In New Book, Professor Sees 'Mania' in U.S.

Courtesy of Irene Lacher of the New York Times 3/14/2005

Dr. Peter C. Whybrow, the director of the Semel Institute of Neuroscience and Human Behavior at the University of California, Los Angeles, has seen the future.

In his new book, "American Mania: When More Is Not Enough" (W. W. Norton & Company), Dr. Whybrow argues that in the age of globalization, Americans are addictively driven by the brain's pleasure centers to live turbocharged lives in pursuit of status and possessions at the expense of the only things that can truly make us happy: relationships with other people.

"In our compulsive drive for more," writes Dr. Whybrow, 64, a professor of psychiatry and bio-behavioral science, "we are making ourselves sick."

In "American Mania," he argues that the country is on the downswing of a manic episode set off by the Internet bubble of the 1990's.

"It's a metaphor that helps guide us," he said, perched on a chair in the study of his rambling high-rise apartment near U.C.L.A. "I think we've shot through happiness as one does in hypomania and come out the other end, and we're not quite sure where we are.

"In fact, I think happiness lies somewhere behind us. This frenzy we've adopted in search of what we hope is happiness and perfection is in fact a distraction, like mania is a distraction."

People are biologically wired to want it, he contends. We seek more than we need because consumption activates the neurotransmitter dopamine, which rewards us with pleasure, traveling along the same brain pathways as do drugs like caffeine and cocaine.

But the paradox of prosperity is that we are too busy to enjoy it. And the competitiveness that gooses the economy, coupled with the decline of social constraints, has conspired to make the rich much richer, he asserts, leaving most of the country behind while government safety nets get skimpier.

Dr. Whybrow cites United States government statistics that are sobering. Thirty percent of the population is anxious, double the percentage of a decade ago. Depression is rising too, especially among people born after 1966, with 10 percent more reporting depression than did people born before that year.

"Neurobiology teaches us that we're reward-driven creatures on the one side, which is great," he said. "It's a fun part of life. But we also love each other and we want to be tied together in a social context. So if you know that, why aren't we thinking about a civil society that looks at both sides of the balance rather than just fostering individualism? Because fostering individualism will be great for us and it will last a little bit longer, but I believe it's a powerful negative influence upon this country and it's not what was originally intended. Should we be thinking about whether this is the society we had in mind when we started this experiment 200 years ago or are we perhaps moving too fast for our own good?"

Bonnie - Boy, is this true. Ameliorating the zest for things and focusing more on family and relationships will make our society healthier.

FDA Warns AstraZeneca On Crestor Marketing

For the second time in four months, the Food and Drug Administration's Division of Drug Marketing, Advertising, and Communications (DDMAC) has warned AstraZeneca on advertisements promoting its cholesterol drug Crestor.

This time the FDA's complaints focus on claims in television and print ads that Crestor is the most effective statin. In a letter sent to AstraZeneca, an officer at DDMAC noted that the efficacy of Crestor's top 40-milligram dose was similar to that of 80 milligrams of Lipitor in the study referenced by AstraZeneca.

"The TV and print ads make false or misleading claims regarding the superiority of Crestor," Christine Smith, a regulatory review officer at DDMAC wrote in the letter.

Almonds, good source of vitamin E

Eating almonds significantly increases vitamin E levels in the plasma and red blood cells and simultaneously lowers cholesterol levels, finds a small study.

It is claiming to be the first to demonstrate almonds’ effect on raising vitamin E levels.

Adding almonds to the diet could help people meet the RDA for vitamin E without having to resort to supplements, say the researchers from Loma Linda University in the US.

They compared the effects of three different diets consumed for four weeks each by 16 healthy adults. The different diets included a control that did not include almonds, a low-almond diet (replacing 10 per cent of calories with almonds) and a high-almond diet (20 per cent of calories made up by almonds).

Study participants did not take multivitamins, vitamin E supplements, or other dietary supplements before or during the study.

People that gained 10 per cent of their calories from almonds increased their vitamin E levels by 13.7 per cent, write the authors in this month's Journal of the American Dietetic Association (vol 105, no 3, pp449-454).

When participants consumed 20 per cent of their calories from almonds, the effect was greater, increasing their vitamin E levels by 18.7 per cent.

Participants also reduced their total cholesterol by 5 per cent and lowered their LDL or ‘bad’ cholesterol by nearly 7 per cent as a result of consuming a high-almond diet.

Exercise, Learning May Fight Off Alzheimer's

Exercise and curiosity could help keep Alzheimer's disease and other degenerative brain diseases at bay.

"It's really common sense that exercise and improved behaviors are going to be important," says Sangram Sisodia, PhD, who worked on a new mouse study.

That means staying fit and taking "opportunities to learn, be inquisitive, and explore the world,"says Sisodia.

"It appears that exercise and physical activity are very important for brain function," agrees Karoly Mirnics, MD, assistant professor of psychiatry and neurobiology at the University of Pittsburgh.

In fact, activity could help avoid other brain diseases, too, says Mirnics, who also worked on the mouse study. "What we tapped into is not a very disease-specific process, but a universal process, I think," he tells WebMD.

Many people could stand to be a little more active. Learn a language, do the crossword puzzle, take a walk… the possibilities are endless, even if no one knows which activities are most helpful.

Lazarov, O. Cell, March 11, 2005; vol 120: pp 701-713

Magnesium may protect against colorectal cancer

Magnesium may protect against colorectal cancer, according to a study of more than 61,000 Swedish women.

Those who consumed at least 255 milligrams of magnesium a day (from food and supplements) had about a 40 percent lower risk of colorectal cancer than those who consumed less than 209 mg a day. Magnesium had protected against colorectal cancer in earlier animal studies.

J. Amer. Med. Assoc. 293: 86, 3/1/2005

Times says girl scout cookies under fire

With the annual sale in full swing in much of the United States, scout leaders are facing critics who think selling $400 million worth of cookies might not be the smartest move in a country where childhood obesity is considered an epidemic.

If that wasn't enough, the Girl Scouts are fending off concerns that the cookies have high levels of unhealthy trans fats.

In reply the national office of the Girl Scouts of the U.S.A. has an official statement. "We look at cookies as a treat," said Marion Swan, the communications director. "They shouldn't be a big part of somebody's diet." Besides, the cookies aren't really the point. Their sale helps troops raise money and teaches girls life skills like goal setting and entrepreneurship, Ms. Swan said.

With almost four million girls and adults, the Girl Scouts can be a powerful player in issues of nutrition. To that end, the research arm of the organization last year issued a 35-page health report, "Weighing In: Helping Girls Be Healthy Today, Healthy Tomorrow." Cookies were not mentioned.

The study is part of a "healthy living" initiative the organization plans to roll out later this year. To develop ideas for it, Judy Shoenberg, a Girl Scout researcher, recently met with Ann Cooper, a New York chef and food activist who is leading a national effort to reform school lunches.

"The first thing I said was: "What about the cookies?' " Ms. Cooper said. "You can't have a lifestyle initiative without changing the cookie because you look like a bunch of idiots."

Courtesy of the New York Times 3/10.2005

Bonnie - Agreed. They have a perfect forum to help change convential dietary thinking for girls.

Canadian pediatricians suggest new breastfeeding guidelines

Women should feed their newborns only through breastfeeding for the first six months, then start adding solids and other liquids, according to a new recommendation by the Canadian Pediatric Society.

The new guideline brings the society in line with the World Health Organization, which came to the same conclusion in 2001. The society had previously advised moms that solid food or formula could be fed to babies after they are four months old.

The pediatric society also said that breastfeeding can continue for up to two years as other foods are added.

It also says young babies in Canada should be given supplements of Vitamin D to prevent rickets, a condition that softens the bones. Babies in warmer climates get the so-called "sunshine vitamin" naturally.

Dr. Margaret Boland, an Ottawa-based pediatrician who chairs the society's nutrition committee, says studies have shown that consuming nothing but breast milk in an infant's first half-year of life increases health benefits for the child.

That's partly because breast milk contains antibodies that help babies fight disease and infections.

Boland warns cereals marketed for babies are not sterile and may introduce micro-organisms into the infant's system before it's equipped to handle them.

Canadian pediatricians suggest new breastfeeding guidelines

Women should feed their newborns only through breastfeeding for the first six months, then start adding solids and other liquids, according to a new recommendation by the Canadian Pediatric Society.

The new guideline brings the society in line with the World Health Organization, which came to the same conclusion in 2001. The society had previously advised moms that solid food or formula could be fed to babies after they are four months old.

The pediatric society also said that breastfeeding can continue for up to two years as other foods are added.

It also says young babies in Canada should be given supplements of Vitamin D to prevent rickets, a condition that softens the bones. Babies in warmer climates get the so-called "sunshine vitamin" naturally.

Dr. Margaret Boland, an Ottawa-based pediatrician who chairs the society's nutrition committee, says studies have shown that consuming nothing but breast milk in an infant's first half-year of life increases health benefits for the child.

That's partly because breast milk contains antibodies that help babies fight disease and infections.

Boland warns cereals marketed for babies are not sterile and may introduce micro-organisms into the infant's system before it's equipped to handle them.

Genetic flaw may lead to preterm delivery

Pregnant women with a genetic polymorphism (flaw) that impedes their ability to absorb folate (folic acid), had a significantly greater risk of preterm delivery than did those without the polymorphism.

Women with both the polymorphism and low folate intake (<400> significantly greater risk of preterm delivery and a significantly greater risk of having an infant with a low birth weight than did women without a polymorphism and with a folate intake 400 µg/d.

Researchers postulate that up to 20% of the human population may carry this polymorphism and at some point should be added to the list of required tests early in a pregnancy.

American Journal Clinical Nutrition, March 2005

Dark chocolate may improve glucose metabolism and decreases blood pressure

An editorial in the March issue of American Journal of Clinical Nutrition recommends further study into the health benefits of dark chocolate (milk-free, low sugar).

They studied 15 healthy young adults with typical Italian diets that were supplemented daily with 100 g dark chocolate or 90 g white chocolate, each of which provided 480 kcal. The polyphenol contents of the dark and white chocolate were assumed to be 500 and 0 mg, respectively. The subjects were divided into 2 groups, each of which ingested one of the types of chocolate for 15 days, ingested no chocolate for a subsequent 7 days, and then ingested the other chocolate for an additional 15 days. The authors found that the dark chocolate supplement was associated with improved insulin resistance and sensitivity and decreased systolic blood pressure, whereas white chocolate had no effect. The findings of this study are of particular interest in terms of identifying potentially healthy foods.

Study: A happy marriage can help mend physical wounds

A happy marriage apparently is good medicine, but hostile spouses may be harmful to one another's health.

Couples in conflict-ridden marriages take longer than the happily married to heal from all kinds of wounds, from minor scrapes or athletic injuries to major surgery.

And the health toll taken by a stressful job seems to be eased when the worker has a pleasurable home life.

This new research, reported at the American Psychosomatic Society meeting, adds to growing evidence that marriage has an impact on health.

In the wound healing study, 42 couples agreed to let researchers use a suction device to create several minor blister wounds on their skin in two sessions about two months apart. The first time, couples were told to discuss a neutral topic; the next time they were given half an hour to resolve an issue or two on which they disagreed. Their discussions were monitored.

Researchers also checked participants' wounds over the next few weeks and their production of three proteins created in wound healing.

The outcome: "Even a simple discussion of a disagreement slows wound healing," says psychologist Janice Kiecolt-Glaser, who did the study with co-author Ronald Glaser of Ohio State University College of Medicine.

Overall, couples took longer to heal when asked to thrash out points of conflict than neutral issues. Hostile couples — peppering both discussions with criticism, sarcasm and put-downs — healed the slowest. It took them 40% longer, or two more days, to heal, and they also produced less of the proteins linked to healing.

On the upside, good marriages may buffer couples against the stress of demanding jobs in which the worker has little control. In a study with 201 married adults, those in high-strain jobs had higher blood pressure at the start, says University of Toronto psychiatrist Brian Baker.

Eating oily fish may reduce inflammation

A new study explains how a diet high in oily fish like salmon and mackerel improves inflammatory conditions. In a study in the March 7 issue of The Journal of Experimental Medicine, researchers an anti-inflammatory lipid in humans that is derived from an essential fatty acid in fish oil.

Fatty fish contain large amounts of omega-3 fatty acids--diet-derived essential fatty acids known to benefit patients with cardiovascular disease and arthritis. This research group recently identified a new class of aspirin-triggered bioactive lipids, called resolvins, the activity of which may in part explain the beneficial effects of omega-3 fatty acids. Resolvins are made from the omega-3 fatty acids by cellular enzymes and can reduce inflammation in mice. The main bioactive component of this class of lipids was identified in mice and named resolvin E1.

The researchers have now identified this lipid in plasma taken from volunteers given omega-3 fatty acids and aspirin. Human resolvin E1, the authors show, inhibits both the migration of inflammatory cells to sites of inflammation and the turning on of other inflammatory cells.

This study also reveals a potential pitfall of COX-2 inhibitors, drugs designed to block inflammation, which have been shown to have negative cardiovascular side effects. COX-2 is involved in making resolvin E1 and the authors suggest that inhibition of vascular COX-2 by these inhibitors might block the synthesis of resolvin E1, which would eliminate an important anti-inflammatory pathway. The experiment to prove this idea, however, has yet to be done.

Milk Does your Body Good?

According to a review study published in the March issue of the journal Pediatrics, scant evidence supports nutrition guidelines focused specifically on increasing milk or other dairy product intake for promoting child and adolescent bone mineralization. Of the 37 studies of dairy or unsupplemented dietary calcium intake, 27 studies found no relationship between dairy or dietary calcium intake and measures of bone health. In the remaining 9 reports, the effects on bone health are small and 3 were confounded by vitamin D intake from milk fortified with vitamin D. Therefore, in clinical, longitudinal, retrospective, and cross-sectional studies, neither increased consumption of dairy products, specifically, nor total dietary calcium consumption has shown even a modestly consistent benefit for child or young adult bone health.

Bonnie - Eureka! Music to our ears! Just in time to debunk the 2005 Dietary Guidelines, which increased the amount of daily dairy servings! Let's wait for the Dairy Council's response.

Major studies on echinacea for the common cold flawed

Most of the major studies on the effectiveness of echinacea for treatment of the common cold contain major flaws, suggesting that research has not yet established that this herbal medicine is effective, according to a new report.

Of nine studies evaluated, only two were well designed, and both showed that echinacea was not effective, study author Dr. Jack M. Gwaltney, Jr., told Reuters Health.

For Gwaltney, this suggests that researchers should consider spending their research dollars investigating other treatments that hold more promise. "If you ask me if I would study some more, I would say no," he said.

Americans currently spend more than $300 million per year on echinacea.

Gwaltney explained that of the nine studies they looked at, only two did not contain serious flaws. And the results of those two studies suggested that echinacea doesn't treat colds, he said.

Gwaltney added that nothing is ever 100-percent certain in science, and more well-conducted studies are needed before people can be confident that echinacea doesn't work.

In an accompanying editorial, Dr. Vernon Knight, of the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, notes that these findings suggest that people who buy echinacea are simply wasting their money. Echinacea appears to be a "major unjustifiable cost of health care at a time when legitimate health care costs are escalating," he writes.

SOURCE: Clinical Infectious Diseases, March 15, 2005.

Steve - What we have seen in our practice is that Echinacea works for some, but not others. The properties of the herb work differently depending on ones genetic makeup. I agree they should stop putting a bunch of money into researching. It is not "the miracle cure" for the common cold. Although, it is effective in some.

Carnitine Supplement Helps Sperm Swim

Taking carnitine supplements seems to improve sperm mobility in men with poorly active sperm, a problem known as asthenozoospermia, Italian researchers report.

However, for carnitine to work, tiny structures within the cell called mitochondria must function properly. Mitochondria are important because they provide the energy needed for sperm to move their tail and "swim."

Senior investigator Dr. Carlo Foresta told Reuters Health that "it is well known that in some asthenozoospermic subjects an improvement of sperm (motion occurs) after carnitine administration...However in other asthenozoospermic patients this effect is not present."

To investigate further, Foresta of the University of Padua and colleagues studied 30 asthenozoospermic men divided into two groups depending on whether they had normal or abnormal mitochondria function. The researchers' findings appear in the medical journal Fertility & Sterility.

In patients with normal mitochondria function, movement rose from 29.3 percent before treatment to 41.1 percent after 3 months of carnitine. However, in those with abnormal function, movement held steady at about 24 percent.

Thus, Foresta concluded that carnitine treatment is useful "in ameliorating sperm motility only when optimal...mitochondrial function ... is conserved."

Steve - The nutrient we know of that has the most positive effect on mitochondria is Co-Enzyme Q10. Taken along with carnitine, this would seem to be a viable option to boost male sperm viability.

Vitamin Shown to Reduce Prostate Cancer Risk

Prostate cancer risk may be cut significantly when alpha- and gamma-tocopherol, the two most promiment compononets of vitamin E, are present in high levels in the blood.



According to an analysis of 100 patients with prostate cancer and 200 who were cancer-free, among 30,000 Finnish men, those with the highest levels of alpha-tocopherol in their blood at baseline were 51 percent less likely to develop prostate cancer. Those who had the same high levels of gamma-tocopherol were 43 percent less likely to be stricken with the disease. The link between high tocopherol levels and the reduced prostate cancer risk was stronger among patients using alpha-tocopherol supplements than among non-users.

Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Vol. 97, No. 5, 396-399, March 2, 2005

Bonnie - Another study in the hundreds that show the power of vitamin E. I have prescribed it for years and will continue to do so.

Folate/B12 Reduce Risk of Hip Fracture

Dietary supplements of folate and vitamin B12 can reduce the risk of hip fracture in elderly patients following a stroke, according to a new Japanese study.

The risk of hip fracture is significantly higher in stroke patients than in other individuals of the same age, and is thought to be associated with increased blood levels of a substance called homocysteine, Dr. Yoshihiro Sato and others note in this week's Journal of the American Medical Association.

Because folate and mecobalamin (vitamin B12) reduce homocysteine levels, the team thought that supplements of these nutrients could reduce fracture risk.

Sato, at Mitate Hospital in Tagawa, and colleagues studied 628 patients aged 65 years or more who had residual paralysis on one side of the body a year or more after having a stroke. The participants were randomly assigned to take folate and mecobalamin daily, or inactive placebos.

During 2 years of follow-up, the number of falls in each group was virtually the same, but there were only six hip fractures in the supplement group compared with 27 in the placebo group.

Mediterranean diet improves cholesterol levels

Adopting a Mediterranean-type diet can have significant benefits on cholesterol levels, report Canadian researchers.

The Mediterranean diet has been shown in epidemiological trials to be associated with reduced risk of heart disease but there is less evidence to support the merits of the diet outside of the Mediterannean region.

A team from the Institute of Nutraceuticals and Functional Foods at Laval University in Québec tested the typical Mediterranean diet on a group of 71 healthy women under free-living conditions.

The 12-week intervention involved two courses on nutrition and 7 individual sessions with a dietitian. A score based on the 11 components of the Mediterranean pyramid was established to determine the women’s adherence to the Mediterranean food pattern.

Among all women, levels of oxidized LDL particles circulating in the blood decreased by 11.3 per cent after 12 weeks of nutritional intervention despite a lack of change in plasma LDL cholesterol, report the researchers in the March issue of the Journal of Nutrition (135:410-415).

More specifically, increases in servings of fruits and vegetables were associated with decreased in LDL concentrations.

Zinc Deficiency Linked to Esophageal Cancer

People with low levels of zinc in their tissues may be at increased risk for developing cancer of the esophagus, according to research reported in The Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

In the study, investigators determined zinc levels in esophageal biopsy samples obtained from 132 residents of Linzhou, China in 1985. Of these subjects, 60 subsequently developed esophageal cancer and 72 did not.

People in the highest quartile of zinc levels were 79 percent less likely to develop esophageal cancer than those in the lowest quartile, Dr. Christian C. Abnet, from the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland, and colleagues report.

This finding supports studies conducted in animals showing that zinc deficiency enhances the effects of certain nitrosamines, which act as esophageal carcinogens in rodents.

Study Links Osteoporosis, Gluten Intolerance

Some people develop osteoporosis, the mineral loss disease that leads to brittle bones, because their bodies cannot tolerate wheat flour, a study said on Monday.

Gluten intolerance, called celiac disease, can be treated, so the damage done by osteoporosis can be reversed in such patients, added the report published in the current issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.

"Our results suggest that as many as three to four percent of patients who have osteoporosis have the bone disease as a consequence of having celiac disease, which makes them unable to absorb normal amounts of calcium and vitamin D," said William Stenson, a Washington University physician at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis.

He and colleagues recommended blood tests be used to screen osteoporosis patients for celiac disease.

The report was based on a look at 840 patients, some of whom had osteoporosis. It found a much higher prevalence of celiac disease among those with osteoporosis than in those without it.

In the study, patients with celiac disease and osteoporosis who went on a gluten-free diet for one year were able to improve both gastrointestinal symptoms and bone density, the report said.

"Bone density ... improved dramatically on a gluten-free diet," Stenson said. "We believe the diet allowed their intestines to heal, and that allowed them to absorb normal amounts of calcium and vitamin D to reverse bone loss."