High cholesterol fuels the growth and spread of breast cancer

A byproduct of cholesterol functions like the hormone estrogen to fuel the growth and spread of the most common types of breast cancers, researchers at the Duke Cancer Institute report.

The researchers also found that anti-cholesterol drugs such as statins appear to diminish the effect of this estrogen-like molecule.

Published in the Nov. 29, 2013, edition of the journal Science, the findings are early, using mouse models and tumor cells. But the research for the first time explains the link between high cholesterol and breast cancer, especially in post-menopausal women, and suggests that dietary changes or therapies to reduce cholesterol may also offer a simple, accessible way to reduce breast cancer risk.

"A lot of studies have shown a connection between obesity and breast cancer, and specifically that elevated cholesterol is associated with breast cancer risk, but no mechanism has been identified," said senior author Donald McDonnell, Ph.D., chair of the Department of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology at Duke. "What we have now found is a molecule – not cholesterol itself, but an abundant metabolite of cholesterol – called 27HC that mimics the hormone estrogen and can independently drive the growth of breast cancer."

The hormone estrogen feeds an estimated 75 percent of all breast cancers. In a key earlier finding from McDonnell's lab, researchers determined that 27-hydroxycholesterol – or 27HC – behaved similarly to estrogen in animals.

For their current work, the researchers set out to determine whether this estrogen activity was sufficient on its own to promote breast cancer growth and metastasis, and whether controlling it would have a converse effect.

Using mouse models that are highly predictive of what occurs in humans, McDonnell and colleagues demonstrated the direct involvement of 27HC in breast tumor growth, as well as the aggressiveness of the cancer to spread to other organs. They also noted that the activity of this cholesterol metabolite was inhibited when the animals were treated with antiestrogens or when supplementation of 27HC was stopped.

The studies were substantiated using human breast cancer tissue. An additional finding in the human tissue showed a direct correlation between the aggressiveness of the tumor and an abundance of the enzyme that makes the 27HC molecule. They also noted that 27HC could be made in other places in the body and transported to the tumor.

"The worse the tumors, the more they have of the enzyme," said lead author Erik Nelson, Ph.D., a post-doctoral associate at Duke. Nelson said gene expression studies revealed a potential association between 27HC exposure and the development of resistance to the antiestrogen tamoxifen. Their data also highlights how increased 27HC may reduce the effectiveness of aromatase inhibitors, which are among the most commonly used breast cancer therapeutics.

"This is a very significant finding," McDonnell said. "Human breast tumors, because they express this enzyme to make 27HC, are making an estrogen-like molecule that can promote the growth of the tumor. In essence, the tumors have developed a mechanism to use a different source of fuel."

McDonnell said the findings suggest there may be a simple way to reduce the risk of breast cancer by keeping cholesterol in check, either with statins or a healthy diet. Additionally, for women who have breast cancer and high cholesterol, taking statins may delay or prevent resistance to endocrine therapies such as tamoxifen or aromatase inhibitors.

The next steps for research include clinical studies to verify those potential outcomes, as well as studies to determine if 27HC plays a role in other cancers, McDonnell said.

Regular physical activity in later life boosts likelihood of 'healthy aging' up to sevenfold

Helps stave off major ill health and dementia even for those getting started relatively late

It's never too late to get physically active, with even those starting relatively late in life reaping significant health benefits, finds research published online in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

Four years of sustained regular physical activity boosted the likelihood of healthy ageing sevenfold compared with consistent inactivity, the findings show.

The researchers tracked the health of almost 3500 people, whose average age was 64, for more than eight years. All were participants in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, which involves a nationally representative sample of the household population of England, born on or before 29 February 1952.

The researchers wanted to quantify the impact of physical activity on the risk of developing long term conditions, depression, and dementia, and on the likelihood of "healthy ageing."

This is usually taken to mean not only an absence of major disease and disability, but also good mental health, the preservation of cognitive abilities, and the ability to maintain social connections/activities.

There's a growing body of evidence to suggest that regular physical activity is essential for the maintenance of good health, while across the developed world, inactivity is ranked alongside smoking, excess drinking, and obesity as a leading cause of reduced life expectancy.

Participants described the frequency and intensity of regular physical activity they did in 2002-3, and then every subsequent two years until 2010-11.

Their responses were categorised as: inactive (no moderate or vigorous activity on a weekly basis); moderately active (at least once a week); and vigorously active (at least once a week).

Any changes in frequency and intensity were noted at the two yearly monitoring sessions: always inactive; became inactive; became active; always active.

Serious ill health, such as heart disease/stroke, diabetes, emphysema, or Alzheimer's disease, was confirmed by medical records.

Cognitive abilities and mental health were assessed using a battery of validated tests, while disability was measured according to participants' responses to questions about the ease with which they were able to carry out routine activities of daily living, and an objective test of walking speed.

Nearly one in 10 of the sample became active and 70% remained active. The rest remained inactive or became inactive.

At the end of the monitoring period almost four out of 10 had developed a long term condition; almost one in five was depressed; a third had some level of disability; and one in five was cognitively impaired.

But one in five was defined as a healthy ager. And there was a direct link to the likelihood of healthy ageing and the amount of exercise taken.

Those who had regularly indulged in moderate or vigorous physical activity at least once a week were three to four times more likely to be healthy agers than those who had remained inactive, after taking account of other influential factors.

Those who became physically active also reaped benefits, compared with those who did nothing. They were more than three times as likely to be healthy agers.

And those who sustained regular physical activity over the entire period were seven times as likely to be healthy agers as those who had consistently remained inactive.

"This study supports public health initiatives designed to engage older adults in physical activity, even those who are of advanced age," conclude the authors.

Drug interactions causing a significant impact on statin use

A new study has found that many people who stopped taking cholesterol-lowering statin drugs were also taking an average of three other drugs that interfered with the normal metabolism of the statins.

The other drugs can contribute to a common side effect of taking statins - muscle pain – and often led people to discontinue use of a medication that could otherwise help save their life, researchers learned.

The interactions of many drugs with statins have been known of for some time, researchers said, but are not being adequately managed by physicians and pharmacists, who could often choose different medications or adjust dosages to retain the value of statin drugs without causing this side effect.

The research, done as part of a survey of more than 10,000 current and former statin users, found that use of medications which interfere with statin metabolism almost doubles the chance that a person will discontinue statin use due to muscle pain.

The issue is of growing importance because statin drugs are some of the most widely used medications in the world, proven to lower LDL, or “bad” cholesterol, and decrease the risk of heart attacks, heart disease, strokes and death. About 20 million people in the U.S. now take statins, and new guidelines have just been issued to further expand the types of health conditions for which statins may be of benefit. Based on those guidelines, the number of statin users could increase to more than 30 million.

The findings were published in the Journal of Clinical Lipidology by scientists from Oregon State University and four other universities or research institutes.

“We’ve known for some time of many medications that can interact with statins, but only now is it becoming clear that this is a significant contributor to the side effects, and often the reason some patients stop taking statins,” said Matt Ito, a professor in the OSU College of Pharmacy and president of the National Lipid Association, which funded this study.

“This issue is something physicians, pharmacists and patients all need to be more aware of,” Ito said. “There’s a lot we can do besides discontinue use of these valuable medications. You can change dosages, use drugs that don’t cause interactions, use different types of statins. Patients need to be proactive in understanding this issue and working with their health care providers to address it.”

Persons who have problems taking statins should discuss options with their physicians or pharmacists, Ito said, and not assume the drug has be to discontinued. A Medscape web site at http://reference.medscape.com/drug-interactionchecker also can help individuals learn more about possible interactions between statins and the full range of medications they may be taking.

Statins are usually well-tolerated, but in the recent survey, a muscle-related side effect was reported by 29 percent of participants. In former statin users, 62 percent of the people said that side effects, mostly muscle pain, were the reason they stopped taking the drugs.

There are many drugs that can interfere with statin metabolism, increase systemic exposure to the statin and raise the risk of this muscle pain, the researchers said in their report. This can include some common antibiotics, cardiovascular drugs, and others taken for treatment of cancer, mental health, HIV treatment and other conditions.

These interactions are not always adequately considered by physicians and pharmacists, however. One recent report found that as many as 20 percent of significant statin-drug interactions were missed in 64 pharmacies.

Besides drug interactions, statin side effects are also more common in women and associated with increasing age, history of cardiovascular disease, and some other conditions. Statin discontinuation has been associated with increased cardiovascular morbidity and death.

Oatmeal Beats Ready-To-Eat Breakfast Cereal at Improving Appetite Control

While obesity is a complex and multifaceted problem, much of the strategy behind combating it boils down to healthy eating habits. Taking into account the primary role of subjective appetite sensations in said habits, a group of researchers recently compared the satiety impact of two popular breakfast choices: oatmeal and ready-to-eat breakfast cereal (RTEC). Their study, "Acute Effect of Oatmeal on Subjective Measures of Appetite and Satiety Compared to Ready-to-Eat Breakfast Cereal: A Randomized Crossover Study" is now available in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition, the Official Publication of the American College of Nutrition and a publication from Routledge.
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A sample of 48 healthy subjects 18 years of age and older were tested on 2 days, one including a breakfast of prepared oatmeal and the other an RTEC. Satiety feedback was collected prior to and at several points over the 4 hours following consumption, using visual analogue scale (VAS) ratings of hunger, fullness, stomach fullness, hedonic "satisfaction," and desire to eat. In addition, each breakfast treatment was run through physiochemical testing of β-glucan characterization, in vitro starch digestion kinetics and viscosity.

The findings indicate that "…the oatmeal breakfast resulted in a greater increase in perceptions of fullness and a greater decrease in perceptions of hunger, desire to eat, and prospective intake in the 4-hour period postprandial when compared with the RTEC," while ratings of satisfaction didn't differ significantly. These findings are consistent with physiochemical test results indicating that the β-glucan content of the oatmeal was more viscous due to its higher concentration and molecular weight, signaling a more satiating form of fiber.

While further research into other aspects of oatmeal's nutrient content and glucose/ endocrine satiety markers is called for, the results of this study suggest that choosing oatmeal for breakfast can prolong the period between meals and thus help establish habits conducive to weight loss.

Comprehensive Health Benefit Reviews

I have completed an update of my comprehensive review of

The Health Benefits of a Mediterranean Diet

and The Health Benefits of Nut Consumption

To add to my current comprehensive reviews of the:

Health Benefits of Coffee

Health Benefits of Aspirin

Health Benefits of Statins

Health Benefits of Chocolate

Health Benefits of Vitamin D

Health Benefits of White and Green Tea Consumption

Health Benefits of Alcohol Consumption

Latest Health Research

I eat a handful or so of salt-free nuts (a little less than 1/2 peanuts - which are also apparently good for me) 6 days a week - I will try to eat some on Sundays as well after reading this:

Nut consumption = reduced death rate

In a study published today in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers looked at the association of nut consumption with total and cause-specific mortality among 76,464 women in the Nurses' Health Study and 42,498 men in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study. Consumption of nuts, including tree nuts (such as almonds, Brazil nuts, cashews, hazelnuts, macadamias, pecans, pine nuts, pistachios and walnuts), was inversely associated with total mortality in both men and women, independent of other predictors for death. In addition, there were significant inverse associations for deaths due to cancer, heart disease and respiratory disease.

"Compared with those who did not eat nuts, individuals who consumed nuts (serving size of one ounce) seven or more times per week had a 20% lower death rate and this association was dose-dependent," Nuts contain important nutrients such as unsaturated fats, high quality protein, vitamins (i.e., vitamin E, folate and niacin) minerals (i.e., magnesium, calcium and potassium) and phytochemicals—all of which may offer cardioprotective, anticarcinogenic, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties.

I don't drink any sugar-sweetened beverages but probably need to cut back on desserts a little more:

Sugar-sweetened beverage consumption increases endometrial cancer risk

Postmenopausal women who reported the highest intake of sugar-sweetened beverages had a 78 percent increased risk for estrogen-dependent type I endometrial cancer (the most common type of this disease). This association was found in a dose-dependent manner: the more sugar-sweetened beverages a woman drank, the higher her risk.

A diet high in sugar and saturated fats increases the risk of premature death from any cause

Chronic inflammation appears to play a key role in the development of cancer, along with heart disease and diabetes. Now a new study presented today suggests that eating a diet high in sugar, saturated fats and others foods that promote inflammation increases the risk of premature death from any cause, including cancers of the gastrointestinal tract.

I'm doing better with coffee consumption:

Coffee may help perk up your blood vessels

The caffeine in a cup of coffee might help your small blood vessels work better, according to research presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2013.A study of 27 healthy adults showed – for the first time – that drinking a cup of caffeinated coffee significantly improved blood flow in a finger, which is a measure of how well the inner lining of the body's smaller blood vessels work. Specifically, participants who drank a cup of caffeinated coffee had a 30 percent increase in blood flow over a 75-minute period compared to those who drank decaffeinated coffee.

This is good news:

Statin Use Not Linked to a Decline in Cognitive Function

Aerobic exercise improves memory, brain function and physical fitness

A new study conducted by researchers at the Center for BrainHealth at The University of Texas at Dallas published online in the open-access journal Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience found that engaging in a physical exercise regimen helps healthy aging adults improve their memory, brain health and physical fitness.

I already take aspirin on non-soccer days at bedtime for its positive effect on blood pressure:

Bedtime aspirin may reduce risk of morning heart attack


I'm down to Co-Enzyme Q-10, Vitamins D-3 and B-12 and fish/fax seed oil:


Vitamins' Benefits: Experts Unconvinced

Even though millions of Americans pop a vitamin, mineral or multivitamin supplement every day, an influential government-appointed panel of experts says the jury is still out on whether they help boost health or not.

In its draft guidelines, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force said that in some cases, certain supplements, such as beta carotene or vitamin E, may actually do more harm than good. Instead of focusing on supplements, they recommend that people focus on the health benefits of a well-balanced diet instead.

"In general, the Task Force found that there is not enough evidence to determine whether you can reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease or cancer by taking single or paired nutrients, or a multivitamin," Task Force Co-Chair Dr. Michael LeFevre said in a news release. "However, there were two major exceptions: beta carotene and vitamin E, both of which clearly do not help prevent these diseases."

I don't use them at home - I always wonder what my outside sources use:

Corn and safflower oil may actually increase risk of heart disease

I usually saute broccoli - probably no better than boiling:

Steaming Broccoli Preserves Potential Power to Fight Cancer

The way you prepare broccoli and related vegetables can alter their potentially cancer-fighting powers, new research shows.

Broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables are a good source of sulforaphane, a phytochemical (naturally occurring plant compound) that has shown strong anti-cancer properties in lab studies.However, the enzyme myrosinase in broccoli is needed for sulforaphane to form. If the myrosinase is destroyed, sulforaphane cannot form.

Researchers compared boiled, microwaved and steamed broccoli, and found that steaming broccoli for up to five minutes was the best way to retain its myrosinase. Boiling and microwaving broccoli for one minute or less destroyed the majority of the enzyme.

Health Benefits of Nut Consumption

Nut consumption = reduced death rate

In a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers looked at the association of nut consumption with total and cause-specific mortality among 76,464 women in the Nurses' Health Study and 42,498 men in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study. Consumption of nuts, including tree nuts (such as almonds, Brazil nuts, cashews, hazelnuts, macadamias, pecans, pine nuts, pistachios and walnuts), was inversely associated with total mortality in both men and women, independent of other predictors for death. In addition, there were significant inverse associations for deaths due to cancer, heart disease and respiratory disease.

"Compared with those who did not eat nuts, individuals who consumed nuts (serving size of one ounce) seven or more times per week had a 20% lower death rate and this association was dose-dependent," Nuts contain important nutrients such as unsaturated fats, high quality protein, vitamins (i.e., vitamin E, folate and niacin) minerals (i.e., magnesium, calcium and potassium) and phytochemicals—all of which may offer cardioprotective, anticarcinogenic, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties.

Tree nut consumption associated with reduced risk of pancreatic cancer in women

In a large prospective study published online in the British Journal of Cancer, researchers looked at the association between nut consumption and risk of pancreatic cancer among 75,680 women in the Nurses' Health Study, with no previous history of cancer. Consumption of nuts, including tree nuts (such as almonds, Brazil nuts, cashews, hazelnuts, macadamias, pecans, pine nuts, pistachios and walnuts), was inversely associated with risk of pancreatic cancer, independent of other potential risk factors for pancreatic cancer.

Women who consumed a one-ounce serving of nuts two or more times per week had a significantly reduced risk of pancreatic cancer compared to those who largely abstained from nuts.

New findings on tree nuts and health

Three new studies involving tree nuts (almonds, Brazil nuts, cashews, hazelnuts, macadamias, pecans, pine nuts, pistachios and walnuts) were presented this week at the Experimental Biology Meeting in Boston, MA. Tree nut consumption was associated with a better nutrient profile and diet quality; lower body weight and lower prevalence of metabolic syndrome; and a decrease in several cardiovascular risk factors compared to those seen among non-consumers.

Tree Nut Consumption = Lower Body Weight & Fewer Health Risks

In a study published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition, researchers compared risk factors for heart disease, type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome of nut consumers versus those who did not consume nuts. Tree nut (almonds, Brazil nuts, cashews, hazelnuts, macadamias, pecans, pine nuts, pistachios and walnuts) consumption specifically, was associated with higher levels of high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (good cholesterol) and lower levels of C-reactive protein, a marker for inflammation which can lead to a variety of chronic diseases including heart disease.

“One of the more interesting findings was the fact that tree nut consumers had lower body weight, as well as lower body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference compared to nonconsumers.

Nuts and Seeds for Health

by Dr. John Livesey, Department of Endocrinology Christchurch Hospital New Zealand

“Frequent eating of nuts appears to dramatically improve health. In particular, nut eating greatly lowers the risk of heart disease. In 1992 researchers working on the Adventist Health Study at Loma Linda University in California reported that those eating nuts daily had up to 60% fewer heart attacks than those who ate nuts less than once per month3. The beneficial effect of nut consumption was found for men, women, vegetarians, meat-eaters, fatter people, thinner people, the old, the young, those who did much exercise and those who did little exercise. The study was large, comprising 31,000 white Californian Seventh Day Adventists and similar benefits of nut eating were subsequently found for African Americans4. Prior to the publication of these results, nutritional advice had usually been to minimize nut consumption on the grounds that they were a "fatty" food.

Four other large studies have since confirmed the benefits to the heart of nut eating. In addition to the cardiac benefits of consuming nuts, the risks of having a stroke, of developing type 2 diabetes, of developing dementia, of advanced macular degeneration and of gallstones have all been found to be lowered by eating nuts.

Calculations suggest that daily nut eaters gain an extra five to six years of life free of coronary disease14 and that regular nut eating appears to increase longevity by about 2 years..

The more often nuts are eaten the better as the benefits appear to increase as the frequency of nut consumption increases. The risk of fatal coronary disease and the risk of developing type 2 diabetes both appear to decrease steadily as nut consumption increases from less than once a week to once or more per day.

Just what quantity of nuts should be eaten? The studies above suggest that 30 to 60 grams (1-2oz) of nuts should be consumed daily to gain the maximum benefits seen. Whether even larger amounts confer further benefits is currently unknown.

Nuts are of course a fatty food and many might worry that they will put on weight by eating more nuts. After all, 30 grams (or one ounce) of most nuts contain about 800 kilojoules (200 kilocalories). Happily though, on present evidence, nuts do not seem to cause weight gain1,17. For example in the Nurses' Study the frequent nut consumers were actually a little thinner on average than those who almost never consumed nuts6, and daily supplements of almonds or peanuts for six months resulted in little or no increase in body weight18. Nuts appear to satisfy hunger sufficiently well to appropriately reduce the consumption of other food.

Which nuts are best?

The definitive answer to this question is currently unknown. In the Adventist Study about about 32 percent of the nuts eaten were peanuts, 29 percent almonds, 16 percent walnuts, and 23 percent other types. These researchers did not ascertain whether the nuts were fresh, oil-roasted, or dry-roasted. The Nurses' Study found that peanuts, which are legumes, appeared to be just as effective in reducing the risk of coronary heart disease as tree nuts. Experiments where volunteers were fed nuts as part of their diet for several weeks have found that walnuts19-22, almonds22-25, hazelnuts26, peanuts27, pecans28, pistachio nuts29 and macadamia nuts30 all alter the composition of the blood in ways that would be expected to reduce the risk of coronary disease. Chestnuts, a nut unusually low in fat, do not yet seem to have been studied. The best advice currently is probably to eat a variety of nuts.”

Researchers found that people who eat nuts regularly have lower risks of heart disease. In 1996, the Iowa Women's Healthy Study found that women who ate nuts more than 4 times a week were 40% less likely to die of heart disease. Two years later, another study conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health found a similar result in another group of women subjects. Furthermore, potential heart health benefits of nuts were also found among men. In 2002, the Physician's Health Study found that men who consumed nuts 2 or more times per week had reduced risks of sudden cardiac death.

FDA only approved the heart health claim for almonds, hazelnuts, peanuts, pecans, some pine nuts, pistachios and walnuts as these nuts contain less than 4g of saturated fats per 50g. The FDA said: "Scientific evidence suggests but does not prove that eating 1.5 oz per day of most nuts as part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol may reduce the risk of heart disease."

Sugar-sweetened beverage consumption increases endometrial cancer risk

Postmenopausal women who consumed sugar-sweetened beverages were more likely to develop the most common type of endometrial cancer compared with women who did not drink sugar-sweetened beverages, according to a study published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

Postmenopausal women who reported the highest intake of sugar-sweetened beverages had a 78 percent increased risk for estrogen-dependent type I endometrial cancer (the most common type of this disease). This association was found in a dose-dependent manner: the more sugar-sweetened beverages a woman drank, the higher her risk.

"Although ours is the first study to show this relationship, it is not surprising to see that women who drank more sugar-sweetened beverages had a higher risk of estrogen-dependent type I endometrial cancer but not estrogen-independent type II endometrial cancer," said Maki Inoue-Choi, Ph.D., M.S., R.D., who led this study as a research associate in the Division of Epidemiology and Community Health of the University of Minnesota School of Public Health in Minneapolis. "Other studies have shown increasing consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages has paralleled the increase in obesity. Obese women tend to have higher levels of estrogens and insulin than women of normal weight. Increased levels of estrogens and insulin are established risk factors for endometrial cancer."

Because this study is the first to show the association between high sugar-sweetened beverage consumption and endometrial cancer, such findings need replication in other studies, according to Inoue-Choi.

Inoue-Choi and colleagues used data from 23,039 postmenopausal women who reported dietary intake, demographic information, and medical history in 1986, prior to the cancer diagnosis, as part of the Iowa Women's Health Study.

Dietary intake was assessed using the Harvard Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ), which asked study participants to report intake frequency of 127 food items in the previous 12 months. A typical portion size for each food item was provided to give study participants a sense of scale.

As reported in the study, the FFQ included four questions asking usual intake frequency of sugar-sweetened beverages, including 1) Coke®, Pepsi®, or other colas with sugar; 2) caffeine-free Coke®, Pepsi®, or other colas with sugar; 3) other carbonated beverages with sugar (e.g., 7-Up®); and 4) Hawaiian Punch®, lemonade, or other noncarbonated fruit drinks.

"Sugar-free soft drinks" included low-calorie caffeinated and caffeine-free cola (e.g., Pepsi-Free®), and other low-calorie carbonated beverages (e.g., Fresca®, Diet 7-Up®, and Diet Ginger Ale®).

The "sweets and baked goods" category comprised 13 items in the FFQ, including chocolate, candy bars, candy without chocolate, cookies (home-baked and ready-made), brownies, doughnuts, cakes (home-baked and ready-made), sweet rolls, coffeecakes or other pastries (home-baked and ready-made), and pies (home-baked and ready-made).

The researchers categorized the sugar-sweetened beverage consumption patterns of these women into quintiles, ranging from no intake (the lowest quintile) to between 1.7 and 60.5 servings a week (the highest quintile).

Between 1986 and 2010, 506 type I and 89 type II endometrial cancers were recorded among the women Inoue-Choi and colleagues studied. They did not find any association between type I or type II endometrial cancers and consumption of sugar-free soft drinks, sweets/baked goods, and starch.

"Research has documented the contribution of sugar-sweetened beverages to the obesity epidemic," said Inoue-Choi. "Too much added sugar can boost a person's overall calorie intake and may increase the risk of health conditions such as obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and cancer."

Coffee may help perk up your blood vessels

The caffeine in a cup of coffee might help your small blood vessels work better, according to research presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2013.

A study of 27 healthy adults showed – for the first time – that drinking a cup of caffeinated coffee significantly improved blood flow in a finger, which is a measure of how well the inner lining of the body's smaller blood vessels work. Specifically, participants who drank a cup of caffeinated coffee had a 30 percent increase in blood flow over a 75-minute period compared to those who drank decaffeinated coffee.

"This gives us a clue about how coffee may help improve cardiovascular health," said Masato Tsutsui, M.D., Ph.D., lead researcher and a cardiologist and professor in the pharmacology department at the University of the Ryukyus in Okinawa, Japan.

The study adds to a growing body of research about coffee, the most widely consumed beverage worldwide. Previous studies showed that drinking coffee is linked to lower risks of dying from heart disease and stroke, and that high doses of caffeine may improve the function of larger arteries.

Study participants were people who did not regularly drink coffee, ranging in age from 22 to 30. On one day, each participant drank one five-ounce cup of either regular or decaffeinated coffee. Then researchers measured finger blood flow with laser Doppler flowmetry, a non-invasive technique for gauging blood circulation on a microscopic level. Two days later, the experiment was repeated with the other type of coffee. Neither the researchers nor the participants knew when they were drinking caffeinated coffee.

The researchers noted blood pressure, heart rate, and vascular resistance levels. They also took blood samples to analyze levels of caffeine and to rule out the role of hormones on blood vessel function.

Compared to decaf, caffeinated coffee slightly raised participants' blood pressure and improved vessel inner lining function. Heart rate levels were the same between the two groups.

Excessive testosterone raises mortality risk in older men

Chevy Chase, MD—Older men whose testosterone levels were neither low nor high tended to live longer, according to new research accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

Testosterone is a key male sex hormone involved in maintaining sex drive, sperm production and bone health. Physicians have long known that low testosterone levels can signal health problems, but the new study found men may not fare better when levels of the hormone rise too high.

"Older men who had testosterone in the middle range survived longer than their counterparts who had either low or high levels of the hormone," said the study's lead author, Bu Beng Yeap, MBBS, FRACP, PhD, of the University of Western Australia, based in Fremantle Hospital, Western Australia. "When the body metabolizes testosterone, it produces dihydrotestosterone (DHT), which is tied to a lower risk of dying from ischemic heart disease. Having the right amount of testosterone and higher levels of DHT might indicate these men are in better health overall, or it could help them maintain good health as they grow older."

The population-based cohort study analyzed the mortality rate in a group of 3,690 community-dwelling men between the ages of 70 to 89 in Perth, Western Australia. Participants' testosterone and DHT levels were measured between 2001 and 2004. Researchers analyzed the group's survival rate as of December 2010.

Researchers divided the men into four groups based on their testosterone levels. Men with the lowest testosterone levels had the highest cumulative mortality rate, followed by the men with the highest testosterone levels. Men with circulating testosterone levels in the 9.8 to 15.8 nmol/L range tended to live longer.

"Sex hormones are an important predictor of mortality in older men, but we haven't determined if treatments to change testosterone and DHT levels can alter these outcomes," Yeap said. "Additional research into these findings, including randomized clinical trials, could help identify ways to leverage this information to improve health in older men."

Nut consumption = reduced death rate

In a study published today in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers looked at the association of nut consumption with total and cause-specific mortality among 76,464 women in the Nurses' Health Study and 42,498 men in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study. Consumption of nuts, including tree nuts (such as almonds, Brazil nuts, cashews, hazelnuts, macadamias, pecans, pine nuts, pistachios and walnuts), was inversely associated with total mortality in both men and women, independent of other predictors for death. In addition, there were significant inverse associations for deaths due to cancer, heart disease and respiratory disease.

"Compared with those who did not eat nuts, individuals who consumed nuts (serving size of one ounce) seven or more times per week had a 20% lower death rate and this association was dose-dependent," stated lead author, Ying Bao, MD, ScD, from the Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA. "Those who consumed more nuts were also leaner, and tended to have a healthy lifestyle, such as smoking less and exercising more," added Dr. Bao.

This is the largest study to date to examine the relation between nut consumption and total mortality, and the results are consistent with previous studies, according to senior author, Charles Fuchs, MD, MPH, from the Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA. "The findings from our study and others suggest a potential benefit of nut consumption for promoting health and longevity," reported Dr. Fuchs.

Nuts contain important nutrients such as unsaturated fats, high quality protein, vitamins (i.e., vitamin E, folate and niacin) minerals (i.e., magnesium, calcium and potassium) and phytochemicals—all of which may offer cardioprotective, anticarcinogenic, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. "With current nut consumption well below the recommended 1.5 ounces of nuts per day (in the FDA qualified health claim for nuts and heart disease) we need to continue to encourage people to have a handful of nuts every day," recommends Maureen Ternus, M.S., R.D., Executive Director of the International Tree Nut Council Nutrition Research & Education Foundation (INC NREF).

Individuals who flush after drinking are at higher risk of alcohol-related hypertension

A new study has found that drinking-related hypertension has a higher risk in flushers than in non-flushers, and the risk of hypertension was significantly increased when flushers consumed more than four drinks per week.

Excessive drinking is a known risk factor for hypertension. Drinking that results in facial flushing indicates high sensitivity or even intolerance to alcohol. A study of the relationship between drinking and these two conditions has found that drinking-related hypertension has a lower threshold value and higher risk in flushers than in non-flushers.

Results will be published in the April 2014 online-only issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research and are currently available at Early View.

"Facial flushing after drinking is always considered as a symptom of high alcohol sensitivity or even intolerance to alcohol, unless a patient is taking special medicine," said Jong Sung Kim, head of the department of family medicine at Chungnam National University School of Medicine. "The facial flushing response to drinking usually occurs in a person who cannot genetically break down acetaldehyde, the first metabolite of alcohol."

"Facial flushing after alcohol drinking differs across gender, age, and ethnic groups," added Kyung Hwan Cho, president of the Korean Academy of Family Medicine. "In general, it is more common in women, the elderly, and East Asians versus Westerners."

Cho noted that it is well known that excessive alcohol consumption is associated with elevated blood pressure and the likely development of hypertension. "This association persists regardless of beverage type and shows a dose-response relationship, which means excess drinking for weeks or months can increase blood pressure," he said. "However, the relationship may vary by gender, race/ethnicity, or presence of other risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Conversely, many studies have reported that meaningful blood pressure reductions occur after reductions in alcohol drinking."

"To my knowledge," noted Kim, "there has been no detailed research that has analyzed the relationship between drinking and hypertension while considering individual responses to alcohol."

Kim and his colleagues collected data from the medical records of 1,763 men (288 non-drinkers, 527 flushing drinkers, 948 non-flushing drinkers) who had received a health check-up. The risk of hypertension related to the weekly drinking amount by non-flushers and flushers was analyzed and compared with the risk of hypertension among non-drinkers.

"Our results indicate that hypertension associated with drinking has a lower threshold value and higher risk in flushers than in non-flushers," said Kim. "After adjusting for age, body mass index, exercise status, and smoking status, the risk of hypertension was significantly increased when flushers consumed more than four drinks per week. In contrast, in non-flushers, the risk increased with consuming more than eight drinks per week".

Kim added that these results indicate that facial flushing after drinking may potentially serve as a marker of risk for hypertension associated with drinking. "Our research findings suggest that clinicians and researchers should, respectively, consider evaluating their patients' flushing response to alcohol as well as drinking amount in a daily routine care, and researching hazard by drinking."

"Thus, if you or your patient have facial flushing, the risk of hypertension can increase even if you drink less than those who do not have facial flushing," said Cho. "[Under these circumstances, I would] recommend limiting your or their drinking amount even more to prevent the development of hypertension."

Statin Use Not Linked to a Decline in Cognitive Function

Based on the largest comprehensive systematic review to date, researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania concluded that available evidence does not support an association between statins and memory loss or dementia. The new study, a collaborative effort between faculty in Penn Medicine's Preventive Cardiovascular Program, the Penn Memory Center, and the Penn Center for Evidence-Based Practice, will be published in Annals of Internal Medicine.

"Statins are prescribed to approximately 30 million people in the United States," said senior study author Emil deGoma, MD, assistant professor of Medicine and medical director of the Preventive Cardiovascular Program at Penn. "A wealth of data supports a benefit of these cholesterol-lowering medications among individuals at risk for cardiovascular disease in terms of a reduction in the risk of heart attack and stroke; however, potential side effects of statins are less well understood. In February 2012, largely based on anecdotal reports, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a safety statement warning patients of possible adverse cognitive effects associated with statin use. Many concerned patients have asked if there is a relationship between statins and memory problems. Their concerns, along with the FDA statement, prompted us to pursue a rigorous analysis of all available evidence to better answer the question -- are statins associated with changes in cognition?"

The research team conducted a systematic review of the published literature and identified 57 statin studies reporting measures of cognitive function. Dr. deGoma and colleagues found no evidence of an increased risk of dementia with statin therapy. In fact, in cohort studies, statin users had a 13 percent lower risk of dementia, a 21 percent lower risk of Alzheimer's disease, and a 34 percent lower risk of mild cognitive impairment compared to people who did not take statins.

Most importantly, cognitive test scores were not adversely affected by statin treatment in randomized controlled trials. In these trials, roughly half of the study participants received statins and the other half received placebo. All study participants underwent formal testing of memory and other cognitive domains through tests such as the ability to recall a set of numbers. The analysis of 155 cognitive tests spanning eight categories of cognitive function, including 26 tests of memory, revealed no differences between study participants treated with statins and those provided placebo.

The research team additionally performed an analysis of the FDA post-marketing surveillance databases and found no difference in the frequency of cognitive adverse event reports between statins and two commonly prescribed cardiovascular medications that have not been associated with cognitive impairment, namely, clopidogrel and losartan.

"Overall, these findings are quite reassuring. I wouldn't let concerns about adverse effects on cognition influence the decision to start a statin in patients suffering from atherosclerotic disease or at risk for cardiovascular disease. I also wouldn't jump to the conclusion that statins are the culprit when an individual who is taking a statin describes forgetfulness. We may be doing more harm than good if we withhold or stop statins -- medications proven to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke -- due to fears that statins might possibly cause memory loss," said Dr. deGoma.

The team acknowledges that while their analysis is reassuring, large, high-quality randomized controlled trials are needed to confirm their findings.

"For many of the cognitive outcomes that we examined, the identified studies were small, were at risk for bias, used varying diagnostic tests to assess cognitive domains, and did not include patients on high-dose statins, which is important given the increasing use of high-dose statins for secondary prevention," noted study co-author Craig Umscheid, MD, MSCE, assistant professor of Medicine and Epidemiology and director of the Penn Center for Evidence-based Practice. "Thus, additional trials addressing these limitations would strengthen our conclusions. Despite this, the totality of the evidence does reassure us that there's unlikely to be a significant link between statins and cognitive impairment."

Bedtime aspirin may reduce risk of morning heart attack

Taking aspirin at bedtime instead of in the morning might reduce acute heart events, according a new study presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2013.

Low-dose daily aspirin is recommended for people at high risk of heart disease and for reducing the risk of recurrent heart events. Aspirin thins the blood and makes it less likely to clot. The tendency for platelet activity to be higher peaks in the morning.

The Aspirin in Reduction of Tension II trial is the first study to explore the timing of aspirin intake among cardiovascular disease patients. In the randomized, open-label study, 290 patients took either 100 mg of aspirin upon waking or at bedtime during two 3-month periods. At the end of each period, blood pressure and platelet activity was measured.

Blood pressure was not reduced; however, bedtime aspirin platelet activity was reduced by 22 units (aspirin reaction units).

"Because higher platelet activity contributes to a higher risk of acute heart events, this simple intervention – switching aspirin intake from morning to bedtime – could be beneficial for the millions of patients with heart disease who take aspirin on a daily basis," said Tobias Bonten, M.D., Ph.D student at the Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands.

Resveratrol Mitigates Effects of Methamphetamine Abuse

Studies have shown that resveratrol, a natural compound found in colored vegetables, fruits and especially grapes, may minimize the impact of Parkinson’s disease, stroke and Alzheimer’s disease in those who maintain healthy diets or who regularly take resveratrol supplements. Now, researchers at the University of Missouri have found that resveratrol may also block the effects of the highly addictive drug, methamphetamine.

Dennis Miller, associate professor in the Department of Psychological Sciences in the College of Arts & Science and an investigator with the Bond Life Sciences Center, and researchers in the Center for Translational Neuroscience at MU, study therapies for drug addiction and neurodegenerative disorders. Their research targets treatments for methamphetamine abuse and has focused on the role of the neurotransmitter dopamine in drug addiction. Dopamine levels in the brain surge after methamphetamine use; this increase is associated with the motivation to continue using the drug, despite its adverse consequences. However, with repeated methamphetamine use, dopamine neurons may degenerate causing neurological and behavioral impairments, similar to those observed in people with Parkinson’s disease.

“Dopamine is critical to the development of methamphetamine addiction—the transition from using a drug because one likes or enjoys it to using the drug because one craves or compulsively uses it,” Miller said. “Resveratrol has been shown to regulate these dopamine neurons and to be protective in Parkinson’s disease, a disorder where dopamine neurons degenerate; therefore, we sought to determine if resveratrol could affect methamphetamine-induced changes in the brain.”

Using procedures established by Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease research, rats received resveratrol once a day for seven days in about the same concentration as a human would receive from a healthy diet. After a week of resveratrol, researchers measured how much dopamine was released by methamphetamine. Researchers found that resveratrol significantly diminished methamphetamine’s ability to increase dopamine levels in the brain. Furthermore, resveratrol diminished methamphetamine’s ability to increase activity in mice, a behavior that models the hyperactivity observed in people that use the stimulant.

“People are encouraged by physicians and dieticians to include resveratrol-containing products in their diet and protection against methamphetamine’s harmful effects may be an added bonus,” Miller said. “Additionally, there are no consistently effective treatments to help people who are dependent on methamphetamine. Our initial research suggests that resveratrol could be included in a treatment regimen for those addicted to methamphetamine and it has potential to decrease the craving and desire for the drug. Resveratrol is found in good, colorful foods, and has few side effects. We all ought to consume resveratrol for good brain health; our research suggests it may also prevent the changes in the brain that occur with the development of drug addiction.”

The study “Repeated resveratrol treatment attenuates methamphetamine-induced hyperactivity and [3H]dopamine overflow in rodents,” was published in Neuroscience Letters.

Cranberries have heart health, urinary and gastrointestinal tract and other metabolic benefits

Cranberries are more than a holiday favorite, given their remarkable nutritional and health benefits. A new research review published in the international journal Advances in Nutrition provides reasons why these tiny berries can be front and center and not just a side dish. The review authors conclude that cranberries provide unique bioactive compounds that may help reduce the incidence of certain infections, improve heart health and temper inflammation.

Ten worldwide experts in cranberry and health research contributed to the article, including scientists and medical experts from Tufts University, Pennsylvania State University, Boston University, Rutgers University, French National Institute for Agricultural Research, University of East Anglia in the United Kingdom and Heinrich-Heine-University in Germany. The authors included more than 150 published research studies to create the most thorough and up-to-date review of the cranberry nutrition and human health research.

"Hundreds of studies show that the bioactive compounds found in cranberries improve health," said lead author Jeffrey Blumberg, PhD, FASN, FACN, CNS, Director of the Antioxidants Research Laboratory and Professor in the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University. "For example, the polyphenols found in cranberries have been shown to promote a healthy urinary tract and exert protective benefits for cardiovascular disease and other chronic conditions."

Based on the totality of the published cranberry research, the authors concluded that the cranberry fruit is truly special because of the A-type proanthocyanidins (a polyphenol from the flavanol family), in contrast to the B-type proanthocyanidins present in most other types of berries and fruit. The A-type proanthocyanidins appear to provide the anti-adhesion benefits that help protect against urinary tract infections (UTI), which affect more than 15 million U.S. women each year. They present evidence suggesting that cranberries may also reduce the recurrence of UTIs – an important approach for relying less on antibiotic treatment for the condition.

Cranberry Health Benefits Extend Beyond Urinary Tract Health

The authors also cite data that shows the cranberry may improve cardiovascular health by improving blood cholesterol levels and lowering blood pressure, inflammation and oxidative stress. Cranberries have been shown to help support endothelial function and reduce arterial stiffness. Together, these benefits may promote overall health and functioning of blood vessels to help slow the progression of atherogenesis and plaque formation, which can lead to heart attacks and stroke.

Need Fruit? Eat More Cranberries

While all fruit contributes necessary vitamins and minerals to the diet, berry fruits offer a particularly rich source of health-promoting polyphenols. Because of their tart taste and very low natural sugar content, sugar is often added to cranberry products for palatability. Even with added sugar, cranberry products typically have a comparable amount of sugar to other unsweetened fruit juices and dried fruit products. Additionally, the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans asserts that the best use of calories from added sweeteners is for improving the palatability of nutrient-rich foods, as is the case when adding sugar to cranberries. As an additional option, non-nutritive sweeteners are used to produce low calorie versions of cranberry products. Americans can help increase their fruit intake by incorporating cranberries and cranberry products into their diet and there is no need to wait for the holidays – cranberries can be enjoyed year round – fresh, frozen, dried, or in a juice or sauce.

Low-fat fish oil diet protects men with prostate cancer

Men with prostate cancer who ate a low-fat diet and took fish oil supplements had lower levels of pro-inflammatory substances in their blood and a lower cell cycle progression score, a measure used to predict cancer recurrence, than men who ate a typical Western diet, UCLA researchers found.

The findings are important because lowering the cell cycle progression (CCP) score may help prevent prostate cancers from becoming more aggressive, said study lead author William Aronson, a clinical professor of urology at UCLA and chief of urologic oncology at the West Los Angeles Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

"We found that CCP scores were significantly lower in the prostate cancer in men who consumed the low-fat fish oil diet as compare to men who followed a higher fat Western diet," Aronson said. "We also found that men on the low-fat fish oil diet had reduced blood levels of pro-inflammatory substances that have been associated with cancer."

This study appears in the early online edition of Cancer Prevention Research, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

This study is a follow-up to a 2011 study by Aronson and his team that found a low-fat diet with fish oil supplements eaten for four to six weeks prior to prostate removal slowed the growth of cancer cells in human prostate cancer tissue compared to a traditional, high-fat Western diet.

That short-term study also found that the men on the low-fat fish oil diet were able to change the composition of their cell membranes in both the healthy cells and the cancer cells in the prostate. They had increased levels of omega-3 fatty acids from fish oil and decreased levels of the more pro-inflammatory omega-6 fatty acids from corn oil in the cell membranes, which may directly affect the biology of the cells, Aronson said.

"These studies are showing that, in men with prostate cancer, you really are what you eat," Aronson said. "The studies suggest that by altering the diet, we may favorably affect the biology of prostate cancer."

The men in the previous study were placed into one of two groups, the low-fat fish oil diet or the Western diet. The Western diet consisted of 40 percent of calories from fat, generally equivalent to what many Americans consume today. The fat sources also were typical of the American diet and included high levels of omega-6 fatty acids from corn oil and low levels of fish oil that provide omega-3 fatty acids.

The low-fat diet consisted of 15 percent of calories from fat. Additionally, the men on this diet took five grams of fish oil per day in five capsules, three with breakfast and two with dinner, to provide omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3 fatty acids have been found to reduce inflammation, and may be protective for other malignancies.

For this study, Aronson wanted to look at the potential biological mechanisms at work in the low-fat fish oil diet that may be providing protection against cancer growth and spread. They measured levels of the pro-inflammatory substances in the blood and examined the prostate cancer tissue to determine the CCP score.

"This is of great interest, as the CCP score in prostate cancer is known to be associated with more aggressive disease and can help predict which patients will recur and potentially die from their cancer," Aronson said.

Further, Aronson and his team analyzed one pro-inflammatory substance called leukotriene B4 (LTB4) and found that men with lower blood levels of LTB4 after the diet also had lower CCP scores.

"Given this finding, we went on to explore how the LTB4 might potentially affect prostate cancer cells and discovered a completely novel finding that one of the receptors for LTB4 is found on the surface of prostate cancer cells," Aronson said.

Further studies are planned to determine the importance of this novel receptor in prostate cancer progression, Aronson said.

Based on the results of his research, Aronson has been funded to start a prospective, randomized trial at UCLA next year studying 100 men who have elected to join the active surveillance program, which monitors slow-growing prostate cancer using imaging and biopsy instead of treating the disease. Study volunteers will receive a prostate biopsy at the beginning of the trial and again at one year. The men will be randomized into a group that eats their usual diet or to a low-fat fish oil diet group. Aronson will measure markers in the prostate biopsy tissue to check for cell growth and CCP score.

Prostate cancer is a leading cause of death among men in the United States. It's estimated that more than 230,000 American men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer this year alone, with more than 29,000 dying from their disease.

Stress reduction through meditation may aid in slowing the progression of Alzheimer's disease

It's well known that the brains of meditators change, but it's not entirely clear what those changes mean or how the changes might benefit the meditator. A new pilot study led by researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center suggests that the brain changes associated with meditation and stress reduction may play an important role in slowing the progression of age-related cognitive disorders like Alzheimer's disease and other dementias.

"We know that approximately 50 percent of people diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment – the intermediate stage between the expected declines of normal aging and the more serious cognitive deterioration associated with dementia – may develop dementia within five years. And unfortunately, we know there are currently no FDA approved medications that can stop that progression," says first author Rebecca Erwin Wells, MD, MPH, who conducted her research as a fellow in Integrative Medicine at BIDMC and Harvard Medical School. "We also know that as people age, there's a high correlation between perceived stress and Alzheimer's disease, so we wanted to know if stress reduction through meditation might improve cognitive reserve."

The results of the study appeared online October 10 in Neuroscience Letters.

Wells, currently a neurologist at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, N.C. evaluated adults between the ages of 55 and 90 in BIDMC's Cognitive Neurology Unit. 14 adults diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment were included in the study.

Participants were randomized two to one either to a group who participated in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) using meditation and yoga, or a control group who received normal care. The study group met for two hours each week for eight weeks. They also participated in a day-long mindfulness retreat, and were encouraged to continue their practice at home for 15 to 30 minutes per day.

All participants underwent a functional MRI (fMRI) at baseline and then again after eight weeks to determine if there were any changes in the structures of the brain or in brain activity. The neuroimaging was conducted at Massachusetts General Hospital's Martinos Center.

"We were particularly interested in looking at the default mode network (DMN) – the brain system that is engaged when people remember past events or envision the future, for example – and the hippocampus – the part of the brain responsible for emotions, learning and memory – because the hippocampus is known to atrophy as people progress toward mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease," says Wells.

Previous studies have shown that the hippocampus is activated during meditation and that mediators have more hippocampal gray matter concentration. "So the big question is, is it possible for MBSR to help attenuate the decline of individuals already experiencing some memory problems?" asks Wells.

The results of fMRI imaging showed that the group engaged in MBSR had significantly improved functional connectivity in the areas of the default mode network. Additionally, as expected, both groups experienced atrophy of the hippocampus, but those who practiced MBSR experienced less atrophy.

Tests of memory were also done, but the study was not powered to see differences between the two groups, though, Wells and colleagues previously reported that, "most data suggest a trend toward improvement for measures of cognition and well-being."

"This is a small study and more research is needed to further investigate these results, but we're very excited about these findings because they suggest that MBSR may reduce hippocampal atrophy and improve functional connectivity in the same areas of the brain most affected by Alzheimer's disease. MBSR is a relatively simple intervention, with very little downside that may provide real promise for these individuals who have very few treatment options," says Wells. She adds that future studies will need to be larger and evaluate cognitive outcomes as well. "If MBSR can help delay the symptoms of cognitive decline even a little bit, it can contribute to improved quality of life for many of these patients."

Vitamins' Benefits: Experts Unconvinced

Even though millions of Americans pop a vitamin, mineral or multivitamin supplement every day, an influential government-appointed panel of experts says the jury is still out on whether they help boost health or not.

In its draft guidelines, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force said that in some cases, certain supplements, such as beta carotene or vitamin E, may actually do more harm than good. Instead of focusing on supplements, they recommend that people focus on the health benefits of a well-balanced diet instead.

"In general, the Task Force found that there is not enough evidence to determine whether you can reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease or cancer by taking single or paired nutrients, or a multivitamin," Task Force Co-Chair Dr. Michael LeFevre said in a news release. "However, there were two major exceptions: beta carotene and vitamin E, both of which clearly do not help prevent these diseases."

Citing a lack of evidence, the panel concluded it could not recommend taking certain vitamins and minerals alone, together or in a multivitamin for the prevention of heart disease or cancer. The expert panel noted, however, it didn't have enough data to advise against taking most of these supplements, either.

The exceptions to that recommendation: beta carotene and vitamin E. In that case, the experts advised that people not use these supplements for the prevention of heart disease or cancer. Vitamin E supplements were found to have no disease-fighting benefit and beta carotene could actually be harmful, since it appears to boost the risk of lung cancer in people already at greater risk for this disease.

"Many people take dietary supplements to support their general health and wellness," panel member Dr. Wanda Nicholson said in the Task Force news release. "In the absence of clear evidence about the impact of most vitamins and multivitamins on cardiovascular disease and cancer, health care professionals should counsel their patients to eat a healthy, well-balanced diet that is rich in nutrients. They should also continue to consider the latest scientific research, their own experiences, and their patient's health history and preferences when having conversations about nutritional supplements."

The Council for Responsible Nutrition, which represents the vitamin supplement industry, had this to say about the Task Force's recommendation:

"As the researchers have indicated, there is limited evidence for multivitamins in preventing cancer or cardiovascular disease; however, we believe the paucity of clinical trial evidence should not be misinterpreted as a lack of benefit for the multivitamin," Duffy McKay, vice president of scientific and regulatory affairs at the council, said in a statement. "We know for sure that multivitamins can fill nutrient gaps, and as so many people are not even reaching the recommended dietary allowances for many nutrients, that's reason enough to add an affordable and convenient multivitamin to their diets."

The Task Force panel posted its draft recommendation on the use of vitamin, mineral and multivitamin supplements to prevent heart disease and cancer on its website on Monday. The evidence-based recommendations will be available for public comment until Dec. 9. The Task Force's evidence report is also published in the Nov. 12 online edition of the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Protein-rich breakfast helps to curb appetite throughout the morning

While Americans generally consume enough protein, they tend to eat a small amount at breakfast, moderate amounts at lunch, and the largest amount at dinner. New research presented today at The Obesity Society's annual scientific meeting in Atlanta shows that eating high protein sausage and egg-based breakfasts curbed hunger throughout the morning, compared with a low-protein breakfast (pancakes and syrup) or skipping breakfast, in 18-55-year-old women.

"Eating a breakfast rich in protein significantly improves appetite control and may help women to avoid overeating later in the day," said Kevin C. Maki, principal investigator of the study and a research scientist with Biofortis Clinical Research, a Mérieux NutriSciences company.

All of the breakfast meals contained approximately 300 calories and similar quantities of fat and fiber. The protein-rich breakfast bowls contained 30 to 39 grams of protein. Participants completed questionnaires to rate aspects of appetite - such as hunger, fullness, and desire to eat - before breakfast and at 30 minute intervals between breakfast and lunch. A standard lunch meal of tortellini and sauce was served and subjects were asked to eat until comfortably full. Study participants had improved appetite ratings (lower hunger, more fullness, less desire to eat) throughout the morning after eating each protein-rich breakfast, and also ate fewer calories at lunch, compared with the low-protein breakfast and breakfast skipping (water only).

Aerobic exercise improves memory, brain function and physical fitness

A new study conducted by researchers at the Center for BrainHealth at The University of Texas at Dallas published online in the open-access journal Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience found that engaging in a physical exercise regimen helps healthy aging adults improve their memory, brain health and physical fitness. This finding is significant considering that among adults 50 and older, "staying mentally sharp" outranks social security and physical health as the top priority and concern in the United States.

"Science has shown that aging decreases mental efficiency and memory decline is the number one cognitive complaint of older adults," said Sandra Bond Chapman, Ph.D., founder and chief director of the Center for BrainHealth, Dee Wyly Distinguished University Chair and lead author of the paper. "This research shows the tremendous benefit of aerobic exercise on a person's memory and demonstrates that aerobic exercise can reduce both the biological and cognitive consequences of aging."

For the study, sedentary adults ages 57-75 were randomized into a physical training or a wait-list control group. The physical training group participated in supervised aerobic exercise on a stationary bike or treadmill for one hour, three times a week for 12 weeks. Participants' cognition, resting cerebral blood flow, and cardiovascular fitness were assessed at three time points: before beginning the physical exercise regimen, mid-way through at 6 weeks, and post-training at 12 weeks.

"By measuring brain blood flow non-invasively using arterial spin labeling (ASL) MRI, we can now begin to detect brain changes much earlier than before," said Sina Aslan, Ph.D., founder and president of Advance MRI and collaborator on the study. "One key region where we saw increase in brain blood flow was the anterior cingulate, indicating higher neuronal activity and metabolic rate. The anterior cingulate has been linked to superior cognition in late life."

Exercisers who improved their memory performance also showed greater increase in brain blood flow to the hippocampus, the key brain region affected by Alzheimer's disease. Chapman pointed out that, using noninvasive brain imaging techniques, brain changes were identified earlier than memory improvements, implicating brain blood flow as a promising and sensitive metric of brain health gains across treatment regimens.

"Physical exercise may be one of the most beneficial and cost-effective therapies widely available to everyone to elevate memory performance," says Dr. Chapman. "These findings should motivate adults of all ages to start exercising aerobically."

Chapman cautioned that while physical exercise is associated with a selective or regional brain blood flow, it did not produce a change in global brain blood flow.

"In another recent study, we have shown that complex mental training increases whole brain blood flow as well as regional brain blood flow across key brain networks," Chapman said. "The combination of physical and mental exercise may be the best health measures to improve overall cognitive brain health. We have just begun to test the upper boundaries of how we can enhance our brain's performance into late life. To think we can alter and improve the basic structure of the mature brain through aerobic exercise and complex thinking should inspire us to challenge our thinking and get moving at any age."

Corn and safflower oil may actually increase risk of heart disease

Some vegetable oils that claim to be healthy may actually increase the risk of heart disease, and Health Canada should reconsider cholesterol-lowering claims on food labelling, states an analysis in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).

Replacing saturated animal fats with polyunsaturated vegetable oils has become common practice because they can reduce serum cholesterol levels and help prevent heart disease. In 2009, Health Canada's Food Directorate, after reviewing published evidence, approved a request from the food industry to apply a heart disease risk reduction claim on vegetable oils and foods containing these oils. The label suggests "a reduced risk of heart disease by lowering blood cholesterol levels."

"Careful evaluation of recent evidence, however, suggests that allowing a health claim for vegetable oils rich in omega-6 linoleic acid but relatively poor in omega-3 α-linolenic acid may not be warranted," write Drs. Richard Bazinet, Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of Toronto and Michael Chu, Lawson Health Research Institute and Division of Cardiac Surgery, Western University, London, Ontario.

Corn and safflower oil, which are rich in omega-6 linoleic acid but contain almost no omega-3 α-linolenic acid, are not associated with beneficial effects on heart health according to recent evidence. The authors cite a study published earlier this year in February 2013 "… in which the intervention group replaced saturated fat with sources of safflower oil or safflower oil margarine (rich in omega-6 linoleic acid but low in omega-3 α-linoleic acid). They found that the intervention group had serum cholesterol levels that were significantly decreased (by about 8%-13%) relative to baseline and the control group, which is consistent with the health claim." However, rates of death from all causes of cardiovascular disease and coronary artery disease significantly increased in the treatment group.

A diet high in sugar and saturated fats increases the risk of premature death from any cause

Chronic inflammation appears to play a key role in the development of cancer, along with heart disease and diabetes. Now a new study presented today suggests that eating a diet high in sugar, saturated fats and others foods that promote inflammation increases the risk of premature death from any cause, including cancers of the gastrointestinal tract.

The study was one of the approximately 130 poster presentations featured at the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) Annual Research Conference.

Study researchers used an inflammatory index of foods and nutrients developed by University of South Carolina (USC) researchers.

“Studies have shown that diet can modify inflammation, and inflammation can drive the growth of many cancers, such as colorectal cancer,” says Susan E. Steck, PhD, MPH, RD, USC Associate Professor and co-author of the study. “In previous studies, we found that dietary inflammatory index scores were associated with levels of C-reactive protein, a marker of inflammation.

This new study extends the research to examine disease outcomes, and suggests that consuming fewer pro-inflammatory dietary factors and more anti-inflammatory dietary factors may reduce risk of gastrointestinal tract cancer death.”

The study followed 10,525 men and women in the Aerobics Center Longitudinal Study from 1987 through 2003. Participants had completed three-day food records when the study began.

At the end of the study, 259 people had died; 30 from gastrointestinal tract cancers. Gastrointestinal tract cancers include cancers of the esophagus, stomach, colon and rectum.

Compared to those consuming the most anti-inflammatory diet, participants consuming the most pro-inflammatory diet had a 53 percent higher risk of mortality during the course of the study. (The risk slightly decreased after adjusting for cardiorespiratory fitness.)

For gastrointestinal tract cancers, there was a four-fold increase among the group consuming the most pro-inflammatory diet compared to the most anti-inflammatory.

Steaming Broccoli Preserves Potential Power to Fight Cancer

The way you prepare broccoli and related vegetables can alter their potentially cancer-fighting powers, new research shows.

Broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables are a good source of sulforaphane, a phytochemical (naturally occurring plant compound) that has shown strong anti-cancer properties in lab studies.

However, the enzyme myrosinase in broccoli is needed for sulforaphane to form. If the myrosinase is destroyed, sulforaphane cannot form.

Researchers compared boiled, microwaved and steamed broccoli, and found that steaming broccoli for up to five minutes was the best way to retain its myrosinase. Boiling and microwaving broccoli for one minute or less destroyed the majority of the enzyme, according to Elizabeth Jeffery, a researcher at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Jeffery also found that if you do eat well-cooked broccoli, you can still get sulforaphane to form by adding raw foods containing myrosinase to your meal. Study participants ate a broccoli supplement with no active myrosinase. When some of them ate a second food with myrosinase, their blood and urine levels of sulforaphane were significantly higher than those who did not eat the second food with myrosinase.

The findings were presented Thursday at the annual meeting of the American Institute for Cancer Research in Bethesda, Md. Findings presented at medical meetings should be viewed as preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

"Mustard, radish, arugula, wasabi and other uncooked cruciferous vegetables such as coleslaw all contain myrosinase, and we've seen this can restore the formation of sulforaphane," Jeffery said in an institute news release.

Previous research has found that:

* Crushing or chopping garlic, and then waiting 10 to 15 minutes before exposing it to heat allows its inactive compounds to convert into the active, protective phytochemical known as allicin.
* Cooking tomatoes and other foods that contain lycopene allows our body to more easily absorb the beneficial phytochemical.
* Boiling vegetables for a long time means you lose water-soluble vitamins, such as vitamin C, folate and niacin that leach into the water.

"As we're learning, food processing isn't just what happens to food before it reaches the grocery shelves," AICR associate director of nutrition programs Alice Bender said in the news release. "This research highlights that what you do in your kitchen can make those fruits and vegetables on your plate even more cancer-protective."

Health Benefits of a Mediterranean Diet

Mediterranean Diet May Help Women Live Longer, Healthier Lives

Middle-aged women who follow a heart-healthy Mediterranean diet may live a healthier, longer life, a new study published Nov. 5, 2013 in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine suggests.

Women with healthier dietary patterns at midlife were 40 percent more likely to survive to age 70 or over. The women who ate healthier not only lived longer, but they also thrived. They were less likely to have any major chronic diseases and more likely to have no impairment in physical functioning, mental health or thinking skills.Although the study did not look at men, previous studies on diet and healthy aging have found no gender differences, so it seems reasonable to believe that the benefit would be similar.

Mediterranean Diet Boosts Aging Brain

A Mediterranean diet with added extra virgin olive oil or mixed nuts seems to improve the brain power of older people indicates research published online in the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery and Psychiatry.

Mediterranean Diet’s Health Effects for Older Adults

According to a study, “Mediterranean Diet and Risk of Hyperuricemia in Elderly Participants at High Cardiovascular Risk,” published in the Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences, a baseline adherence to a Mediterranean diet (MeDiet) is associated with a lower risk of hyperuricemia, defined as a serum uric acid (SUA) concentration higher than 7mg/dl in men and higher than 6mg/dl in women.

Hyperuricemia has been associated with metabolic syndrome, hypertension, type 2 diabetes mellitus, chronic kidney disease, gout, and cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. The MeDiet is characterized by a high consumption of fruits, vegetables, legumes, olive oil, nuts, and whole grain; a moderate consumption of wine, dairy products, and poultry, and a low consumption of red meat, sweet beverages, creams, and pastries.

Mediterranean Diet Helps Cut Risk of Heart Attack, Stroke

Results of the PREDIMED study, aimed at assessing the efficacy of the Mediterranean diet in the primary prevention of cardiovascular diseases, have been published in The New England Journal of Medicine. They show that the Mediterranean diet supplemented with extra-virgin olive oil or tree nuts reduces by 30 percent the risk of suffering a cardiovascular death, a myocardial infarction or a stroke.

Virgin olive oil and a Mediterranean diet fight heart disease

Everyone knows olive oil and a Mediterranean diet are associated with a lower risk for cardiovascular disease, but a new research report published in the July 2010 print issue of the FASEB Journal offers a surprising reason why: These foods change how genes associated with atherosclerosis function.

Notes re above: confirmed here and here. Fascinating read here on Olive Oil's Health Benefits and Extra virgin olive oil protects against Alzheimer's disease

Mediterranean Diet = Slower Cognitive Decline

In an examination of the association between adherence to a Mediterranean-type diet and cognitive performance and risk of dementia, researchers found that high adherence to the diet was associated with slower decline in some measures of cognitive function but was not associated with decreased risk for dementia, according to a study in the August 12, 2009 issue of JAMA.

Higher adherence to a Mediterranean-type diet is linked to lower risk for mortality and chronic diseases, and "might also have protective effects against cognitive decline in older individuals, because it combines several foods and nutrients potentially protective against cognitive dysfunction or dementia, such as fish, monounsaturated fatty acids, vitamins B12 and folate, antioxidants (vitamin E, carotenoids, flavonoids), and moderate amounts of alcohol," the authors write.

(confirmed here: Mediterranean Diet Associated With Slower Rate of Cognitive Decline)


Longer life = specific foods in Mediterranean diet

Some food groups in the Mediterranean diet are more important than others in promoting health and longer life according to new research published on bmj.com.

Eating more vegetables, fruits, nuts, pulses and olive oil, and drinking moderate amounts of alcohol, while not consuming a lot of meat or excessive amounts of alcohol is linked to people living longer.

However, the study also claims, that following a Mediterranean diet high in fish, seafood and cereals and low in dairy products were not indicators of longevity.

While several studies have concluded that the Mediterranean diet improves chances of living longer, most recently the study described here, this is the first to investigate the importance of individual components of the diet.

Mediterranean Diet Associated with Lower Risk of Cognitive Impairment

Eating a Mediterranean diet appears to be associated with less risk of mild cognitive impairment—a stage between normal aging and dementia—or of transitioning from mild cognitive impairment into Alzheimer’s disease, according to a report in the February 2009 issue of Archives of Neurology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Mediterranean Diet: Stronger adherence was associated with reduced all cause, cardiovascular and cancer mortality, as well as decreased incidence of Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases

A recent meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies using an a priori score to assess adherence to a Mediterranean diet found that stronger adherence was associated with reduced all cause, cardiovascular and cancer mortality, as well as decreased incidence of Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases (1).

Two intervention studies have supported the benefits of a Mediterranean style diet on metabolic risk factors (2) (3). In a Spanish study, men and women with elevated levels of cardiovascular risk factors were randomized to either of two “Mediterranean” diets and provided with either olive oil or nuts, or to a control low fat diet. After 3 months the Mediterranean diet groups had lower mean plasma glucose, systolic blood pressure and total/HDL cholesterol ratio than the control group (2). Italian adults with the Metabolic Syndrome were randomized to a “Mediterranean” diet or a “prudent” diet, both with similar macronutrient composition. The “Mediterranean” diet was associated with greater improvements in markers of vascular risk and endothelial function than the control group (3). It should be noted however that in both studies the “Mediterranean” diet groups received more nutrition education than the control groups.

The Lyon Heart Study demonstrated that a modified Cretan diet low in butter and meats, and high in fish, fruits and enriched with _-linolenic acid from canola oil was more effective than a ‘prudent’ diet in the secondary prevention of coronary events and overall mortality (4). We have also shown that a Cretan style diet reduced HbA1c from a mean of 7.1% (95% CI: 6.5-7.7) to 6.8% (95% CI: 6.3-7.3) (p=0.012), in people with type 2 diabetes (unpublished data).

Simopoulos (5) notes that the traditional Greek diet resembles the Paleolithic diet in terms of fibre, antioxidants, saturated and monounsaturated fat, thus is consistent with human evolution. While traditional diets must reflect the regionally available foods, the characteristics of the traditional Greek diet can be applied in many countries, notwithstanding the likely effect of environment and growing methods on the nutrient composition of plant and animal foods. The evidence suggests that a traditional Greek or Cretan style diet is consistent with what humans have evolved to consume and may protect against common chronic diseases, including prostate cancer.

References:
1. Sofi F, Cesari F, Abbate R, Gensini GF, Casini A. Adherence to Mediterranean diet and health status: meta-analysis. Bmj 2008;337:a1344._2. Estruch R, Martinez-Gonzalez MA, Corella D, et al. Effects of a Mediterranean-style diet on cardiovascular risk factors: a randomized trial. Ann Intern Med 2006;145:1-11._3. Esposito K, Marfella R, Ciotola M, et al. Effect of a Mediterranean-style diet on endothelial dysfunction and markers of vascular inflammation in the metabolic syndrome: a randomized trial. J Am Med Assoc 2004;292:1440-6._4. de Lorgeril M, Salen P. Modified Cretan Mediterranean diet in the prevention of coronary heart disease and cancer. In: Simopoulos AP, Visioli F, eds. Mediterranean Diets. World Review Nutr Diet. Basel: Karger, 2000:1-23._5. Simopoulos AP. The traditional diet of Greece and cancer. Eur J Cancer Prev 2004;13:219-30.

More reports:

Mediterranean-style Diet Boosts Fertility

Mediterranean diet protects against type 2 diabetes

Mediterranean diet = skin cancer prevention

Mediterranean diet improves heart function

Mediterranean Diet: Good for a Heart Health

Mediterranean-like diet lowers risk of brain infarcts, or small areas of dead tissue linked to thinking problems.

Mediterranean diet = reduced risk of depression

Mediterranean diet wards off childhood respiratory allergies

Mediterranean diet = lower heart disease

Mediterranean Diet Halves Risk of COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease)

Latest Health Research

I have updated my comprehensive review of the

Health Benefits of Coffee Consumption

While I have not updated my comprehensive review of the

Health Benefits of White and Green Tea Consumption

the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition certainly has, with a comprehensive new report:


Tea may help promote weight loss, improve heart health and slow progression of prostate cancer

Decades worth of research shows that tea—the second most consumed beverage in the world—may help prevent chronic illnesses, including heart disease, certain types of cancer and type 2 diabetes. New research shows tea has been found to help promote weight loss and maintain a healthy weight, improve bone health and activate areas of the brain that bolster attention, problem solving and mood.

Tea Leaf Polyphenols May Promote Weight Loss

Tea polyphenols and the caffeine content in tea increase energy expenditure and fat oxidation, providing benefits for achieving and maintaining an ideal body weight.

Tea May Reduce Risk for Some Cancers

Hundreds—if not thousands—of laboratory, epidemiological and human intervention studies have found anti-cancer properties in compounds present in tea. The types of cancer that have shown benefits of tea include cancers of the gastrointestinal tract, lung, prostate, breast, and skin. The proposed mechanisms of action for providing protection against cancer include antioxidant effects, inhibition of growth factor signaling, as well as improving the efficacy of chemotherapy agents.

Tea Catechins are Cardioprotective

Numerous studies suggest tea supports heart health and healthy blood pressure, and appears to be associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, including stroke and heart attack. New research, published in the AJCN provides further support. Study results published by Claudio Ferri, MD, University L'Aquila, Italy, found that black tea reduced blood pressure.

"Our studies build on previous work to clearly show that drinking as little as one cup of tea per day supports healthy arterial function and blood pressure. These results suggest that on a population scale, drinking tea could help reduce significantly the incidence of stroke, heart attack and other cardiovascular diseases," concluded Dr. Ferri.

Tea Flavonoids Improve Bone Strength and Quality

Osteoporosis is a major public health concern but new research suggests that polyphenols in green tea may help improve bone quality and strength through many proposed mechanisms. In fact, one study found that tea drinking was associated with a 30% reduced risk in hip fractures among men and women over 50 years old. Numerous other studies have found that green tea flavanols provide a restorative effect to bone remodeling to help maintain bone density and slow bone loss.

Tea Improves Mood, Alertness and Problem Solving

Results from new research published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that drinking tea improved attention and allowed individuals to be more focused on the task at hand. In this placebo-controlled study, subjects who drank tea produced more accurate results during an attention task and also felt more alert than subjects drinking a placebo. These effects were found for 2-3 cups of tea consumed within a time period of up to 90 minutes. Several studies have evaluated the role of tea in strengthening attention, mood and performance, and the results have been promising. It is thought that the amino acid theanine and caffeine, both present in tea, contribute to many of tea's psychological benefits.

These reports have renewed my commitment to increased consumption of white tea and coffee.

I already am deeply committed to a Mediterranean Diet:

Mediterranean Diet May Help Women Live Longer, Healthier Lives

The women who ate healthier not only lived longer, but they also thrived. They were less likely to have any major chronic diseases and more likely to have no impairment in physical functioning, mental health or thinking skills. Those who closely followed the Mediterranean diet were more likely to live past age 70 without heart disease, diabetes or other chronic diseases.

Although the study did not look at men, Samieri said, previous studies on diet and healthy aging have found no gender differences, "so it seems reasonable to believe that the benefit would be similar."

Sodoku isn't enough for me apparently, but I like to think I'm involved in enough other mentally challenging activities to keep my mind active:

Learning new skills keeps an aging mind sharp

Older adults are often encouraged to stay active and engaged to keep their minds sharp, that they have to "use it or lose it." But new research indicates that only certain activities — learning a mentally demanding skill like photography, for instance — are likely to improve cognitive functioning. These findings, forthcoming in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, reveal that less demanding activities, such as listening to classical music or completing word puzzles, probably won't bring noticeable benefits to an aging mind.

Other interesting reports:

Tree nut consumption associated with reduced risk of pancreatic cancer in women

Research shows the more chocolate you eat, the lower your body fat level

Moderate exercise not only treats, but prevents depression

Review of Daily Aspirin Dosage Highlights Concerns About Side Effects

The risk for colorectal cancer from eating red or processed meat

Flu Vaccine Associated With Lower Risk of Cardiovascular Events

Resveratrol could fight Alzheimer's

Omega-3 protects brain

Study strengthens link between low dietary fiber intake and increased cardiovascular risk

If you find this report interesting, you will probably enjoy reading these:

Previous Reports


2013

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10/14/13



2012

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2011

12/7/11

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