Month: July 2013

Shortened lives where you live matters

A new study shows it makes a lot of difference in long and healthy living where Americans live.

For example peoples living in Hawaii are luckier because they have peaceful weather and gorgeous scenery. Here senior citizens can expect a little more than 16 years of healthy life after 65 and Women can expect more than 17 years.

On the other hand, Mississippi’s seniors have less than 11 years of healthy life. Older black Mississippians have only eight years, lower than anywhere, oddly, African-Americans in Iowa, with seven years.

The national average is 14 years. That is, the average 65-year-old American can expect good health until age 79 – a little more for women, a little less for men.

The new analysis, done by the National Center for Health Statistics, show Americans’ healthy life expectancy. But males in the Midwest, Texas and North Dakota don’t do so well either. The Northeast, Florida, Upper states and the West have more healthy seniors.At age 65, Americans can expect 14 more healthy years on average. But that varies a lot depending on where you live.

 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

The study’s authors say the life of people living in States vary so much even there is a good Environment. But doing healthy behaviors, such as exercise and avoid smoking; preventive care, such as vaccinations, cancer screening and blood pressure treatment; medical care when needed.

JAMA, the journal of the American Medical Association published earlier this month and compared the United States with 34 other developed countries. Its part of an ambitious effort by a group called the U.S. Burden of Disease Collaborators.

The U.S. rank declined on every measure of longevity and good health between 1990 and 2010. On “healthy life expectancy,” the US went from 14th place to 26th– while it’s already disproportionately high health care spending spiraled ever higher.

“Despite a massive increase in health expenditures,” wrote Dr. , editor of that volume, “the nation’s health has improved less than was promised or expected. The benefits have not appeared to justify the costs.”

The U.S. health care dilemma, Fineberg wrote, “remains strikingly unaltered” nearly four decades later.

 

American Medical Association supports ban on marketing energy drinks to kids

The American Medical Association said it would support a ban on the marketing of energy drinks to children under 18, because the high-caffeine beverages could cause heart problems and other health issues.

This was adopted in a group’s annual meeting in Chicago. “Energy drinks contain excessive amounts of caffeine that may lead to health problems in young people, including heart problems, and banning companies from marketing these products to adolescents is a common action that we can take to protect the health of American kids,” Dr. Alexander Ding, an AMA board member, said in a statement.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration in October said it was investigating reports of five deaths that may be associated with top-selling energy drink.

The American Beverage Association said it was disappointed in the AMA resolution. It said most energy drinks contain about half the caffeine

“Leading energy drink companies also voluntarily display total caffeine amounts – from all sources – on their packages, as well as an advisory statement indicating that the product is not intended (or recommended) for children, pregnant or nursing women, or persons sensitive to caffeine, said in an emailed statement.

The drinks, with aggressive-sounding names like Monster, Red Bull, AMP and Full Throttle, are the fastest-growing type of soft drink in the United States, with sales up 17 percent last year to about $9 billion, according to Beverage Digest. They are often associated with extreme sports, which make them popular among young men.

 

US health becomes far worse than other countries

Compared to other major nations, the overall health outcomes of the United States have been found to be significantly lacking.

Researchers from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) found that every major cause of premature death – from heart disease to interpersonal violence, U.S. fares worse than its economic peers.

Published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the report analyzed both in the United States and 34 countries– available for 291 diseases, and injuries that cause death and disability.

A team of global researchers highlighted the impact of premature deaths in children and young adults on each nation, as well as the overall effects of disabling conditions such as lower back pain and major depression.  The researchers also examined 67 known health risk factors associated with both fatal and non-fatal health disorders.

The study’s results were presented to government officials at a White House.” Dr. Christopher Murray, the IHME director and one of the lead authors on the study, told FoxNews.com. “(It’s also hard) understanding what the leading causes of ill health are and how do we stack up and who in the US is doing a good job.  Our goal is to provide that big picture view.”

While the United States has made many steps in major areas – such as preventing premature deaths from stroke and breast cancer – the country has fallen behind in health. Ischemic heart disease still remains the leading cause of premature death. It accounted for 15.9 percent of premature deaths in the U.S. in 2010, followed by lung cancer, which accounted for 6.6 percent of deaths.

Moreover, Alzheimer’s disease, liver cancer, Parkinson’s and kidney cancer were all found to be on the upswing, accounting for increase in premature deaths in the U.S.  Murray and his team were also surprised to find that deaths attributed to road traffic injuries, drug abuse and self-harm were more prevalent than previously thought.  Drug use disorders accounted for more years of life lost than both prostate cancer and brain cancer combined – up 448 percent since 1990.

Low back pain was found to be the leading cause of years lived with disability in the United States, followed by major depressive disorder and other musculoskeletal disorders.  Murray noted that while the United States has spent a great amount of money and effort to find cures for fatal conditions like cardiovascular disease and cancer, the same kind of attention hasn’t been given to the leading causes of disability.

“The number one risk factor is diet and that’s followed by tobacco and then obesity and then high blood pressure and physical inactivity,” Murray said. Out of its 34 economic peer countries in Europe, Asia and North America, the U.S. ranked 27th in disease burden brought on by dietary factors, 27th on high body mass index (BMI) and 29th in blood sugar levels.

Murray hopes that future researchers will study these regions to determine what government officials and the Americans can do to make improvements to the country’s overall health outcomes.

Seaweeds: add more nutrition to your diet:

 

More than years, Japanese, Chinese  and   Australians have enjoyed seaweed, better known by its dietary proponents. These plants are actually classified as algae.

 

In history, Native Americans and Scandinavians also incorporated sea vegetables into their diets. Today, sea vegetables are more popular in Japanese restaurants and available in Asian markets as part of a health-conscious diet.

Sea vegetables are the most nutritious foods. They contain large quantities of minerals including iron, calcium and iodine and vitamins like A, C, and many of the B complex vitamins. At the same time, they are low in calories. It is unlikely that anyone could gain weight by eating sea vegetables, and this makes them ideal for those who are trying to maintain a healthy weight or lose excess pounds.

Some sea vegetables, notably the brown ones, will protect our body from radiation, as it contains alginic acid. This polysaccharide, found in kombu, arame, hijiki and some other plant species, binds to radioactive strontium and eliminates it through the bowels. This does not mean that by eating sea vegetables you can endure dangerously high levels of radiation, but it does mean that if you have been exposed to radiation, some of it can be removed through the consumption of dietary sea vegetables.

Some sea vegetables help to lower cholesterol, due to the presence of beta-sitosterol, a plant sterol that binds to cholesterol and inhibits its absorption through the intestines. Analysis shows that cholesterol is excreted through feces, instead of contributing to blood levels. For those who wish to maintain or lower cholesterol, sea vegetables may be the best choice.

Another nutritional aspect is the content of thyroxin found in brown varieties. This iodine-containing hormone is also produced in the thyroid gland and functions both to regulate growth and to speed up metabolism. Daily addition of sea vegetables to your diet can help to boost metabolism, enhancing energy and improving weight control.

Commonly eaten sea vegetables include agar, alaria, arame, dulse, hijiki, kelp, kombu, nori and wakame. You can find many of these in natural food stores.

seaweed [2]

Researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) have investigated sea vegetables, a number of which appear to possess anti-inflammatory, antiviral, antimicrobial, antifungal, and anticancer properties. Some of this activity is attributed to beta-glucans in these plants. This category of compounds is especially useful for improving immune function among those whose immune systems have been suppressed.

Nutritious, protective, remarkably low in calories and very good tasting, sea vegetables may just find their way into your kitchen and your diet.

Need to refresh your mind? Drink Water

 

Drinking water may help you to boost your mental performance, a new study has claimed.

The study published in the journal Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, stated that participants who drank about three cups of water (775 milliliters) performed better on a test compared with those who did not drink water.

This study was particular true for thirsty people. The researchers speculate that the sensation of thirst may take some attention away from the task at hand, and thus impair response time.

For the reaction test, 34 adult participants had to press a button as soon as they saw an object on a computer screen. Reaction times were 14 percent faster among the water group than the no water group.

Water consumption did not significantly affect performance on other tests of cognition, such as memory of words, researchers found.

The study results suggest that a “freeing up of attention resources” occurs when people quench their thirst, the researchers wrote.

However, water consumption may not always improve cognition. In another test of rule-learning, participants actually fared better if they did not drink water before the test.

Future research should try to explain why drinking water appears to have beneficial effects on some cases, but negative effects in others, the researchers said.

“It might be that physiological processes [of drinking or not drinking water] affect performance on different tasks in different ways,” said study researcher Caroline Edmonds, of the University Of East London School Of Psychology in England.

“Thirst might lead to better performance on some tasks, because the hormone vasopressin, which activates the thirst response, has also been linked to attention and arousal,” Edmonds 

Salty foods combined with BMI increases high BP in children

 

 

Salty meals, along with body mass indexes (BMIs)    and obesity, increases a scary side effect in young    children: high blood pressure.

 

The risk of high blood pressure among children and adolescents has increased 27 percent in the past 13 years, according to a new study in the American Heart Association’s journal

“It is a public health issue our children have higher blood pressures,” stated by Dr. Bonita Falkner, professor of medicine and pediatrics at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. “Though it may be only 4 to 5 mm Hg (increase), that extra pressure burden at a young age, is carried through

 

life, can become a large burden.”

Doctors have long known that factors like obesity, high BMI and excess belly fat can lead to an increased risk for high blood pressure among both adults and children.  Yet researchers have had difficulty pinpointing other factors contributing to high blood pressure – until now.

In this study, researchers were able to pinpoint for the first time another clear culprit contributing to high blood pressure levels: sodium intake.

Researchers examined the records of over 11,500 children between the ages of 8 and 17 participating in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. They analyzed data from 1988 to 1994 and from 1999 to 2008.

More than 80 percent of children, from both time periods, had a daily sodium intake in excess of 2,300 milligrams. The American Heart Association recommends consuming no more than 1,500 milligrams of sodium per day.

“The salt content of the food supply has increased markedly over the past few decades, and there’s been a progressive rise in the proportion of the average daily diet that is processed food,” Falkner said. “There’s probably much more salt exposure in children now.”

Developing high blood pressure at such a young age, there is some preliminary evidence that shows hypertension could cause damage to some of the body’s key organs.

“Children who already have confirmed hypertension, a good portion of them already have enlargement of the heart; they may have some albumin in the urine suggesting they have kidney strain; they are beginning to show they have thickening in carotid artery and a stiffening of aorta,” Falkner said. “The implication is that the blood pressure level is causing some stress or injury to the cardiovascular system.”

When a doctor discovers high blood pressure in a child, they first check for other health problems that could be exacerbating the blood pressure levels, like cardiovascular or kidney disease. If no underlying issues are identified, they will encourage parents and children to adopt lifestyle changes – such as eating fresh foods and exercising more.

“If it cannot be controlled by lifestyle changes, diet, physical activity and weight control, then we treat them with medication,” Falkner  said.

Overall, Falkner hopes people will take note of the role that sodium is playing in increased blood pressure levels. “It had been difficult to prove this, and now that we know it really is there, we have to pay attention to it,” Falkner said.

 

 

Eating cranberries will prevent Urinary Tract Infections (UTIs)

It has believed that consuming cranberries and their products could prevent Urinary Tract Infections (UTIs) for over 100 years. In recent years, it has been suggested and proved that cranberries prevent UTIs by hindering bacteria from sticking to the walls of the urinary tract, thanks to phytochemicals known as proanthocyanidins (PACs).

But the mechanisms of cranberry materials and by which may alter bacterial behavior have not been fully understood. Now, researchers in McGill University’s Department of Chemical Engineering are trying on the biological mechanisms by which cranberries impart protective properties against urinary tract and other infections. Two new studies, by Prof. Nathalie Tufenkji, add to evidence of cranberries’ and their effects on UTI-causing bacteria. The findings also point to the potential for cranberry derivatives to be used to prevent bacterial colonization in medical devices such as catheters. In research results, Prof. Tufenkji and members of laboratory report that cranberry powder can inhibit the ability of Proteus mirabilis, a bacterium frequently implicated in complicated UTIs , to swarm on agar plates and swim within the agar. The experiments also show that increasing concentrations of cranberry powder reduce the bacteria’s production of urease, an enzyme that contributes to the virulence of infections.

Diabetes results in increasing risk of Alzheimer`s disease

Having diabetes in one may increase risk of developing Alzheimer`s disease, suggesting one problem could be the cause of the other, researchers say. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia. There is no cure for the disease, which worsens as it progresses, and eventually leads to death. In other words this is a Progressive mental deterioration occurring in middle or old age, due to generalized degeneration of the brain.

Diabetes may increase risk of developing Alzheimer`s

Being able to forget is a blessing …..

Neurologist R Scott Turner from the Georgetown University enrolled people with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease into a country-wide study in the US last year.

Turner was shocked many study participants were found to have pre-diabetes. His study examined resveratrol,  a compound found in red grapes and red wine, to see if it might change glucose levels in patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer`s disease (AD).

Turner said resveratrol  is act on proteins in the brain in a way that mimics effects of a low-calorie diet.

“We know that caloric restriction prevents diseases of ageing such as diabetes and Alzheimer`s,” said Turner.

“On the other side, diabetes increases risk of AD. So improve the glucose tolerance, to prevent or delay both diabetes and Alzheimer’s,” said Turner.

Participants were first given a fasting glucose tolerance test to obtain a baseline level, and after eating they retested. During digestion, the blood sugar level increases, but the pancreas produces insulin to lower it.

A high sugar level after two hours reveals glucose intolerance (pre-diabetes) or diabetes if the level is very high.

“The number of people with glucose intolerance (pre-diabetes) was much higher than expected. I was surprised by how many people didn`t know they were pre-diabetic, and these are individuals who already get the best medical care,” said Turner.

“How does glucose intolerance or diabetes lead to AD? Does the inflammation associated with AD trigger glucose intolerance? Or do both events create a vicious cycle of Alzheimer`s and glucose intolerance?” asked Turner.

Turner said while a glucose tolerance test is not typically ordered by neurologists, “this result suggests that perhaps we should test all our patients with early Alzheimer`s.”