Health Tip: Help Prevent Metabolic Syndrome

Metabolic syndrome occurs when being overweight or obese -- combined with other risk factors -- increase a person's chances of developing heart disease and diabetes. Read more

Mice Study Shows How 'Fat Gene' Works

(HealthDay News) -- Mice without a particular form of an obesity-linked gene are thinner than mice carrying the gene, even though they exercise similarly and gobble up just as much food.

So conclude German investigators, who reported the finding in the Feb. 22 issue of Nature. According to the team, this is the first time that scientists have been able to explain how an obesity-linked gene -- in this case the FTO gene -- may predispose a person to be either skinny or obese.

"These animals are eating as much as the control animals but burning calories through a non-exercise mediated pathway," said one expert, Dr. Stuart Weiss, a clinical assistant professor of medicine at New York University School of Medicine in New York City.

Previous research had determined that having the "fat" variant of the FTO gene can add as much as 3 kilograms (6.6 pounds) to a person's heft.

In the current study, "the gene was knocked out, so there was no product of the gene in the body," explained another expert, Weimin He, an assistant professor at Texas A&M Health Science Center's Institute of Biosciences and Technology in Houston.

Mice lacking the FTO gene displayed slowed growth after birth (though not before) and less fat tissue. And by the age of 6 weeks, these mice had 30 percent to 40 percent less weight than their "normal" counterparts. Lean mass was also lower, but to a lesser extent.




So how did the FTO-less rodents stay so svelte, despite similar diet and exercise? "The study authors say it's because of increased energy expenditure," He said. "Now the question is, why?"

The German team, led by Ulrich Ruther of the University of Dusseldorf, investigated further to try and find an answer.

Blood levels of the hormone leptin, which helps control appetite and the balance of energy-in and energy-out in the body, were lower in the mice carrying the gene variant in question, the team found. This was expected, as leptin is produced by fat tissue.

Levels of adiponectin, another hormone involved in metabolic processes, were increased in the mice. Lower levels of adiponectin are associated with obesity.

The scientists were able to rule out changes to the hypothalamus, a part of the brain involved in "energy homeostasis" or balance, and they also ruled out alterations in glucose metabolism as reasons for the increased leanness.

Adrenaline levels, however, were found to be higher in the lean mice. "This is the interesting part," He said. "Why did adrenaline levels increase? There are several unanswered questions."

Once questions like those are answered, the findings may pave the way for more effective treatments to combat obesity and its myriad complications.

Of course, there are well-known ways of losing weight: lifestyle changes. These are "long-term proven strategies but people won't do them," Weiss said. "People are not comfortable following long-term diet and exercise plans." And with obesity rates continuing to soar in the United States, "we need medical approaches," he said.

More information
There's more on obesity at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Health Tip: Bones, Muscles and Aging

(HealthDay News) -- Getting older means changes throughout your body, and the bones and muscles are no exception. So get them into shape, and help ward off certain effects of aging.

The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons offers this advice:

• Do lots of stretches. Stretching will help your muscles stay flexible.
• Try some lightweight training to build up and strengthen your muscles.
• Over time, getting regular exercise can help you retain muscle mass and help prevent weight gain.
• Even occasional exercise can benefit blood pressure, heart health, and some studies indicate it might reduce your risk of cancer.
• Getting just 30 minutes of exercise can boost your overall health. Try fun activities such as dancing and swimming.
• If you haven't exercised before, talk to your doctor before you start.

Why New Yorkers Don’t Get Fat

By Sean Kelley

Getty Images
This year I’ve traveled to New York City nearly a dozen times. As I write this, I’m looking out the window onto 50th Street, watching throngs of New Yorkers and tourists shuttling between Rockefeller Center and Broadway.
You can almost always tell the people who live in New York from the people who are visiting: New Yorkers rarely wear sneakers, for one, and in most cases, they are much skinnier than the folks from out of town.
It’s not that New York City dwellers are genetically predisposed to svelteness. In fact, the rate of obesity in the city rose from 19.5% to 22.8% between 2002 and 2004. Still, that’s pretty skinny by Alabama standards; the obesity rate in my state is more than 30%.
Why the disparity? It’s all the walking. Read More

Health Tip: Obesity and Your Child

(HealthDay News) -- If your child is at an unhealthy, or even dangerous weight, and weight-loss efforts at home aren't successful, you may want to try a professional weight-loss program.

The Cleveland Clinic offers the following recommendations when choosing a child's weight-loss program:

• The program should employ an array of health professionals, including physicians, dietitians, psychiatrists and exercise physiologists.
• Your child's overall health should be evaluated before any weight-loss program begins.
• The program should include the entire family, rather than focusing only on the child.
• Look for a program that is geared specifically for your child's age group and has different programs based on age.
• Programs should focus on behavioral changes, teaching how to choose healthy foods in variety and portion size, and promoting physical activity.

'Healthy Fat' Chemical Aids Body's Metabolism

(HealthDay News) -- Scientists believe they have discovered a new class of hormones in mice, one of which may help stop or reverse obesity-related conditions such as insulin resistance and fatty liver, a new study says.

The Harvard School of Public Health researchers, whose work was published in the Sept. 19 issue of Cell, said their discovery -- if applicable to humans -- may allow the development of therapeutic or preventive treatments to counter rising obesity and resulting increases in potentially fatal metabolic disorders such as diabetes and atherosclerosis.

Lipokines, unlike other hormones which are steroid- or protein-based, were found in the fat cells of the genetically engineered mice. One of these hormones, "C16:1n7" or palmitoleate, appears to flag the muscles and liver to increase cell sensitivity to insulin and block fat accumulation in the liver. Palmitoleate also appeared to halt inflammation, a primary factor leading to metabolic disease.

The research team had noticed that genetically altered mice were remarkably resistant to the metabolic problems, like diabetes and heart disease, normally linked to a long-term, high-fat diet. In these mice, whose fat cells lacked proteins to chaperone the fat to their normal storage cells, palmitoleate production was much higher. The excess palmitoleate signaled the muscles and the liver to improve insulin function, so the cells could better absorb nutrients.

"We believe that it might be possible to chemically stimulate cells to manufacture their own 'good' fat, which could have beneficial effects on metabolism through increased palmitoleate signaling," lead researcher Gokhan Hotamisligil, a professor at the Harvard School of Public Health, said in a university news release.

If the palmitoleate effect is similar in people, Hotamisligil said it may be a potential treatment for metabolic disorders.

More information
The U.S. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases has more about adult obesity.

Obesity Worsens Asthma

(HealthDay News) -- New research shows that obese people who have asthma are nearly five times more likely to be hospitalized for the problem and to have lower quality of life and worse control of the disease than those with asthma who are normal weight.

Researchers from Kaiser Permanente, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School evaluated 1,113 adults with asthma, all members of Kaiser, in Oregon, Washington or Colorado.

They asked the patients about their weight, height, smoking habits, other illness, asthma treatment and their quality of life associated with asthma, as well as their asthma control and any hospitalizations related to the condition. They also computed their body-mass index (BMI).

"Even accounting for all of those factors, there was a pretty dramatic difference for obese asthmatics versus non-obese asthmatics," said study authors Dr. Michael Schatz, chief of the department of allergy at Kaiser Permanente, San Diego, and a clinical professor of medicine at the University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine.

"The most severe was a nearly five times greater risk for being hospitalized for asthma in the prior year," Schatz said. Obesity was defined as having a BMI of 30 or above.

The team reported its findings in the September issue of The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, found other differences associated with obesity. Obese patients with asthma were 2.8 times more likely to have day-to-day problems with quality of life associated with their disease. They were 2.7 times more likely to have poor asthma control, too.

In previous research, Schatz said, obesity has been associated with having more intense asthma.

For those who had asthma and were overweight but not obese, with a BMI of 25 to 29, the findings were not as clear, Schatz said. While the results for the overweight but not obese weren't significantly different than for those of normal weight, "we probably could have used more numbers," Schatz said, explaining that the numbers of overweight but not obese persons may have been too small to tease out a difference. "I wouldn't want to conclude that being overweight [with asthma] is the same as normal weight in terms of risks."

His advice for trying to keep asthma in check? "In general, the best bet would be to be at a normal weight," Schatz said.

The study adds to the base of knowledge about weight and asthma, said Dr. Christopher Cooper, a professor of medicine and physiology at the David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles. "This adds additional evidence there is some association between the two," he said.

The study relied on large numbers overall, he said, and the statistics are sound. One limitation is the lack of an intervention, such as following obese asthmatics who lose weight to see if their condition improves, he added.

Exactly why obesity seems to make asthma worse is not known. In the study, Schatz and his colleagues speculated that obese people may have a lower self-image and not adhere to measures to make their asthma better, may not be as adherent to medication, or other factors.

More information
For more on asthma and what can trigger it, visit the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

What’s So Funny About Dia-beetis?

By Sean Kelley

When you bleed everyday for your disease, gallows humor isn’t far behind. For diabetics—whether type 1 or type 2—diet, exercise, and insulin may be the best medicine, but laughter helps.
One of my favorite diabetic jokes comes from stand-up comic Carolyn Castiglia, who talks about her type 2 diabetic mother:

My mom says to me, “I hope you don’t think I have diabetes because I’m fat. OK, ’cause that’s not why. I have diabetes because it runs in our family.” I’m like, “No, mom, you have diabetes because no one runs in our family!” That would be the root cause. That and sleeping with a pizza. Read More

Do Carbs Really Make You Fat? The Truth Behind 6 Diet Myths

By Ross Weale

Does eating fiber cancel out the other calories you consume? Are all-natural products as good as they sound? Do carbs really make you fat?
Dietitian and Health magazine contributing editor Samantha Heller sorted through the most common diet myths with Ann Curry on the Today show’s “Take It Off” segment on July 21. Watch the video to learn what you really need to worry about when it comes to losing weight.


Read More

Many Women Struggle With Uncontrolled Blood Pressure

(HealthDay News) -- Nearly one in three Americans suffers from high blood pressure -- more than 73 million adults.

But half of them -- women -- face unique challenges in controlling their blood pressure.

For instance, women with high blood pressure are more likely to be obese and have high cholesterol levels. They're also less likely than men to meet target goals for their blood pressure. And they're also less likely than men to receive medications such as aspirin, blood pressure-lowering drugs or cholesterol-lowering drugs, compared to men, recent research found.

These findings add greater urgency to the American Heart Association's ongoing "Go Red for Women" campaign, which seeks to change the perception that high blood pressure and heart disease are "male" health threats.

Most people don't know that heart disease is the No. 1 killer of American women -- as well as men. An estimated 480,000 women die of cardiovascular disease every year, more than the total number of cardiovascular disease-related deaths in men, or the next four causes of death combined, according to the heart association.

Unchecked high blood pressure -- also known as hypertension -- can produce terrible systemic damage and disease. It can lead to a heart attack, stroke, heart failure, kidney damage, blindness and a host of other medical problems.

Despite this, a large segment of women aren't adequately addressing their hypertension.

"Only about 60 percent of women with high blood pressure are having it controlled," said Dr. Nieca Goldberg, medical director of New York University Medical Center's Women's Heart Program, and a spokeswoman for the "Go Red for Women" campaign. "When you bring your blood pressure down, you cut your stroke risk in half and risk of heart attack by 25 percent."

Part of the problem is that women tend to suffer from an increased systolic rate, said Dr. Daniel Jones, president of the American Heart Association.

Blood pressure is the force of the blood against artery walls when the heart beats and then rests. Measurement renders two numbers. Systolic pressure, the top number, is recorded when your heart beats and forces blood out to the body. Diastolic pressure is the bottom number, and is the minimum pressure that occurs when the heart relaxes between beats. The ideal blood pressure is below 120/80 mmHg, according to the heart association.

But, Jones added, "The systolic rate is more resistant to treatment through medication."

Goldberg believes that some women might be stopping their blood pressure medication without talking with their doctor, after suffering from side effects that can include insomnia, lethargy and depression.

"If the medication is a problem, we have many different medications that help," said Goldberg, author of Dr. Nieca Goldberg's Complete Guide to Women's Health.

Further complicating treatment is the perception of high blood pressure as a "man's disease," which might affect the intensity of care they receive, Goldberg said.

"Sometimes, the woman's needs aren't being met at the doctor's office," she said. "They need to ask the simple question, 'What is my blood pressure?' And if it seems a little elevated, they need to talk to a doctor about what to do to fix it."

Women also shouldn't ignore the lifestyle changes they can pursue that will lower their blood pressure, or help prevent it from rising in the first place, Jones said.

"They're not as easy to do as some things, but they are very powerful," he said.

Diet can have a big impact on high blood pressure. A recent study found that women 45 years old and older who ate low-fat diary foods were at lower risk of developing high blood pressure.

"Those [low-fat diary products] are great, because they have calcium, which is good for our bones, so there's more than one benefit," Goldberg said.

Reducing fat and salt intake is also helpful.

"When you're going to the market and buying prepared foods, purchase those that are grilled, not fried," Goldberg said. "You also should realize many condiments are very high in salt."

Quitting smoking and reducing the amount of alcohol you drink is also important for reducing your overall risk for heart attack and stroke.

On the horizon, researchers are developing a vaccine that could prove successful in moderating blood pressure. It works by inhibiting angiotensin II, a molecule that constricts blood vessels and raises blood pressure.

"The potential attractiveness of a vaccine is it might be a more convenient way to manage high blood pressure in some people," Jones said.

Researchers at the 2007 American Heart Association annual meeting discussed some early encouraging results, although Jones cautioned that the vaccine is still years away from use in patients. "People should not be anticipating this is something that would be clinically available anytime in the near future," he said. "It's not anywhere close to being tested by the FDA for use."

Until then, following a healthy lifestyle and sticking with a good medication are a woman's -- and man's -- best bet for beating back high blood pressure.

"We know that a diet that is low in sodium and high in fruits, vegetables and low-fat dairy products is very useful in both preventing and treating high blood pressure," Jones said. "I always like to remind people of the importance of simple things in lifestyle that can make a difference."

More information
To learn more about the Go Red for Women campaign, visit the American Heart Association.

5 Ways to Boost Your Metabolism and Lose Weight

Magnesium, interval training, and other tricks to burn more calories
by Ross Weale

Health magazine contributor Samantha Heller shows how to burn more calories, during an interview on the Today show, March 10.



SAMANTHA HELLER

Samantha Heller, RD, is the nutrition coordinator at the Fairfield Connecticut YMCA. A certified dietitian/nutritionist and exercise physiologist, Heller earned her master's degree in nutrition and applied physiology from Teachers’ College, Columbia University. She served as the senior clinical nutritionist and exercise physiologist at NYU Medical center in New York City for almost a decade and created and ran the outpatient nutrition program for the NYU Cardiac Rehabilitation Program. She has also been a fitness instructor for 15 years. Heller specializes in nutrition, wellness, stress management, and fitness for people who are fighting heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and obesity.

A contributing editor to Health magazine, her writing has also appeared in numerous other magazines, including Men’s Fitness, Men’s Health, and Glamour, as well as sites such as Fitness.com.

Born to Be Obese?

(HealthDay News) -- The brain circuitry that controls appetite might be wired differently in some people, and that could predispose them to obesity, California researchers suggest.

The study was conducted in rats, not humans, and yet it could ultimately lead to novel obesity treatments, said Philip Smith, director of the Office of Obesity Research at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.

"It is not just about drugs that modify short-term appetite," he said, "there may be drugs that stimulate development of the appropriate neural pathways. So, it is an exciting, but very early, time in this field."

The study was published in the February issue of Cell Metabolism.

Sebastien Bouret, an assistant professor of neuroscience at the University of Southern California, and his colleagues examined neural circuits emanating from the appetite, hunger and body-weight control center of the brain -- the so-called arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus (ARH) -- in a series of rats bred to be either prone to, or resistant to, obesity.

The team found fewer neural connections projecting from the ARH in obesity-prone animals than in their leaner counterparts. Surprisingly, Bouret said, this deficiency developed very early in life, before the animals became obese, and appeared to extend into adulthood.

"Somehow, these animals are programmed to become obese," Bouret said. "The obesity is hard-wired into the brain."

When the researchers then looked at why the brains of obese rats differed from their normal-weight counterparts, they found that the neurons from obesity-prone animals were less responsive to leptin, a hormone that controls the development of these circuits, and which also signals the body's energy status and controls metabolic rate.

"This paper presumes to say, these animals must be leptin-resistant, and that is why the pathways are not developing," said Smith.

But that doesn't mean they are doomed to a life of severe obesity, said Dr. Barbara Kahn, chief of the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, in Boston. How they live their lives also matters.

"It is important not to 'blame' the obese person or imply that he/she is responsible for being obese," Kahn noted. "Having said that, reasonable, healthy caloric restriction and a safe and sustainable program of physical activity can help limit weight gain and often bring about some degree of weight loss. In addition, healthy eating and regular exercise can reduce the complications of obesity such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease."

At the same time, she added, not everyone can wear a size 4.

"There is a certain aspect of genetics that sets somebody in a certain range of possible body weights, and then how that person lives his or her life will determine whether they are at the bottom or top of the range," she explained.

Human obesity has both genetic and environmental roots. The rats used in this study, like most humans, developed obesity when fed a high-energy diet. On a normal diet, they were heavier than normal rats, but not yet obese.

"This is quite an exciting paper," said Smith, "because it links more closely to human behavior than most rodent models we have seen."

The findings also suggest a possible therapeutic approach to combating human obesity. If drugs could be designed to influence the formation of neural circuits during development and targeted to at-risk pregnancies, Smith said, "there is a good likelihood we could have successful interventions that improve the health of the mother, and which have a major impact on disease risk for the infant, during pregnancy."

A related study from Boston University researchers in the same journal found that bulking up muscle mass can lead to a general metabolic improvement in obese individuals. "Interventions designed to increase skeletal muscle mass in at-risk human populations may prove to be critical weapons in the fight against obesity and obesity-related comorbidities, including diabetes, heart disease, stroke, hypertension and cancer," an accompanying editorial stated.

More information
For more on obesity, visit the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.

Diabetes Group Backs Low-Carb Diets

(HealthDay News) -- For the first time, the American Diabetes Association (ADA) has come out in support of low-carbohydrate diets for people with diabetes who want to manage their weight.

The ADA voiced its support of low-calorie or low-carbohydrate diets in its newly published 2008 clinical practice recommendations.

The recommendations are intended to help physicians guide their patients in diabetes prevention and management.

The ADA estimates that more than 20 million children and adults are living with diabetes in the United States. However, about one-third of those people have the disease but have not yet been diagnosed, according to the association.

Prior to the release of the 2008 recommendations, the ADA did not support low-carbohydrate diets for diabetes management due to a lack of evidence supporting their safety and effectiveness.

Whether a person can stick with a diet is more important than the diet's theme, according to the association. Low-carbohydrate and low-calorie diets are equally effective in helping people lose weight over a year. However, the recommendations do also include guidelines for monitoring the lipid profiles and kidney health of people who choose a low-carbohydrate, high-protein diet.

The recommendations continue to support sustained, moderate weight loss and increased physical activity for people who are overweight, obese, living with diabetes or at risk for becoming diabetic.

"The risks of overweight and obesity are well-known. We recognize that people are looking for realistic ways to lose weight," Ann Albright, president of health care and education for the ADA, said in a prepared statement. "The evidence is clear that both low-carbohydrate and low-fat calorie restricted diets result in similar weight loss at one year. We're not endorsing either of these weight-loss plans over any other method of losing weight. What we want health-care providers to know is that it's important for patients to choose a plan that works for them, and that the health-care team support their patients' weight-loss efforts and provide appropriate monitoring of patients' health."

Being overweight and physically inactive both increase the risk of type 2 diabetes, according to the ADA. Being overweight or obese also make the treatment of type 1 and type 2 diabetes more difficult. The 2008 recommendations state that all adults who are overweight and have an additional risk factor for diabetes should be tested for diabetes or pre-diabetes.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, people who have pre-diabetes can avoid diabetes if they lose 7 percent of their body weight and get more than 150 minutes of activity a week.

Developing and maintaining a disaster kit for diabetes self-management is also included in the new recommendations, along with revised guidelines for care of diabetes in older adults.

More information
To learn more about diabetes, visit the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Cancer Killed Almost 8 Million Worldwide in 2007

(HealthDay News) -- Cancer continues to cut a deadly swath across the globe, with the American Cancer Society reporting 12 million new cases of malignancy diagnosed worldwide in 2007, with 7.6 million people dying from the disease.

The report, Global Cancer Facts & Figures, finds that 5.4 million of those cancers and 2.9 million deaths are in more affluent, developed nations, while 6.7 million new cancer cases and 4.7 million deaths hit people in developing countries.

"The point of the report is to promote cancer control worldwide, and increase awareness worldwide," said report co-author Dr. Ahmedin Jemal, director of the society's Cancer Occurrence Office.

The number of cancers and cancer deaths around the world is on the rise, Jemal said, mostly due to an aging population. "There is increasing life expectancy, and cancer occurs more frequently in older age groups," he noted.

Lifestyle may be another reason for the rise in malignancies in developing countries, Jemal said, as people adopt Western behaviors such as smoking, high-fat diets and less physical activity.

The best way to stem the increasing number of cancer cases and deaths is prevention, especially in poorer countries, the expert said. In many developing nations, the health-care infrastructure simply isn't there to offer cancer screening and treatment for most people, Jemal added.

In developed countries, the most common cancers among men are prostate, lung and colorectal cancer. Among women, the most common cancers are breast, colorectal and lung cancer, according to the report.

However, in developing countries the three most common cancers among men are lung, stomach and liver, and among women, breast, cervix uteri and stomach.

Worldwide, some 15 percent of all cancers are thought to be related to infections, including hepatitis (liver cancer) and human papilloma virus (cervical cancer). But the incidence of infection-related cancers remains three times higher in developing countries compared with developed countries (26 percent vs. 8 percent), according to the report.

In addition, cancer survival rates in many developing countries are far below those in developed countries. This is mostly due to the lack of early detection and treatment services. For example, in North America five-year childhood cancer survival rates are about 75 percent compared with three-year survival rates of 48 percent to 62 percent in Central America, the report notes. The report estimates that 60 percent of the world's children who develop cancer have little or no access to treatment.

The report also includes a section on the toll tobacco use takes around the world. In 2000, some 5 million people worldwide died from tobacco use. Of these, about 30 percent (1.42 million) died from cancer -- 850,000 from lung cancer alone.

Jemal believes smoking is a key culprit.

"Smoking prevalence is decreasing in developed countries. So, as tobacco companies are losing market in developed countries they are trying to expand their market in developing countries," he said.

In China alone, more than 350 million people smoke. "That's more than the entire population of the United States," Jemal said. "If these current patterns continue, there will be 2 billion smokers worldwide by the year 2030, half of whom will die of smoking-related diseases if they do not quit," he added.

In the 20th century, tobacco use caused about 100 million deaths around the world. In this century, that figure is expected to rise to over 1 billion people. Most of these will occur in developing countries.

One expert agreed that many cancer deaths can be avoided through lifestyle changes.
"What is most provocative here is not the total global burden of suffering and death cancer causes, dramatic though that may be, but the variations in cancer occurrence around the world, and the insights provided about how much of the cancer burden need not occur at all," said Dr. David Katz, director of the Prevention Research Center at Yale University School of Medicine.

In developing countries, cancer of the uterine cervix is a leading cause of death in women, Katz noted.

"Yet this infection-related cancer is now preventable by vaccine, and long treatable when detected early using the Pap smear. As a result, death from cervical cancer in developed countries is dramatically lower. Its toll in the developing world is testimony to missed opportunities to apply our resources effectively, and equitably," he said.

Cancer of the liver, often related to hepatitis infection, is a leading cause of death in developing countries, but not so in developed countries. "Again, an infection preventable with vaccine is causing death because of inequities in the distribution and use of existing resources," Katz said.

Prostate and colon cancers are more common in wealthier countries, where they are likely related to poor diet and obesity, Katz said. "Unnecessary suffering and death are occurring in affluent countries due to dietary excesses," he said.

Katz also noted that tobacco-related cancer is largely preventable. "The toll of tobacco-related disease, including lung cancer, is an appalling example of a global willingness to tolerate preventable suffering and death for the sake of profit," he said.

These data show both developed and developing countries how to move toward the lower rates of specific cancers, Katz said.

"It will be a tragic failure for public health if instead of applying these lessons developed countries continue to export tobacco and dietary transgressions so that the developing world adds to its current cancer burden ours as well," he said.

More information
For more information on cancer, visit the American Cancer Society.

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Low Doses of Red Wine Chemical May Fight Diabetes

(HealthDay News) -- Chinese researchers have outlined the molecular chain of activity that makes resveratrol, a chemical found in the skin of red grapes and in red wine, a promising candidate for treatment of diabetes and other conditions.

The study focused on how resveratrol improved the sensitivity of mice to insulin, an effect that could lead to new treatments for type 2 diabetes, in which human cells lose their sensitivity to insulin.

And U.S. experts said the chemical's effect on a number of different tissues could eventually lead to such dreamed-of medications as an effective diet pill.

The study, by researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Shanghai, showed that resveratrol activates an enzyme called SIRT1. This enzyme, in turn, suppresses the activity of a molecule called PTP1B, which ordinarily works to decrease insulin activity. SIRT1 levels were reduced in the animals' insulin-resistant cells. Increasing SIRT1 activity with resveratrol improved insulin sensitivity by acting on PTP1B.

The study is published in the October issue of Cell Metabolism.

"When you suppress PTP1B, insulin activity improves," said Young-Bum Kim, an assistant professor of medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, one author of an accompanying editorial in the journal.

"SIRT1 has a variety of functions in the body," Kim said. "Now we can move on to other tissues, such as the brain. It is possible that regulating the hypothalamus with SIRT1 can prevent diet-induced obesity."

That is clearly a long-term goal, said Janice M. Zabolotny, an instructor in medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess, and the other author of the editorial.

"But it can make animals want less food and lower body weight," she said. "By activating SIRT1, you could block the expression of PTP1B and get the same hopeful benefit."

But clearly, "further studies are needed by other researchers and on different tissues in animals," Zabolotny said.

One striking finding was that much lower levels of resveratrol than in previous trials were able to increase the animals' sensitivity to insulin.

"This paper is different from previous reports in that lower doses were effective," Zabolotny said. "The reason for the difference is unclear."

A statement by Qiwei Zhai, lead author of the report, recommended caution to resveratrol enthusiasts, noting that those who have been drinking red wine might "think about drinking less."

Previous studies had indicated that a human would have to drink about 120 liters of red wine in a day to get the benefit seen in animals. The new results reduce that amount to a still-substantial three liters.

"An even better option may be to find other natural foods enriched with resveratrol or foods supplemented with resveratrol," Zhai said.

More information
To learn more about resveratrol, visit Oregon State University.

Weight Loss Can Control Hypertension

(HealthDay News) -- An Italian study has identified overweight as a direct cause of high blood pressure. And it also showed that up to half of overweight people can bring down blood pressure to healthy levels by weight reduction.

But the weight loss has to be achieved before the borderline to outright obesity is crossed, said Dr. Roberto Fogari, professor of medicine at the University of Pavia. He was to present the study findings Friday at the annual meeting of the American Heart Association's Council for High Blood Pressure Research, in Tucson, Ariz.

It's important that the study linked overweight to high blood pressure, which usually is described as "essential," a medical term meaning that the cause is unknown, Fogari said.

"The study suggests that, in many cases, hypertension [high blood pressure] is not essential," he said. "It is secondary to overweight. So, in the first stages of overweight, if we can induce people to reduce overweight, they can also avoid being treated for hypertension."

The study included 210 men and women whose body mass index [a ratio of weight to height] was between 25 and 29.9, indicating overweight but just short of the 30 mark of obesity. Their systolic blood pressure was between 140 and 159, and their diastolic pressure was between 90 and 99, indicating moderately high blood pressure.

An individualized low-calorie diet was designed for each study participant. Some also were prescribed orlistat, a drug that prevents fat from being metabolized.

After six months, 53 percent of the men and 49 percent of the women in the study achieved normal body weight, and a 5 percent reduction in blood pressure.

"The other 50 percent of those in the study already had abnormal changes in the vascular tree [blood vessel system], so that hypertension was no longer reversible by losing weight," Fogari said.

The implication for practicing physicians who see moderately overweight people with high blood pressure is that their first goal should be weight reduction, he said.

"Only after six months of trying to reduce the patient's weight can a decision be made about drug treatment," Fogari said.

Dr. Daniel W. Jones, dean of the University of Mississippi School of Medicine, and a spokesman for the American Heart Association, said the study finding "is not new news, but it is important news."

There have been a number of previous studies showing that weight loss can reduce blood pressure, Jones said. "But this is an increasingly important problem in societies around the world," he said. "Once you gain weight, you find it difficult to lose weight, which is why we focus so much on preventing obesity these days."

As for drug treatment of high blood pressure, about half of California adults diagnosed with hypertension do not take medication for it, another report presented at the same meeting found.

The study of 11,467 persons given a diagnosis of hypertension found that 49.4 percent were not taking drugs to reduce their blood pressure, said the report by researchers at the California Department of Public Health's Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention Program.

There were some bright spots in the picture. Compliance was more than five times higher for those who had seen a doctor in the past year than for those who had not. And the compliance rate was twice as high for persons with health insurance than the uninsured.

More information
For more on high blood pressure and what to do about it, turn to the American Heart Association.

Diabetes Cuts 8 Years Off Life

(HealthDay News) -- A diagnosis of diabetes means losing an average of eight years from your expected life span, new research shows.

In addition, diabetics are more likely to develop heart disease sooner than non-diabetics, the study found.

"Having diabetes at age 50 years and over does not only represent a significant increase in the risk of developing cardiovascular disease and mortality but also a very important loss in life expectancy and life expectancy free from cardiovascular disease," said lead author Dr. Oscar H. Franco, of the University Medical Center Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and Unilever Corporate Research, Sharnbrook, England.

Most people with diabetes -- about 95 percent -- suffer from the obesity-linked type 2 form of the blood sugar illness. That means that "prevention of diabetes is a fundamental task facing today's society aiming to achieve populations living for longer and healthier," Franco said.

His team published its findings in the June 11 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.

In the study, Franco's group collected data on more than 5,200 American men and women who participated in the ongoing Framingham Heart Study. These people were followed until they developed heart disease or died. In addition, the researchers noted whether they had diabetes.

According to the study, diabetic women had more than twice the risk of developing heart disease than non-diabetic women. In addition, women with diabetes who already had heart disease were more than twice as likely to die compared with non-diabetic women.

Among men, the researchers found that those with diabetes also had twice the risk of developing heart disease and faced a 1.7 times higher risk of dying after developing heart trouble, compared with non-diabetic men.

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For those 50 and older, diabetic men lived an average of 7.5 years less than men without diabetes, and diabetic women lived an average of 8.2 years less. Moreover, life expectancy without heart disease still fell by 7.8 years in men and 8.4 years in women with diabetes compared with non-diabetics, Franco's group reported.

"Taking into consideration that treatment of diabetes and its complications accounts for at least 10 percent of health-care expenditure in many countries, effectively preventing diabetes will not only represent an increase in life expectancy and the number of years lived free from cardiovascular disease but may also represent important savings for health care, at least with respect to direct medical costs," Franco said.

One expert believes the study reflects the dangers posed by diabetes and the need for more efforts to prevent and control the disease.

"It's sobering to think about the number of years of life lost," said Dr. Larry Deeb, president for medicine and science at the American Diabetes Association. "We ought to be able to reduce the cardiovascular risk because we can manage diabetes better today, but we're not."

Deeb believes the new findings highlight the tragic results of not controlling the illness. "This is a powerful argument to people who have diabetes, that you have to control the diabetes," he said.

More information
For more information on diabetes, visit the American Diabetes Association.

New Cholesterol Check Gauges Kids' Heart Risk

(HealthDay News) -- Whether America's fast-food-and-video-game culture, or some other confluence of factors is to blame, there's no denying that adolescents' health is at risk.

Little wonder, then, that one group of researchers has begun to take a serious look at the long-term health consequences of kids' inactivity. And they are using cholesterol levels as a window into these youngsters' futures.

Obesity, inactivity and cholesterol are closely linked, and data from the latest U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) finds that 17 percent of U.S. teens are overweight. Just one in four high school students packs enough physical activity into their day, and 12 percent get little or no daily exercise, reports the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

So, measuring kids' cholesterol in a really detailed way may make sense.
"There is growing scientific evidence indicating that cholesterol levels in childhood and adolescence have an effect on the development of plaque in the arteries, which is a clear indication of cardiovascular disease risk," explained study leader Ian Janssen, an assistant professor in the School of Kinesiology and Health Studies at Queens University in Ontario, Canada.

"There is also strong evidence indicating that children and youth with high cholesterol will continue to have high cholesterol in adulthood," he added. "Thus, it is important to start treatment and prevention efforts early."

Using data from the NHANES on more than 6,000 kids aged 12 to 20, Janssen and his colleagues developed age- and gender-specific reference points for total cholesterol, LDL ("bad") cholesterol, HDL ("good) cholesterol and triglyceride fat levels. The new tables, published last year in the journal Circulation, take into account fluctuations in cholesterol and fat that occur as a child matures.

The new reference data are meant to improve upon current guidelines, published by the U.S. National Cholesterol Education Program, which do not account for age-related fluctuations.
Still, Janssen admits that the guidelines have not yet been routinely adapted into clinical care settings in the United States. "These sorts of changes to clinical practice typically take years to manifest," he said.

Dr. Marc S. Jacobson, director of the Center for AtherosclerosisAtherosclerosis Prevention at Schneider Children's Hospital in New Hyde Park, N.Y., said it's unclear how the new tables will be received in the United States.

"It complicates lives of people like me who treat adolescents with lipid problems because instead of just having one number, you have to have four graphs and plot them out by age," he said.
"Instead of having one cut point," he continued, "you have a graph that you have to plot out a percentile. With each lipid profile, you have to decide which percentile this is for that individual's age. And when it goes up and when it goes down, did it go down because of treatment? Or did it go down because of advancing puberty?"

The challenge, then, is to make sense of that information, he explained. "It argues that you almost have to take it into account because you could say if the LDL changes, is it the treatment or is it a change in puberty?"

Currently, the federal government recommends cholesterol screening for children and teens with at least one parent with high cholesterol or a family history of early heart disease.
"Typically high-risk adolescents should be screened, and probably every year or two," Janssen said. "A high-risk adolescent would be one who's had a parent or grandparent with premature cardiovascular disease or high cholesterol, or a teen with other risk factors, such as obesity and high blood pressure."

Other risk factors, such as high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes or smoking, also would trigger cholesterol testing in doctors' offices, "and that covers a lot of kids now," Jacobson noted.
The issue is destined to garner greater attention when a U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) panel updates guidelines on cholesterol screening in children and teens. The new guidance is scheduled for release in April 2008, said Dr. Rae-Ellen Kavey, senior medical officer with the Pediatric Cardiovascular Risk Reduction Program in NHLBI's Office of Prevention, Education, and Control.

"Stay tuned," Kavey said, "because there really is going to be new information."

More information
Find out more about cholesterol at the U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

Dads' Parenting Style Influences Childhood Obesity

(HealthDay News) -- Fathers' parenting styles have a major influence on children's weight, says an Australian study that looked at almost 5,000 children, ages 4-5, and their parents.

The researchers found that fathers with permissive (no limits on their children) or disengaged parenting styles were more likely to have overweight or obese children, while fathers with a consistent (clear limits, following through with instructions, etc.) style were less likely to have children with a higher body mass index (BMI).

There was no association between the mothers' parenting styles and children's weight, said the study authors from the Centre for Community Child Health (CCCH) at the Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, and the Murdoch Children's Research Institute.

The findings were to be presented this weekend at the annual meeting of the Pediatric Academic Societies, in Toronto.

"This study of a large cross section of Australian preschoolers has, for the first time, suggested that fathers could be at the frontline in preventing early childhood obesity. Mothers are often blamed for their children's obesity, but this study suggests that for more effective prevention, perhaps we should focus on the whole family," Melissa Wake, an associate professor at CCCH, said in a prepared statement.

"Given the importance of the family unit in a child's preschool years, and its influence on their nutrition and physical activity levels, it is timely to look at the parenting roles of both parents and the impact they have on a child's tendency to be overweight or obese," Wake said.
She noted that more than 60 percent of the fathers and more than 40 percent of the mothers in the study were overweight or obese.

More information
The U.S. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases offers advice for parents on healthy eating and physical activity for children.

HEALTH EFFECTS OF XENOBIOTICS

We Are All Toxic!

There is not a person on this earth that does not have some hazardous chemicals in their tissues; exposure to them has been linked to several cancers and to a broad range of reproductive problems, including birth defects.

The increasing incidence of some of these conditions, and our continued exposure to a cocktail of these chemicals, is alarming. On of the patterns being observed in developed countries is the increase in chronic diseases associated with environmental factors: indeed, a quarter of all diseases have been attributed to environmental causes, and there can be little doubt that exposure to hazardous chemicals is one of them.

Hormone (or endocrine) disrupting chemicals inparticular pose a high risk to human welfare and are likely to be causing widespread harm. For example, some man-made chemicals have been linked with:

• a range of effects on the reproductive system including sperm quality and the incidence of male genital abnormalities;


• spontaneous abortion, premature deliveries and low birth weight;


• alterations in the ratio of male to female offspring; and
  delays in development of, and deficits in, the mental ability of children.


• In addition, some chemicals may play a role in certain diseases such as breast and testicular cancer.

It’s a Big Problem!

Global chemical production has escalated from around one million tonnes a year in 1930 to some 400 million tonnes in 2000. By the end of the 1990s, some 100,000 chemicals had been registered in the EU, of which 30,000 have annual production volumes above one tonne.

Synthetic chemicals can affect human biology in numerous ways. Many are carcinogens, others can cause birth defects, and still others can disrupt the hormone system. These chemicals, on the market today, can be found in everything from pesticides, paints and industrial detergents to cosmetics, furniture and hair dyes. Many of these xenobiotics were present in the September 9-11 calamity, as well as some of the other wars in the Middle East - polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls, polychlorinated dibenzodioxins, polychlorinated dibenzofurans, pesticides, phthalate esters, brominated diphenyl ethers, and other hydrocarbons.

Some accumulate over time and contaminate our water, soil and food, and some are transported long distances on air and ocean currents, so that they contaminate people living in remote areas as far away as the Arctic. Regulations have not kept up with the scale of chemical production. Most chemicals on the market and in everyday use have never been adequately assessed for their human and environmental safety. Of particular concern to World Wildelife Fund (WWF) are chemicals that are very persistent and bioaccumulative, and those that are capable of disrupting the normal functioning of the hormone (or endocrine) system.

Bioaccumulation of XenobioticsOur bodies build up over time very persistent and bioaccumulative xenobiotics – most of these will last many years and probably be one of the main causes of our mortality. This is really quite a new science as most of the toxic reference ranges set by most authorities are based on a one-dose toxic level, not on a bioaccumulative process - scientists must now put on their thinking caps and begin thinking laterally! It is probably a good idea to begin phasing these chemicals out NOW before they kill our grandchildren and great grandchildren!

Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals, Reproductive Problems & Obesity

Previous studies have found that exposure to phthalates—found in cosmetics, shampoos, soaps, lotions, lubricants, paint, pesticides, plastics and in the coating of some timed-release medicines - may be associated with reproductive problems. More than 75 percent of the United States population is thought to have measurable levels of several phthalates in their urine. Researchers have theorized that this class of chemicals, as well as other environmental pollutants, may be lowering testosterone levels in men and may be responsible for the substantial declines in testosterone levels and sperm quality that have occurred in the United States and other countries over the last several decades.

Animal studies have demonstrated that phthalates lower testosterone levels and recent human data has found that phthalates are associated with poor semen quality in men and subtle changes in the reproductive organs in male children. Researchers of the current study decided to investigate the effect of this class of chemicals on obesity after noting that low testosterone appears to cause increased abdominal fat and pre-diabetes in men.

Consequently, if phthalates cause a decrease in testosterone, they theorized, then it could also play a role in weight gain and insulin resistance. The scientists analyzed urine, blood samples and other data from subjects participating in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, a large, multi-ethnic, cross-sectional sampling of the U.S. population conducted routinely by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

After adjusting for confounding factors, the researchers discovered that there was a definite link between levels of several phthalate metabolites and abdominal obesity. Men who had the highest phthalate levels in their urine had more belly fat and a greater prevalence of insulin resistance compared to subjects with lower levels.

This is why it is important to detoxify on a regular basis, clean our liver and gallbladder as well as help to remove these phthalates and other xenobiotics or foreign chemicals – taking HMD can help this process -

Health Effects in Children

Children are exposed to more toxic chemicals in food, air and water than adults because relative to their size, they breathe twice as much air, eat three to four times more food, and drink as much as seven times more water. There is increasing scientific evidence that children face much higher cancer risks from exposure to environmental contaminants than adults.

Only last year, a US study showed that neonate cord blood contained an average of 287 chemicals, of which 180 of these were carcinogens. A similar study in neonates in the Inuit Eskimos living in the North Pole also showed arsenic, lead, mercury and organochlorine pesticides such as DDT which has been banned in the Western world for more than 20 years. This is why the statement “we are all toxic” can no longer be refuted.

Given this level of toxicity from the womb, it should be no surprise that there is a rise in childhood cancers, such as brain cancer, as well as in cancers such as non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and multiple myeloma among adults. The risk of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma has been linked to industrial chemicals used in dark hair dyes and the incidence of this disease was seven times greater in children whose parents frequently used home pesticides.

Neurological and Behavioural EffectsThere is evidence that children’s exposure to some man-made chemicals, especially PCBs, can affect their neurological development and mental ability. Xenobiotics commonly present in women, which are passed on to the developing foetus, can affect the behaviour and mental development of their children, particularly in early childhood. However, these effects may persist to such an extent that impaired reading ability and reduced IQs have still been found in American children aged 11. Man-made chemicals are also suspected of contributing to learning disabilities, including attention deficithyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism.

Free e-booksFor all those that have not received my FREE e-books on detoxification, please use this link - Free e-book! - (use the username "HMD" and password "ebooks4me") - and you will be able to download them instantly - one is entitled "DETOXIFICATION: Toxic world, Toxic body - The Secrets of Detoxification. The other is entitled "Flushing Gallstones Naturally: Liver Cleansing Without Painful Surgery or Expensive Drugs."

Best wishes,© Dr. George J Georgiou, Ph.D.,ND.,D.Sc (AM)
Natural Medicine Practitioner & Researcher