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News and Insight about Alternative and Non-Traditional Ways to Health

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HEALTH NEWS/TRENDS

Hurricane IDA Prompts Free Mental Health Help

September 5, 2021 by Staff Reporter

NEW ORLEANS — Hundreds of thousands of households have been impacted by Hurricane Ida, either displaced or left without power, food, water, and shelter. Those impacted may need to talk to someone for mental health help.

Ochsner Health is offering free urgent care telemedicine visits via Ochsner Anywhere Care to Louisiana and Mississippi residents who have been displaced due to Hurricane Ida through Monday, September 6.

The code for a free appointment is: IDA

Louisiana Healthcare Connections launched a 24-hour, toll-free crisis hotline for those impacted by Hurricane Ida.

If you were impacted by the hurricane and would like to speak to a licensed clinician, please call 1-866-595-8133 and follow the first prompt.

“This line is staffed by licensed mental health professionals who provide counseling as well as referrals to other local resources,” a statement from the company said. “This service is free to the public; you situs judi slot terbaik dan terpercaya no 1 do not have to be a member of Louisiana Healthcare Connections to call. Remember: for a medical emergency, always dial 9-1-1 directly.”

Filed Under: ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE, HEALTH NEWS/TRENDS

Fauci Says You Need 3 Doses

September 4, 2021 by Staff Reporter

He cited two Israeli-based studies that showed a decrease in infections among people who got a third or booster shot.

There was good reason to believe that a third dose “will actually be durable, and if it is durable, then you’re going to have very likely a three-dose regimen being the routine regimen,” Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said at a briefing Thursday.

It’s ultimately up to the US Food and Drug Administration to decide whether Americans should get three doses of the Covid-19 vaccine, Fauci said. The agency is considering the question later this month after Moderna and Pfizer both applied for FDA authorization for a third dose either six months or eight months after getting the second dose.The recommendation for the booster doses will likely lead to availability for a broad portion of the population, and doses could begin rolling out as early as the week of September 20, US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy said Thursday.

“At some point down the line, we may have a way of telling who needs an extra shot, and who doesn’t,” Murthy said on a call hosted by US Health and Human Services’ Covid-19 Community Corps.

“Right now, we don’t have that indicator, which is why we’re recommending that not only people get vaccinated across the board — regardless of whether they were infected in the past or not — but also when it comes to getting these extra doses to sustain and extend your protection, that we do that broadly,” he said.

Additional doses were granted emergency use authorization by the FDA this month for those who are immunocompromised.

Even though the doses are not yet available to the public, local health departments nationwide have seen a recent surge in calls from people wanting to make appointments, according to the National Association of County and City Health Departments.

But the emphasis remains on increasing vaccination rates among the US population to help overcome the pandemic. Approximately 52.7% of the total US population are fully vaccinated. But of the 10 states with the worst Covid-19 case rates over the past week, seven of them also had among the 10 best vaccination rates, according to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Schools and universities enact safety measures

The risk of Covid-19 spread at schools and campuses remains critical, and recent research demonstrates how unmasked behavior among the unvaccinated can lead to outbreaks.

A study published Thursday described a Covid-19 outbreak among more than 150 students at a Chicago university after many unvaccinated students traveled during spring break, despite university policies that advised against it.

To prevent similar outbreaks, some universities have instituted mandates to attend classes in-person.

Virginia Tech disenrolled 134 students for failing to comply with the nama nama situs judi slot online university’s requirement that students be fully vaccinated against Covid-19, and “did not submit vaccination documentation or receive a medical or religious exemption,” according to a statement on Monday.

The University of Virginia has also disenrolled more than 200 students for failing to comply with their vaccine mandate, according to a statement last month. Vaccinations in teens and adults can not only stave off infections at schools but can also protect children under 12 who are ineligible for the vaccine.

“Communities with high vaccination coverage are seeing lower pediatric cases and hospitalizations,” CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said.

Along with vaccinations, mask-wearing is also beneficial to curbing Covid-19 spread, evidence shows.

The state of New York will require weekly Covid-19 testing for teachers and other school employees, with an opt-out for those who are vaccinated, and will continue their mask mandate for everybody in a school building, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Thursday.

In Florida, districts will be able to institute mask mandates following a judge signing a written order Thursday that ruled against Gov. Ron DeSantis’ ban on such mandates in schools. DeSantis said he will appeal.

New Mu variant is under observation

A new coronavirus variant designated as Mu by the World Health Organization is being monitored as a “variant of interest,” but federal health officials say they don’t consider it immediately dangerous.

On Tuesday, WHO designated the B.1.621 variant as a “variant of interest” because it carries mutations that could help it partially evade vaccines and treatments such as monoclonal antibodies. WHO named it Mu under its system to designate important variants using the Greek alphabet.

“This variant has a constellation of mutations that suggests that it would evade certain antibodies,” Fauci said Thursday of Mu. “Not only monoclonal antibodies, but vaccine and convalescent serum-induced antibodies. But there isn’t a lot of clinical data to suggest that — it is mostly laboratory, in vitro, data.

“Not to downplay it — we take it very seriously. But remember, even when you have https://www.crete3.org/ variants that do diminish somewhat the efficacy of vaccines, the vaccines still are quite effective against variants of that type. Bottom line, we’re paying attention to it. We take everything like that seriously. But we don’t consider it an immediate threat right now,” he said.

The Delta variant still accounts for more than 99% of Covid-19 cases diagnosed and sequenced in the US, Walensky said Thursday, while Mu is rare.

“We are watching it carefully,” she said.

 

Filed Under: HEALTH NEWS/TRENDS

Antibiotics Can Raise Colon Cancer Risk

September 2, 2021 by Staff Reporter

Long-term use of these medications could increase situs slot online terbaik dan terpercaya your risk of colon cancer, researchers say.

“While in many cases antibiotic therapy is necessary and saves lives, in the event of less serious ailments that can be expected to heal anyway, caution should be exercised. Above all to prevent bacteria from developing resistance but, as this study shows, also because antibiotics may increase the risk of future colon cancer,” said study author Sophia Harlid, a cancer researcher from Umeå University in Sweden.

However, there’s no reason to panic, she added.

“There is absolutely no cause for alarm simply because you have taken antibiotics. The increase in risk is moderate and the effect on the absolute risk to the individual is fairly small,” Harlid explained in a university news release.

This link to colon cancer might be due to the impact that antibiotics have on the intestinal microbiome, or gut bacteria, according to the study.

The researchers analyzed data on 40,000 patients in the Swedish Colorectal Cancer Registry, and compared them with a control group of 200,000 cancer-free people in Sweden’s general population.

Investigators also examined antibiotic use data in Swedish Prescribed Drug Register.

They found that both women and men who took antibiotics for over six months had a 17% higher risk of developing cancer in the ascending colon — the first part of the colon to be reached by food after the small intestine — than those who didn’t take antibiotics.

The increased risk of colon cancer was already evident five to 10 years after taking antibiotics. Even though those who took the most antibiotics had the greatest increase in risk, there was a small but statistically significant increase in the risk of colon cancer after a single course of antibiotics, according to the study.

There was no link between antibiotics and an increased risk of cancer in the descending colon or an increased risk of rectal cancer in men. Women taking antibiotics had a slightly reduced risk of rectal cancer, according to the researchers.

The study, published Sept. 1 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, confirms the results of an earlier smaller British study.

Filed Under: HEALTH NEWS/TRENDS

Kids Hospitalized post-COVID Usually Recover within Year

August 31, 2021 by Staff Reporter

FORT WORTH, Texas — Most children who contract the coronavirus experience mild illness, but some of them go on to develop multisystem inflammatory syndrome, more commonly known as MIS-C.

It’s a rare but potentially dangerous condition if left untreated. More than 4,400 kids in the U.S. have come down with the syndrome as of July 25, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, including 37 who have died.

It typically affects school-aged children about four weeks after their initial coronavirus infection subsides. However, much remains unknown about the syndrome’s long-term health consequences.

A new study published Monday points in a positive direction.

Medical records of 68 children in the U.K. hospitalized with MIS-C following COVID-19 diagnoses show most of them recovered well with “no significant” medium- or long-term consequences. All the patients included in the study were admitted to intensive care judi online units before May 2020 and were checked up on until April 2021.

None of the children died or needed respiratory support once back home from the hospital; just two were readmitted to an ICU within a year of being hospitalized, according to the study. Kids spent a median time of 10 days in the hospital.

Of the 19 children who developed aneurysms in their hearts — the swelling or weakening of an artery — 14 recovered within a year. Aneurysms can occur in the heart, brain, back of the knee, intestine or spleen and often don’t show symptoms until they rupture, which can result in internal bleeding, stroke or death.

Of the 10 kids who had abnormal arteries in their heart, nine of them returned to normal. And all of the 39 patients who experienced “impaired function” of the heart without an aneurysm recovered within a year.

“It’s a good sign that the sickest patients had such a high rate of full recovery,” study lead author Dr. Patrick Davies, a pediatric intensive care physician at Nottingham Children’s Hospital in England, told the Wall Street Journal. “There’s a certain amount of reassurance here.”

MIS-C was first identified among kids after bouts with COVID-19 in April 2020 by doctors in the U.S. and U.K., according to experts with Johns Hopkins Medicine.

The condition shares features with toxic shock syndrome and Kawasaki disease, both of which trigger situs slot online terbaik inflammation in the body. MIS-C has been found to affect the heart, lungs, kidneys, brain, skin, eyes and gastrointestinal organs.

Doctors don’t yet know exactly what causes the syndrome, but symptoms typically appear between two to six weeks after coronavirus infection and can include fever, rashes, red eyes, diarrhea and vomiting.

MIS-C is treatable and most kids fully recover.

 

Filed Under: HEALTH NEWS/TRENDS

Caring for Children with COVID at Home

August 31, 2021 by Staff Reporter

The Delta variant is more infectious and is leading to more COVID-19 cases in children than previous strains.

Many parents are wondering whether Delta is making kids sicker, and how to care for their children if they get COVID.

It can be a nerve-racking time for parents, but there are practical things you can do to make your child more comfortable if they’re ill.

How common is COVID in kids, and how sick do they get?

There have been more than 50,000 confirmed COVID cases in Australia.

Of these, 4,625 cases have been in children aged 0-9, and 6,325 among those aged 10-19 — totalling approximately 20% of all Australian cases.

Symptoms in children are often like those of other viral infections and may include fever, runny nose, sore throat, cough, vomiting, diarrhoea and lethargy.

A small number of children have other symptoms such as tummy pains, chest pain, headache, body aches, breathing difficulties or loss of taste or smell. Up to half of children with COVID may be asymptomatic.

Despite evidence the more-infectious Delta variant is causing more severe illness in young adults, there’s no convincing evidence it has caused more severe illness in children to date.

Most children can be cared for at home. Hospital networks, including children’s hospitals and local networks, are helping parents and carers to support this care at home.

In some cases, children and families may be transferred to special health accommodation to provide safe isolation and care.

How can I best care for my child at home if they get COVID?

Caring for a child with COVID will look similar to the general supportive care for children with other viral infections.

Children should be dressed in appropriate clothing, so they’re comfortable — not sweating or shivering.

Parents and carers should make sure the child drinks lots of fluids of slot online. They can also take paracetamol or ibuprofen if they are uncomfortable with pain or fever. These medicines should be administered as directed in the product information or by a health professional.

Warning signs of deterioration include prolonged fever (for more than five days), difficulty breathing or chest pain.

Some children get severe abdominal pain, vomiting and/or diarrhoea. It’s important to encourage these children to frequently drink fluids. It’s a concern if they’re drinking less or passing urine less than half of what they normally would, or if they are excessively sleepy or irritable.

For these or other serious concerns, parents and carers should seek urgent advice from their care team. In an emergency, they should request ambulance assistance, informing the operator the child has COVID.

Don’t some children end up in hospital or intensive care?

Yes, there’s a small risk of severe disease from COVID in children but this is very uncommon, even in children who have medical vulnerabilities.

Children and adolescents can develop inflammatory complications slot88 after COVID, though this is rare. Symptoms include persistent fever and rash, among others. These conditions, termed “Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C)” or “Paediatric Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome (PIMS-TS)” have been reported mainly in the United States and Europe.

Estimates from the US suggest these occur in around one in 3,000-4,000 cases of COVID in children. There’s only been a handful of cases reported in Australia to date.

Do children get ‘long COVID’?

There has been increasing concern about prolonged symptoms after COVID infection, sometimes called long COVID, even with mild disease.

Fortunately, this is rare in children. In a study of more than 150 children with mild or asymptomatic COVID in Australia, most symptoms resolved in 4-8 weeks and children generally returned to their baseline health within 3-6 months.

What if some people in the home aren’t infected?

The SARS-CoV-2 virus spreads easily from one person to another, particularly in close contact and for those living in the same household as someone who has the virus.

You can reduce the risk of spread by:

  • keeping more than 1.5m distance where possible
  • getting the child to use a separate bathroom, if this is available
  • wearing a mask (for adolescents and older children); younger children and others who cannot wear a mask can be encouraged to observe the other behaviours
  • covering coughs and sneezes
  • performing regular hand hygiene with soap and water or hand sanitiser.

Good ventilation is also a factor in reducing transmission, but not everyone can modify this in their living situation.

If someone in the household has COVID, high touch surfaces such as door handles, kitchen bench tops, switches and taps should be regularly cleaned.

Personal household items such as cutlery, dishes and towels should be washed before being shared. Regular household disinfectant is sufficient.

 

Filed Under: HEALTH NEWS/TRENDS

Light Therapy Plus Chiropractic Improves Pain Relief

August 20, 2021 by Staff Reporter

Photobiomodulation (light therapy for pain) is improving patient quality of life, with research showing infrared therapy effective in reducing chronic low-back pain

According to the American Chiropractic Association, approximately 31 million Americans experience low-back pain (LBP). And worldwide, back pain is the single leading cause of disability and one of the most common reasons many people miss work. And LBP doesn’t discriminate — people of all ages from adolescents to the elderly are sufferers, with the combination of chiropractic and light therapy for pain offering relief.

While many people recover from the cause of the pain, for others it becomes a chronic condition, and the financial impact of LBP is staggering — at least $50 billion in health care costs each year. And that figure rises sharply to $100 billion when you factor in lost wages and productivity decline. That is a lot of hurting bodies looking for relief on your adjustment table.

Chiropractor self-care

Chiropractors are prime candidates for back pain issues. While healing others, performing adjustments day-in and day-out can be hard on the body. We will look at chronic pain and how it impacts the lower back. Whether for a patient or for yourself, learn how the combination of photobiomodulation, also known as low-level light therapy, can help you prolong your career as a chiropractor and help your patients by prolonging the benefits of their care.

Think about all you put your body through, not just giving an adjustment but just in preparation for your patient’s arrival. Next to your hands, your back is probably the most important tool you use to effectively work on your patients and give them the results they expect. But if you are sidelined with a sprain, strain or worse, a ruptured disk, you are potentially looking at weeks or months of recovery and possibly surgery. And you certainly will not be seeing any patients.

Preventative care is key

Keeping your back and core healthy are going to be critical to your ability to keep working on patients. You know the anatomy of the body and you understand the strain and stress put on your back as you work on patients because you are treating those same issues in your patients.

Preventative care is the key to longevity. Getting regular exercise and stretching out those muscles will help, but once inflammation sets in, you are in the thick of battle. With just a 20-minute session of LED light therapy for pain, you are keeping inflammation at bay and those stretches, and exercises, will help keep your back strong and healthy.

Remember, low-level light or LED therapy uses the distribution of light and frequencies to accelerate therapeutic chemical processes in the cells of the human body that ultimately support the body’s ability to promote healing and pain relief. Unlike the highly focused light of a laser, low-level light therapy for pain uses LED diodes with the most commonly used wavelengths of red and near infrared light to deliver diffused light over a larger area of the body. As this light spreads out over the lower back muscles, circulation slot gacor hari ini increases. When circulation increases, more nutrient-rich blood is delivered to nerves, muscles, joints and tissues. When blood flow and circulation increase, there is a natural reduction in pain and inflammation, allowing the body’s natural healing processes to run their course.

All it takes is placing a medical-grade, flexible LED pad containing powerful multiple infrared and visible red diodes directly on your lower back, choosing your pre-programmed setting and relaxing for 20 minutes while the light does all the work. As the light penetrates your tissues, the increase in circulation helps vasodilate the microscopic vascular system while new capillaries form and replace those that are damaged.

These new capillaries carry nutrients and oxygen, in addition to carrying waste products away. Increasing your own circulation and reducing inflammation will help you preserve mobility and reduce your risk of injury so you can keep working on patients.

Help hurting patients

Low-back pain is an incredibly common complaint and you probably spend a good deal of time addressing this issue with your patients.

As a chiropractor, you know that there are typically two major muscles associated with back pain: the quadratus lumborum and the gluteus medias. If those muscles are strained or tight, especially to the point that blood flow is inhibited, then you are going to be putting in some serious work to loosen things up and get the needed blood flow back to those areas to relieve the pain. However, if your patient has a job that requires a lot of time sitting or a lot of time lifting, they might find themselves back on your table if they are unable slot terbaru to keep the muscles loose and the inflammation to a minimum.

Having your patient utilize low-level light therapy prior to your treatment session would help to open those blood vessels, thus reducing the inflammation before you even begin the care session. Getting that blood flow restored and then working on those muscles will help you save some wear and tear on your own back as you work on theirs. It also prolongs the benefits of the excellent adjustments you’ve provided your patient — and when they get results on your table, they will be back.

Research confirmation

A 2006 study in the Pain Research and Management journal found that the use of infrared light therapy for pain was effective in reducing chronic low-back pain with no adverse side effects.1 A 2017 study found that low-level light therapy “induces a variety of stimulating processes at the cellular level affecting cell repair mechanisms, the vascular system and lymphatic system.”2

This same study also reported, “recent studies of increasing quality proved the efficacy of LLLT in the treatment of multiple musculoskeletal pain syndromes like neck or lower back pain, tendinopathies (especially of the Achilles tendon) and epicondylopathies, chronic inflammatory joint disorders like rheumatoid arthritis or chronic degenerative osteoarthritis of the large and small joints. In addition, there is recent evidence that LLLT can have a preventive capacity and can enhance muscle strength and accelerate muscle slot terbaru bonus 100 regeneration.”

Science confirms low-level light therapy for pain as a safe, cost-effective and noninvasive option for your patients, as well as your own preventative care.

 

Filed Under: ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE, HEALTH NEWS/TRENDS

Effects of Gender on Reactions to Processed Foods

August 12, 2021 by Staff Reporter

Consumption of UPFs – formulations made from refined food substances as well as simple sugars, salt, fat, and various additives – is increasing worldwide, especially in high-income countries.   As well as being linked with the rise in obesity, several studies have found associations between UPFs and health problems such as hypertension, obesity, metabolic syndrome, depression and type 2 diabetes – pathologies connected with oxidative stress and inflammation, which could modify gut microbiota configuration, richness and diversity.

Several others factors can also affect gut microbiota composition, including gender​ yet quite often this factor has been ignored in gut health focused studies.

The authors of the current study therefore argue changes in the microbiota produced by UPFs according to sex should be further studied. Thus, the aim of this work was to assess the effects of UPFs consumption on human gut microbiota composition in normal weight, overweight and obese Spanish populations, taking into account the role of gender.

The study

A total of 359 participants were included in this investigation. Participants who did not provide fecal samples in a correct manner or consumed antibiotics before collecting the samples (n = 12) or did not fulfill the food frequency questionnaire (n = 1) were discarded.

Habitual dietary intake at baseline was collected with a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). Participants provided information about the number of times they had consumed each food item during the last year (from never/almost never to >6 servings per day). Total energy (kcal) and macronutrient intakes (%) were calculated from these answers.

Participants provided faecal and blood samples and anthropometric and lifestyle measurements were collected by trained nutritionists.

The participants were separated into ‘high UPF consumption’ (more than five servings per day) and ‘low UPF consumption’ (less than three serv/d), while those who consumed 3-5 UPF servings per day were excluded.

Results​

The consumption of adjusted UPFs (by BMI, age and energy intake) per day in the study population ranged from 0 to 18 serv/d. In women, adjusted UPFs consumption ranged from 0 to 10 and in men from 0 to 17.

In the female population, the participants who consumed more than 5 serv/day of UPF presented more cases of depression and anxiety, energy intake and higher weight and hip circumference.

In the male population, those that consumed more than 5 serv/d presented a significantly higher energy intake, BMI, weight, triglycerides, ALT, and TNF levels. On the contrary, levels of HDL-c were lower in the men who consumed more UPFs.

The comparison between men and women who consumed less than 3 adjusted UPFs revealed significant differences in alcohol consumption, being higher in men. On the other hand, men and women who consumed more than 5 adjusted UPFs presented significant differences in industrially processed meat (more consumed by women), alcohol and sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB, more consumed by men). The consumption of industrially processed dairy, cereals, pizza, margarine, fried food, cookies, light products, ready products, mayonnaise and pastries was similar in both sexes.

When looking at the gut microbiome analysis, the data reveals women who consumed more than 5 serv/d of UPFs presented a significant increase in Acidaminococcus, Butyrivibrio, Gemmiger, Shigella, Anaerofilum, Parabacteroides​ and ​Bifidobacterium​. Dairy-related Bifidobacteriaare used in an extensive variety of probiotic dairy products, such as milk, cheese, and frozen dairy products therefore the researchers suggest a high consumption of these products may contribute to the increase of Bifidobacterium, although more investigations are needed

Melainabacter​ (beneficial genus due to the production of vitamin K and the digestion of plant fibers) and Lachnospira​ (linked to the Mediterranean diet) were significantly less abundant in women who consumed more UPFs.

Enterobacteriales also increased with the consumption of UPFs in women. These are bacteria that have been related with dysbiosis, gut inflammation and the development of inflammatory bowel disease.

On the other hand, men who consumed more than 5 serv/d of adjusted UPF presented a significant increase of abundance in Granulicatella​ (associated with obesity) and Blautia​ genera (associated with fat accumulation), but a decrease in Anaerostipes​.

The report states: “The reason why some bacteria presented a higher abundance in women and others in men needs more investigation in order to clarify the role of sex in the intricate relationship between diet and microbiota. In this context, an estrogen–gut microbiome axis has been proposed​​. The gut microbiota regulates estrogen levels through the secretion of β-glucuronidase, an enzyme that deconjugates estrogens into their active forms. ​

“It has been proposed that a dysbiosis characterized by lower microbial diversity might impair this process, decreasing deconjugation and reducing circulating estrogen levels. On the other hand, it is known that the composition of the gut microbiota is directly influenced by sex hormones. For example, 17β-estradiol supplementation is able to change gut microbiota diversity and the Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio in male mice​; and changes in the sex steroid balance (i.e., circulating estradiol to testosterone ratio) have been linked to altered gut microbiota composition including the Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes ratio​.”​

The researchers conclude: “This study suggests that a consumption higher than five servings per day of UPF may affect gut microbiota composition differently in women and men. ​

“This work evidences that the consumption of UPFs may affect gut microbiota composition in a different manner depending on sex, which might be a mechanism involved in the risk for different diseases. We also evidenced that some bacteria were associated with specific groups of UPFs. However, further research is needed to confirm these observations.”​

The researchers note some of the limitations of this study include the use of FFQ not exactly designed t collect data on UPFs, as well as the relatively small population.

Source: Nutrients​

Cuevas-Sierra, A.; Milagro, F.I.; Aranaz, P.; Martínez, J.A.; Riezu-Boj, J.I.

“Gut Microbiota Differences According to Ultra-Processed Food Consumption in a Spanish Population”​

https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13082710​

 

Filed Under: DIET/EXERCISE, HEALTH NEWS/TRENDS

Plant-based Diets Shown to Slash Risk of Heart Disease

August 7, 2021 by Staff Reporter

Eating a nutritious plant-based diet could slash the risk of heart disease by more than half, according to a pair of new studies. Researchers with the American Heart Association find that such diets significantly cut the risk of heart problems in both young adults and postmenopausal women.

A 30-year study of almost 5,000 adults showed that the top 20 percent with the healthiest diets were 52 percent less likely to develop cardiovascular disease. The team behind the study also discovered that changing your diet at any stage in life can have a beneficial impact on the heart.

Participants between 25 and 50 years-old, who improved their diet quality the most, were 61 percent less likely to develop cardiovascular disease in comparison to those whose diet quality dropped. The researchers also found the best foods to include in these diets are fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts, and whole grains. Meanwhile, fried potatoes, high-fat red meat, salty snacks, pastries, and soft drinks rank as the most harmful.

In a second study, women who followed a so-called “Portfolio Diet” were 11 percent less likely to develop any type of cardiovascular disease, 14 percent less likely to develop coronary heart disease, and 17 percent less likely to develop heart failure.

Keto diets are a ‘disease-promoting disaster,’ researchers warn

The “Portfolio Diet” includes nuts, plant protein from soy, beans or tofu, viscous soluble fiber from oats, barley, okra, eggplant, oranges, apples and berries, plant sterols from enriched foods, and monounsaturated fats from olive and canola oil and avocados. These women also limited their consumption of saturated fats and dietary cholesterol.

Researchers published the two papers in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

Early diet shifts can pay off with long-term health benefits

The results of both studies reveal that both young adults and postmenopausal women have fewer heart attacks and are less likely to develop cardiovascular disease when eating plant foods.

In the first study, researchers examined whether long-term consumption of a plant-centered diet and a shift toward a plant-centered diet starting in young adulthood has a connection with a lower risk of heart problems during midlife.

“Earlier research was focused on single nutrients or single foods, yet there is little data about a plant-centered diet and the long-term risk of cardiovascular disease,” says Dr. Yuni Choi, lead author of the young adult study and a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, in a media release. “A nutritionally rich, plant-centered diet is beneficial for cardiovascular health. A plant-centered diet is not necessarily vegetarian.”

“People can choose among plant foods that are as close to natural as possible, not highly processed. We think that individuals can include animal products in moderation from time to time, such as non-fried poultry, non-fried fish, eggs and low-fat dairy,” Dr. Choi adds.

Choi and her colleagues examined diet and heart disease in 4,946 adults enrolled in the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study – a long-term study beginning in 1983. The participants, between 18 to 30 years-old, included 2,509 black judi slot adults, 2,437 white adults, and were 54.9 percent female with no history of cardiovascular disease.

Common cholesterol drugs may significantly reduce risk of death from COVID-19

Researchers carried out eight follow-up exams from 1987 to 2016, which included lab tests, physical measurements, medical histories and assessment of lifestyle factors. Participants weren’t told to eat certain things or told their scores on the diet measures, so the researchers could collect unbiased, long-term diet data.

Continually adding to the portfolio

In the second study, researchers evaluated whether or not diets that included a dietary portfolio of plant-based foods with bona fide health claims for lowering “bad” cholesterol levels lead to better heart health.

That study included 123,330 women in the United States who participated in the Women’s Health Initiative – a long-term national study looking at risk factors, prevention, and early detection of serious health conditions in postmenopausal women.

When the women in this analysis enrolled in the study between 1993 and 1998, they were between 50 and 79 years old and did not have cardiovascular disease. Over 17 years, researchers followed up with the women to see if they were keeping to the Portfolio Diet.

“These results present an important opportunity, as there is still room for people to incorporate more cholesterol-lowering plant foods into their diets. With even greater adherence to the Portfolio dietary pattern, one would expect an association with even less cardiovascular events, perhaps as much as cholesterol-lowering medications,” says Dr. John Sievenpiper, senior author of the study at St. Michael’s Hospital and associate professor of nutritional sciences and medicine at the University of Toronto.

“Still, an 11% reduction is clinically meaningful and would meet anyone’s minimum threshold for a benefit. The results indicate the Portfolio Diet yields heart-health benefits.”

The researchers believe the results highlight possible opportunities to lower heart disease by encouraging people to consume more foods in the Portfolio Diet.

“We also found a dose response in our study, meaning that you can start small, adding one https://urban-spa.de/slot-online/ component of the Portfolio Diet at a time, and gain more heart-health benefits as you add more components,” concludes study lead author Andrea Glenn, a doctoral student at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto.

 

 

Filed Under: DIET/EXERCISE, HEALTH NEWS/TRENDS

Nearly 1/4 of US Adults with Chronic Pain Use Opiods

August 5, 2021 by Staff Reporter

In 2019, 22.1 percent of U.S. adults with chronic pain reported using a prescription opioid in the previous three months, according to a study published online Aug. 5 in the National Health Statistics Reports, a publication from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

James M. Dahlhamer, Ph.D., from the National Center for Health Statistics in Hyattsville, Maryland, and colleagues present prevalence estimates of prescription opioid use among U.S. adults with chronic pain using data from the situs slot gacor terbaik redesigned 2019 National Health Interview Survey.

The researchers found that among U.S. adults with chronic pain, 22.1 percent reported using a prescription opioid in the previous three months in 2019. There was variation noted in prescription opioid use by age group, sex, educational attainment, employment status, poverty status, and health insurance coverage. There was an increase observed in prescription opioid use with age, followed by a decline among adults aged 65 years and older; prevalence was highest for those aged 45 to 64 years (25.9 percent). Use of a prescription opioid for chronic pain was more likely among women (24.3 versus 19.4 percent for men), adults who were not employed (27.8 versus 15.2 percent for employed adults), and those with situs slot online terbaik 2022 a family income below 100 percent of the federal poverty level (27.0 percent compared with 19.4 percent among those with a family income of 200 percent or more of the federal poverty level).

“Prescription opioid use in the context of chronic pain management is associated with increased risk of misuse, addiction, morbidity, and mortality,” the authors write.

 

Filed Under: HEALTH NEWS/TRENDS

Study Reports Parental Pot Smoking Leads to Colds, Flu in Kids

August 2, 2021 by Staff Reporter

Kids who are around people who use marijuana may be at risk for more colds and respiratory infections due to secondhand smoke, according to a new study.

In a survey of 1,500 parents and caregivers, those who regularly smoked or vaped marijuana reported more respiratory viruses among their children in the preceding year, compared to parents who did not smoke tobacco or marijuana.

“This study brings to light that there was a potential for secondhand marijuana smoke to be related to some of the same things we see with tobacco,” said lead researcher Dr. Adam Johnson, an assistant professor of emergency medicine at Wake Forest School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, N.C.

The study only shows a link between the two and does not prove marijuana caused the illnesses, he pointed out.

“But there’s an association with caregivers that use marijuana,” Johnson said. “Their kids had a higher number of viral infections in the prior year.”

These infections can include colds, flu and even COVID-19, he said.

And, Johnson added, as more states legalize pot, marijuana use will increase.

“We all need to question our notion that marijuana is safer than tobacco, because we just don’t know that that’s true,” he said. “We need to study this a little bit more and figure out if it’s harming our children.”

Johnson said it could be that tobacco smokers light up more often than pot smokers, resulting in less secondhand smoke for marijuana users. That might make pot safer, he said, but it’s not a certainty.

No level of secondary tobacco smoke is safe, Johnson pointed out, and the same might also be true for marijuana.

For the study, Johnson and his colleagues surveyed parents and caregivers in Colorado, where recreational and medicinal marijuana is legal.

Their children hadn’t had other conditions related to secondhand tobacco smoke, such as ear infections and asthma, researchers noted, nor had they been to an emergency room more often than children of nonsmokers.

Among survey respondents, about 10% of them said they were regular users of marijuana. Just over 5% said they regularly smoked or vaped only marijuana; 14% reported smoking only tobacco; and 5% reported regularly smoking both.

Those who smoked only marijuana tended to be younger, more educated and have higher incomes than nonsmokers or respondents who only smoked tobacco.

The study found that those who smoked both marijuana and tobacco tended also to be young. Their income and education levels were lower of those than nonsmokers.

Patricia Folan, director of the Northwell Health Center for Tobacco Control in Great Neck, N.Y., reviewed the findings.

“Secondhand tobacco smoke exposure has long been associated with hazardous health conditions for children and adults,” she said. “This [study] serves as a caution for parents who smoke or vape tobacco and/or marijuana.”

Folan said doctors, especially pediatricians, should ask parents and teens about tobacco and marijuana use and provide advice and support for quitting.

“For those unwilling to quit, education about tobacco-free and marijuana-free indoor environments should be strongly encouraged,” she said.

“Proactively providing education concerning the potential for negative health effects related to marijuana smoke exposure may help U.S. children and adults avoid the devastating impact of marijuana smoke, which contains some of the same toxic chemicals and carcinogens as tobacco smoke,” Folan pointed out.

The findings were published July 28 in the journal Pediatric Research.

 

Filed Under: HEALTH NEWS/TRENDS

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