Prevention
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Prevention
General Information
NEWS:
Alzheimer's: An Apple Juice a Day " They found drinking fruit or vegetable juice more than three times a week cuts the risk of developing Alzheimer's by 76 percent compared to drinking it less than once a week. And having juice once or twice a week reduced the risk by 16 percent."
Americans Not Eating Enough Fruits and Veggies "Katz thinks eating a healthful diet should be a national priority."
Antibacterial Soap Claims Just Don't Wash "That's because -- unlike antibacterial soaps used in hospitals and other clinical settings -- the antibacterial soaps sold to the public don't contain high enough concentrations of triclosan to kill bacteria such as E. coli. … Other types of consumer antibacterial products that contain different active ingredients such as alcohol (hand sanitizers) or bleach (household cleaners) were not included in the study."
Are Antimicrobial Soaps Breeding Tougher Bugs? " … despite several "potential negative consequences" of these products, including weakening the immune system, which could lead to a greater chance of allergies in children, and their possible link to the emergence of antibiotic resistance -- the very problem that is making some diseases, such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, so difficult to treat."
Best Treatment Identified To Reduce Deadly Staph Infections, According To Expert "A new laboratory study indicates that many antibacterial products have some value, but a product made with benzethonium chloride kills common types of non-hospital -- or "community associated" -- MRSA bacteria better than other compounds. … "A good cleaning with soap and warm water is still the first and best line of defense against infection in the cuts, scrapes and minor wounds that everyone gets,"… "
Big biceps, trim waist mean longer life for men "The size of an aging man's belly and the bulk of his biceps provide a more accurate picture of his mortality risk than body mass index (BMI) alone, UK researchers have shown. … ' The key message is 'keep active' all the way to the end.' "
Boosting prevention could save thousands of lives
Cancer Prevention Gets Juicy! "The key to fighting colon cancer and heart disease may be juicier than you think! Recent research presented at the 233rd National Meeting of the American Chemical Society reveals blueberries contain chemicals that could help prevent colon cancer while lowering cholesterol at the same time."
Chronic cough? You may need more iron "Tests on women with chronic coughs and iron deficiency show that a simple iron supplement often clears up the cough, says Dr Caterina Bucca of the University of Turin and colleagues."
Diet and Fitness: A Proven Path to Heart Health "Eating healthfully and exercising regularly can sharply lower your risk of death from cardiovascular disease -- the leading cause of death in the United States -- and type 2 diabetes, a major risk factor for heart disease. That's the uplifting word from Dr. Walter Willett, chairman of the Harvard School of Public Health's department of nutrition. … suggests that better lifestyles habits could prevent 80 percent of heart disease and 90 percent of type 2 diabetes. … Willett maintains that staggering reductions in disease risk are achievable -- and with fairly modest changes. For instance, he suggests that switching from highly refined to whole grain breads and cereals is one way to improve your odds against these diseases…. He also recommends eating fish twice a week and choosing from a variety of fish, including tuna, cod and salmon; keeping red meat consumption to a minimum; and eliminating trans fats. Smokers must give up cigarettes to cut their risk for heart disease, too. And even moderate amounts of exercise can make a difference in a person's body mass index, a ratio of weight to height that is useful in assessing whether a person is at a healthy weight."
Do We Really Know What Makes Us Healthy?
Encephalitis Strain Kills 484 India Kids "Outbreaks of mosquito-borne encephalitis are common in Uttar Pradesh, a state of 180 million people where most public health facilities are out of reach for the overwhelmingly poor population."
Europe healthier than U.S. " … heart disease was diagnosed in nearly twice as many Americans as Europeans 50 and older. More than 16% of American seniors had diagnosed diabetes, compared with about 11% of their European peers. And arthritis and cancer were more than twice as common among Americans as Europeans."
Exercise Lowers Repetitive Strain Risk "Getting more exercise during your free time may lower your risk of developing a repetitive strain injury at work. Engaging in moderate levels of physical activity during leisure hours appeared to protect against work-related carpal tunnel syndrome and other arm- and shoulder-repetitive injuries in a newly reported study from Canada."
Exercise may boost brain's natural antidepressant "They focused on a brain region known as the hippocampus, which has been implicated in mood regulation and in the brain's response to antidepressant medication. The researchers found that mice that had a week's worth of workouts on a running wheel showed altered activity in a total of 33 genes, the majority of which had never been identified before. In particular, exercise enhanced activity in the gene for a nerve growth factor known as VGF. Nerve growth factors are small proteins important in the development and maintenance of nerve cells. "
F.D.A. Staff Recommends a Warning on Flu Drugs "Makers of the two most common drugs used to treat and prevent flu should add warnings that they may cause psychiatric side effects, federal regulators have recommended."
Hand Washing Is Best MRSA Weapon: Health Officials Stress Common Sense in the Fight Against MRSA "In addition to hand washing, that means avoiding the sharing of towels or clothes. Skin wounds should remain clean and well covered, and any wounds that change rapidly or look "angry" should get immediate medical attention. Students involved in sports or other activities should avoid sharing equipment that comes in close skin contact if the school has experienced MRSA cases, officials said. "
High-Fiber Diets, Fiber Supplements Reduce CRP Levels "Current evidence supports that higher levels of inflammatory markers, such as CRP, are associated with an increased risk for cardiovascular events. Elevation of CRP levels has specifically been linked to insulin resistance, hypertension, the development of diabetes mellitus, and metabolic syndrome. A proposed intervention to lower levels of inflammatory markers is a high-fiber diet."
If You Don't Want To Fall Ill This Christmas, Then Share A Festive Kiss But Don't Shake Hands
It's Never Too Late to Get Healthy "In fact, people who eat right and exercise more can substantially reduce their risk for cardiovascular disease and death even if they're in their 50s or 60s, researchers from the Medical University of South Carolina report. Consuming at least five fruits and vegetables daily, exercising at least 2.5 hours per week, maintaining a healthy weight and not smoking can lessen your chances of heart trouble by 35 percent, and your risk of dying by 40 percent, compared to people with less healthy lifestyles, according to the report in the July issue of the American Journal of Medicine."
Leisure Physical Activity and the Risk of Fracture in Men (PLOS Medicine 2007) "Our data indicate that regular sports activities can reduce the risk of fractures in older men."
Long-Term Effect of Magnesium Consumption on the Risk of Symptomatic Gallstone Disease Among Men. (Am J Gastroenterol. 2007) “CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest a protective role of magnesium consumption in the prevention of symptomatic gallstone disease among men.”
Low-impact exercise may ward off incontinence "The most active women were 15 to 20 percent less likely to report leaking urine than the least active women. Women who reported the most walking -- the most common type of physical activity among the women -- had a 26 percent lower risk of urinary incontinence than those who walked the least."
Omega-3 Fatty Acids Protect Eyes Against Retinopathy
Omega-3, Vitamin D Levels Cut Risk of Eye Disease "Eating plenty of fish rich in omega-3 fatty acids -- such as tuna and salmon -- may reduce the risk of advanced age-related macular degeneration, a new study says. The study findings are published in the May issue of the journal Archives of Ophthalmology. A second study in the same issue of the journal found that people with higher blood levels of vitamin D may reduce their risk of early stage age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the most common cause of blindness among older adults in the United States. AMD occurs when the macula, located at the back of the retina, deteriorates over time."
Plain Soap as Good as Antibacterial "Antibacterial soaps are no more effective than plain soap and water for killing disease-causing germs, but the jury is still out on whether they promote antibiotic resistance in users, a newly published research analysis shows."
Spinach, eggs may ward off blindness "Age-related macular degeneration affects 1.2 million Americans, mostly after age 65, and the irreversible condition gets gradually worse, robbing victims of the center of their vision. Many people may be susceptible due to genetic factors, while smoking is known to heighten the risk. The two nutrients, lutein and zeaxanthin, are both carotenoids — compounds that give many fruits and vegetables a yellow color."
Sports-Arena Noise Can Damage Hearing "Six minutes of sports-arena noise gives fans 81 times their daily allowable dose of noise."
Stress Connected to Developing Serious Diseases
U.S. ranks just 42nd in life expectancy "Countries that surpass the U.S. include Japan and most of Europe, as well as Jordan, Guam and the Cayman Islands. … Andorra, a tiny country in the Pyrenees mountains between France and Spain, had the longest life expectancy, at 83.5 years, according to the Census Bureau. It was followed by Japan, Maucau, San Marino and Singapore. … Researchers said several factors have contributed to the United States falling behind other industrialized nations. A major one is that 45 million Americans lack health insurance, while Canada and many European countries have universal health care, they say. … Among the other factors: • Adults in the United States have one of the highest obesity rates in the world. …"
Vermont tops rankings of healthy states "Vermont has a low prevalence of obesity, a low rate of preventable hospitalizations and few children living in poverty, according to the report. Sharon Moffatt, commissioner of Vermont's Department of Health, attributes its success to a "full system" approach, where a range of groups, including community, public policy and health care providers, work together to change unhealthy behaviors. For example, to combat smoking, phone lines to counsel smokers to quit were established, lawmakers worked to ban smoking in bars and restaurants, and doctors encouraged their patients to stop or avoid smoking. On the other side of the spectrum, Mississippi is the unhealthiest state. Although it has a high public health spending per capita, it also has high rates of obesity and children in poverty. "
Virgin Olive Oil May Prevent and Treat H. pylori Stomach Infections "Olive oil may be good for your stomach as well as your heart. A new Spanish study suggests virgin olive oil may help prevent and treat H. pylori infections, which are responsible for millions of cases of gastritisgastritis and peptic ulcersulcers each year. Preliminary laboratory tests show the antioxidant compounds found in virgin olive oil are effective against several strains of H. pylori bacteria, which infects the lining of the stomach."
ARTICLES:
A Step in the Maturation of the Field of Lifestyle Change Interventions "The report by Vallance et al1 in this issue represents another important step in the maturation of the field of lifestyle change interventions applied to cancer survivors. If oncologist attitudes are an indication, there is already a consensus that exercise is beneficial (62.0%), important (55.8%), and safe (63.1%) for patients with cancer during treatment.2 Despite these positive attitudes, only 28% of oncologists had recommended exercise to their patients in the last month."
Chronic Coughs Need a Doctor's Attention “Common causes of coughing include: viral upper respiratory tract infections; asthma; nasal and sinus disease; stomach and esophageal problems; an inhaled foreign body; habit; and environmental irritants.“
Health Tip: Prevent Poison Ivy Rash
New Survey Finds Majority of Men Avoid Preventive Health Measures
The French Paradox -- Should We Be More Like the French?
JOURNAL ARTICLES:
Association between vitamin D and age-related macular degeneration in the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1988 through 1994. (Arch Ophthalmol. 2007) "CONCLUSION: This study provides evidence that vitamin D may protect against AMD. Additional studies are needed to confirm these findings."
Association of Physical Activity with Development of Uterine Leiomyoma (American Journal of Epidemiology 2007) "The authors concluded that regular exercise might help women prevent fibroids."
Dietary Macronutrient Intake and Five-Year Incident Cataract: The Blue Mountains Eye Study. (Am J Ophthalmol. 2007) "CONCLUSIONS: Higher dietary intakes of n-3 PUFA may decrease the five-year risk of nuclear cataract, whereas higher dietary intakes of protein may decrease risk for PSC cataract."
Does regular exercise protect against air pollution-associated mortality? (Prev Med. 2007) "CONCLUSIONS.: The results of this study provide evidence that habitual exercise may prevent premature death attributable to air pollution."
Does vitamin D supplementation in infancy reduce the risk of pre-eclampsia? (Eur J Clin Nutr. 2007) " … these data suggest that vitamin D intake in infancy may affect long-term programming of the immune response pattern."
Expansion of CMAJ's support for health promotion and disease prevention. (CMAJ. 2007) "The public health mission of CMAJ now has 3 major foci: • to provide evidence-based public health information in a user-friendly fashion for practitioners and health care professionals • to publish high-quality public health and social medicine research articles in a widely read and open-access venue • to provide a forum for the discussion of contentious issues in public health "
Fat and fish intake and asthma in Japanese women: baseline data from the Osaka Maternal and Child Health Study. (Int J Tuberc Lung Dis. 2007) "CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that fish consumption and the high ratio of n-3 to n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acid intake may be associated with a reduced prevalence of asthma in young female Japanese adults."
High consumptions of grain, fish, dairy products and combinations of these are associated with a low prevalence of metabolic syndrome. (J Epidemiol Community Health. 2007)
Increased dietary intake of omega-3-polyunsaturated fatty acids reduces pathological retinal angiogenesis. (Nat Med. 2007) "Many sight-threatening diseases have two critical phases, vessel loss followed by hypoxia-driven destructive neovascularization. These diseases include retinopathy of prematurity and diabetic retinopathy, leading causes of blindness in childhood and middle age affecting over 4 million people in the United States. … These findings indicate that increasing the sources of omega-3-PUFA or their bioactive products reduces pathological angiogenesis. Western diets are often deficient in omega-3-PUFA, and premature infants lack the important transfer from the mother to the infant of omega-3-PUFA that normally occurs in the third trimester of pregnancy. Supplementing omega-3-PUFA intake may be of benefit in preventing retinopathy."
Iron treatment normalizes cognitive functioning in young women. (Am J Clin Nutr. 2007) "CONCLUSIONS: Iron status is a significant factor in cognitive performance in women of reproductive age. Severity of anemia primarily affects processing speed, and severity of iron deficiency affects accuracy of cognitive function over a broad range of tasks. Thus, the effects of iron deficiency on cognition are not limited to the developing brain."
Modest Exercise Prevents the Progressive Disease Associated with Physical Inactivity. (Exerc Sport Sci Rev. 2007) " There seems to be a critical minimal level of physical activity required to maintain metabolic health. A modest amount of exercise seems to prevent metabolic deterioration."
Muscular Strength, Aerobic Fitness, and Metabolic Syndrome Risk in Flemish Adults. (Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2007) "CONCLUSION:: Although cross-sectional, the present results support inclusion of strength training in addition to aerobic exercise in physical activity recommendations for women, because both types of activity might show additional effects in reducing the risk of the metabolic syndrome."
Physical Activity and Endometrial Cancer Risk, a Systematic Review of Current Evidence (Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention 2007) "Conclusions: Physical activity seems to be associated with a reduction in the risk of endometrial cancer, which is independent of body weight."
Physical activity in prevention and treatment of the metabolic syndrome. (Appl Physiol Nutr Metab. 2007) "Therefore, brisk walking for at least 30 min daily can be recommended as the principal form of physical activity at the population level. If there are no contraindications, more vigorous physical exercise or resistance training should also be considered to obtain additional health benefits. Unstructured and low-intensity physical activity may also decrease the likelihood of developing the MetS, especially when substituted for sedentary behaviours such as watching television. The measurement of maximal oxygen consumption may provide an efficient means to target even individuals with relatively few metabolic risk factors who may benefit from more intensive intervention."
School teachers can effectively manage primary prevention of adult cardiovascular disease. The Stradella Project (Preventive Medicine 2007)
Tai Chi Boosts Immunity to Shingles Virus in Older Adults "Tai Chi, a traditional Chinese form of exercise, may help older adults avoid getting shingles by increasing immunity to varicella-zoster virus (VZV) and boosting the immune response to varicella vaccine in older adults, according to a new study published in print this week in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. This National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded study is the first rigorous clinical trial to suggest that a behavioral intervention, alone or in combination with a vaccine, can help protect older adults from VZV, which causes both chickenpox and shingles."
Turning Back the Clock: Adopting a Healthy Lifestyle in Middle Age (The American Journal of Medicine 2007) "People who newly adopt a healthy lifestyle in middle-age experience a prompt benefit of lower rates of cardiovascular disease and mortality. Strategies to encourage adopting healthy lifestyles should be implemented, especially among people with hypertension, diabetes, or low socioeconomic status."
Used cot mattresses as potential reservoirs of bacterial infection: nutrient availability within polyurethane foam. (J Appl Microbiol. 2007)
Whole-grain consumption is associated with a reduced risk of noncardiovascular, noncancer death attributed to inflammatory diseases in the Iowa Women's Health Study (American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2007) "Conclusions: The reduction in inflammatory mortality associated with habitual whole-grain intake was larger than that previously reported for coronary heart disease and diabetes. Because a variety of phytochemicals are found in whole grains that may directly or indirectly inhibit oxidative stress, and because oxidative stress is an inevitable consequence of inflammation, we suggest that oxidative stress reduction by constituents of whole grain is a likely mechanism for the protective effect."
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