'Bad' Fat May Hurt Brain Function Over Time

FRIDAY, May 18 (HealthDay News) -- Women who eat a lot of "bad" saturated fat may hurt their overall brain function and memory over time, Harvard University researchers report.
In contrast, eating more "good" monounsaturated fat improved brain function and memory, suggesting that fats may have the same effect on the brain as they do on the heart, the researchers added.
"Making changes and substitutions in one's diet to eat fewer saturated fats and consume more monounsaturated fats might be a way to help prevent cognitive decline in older people," said lead researcher Dr. Olivia Okereke, an assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. "This is important because cognitive decline affects millions of older people. So, this is a promising area of research."
Just like exercising, maintaining a healthy weight and not smoking, this may be another modifiable factor in the fight against mental decline, Okereke added.
"Such modifiable factors are important because these are things that people can actually change and over which they can exert some individual control," she said.
The report was published in the May 18 online edition of the Annals of Neurology.
For the study, Okereke's team collected data on 6,000 women who took part in the U.S. Women's Health Study.
These women took three brain function tests every two years over an average span of four years.
In addition, they filled out detailed food questionnaires at the start of the study and before the brain tests.
The researchers found that over time, women who ate the highest amounts of saturated fat had the worst overall brain function and memory, compared to the women who ate the least.
Moreover, women who ate the most monounsaturated fats had higher scores on brain tests over the four years of testing, they note.
Saturated fat comes from animal fats such as red meat and butter, while monounsaturated fats are found in olive oil and other vegetable products.
In the study, the researchers accounted for many things that could influence the findings, including age, education, exercise, smoking, drinking, medication use and health conditions. This is done to ensure that the findings are not due to better health behaviors among certain women.
"We think it is unlikely that these findings regarding dietary fat would be primarily explained by a healthy lifestyle in those with more education," Okereke said.
Although this study was among women, "it would make sense that the basic underlying reasons for the findings we saw in women should also apply to men," she added.
Samantha Heller, a dietitian, nutritionist, exercise physiologist and clinical nutrition coordinator at the Center for Cancer Care at Griffin Hospital in Derby, Conn., commented that "it appears that the effects of eating a lot of saturated fat and the foods associated with it, such as red and processed meats, cheese and butter, over time creates a cascade effect of ill health."
This study supports others that have found an association between saturated fats, the incidence of Alzheimer's disease and an increased decline in brain function, she said.
"Saturated fat has been associated with an increased risk of atherosclerosis, cancer and diabetes, and may increase fat storage in your abdomen -- commonly referred to as 'ab flab,'" Heller said.
"Ab flab in and of itself increases the risk for heart disease, diabetes, certain cancers and Alzheimer's disease," she said.
The evidence is stacking up against consuming saturated fat regularly, Heller said.
"To lower your intake of saturated fat, choose low or nonfat dairy foods such as fat-free milk and yogurt. Stick with skinless poultry and fish. Limit red and processed meats such as beef, pork, lamb, hot dogs or bologna, to a few times a month. Experiment with meatless meals such as veggie burgers, spinach-eggplant lasagna, or black bean, corn and avocado tacos," she advised.
SOURCES: Olivia Okereke, M.D., assistant professor, psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston; Samantha Heller, M.S., R.D., dietitian, nutritionist, exercise physiologist and clinical nutrition coordinator, Center for Cancer Care, Griffin Hospital, Derby,
Conn.; May 18, 2012, Annals of Neurology, online

HealthDay

Fewer girls completing all three HPV shots: study

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Among girls and women who get their first human papillomavirus, or HPV, vaccine, the percent who complete all three doses is dropping, according to a new study.
One of the study's authors told Reuters Health she was aware the number of people completing the vaccine series was low to begin with, but she did not expect to see it getting even lower.
"We thought that that would be increasing over time as more people became aware of the vaccine and how it was to be administered," said Dr. Abbey Berenson, a professor at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston.
The HPV vaccine, which goes by the brand names Gardasil and Cervarix, protects girls and women from the sexually-transmitted virus that's linked to cervical cancer.
Girls as young as age nine can start the vaccine series, and catch-up vaccination is recommended for women up to age 26 who have not yet gotten their shots. The vaccine is given in three doses over a six-month period.
One earlier study found that 48 percent of teenage girls had received at least one dose in the vaccine series (see Reuters Health report of October 18, 2011).
Berenson said she wanted to know how many of those who start the shot series end up completing it.
She and her colleagues looked at the health insurance records of more than 271,000 girls and women, age nine and up, who had gotten a first Gardasil vaccine.
They found just 38 out of every 100 of them received the second and third shots in the next year.
Berenson's group also found that since the vaccine became available in 2006, the number of people completing all three doses declined.
In pre-teens, for instance, 57 percent of girls in 2006 completed the vaccine series, compared to 21 percent in 2009.
The numbers were similar for teenagers.
Among women 19 to 26 years old who got their first Gardasil shot, the number of those completing the series dropped from 44 percent in 2006 to 23 percent in 2009.
Berenson pointed out that her study, published in the journal Cancer, included all shots given within a 12-month window, even though the recommendation is to complete the series in six months.
"We have a window beyond the current recommendations, which makes the data even more surprising," she said.
As to why so few girls and women are completing the series of shots, "the honest answer is, we don't know," said Chun Chao, a researcher at Southern California Permanente Medical Group in Pasadena, who was not involved in this study.
Chao said even among patients in her health organization, who don't have to pay an extra cost to get the HPV vaccine, the rate of people who get all three shots is only about 40 percent.
"It's always more difficult to get a patient to come to the doctor for multiple appointments," said Berenson. "It requires quite an initiative from the patient's perspective."
"The scheduling might not be that easy to remember, and physicians might not do a good job explaining" the need for three shots, Chao told Reuters Health.
It's unclear whether getting one or two shots offers women any immunity from HPV.
There is some evidence that two shots of Cervarix can be effective, but that doesn't necessarily hold true for the women in this study who received Gardasil.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at least half of sexually-active people will get HPV at some point in their lives -- but most strains aren't cancer-causing and will be cleared on their own.
Still, of the 12,000 women in the U.S. who get cervical cancer each year, almost all cases are linked to HPV.
Berenson said if people have not completed the three vaccine doses, and are concerned that it's too late, "just go ahead and complete it now. It's a much better insurance against contracting HPV than forgetting about the last two doses."
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/KxkxF3 Cancer, online April 27, 2012

A glass of milk contains around 20 painkillers, antibiotics and growth hormones

Scientists have found that a glass of milk may contain up to 20 painkillers, antibiotics and growth hormones.
Through a highly sensitive test, scientists found a host of chemicals used to treat illnesses in animals and people in samples of cow, goat and human breast milk, Daily Mail reported.
Though the doses of drugs were far too little to create an effect on anyone drinking them, the results highlight how man-made chemicals were now found throughout the food chain.
The highest quantities of medicines were found in cow’s milk.
Researchers believe some of the drugs and growth promoters were given to the cattle, or got into milk through cattle feed or contamination on the farm.
A Spanish-Moroccan team analysed 20 samples of cow’s milk bought in Spain and Morocco, along with samples of goat and breast milk.
Their breakdown, published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, revealed that cow’s milk contained traces of anti-inflammatory drugs niflumic acid, mefenamic acid and ketoprofen – commonly used as painkillers in animals and people.
It also contained the hormone 17-beta-estradiol, a form of the sex hormone oestrogen.
The researchers claim their new 30-minute test is the most sensitive of its kind. If the findings are true for Spanish and Moroccan milk, they could equally be true for milk produced in Britain and northern Europe.
Source: IANS

"Dr. A has been working too hard. He keeps confusing 'a three putter' with 'atrial flutter.'"

The tools of a doctor's trade may be useful even on the putting green. According to this month's hilarious cartoon caption entries,(Medscape) golf and patient treatment may not be that different after all. Doctor takes on this stethoscope-turned-putter were nothing short of a hole in one.

The story of Mother's Day . . .

Anna Jarvis was born in West Virginia in 1864, toward the end of the American Civil War. She was the 9th of 11 children. 

As she grew up, Anna Jarvis rarely noticed all her mother did for her family. Her Mom raised her children, took care of her home and husband, and held a job outside the house as a school teacher. Yet it was seldom that any of her family remembered to thank her for all she did for them.

After her mother died, Anna Jarvis felt her absence. She wanted so much to have another chance to let her Mom know how much she was appreciated.

But it was too late.

Anna decided something rather unusual. She decided to try and create  a new holiday, a holiday to remind people who are fortunate enough to have a great Mom to thank their own Mom, at least once each year. 

Anna worked very hard to convince the American people that we needed this new holiday – Mother’s Day – to strengthen our family bonds. She wrote letters and gave talks and tried to get other people involved in her idea.

In 1914, Anna achieved success. President Woodrow Wilson issued the first Mother's Day proclamation, stating that the observance serves as a "public expression of our love and reverence for the mothers of our country."  This made Mother’s Day an official national holiday, celebrated each year onthe 2nd Sunday in May.

It has been nearly 100 years since President Woodrow Wilson made Mother’s Day a national holiday. Since that time, Mother’s Day has been adopted by people around the world, and many celebrate Mother’s Day as Anna meant it to be – a day of personal thanks.

 

Today is World Red Cross/Red Crescent Day

Let us pledge to serve the society - ‘Youth on the Move’ is the theme for 2012 World Red Cross Day.

Jean Henri Dunant's life (May 8, 1828-October 30, 1910) is a study in contrasts. He was born into a wealthy home but died in a hospice; in middle age he juxtaposed great fame with total obscurity, and success in business with bankruptcy; in old age he was virtually exiled from the Genevan society of which he had once been an ornament and died in a lonely room, leaving a bitter testament. His passionate humanitarianism was the one constant in his life, and the Red Cross his living monument.

His birthday is celebrated as World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day.

Violence, discrimination and exclusion cause suffering for millions of people across the world today. Born out of fear, ignorance and mistrust, these factors Undermine safety, health and human potential. Differences of opinion and disagreements are a normal Part of humanity, but the question is: how can we deal with these in a constructive way?

Violence, discrimination and exclusion are too often looked at in isolation, as separate issues. However, they are intertwined and have common root causes. By looking at these common root causes, we can seek common solutions.The promotion of a culture of non-violence and peace (CNV+P) is a process of finding constructive and creative solutions to problems and tensions,
without fear of violence. 

A Call to the Youth --- Let us work for creating CNV+P for  peace to Prevail On Earth Everyday! Every moment ! for the time to come;.

What Constitutes 'Healthy Eating?'

The American Diabetes Association offers these guidelines for healthy eating:

• Choose a variety of healthy foods, including lean meats, fresh vegetables and fruits, whole grains and non-fat dairy products.
• Limit portion sizes.
• Avoid eating too much of the same type of food.
• Eat meals regularly throughout the day at evenly spaced intervals.
• Don't skip any meal.           
• Dr Sujnanendra Mishra

Ethinyl estradiol-drospirenone versus ethinyl estradiol-drospirenone plus metformin in the treatment of lean women with polycystic ovary syndrome; Cinar N, Harmanci A, Bayraktar M, Yildiz BO; Clinical Endocrinology (Apr 2012)

Oral contraceptive use might be associated with cardiometabolic risk in PCOS. ;Cinar N, Harmanci A, Bayraktar M, Yildiz BO,studied to compare the effects of ethinyl estradiol-drospirenone (EE/DRSP) alone versus EE/DRSP plus metformin on clinical and cardiometabolic parameters in PCOS. DESIGN: Prospective observational study PATIENTS: Forty-five lean PCOS patients who received EE/DRSP (30μg/3mg) (n=25) or EE/DRSP plus metformin (1700mg/d) (n=20) and 45 BMI-matched healthy controls. MEASUREMENT: BMI, waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), hirsutism scores, androgens, lipids, glucose and insulin levels during an OGTT were measured before and after 6 months of treatment in patients and compared to controls. RESULTS: At baseline, PCOS patients showed similar glucose, insulin and lipids but increased 2h glucose values compared to controls. Hirsutism scores and free androgen index decreased in both treatment groups. BMI and WHR did not show any change in the EE/DRSP group while metformin addition resulted in a decrease in BMI. Lipid levels increased in both groups. Glucose and insulin parameters did not change in any group, but metformin addition compared to EE/DRSP alone significantly decreased waist circumference, fasting insulin and HOMA-IR. After-treatment values for both EE/DRSP alone and in combination with metformin compared to the control group showed increased 2h glucose and increased lipids in PCOS patients. CONCLUSION: EE/DRSP alone or in combination with metformin improves clinical and biochemical hyperandrogenism in lean PCOS. Both treatments similarly alter lipid profile. EE/DRSP alone does not affect insulin sensitivity whereas combining EE/DRSP with metformin might improve it.