Pages

Tuesday 28 September 2010

Increases in Obesity and Overweight and associated health risks

reposted from: Scientific American Digital - October 2010
Risks-Overweight-Obese-SCIAM-1010104.pdf

In 2008 compared to 1980 USA had many more adults and children who were obese and overweight with corresponding increases in Coronery Heart Disease, type 2 Diabetes (for overweight males double the risk), colon cancer and an x2-3 increase in risk of death if you are obese at 50.

Thursday 2 September 2010

If men behaved like women they would live just as long

reposted from: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-human-beast/201008/how-dangerous-is-being-man

Contrary to the widespread view that men are intrinsically more vulnerable to fatal illnesses than women are, the evidence suggests that their risks are mostly behavioral. It is indeed true that males have higher mortality rates from birth on but such biological vulnerability has a limited effect on life expectancy. If men took as good care of themselves as women did, they would live almost as long. 



Men around the world live five years less than women and American men are typical, living five years shorter than women (75.8 vs. 80.8 years).

Will H. Courtenay, of Men's Health Consulting in Berkeley, CA, delved through 600 sources dealing with gender differences in health and risk-taking (1,2).

For all fifteen of the leading causes of death, men had higher death rates. Male probabilities of accidental or violent deaths are elevated to an astonishing degree. Here are some of the specific risks of being a man.

Risk on the job
94% of work-related deaths are males. The key reason is that men gravitate to highly dangerous occupations such as fishing, mining, and farming. Even unemployment is more dangerous for men given their elevated risks of alcoholismdepression, and suicide when deprived of a livelihood.


Poor health behavior
Over half of young men aged 18-29 years do not have a regular doctor. Men comprise 70% of those who have not visited a doctor in the past five years. They are not as good as women at forming social support networks that protect against stress-relate illnesses.

Men are twice as likely as women to die of skin cancer (melanoma) even though they sunbathe less. Possible reasons are that they are three times less likely than women to use sun block and have greater occupational exposure to sun,
.
Men consume more fat and cholesterol and eat less fruits, vegetables, and fiber. Twice as many men as women die from smoking-related illnesses.

Women are 50% more likely than men to walk daily as a form of exercise in middle age.  Men prefer sports with a high rate of injury, including football and weight lifting, Three times as many men as women engage in binge drinking (over 5 alcoholic drinks in a day), making them highly accident prone and vulnerable to violence.

Accidental death, and violence
Men are four times more likely to be homicide victims. They are five times as likely to die of drowning. Men are twice as likely as women to die in road accidents. They are seven times more likely to be injured by a gunshot and nine times more likely to die of bullet wounds. This carnage reflects greater gun ownership and a stronger penchant for carrying loaded weapons. Men account for 95% of convictions for violent crime, although these data may partly reflect a bias against men in the criminal justice system.

The good newsGrim as these numbers are, they contain a germ of good news. Contrary to the widespread view that men are intrinsically more vulnerable to fatal illnesses than women are, the evidence suggests that their risks are mostly behavioral. It is indeed true that males have higher mortality rates from birth on but such biological vulnerability has a limited effect on life expectancy. If men took as good care of themselves as women did, they would live almost as long.

This conclusion is not merely theoretical. It is demonstrated by the substantial health benefits of marriage - particularly for men. Indeed, married men are about as likely to survive middle age and reach 65 years as married women are with about nine out of ten making it whereas only six out of ten of unmarried men survive (3). (Of course, unmarried men may not be as healthy to begin with so this difference may not be entirely due to marriage).

Marriage means having a better diet, better sleep habits, diminished use of alcohol and recreational drugs, improved social support (mostly from the spouse) and more attention to preventive medicine. Boring and safe is the point. If you want to live as long as a woman, you need to live with a woman and live like a woman.

1. Courtenay, W. H. (2000). Behavioral factors associated with disease, injury, and death, among men: Evidence and implications for prevention. The Journal of Men's Studies, 9, 81-142.
2. Barber, N. (2005). Kindness in a cruel world (pp.182-190). Amherst, New York: Prometheus.
3. Waite, L. J., & Gallagher, M. (2000). The case for marriage. New York: Doubleday.

How to feel full without pigging out - drink water before a meal

reposted from: New Scientist

How to feel full without pigging out


TWO ways in which dieters try to make themselves feel full without stuffing themselves with food have been backed up by separate research teams.
One effect of overeating is to disrupt the action of appetite-suppressing hormones, leading people to eat even more. The role of exercise in restoring the hormones' action, and so helping people feel full, has been investigated by a team from the State University of Campinas, Brazil.
The hormones leptin and insulin both act to control appetite by binding to receptors in a brain region called the hypothalamus, initiating the "I'm full" feeling. Overeating generates excess fatty acids that inflame part of the hypothalamus, decreasing the uptake of these hormones.
After exercising lean and obese rats, the team observed their eating habits over the following 12 hours. Obese rats ate about 25 per cent less than they had before their workout but no change was seen in the lean rats' eating habits (PLoS BiologyDOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.1000465).
The team also found that, after exercising, the obese rats' brains contained dramatically increased levels of anti-inflammatory proteins that are produced during muscle contractions, compared with the lean rats. Co-author José Carvalheira reasons that exercise didn't affect the lean animals' appetite because their hypothalamus was not inflamed.
If exercise doesn't appeal, you could try drinking a few glasses of water before eating a meal. At this week's meeting of the American Chemical Society in Boston, Brenda Davy from Virginia Tech in Blacksburg announced the results of the first clinical trial into this practice. She and her colleagues found that over 12 weeks, adults on a low-calorie diet who drank two glasses of water before meals lost 7 kilograms, while non-water-drinkers lost 5 kilograms.
After the end of the low-calorie diet, water drinkers who continued the practice for 12 months while eating well were better at keeping the weight off. "This is an important finding," says Davy, as keeping off lost weight is a major challenge for people who have been dieting.

Healthy diet 'cuts diabetes risk'

can eating cabbage regularly reduce
diabetes type 2?
reposted from: http://www.nhs.uk/news/2010/08August/Pages/green-vegetables-and-diabetes-risk.aspx

“A diet rich in green leafy vegetables may reduce the risk of developing diabetes,” reported the BBC. It said that one-and-a-half portions (120g) a day “cuts type-2 diabetes risk by 14%”.


This news story was based on a systematic review and meta analysis that pooled data from six prospective cohort studies investigating diet and the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. The analysis found that people who ate around 120g of green leafy vegetables per day were 14% less likely to develop the condition than people who ate the least amount of this type of vegetable.
On its own, this study is not convincing evidence that simply eating green leafy vegetables reduces the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. It is not possible to say whether the small decreased risk this study found was due to particular compounds found in these vegetables or because the people who ate more vegetables tended to have a healthier diet and lifestyle.
In combination with other lifestyle choices however, a healthier diet may help to reduce the risk of diabetes. In people at risk, reducing the intake of total and saturated fat, increasing their intake of vegetables, fruit, and wholegrain cereals, and increasing physical activity is known to reduce the risk of diabetes by about 60%. This is thought to be mainly because these factors all work towards reducing weight.

Where did the story come from?

The study was carried out by researchers from the University of Leicester and was also funded by the university. The study was published in the peer-reviewed British Medical Journal.
This research was covered well by The Daily Telegraph and the BBC. The Daily Express focused on the magnesium content of these vegetables being key to these findings, but this is not supported by the current study. The papers quote a linked editorial on the topic that says, “we must be careful that the message of increasing overall fruit and vegetable intake is not lost in a plethora of magic bullets.” It seems sensible to promote a balanced overall approach to lifestyle change that does not just focus on specific food types.

What kind of research was this?

This was a systematic review and meta analysis of six large prospective cohort studies from the United States, China, and Finland, which had looked at whether eating a large amount of fruit and vegetables affected people’s risk of developing diabetes. It also analysed the data by type of vegetable and vegetable and fruit separately.

What did the research involve?

The researchers searched various medical and scientific databases to find prospective cohort studies that had looked at fruit and vegetable intake and the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. These studies were assessed for their quality using criteria such as whether the participant’s fruit and vegetable consumption had been measured with a validated tool (like a standardised questionnaire) or if the statistics used in the paper were adjusted for factors that may influence the results such as age, BMI and a family history of type 2 diabetes.
The researchers pooled data from the research articles that had looked at the risk of developing type 2 diabetes associated with eating more or less fruit and vegetables (Hazard ratio).

What were the basic results?

The search identified 3,346 articles and of these only six met the inclusion criteria. The combined population in these six studies was 223,512, however only two of the studies included men. The age of participants ranged from 30 to 74. The studies had followed the participants for between 4.6 and 23 years.
None of the papers met all the criteria for being high-quality. Two papers had a quality score of four out of six, two had a score of three and two had a score of one or two.
The meta analysis of the pooled data did not show that there was a statistically significant change in the risk of developing type 2 diabetes with increased consumption of fruit, vegetables or fruit and vegetables combined (Hazard ratio 1.00, 95% confidence interval 0.92 to 1.09).
However, the pooled data from four studies that assessed the consumption of green leafy vegetables and the risk of developing diabetes showed that 1.35 servings a day (the highest intake) compared with 0.2 servings (lowest intake) resulted in a 14% reduction in risk (Hazard ratio 0.86, 95% confidence interval 0.77 to 0.96).

How did the researchers interpret the results?

The researchers say that their meta analysis supports “recommendations to promote the consumption of green leafy vegetables in the diet reducing the risk of type two diabetes”. The researchers had used 106g as a standard portion size, however they said that the current UK recommendation suggests a serving size of 80g. They therefore said that increasing consumption of green leafy vegetables by one and a half UK portions a day (121.9g) could result in a 14% reduction in type 2 diabetes.
They balance this advice by saying that “the potential for tailored advice on increasing intake of green leafy vegetables to reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes should be investigated further”.

Conclusion

This was a well-conducted systematic review and meta analysis assessing whether fruit and vegetable intake affects the likelihood of developing type 2 diabetes. It found that increased green leafy vegetable intake was associated with a reduced risk of developing type 2 diabetes. One limitation of pooling data from these types of diet cohort studies is that they may have measured diet differently, potentially affecting the results.
  • The researchers did not detail other aspects of the participants’ diets such as the amount of sugar that they consumed. This observed positive effect of eating greens may not be due to the vegetables themselves, but actually a result of people who eat lots of green leafy vegetables having a healthier diet or making other healthy lifestyle choices in general.
  • The researchers say that not all of the studies that investigated green leafy vegetables used the same criteria. Two of the papers included spinach, kale and lettuce, another included Chinese greens, greens and spinach. The other paper did not provide a definition. Owing to the different criteria used to assess leafy vegetable consumption, it is not possible to say whether one particular leafy vegetable decreases risk more than others.
  • Only one study was from Europe, highlighting the lack of specific research in this area.
At this point, it is not possible to say whether the reduced risk of type 2 diabetes associated with eating more green leafy vegetables is due to compounds found in these vegetables or because people who eat more leafy vegetables have a healthier diet in general.
Lifestyle changes such as adopting a healthier diet may help to reduce the risk of diabetes. In people at risk, reducing the intake of total and saturated fat, increasing intake of vegetables, fruit, and wholegrain cereals, and increasing physical activity are known to reduce the risk of diabetes by about 60%. This is thought to be mainly because these factors all work towards reducing weight in people at risk (four times this relative risk reduction seen with eating leafy vegetables). It seems sensible to promote a balanced overall approach to lifestyle change, one that does not just focus on specific food types.

Links to the headlines

Eat your greens to beat diabetes. Daily Express, August 20 1010

Links to the science

Further reading

Nield L, Summerbell CD, Hooper L, Whittaker V, Moore H. Dietary advice for the prevention of type 2 diabetes mellitus in adults.Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2008, Issue 3

Wednesday 1 September 2010

5 A Day Fruit & Veg for Cancer Prevention?

reposted from: http://www.weightlossresources.co.uk/member/article.htm?title=5-a-day-for-cancer-prevention

5 A Day for Cancer Prevention?

BY WLR DIETITIAN LYNDEL COSTAIN BSc RD

When it comes to healthy eating, one thing we have always felt sure about is the tremendous health benefits of fruit and vegetables. This week however, new research questions whether fruit and veg can reduce our cancer risk. So is it still worth fitting in our 5-a-day?

Cancer Prevention - What’s the Story?

Scientists from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York analysed information about the diet, lifestyle and cancer risk of over 400,000 people in the UK and 9 other European countries. This information had been previously collected as part of the largest ever study into the link between diet and cancer prevention, known as the EPIC study.
The health of people in the study was followed for 8 to 9 years. During this time, 30,000 people had developed cancers. The scientific team then looked for links between how many fruit and vegetables were typically eaten, and the risk of getting cancer during the 8 to 9 years. They did find a benefit to help prevent cancer in eating more fruit and veg but it was smaller than some people expected. For example, the scientists worked out that if everyone ate an extra 200g (approximately 2.5 portions) of fruit and veg every day, it would reduce the risk of developing cancer by around 3%.

What Does This Mean for Cancer Prevention?

While this might sound small, Cancer Research UK has highlighted that it translates to the possibility to prevent 7200 cases of cancer per year in the UK. In addition, the study found a “dose-response effect”. This means that the more portions of fruit and vegetables people ate, the more they reduce their risk of cancer. For example, compared to people who ate less than 2.5 portions a day, those who enjoyed their 5-a-day had a 9% reduced cancer risk.
The other key point to come out of the debate stimulated by this study, is that over the last ten years or so, more refined research has pointed to fruit and veg being more able to prevent cancer of the head, neck, lung and digestive system – with no clear protective effect for breast, prostate or ovarian cancers. As the current study looked at protection for over 200 different types of cancers it is not surprising that the overall impact is not as high as some might expect.

More good news

Fruit and vegetables, brim with vitamins, minerals, fibre and antioxidants. There is still plenty of good evidence that enjoying your 5-a-day as part of a healthy diet, will:
  • Help reduce the risk of heart disease
  • Help reduce the risk of stroke
  • Help keep blood pressure in check
  • Benefit overall health.
For example, in another report linked to the EPIC study, people who ate the most fruit and vegetables were around a quarter less likely to die of chronic diseases at a given age, than people who ate very little.
Eating plenty of fruit and veg has also been linked to keeping those extra unwanted pounds at bay as we get older, especially amongst women. Fruit and vegetables are generally low in fat and calories, yet bulky and filling, making it easier to stay satisfied with fewer calories. They also look and taste great – with their endless colours, flavours and textures - think juicy, crisp, crunchy, peppery, sweet ... enjoy!