New Research Confirms Vitamin D Blocks Formation of Breast Cancer

 (NaturalNews) Women with a higher vitamin D intake may be a quarter less likely to die from breast cancer than women with lower levels, scientists have found.

In a study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, researchers from Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto analyzed the vitamin D intake of 759 breast cancer patients and 1,135 women without breast cancer, accounting for both dietary intake and vitamin D production from exposure to sunlight. They found that women with a higher vitamin D intake had a 24 percent lower risk of acquiring hormone receptor-positive breast cancer than women with a lower vitamin intake.

"Few epidemiologic studies have considered the association between vitamin D and hormone-receptor-defined breast cancer," the researchers wrote.

Hormone receptor-positive breast tumors have their growth stimulated by the female sex hormones estrogen and progesterone, and are the most common form of breast cancer diagnosed in the United States.

The researchers also found that women with higher vitamin D intake had a 26 percent lower risk of developing hormone receptor-negative tumors, however, and a 21 percent lower chance of developing mixed-receptor tumors, which are receptive to only one hormone type. Unlike the correlation with receptor-positive tumors, these correlations were not statistically significant.

"This study suggests that vitamin D is associated with a reduced risk of breast cancer regardless of [hormone receptor] status of the tumor," the researchers wrote.

Breast cancer is the second most common and the fifth most lethal cancer in the world, with more than one million new diagnoses and 500,000 deaths each year. In the United States, 180,000 women are diagnosed with the disease and 40,000 are killed every year.

The current study is not the first to suggest that vitamin D intake may affect breast cancer risk and prognosis. In fact, the idea has been around since the 1940s, when researchers noted that cancer deaths increased with distance from the equator.

Technically a hormone, vitamin D is produced naturally by the body when the skin is exposed to sunlight. It has long been known to be critical for proper calcium absorption and bone health, and deficiency can lead to rickets in children and osteoporosis in adults.

Just 15 minutes of sun on the face and hands is considered to provide enough vitamin D for an average light-skinned individual, with 20 to 30 minutes needed for darker skinned people. Because the sun is weaker farther from the equator, however, many people are not able to synthesize all the vitamin D they need themselves, especially during winter months when the days are shorter. For people in those circumstances, dietary vitamin D is also available from certain fatty fish, in fortified grain and dairy products, and in the form of supplements.

Research has linked vitamin D deficiency to an increased risk of a wide variety of cancers, including cancers of the breast, colon, esophagus, pancreas and prostate. Another study conducted by University of Toronto and Mount Sinai Hospital researchers found that women who were vitamin D deficient at the time of breast cancer diagnosis had a 75 percent higher risk of death than women with adequate levels, and a 100 percent higher risk of having their cancer metastasize.

Recommended daily vitamin D intake remains controversial, with the governments of Canada and the United States recommending only 200 IU per day for children and 400 IU per day for adults, the amounts long accepted as necessary to stave off bone and dental problems. Recent research suggests that much higher levels are needed to protect against cancers, diabetes, heart disease and autoimmune disorders, however, leading the Canadian Cancer Society and other groups to recommend 1,000 IU per day for adults.

http://www.naturalnews.com/025397.html

Black Raspberries Kill Esophageal Cancer Cells

 (NaturalNews) The adult esophagus is only about 10 to 13 inches long and three fourths of an inch across at its smallest point. However, this small muscular tube is a critical part of the digestive system. When you eat, your esophagus carries food and liquid from the mouth to the stomach. Cancer of the esophagus, also known as esophageal cancer, starts from its inner layer and grows outward on a deadly course. When it strikes, esophageal cancer is almost always fatal because it is usually diagnosed only at a late stage. According to the American Cancer Society, about 14,280 Americans died from the disease in 2008.

But there's good news about a way to fight this cancer. Scientists have found that a natural and delicious substance could help prevent the malignancy in the first place and kill cancer cells in the esophagus when they appear -- black raspberries.

Research just published in the American Association for Cancer Research's Cancer Prevention Research identifies a class of flavonoids called anthocyanins in black raspberries that's been shown to inhibit cancer cell growth and stimulate apoptosis (the death of cancer cells) in the esophagus of rats treated with an esophageal carcinogen. "Our data provide strong evidence that anthocyanins are important for cancer prevention," the study's lead author, Gary D. Stoner, Ph.D., a professor in the department of internal medicine at Ohio State University, said in a statement to the media.

Anthrocyanins have already been shown in the lab to have cancer fighting potential but this was one of the first studies to look at cancer prevention and black raspberry flavonoid extract in animals. Dr. Stoner and his Ohio State Comprehensive Cancer Center research team fed rats an anthocyanin-rich extract of black raspberries which proved to be almost as effective in preventing esophageal cancer in rats as whole black raspberries containing the same concentration of anthocyanins.

Dr. Stoner and his colleagues previously conducted clinical research in humans that showed some promising results. However, the trials were difficult because they required patients to take up to 60 grams of powdered raspberries a day. The new animal study is important because it shows that the extracted anthocyanins in berries are almost as active as whole berries themselves. And that could make treatment with the natural fruit substance literally easier for esophageal cancer patients to swallow.

"We hope to be able to prevent cancer in humans using a standardized mixture of anthocyanins," Dr. Stoner said in the media release. "The goal is to potentially replace whole berry powder with its active components and then figure out better ways to deliver these components to tissues, to increase their uptake and effectiveness. Ultimately, we hope to test the anthocyanins for effectiveness in multiple organ sites in humans."

http://www.naturalnews.com/025395.html

Regular Sex Improves Health and Doubles Life Expectancy

 (NaturalNews) You probably already know that Broccoli, carrots, and oranges are good for you. Yet it's rarely mentioned that having regular sex is not only fantastically fun, but brilliant for your health! A study at Queens University in Belfast published in the British Medical Journal tracked the sexuality of about 1,000 middle-aged men over the course of a decade. The study compared men of a similar age and health and showed that men who reported the highest frequency of orgasm lived twice as long as though who did not enjoy sex.

Yoga, treadmills, and weightlifting are all great ways to keep in shape. But the fact that sex is so beneficial to our health is rarely discussed. Every muscle in the body can be worked and toned, particularly the pelvis, buttocks, stomach and arms. Sex has been proven to lower blood pressure, improve cholesterol, and increase circulation. The heartbeat rises from 70 to 150 beats per minute. In fact, people who regularly indulge are half as likely to have heart attacks and strokes than those who don't have sex at all.

Sex is also wonderful for weight loss since 30 minutes will burn 200 calories! In addition sex calms food cravings because it stimulates the production of phenetylamine, a natural amphetamine that regulates the appetite.

Having regular orgasms is one great way to protect against coughs and colds. Sex saturates the blood with an antibody called immunoglobulin A that is known to boost immunity. At the moment of climax, a powerful chemical called DHEA is released, which also balances the immune system, as well as aids in tissue repair, improves cognition, and promotes bone growth.

Having regular sex can also help beat stress. Oxytocin is a hormone released just before orgasm and helps the body to secrete endorphins, or the inner positivity and chill out hormone. It is a useful remedy for insomniacs, and delivers relaxation to people who are overworked and stressed out. Tension affects the digestive system, so one of the side effects of sex is that the body is able to absorb the nutrients from food more easily.

Several studies have shown that semen just might be a natural antidepressant. Woman who had regular unprotected sex were less likely to be depressed than women who did not have sex or used a condom. One explanation might be that the vagina absorbs all sorts of goodies from her lover's spunk including zinc, calcium, potassium, and protein.

Sexual stimulation has been proven to be an analgesic. According to the famous professor and sexologist Beverly Whipple, when women masturbated to orgasm, their pain tolerance threshold and pain detection threshold increased significantly from 74.6 to 106.7. This most pleasurable of painkillers is helpful for ailments such as headaches, muscle pains, and menstrual cramps.

Sex promotes the production of collagen, which keeps the skin supple and gives it that peachy glow. As women get older, their juices can dry up. Keeping sexually active is the best cure, as well as the most delicious. Furthermore, sex is one of the best ways to stay young in spirit.

http://www.naturalnews.com/025393.html

Inhaler Drugs Increase Risk of Heart Attacks, Death

 (NaturalNews) People taking inhaled drugs to treat a widespread lung condition may be at increased risk of heart attack and death, according to a Veterans Affairs study conducted by researchers from Wake Forest University and published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The researchers analyzed the results of 17 different studies on the risks of inhaled drugs for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). COPD involves excess mucus and thickened, narrowed airways, combining the symptoms of emphysema and chronic bronchitis. According to Aaron Milstone of Vanderbilt University Medical School, this leads patients to feel as if they are "living the entire day under water, unable to come to the surface."

COPD affects 24 million people in the United States and kills more than 100,000, making it the country's fourth leading killer.

The researchers found that patients who were taking inhaler drugs to treat COPD had a 1.8 percent chance of developing heart disease, in contrast with only 1.2 percent of COPD patients who had been given other drugs or placebos. This would translate into one extra death for every 40 patients who used the inhalers for one year, the researchers said.

The drugs in question are ipratropium (marketed by Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals as Atrovent) and tiotropium (jointly marketed by Boehringer and Pfizer as Spiriva Handihaler).

Earlier this year, Boehringer and Pfizer told the FDA that their product might increase the risk of stroke, but they later retracted that claim, saying it was based on an improper analysis of data.

Because other drugs for the treatment of COPD also have potentially serious side effects, the study authors stopped short of recommending that patients discontinue the use of inhaled medications. Instead, they recommended that patients attempt to improve their cardiovascular health before beginning the drugs, through measures such as quitting smoking, using oxygen and controlling cholesterol and blood pressure.

Switching to Coconut Oil can Prevent Diabetes

 (NaturalNews) Coconut oil is an ancient super food that has been an essential component to many of the earth's healthiest cultures. Cultures that have consumed high amounts of coconut oil generally have not suffered with diabetes, as well as many other diseases. Unfortunately, as many of these people abandon their traditional ways of eating, they begin to suffer with diabetes, since coconut oil has been shown to protect people from this illness.

For example, the people who live on the island of Nauru in the South Pacific have enjoyed a diet of mostly bananas, yams and coconuts. Diabetes was a completely unknown illness. As the island became healthier and their lifestyle and diet began to include refined flour, sugar and vegetable oils, diabetes appeared. According to the World Health Organisation, up to one half of the urbanised Nauru population age 30 - 64 are diabetic today.

Although few people make the association between refined vegetable oils and diabetes, the link has been well researched. In the 1920s Dr. S. Sweeney studied the effects of vegetable oil on his student. His research showed that a diet high in vegetable oil could cause reversible diabetes within 48 hours in subjects who had not been previously diabetic. A 1998 study published in Metabolism showed that diabetes could be reversed by cutting out polyunsaturated fat. The same results have also been shown in humans.

What is the Difference Between Coconut Oil and Vegetable oils?

There is a molecular difference between coconut oil and all other common vegetable oils such as olive, sunflower and safflower oil. The molecules that make up these polyunsaturated oils are made up of a long chain of fatty acids. On the other hand, virgin coconut oil is made up of smaller molecules or medium chain fatty acids.

Long chain fats are either deposited in blood vessels as cholesterol or stored around the waist, thighs and buttocks as energy stores of fat for emergencies. Medium chain fatty acids are used immediately as a source of energy.

Why Regular Oils Can Potentially Cause Diabetes

Most people with diabetes are on strict low fat, high carbohydrate diets in which the limited fats allowed are restricted to polyunsaturated vegetable oils such as olive, safflower, or sunflower oils. However, studies have shown that if the fats consumed are polyunsaturated, long chain fats, this decreases cell's ability to bind with insulin, and reduces their ability to absorb glucose...especially when these oils are heated during cooking. In other words, polyunsaturated long chain fats, commonly thought to be "healthy", actually make diabetes WORSE!

Furthermore, polyunsaturated vegetable oils can cause free radical damage to the cells, and adversely affect their ability to function. The bottom line is that cooking with polyunsaturated vegetable oils, such as sunflower oil and olive oil, should be avoided by people with diabetes.

Why is Coconut Oil so Beneficial for Diabetes?

The smaller and more easily absorbed medium chain molecules found in coconut oil supply the cells with essential fatty acids without inhibiting insulin and without glucose, so they combat insulin resistance. Virgin coconut oil is a totally unique super food that serves as an energy boost to the body, without causing a spike in blood sugar levels.

Researchers have discovered that while heavy foods (including polyunsaturated oils) slow down the metabolism, organic coconut oil actually stimulates the metabolism to assist the fat burning process, even when they are heated. In simple terms, simply substituting your normal cooking oils with coconut oil can be a tremendous remedy for diabetes, and, along with avoiding sugar and getting plenty of exercise, can help prevent people who don't suffer from this dangerous disease from suffering later in life.

http://www.naturalnews.com/025388.html

Another Reason to Get Enough Sleep: Keep Parasites Away

 (NaturalNews) Scientists have long puzzled over the reasons sleep is so important. Brian Preston from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, and an international team of researchers just published research that backs up their theory sleep improves the function of the immune system --and it may specifically protect animals from being overrun by parasite infections.

According to a study just published in the journal BMC Evolutionary Biology, species of animals that get substantial sleep not only have a greater concentration of immune cells in their blood, they also are able to stave off more parasite infections than other creatures. "We suggest that sleep fuels the immune system. While awake, animals must be ready to meet multiple demands on a limited energy supply, including the need to search for food, acquire mates, and provide parental care. When asleep, animals largely avoid these costly activities, and can thus allocate resources to the body`s natural defenses," Dr. Preston said in a media statement.

The scientists studied sleep in mammals, analyzed the animals` immune system measurements, and looked at numbers of infections with parasites. They found mammals that have evolved to have longer sleep cycles have more circulating immune cells and fewer infections with parasites like intestinal worms.

So what do these findings have to do with human health? Possibly, a lot. The researchers conclude: "Given the declines in human sleep durations that have occurred over the past few decades, there is a clear need for studies that further clarify the immunological significance of sleep."

Bottom line: add getting enough sleep to a healthy lifestyle in order to keep your immune system strong and able to fight parasites, which are now throughout the world -- not only in developing countries. For example, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), around 14 percent of the U.S. population is infected with Toxocara, or internal roundworms, and some 60million people in the United States are likely infected with Toxoplasma gondii, a parasite associated with raw meat and contact with cat feces. In addition, a report on food borne parasites prepared for the Food Research Institute at the University of Wisconsin in 2003 found about two and a half million cases of food and waterborne Giardia lamblia and three million cases of Cryptosporidium parvum in the U.S. annually. Both these parasites are transmitted through drinking water contaminated with the fecal material of infected persons. The World Health Organization (WHO) ranks parasites as among the six most dangerous diseases that infect humans.

Parasites in humans can cause intestinal discomfort, bloating gas and chronic constipation or diarrhea. Although drugs can be prescribed to kill parasites, many herbs and foods have traditionally been used to treat parasite infections . According to the University of Maryland Medical School web site, these include: raw garlic, pumpkin seeds, pomegranates, beets, and carrots, all of which have antiworm properties.

More Americans are Sick with Multiple Chronic Illnesses

 (NaturalNews) A recent study released reveals that more Americans are suffering chronic illnesses today than ever before. In fact, it is common for American people to be burdened by more than three chronic illnesses simultaneously.

This situation has contributed to a significant increase in out-of-pocket medical expenditures for many Americans because prescription drugs are often not completely covered by health insurance policies. The average annual out-of-pocket expense increased from $427 per American in 1996 to $741 in 2005. After adjusting for inflation, this is a 39% increase in this type of spending per person over that period of time.

Unfortunately, these expenditures are significantly higher for the elderly. An elderly person insured through Medicare with three or more chronic illnesses pays an average of $2,588 in out-of-pocket medical expenses.

According to government survey data, 44 percent of Americans had at least one chronic medical condition in 2005. This includes high cholesterol, cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure, arthritis, heart disease, and other conditions. In 1996 the percentage was 41.

The study did not examine causes for the increase, but there are several obvious factors that are contributing to the overall decline in the health of Americans.

The sedentary lifestyle and processed-food diets of many Americans and the resulting increase in obesity are becoming more and more prevalent. Obesity is directly related to many chronic illnesses, including diabetes. New diabetes cases have increased among Americans by approximately 90 % over the last ten years.

The most troubling increase, however, was the increase in the number of Americans with three or more chronic diseases. This figure rose from 13 percent in 1996 to 22 percent in 2005 for Americans between the ages of 45 and 64. For Americans ages 65 to 79 the increase rose to 45 percent and for Americans over 80 the figure rose from 38 percent to 54 percent. For all ages combined the figure was 7 percent in 1996 and rose to 13 percent in 2005.

The management of these chronic illnesses in America consumes 75 percent of over $2 trillion spent annually on health care in the United States.

Of note is that the increase in the incidence of chronic illness is not just among the oldest age groups. The middle age and early old age groups have also increased and these figures are not dependent on race, sex, ethnicity, or income levels.

These report results are based on nationally representative surveys of approximately 32,000 Americans in 2005 and approximately 22,000 Americans in 1996.

President-elect Obama has plans to try to solve the rising costs of the flawed US health care system. His efforts will certainly be complicated by the unfortunate declining state of health of many Americans.

http://www.naturalnews.com/025379.html

Marital distress may worsen breast cancer recovery
Last Updated: 2009-01-22 14:38:46 -0400 (Reuters Health)
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Women coping with difficulties in their marriage have a harder time recovering from treatment for breast cancer, researchers have found.
Breast cancer survivors involved in an ongoing but distressed marriage or long-term relationship "showed not only a slower recovery in overall physical functioning but also more side effects from treatments," Dr. Hae-Chung Yang told Reuters Health.
When women in distressed relationships also suffered from depression, which Yang noted was often the case, "she showed worsening physical symptoms and dietary habits."
Yang and co-investigator Tammy A. Schuler, both of Ohio State University in Columbus, assessed stress, health behaviors, and health outcomes every 4 to 6 months over 5 years among 100 breast cancer survivors.
Overall, 56 percent had undergone modified radical mastectomy, while 60 and 92 percent had adjuvant radiotherapy and chemotherapy, the investigators report in the journal Cancer.
The women were all in stable relationships, lasting about 22 years, but 28 of them reported their relationship as distressed. The remaining women said they had a non-distressed relationship.
At the outset, the distressed group showed significantly lower levels of physical activity, greater and more severe symptoms such as nausea, and more symptoms of depression.
Over 5 years, women in distressed relationships showed "slower recovery from cancer-related traumatic stress symptoms such as unwanted thoughts about cancer diagnosis/treatments and fear of recurrence," said Yang.
These women also had continuously heightened levels of stress, and the tendency for worsening exercise and poor eating habits.
Yang and Schuler suggest that screening breast cancer survivors for depression would help identify those involved in distressed relationships who could benefit from appropriate referrals for assistance.
"Such assistance," they say, "may offset poor survivorship outcomes for patients doubly burdened by psychological distress and relationship problems."
SOURCE: Cancer, January 2009
http://www.reutershealth.com/archive/2009/01/22/eline/links/20090122elin001.html

Fitness may shield the aging brain
Last Updated: 2009-01-22 13:48:46 -0400 (Reuters Health)
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Staying physically fit with age may help protect people from mental decline by maintaining a healthy flow of blood to the brain, new research suggests.
A number of studies have found that regular exercise may help prevent or delay age-related cognitive decline and full-blown dementia, but the reasons are not fully clear.
For the new study, Canadian researchers looked at the relationships between physical fitness, brain blood flow and cognitive-test performance in 42 women between the ages of 50 and 90.
They found that those with the highest fitness levels generally showed better blood flow to the brain during exercise. This, in turn, was related to better scores on tests of memory, reasoning and other cognitive skills.
The findings are published in the journal Neurobiology of Aging.
"Our results suggest that the vascular benefits of exercise that have been reported previously in the heart and muscles are also conferred to the brain," senior researcher Dr. Marc J. Poulin, of the University of Calgary in Alberta, told Reuters Health.
"Basic fitness -- something as simple as getting out for a walk every day -- is critical to staying mentally sharp and remaining healthy as we age," said Poulin, who is also a scientist with the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research.
The study included 42 healthy postmenopausal women, some of whom regularly got aerobic exercise and some of whom were sedentary. All of the women took fitness tests on an exercise bike and had ultrasound scans to gauge their cerebral blood flow.
In general, fitter women showed better blood flow to the brain and greater responsiveness of the blood vessels to increased circulation.
"Our study identified strong and significant associations between physical fitness and cognition, and between physical fitness and vascular function in the brain," Poulin explained.
This, according to the researcher, suggests that the benefits of exercise on mental function are at least partly explained by its effects on blood vessel function.
The results, Poulin said, "provide a strong scientific basis for future studies to examine how exercise improves cognition in older adults."
"The implications are huge," he added, "given the aging population and age-related diseases like Alzheimer's disease and stroke."
SOURCE: Neurobiology of Aging, January 2009.
http://www.reutershealth.com/archive/2009/01/22/eline/links/20090122elin002.html

Obesity epidemic shows perils to health reform
Last Updated: 2009-01-22 10:01:08 -0400 (Reuters Health)
CHICAGO (Reuters) - For years, Bob Clegg's insurance company paid out some $3,000 a month for doctor visits, drugs and medical devices to treat the health problems caused by his obesity.
In September 2007, when his weight peaked at 380 pounds (172 kg), he had gastric bypass surgery, and now his health issues -- joint pain, sleep apnea and esophageal problems -- have vanished, and so have the medical bills.
But even though the surgery -- in which the stomach is made smaller and part of the intestine is bypassed -- has saved his insurance company money, Clegg, who now weighs 240 pounds (108 kg), had to pay the $20,000 cost out of his own pocket.
"It wasn't until the doctor said my sleep apnea was at a point where we seriously had to consider a tracheotomy that we talked about gastric bypass," said Clegg, 54. "The irony is that insurance would pay for the tracheotomy, but not the surgery."
Clegg's experience highlights the difficulties facing the United States as it confronts an epidemic of obesity, and the problems for President Barack Obama as he sets about extending health insurance to more Americans at a time of runaway costs.
While his experience is typical, unlike most other people, Clegg was in a position to make some changes.
As a member of New Hampshire's senate, he took what he knew about obesity and the cost of treating related chronic illnesses to the state capitol, where he introduced a bill in January 2008 requiring insurers to offer surgery as a treatment option, just as the state's Medicaid program for the poor does.
While other states -- some of which don't cover any obesity treatment -- are studying New Hampshire's approach, experts say economics will increasingly drive policy at a time of burgeoning budget deficits.
EPIDEMIC COSTS
About two-thirds of American adults are overweight or obese, putting them at an increased risk for diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, osteoarthritis, stroke, gallbladder disease, sleep apnea and respiratory problems and even some cancers.
The direct and indirect costs of obesity is $117 billion each year, according to a 2000 report by the U.S. Surgeon General.
Christine Ferguson, associate professor at George Washington University School of Public Health and the director of STOP Obesity Alliance, said the stigma surrounding obesity and belief that it is not a disease are keeping the government from addressing the crisis.
"At the root of this is that people still have a real problem thinking about obesity as anything other than a willpower issue," said Ferguson. "It is still perfectly acceptable to think about excluding treatment."
Ferguson, who has held high level healthcare posts in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, acknowledged the difficulty in changing the way government thinks about spending on obesity.
"If I have to balance my budget at the end of each year, I have a choice between investing money in children who have mental retardation, or children with developmental disabilities ... or investing in people who have obesity, choosing obesity is a very hard case to make," she said.
This is even though insurers would recover the costs of bariatric surgery within two to four years, according to Pierre-Yves Cremieux, a researcher with the economic consulting firm Analysis Group.
Cremieux led a study that showed the operation helps patients' health and ultimately leads to cost savings. The study was paid for by Johnson & Johnson, which makes bariatric surgery instruments.
OBESITY BIAS
Ronald Williams, the chairman and chief executive of health insurer Aetna, said most large employers that it sells policies to have at least one plan that covers bariatric surgery.
But, he said, he's more focused on prevention.
"The bigger end of the story is, How do we help people not become obese to begin with?" he said. "If they are suffering the complications from being overweight or obese, how can we help them manage those conditions?"
Clegg blamed difficultly in pushing his bill through partly on society's bias against the obese. The bill finally passed in June, six months before he left the senate in December.
Other states have had similar difficulties, including Utah, where Jeff Haaga has lobbied the state to require insurers to provide greater coverage there.
"If we could only get our lawmakers to understand, like they did in New Hampshire," said Haaga, who at 360 pounds is classified as morbidly obese.
"Insurers are covering people who are morbidly obese one way or the other, whether it's surgery or just keeping us alive with medication."
In Mississippi, rated the nation's fattest state for the third consecutive year, a bill that would have banned restaurants from serving obese customers died almost immediately after it was introduced in February.
The Trust for America's Health, a nonprofit group that focuses on disease prevention, reported that adult obesity rates rose in 37 states in the past year, while no state saw a decrease.
In its 2008 report: 'F as in Fat: How Obesity Policies are Failing in America', the Trust said Mississippi has per capita medical costs that are among the highest in the nation. It also has a Medicaid policy that specifically excludes coverage for bariatric surgery.
For Clegg, the former New Hampshire lawmaker, Mississippi's obesity problems are clearly linked to its refusal to pay for bariatric surgery under its Medicaid program.
"If Mississippi is that ignorant and would rather pay for diabetic medicine every month and watch people have heart attacks at a cost of $40,000 ... but wont spend $10,000 or $20,000 (for the surgery), well maybe that's why Mississippi has a problem," he said.

PTSD a risk factor for metabolic syndrome
Last Updated: 2009-01-22 14:45:16 -0400 (Reuters Health)
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are more likely to have metabolic syndrome than veterans without PTSD, research shows.
Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of risk factors for heart disease and diabetes that include abdominal obesity, high blood pressure and insulin resistance. After controlling for other factors such as depression or substance abuse, researchers found a significant association between metabolic syndrome and PTSD.
Dr. Pia S. Heppner, from the University of California, San Diego in La Jolla and colleagues examined studied 253 veterans. The team reports that 139 met criteria for PTSD, 163 had major depression, and 101 had metabolic syndrome.
The prevalence of metabolic syndrome was higher among those with PTSD only (34.3 percent) than among those with depression only (28.8 percent), but it was highest among patients with both PTSD and major depression (46.2 percent). Depression alone was not a significant predictor of metabolic syndrome risk.
The researchers also found that veterans with a higher severity of PTSD were more likely to meet the diagnostic criteria for metabolic syndrome. "This line of research suggests that stress and post-stress responses are related to long-term health outcomes," Heppner noted in a written statement.
Any traumatic event or series of events can cause PTSD, and research shows that to 30 percent of people who have experienced a traumatic event may go on to develop PTSD and it may affect about 8 percent of people at some point in their lives.
The current findings, Heppner said, suggest that metabolic syndrome provides a useful framework for assessing the physical burden of PTSD and can be used to evaluate health risks that may be associated with combat exposure and PTSD.
"While more research is needed on the specific mechanisms by which patients with PTSD develop these conditions, physicians can encourage these at-risk individuals to adapt healthier lifestyles and practice stress management, and participate in psychological or pharmacological treatment of their PTSD," Heppner advised.
SOURCE: BMC Medicine, January 9, 2009.

Inflammation Worsens Danger Due To Atherosclerosis

ScienceDaily (Jan. 23, 2009) — Current research suggests that inflammation increases the risk of plaque rupture in atherosclerosis. 
Atherosclerosis is a disease of arterial blood vessels where fats, cholesterol, blood cells, and fibers form hardened plaques on the artery wall. These plaques restrict blood flow to tissues such as the heart and brain by narrowing the artery. Atherosclerosis can be caused by high blood pressure, high fat and high cholesterol diets, smoking, and diabetes. People with atherosclerotic plaques often show no symptoms for decades.
Atherosclerotic plaques consist of lipid cores covered by collagen fiber caps. These plaques can suddenly rupture, resulting in blood clots that completely block blood flow and lead to heart attack or stroke in otherwise healthy individuals. One potential cause of plaque rupture is the thinning of the collagen fiber cap covering the plaque.
Inflammatory cells are often observed at the site of plaque rupture. Researchers led by Dr. Göran K Hansson at the Karolinska Institute explored the role of inflammatory cells in atherosclerotic plaque rupture using an animal model of atherosclerosis with hyper-activated immune cells. They found that inflammation leads to a reduction of mature collagen in atherosclerotic plaques, leading to thinner caps that are more likely to rupture. They then identified a collagen-maturing enzyme, lysyl-oxidase (LOX), which represents a novel target in inflammation-induced plaque rupture.
The data from Ovchinnikova et al suggest "a novel mechanism by which adaptive immunity can modulate plaque stability - impairment of collagen maturation by T cell-dependent inflammation." These studies help unraveling the cause of myocardial infarction and stroke, and provide "interesting new targets for plaque stabilization therapy." In future studies, Dr. Hansson's group will explore the role of insufficient collagen maturation in human atherosclerosis. They hope that components of collagen and the LOX enzyme will become useful both to identify patients at risk for plaque rupture and to develop new therapy to prevent plaque rupture and thrombosis.
This work was supported by grants from the Swedish Heart-Lung Foundation and Swedish Medical Research Council, the Academy of Finland, and S. Jusélius foundation.
Ovchinnikova O, Robertson A-KL, Wågsäter D, Folco EJ, Hyry M, Myllyharju J, Eriksson P, Libby P, Hansson GK. T cell activation leads to reduced collagen maturation in atherosclerotic plaques of ApoE-deficient- mice. The American Journal of Pathology, 174: 693-700

Mediterranean Diet Reduces Long-term Risk Of Subsequent Weight Gain And Obesity Among Adults

ScienceDaily (Jan. 23, 2009) — A research group from Spain has studied the dietary patterns associated with a high intake of fruits and vegetables in Mediterranean populations. They have analysed the associations between fruit and vegetable intake and weight gain over a 10-year period in an adult Mediterranean population.
Despite the alarming increase in the prevalence of obesity, epidemiologic studies that prospectively examine the fruit and vegetable consumption and other lifestyle factors in relation to weight gain (WG) are still insufficient. For that reason, a research group composed by J Vioque, T Weinbrenner, A Castelló, L Asensio and M Garcia de la Hera, of the Department of Public Health, Science History and Gynaecology of the “Miguel Hernández” University Elche-Alicante, Spain, explored the associations between fruit and vegetable intake and weight gain (WG) over a 10-year period in an adult Mediterranean population.
Mediterranean diet reduces obesity risk
The scientists performed a 10-year follow-up study with healthy participants (206) aged 15-80 years at baseline in 1994, who participated in a nutrition survey in Valencia, Spain. Data on diet, lifestyle factors, and body weight were obtained in 1994 and 2004 using a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) and direct measurements. The average (WG) over the study period was 3.41 kg.
The data analysis of this study was limited by the number of participants. The researchers did not perform separate analyses for men and women and groups for statistical reasons (lack of sufficient statistical power). Concerning gender differences there are some studies which have demonstrated different associations between food group intake and weight changes among men and women.
In conclusion, the researchers found that increased fruit and vegetable intake was associated with significantly lower risk of a medium WG (3,41 kg) over 10 years among adults of a Spanish Mediterranean population. Dietary strategies to increase fruit and vegetable intake to prevent and control overweight and obesity should be promoted more vigorously. The researchers concluded that dietary patterns associated with a high intake of fruits and vegetables in Mediterranean populations may reduce long-term risk of subsequent WG and obesity among adults.
Vioque et al. Intake of Fruits and Vegetables in Relation to 10-year Weight Gain Among Spanish Adults. Obesity, 2008; 16 (3): 664 DOI: 10.1038/oby.2007.121
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090122081334.htm

Link Between Social Rejection And Aggressive Behavior Explained

ScienceDaily (Jan. 23, 2009) — People who feel socially rejected are more likely to see others' actions as hostile and are more likely to behave in hurtful ways toward people they have never even met, according to a new study.
The findings may help explain why social exclusion is often linked to aggression – which sometimes boils over dramatically, as in the case of school shootings, for example.
"Prior case studies show the majority of school shooters have experienced chronic peer rejection," said the study's lead author, C. Nathan DeWall, Ph.D., from the University of Kentucky. "And while not everyone who feels rejected reacts violently, we found they tend to act out aggressively in other ways. We wanted to help explain psychologically why this happens." A full report of the study appears in the January issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, published by the American Psychological Association.
DeWall conducted four separate experiments with 190 participants, all college students.
In one experiment, 30 participants completed a personality test and were given bogus feedback about the results. A third of the participants, the excluded group, were told their personalities would mean they would probably end up alone later in life. The rest of the participants, the control group, were either told they would have many lasting and meaningful relationships or were given no feedback at all.
All participants were then instructed to read a personal essay supposedly written by another participant, whom they did not know. The essay was about an event in which the author's actions could be perceived as either assertive or hostile and the participants rated their impression of the author's actions. They were also told that the author was up for a research assistant position and were asked whether they thought the author would be a good candidate, based on what they had read.
Participants who were told they were going to have a lonely life perceived the author's actions as significantly more hostile and gave a much more negative evaluation than those in the control groups. The authors also note that the participants' moods did not seem to differ among the different groups, which led them to conclude that the participants' emotional response to their personality results did not play a role in how they performed in the experiments.
In another experiment, 32 students underwent the same bogus personality evaluation and rated the same essay from the previous experiment. Again, some were told they would lead a lonely life while others were assigned to the control groups. This time, participants were led to believe they were playing a reaction-time computer game with another person in the lab whom they could not see and had never met. During the game, the loser of each trial was forced to listen to a blast of white noise through headphones. The participants could set the noise's intensity level and duration.
Those who were told they were going to have a lonely life blasted a higher level of the painful noise than those in the control groups. "Across all experiments, the participants who experienced some form of social rejection acted in similar ways," said DeWall. "This suggests these people feel betrayed by others. In turn, they see otherwise neutral actions as hostile and behave badly towards others."
Prior research has examined whether emotions play a role in this type of aggression, but this study's researchers say their findings do not support this idea. "Excluded people see the world through blood-colored glasses and it is our hope that this research can lead to a better understanding of why rejection causes aggression and what we can do to prevent such unwanted and harmful behavior," said DeWall.
DeWall et al. It's the thought that counts: The role of hostile cognition in shaping aggressive responses to social exclusion.. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2009; 96 (1): 45 DOI: 10.1037/a0013196

Nutrient Supports Bone Health Over Time

ScienceDaily (Jan. 23, 2009) — Findings from a new study suggest that natural pigments found in plants may help protect against bone loss in older men and women. Researchers funded by the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) reported the findings in a paper published online by The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
The study was led by epidemiologist Katherine Tucker with the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (HNRCA) at Tufts University in Boston, Mass. Tucker directs the HNRCA's Dietary Assessment and Epidemiology Research Program.
Other studies have consistently shown that fruit and vegetable intake is good for bones. Biological antioxidants in fruits and vegetables, such as carotenoids, protect cells and tissues from damage caused by naturally occurring oxygen free radicals in the body. Such plant nutrients may help protect the skeleton by reducing oxidative stress and thereby inhibiting bone breakdown or resorption.
The researchers examined potential effects on bone mineral density of overall and individual intake of several carotenoid compounds, including alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, beta-cryptoxanthin, lycopene and lutein+zeaxanthin.
For the observational study, the researchers tracked changes in bone mineral density at two areas of the hip and lumbar spine of male and female volunteers, aged 75 years on average, participating in the Framingham Osteoporosis Study. Among these volunteers, 213 men and 390 women were measured at the beginning of the study and four years later.
Over the course of the four years of the study, carotenoids were associated with some level of protection against losses in bone mineral density at the hip in men and at the lumbar spine in women. No significant associations were observed at the other bone sites.
The results suggest there is a protective effect of carotenoids, particularly of lycopene, against bone loss in older adults. The researchers concluded that carotenoids may explain, in part, the previously observed protective effects of fruit and vegetable consumption on bone mineral density.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090120143252.htm

Researchers Explore What Contemporary Science Cannot Explain

ScienceDaily (Jan. 23, 2009) — A team of University of Hertfordshire philosophers lead by Professor Paul Coates and Dr Sam Coleman is conducting a three-year research project to explore conscious experiences that contemporary science still cannot explain.
Funded with £380,000 from the Arts and Humanities Research Council, and involving the collaboration of some of the world’s leading philosophers and cognitive scientists, the project will attempt to answer the mystery of consciousness.
Professor Coates explains: “When we see a sunset or hear a symphony our sense organs, brains and bodies are moved in ways that are well understood by the physical and biological sciences. But during such experiences we also enjoy distinctive forms of conscious awareness. Yet this undeniable fact about our conscious lives is stubbornly resistant to scientific understanding. How is it even possible for purely physical brain activity to produce conscious experience? How do the qualities that manifest themselves in experience relate to the very different properties that are referred to in scientific descriptions of the physical world?”
To find the answers to these questions Professor Coates and Dr Coleman and their team will re-examine our fundamental concepts relating to consciousness and physical reality. They will look at experimental results in psychology and brain science and at phenomenology and other forms of philosophical enquiry.
The team will also include Professor Shaun Gallagher, Philosophy, University of Hertfordshire and Professor Tony Marcel, Psychology, University of Hertfordshire.

Video Games Linked To Poor Relationships With Friends, Family

ScienceDaily (Jan. 23, 2009) — A new study connects young adults' use of video games to poorer relationships with friends and family – and the student co-author expresses disappointment at his own findings.
Brigham Young University undergrad Alex Jensen and his faculty mentor, Laura Walker, publish their results Jan. 23 in the Journal of Youth and Adolescence.
The research is based on information collected from 813 college students around the country. As the amount of time playing video games went up, the quality of relationships with peers and parents went down.
"It may be that young adults remove themselves from important social settings to play video games, or that people who already struggle with relationships are trying to find other ways to spend their time," Walker said. "My guess is that it's some of both and becomes circular."
For the record, Walker did not stand in the way of her family's wish for a Nintendo Wii. Jensen had hoped to find some positive results as justification for playing Madden NFL.
Study participants reported how often they play video games. They also answered a battery of questions measuring relationship quality, including how much time, trust, support and affection they share with friends and parents.
But the researchers say video games do not themselves mean "game over" for a relationship because the connection they found is modest.
"Relationship quality is one of a cluster of things that we found to be modestly associated with video games," Walker said. "The most striking part is that everything we found clustered around video game use is negative."
Statistical analyses also revealed that the more young adults play video games, the more frequent their involvement in risky behaviors like drinking and drug abuse. Young adults who played video games daily reported smoking pot almost twice as often as occasional players, and three times as often as those who never play.
For young women, self-worth was low if their video game time was high.
And despite heavy involvement with the research, Jensen does not admit the results to his own family. For now he holds out hope that future research will exonerate consoles or games designed for multiple players.
He's also curious how video games may affect young couples. Nearly three-fourths of college-aged men in the study played video games regularly. By comparison, just 17 percent of their female counterparts played more than once a month.
"The gender imbalance begs the question of whether chasing a new high score beats spending quality time with a girlfriend or wife," Jensen said.
Walker teaches in BYU's School of Family Life. Her colleagues Larry Nelson and Jason Carroll are co-authors on the study.

Why do popular songs trigger specific memories?
22 Jan 2009, 1946 hrs IST, IANS

WASHINGTON: Just thinking about a particular song can evoke vivid memories of the past or special events in your life.

"We thought that actually hearing the song would bring back the most vivid memories," said Richard Harris, professor of psychology at Kansas State University (KSU) and co-author of the study

.
"But in our study there wasn't a lot of difference in memory between those who heard the song and those who didn't. What we determined was happening is that you already know the song and you're hearing it in your mind."

The study was co-authored by Harris and Elizabeth Cady, a 2006 KSU doctoral graduate in psychology. J. Bret Knappenberger, a 2004 K-State bachelor's graduate in psychology, also was co-author.

Harris said the study fit his other research on the intersection of media and memory. In another project, Harris explored why people like to quote movies. He said the project with Cady was one of the first times his research delved into the medium of music.

"Most people have this idea that music can be a powerful memory cue," Harris said. "You hear a song on the radio and it brings up memories of senior prom or graduation. That's why oldies stations are so popular -- not because the music is good but because it reminds us of specific times in our lives," he said.

The researchers wanted to understand whether memories were cued by actually hearing the song or by thinking about it in other ways.

They tested 124 subjects between the ages of 18-20 in spring 2003. A pilot study had the subject’s list songs from five stages of life: early childhood, grade school, middle school, high school and college.

In the second part of the study, the subjects were given a short list of the songs that were chosen with the most frequency in the pilot study. The subjects were asked to pick one song from each category that had a strong memory attached to it, write about the memory and rate how vivid it was.

Harris said that he and Cady were surprised at how many participants reported strong memories associated with the same song.

For the grade-school era, 26 percent of participants had strong memories associated with Vanilla Ice's song "Ice Ice Baby." For middle school, 36 percent reported strong memories associated with Coolio's "Gangsta's Paradise."

A control group was given only the names of the songs, while test groups either heard short clips of the songs, read the lyrics or saw art from the album or a photo of the artist, said a KSU release.

Harris said the vividness of memories didn't vary much from one group to another, leading the researchers to determine that the subjects were "hearing" the song by being reminded of it in one way or another.

The study was recently published in the journal of Psychology of Music.

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