Hyperactivity drug 'could help solve obesity crisis'

Drugs used to treat hyperactive children, such as Ritalin, could be used to help solve the obesity crisis as new research has shown one in three severely obese adults who fail to lose weight have undiagnosed Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

Doctors behind the latest findings claim a chemical imbalance in the brain caused by undiagnosed ADHD prevents severely obese patients from having the willpower to lose weight. And they claim once the condition had been treated with drugs such as Ritalin improve their dieting success dramatically. Dr Lance Levy, from the Nutritional Disorders Clinic in Toronto studied 242 severly obese patients who had failed to lose weight in 10 years. Each patient was screened for ADHD through a series of tests and interviews. Results showed 32 per cent had a diagnosis of ADHD. They were then prescribed anti-hyperactivity drugs including Adderall, a type of amphetamine and a Ritalin-style pill called Concerta, taken once a day. After a year of treatment, those given the drugs had lost an average of 12 per cent of their total body weight, compared to 2.7 per cent of those not given medication.

Bonnie - just when you think you have seen it all...

Some multivitamins do not meet label claim

More than 30 percent of multivitamins tested recently by Consumerlab.com contained significantly more or less of an ingredient than claimed, or were contaminated with lead, the company reports.

Steve - for those who are worried about this: every brand that we recommend met label claim.

U.S. experts argue for tax on sweet drinks

A penny-per-ounce tax on sugary drinks could help fight obesity by cutting consumption and raising billions of dollars to help state and local governments pay for programs, two experts said on Wednesday. Taxes have been shown to reduce smoking and are just as likely to help adults and children choose healthier drinks, which are now usually more expensive than sodas and other sweetened beverages, the experts wrote in the New England Journal of Medicine.

A tax of one penny per fluid ounce (30 ml) on drinks such as soda, sports drinks and sugar-sweetened fruit juice and iced tea could "reduce consumption of sugared beverages by more than 10 percent," Kelly Brownell of Yale University in Connecticut and New York City Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Frieden wrote. "It is difficult to imagine producing behavior change of this magnitude through education alone, even if government devoted massive resources to the task." Studies show that children and adolescents now consume 10 percent to 15 percent of all their calories in beverages. The soft drink industry also opposes such a tax.

"The contribution of unhealthful diets to healthcare costs is already high and is increasing -- an estimated $79 billion is spent annually for overweight and obesity alone -- and approximately half of these costs are paid by Medicare and Medicaid, at taxpayers' expense," they wrote. "Sugar-sweetened beverages may be the single largest driver of the obesity epidemic," the researchers added. "For each extra can or glass of sugared beverage consumed per day, the likelihood of a child's becoming obese increases by 60 percent."

Bonnie - I would venture to say that this would be a contentious issue among the American public? How would you feel about this? Make a comment below.

Tai Chi as stroke therapy

Stroke patients who practice tai chi may improve their balance - reducing the risk of falls after as little as six weeks of training, according to the journal Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair. Researchers took 136 people who had a stroke six months or more earlier and divided them into two groups. Over 12 weeks, one group did general exercise, the other a modified version of tai chi. While the exercise group showed little improvement in balance, the tai chi group made significant gains when they were tested on weight-shifting, reaching and how well they could maintain their stability on a platform that moved like a bus. The benefit of tai chi, the researchers said, is that once the forms are mastered, they can be done without supervision.

Bonnie - I love tai chi as an exercise/stress-reducing modality. It is very encouraging to see this research.

L-Lysine to treat shingles?

Courtesy of Joe Graedon, Teresa Graedon, The People's Pharmacy

Comment - After chemo treatment, I had two bouts with shingles. Knowing that this is a herpes virus, I treated myself with L-lysine as I often do for cold sores. The discomfort and rash disappeared in less than a week. My oncologist was very interested to hear this and has been successful using L-lysine for other patients with shingles.

PP - Prescription antiviral drugs such as Valtrex or Famvir can be helpful against shingles. Many people say L-lysine works for cold sores. We have never heard that this amino acid might also work against shingles.

Bonnie - I never thought about L-Lysine either, but it makes perfect sense. I would recommend 1500 mg. daily until symptoms go away. Then taper off to 1000 mg., 500 mg. over the next week before stopping. I also recommend a very successful protocol that should be in addition to the L-Lysine. Monolaurin (natural antiviral), Quercetin + C, B-Complex, and Zinc. Dosage varies depending upon age.

Three nutrients may reduce child asthma

A combination supplement containing omega-3 (300 mg EPA/200 mg DHA), vitamin C (200 mg) and zinc (15 mg) may improve symptoms of childhood asthma. The trio of nutrients were associated with improvements in asthma measures, lung function, and markers of inflammation in the lungs, according to findings of a randomized, double blind, placebo-self-controlled crossover trial published in Acta Pædiatrica. The study adds to a growing body of science linking fish consumption and fruit and vegetable intakes to a reduction in the risk or asthma, or improvements in the symptoms associated with the condition.

Bonnie - these three nutrients all have antiinflammatory properties, so the results of this study should not come as a surprise.

One remedy for overweight kids -- water

Want to help your kids keep the weight off? Give them water instead of soda and other sugar-sweetened drinks. An analysis of the diets of children and teens in the United States showed they drink, on average, 235 "empty" calories in sugar-sweetened beverages each day, according to a study in Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.

Steve - there are numerous ways to enhance the flavor of water. Get naturally sparkling. Add a dash of fresh-squeezed lemon, lime, or pomegranate juice. Just avoid sweetening it unless it is stevia.

When medicine makes you fat

This Wall Street Journal entry is a great example of why staying on certain medication long-term is not the ideal treatment for health issues. It is also a great example of why getting to the root of the problem is paramount.

Einstein scientists propose new theory of autism

Scientists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have proposed a sweeping new theory of autism that suggests that the brains of people with autism are structurally normal but dysregulated, meaning symptoms of the disorder might be reversible.

The central tenet of the theory, published in the March issue of Brain Research Reviews, is that autism is a developmental disorder caused by impaired regulation of the locus coeruleus, a bundle of neurons in the brain stem that processes sensory signals from all areas of the body.

The new theory stems from decades of anecdotal observations that some autistic children seem to improve when they have a fever, only to regress when the fever ebbs. A 2007 study in the journal Pediatrics took a more rigorous look at fever and autism, observing autistic children during and after fever episodes and comparing their behavior with autistic children who didn't have fevers. This study documented that autistic children experience behavior changes during fever.

"On a positive note, we are talking about a brain region that is not irrevocably altered. It gives us hope that, with novel therapies, we will eventually be able to help people with autism," says theory co-author Mark F. Mehler, M.D., chairman of neurology and director of the Institute for Brain Disorders and Neural Regeneration at Einstein.

The locus coeruleus has widespread connections to brain regions that process sensory information. It secretes most of the brain's noradrenaline, a neurotransmitter that plays a key role in arousal mechanisms, such as the "fight or flight" response. It is also involved in a variety of complex behaviors, such as attentional focusing (the ability to concentrate attention on environmental cues relevant to the task in hand, or to switch attention from one task to another). Poor attentional focusing is a defining characteristic of autism.

Drs. Purpura and Mehler hypothesize that in autism, the LC-NA system is dysregulated by the interplay of environment, genetic, and epigenetic factors (chemical substances both within as well as outside the genome that regulate the expression of genes). They believe that stress plays a central role in dysregulation of the LC-NA system, especially in the latter stages of prenatal development when the fetal brain is particularly vulnerable.

Drs. Purpura and Mehler believe that, in autistic children, fever stimulates the LC-NA system, temporarily restoring its normal regulatory function. "This could not happen if autism was caused by a lesion or some structural abnormality of the brain," says Dr. Purpura.

"This gives us hope that we will eventually be able to do something for people with autism," he adds.

The researchers do not advocate fever therapy (fever induced by artificial means), which would be an overly broad, and perhaps even dangerous, remedy. Instead, they say, the future of autism treatment probably lies in drugs that selectively target certain types of noradrenergic brain receptors or, more likely, in epigenetic therapies targeting genes of the LC-NA system.

"If the locus coeruleus is impaired in autism, it is probably because tens or hundreds, maybe even thousands, of genes are dysregulated in subtle and complex ways," says Dr. Mehler. "The only way you can reverse this process is with epigenetic therapies, which, we are beginning to learn, have the ability to coordinate very large integrated gene networks."

"The message here is one of hope but also one of caution," Dr. Mehler adds. "You can't take a complex neuropsychiatric disease that has escaped our understanding for 50 years and in one fell swoop have a therapy that is going to reverse it — that's folly. On the other hand, we now have clues to the neurobiology, the genetics, and the epigenetics of autism. To move forward, we need to invest more money in basic science to look at the genome and the epigenome in a more focused way."

Steve - once again, an arrow pointing to epigenetics. This is a fascinating theory that we are sure to hear more about.

ADHD drugs work for only the first few months

According to a Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (March 2009), stimulant drugs such as Ritalin work for only the first few months on children with ADHD (attention deficit, hyperactivity disorder). At best, the good effects last for 14 months, at which point the drugs should be stopped. The MTA (Multimodal Treatment Study of Children with ADHD) tracked 485 children for eight years, and those who were still taking a stimulant drug at the end of that period were showing the same levels of inattention and hyperactivity as those who had never taken a drug. Most of the children had taken the drugs for only the first 14 months, and had then stopped. The MTA researchers conclude that their finding raises “questions about whether medication treatment beyond two years continues to be beneficial or needed at all.” The latest conclusion is very different from the very positive one the same research group reached in 1999 when it advocated the long-term use of ADHD drugs such as Ritalin, Adderall and Concerta. A critic of the MTA research is William Pelham, of the State University of New York Buffalo, who took part in the field work. He said this week: “The stance the group took in the first paper was so strong that the people are embarrassed to say they were wrong and we led the whole field astray. If 5 per cent of families in the country are giving a medication to their children, and they don’t realize it does not have long-term benefits, but might have long-term risks, why should they not be told?”

Steve - it should be noted that the results of this research were nowhere to be found in the mainstream media.

Folic acid before conception boosts birth weight

Supplements of folic acid before conception may increase the birth of the baby by over 60 grams. Starting folic acid supplementation before becoming pregnant was also associated with a 57 per cent reduction in the risk of low birth weight, and a 60 per cent reduction in the risk of a baby that was small for gestational age (SGA), according to findings published online ahead of print in the British Journal of Nutrition.

The Dutch researchers, led by Sarah Timmermans from Erasmus MC, analysed data on 6,353 pregnancies and considered the effects of folic acid supplementation (400 to 500 micrograms per day) before, during, and after conception on the birth weight of the infants. The Generation R Study found that folic acid supplementation before conception was linked with heavier babies, and heavier placentas (13 grams more), compared to the infants of women who did not take any folic acid supplements. Benefits were recorded for women who started the folic acid supplements after having their pregnancy confirmed, with an association noted for a 39 per cent reduction in the risk of low birth weight. Starting folic acid supplementation before falling pregnant was associated with reductions of over 50 per cent in the risks of low birth weight and small for gestational age (SGA). “In conclusion, periconception folic acid supplementation is associated with increased fetal growth resulting in higher placental and birth weight, and decreased risks of low birth weight and SGA,” concluded Timmermans and her co-workers.

Steve - yet more evidence of the benefits of folic acid. What is even more important about this study is that it shows how crucial it is to take a prenatal/multi before conception, not just when you get pregnant.

Rocket fuel chemical found in baby formula

Traces of a chemical used in rocket fuel were found in samples of powdered baby formula, and could exceed what's considered a safe dose for adults if mixed with water also contaminated with the ingredient, a government study has found. The study by scientists at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention looked for the chemical, perchlorate, in different brands of powdered baby formula. It was published last month, but the Environmental Working Group issued a press release Thursday drawing attention to it. The chemical has turned up in several cities' drinking water supplies. It can occur naturally, but most perchlorate contamination has been tied to defense and aerospace sites. No tests have ever shown the chemical caused health problems, but scientists have said significant amounts of perchlorate can affect thyroid function.

The government requires that formula contain iodine, which counteracts perchlorate's effects. The largest amounts of the chemical were in formulas derived from cow's milk, the study said. The researchers would not disclose the brands of formula they studied. Only a few samples were studied, so it's hard to know if the perchlorate levels would be found in all containers of those brands, a CDC spokesman said. Earlier this year, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said it was considering setting new limits on the amount of perchlorate that would be acceptable in drinking water. A few states have already set their own limits. The EPA has checked nearly 4,000 public water supplies serving 10,000 people or more. About 160 of the water systems had detectable levels of perchlorate, and 31 had levels high enough to exceed a new safety level the EPA is considering.

Steve - melamine and now perchlorate? How comforting.

Hypertriglyceridemia remedied by lifestyle change

Hypertriglyceridemia is common among US adults and should be treated with lifestyle change in most cases, according to the results of a study reported in the March 23 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.

"Increasing evidence supports triglyceride (TG) concentration as a risk factor for cardiovascular disease," write Earl S. Ford, MD, MPH, from the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta, Georgia, and colleagues. "The prevalence of hypertriglyceridemia during a period of rising prevalence of obesity and its pharmacological treatment among US adults are poorly understood."

In an accompanying commentary, Warren G. Thompson, MD, and Gerald T. Gau, MD, from the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine in Rochester, Minnesota, agree that lifestyle modification is the cornerstone of management of TG concentrations between 150 and 500 mg/dL. They note that if the patient does not make lifestyle changes in diet and exercise, it is difficult to normalize TG concentration with medication alone.

Bonnie - they are just realizing this now? Triglcyerides are as important to cardiac health as cholesterol. I have consistently brought down triglycerides in my clients for years with diet and lifestyle change. Fish oil and limiting grain/refined carbohydrate consumption has the most dramatic effect.

CoQ10 may boost heart health of diabetics on statins

Supplements of coenzyme Q10 may increase the vascular health of diabetics receiving statins. Following 12 weeks of supplementation with CoQ10 (200mg per day) an improvement in the blood flow was observed, according to findings published in the journal Diabetes Care.

It is well known that statins deplete the body’s natural stores of CoQ10. The new findings indicate that, in addition to redressing the balance of CoQ10, supplementation may also improve endothelial dysfunction in statin-treated type 2 diabetic patients. “The patients in our study had endothelial dysfunction despite satisfactory control of blood pressure, glycaemia and lipids, which may represent the proportion of statin-treated patients at increased residual risk of cardiovascular disease,” wrote the researchers, led by Professor Gerald Watts from the University of Western Australia. “Our absolute improvement in [blood flow in the arm] of 1 per cent with CoQ10 supplementation may potentially translate to a 10-25 per cent reduction in residual cardiovascular risk in these patients.”

Steve - the results of this study should surprise nobody who reads this blog and gets our eNewsletters.

Adult Acne Pops Up When Economy Slides

Excerpts courtesy of Associated Press

Here's another bump in the landscape of economic meltdown: adult acne.

Stress is a leading cause of breakouts, and there's no shortage of that these days in the office of Oakland, Calif.-based Dr. Katie Rodan. Many of her clients are either in the financial field or have husbands who are.

Meanwhile, Manhattan dermatologist Dr. Cheryl Karcher is performing far fewer liposuctions or botox injections but is seeing more patients than ever. "They're all insurance patients for eczema, acne and warts. They're all another hit from the immune system," she says.

Karcher explains that the nervous system and hormone systems work together. "They are tightly intertwined and the nervous system is stimulated by stress. ... I am seeing more acne than you can believe."

A traffic jam or a spat with a significant other can set off a rise in cortisol that causes a breakout, but there isn't usually a collective mass of people experiencing a high-anxiety event like there is right now with the recession.

With a 16-year-old daughter to care for — and college to pay for — as well as elderly parents, Zondra Barricks says the economy weighs on her almost every day.

"My skin is a barometer of my emotional state," says Barricks, a patient of Rodan. "I am trying to take care of myself, behind the scenes I'm taking care of my skin. ... I have to cut back, but I don't want to look the raggedy way I'm feeling."

Dr. Kathy Fields points to a Stanford University study from 2002 that found students had more severe acne during exam periods than other times of the year.

"When your cortisol levels go up — and we're having so many spikes during the day — that aggravates acne. Your cortisol levels go up more in one day than a caveman had in one year," says Fields.

The single worst thing you could do, according to Rodan: pop your pimples. "Infections also increase when cortisol levels are high and wound healing slows down."

Bonnie - binge eating and excess junk food consumption also contribute. A wonderful, natural, economical method for breakouts is to wash your face with milk of magnesia twice daily. Put it on at the beginning of your shower and wash off at the end.

Vegetarian diets questioned

The health benefits of adhering to a vegetarian diet may not outweigh the potential detrimental effects.

According to scientists from the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University, the University of Minnesota and the University of Texas, Austin, although vegetarians adhere to a healthier diet, evidence suggests that they may be at increased risk for disordered eating behavior.

Their study, published in the April edition of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, examined data on 2,500 adolescents and young adults, identified as current, former or never vegetarians.

“Adolescent and young adult vegetarians may experience the health benefits associated with increased fruit and vegetable intake and young adults my experience the added benefit of decreased risk for overweight and obesity. However, current vegetarians may be at increased risk for binge eating, while former vegetarians may be at increased risk for extreme unhealthful weight control behaviors,” found the study.

Data on the participants was taken from a Project EAT survey, which had recorded long-term nutritional behavior of adolescents and adults aged 15 to 23.

CoQ10 may cut pre-eclampsia in high-risk women

Supplements of coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) may reduce the risk of developing pre-eclampsia in women at risk for the condition. 235 women receiving 200 mg of CoQ10 a day had a 10 per cent lower risk of developing pre-eclampsia than women on placebo, according to results of the randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial published in the International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics. “CoQ10 supplementation starting at 20 weeks of pregnancy appears to be a safe and well tolerated intervention, and resulted in a significant reduction in the rate of pre-eclampsia,” wrote the researchers.

Research Highlights - April

Am Journal of Clinical Nutrition

• With a similar amount of total weight loss, lean mass is preserved, but there is not a preferential loss of abdominal fat when either moderate- or vigorous-intensity aerobic exercise is performed during caloric restriction.

• Calcium and magnesium intakes may protect against the development of Type 2 Diabetes in 65,000 Chinese women.

• Multiple micronutrient supplements increased the length of children who consumed them regularly from 3 to 24 mo. Strategies that promote compliance through effective delivery of micronutrient interventions are needed.

• A diet characterized by a low intake of meat/starches and a high intake of legumes is associated with a reduced risk of breast cancer in Asian Americans.
  
  
• A meta-analysis of the association between consumption of soy foods and prostate cancer risk in men showed lower incidence (26%) between men who consume them as opposed to those that do not. The risk was lower in men who consumed fermented soy foods as opposed to nonfermented. While we are always wary of meta-analyses, this should be another example of why fermented soy is preferred to nonfermented.
  

Journal Nutrition

Quercetin, kaempferol, and myricetin seem to act as dietary-derived inhibitors of Medulloblastoma, the most common malignant brain tumor in children, suggesting that this inhibitory effect may contribute to chemopreventive properties of these molecules.

Journal of the American Dietetic Association

Adolescent and young adult vegetarians may experience the health benefits associated with increased fruit and vegetable intake and young adults may experience the added benefit of decreased risk for overweight and obesity. However, current vegetarians may be at increased risk for binge eating with loss of control, while former vegetarians may be at increased risk for extreme unhealthful weight-control behaviors. It would be beneficial for clinicians to inquire about current and former vegetarian status when assessing risk for disordered eating behaviors.

Food and Chemical Toxicology

Ginseng is found to be protective against cadmium-induced hepatic injuries.

Over-the-Counter Drug Label Warnings Overlooked

Consumers overlook warnings about potential tampering on over-the-counter medications at least 80 percent of the time, suggesting packages and labels need to be redesigned to attract attention and improve safety. Participants spent the most time focused on the brand names and product claims of nonprescription drugs. More than half of those surveyed also missed alerts about child safety on medicines that did not have child-resistant packaging, according to the research today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The findings raise doubts about whether the warnings meet U.S. Food and Drug Administration requirements that they be “prominent” and “conspicuous,” the researchers said. Future studies need to look at whether changing package designs may help people’s eyes move more quickly to the notices or convey the information faster, said lead author Laura Bix. “Something is going on with conspicuousness and prominence,” said Bix, an assistant professor in the School of Packaging at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan. “It’s definitely a chance to step back and look at the design of these labels and look at potentially educating consumers on the importance of the information.”

Steve - I cannot imagine what paltry percentage of Americans read the label inserts of prescription drugs.

A restaurant chain to keep an eye on

Jason's Deli. Everything is trans-fat and MSG-free. They even have organic items and ingredients.

Find one near you.