The New Way to Stop the Daily Battle of Wills and Raise a Secure and Well-Behaved One-to Four-Year-Old
By Dr. Harvey Karp
America’s top doctors are lining up to praise a new book and video that are destined to become classics in the field of parenting!
“You want help? This is r-e-a-l help!
The Happiest Toddler is one of the smartest parenting books of the past decade!”
--Kyle Pruett, MD, Professor of Child Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine,
Past President Zero-to-Three
“Dr. Karp's excellent approach makes raising toddlers a whole lot easier.”
--Steven Shelov, MD, Editor-in-chief, American Academy of Pediatrics’ Caring for Your Baby and Young Child
Anyone living with toddlers knows how quickly they can change. One minute all is bliss -then BAM! – they erupt into a mega-tantrum on aisle 6 at K-mart! No wonder exhausted and time-crunched parents feel trapped in a revolving door of “No!” and “Don’t!”
But all that is about to change. But never again will you be helpless while your toddler screams and screams. Help has arrived!
"The Happiest Toddler is terrific...and fun! It will help parents, grandparents and everyone who cares for toddlers be more effective."
--Martin Stein, MD, Professor of Pediatrics, University of California San Diego
In a breakthrough new book and video, THE HAPPIEST TODDLER ON THE BLOCK (Bantam Books 2004), celebrated pediatrician and child development expert, Dr. Harvey Karp reveals a treasure sought by parents for centuries – the secret to calming tantrums in minutes…or less!
Two years ago, Dr. Karp stunned the medical world (and made parents cheer!) by solving the 3000-year-old mystery of colic with his discovery of the calming reflex – the “off-switch” for crying that can soothe almost any fussy baby in seconds. His extraordinary book and video, The Happiest Baby on the Block, have literally redefined our culture’s understanding of newborns.
And now Dr. Karp is amazing the medical world once more with an innovative view of toddlers that will transform our understanding of this challenging age, forever.
“Dr. Karp has done it again!
The Happiest Toddler is a joyous adventure…with pearls of wisdom on every page.”
--Morris Green, MD, Director, Behavioral Pediatrics, Indiana University, Riley Hospital for Children
"Dr. Karp helps parents turn the "terrible" twos into "terrific" twos. His work will revolutionize the way our culture understands toddlers!"
--Roni Cohen Leiderman, PhD, Associate Dean of Childhood Studies, Nova Southeastern University
Dr. Karp explains that watching toddlers is like traveling back in time. “Toddlers are not so much little children as little…cavemen!” Cavemen were stubborn, opinionated, and not too verbal. They bit and spat when angry, were sloppy eaters, hated to wait in line, and were negative, tenacious, distractible, and impatient…sound familiar? (No wonder, the first chapter of THE HAPPIEST TODDLER is named “Help! There’s a Neanderthal in My Kitchen!”)
It’s a comical image, but comparing little kids to primitives is no joke. Dr. Karp argues that toddlers can only be understood by taking one giant step…backward! During three short years, toddlers zoom through the major achievements of almost 5 million years of human evolution: walking, talking, tool making, and problem solving.
"Parents will be delighted by this clever approach to communicating with toddlers. It allows us to see the world from our children's unique point of view."
--Janet Serwint, MD, Professor of Pediatrics, Director of the Harriet Lane Children’s Clinic, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
Dr. Karp says, “We all get more rigid when we’re upset, but frustrated toddlers become absolutely prehistoric!” He tells parents to think of themselves as ambassadors from the 21st Century to the Neanderthal people. “Once we see kids in this revolutionary ‘evolutionary’ light, tantrums, power struggles and even peeing on the carpet all start to make sense…and parents learn to soothe even agitated toddlers quickly.”
to top
In THE HAPPIEST TODDLER, parents learn:
* The #1 rule of good communication – the “Fast Food Rule.”
* Four easy steps for translating anything into a child’s primitive language - Toddler-ese.
* Foolproof ways to encourage good behavior (time-in, praise, rewards, “gossiping”, etc.).
* How to quickly halt misbehavior (using good communication, ignoring and time outs).
* Smart solutions to the prickliest problems of the toddler years (including sleep issues, toilet training, separation anxiety, biting, picky eating, sibling rivalry, fears, etc).
You can defuse most meltdowns in minutes if you know. In his new book and video, The Happiest Toddler on the Block, child-development expert and pediatrician Harvey Karp, M.D. reveals some revolutionary new solutions for problems from tantrums to picky eating. Here he tells how to soothe your tot's tears and help her feel loved and understood by learning to…speak her language.
to top
Q. You've gone from teaching about crying babies in your first book and video, The Happiest Baby on the Block, to toddlers having tantrums. What will parents
learn from this second book that they don't already know?
A. In my new book I present a fun and easy approach to raising great toddlers based on a fascinating new concept. As silly as it sounds, the best way to think of children between the ages of 1 and 4 is as little…Neanderthals! Don't get me wrong, I love toddlers. They are sweet and fun, but they can also be wild and impulsive, especially when they’re upset. They grunt, grab, scratch and shriek like uncivilized little cavemen. Yet, when you learn to speak your toddler's primitive language – Toddler-ese - you'll often be able to soothe his outbursts in minutes.
Q. So what's the secret for talking Toddler-ese?
A. When little kids are happy, we speak to them with our normal words, tone of voice, and gestures. After all, that's ultimately how toddlers learn language. But the more angry, frustrated, scared, or sad your child gets, the more fuzzy your words will sound to her. At that point, it helps to translate what you say into Toddler-ese. It’s as easy as 1…2…3!
Here’s how:
First, use very short phrases. Long sentences are tough for stressed out toddlers to comprehend. Stick with one- to three-word phrases (three to five words for verbal toddlers). Second, repeat those phrases over and over. Young children often need five to ten repetitions to get their attention and focus on what you are saying.
Finally, be an actor. How you say your words is even more important than what you say. Match your tone of voice, facial expressions, and body gestures to her level of emotion. Pout, wave your arms, furrow your brow and dramatically echo her complaints to show you understand exactly how your toddler feels.
to top
Q. Why do toddlers have such a hard time listening?
A. Our little cave-kids have trouble listening because they’re very distractible, especially when they’re upset. That’s why you’ll be much more successful getting your child to focus if you first calm him down by paying attention to him with a minute of your best Toddler-ese. That lets him know you understand and care about his feelings. Once he begins to settle you can offer a distraction ("Hey, look at this book."), logic (“It’s too hot to drink.”) or reassurance ("It’s OK, it’s OK…you’re alright”). Calm kids are better listeners (none of us tune in well when we’re in the middle of a meltdown).
Imagine your 18-month-old is standing at the door, screaming to go outside. Don’t just squash his hopes by telling him why he can't go ("It's raining”). First, acknowledge his feelings …in his own energetic language. Say in Toddler-ese, “You say, ‘Go, Mommy. Go! Go!' You want out, now! Out! Out! Out! You're bored, bored, bored!" With gestures and a dramatic tone repeatedly echo his feelings. Once your irate little caveman realizes that you truly understand his whining and wailing will noticeably diminish. That’s the signal that it’s your turn. That he’s ready to hear your reasons, reassurance, options, etc.
Q. But what if your child is doing something that's clearly wrong? Might echoing her feelings accidentally make her think that you’re agreeing with her?
A. Every day, your prehistoric little toddler experiences a roller coaster of powerful emotions. One of your prime goals during his toddler years will be to encourage him to confidently express his feelings yet teach him to restrain his unacceptable actions.
Of course you should skip echoing and immediately express your message if your child is in danger (she runs into the street), being aggressive, or breaking an important household rule. However, in less urgent situations, take a minute to lovingly show your tot that you sincerely care about his feelings, but that doesn’t mean that you will tolerate misbehavior.
When he yanks a truck out of his friend’s hands, for instance, take a few seconds to repeatedly (and dramatically) describe what he’s doing and how you think he feels- even if you disagree with him. Before teaching him a lesson about sharing, say something like, “You want! You want! You want it now! You say, 'Give me the truck. I want it now!'" Then, after he starts to settle down, add your mini-message, "But, no grab…no grab. It’s Jake’s turn." Learning and emotion are like oil and water…they just don’t mix. Calm children learn much faster and acknowledging their feelings in Toddler-ese is the key to quick calming.
to top
Q. What are the main secrets to raising "the happiest toddler on the block"?
A. There are three:
1. Play and talk together a lot. Just as feeding dimes into a parking meter all day long protects you from dreaded tickets, many five and ten minute helpings of playtime throughout each day ward off temper outbursts and create a growing relationship of cooperation and caring with your toddler.
2. Establish clear and consistent limits. Toddlers like uncivilized little
cavemen, will push you around if you're wimpy about the rules. But, pick your
battles. Only set limits you know you can enforce and then be prepared to
take a stand.
3. Above all, treat your child with respect. Even when he’s doing something you hate, always show respect with your words and actions. One of the best ways to you’re your respect is to try to speak to him in his own primitive language. Energetically echoing your toddler’s feelings will help you quiet the yelling, lessen the frustration and create a more loving, happy time for both of you.
Friday, December 28, 2007
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Experts predict worldwide flu outbreak
Global pandemic likely, health authorities say
updated 1:30 p.m. PT, Sun., Dec. 14, 2003
NEW YORK - As bad as this year’s flu season is, it hasn’t brought the worldwide outbreak known as a pandemic. But experts warn that a pandemic is coming, it’s just a question of when.
“It’s going to happen,” said Dr. Greg Poland of the Mayo Clinic. “For the American public in particular, I think it will be horrific.”
Many Americans haven’t experienced the overwhelming crush of patients at hospitals and doctors’ offices and the widespread fear a flu pandemic could bring. And by historical pattern, Poland said it’s about time for the next one.
There have been three in the past 100 years, igniting in 1918, 1957 and 1968. There’s no way to predict when the next one will appear, but the pattern does give experts pause.
It’s all up to a virus that is variable and fickle, constantly changing its genetic makeup, and the time when it hits upon a combination that lets it take off worldwide is a “roll of the genetic dice,” said Dr. William Schaffner of Vanderbilt University.
'It makes us nervous'
So the lack of a pandemic in the past 35 years basically means “the genetic dice haven’t been rolled that way,” Schaffner said. “While we’re grateful for that, it makes us nervous.”
There’s plenty to be nervous about. It’s estimated that in the industrialized nations alone, the next pandemic is likely to send 1 million to 2.3 million people to the hospital and kill 280,000 to 650,000, according to the World Health Organization. Its impact will probably be greatest in developing countries.
As a practical matter, flu shots probably could not be counted on to prevent a pandemic. For one thing, pandemic virus strains emerge unexpectedly, and there would probably not be enough time to recognize the threat and then provide vaccines that target them, Schaffner said. What’s more, many countries outside the United States wouldn’t have the means to give enough flu shots to stop the spread, Poland said.
Dr. Robert Couch of the Baylor College of Medicine noted that health authorities are making major efforts to prepare for controlling a pandemic, including putting an emphasis on developing and manufacturing vaccines faster and in greater quantities.
The pandemic of 1918-19, known as the Spanish flu, sickened an estimated 20 percent to 40 percent of the worldwide population, with a death toll believed to exceed 20 million. In the United States alone, some 500,000 people died. An ordinary flu epidemic kills an average of 36,000 Americans.
The next pandemic, the Asian flu of 1957-58, killed about 70,000 in the United States, while the 1968-69 Hong Kong flu led to about 34,000 deaths in the United States. Scientists suggest several reasons why this rate was lower than in previous pandemics, including that the illness did not gain momentum until near the school holidays in December, when children were home rather than infecting each other at school.
Flu viruses start in rural Asia
New strains of the flu virus, and so potential pandemics, get their start in rural Asia, where the various strains that infect chickens and other birds, pigs and humans can mingle. That gives them a chance to swap genetic information as well as mutate on their own.
The potential spark for a pandemic occurs when that environment produces a new virus that infects people and bears surface proteins that people’s bodies have never seen before. That means people have no natural defense against it.
In contrast, ordinary outbreaks like this year’s come from a virus that has changed only slightly from previous ones, so that the population it enters still has some natural immunity from encounters with the previous germs.
But the genetic shift alone is not enough to launch a pandemic. In addition, the new virus must acquire the ability to pass easily from person to person, either by random genetic change or by picking up genetic material from a previous human flu virus.
The world has had some close calls in the past few years, says Richard Webby of St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis. In 1997, a bird flu in Hong Kong jumped to people, killing six. But the virus never developed the ability to pass easily from person to person, Webby said. Hong Kong authorities slaughtered 1.4 million chickens to end the threat.
Just this year, authorities became alarmed when a father and son in Hong Kong were hospitalized because of a bird flu virus, and when flu virus infected some workers in the Netherlands who had slaughtered infected chickens. The Netherlands outbreak was contained by anti-flu drugs and fast vaccination, and slaughter of the poultry, Webby said.
Scientists have been noticing a lot of flu virus in chickens and pigs globally, and a lot of variety in the strains, which is worrisome, Webby said. It’s impractical to develop vaccines against all the animal strains in case they jump to humans, and there’s no reliable way to identify the most hazardous ones, he said.
When the next pandemic shows up, experts say, it will find a population with many more vulnerable people like the elderly, infirm and those with weakened natural defenses than were living 35 years ago. It will also find a trimmed-down hospital system with fewer beds to handle a surge of patients. And while today’s anti-flu drugs will probably attack the new strain, that’s not yet clear. Supplies of the drugs and vaccines would be strained.
But still, with the improvements in health care since the last pandemic, might the next one be less serious?
“I want to believe that,” Poland said, “but we won’t know until it happens.”
A history of worldwide Influenza
The origins of influenza are unknown, but the malady is never absent for more than a few decades. The worst pandemic occurred in the early 20th century, when more than 20 million people were killed.
400 B.C.:
Hippocrates records an outbreak of a cough, followed by pneumonia and other symptoms, at Perinthus in northern Greece (now part of Turkey). Several possible identifications have been suggested, including influenza, whooping cough and diphtheria.
212 B.C.:
The historian Livy describes an infectious disease, perhaps influenza, which strikes the Roman army.
1781-'82:
Considered among the greatest manifestations of disease in history, this pandemic afflicts two-thirds of the people of Rome and three-quarters of the population of Britain. Influenza also spreads widely in North America, the West Indies and Spanish America.
1789:
A widespread epidemic hits New England, New York and Nova Scotia in the fall. Most deaths appear to come from secondary pneumonia.
1829-'32, 1836-'37:
An epidemic begins in Asia late in 1829. From there it spreads to Indonesia by January 1831. The disease also breaks out in Russia in the winter of 1830-'31 and spreads westward. By November it reaches the United States.
1889-'90:
1889-'90:
Named the Russian flu, this worldwide influenza epidemic, the most devastating to that time, begins in Central Asia in the summer of 1889, spreads north into Russia, east to China and west to Europe. It eventually strikes North America, parts of Africa and major Pacific Rim countries. By conservative estimates, 250,000 die in Europe, and the world death total is two to three times that.
1917-'19:
The Spanish flu, the most lethal influenza pandemic ever, kills more than 20 million people. More people die as a result of this flu than die during World War I. Its spread is facilitated by troop movements in the closing months of the war. Mortality rates are unusually high for flu, especially among young, otherwise healthy adults.
1957-'58:
The Asian flu starts in southwest China in February 1957, possibly having originated in 1956 in Vladivostok, Russia, then spreads throughout the Pacific. Globally it affects 10 percent to 35 percent of the population, but overall mortality is much lower than in the 1918 epidemic, about 0.25 percent.
1968-'69:
Hong Kong flu claims 700,000 lives worldwide, 34,000 in the United States.
1976:
The Swine flu, isolated in New Jersey in a young army recruit, instills fear of a new pandemic and leads to a massive influenza-immunization program. The vaccinations lead to Guillain-Barre syndrome, an ascending paralysis, in 100,000 people and kills 5 percent of those afflicted.
1986:
Avian variation of the swine flue in the Netherlands results in one severe case of pneumonia.
1988:
The Swine flu kills a pregnant woman exposed to a sick pig in Wisconsin.
1993:
Strain of the swine flu in the Netherlands sickens two children. The fathers are believed to have come in contact with infected pigs.
1995:
One adult contracts conjunctivitis in the United Kingdom after infection with the duck virus.
1997:
The Hong Kong Poultry virus infects at least 18 people, killing 6 of them.
updated 1:30 p.m. PT, Sun., Dec. 14, 2003
NEW YORK - As bad as this year’s flu season is, it hasn’t brought the worldwide outbreak known as a pandemic. But experts warn that a pandemic is coming, it’s just a question of when.
“It’s going to happen,” said Dr. Greg Poland of the Mayo Clinic. “For the American public in particular, I think it will be horrific.”
Many Americans haven’t experienced the overwhelming crush of patients at hospitals and doctors’ offices and the widespread fear a flu pandemic could bring. And by historical pattern, Poland said it’s about time for the next one.
There have been three in the past 100 years, igniting in 1918, 1957 and 1968. There’s no way to predict when the next one will appear, but the pattern does give experts pause.
It’s all up to a virus that is variable and fickle, constantly changing its genetic makeup, and the time when it hits upon a combination that lets it take off worldwide is a “roll of the genetic dice,” said Dr. William Schaffner of Vanderbilt University.
'It makes us nervous'
So the lack of a pandemic in the past 35 years basically means “the genetic dice haven’t been rolled that way,” Schaffner said. “While we’re grateful for that, it makes us nervous.”
There’s plenty to be nervous about. It’s estimated that in the industrialized nations alone, the next pandemic is likely to send 1 million to 2.3 million people to the hospital and kill 280,000 to 650,000, according to the World Health Organization. Its impact will probably be greatest in developing countries.
As a practical matter, flu shots probably could not be counted on to prevent a pandemic. For one thing, pandemic virus strains emerge unexpectedly, and there would probably not be enough time to recognize the threat and then provide vaccines that target them, Schaffner said. What’s more, many countries outside the United States wouldn’t have the means to give enough flu shots to stop the spread, Poland said.
Dr. Robert Couch of the Baylor College of Medicine noted that health authorities are making major efforts to prepare for controlling a pandemic, including putting an emphasis on developing and manufacturing vaccines faster and in greater quantities.
The pandemic of 1918-19, known as the Spanish flu, sickened an estimated 20 percent to 40 percent of the worldwide population, with a death toll believed to exceed 20 million. In the United States alone, some 500,000 people died. An ordinary flu epidemic kills an average of 36,000 Americans.
The next pandemic, the Asian flu of 1957-58, killed about 70,000 in the United States, while the 1968-69 Hong Kong flu led to about 34,000 deaths in the United States. Scientists suggest several reasons why this rate was lower than in previous pandemics, including that the illness did not gain momentum until near the school holidays in December, when children were home rather than infecting each other at school.
Flu viruses start in rural Asia
New strains of the flu virus, and so potential pandemics, get their start in rural Asia, where the various strains that infect chickens and other birds, pigs and humans can mingle. That gives them a chance to swap genetic information as well as mutate on their own.
The potential spark for a pandemic occurs when that environment produces a new virus that infects people and bears surface proteins that people’s bodies have never seen before. That means people have no natural defense against it.
In contrast, ordinary outbreaks like this year’s come from a virus that has changed only slightly from previous ones, so that the population it enters still has some natural immunity from encounters with the previous germs.
But the genetic shift alone is not enough to launch a pandemic. In addition, the new virus must acquire the ability to pass easily from person to person, either by random genetic change or by picking up genetic material from a previous human flu virus.
The world has had some close calls in the past few years, says Richard Webby of St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis. In 1997, a bird flu in Hong Kong jumped to people, killing six. But the virus never developed the ability to pass easily from person to person, Webby said. Hong Kong authorities slaughtered 1.4 million chickens to end the threat.
Just this year, authorities became alarmed when a father and son in Hong Kong were hospitalized because of a bird flu virus, and when flu virus infected some workers in the Netherlands who had slaughtered infected chickens. The Netherlands outbreak was contained by anti-flu drugs and fast vaccination, and slaughter of the poultry, Webby said.
Scientists have been noticing a lot of flu virus in chickens and pigs globally, and a lot of variety in the strains, which is worrisome, Webby said. It’s impractical to develop vaccines against all the animal strains in case they jump to humans, and there’s no reliable way to identify the most hazardous ones, he said.
When the next pandemic shows up, experts say, it will find a population with many more vulnerable people like the elderly, infirm and those with weakened natural defenses than were living 35 years ago. It will also find a trimmed-down hospital system with fewer beds to handle a surge of patients. And while today’s anti-flu drugs will probably attack the new strain, that’s not yet clear. Supplies of the drugs and vaccines would be strained.
But still, with the improvements in health care since the last pandemic, might the next one be less serious?
“I want to believe that,” Poland said, “but we won’t know until it happens.”
A history of worldwide Influenza
The origins of influenza are unknown, but the malady is never absent for more than a few decades. The worst pandemic occurred in the early 20th century, when more than 20 million people were killed.
400 B.C.:
Hippocrates records an outbreak of a cough, followed by pneumonia and other symptoms, at Perinthus in northern Greece (now part of Turkey). Several possible identifications have been suggested, including influenza, whooping cough and diphtheria.
212 B.C.:
The historian Livy describes an infectious disease, perhaps influenza, which strikes the Roman army.
1781-'82:
Considered among the greatest manifestations of disease in history, this pandemic afflicts two-thirds of the people of Rome and three-quarters of the population of Britain. Influenza also spreads widely in North America, the West Indies and Spanish America.
1789:
A widespread epidemic hits New England, New York and Nova Scotia in the fall. Most deaths appear to come from secondary pneumonia.
1829-'32, 1836-'37:
An epidemic begins in Asia late in 1829. From there it spreads to Indonesia by January 1831. The disease also breaks out in Russia in the winter of 1830-'31 and spreads westward. By November it reaches the United States.
1889-'90:
1889-'90:
Named the Russian flu, this worldwide influenza epidemic, the most devastating to that time, begins in Central Asia in the summer of 1889, spreads north into Russia, east to China and west to Europe. It eventually strikes North America, parts of Africa and major Pacific Rim countries. By conservative estimates, 250,000 die in Europe, and the world death total is two to three times that.
1917-'19:
The Spanish flu, the most lethal influenza pandemic ever, kills more than 20 million people. More people die as a result of this flu than die during World War I. Its spread is facilitated by troop movements in the closing months of the war. Mortality rates are unusually high for flu, especially among young, otherwise healthy adults.
1957-'58:
The Asian flu starts in southwest China in February 1957, possibly having originated in 1956 in Vladivostok, Russia, then spreads throughout the Pacific. Globally it affects 10 percent to 35 percent of the population, but overall mortality is much lower than in the 1918 epidemic, about 0.25 percent.
1968-'69:
Hong Kong flu claims 700,000 lives worldwide, 34,000 in the United States.
1976:
The Swine flu, isolated in New Jersey in a young army recruit, instills fear of a new pandemic and leads to a massive influenza-immunization program. The vaccinations lead to Guillain-Barre syndrome, an ascending paralysis, in 100,000 people and kills 5 percent of those afflicted.
1986:
Avian variation of the swine flue in the Netherlands results in one severe case of pneumonia.
1988:
The Swine flu kills a pregnant woman exposed to a sick pig in Wisconsin.
1993:
Strain of the swine flu in the Netherlands sickens two children. The fathers are believed to have come in contact with infected pigs.
1995:
One adult contracts conjunctivitis in the United Kingdom after infection with the duck virus.
1997:
The Hong Kong Poultry virus infects at least 18 people, killing 6 of them.
Monday, October 29, 2007
Breast cancer on the rise in China
31 minutes ago
BEIJING (AFP) - Increasing numbers of Chinese urban women are suffering from breast cancer due to unhealthy diets and a spike in work stress in the rapidly modernising country, state media said Tuesday.
Breast cancer is up 31 percent in the financial hub of Shanghai over the past decade, and 23 percent in the capital, Beijing, according to data from the Beijing Center for Disease Control and Prevention cited by the China Daily.
"Unhealthy lifestyles are mostly to blame for the growing numbers," the paper quoted Qiao Youlin, a cancer researcher at the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, as saying.
"Chinese women, especially those living in cities, should pay extra attention to their health and examine their breasts for any suspicious lumps on a monthly basis," he said.
Breast cancer now affects about 45 women out of every 100,000 in Beijing and about 55 out of 100,000 in Shanghai.
Those numbers still remain far lower than in industrialised countries such as the United States.
Qiao advised women to avoid known risk factors such as smoking, drinking alcohol, using cosmetics that contain estrogen and consumption of oily food, and urged them to get more exercise.
Although nutrition for millions of Chinese has improved as incomes have risen, diet-related health problems also have spiked due to increasingly sedentary lifestyles and growing consumption of western-style fatty foods.
BEIJING (AFP) - Increasing numbers of Chinese urban women are suffering from breast cancer due to unhealthy diets and a spike in work stress in the rapidly modernising country, state media said Tuesday.
Breast cancer is up 31 percent in the financial hub of Shanghai over the past decade, and 23 percent in the capital, Beijing, according to data from the Beijing Center for Disease Control and Prevention cited by the China Daily.
"Unhealthy lifestyles are mostly to blame for the growing numbers," the paper quoted Qiao Youlin, a cancer researcher at the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, as saying.
"Chinese women, especially those living in cities, should pay extra attention to their health and examine their breasts for any suspicious lumps on a monthly basis," he said.
Breast cancer now affects about 45 women out of every 100,000 in Beijing and about 55 out of 100,000 in Shanghai.
Those numbers still remain far lower than in industrialised countries such as the United States.
Qiao advised women to avoid known risk factors such as smoking, drinking alcohol, using cosmetics that contain estrogen and consumption of oily food, and urged them to get more exercise.
Although nutrition for millions of Chinese has improved as incomes have risen, diet-related health problems also have spiked due to increasingly sedentary lifestyles and growing consumption of western-style fatty foods.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
U.S. recalls more China-made products for lead in paint
Thu Oct 25, 1:45 PM ET
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A slew of products made in China ranging from children's jewelry to cake decorations were recalled on Thursday because they contain excessive amounts of lead.
The recall of roughly 665,000 items announced by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) includes about 38,000 Go Diego Go Animal Rescue Boats from Mattel Inc's Fisher-Price division.
The boats were sold at retail stores nationwide from June through October, and the CPSC said surface paint contains excessive levels of lead.
Also recalled were about 142,000 Halloween pails sold at Family Dollar Stores Inc from August through October. The CPSC said green paint on the pails contains amounts of lead that violate U.S. standards for lead paint.
More than 20 million toys made in China were recalled worldwide over the past four months due to potentially dangerous levels of lead and hazards posed by small magnets that can be swallowed.
Retailers and manufactures have stepped up product testing, which some companies have said should result in more recalls as they try to clear problematic items off shelves and out of warehouses.
Dollar Tree Stores Inc is recalling about 198,000 units of Beary Cute, Expressions, and Sassy & Chic children's jewelry with item numbers 855589, 873091, 873097, and 903950.
The jewelry, which the CPSC said contains high levels of lead, was sold at Dollar Tree, Dollar Bill$, Dollar Express, Greenbacks and Only $1 stores from December 2005 through July.
High levels of lead have been linked to brain damage in children and other health problems.
Here is a list of other product recalls announced on Thursday by the CPSC:
-- DecoPac Inc is recalling about 80,000 plastic miniature football bobble heads with green bases that were sold to be placed on cakes because of too much lead in paint on the decoration. The items were sold at bakeries and ice cream stores from January 2006 through October.
-- Jo-Ann Stores Inc is expanding the recall of children's toy garden tools because of excessive lead in surface paint. The products were sold at Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores from January through September.
-- WeGlow International is recalling about 110,000 children's flashing rings sold in Shrek the Third and Spider-Man 3 designs. The rings have item number 920422 printed on back of the packaging and were sold at Dollar Tree, Dollar Bill$, Dollar Express, Greenbacks and Only $1 stores nationwide from December 2005 through August.
(Reporting by Nicole Maestri, editing by Gerald E. McCormick and Toni Reinhold)
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A slew of products made in China ranging from children's jewelry to cake decorations were recalled on Thursday because they contain excessive amounts of lead.
The recall of roughly 665,000 items announced by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) includes about 38,000 Go Diego Go Animal Rescue Boats from Mattel Inc's Fisher-Price division.
The boats were sold at retail stores nationwide from June through October, and the CPSC said surface paint contains excessive levels of lead.
Also recalled were about 142,000 Halloween pails sold at Family Dollar Stores Inc from August through October. The CPSC said green paint on the pails contains amounts of lead that violate U.S. standards for lead paint.
More than 20 million toys made in China were recalled worldwide over the past four months due to potentially dangerous levels of lead and hazards posed by small magnets that can be swallowed.
Retailers and manufactures have stepped up product testing, which some companies have said should result in more recalls as they try to clear problematic items off shelves and out of warehouses.
Dollar Tree Stores Inc is recalling about 198,000 units of Beary Cute, Expressions, and Sassy & Chic children's jewelry with item numbers 855589, 873091, 873097, and 903950.
The jewelry, which the CPSC said contains high levels of lead, was sold at Dollar Tree, Dollar Bill$, Dollar Express, Greenbacks and Only $1 stores from December 2005 through July.
High levels of lead have been linked to brain damage in children and other health problems.
Here is a list of other product recalls announced on Thursday by the CPSC:
-- DecoPac Inc is recalling about 80,000 plastic miniature football bobble heads with green bases that were sold to be placed on cakes because of too much lead in paint on the decoration. The items were sold at bakeries and ice cream stores from January 2006 through October.
-- Jo-Ann Stores Inc is expanding the recall of children's toy garden tools because of excessive lead in surface paint. The products were sold at Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores from January through September.
-- WeGlow International is recalling about 110,000 children's flashing rings sold in Shrek the Third and Spider-Man 3 designs. The rings have item number 920422 printed on back of the packaging and were sold at Dollar Tree, Dollar Bill$, Dollar Express, Greenbacks and Only $1 stores nationwide from December 2005 through August.
(Reporting by Nicole Maestri, editing by Gerald E. McCormick and Toni Reinhold)
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Ageing boomers warned over sexual secrecy
Tue Oct 9, 12:33 PM ET
SYDNEY (AFP) - Ageing baby boomers risk seeing their sex lives end with a whimper not a bang if they are not prepared to speak about problems associated with growing older, a conference in Australia heard Tuesday.
Members of the generation famous for spearheading the freedoms of the sexual revolution remained sexually active well into their later years, the Australasian Sexual Health Conference was told.
But a discreet silence around their sexuality was inhibiting discussion of sexual problems, said University of Sydney academic Patricia Weerakoon.
"The risk is that when problems arise, they may develop in secret and be concealed by embarrassment, generating misery and fear and suffering," she said.
The conference at the Gold Coast tourist strip near Brisbane heard that sexual activity rates for Australia's ageing population were estimated to mirror those reported in a recently in the United States.
That study showed that 73 percent of 57-64 year-olds were sexually active, dropping to 53 percent between 65-74 and 26 percent between 75-85.
"Baby boomers should also be encouraged to explore the myriad meanings of sexuality and physical and emotional intimacy, rather than strive for that perfect intercourse experience or the increasingly elusive orgasm," said Weerakoon.
SYDNEY (AFP) - Ageing baby boomers risk seeing their sex lives end with a whimper not a bang if they are not prepared to speak about problems associated with growing older, a conference in Australia heard Tuesday.
Members of the generation famous for spearheading the freedoms of the sexual revolution remained sexually active well into their later years, the Australasian Sexual Health Conference was told.
But a discreet silence around their sexuality was inhibiting discussion of sexual problems, said University of Sydney academic Patricia Weerakoon.
"The risk is that when problems arise, they may develop in secret and be concealed by embarrassment, generating misery and fear and suffering," she said.
The conference at the Gold Coast tourist strip near Brisbane heard that sexual activity rates for Australia's ageing population were estimated to mirror those reported in a recently in the United States.
That study showed that 73 percent of 57-64 year-olds were sexually active, dropping to 53 percent between 65-74 and 26 percent between 75-85.
"Baby boomers should also be encouraged to explore the myriad meanings of sexuality and physical and emotional intimacy, rather than strive for that perfect intercourse experience or the increasingly elusive orgasm," said Weerakoon.
Monday, October 1, 2007
Men who smoke risk erectile dysfunction: study
Wed Sep 26, 2:22 PM ET
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Otherwise healthy men who smoke risk developing erectile dysfunction -- and the more cigarettes they smoke, the greater the risk of erectile dysfunction, according to a new study.
Erectile dysfunction is the consistent inability to achieve or maintain an erection sufficient for satisfactory sexual performance. In a study of 4,763 Chinese men aged 35 to 74 years who were free of blood vessel disease and who reported that they had been sexually active within the last 6 months, the researchers found a significant statistical link between the number of cigarettes smoked and the likelihood of erectile dysfunction.
"The association between cigarette smoking and erectile dysfunction was found in earlier studies," said first author Dr. Jiang He of Tulane University School of Public Health, New Orleans. "However, most of those studies were conducted in patients with hypertension (high blood pressure), diabetes and cardiovascular disease. What distinguishes this study is that it is the first to find this association among healthy men."
Overall, men who smoked had a 41-percent greater risk of erectile dysfunction than men who did not, the team reports in the American Journal of Epidemiology.
And there was a clear "dose-response" relationship, meaning that the more the men smoked, the higher was their risk of erectile dysfunction. Compared with non-smokers, men who smoked up to 10 cigarettes per day had a 27-percent greater likelihood of erectile dysfunction ; those who smoked 11 to 20 butts a day had a 45-percent greater likelihood of erectile dysfunction; and those who smoked more than 20 cigarettes daily had a-65 percent greater chance of suffering erectile dysfunction.
The investigators estimate that 22.7 percent of erectile all dysfunction cases among healthy Chinese men - or 11.8 million cases -- might be caused by cigarette smoking.
And even when cigarette smokers quit, their risk of developing erectile dysfunction did not decrease. The risk of erectile dysfunction was statistically about the same for former cigarette smokers as for current cigarette smokers, the authors found.
"This study really has a strong message for young men," He said. "It may get their attention if they know that smoking is associated with erectile dysfunction -- even in the healthy population."
"So the message is: Don't start."
SOURCE: American Journal of Epidemiology, October 1, 2007.
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Otherwise healthy men who smoke risk developing erectile dysfunction -- and the more cigarettes they smoke, the greater the risk of erectile dysfunction, according to a new study.
Erectile dysfunction is the consistent inability to achieve or maintain an erection sufficient for satisfactory sexual performance. In a study of 4,763 Chinese men aged 35 to 74 years who were free of blood vessel disease and who reported that they had been sexually active within the last 6 months, the researchers found a significant statistical link between the number of cigarettes smoked and the likelihood of erectile dysfunction.
"The association between cigarette smoking and erectile dysfunction was found in earlier studies," said first author Dr. Jiang He of Tulane University School of Public Health, New Orleans. "However, most of those studies were conducted in patients with hypertension (high blood pressure), diabetes and cardiovascular disease. What distinguishes this study is that it is the first to find this association among healthy men."
Overall, men who smoked had a 41-percent greater risk of erectile dysfunction than men who did not, the team reports in the American Journal of Epidemiology.
And there was a clear "dose-response" relationship, meaning that the more the men smoked, the higher was their risk of erectile dysfunction. Compared with non-smokers, men who smoked up to 10 cigarettes per day had a 27-percent greater likelihood of erectile dysfunction ; those who smoked 11 to 20 butts a day had a 45-percent greater likelihood of erectile dysfunction; and those who smoked more than 20 cigarettes daily had a-65 percent greater chance of suffering erectile dysfunction.
The investigators estimate that 22.7 percent of erectile all dysfunction cases among healthy Chinese men - or 11.8 million cases -- might be caused by cigarette smoking.
And even when cigarette smokers quit, their risk of developing erectile dysfunction did not decrease. The risk of erectile dysfunction was statistically about the same for former cigarette smokers as for current cigarette smokers, the authors found.
"This study really has a strong message for young men," He said. "It may get their attention if they know that smoking is associated with erectile dysfunction -- even in the healthy population."
"So the message is: Don't start."
SOURCE: American Journal of Epidemiology, October 1, 2007.
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Look, Ma, no diaper!
Melinda Rothstein began potty training baby Hannah when she was 4 days old. Now, at 4 months, Hannah almost never wears a diaper. (Globe Staff Photo / Bill Greene)
Some local parents are embracing a technique for potty training infants
By Ricki Morell, Globe Correspondent | July 5, 2005
DOVER -- On a sunny weekday midmorning, Hannah Rothstein,4 months old, coos in her mother's lap at the kitchen table. Her older brother, Samuel, who is almost 3, plays in the backyard with a baby sitter. It's a typical suburban scene, except for one detail. Amid the accouterments of modern parenting -- bouncy seat on the floor, cellphone on the counter -- one kind of baby care basic is conspicuously absent.
This house has no Diaper Genie, no diaper pail, and no stack of diapers next to the changing table.
That's because no one in this house regularly wears diapers.
At the kitchen table, baby Hannah sits bare-bottomed on a tiny plastic potty that her mother holds while cradling her. Hannah is happily taking care of business while Melinda Rothstein talks to a guest.
Hannah was 4 days old when Rothstein first ''caught" her before she actually went to the bathroom, and Hannah has been going in a potty ever since. Rothstein sometimes lays out cloth diapers under her to sop up any ''accidents." And she uses little cloth training pants when they go out. Once in a while, she'll put on a disposable if they go to a restaurant. But, most days, Hannah is dressed in pint-size underwear. ''I wouldn't want to wear my toilet, would you?" says Rothstein, 31.
About a year and a half ago, Rothstein and a friend, Rachel Milgroom, started DiaperFreeBaby and DiaperFreeBaby.org, a nonprofit and a website dedicated to spreading the word about a technique called ''elimination communication," or infant potty training. About 70 people in the Boston area now belong to the group.
''Discover how amazing your baby really is," encourages the DiaperFreeBaby brochure. ''Just as parents learn to read their baby's signs for sleep and hunger, they can also learn to read their baby's signs for needing to eliminate."
Elimination communication has its roots in the traditional cultures of Africa and Asia, where mothers carry their babies close to them and hold them out to let them urinate on the ground. In suburban Boston, parents observe the child closely, taking cues from the child's body language and trying to get him to a potty, a toilet, or even a sink before he eliminates. A baby may start kicking or grimacing, or even stop nursing, just before the big event. And sometimes a parent can give the baby a cue, like holding her over a potty and making a ''sss" sound. Though most people agree it's easiest to start the process before the child is 6 months old, Rothstein says she started her older son at 8 months and it worked. Usually by 18 months children ''graduate," which means they know when they have to go the bathroom and they take themselves there.
Rothstein, like many of the mothers involved in the DiaperFreeBaby group, believes in an ''attachment" parenting style. Rothstein gave birth to Hannah at home. Hannah sleeps in her parents' bed and spends part of the day being carried around in a baby sling by her mother. This close contact allows Rothstein to better pick up on her baby's cues. Others are attracted to elimination communication because they worry about the environmental effects of using disposable diapers, and of washing loads of cloth diapers. Still others are simply trying to save money or avoid diaper rash.
''The first time I heard about it, I thought it was really weird," says Milgroom, who has two sons, Isaiah, 5, and Simon, 2. ''But the more I heard about it, the more I realized they do know when they need to go. How can I ignore that if I know he's telling me?"
Emily Jean Davidson, a pediatrician at Children's Hospital Boston, started elimination communication with her daughter, Betsy Resner, when she was 8 months old. Betsy, who is now 2, started wearing underwear in the daytime at 17 months, but still wears pull-up diapers at night.
''I try to compare it to other developmental tasks, like learning how to eat," says Davidson, who works with children with developmental disabilities. With eating, she says, parents watch for hunger cues and help children slowly develop independent skills over time. Why not do the same with toilet training?
In the first half of the 20th century, early toilet training was considered the norm, but it was regimented, even abusive. Children were strapped into potty chairs, or given soap suppositories when they wouldn't go on schedule. By the 1950s, Dr. Spock's more child-friendly methods became popular. But those old-fashioned cloth diapers were so uncomfortable when wet that most parents still toilet trained their children by 18 months. By the 1960s, pediatrician T. Berry Brazelton was advocating the ''child-led" approach. He advised parents not to pressure children but to let them proceed at their own pace until they could take control of their own toileting needs. Disposable diapers, which are absorbent and not as uncomfortable on the baby's bottom, made this easier. Procter & Gamble, maker of Pampers and Luvs, estimates that 95 to 99 percent of North American parents use disposable diapers.
That means children are taking longer to be toilet trained. According to a 2001 Medical College of Wisconsin study, the average was 35 months for girls and 39 months for boys.
Brazelton, who helped Pampers develop larger diapers for older kids, understands the impulse behind infant potty training but isn't convinced. ''To me, this is parents getting themselves trained and not leaving it to the child at all," said Brazelton, founder of the Brazelton Touchpoints Center at Children's Hospital Boston and one of the authors of ''Toilet Training: The Brazelton Way." Brazelton says he witnessed mothers holding their babies out from their bodies to urinate when he worked with Mayan Indians in southern Mexico. ''It's a regression to an earlier stage in our civilization," he says. ''I don't see it as progression. It seems like an unnecessary hovering of a parent over a child. I think there are more productive ways to interact with a child -- like play."
Laurie Boucke, author of ''Infant Potty Training" and ''Infant Potty Basics," says she understands the approach is not right for every family. ''If it resonates, give it a try," she says. ''And if it doesn't, don't do it."
At a recent meeting of the DiaperFreeBaby group, about 20 mothers, all toting infants and toddlers -- and, in some cases, potties -- gather at Milgroom's Newton home to discuss the basics of infant training.
''He pees like every 20 to 25 minutes," says one mother, Krysia Welin of Brookline, whose son, Kieran Hunter, is 10 weeks old. ''How do you pick it up each time and that quickly?"
Rothstein says, ''It's not all about catching it. It's more about communicating with your baby."
Emily Gelbert, also of Brookline, is expecting twins and hopes to practice elimination communication. Even in this group, people seem taken aback that she would attempt such a task with two children at once. They reassure her that sometimes using diapers -- even disposables -- is OK. Still, for these mothers, diaper-free is the key. Little Hannah Rothstein sits like a queen in the middle of the room on her tiny potty throne. Her mother explains that in the morning she goes every five minutes for about 20 minutes, after that, perhaps once an hour. At night, she usually goes only once.
''It's not more work," says Rothstein. ''Just a different kind of work."
© Copyright 2006 Globe Newspaper Company.
Monday, September 3, 2007
Tour de France cyclists have big hearts
By MARIA CHENG, AP Medical Writer Mon Sep 3, 12:56 PM ET
VIENNA, Austria - Riding the grueling Tour de France bike race takes strength, stamina — and perhaps a heart nearly 40 percent bigger than normal.
Researchers who examined the hearts of former Tour bikers found that the athletes' hearts were from 20 to 40 percent larger than average, said Dr. Francois Carre of the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Rennes, France, speaking at a meeting of the European Society of Cardiology.
The difference is attributable largely to rigorous training that expands the cyclists' hearts. But researchers have not yet determined whether the athletes' hearts were larger to begin with.
"They are a special breed," said Dr. Richard Becker, a professor of medicine at Duke University and spokesman for the American Heart Association. Becker was not connected to Carre's study.
Scientists have long noticed the phenomenon of the "athlete's heart." Athletes who train hard in aerobic sports, such as cycling, running or swimming, tend to have a bigger heart that pumps more blood throughout the body.
The heart's walls become thicker to be able to handle the increased blood volume. That gives the athletes an edge by increasing their oxygen levels and improving their endurance.
Carre's study, funded by the Brittany provincial government in France, is perhaps the first to track what happens to athletes' hearts when they stop training.
Medical tests done on all Tour de France cyclists before the race begins showed virtually all have enlarged hearts, Carre said.
"When you see an athlete's heart test, you know right away that it's not a normal person," he said.
In his study, Carre tracked seven former professional cyclists through their final year of competition and three years of retirement.
Once a year, the cyclists took tests to check the size and function of the heart. They were also tested on their fitness levels.
Carre found that the athletes' hearts shrank nearly a quarter in size after they finished riding professionally. Still, the cyclists remained in excellent physical condition.
"Some athletes have a genetic predisposition to perform better," Carre said. "But we found that in these cyclists, their hearts adapted to the hard training conditions by just getting bigger."
The intense training that Tour de France athletes undergo to race in a three-week-long competition cycling up and down mountains is arguably among the toughest in professional sports.
"When you examine Tour de France athletes, they are probably among the best-trained athletes in the world," said Dr. Alfred Bove, a physician for the Philadelphia 76ers basketball team and vice president of the American College of Cardiology. "This study shows us that even in extreme conditions, the body finds a way to adapt."
Bove said that in athletes with bigger hearts, doping could prove potentially more dangerous than for normal people.
Athletes with bigger hearts have more red blood cells, which deliver oxygen around the body. These cells are thicker than normal cells. So if athletes decide to use an illegal agent like the blood-booster EPO, they run the risk of making their blood too thick. That puts them in danger of a clot, stroke, or heart attack.
"These athletes already have hearts that have increased in volume to adapt to their training workload," Bove said. "If they then go and use drugs, that could potentially erase the natural advantage they already have."
VIENNA, Austria - Riding the grueling Tour de France bike race takes strength, stamina — and perhaps a heart nearly 40 percent bigger than normal.
Researchers who examined the hearts of former Tour bikers found that the athletes' hearts were from 20 to 40 percent larger than average, said Dr. Francois Carre of the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Rennes, France, speaking at a meeting of the European Society of Cardiology.
The difference is attributable largely to rigorous training that expands the cyclists' hearts. But researchers have not yet determined whether the athletes' hearts were larger to begin with.
"They are a special breed," said Dr. Richard Becker, a professor of medicine at Duke University and spokesman for the American Heart Association. Becker was not connected to Carre's study.
Scientists have long noticed the phenomenon of the "athlete's heart." Athletes who train hard in aerobic sports, such as cycling, running or swimming, tend to have a bigger heart that pumps more blood throughout the body.
The heart's walls become thicker to be able to handle the increased blood volume. That gives the athletes an edge by increasing their oxygen levels and improving their endurance.
Carre's study, funded by the Brittany provincial government in France, is perhaps the first to track what happens to athletes' hearts when they stop training.
Medical tests done on all Tour de France cyclists before the race begins showed virtually all have enlarged hearts, Carre said.
"When you see an athlete's heart test, you know right away that it's not a normal person," he said.
In his study, Carre tracked seven former professional cyclists through their final year of competition and three years of retirement.
Once a year, the cyclists took tests to check the size and function of the heart. They were also tested on their fitness levels.
Carre found that the athletes' hearts shrank nearly a quarter in size after they finished riding professionally. Still, the cyclists remained in excellent physical condition.
"Some athletes have a genetic predisposition to perform better," Carre said. "But we found that in these cyclists, their hearts adapted to the hard training conditions by just getting bigger."
The intense training that Tour de France athletes undergo to race in a three-week-long competition cycling up and down mountains is arguably among the toughest in professional sports.
"When you examine Tour de France athletes, they are probably among the best-trained athletes in the world," said Dr. Alfred Bove, a physician for the Philadelphia 76ers basketball team and vice president of the American College of Cardiology. "This study shows us that even in extreme conditions, the body finds a way to adapt."
Bove said that in athletes with bigger hearts, doping could prove potentially more dangerous than for normal people.
Athletes with bigger hearts have more red blood cells, which deliver oxygen around the body. These cells are thicker than normal cells. So if athletes decide to use an illegal agent like the blood-booster EPO, they run the risk of making their blood too thick. That puts them in danger of a clot, stroke, or heart attack.
"These athletes already have hearts that have increased in volume to adapt to their training workload," Bove said. "If they then go and use drugs, that could potentially erase the natural advantage they already have."
Sunday, September 2, 2007
Study finds smokers have higher risk of dementia
1 hour, 33 minutes ago
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - People who smoke are more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia than people who have quit or have never smoked, Dutch researchers reported on Sunday.
Smokers over the age of 55 were 50 percent more likely to develop dementia than similar nonsmokers, Dr. Monique Breteler of Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, Netherlands, and colleagues found.
Writing in the journal Neurology, Breteler and colleagues said they followed nearly 7,000 people age 55 and older for an average of seven years.
Over that time, 706 of the people developed dementia.
There is a well-known gene that raises the risk of dementia called APOE4 or apolipoprotein E4.
Smoking did not affect the Alzheimer's risk for people who had that gene. But people who did not have the gene had a 70 percent higher risk of Alzheimer's if they smoked.
Smoking could cause small strokes, which in turn damage the brain and cause dementia, Breteler said.
"Smoking increases the risk of cerebrovascular disease (stroke), which is also tied to dementia," Breteler said in a statement.
"Another mechanism could be through oxidative stress, which can damage cells in the blood vessels and lead to hardening of the arteries. Smokers experience greater oxidative stress than nonsmokers, and increased oxidative stress is also seen in Alzheimer's disease."
Oxidative stress is a process akin to rusting, in which chemical reactions damage the DNA.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - People who smoke are more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia than people who have quit or have never smoked, Dutch researchers reported on Sunday.
Smokers over the age of 55 were 50 percent more likely to develop dementia than similar nonsmokers, Dr. Monique Breteler of Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, Netherlands, and colleagues found.
Writing in the journal Neurology, Breteler and colleagues said they followed nearly 7,000 people age 55 and older for an average of seven years.
Over that time, 706 of the people developed dementia.
There is a well-known gene that raises the risk of dementia called APOE4 or apolipoprotein E4.
Smoking did not affect the Alzheimer's risk for people who had that gene. But people who did not have the gene had a 70 percent higher risk of Alzheimer's if they smoked.
Smoking could cause small strokes, which in turn damage the brain and cause dementia, Breteler said.
"Smoking increases the risk of cerebrovascular disease (stroke), which is also tied to dementia," Breteler said in a statement.
"Another mechanism could be through oxidative stress, which can damage cells in the blood vessels and lead to hardening of the arteries. Smokers experience greater oxidative stress than nonsmokers, and increased oxidative stress is also seen in Alzheimer's disease."
Oxidative stress is a process akin to rusting, in which chemical reactions damage the DNA.
Friday, August 31, 2007
Miss. ranked fattest state in nation
By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS, Associated Press Writer Tue Aug 28, 5:00 AM ET
JACKSON, Miss. - Experts say Mississippians need to skip the gravy, say no to the fried pickles and start taking brisk walks to fight an epidemic of obesity.
According to a new study, this Deep South state is the fattest in the nation. The Trust for America's Health, a research group that focuses on disease prevention, says Mississippi is the first state where more than 30 percent of adults are considered obese.
Aside from making Mississippi the butt of late-night talk show jokes, the obesity epidemic has serious implications for public policy.
If current trends hold, the state could face enormous increases in the already significant costs of treating diabetes, heart disease and other ailments caused by the extra poundage.
"We've got a long way to go. We love fried chicken and fried anything and all the grease and fatback we can get in Mississippi," said Democratic state Rep. Steve Holland, chairman of the Public Health Committee.
Poverty and obesity often go hand in hand, doctors say, because poor families stretch their budgets by buying cheaper, processed foods that have higher fat content and lower nutritional value.
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee — a self-described "recovering foodaholic" who lost 110 pounds several years ago — explained during a Southern Governors' Association meeting in Biloxi last weekend that there are historical reasons poor people often fry their foods: It's an inexpensive way to increase the calories and feed a family.
Mississippi is one of the poorest states in the nation, and the Delta is the poorest region of Mississippi.
Dr. Marshall Bouldin, director of the diabetes and metabolism center at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, told the Southern governors that if the Delta counties were excluded, "Mississippi would wind up being about 30th in diabetes problems in the United States."
Mississippi's public schools already are taking steps to prevent obesity.
A new state law enacted this year requires schools to provide at least 150 minutes of physical activity instruction and 45 minutes of health education instruction each week for students in kindergarten through 8th grade. Until now, gym class had been optional.
The state Department of Education also is phasing in restrictions on soft drinks and snacks.
All public schools are currently banned from selling full-calorie soft drinks to students. Next academic year, elementary and middle schools will allow only water, juice and milk, while high schools will allow only water, juice, sports drinks and diet soft drinks.
The state Department of Education publishes lists of snacks that are approved or banned for sale in school vending machines. Last school year, at least 50 percent of the vending offerings had to be from the approved list. That jumped to 75 percent this year and will reach 100 percent next year.
Among the approved snacks are yogurt, sliced fruit and granola bars, while fried pork rinds and marshmallow treats are banned. One middle school favorite — Flamin' Hot Cheetos — are on the approved list if they're baked but banned if they're not.
State Superintendent of Education Hank Bounds said he hopes students will take home the healthful habits they learn at school.
"We only have students 180 days out of the year for seven hours in a school day. The important thing is that we model what good behavior looks like," Bounds said Monday after finishing a lunch of baked chicken.
Bounds ate at a Jackson buffet that's popular with state legislators. On Monday, the buffet included traditional, stick-to-your-ribs Southern fare: fried chicken, grits, fried okra, turnip greens.
Dr. William Rowley, who worked 30 years as a vascular surgeon and now works at the Institute for Alternative Futures, said if current trends continue, more than 50 percent of adult Mississippians will be obese in 2015.
Holland, who helps set the state Medicaid budget, said he worries about the taxpayers' cost of treating obesity.
"If we don't change our ways," he said, "we're going to be in the funeral parlors ... because we're going to be all fat and dead."
JACKSON, Miss. - Experts say Mississippians need to skip the gravy, say no to the fried pickles and start taking brisk walks to fight an epidemic of obesity.
According to a new study, this Deep South state is the fattest in the nation. The Trust for America's Health, a research group that focuses on disease prevention, says Mississippi is the first state where more than 30 percent of adults are considered obese.
Aside from making Mississippi the butt of late-night talk show jokes, the obesity epidemic has serious implications for public policy.
If current trends hold, the state could face enormous increases in the already significant costs of treating diabetes, heart disease and other ailments caused by the extra poundage.
"We've got a long way to go. We love fried chicken and fried anything and all the grease and fatback we can get in Mississippi," said Democratic state Rep. Steve Holland, chairman of the Public Health Committee.
Poverty and obesity often go hand in hand, doctors say, because poor families stretch their budgets by buying cheaper, processed foods that have higher fat content and lower nutritional value.
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee — a self-described "recovering foodaholic" who lost 110 pounds several years ago — explained during a Southern Governors' Association meeting in Biloxi last weekend that there are historical reasons poor people often fry their foods: It's an inexpensive way to increase the calories and feed a family.
Mississippi is one of the poorest states in the nation, and the Delta is the poorest region of Mississippi.
Dr. Marshall Bouldin, director of the diabetes and metabolism center at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, told the Southern governors that if the Delta counties were excluded, "Mississippi would wind up being about 30th in diabetes problems in the United States."
Mississippi's public schools already are taking steps to prevent obesity.
A new state law enacted this year requires schools to provide at least 150 minutes of physical activity instruction and 45 minutes of health education instruction each week for students in kindergarten through 8th grade. Until now, gym class had been optional.
The state Department of Education also is phasing in restrictions on soft drinks and snacks.
All public schools are currently banned from selling full-calorie soft drinks to students. Next academic year, elementary and middle schools will allow only water, juice and milk, while high schools will allow only water, juice, sports drinks and diet soft drinks.
The state Department of Education publishes lists of snacks that are approved or banned for sale in school vending machines. Last school year, at least 50 percent of the vending offerings had to be from the approved list. That jumped to 75 percent this year and will reach 100 percent next year.
Among the approved snacks are yogurt, sliced fruit and granola bars, while fried pork rinds and marshmallow treats are banned. One middle school favorite — Flamin' Hot Cheetos — are on the approved list if they're baked but banned if they're not.
State Superintendent of Education Hank Bounds said he hopes students will take home the healthful habits they learn at school.
"We only have students 180 days out of the year for seven hours in a school day. The important thing is that we model what good behavior looks like," Bounds said Monday after finishing a lunch of baked chicken.
Bounds ate at a Jackson buffet that's popular with state legislators. On Monday, the buffet included traditional, stick-to-your-ribs Southern fare: fried chicken, grits, fried okra, turnip greens.
Dr. William Rowley, who worked 30 years as a vascular surgeon and now works at the Institute for Alternative Futures, said if current trends continue, more than 50 percent of adult Mississippians will be obese in 2015.
Holland, who helps set the state Medicaid budget, said he worries about the taxpayers' cost of treating obesity.
"If we don't change our ways," he said, "we're going to be in the funeral parlors ... because we're going to be all fat and dead."
Smoking Boosts Risk for Head, Neck Cancers
Mon Aug 27, 11:45 PM ET
MONDAY, Aug. 27 (HealthDay News) -- Current and past smokers are at significantly increased risk for head and neck cancers such as cancers of the larynx (voice box), nasal passages/nose, oral cavity, and throat, says a U.S. National Cancer Institute study that looked at data collected on more than 476,000 men and women between 1995 and 2000.
The analysis revealed that smoking increased head and neck cancer in both women and men, but appeared to have a greater impact in women. Smoking was attributed to 75 percent of such cancers in women, compared to 45 percent of such cancers in men, the study said.
"Incidence rates of head and neck cancer were higher in men than in women in all categories examined, but smoking was associated with a larger relative increase in head and neck cancer risk in women than in men," the researchers concluded.
The study is published in the Oct. 1 issue of the journal Cancer.
In order to lower head and neck cancer rates, public health efforts should continue to try to eliminate smoking, the study authors said.
Each year, more than 500,000 people worldwide are diagnosed with head and neck cancers. Overall, men are more than three times more likely than women to be diagnosed with such cancers and almost twice as likely to die from them, according to the NCI.
More information
There's more on links between smoking and cancer at the American Academy of Otolaryngology -- Head and Neck Surgery.
MONDAY, Aug. 27 (HealthDay News) -- Current and past smokers are at significantly increased risk for head and neck cancers such as cancers of the larynx (voice box), nasal passages/nose, oral cavity, and throat, says a U.S. National Cancer Institute study that looked at data collected on more than 476,000 men and women between 1995 and 2000.
The analysis revealed that smoking increased head and neck cancer in both women and men, but appeared to have a greater impact in women. Smoking was attributed to 75 percent of such cancers in women, compared to 45 percent of such cancers in men, the study said.
"Incidence rates of head and neck cancer were higher in men than in women in all categories examined, but smoking was associated with a larger relative increase in head and neck cancer risk in women than in men," the researchers concluded.
The study is published in the Oct. 1 issue of the journal Cancer.
In order to lower head and neck cancer rates, public health efforts should continue to try to eliminate smoking, the study authors said.
Each year, more than 500,000 people worldwide are diagnosed with head and neck cancers. Overall, men are more than three times more likely than women to be diagnosed with such cancers and almost twice as likely to die from them, according to the NCI.
More information
There's more on links between smoking and cancer at the American Academy of Otolaryngology -- Head and Neck Surgery.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Parental Stress Can Keep Kids Obese
39 minutes ago
THURSDAY, Aug. 23 (HealthDay News) -- Parental stress or bullying by peers can make it even tougher for overweight or obese children to get healthy, a U.S. study finds.
"If a parent is distressed, that seems to impact a child's symptoms of depression, which then impacts quality of life. It's the same with peer victimization. It impacts depression, which then impacts quality of life. And it seems to affect not just the emotional aspect of quality of life, but also their health status," lead author David Janicke, assistant professor of clinical and health psychology in the University of Florida College of Public Health and Health Professions, in Gainesville, said in a prepared statement.
His team surveyed 96 overweight or obese children and their parents.
They found that youngsters whose parents were struggling with stress or depression had more depressive symptoms and a lower overall quality of life. The same was true for children who reported more problems with peers.
"One of the pathways to poor quality of life seems to be childhood depression," Janicke noted. He said parental support is critical in helping children make healthy lifestyle choices.
Parents struggling with stress or depression may not have the energy to provide emotional support, plan healthy meals, or organize exercise activities for their children, the researchers said. Providing support for distressed parents may be an effective way of helping overweight/obese children, Janicke suggested.
Learning more about the factors that affect the well-being of overweight children could help improve methods of treating these children, he added.
The study was published in the journal Obesity.
More information
The U.S. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases outlines what parents can do to help overweight children.
THURSDAY, Aug. 23 (HealthDay News) -- Parental stress or bullying by peers can make it even tougher for overweight or obese children to get healthy, a U.S. study finds.
"If a parent is distressed, that seems to impact a child's symptoms of depression, which then impacts quality of life. It's the same with peer victimization. It impacts depression, which then impacts quality of life. And it seems to affect not just the emotional aspect of quality of life, but also their health status," lead author David Janicke, assistant professor of clinical and health psychology in the University of Florida College of Public Health and Health Professions, in Gainesville, said in a prepared statement.
His team surveyed 96 overweight or obese children and their parents.
They found that youngsters whose parents were struggling with stress or depression had more depressive symptoms and a lower overall quality of life. The same was true for children who reported more problems with peers.
"One of the pathways to poor quality of life seems to be childhood depression," Janicke noted. He said parental support is critical in helping children make healthy lifestyle choices.
Parents struggling with stress or depression may not have the energy to provide emotional support, plan healthy meals, or organize exercise activities for their children, the researchers said. Providing support for distressed parents may be an effective way of helping overweight/obese children, Janicke suggested.
Learning more about the factors that affect the well-being of overweight children could help improve methods of treating these children, he added.
The study was published in the journal Obesity.
More information
The U.S. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases outlines what parents can do to help overweight children.
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Analyst: iPhone may top sales goals
Jim Dalrymple - MacCentral 49 minutes ago
UBS analyst Benjamin Reitzes said in a research note on Tuesday that Apple may sell more than 800,000 iPhones in the fourth quarter. That would top Apple’s own estimates of 730,000 units for the quarter.
Citing continued strong demand for the iPhone at Apple and AT&T retail stores, Reitzes said his estimates are conservative.
“Our checks continue to indicate solid demand for the iPhone despite typical moderation in excitement from launch and extremely high expectations,” wrote Reitzes.
Apple reported selling 270,000 iPhones during the first weekend it was available, which was also the last two days of the third quarter. Apple CEO Steve Jobs predicted during the third quarter earnings conference call that the company would sell its one-millionth iPhone by the end of the fourth quarter.
Apple’s goal is to sell 10 million iPhones by the end of 2008.
iPhone sales will get a boost from deals Apple has reportedly made with mobile phone operators in three of Europe’s largest markets. Germany’s T-Mobile Deutschland, France’s Orange SA and Britain’s O2 (UK) are reported to have signed exclusive deals to sell the iPhone in their respective markets.
Reitzes positive outlook for Apple doesn’t stop with the iPhone. He is also expecting good things from the company’s computer line in the future.
“In addition, we believe the Mac story is exciting as demand is strong for notebooks and recently introduced iMacs,” he said.
Enthusiasm for Apple’s notebooks seems to be well founded as market research firm NPD yesterday put Apple’s U.S. retail notebook market share for June 2007 at 17.6 percent. That is an increase of 2.2 percentage points over the same period last year when Apple posted a 15.4 percent market share.
According to data from research firm IDC, Apple’s continued rise in computer sales puts it in third place overall among all computer makers in the U.S. This is the first time since 1996 that Apple finds itself this high on the list of top selling manufacturers.
Investors reacted positively to the news boosting Apple’s stock to $130.95, up $3.38 or 2.65 percent.
UBS analyst Benjamin Reitzes said in a research note on Tuesday that Apple may sell more than 800,000 iPhones in the fourth quarter. That would top Apple’s own estimates of 730,000 units for the quarter.
Citing continued strong demand for the iPhone at Apple and AT&T retail stores, Reitzes said his estimates are conservative.
“Our checks continue to indicate solid demand for the iPhone despite typical moderation in excitement from launch and extremely high expectations,” wrote Reitzes.
Apple reported selling 270,000 iPhones during the first weekend it was available, which was also the last two days of the third quarter. Apple CEO Steve Jobs predicted during the third quarter earnings conference call that the company would sell its one-millionth iPhone by the end of the fourth quarter.
Apple’s goal is to sell 10 million iPhones by the end of 2008.
iPhone sales will get a boost from deals Apple has reportedly made with mobile phone operators in three of Europe’s largest markets. Germany’s T-Mobile Deutschland, France’s Orange SA and Britain’s O2 (UK) are reported to have signed exclusive deals to sell the iPhone in their respective markets.
Reitzes positive outlook for Apple doesn’t stop with the iPhone. He is also expecting good things from the company’s computer line in the future.
“In addition, we believe the Mac story is exciting as demand is strong for notebooks and recently introduced iMacs,” he said.
Enthusiasm for Apple’s notebooks seems to be well founded as market research firm NPD yesterday put Apple’s U.S. retail notebook market share for June 2007 at 17.6 percent. That is an increase of 2.2 percentage points over the same period last year when Apple posted a 15.4 percent market share.
According to data from research firm IDC, Apple’s continued rise in computer sales puts it in third place overall among all computer makers in the U.S. This is the first time since 1996 that Apple finds itself this high on the list of top selling manufacturers.
Investors reacted positively to the news boosting Apple’s stock to $130.95, up $3.38 or 2.65 percent.
Scientists drug-test whole cities
By SETH BORENSTEIN, AP Science Writer Tue Aug 21, 9:05 PM ET
WASHINGTON - Researchers have figured out how to give an entire community a drug test using just a teaspoon of wastewater from a city's sewer plant.
The test wouldn't be used to finger any single person as a drug user. But it would help federal law enforcement and other agencies track the spread of dangerous drugs, like methamphetamines, across the country.
Oregon State University scientists tested 10 unnamed American cities for remnants of drugs, both legal and illegal, from wastewater streams. They were able to show that they could get a good snapshot of what people are taking.
"It's a community urinalysis," said Caleb Banta-Green, a University of Washington drug abuse researcher who was part of the Oregon State team. The scientists presented their results Tuesday at a meeting of the American Chemical Society in Boston.
Two federal agencies have taken samples from U.S. waterways to see if drug testing a whole city is doable, but they haven't gotten as far as the Oregon researchers.
One of the early results of the new study showed big differences in methamphetamine use city to city. One urban area with a gambling industry had meth levels more than five times higher than other cities. Yet methamphetamine levels were virtually nonexistent in some smaller Midwestern locales, said Jennifer Field, the lead researcher and a professor of environmental toxicology at Oregon State.
The ingredient Americans consume and excrete the most was caffeine, Field said.
Cities in the experiment ranged from 17,000 to 600,000 in population, but Field declined to identify them, saying that could harm her relationship with the sewage plant operators.
She plans to start a survey for drugs in the wastewater of at least 40 Oregon communities.
The science behind the testing is simple. Nearly every drug — legal and illicit — that people take leaves the body. That waste goes into toilets and then into wastewater treatment plants.
"Wastewater facilities are wonderful places to understand what humans consume and excrete," Field said.
In the study presented Tuesday, one teaspoon of untreated sewage water from each of the cities was tested for 15 different drugs. Field said researchers can't calculate how many people in a town are using drugs.
She said that one fairly affluent community scored low for illicit drugs except for cocaine. Cocaine and ecstasy tended to peak on weekends and drop on weekdays, she said, while methamphetamine and prescription drugs were steady throughout the week.
Field said her study suggests that a key tool currently used by drug abuse researchers — self-reported drug questionnaires — underestimates drug use.
"We have so few indicators of current use," said Jane Maxwell of the Addiction Research Institute at the University of Texas, who wasn't part of the study. "This could be a very interesting new indicator."
David Murray, chief scientist for U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy, said the idea interests his agency.
Murray said the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is testing federal wastewater samples just to see if that's a good method for monitoring drug use. But he didn't know how many tests were conducted or where.
The EPA will "flush out the details" on testing, Benjamin Grumbles joked. The EPA assistant administrator said the agency is already looking at the problem of potential harm to rivers and lakes from legal pharmaceuticals.
The idea of testing on a citywide basis for drugs makes sense, as long as it doesn't violate people's privacy, said Tom Angell of the Students for Sensible Drug Policy, a Washington-based group that wants looser drug laws.
"This seems to be less offensive than individualized testing," he said.
WASHINGTON - Researchers have figured out how to give an entire community a drug test using just a teaspoon of wastewater from a city's sewer plant.
The test wouldn't be used to finger any single person as a drug user. But it would help federal law enforcement and other agencies track the spread of dangerous drugs, like methamphetamines, across the country.
Oregon State University scientists tested 10 unnamed American cities for remnants of drugs, both legal and illegal, from wastewater streams. They were able to show that they could get a good snapshot of what people are taking.
"It's a community urinalysis," said Caleb Banta-Green, a University of Washington drug abuse researcher who was part of the Oregon State team. The scientists presented their results Tuesday at a meeting of the American Chemical Society in Boston.
Two federal agencies have taken samples from U.S. waterways to see if drug testing a whole city is doable, but they haven't gotten as far as the Oregon researchers.
One of the early results of the new study showed big differences in methamphetamine use city to city. One urban area with a gambling industry had meth levels more than five times higher than other cities. Yet methamphetamine levels were virtually nonexistent in some smaller Midwestern locales, said Jennifer Field, the lead researcher and a professor of environmental toxicology at Oregon State.
The ingredient Americans consume and excrete the most was caffeine, Field said.
Cities in the experiment ranged from 17,000 to 600,000 in population, but Field declined to identify them, saying that could harm her relationship with the sewage plant operators.
She plans to start a survey for drugs in the wastewater of at least 40 Oregon communities.
The science behind the testing is simple. Nearly every drug — legal and illicit — that people take leaves the body. That waste goes into toilets and then into wastewater treatment plants.
"Wastewater facilities are wonderful places to understand what humans consume and excrete," Field said.
In the study presented Tuesday, one teaspoon of untreated sewage water from each of the cities was tested for 15 different drugs. Field said researchers can't calculate how many people in a town are using drugs.
She said that one fairly affluent community scored low for illicit drugs except for cocaine. Cocaine and ecstasy tended to peak on weekends and drop on weekdays, she said, while methamphetamine and prescription drugs were steady throughout the week.
Field said her study suggests that a key tool currently used by drug abuse researchers — self-reported drug questionnaires — underestimates drug use.
"We have so few indicators of current use," said Jane Maxwell of the Addiction Research Institute at the University of Texas, who wasn't part of the study. "This could be a very interesting new indicator."
David Murray, chief scientist for U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy, said the idea interests his agency.
Murray said the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is testing federal wastewater samples just to see if that's a good method for monitoring drug use. But he didn't know how many tests were conducted or where.
The EPA will "flush out the details" on testing, Benjamin Grumbles joked. The EPA assistant administrator said the agency is already looking at the problem of potential harm to rivers and lakes from legal pharmaceuticals.
The idea of testing on a citywide basis for drugs makes sense, as long as it doesn't violate people's privacy, said Tom Angell of the Students for Sensible Drug Policy, a Washington-based group that wants looser drug laws.
"This seems to be less offensive than individualized testing," he said.
Monday, August 20, 2007
Zero trans fat doesn't always mean zero
By STEPHANIE NANO, Associated Press Writer Sun Aug 19, 4:57 PM ET
NEW YORK - Stroll the aisles of any grocery store and you're sure to spot labels declaring "zero grams trans fat" on the front of snack foods, cookies and crackers. But does zero really mean there's NO artery-clogging fat inside?
Maybe, maybe not.
Federal regulations allow food labels to say there's zero grams of trans fat as long as there's less than half a gram per serving. And many packages contain more than what's considered one serving.
"The problem is that often people eat a lot more than one serving," said Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian of Harvard School of Public Health. "In fact, many people eat two to three servings at a time."
Those small amounts of trans fat can add up, said Michael Jacobson of the consumer advocacy Center for Science in the Public Interest. To find out if there might be some trans fat, he said shoppers can check the list of ingredients to see if partially hydrogenated oil — the primary source of trans fat — is included.
"When it says zero grams, that means something different from no trans fat," said Jacobson. His group has urged the government to bar food producers from using any partially hydrogenated oils at all.
The Food and Drug Administration began forcing food companies to list the amount of trans fat on nutrition labels of packaged foods in January 2006. That led many companies to switch to alternative fats.
Trans fat occurs naturally in some dairy and meat products, but the main source is partially hydrogenated oils, formed when hydrogen is added to liquid vegetable oils to harden them.
Consumer groups and health officials have campaigned to get rid of trans fat because it contributes to heart disease by raising levels of LDL or bad cholesterol while lowering HDL or good cholesterol. Fast-food restaurants are switching to trans fat-free oils and New York City and Philadelphia are forcing restaurants to phase out their use of trans fat.
The American Heart Association recommends that people limit trans fats to less than 2 grams per day.
Julie Moss of the FDA's Office of Nutrition, Labeling and Dietary Supplements, said the half-gram threshold for labeling was adopted because it is difficult to measure trans fat at low levels and the same half-gram limit is used for listing saturated fat. She said the FDA would soon be doing consumer research on trans fat labeling, including whether a footnote such as "Keep your intake of trans fat as low as possible" should be added to food labels.
Robert Earl of the Grocery Manufacturers Association said any trans fat in products labeled zero trans fat is likely to be far less than the half-gram threshold. For example, he said, a little partially hydrogenated oil might be used to help seasoning stick.
"I think the industry has been extremely responsive. Most of them were ahead of the curve to either remove or reduce trans fat in most food products," he said.
Earl said shoppers should be looking at the entire food label.
Jacobson is also concerned that people are focusing too much on the trans fat content alone, and not considering other ingredients such as saturated fat, which also raises the risk of heart disease.
"The bigger problem is foods that have no labels at all," Mozaffarian said, citing food served not only at restaurants, but at bakeries, cafeterias and schools.
New York resident Diana Fiorini said she's just recently started paying attention to labels. Holding a box of microwave popcorn at a Manhattan store, she scanned the label and was happy to see that it listed zero grams trans fat.
"I look at the labels. It's still hard to stop yourself when you know you should," she said.
___
On the Net:
American Heart Association: http://www.americanheart.org
NEW YORK - Stroll the aisles of any grocery store and you're sure to spot labels declaring "zero grams trans fat" on the front of snack foods, cookies and crackers. But does zero really mean there's NO artery-clogging fat inside?
Maybe, maybe not.
Federal regulations allow food labels to say there's zero grams of trans fat as long as there's less than half a gram per serving. And many packages contain more than what's considered one serving.
"The problem is that often people eat a lot more than one serving," said Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian of Harvard School of Public Health. "In fact, many people eat two to three servings at a time."
Those small amounts of trans fat can add up, said Michael Jacobson of the consumer advocacy Center for Science in the Public Interest. To find out if there might be some trans fat, he said shoppers can check the list of ingredients to see if partially hydrogenated oil — the primary source of trans fat — is included.
"When it says zero grams, that means something different from no trans fat," said Jacobson. His group has urged the government to bar food producers from using any partially hydrogenated oils at all.
The Food and Drug Administration began forcing food companies to list the amount of trans fat on nutrition labels of packaged foods in January 2006. That led many companies to switch to alternative fats.
Trans fat occurs naturally in some dairy and meat products, but the main source is partially hydrogenated oils, formed when hydrogen is added to liquid vegetable oils to harden them.
Consumer groups and health officials have campaigned to get rid of trans fat because it contributes to heart disease by raising levels of LDL or bad cholesterol while lowering HDL or good cholesterol. Fast-food restaurants are switching to trans fat-free oils and New York City and Philadelphia are forcing restaurants to phase out their use of trans fat.
The American Heart Association recommends that people limit trans fats to less than 2 grams per day.
Julie Moss of the FDA's Office of Nutrition, Labeling and Dietary Supplements, said the half-gram threshold for labeling was adopted because it is difficult to measure trans fat at low levels and the same half-gram limit is used for listing saturated fat. She said the FDA would soon be doing consumer research on trans fat labeling, including whether a footnote such as "Keep your intake of trans fat as low as possible" should be added to food labels.
Robert Earl of the Grocery Manufacturers Association said any trans fat in products labeled zero trans fat is likely to be far less than the half-gram threshold. For example, he said, a little partially hydrogenated oil might be used to help seasoning stick.
"I think the industry has been extremely responsive. Most of them were ahead of the curve to either remove or reduce trans fat in most food products," he said.
Earl said shoppers should be looking at the entire food label.
Jacobson is also concerned that people are focusing too much on the trans fat content alone, and not considering other ingredients such as saturated fat, which also raises the risk of heart disease.
"The bigger problem is foods that have no labels at all," Mozaffarian said, citing food served not only at restaurants, but at bakeries, cafeterias and schools.
New York resident Diana Fiorini said she's just recently started paying attention to labels. Holding a box of microwave popcorn at a Manhattan store, she scanned the label and was happy to see that it listed zero grams trans fat.
"I look at the labels. It's still hard to stop yourself when you know you should," she said.
___
On the Net:
American Heart Association: http://www.americanheart.org
Friday, August 17, 2007
Cassidy: Working out with fitness legend Jack LaLanne
By Mike Cassidy
Mercury News Columnist
Article Launched: 08/17/2007 01:35:03 AM PDT
Fitness pioneer Jack LaLanne interview
Work out with Jack LaLanne?
Sure. How hard could it be? What is he, about 180 years old?
So there I was outside San Jose's Fairmont Hotel at the crack of dawn Thursday, approaching a short man in a chair who was watching the crowd gather for a community exercise class led by the legendary fitness guru himself.
Yes, the Jack LaLanne. The godfather of fitness. The man whose "The Jack LaLanne Show" brought regular workouts to living rooms nationwide from 1951 to 1984. The man we have to blame for all this healthy living.
I stroll over and start to introduce myself.
"Shut up," he barks. "No autographs. Well, except yours. Say, you look pretty good. Can I have your number?"
For a minute I'm trying to remember whether I've come to see Jack LaLanne or Robin Williams. But I learn a lot from LaLanne - quick.
First, he's 92, not 180. And this guy could bench-press me. With one hand. Turns out I'm the proverbial 98-pound weakling, facing down the 92-year-old he-man.
Jack LaLanne is a force of nature, a physical dynamo, a comic, a cut-up, a guy who has so many bromides that it seems he's rattling them off rapid-fire to make sure he doesn't run out of time before he gets to them all.
The reason Americans are obese? "They're exceeding the eat limit." Why avoid sweets? "Ten minutes on the lips; a lifetime on the hips."
LaLanne is in town to promote the U.S. gymnastics national championship at
Advertisement
HP Pavilion this weekend. He's also here to promote fitness. And, well, himself.
"I'm a salesman," says LaLanne, decked out in a blue track suit. "I get them laughing. I get them crying."
I tell LaLanne I've come to work out with him and interview him. Silly me. You don't interview Jack LaLanne. You stand back and listen.
You've got to exercise, he says. Vigorously.
"You can't just be sitting on your big, fat butt and watching TV," he says.
My big, fat butt? And suddenly I wonder whether he notices the doughnut crumbs stuck to my sweat shirt. I ask him what it is with exercise people. Why do they have to exercise so freaking early in the morning?
You're too tired at the end of the day, LaLanne says. Besides, it's good for you. "To leave a hot bed, to leave a hot woman and go into a cold gym," he says, "man, that takes discipline."
There's got to be an easier way, right? Some magic fitness pill?
"You know what the magic pill is, baby? Having goals."
His goal, even since before he opened his first health club in Oakland in the 1930s, was to help people. Sure, along the way he built a lucrative empire of gyms, juicers and videos. But that wasn't the goal. That all happened because of the goal.
"Let me see you get on the floor and do push-ups until you die," LaLanne erupts.
"Where's the fun in that?" I ask. I figure it must be the doughnut crumbs. But no, he's making a point. Exercise won't kill you. Your body knows when to stop. So do what you can.
Eventually, LaLanne takes the stage to fire up the crowd of about 80 early-morning fitness freaks in the Circle of Palms downtown. One thing I notice: LaLanne's buff assistants actually do the working out. LaLanne does a lot of encouraging - "Let me see you squat. Drop your butt down. Way down." - but he doesn't do any exercising. Could that be his secret?
No such luck. He tells me he put in 45 minutes in his hotel room before the 6:30 a.m. event. In fact, LaLanne, who now lives in Morro Bay, says he works out seven days a week. He never drinks coffee or eats anything "that comes from a cow or a pig."
So I ask whether it might be better to live 50 years of a wild life than 100 years of a disciplined one.
Not a chance, LaLanne says. Life is what it's all about. And he's more than willing to do the work to make his an incredibly long one.
"Man ought to live to be 120," he says.
Well, I don't know about me. But I do know one guy who's got a chance.
Read Mike Cassidy's Loose Ends blog at blogs.mercurynews.com/cassidy. Contact him at mcassidy@mercurynews.com or (408) 920-5536.
Video: Fitness pioneer Jack LaLanne interview
By koci
Thursday, August 16th, 2007 at 1:45 pm
Fitness pioneer Jack LaLanne, was among the celebrities who participated in the activities surrounding the USA Gymnastics’ national championships on August 18, 2007, in San Jose, Calif. Video by Mike Cassidy/Mercury News
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Menopause hard on couple's sex lives
1 hour, 52 minutes ago
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - When a woman enters menopause, her sex life and that of her partner may suffer, according to a survey in which more than half of the women reported a decrease in sex drive and in the amount of sex they were having since entering menopause.
Overall, 46 percent of menopausal women surveyed reported having sex less than once per month and most women felt that this was hurting their relationship.
"Menopausal women are having less sex and it's impacting our relationships," Karen Giblin noted in a telephone interview with Reuters Health. "Frankly, through the Red Hot Mamas menopause education programs, I have heard that a lot of women would rather go shoe shopping than have sex, and that concerns me."
The survey, including more than 1,000 women, 35 years or older, who were just beginning, just ending, or in the middle of menopause, was conducted between June 20 and July 2, 2007.
"We are the baby-boom generation who is now entering menopause; we are the women who lived through the sexual revolution in the 60s and now we are having our own sexual revolution, of a different kind," said Giblin, the founder of the Red Hot Mamas organization (www.redhotmamas.org), which commissioned the Sex and Menopause Survey. The survey was sponsored by Duramed Pharmaceuticals and conducted by Harris Interactive.
Four hundred sixty nine of these women -- about 44 percent -- reported suffering from vaginal symptoms such as vaginal atrophy (vaginal narrowing or shrinkage), which can cause vaginal dryness and painful sex.
Eighty-eight percent of women experiencing vaginal atrophy said it was causing them problems and 47 percent said that they have avoided, made an excuse, or stopped having sex altogether because of physical discomfort during intercourse.
Vaginal dryness, in particular, plagued more than half of menopausal women surveyed and this resulted in two thirds of them having less sex. "Seventy percent of the women did not know that therapies are available to relieve vaginal dryness," Giblin noted.
"There are over-the-counter products to combat dryness and your physician has a treasure chest of prescription medications to relieve vaginal dryness," she added.
Giblin believes men need menopause education just as much as women. "It's not only important that a woman have a thorough understanding of the menopause process." Men should also because the symptoms of menopause "can be very hard on relationships," Giblin said.
"If a partner sees a decrease in sex with their partner, often times the partner becomes resentful and feels that the woman has lost interest and it isn't necessarily true," Giblin said. "It's very critical for women and their significant other to stay really connected during menopause."
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - When a woman enters menopause, her sex life and that of her partner may suffer, according to a survey in which more than half of the women reported a decrease in sex drive and in the amount of sex they were having since entering menopause.
Overall, 46 percent of menopausal women surveyed reported having sex less than once per month and most women felt that this was hurting their relationship.
"Menopausal women are having less sex and it's impacting our relationships," Karen Giblin noted in a telephone interview with Reuters Health. "Frankly, through the Red Hot Mamas menopause education programs, I have heard that a lot of women would rather go shoe shopping than have sex, and that concerns me."
The survey, including more than 1,000 women, 35 years or older, who were just beginning, just ending, or in the middle of menopause, was conducted between June 20 and July 2, 2007.
"We are the baby-boom generation who is now entering menopause; we are the women who lived through the sexual revolution in the 60s and now we are having our own sexual revolution, of a different kind," said Giblin, the founder of the Red Hot Mamas organization (www.redhotmamas.org), which commissioned the Sex and Menopause Survey. The survey was sponsored by Duramed Pharmaceuticals and conducted by Harris Interactive.
Four hundred sixty nine of these women -- about 44 percent -- reported suffering from vaginal symptoms such as vaginal atrophy (vaginal narrowing or shrinkage), which can cause vaginal dryness and painful sex.
Eighty-eight percent of women experiencing vaginal atrophy said it was causing them problems and 47 percent said that they have avoided, made an excuse, or stopped having sex altogether because of physical discomfort during intercourse.
Vaginal dryness, in particular, plagued more than half of menopausal women surveyed and this resulted in two thirds of them having less sex. "Seventy percent of the women did not know that therapies are available to relieve vaginal dryness," Giblin noted.
"There are over-the-counter products to combat dryness and your physician has a treasure chest of prescription medications to relieve vaginal dryness," she added.
Giblin believes men need menopause education just as much as women. "It's not only important that a woman have a thorough understanding of the menopause process." Men should also because the symptoms of menopause "can be very hard on relationships," Giblin said.
"If a partner sees a decrease in sex with their partner, often times the partner becomes resentful and feels that the woman has lost interest and it isn't necessarily true," Giblin said. "It's very critical for women and their significant other to stay really connected during menopause."
Healthy Lifestyle Key To Cancer Prevention
By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter 33 minutes ago
THURSDAY, August 16 (HealthDay News) -- While the number of deaths from cancer have been declining, many malignancies could be prevented by exercising, eating right, maintaining a healthy weight and not smoking, a new federal report finds.
The President's Cancer Panel issues a report every year that focuses on one aspect of what is happening in the United States in terms of cancer.
This year's effort "centers on lifestyle changes, and two issues that are actually quite different," said panel member Margaret L. Kripke, executive vice president and chief academic officer at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, in Houston.
One issue is nutrition, exercise and the fight against obesity, and the other is the battle to cut tobacco use, Kripke said.
"We tried to think of what would have the biggest impact on reducing cancer mortality," she said. "If you consider that 15 to 20 percent of cancer deaths are related to obesity and another 30 percent of cancer deaths are due to tobacco use, that's 50 percent of all people with cancer."
And quitting smoking and avoiding obesity are things that people can do themselves, Kripke noted. But, as she and other experts know, it's not easy to get people to make the lifestyle changes they should.
"The most serious lack, in terms of what we know, is what motivates people to live a healthier lifestyle," she said.
The experts call for a move toward a "culture of wellness" in the United States. This culture would embrace healthy living as a goal and promote a healthy lifestyle as a way of achieving wellness.
Despite progress in diagnosis and treatment, cancer continues to account for more than a half million deaths each year in the United States, with almost 1.5 million new cases diagnosed annually. Two-thirds of these deaths, and many thousands of new cases, could be avoided through lifestyle changes, according to the report.
Tobacco is the leading cause of lung cancer, but it's also responsible for most cancers of the larynx, oral cavity and pharynx, esophagus and bladder. In addition, it is a cause of kidney, pancreatic, cervical and stomach cancers, along with acute myeloid leukemia. "We really need to get rid of tobacco," Kripke said.
Obesity has been linked to a variety of cancers, including colon, breast, kidney, ovarian and pancreatic cancer. "There are very definitive studies showing that moderate exercise reduces your risk of breast cancer and colon cancer," Kripke said.
In addition, living a healthy lifestyle lowers a person's risk of cancer recurrence and improves outcomes after cancer, Kripke said.
The causes of the obesity epidemic in the United States are complex, Kripke said. The epidemic started in the 1970s about the time that food makers started using high fructose corn syrup as an additive. In addition, portion sizes in restaurants increased as schools cut back on exercise programs.
The obesity problem has grown steadily over the past 30 years. "I don't think there is going to be a quick fix," she said.
One recommendation the panel made in the report is to have subsidies for corn farmers curtailed. "There doesn't seem to be coordination between agricultural subsidies and public health policy for diet and nutrition," Kripke said.
"Subsidies for corn make corn syrup very cheap and it's not nutritionally what you want in all of your foods," Kripke said. "It might make more sense to make agricultural subsidies for fruits and vegetables that would be more healthy for the population."
Although the White House doesn't usually comment on the report, Kripke hopes that it will spur government officials to develop programs that help people make necessary lifestyle changes.
One expert agreed that societal changes are to blame for ever-heavier Americans.
"Obesity has been brought about by changes in our environment, not by any increase in the number of susceptible people," said Eugenia Calle, director of Analytic Epidemiology at the American Cancer Society.
Calle argues that while once fats and sugars were relatively expensive, they are now cheap. "It used to be impossible to buy a great deal of calories for $2.99, and now it is possible to buy one day's allotment of calories for less than $10," she said. "So now calorie-dense foods are cheap."
In contrast, fruits and vegetables are more expensive than they used to be, Calle said. "So, it becomes economically more difficult to make good food choices, especially if you don't have a lot of income," she said. In addition, people have become more sedentary, she added.
"The best idea in the report is implementing a culture of wellness in the U.S., so that the social and cultural norm is one of health," Calle said.
More information
For more information on cancer and lifestyle, visit the American Cancer Society.
HealthDay Reporter 33 minutes ago
THURSDAY, August 16 (HealthDay News) -- While the number of deaths from cancer have been declining, many malignancies could be prevented by exercising, eating right, maintaining a healthy weight and not smoking, a new federal report finds.
The President's Cancer Panel issues a report every year that focuses on one aspect of what is happening in the United States in terms of cancer.
This year's effort "centers on lifestyle changes, and two issues that are actually quite different," said panel member Margaret L. Kripke, executive vice president and chief academic officer at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, in Houston.
One issue is nutrition, exercise and the fight against obesity, and the other is the battle to cut tobacco use, Kripke said.
"We tried to think of what would have the biggest impact on reducing cancer mortality," she said. "If you consider that 15 to 20 percent of cancer deaths are related to obesity and another 30 percent of cancer deaths are due to tobacco use, that's 50 percent of all people with cancer."
And quitting smoking and avoiding obesity are things that people can do themselves, Kripke noted. But, as she and other experts know, it's not easy to get people to make the lifestyle changes they should.
"The most serious lack, in terms of what we know, is what motivates people to live a healthier lifestyle," she said.
The experts call for a move toward a "culture of wellness" in the United States. This culture would embrace healthy living as a goal and promote a healthy lifestyle as a way of achieving wellness.
Despite progress in diagnosis and treatment, cancer continues to account for more than a half million deaths each year in the United States, with almost 1.5 million new cases diagnosed annually. Two-thirds of these deaths, and many thousands of new cases, could be avoided through lifestyle changes, according to the report.
Tobacco is the leading cause of lung cancer, but it's also responsible for most cancers of the larynx, oral cavity and pharynx, esophagus and bladder. In addition, it is a cause of kidney, pancreatic, cervical and stomach cancers, along with acute myeloid leukemia. "We really need to get rid of tobacco," Kripke said.
Obesity has been linked to a variety of cancers, including colon, breast, kidney, ovarian and pancreatic cancer. "There are very definitive studies showing that moderate exercise reduces your risk of breast cancer and colon cancer," Kripke said.
In addition, living a healthy lifestyle lowers a person's risk of cancer recurrence and improves outcomes after cancer, Kripke said.
The causes of the obesity epidemic in the United States are complex, Kripke said. The epidemic started in the 1970s about the time that food makers started using high fructose corn syrup as an additive. In addition, portion sizes in restaurants increased as schools cut back on exercise programs.
The obesity problem has grown steadily over the past 30 years. "I don't think there is going to be a quick fix," she said.
One recommendation the panel made in the report is to have subsidies for corn farmers curtailed. "There doesn't seem to be coordination between agricultural subsidies and public health policy for diet and nutrition," Kripke said.
"Subsidies for corn make corn syrup very cheap and it's not nutritionally what you want in all of your foods," Kripke said. "It might make more sense to make agricultural subsidies for fruits and vegetables that would be more healthy for the population."
Although the White House doesn't usually comment on the report, Kripke hopes that it will spur government officials to develop programs that help people make necessary lifestyle changes.
One expert agreed that societal changes are to blame for ever-heavier Americans.
"Obesity has been brought about by changes in our environment, not by any increase in the number of susceptible people," said Eugenia Calle, director of Analytic Epidemiology at the American Cancer Society.
Calle argues that while once fats and sugars were relatively expensive, they are now cheap. "It used to be impossible to buy a great deal of calories for $2.99, and now it is possible to buy one day's allotment of calories for less than $10," she said. "So now calorie-dense foods are cheap."
In contrast, fruits and vegetables are more expensive than they used to be, Calle said. "So, it becomes economically more difficult to make good food choices, especially if you don't have a lot of income," she said. In addition, people have become more sedentary, she added.
"The best idea in the report is implementing a culture of wellness in the U.S., so that the social and cultural norm is one of health," Calle said.
More information
For more information on cancer and lifestyle, visit the American Cancer Society.
Monday, August 13, 2007
Diet foods might cause kids to overeat
Mon Aug 13, 12:34 PM ET
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The diet sodas and snacks so popular with weight-conscious adults may backfire in children, if new animal research is correct.
In experiments with juvenile rats, researchers at the University of Alberta in Canada found that animals that became used to diet foods tended to overeat during meals of regular-calorie animal chow.
This was true for normal-weight and obese rat pups, the researchers found. However, diet foods did not appear to have an overeating effect in adolescent rats.
This suggests that the foods have some unique effect in young animals, and possibly children, the study authors report in the journal Obesity.
They suspect that diet foods disrupted the young animals' ability to learn how various flavors correlate with calories. When they associate tastes, such as sweet or salty, with few calories, even a rich dessert may fail to fill them up as it otherwise would.
It's possible that children given artificially low-calorie snacks and diet sodas might not learn to properly regulate their food intake, according to lead study author Dr. W. David Pierce.
"One thing is clear at this point," he said in a statement. "Young animals and perhaps children can be made to overeat when calorie-wise foods are offered on a daily basis, subverting the body's energy-balance system."
He and his colleagues recommend that parents give their children a well-balanced diet of foods in their natural form, including naturally low-calorie foods like fruits and vegetables.
The findings are based on a series of experiments with young rats, both normal, lean animals and those genetically prone to obesity. Over 16 days, the animals were regularly given gelatin cubes that contained starch, as well as a starch-free "diet" version of the snack.
For some animals, the starchy cubes were flavored with an artificial sweetener and the diet version was flavored with a salty solution. These flavors were reversed for other animals.
After 16 days of this taste training, the researchers gave all the animals a high-calorie snack dipped in either artificial sweetener or a salty solution. They then gave the rats a meal of their regular chow.
Pierce's team found that the animals tended to overeat during the meal if their pre-meal snack had been dipped in a flavor they'd learn to associate with a low-calorie food -- despite the snack's actual high calorie content.
The phenomenon was seen in both lean and obesity-prone rat pups, but the heavier animals generally ate more than their normal-weight counterparts, the researchers point out.
So it's possible, they say, that diet foods could be especially detrimental in the children already at the greatest risk of long-term weight problems.
SOURCE: Obesity, August 2007.
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The diet sodas and snacks so popular with weight-conscious adults may backfire in children, if new animal research is correct.
In experiments with juvenile rats, researchers at the University of Alberta in Canada found that animals that became used to diet foods tended to overeat during meals of regular-calorie animal chow.
This was true for normal-weight and obese rat pups, the researchers found. However, diet foods did not appear to have an overeating effect in adolescent rats.
This suggests that the foods have some unique effect in young animals, and possibly children, the study authors report in the journal Obesity.
They suspect that diet foods disrupted the young animals' ability to learn how various flavors correlate with calories. When they associate tastes, such as sweet or salty, with few calories, even a rich dessert may fail to fill them up as it otherwise would.
It's possible that children given artificially low-calorie snacks and diet sodas might not learn to properly regulate their food intake, according to lead study author Dr. W. David Pierce.
"One thing is clear at this point," he said in a statement. "Young animals and perhaps children can be made to overeat when calorie-wise foods are offered on a daily basis, subverting the body's energy-balance system."
He and his colleagues recommend that parents give their children a well-balanced diet of foods in their natural form, including naturally low-calorie foods like fruits and vegetables.
The findings are based on a series of experiments with young rats, both normal, lean animals and those genetically prone to obesity. Over 16 days, the animals were regularly given gelatin cubes that contained starch, as well as a starch-free "diet" version of the snack.
For some animals, the starchy cubes were flavored with an artificial sweetener and the diet version was flavored with a salty solution. These flavors were reversed for other animals.
After 16 days of this taste training, the researchers gave all the animals a high-calorie snack dipped in either artificial sweetener or a salty solution. They then gave the rats a meal of their regular chow.
Pierce's team found that the animals tended to overeat during the meal if their pre-meal snack had been dipped in a flavor they'd learn to associate with a low-calorie food -- despite the snack's actual high calorie content.
The phenomenon was seen in both lean and obesity-prone rat pups, but the heavier animals generally ate more than their normal-weight counterparts, the researchers point out.
So it's possible, they say, that diet foods could be especially detrimental in the children already at the greatest risk of long-term weight problems.
SOURCE: Obesity, August 2007.
Study: Early diet advice for kids sticks
By JAMIE STENGLE, Associated Press Writer Mon Aug 13, 5:57 PM ET
DALLAS - Teaching children from a young age to eat a low-fat diet can be effective — even as they reach their teens and begin eating more meals away from home, according to a new study.
The study of children in Finland found that those who were taught to focus on healthy fats — those found in fish, nuts, seeds and oils from plants — had slightly lower cholesterol levels compared to those who ate an unrestricted diet.
The researchers have been following the 1,062 children since the age of 7 months. About half of the children and their families were counseled to shift fat intake from animal-based saturated fats to healthier unsaturated fats. The rest did not get specific diet advice. The new study reported the results on the children at age 14.
Dr. Harri Niinikoski, lead author of the study done at the University of Turku in Finland, said children begin forming their eating and lifestyle habits in childhood.
"We think that this lifestyle change can be started early," he said.
Researchers also note that fears that a low intake of saturated fat might influence growth and brain development in young children are unfounded. At age of 14, there were no differences between the groups in height or weight, they found. An earlier study of the groups found no differences in brain development at age 5.
Dr. Sarah Blumenschein, a pediatric cardiologist with the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, said the study shows that early intervention is the key to maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
"The earlier you intervene, the more likely you are going to be successful," she said.
For the children in the diet-counseling group, families were told to give them skim milk beginning at age 1, keep daily cholesterol intake at less than 200 mg and aim for a fat intake of 30 to 35 percent of their daily calories.
By the age of 7, the diet information was aimed more toward the children instead of their parents.
Food journals were kept for several days each year to monitor the child's diet. The study, published in online editions Monday of the American Heart Association journal Circulation, showed that the counseled kids had a diet lower in total fat and saturated fat and higher in protein and carbohydrates than the comparison group.
Niinikoski said that they don't have any reason to believe that the families were eating any differently for the rest of the year.
"Our results about the cholesterol values tell the same story, so it must be coming from the diet," he said.
While the group that got specific dietary counseling had lower cholesterol readings than the other group, the difference was statistically significant for boys but not for girls — a difference of about 5 percent in boys and 2-4 percent in girls depending on age, Niinikoski said. He said that the reasons for the difference between boys and girls was not studied, but it might have to do with hormonal differences or exercise habits.
But doctors say that even a small decrease in cholesterol levels can have a big influence.
"If you study large numbers of people, the small increments result in a significant change in heart attacks and cardiac deaths," said Dr. Art Labovitz, cardiology director at Saint Louis University School of Medicine.
Labovitz said that people often don't realize that what they do for the first 40 to 50 years of their life has an effect on their chance of heart attacks and heart disease.
Dr. Stuart Berger, medical director of the Herma Heart Center at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin, said there's no reason the same results wouldn't be seen in American children if they adhered to such a diet.
"I think that the biggest challenge in the U.S. would be compliance to the diet," said Berger.
DALLAS - Teaching children from a young age to eat a low-fat diet can be effective — even as they reach their teens and begin eating more meals away from home, according to a new study.
The study of children in Finland found that those who were taught to focus on healthy fats — those found in fish, nuts, seeds and oils from plants — had slightly lower cholesterol levels compared to those who ate an unrestricted diet.
The researchers have been following the 1,062 children since the age of 7 months. About half of the children and their families were counseled to shift fat intake from animal-based saturated fats to healthier unsaturated fats. The rest did not get specific diet advice. The new study reported the results on the children at age 14.
Dr. Harri Niinikoski, lead author of the study done at the University of Turku in Finland, said children begin forming their eating and lifestyle habits in childhood.
"We think that this lifestyle change can be started early," he said.
Researchers also note that fears that a low intake of saturated fat might influence growth and brain development in young children are unfounded. At age of 14, there were no differences between the groups in height or weight, they found. An earlier study of the groups found no differences in brain development at age 5.
Dr. Sarah Blumenschein, a pediatric cardiologist with the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, said the study shows that early intervention is the key to maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
"The earlier you intervene, the more likely you are going to be successful," she said.
For the children in the diet-counseling group, families were told to give them skim milk beginning at age 1, keep daily cholesterol intake at less than 200 mg and aim for a fat intake of 30 to 35 percent of their daily calories.
By the age of 7, the diet information was aimed more toward the children instead of their parents.
Food journals were kept for several days each year to monitor the child's diet. The study, published in online editions Monday of the American Heart Association journal Circulation, showed that the counseled kids had a diet lower in total fat and saturated fat and higher in protein and carbohydrates than the comparison group.
Niinikoski said that they don't have any reason to believe that the families were eating any differently for the rest of the year.
"Our results about the cholesterol values tell the same story, so it must be coming from the diet," he said.
While the group that got specific dietary counseling had lower cholesterol readings than the other group, the difference was statistically significant for boys but not for girls — a difference of about 5 percent in boys and 2-4 percent in girls depending on age, Niinikoski said. He said that the reasons for the difference between boys and girls was not studied, but it might have to do with hormonal differences or exercise habits.
But doctors say that even a small decrease in cholesterol levels can have a big influence.
"If you study large numbers of people, the small increments result in a significant change in heart attacks and cardiac deaths," said Dr. Art Labovitz, cardiology director at Saint Louis University School of Medicine.
Labovitz said that people often don't realize that what they do for the first 40 to 50 years of their life has an effect on their chance of heart attacks and heart disease.
Dr. Stuart Berger, medical director of the Herma Heart Center at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin, said there's no reason the same results wouldn't be seen in American children if they adhered to such a diet.
"I think that the biggest challenge in the U.S. would be compliance to the diet," said Berger.
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Health Tip: Risk Factors for Prostate Cancer
Wed Aug 8, 7:01 PM ET
(HealthDay News) -- Prostate cancer is one of the most common cancers that affect men. While most cases aren't fatal, it is important to understand the risk factors for the disease to help recognize symptoms and begin treatment early.
The U.S. National Cancer Institute lists these potential risk factors for prostate cancer:
* Aging.
* High levels of testosterone.
* A high-fat diet, which may increase the risk. (A low-fat diet rich in fruits and vegetables may help the risk.)
* Blacks are at much greater risk of prostate cancer, whites are at intermediate risk, and Japanese have the lowest average risk.
(HealthDay News) -- Prostate cancer is one of the most common cancers that affect men. While most cases aren't fatal, it is important to understand the risk factors for the disease to help recognize symptoms and begin treatment early.
The U.S. National Cancer Institute lists these potential risk factors for prostate cancer:
* Aging.
* High levels of testosterone.
* A high-fat diet, which may increase the risk. (A low-fat diet rich in fruits and vegetables may help the risk.)
* Blacks are at much greater risk of prostate cancer, whites are at intermediate risk, and Japanese have the lowest average risk.
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Maternal Obesity Heightens Risk of Birth Defects
By Amanda Gardner
HealthDay Reporter 15 minutes ago
TUESDAY, Aug. 7 (HealthDay News) -- Women who were obese before they became pregnant had a higher risk of having babies with certain birth defects, including missing limbs, malformed hearts and underdeveloped spinal cords, a new study found.
But the researchers cautioned that overweight women planning to get pregnant should try to lose weight sensibly and carefully.
"We would advise women who are obese to try to maintain a healthy weight, engage in moderate exercise and follow a healthy daily diet," said study lead author Kim Waller, associate professor of epidemiology at the University of Texas at Houston's School of Public Health. "Multivitamins both before and after a woman becomes pregnant are very important."
In particular, women are advised to take 400 micrograms of folic acid daily both before pregnancy and during pregnancy. A multivitamin will usually satisfy this recommendation.
And women should not try fad diets.
"We don't want women who are thinking of becoming pregnant or who are pregnant to rush out and go on a crash diet," Waller cautioned. "If you become pregnant, then, sure, maybe try to lose some weight, but do so very, very carefully and maintain a healthy diet while you're doing so."
"You have to be of a healthy weight not only for yourself but also for a healthy pregnancy," added Dr. Jennifer Wu, an obstetrician/gynecologist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. "You want to try to get down to a healthy weight before you even get pregnant in the first place. Pregnancy is not the time to do a crash diet to try to lose weight."
In 2003 and 2004, 51 percent of U.S. women aged 20 to 39 were overweight or obese, putting them at increased risk for chronic diseases, infertility, irregular menstruation and pregnancy complications, according to background information in the study.
Previous research had shown a strong association between pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI, a ratio of weight to height) and the risk for certain birth defects, particularly anencephaly -- a defect in the closure of the neural tube, which forms the brain and spinal cord of the embryo -- and spina bifida.
The link between overweight and obesity and other birth defects has been less clear.
According to the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, as many as one in 33 babies born in the United States has a birth defect.
For the new study, the largest of its kind, Waller and her colleagues interviewed 10,249 women in eight states whose babies had been born with birth defects between 1997 and 2002. Information on the women came from the National Birth Defects Prevention Study.
These women were then compared to 4,065 women who had given birth to babies without birth defects during the same time period.
Sixteen birth defects were studied. Of those, mothers of babies with the following seven birth defects were more likely to have been obese than mothers of infants without birth defects:
* Spina bifida, or the incomplete development of the brain, spinal cord and/or meninges (the protective covering around the brain and spinal cord). This is the most common neural tube defect in the United States and affects up to 2,000 of the more than 4 million babies born annually, according to the National Institutes of Health.
* Heart defects.
* Anorectal atresia, or malformation of the anal opening.
* Hypospadias, or an abnormally placed urethral opening in males -- on the underside instead of the end of the penis.
* Limb reduction defects, such as small or missing toes, fingers, arms or legs.
* Diaphragmatic hernia, an opening in the diaphragm that allows abdominal organs to move into the chest cavity. This may also cause lungs to be underdeveloped.
* Omphalocele, when the intestines or other abdominal organs protrude through the navel.
The study authors noted that the overall risk of having a child with a birth defect related to obesity is low. And mothers of babies born with gastroschisis (when organs protrude through a defect in the abdominal wall other than the navel) were less likely to be obese than mothers of babies without birth defects.
The findings are published in the August issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.
It's not clear why the association between pre-pregnancy obesity and birth defects exists.
"We know that obese women have a higher risk of certain defects, but we don't know if obesity is the direct cause," Waller said. "There could be other explanations, such as different types of diet, different ways of dieting when they're dieting. We were not able to exclude women with diabetes, and that is a very strong risk factor for birth defects, so we think there may be undiagnosed cases of diabetes remaining with the study."
Future research will look at dieting techniques and the risk of birth defects, as well as any links between over-the-counter diuretics and appetite suppressants and birth defects.
More information
Find out more about a healthy pregnancy at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
HealthDay Reporter 15 minutes ago
TUESDAY, Aug. 7 (HealthDay News) -- Women who were obese before they became pregnant had a higher risk of having babies with certain birth defects, including missing limbs, malformed hearts and underdeveloped spinal cords, a new study found.
But the researchers cautioned that overweight women planning to get pregnant should try to lose weight sensibly and carefully.
"We would advise women who are obese to try to maintain a healthy weight, engage in moderate exercise and follow a healthy daily diet," said study lead author Kim Waller, associate professor of epidemiology at the University of Texas at Houston's School of Public Health. "Multivitamins both before and after a woman becomes pregnant are very important."
In particular, women are advised to take 400 micrograms of folic acid daily both before pregnancy and during pregnancy. A multivitamin will usually satisfy this recommendation.
And women should not try fad diets.
"We don't want women who are thinking of becoming pregnant or who are pregnant to rush out and go on a crash diet," Waller cautioned. "If you become pregnant, then, sure, maybe try to lose some weight, but do so very, very carefully and maintain a healthy diet while you're doing so."
"You have to be of a healthy weight not only for yourself but also for a healthy pregnancy," added Dr. Jennifer Wu, an obstetrician/gynecologist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. "You want to try to get down to a healthy weight before you even get pregnant in the first place. Pregnancy is not the time to do a crash diet to try to lose weight."
In 2003 and 2004, 51 percent of U.S. women aged 20 to 39 were overweight or obese, putting them at increased risk for chronic diseases, infertility, irregular menstruation and pregnancy complications, according to background information in the study.
Previous research had shown a strong association between pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI, a ratio of weight to height) and the risk for certain birth defects, particularly anencephaly -- a defect in the closure of the neural tube, which forms the brain and spinal cord of the embryo -- and spina bifida.
The link between overweight and obesity and other birth defects has been less clear.
According to the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, as many as one in 33 babies born in the United States has a birth defect.
For the new study, the largest of its kind, Waller and her colleagues interviewed 10,249 women in eight states whose babies had been born with birth defects between 1997 and 2002. Information on the women came from the National Birth Defects Prevention Study.
These women were then compared to 4,065 women who had given birth to babies without birth defects during the same time period.
Sixteen birth defects were studied. Of those, mothers of babies with the following seven birth defects were more likely to have been obese than mothers of infants without birth defects:
* Spina bifida, or the incomplete development of the brain, spinal cord and/or meninges (the protective covering around the brain and spinal cord). This is the most common neural tube defect in the United States and affects up to 2,000 of the more than 4 million babies born annually, according to the National Institutes of Health.
* Heart defects.
* Anorectal atresia, or malformation of the anal opening.
* Hypospadias, or an abnormally placed urethral opening in males -- on the underside instead of the end of the penis.
* Limb reduction defects, such as small or missing toes, fingers, arms or legs.
* Diaphragmatic hernia, an opening in the diaphragm that allows abdominal organs to move into the chest cavity. This may also cause lungs to be underdeveloped.
* Omphalocele, when the intestines or other abdominal organs protrude through the navel.
The study authors noted that the overall risk of having a child with a birth defect related to obesity is low. And mothers of babies born with gastroschisis (when organs protrude through a defect in the abdominal wall other than the navel) were less likely to be obese than mothers of babies without birth defects.
The findings are published in the August issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.
It's not clear why the association between pre-pregnancy obesity and birth defects exists.
"We know that obese women have a higher risk of certain defects, but we don't know if obesity is the direct cause," Waller said. "There could be other explanations, such as different types of diet, different ways of dieting when they're dieting. We were not able to exclude women with diabetes, and that is a very strong risk factor for birth defects, so we think there may be undiagnosed cases of diabetes remaining with the study."
Future research will look at dieting techniques and the risk of birth defects, as well as any links between over-the-counter diuretics and appetite suppressants and birth defects.
More information
Find out more about a healthy pregnancy at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Monday, August 6, 2007
Health Tip: Adjusting to a Move
1 hour, 16 minutes ago
(HealthDay News) -- Changing homes can be a stressful ordeal, particularly for young
The Nemours Foundation offers these suggestions to help young children cope with the stress of a move:
* While explaining details of the move, keep it clear and simple.
* Tell them a story about the move, and use their toys to act it out.
* Let them help pack up their toys, and make sure they understand that the toys will be at the new home, too.
* If you can, take your child to visit the new home several times, and try taking toys over each time you go.
* Try to keep your child's bedroom furniture the same.
* Just before and after the move, don't try to make any other changes in your child's life, like toilet training or moving to a bed from a crib.
* Have your child stay with a babysitter while the furniture and belongings are moved to the new home.
(HealthDay News) -- Changing homes can be a stressful ordeal, particularly for young
The Nemours Foundation offers these suggestions to help young children cope with the stress of a move:
* While explaining details of the move, keep it clear and simple.
* Tell them a story about the move, and use their toys to act it out.
* Let them help pack up their toys, and make sure they understand that the toys will be at the new home, too.
* If you can, take your child to visit the new home several times, and try taking toys over each time you go.
* Try to keep your child's bedroom furniture the same.
* Just before and after the move, don't try to make any other changes in your child's life, like toilet training or moving to a bed from a crib.
* Have your child stay with a babysitter while the furniture and belongings are moved to the new home.
German has pencil in head removed after 55 years
Mon Aug 6, 5:21 AM ET
BERLIN (Reuters) - A 59-year-old German woman has had most of a pencil removed from inside her head after suffering nearly her whole life with the headaches and nosebleeds it caused, Bild newspaper reported on Monday.
Margret Wegner fell over carrying the pencil in her hand when she was four.
"The pencil went right through my skin -- and disappeared into my head," Wegner told the newspaper.
It narrowly missed vital parts of her brain.
At the time no one dared operate, but now technology has improved sufficiently for doctors to be able to remove it.
The majority of the pencil, some 8 cm (3.1 inches) long, was taken out in an operation at a private Berlin clinic, but the 2 cm tip had grown in so firmly that it was impossible to remove.
BERLIN (Reuters) - A 59-year-old German woman has had most of a pencil removed from inside her head after suffering nearly her whole life with the headaches and nosebleeds it caused, Bild newspaper reported on Monday.
Margret Wegner fell over carrying the pencil in her hand when she was four.
"The pencil went right through my skin -- and disappeared into my head," Wegner told the newspaper.
It narrowly missed vital parts of her brain.
At the time no one dared operate, but now technology has improved sufficiently for doctors to be able to remove it.
The majority of the pencil, some 8 cm (3.1 inches) long, was taken out in an operation at a private Berlin clinic, but the 2 cm tip had grown in so firmly that it was impossible to remove.
Fatter corpses cause hazard for mortuaries - super-sized drinks leads to super-sized coffins
Mon Aug 6, 9:10 AM ET
SYDNEY (Reuters) - More than two-thirds of Australians living outside major cities are overweight or obese, and extremely obese corpses are creating a safety hazard at mortuaries, according to two studies released Sunday.
Nearly three quarters of men and 64 percent of women were overweight in a study of people in rural areas. Just 30 percent of those studied recorded a healthy weight, said research published in the Medical Journal of Australia.
"Urgent action is required at the highest level to change unhealthy lifestyle habits by improving diet, increasing physical activity and making our environments supportive of these objectives," wrote the lead researcher, Professor Edward Janus.
The figures were much higher than for the general population, where statistics show about 3.2 million of Australia's 21 million people are obese.
Meanwhile, pathologists are calling for new "heavy-duty" autopsy facilities to cope with obese corpses that are difficult to move and dangerously heavy for standard-size trolleys and lifting hoists.
The bodies presented "major logistical problems" and "significant occupational health and safety issues," according to a separate study, which found the number of obese and morbidly obese bodies had doubled in the past 20 years.
Specially designed mortuaries would soon be required if the nation failed to curb its fat epidemic, providing "larger storage and dissection rooms, and more robust equipment," said Professor Roger Byard, a pathologist at the University of Adelaide.
"Failure to provide these might compromise the post-mortem evaluation of markedly obese individuals, in addition to potentially jeopardizing the health of mortuary staff."
In the past year, there have also been requests for larger crematorium furnaces, bigger grave plots as well as super-sized ambulances, wheelchairs and hospital beds.
SYDNEY (Reuters) - More than two-thirds of Australians living outside major cities are overweight or obese, and extremely obese corpses are creating a safety hazard at mortuaries, according to two studies released Sunday.
Nearly three quarters of men and 64 percent of women were overweight in a study of people in rural areas. Just 30 percent of those studied recorded a healthy weight, said research published in the Medical Journal of Australia.
"Urgent action is required at the highest level to change unhealthy lifestyle habits by improving diet, increasing physical activity and making our environments supportive of these objectives," wrote the lead researcher, Professor Edward Janus.
The figures were much higher than for the general population, where statistics show about 3.2 million of Australia's 21 million people are obese.
Meanwhile, pathologists are calling for new "heavy-duty" autopsy facilities to cope with obese corpses that are difficult to move and dangerously heavy for standard-size trolleys and lifting hoists.
The bodies presented "major logistical problems" and "significant occupational health and safety issues," according to a separate study, which found the number of obese and morbidly obese bodies had doubled in the past 20 years.
Specially designed mortuaries would soon be required if the nation failed to curb its fat epidemic, providing "larger storage and dissection rooms, and more robust equipment," said Professor Roger Byard, a pathologist at the University of Adelaide.
"Failure to provide these might compromise the post-mortem evaluation of markedly obese individuals, in addition to potentially jeopardizing the health of mortuary staff."
In the past year, there have also been requests for larger crematorium furnaces, bigger grave plots as well as super-sized ambulances, wheelchairs and hospital beds.
S.C. teen falls 6 stories, walks away - a 'God is real' event,
Mon Aug 6, 3:55 AM ET
MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. - A teenager fell six stories from a hotel balcony but walked away with just bruises and scrapes.
Matthew Savage, 17, was reaching up to a balcony one floor above to grab a bathing suit that had fluttered down from the 11th floor when he tumbled over the railing Friday.
The teen, from Gainesville, Ga., hit other balconies on his way down and slammed onto a slanted rooftop, then slid into bushes.
"I just closed my eyes," Savage said, nursing scrapes and bruises on his back and legs.
After landing in the bushes, he got up and started walking back to his room. But paramedics strapped him to a board and flew him to a hospital, where tests showed he was fine.
"This was a 'God is real' event," his sister, Mandy Baker, said.
MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. - A teenager fell six stories from a hotel balcony but walked away with just bruises and scrapes.
Matthew Savage, 17, was reaching up to a balcony one floor above to grab a bathing suit that had fluttered down from the 11th floor when he tumbled over the railing Friday.
The teen, from Gainesville, Ga., hit other balconies on his way down and slammed onto a slanted rooftop, then slid into bushes.
"I just closed my eyes," Savage said, nursing scrapes and bruises on his back and legs.
After landing in the bushes, he got up and started walking back to his room. But paramedics strapped him to a board and flew him to a hospital, where tests showed he was fine.
"This was a 'God is real' event," his sister, Mandy Baker, said.
Friday, August 3, 2007
For Chinese children lead can be inescapable
By Chris Buckley Fri Aug 3, 6:25 AM ET
BEIJING (Reuters) - Parents around the world may have been shocked this week when 1.5 million Chinese-made Fisher-Price toys were recalled because of excessive lead content, but for mums and dads in China lead poisoning is just a fact of life.
Mattel Inc.'s worldwide recall of dozens of products is the latest in a deluge of safety scares that have rattled international consumer confidence in Chinese-made goods.
High levels of lead from toys, water pipes and industry can cause behavioral problems and slow learning among children.
But if Beijing was worried about Chinese children being affected, that was not reflected in state-run media on Friday, which were silent about Mattel's recall.
And it was business as usual in the toy section of Beijing's Tianyi department store.
"I do not worry so much, if the toy looks fun for my child, it is okay. My child is already so big, he is not going to put the toy in his mouth," said a Mrs. Zhang, who was buying toys for her four-year-old son.
Indeed, for many parents, lead competes with many other toxins in the heavily polluted country as a source of anxiety.
"There are just too many things to worry about," said Li Huijing, mother of a five-year-old girl. "There are some things I just try not to think about. I try to pay more for good toys."
HOUSE PAINT, OLD PIPES
China has responded to rising consumer expectations by setting stricter standards for lead in toys, most recently introducing new labeling rules. But imposing those standards on the country's vast and fragmented toy sector is difficult.
China makes 75 percent of the world's toys, according to the national chamber of light industry, and many of the thousands of producers are small and resistant to regulation.
They make cheap plastic, metal and wooden toys that -- if regular news reports are a guide -- often have a lead content well above government-set limits.
A 2005 report in a Beijing newspaper cited estimates that 60 percent of Chinese-made toys used paint with lead above internationally accepted limits.
The China Toy Association would not answer questions about the problem.
"The worry isn't big toy makers that also export their products. The worry is small factories," said Feng Guoqiang, a childhood development specialist at Peking University's Health Science Centre.
"It's a matter of money and choice. Some parents can't afford better, so they buy the cheapest on the stall."
Feng said that toys are not the biggest threat. China has phased out leaded petrol, but house paint, old pipes and buildings and belching factories are still big sources of lead.
A study of Chinese cities in 2004 found that 10.5 percent of children had lead levels in their blood of at least 100 microgram's per liter -- a level considered unhealthy by the World Health Organization.
"For us, the problem is the factories. What they make is less important," said Feng.
BEIJING (Reuters) - Parents around the world may have been shocked this week when 1.5 million Chinese-made Fisher-Price toys were recalled because of excessive lead content, but for mums and dads in China lead poisoning is just a fact of life.
Mattel Inc.'s worldwide recall of dozens of products is the latest in a deluge of safety scares that have rattled international consumer confidence in Chinese-made goods.
High levels of lead from toys, water pipes and industry can cause behavioral problems and slow learning among children.
But if Beijing was worried about Chinese children being affected, that was not reflected in state-run media on Friday, which were silent about Mattel's recall.
And it was business as usual in the toy section of Beijing's Tianyi department store.
"I do not worry so much, if the toy looks fun for my child, it is okay. My child is already so big, he is not going to put the toy in his mouth," said a Mrs. Zhang, who was buying toys for her four-year-old son.
Indeed, for many parents, lead competes with many other toxins in the heavily polluted country as a source of anxiety.
"There are just too many things to worry about," said Li Huijing, mother of a five-year-old girl. "There are some things I just try not to think about. I try to pay more for good toys."
HOUSE PAINT, OLD PIPES
China has responded to rising consumer expectations by setting stricter standards for lead in toys, most recently introducing new labeling rules. But imposing those standards on the country's vast and fragmented toy sector is difficult.
China makes 75 percent of the world's toys, according to the national chamber of light industry, and many of the thousands of producers are small and resistant to regulation.
They make cheap plastic, metal and wooden toys that -- if regular news reports are a guide -- often have a lead content well above government-set limits.
A 2005 report in a Beijing newspaper cited estimates that 60 percent of Chinese-made toys used paint with lead above internationally accepted limits.
The China Toy Association would not answer questions about the problem.
"The worry isn't big toy makers that also export their products. The worry is small factories," said Feng Guoqiang, a childhood development specialist at Peking University's Health Science Centre.
"It's a matter of money and choice. Some parents can't afford better, so they buy the cheapest on the stall."
Feng said that toys are not the biggest threat. China has phased out leaded petrol, but house paint, old pipes and buildings and belching factories are still big sources of lead.
A study of Chinese cities in 2004 found that 10.5 percent of children had lead levels in their blood of at least 100 microgram's per liter -- a level considered unhealthy by the World Health Organization.
"For us, the problem is the factories. What they make is less important," said Feng.
Thursday, August 2, 2007
Search: Advanced
By The Associated Press Thu Aug 2, 3:24 PM ET
BABY TALK: New research suggests babies start really jabbering after they've mastered enough easy words to tackle more of the harder ones. It's essentially a snowball
OLD IDEA: That explanation is far simpler than scientists' assumptions that some special brain mechanisms must click to trigger the word boom.
NO TECHNOLOGY NEEDED: Simply talking and reading to a child a lot is the key.
BABY TALK: New research suggests babies start really jabbering after they've mastered enough easy words to tackle more of the harder ones. It's essentially a snowball
OLD IDEA: That explanation is far simpler than scientists' assumptions that some special brain mechanisms must click to trigger the word boom.
NO TECHNOLOGY NEEDED: Simply talking and reading to a child a lot is the key.
Monday, July 30, 2007
Health Tip: When a Pet Dies
9 minutes ago
(HealthDay News) -- The death of a pet is a significant loss to every member of the family, but it can be particularly difficult for young children.
Here are suggestions to help your child deal with the loss of a pet, courtesy of the Nemours Foundation:
* Explain to her that it's normal to feel sadness, anger, frustration and even guilt.
* Let her see that you are sad and upset too, and that it's OK to cry -- don't hide your emotions from her.
* Let her know that it's OK not to want to talk about it at first, but that you can talk openly about it whenever she is ready.
* When she's ready, share happy memories and funny stories about the pet.
* Encourage her to say goodbye, and offer to have a ceremony to remember the pet.
(HealthDay News) -- The death of a pet is a significant loss to every member of the family, but it can be particularly difficult for young children.
Here are suggestions to help your child deal with the loss of a pet, courtesy of the Nemours Foundation:
* Explain to her that it's normal to feel sadness, anger, frustration and even guilt.
* Let her see that you are sad and upset too, and that it's OK to cry -- don't hide your emotions from her.
* Let her know that it's OK not to want to talk about it at first, but that you can talk openly about it whenever she is ready.
* When she's ready, share happy memories and funny stories about the pet.
* Encourage her to say goodbye, and offer to have a ceremony to remember the pet.
Overweight women at risk of pregnancy complications
7 minutes ago
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The heavier a woman is before pregnancy, the greater her risk of a range of pregnancy complications, a large study suggests.
Using data from more than 24,000 UK women who gave birth between 1976 and 2005, researchers found that the risk of problems, such as high blood pressure, pre-eclampsia and premature delivery climbed in tandem with a woman's pre-pregnancy weight.
The findings, published in the online journal BMC Public Health, add to evidence that obesity is a risk for mothers and newborns.
They also support the belief that all pregnancies in obese women should be considered "high risk," and managed accordingly, conclude the study authors, led by Dr. Sohinee Bhattacharya of Aberdeen Maternity Hospital.
The researchers found that compared with normal-weight women, obese women were 50 percent more likely to have post-delivery bleeding and twice as likely to deliver prematurely. They were also more likely to need an emergency C-section or to have labor induced.
Morbidly obese women had the highest risk of suffering pre-eclampsia, a potentially serious pregnancy complication marked by a sudden rise in blood pressure and kidney abnormalities.
In contrast, the study found that women who were underweight before pregnancy tended to have the lowest risk of all these complications. They were, however, more likely than normal-weight women to have an underweight newborn.
The results add to growing evidence of the importance of a mother's weight in pregnancy outcomes, according to Bhattacharya's team.
"The evidence for obesity as an important complication in pregnancy is mounting," the researchers write, it is time for physicians to be aware of these findings and start using them in their practice.
Besides good prenatal care, they note, this means counseling overweight women to lose weight before they become pregnant.
SOURCE: BMC Public Health, online July 24, 2007.
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The heavier a woman is before pregnancy, the greater her risk of a range of pregnancy complications, a large study suggests.
Using data from more than 24,000 UK women who gave birth between 1976 and 2005, researchers found that the risk of problems, such as high blood pressure, pre-eclampsia and premature delivery climbed in tandem with a woman's pre-pregnancy weight.
The findings, published in the online journal BMC Public Health, add to evidence that obesity is a risk for mothers and newborns.
They also support the belief that all pregnancies in obese women should be considered "high risk," and managed accordingly, conclude the study authors, led by Dr. Sohinee Bhattacharya of Aberdeen Maternity Hospital.
The researchers found that compared with normal-weight women, obese women were 50 percent more likely to have post-delivery bleeding and twice as likely to deliver prematurely. They were also more likely to need an emergency C-section or to have labor induced.
Morbidly obese women had the highest risk of suffering pre-eclampsia, a potentially serious pregnancy complication marked by a sudden rise in blood pressure and kidney abnormalities.
In contrast, the study found that women who were underweight before pregnancy tended to have the lowest risk of all these complications. They were, however, more likely than normal-weight women to have an underweight newborn.
The results add to growing evidence of the importance of a mother's weight in pregnancy outcomes, according to Bhattacharya's team.
"The evidence for obesity as an important complication in pregnancy is mounting," the researchers write, it is time for physicians to be aware of these findings and start using them in their practice.
Besides good prenatal care, they note, this means counseling overweight women to lose weight before they become pregnant.
SOURCE: BMC Public Health, online July 24, 2007.
Dietary carbs linked to vision loss
17 minutes ago
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The carbohydrates present in a diet can influence the risk of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the most common cause of vision loss in older adults, according to a report in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
"AMD appears to share several carbohydrate-related mechanisms and risk factors with diabetes-related diseases, including (eye) and cardiovascular disease," write Dr. Allen Taylor, of Tufts University, Boston, and colleagues. "However, to date, only one small study has addressed this issue."
To investigate further, the researchers conducted a study of 4,099 participants, aged 55 to 80 years, in the Age-Related Eye Disease Study.
The team classified a total of 8,125 eyes into one of five AMD groups based on the severity of the disease and other factors.
Regular consumption of a diet with a high-glycemic index - a diet containing carbs that quickly raise blood sugar levels -- significantly increased the risk of AMD relative to regular consumption of a diet with a low-glycemic index.
The researchers calculate that 20 percent of AMD cases could have been prevented if subjects had consumed diets with a low-glycemic index.
SOURCE: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, July 2007.
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The carbohydrates present in a diet can influence the risk of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the most common cause of vision loss in older adults, according to a report in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
"AMD appears to share several carbohydrate-related mechanisms and risk factors with diabetes-related diseases, including (eye) and cardiovascular disease," write Dr. Allen Taylor, of Tufts University, Boston, and colleagues. "However, to date, only one small study has addressed this issue."
To investigate further, the researchers conducted a study of 4,099 participants, aged 55 to 80 years, in the Age-Related Eye Disease Study.
The team classified a total of 8,125 eyes into one of five AMD groups based on the severity of the disease and other factors.
Regular consumption of a diet with a high-glycemic index - a diet containing carbs that quickly raise blood sugar levels -- significantly increased the risk of AMD relative to regular consumption of a diet with a low-glycemic index.
The researchers calculate that 20 percent of AMD cases could have been prevented if subjects had consumed diets with a low-glycemic index.
SOURCE: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, July 2007.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Smoking now kills more than 400,000 people a year
Smoking now kills more than 400,000 people a year. It accounts for nearly one in five deaths in the United States.
Poor diet in pregnancy can cause child obesity: study
Wed Jul 25, 5:54 AM ET
WELLINGTON (AFP) - The diets of pregnant women may have an important role in determining whether their children will be obese later in life, a new study suggests.
The study by New Zealand and British scientists indicates that children born to mothers who ate badly during pregnancy may be more likely to put on weight later in life.
Scientists at the University of Auckland's Liggins centre say the way the foetus adapts to the environment in the womb can determine how it reacts to food later in life.
If the womb is low in nutrients, the foetus may predict food supplies will be low later in life and set its metabolism to store and conserve fat, the researchers led by Professor Peter Gluckman said in a statement Tuesday.
The study says if this early prediction proves false and food -- particularly food high in fat -- is readily available, the child may be programmed for adult obesity and conditions such as heart disease and diabetes.
"The study poses questions of fundamental importance that change the whole way we think about who we are," Gluckman said.
He said the study may be important in explaining why genetically similar individuals can have markedly different metabolisms later in life.
"It changes the way we should think about tackling the obesity epidemic."
The study, based on tests on the metabolisms of rats, was done in collaboration with New Zealand's National Research Centre for Growth and Development and the University of Southhampton in Britain.
WELLINGTON (AFP) - The diets of pregnant women may have an important role in determining whether their children will be obese later in life, a new study suggests.
The study by New Zealand and British scientists indicates that children born to mothers who ate badly during pregnancy may be more likely to put on weight later in life.
Scientists at the University of Auckland's Liggins centre say the way the foetus adapts to the environment in the womb can determine how it reacts to food later in life.
If the womb is low in nutrients, the foetus may predict food supplies will be low later in life and set its metabolism to store and conserve fat, the researchers led by Professor Peter Gluckman said in a statement Tuesday.
The study says if this early prediction proves false and food -- particularly food high in fat -- is readily available, the child may be programmed for adult obesity and conditions such as heart disease and diabetes.
"The study poses questions of fundamental importance that change the whole way we think about who we are," Gluckman said.
He said the study may be important in explaining why genetically similar individuals can have markedly different metabolisms later in life.
"It changes the way we should think about tackling the obesity epidemic."
The study, based on tests on the metabolisms of rats, was done in collaboration with New Zealand's National Research Centre for Growth and Development and the University of Southhampton in Britain.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)