a kid.  Was I addicted to books?   My son was allowed to play all the video games he liked when he was a kid but as an adult he is socially popular and has a first class B.Sc. in mathematics.  How come if computer games are so bad?

One swallow doesn't make a summer but it is notable that the enemies of games also quote isolated examples only.  The available proof of mass harm is ZERO.  It is all just opinion

Children addicted to using electronic devices 24/7 will be diagnosed with a serious mental illness if a new addiction, included as "internet-use disorder" in a worldwide psychiatric manual, is confirmed by further research.

The formal inclusion of the new addiction has been welcomed by Australian psychology professionals in response to a wave of "always-on" technology engulfing kids.

The Sun-Herald has spoken to parents of children as young as seven who are aggressive, irritable and hostile when deprived of their iPads or laptops. Psychologists argue video game and internet addictions share the characteristics of other addictions, including emotional shutdown, lack of concentration and withdrawal symptoms if the gadgets are removed.

Other fallout can include devastating impacts for children and families as social interaction and even food are neglected in favour of the virtual worlds the children inhabit.

Australian experts contributed to the Australian Psychological Society's submission to the international manual, supporting the inclusion of an addiction focused on internet gaming.

In recognition of threats posed by increasingly prevalent electronic devices, the bible for the psychiatric profession, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV), will include internet-use disorder as a condition "recommended for further study" in its revised edition in May next year.

The inclusion acknowledges risks posed by over-use of seemingly benign technologies, classifying internet-use disorder alongside other mental disorders that need further research before becoming a recognised mental illness that can be formally diagnosed.

Commentary in the United States about the move has raised the spectre of children being over-treated and even medicated for playing computer games.

But some Australian psychologists argue there should be an even broader diagnosis of internet-use addiction, allowing proper treatment of children obsessed by other technologies such as texting and a proliferation of devices such as iPads, tablets and Nintendo DS.

Reflecting problems with children's over-use of technology, Mike Kyrios from Swinburne University of Technology - one of the authors of the APS submission and a clinical psychologist with more than 15 years experience - is formally pushing for the revised manual to broaden internet-use disorder beyond gaming addictions.

Professor Kyrios says once more research is invested in the disorder, it would allow health professionals to diagnose children with addictive behaviours from technology overuse and treat them appropriately, including strategies to change their obsessive over-reliance on being connected.

"With kids, gaming is an obvious issue. But overall, technology use could be a potential problem," he said.

Professor Kyrios said children with underlying obsessive compulsive disorders could be at risk from technology overuse.

Kara Wright was so concerned her 12-year-old son, Jack, had an internet addiction, she banned him from using the laptop over school holidays.

After playing the computer game Minecraft for an hour on his laptop, Jack would become frustrated, angry and often cry, Ms Wright said.

"It is only when he is using technology that those emotions emerge," Ms Wright, who lives Caloundra in Queensland, said. "It had a huge impact on the family."

Her first attempt to address the problem was to limit Jack to a one-hour time limit. When that didn't work, Ms Wright enforced a full ban.

In January, Emil Hodzic, a qualified psychologist with seven years experience, established a video game addiction treatment clinic in Sydney's CBD, because of what he saw as growing demand from frustrated parents and damaged children. He said he was seeing clients as young as 12 addicted to the internet and video games.

"The most typical sign of addiction is anything that looks like withdrawal symptoms," he said. "So any expression of distress, frustration, irritability when they don't get to play."

Mr Hodzic said about 70 per cent of his clients were children and teenagers, with many showing addiction symptoms closely related to anxiety and depression. "A lot of kids I have coming into the clinic have difficultly in being able to tolerate distress without zoning out via the internet or via the games," he said.

But psychiatrist Rhoshel Lenroot, the chairman of child psychiatry at the University of NSW, said it was still too early to know how detrimental technology overuse could be. "I think [it] can be dangerous in not learning how to pay attention in a focused way, but in balance there is nothing wrong with technology."

SOURCE





Simple scratch could double success of IVF treatment

This does sound like a huge advance

A straightforward 15-minute procedure costing less than £100 could double the success rates of IVF.  British researchers found that gently scratching the lining of the womb a month before IVF treatment improved the chances of pregnancy. A review of research on the technique found that twice as many women became pregnant after the procedure than without, boosting pregnancy rates to almost one in two.

Doctors at Guy’s and St Thomas’ hospital, central London, are carrying out a larger trial to establish the overall efficacy of the technique with the hope of offering it routinely within three to five years.

It is thought that scratching the womb lining stimulates growth factors and repair mechanisms that allow the fertilised egg to embed more easily.

It takes only 15 minutes in clinic, can be carried out by trained nurses and uses simple equipment already in use. The procedure may add less than £100 to the average £4,500 cost of a cycle of IVF treatment.

Dr Tarek El-Toukhy, who led the review study, said: “Endometrial scratching uses simple, inexpensive equipment that most hospitals already have and which clinicians are already trained to use, so complications are rare.

“It’s exciting that the chance of pregnancy could be doubled. The next step is to see if this applies to birth rates. About a third of IVF treatments result in a baby, so improving these odds would make a big difference to people trying to have children through IVF.”

The findings from the review of eight studies involving 911 patients are published in Reproductive Biomedicine online.

In the review, 128 out of 499 women who did not have the womb procedure became pregnant — almost 26 per cent. Of the 412 women who had the procedure, 198 fell pregnant, or 48 per cent.

There were no serious side effects reported and early signs are that the doubling in rates will be translated into birth rates.

The women in the study had all suffered repeated unexplained implantation failure, meaning other aspects of their fertility seemed normal but the egg did not implant properly in the womb.

Maha Ragunath, the clinical director of Care Nottingham, the biggest private provider of fertility treatment in England, said the technique should be offered widely to all IVF patients in the near future. She has begun carrying out the procedure for patients who have suffered repeated failed cycles of IVF.

“This is really priming the womb to receive the embryo,” she said. “It is a bit like having a smear test for cervical cancer. It is very quick and simple.

“I think any doctor reading the review would want to at least talk to their patients about this procedure.

“There is obviously something to be gained from it, no long-term damage and it is so inexpensive, so why not?”

SOURCE

Obama School Lunch Standards: Spartan Rationing, Tossed Leftovers

It takes Leftists to create a "Hunger-Free Kids Act" that leaves kids hungry who weren't hungry berfore

The new school year is only a few weeks old, but it’s already becoming clear that the federal government’s new school lunch guidelines are about as popular as the NFL’s replacement referees.

After EAGnews.org published a recent article about how the Obama administration’s new calorie limitations for school lunches are leaving many American students hungry (especially high school athletes), a concerned food service worker from a western Montana school district contacted us with news about how the guidelines are impacting her students.

She only agreed to an interview on the condition of anonymity.

According to our source, the new federal guidelines require vegetables to comprise the largest portion of a student’s lunch, while the entrée is now being treated as a side dish. That means a lot more of the stuff most kids don’t eat and just a tiny portion of the palatable item.

“It’s completely flip-flopped in terms of portion size,” our source says. “I’m appalled at the serving sizes we’re required to give high school students.”

Even though some kids may be leaving the lunch room hungry, the new Obama-imposed rules prohibit students from receiving additional helpings, even when there’s food left over.

“We’re told we cannot serve seconds, that we cannot save leftover food for the next day. We must throw it away,” our source says. “What a waste for hungry kids who aren’t getting enough to eat to begin with.”

She feels especially bad for high school athletes who rapidly burn through calories.  “Two ounces of protein won’t cut it for high school athletes,” she notes.

But the heavy hand of Big Brother is affecting more than the portion sizes at the local school.

While state and federal bureaucrats have always required food service workers keep extensive records of what’s being served, the overall amount of paperwork has exploded with the new Obama administration requirements, according to our source.

“We have to keep an enormous amount of paperwork, about serving sizes, food temperatures, labels, on and on,” our source says. “The new forms are more complex, ask for more information that’s just being duplicated on other forms. (Food service workers) are all collecting the same data for reports that sit in a file drawer and never get looked at.”

Our source believes the new government-required paperwork consumes so much of the employees’ time that it is driving up labor costs for the school district, which serves a low-income community.

“I fail to understand how any of this helps educate children,” she says.

The controversy surrounding the school lunch program stems from “The Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act,” which was passed by Congress in late 2010.

On Dec. 2, 2010, U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack issued a press release announcing the practical effects of the new law.

Vilsack wrote that the new law will improve “the nutritional quality of all food in schools by providing (the) USDA with the authority to set nutritional standards for all foods sold in schools, including vending machines, the ‘a la carte’ lunch lines, and school stores.”

The federal government is using its new power to impose “calorie maximums for school lunches – 650 calories for elementary-schoolers, 700 for middle-schoolers and 850 for high-schoolers,” reports The Star-Telegram.

Another source – who also requested anonymity – informs EAGnews.org that the federal government is using the power of the purse strings to win school compliance with the new law. Our source says the government only reimburses school districts for student lunches if every tray meets certain nutritional requirements set forth by the USDA.

Rep. Steve King (R – Iowa) has seen enough and wants to repeal the new Obama administration lunch rules.

“For the first time in history, the USDA has set a calorie limit on school lunches,” King said recently, according to The Hill. “The goal of the school lunch program was – and is – to ensure students receive enough nutrition to be healthy and to learn.

“The misguided nanny state, as advanced by Michelle Obama’s ‘Healthy and Hunger-Free Kids Act,’ was interpreted by Secretary Vilsack to be a directive that, because some kids are overweight, he would put every child on a diet. Parents know that their kids deserve all of the healthy and nutritious food they want,” King said.

Vilsack’s plan of slimming down America’s students seems to have a glaring deficiency: If school lunches continue to leave kids hungry, parents will simply pack them a more calorie-rich lunch at home, while older kids who attend schools with open campuses will gravitate to nearby fast food restaurants.

Perhaps Vilsack and other nanny state politicians are already working on the next phase of their plan, which might include checking students’ homemade lunches.

In February, a North Carolina school made national headlines when it was revealed that a lunch inspector told a 4-year-old girl that her homemade turkey sandwich, banana, potato chips and apple juice were unhealthy and that she needed to eat a USDA-approved school lunch.

Fox News reported that when the girl returned home from school with her unopened lunch, it “contained a note from the school saying that her lunch didn’t meet the guidelines and a $1.25 bill for the replacement lunch.”

Nanny state progressives might also follow the lead of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has banned large-sized sugary drinks and the use of trans fats, and has imposed strict reductions in the amount of salt contained in packaged and restaurant food, reports CNN.

SOURCE




Michelle Obama’s Bumbling Bureaucrats: Let Them Eat Snacks!

"Snacking" is widely condemned in the weight-loss industry

In response to the growing outrage over the one-size-fits-all, top-down lunch menu regulations handed down by Michelle Obama and bureaucrats in Washington, DC, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack offered an incredible response: Let them eat snacks!

Translation: no need to evaluate the program that is being met with dissatisfaction from coast-to-coast. We’ll just create another program.

ABC News reports:

"It's not surprising that some youngsters will in the middle of the day be hungry,” Vilsack told ABC News, responding to the controversy. “I remember my two boys when they came back from school they were always hungry, we always had snacks prepared for them.”

Vilsack said the Obama Administration is working with school districts to create snack programs and encouraging parents to pack extra food for their active students to munch on before football practice or band rehearsal.

Why not just give them enough to eat at lunch?

"’We understand that change is difficult,’ Vilsack said. ‘Some folks love it, some folks have had questions about it, but that's to be expected when you're dealing with 32 million children and you're dealing with over a hundred thousand school districts.’"

So Vilsack’s answer to upset students in Wisconsin: eat a snack. The same message goes for hungry kids who have spoken out in South Dakota and Massachusetts: eat a snack. And the school cafeteria worker in Montana who dared to question the program: serve the food and pipe down.

Apparently the government is not interested in listening to the people about the problem it’s created. But what else is new?

SOURCE