Nutritionists were also quick to point out that this study shouldn’t undermine the importance of calcium and vitamin D in bone health.
“It doesn’t replace calcium and vitamin D in the diet, however,” says Keith-Thomas Ayoob, a dietician and professor at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. “But including all three, and regular exercise, are showing promise as the best way to ensure good bone health.
“I was brought up on a high-olive oil
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Chemotherapy Might Backfire, Spur Cancer Growth: Study
In a surprise finding, scientists say that chemotherapy might prompt tumors to emit a substance that helps maintain malignancy and boost resistance to drug therapy.
Researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle tested a form of chemotherapy on prostate cancer tissues and found that healthy cells damaged by the cancer therapy secreted more of a protein called WNT16B, which seems to boost the survival of cancer cells.
"The increase in WNT16B was completely unexpected," study co-author Peter Nelson told Agence France-Presse. "WNT16B, when secreted, would interact with nearby tumor cells and cause them to grow, invade, and importantly, resist subsequent therapy,"he explained.
The findings, published Aug. 5 in Nature Medicine, were later confirmed in breast and ovarian tumors. The study authors say the insight might help explain why cancer often develops resistance to chemotherapy over time. It might also point to treatments that might help block that resistance.
"For example, an antibody to WNT16B, given with chemotherapy, may improve responses (kill more tumor cells)," Nelson told AFP.
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Possible Listeria Contamination Spurs Salad Products Recall
Over 13,000 pounds of meat and poultry salad products distributed nationwide are being recalled due to possible contamination of diced onions with the listeria bacterium.
In a notice on its website posted Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said that Garden Fresh Foods of Milwaukee, Wis., is recalling about 13,600 pounds of salad products. "The salads contain diced onions that are the subject of a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recall by Gill Onions, due to possible contamination with Listeria monocytogenes," the USDA said.
No reports of illnesses linked to consumption of the salads have yet been reported, the agency said.
The products include -- but are not limited to -- specific lots of "Finest Traditions Spiral Pasta and Chicken Salad," "Garden Fresh All White Meat Chicken Salad With Cranberries" and "Garden Fresh Reduced Fat Chicken Salad" (among others). The salads were produced between July 10 and July 16, 2012 and distributed to retailers and institutions across the United States, the USDA says.
For a full list of the recalled products, including product codes and lot numbers, head to the website of the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service at www.fsis.usda.gov.
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The idea that all saturated fat is a health evil permeates the defunct dogma of Western medicine and its Big Pharma toxic pill pushers. It has probably never occurred to them that saturated fat is perhaps the best calorie for energy production, and quite good for long lasting energy if you don’t consume too much. Two studies in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition continue a long list of studies questioning the assertion that saturated fat causes disease, in and of itself.
The first study comes from researchers at the University of Texas School of Public Health. Researchers followed a multiethnic group of 5,209 adults, aged 45 – 84, for 10 years while tracking their diets, and looking into the diets of those who developed cardiovascular disease (316 cases) during the course of the study. They found that those with the highest intake of saturated fat from dairy had up to a 38 percent risk reduction for developing cardiovascular disease. This is a rather shocking finding for the promoters of skim milk and other no-fat dairy. On the other hand, the study found that those with the highest intake of saturated fat from meat had up to a 48 percent increased risk for cardiovascular disease. Furthermore, replacing two percent of meat calories with dairy fat lowered overall risk by 25 percent.
It is likely that many of the cofactor nutrients in dairy help to metabolize the saturated fat, helping to make it a cardio friendly food. In defense of meat fat, my opinion is that it is really an issue of how the beef was raised, and what it was fed. Many sickly and pathetically unhealthy animals have lived on toxic junk food their entire lives and had no exercise – of course their fat is not worth eating. There is no substitute for quality raised and fed meat, such as range raised and grass fed.
Furthermore, those who eat the most toxic meat are also likely to be eating other junk food and also lacking fiber, fruit, and vegetables. This is not rocket science.
In the second study Danish researchers evaluated 340,234 adults from eight European countries for their intake of dairy and risk of type 2 diabetes. This is a very large study representing four million human years of follow up. Researchers found that dairy intake, regardless of the amount of fat taken in, was not linked to the development of type 2 diabetes. To the contrary, certain types of dairy such as cheese and yogurt were linked to a 12 percent risk reduction.
Americans should keep in mind that the quality of dairy products is much higher in Europe. It is highly advised that Americans consume organic dairy and cheeses of higher quality.
The simple fact of the matter is that there is no need to fear saturated fat. If you consume high quality forms of saturated fat as a reasonable portion of your daily calories, along with omega-3 oils like DHA Docosahexaenoic acid Essential omega 3 fatty acid integral to the health of all cell membranes, nerve and brain function. Must be gotten through the diet via cold water oceanic fish or some very limited plant sources or taken as a supplement., fruit, vegetables, and adequate dietary fiber, then saturated fat is likely to be an energy sustaining friend, which actually helps your metabolism run better, and is not at all associated with risk for disease.
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Saturated Fat Not Linked to Heart Disease
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FDA Approves Ingestible Medical Sensor
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced that it has approved an ingestible medical sensor that reports vital information on a patient's health back to his or her doctor.
The device, from Proteus Digital Health Inc., is only about the size of a grain of sand and had already been approved by European health officials last year, CBS News reported. Once swallowed, it sends out information on whether patients are taking their medications as instructed, as well as data on vital signs.
The sensor is designed so that it can be placed inside a pill or other consumable and it is powered by stomach fluid, CBS said. It transmits information to a patch on the patient's stomach, and that data is then relayed to a cell phone app to the patient and, with his or her permission, to their caregiving team.
"About half of all people don't take medications like they're supposed to," Eric Topol, director of the Scripps Translational Science Institute in La Jolla,Calif., told the journal Nature.
"This device could be a solution to that problem, so that doctors can know when to rev up a patient's medication adherence," said Topol, who is not affiliated with the device's maker.
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Free Contraception, Well-Woman Visits Tied to Health Care Reform Begin
Starting Wednesday, up to 47 million American women can now gain free access to contraception, well-woman visits, STD screening and other benefits linked to the Affordable Care Act, CBS News reported.
"Women deserve to have control over their health care," Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius wrote on a blog posted on Healthcare.gov. "Too often, they have gone without preventive services, worrying about what even a $20 insurance co-pay would mean to their families' budgets and choosing to pay for groceries or rent instead. But now, thanks to the health care law, many women won't have to make that choice."
Starting Aug. 1, women will not have provide a co-pay for well-woman visits (including annual check-ups or more if doctors deem necessary); contraceptives and contraception counseling; HPV testing every three years for women aged 30 or over; annual sexually transmitted disease counseling, including HIV screening/counseling; domestic violence screening and counseling; screening for gestational diabetes and breast-feeding support, supplies and counseling.
The new benefits currently only apply to women who are enrolled in a health insurance plan, CBS News notes, although more uninsured women are expected to be included as health care reform is fully implemented.
The free services that kick in Wednesday join other no-fee, preventive health measures, such as mammography screening, cervical cancer screenings (via the Pap smear) and prenatal services, that are already covered by the Affordable Care Act.
Not everyone supports the changes, however. According to CBS News, Catholic groups have filed 12 lawsuits in 43 courts across the country to block the provision to supply contraception free of charge.
"The implementation of this policy marks the beginning of the end of religious freedom in our nation," Christen Varley, executive director of Conscience Cause, said in a statement.
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The American Council on Exercise says you can help reduce workplace stress by:
Not worrying about previous assignments and how you could have done better. Instead, focus on the tasks in front of you.Being friendly and smiling at work, and making some time for friendly conversations with co-workers.Communicating clearly with others to avoid misunderstandings and frustration.Staying positive, and not dwelling solely on problems.Eating well and exercising.Communicating frequently with your manager.Exploring other opportunities -- if you are very unhappy at work and don't see a possible resolution.The American Council on Exercise makes these recommendations before you hit the trail for the first time:
Hike a new trail before you run it, familiarizing yourself with the new layout.Don't walk or run a trail alone.Carry a communication device, such as a walkie-talkie or cell phone.Take a small, basic first aid kit that includes bandages, tape, a knife and antibacterial ointment.Make sure any weight you carry is evenly distributed; try to carry most of the weight around your hips.When going downhill, keep knees bent and don't lean back too far. Use short strides when hills are steep.Run with your head up and push your arms from the shoulders, rather than from the elbows.Between 1999-2000 and 2009-2010, the percentage of Americans in the 45- to 64-year age group with two or more of the conditions grew from 16 percent to 21 percent, according to survey results. For adults 65 and older, the percentage increased from 37 percent to 45 percent. The survey was compiled by the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics, part of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Released Tuesday, the report from Virginia Freid and colleagues looked at nine chronic conditions: hypertension (high blood pressure), heart disease, diabetes, cancer, stroke, chronic bronchitis, emphysema, current asthma and kidney disease.
The percentage of Americans aged 65 and older who had both diabetes and high blood pressure grew from 9 percent to 15 percent, the investigators found.
The report also revealed that 23 percent of adults aged 45 to 64 with at least two chronic conditions -- out of the list of nine -- either didn't receive necessary medical care or delayed it because of cost. That's up from 17 percent a decade earlier.
The percentage of people in that group who didn't get necessary prescription drugs due to cost grew from 14 percent to 22 percent over the decade.
Among individual conditions in people aged 45 or older, the prevalence of high blood pressure grew from 35 percent to 41 percent, diabetes from 10 percent to 15 percent, and cancer from 9 percent to 11 percent.
The rise in the number of people with more than one chronic condition "presents a complex challenge to the U.S. health care system, both in terms of quality of life and expenditures for an aging population," the report stated.
The findings are published in the July edition of the NCHS Data Brief.
More information
For more about coping with chronic illness, visit the U.S. National Library of Medicine.
U.S. Blood Supply Critically Low, Red Cross Warns
The level of U.S. blood donations is at its lowest point in 15 years and the shortfall is such that some patients may have to have elective surgeries canceled, the American Red Cross reports.
"People will put off having knee replacements, hip replacements and other elective surgery," Danny Cervantes, a donor recruitment director for United Blood Services in Las Vegas, told NBC News.
The shortfall appears due to a number of factors. Kim Talkington, regional director of donor recruitment for the Red Cross in Wichita, Kan., told NBC News that there's a high demand for blood in summer because it's high season for travel and road accidents.
On the donor side, the supply from college students -- who typically make up about one-fifth of donations -- falls by about half in the summer months, according to Quincy, Ill., donor recruitment representative Beth Forbes.
This summer has been especially tough for the blood supply because storms have upped demand in the East and Midwest, even as they helped dry up the supply, according to Rodney Wilson, another Red Cross representative based in Ohio.
"The power outages and storms we experienced earlier in the month caused dozens of blood drives to be canceled," Wilson told NBC News. "We normally try to keep a three-day supply on hand locally, and we are down to a one-day supply."
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Devices Not Enough to Save Children Left in Overheated Cars: Report
Devices aimed at preventing kids from dying in overheated cars may not work well enough to keep children from harm, a new review finds.
Parents shouldn't rely on special seats and other devices to stop them from accidently leaving children in cars, David Strickland, administrator for the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), said in a Monday press briefing, NBC News reported.
"While these devices are very well-intended, none of them are a full or complete solution for making sure a parent never leaves a baby behind in a hot car," Strickland said.
According to NHTSA, about 38 children die each year of heat stroke after being left in cars. The new report reviewed 18 commercial products, including pads that sense if a child is in a car seat; devices that can tell if a seatbelt is buckled and alarms that remind parents to check.
"The devices were inconsistent and unreliable in their performance," the researchers wrote in their report. "They often required adjusting of the position of the child within the child restraint, the distance to activation varied across trials and scenarios, and they experienced continual synching/unsynching during use."
The report also notes that "devices which integrate into a child restraint would not be applicable in scenarios where the child is playing and gets locked in the vehicle (30 percent of fatalities) or in a scenario where the parent/caregiver intentionally leaves the child in the vehicle (17 percent of fatalities)."
According to Strickland, parents can help ensure tragic heat stroke accidents in cars don't happen by using a few simple precautions. These include leaving a child's toy in the front seat as a reminder, putting a purse or briefcase in back seat so that the driver is forced to look in the back before exiting the car, or setting an alarm on the cellphone to remind yourself to check on a child's whereabouts.
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The American Academy of Pediatrics mentions this safety checklist for high chairs:
The chair should be sturdy and not tip over easily.If the chair folds, make sure it's locked before the child sits down.Fasten all safety straps in the chair, and don't allow your child to stand up in it.Don't position the chair close enough to a table that your child can push against the table and tip over.Children should never be left unattended in a high chair. Older kids should never be allowed to climb on it.Avoid using a high chair that hooks onto the table, in place of a freestanding one.One way to reduce the risk of a severe reaction is to avoid cross-contaminating foods to which a person is overly sensitive with other foods.
The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics offers these guidelines:
Thoroughly wash all pots, pans and utensils with soap and water before use.If cooking two meals (one for someone with a food allergy), cook the allergen-free meal first and keep it covered and away from other food.Thoroughly wash hands with soap and water before serving an allergen-free meal.Be careful not to allow any allergens to touch allergen-free utensils, dishes or foods.Free Contraception, Well-Woman Visits Tied to Health Care Reform Begin
Starting Wednesday, up to 47 million American women can now gain free access to contraception, well-woman visits, STD screening and other benefits linked to the Affordable Care Act, CBS News reported.
"Women deserve to have control over their health care," Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius wrote on a blog posted on Healthcare.gov. "Too often, they have gone without preventive services, worrying about what even a $20 insurance co-pay would mean to their families' budgets and choosing to pay for groceries or rent instead. But now, thanks to the health care law, many women won't have to make that choice."
Starting Aug. 1, women will not have provide a co-pay for well-woman visits (including annual check-ups or more if doctors deem necessary); contraceptives and contraception counseling; HPV testing every three years for women aged 30 or over; annual sexually transmitted disease counseling, including HIV screening/counseling; domestic violence screening and counseling; screening for gestational diabetes and breast-feeding support, supplies and counseling.
The new benefits currently only apply to women who are enrolled in a health insurance plan, CBS News notes, although more uninsured women are expected to be included as health care reform is fully implemented.
The free services that kick in Wednesday join other no-fee, preventive health measures, such as mammography screening, cervical cancer screenings (via the Pap smear) and prenatal services, that are already covered by the Affordable Care Act.
Not everyone supports the changes, however. According to CBS News, Catholic groups have filed 12 lawsuits in 43 courts across the country to block the provision to supply contraception free of charge.
"The implementation of this policy marks the beginning of the end of religious freedom in our nation," Christen Varley, executive director of Conscience Cause, said in a statement.
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U.S. Blood Supply Critically Low, Red Cross Warns
The level of U.S. blood donations is at its lowest point in 15 years and the shortfall is such that some patients may have to have elective surgeries canceled, the American Red Cross reports.
"People will put off having knee replacements, hip replacements and other elective surgery," Danny Cervantes, a donor recruitment director for United Blood Services in Las Vegas, told NBC News.
The shortfall appears due to a number of factors. Kim Talkington, regional director of donor recruitment for the Red Cross in Wichita, Kan., told NBC News that there's a high demand for blood in summer because it's high season for travel and road accidents.
On the donor side, the supply from college students -- who typically make up about one-fifth of donations -- falls by about half in the summer months, according to Quincy, Ill., donor recruitment representative Beth Forbes.
This summer has been especially tough for the blood supply because storms have upped demand in the East and Midwest, even as they helped dry up the supply, according to Rodney Wilson, another Red Cross representative based in Ohio.
"The power outages and storms we experienced earlier in the month caused dozens of blood drives to be canceled," Wilson told NBC News. "We normally try to keep a three-day supply on hand locally, and we are down to a one-day supply."
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Ugandans Urged to Avoid Physical Contact as Ebola Kills 14
As a lethal outbreak of Ebola spreads in Uganda, President Yoweri Museveni urged citizens to avoid physical contact to limit the spread of the disease.
According to BBC News, 14 people, including one in the capital city of Kampala, have died from Ebola since the outbreak began three weeks ago in the western part of the country. Ebola is one of the most virulent and lethal infectious diseases in the world and is spread person to person.
Museveni said health officials are trying to identify and quarantine those people who've had contact with victims. He said people should avoid everyday contacts such as shaking hands, kissing or having sex to avoid passing the disease on.
Burials of people known to have died from Ebola should also be handled by health workers, Museveni said.
According to the BBC, Uganda has faced three Ebola outbreaks over the past 12 years, with the deadliest occurring in 2000 when 425 people were infected and more than half died.
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Recall Issued for Kitty Treats
A voluntary recall has been issued for a brand of chicken treats for cats because of possible contamination with high levels of propylene glycol, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The recall was issued by Los Angeles-based treat maker Arthur Dogswell LLC late Friday, NBC News reported. It applies to the Catswell Brand VitaKitty Chicken Breast with Flaxseed and Vitamins treats, and comes on the heels of recent reports of more than 1,800 dogs getting sick after eating chicken jerky treats that were made in China.
Slightly more than 1,000 cartons of the treats will be pulled off the market, NBC News reported. The high levels of propylene glycol could cause anemia and oxidative damage in cats, although no illnesses have been reported, the company said.
Dogswell spokesman Brad Armistead told NBC News late Friday that the company hopes to return the products to the marketplace in the near future.
"We have voluntarily withdrawn a small number of chicken products for cats. This is an isolated situation and does not affect any other products for cats or dogs," Armistead said in a statement. "We are committed to providing safe and healthy products to our customers and their pet companions."
The FDA has repeatedly said it has tested pet treats in the United States for the presence of many toxins, including propylene glycol, but agency officials said they found no levels high enough to urge a product recall, NBC News reported.
Cat owners who bought the VitaKitty products should return them to the place of purchase for a full refund, the company said. If the product was purchased online, consumers should contact the Internet retailer to pursue a specific return and refund.
The National Sleep Foundation offers these guidelines:
Look for baby's natural sleep patterns and when he or she starts to get sleepy.Place baby in the crib sleepy, but not asleep.Create a consistent daytime and nighttime sleep schedule, and a soothing bedtime routine.Make sure the environment is dark, cool, and otherwise conducive to sleep.Teach baby to fall asleep on his or her own and to self-soothe to sleep.The American Academy of Family Physicians offers this advice:
Provide plenty of healthy foods and snacks.Flavor foods with fresh herbs and spices, avoiding salt.Offer prepackaged supplements, such as nutrition shakes.Promote daily exercise, even a little bit, to help stimulate appetite and promote strong bones and muscles.Plan social activities centering around meals and exercise.CPSC Tries to Stop Sales of Buckyballs
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has filed an administrative complaint against New York-based Maxfield and Oberton in an effort to force the company to stop selling high-powered desktop magnetic toys called Buckyballs.
The product is meant for adults, but the CPSC says at least a dozen children have swallowed the magnets since 2009 and some of them have required surgery, the Associated Press reported.
Thursday's move was taken because the company refused to recall the product, according to the CPSC. The agency has persuaded about 10 retailers, including Amazon.com, to stop selling Buckyballs.
Craig Zucker, the founder of Maxfield and Oberton, said Buckyballs are marketed to people 14 and older and carry clear warning labels to keep them away from children. In a statement, the company called the CPSC's actions "unfair, unjust and un-American," the AP reported.
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New Public-Private Partnership Targets Health Care Fraud
In an effort to reduce tens of billion of dollars in losses to health care fraud, the Obama administration has announced a new large scale public-private partnership with state investigators and private insurers.
This cooperative effort "puts criminals on notice that we will find them and stop them," Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in a statement Thursday, the Associated Press reported.
Details of the partnership remain to be finalized, but could include sharing information on new fraud schemes as they appear, using computer analysis to detect emerging patterns of fraud, and analyzing claims data to identify scams.
It's estimated that fraud costs Medicare about $60 billion a year. This is the latest in a number of Obama administration efforts to stop it, the AP reported.
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Petition Calls for New FDA Rules on Painkillers
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration needs to introduce new measures to reduce the overuse and abuse of prescription painkillers, a group of about 35 doctors said in a citizens petition sent Wednesday.
Specifically, the doctors wants the FDA to limit the use of narcotic painkillers (opioids) to treatment of severe pain in patients other than those with cancer. They also want labeling changes that instruct doctors to limit doses of the drugs when they're used to treat noncancer pain and to limit the length of time they are used, The New York Times reported.
Currently, narcotic painkillers are FDA-approved for the treatment of moderate to severe pain.
"Overprescribing of opioids is harming many chronic pain patients," Edward Covington, director of the Neurological Center for Pain at the Cleveland Clinic, said in a statement, The Times reported.
The doctors who signed the petition include Dr. Thomas A. Farley, the commissioner of the Department of Health in New York City, and Dr. Nirav R. Shah, the commissioner of the New York State Department of Health.
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Mexico Launches Large Poultry Vaccination Effort
About 10 million poultry will be vaccinated in Mexico to protect them against an outbreak of the highly contagious H7N3 bird flu strain.
The outbreak has already resulted in the deaths of five million birds, which either became ill or were slaughtered, Agence France-Presse reported.
The crisis was first detected June 20 in the western state of Jalisco and a national animal health emergency was declared in early July.
The United Nations says the H7N3 virus has occasionally affected people in various parts of the world, but is not easily transmittable between humans, AFP reported.
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Ecstasy Linked to Memory Loss: Study
The street drug Ecstasy may cause memory loss, according to a new study.
German researchers tracked more than 100 recreational Ecstasy users for a year and found that their performance on a series of memory tests declined during that time, ABC News reported.
The greatest effect was seen in associative memory. For example, people who used Ecstasy might have trouble remembering where they left their keys.
The Ecstasy users in the study took an average of 32 pills over the year, which is slightly more than one pill every other weekend, ABC News reported.
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