Wednesday March 25, 2009

Early soy diet may protect against breast cancer
Tue Mar 24, 2:46 pm ET
CHICAGO (Reuters) – Asian-American women who ate a lot of soy as children had a 58 percent reduced risk of developing breast cancer, U.S. researchers said on Monday in a finding that suggests soy may have a protective effect.
"Childhood soy intake was significantly associated with reduced breast cancer risk in our study," said Dr. Larissa Korde of the National Cancer Institute, whose study appears in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention.
Historically, breast cancer rates among white women in the United States are four to seven times higher than in women in China or Japan, Regina Ziegler of the National Cancer Institute said in a statement.
But when Asian women emigrate to the United States, their risk for breast cancer rises over several generations, suggesting something other than genetics was at play. Korde and colleagues checked to see if diet or other lifestyle factors could explain the differences.
They interviewed nearly 1,600 women of Chinese, Japanese and Filipino descent who were living in San Francisco, Oakland, or Los Angeles, California, or Hawaii. Some 600 had breast cancer and the rest were healthy.
If the women had mothers living in the United States, they asked the mothers about their daughter's soy consumption in childhood.
Women who consumed the highest amounts of soy in childhood had 58 percent less risk of breast cancer compared with those in the lowest groups.
The effect was weaker when adolescents or adults ate or drank a lot of soy, but the study still found a 20 to 25 percent reduction in risk.
The relationship between childhood soy consumption and reduced cancer risk held for all women in the study, regardless of family history of breast cancer.
The findings about childhood soy consumption suggest "the timing of soy intake may be especially critical," Korde said.
She said exactly why soy may protect is not known, but early soy consumption may interfere with the biology of breast cancer. Soy contains isoflavones with properties similar to the female sex hormone estrogen, which may alter breast tissue, she said in a statement.
Tests in animals show soy may help breast tissue mature earlier and better resist cancer-causing agents, she said.
But Ziegler said it is too early for parents to start adding soy to their daughters' diets.
"This is the first study to evaluate childhood soy intake and subsequent breast cancer risk, and this one result is not enough for a public health recommendation," she said, adding that the findings need to be replicated in other studies.
Breast cancer is diagnosed in 1.2 million men and women globally every year and kills 500,000.
(Reporting by Julie Steenhuysen; Editing by Maggie Fox and Vicki Allen)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090324/hl_nm/us_cancer_breast

Even in This Economy, Americans Fear Chronic Illnesses More Than Debt, Divorce or Job Loss-Yet New Survey Reveals Many Are Engaging in Unhealthy Behaviors, Playing Risky Business With Diabetes
Market Wire 03-24-09
ALEXANDRIA, VA, Mar 24, 2009 (MARKET WIRE via COMTEX) -- As the American Diabetes Association holds its 21st annual American Diabetes Alert(R) Day today, survey results reveal that while more Americans fear developing a chronic illness more than amassing considerable debt, losing a job or leaving a loved one, they are doing very little to curb their risk for diabetes. A study commissioned by the American Diabetes Association, Is That Risky, and conducted by Harris Interactive, surveyed more than 2,500 American adults ages 18 and older to gauge their attitudes and actions concerning risky behaviors.
One in four Americans living with diabetes is unaware that they even have the disease. In addition, 57 million Americans have pre-diabetes, where blood glucose levels are higher than normal, but not yet high enough to be officially diagnosed as diabetes. Yet, while those polled see unhealthy behaviors, such as ignoring advice from a medical professional, as riskier than sky-diving or investing in today's stock market, roughly half follow poor diets, avoid doctors' visits and maintain what they view as an unhealthy weight. The survey was funded as part of a three-year, $1.5 million grant to the American Diabetes Association from the WellPoint Foundation, a private, non-profit organization wholly funded by WellPoint, Inc.
"We know Americans view activities like bungee jumping as especially risky and so they avoid them," said Richard M. Bergenstal, MD, President-Elect, Medicine & Science, American Diabetes Association. "However, these same people are gambling daily by ignoring risk factors for a life-altering disease like diabetes and doing nothing about it. We urge everyone to visit www.diabetes.org/alert or call 1-800-DIABETES to take the first steps towards preventing a chronic disease that already affects millions of people in this country."
Among the survey's key findings:
-- More than half (52 percent) of Americans say the worst thing that could happen to them, from a pre-identified list, is developing a chronic illness compared with amassing considerable financial debt (19 percent), getting divorced or living alone (13 percent), or losing their job (11 percent) -- About half of Americans have not talked to their doctor about common chronic illnesses such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes, HIV/AIDS or Alzheimer's -- While nearly all adults can correctly name at least one risk factor for diabetes, more than half of those polled mistakenly cited "eating too much sugar" as a risk factor for diabetes -- Significant numbers of people who report they are extremely or very likely to develop diabetes have engaged in behaviors that they feel will put them at risk for the disease. Majorities acknowledge that they have followed a poor diet (67 percent) or maintained an unhealthy weight (62 percent) yet even larger majorities recognize being overweight or obese (83 percent) as a risk factor for diabetes. -- Overall, 66 percent of adults say avoiding doctors visits is risky, yet 50 percent admit to this behavior -- Likewise, 70 percent of all adults view maintaining an unhealthy weight as risky, yet 46 percent admit to doing so
Alerting people about the risk of diabetes is so important to American Diabetes Association supporters that they are telling their employees to take the Diabetes Risk Test on March 24, reaching an additional 545,000 people. Alerting their employees are:
-- Aetna, Inc. -- AstraZeneca -- Boar's Head Provisions Co., Inc. -- Bristol-Myers Squibb Company -- Merisant US, Inc., makers of Equal sweetener -- Hill and Valley, Inc. -- Lifescan, Inc. -- Kraft Foods -- Kmart Pharmacy -- McNeil Nutritionals, LLC, makers of Splenda(R) Sweetener Products and and Suncrystals(R) All-Natural Sweetener -- Service Corporation International -- Solvay Pharmaceuticals, Inc. -- SUPERVALU PHARMACIES -- VSP(R) Vision Care -- WellPoint Foundation
American Diabetes Alert Day serves as a one-day wake-up call to the nation that encourages all Americans to take the Diabetes Risk Test to find out if they are in danger of developing type 2 diabetes. The risk test shows individuals whether they are at low, moderate or high risk for type 2 diabetes by asking questions about age, family history and other potential risk factors. The test is free and is available at www.diabetes.org/alert and 1-800-DIABETES (1-800-342-2383) in both English and Spanish.
Survey Methodology This Is That Risky? research was conducted online within the United States by Harris Interactive on behalf of the American Diabetes Association between February 26 and March 2, 2009 among 2,516 U.S. residents aged 18 or older. No estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated; a full methodology is available.
http://www.lef.org/news/LefDailyNews.htm?NewsID=8050&Section=Disease

When You Can't Get to Sleep, Rest Easy - There's More Than Hop Pillows to Help
Western Mail 03-24-09
THERE has been a lot of media interest recently in hops (humulus lupulus).
The tall plant grows throughout Europe and Asia and is a member of the Cannabaceae family and contains bitter properties.
In herbal medicine the female plant's flowers are used, generally for their nervine or sedative properties.
But they are also an excellent digestive aid and have a beneficial effect on the liver.
Traditionally hops have been incorporated in herbal pillows to enhance sleep. But if they are a suitable medicinal choice for an individual, an internal prescription might be more appropriate.
It should be remembered that hops contain phytoestrogens but, as yet, no conclusive trials have been completed in relation to phyotoestrogens and certain hormone sensitive conditions, for example breast, cervical and prostate cancer.
My opinion is that it would be best to avoid hops in such cases.
The herbal pharmocopia states that hops are also contra- indicated in certain types of depression.
There are also a range of other plants worthy of mention in relation to sleep disturbances. The most obvious is valerian (valeniana officinalis) - the plant has the most unusual smell and cats find it irresistible.
A good sedative and a powerful antispasmodic, valerian can be useful when pain and spasms accompany insomnia.
I have used passion flower (passiflora incarnata) in the past for sleep problems, because I find it not quite as drastic a sedative as valerian.
Passion flower could also be appropriate when an overactive mind prevents sleep.
Scullcap (scutellaria lateriflora) cannot really be classed a sedative. It is more of an old-fashioned nerve tonic. I would certainly prescribe the plant in cases where a patient has had prolonged stress.
Scullcap should be prescribed for use in the day, quietening the nervous system in preparation for a sedative at night.
Mistletoe is also worth a mention. This plant has many complex and diverse uses, but for the purpose of this article, I will concentrate on the nervine properties.
Mistletoe could be one of the first plants of choice when a patient is showing signs of stress, with accompanying hypertension.
Obviously, it is vital to investigate the cause of hypertension before any treatment commences.
There are a multitude of plants with sedative and nervine properties, each one slightly different from the next. This is why it is vital that the correct plant is used.
In some cases a simple cup of camomile tea will be sufficient to lull a person to sleep. With other individuals it can take a large dose of valerian to have any effect whatsoever.
Generally I will not combine the more powerful sedative plants. I feel it is rather more logical to use one plant at a time, as two plant constituents could cause a slightly different effect than might be expected.
The use of tinctures needs to be questioned when using sedative plants. The alcohol used in the preservation process is 100% sugar cane alcohol. So is it the alcohol or the plants having the relaxing effect?
I always prescribe either the actual plant or the pure herb powder. But do remember that herbs are not miracle workers.
The person needs to look at lifestyle. Adequate exercise is important and correct diet.
It is also important to consider any underlying medical conditions, such as hyperthyroidism, before embarking on a course of herbal medicine for insomnia.
http://www.lef.org/news/LefDailyNews.htm?NewsID=8048&Section=Nutrition

Vitamin combo yields lasting anti-cancer benefits
Last Updated: 2009-03-24 16:01:17 -0400 (Reuters Health)
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Men and women from a cancer-plagued region of China who took selenium, vitamin E and beta-carotene have a reduced risk of dying that persists for up to a decade after they stopped taking the supplements, a new study out in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute shows.
Given that people in the study were "nutritionally deprived," Dr. Philip R. Taylor of the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland, and his colleagues say, the findings may not be relevant to better-nourished populations.
But Taylor and his team did find that while the nutrient combo cut the risk of esophageal cancer in people younger than 55, it actually upped risk in older people. And this, Taylor told Reuters Health, may indeed have larger implications.
In the rural village of Linxian, rates of esophageal cancer and stomach cancer are among the world's highest, and nutrition is poor. Taylor and a group of Chinese and US colleagues conducted a large trial to determine if giving them one or more of four different combinations of vitamins and minerals might reduce villagers' cancer risk. The study included 29,584 people 40 to 69 years old who took the supplements for five years and were then followed for another 10 years.
One combination, "Factor D," consisting of 50 micrograms of selenium, 30 milligrams of vitamin E, and 15 milligrams of beta-carotene, reduced overall mortality, cancer mortality, and the risk of developing stomach cancer among people who took it for five years. The three other nutrient combinations had no effect on mortality.
Ten years later, the researchers found, people who had taken Factor D were still 5% less likely to die from any cause than people who didn't take the supplement, and were 11% less likely to die from stomach cancer. Nearly all of the effect was seen among people 55 and younger. While Factor D cut esophageal cancer risk in people younger than 55, it actually increased risk in older people.
A raft of clinical trials of micronutrients for cancer prevention were launched following the publication of the Linxian study's initial results. But the results have been disappointing so far; in fact, some studies suggest that certain nutrients actually boost cancer risk.
What's important about this follow-up report, Taylor said, is that it provides "proof of principle" that giving people supplements to correct nutritional deficiencies can indeed prevent cancer. But megadoses in Western populations are a different story, he said.
The fact that benefits in the current study were limited to younger people, he added, suggests "we need to attack the problem earlier in the process to be effective, rather than later." And because cancer is characterized by out-of-control growth, Taylor pointed out, by giving micronutrients too late "we might in fact at that point be feeding the cancer."
Based on the findings, Taylor said, it looks like the most important thing may be to have adequate amounts of nutrients early-on, and that taking high doses of certain vitamins later in life won't help and may in fact be harmful. "At this moment, it just doesn't look like it's the thing to do," Taylor said. "It's back to Ben Franklin and everything in moderation."
SOURCE: Journal of the National Cancer Institute, April 1, 2009.
http://www.reutershealth.com/archive/2009/03/24/eline/links/20090324elin006.html

U.S. rehab centers see bankers driven to drink
Last Updated: 2009-03-24 10:02:50 -0400 (Reuters Health)
NEW CANAAN, Connecticut (Reuters) - Cocaine and martinis On Wall Street? Nothing new there. Masters of the Universe admitting they have an alcohol problem? Not so common.
Experts say more and more people in finance are seeking treatment for addiction as the global economic crisis sinks its teeth into a high-stakes industry where confidence is the name of the game and nobody wants to admit to a weakness.
"We absolutely do see more people coming in naming either a job loss or huge financial reversals or big investments with Bernie Madoff," said Sigurd Ackerman, medical director at Silver Hill Hospital rehabilitation facility in New Canaan, Connecticut.
"They're being admitted with depression or increases in substance abuse, or both."
Ackerman said there was a high concentration of financial professionals in the town, 40 miles from New York, whose main streets are lined with high-end boutiques catering to the well-heeled wives of hedge fund managers and bankers.
"You're supposed to be a master of the universe, you're supposed to be on top of everything," said one financial services executive who began alcohol rehab in August.
"There's not a lot of sensitivity training or meetings where you sit around and ask how everyone is feeling," said the Connecticut executive, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "No one walks around saying 'I feel your pain.'"
Alcohol has long oiled the wheels of commerce on Wall Street, where bankers working long hours will entertain clients over dinner and drinks, or let off steam at late-night clubs with hard liquor and drugs.
Robert Curry, founder of Turning Point for Leaders, a coaching and consulting firm in New Canaan that creates treatment programs for senior executives, said the financial crisis was a factor in more drink and drug use.
"We've got more than 50 homes in foreclosure in this town and that's unheard of," Curry said. "Domestic violence incidents have spiked, and that is very closely tied to substance abuse."
Struggling with a divorce, the Connecticut executive sought help at Turning Point. A residential rehab program will be just the first step in a program that would last at least a year and include follow-up counseling, therapy and support groups.
Curry is a former financial executive who started working with substance abusers two decades ago, around the time his alcoholic father died and he realized he had a drinking problem of his own. Despite the recession, demand is growing.
"Companies are downsizing," he said. "Budgets are being trimmed, and yet we're seeing an increase in our business."
Clients include bankers, businessmen and doctors and are overwhelmingly male.
ADRENALIN JUNKIES
Harris Stratyner, a psychologist with Caron Treatment Centers, a leading non-profit addiction treatment foundation with offices in Manhattan, said stars of the financial world were by nature more prone to risky and extreme behavior.
"There's an adrenalin rush that's connected to economics," he said. "Why are so many people attracted to that world? Not all, but many, already are adrenalin junkies, and are looking for the high highs and the low lows."
Stratyner said economic anxiety can push people over the edge, but also allows addicts to rationalize their behavior, blaming stress or claiming they can't afford treatment.
"There's a lot of people out there who are unconsciously ... grateful that there's a problem going on, so that someone really and truly has an excuse to get high," he said.
Stratyner said mental illness and addiction, which often occur together, cost the United States $171 billion a year in lost workplace productivity.
Joseph Califano, a former U.S. secretary of health who founded the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse in 1992, said anxiety clearly raised the risk of substance abuse in all socio-economic groups.
People drink more in hard economic times, Califano said, but banks and other financial firms have traditionally not done enough to help employees cope.
"There's still tremendous stigma and shame," he said. "This is not a moral failing, it's a disease."
Another recovering alcoholic, aged 64, who works on Wall Street also requested anonymity because of the stigma.
"It's not so easy to get somebody to recognize their problems," he said. "If you have a series of occasions where you don't remember parts of the evening, that is a bit of a warning sign that maybe you should be seeking some help. The other is if embarrassing things happen to you."
A month in rehab costs from $25,000 at Caron up to around $60,000 at high-end private facilities. Curry said most of his clients pay out of pocket for privacy reasons.
The Connecticut-based executive was paying his own way.
"It's more than I'd like," he said. But "it's less expensive than losing your job ... less expensive than losing a client or losing your family, or losing your home or getting in trouble with the law."
http://www.reutershealth.com/archive/2009/03/24/eline/links/20090324elin007.html

Group says 5.3 million in U.S. have Alzheimer's
Last Updated: 2009-03-24 10:06:50 -0400 (Reuters Health)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An estimated 5.3 million Americans have Alzheimer's disease and each patient, on average, costs Medicare three times more than patients without the disease, the Alzheimer's Association reported on Tuesday.
In its annual report on the brain-wasting illness, the group projected that by 2010, nearly a half-million new cases of Alzheimer's disease will develop each year as the population ages and by 2050 a million new cases will be diagnosed annually.
"Direct and indirect costs of Alzheimer's and other dementias amount to more than $148 billion annually," the group said in a statement.
"A strategy to immediately confront Alzheimer's has the potential to save millions of lives and billions of dollars by reducing the burden on Medicare and Medicaid," said Harry Johns, Alzheimer's Association chief executive officer.
The number of deaths from Alzheimer's disease, the sixth-leading cause of mortality in the United States, rose by more than 47 percent between 2000 and 2006, the group said.
And these patients, who begin with memory loss but progress to confusion and eventually an inability to walk or care for themselves, cost far more to treat than most other patients. There is no cure and the few drugs available only mildly affect symptoms.
"Average per person Medicaid payments were nine times higher; Medicare payments were three times higher, and private insurance payments were 26 percent higher for those with Alzheimer's compared to those without Alzheimer's," the group said in a statement. Medicare and Medicaid are U.S. government health insurance programs for the elderly and poor.
The Alzheimer's Association said it estimates nearly 10 million caregivers in the United States spent 8.5 billion hours collectively in 2008 providing unpaid care to Alzheimer's disease patients.
http://www.reutershealth.com/archive/2009/03/24/eline/links/20090324elin008.html

Antibody yoghurt stymies stomach ulcers, say researchers

Nutraingredients.com, 25-Mar-2009

Yoghurt fortified with antibodies extracted from chicken eggs, can battle bacteria that cause gastritis and stomach ulcers, according to preliminary findings from Japanese researchers.
The results of the small human, clinical trial were presented on Sunday at the 237th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society, and are being used by a Japanese company that partly funded the study to back the health benefits of a yoghurt fortified with the antibodies.
The company, Pharma Food International Company, has launched the yoghurt product in Japan, Korea and Taiwan, promoted on its ability to battle the ulcer and gastritis causing bacteria in question – Helicobacter pylori. It also responsible for the onset of stomach cancer.
Speaking at the event in Salt Lake City, Utah, study coordinator Hajime Hatta, PhD, a chemist at Kyoto Women's University in Kyoto in Japan, said products such as the one featured in the study, could deliver “vaccine-like” benefits and present an alternatives to typical treatments such as antibiotics and acid suppressants.
This is seen as being a particularly key finding in the developing world where antibiotics and acid suppressants are not commonly available.
"Our data indicate that the suppression of H. pylori infection in humans could be achieved by taking functional yoghurt fortified with urease antibody," Dr Hatta said at the chemist’s convention.
In the US alone, it is estimated which affect 25 million people suffer from stomach ulcers.
Pylori suppression
H. pylori depends on a protein called urease to bind to and infect the stomach lining, and so the scientists created a urease antibody called IgY-urease they then fortified the yoghurt with.
The antibody was created by injecting chickens with urease so that their immune systems produced the antibody. It was then extracted from the eggs they laid and inserted into the trial yoghurt that also included probiotic strains Lactobacillus acidophilus, Bifidobacterium and one per cent egg yolk.
The study involved feeding 42 H. pylori-positive people two cups (450mL) of antibody-laden yoghurt or plain yoghurt three times per day for four weeks, with an interval reading at two weeks.
The researchers found that levels of a urease by-product in exhaled breath were significantly lower among the antibody group than the plain yoghurt control group.
The urea breath test is approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for the detection of H. pylori.
Source: American Chemical Society
ACS 2009; Abstract 1229589.
"Prophylactic effect of an anti-Helicobacter pylori IgY in human volunteer test"
Authors: Hatta H, et al.
http://www.nutraingredients.com/Research/Antibody-yoghurt-stymies-stomach-ulcers-say-researchers

Cost and health driving veggie-curiousness

Foodnavigator.com, 24-Mar-2009

Vegetarian food manufacturers say they are increasingly catering for mainstream consumer tastes by meeting various consumer needs for affordable, healthy and even higher quality products, according to an independent association.
Stewart Rose, vice president of the non-profit organization Vegetarians of Washington, claimed that, while vegetarian food products can meet specific needs regarding consumer health, broad market appeal remained the key to driving future growth in the current economic climate.
“We will continue our broad based marketing program,” he stated. “The base of consumers are the vegetarian community, but the fastest growth potential is in reaching out to the mainstream and getting them to give vegetarian food products a try.”
Vegfest
The comments follow last weekend’s Vegfest 2009, an event that took place in Seattle, and, according to the group, is the largest vegetarian food festival in North America.
Rose told FoodNavigator-USA.com that estimates of this year’s event suggested that at least half of attendees at the show were not committed vegetarians, reflecting increasing interest by consumers in meat-free products.
He added that this seemingly growing number of so called ‘veg-curious’ shoppers was being met with growing interest from vegetarian food manufacturers eager to cater for main stream needs.
Downturn
Like a lot of strategies currently being adopted within the food industry, Rose suggested that the economic downturn had been a major factor in steering trends.
He claimed that there was a proportion of vegetarian consumers who consciously spent more on healthier products and were therefore less likely to switch to other products.
Due to this reluctance to switch to other goods, Vegetarians of Washington said it expected the industry would remain focused on broad mainstream appeal in the future.
Aside from cost impacts, Rose said that in light of the growing interest in super fruit products like Goji berry, pushing and promoting other goods offering potential health benefits was another important development area.
Welfare and nutrients
Earlier this year, it was animal welfare and not health being linked to growing levels of US child vegetarians, according to a survey.
A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) study, which is said to be the first government estimate of the number of children who do not eat meat, showed that 367,000 children in the US are vegetarian.
This figure is estimated to be about in one in 200 children. The CDC report, which presents selected estimates of complementary and alternative medicine use among US adults and children, used data from the 2007 National Health Interview Survey, conducted by the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics.
The results were based on over 9,417 interviews for children aged up to 17 years.
Nutrient views
However, experts claim that children who are vegetarians could lack essential nutrients if they don’t eat meat, such as protein. Therefore, it is important to eat alternative sources such as soybeans and nuts.
This is more the case for vegans who do not eat dairy produce or meat.