How does fat influence flavor perception?

ScienceDaily (July 19, 2012) — A joint study carried out by The University of Nottingham and the multinational food company Unilever has found for the first time that fat in food can reduce activity in several areas of the brain which are responsible for processing taste, aroma and reward.

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The research, now available in the Springer journal Chemosensory Perception, provides the food industry with better understanding of how in the future it might be able to make healthier, less fatty food products without negatively affecting their overall taste and enjoyment. Unveiled in 2010, Unilever's Sustainable Living Plan sets out its ambition to help hundreds of millions of people improve their diet around the world within a decade.

This fascinating three-year study investigated how the brains of a group of participants in their 20s would respond to changes in the fat content of four different fruit emulsions they tasted while under an MRI scanner. All four samples were of the same thickness and sweetness, but one contained flavour with no fat, while the other three contained fat with different flavour release properties.

The research found that the areas of the participants' brains which are responsible for the perception of flavour -- such as the somatosensory cortices and the anterior, mid & posterior insula -- were significantly more activated when the non-fatty sample was tested compared to the fatty emulsions despite having the same flavour perception. It is important to note that increased activation in these brain areas does not necessarily result in increased perception of flavour or reward.

Dr Joanne Hort, Associate Professor in Sensory Science at The University of Nottingham said: "This is the first brain study to assess the effect of fat on the processing of flavour perception and it raises questions as to why fat emulsions suppress the cortical response in brain areas linked to the processing of flavour and reward. It also remains to be determined what the implications of this suppressive effect are on feelings of hunger, satiety and reward."

Unilever food scientist Johanneke Busch, based at the company's Research & Development laboratories in Vlaardingen, Netherlands added: "There is more to people's enjoyment of food than the product's flavour -- like its mouthfeel, its texture and whether it satisfies hunger, so this is a very important building block for us to better understand how to innovate and manufacture healthier food products which people want to buy."

Nottingham University's Sensory Science Centre, its Sir Peter Mansfield Magnetic Resonance Centre and the Nottingham Digestive Diseases Centre were all involved in the research.

The study was co-funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council.

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Menu labeling requirements lead to healthier options at chain restaurants

ScienceDaily (July 19, 2012) — The recent Supreme Court decision on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act has cleared the way for national requirements about posting nutritional information at chain restaurants. Listing calories, fat content, and sodium levels of menu items at the point of purchase has been promoted as a way to address the obesity epidemic. Increased awareness may lead to healthier consumer choices, and may encourage restaurants to adapt their menus to meet demand. A new study has evaluated the real-life impact of menu labeling in King County, Washington, after new regulations were implemented, and has found some improvement, although most entrées continue to exceed recommended nutritional guidelines.

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The study is available online in advance of publication in the August issue of the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

"Frequent consumption of food away from home is associated with higher caloric intake and higher fat. As noted by the Food and Drug Administration, the cost of the obesity epidemic to families, businesses, and the government was over $117 billion in 2010," says lead investigator Barbara Bruemmer, PhD, RD, senior lecturer emeritus of the Program in Nutritional Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Washington, Seattle. "All of these issues underscore the need for environmental approaches to help consumers who are looking for better options."

King County was one of the first jurisdictions to implement menu labeling, in January 2009. The regulations applied to any restaurant with 15 or more establishments in the United States and at least $1 million in annual sales. Dr. Bruemmer and her colleagues wanted to learn whether restaurants would improve their entrées by reformulating items so that they had fewer calories and would replace some menu items with healthier alternatives.

The investigators audited menus at 11 sit-down restaurants and 26 quick-serve chains. They evaluated the nutritional levels of entrées that were on the menu six months after the regulations went into effect and remained on the menu 12 months later, to determine whether individual menu items had been reformulated to improve their nutritional profiles. They also looked at whether all entrées had a better nutrition profile. "We also wanted to know how healthy foods at chain restaurants were overall. How do these meals stack up compared to what we should be aiming for in a good diet?" Dr. Bruemmer said. So they compared the nutritional values of entrées at the restaurants in their study to US Department of Agriculture dietary guidelines.

"We did find evidence of a decrease in energy, saturated fat, and sodium content after the implementation of menu regulations for items that were on the menu at both time periods," reports Dr. Bruemmer. "We also saw a trend for healthier alternatives across all entrées over time, but only in the sit-down restaurants."

However, the study found that the majority of entrées were still very high in energy, saturated fats, and sodium, compared to dietary guidelines. "56% of entrees exceeded the recommended level for 1/3 of an adult's daily needs, while 77% of the entrees exceeded the guidelines for saturated fats, and almost 90% exceeded the sodium guidelines. Yes, we saw improvements, but there is still a long way to go. Those are pretty hefty servings for adults."

A decline of 41 calories in entrées was seen between the two time periods. "While that doesn't sound like very much, it is an improvement and it is statistically significant," says Dr. Bruemmer. "41 fewer calories could easily translate into several pounds lost over a year for an adult. It's modest, but it's a start."

With national guidelines from the Food and Drug Administration expected later this year, Dr. Bruemmer says that consumers need more options in the marketplace and clearer messages about how to use menu labeling information. "People can only respond to what's available in the environment. If we haven't yet seen people say, 'Oh, I found something that meets my needs,' well, maybe it's because there aren't enough moderate options available on the menu. Menu labeling will help people get a handle on this 'list' of calories, at the point where they're making their decisions and putting down their money. This is where America is providing a lot of food to our children. Let's give families a chance to make an informed decision," she concludes.

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In utero exposure to diesel exhaust a possible risk factor for obesity

ScienceDaily (July 19, 2012) — Pregnant mice exposed to high levels of air pollution gave birth to offspring with a significantly higher rate of obesity and insulin resistance in adulthood than those that were not exposed to air pollution. This effect seemed especially prevalent in male mice, which were heavier regardless of diet. These findings, published online in the FASEB Journal, suggests a link between diesel exhaust exposure in utero and bulging waistlines in adulthood.

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"It is becoming clearer that our environment profoundly affects our health in ways that are little understood," said Jessica L. Bolton, Ph.D., a researcher involved in the work from the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience at Duke University in Durham, NC. "We believe these data have important implications for health disparities as a consequence of socioeconomic conditions, in which low income neighborhoods tend to be disproportionately exposed to high levels of pollution, which we hope will inform policy and regulation decisions."

To make this discovery, Bolton and colleagues used two groups of pregnant female mice, one of which was exposed to diesel exhaust during the latter half of pregnancy. The second group was exposed to filtered air for the same time period. The mice lived in specialized chambers for four hours each day breathing polluted air and then were returned to normal housing after these exposures. Prior to birth, some of the fetal brains of the mice from both groups were analyzed to measure immune proteins and to get a "snap shot" of the fetal brain immune response to the in utero condition. Once the offspring were adults, they were placed on either a low-fat diet (10% saturated fat) or a high-fat diet (45% saturated fat). All other nutritional aspects of the diets were identical.

Scientists measured food intake, body weight and activity levels before putting the mice on their diets, and then weekly throughout the experiment. At the end of six weeks, metabolic hormones were assessed. They found that males from diesel-exposed moms were heavier than the males from clean air-exposed moms regardless of their diet as adults. In contrast, females from diesel-exposed moms were heavier than control females only if they were fed a high-fat diet as adults, and they never developed signs of insulin resistance.

"If you're pregnant and have a long drive into work, you might think twice about opening the car windows," said Gerald Weissmann, M.D., Editor-in-Chief of the FASEB Journal. "It's already been established that risk factors for obesity (junk food, high fat-high cholesterol diets, etc.) begin as early as the womb. This important study shows that the air a mother breathes is also one of those risk factors."

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Mom's HIV Drugs May Pass to Baby in Womb, Breast-Feeding

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Serious Mental Illness Tied to Higher Cancer, Injury Risk: Studies

HealthDay – Fri, Jul 20, 2012 FRIDAY, July 20 (HealthDay News) -- People with serious mental illnesses such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder have a 2.6 times increased risk of developing cancer, a new study contends.

The findings raise questions about whether people with serious mental illness receive appropriate cancer screenings and preventive care to help them avoid cancer risk factors such as smoking, the researchers said.

"The increased risk is definitely there, but we're not entirely sure why," study leader Dr. Gail Daumit, an associate professor of medicine and psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, said in a Hopkins news release. "Are these people getting screened? Are they being treated? Something's going on."

The researchers analyzed data from more than 3,300 Maryland Medicaid beneficiaries with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder to determine how many of them were diagnosed with cancer between 1994 and 2004.

Compared to people in the general population, schizophrenia patients were more than 4.5 times more likely to develop lung cancer, 3.5 times more likely to develop colorectal cancer, and nearly three times more likely to develop breast cancer, the researchers found.

Patients with bipolar disorder had similarly increased risk for the three types of cancer, according to the study published in the July issue of the journal Psychiatric Services.

People with serious mental illness are more likely to smoke, which could explain their elevated risk for lung cancer, Daumit said.

She also noted that women with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder are less likely to have children and that childbearing is believed to reduce breast cancer risk. In addition, some drugs used to treat mental illness can increase levels of the hormone prolactin, a factor that has been linked to breast cancer.

The increased risk of colorectal cancer could be due to lifestyle issues such as smoking, lack of exercise and a diet lacking fruits and vegetables, Daumit said.

While the study uncovered a link between mental illness and cancer risk, it did not prove that one causes the other.

In a separate study released last month, Daumit found that people with serious mental illness were nearly twice as likely to require emergency or inpatient department treatment for an injury than people in the general population, and were about 4.5 times more likely to die from their injuries.

The study was published online in the journal Injury Prevention.

About 5 percent of Americans have a serious mental illness and these people are known to have a two to three times increased risk of dying prematurely, Daumit noted.

More information

The National Alliance on Mental Illness has more about mental illness.

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Many Americans Not Prepared for Disasters: Poll

HealthDay – Fri, Jul 20, 2012 FRIDAY, July 20 (HealthDay News) -- A new national survey shows that Americans have not learned their lessons from recent disasters.

The Adelphi University Center for Health Innovation poll revealed that 44 percent of U.S. adults don't have first-aid kits and 48 percent lack emergency supplies for use in the event of catastrophes. The researchers said that people have a responsibility to boost their emergency preparedness, to make difficult or life-threatening situations safer.

The findings suggested that Americans have a false sense of security. Although the researchers found that more than 53 percent of Americans do not have a three-day supply of nonperishable food and water in their home, those surveyed believe they can survive in their homes for an average of 16 days in the event of a disaster.

The poll also revealed that 55 percent of Americans think they can rely on local authorities to come to their rescue when disaster strikes.

Parents, in particular, are not ready for a disaster, the investigators found. Although 80 percent of the parents polled said they were well prepared for such an event, 52 percent have not designated a family meeting place where they can find each other if they are separated during an emergency.

Moreover, the study revealed that 42 percent of Americans do not know the phone numbers of all of their immediate family members.

The researchers pointed out that disaster could strike while people are at work, yet 21 percent of working Americans don't know if their workplace has an emergency preparedness plan, the poll showed.

Meanwhile, only 18 percent of those surveyed reported receiving information on health care preparedness from the media. Although keeping a list of current medications on hand is key, only 63 percent of adults have actually made a list of the drugs they are taking. Crucial health insurance documents should also be copied in case of a disaster, but 52 percent of Americans have not taken this precaution.

More information

The U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency provides more information on emergency preparedness.

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Doctors Tend to Share Patients With Similar Colleagues

HealthDay – Fri, Jul 20, 2012 FRIDAY, July 20 (HealthDay News) -- U.S. doctors tend to share patients with colleagues who have similar personal and practice styles, according to a new study.

The findings are from a Harvard Medical School study that looked at informal patient-sharing networks among doctors across the country. The researchers used 2006 data from nearly 4.6 million Medicare patients seen by more than 68,000 doctors in 51 urban and rural hospital referral regions.

The study was published in the July 18 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

There was substantial variation between the doctors' informal sharing networks. The number of doctors included in a network ranged from 135 in Minot, N.D., to nearly 8,200 in Boston. The average number of other doctors each doctor was connected to per 100 Medicare patients was 27.3.

Doctors were far more likely to have connections with doctors based at the same hospital than those based at different hospitals. Connected doctors also were much more likely to be in close geographic proximity: The average distance for connected doctors was 13.1 miles, compared to 24 miles for unconnected doctors.

The researchers also found that patient characteristics such as race, age and health conditions were more similar among connected doctors than among unconnected doctors.

"It has long been known that physician behavior varies across geographic areas, yet our understanding of the factors that contribute to these geographic differences is incomplete," Dr. Bruce Landon, professor of health care policy at Harvard Medical School in Boston, said in a journal news release. "Our findings suggest that variation according to network attribute might help explain health-care variation across geographic areas, particularly given what is known about how networks function."

Strong connections among doctors -- as well as among doctors, nurses and administrators -- can create trust and shared values that improve health care for patients, Valerie Lewis and Dr. Elliott Fisher, both professors at Dartmouth University's Geisel School of Medicine in Hanover, N.H., wrote in an accompanying editorial.

More information

The American Academy of Family Physicians offers tips for choosing a family doctor.

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FDA Gives Nod to New Breast Cancer Drug

HealthDay – Fri, Jul 20, 2012 FRIDAY, July 20 (HealthDay News) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved the use of the drug Afinitor (everolimus) for use by women with a particular form of advanced breast cancer.

It's the first time that a drug from this class of medications, called mTOR inhibitors, has been approved for this disease, the FDA said. Afinitor is already used to fight advanced kidney and neuroendocrine tumors, as well as a handful of rarer cancers.

The medicine is only approved for use by postmenopausal women battling an advanced form of estrogen-sensitive tumor known as hormone-receptor positive, HER2-negative breast cancer. Even then, Afinitor should only be used after such patients have already experienced a recurrence or progression of the tumor following prior treatment with Femara (letrozole) or Arimidex (anastrozole), the FDA said.

Adding Afinitor -- which has proven effective for other cancers -- to therapy might help these patients, the agency said.

"Afinitor is another example of the value of continuing to study drugs in additional types of cancer after their initial approval," Dr. Richard Pazdur, director of the Office of Hematology and Oncology Products in the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said in an agency news release.

According to the FDA, approval was based on a clinical trial involving 724 postmenopausal women with advanced breast cancer that had spread despite prior treatment with Femara or Arimidex. All of the women also took the standard breast cancer drug Aromasin (exemestane) during the trial.

The trial found that adding in Afinitor boosted average progression-free survival (the time the women lived without any progression of their tumor) by 4.6 months compared to women taking an inactive placebo.

There was a downside to using Afinitor, however: According to the FDA, side effects included rash, fatigue, diarrhea, loss of appetite and mouth ulcers. These effects were more common in women aged 65 or older, so the agency says older patients should be monitored more closely if they take Afinitor.

Dr. Stephanie Bernik, chief of surgical oncology at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, commented on Afinitor's approval.

"It is exciting that there continues to be advances in treating breast cancer that are allowing patients to survive longer, even in the face of metastatic disease," Bernik said. "The improved treatment for advanced-stage breast cancer offers women hope that a treatment to completely stabilize, or even eradicate the disease, might be achievable within their lifetime."

The drug is marketed by Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp., based in East Hanover, N.J.

More information

Find out more about breast cancer at the U.S. National Cancer Institute.

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Talk to Your Kids About the Colorado Killings

HealthDay – Fri, Jul 20, 2012 FRIDAY, July 20 (HealthDay News) -- As word spread Friday that a heavily armed man had shot up a suburban Denver movie theater crowded with families and children for a midnight showing of the new Batman movie, mental health experts offered guidance on how to cope with the tragedy.

While this latest act of carnage unnerved a nation still scarred by the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, psychologists said children and teens may be especially vulnerable to the early Friday shootings in Aurora, Colo., that left 12 people dead and as many as 59 others wounded.

"It would be perfectly normal for people to be more on edge right now," said Simon Rego, director of psychology training at Montefiore Medical Center and Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City. "It's a natural reaction when you hear about, experience or witness a traumatic event. You're primed to be more vigilant about what's happening to you."

But parents can do much to reassure their children that such an incident isn't likely to repeat itself anytime soon, experts said. And it's important to offer that reassurance now.

"This is clearly a very disturbed individual

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Afinitor Approved for Advanced Breast Cancer

HealthDay – Fri, Jul 20, 2012 FRIDAY, July 20 (HealthDay News) -- Afinitor (everolimus) has been approved in combination with the drug exemestane to treat postmenopausal women with advanced hormone-receptor positive, HER2-negative breast cancer, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Friday.

The newly approved combination is sanctioned for women whose cancer has progressed or returned despite previous use of the drugs letrozole (Femara) or anastrozole (Arimidex), the agency said in a news release.

Breast cancer, the second-leading cause of cancer death among women, is expected to be newly diagnosed in an estimated 226,870 women this year and cause about 39,510 deaths, the FDA said.

Afinitor -- already sanctioned for uses including treating certain forms of advanced renal cell carcinoma -- was clinically evaluated for the new use among 724 people with advanced breast cancer. People who took the combination drug had a 4.6-month improvement in the average time to disease progression or death, compared to those who took a placebo.

The most common side effects among those taking Afinitor were mouth ulcers, infection, rash, fatigue, diarrhea and loss of appetite.

Afinitor is marketed by Novartis, based in East Hanover, N.J.

More information

The National Cancer Institute has more about breast cancer.

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Nothing but net? Basketball science has more answers

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Former lab technician charged in New Hampshire hepatitis C outbreak

Reuters – 13 hrs ago (Reuters) - A former lab technician faces charges in connection with a hepatitis C outbreak that reportedly infected dozens of patients at a New Hampshire hospital, authorities said.

David Michael Kwiatkowski, 32, is charged with obtaining controlled substances by fraud and tampering with a consumer product, U.S. Attorney John P. Kacavas said this week.

The outbreak at the Exeter Hospital Cardiac Catheterization Unit is believed to have infected some 30 people with the disease, considered the most serious of hepatitis strains, authorities said. Hepatitis C can lead to liver cancer and cirrhosis, and kills more people each year than HIV, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

"The evidence gathered to date points irrefutably to Kwiatkowski as the source of the hepatitis C outbreak at Exeter Hospital," Kacavas said. "With his arrest, we have eliminated the menace this

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