Monday, August 9, 2010

Jon's Health Tips - Latest Health Research

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I’ve pretty much given up two of my favorites: hot dogs and salami:

Certain meat components may increase bladder cancer risk

I need to eat more spicy food:


Chili peppers come with blood pressure benefits

New evidence that chili pepper ingredient fights fat

I’ve been choosing orange juice with calcium added, and my wife takes calcium supplements:

Calcium Supplements = Increased Risk of Heart Attack

Calcium supplements were associated with about a 30% increased risk of heart attack and smaller, non-significant, increases in the risk of stroke and mortality. Previous studies have found no increased cardiovascular risks with higher dietary calcium intake, suggesting that the risks are restricted to supplements. Given the modest benefits of calcium supplements on bone density and fracture prevention, a reassessment of the role of calcium supplements in osteoporosis management is warranted.



Now I know why I have so much trouble focusing on one thing for long periods ot time - I am what I used to eat:


Western diet link to ADHD

A diet high in the Western pattern of foods was associated with more than double the risk of having an ADHD diagnosis for an adolescent compared with a diet low in the Western pattern, after adjusting for numerous other social and family influences. A “healthy” pattern is a diet high in fresh fruit and vegetables, whole grains and fish. It tends to be higher in omega-3 fatty acids, folate and fibre. A “Western” pattern is a diet with a trend towards takeaway foods, confectionary, processed, fried and refined foods. These diets tend to be higher in total fat, saturated fat, refined sugar and sodium. Having an ADHD diagnosis was associated with a diet high in take out foods, processed meats, red meat, high fat dairy products and pastry. We suggest that a Western dietary pattern may indicate the adolescent has a less optimal fatty acid profile, whereas a diet higher in omega-3 fatty acids is thought to hold benefits for mental health and optimal brain function.
It also may be that the Western dietary pattern doesn't provide enough essential micronutrients that are needed for brain function, particularly attention and concentration, or that a Western diet might contain more colours, flavours and additives that have been linked to an increase in ADHD symptoms. It may also be that impulsivity, which is a characteristic of ADHD, leads to poor dietary choices such as quick snacks when hungry.


I’ve started taking reserveratrol as a supplement again as well as trying to keep up my consumption of new red wine:

Resveratrol Shown to Suppress Inflammation, Free Radicals, in Humans

I took CPR quite a while ago, but this makes it a lot easier:

CPR Without Mouth-to-Mouth Rescue Breathing May Be Better for Many Victims of Cardiac Arrest; Chest Compressions Alone Save More Lives

Two new studies support the case for dropping mouth-to-mouth, or rescue breathing by bystanders and using "hands-only" chest compressions during the life-saving practice, better known as CPR.The findings concur with the latest science advisory statement from the American Heart Association (AHA), published in 2008, recommending hands-only (or compression-only) CPR by bystanders who are not adequately trained or who feel uncomfortable with performing rescue breathing on other adults who collapse from sudden cardiac arrest.

A third of the estimated 300,000 Americans each year whose heart suddenly stops beating outside of a hospital receive CPR to keep blood and oxygen flowing to the body's vital organs in the torso until emergency services personnel arrive. CPR performed by good Samaritans is known to nearly double the survival chances of people who suffer sudden cardiac arrest.


Does it matter how fast you drink?

Stroke risk temporarily increases for an hour after drinking alcohol

Call it the not-so-happy hour. The risk of stroke appears to double in the hour after consuming just one drink — be it wine, beer or hard liquor .

Compared with times when alcohol wasn’t being used, the relative risk of stroke after alcohol consumption was:

* 2.3 times higher in the first hour;
* 1.6 times higher in the second hour; and
* 30 percent lower than baseline after 24 hours.

The patterns remained the same whether participants had consumed wine, beer or distilled spirits. When the researchers eliminated patients who had been exposed to other potential triggers (such as exercising vigorously or drinking a caffeinated beverage) just prior to their strokes, the alcohol connection didn’t change

Just after drinking, blood pressure rises and blood platelets become stickier, which may increase the possibility of a clot forming. However, consistent use of small amounts of alcohol is associated with beneficial changes in blood lipids and more flexible blood vessels, which may reduce risk overall.

The American Heart Association recommends that if you drink alcohol, do so in moderation. This means no more than two drinks per day for men and one drink per day for women. (A drink is one 12-ounce beer, 4 ounces of wine, 1.5 ounces of 80-proof spirits, or 1 ounce of 100-proof spirits.) High intakes can be associated with serious adverse effects and may increase alcoholism, high blood pressure, obesity, stroke, breast cancer, suicide and accidents. Consult your doctor on the benefits and risks of consuming alcohol in moderation.


I’ve stated taking niacin again, inspired by my new prescription for a statin, even though this study says there is no need for me to do so:

Although measurement of HDL–cholesterol concentration is useful as part of initial cardiovascular risk assessment, HDL-cholesterol concentrations are not predictive of residual vascular risk among patients treated with potent statin therapy who attain very low concentrations of LDL cholesterol.


And the flushing hasn’t been as bad as before so far:

Raising HDL Still Beneficial?

In the Lancet study, Paul Ridker and colleagues, from Brigham and Women’s Hospital (Boston, MA, USA), undertook a retrospective post-hoc analysis of the JUPITER trial. The results show that if a normal, healthy individual has level of low density lipoprotein (LDL), known as “bad cholesterol”, substantially lowered with a potent statin, then the level of HDL “good cholesterol” in that person no longer bears any relation to the remaining cardiovascular risk.


Cholesterol influences the health of our hearts and blood vessels. Conventional treatment attempts to reduce the level of "bad" cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, in the blood plasma. The opposite approach, which involves increasing the concentration of "good" HDL cholesterol using nicotinic acid, has proven unpopular among patients up to now. The reason for this is that treatment with nicotinic acid (niacin) has an unpleasant but harmless side-effect: the drug makes patients turn quite red in the face.

In addition to a healthy lifestyle, the treatment of lipid metabolic disorders is one of the important measures used in the prevention of cardio-vascular disease. Cholesterol is the key molecule here and LDL cholesterol is the type of cholesterol most widely discussed in this context. This "bad" cholesterol is one of the most important risk factors for the emergence of cardio-vascular diseases. The higher the blood-plasma concentration of LDL cholesterol, the higher an individual's risk of suffering cardiac arrest, stroke or peripheral vascular disease. The opposite applies to the "good" HDL cholesterol: in other words, the higher an individual's level of HDL cholesterol, the lower his or her risk of contracting these diseases. For this reason, the strategy of increasing HDL plasma concentration through medication has become more prevalent of late. The drug on which most hopes are pinned here is nicotinic acid.



I’m sitting here typing this when I should be up and walking around:

More time spent sitting = higher risk of death

A new study from American Cancer Society researchers finds it's not just how much physical activity you get, but how much time you spend sitting that can affect your risk of death. Researchers say time spent sitting was independently associated with total mortality, regardless of physical activity level. They conclude that public health messages should promote both being physically active and reducing time spent sitting.


This poses a very serious threat to my wife’s health:

Women who report greater use of cleaning products may be at higher breast cancer risk than those who say they use them sparingly.

I was shocked by how much sodium was in a can of beans, but I still ate it-and felt guilty:

Less Salt

I now eat an occasional egg, some soy and a more than a few peanuts - do I need another supplement?

Only 10 percent or less of older children, men, women and pregnant women in America are meeting the Adequate Intake (AI) levels for choline

Eggs, soy, peanuts and almonds are good sources of choline.


I’m eating lots of broccoli

Light has been cast on the interaction between broccoli consumption and reduced prostate cancer risk.

And taking Vitamin D supplements religiously:

New evidence shows low vitamin D levels lead to Parkinson's disease

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