My Healthy Diet: May 2007

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

As you may notice...

...this turned out not to be a blog, but more of a review and comment on the news...

Monday, May 21, 2007

Bad Habits are hard to break, so don't start them...

Many With High Blood Pressure Shun Heart-Healthy Diet

By Ed Edelson
HealthDay Reporter Sun May 20, 11:46 PM ET

SUNDAY, May 20 (HealthDay News) -- A strange thing happened after government recommendations on a healthy diet designed to control high blood pressure were issued in 1999: The percentage of Americans with high blood pressure following those recommendations went down, according to a new study.
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The fact that so few people with hypertension -- just 22 percent in the group studied -- are following some simple dietary measures indicates a breakdown somewhere in the American health-care system, said lead researcher Dr. Philip Mellen, an assistant professor of internal medicine at Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, N.C.

"We don't know where it broke down," Mellen said. "We don't know whether their physicians have been telling them to do it or whether physicians don't feel they know enough to counsel them. We have evidence from other sources that there are problems all along the chain."

The problem is a serious one: Left unchecked, hypertension -- the formal name for high blood pressure -- is a major cause of heart attack and stroke.

Mellen's study, which was to be presented Sunday at the annual meeting of the American Society of Hypertension, focused on people who had been told they had high blood pressure.

"Presumably, the guidelines should have prescribed their lifestyle changes," Mellen said. "They did not. Presumably, this would mean that changes in the population have overwhelmed the DASH diet recommendations."

The DASH -- Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension -- focuses on nine nutrient types: total fat, saturated fat, protein, cholesterol, fiber, calcium, magnesium, potassium and sodium. Essentially, it calls for eating lots of fruits, vegetables, grains and low-fat dairy. The people with high blood pressure whose records Mellen examined in two National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys examined were considered to be following the DASH diet if they met half the nutrient targets.

But the overall "DASH-accordance" was about 8 percent lower in the 1999-2004 group than it had been in the 1988-1994 group, Mellen found.

Certain trends emerged. "Being younger meant less DASH accordance," he said. "African-Americans were less likely to be in accord. Accordance was higher in individuals with more than a high school education, and for older individuals and those with diabetes."

Other social differences appear to play a role. "There are significant differences in the availability of healthy foods depending on where you live," Mellen said.

Mellen also kept coming back to the doctor-patient relationship and how it is affected by methods of payment for medical care.

"Dietary counseling is not reimbursed," Mellen said. "Medicare does not reimburse for dietary counseling." It thus is easier for a physician to write a prescription for a blood pressure medication than to spend time talking to someone about good dietary habits, he said.

Dr. George Bakris, director of the hypertensive disorders unit at the University of Chicago, noted that the diet has some practical drawbacks, starting with expense.

"While the diet is certainly nutritious and gives you a balance of all the fruits and vegetables you need, if you go to the store and shop for it, it is more expensive than people appreciate," Bakris said.

The DASH diet also takes more preparation than most meals, he said. "Much of it has to be prepared, and people in this day and age are used to things that are quick," Bakris said. "In the original studies, the food was prepared for the participants. That is not for everybody."

The bottom line: Getting more people with high blood pressure to follow the DASH diet will not be easy, Bakris said. "If you can't afford it, you can't eat it," he said.

More information

Find out more about the DASH diet at the U.S National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.

Sunday, May 13, 2007

Don't ingest this if you can avoid it...

Firefighters Exposed to World Trade Center Dust Developed Lung Condition

May 7, 2007 08:40:43 PM PST
By Ed Edelson
HealthDay Reporter
Yahoo! Health: Allergy News

MONDAY, May 7 (HealthDay News) -- A number of New York City firefighters who were exposed to the dust of the World Trade Center collapse have developed the troublesome but not especially dangerous lung condition called sarcoidosis, physicians report.

Sarcoidosis involves inflammation that produces tiny lumps of cells called granulomas. They can form in any part of the body, but one of the most common sites is the lungs.

"We don't know what causes it throughout the world, but we have long suspected wood-burning exposures," said Dr. David J. Prezant, chief medical officer of the New York City Fire Department, and a professor of medicine at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. "For that reason, we have been looking at New York firefighters back to 1985. In 1999, we reported their incidence was increased compared to the general New York population.

"What was surprising was the dramatic increase after 9/11," Prezant continued. "We had been averaging two cases a year. One year after 9/11, we had 13 cases. The incidence decreased after that, and now it is down to four cases a year."

Reporting in the May issue of the journal Chest, Prezant and his colleagues noted that a "sarcoid-like" lung condition has been detected in 26 firefighters. "The other surprising thing was not only the increased number but also that almost all the cases we had were symptomatic," he said. "Usually, there are either no or very few symptoms, with the condition being picked up by chest X-rays. In 65 percent of these cases, the firefighters had symptoms of asthma."

Eighteen of the 26 firefighters with sarcoidosis showed symptoms of asthma. Eight of 21 who agreed to have their lungs tested had hyperactivity of the airways, something not seen in sarcoidosis patients before the World Trade Center disaster of Sept. 11, 2001.

The outlook for the firefighters is not dire, Prezant stressed. "We know that in 95 percent of patients, sarcoidosis either never causes problems or causes only minor problems," he said. "It is easily treated with steroids or other medications. These cases do have to be monitored, and that is why we have a very aggressive monitoring program."

Dr. Len Horovitz, a pulmonary specialist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, isn't so sure that the condition is completely innocuous. "It has always been assumed that there is an increased risk of lung cancer, although there is no data on that," he said. "It has only been six years since 9/11, so we have to wait and see."

The two physicians also differed on the probable causes of the condition in the firefighters. "It is well known that certain things can trigger sarcoidosis," Horovitz said. "It is associated with exposure to heavy metals such as barium and beryllium, so it is not really surprising that, given the heavy metals in the World Trade center dust, sarcoidosis developed."

But Prezant countered: "We have not found heavy metals in the firefighters. We believe the sarcoidosis is related to wood burning and chemical exposure rather than to heavy metals."

Prezant's report covered only the firefighters who were exposed to World Trade Center dust, because that is the group he looks after.

"I wouldn't be surprised that many of the other rescue workers could be at similar medical risk," Horovitz said.

Previous studies have found that dust from the Trade Center collapse took a toll on rescue workers' lungs.

For example, almost 70 percent of rescue personnel and workers who responded to the terrorist attacks suffered from lung problems during and after the recovery efforts. And some of those problems persisted for at least two-and-a-half years after the attacks, according to a report released last September by researchers at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City, the largest study to date on the health effects of the disaster.

More information

To learn more about sarcoidosis, visit the U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

Thursday, May 03, 2007

Southern Fried Breast Cancer

Barbecue lovers may have higher breast cancer risk

By Anne Harding Thu May 3, 3:44 PM ET

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Postmenopausal women who like barbecued and smoked meat would be wise to eat plenty of fruit and vegetables too, a new study suggests.

Dr. Susan E. Steck of the University of South Carolina in Columbia and her colleagues found that postmenopausal women who consumed the most grilled, barbecued or smoked red meat over their lifetime have a 47 percent increased risk of breast cancer. Big meat-eaters who also skimped on fruit and vegetables had a 74 percent increased risk of the disease.

No relationship was detected between recent patterns of meat consumption and breast cancer in postmenopausal women. In addition, the investigators found no significant association between long- or short-term meat consumption and breast cancer in premenopausal women.

The findings "support the cancer prevention guidelines that are currently recommended" calling for people to eat more plant-based foods and limit processed or red meat consumption, Steck noted in an interview with Reuters Health.

However, she cautioned, the study found a close association, but didn't actually show that cooked meats caused breast cancer. Other related factors could be at work, she explained, such as high fat content in the diet of women who consume these types of meat products.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and heterocyclic amines are known carcinogens produced by cooking meat at high temperatures, Steck and her team note in their report. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are found in grilled, barbecued and smoked meat (as well as many other foods), while pan-fried and grilled meat have particularly high heterocyclic amine content.

Steck and her colleagues compared the lifetime and recent consumption of cooked meat among 1,508 women with breast cancer and 1,556 healthy women. Postmenopausal women in the highest two thirds for lifetime consumption of smoked, grilled or barbecued meats -- more than once a week -- had a 47 percent greater risk of the disease compared with women who ate the least amount of meat -- once a week or less.

And postmenopausal women who ate plenty of barbecued or smoked meat but few fruits and vegetables (less than five servings per day) were at a 74 percent increased risk of breast cancer.

However, smoked, grilled or barbecued poultry or fish did not increase breast cancer risk when examined independently of red meat.

The finding that women who ate few fruits and vegetables were at greater risk supports lab and animal studies that have shown phytochemicals, which are found in fruits and vegetables, can protect against carcinogens, Steck noted.

Since the study is among the first to look at lifetime cooked meat consumption and breast cancer risk, she added, the findings need to be confirmed in other studies that examine lifetime dietary intake.

SOURCE: Epidemiology, May 2007.

Wednesday, May 02, 2007

Longer Life

Study identifies gene linked to longer lifespan

By Will Dunham 11 minutes ago

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Scientists have known for seven decades that mice, dogs, fruit flies and other animals given diets bordering on starvation tended to live up to 40 percent longer than their better-fed cousins.

Now they think they know why.

They identified a gene in roundworms on Wednesday that directly links calorie restriction to longer lifespan.

The researchers, led by Andrew Dillin of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, California, said a gene called pha-4 plays a role in gut development in embryonic worms but in adults is associated with calorie-restricted longevity.

Dillin said it is unclear whether similar genes may play a similar role in humans.

People have three genes very much like the worm's pha-4. They are related to glucagon, a pancreatic hormone that increases blood sugar concentration and maintains the body's energy balance, particularly during fasting, they said.

Pinpointing the worm gene might open the door to drugs that imitate the effects of calorie restriction and could allow people to live longer without following such a severely restrictive diet, the researchers report in this week's issue of the journal Nature.

"We don't know yet whether or not dietary restriction will increase longevity in humans," Dillin said in a conference call with reporters. Experts are testing the diets in monkeys.

"There are several people that are actively doing this voluntarily," Dillin added.

"But there is a primate study that's going on that's around 35 years into it, and it looks like the primates are going to respond very well to reduced food intake and actually live longer."

Dillin said it usually takes a 50 to 70 percent reduction in normal food intake to yield longer lifespan in animals.

"If you reduce food too much, you're going to go toward starvation and actually live shorter," Dillin said.

"If you overeat -- have the Big Mac diet, high-calorie content -- you're going to come to obesity and have a short life span as well. So dietary restriction is really a sweet spot in between the two."

My Healthy Diet