By Patricia Reaney
Wed Jan 31, 12:06 PM ET
LONDON (Reuters) - Grape juice seems to have the same protective effect against heart disease as red wine, French scientists said on Wednesday.
Researchers at the Universite Louis Pasteur de Strasbourg were examining the effect on the heart of Concord grape juice.
"Grape juice can have a similar effect (against heart disease) as red wine but without the alcohol. That is a very important message," said Dr Valerie Schini-Kerth, lead author of the study published in the journal Cardiovascular Research.
Red wine and certain types of grape juice have high levels of polyphenols, which block the production of a protein linked to cardiovascular disease -- the number one killer in many Western countries.
Heart and vascular problems develop when endothelial cells that make up blood vessels do not work properly.
Schini-Kerth and her team found that polyphenols in Concord grape juice activate endothelial cells to produce nitric oxide which helps to protect against cardiovascular disease and to maintain healthy blood vessels and blood pressure.
Polyphenols work the same way in red wine and in grape juice.
"But not every grape juice has the beneficial effect. It has to have a high level of polyphenols," Schini-Kerth said.
The amount of polyphenols in grape juice, as in red wine, depends on the type of grape used and how it is processed.
"We have information on more than 100 different kinds of wine and the amount of polyphenols. What we know is that the most protective ones have the highest levels of polyphenols. That is established," she said.
But Schini-Kerth, whose research was partly funded by Welch Foods Inc which is a leading producer of grape juice, said little information is available on the levels of polyphenols in grape juice.
The scientists were studying cells from pigs, which provide a good model for studying human cells.
They were looking at healthy blood vessels and are planning a further study to see whether grape juice has a similar impact on blood vessels that show signs of cardiovascular disease.
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Monday, January 29, 2007
McDonald's selects trans-fat-free oil
By DAVE CARPENTER, AP Business Writer 9 minutes ago, 01/29/2007
CHICAGO - McDonald's Corp. has finally selected a new trans-fat-free oil for cooking its famous french fries after years of testing, the fast-food chain said Monday.
While it has developed a healthier new oil, the company is still not saying when it will be used in all 13,700 U.S. restaurants. It already trails competitors in committing to a zero-trans fat oil.
Spokesman Walt Riker said the oil is currently in more than 1,200 U.S. restaurants after extensive testing, but declined to provide details on timing or locations.
"We can confirm that we've got the right oil," he said. "We're phasing it in."
The choice of a new oil comes as McDonald's and others facing a July 1 deadline to begin complying with an ordinance passed by New York City last month making it the first U.S. city to ban all restaurants from using artificial trans fats.
Oak Brook, Ill.-based McDonald's has said for months it would comply with such a ban, and said it would introduce any new oil nationwide rather than have a separate oil for its New York restaurants. But it had not confirmed that testing was complete.
Riker said the new oil is canola-based and includes corn and soy oils.
Addressing long-held concerns that changing the oil could jeopardize the popular taste of its fries, he said: "We're very confident in our test and taste results. ... We're very confident in what we're hearing back from our customers."
The Chicago Tribune, which first reported McDonald's decision on a new oil Sunday, said the company has tested 18 varieties of oil in more than 50 blends during the last seven years.
McDonald's had been under pressure for moving more slowly than smaller rivals Wendy's International Inc. and Yum Brands Inc.'s KFC and Taco Bell to rid its oil of the artery-clogging trans fats.
The $22 billion company was especially cautious after reneging within months on a September 2002 pledge to introduce a new oil, citing concerns about changing the taste of its fries.
"It's just taking a little bit of time because as we move forward we don't want to jeopardize the iconic nature of the french fry, which as you know is so very important to our brand," CEO Jim Skinner told an investor conference in New York two months ago.
The company uses a healthier oil blend in some countries overseas but says regional differences in agricultural production require development of different blends.
McDonald's has not identified the test markets the latest oil was used in. Riker denied that Phoenix was among them, as the Tribune report said.
Shares in the company rose 41 cents to $43.34 in afternoon trading on the
New York Stock Exchange.
CHICAGO - McDonald's Corp. has finally selected a new trans-fat-free oil for cooking its famous french fries after years of testing, the fast-food chain said Monday.
While it has developed a healthier new oil, the company is still not saying when it will be used in all 13,700 U.S. restaurants. It already trails competitors in committing to a zero-trans fat oil.
Spokesman Walt Riker said the oil is currently in more than 1,200 U.S. restaurants after extensive testing, but declined to provide details on timing or locations.
"We can confirm that we've got the right oil," he said. "We're phasing it in."
The choice of a new oil comes as McDonald's and others facing a July 1 deadline to begin complying with an ordinance passed by New York City last month making it the first U.S. city to ban all restaurants from using artificial trans fats.
Oak Brook, Ill.-based McDonald's has said for months it would comply with such a ban, and said it would introduce any new oil nationwide rather than have a separate oil for its New York restaurants. But it had not confirmed that testing was complete.
Riker said the new oil is canola-based and includes corn and soy oils.
Addressing long-held concerns that changing the oil could jeopardize the popular taste of its fries, he said: "We're very confident in our test and taste results. ... We're very confident in what we're hearing back from our customers."
The Chicago Tribune, which first reported McDonald's decision on a new oil Sunday, said the company has tested 18 varieties of oil in more than 50 blends during the last seven years.
McDonald's had been under pressure for moving more slowly than smaller rivals Wendy's International Inc. and Yum Brands Inc.'s KFC and Taco Bell to rid its oil of the artery-clogging trans fats.
The $22 billion company was especially cautious after reneging within months on a September 2002 pledge to introduce a new oil, citing concerns about changing the taste of its fries.
"It's just taking a little bit of time because as we move forward we don't want to jeopardize the iconic nature of the french fry, which as you know is so very important to our brand," CEO Jim Skinner told an investor conference in New York two months ago.
The company uses a healthier oil blend in some countries overseas but says regional differences in agricultural production require development of different blends.
McDonald's has not identified the test markets the latest oil was used in. Riker denied that Phoenix was among them, as the Tribune report said.
Shares in the company rose 41 cents to $43.34 in afternoon trading on the
New York Stock Exchange.
World's oldest person dies in U.S. at 114
Mon Jan 29, 9:00 AM ET
BOSTON (Reuters) - A Connecticut woman who just last week set a record as the world's oldest person has died, her great-nephew said on Monday. She was 114.
Emma Faust Tillman died Sunday night in the Hartford, Connecticut nursing home where she had lived for the last four years, said John Stewart Jr.
Tillman was born on November 22, 1892, near Greensboro, North Carolina. The child of former slaves, she was one of 23 children in a long-lived family. Three of her sisters and a brother lived past 100.
But Tillman's longevity topped them all. She lived independently until the age of 110. In the nursing home, she spent much of her time caring for an ailing roommate who was more than 20 years her junior.
"Her comment is always, 'If you want to know about longevity and why I lived so long, ask the man upstairs,"' Stewart said in an interview last week after Guinness World Records confirmed Tillman was the world's oldest person.
Tillman never smoked, drank or wore eyeglasses, Stewart said. For a time, Tillman worked as a servant for American actress Katharine Hepburn, he noted.
She is survived by an 80-year-old daughter, Marjorie, and a large number of grandchildren and great-grandchildren, Stewart said.
According to the International Committee on Supercentenarians, the world's next oldest person is Yone Minagama, 114, of Japan.
Guinness World Records by Monday had not verified that claim, according to spokeswoman Amarilis Espinoza.
BOSTON (Reuters) - A Connecticut woman who just last week set a record as the world's oldest person has died, her great-nephew said on Monday. She was 114.
Emma Faust Tillman died Sunday night in the Hartford, Connecticut nursing home where she had lived for the last four years, said John Stewart Jr.
Tillman was born on November 22, 1892, near Greensboro, North Carolina. The child of former slaves, she was one of 23 children in a long-lived family. Three of her sisters and a brother lived past 100.
But Tillman's longevity topped them all. She lived independently until the age of 110. In the nursing home, she spent much of her time caring for an ailing roommate who was more than 20 years her junior.
"Her comment is always, 'If you want to know about longevity and why I lived so long, ask the man upstairs,"' Stewart said in an interview last week after Guinness World Records confirmed Tillman was the world's oldest person.
Tillman never smoked, drank or wore eyeglasses, Stewart said. For a time, Tillman worked as a servant for American actress Katharine Hepburn, he noted.
She is survived by an 80-year-old daughter, Marjorie, and a large number of grandchildren and great-grandchildren, Stewart said.
According to the International Committee on Supercentenarians, the world's next oldest person is Yone Minagama, 114, of Japan.
Guinness World Records by Monday had not verified that claim, according to spokeswoman Amarilis Espinoza.
Friday, January 26, 2007
Diet, exercise take off equal pounds, study finds
By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor Fri Jan 26, 10:13 AM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Eating less and exercising more are equally good at helping take off the pounds, U.S. researchers said on Friday in a study that challenges many of the popular tenets of the multibillion dollar diet and fitness industry.
Tests on overweight people show that a calorie is just a calorie, whether lost by dieting or by running, they said.
They found there is no way to selectively lose belly fat, for instance, or trim thighs. And their carefully controlled study added to evidence that adding muscle mass does not somehow boost metabolism and help dieters take off even more weight.
"It's all about the calories," said Dr. Eric Ravussin of the Pennington Biomedical Research Center, part of Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.
"So long as the energy deficit is the same, body weight, fat weight, and abdominal fat will all decrease in the same way."
Ravussin said the study, published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, is one of the few done under controlled conditions that can actually demonstrate what happens to a human body while dieting and exercising.
Ravussin's team has been testing volunteers for another reason -- to see if taking in fewer calories helps people live longer. Strict diets have been shown to help animals from worms to dogs live longer, but it takes longer to study monkeys and humans.
They tested 24 people, 12 who ate a calorie-restricted diet, and 12 who dieted and also exercised five times a week for six months.
The dieters ate 25 percent less than normal, while the exercisers reduced their calorie intake by 12.5 percent and increased their physical activity to lose an extra 12.5 percent in calories.
Another 10 volunteers acted as controls. All food was provided by the university in carefully measured portions for most of the study.
The volunteers in both groups lost about 10 percent of their body weight, 24 percent of their fat mass, and 27 percent of their abdominal visceral fat. Visceral fat is packed in between the internal organs and is considered the most dangerous type of fat, linked with heart disease and diabetes.
The distribution of the fat on the body was not altered by either approach -- helping prove that there is no such thing as "spot reducing," Ravussin said in a telephone interview.
This suggests that "individuals are genetically programmed for fat storage in a particular pattern and that this programming cannot easily be overcome," he added.
Ravussin has published other studies that also dispute the idea that exercise builds muscle that helps people lose weight.
"If anything, highly trained people are highly efficient, so they burn fewer calories at rest," Ravussin said.
Dieting alone also did not appear to cause the volunteers to lose muscle mass along with fat, Ravussin's team found.
"There is a concept that if you exercise, you are going to lose less of your muscle," he said. But his team found no evidence this is true.
Ravussin believes exercise is crucial to health, however.
"For overall health, an appropriate program of diet and exercise is still the best," he said.
His team found some small suggestion that cutting 25 percent of calories by either diet or diet and exercise might extend life.
"We found that 2 of the biomarkers of aging were improved -- core temperature was 0.4 to 0.5 degrees C less," he said. "Insulin, which has been shown to be a biomarker of aging, was reduced," Ravussin said. That finding was published in the
Journal of the American Medical Association last April.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Eating less and exercising more are equally good at helping take off the pounds, U.S. researchers said on Friday in a study that challenges many of the popular tenets of the multibillion dollar diet and fitness industry.
Tests on overweight people show that a calorie is just a calorie, whether lost by dieting or by running, they said.
They found there is no way to selectively lose belly fat, for instance, or trim thighs. And their carefully controlled study added to evidence that adding muscle mass does not somehow boost metabolism and help dieters take off even more weight.
"It's all about the calories," said Dr. Eric Ravussin of the Pennington Biomedical Research Center, part of Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.
"So long as the energy deficit is the same, body weight, fat weight, and abdominal fat will all decrease in the same way."
Ravussin said the study, published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, is one of the few done under controlled conditions that can actually demonstrate what happens to a human body while dieting and exercising.
Ravussin's team has been testing volunteers for another reason -- to see if taking in fewer calories helps people live longer. Strict diets have been shown to help animals from worms to dogs live longer, but it takes longer to study monkeys and humans.
They tested 24 people, 12 who ate a calorie-restricted diet, and 12 who dieted and also exercised five times a week for six months.
The dieters ate 25 percent less than normal, while the exercisers reduced their calorie intake by 12.5 percent and increased their physical activity to lose an extra 12.5 percent in calories.
Another 10 volunteers acted as controls. All food was provided by the university in carefully measured portions for most of the study.
The volunteers in both groups lost about 10 percent of their body weight, 24 percent of their fat mass, and 27 percent of their abdominal visceral fat. Visceral fat is packed in between the internal organs and is considered the most dangerous type of fat, linked with heart disease and diabetes.
The distribution of the fat on the body was not altered by either approach -- helping prove that there is no such thing as "spot reducing," Ravussin said in a telephone interview.
This suggests that "individuals are genetically programmed for fat storage in a particular pattern and that this programming cannot easily be overcome," he added.
Ravussin has published other studies that also dispute the idea that exercise builds muscle that helps people lose weight.
"If anything, highly trained people are highly efficient, so they burn fewer calories at rest," Ravussin said.
Dieting alone also did not appear to cause the volunteers to lose muscle mass along with fat, Ravussin's team found.
"There is a concept that if you exercise, you are going to lose less of your muscle," he said. But his team found no evidence this is true.
Ravussin believes exercise is crucial to health, however.
"For overall health, an appropriate program of diet and exercise is still the best," he said.
His team found some small suggestion that cutting 25 percent of calories by either diet or diet and exercise might extend life.
"We found that 2 of the biomarkers of aging were improved -- core temperature was 0.4 to 0.5 degrees C less," he said. "Insulin, which has been shown to be a biomarker of aging, was reduced," Ravussin said. That finding was published in the
Journal of the American Medical Association last April.
"Normal-weight obese" syndrome may up heart risks
10 minutes ago, 01/26/2007
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - People who are normal-weight but carry a good deal of body fat may be at increased risk of heart disease and stroke, a small study suggests.
Most people have by now heard of body mass index (BMI), a measure used to classify people as normal-weight, overweight or obese based on their weight and height.
However, there are people who are technically normal-weight based on their BMI yet have a substantial amount of excess fat, and some researchers say this is its own type of "syndrome."
In research published last year, a group of Italian researchers described what they call "normal-weight obese" or NWO syndrome -- where BMI is normal but body fat makes up more than 30 percent of weight.
The good news for these individuals is that they don't have the metabolic conditions that often mark obesity -- such as high blood pressure, unhealthy cholesterol levels and high blood sugar.
On the other hand, the bad news, according to this latest study, is that people with NWO syndrome may be prone to high blood levels of certain inflammation-related proteins. That suggests they are at risk of becoming obese or developing cardiovascular disease in the future, the study authors report in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
Dr. Antonino De Lorenzo of the University of Tor Vergata in Rome led the research team, the same one that first described NWO syndrome.
The study included 20 young women who met the definition of NWO syndrome, along with 20 normal-weight women and 20 who were overweight based on their BMI and had a body fat percentage greater than 30 percent.
Overall, the researchers found, the NWO group had higher levels of several inflammatory proteins than normal-weight women did. The excess body fat in the former group may explain the difference, as research suggests that fat tissue secretes inflammatory substances, De Lorenzo and his colleagues note.
Because inflammation has been implicated in the buildup of artery-clogging plaques, women who have a normal weight but high fat mass may be at increased risk of heart disease and stroke down the road, according to the researchers.
What's more, they point out, these women are likely to have a false sense of security about their heart health because their BMI is normal.]
This means that measuring body fat percentage, and not just BMI, could be an important part of preventing obesity-related ills, the researchers conclude.
SOURCE: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, January 2007.
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - People who are normal-weight but carry a good deal of body fat may be at increased risk of heart disease and stroke, a small study suggests.
Most people have by now heard of body mass index (BMI), a measure used to classify people as normal-weight, overweight or obese based on their weight and height.
However, there are people who are technically normal-weight based on their BMI yet have a substantial amount of excess fat, and some researchers say this is its own type of "syndrome."
In research published last year, a group of Italian researchers described what they call "normal-weight obese" or NWO syndrome -- where BMI is normal but body fat makes up more than 30 percent of weight.
The good news for these individuals is that they don't have the metabolic conditions that often mark obesity -- such as high blood pressure, unhealthy cholesterol levels and high blood sugar.
On the other hand, the bad news, according to this latest study, is that people with NWO syndrome may be prone to high blood levels of certain inflammation-related proteins. That suggests they are at risk of becoming obese or developing cardiovascular disease in the future, the study authors report in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
Dr. Antonino De Lorenzo of the University of Tor Vergata in Rome led the research team, the same one that first described NWO syndrome.
The study included 20 young women who met the definition of NWO syndrome, along with 20 normal-weight women and 20 who were overweight based on their BMI and had a body fat percentage greater than 30 percent.
Overall, the researchers found, the NWO group had higher levels of several inflammatory proteins than normal-weight women did. The excess body fat in the former group may explain the difference, as research suggests that fat tissue secretes inflammatory substances, De Lorenzo and his colleagues note.
Because inflammation has been implicated in the buildup of artery-clogging plaques, women who have a normal weight but high fat mass may be at increased risk of heart disease and stroke down the road, according to the researchers.
What's more, they point out, these women are likely to have a false sense of security about their heart health because their BMI is normal.]
This means that measuring body fat percentage, and not just BMI, could be an important part of preventing obesity-related ills, the researchers conclude.
SOURCE: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, January 2007.
U.S. Kids' Health Habits Put Them at Risk
1 hour, 23 minutes ago, 01/26/2007
FRIDAY, Jan. 26 (HealthDay News) -- Most American adolescents have exercise and diet habits that put their health at risk, according to a study in the February issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
Researchers analyzed the habits of nearly 900 children ages 11 to 15 and found that about 80 percent of them had multiple physical activity and dietary risk behaviors.
The children were assessed on four behaviors: physical activity, television viewing time, percent of calories from fat, and daily servings of fruits and vegetables.
The study found that 55 percent of the children didn't meet physical activity guidelines (boys 59 percent and girls 33.6 percent); 30 percent watched more than two hours of television a day; just 32 percent met recommendations for fat consumption; and only 11.9 percent ate enough fruits and vegetables.
Overall, only two percent of the children in the study met all four health guidelines.
The researchers also found evidence that parents' health behaviors had an effect on their children. For example, girls with parents who never smoked and ate the recommended amount of fruits and vegetables had fewer health risk behaviors. And the number of risk behaviors in parents was weakly but positively associated with a higher number of risk behaviors in boys.
"These findings contribute to the body of evidence that most adolescents fail to meet multiple diet and physical activity guidelines and continue to be in need of interventions that target multiple behaviors," study author Alvaro Sanchez said in a prepared statement.
"Although health promotion programs frequently target multiple behaviors, little is known about the best approaches to stimulating multiple behavior change. Further research is needed to investigate the feasibility and effectiveness of different strategies for promoting multiple behavior change in adolescence," Sanchez added.
More information
The U.S. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases offers health tips for teens.
http://win.niddk.nih.gov/publications/take_charge.htm
FRIDAY, Jan. 26 (HealthDay News) -- Most American adolescents have exercise and diet habits that put their health at risk, according to a study in the February issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
Researchers analyzed the habits of nearly 900 children ages 11 to 15 and found that about 80 percent of them had multiple physical activity and dietary risk behaviors.
The children were assessed on four behaviors: physical activity, television viewing time, percent of calories from fat, and daily servings of fruits and vegetables.
The study found that 55 percent of the children didn't meet physical activity guidelines (boys 59 percent and girls 33.6 percent); 30 percent watched more than two hours of television a day; just 32 percent met recommendations for fat consumption; and only 11.9 percent ate enough fruits and vegetables.
Overall, only two percent of the children in the study met all four health guidelines.
The researchers also found evidence that parents' health behaviors had an effect on their children. For example, girls with parents who never smoked and ate the recommended amount of fruits and vegetables had fewer health risk behaviors. And the number of risk behaviors in parents was weakly but positively associated with a higher number of risk behaviors in boys.
"These findings contribute to the body of evidence that most adolescents fail to meet multiple diet and physical activity guidelines and continue to be in need of interventions that target multiple behaviors," study author Alvaro Sanchez said in a prepared statement.
"Although health promotion programs frequently target multiple behaviors, little is known about the best approaches to stimulating multiple behavior change. Further research is needed to investigate the feasibility and effectiveness of different strategies for promoting multiple behavior change in adolescence," Sanchez added.
More information
The U.S. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases offers health tips for teens.
http://win.niddk.nih.gov/publications/take_charge.htm
Study: Most diabetics don't exercise
By CHASE SQUIRES, Associated Press Writer Fri Jan 26, 6:33 AM ET
DENVER - Bad news when it comes to diabetics and exercise: Most people with Type 2 diabetes or at risk for it apparently ignore their doctors' advice to be active.
Fewer than 40 percent get exercise, a new study found, and the more in danger the patients are, the less likely they are to be active.
That's despite an earlier study that found nearly three-quarters of diabetics said their doctors had advised them to exercise. The patients who got the strongest warnings to get moving were the least likely to listen, according to research being released Friday.
"People should exercise more, that story is out," said Dr. Elaine Morrato, who led both studies. "What we're saying is, 'Here's a high-risk population that can benefit from exercise, and they're even less likely to exercise.'"
Without exercise, Type 2 diabetics face complications ranging from nerve damage to high blood pressure.
Morrato, an assistant professor at the University of Colorado Denver with a doctorate in public health and epidemiology, said researchers surveyed more than 22,000 patients for the new survey. Results of the study appear in the February edition of the American Diabetes Association's journal Diabetes Care.
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates more than 20 million Americans have diabetes, about 90 percent of them Type 2, which is linked with obesity.
Dr. Larry Deeb, president of medicine and science at the American Diabetes Association, said by the time patients have Type 2 diabetes or are at risk of getting it, the deck is stacked against them. They may already have problems with mobility as a result of obesity or foot and circulatory disorders that make exercise difficult.
"We have to be careful not to blame the victims," he said. "There's a difference between being unable and being unwilling."
Even for the most disabled, there's hope, said author and fitness expert Charlotte Hayes, but health professionals must do more.
Hayes, who wrote "The I Hate to Exercise Book For People With Diabetes," said telling patients to exercise is different from telling them how.
Every step of exercise is important, she said. For those who can walk, a few steps a day helps. For those who can't, there are alternatives.
"We take a small-steps approach," she said.
The American Diabetes Association recommends people get at least 30 minutes of aerobic exercise, such as brisk walking, five times a week. But the association says for those who can't, there are benefits from even five minutes a day, along with everyday activities such as gardening or walking to work.
Morrato said she doesn't know the answer, only that the results of her study are disappointing.
"It is difficult to be optimistic about addressing the twin epidemics of obesity and diabetes without success in increasing physical activity in the population," her study concludes. "The results of this study provide very pessimistic data."
Deeb, who specializes in pediatrics, said the next generation is off to a better start. Children, he said, are taught nutrition and the benefits of physical activity. Now, families, local governments and school boards need to take action, while doctors need to follow up and find out if at-risk patients know where to get help.
"When you ask a family what they're doing, the answer is all about time. They know what's good for their families, but both parents are working, and sometimes the only time they have is to pick up fast food," he said. "They have to understand, your health depends on it.
"We will not give up," he said. "We can't give up."
___
On the Net: The American Diabetes Association, http://www.diabetes.org/
DENVER - Bad news when it comes to diabetics and exercise: Most people with Type 2 diabetes or at risk for it apparently ignore their doctors' advice to be active.
Fewer than 40 percent get exercise, a new study found, and the more in danger the patients are, the less likely they are to be active.
That's despite an earlier study that found nearly three-quarters of diabetics said their doctors had advised them to exercise. The patients who got the strongest warnings to get moving were the least likely to listen, according to research being released Friday.
"People should exercise more, that story is out," said Dr. Elaine Morrato, who led both studies. "What we're saying is, 'Here's a high-risk population that can benefit from exercise, and they're even less likely to exercise.'"
Without exercise, Type 2 diabetics face complications ranging from nerve damage to high blood pressure.
Morrato, an assistant professor at the University of Colorado Denver with a doctorate in public health and epidemiology, said researchers surveyed more than 22,000 patients for the new survey. Results of the study appear in the February edition of the American Diabetes Association's journal Diabetes Care.
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates more than 20 million Americans have diabetes, about 90 percent of them Type 2, which is linked with obesity.
Dr. Larry Deeb, president of medicine and science at the American Diabetes Association, said by the time patients have Type 2 diabetes or are at risk of getting it, the deck is stacked against them. They may already have problems with mobility as a result of obesity or foot and circulatory disorders that make exercise difficult.
"We have to be careful not to blame the victims," he said. "There's a difference between being unable and being unwilling."
Even for the most disabled, there's hope, said author and fitness expert Charlotte Hayes, but health professionals must do more.
Hayes, who wrote "The I Hate to Exercise Book For People With Diabetes," said telling patients to exercise is different from telling them how.
Every step of exercise is important, she said. For those who can walk, a few steps a day helps. For those who can't, there are alternatives.
"We take a small-steps approach," she said.
The American Diabetes Association recommends people get at least 30 minutes of aerobic exercise, such as brisk walking, five times a week. But the association says for those who can't, there are benefits from even five minutes a day, along with everyday activities such as gardening or walking to work.
Morrato said she doesn't know the answer, only that the results of her study are disappointing.
"It is difficult to be optimistic about addressing the twin epidemics of obesity and diabetes without success in increasing physical activity in the population," her study concludes. "The results of this study provide very pessimistic data."
Deeb, who specializes in pediatrics, said the next generation is off to a better start. Children, he said, are taught nutrition and the benefits of physical activity. Now, families, local governments and school boards need to take action, while doctors need to follow up and find out if at-risk patients know where to get help.
"When you ask a family what they're doing, the answer is all about time. They know what's good for their families, but both parents are working, and sometimes the only time they have is to pick up fast food," he said. "They have to understand, your health depends on it.
"We will not give up," he said. "We can't give up."
___
On the Net: The American Diabetes Association, http://www.diabetes.org/
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Mountain lion attacks hiker in Calif.
By LISA LEFF, Associated Press Writer Thu Jan 25, 11:03 PM ET
SAN FRANCISCO - Wildlife officials on Thursday credited a woman with saving her husband's life by clubbing a mountain lion that attacked him while the couple were hiking in a California state park.
Jim and Nell Hamm, who will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary next month, were hiking in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park when the lion pounced.
"He didn't scream. It was a different, horrible plea for help, and I turned around, and by then the cat had wrestled Jim to the ground," Nell Hamm said in an interview from the hospital where her husband was recovering from a torn scalp, puncture wounds and other injuries.
After the attack, game wardens closed the park about 320 miles north of San Francisco and released hounds to track the lion. They later shot and killed a pair of lions found near the trail where the attack happened.
The carcasses were flown to a state forensics lab to determine if either animal mauled the man.
Although the Hamms are experienced hikers, neither had seen a mountain lion before Jim Hamm was mauled, his wife said. Nell Hamm said she grabbed a four-inch-wide log and beat the animal with it, but it would not release its hold on her husband's head.
"Jim was talking to me all through this, and he said, 'I've got a pen in my pocket and get the pen and jab him in the eye,'" she said. "So I got the pen and tried to put it in his eye, but it didn't want to go in as easy as I thought it would."
When the pen bent and became useless, Nell Hamm went back to using the log. The lion eventually let go and, with blood on its snout, stood staring at the woman. She screamed and waved the log until the animal walked away.
"She saved his life, there is no doubt about it," said Steve Martarano, a spokesman for the Department of Fish and Game.
Nell Hamm, 65, said she was scared to leave her dazed, bleeding husband alone, so the couple walked a quarter-mile to a trail head, where she gathered branches to protect them if more lions came around. They waited until a ranger came by and summoned help.
"My concern was to get Jim out of there," she said. "I told him, 'Get up, get up, walk,' and he did."
Jim Hamm, 70, was in fair condition Thursday. He had to have his lips stitched back together and underwent surgery for lacerations on his head and body. He told his wife he still wants to make the trip to New Zealand they planned for their anniversary, she said.
Nell Hamm warned people never to hike in the backcountry alone. Park rangers told the couple if Jim Hamm had been alone, he probably would not have survived.
"We fought harder than we ever have to save his life, and we fought together," she said.
SAN FRANCISCO - Wildlife officials on Thursday credited a woman with saving her husband's life by clubbing a mountain lion that attacked him while the couple were hiking in a California state park.
Jim and Nell Hamm, who will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary next month, were hiking in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park when the lion pounced.
"He didn't scream. It was a different, horrible plea for help, and I turned around, and by then the cat had wrestled Jim to the ground," Nell Hamm said in an interview from the hospital where her husband was recovering from a torn scalp, puncture wounds and other injuries.
After the attack, game wardens closed the park about 320 miles north of San Francisco and released hounds to track the lion. They later shot and killed a pair of lions found near the trail where the attack happened.
The carcasses were flown to a state forensics lab to determine if either animal mauled the man.
Although the Hamms are experienced hikers, neither had seen a mountain lion before Jim Hamm was mauled, his wife said. Nell Hamm said she grabbed a four-inch-wide log and beat the animal with it, but it would not release its hold on her husband's head.
"Jim was talking to me all through this, and he said, 'I've got a pen in my pocket and get the pen and jab him in the eye,'" she said. "So I got the pen and tried to put it in his eye, but it didn't want to go in as easy as I thought it would."
When the pen bent and became useless, Nell Hamm went back to using the log. The lion eventually let go and, with blood on its snout, stood staring at the woman. She screamed and waved the log until the animal walked away.
"She saved his life, there is no doubt about it," said Steve Martarano, a spokesman for the Department of Fish and Game.
Nell Hamm, 65, said she was scared to leave her dazed, bleeding husband alone, so the couple walked a quarter-mile to a trail head, where she gathered branches to protect them if more lions came around. They waited until a ranger came by and summoned help.
"My concern was to get Jim out of there," she said. "I told him, 'Get up, get up, walk,' and he did."
Jim Hamm, 70, was in fair condition Thursday. He had to have his lips stitched back together and underwent surgery for lacerations on his head and body. He told his wife he still wants to make the trip to New Zealand they planned for their anniversary, she said.
Nell Hamm warned people never to hike in the backcountry alone. Park rangers told the couple if Jim Hamm had been alone, he probably would not have survived.
"We fought harder than we ever have to save his life, and we fought together," she said.
Traffic pollution can stunt lung development, study says
5 minutes ago, 01/25/2007
LONDON (Reuters) - Traffic pollution can prevent the lungs of children who live near busy roads from developing properly, making them more likely to suffer respiratory and heart problems later in life, U.S. researchers said on Friday.
They found that children who had lived within 500 meters (500 yards) of a highway from the age of 10, had significantly less lung function by the time they reached 18 than youngsters exposed to less traffic pollution.
"Someone suffering a pollution-related deficit in lung function as a child will probably have less than healthy lungs all of his or her life," said James Gauderman, of the University of Southern California.
The lead author of the study, published online by The Lancet medical journal, said reduced lung function in later life was known to be a risk factor for respiratory and cardiovascular disease.
The researchers studied the effects of traffic pollution on 3,600 children living in southern California over an eight-year period.
Each year they carried out tests to measure how much, and how quickly, the children could exhale after taking a deep breath. They also recorded the distance the youngsters lived from freeways and other busy roads.
Children who were otherwise healthy but who lived close to main roads had a significant decrease in lung function.
LONDON (Reuters) - Traffic pollution can prevent the lungs of children who live near busy roads from developing properly, making them more likely to suffer respiratory and heart problems later in life, U.S. researchers said on Friday.
They found that children who had lived within 500 meters (500 yards) of a highway from the age of 10, had significantly less lung function by the time they reached 18 than youngsters exposed to less traffic pollution.
"Someone suffering a pollution-related deficit in lung function as a child will probably have less than healthy lungs all of his or her life," said James Gauderman, of the University of Southern California.
The lead author of the study, published online by The Lancet medical journal, said reduced lung function in later life was known to be a risk factor for respiratory and cardiovascular disease.
The researchers studied the effects of traffic pollution on 3,600 children living in southern California over an eight-year period.
Each year they carried out tests to measure how much, and how quickly, the children could exhale after taking a deep breath. They also recorded the distance the youngsters lived from freeways and other busy roads.
Children who were otherwise healthy but who lived close to main roads had a significant decrease in lung function.
Weight loss improves heart function in obese
13 minutes ago, 01/25/2007
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A new study shows that people who are obese can reverse some early heart and blood vessel dysfunction by adopting a healthy lifestyle and losing weight. But exercise alone, without weight loss, does not appear to be enough to improve cardiovascular function.
Dr. Chiew Y. Wong of the University of Queensland in Australia and colleagues had 106 obese men and women with no cardiovascular disease complete an eight-week lifestyle intervention program. Sixty-two cut their calorie and fat intake and exercised, while 44 exercised but did not change their diet.
Forty-eight of the study participants lost an average of 4.5 percent of their body weight, while the remaining 58 kept their weight stable or gained weight.
Among those who lost weight, the researchers noted improvements in their arteries' response to changes in blood pressure, as well as a 15 percent improvement in peak VO2, a measure of how well the body uses oxygen during exercise.
The more weight people lost, the greater their improvements in blood vessel function and fitness. People who lost weight also showed some improvement in their left ventricular function.
While the men and women who didn't lose weight did show improvements in peak oxygen uptake -- a measure of how well the body uses oxygen -- no significant changes were seen in their heart or blood vessel function.
This study "supports the argument that increasing cardiorespiratory fitness alone is not sufficient to produce the same cardiovascular benefits," the researchers conclude.
SOURCE: American Journal of Cardiology, December 15, 2006.
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A new study shows that people who are obese can reverse some early heart and blood vessel dysfunction by adopting a healthy lifestyle and losing weight. But exercise alone, without weight loss, does not appear to be enough to improve cardiovascular function.
Dr. Chiew Y. Wong of the University of Queensland in Australia and colleagues had 106 obese men and women with no cardiovascular disease complete an eight-week lifestyle intervention program. Sixty-two cut their calorie and fat intake and exercised, while 44 exercised but did not change their diet.
Forty-eight of the study participants lost an average of 4.5 percent of their body weight, while the remaining 58 kept their weight stable or gained weight.
Among those who lost weight, the researchers noted improvements in their arteries' response to changes in blood pressure, as well as a 15 percent improvement in peak VO2, a measure of how well the body uses oxygen during exercise.
The more weight people lost, the greater their improvements in blood vessel function and fitness. People who lost weight also showed some improvement in their left ventricular function.
While the men and women who didn't lose weight did show improvements in peak oxygen uptake -- a measure of how well the body uses oxygen -- no significant changes were seen in their heart or blood vessel function.
This study "supports the argument that increasing cardiorespiratory fitness alone is not sufficient to produce the same cardiovascular benefits," the researchers conclude.
SOURCE: American Journal of Cardiology, December 15, 2006.
Traditional scans often miss strokes
By MARIA CHENG, AP Medical Writer Thu Jan 25, 10:35 PM ET
LONDON - The most common method of diagnosing a stroke in the emergency rooms catches only about one out of every four cases, far fewer than an MRI scan, which also was better at spotting the type of stroke, a U.S. government funded study showed.
The study led some experts, writing in the medical journal The Lancet, to declare that MRI scans should replace CT X-rays as the standard of care. The journal published the stroke study in Friday's issue.
"This mantle should now be passed to magnetic resonance imaging," wrote Dr. Geoffrey A. Donnan and colleagues at the University of Melbourne in Australia in an accompanying commentary.
MRI scans should be adopted as the new standard of care, wrote the doctors, while they also criticized governments and health care systems for their poor track record of assessing new technologies.
However, others argue it's not such a clear-cut choice. MRI results take more time, a delay that can prove deadly to a stroke patient, these doctors contend.
"The time delay between MRI and CT may be around 15 to 20 minutes," said Dr. Joseph Broderick, chairman of neurology at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. "And in an emergency, 15 to 20 minutes can make a big difference."
Broderick had no role in the study, which was led by Dr. Julio Chalela, of the Medical University of South Carolina. Chalela was with the U.S.
National Institutes of Health when the study was conducted.
Chalela and colleagues examined 356 patients, of whom 217 were ultimately diagnosed with an acute stroke. Patients were scanned both by CT and MRI machines. CT scans are a type of X-ray, whereas magnetic resonance imaging uses powerful magnets instead of radiation to produce an image.
The scans were independently interpreted by four experts, who had no other patient information. Based only on the MRI scans, experts accurately diagnosed acute strokes 83 percent of the time. Using the CT scans, however, they were right just 26 percent of the time.
MRI scans were also more precise in spotting the cause of the stroke _ a blood clot or bleeding in the brain. The vast majority of strokes are caused by clots. In patients scanned within three hours of symptoms, MRIs detected strokes caused by clots in 41 of 90 patients, while CT scans only picked up 6 of the 90 patients.
The first few hours following a stroke are critical, since clot-busting drugs must be given within three hours to have a real impact. If they are given to the wrong patients, however, death or severe disability can result.
Strokes are the second leading cause of death worldwide, and account for approximately 5.5 million deaths each year.
Though CT scans may lose out to MRI scans on accuracy, on issues such as time and money, CT scans are far ahead. Widely available in emergency rooms in all developed countries, CT machines are compact pieces of equipment that produce images in as little as two minutes. In comparison, MRI machines are large, coffin-like structures that require patients to lie still for up to 30 minutes. They are also unsuitable for patients with pacemakers, metal objects, or who may be pregnant.
MRI scans also cost significantly more than CT scans and require specialized technicians to operate them and to read the scans.
"The superiority of MRI in detecting stroke in ideal conditions is unquestioned," said Dr. Lee Schwamm, an associate professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School. Schwamm was not connected to the study. But combined with a consideration of patient symptoms, he says that CT scans are just as effective in diagnosing patients in emergencies.
MRI scans may offer more detailed information, but such information hasn't yet been proven to make a difference in patient outcomes. Experts say studies are needed to determine if MRI scans might save more lives than CT scans in emergencies.
Schwamm likens the comparison between the two techniques to the difference between FM and AM radio. "FM radio is better because it's high-definition, and is great if you're listening to classical music," he said. "But sometimes all you need is the weather and the news, so AM is just fine."
In the same Lancet issue, an all-stroke special, two other studies found that stroke patients treated in a stroke care unit have a better chance of recovery than if they were treated in a conventional hospital ward.
LONDON - The most common method of diagnosing a stroke in the emergency rooms catches only about one out of every four cases, far fewer than an MRI scan, which also was better at spotting the type of stroke, a U.S. government funded study showed.
The study led some experts, writing in the medical journal The Lancet, to declare that MRI scans should replace CT X-rays as the standard of care. The journal published the stroke study in Friday's issue.
"This mantle should now be passed to magnetic resonance imaging," wrote Dr. Geoffrey A. Donnan and colleagues at the University of Melbourne in Australia in an accompanying commentary.
MRI scans should be adopted as the new standard of care, wrote the doctors, while they also criticized governments and health care systems for their poor track record of assessing new technologies.
However, others argue it's not such a clear-cut choice. MRI results take more time, a delay that can prove deadly to a stroke patient, these doctors contend.
"The time delay between MRI and CT may be around 15 to 20 minutes," said Dr. Joseph Broderick, chairman of neurology at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. "And in an emergency, 15 to 20 minutes can make a big difference."
Broderick had no role in the study, which was led by Dr. Julio Chalela, of the Medical University of South Carolina. Chalela was with the U.S.
National Institutes of Health when the study was conducted.
Chalela and colleagues examined 356 patients, of whom 217 were ultimately diagnosed with an acute stroke. Patients were scanned both by CT and MRI machines. CT scans are a type of X-ray, whereas magnetic resonance imaging uses powerful magnets instead of radiation to produce an image.
The scans were independently interpreted by four experts, who had no other patient information. Based only on the MRI scans, experts accurately diagnosed acute strokes 83 percent of the time. Using the CT scans, however, they were right just 26 percent of the time.
MRI scans were also more precise in spotting the cause of the stroke _ a blood clot or bleeding in the brain. The vast majority of strokes are caused by clots. In patients scanned within three hours of symptoms, MRIs detected strokes caused by clots in 41 of 90 patients, while CT scans only picked up 6 of the 90 patients.
The first few hours following a stroke are critical, since clot-busting drugs must be given within three hours to have a real impact. If they are given to the wrong patients, however, death or severe disability can result.
Strokes are the second leading cause of death worldwide, and account for approximately 5.5 million deaths each year.
Though CT scans may lose out to MRI scans on accuracy, on issues such as time and money, CT scans are far ahead. Widely available in emergency rooms in all developed countries, CT machines are compact pieces of equipment that produce images in as little as two minutes. In comparison, MRI machines are large, coffin-like structures that require patients to lie still for up to 30 minutes. They are also unsuitable for patients with pacemakers, metal objects, or who may be pregnant.
MRI scans also cost significantly more than CT scans and require specialized technicians to operate them and to read the scans.
"The superiority of MRI in detecting stroke in ideal conditions is unquestioned," said Dr. Lee Schwamm, an associate professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School. Schwamm was not connected to the study. But combined with a consideration of patient symptoms, he says that CT scans are just as effective in diagnosing patients in emergencies.
MRI scans may offer more detailed information, but such information hasn't yet been proven to make a difference in patient outcomes. Experts say studies are needed to determine if MRI scans might save more lives than CT scans in emergencies.
Schwamm likens the comparison between the two techniques to the difference between FM and AM radio. "FM radio is better because it's high-definition, and is great if you're listening to classical music," he said. "But sometimes all you need is the weather and the news, so AM is just fine."
In the same Lancet issue, an all-stroke special, two other studies found that stroke patients treated in a stroke care unit have a better chance of recovery than if they were treated in a conventional hospital ward.
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
U.S. woman now world's oldest known person
HARTFORD, Connecticut: The woman who marked her 114th birthday last fall by crediting God for her longevity has become the world's oldest known person.
Emma Faust Tillman, born in 1892 to former slaves, earned the distinction Wednesday after the death of 115-year-old Emiliano Mercado del Toro at his home in Puerto Rico.
Tillman had been the world's third-oldest person until 115-year-old Julie Winnifred Bertrand of Canada died in her sleep last week.
With del Toro's death, Tillman became the world's oldest validated "supercentenarian" in records maintained by the Gerontology Research Group and other organizations.
Tillman's great-nephew, John B. Stewart, has said she never smoked, never drank, did not need glasses and agreed to wear a hearing aid only reluctantly.
Tillman, one of 23 children, graduated in 1909 as the only black student in her high school and later worked as a cook, maid, party caterer and caretaker for children of several wealthy families.
One of Tillman's brothers lived to be 108, while one sister lived to 105 and two others lived to 102.
Stewart said last week, "You can tell she's tired now, but at 114, we're blessed and she's blessed."
Emma Faust Tillman, born in 1892 to former slaves, earned the distinction Wednesday after the death of 115-year-old Emiliano Mercado del Toro at his home in Puerto Rico.
Tillman had been the world's third-oldest person until 115-year-old Julie Winnifred Bertrand of Canada died in her sleep last week.
With del Toro's death, Tillman became the world's oldest validated "supercentenarian" in records maintained by the Gerontology Research Group and other organizations.
Tillman's great-nephew, John B. Stewart, has said she never smoked, never drank, did not need glasses and agreed to wear a hearing aid only reluctantly.
Tillman, one of 23 children, graduated in 1909 as the only black student in her high school and later worked as a cook, maid, party caterer and caretaker for children of several wealthy families.
One of Tillman's brothers lived to be 108, while one sister lived to 105 and two others lived to 102.
Stewart said last week, "You can tell she's tired now, but at 114, we're blessed and she's blessed."
Biggest threat to U.S. drinking water? Rust
By Christine Stebbins 1 hour, 3 minutes ago, 01/24/2007
CHICAGO (Reuters) - From an attack by militants to a decline in snow melt caused by global warming, public fears about the water supply have heightened in the United States.
So who would have thought the top worry among water experts turns out to be rusty pipes?
"If you clean up water and then put it into a dirty pipe, there's not much point," said Timothy Ford, a microbiologist and water research scientist with Montana State University.
"I consider the distribution system to be the highest risk and the greatest problem we are going to be facing in the future," Ford said.
Towns and cities across the United States spend more than $50 billion each year cleaning water sourced from rivers, lakes and underground aquifers.
More than 170,000 public water systems are at work to keep tap water flowing into American homes and meeting the standards of the Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974.
But after the extensive purifying process, water ends up in your glass after traveling through pipes laid under city streets 50, 60 or 100 years ago.
Those pipes -- made mostly from iron until plastic was introduced 30 years ago -- span almost one million miles in the United States.
As the iron pipes corrode and break, not only does water escape, but also diseases get in, experts say.
"Investigations conducted in the last five years suggest that a substantial proportion of waterborne disease outbreaks, both microbial and chemical, is attributable to problems within distribution systems," the
National Research Council said in a study for the
Environmental Protection Agency released in December.
The amount of water lost is a sign the system is aging, experts say.
The oldest, largest cities in the country -- Philadelphia, Chicago, Denver, New York -- are all showing signs that their distribution systems are in need of repair, said Eric Goldstein, a spokesman for the Natural Resources Defense Council, a leading environmental group.
In New York City, for example, the biggest leak in its system loses 1 billion gallons of water a month, he said.
It's that aging infrastructure that poses a rising health threat to consumers, experts say.
More than 273 million Americans get their water from a public distribution system. The other 10 percent of Americans source their water from private, unregulated wells.
Fears about tap water quality are sparking more Americans to turn to bottled water or home filtration systems.
More than 40 percent of American homes use some kind of water treatment product, according to NSF International, a not-for-profit public health and safety group.
EPA rules require that water leaving a city's water plant be tested for microorganisms like cryptosporidium and legionella that thrive in degraded water systems.
EPA also requires tests for a slew of other contaminants, including lead, copper and arsenic, which can lead to any number of gastrointestinal or other illnesses.
But once water has been purged of such impurities, different ones can enter the water supply as it courses through miles of old pipe.
"We estimate in the next 20 to 30 years water utilities will have to invest $250 to $350 billion just to replace the pipes that are in the ground today," said Jack Hossbuhr, executive director of the American Water Works Association, the industry's trade group.
The cost of improving U.S. water infrastructure may triple the cost of water by 2030, according to the association.
"We committed 100 years ago to build a reliable, low-cost, high-quality municipal drinking water systems. But there are no guarantees that will continue," said Peter Gleick, president of the Pacific Institute, a research group in Oakland, California.
CHICAGO (Reuters) - From an attack by militants to a decline in snow melt caused by global warming, public fears about the water supply have heightened in the United States.
So who would have thought the top worry among water experts turns out to be rusty pipes?
"If you clean up water and then put it into a dirty pipe, there's not much point," said Timothy Ford, a microbiologist and water research scientist with Montana State University.
"I consider the distribution system to be the highest risk and the greatest problem we are going to be facing in the future," Ford said.
Towns and cities across the United States spend more than $50 billion each year cleaning water sourced from rivers, lakes and underground aquifers.
More than 170,000 public water systems are at work to keep tap water flowing into American homes and meeting the standards of the Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974.
But after the extensive purifying process, water ends up in your glass after traveling through pipes laid under city streets 50, 60 or 100 years ago.
Those pipes -- made mostly from iron until plastic was introduced 30 years ago -- span almost one million miles in the United States.
As the iron pipes corrode and break, not only does water escape, but also diseases get in, experts say.
"Investigations conducted in the last five years suggest that a substantial proportion of waterborne disease outbreaks, both microbial and chemical, is attributable to problems within distribution systems," the
National Research Council said in a study for the
Environmental Protection Agency released in December.
The amount of water lost is a sign the system is aging, experts say.
The oldest, largest cities in the country -- Philadelphia, Chicago, Denver, New York -- are all showing signs that their distribution systems are in need of repair, said Eric Goldstein, a spokesman for the Natural Resources Defense Council, a leading environmental group.
In New York City, for example, the biggest leak in its system loses 1 billion gallons of water a month, he said.
It's that aging infrastructure that poses a rising health threat to consumers, experts say.
More than 273 million Americans get their water from a public distribution system. The other 10 percent of Americans source their water from private, unregulated wells.
Fears about tap water quality are sparking more Americans to turn to bottled water or home filtration systems.
More than 40 percent of American homes use some kind of water treatment product, according to NSF International, a not-for-profit public health and safety group.
EPA rules require that water leaving a city's water plant be tested for microorganisms like cryptosporidium and legionella that thrive in degraded water systems.
EPA also requires tests for a slew of other contaminants, including lead, copper and arsenic, which can lead to any number of gastrointestinal or other illnesses.
But once water has been purged of such impurities, different ones can enter the water supply as it courses through miles of old pipe.
"We estimate in the next 20 to 30 years water utilities will have to invest $250 to $350 billion just to replace the pipes that are in the ground today," said Jack Hossbuhr, executive director of the American Water Works Association, the industry's trade group.
The cost of improving U.S. water infrastructure may triple the cost of water by 2030, according to the association.
"We committed 100 years ago to build a reliable, low-cost, high-quality municipal drinking water systems. But there are no guarantees that will continue," said Peter Gleick, president of the Pacific Institute, a research group in Oakland, California.
Sunday, January 21, 2007
News confirms suspicions of breast cancer survivor
By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor 57 minutes ago, 01/21/2007
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Diane Balma felt vindicated when she heard the news -- Canadian researchers had discovered that women with dense breasts, making their mammograms difficult to read, had a far higher risk of cancer.
They found that women with the densest breasts had four to six times the risk of breast cancer compared with women with the fattiest, and easiest-to-image, breasts.
Writing in the
New England Journal of Medicine, Dr. Norman Boyd of the Ontario Cancer Institute in Toronto and colleagues said breast density itself could be a risk factor for breast cancer.
The other risk factors include having a close relative with breast cancer, carrying one of the known BRCA breast cancer genes and never having borne a child.
Balma had none of the other risk factors, but was worried when she felt a lump in her breast 11 years ago at age 30.
"I wasn't doing self-exams at the time," said Balma, who is now director of public policy at the non-profit Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. "I just happened to come upon it. It was quite large and pretty deep."
She went immediately for a mammogram -- not a routine recommendation for women under 40, but Balma was worried.
"It did not show on the mammogram," said Balma in a telephone interview. She had dense breasts, which show up on an X-ray like a white mass of tissue. Tumors in fatty breasts usually show up more clearly.
Her radiologist, a doctor who specializes in reading X-rays such as mammograms and other scans, was not especially worried but ordered an ultrasound.
"I was relatively small-breasted. Even so, he was barely able to find it on the ultrasound," Balma said. "When he did see it, his words to me were, 'You know, you are too young. I wouldn't worry about this. I am sure it is not cancer."'
But it was.
LIFE-SAVING DECISION
"I decided to have it removed and it was a decision that saved my life," Balma said. Her surgeon discovered a very large tumor that turned out to be an aggressive type of cancer.
Balma eventually had both breasts removed and endured six rounds of chemotherapy. She has been cancer-free for 11 years.
"I have always known that dense breast tissue makes breast cancer harder to detect. But I also wondered if it brought a greater risk of breast cancer," Balma said.
The Canadian study, published on Thursday, appeared to confirm that.
Breast cancer will be found in 180,510 men and women in 2007 in the United States alone and will kill 40,900, according to the
American Cancer Society. Globally, it affects 1.2 million people a year.
The deaths are almost exclusively in people whose cancer is found too late, and young women under 40 make up about 5 percent of that number. Most cases are in women past menopause.
Mammograms are only recommended for women who know they are at high risk, and for women over the age of 40. How would a younger women such as Balma even know she had dense breasts and thus perhaps have a higher risk?
"That is a question that has not been answered yet," said Dr. Cheryl Perkins, senior clinical adviser at the Foundation.
"We need more study of breast cancer in young women. We comprise far fewer breast cancers but our tumors tend to be more aggressive and more deadly," said Balma.
Perkins agreed. Younger women have fewer treatment options, she said. "Those types of breast cancer tend to metastasize (spread) early. They tend to metastasize to the brain," Perkins said
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Diane Balma felt vindicated when she heard the news -- Canadian researchers had discovered that women with dense breasts, making their mammograms difficult to read, had a far higher risk of cancer.
They found that women with the densest breasts had four to six times the risk of breast cancer compared with women with the fattiest, and easiest-to-image, breasts.
Writing in the
New England Journal of Medicine, Dr. Norman Boyd of the Ontario Cancer Institute in Toronto and colleagues said breast density itself could be a risk factor for breast cancer.
The other risk factors include having a close relative with breast cancer, carrying one of the known BRCA breast cancer genes and never having borne a child.
Balma had none of the other risk factors, but was worried when she felt a lump in her breast 11 years ago at age 30.
"I wasn't doing self-exams at the time," said Balma, who is now director of public policy at the non-profit Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. "I just happened to come upon it. It was quite large and pretty deep."
She went immediately for a mammogram -- not a routine recommendation for women under 40, but Balma was worried.
"It did not show on the mammogram," said Balma in a telephone interview. She had dense breasts, which show up on an X-ray like a white mass of tissue. Tumors in fatty breasts usually show up more clearly.
Her radiologist, a doctor who specializes in reading X-rays such as mammograms and other scans, was not especially worried but ordered an ultrasound.
"I was relatively small-breasted. Even so, he was barely able to find it on the ultrasound," Balma said. "When he did see it, his words to me were, 'You know, you are too young. I wouldn't worry about this. I am sure it is not cancer."'
But it was.
LIFE-SAVING DECISION
"I decided to have it removed and it was a decision that saved my life," Balma said. Her surgeon discovered a very large tumor that turned out to be an aggressive type of cancer.
Balma eventually had both breasts removed and endured six rounds of chemotherapy. She has been cancer-free for 11 years.
"I have always known that dense breast tissue makes breast cancer harder to detect. But I also wondered if it brought a greater risk of breast cancer," Balma said.
The Canadian study, published on Thursday, appeared to confirm that.
Breast cancer will be found in 180,510 men and women in 2007 in the United States alone and will kill 40,900, according to the
American Cancer Society. Globally, it affects 1.2 million people a year.
The deaths are almost exclusively in people whose cancer is found too late, and young women under 40 make up about 5 percent of that number. Most cases are in women past menopause.
Mammograms are only recommended for women who know they are at high risk, and for women over the age of 40. How would a younger women such as Balma even know she had dense breasts and thus perhaps have a higher risk?
"That is a question that has not been answered yet," said Dr. Cheryl Perkins, senior clinical adviser at the Foundation.
"We need more study of breast cancer in young women. We comprise far fewer breast cancers but our tumors tend to be more aggressive and more deadly," said Balma.
Perkins agreed. Younger women have fewer treatment options, she said. "Those types of breast cancer tend to metastasize (spread) early. They tend to metastasize to the brain," Perkins said
Friday, January 19, 2007
A vitamin a day may do more harm than good
ConsumerLab.com report finds unexpected nutrient levels, contamination
By Jacqueline Stenson
Contributing editor
MSNBC
Updated: 8:26 a.m. PT Jan 19, 2007
If you're banking on a daily vitamin to make up for any deficiencies in your diet, you may be getting a whole lot more — or less — than you bargained for.
Of 21 brands of multivitamins on the market in the United States and Canada selected by ConsumerLab.com and tested by independent laboratories, just 10 met the stated claims on their labels or satisfied other quality standards.
Most worrisome, according to ConsumerLab.com president Dr. Tod Cooperman, is that one product, The Vitamin Shoppe Multivitamins Especially for Women, was contaminated with lead.
"I was definitely shocked by the amount of lead in [this] woman's product," he said. "We've never seen that much lead in a multivitamin before."
Other products contained more or less of a particular vitamin than listed on the label. And some did not dissolve in the correct amount of time, meaning they could potentially pass through the body without being fully absorbed.
"Half the products were fine, half were not," said Cooperman.
ConsumerLab.com is a Westchester, N.Y.-based company that independently evaluates hundreds of health and nutrition products and periodically publishes reviews. In the new report, released to MSNBC.com, the company purchased a selection of the popular multivitamins on the market as well as some smaller brands and sent them, without labels, to two independent laboratories to be tested.
On a positive note, several of the most popular multivitamins on the market did pass muster, said David Schardt, a senior nutritionist at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a nonprofit consumer advocacy group in Washington, D.C.
These included Centrum Silver, Member's Mark Complete Multi (distributed by Sam's Club), One A Day Women's and Flintstones Complete.
"I think this confirms the advice often given: You're safer choosing a well-known brand sold by some company or store that you have confidence in," Schardt said. "There are no guarantees but that's your best bet."
Tips for picking a multivitamin
Vitamins and other dietary supplements aren't required to undergo the same testing as medicines, so it's buyer beware. But there are some steps you can take to help you pick a better product, says David Schardt, a senior nutritionist at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a nonprofit consumer advocacy group in Washington, D.C. He recommends:
— Choosing well-known mainstream brands by companies that have a lot at stake.
— Buying from large, trusted retailers, not unknown sellers on the Internet.
— Looking on the bottle for a stamp from USP, NSF or ConsumerLab.com. While the stamp doesn't guarantee the product is safe and effective, it does indicate that the manufacturer has submitted the product for testing to show that it contains what is stated on the label.
— Not spending a fortune on vitamins. Pricey products toting all sorts of "extras" aren't necessary and may be trouble.
Random vitamin testing isn't foolproof. For instance, because ConsumerLab.com tested several bottles from a particular lot number of each vitamin, it's not a given that products produced at a different time would have the exact same contents. But detectable problems are a red flag that there could be problems with a company's production process.
In the report, tests showed that The Vitamin Shoppe women's product contained 15.3 micrograms of lead per daily serving of two tablets.
This amount of lead is more than 10 times the amount permitted without a warning in California, the only state that regulates lead in supplements, Cooperman said. On average, most American adults are exposed to about 3 micrograms of lead through food, wine and other sources, he said, and while 15.3 micrograms of lead per day may not be immediately toxic, the mineral is stored in the body and could build up to dangerous levels with time.
"I would be concerned about a woman taking a multivitamin that contains 15.3 micrograms of lead per daily serving," said Judy Simon, a dietitian at the University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle. Among other effects, she said, lead can contribute to high blood pressure.
The same product also contained just 54 percent of the 200 milligrams of calcium stated on the label.
The analysis also showed that Hero Nutritionals Yummi Bears, a multivitamin for children, had 216 percent of the labeled amount of vitamin A in the retinol form, delivering 5,400 International Units (IU) in a daily serving. That's substantially more than the upper tolerable level set by the Institute of Medicine of 2,000 IU for kids ages 1 to 3 and 3,000 IU for those 4 to 8.
Because too much vitamin A can cause bone weakening and liver abnormalities, the Yummi Bears "could be potentially doing more harm than good," Cooperman said. "Vitamin A is one of those vitamins where you really don't want to get too much."
Schardt said the lead and vitamin A findings are worrisome because vitamins are generally taken every day, potentially building up to toxic levels and leading to problems down the line. In particular, he noted, women with high levels of lead in their bodies who become pregnant could pass on problems to a fetus.
David Morrison, vice president of scientific and regulatory affairs at The Vitamin Shoppe, said his company's products are all tested more than once, including screening for lead, and he questioned the new results. "It would be very surprising to me if this were actually true," he said.
Hero Nutritionals did not respond to calls seeking comment.
Steve Mister, president and CEO of the Council for Responsible Nutrition, a trade group in Washington, D.C., that represents supplement manufacturers, said that if the findings on lead and vitamin A are, in fact, accurate, "that is not acceptable for the industry."
Hero Nutritionals Yummi Bears, a multivitamin for children, had 216 percent of the labeled amount of vitamin A.
But he also said that top manufacturers consistently produce quality products and that with 150 million Americans taking vitamins or other dietary supplements annually, few problems surface.
"If we had a serious issue of safety, we'd be hearing concerns from consumers in large numbers and we're not," he said.
The ConsumerLab.com report also found that some vitamins didn't break apart within the 30-minute standard set by the United States Pharmacopeia. Nature's Plus Especially Yours for women required more than an hour to disintegrate, while AARP Maturity Formula took 50 minutes.
These products "could potentially go through your body without releasing all the nutrients," Cooperman said.
Mark Kitchens, an AARP spokesperson, said the Maturity Formula undergoes routine testing, and that during testing in November "among the attributes tested was dissolution and it met FDA requirements." Still, "as precautionary measures to protect our members" AARP is pulling the product from the market and offering refunds to anyone who has purchased it, he said.
How some multivitamins measured up
ConsumerLab.com selected more than 20 brands of multivitamins to be tested by independent laboratories. Here's a partial list of how some of them fared:
Multivitamins that met standards:
— Centrum Silver
— Member's Mark Complete Multi
— One A Day Women's
— Flinstones Complete
Those that failed:
— The Vitamin Shoppe Multivitamins Especially for women: Contaminated with lead
— Hero Nutritionals Yummi Bears: Had twice the labeled amount of vitamin A
— Nature's Plus Especially Yours for Women: Took twice as long as allowed to disintegrate
— AARP Maturity Formula: Took nearly twice as long as allowed to disintegrate
— Eniva VIBE: Had only 54 percent of claimed vitamin A
— Pet-Tabs Complete Daily Vitamin-Mineral Supplement for Dogs: Contained lead
In other findings, Eniva VIBE, a multivitamin liquid sold in packets, had only 54 percent of the claimed vitamin A.
ConsumerLab.com also tested a vitamin marketed for dogs called Pet-Tabs Complete Daily Vitamin-Mineral Supplement for Dogs and found the product was contaminated with 1.4 micrograms of lead per tablet.
Whether most people — or dogs, for that matter — really need to take a multivitamin is a subject of debate.
Experts agree that prenatal vitamins are important for women who are pregnant or may become pregnant, and that people with very poor diets can benefit from nutrients in a pill.
Schardt says multivitamins offer everyone "an inexpensive insurance policy." But Cooperman and many dietitians note that it's better to get your nutrition from a well-balanced diet.
"In many cases, you don't need a multivitamin," Cooperman said.
© 2007 MSNBC Interactive
By Jacqueline Stenson
Contributing editor
MSNBC
Updated: 8:26 a.m. PT Jan 19, 2007
If you're banking on a daily vitamin to make up for any deficiencies in your diet, you may be getting a whole lot more — or less — than you bargained for.
Of 21 brands of multivitamins on the market in the United States and Canada selected by ConsumerLab.com and tested by independent laboratories, just 10 met the stated claims on their labels or satisfied other quality standards.
Most worrisome, according to ConsumerLab.com president Dr. Tod Cooperman, is that one product, The Vitamin Shoppe Multivitamins Especially for Women, was contaminated with lead.
"I was definitely shocked by the amount of lead in [this] woman's product," he said. "We've never seen that much lead in a multivitamin before."
Other products contained more or less of a particular vitamin than listed on the label. And some did not dissolve in the correct amount of time, meaning they could potentially pass through the body without being fully absorbed.
"Half the products were fine, half were not," said Cooperman.
ConsumerLab.com is a Westchester, N.Y.-based company that independently evaluates hundreds of health and nutrition products and periodically publishes reviews. In the new report, released to MSNBC.com, the company purchased a selection of the popular multivitamins on the market as well as some smaller brands and sent them, without labels, to two independent laboratories to be tested.
On a positive note, several of the most popular multivitamins on the market did pass muster, said David Schardt, a senior nutritionist at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a nonprofit consumer advocacy group in Washington, D.C.
These included Centrum Silver, Member's Mark Complete Multi (distributed by Sam's Club), One A Day Women's and Flintstones Complete.
"I think this confirms the advice often given: You're safer choosing a well-known brand sold by some company or store that you have confidence in," Schardt said. "There are no guarantees but that's your best bet."
Tips for picking a multivitamin
Vitamins and other dietary supplements aren't required to undergo the same testing as medicines, so it's buyer beware. But there are some steps you can take to help you pick a better product, says David Schardt, a senior nutritionist at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a nonprofit consumer advocacy group in Washington, D.C. He recommends:
— Choosing well-known mainstream brands by companies that have a lot at stake.
— Buying from large, trusted retailers, not unknown sellers on the Internet.
— Looking on the bottle for a stamp from USP, NSF or ConsumerLab.com. While the stamp doesn't guarantee the product is safe and effective, it does indicate that the manufacturer has submitted the product for testing to show that it contains what is stated on the label.
— Not spending a fortune on vitamins. Pricey products toting all sorts of "extras" aren't necessary and may be trouble.
Random vitamin testing isn't foolproof. For instance, because ConsumerLab.com tested several bottles from a particular lot number of each vitamin, it's not a given that products produced at a different time would have the exact same contents. But detectable problems are a red flag that there could be problems with a company's production process.
In the report, tests showed that The Vitamin Shoppe women's product contained 15.3 micrograms of lead per daily serving of two tablets.
This amount of lead is more than 10 times the amount permitted without a warning in California, the only state that regulates lead in supplements, Cooperman said. On average, most American adults are exposed to about 3 micrograms of lead through food, wine and other sources, he said, and while 15.3 micrograms of lead per day may not be immediately toxic, the mineral is stored in the body and could build up to dangerous levels with time.
"I would be concerned about a woman taking a multivitamin that contains 15.3 micrograms of lead per daily serving," said Judy Simon, a dietitian at the University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle. Among other effects, she said, lead can contribute to high blood pressure.
The same product also contained just 54 percent of the 200 milligrams of calcium stated on the label.
The analysis also showed that Hero Nutritionals Yummi Bears, a multivitamin for children, had 216 percent of the labeled amount of vitamin A in the retinol form, delivering 5,400 International Units (IU) in a daily serving. That's substantially more than the upper tolerable level set by the Institute of Medicine of 2,000 IU for kids ages 1 to 3 and 3,000 IU for those 4 to 8.
Because too much vitamin A can cause bone weakening and liver abnormalities, the Yummi Bears "could be potentially doing more harm than good," Cooperman said. "Vitamin A is one of those vitamins where you really don't want to get too much."
Schardt said the lead and vitamin A findings are worrisome because vitamins are generally taken every day, potentially building up to toxic levels and leading to problems down the line. In particular, he noted, women with high levels of lead in their bodies who become pregnant could pass on problems to a fetus.
David Morrison, vice president of scientific and regulatory affairs at The Vitamin Shoppe, said his company's products are all tested more than once, including screening for lead, and he questioned the new results. "It would be very surprising to me if this were actually true," he said.
Hero Nutritionals did not respond to calls seeking comment.
Steve Mister, president and CEO of the Council for Responsible Nutrition, a trade group in Washington, D.C., that represents supplement manufacturers, said that if the findings on lead and vitamin A are, in fact, accurate, "that is not acceptable for the industry."
Hero Nutritionals Yummi Bears, a multivitamin for children, had 216 percent of the labeled amount of vitamin A.
But he also said that top manufacturers consistently produce quality products and that with 150 million Americans taking vitamins or other dietary supplements annually, few problems surface.
"If we had a serious issue of safety, we'd be hearing concerns from consumers in large numbers and we're not," he said.
The ConsumerLab.com report also found that some vitamins didn't break apart within the 30-minute standard set by the United States Pharmacopeia. Nature's Plus Especially Yours for women required more than an hour to disintegrate, while AARP Maturity Formula took 50 minutes.
These products "could potentially go through your body without releasing all the nutrients," Cooperman said.
Mark Kitchens, an AARP spokesperson, said the Maturity Formula undergoes routine testing, and that during testing in November "among the attributes tested was dissolution and it met FDA requirements." Still, "as precautionary measures to protect our members" AARP is pulling the product from the market and offering refunds to anyone who has purchased it, he said.
How some multivitamins measured up
ConsumerLab.com selected more than 20 brands of multivitamins to be tested by independent laboratories. Here's a partial list of how some of them fared:
Multivitamins that met standards:
— Centrum Silver
— Member's Mark Complete Multi
— One A Day Women's
— Flinstones Complete
Those that failed:
— The Vitamin Shoppe Multivitamins Especially for women: Contaminated with lead
— Hero Nutritionals Yummi Bears: Had twice the labeled amount of vitamin A
— Nature's Plus Especially Yours for Women: Took twice as long as allowed to disintegrate
— AARP Maturity Formula: Took nearly twice as long as allowed to disintegrate
— Eniva VIBE: Had only 54 percent of claimed vitamin A
— Pet-Tabs Complete Daily Vitamin-Mineral Supplement for Dogs: Contained lead
In other findings, Eniva VIBE, a multivitamin liquid sold in packets, had only 54 percent of the claimed vitamin A.
ConsumerLab.com also tested a vitamin marketed for dogs called Pet-Tabs Complete Daily Vitamin-Mineral Supplement for Dogs and found the product was contaminated with 1.4 micrograms of lead per tablet.
Whether most people — or dogs, for that matter — really need to take a multivitamin is a subject of debate.
Experts agree that prenatal vitamins are important for women who are pregnant or may become pregnant, and that people with very poor diets can benefit from nutrients in a pill.
Schardt says multivitamins offer everyone "an inexpensive insurance policy." But Cooperman and many dietitians note that it's better to get your nutrition from a well-balanced diet.
"In many cases, you don't need a multivitamin," Cooperman said.
© 2007 MSNBC Interactive
Monday, January 15, 2007
Stationary biker rests after record bid
8 minutes ago 01/15/2007
HINSDALE, Ill. - George Hood didn't go to Disney World after riding a stationary bike for an apparent record of 85 hours. He checked into a hospital.
After two days of recovery and lots of fluids and sleep, the 49-year-old Aurora man pronounced himself almost back to normal Monday as he described his bid, still awaiting certification, for a place in the Guinness World Records book.
"I've got a few aches in my left leg, but it's nothing that I can't handle," he said by phone shortly before ending what he called a precautionary stay at Adventist Hinsdale Hospital.
Hood climbed on the bike at 4 a.m. last Wednesday at Five Seasons Sports Club in nearby Burr Ridge and didn't get off for good until shortly before midnight Saturday, having surpassed the record of 82 hours set last year by Brian Overkaer of Denmark. Guinness rules allowed him a five-minute break for every completed hour of cycling.
"I had no doubts" about breaking the record, Hood said, but exhaustion started to set in early Saturday.
"The mind tries to shut you down," he said. "The room started to change shape and the dimensions changed."
Statistics from the ride were eye-opening: the equivalent of nearly 1,083 miles spun and 27,854 calories burned, which had him curious to step on a scale to find out how many pounds he'd lost.
But no number may have been more impressive than the approximately $30,000 the Drug Enforcement Administration supervisor raised for the Illinois chapter of COPS, an organization that helps the families of slain police officers.
HINSDALE, Ill. - George Hood didn't go to Disney World after riding a stationary bike for an apparent record of 85 hours. He checked into a hospital.
After two days of recovery and lots of fluids and sleep, the 49-year-old Aurora man pronounced himself almost back to normal Monday as he described his bid, still awaiting certification, for a place in the Guinness World Records book.
"I've got a few aches in my left leg, but it's nothing that I can't handle," he said by phone shortly before ending what he called a precautionary stay at Adventist Hinsdale Hospital.
Hood climbed on the bike at 4 a.m. last Wednesday at Five Seasons Sports Club in nearby Burr Ridge and didn't get off for good until shortly before midnight Saturday, having surpassed the record of 82 hours set last year by Brian Overkaer of Denmark. Guinness rules allowed him a five-minute break for every completed hour of cycling.
"I had no doubts" about breaking the record, Hood said, but exhaustion started to set in early Saturday.
"The mind tries to shut you down," he said. "The room started to change shape and the dimensions changed."
Statistics from the ride were eye-opening: the equivalent of nearly 1,083 miles spun and 27,854 calories burned, which had him curious to step on a scale to find out how many pounds he'd lost.
But no number may have been more impressive than the approximately $30,000 the Drug Enforcement Administration supervisor raised for the Illinois chapter of COPS, an organization that helps the families of slain police officers.
Doughnut makers seek healthier recipes
By CURT WOODWARD, Associated Press Writer 30 minutes ago 01/15/2007
When he first started frying up all-natural doughnuts a dozen years ago, Mark Isreal had a tough time getting consumers to bite. After all, who counts calories before grabbing a jelly-filled with their morning cup of joe?
ADVERTISEMENT
"It doesn't matter how delicious it is. Some people are so narrow-minded," said Isreal, owner of the Doughnut Plant in New York.
These days, Isreal supplies everyone from upscale grocery stores to "dive coffee shops" around the city. He's also got a licensing deal for nine Doughnut Plant stores in Tokyo, where he sells to Starbucks.
And doughnut lovers across the country could soon join him in reaching for a less unhealthy treat — even if they're not trying — as regulators and retailers pressure food companies to drop artery-clogging trans fats.
Rather than worrying the shift will gobble up their market niche, some natural doughnut makers say they're happy to see the food industry abandoning ingredients that gave the industrialized doughnut a bad rap.
"It's nice to have been ahead of the curve," said Ryan Kellner, owner of the all-organic Mighty-O Donuts in Seattle. "But I think it's great for society in general that we're moving towards an alternative."
"Doughnuts have kind of gone through a renaissance," Isreal said.
Artificial trans fats, also listed on food labels as partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, are under attack from health advocates. Evidence suggests they boost "bad" cholesterol and raise "good" cholesterol, increasing the risk of heart disease and stroke.
Health regulators have taken notice. Last month, New York became the first city in the country to ban all restaurants from using artificial trans fats by mid-2008; similar measures are being considered from Little Rock, Ark., to Los Angeles.
In Franklin County, Ohio, officials even suspended an annual contract to supply the county jail with doughnuts, citing concerns about trans fats.
Some food sellers stopped using trans fats voluntarily after the
Food and Drug Administration required food labels to show trans-fat content. That includes coffeehouse giant Starbucks Corp., which recently announced it was halfway through a plan to purge trans fats from its U.S. food menu.
Seattle's Top Pot Doughnuts, one of Starbucks' largest doughnut suppliers, switched to a trans-fat-free recipe in November.
"We'd been looking for the last couple of years at moving to a trans-fat-free product," Top Pot spokeswoman Amy Gundlach said. "When Starbucks came to us and told us about their change, that put a little more urgency on our research."
Others are still experimenting with changes to their carefully guarded recipes.
Mainstream doughnut makers, whose products can have around 5 grams of trans fat apiece, are generally mum about their progress toward meeting New York's citywide trans fat ban.
Dunkin' Donuts, a branch of privately held Dunkin' Brands Inc., says it has tested 22 alternative oils since starting its own push against trans fats in 2004.
Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc. says it "will continue to work aggressively with outside supply partners to develop a zero trans-fat doughnut."
Food industry analyst Phil Lempert, editor of SupermarketGuru.com, says food companies will likely fast-track efforts to remove trans fats as the New York deadline moves closer and similar laws crop up elsewhere.
The big question for food makers, he said, is how consumers will react.
"I think you're going to see the heavy doughnut user, if you will, walk away from the Krispy Kreme with no trans fats and say, 'Hmm, tastes different,'" Lempert said. "It's not that it tastes better or worse. It just tastes different."
Consumers shouldn't assume, however, that a trans-fat-free doughnut is necessarily healthy, said Marion Nestle, a nutrition professor at New York University.
"My feeling is that the whole trans fat issue is a calorie distraction," Nestle said. "You think that because it's trans-fat-free, it doesn't have any calories. And whatever the substitute is going to be, it's going to have just as many calories."
Becky Anderson, a Mighty-O regular in Seattle, said her loyalty owes in part to the store's natural recipe — a better fit with her vegetarian diet. But she concedes that they're still doughnuts.
"I'm not saying this is good for you," Anderson said as she watched a stream of sizzling blobs of dough bob across a pool of organic palm fruit oil. "But it's definitely not as bad."
When he first started frying up all-natural doughnuts a dozen years ago, Mark Isreal had a tough time getting consumers to bite. After all, who counts calories before grabbing a jelly-filled with their morning cup of joe?
ADVERTISEMENT
"It doesn't matter how delicious it is. Some people are so narrow-minded," said Isreal, owner of the Doughnut Plant in New York.
These days, Isreal supplies everyone from upscale grocery stores to "dive coffee shops" around the city. He's also got a licensing deal for nine Doughnut Plant stores in Tokyo, where he sells to Starbucks.
And doughnut lovers across the country could soon join him in reaching for a less unhealthy treat — even if they're not trying — as regulators and retailers pressure food companies to drop artery-clogging trans fats.
Rather than worrying the shift will gobble up their market niche, some natural doughnut makers say they're happy to see the food industry abandoning ingredients that gave the industrialized doughnut a bad rap.
"It's nice to have been ahead of the curve," said Ryan Kellner, owner of the all-organic Mighty-O Donuts in Seattle. "But I think it's great for society in general that we're moving towards an alternative."
"Doughnuts have kind of gone through a renaissance," Isreal said.
Artificial trans fats, also listed on food labels as partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, are under attack from health advocates. Evidence suggests they boost "bad" cholesterol and raise "good" cholesterol, increasing the risk of heart disease and stroke.
Health regulators have taken notice. Last month, New York became the first city in the country to ban all restaurants from using artificial trans fats by mid-2008; similar measures are being considered from Little Rock, Ark., to Los Angeles.
In Franklin County, Ohio, officials even suspended an annual contract to supply the county jail with doughnuts, citing concerns about trans fats.
Some food sellers stopped using trans fats voluntarily after the
Food and Drug Administration required food labels to show trans-fat content. That includes coffeehouse giant Starbucks Corp., which recently announced it was halfway through a plan to purge trans fats from its U.S. food menu.
Seattle's Top Pot Doughnuts, one of Starbucks' largest doughnut suppliers, switched to a trans-fat-free recipe in November.
"We'd been looking for the last couple of years at moving to a trans-fat-free product," Top Pot spokeswoman Amy Gundlach said. "When Starbucks came to us and told us about their change, that put a little more urgency on our research."
Others are still experimenting with changes to their carefully guarded recipes.
Mainstream doughnut makers, whose products can have around 5 grams of trans fat apiece, are generally mum about their progress toward meeting New York's citywide trans fat ban.
Dunkin' Donuts, a branch of privately held Dunkin' Brands Inc., says it has tested 22 alternative oils since starting its own push against trans fats in 2004.
Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc. says it "will continue to work aggressively with outside supply partners to develop a zero trans-fat doughnut."
Food industry analyst Phil Lempert, editor of SupermarketGuru.com, says food companies will likely fast-track efforts to remove trans fats as the New York deadline moves closer and similar laws crop up elsewhere.
The big question for food makers, he said, is how consumers will react.
"I think you're going to see the heavy doughnut user, if you will, walk away from the Krispy Kreme with no trans fats and say, 'Hmm, tastes different,'" Lempert said. "It's not that it tastes better or worse. It just tastes different."
Consumers shouldn't assume, however, that a trans-fat-free doughnut is necessarily healthy, said Marion Nestle, a nutrition professor at New York University.
"My feeling is that the whole trans fat issue is a calorie distraction," Nestle said. "You think that because it's trans-fat-free, it doesn't have any calories. And whatever the substitute is going to be, it's going to have just as many calories."
Becky Anderson, a Mighty-O regular in Seattle, said her loyalty owes in part to the store's natural recipe — a better fit with her vegetarian diet. But she concedes that they're still doughnuts.
"I'm not saying this is good for you," Anderson said as she watched a stream of sizzling blobs of dough bob across a pool of organic palm fruit oil. "But it's definitely not as bad."
Drank too much water, woman dies
KATHERINE HARDING
From Monday's Globe and Mail
Posted AT 3:40 AM EST ON 15/01/07
Too much of anything can kill you, water included.
A 28-year-old California woman, who died within hours of taking part in a water-drinking contest run by a radio station, is the latest victim of the rare condition of water intoxication.
Jennifer Lea Strange was found dead in her Sacramento-area home by her mother about 2 p.m. on Friday. Earlier that day, at about 9 a.m., the mother of three had participated in a contest called "Hold Your Wee for a Wii" sponsored by KDND 107.9 The End, a Sacramento-based top-40 radio station.
The grand prize was a popular Nintendo Wii video-game system. Ms. Strange and about 18 participants competed to see how much water they could guzzle without going to the washroom. Witnesses have told reporters that the contest lasted for about three hours.
Assistant Sacramento County coroner Ed Smith said that a preliminary autopsy couldn't determine exactly how much water Ms. Strange had consumed, but it was "excessive."
The investigation found that the young medical secretary had no life-threatening medical conditions and that her sudden death was "consistent with a water-intoxication death."
The Sacramento sheriff's department has ruled out investigating the death as a criminal matter.
Water intoxication, or water poisoning, is caused by hyponatremia, a potentially fatal condition when a person consumes a large quantity of water and their bodily fluids become overly diluted, causing sodium levels to fall below normal. This can lead to brain swelling, seizures, coma and, in severe cases, death.
Symptoms of water intoxication can include lightheadedness, nausea, headaches, vomiting, blurred vision, muscle cramps and behavioural changes.
"There are no hard-and-fast rules about how much water is too much," said Marcello Tonelli, a kidney specialist at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. "However, I think it's reasonable to recommend drinking when you're thirsty, and drinking extra when the weather is hot or during and after exertion. The vast majority of people who get into trouble with water intoxication are drinking litres and litres of water, often at very rapid rates or over long periods of time."
John Geary, a marketing manager and vice-president for Entercom Sacramento, the radio station's owner, said that station staff are stunned by Ms. Strange's death and are "awaiting information that will help explain how this tragic event occurred."
According to one of Ms. Strange's co-workers, she had called her supervisor on Friday shortly after she left the contest and complained that her head was hurting and that she was going home for the day.
During the contest, participants were initially handed 237-millilitre bottles of water to drink every 15 minutes. After people started dropping out to go to the toilet, the remaining competitors, who included Ms. Strange, were reportedly given larger quantities to drink.
Water-intoxication-related deaths caused by intentional or forced over-consumption are rare. One of the most high-profile cases happened on Feb. 2, 2005, when a 21-year-old man died after a fraternity hazing event at California State University's Chico campus.
Police reported that Matthew Carrington was forced to repeatedly drink from a 19-litre jug of water and do calisthenics. He eventually suffered a seizure and later died. Four members of the fraternity later pleaded guilty in connection with Mr. Carrington's death, including one who was charged with involuntary manslaughter.
With a report from Associated Press
From Monday's Globe and Mail
Posted AT 3:40 AM EST ON 15/01/07
Too much of anything can kill you, water included.
A 28-year-old California woman, who died within hours of taking part in a water-drinking contest run by a radio station, is the latest victim of the rare condition of water intoxication.
Jennifer Lea Strange was found dead in her Sacramento-area home by her mother about 2 p.m. on Friday. Earlier that day, at about 9 a.m., the mother of three had participated in a contest called "Hold Your Wee for a Wii" sponsored by KDND 107.9 The End, a Sacramento-based top-40 radio station.
The grand prize was a popular Nintendo Wii video-game system. Ms. Strange and about 18 participants competed to see how much water they could guzzle without going to the washroom. Witnesses have told reporters that the contest lasted for about three hours.
Assistant Sacramento County coroner Ed Smith said that a preliminary autopsy couldn't determine exactly how much water Ms. Strange had consumed, but it was "excessive."
The investigation found that the young medical secretary had no life-threatening medical conditions and that her sudden death was "consistent with a water-intoxication death."
The Sacramento sheriff's department has ruled out investigating the death as a criminal matter.
Water intoxication, or water poisoning, is caused by hyponatremia, a potentially fatal condition when a person consumes a large quantity of water and their bodily fluids become overly diluted, causing sodium levels to fall below normal. This can lead to brain swelling, seizures, coma and, in severe cases, death.
Symptoms of water intoxication can include lightheadedness, nausea, headaches, vomiting, blurred vision, muscle cramps and behavioural changes.
"There are no hard-and-fast rules about how much water is too much," said Marcello Tonelli, a kidney specialist at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. "However, I think it's reasonable to recommend drinking when you're thirsty, and drinking extra when the weather is hot or during and after exertion. The vast majority of people who get into trouble with water intoxication are drinking litres and litres of water, often at very rapid rates or over long periods of time."
John Geary, a marketing manager and vice-president for Entercom Sacramento, the radio station's owner, said that station staff are stunned by Ms. Strange's death and are "awaiting information that will help explain how this tragic event occurred."
According to one of Ms. Strange's co-workers, she had called her supervisor on Friday shortly after she left the contest and complained that her head was hurting and that she was going home for the day.
During the contest, participants were initially handed 237-millilitre bottles of water to drink every 15 minutes. After people started dropping out to go to the toilet, the remaining competitors, who included Ms. Strange, were reportedly given larger quantities to drink.
Water-intoxication-related deaths caused by intentional or forced over-consumption are rare. One of the most high-profile cases happened on Feb. 2, 2005, when a 21-year-old man died after a fraternity hazing event at California State University's Chico campus.
Police reported that Matthew Carrington was forced to repeatedly drink from a 19-litre jug of water and do calisthenics. He eventually suffered a seizure and later died. Four members of the fraternity later pleaded guilty in connection with Mr. Carrington's death, including one who was charged with involuntary manslaughter.
With a report from Associated Press
Sleep Patterns Linked to Diabetes Risk
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Sleeping for less than six hours or for more than nine hours each night is associated with an increased risk of diabetes and impaired blood sugar (glucose) tolerance, researchers report in this week's issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.
"There are a lot of people who sleep five or six hours per night who we generally think are not getting enough sleep," lead author Dr. Daniel J. Gottlieb told Reuters Health. His group hypothesized that people who do not get enough sleep may be at increased risk of developing diabetes or impaired glucose tolerance.
Gottlieb, of Boston University School of Medicine, and colleagues enrolled 1,486 subjects, ages 53 to 93 years, in their study. The subjects completed questionnaires regarding sleep patterns and underwent fasting glucose and glucose tolerance testing.
Diabetes was present in 20.9 percent of subjects and impaired glucose tolerance was present in another 28.2 percent. A usual sleep time of six hours or less was reported by 27.1 percent, including 8.4 percent who reported five hours or less. A total of 8.6 percent said that they slept for nine hours or more.
Compared with subjects who slept for seven to eight hours each night, the risk of diabetes was increased by 2.5-fold in those sleeping five or less hours, 1.66-fold for those sleeping six hours, and 1.79-fold for those sleeping nine or more hours. The corresponding increased risks of developing impaired glucose tolerance were 1.33-, 1.58-, and 1.88-fold. Blood glucose levels were not significantly affected by insomnia.
"These are strong associations suggesting that voluntary sleep restriction may cause impaired glucose regulation," Gottlieb said. "Probably those sleeping nine hours or more per night are doing so because of some underlying condition that may not be diagnosed but that puts them at increased risk of diabetes," he suggested.
The authors also noted that adequate levels of sleep should be tested as a non-drug treatment strategy in patients with diabetes or impaired glucose tolerance.
Sleeping for at least seven hours a night, Gottlieb concluded, "is a good health practice for a variety of reasons, and this is one more reason."
SOURCE: Archives of Internal Medicine, April 25, 2005.
"There are a lot of people who sleep five or six hours per night who we generally think are not getting enough sleep," lead author Dr. Daniel J. Gottlieb told Reuters Health. His group hypothesized that people who do not get enough sleep may be at increased risk of developing diabetes or impaired glucose tolerance.
Gottlieb, of Boston University School of Medicine, and colleagues enrolled 1,486 subjects, ages 53 to 93 years, in their study. The subjects completed questionnaires regarding sleep patterns and underwent fasting glucose and glucose tolerance testing.
Diabetes was present in 20.9 percent of subjects and impaired glucose tolerance was present in another 28.2 percent. A usual sleep time of six hours or less was reported by 27.1 percent, including 8.4 percent who reported five hours or less. A total of 8.6 percent said that they slept for nine hours or more.
Compared with subjects who slept for seven to eight hours each night, the risk of diabetes was increased by 2.5-fold in those sleeping five or less hours, 1.66-fold for those sleeping six hours, and 1.79-fold for those sleeping nine or more hours. The corresponding increased risks of developing impaired glucose tolerance were 1.33-, 1.58-, and 1.88-fold. Blood glucose levels were not significantly affected by insomnia.
"These are strong associations suggesting that voluntary sleep restriction may cause impaired glucose regulation," Gottlieb said. "Probably those sleeping nine hours or more per night are doing so because of some underlying condition that may not be diagnosed but that puts them at increased risk of diabetes," he suggested.
The authors also noted that adequate levels of sleep should be tested as a non-drug treatment strategy in patients with diabetes or impaired glucose tolerance.
Sleeping for at least seven hours a night, Gottlieb concluded, "is a good health practice for a variety of reasons, and this is one more reason."
SOURCE: Archives of Internal Medicine, April 25, 2005.
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