Pregnant women are urged to avoid Paxil

Pregnant women and those who plan to become pregnant should avoid taking the antidepressant Paxil if possible because of the risk of birth defects. The opinion issued by the obstetric practice committee of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists comes nearly a year after the Food and Drug Administration and manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline reclassified the drug to reflect studies in pregnant women that showed the drug poses a risk to the fetus. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists also said the decision whether to treat pregnant women with SSRIs, a class of antidepressants that includes Prozac, Zoloft and Lexapro as well as Paxil, should be considered on an individual basis. Exposure to SSRIs late in pregnancy has been associated with short-term complications in newborns, the doctors said. The opinion appears in the December issue of the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology.

Courtesy of AP

Bonnie - I have been saying this for a while. Be extremely careful and look long and hard at the data before deciding to take or stay on antidepressants pre-pregnancy or during pregancy.

Super food: Edible coating fights E. coli

According to a study being published Wednesday in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. Oregano oil is a natural bacteria fighter, as are other plant-based essential oils. The apple puree enables the coating to stick. Researchers with the U.S. Department of Agriculture have developed a flavored edible coating for fresh produce that not only tastes good, it kills E. coli bacteria.

The coating can be applied as a liquid or a thin film. It combines two unlikely flavors -- oregano oil and apple puree.

Researchers tested the coating on E. coli samples -- not on actual produce, though that's in the works, McHugh said. They also plan tests on other bacteria, including salmonella and listeria.

Courtesy of the Chicago Sun-Times

Steve - essential oils and herbs have always been an option to prevent food contamination. It is a much better idea than irradiating or virally adultering our food!

That Prenatal Visit May Be Months Too Late

For years, women have had it drummed into them that prenatal care is the key to having a healthy baby, and that they should see a doctor as soon as they know they are pregnant. But by then, it may already be too late. Public health officials are now encouraging women to make sure they are in optimal health well in advance of a pregnancy to reduce the risk of preventable birth defects and complications. They have recast the message to emphasize not only prenatal care, as they did in the past, but also what they are calling “preconception care.”

The problem, doctors say, is that by the first prenatal visit, a woman is usually 10 to 12 weeks pregnant. “If a birth defect is going to happen, it’s already happened,” said Dr. Peter S. Bernstein, a maternal fetal medicine specialist at Montefiore Medical Center in New York who helped write new government guidelines on preconception care. For many women, Dr. Bernstein said, “The most important doctor’s visit may be the one that takes place before a pregnancy is conceived.”

The new guidelines, issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, include 10 specific health care recommendations and advise prepregnancy checkups that include screening for diabetes, H.I.V. and obesity; managing chronic medical conditions; and reviewing medications that may harm a fetus. Much of the advice directed to women is fairly standard: they should abstain from smoking, alcohol and drugs, and should take prenatal vitamins, including folic acid. What is new and somewhat controversial about the guidelines is the suggestion that they should apply to women throughout their reproductive years, even when they are not planning pregnancies. (Men should be wary of exposures to toxins that cause birth defects and should avoid sexually transmitted diseases, experts say.)

Courtesy of NY Times

Bonnie - this is so stunning to read. Since my internship at the March of Dimes over 25 years ago, I have been asking the government to address women's health preconception. FINALLY!! This is such an important development I cannot emphasize it more. Public health professionals and practitioners need to start spreading the word. For any of your family and friends, read the Natural Fertility Action Plan on our website, nutritionalconcepts.com for a sound preconception plan.

Take folic acid to protect against heart disease.

Despite some controversy in reports of the benefits of folate consumption on cardiovascular disease risk, the evidence is now enough to recommend the vitamin for heart health, British scientists have reported.

“Since folic acid reduces homocysteine concentrations, to an extent dependent on background folate levels, it follows that increasing folic acid consumption will reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke by an amount related to the homocysteine reduction achieved,” wrote lead author David Wald in the British Medical Journal.

According to Wald, a three micromole per litre decrease in serum homocysteine levels, said to be achievable with a daily folic acid intake with 0.8 milligrams, lowers the risk of heart attack and stroke by 15 and 24 per cent. Moreover, some randomized trials have reported similar effects, but the reviewers state: “Folic acid is expected to reduce cardiovascular disease events by only about 10-15 per cent (compared, for example, to about an 80 per cent reduction in neural tube defects from taking five millgrams folic acid daily).” In studies looking at genetic mutations of the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene, which affects one in ten people, influences folate metabolism and is associated with increased homocysteine levels, the researchers report that high homocysteine levels were associated as causal for the risk of stroke.

Wine flour promises taste, health benefits to bakers

A new wine flour manufactured from grape skins claims to allow manufacturers of baked goods, pasta and snacks to naturally fortify their products with healthy fatty acids and fiber. Manufactured from a by-product of the wine industry, the flour is also marketed as containing high levels of iron and calcium, as well as the heart-healthy polyphenol resveratrol.

The product is obtained using a patent-pending drying process, applied to the grape pomace – or what is left of the fruit after it has been crushed for wine-making. Primarily made up of grape skins, together with a small amount of seeds, this by-product is dried, sifted and ground into a flour.

In bakery goods, such as breads, crackers, bagels or muffins, the wine flour is used at a concentration of 7-10 percent. In pasta it can be used at a concentration of up to 25 percent. And if the flour is ground finer, it can be incorporated into energy bars or even drinks, such as protein beverages or tea.

Other flour products on the horizon will include flours made from asparagus, peppers, egg plant, leak, carrot, parsley and green peas.

Steve - now this is the kind of innovation that we LOVE to see!

Nutrition and brain health: It's a big deal for Nestlé

“Nestlé is in the midst of a strategic transformation into a nutrition, health and wellness company, and research & development will increasingly drive and contribute to the acceleration of this process as we go forward,” said Werner Bauer, Nestlé’s executive vice president.

The link between nutrition and cognitive function is an area that has been largely overlooked in the past. But recent studies looking at the potential protective role of foods like pomegranate and berries, green tea, and fish against cognitive impairment and the on-set of Alzheimer’s disease shows that this is slowly changing. Peter van Bladeren, director of the Nestlé Research Center in Lausanne, told NutraIngredients.com that Nestlé would be looking at a range of new and existing ingredients and investigating novel ways of delivering and improving the bioavailability, thereby giving Nestlé a proprietary ingredient. “We can find a novel form of a natural ingredient,” said van Bladeren. “We now know that diet can have very beneficial effects on the mature and ageing brain,” he said. “As we have seen in the past 20 years with the prevention of cardiovascular diseases, we will see, starting now, the prevention of neurodegenerative diseases in the next 20 years,” said Dr. Sandrine Andrieu from the Toulouse University School of Medicine.

Courtesy of nutraingredients.com

Steve - it is very encouraging to see large food conglomerates starting to focus their energy on prevention. However, we still must keep a watchful eye. If using healthy ingredients equates to putting them in Nesquick or KitKat Bars, it will not do a darn thing for prevention of disease.

Surgery no better for sciatica

Two big government-funded studies on back surgery for painful herniated disks show no clear-cut reason to choose an operation over other treatment.

The pain and physical function of the patients, who were suffering from a condition called sciatica, improved significantly after two years whether or not they had surgery. However, neither strategy offered complete relief.

"In back surgery for this particular condition, there's actually a choice," said lead author Dr. James Weinstein of Dartmouth Medical School. "If you don't want the risk of surgery, you can do watchful waiting" and still get well.

The findings, published in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association, are the first from a big government-funded research project on spine surgery. Patients were treated at 13 spine centers in 11 states.

Courtesy of AP

Bonnie - this is enough of a reason to try to discover and then avoid trigger foods that can be contributing to back pain. My Pain Relief Diet has shown to produce immediate results in pain relief. More importantly, it helps you detect what groups of foods that cause the pain so you can avoid them long-term.

Doubts hit FDA handling of benzene in soft drinks

A senior ex-FDA official said it was “embarrassing” that the Food and Drug Administration had failed to eradicate benzene residues from all drinks. His comments come as newly released meeting memos show at least one soft drinks maker, Kraft Foods, called for more guidance on benzene in soft drinks from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) earlier this year. The developments put pressure on the FDA nine months after an investigation revealed some drinks containing more benzene than is allowed in US drinking water. Benzene causes cancer if consumed in enough quantities over a sustained period. Both FDA and industry had known of the source, a reaction in drinks between two common ingredients – sodium benzoate and ascorbic or citric acid – for 15 years.

The FDA agreed in 1991 for firms to “get the word out and reformulate” privately, without an official guide or limit drawn up. Some in the soft drinks industry appear to have wanted a better lead from the FDA. Kraft Foods recently reformulated all of its ready-to-drink beverages containing sodium benzoate and ascorbic acid to limit benzene formation, according to an internal FDA meeting memo from this year. The same memo noted Kraft’s warning that “there is no one solution that can be applied to all beverages [to mitigate benzene formation]”.

Courtesy of foodnavigator.com

Black Cohosh study demonsrates safety

A study that appears in the journal Menopause tracked 400 postmenopausal women taking 20 mg. of black cohosh over a 52 week period.

This long-term study showed no findings of endometrial hyperplasia or endometrial thickeness. Serum estradiol levels remained in the postmenopausal range. There were no changes in breast density. There were no relevant cases of hepatotoxicity from increased liver enzymes levels.

Significant increases were found in osteocalcin activity, which reduces bone resorption (bone loss).

Bonnie Minsky featured in the Daily Herald

Bonnie contributed to a Thanksgiving article written by columnist Susan Stevens.

http://www.dailyherald.com/health/story.asp?id=390410

Milk allergy in babies 'missed'

Cow's milk allergy in babies is being missed by doctors, a survey suggests. Nearly 80% of 500 doctors polled by the medical taskforce Act Against Allergy thought their colleagues confused milk allergy symptoms with other conditions. Experts say the problem lies in the symptoms being both vague and common - including skin rashes and diarrhea. The poll also found many of the doctors did not know the best treatment. Without treatment food allergies can be distressing and even deadly.

Bonnie - I anticipate those numbers would be similar in the United States. Because I always look at health from a public health as well as individual perspective, I believe food sensitivity and food allergy is much more prevalent in the population than is believed.

Scientists probe omega-3 DHA as anti-obesity agent

The omega-3 fatty acid, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), suppressed the development of fat cells in vitro, and could lead to reductions in body fat, US researchers have reported.

Fish oil, and other omega-3-rich sources have previously been shown to decrease body fat in rodents, but the mechanism behind such observations and whether doses smaller than those usually found in humans could also exert an effect of the development of fat cells, and therefore play a potential role in weight management. The new research, published in the new issue of the Journal of Nutrition (Vol. 136, pp. 2965-2969), looked at the effects of DHA on cell growth, differentiation, cell death (apoptosis), and fat breakdown in cultured fat (3T3-L1) cells. The researchers report that when added to a culture of preadipocytes (cells that can be stimulated to develop into fully-fledged fat cells, adipocytes) all the concentrations studied (25, 50, and 200 umol/L) resulted in a reduction in the number of viable cells. This was due, said the researchers, to an effect of DHA on adoptosis (programmed cell death). They also report that DHA significantly decreased the accumulation of fat in the preadipocytes in a dose-dependent manner and the development (differentiation) of mature adipocytes in culture.

Steve - omega-3 has literally become a super-nutrient. It is being studied for anything and everything. While we should not get ahead of ourselves with regard to the aforementioned study, it is encouraging.

American Journal of Clinical Nutrition Highlights - November

• Data taken from southern European populations show an association between a higher frequency of consumption of allium vegetables (onion, garlic) and lower risk of several common cancers.

• Subjects with the lowest intake of fiber and magnesium were three to four times as likely to have Type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and inflammation (via C-reactive protein test).

• According to a huge Norwegian population study, most pregnant women started folic acid supplementation too late with respect to the prevention of nerual tube defects. Supplementation needs to optimally begin at least one to two months pre-conception.
  

Soy during childhood linked to lower breast cancer risk

High consumption of fermented soy-based foods during childhood could reduce the risk of developing breast cancer later in life by 58 per cent, say researchers from the US National Cancer Institute.

"Childhood soy intake was significantly associated with reduced breast cancer risk in our study, suggesting that the timing of soy intake may be especially critical," said lead investigator, Larissa Korde, from the NCI's Clinical Genetics Branch.

Korde and co-workers, including researchers from the University of Hawaii, the Northern California Cancer Center, and the University of Southern California, recruited 597 Asian-American women with breast cancer (cases) and 966 healthy women without the disease (controls). The participants were asked to answer questions about adolescent and adult diet and lifestyles. Additionally, for a subset of 255 participants whose mothers were alive and living in the US, the mothers were asked about their daughter's early childhood exposures. By comparing the highest and lowest soy intake values for soy-based foods such as tofu, miso and natto, Korde and co-workers calculated that women with the highest soy intake during childhood (ages 5 to 11) had a 58 per cent lower risk of breast cancer as adults as the women with the lowest soy intake as children. Regina Ziegler, senior investigator on the study, added a note of caution, however, and said that it would be premature to recommend changes in childhood diet. "This is the first study to evaluate childhood soy intake and subsequent breast cancer risk, and this one result is not enough for a public health recommendation," she said.

Bonnie - this is what I have been saying. Soy has a place in our food supply, but only if fermented sources such as miso, tofu, and natto are consumed.

Antibiotics usually useless for bronchitis: study

There is no evidence antibiotics help the vast majority of patients with acute bronchitis, and doctors should stop routinely prescribing them, researchers reported on Wednesday.

Acute bronchitis, an inflammation of the main airways to the lungs marked by an irritating cough, is one of the most common conditions treated by primary-care doctors, occurring in about 5 percent of adults each year.

Two Virginia Commonwealth University doctors, writing in the New England Journal of Medicine, said an exhaustive review of existing research studies and clinical trials turned up no evidence to support prescribing antibiotics for short-term bronchitis.

This is because, they stated, almost all cases are viral infections and do not respond to antibiotics.

They also found little evidence that cough medicine, also prescribed in most acute bronchitis cases, had any value.

Courtesy Reuters

Omega-3s may cut colorectal cancer risk in men

Men who eat fish at least five times a week could slash the risk of developing colorectal cancer by 40 per cent, compared to men who ate fish less than once a week, Harvard researchers told the American Association for Cancer Research’s Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research meeting.

The new research, by scientists at Harvard School of Public Health and Brigham and Women's Hospital, analysed data from 22,071 participants in the Physicians' Health Study (PHS), a randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial primarily designed to investigate the effect of aspirin and beta-carotene supplements on development of cancer and cardiovascular disease.

Almost 10 per cent of the men ate fish less than once a week, 31 per cent ate it less than two times a week, 48 per cent ate fish less than five times a week, and about 11 per cent ate it five times or more a week.

After an average of 19.4 years of follow-up, they calculated that five or more servings of fish a week was associated with a 40 per cent reduction in colorectal cancer risk, compared to men who ate fish less than once a week.

The relative risk of eating fish 2-5 times a week was 20 per cent lower, and 13 per cent lower among participants who ate fish less than twice a week.

Steve - while it is a stretch for many of us to eat fish five times weekly, a great alternative is fish or cod liver oil.

Pancreatic cancer linked to high sugar intake

A study published last week in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that people who drink large quantities of fizzy drinks or add sugar to coffee or tea run a higher risk of developing cancer of the pancreas.

This 80,000 person study showed that those who drank fizzy or syrup-based drinks twice daily or more ran a 90 percent risk of getting cancer of the pancreas than those who never drank them. The risk was 70 percent higher for those who added sugar to their drinks about five times daily.

Bonnie - this was a huge population study. I have said for years that sugar feeds cancer. The pancreas is particularly vulnerable because it is the organ that secretes and regulates insulin. Health professionals should warn their cancer patients to curb the sugar even the minute they are diagnosed.

So keep in mind when you see all of these positive studies on coffee and tea, they do not take into include added sugar or blended mochas!

Trans fats adversely affect blood levels

In yet another study condemning trans fats, Harvard School of Public Health researchers found that a person consuming 4 grams of trans fats in a daily diet that consisted of 2,000 calories had triple the risk of heart disease of a person consuming 2.6 grams of trans fats in a 2,000-fat calorie diet.

Earlier studies have shown a link between trans fats and heart disease, but the Harvard study is the first to show that people with the highest trans fats in their diet also had the highest levels of trans fats embedded in their red blood cells.

The study, reported Tuesday at the American Heart Association scientific session, found that high trans fat levels in the blood are also associated with increased levels of low density lipoproteins, the so-called bad cholesterol, and low levels of high density lipoproteins, the helpful cholesterol.

The study involved blood samples collected in 1989-90 from 30,000 participants of the Nurses' Health Study. "Our bodies do not need trans fats and this research shows they are not good for our health," Dr, Qi Sun said.

Bonnie - folks, 4 grams of trans fats in the Standard American Diet is very little. One order of french fries is double that! Let's get these out of our food supply.

Antioxidant Therapies Do Not Interfere with Radiation Treatment

Cancer patients can get the vital nutritional benefits from taking antioxidants without the risk of interfering with radiation treatment, according to research findings being presented this weekend at the Society of Integrative Oncology's Third International Conference in Boston.

The study, Effect of Concomitant Naturopathic Therapies on Clinical Tumor Response to External Beam Radiation Therapy for Prostate Cancer, was conducted by researchers at Cancer Treatment Centers of America and reviewed PSA levels of prostate cancer patients after receiving radiation therapy. Researchers found no difference between patients taking antioxidants and those who did not. Antioxidants used in the study included green tea extract, melatonin, high-potency multivitamins, vitamin C and vitamin E.

"This study provides evidence that antioxidants as a complementary therapy in cancer treatment do not interfere with external beam radiation therapy," said Timothy Birdsall, ND, vice president of integrative medicine for Cancer Treatment Centers of America and lead author of the paper. "Antioxidants are one of many complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapies that are crucial in today's fight against cancer."

Fish Oil Linked to Lower Alzheimer’s Risk

A substance found in fish oil may be associated with a significantly reduced risk of developing Alzheimer’s and other dementias, researchers reported yesterday. The scientists found that people with the highest blood levels of an omega-3 fatty acid called docosahexaenoic acid, or DHA, were about half as likely to develop dementia as those with lower levels. The substance is one of several omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids found in fatty fish and, in small amounts, in some meats. It is also sold in fish oil or DHA supplements. The researchers looked for a reduced risk associated with seven other omega-3 fatty acids, but only DHA had any effect. The study, in the November issue of The Archives of Neurology, used data from the Framingham Heart Study to follow 899 initially healthy participants, with a median age of 76, for an average of more than nine years. People in this top one-quarter in DHA levels had a 47 percent reduced risk of developing dementia, even after controlling for body mass index, diabetes, hypertension, smoking status and other known or suspected risks. Those in the bottom three-quarters in DHA level showed no detectable difference in risk. People who ate two or more servings of fish a week reduced their risk for dementia by 39 percent, but there was no effect on the risk for dementia among those who ate less than that.

Courtesy NY Times

Steve - tell us something we don't know. The researchers say that more research still needs to be done. I don't know what else they need to look at! There has been more research on DHA than almost any nutrient on the market. There is a reason why doctors have been getting into the act and recommending fish oil. It works!