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News media including the Wall Street Journal are commenting on some initial research on mice suggesting that red wine can make you live longer. At the same time the nutritional supplement makers are rushing to produce pills that will supposedly make you live longer, while the FDA ignores and refuses to take any position on the issue. At some point we may come to realise how harmful and wasteful all these supplements are.
Consumption of milk fortified with specific micronutrients—zinc, iron, selenium, copper, vitamin A, vitamin C and vitamin E—significantly reduces diarrhea and acute lower respiratory illness among children in developing countries, according to researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Center for Micronutrient Research at Annamalai University in India. The study was published November 28, 2006, on the website of the British Medical Journal.
From the Guttmacher institute today: the proportion of U.S. teens who had received any formal instruction about birth control methods declined sharply between 1995 and 2002, while the proportion who had received only information about abstinence more than doubled to more than one in five, according to “Changes in Formal Sex Education: 1995–2002,� by Laura Duberstein Lindberg et al., published in the December 2006 issue of Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health. Only 66% of males and 70% of females received formal instruction about birth control in 2002, compared with 81–87% in 1995. Black teens were even less likely than whites to have received any instruction about birth control methods. The public Health community needs to work more closely with the education establishment to correct this ignorance.
From the Guttmacher institute today: the proportion of U.S. teens who had received any formal instruction about birth control methods declined sharply between 1995 and 2002, while the proportion who had received only information about abstinence more than doubled to more than one in five, according to “Changes in Formal Sex Education: 1995–2002,� by Laura Duberstein Lindberg et al., published in the December 2006 issue of Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health. Only 66% of males and 70% of females received formal instruction about birth control in 2002, compared with 81–87% in 1995. Black teens were even less likely than whites to have received any instruction about birth control methods. The public Health community needs to work more closely with the education establishment to correct this ignorance.
Dr David Wald, Senior Lecturer in Preventive Cardiovascular Medicine and Consultant Cardiologist at Queen Mary's School of Medicine and Dentistry and his team say the scientific evidence is strong enough to justify using folic acid as a cheap and simple way of reducing heart disease and strokes,
The findings, published in the BMJ on Friday 24 November 2006, stem from the debate over whether raised homocysteine levels in the blood cause heart disease and stroke. In attempting to solve this riddle Dr Wald examined all the evidence from different studies to see whether raised homocysteine is a cause of cardiovascular disease.
From Baylor College of Medicine, Nov 21, the only way to steady the rising number of elderly deaths due to falls is by preventing them from happening in the first place, say balance experts at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM).
The number of deaths due to falls for people over the age of 65 rose 55 percent between 1993 and 2003, according to a recent report by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2003 alone, more than 13,000 elderly men and women died from fall-related injuries.
From the University of Edinburgh today, scientists have devised a way in which water can be analysed by villagers, whose wells may be affected, without the need for laboratory technicians to carry out complicated analysis. Arsenic poisoning is thought to affect up to 100 million people worldwide, with around million people believed to develop cancer as a result. While skin cancer is the most common cancer, arsenic poisoning can also cause various blood cancers or cancer of the kidney or bladder.
The test uses a colour-coded system where the water turns red, remains the same or turns blue depending on whether there is a major contamination of arsenic, a small amount of arsenic present or no arsenic at all.
"The obesity epidemic is surging and people don’t realize they’re setting themselves up to develop diabetes. They’re like ticking time bombs,� said Dr. Manisha Chandalia, an endocrinologist at UT Southwestern. “Without treatment, high levels of blood sugars in the body can damage blood vessels and nerves over time, leading to high cholesterol, hypertension, stroke, kidney disease and amputations.� Hearty feasts and couch-potato marathons are holiday traditions, but UT Southwestern Medical Center experts warn that packing on pounds and not exercising could be deadly for the 6 million Americans who have diabetes and don’t even know it.
In a study published in the November issue of the Journal of Gerontology: Medical Sciences, psychology and neuroscience professor Arthur F. Kramer and his collaborators show that moderate exercise increases brain volume in older adults.The wait for an anti-aging treatment is over, according to cognitive neuroscientists and kinesiologists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. While not as effortless as popping a pill, the treatment – in the form of moderate exercise – may be a simple and effective way to reverse age-related brain deterioration.
Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health’s Malaria Research Institute have developed a new test for detecting the malaria parasite in human urine and saliva. Although not a diagnostic test for determining treatment, the method could potentially reduce the need for blood sampling in epidemiological studies where large-scale malaria screening is required. Drawing blood increases the risk of spreading HIV and other diseases, particularly in those developing countries where both HIV and malaria are prevalent. Blood drawing must also be performed by trained personnel, whereas urine and salvia sampling does not.
Researchers from Imperial College London and international partners, explains the persistence of the disease in northern India, one of the few remaining places in the world where endemic polio has not yet been eradicated. They argue that the simple measure of using a ‘monovalent’ form of the polio vaccine alongside the standard ‘trivalent’ form in these areas could sufficiently increase the effectiveness of vaccination programmes to wipe out the poliovirus where it persists.
A major national survey of people affected by cancer provides an in-depth examination of how families cope with cancer and highlights problems of health insurance and health care costs through the lens of those who have experienced this major illness. The results show how health care and health insurance systems can fail to protect people when they are most in need.
The survey found that one in four families affected by cancer say the experience led the person with the disease to use up all or most of their savings, and one in eight say they borrowed money from relatives. The illness also made it harder for some to find and keep health insurance – with about one in 10 saying they couldn’t buy health insurance because they had been diagnosed with cancer, and 6% saying they lost their coverage as a result of the disease.
A study published in the November 2006 issue of Cancer Epidemiology shows that cigarette smoking and concurrent infection with high levels of the virus associated with cervical cancer can increase cancer risk by as much as 27 times, Performed at the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm it suggests that both may create a biochemical synergy that propels the disease. The researchers looked at “Pap� smear examination data from 105,760 Swedish women and identified 499 women with cervical cancer in situ, along with 499 cancer-free women as controls. For these women, they compared their smoking behavior with concentrations (known as viral load) of HPV-16, the viral strain most associated with cervical cancer. The researchers found that a combination of high viral loads and smoking during the time they were initially examined resulted in very high risk of later cervical cancer.
An editorial in the Lancet this week (Volume 368, Issue 9549 , 18 November 2006, Page 1744 ) asks why, with the evidence of the installation of sanitary improvements in developed countries cutting infant death rates in the early 1900s, don't we push for such action in developing countries rather than focussing on medical care?
This week's NEJM has an interesting discusison by Dr T.J. Curiel about the need for better disaster training at all hospitals, particularly large hospitals with critical care patients. This discussion, based on experience during hurricane Katrina, should be read by all of us who have any responsibility for health care management during disasters.
Many will remember the Goldwater awards for research of the obvious. From the BMJ this week is report of a study that shows that when researchers examined the link between health and wealth in rich countries they found that healthier people are more productive at work, earn more, and spend more time in the labour force. Anyone with any exposure to occupational health practice would know this Clearly the knowledge of occupational health specialists is not getting out to the general public or the general medical community, otherwise this 'amazing' research would not have been reported..
From the Guttmacher Institute comes inormation about what it means to be a man, woman or young person living with HIV can be very different now than 25 years ago when AIDS was first identified, in large part because of the availability of antiretroviral treatment. For those with access to treatment services, a diagnosis of HIV infection is no longer an imminent death sentence; although still incurable, HIV now can be managed as a chronic disease. The number of people in low- and middle-income countries receiving treatment more than tripled between 2003 and 2005, from 400,000 to 1.3million. The global public health community has increased its focus on quality-of-life issues as well as length-of-life issues.
In JAMA is a fascinating commentary on the role of Fatherhood and why clinicians should devote time to the concept of men's health, as has been done for women's health. CDC is considering an Office on Men's Health to include the study fatherhood. This commentary includes "Potential Strategies for Expanding the Scope of Men's Health to Include Fatherhood."
In JAMA, today is a report of a study to test whether midlife biological, lifestyle, and sociodemographic risk factors are associated with overall survival and exceptional survival. High grip strength and avoidance of overweight, hyperglycemia, hypertension, smoking, and excessive alcohol consumption were associated with both overall and exceptional survival. In addition, high education and avoidance of hypertriglyceridemia were associated with exceptional survival, and lack of a marital partner was associated with mortality before age 85 years. Risk factor models based on cumulative risk factors (survival risk score) suggest that the probability of survival to oldest age is as high as 69% with no risk factors and as low as 22% with 6 or more risk factors.
In JAMA, today, is an article on overuse of screening for PSA in men over 70 years of age, many of whom may not live another 10 years. While this study was conducted among a cohort of male veterans over 70 years of age, the results might well apply to the overuse of PSA screening among primary care physicians nationwide.
This report today from Researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital have found that eating more red meat may be associated with a higher risk for hormone receptor–positive breast cancers in premenopausal women. This research is published in the November 13 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine. "This study suggests that dietary factors may be related to a woman’s chance of developing this type of breast cancer, a disease that is on the rise in American women," said lead author, Eunyoung Cho, Sc.D, researcher at BWH.
From Rice University today. Discovery of unexpected magnetic interactions between ultrasmall specks of rust is leading scientists at Rice University's Center for Biological and Environmental Nanotechnology (CBEN) to develop a revolutionary, low-cost technology for cleaning arsenic from drinking water. "Arsenic contamination in drinking water is a global problem, and while there are ways to remove arsenic, they require extensive hardware and high-pressure pumps that run on electricity," said center director and lead author Vicki Colvin. "Our approach is simple and requires no electricity. While the nanoparticles used in the publication are expensive, we are working on new approaches to their production that use rust and olive oil, and require no more facilities than a kitchen with a gas cooktop." See Nov 10 Issue of Science Magazine
One more study, this time from Harvard School of Public Health, on nutrition and diet. Can oen believe anything from nutritionists? They are as correct as weather forecasters! In the first study to look at the long-term effects of low-carbohydrate diets, researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) found no evidence of an association between low-carb diets and an increased risk of CHD in women. Their findings did suggest, however, an association between low-carb diets high in vegetable sources of fat and protein and a low risk of CHD.
From the University of Pensylvannia, November 1: Fifty-four million Americans — that’s one in six of us — have pre-diabetes and most don’t even realize it. Mark Schutta, MD, medical director of the Penn Rodebaugh Diabetes Center, is urging at-risk patients to be proactive and ask your doctor to give you a simple blood test for pre-diabetes — to arm yourself with information before the damage is done. It means you have blood glucose levels that are higher than normal and you could one day reach a high enough level that you would be diagnosed with having diabetes. “Our country is in the middle of a type 2 diabetes epidemic. Right now, if you’re born in the U.S., your risk of developing diabetes is one in three.�
From the University of Michigan this week: Lung cancer is the No. 1 cancer-related killer in the United States. And while men are more likely to die from lung cancer than women, the trend is starting to change. “If you add up the number of people in the United States who die of breast cancer, prostate cancer, colon cancer and pancreatic cancer, the number of people who die of lung cancer is greater than all of those combined,� says Gregory Kalemkerian, M.D.. “Almost twice as many American women die from lung cancer every year than from breast cancer. I think that statistic says it all: Women are at high risk for developing lung cancer, particularly those women who smoke, and there is a greater risk of dying from lung cancer than from breast cancer,� Kalemkerian adds. The lesson: Stop smoking. Any time you look at the risks in lung cancer, it’s dominated by smoking: 90 percent of people who get lung cancer are smokers or former smokers.
A fascinating study in today's Lancet should be read by all public health workers and students. It explores numerous research papers, discusses 7 common themes about adolescent and early adult sexual beliefs and behaviors, that are important if we are to reduce disease spread by intimate activities.
Ref:Volume 368, Issue 9547 , 4 November 2006-10 November 2006, Pages 1581-1586
From today's BMJ: Only 7% of spending on health research goes on needs of poor countries
Tobacco will kill 50% more people in 2015 than HIV/AIDS and will be responsible for 10% of all deaths
Deaths from traffic will increase from 1.2 million in 2003 to 2.1 million in 2030
Deaths from cardiovascular diseases will increase from 17 million in 2003 to 23.3 million in 2030
Deaths from cancer will increase from 7.3 million in 2003 to 11.5 million in 2030
Monitoring Financial Flows for Health Research 2006: Behind the Global Numbers is available at www.globalforumhealth.org.
This release from the FDA should probably be linked to every local health department's web site.
As it investigates an outbreak of illnesses that may be related to Salmonella typhimurium bacteria in produce, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is reminding consumers of steps they can take to keep their food safe. The FDA site has Buying tips, Storage tips and Preparation tips
Should more tonsils be removed? An interesting news release from the Mayo Clinic today suggests children with recurrent strep throat whose tonsils have not been removed are over three times more likely to develop subsequent episodes of strep throat than children who undergo tonsillectomy, according to a Mayo Clinic study. These results suggest that tonsillectomy is a useful therapy for treating children with recurrent strep throat infections," says Laura Orvidas, M.D., Mayo Clinic ear, nose and throat surgeon and senior study investigator. "It should decrease the amount of infections experienced by this subset of children and therefore diminish the number of missed school days and hopefully improve overall quality of life."
From the WHO today, the first-ever global study of sexual and reproductive health shows that the level of disability and premature death due to sexual and reproductive health is huge and increasing. Unsafe sex is the second most important cause of illness and death in developing countries and ninth in developed countries. The British medical journal The Lancet will publish a series of papers and editorials on sexual and reproductive health. The main objective of this series is to advance evidence-based advocacy to put sexual and reproductive health