Doctors Say Kids Should Skip Juices

Researchers say that when a baby's bottle or cup is filled with juice — even the 100 percent, all-natural, no-sugar-added stuff — parents might as well be pouring Pepsi.

A growing body of science is linking sweet drinks, natural or otherwise, to a host of child health concerns, everything from bulging bellies to tooth decay.

"All of these beverages are largely the same. They are 100 percent sugar," Dr. David Ludwig, an expert on pediatric obesity at Children's Hospital Boston, said recently. "Juice is only minimally better than soda."

The trouble is that parents who are quick to limit a child's soft drink consumption often overlook or even encourage juice indulgence thanks to the beverage's good-for-you image.

But that image can be overstated. Though healthy in moderation, juice essentially is water and sugar. In fact, a 12-ounce bottle of grape soda has 159 calories. The same amount of unsweetened grape juice packs 228 calories.

In a nation where nearly a third of children are either overweight or at risk of becoming overweight, health officials now say high-calorie beverages have little place in a young child's diet.

"With the possible exception of milk, children do not need any calorie containing beverages," Ludwig says. "What is needed to replace fluid loss and satisfy thirst is the same beverage we've been drinking for millions of years, and that's water." J.M. Hirsch, Associated Press

Bonnie - Earthshattering? I think not. It is comforting to see things come full circle. When I was starting my practice twenty years ago and telling clients and schools that juice was almost as bad as soda, they thought I was a quack! It's nice to see doctors acknowledge the juice issue. Unfortunately, it took 1/3 of the child population being overwight to realize it.

Dietary staple holds promise against Alzheimer's disease

Curcumin, the yellow pigment in curry spice, holds potential as a weapon in the fight against the disease, according to a new UCLA-Veterans Affairs study.

The study, involving genetically altered mice, suggests that curcumin, a dietary staple of India, where Alzheimer's disease rates are reportedly among the world's lowest, inhibits the accumulation of destructive beta amyloids in the brains of Alzheimer's patients and also breaks up existing plaques.

Reporting in the online edition of the Journal of Biological Chemistry, the research team also determined curcumin is more effective in inhibiting formation of the protein fragments than many other drugs being tested as Alzheimer's treatments.

Bonnie - While this is only a mouse study, there are hundreds of other studies touting the benefits of curcumin for myriad health issues.

Carrot Compound Shows Promise for Slowing Cancer

When Bugs Bunny uttered his famous catchphrase, "What's up, doc," he was often chomping on a carrot, though he wasn't inquiring about the health benefits of the vegetable. New findings suggest that they would have had a lot to talk about: results from a recent rat study indicate that a naturally occurring compound in carrots reduces the risk of developing cancer by a third.

The compound falcarinol helps protect carrots from fungal diseases. Kirsten Brandt of the University of Newcastle upon Tyne in England and her colleagues investigated the effects of the natural pesticide on rats suffering from precancerous tumors. The researchers studied 24 animals that were divided into three groups: one group ate regular feed that did not contain falcarinol, another group consumed the feed plus carrots and the last group dined on the feed with falcarinol added to it. According to a report published in the February issue of the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, after 18 weeks the rats that received falcarinol (either from carrots or feed additives), were one third less likely to develop full-scale cancerous tumors than were rats in the control group.

Falcarinol can be toxic in large amounts, but it would take 400 kilograms of carrots to reach a lethal dose. The scientists used raw carrots for the study, so it is not yet known if cooked carrots or carrot juice will exhibit the same beneficial effect, and the mechanism for the vegetable's apparent cancer-fighting effects remains unclear. "We now need to take it a step further by finding out how much falcarinol is needed to prevent the development of cancer," says Brandt, "and if certain types of carrots are better than others, as there are many varieties in existence, of different shapes, colors and sizes."

Courtesy of Sarah Graham at ScientificAmerican.com

Diet Lowers Cholesterol as Well as Drug

A diet rich in fiber and vegetables lowered cholesterol just as much as taking a statin drug, Canadian researchers reported. They said people who cannot tolerate the statin drugs because of side-effects can turn to the diet, which they said their volunteers could easily follow.

David Jenkins of St. Michael's Hospital and the University of Toronto and colleagues created what they called a diet "portfolio" high in soy protein, almonds, and cereal fiber as well as plant sterols -- tree-based compounds used in cholesterol-lowering margarines, salad dressing and other products.

They tested their diet on 34 overweight men and women, comparing it with a low-fat diet and with a normal diet plus a generic statin drug, lovastatin.

Each volunteer followed each regimen for a month, with a break in between each treatment cycle.

Writing in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Jenkins and colleagues said the low-fat diet lowered LDL -- the low-density lipoprotein or "bad" cholesterol -- by 8.5 percent after a month. Statins lowered LDL by 33 percent and the "portfolio" diet lowered LDL by nearly 30 percent.

The portfolio was rich in soy milk, soy burgers, almonds, oats, barley, psyllium seeds, okra and eggplant. The Almond Board of California helped fund the study, as did several food makers and the Canadian Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.

Arginine may lower stroke risk marker

L-arginine has previously been found to lower blood pressure and is often included in nutritional supplements recommended for heart patients.

But a small trial on middle-aged men shows that the amino acid may also benefit the heart through its effect on homocysteine, increasingly considered a marker for heart disease risk.

In a randomized, placebo-controlled, crossover study, researchers from Pennsylvania State University, Kraft Foods and INRA in France tested the effects of a daily 12g dose of L-arginine on 16 middle-age men with hypercholesterolemia.

After each treatment, the team measured blood circulation variables at rest and during two tasks designed to put the heart under stress.

L-arginine had a modest effect on blood pressure – enough to reduce heart disease risk but not enough to allow someone to stop taking blood pressure lowering medication.

However the researchers also found that its presence in the blood was inversely related to a change in plasma homocysteine.

“This study is the first to describe a haemodynamic mechanism for the hypotensive effect of oral L-arginine and the first to show substantial reductions in homocysteine with oral administration,” say the authors in this month’s issue of the Journal of Nutrition (135, pp212-217).

DHEA Appears Effective in Treatment of Midlife-Onset Depression

The over-the-counter hormonal therapy known as DHEA may be an effective treatment of midlife-onset minor and major depression, according to a study in the February issue of The Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. DHEA (dehydroepiandrosterone), an adrenal androgen and neurosteroid is available as a supplement in the U.S.

Peter J. Schmidt, M.D., from the Behavioral Endocrinology Branch of the National Institute of Mental Health, Rockville, Md. and colleagues, evaluated 23 men and 23 women aged 45 to 65 with midlife onset major or minor depression of moderate severity. They were randomly assigned to either receive six weeks of DHEA therapy, three weeks each of two dosages, or six weeks of placebo treatment. Following the six weeks of DHEA therapy and a period of one or two weeks without any therapy, the treatment groups were reversed. The participants in the study were evaluated at three and six weeks during the treatment phases with standard measures of depression and a sexual functioning scale.

A 50 percent or greater reduction in the baseline of their score on a depression rating scale was observed in 23 patients after DHEA and in 13 patients after placebo. Six weeks of DHEA treatment was associated with significant improvements in measures of depression and sexual functioning compared to both baseline and six weeks of placebo treatment, the researchers found.

Brushing teeth every day can keep the doctor away

Brushing your teeth may help to reduce the risk of stroke and heart attack, research suggested today.

A US study found that people with gum disease were more likely to suffer from atherosclerosis - the narrowing of blood vessels that can lead to a stroke or heart attack.

While past research has suggested a link between periodontal disease and vascular disease, researchers said their study was the strongest evidence yet of the relationship.

The researchers, writing in the American Heart Association's journal, Circulation, measured bacteria levels in the mouths of 657 people with no history of stroke or heart attack.

They also measured the thickness of the participants' carotid arteries - which are measured to identify atherosclerosis.

The team found that people with a higher level of the specific bacteria that causes periodontal disease also had an increased carotid artery thickness.

They were able to show that atherosclerosis was associated with the type of bacteria that causes periodontal disease - and not any other oral bacteria.

Dr Desvarieux said one possible explanation for the link was that the bacteria that cause gum disease may migrate throughout the body via the bloodstream and stimulate the immune system - causing inflammation that results in the clogging of the arteries.

Sleep Hormone May Affect Sex Organs, Study Finds

Melatonin, a hormone available in over-the-counter supplements and popped freely by many frequent air travelers, may affect the sex glands, U.S. and Japanese researchers reported on Monday.

Tests on Japanese quail showed the hormone regulates a sexual pathway believed to be involved in seasonal breeding patterns. It is likely to affect human gonads as well, the researchers said.

"It really amazes me that melatonin is available in any pharmacy," said biologist George Bentley of the University of Washington and the University of California, Berkeley.

"It is a powerful hormone, and yet people don't realize that it's as 'powerful' as any steroid. I'm sure that many people who take it wouldn't take steroids so glibly," added Bentley, who worked on the study.

"It could have a multitude of effects on the underlying physiology of an organism, but we know so little about how it interacts with other hormone systems."

Writing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Bentley and colleagues at Hiroshima University in Japan said they were studying melatonin's effects on a brain hormone called gonadotropin-inhibitory hormone or GnIH.

GnIH has been found to have the opposite effect to the key hormone that primes the body for sex -- gonadotropin releasing hormone or GnRH. In birds, switching off GnRH causes the gonads -- the testes and ovary -- to shrink as part of the birds' yearly cycle. In humans, GnRH brings on puberty.

Bonnie - I have always told my clients before taking melatonin (which I never suggest long-term) to test their melatonin hormone level first. If you are not deficient in melatonin, it may be harmful to take. Like administering any hormone, it may create an imbalance of other hormone levels.

Nursing moms advised to keep babies close by

Nursing babies should sleep right next to their parents' bed, advises the American Academy of Pediatrics in a new breast-feeding policy out Monday that's drawing applause and pointed criticism.

The academy reiterated its 8-year-old policy that mothers should feed babies only breast milk for six months, unless there are special nutritional needs, and continue breast-feeding until the baby is at least 1 or longer if desired.

Breast-feeding rates have increased for 12 years, but only about one-third of mothers are still nursing 6-month-olds, and slightly fewer than 1 out of 5 breast-feed 1-year-olds, according to statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nursing helps protect babies against infections and diarrhea and significantly reduces the chances of dying in infancy, the policy says.

La Leche League spokeswoman Katy Lebbing favors the new advice to keep babies near overnight. "It's a myth that breast-fed babies sleep through the night," she says. Many continue to wake up overnight even after the first few months of life, "and they need to nurse, they need the nutrition."

But family historian Stephanie Coontz says pediatricians are doing no favors for stressed-out, modern families by making a blanket recommendation that couples keep babies near them overnight. "These experts are piling higher and higher expectations on mothers," Coontz says. "Half of American women go back to work before their babies are a year old. A woman might need a good night's sleep or to bond with her husband, and that's good for the baby." Courtesy of usatoday.com 2/6/05

Steve - Am I dreaming? These last three blog entries are all positive preventative building blocks for a healthy life...breast feed your baby for at least one year, do not overfeed your baby, and limit soft drink and juice consumption!

Baby weight gain 'over-estimated'

Growth tables used to chart a baby's development may be inaccurate, on-going research suggests.

The World Health Organization study found they may over-estimate how quickly babies should put on weight.

This may have caused unnecessary concern about for breastfed babies, who gain weight more slowly.

The research was dicussed at a meeting organised by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the International Obesity Task Force.

The child development growth charts in widspread use are largely based on studies of formula fed children from more than 20 years ago.

Formula fed babies tend to put weight on faster than their breastfed counterparts.

The latest WHO study, of 8,440 children from six countries, found that target weights for two and three-year-olds were 15% to 20% too high.

The researchers say the current overfeeding of babies could explain in part why this generation of adults is the fattest ever.

The WHO will release new growth charts based on breast-fed babies at the end of the year.

bbcnews.com 2/4/05

Sweet Drinks Linked to Preschool Obesity

Sweet drinks — whether Kool-Aid with sugar or all-natural apple juice — seem to raise the risk of pudgy preschoolers getting fatter, new research suggests. That may come as a surprise to parents who pride themselves on seeking out fruit drinks with no added sugar.

"Juice is definitely a part of this," said lead researcher Jean Welsh of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

While fruit juice does have vitamins, nutritionists say it's inferior to fresh fruit.

She said preschoolers were better off snacking on fruit or drinking water.

Welsh's research, published in the February issue of Pediatrics, found that for 3- and 4-year-olds already on the heavy side, drinking something sweet once or twice a day doubled their risk of becoming seriously overweight a year later.

The Pediatrics study followed 10,904 Missouri children in a nutrition program for low-income families. Researchers looked at the effect of sweet drinks in three groups: normal and underweight children, those at risk of becoming overweight, and those who already were overweight.

The researchers compared the children's heights and weights, approximately one year apart. They also looked at parents' reports of what their children ate and drank during a four-week period at the beginning of the first year. Fruit drinks like Kool-Aid and Hi-C were included as sweet drinks, along with juice and soda.

The children in the study drank, on average, more fruit juice than soft drinks or sweetened fruit drinks.

The authors suggest that limiting sweet drinks may help solve the growing problem of childhood obesity. One in five American children is overweight, according to the National Institutes of Health.

Dr. Rebecca Unger, who evaluates overweight children in private practice and at Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago, said the study backs up what she sees in the real world.

"We do see kids do well when we cut out juice," she said. "Sometimes that's all they need to do."

Journal Pediatrics & cdc.gov 2/7/05

Steve - Of course, this study comes as no surprise to us, or should it to you. What is very exciting is the indictment of fruit juice. For years, we have been tirelessly telling our clients that fruit juice is not an alternative to soda. For the reasons mentioned above, it can be just as detrimental for weight gain and blood sugar imbalance. There are so many fun drink alternatives. Kids love unsweetened fruit-flavored waters, sparkling or flat. If you need to sweeten them, add a bit of stevia extract (a safe, herbal, non-glycemic, non-caloric sweetener).

FDA Staff Questions Heart Risks of Merck's Arcoxia

Merck & Co. Inc.'s painkiller Arcoxia offers a "marginal" advantage in gastrointestinal safety but seems "worse than" other pain drugs in terms of deaths and serious cardiovascular problems, U.S. regulatory staff said in documents released on Friday.

Merck conducted studies on Arcoxia comparing it to a placebo, naproxen and other medicines known as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.

"The results appear to demonstrate that (Arcoxia) is worse than each comparator" with regard to deaths and serious cardiovascular problems, Food and Drug Administration staff reviewers wrote in an analysis posted on the agency Web site.

The FDA told Merck last October Arcoxia was "approvable" after additional safety and effectiveness data were reviewed. The agency will seek input later this month from an outside advisory panel on the risks and benefits of Arcoxia and other painkillers.

Arcoxia is Merck's successor to Vioxx, the arthritis drug the company pulled from the market last year after it was linked to heart attacks and strokes. Both drugs are part of a class called COX-2 inhibitors.

In a separate analysis, FDA reviewers said an experimental COX-2 inhibitor called Prexige, made by Novartis, showed it was safer on the gastrointestinal tract than other pain drugs. But the risks of heart attacks, strokes and deaths was "similar" to what was seen with Vioxx, the FDA reviewers said.

Reuters 2/4/05

Newborns at Risk of Antidepressant Withdrawal

Newborn babies could be at risk of suffering withdrawal symptoms if their mothers are prescribed antidepressants during pregnancy, researchers said on Friday.

The drugs known as selective reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) can cause convulsions, irritability, abnormal crying and tremors.

The majority of reported cases uncovered by Sanz and his colleagues were associated with paroxetine, which is produced by drugs giant GlaxoSmithKline under the brand name Paxil or Seroxat.

"Paroxetine should not be used in pregnancy, or if used, it should be given at the lowest effective dose," said Sanz, a specialist in clinical pharmacology.

The findings, which are reported in The Lancet medical journal, are another blow for SSRIs, which have become the gold standard treatment for depression.

In the meantime, they suggested doctors use non-drug therapies and review prescription thresholds, particularly during pregnancy.

Courtesy of Reuters 2/4/05

Liver Alert on Strattera

Strattera was licensed for the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) last year.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has warned doctors to look out for signs of liver problems in children taking the drug.

However, they stress that the chances of liver damage are very slim.

The Committee on Safety of Medicines, which advises the MHRA, met at the end of January 2005 to review new evidence on the use of the drug, known technically as atomexetine.

This evidence suggests that the drug may very rarely be associated with liver reactions.

Over 2m patients have been treated with the drug in the US, and around 10 000 patients in the UK.

It is estimated that serious liver problems occur in less than 50,000 patients.

Schools Sack Soda in Favor of Smoothies

Schools across the nation are battling childhood obesity by getting pickier about who sells snacks to students. In several dozen school systems, Smoothie King and Jamba Juice pass the test.

Even so, smoothies are still a source of sugar and calories.

Smoothie King says its 200-calorie, 12-ounce banana-and-strawberry smoothie has 42 grams of sugar — mostly from the fruit itself, the company says. And that size is small for a smoothie.

"Parents came to Jamba because they were looking for something that was a healthier option than a soda or greasy french fries," company spokesman Kendra Gilberd said.

This school year Texas has a new school nutrition policy that restricts fried and fatty servings and sets limits on some types of food. The fruit and ice smoothies are limited to 12-ounce cups; 20-ounce smoothies can mean 300 to more than 500 calories, depending on the ingredients.

"Even too much of a good food can be a problem," said Dr. William Cochran, a pediatric gastroenterologist and nutritionist for Geisinger Clinic in Danville, Pa. He worries that snacks like smoothies won't replace something else and will only add more calories.

Steve - While overall a healthier option, smoothies are high in sugar and carbohydrates. Where's the protein?! Students who drink smoothies not accompanied by lean protein or a healthy fat, may still incur blood sugar imbalance and/or weight gain.

Calcium and Vitamin D Most Effective for Treatment of Crohn's-related Bone Loss

According to a study published today in the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) journal Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, the addition of popular bone building drugs to calcium and vitamin D therapy to treat bone loss associated with Crohn's disease is not beneficial. Moreover, the study shows that calcium and vitamin D treatment alone can improve bone mineral density (BMD) in Crohn's patients by 3 to 4 percent per year.

"Patients with Crohn's often suffer loss of bone mass and an increased number of bone fractures due to treatment with corticosteroids, poor nutrition, active inflammation and calcium and vitamin D deficiencies," said Charles Bernstein, MD, author of an editorial appearing in this month's journal. "Calcium and vitamin D have long been used to enhance bone mass in people with Crohn's, and findings of these studies show it to be sufficient in maintaining BMD in these patients."

Crohn's disease is an inflammatory bowel disease that causes chronic inflammation of the intestinal wall. According to the most recent data from the National Health Interview Survey, there are more than two million prevalent cases of Crohn's disease in the United States.

According to results of the study from researchers at the University of Alberta, adding the bone-building drug etidronate (Ditronel) to calcium and vitamin D therapy to treat bone loss in people with Crohn's disease adds no additional benefit. This study aimed to assess the efficacy of etidronate on bone loss in patients with Crohn's disease, an effect that has never before been studied in patients who were not menopausal or on corticosteroid therapy.

Medical Bills Leading Cause of Bankruptcies

A new Harvard study of bankruptcy cases shows medical bills and illnesses are a major cause of roughly half of this country's personal bankruptcies, according to the study published today on the Web site of the journal Health Affairs.

Touted as the first in-depth analysis of medical causes of bankruptcy, the study looked at 1,771 court records of people who filed for bankruptcy in 2001 in five federal districts, including one in Illinois. More than half of those bankruptcy filers were interviewed in detail about their finances and health. The researchers determined that 46.2 percent to 54.5 percent of the nearly 1.5 million personal bankruptcy filings in 2001 could be chalked up, in large part, to medical problems.

The researchers estimated that some 40,168 of Illinois' 79,777 personal bankruptcies last year were medical bankruptcies, affecting 111,544 debtors and their families.

The study found that the majority of medical bankruptcy filers nationwide were middle-class homeowners with some college education. They usually had health insurance, too. More than 75 percent of people in medical bankruptcy were insured when they first got sick. Courtesy of the Chicago Sun-Times 2/2/05

Bonnie - This is a very scary and disappointing statistic. This should not be happening in the United States. The one way we can keep this trend from continuing is to take your health into your own hands, WITH PREVENTION!

Hormone shots could cut preterm births - US study

Weekly injections for pregnant women of a drug derived from the hormone progesterone could have prevented nearly 10,000 premature births in 2002, a team of researchers reports in the February issue of the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology.

The researchers based their projection on a study using a hormone derivative known as 17 alpha-hydroxyprogesterone caproate or 17P for short. Although researchers are not quite sure how it prevents early delivery, some studies had suggested it may help. The 2003 U.S. government study of 450 pregnant women showed it reduced preterm births -- before 37 weeks -- by a third.

Joann Petrini and colleagues from the March of Dimes charity, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and other centers estimated that in 2002, about 30,000 women who had premature babies may have been helped by use of 17P. If a third of them also carried to term, that would translate to 10,000 prevented premature births, the researchers said. "Prematurity is a serious problem that affects 1 in 8 babies in the United States, and 17P offers promise in an area where there have been few successes," Petrini said in a statement. Courtesy of Reuters 1/31/05

Bonnie - It does not have to be progesterone injections - best to use natural suppositories or progesterone cream.

Mental Health: Sweating Depression Away

People with mild to moderate depression can significantly reduce their symptoms if they exercise aerobically, a new study reports.

The study appears in the current issue of The American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Exercise has often been described as a valuable mood enhancer.

"People say that all time that 'If I could exercise, I would feel better,' " said a co-author of the study, Dr. Madhukar H. Trivedi of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.

But the goal of this study, the researchers said, was to try to establish scientifically if exercise really helped with depression and, if so, how much was needed. The researchers took 20 adults ages 20 to 45 with diagnoses of depression and separated them into groups.

Some did differing amounts of aerobic activity, working on a treadmill or exercise bike. One did flexibility exercises. None were taking medication for depression. After 12 weeks, the researchers found that patients who worked out for half an hour three to five times a week reported half the symptoms of depression that they had before the program began.

The more they worked out, the less depressed they reported feeling. Too little aerobic activity produced the same results as the stretching group.

The study noted that the exercise was done in groups, so the social support may also have played a role in the improvement. But whatever the explanation, the benefits were comparable to those achieved with medication or therapy, the study said.

Courtesy of the New York Times 2/1/2005

Study Shows Pfizer May Have Known About Celebrex's Heart and Stroke Problems

A previously unpublished study by Pfizer Inc. of its arthritis drug Celebrex found more than four years ago that users had a potentially significant increase in risk of heart attacks and strokes, casting doubt on the company's insistence that it had no hint of the problem until recently.

The study of 425 Alzheimer's patients was completed in 2000 but was made accessible to the public only recently on a drug industry Web site. When posted last month, the report of the clinical trial did not initially indicate there was evidence of an increased cardiovascular risk from the drug. But an updated account of the study posted last week acknowledged that there was a statistically significant difference in the number of heart-related problems between users of Celebrex and of the placebo.

Pfizer dismissed the results of the Alzheimer's study yesterday, saying that it was too small to be meaningful and that it was unreliable because those in the Celebrex arm of the trial were found to have had considerably more cardiovascular risk factors to begin with than those in the placebo group. In a statement, the company also said that it had shared the study results with the FDA in June 2001 and that an independent panel of safety experts had monitored the 52-week study for any significant health problems.

Courtesy of the Washington Post 2/1/2005