High Dietary Intake of Polyphenols Are Associated With Longevity

It is the first time that a scientific study associates high polyphenols intake with a 30% reduction in mortality in older adults. The research, published on Journal of Nutrition, is the first to evaluate the total dietary polyphenol intake by using a nutritional biomarker and not only a food frequency questionnaire. Research is signed by Cristina Andrés Lacueva, Montserrat Rabassa and Mireia Urpí Sardà, from the Department of Nutrition and Bromatology of the UB; Raúl Zamora Ros (ICO-IDIBELL), and experts Antonio Cherubini (Italian National Research Centre on Aging), Stefania Bandinelli (Azienda Sanitaria di Firenze, Italy) and Luigi Ferrucci (National Institute on Ageing, United States).

Polyphenols: diet improves health

Polyphenols are naturally occurring compounds found largely in fruits, vegetables, coffee, tea, nuts, legumes and cereals. More than 8,000 different phenolic compounds have been identified in plants. Polyphenols have antioxidant, antiinflammatory, anticarcinogenic, etc. effects.

The research published on Journal of Nutrition is based on a 12-year follow-up of a population sample composed by 807 men and women aged 65 or over from Greve and Bagno (Tuscany, Italy), within the InCHIANTI study. The group of the UB analysed the effect of polyphenol-rich diets by means of a nutritional biomarker -- the total urinary polyphenol (TUP) concentration -- as a proxy measure of intake. To be exact, UB researchers contributes to first literature references on TUP application to epidemiological or clinical studies.

New biomarkers for nutritional studies

Professor Cristina Andrés Lacueva, head of the Biomarkers and Nutritional & Food Metabolomics Research Group of the UB and coordinator of the study, explains that "the development and use of nutritional biomarkers enables to make a more precise and, particularly, more objective estimation of intake as it is not only based on participants' memory when answering questionnaire. Nutritional biomarkers take into account bioavailabity and individual differences. According to the expert, "this methodology makes a more reliable and accurate evaluation of the association between food intake and mortality or disease risk."

In conclusion, the research proves that overall mortality was reduced by 30% in participants who had rich-polyphenol diets (>650 mg/day) in comparison with the participants who had low-polyphenol intakes (<500 mg/day).

Raúl Zamora Ros, first author of the study, points out that "results corroborate scientific evidence suggesting that people consuming diets rich in fruit and vegetables are at lower risk of several chronic diseases and overall mortality." Moreover, the research stresses the importance of evaluating -- if possible -- food intake by using nutritional biomarkers, not only food frequency questionnaires.

The Biomarkers and Nutritional & Food Metabolomics Research Group, which participates in the project Fun-C-Food (Consolider Ingenion), collaborates actively with several national and international research groups. It focuses its activity on the analysis of new more effective and sensitive nutritional biomarkers based on the bioavailabilty of bioactive compounds in food and their activity, in order to associate the intake of certain foods (consumption markers) with their potential effects on people's health.

Health Benefits of Statins

First, the negatives:

Statins may cause muscle pains:

Musculoskeletal conditions, injuries may be associated with statin use

Potency of Statins Linked to Muscle Side Effects

Research Finds Link Between Statin Use and Progressive Muscle Disease

and Diabetes:

Intensive-Dose Statin Therapy Associated With Increased Risk of Diabetes

But taking Coenzyme Q10 may eliminate or minimize these risks:

Co-Q10 deficiency may relate to statin drugs, diabetes risk

and has other benefits as well:

Coenzyme Q10 Improves Heart Failure Mortality

and the overall risk of Diabetes may be worth it:

Statins' Heart Benefits Outweigh Diabetes Risk: Study

Patients taking statins who were not at risk for diabetes had a 52 percent lower risk of developing heart disease and no increased risk of developing diabetes.

Statins may cause fatigue,

Statins Shown to Cause Fatigue

depression,

Link between statin drugs and depression

and may or may not increase the risk of cataracts:

Statin Use Tied to Possible Boost in Cataract Risk

Statins cut cataract risk in men by 40%

Statins prevent cataracts

and impair memory:

Study finds link between commonly prescribed statin and memory impairment

But:

Statin medications may prevent dementia and memory loss with longer use

High dose statins prevent dementia

Statin Use Not Linked to a Decline in Cognitive Function

And to summarize:

Statins can lead to an increased risk of liver dysfunction, acute renal failure, myopathy (musclepain) and cataracts.

But:

Statin use linked to few side effects

Statins -- the popular class of cholesterol-lowering drugs used widely to prevent recurrent heart disease or stroke as well as risk for having a first cardiac or stroke event -- appear to cause few side effects, according to new research reported in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes. Researchers conducted the largest meta-analysis on statin side effects to date, reviewing data from 135 previous drug studies to evaluate the safety of the seven statins on the market. They concluded "as a class, adverse events associated with statin therapy are not common."

And:

Few symptomatic side effects reported for statins are actually attributable to statins

At a time when the wider prescription of statins is under renewed public scrutiny, a substantial analysis of placebo-controlled randomized trials of statins has found that only a small minority of side effects reported by those taking the cholesterol-lowering drugs are actually attributable to them. Almost all the side effects reported in these trials "occurred anyway when patients were administered placebo," say the investigators.The study, a meta-analysis involving more than 80,000 patients and reported today in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology,

Now the benefits


(Red Yeast Rice -may be an alternative to statins)

Statins are available over the counter in Great Britain, without a prescription. Some advocate for even wider distribution:

Free statins with fast food could neutralize heart risk, scientists say

Wider Utilization of Statins in Prevention and Treatment of Heart Attacks and Strokes?

The available data suggest that there is no threshold for low density lipoprotein cholesterol below which there are no net benefits of statins. Therefore, there are new and emerging clinical challenges to healthcare providers suggesting the need for wider utilization of statins in the prevention of heart attacks and strokes.

Wider statin use could be cost-effective preventive measure

A new analysis suggests that broader statin use among adult patients may be a cost-effective way to prevent heart attack and stroke.

But others advise caution (Although I'm not quite sure why after reading what they have to say:)

Statins should be prescribed with caution in those at low risk of cardiovascular disease

Combined data from eight trials involving 28,161 patients that provided data on deaths from all causes showed that statins reduced the risk of dying from 9 to 8 deaths for every 1000 people treated with statins each year. Statins reduced fatal and non-fatal events, including heart attack, stroke and revascularization surgery, as well as blood cholesterol levels. However, the researchers say that the conclusions of their review are limited by unclear, selective and potentially biased reporting and that careful consideration should be given to patients' individual risk profiles before prescribing statins.

Statin RX may be overprescribed in healthy people without evidence of diseased arteries

Rolling back suggestions from previous studies, a Johns Hopkins study of 950 healthy men and women has shown that taking daily doses of a cholesterol-lowering statin medication to protect coronary arteries and ward off heart attack or stroke may not be needed for everyone.

General Benefits:

Statin Effects in Women Versus Men

Conclusions: Statin therapy is associated with significant decreases in cardiovascular events and in all-cause mortality in women and men. Statin therapy should be used in appropriate patients without regard to sex.

Coronary Heart Disease

Lowering Cholesterol Reduces Stroke, Heart Attack Risk

People whose cholesterol improved after one month on cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins reduced their risk of stroke and heart attack. For each 10-percent decrease in LDL, or low-density lipoprotein “bad” cholesterol, the risk of stroke was reduced by four percent and the risk of heart attack was reduced by seven percent. The average decrease in LDL cholesterol after one month on atorvastatin was 53 percent.

More Intensive Statin Treatment Reduces Heart Risk Further

Combination of statin and omega-3 fatty acid provides cardioprotective effects

Beginning Statin Use Earlier = three-fold greater reduction in the risk of CHD

Coronary atherosclerosis – a hardening of the arteries due to a build-up of fat and cholesterol – can lead to heart attacks and other forms of coronary heart disease (CHD). Lowering low-density lipoprotein (LDL), or "bad" cholesterol, reduces the risk of CHD, and researchers found that lowering LDL beginning early in life resulted in a three-fold greater reduction in the risk of CHD than treatment with a statin started later in life, according to research presented today at the American College of Cardiology's 61st Annual Scientific Session.

Statins Helpful, BUT Take Time To Work

Over the long term, treatment with cholesterol-lowering statins reduces the rate of mortality and cardiovascular events such as heart attack, for people with and without heart disease. Still, it is unclear whether these drugs take effect rapidly when the risk of these dire events is highest. A systematic review of randomized controlled trials found that death, stroke and heart attack did not decline significantly in the first few months after starting the drugs, but indicated that statins might reduce the likelihood of severe chest pain during this period and are quite safe in any case. Adverse effects were “very rare” in both statin and control groups, Briel said. Signs of muscle damage—the most severe risk of statin therapy—were limited to patients in a single study who received a particular statin, simvastatin, at a dosage known to carry a relatively high risk of this side effect.

Statins reduce CV events in CAD patients with very low LDL-C

Statins accelerate depletion of plaque in arteries

Statins: Reduced Risk of Recurrent Cardiovascular Events in Men, Women


Most At-Risk Patients Don’t Adhere To Statin Treatment, Despite Real Benefits

A new study from North Carolina State University shows that the vast majority of patients at high risk for heart disease or stroke do a poor job of taking statins as prescribed. That’s especially unfortunate, because the same study shows that taking statins can significantly increase the quality and length of those patients’ lives.

“We found that only 48 percent of patients who have been prescribed statins are taking their prescribed dose on a regular basis after one year – and that number dips to approximately 27 percent after 10 years,” says Jennifer Mason, a Ph.D. student at NC State and lead author of a paper describing the study. Statins are a component of many current cardiovascular medical treatment guidelines. They lower cholesterol levels and may significantly reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke, particularly in patients that are considered to be at high risk.

The researchers also found that, for high-risk patients, high adherence to a prescribed statin regimen may increase quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) by as much as 1.5 years compared to low adherence – and up to two years compared to not taking statins at all. Low adherence means a patient is taking the statins irregularly or at less than the prescribed dosage. QALYs are established metrics for measuring the effect of health conditions, such as heart disease and stroke, on quality of life.

Cancer:

Statins Tied To Reduced Cancer Deaths

A new study from Denmark found that people who regularly used statins to lower cholesterol and then received a cancer diagnosis were 15% less likely to die from cancer or any other cause than cancer patients who had never used statins.

Statins may protect against esophageal cancer

Men who take statins are less likely to die from prostate cancer


Statin and Aspirin Use Linked to Improved Survival in Women with Endometrial Cancer


Statins = improved survival in inflammatory breast cancer

Statin use associated with statistically significant reduction in colorectal cancer

Statins associated with lower cancer recurrence following prostatectomy

Low Cholesterol=Lower Prostate Cancer Risk


Statins Can Help Prevent Skin Cancer

Two large cardiovascular clinical trials have demonstrated a significant reduction in skin cancer among patients taking lipid-lowering drugs. Although clinical data do not consistently show a decreased risk of skin cancer with statin use, various human trials and preclinical studies suggest that statins may have chemopreventive activity against skin cancer.

Other Specific Benefits:

Many Statin Benefits

Fitness + Statins Lowers Mortality Risk

Benefits of statin therapy include eliminating blood clots as well as lowering lipids

Pneumonia Death Rate Lower Among People Who Take Statins

Reduced glaucoma risk in patients who take statins

Statin significantly reduces lung damage in severe abdominal sepsis


Statin therapy associated with lower risk of pancreatitis

Statin use appears associated with modest reduction in Parkinson's disease risk

Statins = reduced mortality in flu patients

Statins May Boost Your Gums' Health, Too


Statins may prevent pneumonia

Statins may slow human aging


Statins may slow prostate growth

Statins reduce deaths from infection and respiratory illness

Those taking statins when admitted to the hospital with serious head injuries were 76 percent more likely to survive

Chronic Statin Therapy Associated With Reduced Postoperative Mortality

Cholesterol-lowering statins boost bacteria-killing cells

Regular statin use is associated with a reduced risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis


Statins decrease risk of clot-related diseases

Statins may slow progression of multiple sclerosis

Statins fight gallstones

More Evidence Statins Fight Parkinson's

Statin drugs may have a protective effect in the prevention of liver cancer and lead to a reduction in the need for gallbladder removals

Statins can protect against Alzheimer's disease


Statins reduce loss of lung function, keeping old lungs young - even in smokers

Statin Use Benefits Multiple Areas of Urologic Health

Moderate pysical activity = lower breast cancer risk

A large new American Cancer Society study adds to increasing evidence that physical activity reduces the risk of breast cancer in postmenopausal women. Researchers say moderate recreational activity was associated with a 14 percent lower risk and high physical activity with a 25 percent lower risk of breast cancer compared to women who were active at the lowest level. The study appears early online in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers, and Prevention.

A large body of evidence shows that women taking part in regular physical activity have an approximately 25 percent lower risk of breast cancer compared to the most inactive. But still unclear are issues such as whether moderate intensity activity, like walking, imparts a benefit in the absence of vigorous exercise. Also unclear is whether the association differs based on tumor features, such as hormone receptor status, or by individual factors such as a woman's body mass index (BMI), weight status, and use of postmenopausal hormones. In addition, while prolonged periods of sitting have been associated with the risk of some cancers, the relation between sitting time and postmenopausal breast cancer risk is not well understood.

To learn more, American Cancer Society researchers led by Alpa Patel, Ph.D. compared exercise and breast cancer status in 73,615 postmenopausal women taking part in in the CPS-II Nutrition Cohort, a prospective study of cancer incidence established by the American Cancer Society in 1992. During the 17-year study, 4,760 women in the study were diagnosed with breast cancer.

About one in ten (9.2 percent) women reported no recreational physical activity at the beginning of the study. Among those who were active, the average expenditure was equivalent to 3.5 hours per week of moderately-paced walking. Physically active women engaged primarily in moderate intensity activities, like walking, cycling, aerobics, and dancing rather than vigorous-intensity activities like running, swimming, and tennis. Among all women, 47 percent reported walking as their only recreational activity. Physically active women tended to be leaner, more likely to maintain or lose weight during adulthood, more likely to drink alcohol, and less likely to currently smoke. They were also more likely to use postmenopausal hormone therapy and to have had a mammogram in the past year.

Among those who reported walking as their only activity, those who walked at least seven hours per week had a 14 percent lower risk of breast cancer compared to those who walked three or fewer hours per week. Consistent with most prior studies, the most active women had 25 percent lower risk of breast cancer than the least active. The associations did not differ by hormone receptor status, BMI, weight gain, or postmenopausal hormone use. Also, sitting time was not associated with risk.

"Our results clearly support an association between physical activity and postmenopausal breast cancer, with more vigorous activity having a stronger effect," said Dr. Patel. "Our findings are particularly relevant, as people struggle with conflicting information about how much activity they need to stay healthy. Without any other recreational physical activities, walking on average of at least one hour per day was associated with a modestly lower risk of breast cancer. More strenuous and longer activities lowered the risk even more."

Current guidelines recommend adults get at least two-and-a-half hours per week of moderate-intensity activity, or 75 minutes per week of vigorous-intensity aerobic activity for overall health. But studies indicate less than half of U.S. adult women are active at these minimum levels. "Given that more than 60 percent of women report some daily walking, promoting walking as a healthy leisure-time activity could be an effective strategy for increasing physical activity among postmenopausal women," added Dr. Patel.

Statins May Boost Your Gums' Health, Too

The statin medications you take for your heart may have an unexpected side benefit: They help reduce inflammation of the gums, according to new research.

Using advanced imaging techniques, researchers were able to see that when people with gum disease took higher doses of the commonly prescribed cholesterol-lowering drugs, their gum inflammation decreased.

During the 12-week study, the researchers also looked for evidence of inflammation or hardening of the blood vessels (atherosclerotic disease) in the study volunteers, and they found that reduced gum inflammation was correlated with improved blood vessel health.

"There is a building, growing body of literature that draws a line between gum disease and atherosclerotic disease. In our study, benefits in the gums correlated with benefits in the arteries," said the study's senior author, Dr. Ahmed Tawakol, co-director of the Cardiac Imaging Trials Program at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston. "People with [gum disease] and atherosclerotic disease should likely be that much more vigilant in treating their gum disease."

The study was published online Oct. 2 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Funding was provided by drug manufacturer Merck and Co., which does not produce the statin used in this study.

Currently, statins are prescribed to lower high levels of "bad" cholesterol, also known as LDL cholesterol. When there's too much LDL cholesterol, it can start to build up on blood vessel walls, leading to hardening of the arteries.

In the United States, more than 30 million people take statins, and as many as 200 million people worldwide take these cholesterol-lowering medications, according to a journal editorial accompanying the study. Periodontal disease (or gum disease) affects nearly half of U.S. adults.

According to editorial author Dr. Michael Blaha, director of clinical research at the Johns Hopkins Ciccarone Center for the Prevention of Heart Disease in Baltimore, a "consistent stream of data" shows that statins have benefits beyond their cholesterol-lowering properties.

"There are three big categories of how statins likely exert their effects: lowering LDL, reducing inflammation, and by modulating plaque," said Blaha.

The current study lends support to the idea that statins can reduce inflammation. It included 83 adults who had risk factors for, or already had, atherosclerosis. They were randomly assigned to take either 10 or 80 milligrams of a statin called atorvastatin (brand name Lipitor) for three months.

Everyone underwent imaging at the start of the study, again after four weeks and then at 12 weeks.

At the end of the study, the investigators had complete data on 59 people. They found a significant reduction in gum inflammation for the people taking 80 mg of atorvastatin compared to those on the 10-mg dose. Changes began as early as four weeks after people started taking the higher-dose drug.

There was a more significant reduction in gum inflammation for people who had more serious gum disease at the start of the study and took a higher dose of the statin. The researchers also found that a reduction in gum inflammation correlated with reduced blood vessel inflammation.

"It was really those on the higher-dose statins that had the benefit," noted Tawakol. But, "I would not recommend the use of statins outside the current guidelines," he added. "We see this trial more as a proof-of-principle trial. Our findings need to be confirmed in a larger clinical trial."

Still, he said, there's little harm in telling people to take care of gum disease. "Patients with known heart disease and known gum disease should have their gum disease evaluated and treated," Tawakol said.

Blaha agreed that it's too soon to change practice guidelines either for treating heart disease risk factors or for gum disease.

Still, "this study and others like it have tremendous implications," Blaha said. "We've never had a drug that worked this well and for so many different groups of patients."

Resveratrol can still be used in the body after it has been metabolized

A chemical found in red wine remains effective at fighting cancer even after the body's metabolism has converted it into other compounds.

This is an important finding in a new paper published in the journal Science Translational Medicine by Cancer Research UK-funded researchers at the University of Leicester's Department of Cancer Studies and Molecular Medicine.

The paper reveals that resveratrol – a compound extracted from the skins of red grapes – is not rendered ineffective once it is metabolised by the body.

This is an important development, as resveratrol is metabolised very quickly – and it had previously been thought that levels of the extracted chemical drop too quickly to make it usable in clinical trials.

The new research shows that the chemical can still be taken into cells after it has been metabolised into resveratrol sulfates.

Enzymes within cells are then able to break it down into resveratrol again – meaning that levels of resveratrol in the cells are higher than was previously thought.

In fact, the results appear to show resveratrol may be more effective once it has been generated from resveratrol sulfate than it is if it has never been metabolised because the concentrations achieved are higher.

The team, led by University of Leicester translational cancer research expert Professor Karen Brown, administered resveratrol sulfate to mice models.

They were subsequently able to detect free resveratrol in plasma and a variety of tissues in the mice.

This is the first direct sign that resveratrol can be formed from resveratrol sulfate in live animals, and the researchers think it may help to show how resveratrol is able to have beneficial effects in animals.

The study also showed that resveratrol generated from resveratrol sulfate is able to slow the growth of cancer cells by causing them to digest their own internal constituents and stopping them from dividing.

Professor Karen Brown said: "There is a lot of strong evidence from laboratory models that resveratrol can do a whole host of beneficial things – from protecting against a variety of cancers and heart disease to extending lifespan.

"It has been known for many years that resveratrol is rapidly converted to sulfate and glucuronide metabolites in humans and animals – meaning the plasma concentrations of resveratrol itself quickly become very low after administration.

"It has always been difficult to understand how resveratrol is able to have activity in animal models when the concentrations present are so low, and it has made some people skeptical about whether it might have any effects in humans.

"Researchers have hypothesized for a long time that resveratrol might be regenerated from its major metabolites in whole animals but it has never been proven.

"Our study was the first to show that resveratrol can be regenerated from sulfate metabolites in cells and that this resveratrol can then have biological activity that could be useful in a wide variety of diseases in humans.

"Importantly, we did all our work with clinically achievable concentrations so we are hopeful that our findings will translate to humans.

"Overall, I think our findings are very encouraging for all types of medical research on resveratrol. They help to justify future clinical trials where, previously, it may have been difficult to argue that resveratrol can be useful in humans because of the low detectable concentrations.

"There is considerable commercial interest in developing new forms of resveratrol that can resist or overcome the issue of rapid metabolism. Our results suggest such products may not actually be necessary to deliver biologically active doses of resveratrol to people."

Some Exercise Can Help Prevent High Blood Pressure

Exercising during your leisure time could help prevent high blood pressure, but being physically active at work doesn't seem to provide the same benefit, according to a new review.

Researchers analyzed the findings of 13 studies that examined the effects of physical activity on blood pressure. The studies included a total of nearly 137,000 people in the United States, Europe and East Asia who initially had healthy blood pressure. During follow-up periods ranging from two to 45 years, more than 15,600 of the participants developed high blood pressure.

Compared to people who exercised less than one hour a week during their leisure time, the risk of developing high blood pressure was 11 percent lower among those who exercised one to three hours per week, and 19 percent lower among those who did more than four hours of recreational exercise a week, according to the study published Sept. 30 in the journal Hypertension.

The results suggest that the more leisure-time exercise you do, the lower your risk of developing high blood pressure.

However, the researchers did not find a solid link between physical activity at work and high blood pressure risk. Physical activity on the job, such as farm or industrial work, can involve heavy lifting, prolonged standing and repetitive tasks.

Exercise guidelines don't distinguish between physical activity at work or during leisure time, but "given the new findings, perhaps they should," study co-author Dr. Bo Xi, a lecturer at the Shandong University School of Public Health in Jinan, China, said in a journal news release.

Recreational exercise may help reduce the risk of high blood pressure by preventing weight gain, improving poor insulin sensitivity or reducing the blood vessels' resistance to blood flow, the researchers suggested.

But they noted that their findings don't show that leisure-time exercise actually prevents high blood pressure. People who exercise for fun may just have healthier lifestyles, Xi explained.

About 78 million U.S. adults have high blood pressure, which is a risk factor for heart and kidney disease.

Link Found Between High-Fat, High-Calorie Diet and Pancreatic Cancer

Researchers at UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center (JCCC) have found that mice made obese by being given high-calorie, high-fat diets (HFCD) developed abnormally high numbers of lesions known as pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasias (PanINs), which are known to be precursors to pancreas cancer. This is the first study to show a direct causative link in an animal model between obesity and risk of this deadly cancer.

The study was led by Dr. Guido Eibl, JCCC member and professor -in-residence in the department of surgery at David Geffen School of Medicine. It was published today in the journal Cancer Prevention Research.

Cancer of the pancreas (scientifically known as pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma or PaCa) is one of the most deadly forms of the disease in humans. Overall five-year survival rates are approximately three to five percent and the average survival period after diagnosis is just four to six months. It is a particularly aggressive disease and often beyond the point of effective treatment by the time symptoms appear. Current treatments are limited in number and effectiveness, thus researchers are turning to prevention strategies to try to make headway against the disease before it reaches advanced stages. Previous research in the study of the disease in large populations has strongly supported a positive association between obesity and increased risk of PaCa, but no studies recapitulated human PaCa in animals. The availability of genetically engineered model mice that have the same genetic mutation found in human pancreas cancer patients (the KR as mutation) has made study of the possible causes more feasible, because changes in the mouse metabolism caused by obesity are similar to those in humans.

Dr. Eibl and colleagues set out to develop diet-induced obesity and development of pancreas cancer in a set of mice and then compare them to another set of mice that are genetically identical but not given a high-fat, high-calorie diet. Obesity in these mice resembles several important clinical features of human obesity such as weight gain and disturbance of metabolism, and this mouse model was ideal for unraveling any underlying biological mechanisms of pancreas cancer that are put in motion by obesity.

The researchers also set parameters to assess the impact of the effects of the high-fat, high-calorie diet on mouse pancreas tissue, such as increased inflammation and other biological signs that indicate pancreas problems. These indicators were measured and used to create an overall score (pancreatitis score) to indicate negative effects on the pancreas. They then conducted pathology tests on mouse pancreas tissue to determine how many PanIN precursor lesions had developed.

Mice that ate the normal diet gained an average of approximately 7.2 grams, plus or minus approximately 2.8 grams over 14 months. Mice that ate the high-fat, high-calorie diet gained an average of 15.9 grams, plus or minus 3.2 grams. Mice fed the normal diet had mostly normal pancreases with very few scattered PanIN lesions. Mice fed the high-fat, high-calorie diet had significantly more PanIN lesions and fewer overall healthy pancreases.

The study showed that the mice fed a diet high in fats and calories gained significantly more weight, had abnormalities of their metabolism and increased insulin levels, and had marked pancreatic tissue inflammation and development of PanIN lesions. These observations strongly suggest that such a diet leads to weight gain, metabolism disturbances, can cause pancreas inflammation and promotes pancreas lesions that are precursors to cancer.

“The development of these lesions in mice is very similar to what happens in humans,” Dr. Eibl said. “These lesions take a long time to develop into cancer, so there is enough time for cancer preventive strategies, such as changing to a lower fat, lower calorie diet, to have a positive effect.”