Archive for October, 2009

A number of studies from 12 different agencies showed that high intakes of all types of meat were associated with a 17 percent increase of type-2 diabetes. The study on processed red meat resulted in a 40 percent increase in diabetes risk.

The World Cancer Research Fund in a 2007 report directly linked diet to cancer, with alcohol and red and processed meats posing the greatest risks.

For the whole story read “Meat linked to increased diabetes risk: Meta-analysis”, October 28, 2009: www.foodnavigator-usa.com/Science-Nutrition

Dr. Andrew Weil reports that those people who practice yoga regularly are more likely to practice mindful eating and are less likely to be overweight.

What an easy solution to obesity.

Young children and adolescents who take the newest generation of antipsychotic medications risk rapid weight gain and metabolic changes that could lead to diabetes, hypertension and other illnesses, according the biggest study yet of first-time users of the drugs.

The study, to be published Wednesday in The Journal of the American Medical Association, found that 257 young children and adolescents in New York City and on Long Island added 8 to 15 percent to their weight after taking the pills for less than 12 weeks.

The patients, ages 4 to 19, added an average of one to one-and-a-half pounds a week.

Isn’t it time that we took the pharmaceutical companies to task and see why these children are psychotic rather than putting them on medication? We already know that improper nutrition and lack of exercise leads to many diseases and illnesses. Let’s wake up America and take charge of our health concerns.

New York Times, October 26, 2009 online

Memorial Hermann Healthcare System in Houston, TX serves more than five million people so they depend on the latest mobile technologies to deliver better patient care. iPhone and state –of-the-art medical apps like AirStrip OB lets Memorial Hermann’s physicians keep a close watch on patients even when they are not in the room with them.

The simple iPhone interface and Multi-Touch technology let busy doctors get up to speed quickly.

Because there are hundreds of medical apps available, iPhone becomes an instant pocket reference for everything from anatomical charts to diagnostic tools.

I know this is a plug for Apple’s iPhone but think about the possibilities of better care via iPhone.

It will be interesting to see how quickly this develops across the country.

Dr. Joseph Maroon, physician to the Pittsburg Steelers and world-renowned neurosurgeon, believes that our health problems are largely controlled by our unbalanced lives. There are scientific studies showing that food is addictive and that this addiction is due to fears, frustration, anxiety, depression and anger due to the imbalance in our lives. He believes that as we balance our lives between the physical, spiritual, family/social and work in our lives that our addictions will no longer control our lives and our weight will no longer be a problem.

He has all this in his book THE LONGEVITY FACTOR, pp 203-4

A Japanese study looking at more than a 1,000 elderly Japanese over 70 years old found drinking green tea each day lowers depression. As more people are reaching 65 and beyond this study may be helpful here in the United States. This is one of the first studies with green tea and depression.

The World Health Organization (WHO) predicts within 20 years more people will be affected by depression than any other health problem. The WHO says depression if the leading cause of disability worldwide affecting around 120 million people.

The study showed that depressive symptoms were lowered 44 percent for people who drank more than four cups of green tea each day.

Read the rest of the story www.nutraingredients-usa.com , October 21, 2009

The British Journal of Nutrition points out the difference between chocolate and cocoa. Reviewers from the Nestle Research Center point out that cocoa is the non-fat component of cocoa liquor which is used in chocolate making or as cocoa powder (usually 12 percent fate) for cooking and drinking.

Cocoa liquor contains about 55 percent cocoa butter and goes into the cocoa solids.

A study by researchers from the University Hospital of Cologne found that eating cocoa had positive effects on blood pressure.

The term “milk chocolate” did not come up in the study. I have read it is the “dark” chocolate that is healthy with 65 or 70 percent cocoa.

Full article at www.nutraingredients-usa.com October 21,2009

Doctors have investigated a possible link between heavy multivitamin use and the most serious types of prostate cancer according to an article in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute in early 2007.

Researchers followed 295,344 men. The study concluded that men who took multivitamins more than once a day had a higher risk of advanced prostate tumors which could be fatal.

An analysis by Ray Kurzweil and Terry Grossman showed that the study’s biases were not considered before drawing conclusions. (Published on KurzweilAI.net May 25, 2007)

This shows that just having a large number of people in a study doesn’t make the study correct. In this case it would not be correct to conclude that supplements are the cause of a few extra cases of prostate cancer.

If you are a male I would encourage you to check out this article in www.KurzweilAI.net “Press ignores bias in study of multivitamins and prostate cancer”

The American Cancer Society is now saying that screening for breast and prostate cancers has been overrated. Prostate cancer screening has been a problem for a long time. The PSA prostate screening test has not been shown to prevent prostate cancer deaths.

The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) reports that even with a 40 percent increase in breast cancer diagnoses there has only been a 10 percent decline in cancers that have spread beyond the breast to the lymph nodes and elsewhere in the body.

Dr Laura Esserman, a professor of surgery and radiology at the University of California, San Francisco, and director of the Carol Frank Buck Breast Cancer Center, and Dr. Ian Thompson, professor and department chair of urology at The University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, find that prostate cancer screening and breast cancer screening are not so different.

Both have a problem that runs counter to everything people have been told about cancer. They are finding cancers that do not need to be found because they would never spread and kill or even be noticed if left alone. Without screening these cancers would go undetected but with detection has led to a huge increase in cancer diagnosis. At the same time both screening tests are not making a dent in the number of cancers that are deadly. The dilemma for screening is that it is not usually clear which tumors need aggressive treatment and which ones can be left alone.

The New York Times, October 21, 2009, Health http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/21/health/21cancer.html?_r=1&hp

We have paid too much attention to saturated animal fat. It doesn’t cause the real damage. Artificial transfats, which are everywhere in our diets are the real culprits. If you want to cut out the fat that’s really bad for you cut out ALL partially hydrogenated oils and transfats.

Cholesterol is not technically a fat, but it’s closely related to fats. Cholesterol is a steroidal alcohol that helps provide structure to the membranes of all animal cells. We need cholesterol. In fact, 70 percent of our brain is made of fats and cholesterol. Pure cholesterol is a potent antioxidant, which protects the cell from injury by oxygen.

Cholesterol of fresh, well-preserved, and lightly cooked foods is not harmful because it’s protected from oxygen. When cholesterol reacts with oxygen during the processing of food that oxy-cholesterols form. Deep fat frying, powered eggs, and powered milk are harmful because the process puts oxygen into the cholesterol. Most food processing companies today use these methods and therefore most processed food is unhealthy. Eating whole foods like fresh fish, poultry, meats, eggs and milk is healthy.

Dr. Kilmer McCully, THE HEART REVOLUTION. P. 86